bdpatoday® | digital transformation

H.O.P.E. Project DMV and BDPA-DC earn $300K Microsoft Community Skills Grant

HOPE Project DMV alumni present workshops during H.O.P.E’s annual IT Summit in 2019 ― *Photo credit HOPE Project*

WASHINGTON―The HOPE Project DMV (hopeprojectonline.com) in partnership with National BDPA’s Greater Washington, D.C. Chapter (bdpadc.org) was awarded a Microsoft community skills grant. Through this grant, they will receive funding, leadership development and tech enablement to support their work in providing digital skills and workforce development opportunities within their community. Each are very thrilled to fuel local tech talent and work together to expand their programs, rebuild from the current COVID-19 crisis, and prepare members and alumni for an increasingly digital “Future Of Work.”

BDPA-DC is extending the HOPE Project’s new online I.T. training and certification services to HBCU students and alumni through its “Industry 4.0” Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES-IV) programs. For immediate I.T. training and certification scholarship opportunities, see related article on bdpatoday linked here from December 6, 2020.

About H.O.P.E. Project DMV

The H.O.P.E. Project (HOPE) mission is to empower students to reach their potential by providing a comprehensive information technology training program, designed for students out of high school and at least 18 years old. Since 2009 HOPE Project has trained, coached, and mentored nearly 2,000 IT students that have an average salary of nearly $65,000 a year. HOPE has helped students earn over 2,200 CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications. These credentials have helped HOPE alumni build IT careers working as Cyber Security Engineers, Systems Administrators, Mobile Device Engineers, and IT Project Managers. Visit: hopeprojectonline.com.

About BDPA-DC

The association’s global mission as outlined by National BDPA is to bridge digital divides across cyber security, information technology (IT) and telecommunications competency gaps while broadening outreach and awareness campaigns for computer, data science, and technical careers. Since 1978, BDPA of Greater Washington, D.C. (BDPA-DC) has successfully presented Student Information Technology Education and Scholarship (SITES) projects across the National Capital Region support career development and economic development through well blended and tailored series of student programs, industry outreach, community relations, and legislative affairs primarily for urban and underserved communities. Visit: bdpadc.org.

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CTA Announces Official Media Days Schedule for CES 2020

Arlington, VA, November 14, 2019 – The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® today announced the official lineup for CES® 2020 Media Days, featuring two days of exclusive news events from top exhibitors, CES Unveiled Las Vegas and a CTA presentation of anticipated technology trends for 2020.

This year’s Media Days lineup features top exhibitors breaking news and offering exclusive looks at what they plan to showcase at CES 2020. Exhibitors include: Bosch, Brunswick Corporation, BYTON, Continental Automotive, Faurecia, Hisense, Hyundai, Impossible Foods, Intel, LG Electronics, Living in Digital Times, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Qualcomm, Sony, Taiwan Excellence, TCL, Toyota, UHD Alliance, Valeo, ZF and more.

Open exclusively to registered CES media, Media Days programming will take place at Mandalay Bay and run Sunday, Jan. 5, from 1-8 PM and Monday, Jan. 6, from 8 AM-6 PM. Select here to view a full schedule.

Two major keynotes will immediately follow Media Day 2. Samsung will deliver a CES pre-show keynote address at 6:30 PM on Monday, Jan. 6 in the Venetian’s Palazzo Ballroom. And later that evening, Daimler will take the keynote stage at 8:30 PM on Monday, Jan. 6 at the Park Theater at the Park MGM Hotel. Visit the CES Keynote Addresses page on CES.tech for more information about keynote.

Owned and produced by CTA, CES 2020, the global stage for innovation, will run Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas and provides access to the most transformative tech across various marketplaces, such as 5G, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, smart home, smart cities, vehicles, digital health and more. Industry leaders and rising stars will come together to pioneer future innovation driving the ever-evolving tech industry.

— Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®

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McDonald’s Acquires Dynamic Yield to Optimize CX

CHICAGO, NEW YORK & TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) and Dynamic Yield Ltd. announced an agreement by which McDonald’s will acquire Dynamic Yield, a leader in personalization and decision logic technology. With this acquisition of Dynamic Yield, based in New York and Tel Aviv, McDonald’s builds on its significant technology investments for growth.

McDonald’s will utilize this decision technology to provide an even more personalized customer experience by varying outdoor digital Drive Thru menu displays to show food based on time of day, weather, current restaurant traffic and trending menu items. The decision technology can also instantly suggest and display additional items to a customer’s order based on their current selections.

This will enable McDonald’s to be one of the first companies to integrate decision technology into the customer point of sale at a brick and mortar location. McDonald’s tested this technology in several U.S. restaurants in 2018. Upon closing of the acquisition, McDonald’s will begin to roll this technology out in the Drive Thru at restaurants in the United States in 2019 and then expand the use to other top international markets. McDonald’s will also begin work to integrate the technology into all of its digital customer experience touchpoints, such as self-order kiosks and McDonald’s Global Mobile App.

Dynamic Yield’s ability to meet McDonald’s customer needs, coupled with their commitment to grow capabilities around ever-changing consumer trends and evolving marketing technologies, allows for the continued advancement and elevation of the McDonald’s customer experience with technology and innovation.

“Technology is a critical element of our Velocity Growth Plan, enhancing the experience for our customers by providing greater convenience on their terms,” said Steve Easterbrook, President and Chief Executive Officer, McDonald’s Corporation. “With this acquisition, we’re expanding both our ability to increase the role technology and data will play in our future and the speed with which we’ll be able to implement our vision of creating more personalized experiences for our customers.”

Liad Agmon, co-founder and CEO of Dynamic Yield, added: “We started Dynamic Yield seven years ago with the premise that customer-centric brands must make personalization a core activity.  We’re thrilled to be joining an iconic global brand such as McDonald’s and are excited to innovate in ways that have a real impact on people’s daily lives.”

McDonald’s recent advancements in the tech space – including the development of McDonald’s Global Mobile App, Mobile Order and Pay, indoor and outdoor digital menu boards and self-order kiosks – have transformed customer experiences in and around its restaurants, by giving customers more ways to pay and personalize their orders to meet their needs.

Upon closing, McDonald’s will become sole owner and will continue to invest in Dynamic Yield’s core personalization product and world-class teams. Dynamic Yield will remain a stand-alone company and employees will continue to operate out of offices around the world. Dynamic Yield will also continue to serve their current, and attract future, clients.

Founded in 1940, the McDonald’s Corporation is a National BDPA Sponsor. As an American fast food company, it is an Industry leader optimizing customer experiences (CX) at each point of sale. For BDPA Members, McDonald’s has current openings for Data Modelers, Data Architects, and Cloud Architects. Industry will yield more opportunities to deliver food orders via drones, autonomous vehicles, or explore on-premise edge computing to move vast points-of-sale data processing power to the “edge” of computer networks.