Nine great industry news stories from this week you may have missed.
Aspiring Lawyers Can't Afford to be Technophobes
Three years ago, ULaw predicted that legal technology would become central to university curriculum. In anticipation of the changes ahead, the legal education provider formed the ULaw Technology Research Academy (ULTRA). Fast forward to 2019 and the team of six has developed a number of tech-focused courses which have been rolled out across the university's "tech hub" centers in England.
According to Simon George, an associate professor at ULAW and head of the research team, “In today’s world it’s absolutely imperative students embrace tech, and if they aren’t, they’re likely entering the wrong profession." Learn all the details in Legal Cheek's article.
Shop Safely This Cyber Monday
Today is Black Friday, the most-anticipated shopping day of the year. While the stores will be bustling this weekend, some shoppers are opting to wait until Monday to take advantage of deals online. Security Boulevard has posted some best practices to consider before you "proceed to checkout". Good luck and happy shopping!
Law in the Age of the Customer
According to Forbes.com, we are in the age of the customer. But, what does this client-centric approach mean for law firms? Generally, more specialists (outside of law) will be brought on to help bridge the "that's how it's always been done" gap. These include technologists, project and process management experts, data analysts, risk managers, cyber security experts and more. Collaboratively, these progressive thinkers can help firms provide solutions to the business challenges. Read all the details of how lawyers will tailor their business models to their clients going forward here.
Legal Tech's Gender Diversity Problem
Including both men and women in leadership positions is vital to the success of any organization. However, according to Bloomberg Law gender diversity in the current legal landscape is lacking. A recent survey of 769 legal tech companies found that only 73 had female founders — a mere 9.5 per cent. Learn more about how the gender discrepancy in leadership and what it means for our industry here.
This "Robot Lawyer" Can Take the Mystery Out of License Agreements
Need to read the fine print? There's an app for that. Released last week, Do Not Sign is an iOS app that assists users in understanding licensing agreements and how to opt out of specific terms. The app revolutionizes the cumbersome document-signing process and streamlines the need to read every word. Users can upload files and even copy and paste the URLs to contracts to have the app quickly check it over. Learn how Do Not Sign is helping users understand terms and conditions on The Verge.
Can Smart Cities Help Their Residents Without Hurting Their Privacy?
Street sensors can reduce collisions, heated sidewalks can melt the snow and buildings can predict when to heat, cool and illuminate rooms. As corporations such as Facebook, Amazon and Google continue to learn consumer behaviours, it's no surprise that cities are following suit. The cities of the future are being built on data, but some users are wondering what this means for their personal privacy. Quartz's recent article dives into the ethics behind the use of personal data in civic development and how it's affecting local communities.
Be Grateful More Often
In the spirit of our southern neighbour's Thanksgiving festivities this week, we invite you to take a moment to reflect on the importance of expressing gratitude. Read Harvard Business Review's recent article on why we should be giving thanks this week and every week beyond the holidays.
Search vs. Discovery: How are They Different?
Why is discovery better than search? One reason is because of the overload of data – both online and in-house. Searching for something, whether via Google or using scripts written by programmers that peruse huge data storage repositories, requires you to invest a great deal of time and effort in order to ferret out the results you really need from a huge amount of non-relevant data – because the context of what you are searching for is not always clear. Discovery – where a system proactively presents to you what you are really looking for based on the context of what you are doing or searching for – is the Next Big Thing in data usage. Dive into the differences of these terms and what they mean for you on IDM.
What Will Cyber Security Look Like in 2020?
We're just one month away from the New Year. Over the past decade we've been introduced to more and more sophisticated cyber attacks, and they will only continue to advance. Find out what cyber security will look like in the year 2020 on Tech Radar.