Teaming up to help journalism thrive in the digital age - Microsoft Certifications

As part of our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more, Microsoft recognizes not just the fundamental need for a free press, but also the fundamental need for the free press to adapt to how people seek information.

Technology has empowered citizens to find, create and share information in unprecedented ways. How can we help journalists around the world tell stories, from sports updates to watchdog investigations, in ways that promote transparency, understanding and engagement?

Today, we’re proud to announce the Microsoft Modern Journalism grant program in collaboration with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). Based in Washington, D.C., ICFJ has a track record of fostering news innovation, building investigative networks, running exchange programs and promoting diverse voices. Its global mission — to build the expertise and digital skills that journalists need to deliver trustworthy news essential for vibrant societies — has so far created a community 100,000-journalists strong in 180 countries.

Sharon Moshavi, ICJF’s senior vice president of new initiatives, shares their view and vision about our new partnership this way:

“We’re thrilled to partner with the Microsoft Modern Journalism Initiative to support reporting projects focused on data analysis and immersive storytelling. Through these projects, we aim to highlight innovative ways that journalists can enhance news coverage and connect more deeply with audiences.”

The grant program will operate in two phases: The first will award funding and hands-on data journalism training to two alumni of ICFJ programs. Data journalism grounds stories in fact, makes the information transparent to its audiences, and distills the essential pertinent narrative from what could otherwise be an overwhelming swamp of information. By honing the journalist’s digital skills, we’re addressing what ICFJ has defined as a “perilous” gap in newsrooms.

The second phase will award grants for funding and training journalists need to pioneer storytelling using immersive technologies like livestreaming and mixed reality. While data invites fact-based exploration on a large scale, immersive storytelling can be remarkably intimate. It is in these shared experiences where knowledge may become understanding, observation may engender empathy, and learning may translate into action.

We look forward to announcing our winners in March. In the meantime, we encourage you to see, support and join in the kind of work that ICFJ does, be it a sobering virtual tour of the largest slum in Karachi, Pakistan, the fifth most populous city in the world, or a heartening partnership of a global conglomerate and environmental and social nonprofits to safeguard water quality in Nairobi. These stories the world over remind us of the challenges that face all of us, and how much we depend on sharing stories in ways that touch us, educate us and, most importantly, inspire us to act for the best.

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How You Can Change Careers Without Losing Money - Microsoft Certifications

Unfortunately it is true that when moving career paths to a new job, money can become an issue. It has been found that there are actually a few career-changing mistakes many people make that often end up impacting their personal finances. Avoiding these mistakes can help you through a smoother career transition and make that new career successful without financial consequences.

Switching Careers

Your working life is something that is unique to every person. Whether you’re choosing to follow a dream passion or try something different, making a job change is also done for different reasons. Research has found that workers switch jobs approximately 10 to 15 times during the course of their professional working life. It is a very common thing to make a career move, but what can also be common is a lack of planning and understanding of the effort needed to make a career change successful.

It is important when you make a career move into a new field that you have patience, determination and that you are proactive in your actions. Even if you are starting a business from scratch, or completely switching industries, making sure you have an action plan and strategy planned out is extremely important not only for the short term but also the long term.

Career Transition Mistakes

Your working life is something that is unique to every person. Whether you’re choosing to follow a dream passion or try something different, making a job change is also done for different reasons. Research has found that workers switch jobs approximately 10 to 15 times during the course of their professional working life. It is a very common thing to make a career move, but what can also be common is a lack of planning and understanding of the effort needed to make a career change successful.

It is important when you make a career move into a new field that you have patience, determination and that you are proactive in your actions. Even if you are starting a business from scratch, or completely switching industries, making sure you have an action plan and strategy planned out is extremely important not only for the short term but also the long term.

• Having an Unclear Career Change Plan

Planning your career goals can become a make or break during a career switch. With no target or general direction to follow, it can become difficult for you to know which way is best for your own career path. Being indecisive with your personal finances is one thing that definitely has to be planned out. Ensuring that you organise your finances within your career goals will provide you a realistic view as to where the current position can take you, and will also make sure you are saving enough money for life expenses outside of work. If you’re unsure of your career goals and the roadmap of your new career path consider looking for a career coach or talk to people within your aspiring field.

• Taking an Entry Level Job in a New Field

Whilst pursuing an entry-level job in your job search may seem like the best idea it can turn out to be a very big mistake. If you’re someone who has had a successful career in his or her current company and/or built up a network and impressive resume, don’t step down when making a career change. Make a lateral career move as you can bring transferable skills and knowledge to your new job whilst also maintaining rank within the new specific company. Aiming for a job suitable to your current position will also maintain the salary you are used to and know you can work with. Taking an entry-level job will mean a major pay cut as well as forcing you to start directly from scratch (which you’ve already done in your previous field). Having the slightly lower pay or an equal amount will allow you to have an easier career change plan and adjust to the new job easier.

• Spending it All

Career coaches often have different opinions on spending money for career changers. One of the best things you can do to avoid losing money during a career transition is to set up a savings account and cut down on things that aren’t necessary. Consider stopping your unused gym membership, TV subscriptions, Netflix etc. only for a short period of time or until you’re comfortable with your new wage. If you do freelance work or are starting up your own small business you may have to splurge on payments to make your dream a success, but ensure you’re putting certain monthly payments aside in your savings account. Finding and cutting out mindless purchases can actually add up to a lot of value over time, know your priorities and utilise the extra money for when the time is right to switch careers.

• Not Utilising Your Network

For years you’ve grown connections within your industry and through friends, switching careers is a time to make those networks count. Consider asking people if they know anyone in your aspiring field that could help you out, ask some friends to help you with your savings goals and your family for motivation and support. Friends and family can often be a huge factor in regards to success when making a career change, never be afraid to ask for advice and opinions on your strategy and plan for your career path.

Remember when making a career move to never sell yourself short, everyone has transferable skills and knowledge that can be utilised in a huge variety of fields. It is important that you understand the ways in which you can make you career transition successful whilst avoiding losing money.

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Microsoft introduces guidelines for developing responsible conversational AI

As more of our partners, clients and customers set out to design conversational interfaces such as chatbots and virtual assistants, they often ask us for advice on how to develop these technologies in a way that will benefit people while also maintaining their trust. Today, I’m excited to share guidelines that we’ve developed for responsible development of conversational artificial intelligence, based on what we have learned both through our own cross-company work focused on responsible AI and by listening to our customers and partners.

The field of conversational AI isn’t new to me or to Microsoft. In fact, I’ve been working on conversational interfaces since 1995 when we developed Comic Chat, a graphical chat service that was embedded in an early version of Internet Explorer. The lessons we’ve learned from those experiences, and from our more recent work with tools such as Cortana and Zo, have helped us shape these guidelines, which we follow in our own efforts to develop responsible and trusted bots.

These guidelines are just that – guidelines. They represent the things we’ve found helpful to think through, especially when designing bots that have the potential to affect people in consequential ways, such as helping them navigate information related to employment, finances, physical health and mental well-being. In these situations, we’ve learned to pause and ask: Is this a situation in which it’s important to make sure there are people involved to provide judgement, expertise and empathy?

In addition to these guidelines, we hope you’ll take advantage of other tools we offer, such as the offensive text classifiers in the Microsoft Bot Framework to protect your bot from abuse and Microsoft Azure Application Insights to build traceability capabilities into your bot, which are helpful in determining the cause of errors and maintaining reliability.

In general, the guidelines emphasize the development of conversational AI that is responsible and trustworthy from the very beginning of the design process. They encourage companies and organizations to stop and think about how their bot will be used and take the steps necessary to prevent abuse. At the end of the day, the guidelines are all about trust, because if people don’t trust the technology, they aren’t going to use it.

We think earning that trust begins with transparency about your organization’s use of conversational AI. Make sure users understand they may be interacting with a bot instead of – or in addition to – a person, and that they know bots, like people, are fallible. Acknowledge the limitations of your bot, and make sure your bot sticks to what it is designed to do. A bot designed to take pizza orders, for example, should avoid engaging on sensitive topics such as race, gender, religion and politics.

Think of conversational AI as an extension of your brand, a service that interacts with your customers and clients using natural language on behalf of your organization. Remember that when a person interacts with a bot that represents your organization, your organization’s trust is on the line. If your bot violates your customer’s trust, then their trust in your organization may in fact be violated. That’s why the first and foremost goal of these guidelines is to help the designers and developers of conversational AI build responsible bots that represent the trust in the organization that they represent.

We also encourage you to use your best judgment when considering and applying these guidelines, and to also use the appropriate channels in your organization to ensure you’re in compliance with fast-changing privacy, security and accessibility regulations.

Finally, it’s important to note that these guidelines are just our current thoughts; they are a work in progress. We have more questions than we have answers today. We know we’ll learn more as we design, build and deploy more bots in the real world. We look forward to your feedback on these guidelines and working with you as we work toward a future where conversational AI help us all achieve more.

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