Technology & IT

Now that we can all see the disastrous effects of The Cult of Shareholder Value and The Cult of the Chief Executive, let's hope that a new movement - the Cult of Collaboration – can come to our rescue.

Graduates in Western economies may seem umbilically attached to their mobiles and social networks, but they risk being overtaken by even more technologically savvy students from emerging economies.

Since the very beginning of the IT Age, Wall Street boasted more technology and processing power than any other sector. So what happened to it? Why did it fail to stop the meltdown?

Managers who ban the use of personal mobiles, instant messaging and social networks in the office risk an exodus of younger staff for whom technology is now a way of life.

I'm no Luddite, but I'm not glad to see that mobile phones are outselling desk phones for the workplace.

In a recent British online magazine, I came across this poll revealing that if personal web surfing to be banned in their workplace, 39% of 18-24 year old workers would consider leaving their job.

Employers are increasingly turning to eye, palm and fingerprint scans as the future of workplace security, but managers need to recognise such technology brings with it huge data protection issues.

No longer just the domain of geeks and teenage boys, the growing popularity of virtual, computer-generated worlds is something businesses should be looking at tapping into.

The good news is that virtually all British firms now back up their critical IT systems and data. The bad news is that a significant minority then fail to ensure there is a version of it off-site in case disaster strikes.

A growing number of U.S workers are now working from home or telecommuting, but employers are still way too laid back about the possible security risks this entails.

With staff wandering off site with memory sticks in their pockets, posting confidential information on the web and setting their password as "password", IT security policies count for very little.

Here's something to discuss around the water cooler. Is there an appropriate place for the iPod in the workplace – or should it be outlawed altogether?

Bulgaria has the lowest number of computers in the workplace out of all EU countries. And it's a safe assumption that the number of PCs in homes isn't much more impressive.

Is your computer making you more efficient and productive or is it creating so much stress in your life that your brain no longer performs at its best?

More and more employers are disciplining social networking time-wasters, as it becomes clear the perils of sites such as Facebook go far leaving posting cyber dirt that might return to haunt you.

If you fancy sneaking in a little web surfing at work, the place to head to is Finland, where occasional surfing really isn't seen as a problem in the Finnish workplace.

The "white noise" of e-mail is one of the main reasons organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to get important information through to their staff. So what's gone wrong? And how can organisations and individuals see their way through the electronic fog that is choking our ability to communicate.

Is your inbox overwhelming you? Is it full of other peoples' problems? Are you drowning in urgent messages, all demanding to be answered yesterday? Do you sometimes wish that the whole email revolution had never happened? If the answer is "yes", you need to listen to this week's Working Week podcast.

Paging through the Times of India, I wasn't surprised to read a headline claiming that Indian IT professionals are among the worst paid in the world.

You might have thought the growing reliance of many businesses on cutting edge technology would have given CIOs an pivotal position within the boardroom. Far from it.

Financial services companies are becoming increasingly alarmed about their IT systems as research shows that employees are responsible for almost a third of IT security breaches.

European employers take note: when drafting up your monitoring policies in the workplace, you'd do well to be explicit in your instructions. Failure to do so may well see you fighting lawsuits before the European Court of Human Rights.

Technology risks figure higher on the agenda of UK company boards than ever before. But new research questions whether board members really have sufficient understanding of IT to address them adequately.

In an example of research that hardly needed to be funded to know what the outcome will be, a study from the UK has revealed that checking e-mail regularly at the office increases stress levels and diminishes stress levels. Wow - I never would have guessed that!

Putting together a business prospectus for a technology or internet company can be tough these days. How do you know what business gibberish to use to make your company sound "in-the-know"? What you need is the Corporate Gibberish Generator.

Virgil Griffith, 24, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology and self-styled "Mad Scientist. Disruptive Technologist", has create a giant headache for the [mis]communications departments of some of the world's best-known companies courtesy of a device that tracks the source of changes made to Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia.

For the business person, personal broadcast media such as blogging and podcasting are very attractive: They are both inexpensive and can be targeted to specific audiences. In fact, there are few reasons NOT to embrace them.

Meet Wakamaru. He or she - or should that be "it" - is the new face of the Japanese receptionist. And receptionists won't be laughing when they find out that Wakamaru is a robot.

Kids may be better at programming the DVD than their parents, but six out of 10 owners of family businesses also admit they they have experienced cross-generational conflict over how to invest in technology.

A recent study by Check Point Software Technologies has revealed that a surprising level of petty theft and straight up larceny seems to be the norm in European organisations.

Almost half of us would have no qualms about downloading sensitive company information to take to a new job - and most employers would do little or nothing to try and stop it.

Staff who ping those "humorous" emails around the office with funny attachments are not just irritating, they are also a significant drain on a company's productivity.

Almost a third of IT staff abuse their trusted positions to snoop on the confidential information held on their company's computer systems, a new survey has found.

If you thought that online social networking was strictly a generation-Y phenomenon, think again. Because according to a new survey, many business professionals are getting in on the act, too.

More than a third of bloggers risk falling foul of their employer because they have posted sensitive or damaging information about their employer, workplace or colleagues.

A University of Arkansas law professor could have struck a mighty blow against information overload by suggesting that forwarding e-mail without permission of the sender may be against the law.

Feeling lucky? Odds are squarely in your favor that you are (for now) if you're a European quiz show producer!

Toshiba is getting ready for a showdown with companies they claim infringe on its DVD-related patents. And if Toshiba wins, you're going to have a tough time finding that low-end DVD player for an outrageously low price.

Company directors too often duck making crucial decisions about information technology, preferring to delegate to faceless committees that fail to see the bigger, strategic picture.

Executives love spending money on new technology but too often don't really understand what their new toys can do, so missing out on opportunities to transform their business for the better.

In the event of a global influenza pandemic, companies and governments alike are banking on their staff being able to work remotely from home to keep essential services going. But could the internet cope?

Almost 29 million Americans now work remotely at least one day per month while the number of employees whose boss is happy for them to do the same has risen by 63 per cent since 2004.

Skilled IT managers are now in such short supply in the U.S that employers are finding it can often take up three months to fill a vacant position.

I see a lot of parallels between the ocean and technology. At times we get smooth, steady growth. But sometimes new gadgets and technologies come flooding into our lives so fast that it's all we can do to keep our head above water.

Companies spend millions trying to keep their corporate emails safe, only for their workers to forward sensitive messages to personal email accounts that are much more vulnerable to security breaches.

Most of us need little reminding that there's no longer any escape from the office. In fact thanks to the ubiquitous Blackberry and its ilk, nine out of 10 executives now feel they have to be available outside of working hours.

Even as we are all being asked to trust a growing army of companies and official bodies with sensitive personal details, a new survey has found that a third of senior executives wouldn't trust their own companies with sensitive data.

They may have a reputation for being geeks, but IT wizards are now being paid at levels not seen since the dotcom boom – and some have even taken to hiring their own Hollywood-style agents as a result.

UK bosses are missing out on the huge benefits that flexible working can bring to their businesses because they are clinging to an outmoded Victorian desk-bound working ethic.

If Genghis Khan managed to rule over half the known world without once having a conference call or conducting a webinar, why is it that most companies today, with more ways to communicate then ever, do such a lousy job?

Global technology companies need to get beyond thinking about hardware and software and focus more on the people behind their products if they are to maintain a competitive edge, a new report has argued.

As a growing number of Britons plug into their iPods to tune out of office life, many employers are responding by trying to outlaw the ubiquitous devices from their offices.

You might expect that the introduction of the internet to isolated bases in the Antarctic would be a positive step to make life at the end of the earth a little more bearable. Think again.

More than half of all email is spam. And since spammers are wasting the time and money of people everywhere, surely it's time we do something more to go after them.

Half the recruiters who use the web to research job candidates have changed their minds about a hiring somebody based on what they have found out about them online.

Thanks to the UK Good Hotel Guide for keeping up the pressure on hotels which fleece their guests with extortionate charges for wireless web access.

Only weeks after a US academic warned that employers who encourage staff to use Blackberries to stay connected to the office could end up being held liable for encouraging electronic addiction, the BlackBerry backlash has begun, with some US firms are settling out of court to avoid negative publicity.

More than a third of large British companies admit their email management systems are in "complete chaos" and do not know what to store or how to protect their electronic information properly.

Two out of every three visits to pornographic web sites occurs during working hours, according to new European research.

Negligent or malicious employees pose one of the biggest security threats to businesses, with more than three-quarters of companies having experienced one or more insider-related security problems.