Laura Black

3 days ago | connectedworld.com | Laura Black

Summer is coming, and things are heating up here in the United States. This summer, we will be embarking on a “hot” technology series, looking at one of the hottest, most talked about technologies of 2025: AI (artificial intelligence). You have likely heard some of the predictions. Gen AI will likely pass $1 trillion by 2028, which represents a more than 20-fold increase in the next three years. However, this is all easier said than done.

1 week ago | connectedworld.com | Laura Black

Let’s talk safety in construction—for women. We all know PPE (personal protective equipment) is one of the best ways to heighten safety in the construction industry, and yet so much of the PPE is designed to fit men. It is time for a candid conversation about safety. The construction industry continues to see the greatest numbers of fatalities. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for more than 39% of all construction fatalities.

2 weeks ago | connectedworld.com | Laura Black

Safety is paramount in the construction industry—something that has evolved throughout the years and has become more prominent in the past few decades. But are there still areas where we can improve safety? April is National Safe Digging Month, but let’s review a little bit of U.S. history first.  The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 required all utility services to have abbreviated numbers for locating underground utilities.

3 weeks ago | connectedworld.com | Laura Black

Last night, I was in a heated debate with some friends from my women’s club about none other than ChatGPT, and I think it is applicable for any construction professional who is currently or who is planning to use ChatGPT to write emails, briefs, or other documentation for either work or personal purposes. We were reading applications for our scholarship committee and tried to spot when an applicant used ChatGPT.

1 month ago | connectedworld.com | Laura Black

Infrastructure has been a hot topic in the past couple of weeks, as ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) has released its Infrastructure Report Card—something Peggy Smedley has reported on here on the blog and on The Peggy Smedley Show in depth. There has been much progress made, and yet there is still much work to be done. Let’s review the foundation, the facts, and the future of infrastructure. The FoundationInfrastructure is the foundation and the lifeblood of communities.