Last month, AGC of America held its 2016 AGC IT Forum Conference in Chicago and a recap of Day One was included in the August issue of Tech Brief. This was the eighth annual edition of this industry-leading technology event. The conference consists of a day and a half of educational presentations and demonstrations of new and cutting-edge technology for the construction industry. This year the AGC IT Forum partnered with Northwestern University to provide a new academic flavor to the conference. There were several great presentations held. The recap of Day Two follows.

Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has finalized its new rules on the commercial use of small drones, construction contractors are taking an even greater interest in these vehicles and whether they can make a significant contribution to the bottom line. AGC is conducting a five-part WebEd series that will feature construction contractors already flying drones, and both legal and other experts. Register for the Full Series & Save 25%! Full Series: $299 AGC Member | $369 Non-member A-La-Carte: $79 AGC Member | $99 Non-member

Listen to the latest ConstructorCast for an in-depth discussion of the cyber security risks facing the construction industry, how hackers target firms, and what you can do to protect yourself and your company. For this episode, we sit down with Joe Oleksak, an IT leader with Plante Moran, and Fara Francis, AGC's Chief Information Officer, for the full story on how cyber security is a new frontier in risk management.

Starting in November, AGC of America will be holding a series of WebEds on cybersecurity. The site will be updated as more information becomes available. In the meantime, mark your calendars for the following dates. All webinars will start at 2 p.m. eastern. November 10 and 17, 2016 December 1 and 8, 2016

Contractors increasingly turn to electronic solutions for communicating, accessing plans and managing projects, but that puts them at risk for cyberattacks. Can’t happen to you? A mechanical contractor’s cybersecurity weaknesses led to the 2013 Target holiday season breach, one of the largest in history. If you use the internet or email — and who doesn’t — your company is at risk.

---

Android apps are about to get a whole lot safer -- Google is finally bringing its Safe Browsing API to third-party developers, a feature that will be available on all devices going back to Android 2.3. Google wants to make browsing on an Android device even safer. At Google I/O in May, the company announced it would be bringing a device-local safe browsing application programming interface (API) to developers, and that day has finally arrived.

The iPhone 7 is one of the most powerful smartphones to date, but it's actually more powerful than plenty of computers, including the MacBook Air and even the 2013 MacBook Pro. There are, however, some things to keep in mind. The iPhone 7 is one of the most powerful smartphones to date, but did you know that’s it’s actually more powerful than plenty of computers?

While the migration to the new Outlook.com experience isstill unfinished, those who have migrated are getting new features. Microsoft announced today on the Office Blogs that Outlook.com now supports Google Drive and Facebook photos. Google Drive was already supported on Outlook’s mobile apps. But now Outlook users can get the same support when accessing their Outlook.com account on the web.

The iPhone 7 hits stores on Friday, Sept. 16, but potentially record-breaking demand means many customers may have to wait until November to nab their preferred model. Given the phone has largely the same form factor as the last two models - and this time, no headphone jack - what's the deal with all the hype?

Old CCTV analog technology, although still used by some companies today, is quickly being replaced by modern IP video systems. These new systems have a great range of camera and software features, flexible installation options and a large selection of other equipment that can be integrated, including lights, motion detectors and alarms. As the technology has evolved, the reliability of video surveillance systems has greatly increased. These systems are now used by businesses around the world to increase security.

Contractors are finding Revizto, which converts building information modeling and CAD models into lightweight 3D environments, aids in collaboration and communicating plans and ideas to clients and subcontractors.

The Construction Open Standards Alliance (COSA) is a community of construction industry professionals who support open integration standards in construction software. Join the effort today.

All events are scheduled in Eastern Standard Time. 

Sept. 27, 2016
WebEd: Going Mobile: Why Construction Needs to be on the Cutting Edge
1 p.m.

Sept. 28, 2016 
WebEd: How Construction Contractors Are Already Using Drones
2 p.m. 

Sept. 29, 2016
WebEd: Data Warehouse & Analytics for Improved Performance Management
3 p.m.
Oct. 5, 2016

Drones: The New Federal "Rules of the Road"
2 p.m. 

Oct. 12, 2016
Privacy, Nuisance and Other Legal Doctrines Restricting Drone Operations
2 p.m.  

Oct. 17-19, 2016
Fall BIMForum 
Atlanta, Georgia 

Oct. 18, 2016
WebEd: Smarter Construction. Integrated Content Management for Field and Office
2 p.m.

Oct. 19, 2016
Insurance and Outsourcing Strategies for Drone Operations
2 p.m. 

Oct. 26, 2016
How to Manage the Additional Data that Drones Generate
2 p.m.