https://bizups.info/legal/213/fahttps://bizups.info/news/902/We would like to congratulate Lucie Trempe-Hann from Airbus Defence and Space for winning HumanSystems’ CANSEC promotion! Thank you to all who took part in our promotion and made it such an enormous success. Now that CANSEC is over, we would like to thank everyone for visiting us at booth #503, and listening to our talk on the importance of Human Factors in all aspects of business. Here are some of our favorite things we found at CANSEC this year: Innovation in drone technology has come so far over the past few years. HumanSystems® have previously done work on drone controller interface, and determining operator workload and requirements. One of the many vehicles available for viewing at CANSEC. What interested us is the mobility and versatility new vehicle concepts offer. What is a defence conference without the large intimidating vehicles? At HumanSystems® our consultants have spent days, and even weeks, doing Human Factors and Human Systems Integration analyses inside LAV’s like this. For anyone looking to learn more about what Human Factors and Human Systems Integration is, and how it can help your business, take this time and sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on twitter and LinkedIn. This way you will never miss an opportunity to learn how Human Factors and Human Systems Integration can help your business by problem definition, design and development, anthropometrics, training, purchasing and acquisition, researching and analysis, testing and evaluation, and of course increasing your return on investment. We look forward to continuing the conversation, and seeing you all again next year at CANSEC 2018!! The post Success at CANSEC 2017 appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/901/In this article, Michael Thomson, senior consultant at HSI®, describes the benefits of using an interactive narrative learning strategy for eLearning design and development. An interactive narrative essentially provides a conceptual framework, context, and agency, while increasing immersion, invoking emotion, making eLearning memorable. What Is Interactive Narrative Learning And Why Is It A Great Way To Design eLearning? To make eLearning fun and engaging for your learners, adopt an interactive narrative learning strategy. Popular in the gaming world, interactive narrative learning is a digital learning experience that uses storytelling to structure learning. Combining traditional narrative with visual arts and interactivity, its purpose is to place the learner in the digital environment, so that they believe their choices are central to the unfolding of the story. Presented with an overarching theme, learners make meaningful decisions that shape the outcome of the story. Here are 6 reasons why interactive narrative is an effective elearning strategy: 1\. It Provides A Conceptual Framework To Structure Your eLearning 2. It Makes eLearning Contextualized 3. It Means Agency 4. It Increases Immersion 5. It Invokes Emotion 6. It Is Memorable To find out more about interactive narrative elearning, click here to read the full article on eLearning Industry. Final Word As James Wallis says, “Our brains have a natural affinity not only for enjoying narratives but also for creating them. In the same way that our mind sees an abstract pattern and resolves it into a face, our imagination sees a pattern of events and resolves it into a story”. Using a narrative framework with interactivity provides agency, a deep contextual experience that’s immersive, and the opportunity to invoke emotion, makes interactive narrative an effective and memorable instructional design strategy for building eLearning and engaging your learners. The storytelling structure holds it all together, connecting the learner to an important human tradition that makes learning stick. The post 6 Reasons Why Interactive Narrative Learning Is An Effective eLearning Strategy appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/900/Cyber Security is an increasingly trending issue. Companies are spending millions of dollars on cyber security software, professionals, and certifications to try to play defensive when it comes to their systems and confidential data. It seems that every week we hear about another organization that has fallen victim to the ever persistent “hackers”. When it comes to confidential data, how do we really go about securing it, considering that software can be vulnerable to breaches? Cyber Security Software Only Goes So Far… One possible answer is of course the software. If companies keep spending, new software and systems will continue to be created to fix the problems. Good news for entrepreneurs. A quick search reveals that there are hundreds of Cyber Security companies offering software to prevent threats, including some of the largest names on the Forbes 500 list. The real nature of the beast is that you can keep building your walls thicker and higher, but there will always be a way around, above, or underneath the walls. Current Training Focuses Mainly on IT Professionals Training institutes offer modules that focus on creating certified IT professionals in the field of Cyber Security to manage their systems and monitor for threats. But what about the employees who use the systems? If most companies are focusing on training certifications for only a few employees, how is the rest of the organization going to act? Limiting training to a few key individuals and relying on them to pass on the knowledge to others can spell disaster. Sure, the IT department or other high-level employees are primarily responsible for the “cogs” of the infrastructure, but all it takes is one small piece of the machine to fail for a ripple effect to start. It sure sounds better that all the employees are trained and aware of their responsibilities before those situations occur, doesn’t it? Employee Knowledge and Training is the Answer: As it turns out, according to the Harvard Business Review, one of the major cyber security threats comes from the human brain; curiosity, ignorance, apathy, and hubris. Everyone is looking for the next big piece of software to put executives at ease, but are ignoring the underlying issue that all employees need to be trained to respond to security threats, from the bottom to the top. Not just the IT department. Organizations that are missing the link between employee and training are also missing the opportunity for early detection, early response, and improved risk mitigation. Investing in training to improve employee knowledge and behaviour at all levels of the organization can help to create more peace of mind, and reduce uncertainty when it comes to protecting valuable data. If you'd like to learn more, contact us. Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed. For those looking to win the war on cyber attacks, HSI® is the premier choice for training your entire organization to recognize and respond to threats among all other service providers. Where our competition focuses only on certification and high-level training, our experienced team focuses on the largest threat, your employees, and how to train them to recognize, […] The post Cyber Security – Is software the answer, or is it employee training? appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/899/Training is an essential part of everyday life. From the day we are born, to our first day of school, first job, and current job, we have received training at every step. In today’s fast-paced environment companies have recognized the need to keep their employees trained. That is why in 2015, $365 billion was spent on training worldwide. In fact, the average employee receives roughly 30 hours of learning per year. That’s almost an entire workweek spent on learning and training to improve performance. You probably know most of that already. At school, you were taught to solve problems, while at work you were taught how to perform tasks a certain way, so you know the ins and outs of training. So why is it that it is primarily at school that we are truly tested on our learning or training and gradually progress to harder courses, with more testing, to evolve our intellect? Why is it that most of training in the workplace goes unmeasured? Is it not important that the effectiveness of training completed at work is measured as well? If notthen, why do it? The companies who train more, perform better Companies with the largest investment in training have been proven to outperform their competition by roughly 17-35% on the S&P index. Having employees knowing the right skills and how to use them of course leads to a more successful role in the company, and a more successful company. Failing to capitalize on a company training program however can lead to less retention, and higher overall retraining costs. By incorporating a training effectiveness program, problems can be caught early, adjustments can be made, and higher ROI’s can be realized. Very few companies measure their training’s effectiveness… With billions being spent on training every year, less than 5% of that is spent on measuring the actual effectiveness of the training. Training evaluation may come as an afterthought because once the training is delivered, it may feel that the primary objective (i.e., to train employees) has been accomplished – a belief that could sabotage the training program’s goal if not caught in time. However, much like taking a course of antibiotics, training success depends on completing all the recommended interventions rather than abandoning treatment once the initial symptoms have passed. Don’t spend money on training without testing its effectiveness Spending money on training only to get a minimal or poor return will just mean having to spend more money down the road. If your training programs are continuously monitored and evaluated, you can identify problems early and then impose corrective action before too much time and effort is wasted. The results from measuring training effectiveness can help to further refine and target your future training efforts. Focusing on area’s that are most in need will help to ensure resources are being used to their greatest advantage. Looking to learn more about measuring training effectiveness, contact us here For businesses everywhere looking to capitalize on their training investments, HSI® optimizes your training investment by ensuring the training you provide is effective. While most training companies focus on training delivery very […] The post Measuring Training Effectiveness appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/898/HumanSystems® receives two IDEaS awards to develop better body armour for defence and security. R&D on lightweight ballistic protection aims to keep soliders safe without sacrificing comfort and performance for people in uniform. Guelph, Ontario, Canada, December 2018 — HumanSystems® Incorporated (HSI®) has received two funding awards totalling approximately $400,000 through the Innovation For Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program. The two awards, each worth approximately $200,000, will support defence and security projects by HSI® aimed at improving the safety and performance of military personnel. The first project, Development of Optimized Light Weight Female Ballistic Plates, is focused on developing lightweight ballistic body armout to suit the needs of female soliders. The second project, Soldier's Reconfigurable Armour System Testbed, will develop and validate a reconfigurable armour system testbes that will inform future designs of modular, scalable body armour solutions that maximize protection without sacrificing comfort mobility. The IDEaS program was annouced as part of the Government of Canada's national defence policy in 2017. The federal government and Department of National Defence committed $1.6 billion over 20 years for IDEaS to support innovation and promote partnerships to address Canada's future defence and security challenges. "The Canadian Armed Forces does not have any ballistic armour systems designed to fit female soliders," said Harry Angel, HSI®'s principal consultant for the female ballistic plates project. "Current shapes of ballistic protective plates were designed for men, which can make the armour uncomfortable and impractical for female soldiers in the field. With more and more women serving in potential combat situations, the goal of this project is to develop advanced multi-curve ballistic body armour that will significantly improve the comfort, safety and performance of female soliders operating in high-threat situations." The shortcomings of body armour used by the military also affect male soldiers. In general, current ballistic protection systems are heavy, bulky, limit mobility, contribute to overheating, and interfere with natural body mechanics. "All soldiers deserve better", said David Tack, VicePresident of Operations at HSI®. "There is a need for the Armed Forces to develop modular, scalable body armour solutions that maximize protection while minimizing adverse affects on a soldier's mobility, task performance, and comfort," said Tack. "Our goals is to develop a testbed that will be an important tool to assist future R&D programs in measuring the impacts of certain body armour designs on performance." The funding will cover the first phase of the projects, expected to last six months. Full Press Release Here: HSI_IDEaS News Release The post HSI^® receives two IDEaS Awards appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/897/GUELPH, Ontario, Canada, September, 2019 - HSI® (HumanSystems® Incorporated) continues to expand into the electrical utility market with a new contract to help Ontario’s IESO upgrade its control-room workstations and displays. The IESO is the Crown Corporation responsible for managing the electricity market and the day-to-day supply of electricity in the province of Ontario. Working with electricity producers, transmitters, and distributors who own and maintain the electrical grid in Canada and the United States, the IESO balances supply and demand in real time to ensure electricity is available to Ontarians 24/7. “To make it all happen, teams of control room operators are continually screening data and balancing the grid in real time as power is generated and consumed. So it’s in everyone’s interests that the control room is configured for efficient workflows while maximizing the comfort and safety of the operators. That’s where HSI® Human Factors expertise will make a difference,” said Andrew Morton, HSI® technical lead and project manager. For the project, HSI® is undertaking a system and task analysis of control room operations and eight workstations, each with its own unique role and function, as well as the interactions between each station. These analyses will be used to make recommendations to support the complex cognitive and collaborative decision making required of the IESO control room teams. “The results of our work will provide IESO with independent, objective evidence for their acquisition decisions for workstations and displays. We will also be creating a training program for control room staff to configure and use their new workstations and displays effectively and efficiently.” said Morton. The entire project is expected to be completed by December 2019. See the full press release here. The post HumanSystems^® wins contract with Ontario’s IESO (Independent Electricity System Operator) to support major control room refurbishment appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/896/Guelph, Ontario, Canada, November 2019 — For improved firefighter situational awareness, HSI® has been awarded an Innovative Solutions Canada Phase 1 (Proof of Concept) contract of $200,000 in response to an innovation challenge developed and funded by the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP) administered by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), in partnership with Public Safety Canada. CSSP aims to strengthen Canada’s ability to anticipate, prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism, crime, natural disasters, and serious accidents through the convergence of Science and Technology (S&T) with policy, operations and intelligence. The CSSP invests in, among other things, developing capabilities that help responders to conduct operations safely and effectively. HSI®’s proposal was competitively selected in response to the Heads Up Hands Free Firefighting challenge that aims to provide innovative devices, applications and personal protective equipment technology to help position Canadian firefighters to work in a more Head Up Hands Free mode of operation on the fire ground. Dave Tack, HSI® VP Operations and project lead explains: “Our goal is a fully integrated suite of wearable sensors for individual firefighters and the fire ground commanders using existing or emerging technologies. As with soldiers, firefighting is dangerous work with low visibility, heat, smoke and cumbersome equipment. To be both effective and safe firefighters must be able to share critical information even when their attention and hands are already fully occupied.” “We take a human systems integration approach. Our first focus is on information firefighters really need. Only then can we figure out how to capture and present what information they must have for situation awareness about their surroundings and their team without distraction from immediate tasks. We have to find creative ways to use auditory, visual or tactile technologies that are compatible with existing equipment and the harsh environment. The system must enable firefighters to sense, share and quickly understand what they need to know.” The HSI® team will work with a cross section of firefighters from the City of Guelph throughout this project. From them, HSI® will learn the challenges they face and the information needed by the members of an incident response team: those close to the fire, the team leader, and a commander for the entire operation. Then, HSI® and technology developers will work together to design and integrate the hardware and software architecture and to verify the design with firefighters. Says John Osborne, Guelph Fire Chief: “As a City and a fire service, Guelph prides itself a leader in researching and finding new ways to make our job safer and more effective for citizens and for firefighters. Working on this project is how we can feed our experience as firefighters into finding better ways of using new technologies. Not only to meet our own needs but those of every fire service.” The design created by HSI® in Phase 1 will be submitted for potential Phase 2 funding under the ISC program to build a prototype and evaluate it with firefighter users working under realistic conditions. -- About HumanSystems® (www.humansys.com) For more than 30 years, with clients in Canada, the U.S. and other countries, […] The post HSI^® wins Innovation Solutions Canada contract for Firefighter R&D appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/895/Guelph, Ontario, Canada, October 2019 – HSI® has been awarded a five-year contract with Defence Research and Development Canada’s Toronto Research Centre (DRDC TRC) for support in Information Operations, Intelligence and Cyber research. The human aspect of military operations is shaped by many things. Culture, comprehension, and motivation all affect the decision making and actions of individuals, teams and organizations. This contract brings together experts in the social sciences, artificial intelligence, data analytics, information science and more to support research by DRDC TRC in information operations, civil military co-operation, processing intelligence information, and protecting cyber networks. Technological advances in data gathering and analysis provide new opportunities to understand the role of human factors in managing operations more effectively. HSI®’s role is to provide a multi-disciplinary research team to help DRDC TRC gain the knowledge and capabilities needed by the Canadian Armed Forces. “The HSI® team brings together researchers and experts in diverse subjects from within HSI® as well from universities and firms across Canada to work on these studies for DRDC” says Michael Thomson, the HSI® Technical Lead. The contract takes advantage of HSI®’s experience working with multidisciplinary teams and our positive and long relationships within industry, government and academia.” Adds HSI® Project Manager Harry Angel: “ Managing complex projects involving different disciplines and interests while working miles apart is always a challenge but one with which we’ve had years of success in several countries. -- About HumanSystems® (www.humansys.com) For more than 30 years, with clients in Canada, the U.S. and other countries, HSI® has been a leader in human factors and human system integration solutions. We work in sectors including defence, emergency responders, health care, occupational safety and utilities. Individually and for teams, HSI® helps integrate people, performance and technology so systems work effec-tively, efficiently and safely. HSI® services include research, design, product validation and training management. We focus on user fit between the abilities of the people and the technologies that together make up any system. In this way, HSI® supports product and system developers as well as procurement decision makers to reduce risks, lower life cycle costs and benefit return on investment. The post HSI^® wins contract to support research about how human factors shape military operations appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/894/Guelph, Ontario, Canada, September 2020 – HumanSystems® Incorporated has been awarded $1,000,000 through the Department of National Defence’s (DND) Innovation For Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program to continue its development of the Citadel™ (Pat. Pending) respirator designed to better protect soldiers in hazardous chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) environments. This project follows a previous IDEaS contract to HumanSystems® Incorporated in 2019 to develop a proof of concept design. Working with the DND’s science and technology organization, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), the goal of this twelve-month project is to further develop the Citadel™ respirator design to the point where it can be tested in realistic operational environments. “Recent changes to Canadian Armed Forces policies allow for short beards and longer hairstyles. This funding will bring the novel Citadel™ respirator concept closer to commercialization and to providing a more protective CBRN Respirator/Mask for individuals with various face/head shapes, hairstyles, and/or facial hair,” says Harry Angel, the HSI® Citadel™ project technical lead. The proof of concept Citadel™ respirator was designed to mitigate any leakage of contaminants into the respirator mask caused by various face shapes and/or beards or facial stubble. In preliminary user testing, individuals with beards or facial stubble could not achieve an acceptable fit factor with the standard protective mask, meaning that they were susceptible to contaminants entering the mask. The Citadel™ respirator design was able to achieve an acceptable fit factor well above the minimum acceptable standard. These promising results showed that people with beards and facial stubble would be significantly less vulnerable to contaminants entering the respirator mask. The HSI® technical team, Harry Angel and Jordan Bray-Miners, bring over 30 years of experience in human factors for personal protective equipment, biomechanics and instrumentation design. “The HSI® team is proud to work with DRDC and to advance the HSI® Citadel™ respirator concept to better protect people in the armed forces and wherever such protection might be needed,” says Jordan Bray- Miners, Senior Consultant at HSI®. IDEaS supports the development of solutions from their conceptual stage, through prototype testing and capability development. The program includes several elements that promote collaboration between innovators, provides developmental resources and provides opportunities to interact with DND’s science and military members. Through which all innovators are on an even playing field to solve specific defence and security challenges. For more about the program, see here: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/programs/defence- ideas.html About HumanSystems® (www.humansys.com ) For more than 35 years, with clients in Canada, the U.S. and other countries, HSI® has been a leader in human factors and human system integration support. We work in sectors including defence, emergency responders, health care, occupational safety and utilities. Individually and for teams, HSI® helps integrate people, performance and technology so systems work effectively, efficiently and safely. HSI® services include research, design, validation and training management. We focus on user fit between the abilities of the people and the technologies that together make up any system. In this way, HSI® supports product and system developers as well as procurement decision makers to reduce risks, lower life cycle costs and benefit return on investment. The post HSI^® awarded $1 million DND IDEaS contract to develop the Citadel™ respirator prototype appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated. https://bizups.info/news/893/Guelph, Ontario, Canada, April 2022 – HumanSystems® Incorporated (HSI®) has been awarded a contract through the Innovative Solutions Canada program of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada to improve respiratory protection for all front-line RCMP officers. This project follows a previous successful contract to HSI® in 2019 and 2020 to develop a similar product for military use. HSI® successfully developed a respirator hood over pressure system (Citadel™) that was targeted for prolonged use for military operations in harsh conditions. Leveraging the experience gained through the development of Citadel™, HSI® will create a solution to meet the unique needs of front- line officers (Bastion™). “Bastion™ will explore ways to provide respiratory protection to police officers who wear beards for religious or other reasons. It will reduce risks for our police and first responder community, as well as reduce recruitment restrictions for jobs where respiratory protection is required”, says Harry Angel, the HSI® Citadel™ project manager. With novel use of a proven Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) protection approach, Bastion™ combines an intelligent hood and blower subsystem with any certified respirator. By counteracting leaks through small gaps in the mask seal, development to date shows the Bastion™ concept (patent pending) successfully improves respiratory protection for Air Purifying Respirator (APR) users with beards or stubble over required protection levels. The HSI® technical team, Harry Angel and Jordan Bray-Miners, bring over 35 years of experience in human factors for personal protective equipment, biomechanics and instrumentation design. The HSI® team is proud to work with the RCMP to design the HSI® Bastion™ respiratory protection concept specifically for police or any other government agency where such protection might be needed,” says Jordan Bray-Miners P.Eng. Senior Consultant and Engineering Lead at HSI®. Innovative Solutions Canada supports Canadian small businesses through the development of solutions from their conceptual stage, through prototype testing, capability development, and preparing a pathway to commercialization. The program includes several elements that promote collaboration between innovators, provides developmental resources and provides opportunities to interact with government stakeholders. As the single largest purchaser of Canadian goods and services, the Government of Canada is supporting the growth of Canadian innovators and entrepreneurs. For more about the program, see here: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/101.nsf/eng/h_00000.html About HumanSystems® (www.humansys.com) For 40 years, with clients in Canada, the U.S. and other countries, HSI® has been a leader in human factors and human system integration support. We work in sectors including defence, emergency responders, health care, occupational safety and utilities. Individually and for teams, HSI® helps integrate people, performance and technology so systems work effectively, efficiently and safely. HSI® services include research, design, validation and training management. We focus on user fit between the abilities of the people and the technologies that together make up any system. In this way, HSI® supports product and system developers as well as procurement decision makers to reduce risks, lower life cycle costs and benefit return on investment. The post HSI® awarded Innovation Solutions Canada contract to improve respiratory protection for bearded RCMP Officers appeared first on HumanSystems Incorporated.