By Blaine Townsend

In 1979, the accident at Three Mile Island  Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania changed the investment calculus and public  opinion about nuclear power. It was almost 40  years before another reactor was built in this  country. Subsequent international accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima did not help matters. 

However, as climate change threatens the  natural world and the viability of the capital markets, the tone around nuclear energy has  started to change. It has even garnered  bipartisan and Wall Street support, shifting  investors’ attention towards this sector. So, does nuclear energy provide a low-emissions  solution to rapidly rising energy demands? Or  does it distract investors from the stronger  opportunities in renewables? 

The Case (and Frequent Setbacks) of  Nuclear Energy 

To be sure, nuclear energy is intoxicating.  Nuclear power is a proven technology that produces electricity with low emissions.  Currently, the US draws 19% of its electricity from nuclear power.¹ When it comes to the  percentage of “clean” power (low emissions), the  number jumps to 48%. With energy demand set  to double by 2030 due to the insatiable thirst of  artificial intelligence,² nuclear advocates insist  it is the safest, cleanest and cheapest solution to  the energy and climate crisis.³ 

Of course, the power derived from wind, water  and solar (WWS) also provides safe, clean energy. But, as the proponents of nuclear like to  say, “the sun doesn’t shine all day, and the wind  is not constant.” Nuclear plants run 24 hours a  day, 7 days a week, offering a near-constant baseload of power. That sounds good on paper,  but growing nuclear capacity has not been that  easy. In part, this is because of nuclear energy’s  checkered history, liabilities from an investment standpoint and lack of public  support. In practice, it is just difficult to get  plants built.
 

When it comes to the percentage of  “clean” power (low emissions), the  number jumps to 48%. With energy  demand set to double by 2030 due to  the insatiable thirst of artificial  intelligence,² nuclear advocates insist  it is the safest, cleanest, and cheapest  solution to the energy and climate  crisis.³
 

“On-time and under budget” is not a phrase  associated with nuclear plant construction. The new reactors at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia are a good example. Construction started in 2009 at a projected cost  of $12 billion, expected to be completed in 2017.  Instead, the second of the two additions entered commercial operations this year and ended up  costing almost $35 billion “for what may be the  most expensive power plant ever.”⁴ There is  hope that new technology and modular  construction could change that, but hope is not  a plan.
 

So nuclear is expensive and slow to build when  all goes well. When it doesn’t? Look no further  than the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi  Nuclear Plant in Japan. The cost for the cleanup  is in the hundreds of billions and still piling up.⁵ Even if there is no accident, disposing of spent  uranium is a treacherous undertaking. It  remains a threat to the environment for  centuries and requires great measures to  “dispose” of it safely. This includes keeping it  out of the hands of bad actors who can use it in  dirty bombs.

  

The Stronger Investor Case for  Renewables 

Nuclear advocates argue the high costs and long  construction time is due to political opposition  and the under-investment in nuclear over the past 50 years.⁶ Until recently, the same could be  said for renewables.⁷ Despite this, the results for  renewables have been very different. Subsidy  math is always fuzzy, but momentum to  subsidize renewables picked up steam in the  1990s. Since that time, the share of electricity in  the U.S. produced by WWS has gone up 150%.⁸ 

The speed at which wind and solar installations  can be built is a big reason for this. Wind and  solar installations take from 6 months to 2 years  to build.⁹ By contrast, nuclear plant construction this century has averaged about 10  years once construction has started.¹⁰ Need  more evidence? In just 2020 and 2021 alone, the  world added 464 gigawatts of power-generating  capacity of wind and solar, more than the  capacity of all the nuclear plants ever built.¹¹ 

WWS is not a panacea. Like any industrial  energy source, there are challenges. It requires a  lot of land and energy storage is also a concern (“the sun doesn’t shine all day”). Despite this,  the capital markets are much more interested in  investing in renewables than nuclear. Even in  nuclear’s heyday, Congress had to pass the  Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity  Act in 1957 to entice private investment in  nuclear. Investors recognize that renewables  come on more quickly, use much less water, and  have a much lower risk profile. In addition, the  Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is set to  turbocharge energy storage and improve  distribution.¹² 

Wind and solar installations take from 6  months to 2 years to build.⁹ By contrast,  nuclear plant construction this century  has averaged about 10 years once  construction has started.¹⁰

Extending the operating life of the current  nuclear capacity makes perfect sense. As of April 30, 2024, there were 54 commercially  operating nuclear power plants with 94 nuclear power reactors in 28 states.¹³ There is already $6  billion set aside in the 2022 Bi-partisan  Infrastructure Law to do this, and just this week  Constellation Energy Corp. agreed to invest $1.6  billion to revive the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear reactor and sell all the energy to Microsoft Corp. That makes sense. Building new  nuclear plants at the expense of renewables  does not. There is no time to waste.

DISCLOSURES 

This Issue Brief was produced by Bailard’s Social, Responsible and Impact Investing (“SRII”) team for informational purposes only  and is not a recommendation of, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any particular security, strategy or investment product. It does  not take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations or needs of individual clients or investors. Specific  investments described herein may represent some but not all investment decisions made by Bailard. The reader should not assume  

that investment decisions identified and discussed were or will be profitable. Specific investment advice references provided  herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily representative of investments that will be made in the future.  Bailard, Inc. makes no recommendation to buy or sell securities discussed in this section. All investments have the risk of loss.  There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objectives. The application of various environmental, social and  governance screens as part of a socially responsible investment strategy may result in the exclusion of securities that might  otherwise merit investment, potentially resulting in lower returns than a similar investment strategy without such screens. This  communication contains the current opinions of its author and such opinions are subject to change without notice. Information  contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed. The sources contain information  that has been created, published, maintained, or otherwise posted by institutions or organizations independent of Bailard, Inc.,  which does not approve or control those websites and which does not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or  timeliness of the information located there. Visitors to those websites should not use or rely on the information contained therein  until consulting with an independent finance professional. Bailard, Inc. does not necessarily endorse or recommend any  commercial product or service described at those websites. 

___________________________________________________ 

¹ https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=21 

² https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2024/05/23/ai-is-pushing-the-world-towards-an-energy-crisis/ ³ Why we must embrace nuclear energy to fight climate change | World Economic Forum (weforum.org) ⁴ https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/04/29/second-new-nuclear-reactor-completed-in-georgia-the-carbon-free-power-comes-at high#:~:text=The%20new%20Vogtle%20reactors%20are,the%20total%20nears%20%2435%20billion. ⁵ https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14762193 

⁶ https://ca.rbcwealthmanagement.com/liutfieldwealth/blog/4188242-Nuclear-energy-sector-getting-the-push-it-needs ⁷ https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/beyond-subsidy-levels-the-effects-of-tax-credit-choice-for-solar-and-wind-power-in the-inflation-reduction-act/ 

⁸ https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us.php 

⁹ https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2024/may/24/nuclear-power-australia-liberal-coalition-peter-dutton-cost ¹⁰ https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/24-01-MZJ-HRTestimony.pdf 

¹¹ https://www.twincities.com/2022/09/18/farhad-manjoo-new-nuclear-power-no-longer-has-the-appeal-it-once-had/ ¹² https://www.utilitydive.com/spons/the-inflation-reduction-act-will-turbocharge-energy-storage/633118/ ¹³ https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=207&t=21

Clean Fund is creating one of the largest opportunities to drive clean energy progress in the commercial real estate sector.

By Real Leaders

The commercial real estate sector stands as a colossal opportunity for driving clean energy progress, offering avenues for innovation and investment that can reshape the landscape of sustainability.

At the forefront of this movement is John Kinney, the founder and managing partner of Clean Fund, who has spearheaded a groundbreaking solution known as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. This innovative approach is designed to catalyze clean energy investments in commercial real estate on a large scale.

The essence of PACE lies in its ability to empower property owners to finance energy-efficient upgrades through an unconventional means: increased property taxes rather than traditional debt. This unique financing model not only provides property owners with access to capital at lower rates but also serves to enhance the value of their assets. Moreover, for lenders, PACE opens up a new frontier in the form of a “clean energy line of credit,” enabling financial institutions to integrate sustainable practices into their real estate lending portfolios. By embracing PACE, these institutions can expand the pool of available capital for energy-efficient upgrades while simultaneously bolstering their environmental performance and bottom line.

Kinney’s vision is straightforward yet profound: by collectively overcoming the financial barriers that impede the adoption of cleaner building practices, we can pave the way for a more sustainable future.

As interest rates climb, the appeal of PACE financing grows even stronger compared to conventional options, positioning it as an increasingly attractive choice for property owners seeking to undertake environmentally responsible upgrades. Drawing parallels to how homeowners finance solar panels or other energy-efficient improvements, Kinney elucidates how commercial property owners can seamlessly incorporate PACE financing into their financial obligations, with repayments structured as a new line item on their annual property tax bill.

While PACE legislation has been successfully enacted in 35 states, its adoption rates vary across local jurisdictions. Nevertheless, Kinney points out that the recent uptick in interest rates has spurred greater utilization of PACE financing, as its long-term nature becomes comparatively more cost-effective. Additionally, insurance companies are playing a pivotal role by investing in PACE bonds on the secondary market, thereby mitigating their long-term liabilities and further bolstering the viability of clean energy initiatives.

In essence, Kinney’s approach transcends mere financial transactions; it represents a concerted effort to dismantle the barriers obstructing the widespread adoption of clean energy solutions.

By making PACE financing accessible and lucrative for all stakeholders involved, he aims to inspire the kind of innovation necessary to confront climate change with the urgency and magnitude it demands. Indeed, achieving meaningful environmental progress hinges on aligning ecological imperatives with economic interests, and it is pioneering leaders like Kinney who continue to drive the transformation of traditional industries toward a more sustainable future.

The Company That Is Turning Food Waste Into A Valuable Resource

By Real Leaders

As the CEO of Chomp, an innovative Sustainable Technology company based in Seattle, Tim Tiscornia leads with a hands-on approach that exemplifies empowering others from the front lines. Through modular anaerobic digestion systems, Chomp turns food waste into renewable energy and fertilizer, reducing emissions and supporting circular economies.

In a recent interview, Tim provided insights into his unique leadership style. From rolling up sleeves for on-site tasks to prioritizing employee well-being, Tim aims to foster an authentic, learning-focused culture. He discussed the challenges of scaling unproven sustainable technology and emphasized financial discipline crucial for growth.

Tim’s dedication to serving others through experience-based guidance is propelling Chomp’s mission forward. Under his direction, the company is positioned to maximize positive environmental and social impact through proven solutions.

Kevin Edwards: Tim, thanks for taking the time to chat today. Can you start by telling us about your background and how you came to be the CEO of Chomp?

Tim Tiscornia: For sure, Kevin. I grew up in Seattle and have always been passionate about sustainability and the outdoors. As an avid surfer and foiler, finding ways to reduce our environmental impact is personal for me. I came to Chomp because I believed in the founder’s vision of turning food waste into a resource through anaerobic digestion. After proving the technology worked, I came on as CEO around 5 years ago to help scale our solutions further.

KE: What does a typical day look like for you as CEO? How do you balance operational and leadership responsibilities?

TT: My days vary quite a bit. In the mornings I focus on reviewing reports, forecasts and other operational details to ensure everything is running smoothly. A few afternoons a week you’ll find me at one of our manufacturing facilities, often helping out with tasks like equipment maintenance or quality checks alongside the team. I also carve out time each week for one-on-one check-ins to understand how people are doing and identify any support needed. Leadership is about serving others so their work can thrive.

KE: That’s interesting. Why do you feel it’s important to take a hands-on approach as CEO?

TT: For me it’s about authenticity, learning and trust-building. Anyone can talk about values from an office but being right there alongside employees shows I’m committed through both words and actions. It also allows me to continuously learn from experience on the ground. I want our culture to feel psychologically safe so people are empowered to take risks, just as I do through challenges like foiling. Leading authentically from the front sets that tone.

KE: What would you say is the biggest challenge Chomp has faced in scaling your solutions?

TT: Gaining early customer adoption for innovative technology was definitely tough. We had to find partners willing to take a chance on an unproven solution. It took time to prove our systems through those initial installations but it established credibility. Now cash flow management is key with growth. My focus is financial planning and discipline to fuel our success in a capital-intensive industry.

KE: Thanks for your insights, Tim. It’s clear you lead Chomp with passion and commitment. What’s your vision for the future?

TT: Our goal is to maximize positive environmental and social impact through our solutions. With over 150 million in identified opportunities, I’m focused on converting that pipeline over the next 2-3 years. If we can continue innovating to make our technology even more accessible, I believe Chomp can play a major role in advancing sustainability globally. 

KE: I’m Kevin Edwards asking you to go out there, empower other leaders, and always keep it real. Thanks, Tim.

Syndio’s software platform exposes workplace inequities and offers solutions.

By Real Leaders

Companies and their management face immense pressure from employees, investors, and legislators demanding more transparency and progress toward diversity and pay equity goals. Yet many organizations lack the data to turn those promises into real results they can show.

Unmasking the Bias: Can Software Really Solve the Pay Equity Problem?

Syndio is a unique software as a service that offers companies a way to identify pay inequities based on race, gender, or other categories, fix those issues, and stay in compliance over time. Not only does it help close pay and opportunity gaps, but it also mitigates legal risk and turns diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals into tangible outcomes. 

“The purpose of our company is to close the wealth gap,” says Maria Colacurcio, Syndio CEO. “Right now, like it or not, there’s still a huge disparity, and while it’s not illegal to pay people differently, you have to have good reasons why you do that. Some companies say they pay for tenure, time, and role, or education, or a certain set of skills or particular experiences that really parlay themselves into high performance for a company.”

She continues, “All those things are just fine, but on the flip side, a lot of companies are still finding disparities that are because of something like gender or race. The pay gap is still very real, and what’s great is now there’s technology to solve that. That’s what our whole mission is about.”

From Data to Dollars: Syndio’s Measurable Impact on Workplace Pay Equity

Since its founding in 2006, Syndio has put over $160 million back in the pockets of people who weren’t getting it due to gender, race, or other factors. Syndio has experienced significant growth from 2019-22, including a 538% revenue hike and a 600% increase in employees. 

“The way leaders can meet their representation goals and begin to close the pay gap is by getting clear on how people move throughout the organization,” Colacurcio says. “Companies won’t solve the gap in one year or even five years. The important thing is to analyze it and create a plan to attack it.”

Over 300 companies utilize Syndio. Clients have included Elevance Health, University of California, Irvine, Sellen Construction, Databricks, Salesforce, Adobe, Hyatt, General Mills, Nordstrom, Slack, StitchFix, and Domino’s.

“Syndio‘s Workplace Equity Platform has been a critical tool for us to focus our strategies and efforts in DEI,” says Molly Gellerman, Domino’s vice president of Inclusion and Diversity, HR Digital Transformation, and HR Operations. “I love being able to see how we measure up against qualified applicant pools for our jobs and narrow data for senior leaders to specific and actionable areas of improvement.”

Kate Harkess, Sellen Construction’s chief people officer, agrees. “On our DEI roadmap, we knew we wanted to establish pay equity, but what we didn’t know was that Syndio insights would benefit other dimensions of DEI,” she says. “With Syndio, we have become more intentional about building equity in other talent strategies, like development, promotions, and engagement.”

Syndio’s Workplace Equity Platform is a suite of products and services that help companies measure and improve a variety of facets of workplace equity — from bringing in talent fairly to compensating, retaining, and promoting them equitably. It includes the following:

• PayEQ This always-on view of pay equity helps companies analyze, resolve, and prevent pay disparities due to gender, race, ethnicity, or other demographics. Pay Policy Analytics, an extension of PayEQ, allows companies to support fair compensation by going beyond pay equity analyses to examine the impact of pay policies on compensation, identify the root causes of inequity at the policy level, and build better compensation models.

• Pay Finder It helps hiring teams set fair starting salaries and stop pay inequity before it starts, combining internal pay data with market-informed salary ranges to provide a holistic view of what’s fair and competitive for each individual candidate. 

• OppEQ Companies can analyze representation and benchmark against internally and externally available talent so they can set data-backed goals for improvement and find the root causes of their diversity gaps overall and in leadership. OppEQ Promotions was launched in 2023 to help companies analyze promotions, uncover inequities, and drive accountability for equal access to opportunities.

• Expert advisors A team of data scientists, technology experts, and legal professionals specialize in workplace equity and provide ongoing best practice advice — from global legal compliance and DEI goal setting to environmental, social, and governance, and human capital disclosures.

“Syndio challenged the market to see pay equity as more than just a one-time analysis,” Colacurcio reflects. “We showed that with an always-on software solution, you can identify the cause of pay inequity and root it out to the benefit of employees and employers.” 

She continues, “But we knew that was simply table stakes for a larger platform that tackles workplace equity across the entire employee life cycle. In our next phase, we are bringing cutting-edge analytics to starting pay, promotions, movement, attrition, and performance. Companies look at much more than just pay when assessing their people, and they deserve an analytics platform to help them do that.” 

Hear Maria Colacurcio’s full conversation with us on Ep. 316 of the Real Leaders Podcast.

Sama ranked No. 48 on the list of 2024 Real Leaders Top Impact Companies.

By Real Leaders

About: Sama is a globally recognized leader in data annotation and model validation solutions for enterprise AI models that require the highest accuracy. The company pioneered an impact model that harnesses the power of markets for social good and meaningfully improves employment and income outcomes for those with the greatest barriers to formal work.

Real Leaders: How does Sama thrive in the impact space?

Wendy Gonzalez: Every decision that you make has multiple facets. That makes every judgment call that much harder. External validation can also help you to be aware of your different bottom lines. By registering as a public benefit corporation, for example, your company will be legally bound to consider your stated mission. B Corp Certification, which requires reporting, can also be a great way to accomplish this. It is no longer enough to simply say you are dedicated to impact. Instead, thriving requires constantly measuring and monitoring specific metrics.

RL: What milestones did the company achieve in 2023?

Gonzalez: In 2023, Sama released Platform 2.0, which is a re-engineered computer vision platform to reduce the risk of machine learning algorithm failures. Platform 2.0 can deliver a 99%-client-acceptance rate for AI training data through SamaAssureTM, the industry’s highest quality guarantee, with an annotation delivery rate of up to 300+ million frames, 850+ million shapes and 10 billion annotation points a month. Sama also released its first impact report since becoming a public benefit corporation. In 2022, the company created 1,622 new entry-level jobs, a single-year record. Among these new hires, 35% were unemployed in the six months prior to joining Sama, and 56% were living below the international poverty line. In terms of third-party awards, Sama won a 2023 Business Intelligence Group Innovation Award for its work with food waste reduction company Orbisk; it made the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing private companies for the fourth year in a row.

RL: What is the biggest challenge Sama overcame?

Gonzalez: As it was for many, spring 2020 was extremely difficult. First, our founder, Leila Janah, passed away after a battle with epithelioid sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Just eight weeks later, the world began shutting down in the COVID-19 pandemic. As an impact sourcer focusing on hiring people who may otherwise not gain formal employment or who are from low-income communities, moving to remote working was incredibly difficult. For example, we worked with the Kenyan government and ISPs to put high-speed connections into slums in Nairobi, and we did the same in rural Uganda. We delivered battery packs and laptops via tuktuk. We set up hotels for people to get connected when these solutions didn’t work. Like many things at Sama, these efforts also had a ripple effect — they helped our employees’ children to go to school and, by keeping people employed, also ensured they could ride out the pandemic. We came out of 2020 stronger as a company and continued our growth even in those tough times.

RL: What is the company’s best strategy for finding investors?

Gonzalez: It’s simple: Find investors who understand your mission. When Sama decided to convert to a for-profit company, we did so because we wanted to sustain our mission and create a critical mass of funding to make the necessary investments to do that. There are now impact investors, including one of our own investors, Rubio Impact Ventures, specifically looking for companies that are making a difference somehow. Do your research and contact those who are most aligned with your mission, who have previous experience in a similar space, and who have the right tools to get you to the next level. Having a positive relationship with your investors is easier to build when you are on the same page.

RL: What is Sama’s long-term, mission-oriented dream?

Gonzalez: To create a market where social enterprises are part of the standard and social impact criteria are part of the buying process for all businesses. Regulation will catch up, but we need investors and customers to demand this. Those demands will create a feedback loop that constantly reinforces the need for social enterprises and helps them grow. At Sama, we believe business is a force for social change. With issues like alleviating global poverty having been stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no time to waste in building a better global ecosystem that gives everyone a seat at the table. To that end, Sama’s majority shareholder, the Leila Janah Foundation, supports social enterprises in Kenya and Uganda through initiatives like the Give Work Challenge (GWC), which runs twice a year for both extant and new businesses, and the Growth Fund, which supports former GWC winners with an additional grant. These programs and others like them are helping to build wealth and financial independence in Africa and around the world.

Waymap aims to expand travel options for blind and visually impaired people with step-by-step audio directions that it says are accurate up to 3 feet (0.9 meter) throughout a trip.

An app designed to help visually impaired or blind pedestrians use public transit has debuted at a Washington subway. Waymap expands travel options for blind and visually impaired people with step-by-step audio directions that it says are accurate up to 3 feet throughout a trip. The app does not use GPS and can operate regardless of cell phone signal strength indoors or outdoors. It loads detailed mapping data onto a smartphone and uses motion sensors on the phone to offer precise directions.

Advocates for the blind, Washington’s transit system Metro, Verizon Communications, which provided support through its start-up accelerator program, and the app’s founder are keen to promote and scale their world-first idea. “Mobility is not a luxury,” says Waymap founder and CEO Tom Pey, who is blind and argues that other apps are not precise enough. “It is, in fact, a human right.”

Blind travelers often use a small number of routes from home because they are relying on memory to get around and they lack confidence, Pey says. “Instead of 2.5 routes, you can do 25 routes, 250 routes,” Pey said. “This will allow more people to become more independent — not to have to rely on family and friends — and use public transport like everyone else.”

Waymap will be deployed in phases with the goal of deploying the app at up to 30 Metro train stations and nearly 1,000 bus stops by September and across the entire Metro system by early 2023.

“It’s part of our mission to make Metro accessible to all people at every walk of life,” says Metro CFO Dennis Anosike. Pey hopes other people in Washington without visual disabilities will eventually use the app to help refine directions and improve the maps. “You’re actually donating your steps to a blind person,” he says.

Phishing was responsible for the highest number of cyber compromises in 2021. As a result, more and more businesses are investing in security training and awareness initiatives.

New evidence proves that regular training exercises can positively influence security culture and enable employees to defend against ransomware-laced phishing attempts and related social engineering attacks.

Having said that, nearly all (85%) of employees are disengaged at work. That’s why it is imperative for organizations to design programs that encourage training participation. Below are nine recommendations that can help:

1) Turn Leaders into Advocates

Everyone expects to see leadership ‘walk the talk’ and equally care about keeping their organization secure. That’s why senior management should actively participate in security training to help showcase their support for cybersecurity resilience. Nothing sells a security program better than noticing how leadership teams actively invest in security awareness and live-out security values.

2) Share Real-World Examples

Textbook training can be boring, but security doesn’t have to be. Humans, as a species, easily learn and apply values that are expressed in stories. That’s why it’s important that team members share their stories of successes and failures. Cite examples of incidents that happened in the past, how they missed early warning signs, how they were identified and in hindsight, what could’ve been done differently to prevent the incident from occurring. It’s always a good idea to show that as humans we are prone to biases and mistakes and even the best of us can be fooled by social engineering. Remind employees to not be embarrassed if they miss something and to always report anything suspicious.

3) Involve a Diverse Set of Team Members

Security is everyone’s business. Having a diverse set of trainers from different departments such as R&D, marketing, HR and sales, has many benefits. It makes training more representational whereby the trainer can describe a relatable use case or provide context that a traditional security trainer may have overlooked. It’s very likely that members of your security team are not the most effective communicators. Involve speakers that can communicate to a diverse set of workers in a manner they understand.

4) Include a Variety of Content

Security programs should consist of a variety of content that includes tabletop exercises, videos, quizzes, simulations, Q&As and short presentations. The idea is to break the monotony, encourage interaction and collaboration. For example, every training should use quizzes. Online quiz platforms (such as Kahoot!) help trainers create gamification in quizzes.

5) Make Training Fun and Rewarding

Training doesn’t have to be dull and uninteresting. Emotion is key to engagement. In fact, humor is known to have a positive effect on training. Reward people for their participation and interaction. Offer prizes and freebies. Give out prizes for answering questions correctly, announce a raffle or a giveaway at the end so that people stick around for the full session.

6) Design for Both Remote and Local Teams

Most organizations today have a sizable remote workforce. Ensure remote workers have an opportunity to attend; in fact, remote workers may need more focused training. If feasible, have a dedicated team hosting the remote community, handling any AV emergency and organizing quizzes, prizes and rewards.

7) Invite Key Vendors To Participate

Vendors will often agree to speak or sponsor (door prizes, food, beverages, etc.) a training event. Vendor speakers usually have credible experience spanning a number of industries and often bring along good content. The idea is not to make a sales pitch but to keep the content security-focused and vendor-agnostic.

8) Manage It Professionally

It’s always a good idea to plan for success. This means creating project timelines, designing communication plans and making sure everyone involved knows what their role is. If possible, get help from marketing or business teams that are experienced in running events. Record the event for those that are unable to attend. Ensure your event is right-sized — not too long, not too short, about sixty to ninety minutes is standard. Educate your audience beforehand on how phishing simulation exercises work, how they help the organization, and the frequency at which they can expect them.

9) Take Risks

The goal is to educate, entertain, and (most importantly) engage. You are investing in a long-term relationship with everyone in your organization. No training will run perfectly, and nobody will get it right the first time. That’s why trainers must experiment with different approaches, tools, exercises and content types to understand what works and what doesn’t.

Finally, never lose sight of key metrics. Metrics will help determine the success of a training program and justify its investment. Ensure you track behavioral changes over time (number of phishing incidents, activities being reported, ratings and surveys) and fine-tune your program where necessary. The end goal of security awareness training is not to check-off another compliance box off the list, but to strengthen the security culture and build a more cyber resilient organization over time.

From robots delivering coffee to office chairs rearranging themselves after a meeting, a smart city project in China aims to put artificial intelligence in charge, its creators told a conference this week – raising some eyebrows.

Danish architecture firm BIG and Chinese tech company Terminus discussed plans to build an AI-run campus-style development in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing during an online panel at Web Summit, a global tech conference.

The project named Cloud Valley, plans to use sensors and wifi-connected devices to gather data on everything from weather and pollution to people’s eating habits to automatically meet residents’ needs, said Terminus founder Victor Ai.

“It’s almost coming back to this idea of living in a village where, when you show up, even though it’s the first time you’re there, the bar tender knows your favourite drink,” said BIG founding partner Bjarke Ingels.

“When our environment becomes sensing and sentient … we can really open up that kind of seamlessness because the AI can recognise people coming. So it can open the door, so they don’t have to look for their key cards.”

Cities around the world are racing to embrace technology in a bid to improve urban life by collecting data to address problems like traffic jams and crime.

More than 500 smart cities are being built across China, according to the government, to spur growth amidst a global economic downturn.

Launched in April, the Cloud Valley project envisions a city of about 13 million square foot – equal to some 200 football pitches – where technology allows people to live more comfortably by anticipating their needs.

“As sunlight hits the houses, bedroom windows adjust their opacity to allow the natural light to wake sleepy residents,” Terminus said on its website, which also highlights tranquil green spaces like rooftop gardens.

“Once the light has filled the room, an AI virtual housekeeper named Titan selects your breakfast, matches your outfit with the weather, and presents a full schedule of your day.”

The city, which includes offices, homes, public spaces and self-driving cars that move around under the ever watchful eye of AI, is due for completion in about three years, according to Terminus.

Yet, like other smart cities, its tech-driven approach has raised privacy concerns.

“1984 here we go … sounds like a surveillance state,” Filipe Monteiro, a virtual attendee of the conference, wrote in the panel’s chat, referring to George Orwell’s dystopian novel where citizens are constantly surveilled by Big Brother.

“Isn’t all of this a little scary?” added Gonzalo Perez Paredes, another conference-goer.

Eva Blum-Dumontet, a senior researcher at British advocacy group Privacy International, said smart cities risked becoming a threat to human rights if companies and governments did not take steps to limit surveillance and ensure inclusivity.

“We need to ask, for instance, how the city will affect people who may not be tech literate,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in emailed comments.

“This risk is all the greater when there is not a legal framework limiting the access that governments can obtain over the data collected by private companies.”

By Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Katy Migiro