When it comes to engaging an older. workforce,the science speaks tothe need. not only for work to continue as ameans. of maintaining brain function, but also. for new tasks, challenges, and training to be introduced as away of stimulating. it. Research also shows that physical. activity, even fairly gentle activities such. as walking, may stave offthe onset of dementia and stallthe more devastating. effects of diseases like Parkinson’s. Rising. each morning, traveling to an offce,and moving throughthe work day isn’t. just good forthe body, it can be good. forthe mind.
Efforts to extend careers and reengage. retirees have been overwhelmingly. successful. Since 2008,the number. of working Germans aged 6***
has jumped from 28 percent t***
percent, allowing businesses to maintain. productivity and even grow during diffcult. economic times. Pressures fromthe other. end ofthe employment spectrum - at theentry level - still need to be addressed to stabilizethe employment picture.
But thanks tothe work of insightful.companies willing to adapt demands tothe strengths of achanging workforce,withinthe most senior ranks, surprisingly,it’s business as usual.
As million members ofthe German workforce far back asthe 1990s, when just one. were age 60 or older, businesses forecasted thatthe looming costs of retirement pensions and. increased healthcare associated with age, along. with lower birth rates, could bring disastrous. fnancial impacts and hamper future productivity.
After exploring - and ultimately bypassing -the potential of earlier retirement to ease thecrunch, companies realized thatthe best way to weatherthe loss of older workers was,simply, to keep the***
By 2011, more than three million German. workers were over 60 years old. This leap was. driven by major companies, including Bosch,BASF, Thyssen, Daimler, Audi, and others creating innovative programs to makethe most of older workers’ capabilities while respecting thephysical changes that often accompany. advancing age. Rather thanthe traditional model of retirement, where aworker reaches. a designated age and exitsthe workforce. permanently, these programs allow aging workers to either remain part ofthe company and adjust. Many ofthe world’s major economiesare grappling with how to manage an aging workforce, and
By Hallie Kapner.de challenge to Western nations. As society mographic change poses aserious. faces longer life expectancies and lower birth. rates, older adultsare becoming an increasingly. influential force. As aresult, aging is emerging. as akey area of scientifc research, with. cognitive decline as one ofthe most pressing. issues currently under examination. Scientistsare not only studying diseases affecting thebrain, but also ways to enhance cognitive. performancein general. A panel of aging. experts convened to discuss why some older. adults perform at higher cognitive levels than. others and how our habits and environments. influence age-related cognitive trajectories.
Event Speakers:_. Prof. Dr. Ulman Lindenberger. Director, Center for Lifespan Psychology. Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Dr. Ursula Staudinger. Director, Robert N. Butler
Dr. Joann Halpern. Director,
Cognitive Plasticityin Adulthood. January 28,“Since 2008,the number of working Germans aged 6***
has jumped from 28 percent to 50 percent, allowing. businesses to maintain productivity and even grow. during diffcult economic times. ”. Co-Sponsor:_. Keeping Wisdominthe Workplace.
The following changesare related to slower and less effcient processing:During aging,the average brain volume.decreases; particularly, dendritic branches and spines show age-related decline.
Furthermore, areduction of blood capillaries and glial cells contributes to brain. volume decline. The latter providea. protective and supportive structure for theneurons and connect them tothe blood. capillaries. Also,the microstructure of thewhite matter changes with age. The density and integrity of axons as well as their. myelinization get impaired. In addition,a reductioninthe number of important. receptors and areduced release of neurotransmitters can be observed with. increasing age. The dopamine system, inparticular, is ascribed akey role here as. dopamine andthe dopaminergic systemare involvedin many manufacturing. processesinthe brain as well asin learning. Functions controlled bythe prefrontal. cortex, like selective attention, response. inhibition, and working memory, seem to be more affected by aging than functions. that rely on activityin other cortical or. even subcortical regions.
What isthe relationship between. physical activity and cognitive. performancein older adults?. Age-related changesinthe brain and. cognition show remarkable individual. differences. Aging trajectories may bedelayed or reveal changesin slope inboth apositive and anegative direction,revealingthe plasticity ofthe aging process.
The high variability of cognitive performance during aging indicates that aside. from genetic predisposition, individual lifestyle is acrucial factor. Physical activity is An important and successful avenue for. stimulating cognitive plasticity. It has been. shown that physical activityin older adults. can positively influence cognitive function,brain structure, and brain function. The effect of cardiovascular training,in particular, has been examined. Positive effects of cardiovascular training have been found. for executive control tasks and episodic. memory. Cardiovascularly ft participants. show more effcient information processingand higher volumes of related anatomical. structures. Not only does cardiovascular. exercise seem to have positive effects onthe brain and cognitive function, but so do. other forms of exercise like coordinative. exercise, dance, and strength training.
It is worth noting that systematic exercise. can improve cognitive performance evenin previously inactive older adults.
How can organizations create An offce environment that maximizesthe productivity of its older workers?. Generally, age-related changes inbiological and mental functions start early,already appearingin our late 20s or early. 30s. However, these changesare mainly. observedinthe laboratory and may not. necessarily appear at work. Thus, it is highly. likely for people to be able to compensate. for amoderate reduction of physical and. cognitive function at work, thanks to their individual job-related expertise. Onlyin very.complex or demanding situations, such as. under very high physical stress, under extreme time pressure, or when many tasks. have to be processed simultaneously, does.degradationin performance become. visible. In this vein, anumber of studies. have demonstrated that job performance.depends more on experience than on. one’s actual calendar age. Especially. monotonous occupations and work tasks. have been shown to negatively affect. mental performance and productivityin older age. People workingina. professionin which they have to continuously deal with new tasks and. challenges generally reveal stable performance levels or comparable performance levels to that of younger adults.
With respect to physical and mental. age-related changes,the following aspects. should be considered for an optimal work. environment for older employees, e. g. ,:
• Older adultsare good at integrating. new information into pre-existing. knowledge: New content shouldbe related to prior knowledge.
• Sensory defcits occur: Good visualand auditory conditionsare necessary.
With respect to learning,the following. should be considered:
• Older workers learn more slowly. than younger workers:the learning. pace should therefore be adapted. and/or individualized.
• Memory decreases: More frequent. repetitions and shorter sessionsare necessary.
• Older adultsare more easily distracted by irrelevant information: agood. outline and restriction of materials will. help them focus onthe essentials.
• Stress disturbsthe consolidation of what has been learned: alow-stress. environment should be created.
Univ. -
Claudia Voelcker-Rehage. Professor, Sports Psychology (with afocus on preventionand rehabilitation), Technische Universität Chemnitz. Interview with:Fighting Cybercrime. Joining Forces Against aMoving Targetthe sthe impacts so far-reaching thatthe World cope of cybercrime is staggering, and. Economic Forum counts cybercrime and data. theft amongthe top ten global risks, alongside. catastrophic events such as unmitigated climate. change and forced mass migration. Annual. updates onthe state of cybercrime have long. showed three troubling trend lines moving inthe wrong direction. First,the number of attacks. grows each year - globally, there were. 48 percent more cyber attacksin 2014 thaninthe previous year, with more than one million. pieces of new malware released each day.
Second, hackers have grown savvier, and thetime betweenthe launch of an attack and its.detection is increasing, as isthe time it takes to patch vulnerabilities. Lastly,the fnancial losses. due to cyberattacksare rising, and asingle. incident can drain millions from abusinessand damage its public image.
Two ofthe most invasive attacksin government. history took placein
Cyber attacks, such as those onthe U. S. State.department and German Parliament, grow more. frequent, complex, and costly each year, andin an. ultra-connected world, no industry is spared.
22 23Keeping pace with athreat that evolves. faster than any disease requires more. than just local vigilance. It demands. global cooperation between computer. security professionals, businesses, and. governments, afeat complicated by thefact that cybercrime often spans theglobe. Hackersin one country may.design an attack targeting abusiness. or governmentin another country, which. is then executed by colleaguesin yet. a third country. Sourcing attacks that. crisscross borders is at least as diffcult. as preventing them, and apprehending. those behindthe attacks pushesthe limits of international law.
The Council of Europe’s Convention on. Cybercrime isthe only international treaty to set standards for collaboration against. cybercrime, and it is more than adecade. old. In light of new forms of cybercrimeand an increasein criminal online activityin developing nations, many have argued. for updates tothe terms and increased. enforcement. Inthe interim, some nations. have taken their own steps to safeguard. citizens and build cooperation between. businesses and government, with
This legislation isthe latestin aseries of moves to bolster online securityin theface of increasing cyber attacks on all. sectors. More than 96 percent of all. small and medium-sized German. businesses reported dealing with some. form of information technology attackin 2014, and that same year, Deutsche. Telekom estimated that hackers launched. more than one million attempted attacks. per day on its networks.
The IT Security Act combinesthe German. government’s history of setting strong. requirements for maintaining information. security safeguards withthe country’s. technological prowessin cyber security. research and computer engineering.
The goal is to create asystemin which. top-notch technical defenses against. cyber attackers arein place acrossthe country, and incidentsare detected. quickly to minimize damage. Unlike inthe United States, where companies. implement cyber security measures asa. matter of self-regulation and self-protection. rather than of law, German entities are. mandated not only to adhere to strict. standards of cyber security, but also to report signifcant incidents tothe German. Federal Offce of Information Security(BSI), which was establishedin ***
The new legislation also positions.
The more we share our data,the more we. lose oversight of who has access to what, and. whether access to this data will be used to protect or attack us. A panel of legal and. technical experts discussed how we can.defend against cyber threatsinthe future and. achieve abalance betweenthe protection of privacy and our desire to feel safe.
Event Speakers:_. Prof. Russell Miller. Professor of Law.
Prof. Dr. Stephanie Schiedermair. Chair of European, International and Public Law,
Cyber Security & Ethics. May 21,Co-Sponsor:_. How has cybercrime evolved. overthe past decade?the impact of cybercrime on all of us has. dramatically increased. A large fraction. - at least one-third - of Internet usersand companiesin
The overall economic impact is huge. inGermany it is considered to be similar tothe economic impact of traffc accidents,i.
E. ,inthe double-digit billions. At thesame time, trustin IT is very low due to people’s personal experiences, but. perhaps even more so due tothe many. high-profle cases, such asthe successful. cyber attack againstthe German Bundestag orthe mass surveillance and cyber. attack capabilities ofthe NSA. Froma. more technical perspective, cybercrime. has become an astonishingly professional activity. There is awide variety of toolsand services that criminals use, e. g., for. building malware, for hosting malware. on innocent websites, and for having it. installed on their victims’ computers.
Increasingly, cyber attacksare targeted at specifc organizations or individuals.
I assume all of us have received and. hopefully recognized phishing emails that. were addressed to us by name, which. represents avery simple case of atargeted attack. Attacks against individuals. who have access to particularly interesting data or systems - e. g. ,the CEO ofa.company orthe system administratorina. government lab - can be signifcantly. more sophisticated and targete***
What can individuals and organizations. do to protect themselves against. cyber attacks?the very frst thing organizations need to do is to assess their situation and apply. best practices, i.
E., well-known processesand technologies.organizations need to be aware ofthe risks and threats,and they also need to be prepared incase an attack is successful. The majority. of today’s attacks can be handled that. way. This is not aone-time process;. security needs to be continuously updatedand maintained. Of course, this approach. does not work vis-à-vis avery powerful. adversary like foreign intelligence. services. But it will work against theaverage cybercrimina***
Individuals, regular non-expert users,arein an even weaker position than.organizations. It is important to raise. awareness and offer education to them.
But this approach is very limited; regular. usersare just not particularly interestedin IT security; rather, they just want to get things done. It is therefore even more. important that we as IT professionals come. up with IT solutions that offer out-of-the-box. security, without demanding too much. from regular users. A good example of this is email encryption. The technology. itself has existed for decades, but hardly. anyone uses it because it is too comple***
One of our current research topics is. therefore developing asystem, which we. call “Volksverschlüsselung” (encryption. forthe people), which will make it. absolutely trivial and effortless for. everyone to encrypt their email***
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