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Research Roundup: More Transit = More Jobs, Congestion Trends & Statistics, Managing Increased Ridership

The Transportation Equity Network (TEN) has released More Transit = More Jobs: The Impact Of Increasing Funding For Public Transit (31p. PDF). TEN is a coalition of more than 350 grassroots organizations in 41 states that has worked since 1997 to build a more just, prosperous, and connected America.

This study asks two key questions:

What would be the effect on jobs in each metropolitan area of shifting 50% of the money spent on highways to public transit?

How many jobs would be created in each metro area if we increased funding on public transit at the rate indicated by the Transportation For America proposal for the next transportation authorization act?

The report highlights several statistics in answering those questions based on data from Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPS) in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas. For example, 1,123,674 new transit jobs would be created over a 5-year period for a net gain of 180,150 jobs without a single dollar of new spending.

However, if federal spending on transit increased as proposed by TEN and Transportation For America, an estimated 1.3 million jobs over the life of the law would be created, as well as almost 800,000 more jobs than under present federal transporation law (SAFETEA-LU).

The Federal Highway Administration published the 2009 Urban Congestion Trends (8p. PDF) document last week. This brief report utilizes a dashboard format to convey year-over-year changes in key traffic measures: daily hours of congestion, time penalty for eqach trip, worst-trip time penalty. Some key observations include:

  • Overall, congestion had declined in almost all monitored regions between 2008 and 2009
  • Less wasted time and fewer hours of the day were devoted to stop-and-go traffic in 16 of the 23 monitored regions
  • At least one of the three measures improved in 20 of the 23 monitored regions
  • Congestion is lowest during the summer vacation season
The report goes on to explain how operational improvements can mitigate congestion and promote smooth, safe and consistent traffic flow.

Examples provided from around the country include high-occupancy/toll lanes, freeway ramp metering, improved information coordination, work-zone management, and traffic signal system improvement programs.

In Managing Increasing Ridership Demand (32p. PDF), The FTA's Transit Cooperative Research Program presents an overview of a study mission investigating how several transit operators and agencies in Latin America accomodate sudden and significant growth in the number of riders and increasing demand for service.

Case studies from Guayaquil (Ecuador), Santiago (Chile), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Porto Alegre (Brazil) were selected because they have faced and successfully dealt with challenges similar to recent ridership grown in the United States.

Each city's responses offer unique insight into managing increasing transit ridership and providing various perspectives on serving the mobility needs of their communities.

Two International Transit Studies Program study missions such as this are conducted each year. They have three objectives: To afford team members the opportunity to expand their network of domestic and international public transportation peers, to provide a forum for discussion of global initiatives and lessons learned in public transportation, and to facilitate idea sharing and the possible import of strategies for application to transportation communities in the United States.




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New And Notable: Strategic Collaboration In Public & Non-Profit, Managing Public Sector Projects, Government Contracting

This week, we highlight three new titles from the ASPA Series in Public Administration and Public Policy.

Market disruptions, climate change, and health pandemics lead the growing list of challenges faced by today’s leaders. These issues, along with countless others that do not make the daily news, require novel thinking and collaborative action to find workable solutions. However, many administrators stumble into collaboration without a strategic orientation.

Using a practitioner-oriented style, Strategic Collaboration In Public And Non-Profit Administration: A Practice-Based Approach To Solving Shared Problems provides guidance on how to collaborate more effectively, with less frustration and better results.

Linking collaboration theory to effective practice, this book offers essential advice that fosters shared understanding, creative answers, and transformation results through strategic collaborative action. With an emphasis on application, it uses scenarios, real-world cases, tables, figures, tools, and checklists to highlight key points.

The appendix includes supplemental resources such as collaboration operating guidelines, a meeting checklist, and a collaboration literature review to help public and nonprofit managers successfully convene, administer, and lead collaboration. The book presents a framework for engaging in collaboration in a way that stretches current thinking and advances public service practice.

A guidebook through the minefield of government contracting and procurement, Government Contracting: Promises and Perils describes the dangerous practices commonly applied in the development and management of government contracts and provides advice for avoiding the sort of errors that might compromise their ability to protect the public interest.

It includes strategies for increasing profits for government contractors, rather than incurring burdensome costs, through compliance with government mandated subcontracting and financial management systems.

Drawing from his in-depth investigation of government agencies across the country, the author examines present-day scenarios that regularly lead public servants and government committees to manage contracts with tools that are less than optimal and to select contractors that may not be the best qualified. He then delineates practical processes, contracting documents, and contract management tools to mitigate detrimental outcomes and alternative approaches to supplant the imperfect methodologies.

The author includes a CD-ROM with the book that provides a number of practical tools that you can apply as well as examples of contracts and templates that are the best he discovered during his research. The book also outlines an approach for performing advance contract planning, conducting contract negotiations, and administering contracts useful when planning for the management of the contracting process throughout the contracting cycle, negotiating a contract that protects the interest of all contracting parties, and ensuring successful contractor performance.

Filling a gap in project management literature, Managing Public Sector Projects: A Strategic Framework for Success in an Era of Downsized Government supplies managers and administrators—at all levels of government—with expert guidance on all aspects of public sector project management.

From properly allocating risks in drafting contracts to dealing with downsized staffs and privatized services, this book clearly explains the technical concepts and the political issues involved.

In line with the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) and the PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge), David S. Kassel establishes a framework those in the public sector can follow to ensure the success of their public projects and programs. He supplies more than 30 real-life examples to illustrate the concepts behind the framework—including reconstruction projects in Iraq, the Big Dig project in Boston, local sewer system and library construction projects, and software technology.

This authoritative resource provides strategic recommendations for effective planning, execution, and maintenance of public projects. It also:

  • Highlights the differences between managing projects in the public sector versus the private sector
  • Explains how to scrutinize costs, performance claims, and the backgrounds of prospective contractors
  • Presents key safeguards that should be included in all contracts with contractors, consultants, suppliers, and other service providers
  • Details the basics of project cost estimation, design and scheduling, and how to hold contractors responsible for meeting established project standards

In an age of downsized government and in the face of a general distrust of public service, this book is a dependable guide for avoiding management practices that are common to projects that fail and for adopting the practices common to projects that succeed in terms of cost, schedule, and quality.




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Research Roundup: Social Media For Public Transportation, Funding The Needs Of An Aging Population & An Overview Of U.S. Parking Management Strategies

Each and every day, social media tools change the way that organizations
interact with their users.

A recent report from the Center For Urban Transportation Research at University of South Florida titled Routes To New Networks: A Guide To Social Media For The Public Transportation Industry (66p. PDF) explains how these new platforms offer not only more personal one-on-one interaction than traditional media, but also represent the essence of niche marketing.

It is undeniable that social media is all the buzz. For some, utilizing new media tools may come as second nature. For others, however, entering the world of social media means taking a giant leap into the world of online communications.

One thing is certain – social media platforms are allowing a new opportunity for transportation providers to directly communicate with their target audiences. Communication is moving in this direction – with or without your organization.

The report analyzes the usefulness of and applications for social networks, written blogs, audio/video blogs, microblogs (e.g. Twitter), photo sharing, video sharing, user-generated content and mobile web content.

The report states that key points to consider when determining which tool(s) to use are:

1) Who is my target audience and what tools are they using?
2) What type of information do I want to communicate?
Content must always resonate with your audience. What can you provide that would be of value?

Earlier this year, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) published Funding The Public Transportation Needs Of An Aging Population (57p. PDF).

It explains how rapid growth in the number of older people in the United States during the coming decades will lead to greatly increased needs for expanded and enhanced public transportation services. This report:
a) identifies the range of actions that will be needed to expand mobility options for older people, including accessible public transportation services;
b) quantifies the demand for these public transportation services; and
c) estimates the funding that will be needed to provide them.
Needed actions have been identified by means of a review of the extensive literature on this
subject. The actions needed to expand mobility options for older people include:
  • Enhancements to fixed-route public transportation operations and planning such as additional bus operator training, incorporating travel needs of older people in route planning and stop placement, and coordination with other agencies and transportation providers
  • Enhancements to public transportation vehicles such as low-floor buses, kneeling buses, improved interior circulation, additional stanchions and grab bars, ergonomic seating designed for older riders, and accessibility features either required or encouraged by ADA like lifts and ramps, larger letters on head signs, and stop announcements
  • Actions to help older people take advantage of existing services, like presenting information in ways that are easy to read and as clear as possible, information and assistance programs to connect older people with appropriate services, and outreach and training programs
  • Expansion of supplementary services including flexible route and community transportation services, ADA complementary paratransit, non-ADA demand-responsive services, taxi subsidy programs, and volunteer driver programs
  • Application of universal design strategies at transit facilities, bus stops, and on streets and sidewalks in the immediate vicinity of transit facilities and stops
These are the actions of greatest concern to public transportation agencies, but they are not the
only actions needed.

Other important actions include assuring supportive services to caregivers
who provide transportation, encouraging further development of unsubsidized private
transportation services, increasing the availability of accessible taxicabs, coordinating with non-emergency medical transportation provided under Medicaid and Medicare, and supporting
modifications to automobiles and roadways to increase the safety of older drivers.

Finally, we wanted to take a closer look at U.S. Parking Policies: An Overview Of Management Strategies put out by the Institute For Transportation And Development Policy in New York.

This report highlights best practices in parking management in the United States.

In the last decade, some municipalities have reconsidered poorly conceived parking policies to address a host of negative impacts resulting from private automobile use such as traffic congestion and climate change. Unchecked, these policies have proven to be a major barrier to establishing a balanced urban transportation network.

Many aspects of current parking management in the United States do not work reliably or efficiently for anyone: Motorists find themselves circling for long periods in search of a place to park; retail employees take choice parking locations away from potential customers; developers are compelled to provide more parking than the market requires; and traffic managers encounter difficulty handling traffic generated by new parking as there is often no link between parking price, supply and the amount of available road space.

Finally, the old parking paradigm doesn’t work for the environment, as hidden subsidies encourage over reliance on private car use — a major, growing contributor to global warming and air pollution.

This report identifies core sustainable parking principles and illustrates how smarter parking management can benefit consumers and businesses in time and money savings, while also leading to more livable, attractive communities.




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Ventana Research Begins Latest Market Research into Analytics and Data

Latest research aims to understand the changing nature of analytics and its impact on business




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Ventana Research Begins New Market Research on Data Governance

New research aims to understand the management and use of data and its impact on business




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Ventana Research Begins New Dynamic Insights Research on Natural Language Processing

Latest research aims to understand advances in natural language capabilities and its impact on business




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Beginners Learning Path for Machine Learning

So, you are interested in machine learning? Here is your complete learning path to start your career in the field.




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Will Machine Learning Engineers Exist in 10 Years?

As can be common in many technical fields, the landscape of specialized roles is evolving quickly. With more people learning at least a little machine learning, this could eventually become a common skill set for every software engineer.




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Next 2 quarters challenging for Indian cotton yarn sector




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Managing B Players

Tom DeLong, Harvard Business School professor.




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Managing Generation Y

Tammy Erickson, McKinsey Award-winning author.




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Reverse Engineering Google’s Innovation Machine

Tom Davenport, Babson College professor and coauthor of the HBR article "Reverse Engineering Google's Innovation Machine."




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Managing Information Overload

Paul Hemp, HBR contributing editor and author of the HBR article "Death by Information Overload."




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The Secret Origins of Corporate Strategy

Walter Kiechel, former managing editor at Fortune magazine and author of "The Lords of Strategy: The Secret Intellectual History of the New Corporate World."




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Managing the Productivity Paradox

Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project and author of "The Way We're Working Isn't Working."




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Bringing Judgment Back to Finance

Amar Bhidé, professor at Tufts University's Fletcher School and author of "A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy."




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Managing Older Workers

Peter Cappelli, Wharton School professor and coauthor of "Managing the Older Worker: How to Prepare for the New Organizational Order."




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Rebooting America’s Job Engine

Henry Nothhaft, serial entrepreneur and author of "Great Again: Revitalizing America's Entrepreneurial Leadership."




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Why So Many Emerging Giants Flame Out

John Jullens of Booz & Company says multinationals from China and other emerging markets must learn to innovate and manage quality while remaining nimble.




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Ruth Reichl on Challenging Career Moves

The renowned author and former editor of Gourmet talks about the magazine's closure and her recent transition to fiction writing.




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The Art of Managing Science

J. Craig Venter, the biologist who led the effort to sequence human DNA, on unlocking the human genome and the importance of building extraordinary teams for long-term results.




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How Science and Tech Are Changing the Human Body

Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans explain how we're "evolving ourselves."




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How AI Is Already Changing Business

Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT Sloan School professor, explains how rapid advances in machine learning are presenting new opportunities for businesses. He breaks down how the technology works and what it can and can’t do (yet). He also discusses the potential impact of AI on the economy, how workforces will interact with it in the future, and suggests managers start experimenting now. Brynjolfsson is the co-author, with Andrew McAfee, of the HBR Big Idea article, “The Business of Artificial Intelligence.” They’re also the co-authors of the new book, “Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future.




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Make Work Engaging Again

Dan Cable, a professor of organizational behavior at London Business School, explains why people often lose their enthusiasm for their work and how leaders can help them get it back. He says we shouldn’t forget that as humans we all need to explore and have purpose — and without that, we languish. Cable offers ideas for restoring people’s passion for their jobs. He’s the author of “Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do.”




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Managing Someone Who’s Too Collaborative

Rebecca Shambaugh, a leadership coach, says being too collaborative can actually hold you back at work. Instead of showing how well you build consensus and work with others, it can look like indecision or failure to prioritize. She explains what to do if you over-collaborate, how to manage someone who does, and offers some advice for women — whose bosses are more likely to see them as overly consensus-driven. Shambaugh is the author of the books "It's Not a Glass Ceiling, It's a Sticky Floor" and "Make Room For Her."




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How One Google Engineer Turned Tragedy into a Moonshot

Mo Gawdat, founder of One Billion Happy and former Chief Business Officer at Google's X, spent years working in technological innovation. At Google's so-called "dream factory," he learned how to operationalize moonshot ventures aiming to solve some of the world's hardest problems. But then a personal tragedy — the loss of his son — set him on a new path. Gawdat launched a startup with the moonshot goal of helping one billion people find happiness. Gawdat is also the author of "Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy."




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HBR Presents: FOMO Sapiens with Patrick J. McGinnis

Patrick McGinnis, creator of the term FOMO, engages business leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians and more about the paths they’ve taken in life – and what they’ve let go of. In this episode, he speaks with Zola CEO Shan-Lyn Ma and Female Founders Fund founder Anu Duggal about how women are driving diversity in the start-up world. "FOMO Sapiens with Patrick J. McGinnis" is part of HBR Presents, a new network of business podcasts curated by HBR editors. For our full lineup of shows, search “HBR” on your favorite podcast app or visit hbr.org/podcasts.




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How Robots and AI Are Changing Job Training

Matt Beane, assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, finds that robots, machine learning, and AI are changing how we train for our jobs — not just how we do them. His study shows that robot-assisted surgery is disrupting the traditional learning pathway of younger physicians. He says this trend is emerging in many industries, from finance to law enforcement to education. And he shares lessons from trainees who are successfully working around these new barriers. Beane is the author of the HBR article “Learning to Work with Intelligent Machines.”




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Managing Crises in the Short and Long Term

Eric McNulty, associate director of Harvard’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, studies how managers successfully lead their companies through crises such as the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and the Boston Marathon terror attack. He identifies the common traps that leaders fall into and shares how the best ones excel by thinking longer-term and trusting their teams with operational details. He also finds that companies that put people ahead of the bottom line tend to weather these storms better. McNulty is a coauthor of the book “You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most” and the HBR article “Are You Leading Through Crisis… Or Managing the Response?”




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Holiday Inn Express & Suites Atlanta Perimeter Mall Offers Close Lodging to Guests Attending Gallery 63 Auctions

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Atlanta Perimeter hotel, near Sandy Springs, GA, offers close lodging to guests attending upcoming auctions at Gallery 63, featured on the Discovery Channel show Auction Kings.




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Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel on North I-85 Offers Nearby Lodging to Guests Attending Scott Antique Market

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel (North I-85) provides affordable accommodations to guests attending upcoming 2013 Scott Antique Market Shows at Atlanta Expo Center. They are America's favorite treasure hunt.




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Next 2 quarters challenging for Indian cotton yarn sector




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Anajet merging with parent company




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Savannah Greatting Selected for Wolters Kluwer Emerging Leaders Program

Savannah L. Greatting, CPA, Supervisor + Tax Services at Anders, was selected for the 2019 Wolters Kluwer Emerging Leaders Program.
As a supervisor in the Tax Services Group, Greatting works with individuals on their tax and estate planning. A member… Read More

The post Savannah Greatting Selected for Wolters Kluwer Emerging Leaders Program appeared first on Anders CPAs.




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What is the difference between original Distress Ink and Distress Oxide?

Do the new Distress Oxide colors have you asking “what is the difference between the original Distress ink and new Distress Oxide ink?” Let’s test it!




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Enabling Remote Work Leveraging Microsoft Products, Including Microsoft Teams for Free

Companies that proactively prepared for a Work from Home (WFH) scenario have a significant competitive advantage over those who have not. If you are concerned about not having a remote work contingency plan, the Anders Technology Group can help you… Read More

The post Enabling Remote Work Leveraging Microsoft Products, Including Microsoft Teams for Free appeared first on Anders CPAs.





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10 Tips for Managing Cash Flow in a Crisis

During the boom times of recent years, businesses concentrated on growing the top line and managing costs, and not as much time focused on working capital components, such as accounts receivable, accounts payable and inventory. Now with financial strain on businesses as a result of COVID-19, business owners and leadership teams need to not only...

The post 10 Tips for Managing Cash Flow in a Crisis appeared first on Anders CPA.




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NECA Legislative Top Three 1/24/20: It's Time: Addressing the United States' Aging Infrastructure

This week in NECA Government Affairs we spotlight infrastructure legislation, the new SBA Administrator and the newly signed US/China Trade Agreement.




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Get a job: Join Game Closure as a Backend Engineer

Game Closure is on the hunt for backend / systems engineers to help us build the services and infrastructure that power our social games that are played by millions of people every day. ...




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Get a job: Tripwire Interactive is looking for a lead gameplay engineer

Tripwire Interactive is looking for a lead gameplay engineer to help shape its engineering team. ...




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Mid to Senior Worldbuilder - Unreal Engine: Airship Syndicate

We're currently working on an unannounced PC/console title (with an exciting pedigree), and need help bringing the game world to life. If you love building levels and bringing worlds to life for players, read on!Responsibilities Creating interesting, lived-in worlds with clever world building in Unreal Engine. Placing environment assets, VFX, lighting, and so on Establishing and maintaining technical requirements for environment assets and levels Working closely with designers to iterate on and finalize level layouts Utilization of 3DS Max or Maya, Photoshop, and other related tools to author environment assets Working with art leadership to review, critique and iterate on work Required Familiarity with the usual tools of the trade: modeling tools, game engines, source control, and so on. A keen willingness to adapt work as design iterates or evolves A do-whatever-it-takes mindset: flexibility to learn and grow to fill the needs of a small team Good understanding of how to create believable and visually memorable levels Good understanding optimization needs and other technical requirements regarding performance 5+ years of experience, demonstrating the above responsibilities in action Must be immediately eligible to work in the United States Pluses Titles shipped using Unreal Titles shipped across major platforms Affinity to learning new tools and techs Proficiency creating hand-painted textures Please note, due to a high volume of applicants we cannot reply to each individually. Only those in consideration for a position will receive a reply. Thank you!




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Senior Software Engineer - Gaming: Skydance

Skydance Interactive – developers of the hit game The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners –is looking for Senior Software Engineers with specialties in AI, graphics, and low-level systems to help develop our next generation of groundbreaking games.   Duties include, but are not limited to: Direct development of major game systems and engine architecture Create efficient systems to deliver top tier experiences across a range of established and emerging platforms Research and implement new technologies to push the boundaries of what our engine can achieve Collaborate with the art and design teams to plan features and extend the overall vision of the game Advise and mentor other members of the engineering team Promote strong code discipline and engineering practice throughout the organization Work with other leads and producers to establish game related tasks and schedules Provide critical analysis of development practices with the goal of improving game quality, team efficiency, and cultivating a positive working environment Help drive the product to completion with the highest standards of quality, performance, and polish Requirements: BS/MS in Computer Science or related fields, or equivalent experience Mastery of C++11 Minimum of 5 years’ experience in AAA game development Previous leadership experience or demonstrated leadership potential Experience working with Unreal Engine 4 Shipped at least one PC/Console or VR game using UE4 Experience with code and data optimization Experience in the design and architecture of game systems Comfortable working within (and extending) an established code framework 




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Backend Engineer: Game Closure

Game Closure San Francisco, Mountain View, Tokyo, Remote  -  Full Time Game Closure is on the hunt for backend / systems engineers to help us build the services and infrastructure that power our social games that are played by millions of people every day on Facebook, Viber, Line and other messaging platforms. We are a growing team with offices in Mountain View and San Francisco, California, Tokyo, Japan and some possibilities for remote work. If you want to join us to make great games on our cutting edge technology and truly make an impact, then we want to talk to you! As a Systems Engineer at Game Closure, you will play a pivotal role in creating a platform to revolutionize the instant games development industry. Our engineers are generally amazing at something and great at everything else. We write scalable backend systems, cross-compilers, JavaScript / TypeScript game APIs and tools, and whatever else it takes. No matter what you work on each day, you will work with the best engineers in the world; we have top talent in every part of our stack.   The Role: Be a key member of a high performing software engineering team. Architect and code sophisticated client/server systems for instant gaming. Play a critical role in day-to-day coding, performance profiling, optimization, and general troubleshooting. Collaborate with design, engineering, and production teams to devise optimal engineering solutions to game requirements. Learn from and mentor other engineers on your team. Take ownership of your projects to make them the best they can possibly be. Provide valuable input on the company’s long-term engineering roadmap and help identify areas of opportunity for improvement. Define the cutting edge of social gaming!   Desired Skills: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience. 3+ years of professional software engineering experience. Experience writing clean, testable, high-quality code and designing highly scalable systems in production. Solid familiarity with deployment on cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.). Strong Computer Science fundamentals in software systems design, algorithms, and data structures. Ability to interact with peers in a constructive and productive style. Familiarity with git, svn, or other VCS. Good communication skills and the ability to work effectively on shared projects with designers, artists, testers, product managers, and other developers. Strong team player with a positive attitude.   Bonus: Expert knowledge of NodeJS and ES6 / TypeScript. DevOps experience -- setting up CI/CD environments, orchestrating deployments, creating monitoring dashboards, anything that makes the development process easier, more enjoyable and more accountable. Experience in game development and shipped titles.   GC Perks: Medical, Dental, & Vision: Top quality insurance options with 100% of premiums covered Social Events: Weekly team dinners, quarterly team excursions, game nights, karaoke, and more Commuter Pass + Free Parking: Your commute and parking to the office is on us! PTO: Unlimited vacation policy Meals: Free daily lunches, well stocked kitchen, healthy snacks and drinks Pet-Friendly Office: Bring your pets to work to foster a friendlier and happier workplace Fitness: Free onsite yoga classes   Play our games! www.gameclosure.com




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Senior Game Engineer: Game Closure

Game Closure San Francisco, Mountain View, Tokyo, Remote  -  Full Time Game Closure is on the hunt for Senior Game Engineers to help us build the social games that will be tomorrow’s biggest hits on Facebook and other social media platforms. We are a growing team with offices in San Francisco and Mountain View, California, Tokyo, Japan and also some possibilities for remote work. If you want to join us to make great games on our cutting­ edge technology and truly make an impact, then we want to talk to you! Game Closure game engineers make polished, high-performance HTML5 mobile games. We want people who are proficient with JavaScript and who are passionate about making fun social games to be played by millions! As a Game Engineer at Game Closure, you will build games internally on top of our cutting-edge and open source devkit. In addition to building kick­ass instant games, you will play a pivotal role in creating a platform which will revolutionize the future of game development. It's always a bonus if you know more than JavaScript! We write cross-compilers, GPU shaders, NodeJS back­ends, JavaScript game APIs and tools, and whatever else it takes. You will work with the best engineers in the world; we have top talent in every part of our stack.   The Role: Be responsible for designing, developing and deploying major game features Own game feature areas from end-­to­-end Be the champion for the user! Insist on the highest standards and create functional and engaging features that will delight our users Be part of a tight game development team looking to iterate fast on a fun concept and then building it out Have real input on end-user product Be a key member of a high performing software engineering team Collaborate with design, engineering and production teams to devise optimal engineering solutions to game requirements Hands­ on architect and coder for sophisticated client/server systems for mobile gaming Innovate and iterate on process, systems and technology to deliver world­-class social games Be a leader; Identify and articulate technical and production risks and obstacles, as well as generate solutions!   Desired Skills: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience. 3+ years of professional software engineering experience, working on cross functional teams. Proven effectiveness in directing or delivering production software for high quality games with at least one shipped game product of which you were a primary contributor (self­ published titles are acceptable). Capable of JavaScript + HTML5 to create custom, interactive, user experiences that are enjoyable on all HTML5 browsers. Proficient at using script debuggers like Chrome Debugger. Strong Computer Science fundamentals in object­-oriented design, algorithms, and data structures. Advanced software engineering skills, including the ability to write maintainable and robust code in a p popular object oriented language. Solid familiarity with analytics and A/B testing in mobile games Familiarity with git, svn or other VCS. Self starter, analytical and creative Strong team player with a positive attitude. Good communication skills and the ability to work effectively on shared projects with designers, artists, testers, product managers and other developers. Check out Everwing on Facebook Instant Games in Messenger. Can you build this game? Understanding of the reactive UI paradigm and experience building UIs using reactive UI frameworks (such as React, and state management Utilities like Redux).   Bonus: Canvas animation work 2+ years of game development experience with multiple shipped titles Specialized skills in a particular area of game development (for example: UI, Physics, graphics, multiplayer, game logic, etc.) Expert knowledge of TypeScript   GC Perks: Medical, Dental, & Vision: Top quality insurance options with 100% of premiums covered Social Events: Weekly team dinners, quarterly team excursions, game nights, karaoke, and more Commuter Pass + Free Parking: Your commute and parking to the office is on us! PTO: Unlimited vacation policy Meals: Free daily lunches, well stocked kitchen, healthy snacks and drinks Pet-Friendly Office: Bring your pets to work to foster a friendlier and happier workplace   Play our games! www.gameclosure.com




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Lead Gameplay Engineer: Tripwire Interactive

Tripwire Interactive is looking for talented, dedicated, and passionate individuals to join the Tripwire Interactive family! Tripwire Interactive is an independent video game development and publishing company, famous for shooter titles like Red Orchestra and the wildly popular Killing Floor series. With its next project poised to blow previous projects out of the water, Tripwire has solidified its spot as one of the brightest rising stars in the games industry.  At Tripwire Interactive, we pride ourselves in our ability to move to the beat of our own drum. Our existence as an independent studio and publisher means we are able to develop games on a schedule that reassesses what has become the status quo in the industry as a whole. We’re located in Roswell, GA just north of Atlanta; where cost of living is relatively low and opportunities are high. So if you’re looking to work in an environment that changes the game in more ways than one, look no further than Tripwire Interactive. *Note: During this unprecedented time, we are looking for individuals who are able and willing to work from home until all restrictions have been lifted in relation to COVID-19. At such time, the position will be located on site. Responsibilities: Utilizing your technical skills, you will collaborate with designers, artists, audio designers, and various other specialists to design and develop best-in-class game experiences Exemplify and promote standards for code, design, development, debugging, optimization, reviewing goals, testing and documentation Interface between multiple departments with varies approaches to game development. You are responsible for translating creative intent into code tasks Help to lead development teams to meet high-level project goals. Understand the intent of the creative direction and translate it into actionable descriptions of work Participate in hiring process to grow our engineering team with an ever-rising quality bar Identify technical and developmental risks/obstacles and generate solutions to overcome identified risks Design and Implement engineering solutions in many areas of game development such as procedural generation, game mechanics, AI, animation, physics, rendering, localization and UI Keep up to date on state-of-the-art software engineering methods, practices, and technologies Write well-architected code with an eye towards performance and re-usability for multiple experiences. Evaluate other engineers code to make sure it meets the department’s expectations Empower and guide the career(s) of your direct reports to promote their growth as engineers. You are responsible for providing feedback for your team to assist in their growth Establish workflow pipelines and cost/time analysis required for taking a game from early prototype stages all the way through to pre-production, production and release  Qualifications:  BS (or higher) in Computer Science or similar discipline Minimum 6 years game industry experience with 3+ shipped titles Excellent C++ programming and systems design skills Experience with implementing network gameplay, AI, or physics Ability to judge feature quality in relation to other current competing games Adept at working with designers and artists to implement gameplay features Experience in reviewing code and work to provide critical feedback used in career management Benefits:  Profit Share Medical, Dental, & Vision 100% of premiums for the family covered by Tripwire Up to 30 days of PTO 16 paid Holidays Short Term Disability & Long Term Disability 401k Match Flexible Spending Account Flexible Hours Employee & Family Team Building Events Volunteer Days   Preference to applicants with:  Significant Unreal Engine experience Passion for first person shooters Proven ability of tackling challenging projects Experience in full software development lifecycle of shipping a game Excellent written and verbal communication skills Ability to work well under pressure, flexible, positive and focused    




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The changing face of knowledge management: How cognitive search can help

With the inundation of big data, enterprises are constantly on the prowl for advanced solutions such as AI-based cognitive search platforms that significantly help cut down on time and cost




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Leveraging Microsoft 365 for CCPA and GDPR compliance

Companies that already have or intend to invest in Microsoft 365 can save significant time and money by simply learning to configure and deploy various tools and features already included in Microsoft 365 to help meet privacy requirements




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A Best Practice Approach to Insight Engines: 5 Levels of Insight Engine Maturity

Enterprise search projects start with intentions to provide ?Google for our organization' but too often fail to deliver on that promise. In our experience, these projects fail due to a lack of sustained effort and governance. The commercialization of next-generation search technologies allows you to fulfill this promise if you take a systematic approach to implementation.




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Get a job: Tripwire Interactive is looking for a lead gameplay engineer

Tripwire Interactive is looking for a lead gameplay engineer to help shape its engineering team. ...