“The first generation of Fortify Audit Assistant was well ahead of its time with its use of predictive analytics and machine learning,” said Prentiss Donohue, cybersecurity executive vice president at OpenText.

“Those pioneering efforts paved the way for us to derive 10 years of data from human experts and turn them into predictive models that are significantly more accurate compared to the previous generation’s models, improving efficacy in auditing by reducing false positives up to 90%. Enterprises can now leverage this depth of information—something no one else in the industry can provide—within their own software assurance programs”, he added.

With this technology, OpenText highlights the need for advanced application security tools and practices, addressing the pressure security teams face to ensure software integrity and reliability from the start.

Key updates to Fortify Audit Assistant include the ability to account for model shifts, the flexibility to learn from a company’s unique environment, expanded model expertise through language specification, and the ability to account for nuances of scan results.

The tool also aims to streamline developers’ work by allowing them to focus on addressing the most critical vulnerabilities.

According to OpenText, the advanced auditing process is a direct response to requirements for more efficient application security testing, which is too time-consuming and requires manual processing of static analysis results.

The new generation of Fortify Audit Assistant will integrate security considerations into the earliest stages of the software development lifecycle, starting right from code creation. This will help in building software systems that are not only robust and reliable, but also inherently secure.

The tool uses machine learning technology to automate the security audit process, learning from the experience of Fortify’s human auditors. This application of AI is being identified as a strategic move to address the shortage of expertise available for manual verification, which is resource intensive and impractical for many organizations.

Fortify Audit Assistant promises to significantly reduce the overhead associated with hiring teams of software engineering, computer science and cybersecurity experts, the company explains.

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However, amidst these challenges lies an opportunity for companies to take a proactive approach in steering and actively overseeing their ADM processes. As organizations seek innovative ways to enhance their ADM services, they should give precedence to the development of a strategic, straightforward, and enduring roadmap.

Boosting Strategic Decision-Making: Enterprises are now turning to a strategic approach in Application Development and Management (ADM) to cut costs and attain more closely aligned outcomes with their business objectives. This shift promises enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in the realm of application development and management. To achieve these coveted strategic results, organizations are prioritizing five key principles and practices:

1. Aligning ADM Portfolios with Business Goals: Enterprises are now emphasizing the need to clearly define their business objectives before evaluating their current application landscape and their respective purposes. The review of the application portfolio is conducted in line with these pre-defined business goals, which involves assessing each application’s functionality, usage, and contributions to the organization.
2. Prioritizing Critical Applications: Not all applications hold the same level of significance in an organization’s success. Thus, enterprises are directing their ADM efforts towards the applications that are deemed most crucial in realizing their business objectives and delivering value to stakeholders.
3. Cultivating an Innovation-Oriented Environment: In the world of Application Development and Management (ADM), fostering a culture of innovation is paramount. ADM serves as a facilitator for the creation of novel products, services, and even the adoption of fresh business models, by equipping enterprises with the essential tools and infrastructure necessary to encourage innovation.
4. Elevating Focus on Data and Analytics: The realm of data is evolving at an unprecedented rate, presenting businesses with increasingly intricate and diverse data sets. To navigate this data landscape effectively, a well-structured ADM framework is indispensable. It’s the linchpin that ensures the efficient and accurate processing and management of this data. The collection, processing, and analysis of data from a multitude of sources are vital components of an effective data analysis strategy.
5. Selecting a Strategic Partner: In the quest for success, the choice of a strategic partner is of paramount importance. It’s crucial not to overcomplicate the setup and business Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). When seeking a partner, it’s imperative to ensure that they possess comprehensive expertise in all facets of applications and the rapidly evolving technological landscape, aligning seamlessly with your business strategy.

Top Ways to Save Your Career

Expand your horizons
In a rapidly changing industry like technology, adaptability is key to ensuring your relevance. Continuously upgrade your knowledge and skills and keep up with the latest trends, technologies and certifications in your field. By investing in training, you are not only increasing your competency, but also positioning yourself as a valuable asset to your organization. Expand your knowledge and explore adjacent fields in your industry. This will make you more flexible and allow you to navigate and explore new opportunities when needed.

Build a strong professional network
As you know, building and maintaining professional relationships is critical to your long-term career success. Attend relevant events and conferences where you can network with professionals, industry experts and why not potential mentors. These networking opportunities provide valuable connections and insights. Don’t underestimate the role of LinkedIn, which allows you to connect with colleagues, join industry-specific groups and participate in discussions. Active participation in online communities can expand your network and open up new opportunities.

Be confident in your abilities and skills
Demonstrating your value to the organisation is important to secure your position. Align your work with the company’s goals and communicate your progress regularly. Emphasize your accomplishments and the positive impact they have on the organization’s success. Invest in improving your soft skills, such as effective communication, teamwork and leadership abilities. These skills are highly valued in any organization and can set you apart from your colleagues.

In the June 2021 report from the UC Berkeley Center for Community Innovation and nonpartisan nonprofit think tank Next 10, more than 1 in 12 California homes is located in an area that has a high risk of burning in a wildfire event.  At the same time, California is facing an insurance crisis.

Firemaps not only helps homeowners parse insurance requirements, but the platform can also, with the homeowner’s permission, share comprehensive reports.  Reinsurers can quickly see what proportion of homes in a given area have been secured against wildfire. State and municipal governments can apply grant dollars apportioned for these treatments back to the homeowner via the platform. Jahan Khanna, CEO of Firemaps, commented:

“As we speak, there are record-breaking wildfires throughout the western half of the USA, as well as in France, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Russia, and in Canada. Wildfire season is now all year.  It will continue to threaten the lives of firefighters and destroy homes and communities. There are millions of homes in high-risk areas that need complex work done at an unprecedented scale, as quickly as possible. We created the Firemaps platform as a way to deal with the effects of climate change for the people who have to live with it.”

Firemaps do not charge homeowners a premium.  Due to the efficiency of the platform, contractors pay a fee to participate. Homeowners in high-risk areas can get the mapping done for free. Firemaps can also help homeowners procure available grant funding. Qualifying homeowners can use this state grant money to help pay for their Firemaps wildfire defence. Here is how the Firemaps process works:

• Homeowners submit their addresses at Firemaps.com.
• Firemaps uses satellite imagery and machine learning to create a preliminary risk assessment.
• For high-risk homes, Firemaps will construct a 3D map of their home and property using a handheld drone. The map is able to render details of the home’s landscape, topography, vent construction, deck construction, roof condition, and porch or deck vulnerability and can measure the particular features of the property.
• The map is used to generate a detailed risk assessment and wildfire defence plan, taking into consideration local fire department guidance and homeowner insurance requirements.
• Qualified contractors, arborists, and other tradespeople are able to bid on the work remotely, using the Firemaps data. The Firemaps project manages the process.
• The Firemaps platform can routinely dispatch contractors to keep the work maintained as vegetation regrows, and will allow the property owner to voluntarily share the data with insurance agencies, their local fire departments, and other stakeholders in exchange for insurance discounts and local government incentives or tax credits where applicable.

Firemaps

Study after study shows that this work is not just necessary, but it’s critical in the fight against untamed wildfire:

• An analysis of over 115,000 homes across over 1200 historical fire events in North America shows that these defensible space landscaping techniques can increase the chances of a home surviving a wildfire by up to 90%.
• Hardening the home and replacing roofing, siding, and vents have the potential to add another 50% chance of survivability.
• California State Forestry research indicates communities, where over 70% of the homes in the area have applied both techniques across all homes, have done roughly the equivalent of putting an extra fire break in the surrounding geography to secure the neighbourhood.

Both CALFire and IBHS.org advocate for homeowners to apply these techniques, as do newly introduced CA state regulations and building codes like AB38.

Education market researchers HolonIQ reported that edtech companies received $16.1 billion in venture capital in 2020. A recent survey from Brighteye Ventures, Europe’s biggest edtech VC firm, said that European edtech funding is set to surge from $711 million in 2020 to $1.8 billion in 2021.

As part of Tech.eu’s Crossing Borders series on international expansion, we spoke to three European edtech startups about their scale-up stories, how they weathered the pandemic year, and how it has shaped expansion plans looking ahead.

How to game the education landscape

Poland-based learning platform Brainly, for one, has seen its monthly user base surge to 350 million today, from 150 million in 2019. Brainly, which enables students and their parents to get help on study assignments, is available to people from 35 global markets, including the U.S., India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia.

Felix Ohswald, cofounder and CEO of GoStudent, said the pandemic was a mixed bag at the start. He said:

“On the teacher side, from one day to another we had 4 times more applications simply because a lot of young people were looking for remote jobs … and providing online teaching is a pretty attractive opportunity.”

However, on the parent side, the team saw a decrease in search volume for tutoring services because there was less pressure in school and fewer regular exams, which in the end made it more expensive for the company to acquire new customers.

Post-pandemic edtech crunch

Vienna, Austria-headquartered GoStudent became Europe’s first edtech unicorn in June 2021, after raising a €205 million ($242.5 million) round that valued the company at €1.4 billion ($1.65 billion). The company is present in more than 15 countries and about to add Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada in the coming months, as part of its stated ambition to become the world’s No. 1 online school.

Building edtech into the curriculum

As a campus-based business, Ironhack expanded based on factors like the cost of renting teaching space, cost of living in the city, ease of hiring teachers and program managers, and the number of competitors. The competition and astronomical cost of space and living ruled out London, Baqués says.

The Ironhack playbook for assessing potential new markets includes analysis of demand for the types of job positions their graduates are being trained for, including projections on how many web developers, UX designers, and data analysts different cities will likely need in the coming years.