The most recent update from the Office of Management and Budget on the President's Management Agenda shows just how automation is taking hold in the government. OMB says out of the more than100 initiatives under the leaner government portion of the PMA, the 24 civilian CFO Act agencies reported 30 projects using robotics process automation, artificial intelligence or other innovative software. And agency financial management offices are right in the middle of this transformation. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development used RPA to improve financial controls and reduce the time required to prepare financial statements. OMB says automation allowed HUD to cut nearly 6 months and more than 2,000 hours of employee time out of the process.

But rather than impeding the pace of innovation, these concerns are prompting many corporate security chiefs to accelerate the development of advanced capabilities, in a bid to turn the tables on attackers by better detecting the misuse of data and keeping it safe. "Artificial intelligence is a backbone of security initiatives," Camille François, chief innovation officer of social-media analytics firm Graphika Inc., said Tuesday at the WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Executive Forum in New York. Among other applications, AI is being used in cyberattack modeling, where smart tools identify security vulnerabilities in simulated breaches or hacks, Ms. François said. Separate subscription required for some articles. The strategy is to approach your own systems like a hacker, she added, allowing AI-powered apps to find areas that need stronger security features.

While many – if not most – Federal agencies are taking at least preliminary steps towards embracing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), they are moving with a degree of justifiable caution when it comes to relying on those technologies as part of their cybersecurity defenses, government tech officials said today at an event presented by Fortinet. The measured pace of AI and ML for security purposes is tied to the crucial nature of the cybersecurity mission, panelists said. Frank Konieczny, Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Air Force, said that ML tech in particular requires establishing baselines for access and security to be sure that adversaries are not already impacting relevant data. And, he said, resulting data outputs from ML applications can still be somewhat opaque, and need to be examined more closely by human operators. "You ask, 'how did it figure that one out,'" he said, adding that process results in "a lot of time … by a human looking at [the result] again, which we don't want to do."

Cybersecurity is increasingly important as more and more attacks happen all the time, leaving organizations scrambling for solutions. How can you keep your company safe from attacks and the resulting financial losses? I discussed the topic with Alex Manea, chief security and privacy officer at Georgian Partners, a North American venture capital firm that invests in growth-stage companies using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to solve business problems. SEE: How to become a cybersecurity pro: A cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic) Scott Matteson: What mistakes are companies making in cybersecurity? Alex Manea: One of the worst things that you can do is to try and stop every single attack, but that's a fairly typical mistake.

The city of Portland, Oregon, is considering a unique ban on facial recognition software that could limit how private companies use it. Current bans on facial recognition technology, such as ones in San Francisco and Oakland, California, only affect city agencies such as police departments. If the Portland City Council passes the pending legislation next year, officials may copy those efforts and add private retailers and airlines to the ban. Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty is spearheading the proposed ban, citing concerns of privacy, consent and civil rights. "The technology is currently extremely biased against people of color and women," Hardesty said at a September work session on the ban.

As a birthplace for global tech disrupters, Europe -- home to the likes of Spotify and Skype -- still lags behind the US and China and their juggernauts such as Apple, Alibaba, Google and Amazon. The continent is also falling behind North America and east Asia in artificial intelligence, as measured by investment and patent activity. A fragmented digital market, limited risk capital and onerous bureaucracy are several reasons cited for Europe playing catch up to Silicon Valley. However, Europe's more regulated, activist political culture has proved to be an asset, as highlighted by many of the region's start-ups tackling social-services issues in the "tech for good" sector and working directly with central and local governments in "govtech". Europe's start-ups reflect its public service traditions, says Paul Duan, founder of Bayes Impact, a non-profit group that built an AI -powered job counsellor.

Actress and freelance writer Yumi Ishikawa, whose campaign against mandatory high heels in the workplace saw broad public support, has stepped up her fight against strict corporate dress codes in Japan to include a ban at some firms on women wearing glasses. Ishikawa shot to prominence this year with her drive against Japanese office culture, in which high heels are seen as near-obligatory when job-hunting or working in the office. Known by the hashtag #KuToo -- a play on words from the Japanese word "kutsu," meaning "shoes," and "kutsuu," meaning "pain" -- the campaign was recognized Monday for having generated one of the buzzwords of the year. Ishikawa's latest petition to relax the rules, delivered to the labor ministry on Tuesday, has attracted more than 31,000 signatures. "The root cause of the problem is that (there are companies) that have rules for women only -- such as a ban on wearing glasses or a requirement to wear make-up," the 32-year-old told reporters.

Tokyo stocks sank deeper Wednesday on rekindled anxiety about a prolonged U.S.-China trade war. The 225-issue Nikkei average dived 244.58 points, or 1.05 percent, to end at 23,135.23, after falling 149.69 points Tuesday. The Topix index of all TSE first section issues finished down 3.46 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,703.27, following a 7.76-point drop the previous day. The Tokyo market went south from the outset after U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he thinks it better to wait until the 2020 presidential election to conclude a preliminary trade deal with China. Although stocks showed some resilience later in the morning, the yen's appreciation against the dollar also helped kept the Nikkei and Topix indexes in negative territory throughout the Wednesday session, brokers said.

If you had to imagine what we will be obsessing over in 50 years, what would top your list? We put versions of that question to dozens of entrepreneurs, scientists, academics, and artists, including Richard Branson, Temple Grandin, Ian Bremmer, Ann Kim, and Bright Simons. From their 550 answers, some clear themes emerged: AI will be transformative, climate change will dominate, the genetic revolution will be in full swing. When taken together, these themes paint a fascinating picture of our future world, from the perspective of people who have laid the groundwork to shape it. The themes show that, while experts anticipate that technology will play a big role in our lives in the future, it won't take away our humanity.

To find out how 2020 Democratic candidates would use their presidential powers to address different aspects of technology, we sent seven key questions to every campaign. This post includes five candidates' answers to the fifth question. You can find answers to the other six questions on the landing page. How, if at all, should tech companies be held responsible for the jobs they eliminate with their innovations? Bernie Sanders: [I] will tell corporate America that artificial intelligence and robotics are not going to be used just to throw workers out on the street. This exploding technology must serve human needs, not just corporate profits.