By Matthew U. Scherer and Michael J. Lotito | Littler The German federal government has announced a sweeping new initiative with the stated goal of making “Germany and Europe the worldwide leader in the field of artificial intelligence.”  In so doing, Germany is following in the footsteps of Japan, China, and South Korea, whose governments have adopted ambitious national AI strategies since the beginning of 2017.  The plan, dubbed “AI Made in Germany,” marks the latest salvo in a battle for global supremacy in the...

Read more

USAM Group today announces that David Whitney has joined the firm as Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific region.  With more than 20 years of successfully helping pioneering technology firms build and expand their businesses in Asia, David brings a combination of sales leadership, financial services expertise, and a deep appreciation for cultural differences to this pivotal new role. "It's an exhilarating time to be in financial technology, and USAM Group is on the leading edge," said Whitney.  "I'm excited to be working with this world...

Read more

By Roger James of Ogletree Deakins and Alexander Vandenbergen. The Belgian government has announced a modification to the statutory minimum notice periods, which took effect earlier this year. Belgian employment law has historically differentiated between “blue-collar” manual laborers and “white-collar” office workers. However, since reform in 2014, the same statutory notice periods have applied to both categories, and they are based on an employee’s length of service, or seniority. Also, probationary periods have been abolished. To compensate, the government has introduced a more gradual...

Read more

Employee engagement is something that many organizations take very seriously. It has been a growing focus among leaders and is the driving force behind many strategic initiatives undertaken by major companies in recent years. Despite all this, one look at employee engagement scores in the workplace at large will show you that there is still a lot of room for improvement in most cases. So what is a leader, looking for quick and impactful ways to boost engagement, to do? ...

Read more

By Philip Nolan | Mason Hayes & Curran “In what circumstances does a democracy tolerate State mandated electronic surveillance of every citizen who uses a telephone device?” Background In early December 2018, the Irish High Court ruled that the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011, requiring mobile phone data to be retained and disclosed upon request to An Garda Síochána, breached EU law. The ruling follows an application by convicted murderer, Graham Dwyer, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for the...

Read more

VULCAN VIEW - KEY EVENTS THIS WEEK:  Brexit – Turmoil before Christmas breakIt has been another tumultuous couple of days in Westminster. The week began with the decision of Theresa May to pull the vote on the Withdrawal Agreement from parliament. This came after the European Court of Justice ruled on Monday that Great Britain had the option of revoking the Article 50 process unilaterally. Knowing that she didn’t have enough votes in Parliament, the Prime Minister decided to cancel the vote...

Read more