This is an original NIST Cybersecurity Insights blog post, written by Jeff Greene.

Your employer has unexpectedly directed you to telework—and you are feeling overwhelmed. With many changes happening at once, telework security could be an afterthought or completely overlooked. This could put you and your organization at increased risk from attackers, who are always looking for opportunities to take advantage of disruption generally and weak security practices specifically. But it’s more than your organization at risk—if your telework device is compromised, anything else connected to your home network could be at risk too.

An original article by Nico Thomas, Performance Analyst for the Program Evaluation and Economic Research  group of NIST MEP.

Technology is the single greatest challenge (and opportunity) for the manufacturing industry … or is it? It’s true that technology has evolved and changed how manufacturers—especially small and medium-sized manufacturers—operate their businesses, in ways that even a few years ago didn’t seem possible.

This is an original article from NIST Manufacturing Innovation Blog.

Cybersecurity threats are a huge business risk for all companies. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) — including manufacturers — are especially vulnerable to attacks. Small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) are often seen as an easy entry point — a “soft” target — into larger businesses and government agencies. One of the first steps when prioritizing how to manage your business risk is to gather information about the threat environment. The 20 important (and shocking) cybersecurity statistics listed below focus on what manufacturers need to know about the “what” and “so what” of cybersecurity, so they can start planning their “now what” actions.

Manufacturers across the state are taking advantage of IMEC’s Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Voucher program! Just last November, IMEC announced a leading-edge economic development program to help small and medium-sized manufacturers accelerate technology adoption in their products and processes. Awarding up to $25,000 in matching funds, Illinois manufacturers can obtain external technical assistance to solve technology adoption challenges.

This is an original article written by Stephanie Neal, Director of DDI's Center for Analytics and Behaviorial Research.

As we kick off 2020, expectations are high for the changes the decade ahead will bring. According to top HR and leadership influencers, this year will challenge leaders to face a new level of workplace transformation. Hot leadership topics for 2020 will continue to be shaped by accelerating technology change, increasing consumer expectations, and hyper-connectivity.

This is an original article written by Shekhar Chandrashekhar of California Manufacturing Technology Consulting, part of the MEP National Network.

Today, most manufacturers are engaged in activities that could be considered part of “Industry 4.0.” (70% according to the World Economic Forum’s [WEF] white paper, “Fourth Industrial Revolution: Beacons of Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing”).

Termico’s core competency is the engineering, manufacture, and testing of self-regulating, PTC heaters. At Termico they strive to offer best-in-class application engineering support to assist customer product development efforts. With 80+ years of PTC industry knowledge on staff, they understand what it takes to produce safe, stable, and reliable heaters.

This is an original article by Aaron Fox, President of Oregon MEP.

If industrial manufacturing had a buzzword of the decade, it might be “Industry 4.0.” The concept is inescapable, yet it can be hard to define, especially for small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). After all, SMMs’ capabilities, needs, and budgets look very different from the large companies who often drive the latest innovations and trends. However, Industry 4.0 is so pervasive that many smaller manufacturers know more about the technologies than they might think. Below, we define Industry 4.0, then explore ways that SMMs can and do implement it already.

This is an original article taken from the NIST Manufacturing Innovation blog.

Productivity matters. It matters a lot. Yet it often seems that folks talk about productivity, but don’t do anything about it.  At least, it feels that way to me when I go outside of the MEP National Network™, where we’re always focused on enhancing manufacturing productivity. And you could say that productivity is a personal crusade for me, as is evident in blogs I’ve written over the last few years.

Smart Manufacturing. Factory of the Future. Industry 4.0. These are the buzzwords used by those driving the manufacturing world forward. At the heart of these concepts is digital manufacturing and design (DM&D). But what exactly is DM&D? And what does it mean for the small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) that make up the majority of the industry?