Category: Brandpoint

2025-10-01T08:01:00

(BPT) – The need for cybersecurity professionals has never been greater. In the U.S. alone, cyberattacks may cost the American economy over $1 trillion and globally $10.5 trillion in 2025. The frequency of ransomware cyberattacks are also predicted to increase, with one happening every two seconds by 2031.

Cybercriminals are savvy, but the lack of talent in the cybersecurity field is worsening the situation. Globally, industry experts calculate that nearly 5 million additional cyber defense professionals are needed, according to the 2024 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study.

But what’s behind this deficit in cybersecurity talent? There aren’t enough people going into the field. Many positions go unfilled because companies overlook the importance of entry-level positions.

Restricted access: The lack of entry points for new talent

Despite rising demand for cybersecurity professionals, early-career talent continues to be shut out. The ISC2 report found that almost a third (31%) of surveyed organizations have no entry-level (0-1 year of experience) cybersecurity professionals and 15% have no junior-level (1-3 years of experience) personnel.

There’s plenty of entry-level and junior-level talent. However, industry leaders require years of experience for entry-level roles. In fact, the study reports that 62% of teams had open roles, but hiring managers were focused on finding only mid-level to advanced roles.

“If industry leaders continue to restrict entry-level opportunities, the talent shortage will only get worse,” said Fred Kwong, VP and chief information security officer at DeVry University. “Not only will this hinder workforce readiness, but this industry practice will deepen the cybersecurity risk across the board.”

Educating and hiring the next generation of cyber leaders

To strengthen their future defenses, organizations can rethink their hiring practices. In addition to hiring entry- and junior-level talent, industry leaders can find ways to collaborate with universities to nurture the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

For example, DeVry University’s Cybersecurity Center of Excellence offers robust cybersecurity programs built on skills-based, hands-on learning models and real-world exposure. By partnering with industry leaders, the university has designed a curriculum that aims to help close the skills gap by equipping early-career professionals with the knowledge needed to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving cyber landscape.

In these programs, students don’t just learn about cybersecurity, they get to practice it. Last year, DeVry launched a cutting-edge cyber range platform. Powered by Cloud Range, a leading provider of cyber range training as a service, the platform offers realistic, immersive simulations that mimic real-world cyber threats. Students can practice and master analytics, investigation, repulsion, remediation and other cybersecurity techniques.

“Cybersecurity attacks are becoming more complex and hitting faster than ever before,” added Shantanu Bose, Ph.D., DeVry University’s provost and chief academic officer. “Learning theory isn’t enough. Our curriculum is built on experiential learning, so graduates are job-ready by graduation and ready to take on professional cybersecurity roles.”

As cyber threats escalate in scale and sophistication, the responsibility to close the talent gap cannot rest solely on the shoulders of industry leaders. Higher education institutions must continue to take an active role in preparing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals by aligning academic programs with real-world demands.

Through hands-on training, strategic partnerships with employers and a focus on experiential learning, colleges and universities can ensure that learners are not only educated but fully equipped to enter the workforce. Bridging the gap between education and employment is no longer optional — it’s essential to building a resilient, future-ready cybersecurity workforce.

“Ultimately, securing the future depends on empowering and supporting the people who will shape it,” noted Bose.

To learn more about how DeVry is equipping aspiring cyber professionals and discover its cybersecurity program offerings, visit DeVry’s Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.

2025-09-30T21:17:00

(BPT) – By Jaime de Jaraíz, president of LG Electronics Iberia

When fans walk into a stadium, they expect more than just a game or a show — they expect to feel part of something bigger. In Spain, this new era of immersive sports and entertainment has two shining examples: the Riyahd Air Metropolitano in Madrid and the Roig Arena in Valencia. At both venues, we at LG are helping write a new chapter in the digital transformation of sports, leading a technological revolution that redefines how every moment is experienced.

What sets us apart is not only our leadership as the No. 1 provider of professional LED technology in Spain,* but also our ability to turn every project into a unique digital ecosystem. We don’t just install screens — we create living platforms where image, software and infrastructure work together to make every corner of a venue come alive.

Riyahd Air Metropolitano: An Icon in Transformation

In Madrid, our collaboration with Atlético de Madrid has transformed the Riyahd Air Metropolitano into a stadium that breathes innovation. The exterior and interior now form a dynamic canvas of light and color, amplifying the atmosphere of every moment.

At the top, our state-of-the-art Mesh LED envelops the stadium in a 360-degree visual spectacle, amplifying the excitement of every goal and every play and making the roar of the fans even more powerful and unforgettable.

Roig Arena: A New Global Benchmark

In Valencia, the Roig Arena was envisioned as one of the most advanced arenas in the world. At the heart stands our technological gem: the high-resolution video scoreboard. This giant screen, bearing the LG seal of innovation, offers precise sharpness and color uniformity that allow every replay, every stat and every detail of the game to be seen with astonishing clarity throughout the stands. But it does much more than display scores — it syncs with lighting, sound and dynamic content to turn every key moment into a cinematic experience.

Around it, the perimeter LED ribbon and the iconic outdoor screen, The Eye, complete a digital ecosystem that extends the excitement beyond the venue, placing Valencia at the forefront of Europe as a venue for top-level competitions and events.

Digitalization as a Driver of Change

In both Madrid and Valencia, we’re showing that digitalizing stadiums isn’t just about impressive visuals — it’s about smarter management, new ways to communicate and deeper connections with audiences. These venues are flexible platforms that can adapt to matches, concerts, cultural shows or corporate events. And for sponsors, they open new doors to engage with the public in more personal, real-time ways.

Shaping the Future Through Leadership

In recent years, we’ve been proud to contribute to nearly thirty sports venues in Spain, from stadiums and arenas to the Rafa Nadal Academy and local gyms. With a 45% share of the professional LED market in Spain in the first quarter of 2025,^* and the trust of eight out of 10 major Spanish stadiums, we are not just equipping venues — we are redefining the live event experience.

However, this leadership isn’t built on technology alone. It comes from people — the talent, passion and dedication of nearly 240 professionals at LG Spain. From engineering to sales, logistics to marketing, every department has played a vital role in making these projects a reality.

Each installation is a milestone that brings Spain a little closer to the global forefront of sports and entertainment technology. Our expertise also extends beyond Spain, to iconic venues like Wembley Stadium in London, Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt and Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium.

At LG, we believe life is richer when emotions are lived intensely. That’s why our mission is to make every fan, in every seat, feel that Life‘s Good — and why we believe the future of sports and entertainment venues is already here.

^*Source: OMDIA. Data on the professional LED display market in Spain, published up to June 2025, based on installed volume (in square meters) during 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. LG Electronics has not participated in the preparation of this study. For more information, visit: www.omdia.com.

2025-09-30T07:01:00

(BPT) – By Sandeep Modhvadia, Chief Product Officer, Wind River

As enterprises accelerate their digital transformation journeys, they are facing a growing challenge around modernizing infrastructure while maintaining control, compliance and performance across increasingly distributed environments. The convergence of IT and OT systems, historically managed in silos, can become key to unlocking new operational agility, real-time insights and secure automation. However, with the creation of data shifting from centralized data centers to the edge, the conventional approach of implementing sovereign clouds may no longer work and a new dimension of sovereignty is emerging that demands a fundamental change in cloud strategy.

In mission-critical use cases across aerospace, defense, industrial/manufacturing, energy and healthcare, the stakes are high. These industries require infrastructure that not only meets performance and reliability standards but also comply with strict regulatory requirements. Traditional cloud models, built around centralized architectures, can fall short in delivering the regional autonomy and processing locality that are needed by these organizations.

Data everywhere, decisions at the edge

Today’s enterprise environments will increasingly be influenced by data that is generated and processed at the edge, such as on factory floors, in remote installations and across mobile platforms. This shift is driven by the need for low-latency decision-making, bandwidth efficiency and operational resilience. AI, automation and real-time analytics are fueling this transformation, making edge-native infrastructure a strategic imperative.

However, sovereignty now is no longer just about where data is stored. It’s also about where data is processed and how decisions are made. Enterprises must now consider inference sovereignty (AI models processing sensitive data locally), operational sovereignty (autonomous systems complying with local laws), and telemetry sovereignty (governing metadata flows to central systems). These factors are reshaping how organizations design, deploy and govern their cloud infrastructure.

The challenge: Fragmentation, compliance and control

As industries look to the growth of the intelligent edge, enterprises will continue to face significant obstacles. These challenges include:

• Fragmented IT/OT environments hinder visibility and automation.
• Legacy systems resist integration with cloud-native platforms.
• Regulatory requirements demand strict control over data residency and processing locality.
• Vendor lock-in and opaque infrastructure limit flexibility and innovation.
• Internal expertise gaps, slow adoption of edge-native architectures and AI governance.

These issues are especially acute in industries where uptime, compliance and security are non-negotiable.

The opportunity: Sovereign cloud at scale

To meet changing demands, enterprises are turning to private and hybrid cloud solutions that span core, edge and far-edge environments. Sovereign cloud infrastructure enables organizations to maintain full control over data, workloads and compliance, without compromising scalability or performance.

At Wind River, we’ve architected our cloud platform from the ground up to support sovereign deployments. Our commercially hardened stack, Wind River Cloud Platform (based on the open source StarlingX), Wind River Analytics and Wind River Conductor, empowers enterprises to enforce sovereignty policies not only over where data resides, but also over where and how it is processed, analyzed and acted upon.

This ensures compliance, operational autonomy and security across highly distributed, mission-critical environments. Sovereignty must extend seamlessly across core and edge, supporting unified deployments from the largest data center to the smallest, most remote facility.

The path forward: Strategy, technology and partnership

To succeed, enterprises must take a structured approach. It will be important to unify IT and OT systems to enable seamless data flow and governance. They must plan to adopt cloud-native platforms that support containerized workloads and open interfaces. It will be helpful to deploy private/hybrid cloud infrastructure to balance control with scalability. Additionally, enterprises should look to implementing edge-native solutions for latency-sensitive, mission-critical operations. Simultaneously, it will be essential to enforce sovereignty policies across data residency, processing locality and AI inference governance.

And just as important, companies must choose the right partners, such as technology providers with deep expertise in intelligent edge, cloud-native software and mission-critical deployments. Sovereign-ready platforms, like those from Wind River, offer the flexibility, transparency and control needed to build cloud infrastructure on your own terms.

As the next wave of innovation moves to the edge, sovereignty can be critical to enterprise success. Those who embrace this shift will be better positioned to lead in a world where control, compliance and confidence are not optional but essential.

2025-09-30T02:01:00

(BPT) – By Paul Miller, CTO, Wind River

Artificial intelligence dominates headlines, with much of the attention focused on the rise of generative models. But while those advances capture imaginations, some of the most profound changes are happening in a different arena — at the edge, where the physical and digital worlds converge. This is edge AI: the use of artificial intelligence models that run directly on devices, machines and networks where data is created, rather than relying solely on distant cloud resources. It is not science fiction but a set of technologies already transforming industries and everyday experiences with tangible, operational impact.

At the edge, milliseconds matter. Systems must be safe, deterministic and resilient, because downtime is not an option. This is where AI is already driving transformation today — not in proof-of-concept labs but in mission-critical environments that touch millions of lives.

Real-World Impact

Consider the automotive sector. Advanced driver-assist systems such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping and automated braking all depend on edge AI. By processing radar and camera data locally, these systems can recognize hazards and execute maneuvers in real time. Edge intelligence has become the unseen copilot making vehicles safer and laying the groundwork for fully software-defined cars.

Manufacturing provides another clear example. On the factory floor, cameras and sensors equipped with AI can flag defects invisible to the human eye, monitor workers for safety compliance, or detect smoke before it becomes a fire. These are not theoretical improvements — they reduce downtime, prevent injuries, improve yield and strengthen margins.

Telecommunications networks are also being reshaped by AI at the edge. Operators are beginning to rely on AI to dynamically allocate spectrum, optimize radio access networks, and predict when equipment will fail. In a market defined by relentless pressure on cost and performance, edge AI is already proving to be a decisive competitive advantage.

The same story plays out in aerospace and defense, where mission-critical systems require uncompromising reliability. From autonomous drones navigating contested airspace to defense systems analyzing multiple sensor streams in milliseconds, the ability to process and act instantly is essential. In these contexts, edge AI is not just useful — it is existential.

Even in the consumer world, smartphones now use edge AI for voice recognition, image classification and search — everyday proof that intelligence at the edge is already part of our lives.

Why Edge AI Matters

What makes edge AI different is not simply that it brings intelligence closer to where data is generated but that it creates a distinct kind of value that cloud-based AI alone cannot deliver. The gains are immediate, measurable and tied directly to outcomes that matter for both operations and customers.

Edge AI enables decisions in milliseconds, a critical advantage when real-time responsiveness determines safety or performance. By analyzing high-fidelity data at the source, it improves accuracy and reduces the risk of errors or latency-related failures. It also ensures resilience: Systems continue operating safely even when connectivity is intermittent. Processing data locally reduces bandwidth costs and energy use, which has clear economic and sustainability benefits. And beyond optimization, edge AI unlocks entirely new possibilities, from software-defined vehicles and AI-driven networks to autonomous industrial systems that create revenue streams unimaginable a decade ago.

This is why organizations are embracing edge AI, not just as a technology upgrade but as a strategic enabler. It turns data into action where it matters most, reshaping both how companies operate and what they can offer their customers. Achieving this, however, requires platforms built with the kind of mission-critical reliability Wind River has delivered for decades.

Overcoming Barriers to Edge AI Adoption

Of course, not every organization moves at the same pace. Legacy systems can be hard to replace, and even incremental changes to entrenched processes may feel disruptive. Employees will only embrace new tools when they see how those tools help them work smarter and safer. And culture plays a decisive role: Organizations that reward experimentation and continuous improvement tend to adopt edge AI readily, while those that cling to the status quo risk being left behind.

The lesson is that adoption is not just about technology readiness; it is about organizational readiness. Companies that align culture, process and technology will be best positioned to capture the edge advantage.

The Next Frontier

The next phase of edge AI will move beyond incremental optimization. Telecom operators will scale AI-driven RAN automation that transforms the economics of 5G and beyond. Automotive companies will shift from assistance features to fully software-defined platforms where intelligence updates over time. Robotics and industrial automation will extend into “physical AI” — machines that not only perceive but act autonomously and safely in human environments.

At the same time, governments and enterprises will insist on sovereignty, compliance and security in AI deployments. That will put a premium on edge platforms that are safe, certifiable and transparent. In other words, the future of edge AI will be defined not just by innovation but by responsibility.

This is precisely where Wind River has a unique role to play. For more than four decades, our software has powered the world’s most trusted mission-critical systems, from Mars rovers to next-generation 5G vRAN deployments. Our DNA — safe, secure, reliable and performant at scale — is exactly what edge AI requires.

We are helping customers design, deploy and operate AI-driven applications at the edge with the confidence that comes from proven expertise. Whether in aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial or telecommunications, Wind River provides the foundation that allows companies to innovate boldly while operating responsibly.

For companies exploring edge AI, the path forward begins with clarity of purpose. Anchor every initiative to a business objective, whether that’s reducing downtime, enhancing safety or creating a new customer experience. Start with targeted pilots that address relevant use cases, then expand as your teams build expertise.

Equally important is infrastructure. Edge platforms must be scalable, secure and maintainable over time. Organizations that invest in the right foundation will find it easier to grow, adapt and integrate AI into mission-critical operations.

The opportunity is clear: Edge AI is already changing industries, and the pace of transformation will only accelerate. Companies that begin today — experimenting, investing and building the right partnerships — will be best positioned to thrive in a software-defined, AI-powered future.

Wind River is proud to be a trusted partner in that journey, helping organizations harness the intelligent edge safely, securely and at scale. The next wave of transformation is here, and it begins at the edge. Those who act now will shape not just their industries but the future of how we all live and work.