CIO Association of Canada turns 20: Hashtag Trending for Thursday, Feb 8, 2024

Tesla’s stock is the biggest loser on the S&P 500. YouTube is hailed as one of the most engaging social media sites, LinkedIn introduces AI tools to save time managing your network, Vision Pro headsets may be a hazard and the CIO Association of Canada turns 20.

All this and more on the “my how the years have flown” edition of Hashtag Trending. I’m your host Jim Love, CIO of IT World Canada and TechNewsDay in the US.

This month marks the 20th Anniversary of the CIO Association of Canada (CIOCAN).

Founded in 2004, with its roots tracing back to Vancouver in 1998, CIOCAN emerged from a collective aspiration to forge a unified platform for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and technology leaders. This platform was envisioned as a space for sharing ideas, insights, and best practices among the brightest minds in what was at the time still a C level job that was all too often struggling for recognition.

As CIOCAN celebrates this landmark anniversary, few would question how important technology is today, but it wasn’t too long ago that technology was thought of as something like plumbing or heating – we needed it, but we weren’t looking to use it strategically. In many companies, the CIO reported into Finance where they were treated like an expense to be kept under tight management.

Today, as the cloud and AI accelerate the digital transformation of every aspect of business and our lives, the role of the CIO is often respected and in most successful companies, the head of technology, is thought of as a true C level strategic business leader.

Over the years, we CIOs have had to change and the support of our association and our peers has been essential.

Full disclosure – I am a member of the CIOCAN, and it is still the place where technology leadership can gather and discuss our mutual concerns, issues and opportunities with our peers. There are chapters all across the country where they have regular meetings and every year there is an annual Peer Forum, this year it’s in Calgary.

If you’ve been around for a few years, and what to think about how we got here, my friend and colleague Philippe Johnston shares his reflections and the journey of the CIO Association of Canada on the association’s website.

If you want to learn more about the role of the CIO, look for our annual CIO Census coming out in the next month or so or join us in one of the local or even the national events.

And if you work for a great CIO or an up-and-coming tech leader, why not nominate them for the Canadian CIO of the Year award – sponsored by CIOCAN and IT World Canada.

As always there are links in the show notes or just check ITWorld Canada.com

Sources include: CIO Association of Canada, https://www.ciocan.ca/20th-anniversary

A recent story from DigitalSilk.com analyzed data from SimilarWeb and came up with a rating of social media sites in terms of user engagement – taking metrics like the average number of pages visited per user and duration of visits.

Topping the charts is YouTube, hailed as the most engaging social media site.

YouTube’s dominance is attributed to its impressive average visit duration of 19 minutes and 35 seconds coupled with users navigating through 11.08 pages per visit.

Following closely are Reddit and Snapchat, securing the second and third spots, respectively, with Reddit users spending about 15 minutes and 55 seconds and Snapchat users 14 minutes and 10 seconds per visit.

X.com, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram round out the top five.

There’s a table on the show notes with a link to DigitalSilk.com

Interestingly, despite the buzz around TikTok, it didn’t crack the top ten, suggesting that engagement metrics may not be catching mobile usage or some other measurement issue. I’ve put a message out to DigitalSilk, but haven’t heard back as of the time of recording of today’s episode.

Sources include: DigitalSilk.com

In a recent LinkedIn article, Naman Goel, Senior Director of Product at LinkedIn, talked about the evolving landscape of professional networking in 2024. With an astonishing 85% of professionals contemplating a job change this year, the significance of networking has never been more pronounced.

However, the challenge of nurturing a professional network is time consuming, taking over 300 hours annually for nearly a quarter of individuals who dedicate 6-10 hours weekly to this endeavor.

LinkedIn’s response to this is a revamp of the Network Tab, now featuring two distinct sections: “Grow” and “Catch Up.”

The “Grow” tab aims to simplify the expansion and management of your network by offering personalized recommendations through LinkedIn’s sophisticated AI algorithms.

On the other hand, the “Catch Up” tab provides users with timely prompts to reconnect with your network, celebrating milestones like new jobs, work anniversaries, or birthdays, thereby fostering meaningful engagements.

LinkedIn is also tackling the “blank page problem” head-on with a new Premium feature that employs AI to assist users in crafting initial messages to potential connections. This tool suggests drafts based on the profiles of both the sender and the recipient, encouraging personalized and relevant communication.

As I said in my comments on LinkedIn, the tools to help manage our networks and help us be more efficient at keeping track of people are welcome. But if you need an AI program to help you send me a message, I’d say don’t bother.

By all means use AI to help you with all kinds of writing tasks, brainstorming, outlining and yes, please – proofreading. But when it comes to personal messages?  If you don’t know what you want to say, you probably don’t really want to talk to me.

I can talk to ChatGPT directly and cut out the middleman.

Sources include: Naman Goel’s LinkedIn article (search for it on Linked In)

Tesla’s stock performance makes it as the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, with a 24% decline.

This downturn is attributed to a number of factors.

Key among these challenges are the numerous recalls that have plagued Tesla, raising concerns about the reliability and safety of its vehicles.

Additionally, CEO Elon Musk’s erratic behavior has been well documented in terms of its impact on Twitter, but now at Tesla, his behaviour has again come under scrutiny, with reports of alleged drug use so concerning that it’s rumored his board has suggested rehab.

But Musk alone isn’t the total cause of Tesla’s stock woes. There is also increased competition from both domestic and international automakers, which are rapidly expanding their electric vehicle offerings. This competitive pressure is intensifying at a time when Tesla needs to solidify its market leadership and innovate to maintain its edge.

In that light, investor sentiment has been further dampened by Musk’s outsized influence on the company. While Musk’s visionary leadership has been a key driver of Tesla’s past success, his recent actions and the controversies surrounding him have led to significant shareholder value erosion.

The company’s annual report acknowledges its heavy dependence on Musk, highlighting the risk that his less favorable antics pose to investor confidence and the company’s market valuation.

Sources include: Quartz

A recent trend has emerged that even in an age of social media stunts, seems particularly inane – people wearing Apple Vision Pro headsets in inappropriate and unsafe places.

The Vision Pro headsets, released by Apple on February 2, 2024, promise an immersive experience that blends digital applications with the user’s physical environment. However, the allure of this new gadgetry has led to a spate of social media stunts, including videos of individuals navigating the roads in Teslas, their vision obscured by the headsets.

These videos, while not widespread, have been alarming enough to prompt a public response from figures like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Their message is clear: the act of driving demands undivided attention, a principle seemingly forgotten by those chasing viral fame.

If we have reached a point where officials must explicitly warn against driving while watching virtual reality, what does it say about our collective judgment in the digital age?

Content creators like Dante Lentini, whose video of driving while wearing the Vision Pro went viral, claim their actions are purely for entertainment.

Yet, the implications of such stunts ripple far beyond their intended comedic value, highlighting a disturbing trend of prioritizing online engagement over real-world consequences.

Lentini’s admission that the video was staged and that police presence was coincidental does little to mitigate the potential risks such content glorifies.

As we navigate the complexities of a world increasingly augmented by digital innovations, we may be in danger of losing the distinction between the virtual and the real, which sadly can have tragic consequences in situations as critical as driving.

We worry about artificial intelligence dooming the human race, when lack of intelligence may be a bigger concern.

Sources include: New York Times article by Jesus Jiménez, February 6, 2024

Hashtag Trending goes to air five days a week with daily news and a weekend interview show that we creatively called – the weekend edition.

We love to hear from you. Send us a note at jlove@itwc.ca or drop us a comment under the show notes at itworldcanada.com/podcasts – look for Hashtag Trending.

Thanks for listening and have a Thrilling Thursday.