The Internet of Things can open up significant time savings and convenience for both businesses and consumers through connectivity and data exchange. Still, with enhanced sharing comes increased risk. As more IoT devices become standard in organizations and homes, more doors open for malicious actors to compromise systems and steal valuable data.
To protect themselves, companies and consumers must be aware of the inherent risk factors and the most effective mitigation strategies. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share smart steps both users and builders of IoT technology can take to improve network and platform security.
1. Regularly Check And Update Installed Applications
Different IoT solutions will require various communication networks. Therefore, it’s important to look at the applications that drive those IoT solutions. The applications installed on IoT solutions need to be checked regularly, and keeping applications updated is essential to minimize cyber risk on IoT solutions. - Abdulla Al-Attas, PLUS Malaysia Berhad
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/01/12/16-effective-steps-for-securing-corporate-and-personal-iot-networks-and-platforms/?sh=22f71dec1747

The need to address the under-representation of women within technology roles shouldn’t still be an ongoing conversation, but unfortunately it is. There is, however, new urgency to address this, which is in part connected to the current speed of technological change. Those technology businesses that have embraced diversity are best able to adapt to change, see the opportunity and evolve – and those that haven’t are left trailing behind.
The problem starts in education. According to the UNESCO report Cracking the code: Girls’ and women’s education in STEM, only 35 per cent of STEM students in higher education globally are women. There is a raft of reasons why, from the perpetuation of stereotypes about the subjects girls study right through to a lack of positive encouragement from teachers to help girls pursue STEM subjects.
This lack of representation ultimately leads to a lack of women in technology roles. Overall, women technologists make up 29 per cent of the tech workforce today. Data from AnitaB.org shows that if numbers continue to increase at the current pace, it could take 12 years before women see equal representation in tech. We mustn’t wait that long. 
Continue reading: https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/voices/comment/its-time-more-practical-approach-gender-diversity#gref

The hot topic right now is all the talk of the "metaverse" — the moniker given to the idea that our lives will take place more and more in a fully digital setting rather than a mostly physical one. The theory is that our work lives, our transactions, our social interactions and most of the other ways we interact with others will become ones that happen across an evolved and interconnected digital space called the metaverse. As we build toward this future, organizations are starting to look for the best places to make their mark while the metaverse is still in its nascency. For many of them, blockchain companies are gaining a greater amount of interest.
It starts with the simple equation of buying while the price is still low in order to sell when the price is high a few years down the road. Bitcoin, the most commonly known use of blockchain, has already surpassed entry-level prices, but most other uses for blockchain are still at the beginning stages and still have the low price of entry needed for a buyer to take interest. If bitcoin’s success is even a fraction of what is in store for other blockchain applications, many of those who buy at today’s prices may see large returns in the not-too-distant future.
Besides the profit potential, blockchain companies could also be seen as a safer purchase since there is a significant amount of future-proofing that comes with any software with blockchain at its core. Blockchain’s flexibility of use and hundreds, possibly even thousands, of potential applications combined with an ever-growing need for enhanced digital security means it can adapt and grow as the metaverse expands.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/01/12/why-blockchain-companies-are-the-next-frontier/?sh=2f7905a151e4

The use of artificial intelligence or AI is much more common than most people realize. Although we are far from the threshold of most sci-fi films and the development of programs and robots that can take over the world, the average person interacts with some form of AI on a daily basis.
When you enable predictive speech in your word processing platform, that is a simplistic form of AI. The software is able to identify what you are most likely to say within the context of the sentence you are writing and complete it for you. Every time you turn to an automated assistant on your smartphone to help you spell a word, dig up a historical date or define something, you are using AI.
Businesses, both small and large, are increasing their use of artificial intelligence for a variety of tasks. If you want to implement the use of this useful technology in your company, here are just a few ways that it can help.
Continue reading: https://techspective.net/2022/01/12/the-era-of-ai-is-here-and-businesses-love-it/

In these tumultuous times, many workplaces are facing both unprecedented illness in addition to what has been called, “The Great Resignation.” They simply do not have the manpower to manage sales and customer contact in the usual ways. But while this loss of human contact has hurt many smaller businesses, some of which are still using antiquated response systems like email or contact forms from their websites, mid-size to larger enterprises are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to not only initiate customer contact, but also to qualify leads and close more deals.
This is important because it may present a solution for smaller businesses going forward, as it continues to serve the larger ones and offer best practices while doing so. These days, responsiveness is the number one determining factor between businesses that can and can’t go the distance in the midst of huge external challenges. Answering the phone or an online inquiry is just the beginning – and you’d be surprised how many smaller businesses cannot even manage to accomplish those easy steps at this moment in time, leading to some very frustrating disconnects with their potential customers.
Many smaller businesses that may not be great with technology have already attempted to build their sales funnel using tools like InfusionSoft (Keap) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. However, what larger enterprises are showing us is that AI presents a 24/7 method of streamlining your responsiveness to your customer base, as well as qualifying and refining those customers who are most likely to buy from you – and that can be a tremendous timesaver when it comes to determining which leads are worthy of further response.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/01/12/how-to-close-more-deals-with-artificial-intelligence/?sh=6cfb06acdc61

It used to be that agriculture involved quite a bit of guesswork: What would the weather patterns be? What kind of crop yield could be expected?  Over the years, farmers have found innovative ways to answer these questions as much as possible with new technologies. Agriculture drones are the next step in this process. Agriculture drones can be used to do anything from precision agriculture, to efficiently dispersing weed control or fertilizers, to optimizing field management. The results include reduced operation costs, improved crop quality, and an increased yield rate. The rapidly changing world of agriculture The farming operations of today look quite different than even a few decades ago. New technology has allowed the growers of today to optimize each part of their operations — from field spraying to grow cycles and crop health. A big part of that transformation can be attributed to drones and other types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). With an agriculture drone, farmers get in-depth data analysis and mission planning as well as new tools capable of handling physical work. Whether you’re an independent farmer or a leader of a larger organization, drone technology can help you beat your harvest goals and yield more crops with fewer resources. Two of the main ways that the right UAV and payload can help are efficient crop spraying and field mapping.
Continue reading: https://www.potatopro.com/news/2022/drones-agriculture-how-agriculture-drones-are-changing-how-farmers-work

The drones that have changed the complexion of war from the sky are being replicated at sea, as great powers develop and deploy unmanned underwater vessels (UUVs) to gain a strategic edge in the Pacific and beyond.
The United States, United Kingdom, China and Russia are all developing and deploying the vessels, indicating the “dronification” of future maritime warfare.
The UK, which is expanding its military presence in the Pacific, is set to operate its first extra-large underwater drone to complement its Astute-class submarines. The Royal Navy’s efforts to design, build, and test such a drone have been designated Project CETUS, and aim to produce a 27-tonne, 12-meter Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) demonstrator.
The contract for Project CETUS is projected to be finalized in financial year 2021-2022, with a projected cost of 21.5 million pounds (US$29.3 million.)
The Royal Navy is also working on the Manta underwater drone, an unmanned version of the existing S201 manned submersible made by MSubs, a British manufacturer.
Continue reading: https://asiatimes.com/2022/01/underwater-drones-herald-sea-change-in-pacific-warfare/

When it comes to doing aerobatic maneuvers, aerial drones seem to be rapidly catching up to birds. But flying robots also are becoming adept at another avian feat of agility that's nearly as amazing — the ability to land and perch on just about any object or surface, ranging from tree branches to telephone wires, without falling off.
Stanford University researchers, for example, have developed a device called a stereotyped nature-inspired aerial grasper, or SNAG, which can be attached to a quadcopter drone to give it feet and legs resembling those of a peregrine falcon. When equipped with the device, the drone is able to fly around catching and carrying objects and perching on various surfaces, according to a Stanford news release dated Dec. 1, 2021, describing the work.
Continue reading: https://science.howstuffworks.com/drone-spying.htm

With the tech industry opening up more job opportunities in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, a report has shown that women are more employable in development jobs than men.
According to the BridgeLabz Tech Employability Quotient (BTEQ) test, which determines the likelihood of getting a development job in the tech industry, it has been found that the average score for women stands at 42 per cent against that of men at 39 per cent.
"While the tech industry is burgeoning with opportunities across different fields, there remains a significant issue of staff attrition. One of the variables in the gap is the under-utilization of women's talent.
"Whether women are starting their careers or joining after a career break, we've been working towards reducing the skill gap, instilling diversity in the workplace," BridgeLabz founder Narayan Mahadevan said.
Continue reading: https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/women-are-more-employable-in-tech-development-jobs-than-men-report-122011101253_1.html

Today’s Woman in Tech: Jen Sprague, Revenue Workflow Specialist at Scratchpad
Chicago native Jen Sprague is a personable Revenue Workflow Specialist at Scratchpad, a bottom-up SaaS company that makes a unified revenue team workspace that allows salespeople to consolidate and streamline the different aspects of their sales workflows.
Sprague is a 2014 graduate of Indiana University Kelley School of Business and has been in sales and marketing for more than seven years. She also has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which affects millions of people in the United States (about 3 million are diagnosed with this neurodivergent syndrome each year).
But Sprague isn’t letting this stop her from succeeding in her chosen field. In fact, she is getting ahead of it all by working on spreading public awareness of ADHD, so that businesspeople can understand the benefits that neurodivergent professionals bring to their jobs. In the following Q&A, she explains the barriers women face in landing and advancing in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) jobs here in 2021, not to mention the hurdles she herself has had to clear due to her neurodiverse condition.
What first got you interested in tech?
Because I’m a millennial, I feel like technology was always in the background. I played video games as a kid. And I do think that led to me being interested in learning and progress. I became a little bit more confident in using tech in general; I was encouraged by my parents to use computers.
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-sprague-176365.html

NFTs can no longer be deemed as the next phase in the ever-changing cryptocurrency landscape — the unique approach to digital asset ownership is now well-established with the potential to grow a market as large or even larger than Bitcoin. NFTs create new opportunities for digital asset ownership by offering a unique avenue to improve the control of traditional liquid assets. Since NFTs can be used to log ownership of anything, including digital purchases of lands in virtual worlds, music, and game publishing, the possibilities for NFT use cases are legitimately endless. 
Millions of NFT users see the recent proliferation of the NFT market and mainstream adoption as just the tip of the iceberg for NFT expansion, but for hackers and scammers the NFT industry is a goldmine for rug pulls and an easy way to facilitate hacks. Even the most prominent NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, which boast some of the industry’s highest floor prices, have fallen victim to the predatory tactics of these scams. With this phenomenon in mind, the layer 1 NFT blockchain Pastel Network developed novel technologies that are proven to provide any user with access to a safe and secure solution for storing and authenticating NFTs.
Pastel Network has created its own purpose-built blockchain designed exclusively for NFTs, providing enhanced reliability, sustainability and transparency for the NFT ecosystem. Every NFT application that launches on Pastel benefits from the Network’s innovative protocols. These include Sense, a sophisticated verification system that can detect subtle differences in NFTs, and Cascade, a distributed storage protocol that offers an on-chain permanent solution for NFTs. 
Continue reading: https://techcrunch.com/sponsor/pastel-network/this-nft-blockchain-protects-your-digital-assets-from-nft-scammers/

The rapid advancement of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency has made it imperative for the higher education community to adapt and respond to this economic phenomenon. There is great opportunity for colleges and universities to expand their economic impact and footprint through the proliferation of information, exposure, and opportunities for people to create a better financial future for themselves and their families.
There is a tremendous need for greater education on how the permission less nature of blockchain technology can have the power to break through existing barriers in the economic system like lack of access to credit and capital that has often thwarted prosperity for underserved and historically marginalized communities. 
Financial institutions have traditionally been gatekeepers for lending, borrowing, trading, investing, and other similar activities. The historical patterns of behavior by many of these gatekeepers have had a disproportionately discriminatory impact of a significant number of people who have found themselves locked out of avenues of wealth building. Blockchain eliminates the need for unnecessary third, fourth, and fifth parties when accessing the services listed above and avoids some of the friction that has permeated these processes.
Continue reading: https://www.diverseeducation.com/opinion/article/15287196/how-colleges-and-universities-can-be-blockchain-technology-community-hubs

The phrases blockchain and cryptocurrency are frequently used interchangeably. Even though they are two quite different technologies, they are inextricably linked. Blockchain is a digitized, decentralized public ledger that investors and developers can access at any time.
Simply said, it is a collection of digital data, or blocks, maintained in a public database, or, to put it another way, the chain. When verifiable transactions occur, the information is stored in blocks, and the blockchain expands. Because cryptocurrency is a decentralized, digital system, it uses the blockchain to operate. It is defined as a digital or virtual currency that employs cryptography for security and is not controlled by any authority, effectively making it immune to official control.
Although Bitcoin was the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, the list currently includes several more. Furthermore, at one point, Bitcoin was the sole blockchain. Despite numerous reservations and mistrust, it appears that both technologies have become integral parts of our economic systems, at least for the time being. Much has changed and progressed in recent years, but because the concepts are so closely related, there is still a lot of ambiguity.
Continue reading: https://foreignpolicyi.org/is-blockchain-related-to-bitcoin/

The role of AI has modified considerably – from its preliminary creation on the threshold of an enterprise of their innovation labs, to the modern-day while human beings are starting to recognize that it has the ability to convert businesses from the center out. Recently there’s been a warning approximately extending its use past simple functionality, and what sort of it could be trusted, which has supposed its use hasn’t been pervasive inside businesses.
However, now that an increasing number of businesses have dipped their toe into the water and have had their eyes opened as to the advantages it may provide, the technology is ultimately prepared to attain maturity. A key cause for this is to stop customers from also are attaining adulthood in their personal expertise approximately each how they are able to get the fine outcomes from AI, and additionally the rights and wrongs of the usage of it. Now that AI has been in large part demystified, customers have much higher expertise of a way to practice it successfully and correctly, because of this that they’re subsequently prepared to undertake it on a much broader foundation and ship its use into the mainstream.
Although 92% of businesses are invested more in AI in 2021, simply 12% are deploying it at scale, down from closing year. “There are many non-apparent elements at play: culture, tools, bias concerns, worry and automation grace the pinnacle of the list. In 2022, companies need to meet those challenges head-on with a cultural method to version operationalization to better manage, track and optimize algorithms. Only then will information technology pass from the playground to the battleground.”
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/do-you-think-ai-has-risk-factors-know-these-5-downsides/

The use of IoT technology at city-scale is becoming a rising trend, giving birth to a generation of modern areas known as “smart cities.”
In recent years, more and more countries have begun incorporating this technology into their infrastructures. So far, IoT has been used to elevate crucial systems that affect citizens’ daily lives, such as healthcare, public transportation, workplace, waste management, and energy distribution.
According to a market report from Grand View Research, the market size of smart cities is expected to reach US$676.01 billion by 2028. In the era of advanced IoT and LoRaWAN technology, the possibilities for improving the way we live and interact with each other in cities is endless
First, what is a smart city?
By definition, it's a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods, voice activation methods, and/or sensors to collect specific data. This data is then used within the framework put in place along with other technologies such as IoT to develop, deploy, and promote sustainable development practices and address the needs accompanied by urbanization.
What technology makes up a smart city?
This framework is made up of a network of connected objects and machines that help transmit data using wireless technology, such as LoRaWAN and the cloud. IoT comes in as the mediator between these objects and will help citizens engage with the systems created by using devices such as smartphones, tablets, cars, and even homes. Examples of this technology working within the city framework include:

1. Air Quality. A growing concern in most major cities, smart cities are now equipping new technologies to monitor pollution, dust, and air particles to better inform residents in real-time of the current levels of pollution in the air.
2. Waste Management. IoT systems are used to help optimise the efficiency of collection and reduce operational costs while also addressing environmental issues associated with inefficient waste management. Smart sensors are also used to send signals when trash containers are full will help ensure that collectors come only when it is essential.
3. Smart Infrastructure: These infrastructures often include automated lighting, smart elevators, and more, buildings and homes are able to learn from their environment to become more energy-efficient and reduce excessive power usage.
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   Continue reading: https://futureiot.tech/the-role-of-iot-in-future-ready-smart-cities/

Agritech innovation continues to offer advances in farmer decision making, while also potentially helping solving challenges around labour, climate change and input effectiveness.
Farmers Weekly looks at five technologies that could improve farming effectiveness, which were showcased at the AgriTechE Reap conference.
1. Disease prediction, weed mapping and yield prediction
A new system developed by crop modelling company Omega Crop uses data from multiple sources to help map weeds, predict disease incidence, yield loss and final yields, and give farmers actionable insight, says co-founder and chief executive officer Jared Bainbridge.
“We’re completely data source agnostic. We will take satellite, drone, mobile phone, in-ground sensor – any kind of data that is gathered in the field – and make good use of it.”
Satellite data is used as a base layer, and if a farmer or agronomist has a drone, the firm can supply an autopilot solution with the Omega Crop software to fly the field to collect relevant data.
“We use that data to give you actionable intelligence about your field. We tell you what the information means. We can predict yields, but also focus on predicting diseases before they occur and mapping weeds at any point in the crop growing cycle.”
The disease-prediction model uses weather and other data to forecast disease pressure in the coming days and even weeks, with a level of risk.
“If we can tell you there won’t be another disease event for another 18 days and good weather for at least another 15, you can pick your moment to do another application, which prolongs the period of protection, and potentially lowers costs by extending protection and reducing the number of sprays required,” he says.
So far, there are models for septoria and fusarium ear blight in wheat, while for weeds the focus in the UK has been on blackgrass.
Weeds can be mapped using drones early in the season, as they emerge, as well as later in the season, ready to help in-between crop control. The data can also be used to predict the yield loss from weeds or diseases with and without treatment.
Final yield predictions can be made as early as March, with increasing accuracy as it gets closer to harvest.
Continue reading https://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/crop-management/disease-management/5-high-tech-advances-that-could-change-arable-farming

The landscape of the Indian healthcare sector is a unique one. On one hand, rapid digitization and technological transformations are redefining the urban healthcare space. On the other hand, large swathes of the rural populace live in hard-to-reach areas with no access to even primary healthcare facilities. According to the facts – 70 percent of India’s population is concentrated in the rural areas where only 3 percent of the country’s doctors live. These grim figures lay bare the immediate need to address the healthcare needs of the country’s rural population.
As technology continues to make breakthroughs in every sector, India can soon realize its dream of universal healthcare access. Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones are giving new life to food delivery, agriculture, real estate, many other sectors and healthcare are no exception. The concept of on-demand drone delivery has become the country’s revolutionary innovation that can manifest the long-pending agenda of providing equal healthcare access to save and improve lives.
Endless transportation network
Transportation barriers are the leading cause of lack of healthcare access. Drones are successful in overcoming the connectivity challenges and they can positively impact the lives of millions living in remote and inaccessible areas. Since drones work on coordinates they can easily reach far-flung areas such as mountains, valleys and forests and make timely delivery of life-saving drugs, urgent supplies, medications etc. Areas that were earlier cut-off by road and weren’t feasible to reach by large helicopters and airplanes can now be reached, thereby extending the country’s transportation network in strengthening the country’s healthcare scenario.
Just like telemedicine is solving the problem of availability of doctors at remote locations, on-demand drone delivery resolves the issues of rapid sample collection and diagnosis. It comes as a boon to healthcare as drones can deliver samples to path labs in a few hours to reduce TAT from 3-5 days to 6-7 hours. Similarly, delivery of blood, vaccine, medicines, and anti-venoms in the first golden hour of the patient in remote locations that can be delivered in just a few hours by on-demand drone delivery.
Continue reading: https://www.financialexpress.com/healthcare/healthtech/how-drones-are-helping-to-save-and-improve-lives/2403605/

There are so many challenges that exist for women and people of color in the tech industry that has been historically dominated by white men and still has major issues with gender and racial diversity. Dr. Christina Outlay has made it part of her life’s mission to creatively get young people interested in tech and to inspire the next generation of women and people of color in the tech industry.
“I love technology. I work in several areas with coding and computer networking and data. I try to instill that love for technology in my college students and also in the middle and high school students that I work with,” Outlay tells Madison365. “They don’t all pick up that love and passion for it, but some of them do and I love it when that happens.”
Dr. Outlay is the new executive director of Maydm, a local organization that introduces girls and youth of color to technology and programming through project-based learning to balance the disparities within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The board of directors and staff of Maydm made the offical announcement in late December. Outlay’s first official day on the job is today.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Outlay as Maydm’s next executive director. As we began the search for our next leader, we talked extensively about what qualities the ideal candidate would have and it quickly became clear that Christina would be a perfect fit,” Maydm Board Chair Jeff Mack said in a statement. “We were looking for a strong leader with a STEM background, and experience leading in a nonprofit or education setting – and we were fortunate to find a leader who has all of that.” 
Continue reading: https://madison365.com/as-maydms-new-executive-director-dr-christina-outlay-hopes-to-inspire-young-women-of-color-in-the-tech-industry/

More than half of young people in tech have either left the industry or thought about leaving it because of poor company culture, according to research.
Talent and skills provider Mthree found 59% of people between the ages of 18 and 24 said the company culture in their tech-based role made them so uncomfortable they had quit or at least thought about quitting.
When it came to those from under-represented groups in UK tech, these figures were higher, with 64% of female respondents, 67% of those from a mixed-race background and 68% of young people who are bisexual saying they had either left or considered leaving a role because of a company’s culture.
Becs Roycroft, senior director of global emerging talent and reskill operations at Mthree, said: “Although it’s nice to see that the majority of young people have enjoyed their time in tech so far, at least to some extent, it’s quite worrying that many have also had to endure some negative experiences along the way.
“Company culture is so important when it comes to attracting and retaining talent, and a truly inclusive environment can be hard to achieve. Businesses need to ensure they’re really listening to their young employees across all departments and responding to their needs, otherwise they’re going to struggle to maintain and improve the diversity on their teams in the long term.”
There are a number of reasons young people aren’t choosing careers in technology, including a lack of visible and accessible role models, a misconception that tech sector roles are “too hard” and concerns over tech’s reputation for long working hours and a lack of flexibility.
While 35% of those questioned by Mthree claimed to have had an entirely positive experience in their tech career so far, with only 8% having had an entirely negative experience, when broken down into different demographics, those from under-represented groups in tech were more likely to have had a poor experience in the industry. Only a quarter of young gay people and 21% of asexual young people in tech said they’d had an entirely positive time in the sector.
The lack of diversity in IT can often prevent people from seeking a career in the sector as they cannot see other people like them to aspire to. In 2020, BCS figures found that women accounted for 17% of IT specialists in the UK, and about 8% of IT specialists were of Indian ethnicity, 2% from a black, African, Caribbean or black British background, and 2% from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi background.
According to Mthree’s research, young black people were also 57% less likely to have had an entirely positive experience in the sector than their white counterparts.
Continue reading: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252511740/Young-people-are-leaving-tech-because-of-bad-culture

In the Dry Corridor of Central America, persistent drought—interrupted by violent storms that do further damage to crops—is driving farmers from land they’ve cultivated for generations. The climate crisis is obviously a sober topic, but on a clear day in October outside the town of San Antonio del Mosco in El Salvador, you wouldn’t know it. Here, seven women have gathered in an open field for a practice session with a new tool for predicting the future: a drone.
And they’re loving it.
They joke, laugh, and hug as they set out to demonstrate their expertise at assembling and launching it into the air. Even the drone, with its arms and legs outstretched, looks exuberant.
Ana Hernández steps up first to show how it’s done. She has been an avid participant in a series of projects organized by Oxfam and partners that are focused on helping women take the lead in reducing disaster risks. When she’s not cultivating her land and caring for her two youngest children, Ana is coordinating her town’s civil protection commission, participating in women’s leadership initiatives, and taking university courses to deepen her knowledge of disaster-related topics.
So, where do drones come in? They’ll enable the women to monitor water levels in the rivers, crop growth in the fields, and areas badly affected by drought—without navigating all the rough terrain they’d otherwise need to travel. And in emergencies like floods, they can help locate people whose lives may be in danger.
Hernández puts the drone through its paces and brings it in for a smooth landing, and she’s pleased with the results. “For me, fear and nervousness about operating drones are in the past.”
Inmer Arguenta Ramos, a technician from the local organization Fundación Campo (FC), cheers from the sidelines. She has been training the women and is pleased with the results. “The women overcame their fear of using the technology, and it strengthened their self-esteem.”
FC is a rural-development organization that Oxfam works closely with on programs to reduce disaster risks in the Dry Corridor. Their projects—which include economic development and natural resource protection, as well as disaster management—emphasize gender equity and youth empowerment. Oxfam has helped FC build on their technical and analytical skills so they can carry out effective, well-targeted humanitarian activities in communities hit hard by drought and other emergencies. (Read more about Oxfam’s commitment to local humanitarian leadership.)
Continue reading: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/women-tackle-the-drought-emergency-in-el-salvadorwith-drones/

In search and rescue (SAR) operations, time is of the essence. The first 72 hours can be vital in the search for a missing person; rescuers may need to cover large areas and navigate rough and inhospitable landscapes when searching. In 2017 in England and Wales alone, nearly 20,000 man hours of SAR operations were spent searching. But, what if we could use technology to reduce that and help people be found faster?
UAV use moving with the times
Drone and unmanned air vehicle (UAV) technology has come a long way since its original purpose of removing people from military missions considered too dangerous or inappropriate for human pilots. It is now increasingly used to assist rescue services in operations, particularly for searching, as drones can quickly reach vantage points humans cannot easily access. Across the world, drones are being used for this very task and, combined with developments in imaging technologies, can be powerful tools in search operations.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, for example, regularly uses aerial drone footage to help find injured climbers and walkers in Scotland. Adding a highpowered search light to a drone can provide a welcome light source during nighttime rescues. Search and rescue teams based in a mountainous region of the US have already used drones with lighting to find and save trapped hikers in Snowy Canyon State Park after dark. In addition to traditional light sources, thermal imaging has also been used in a range of scenarios, like finding a person who had been thrown clear of their car in an accident at night time. This technology can help save lives. But it is not just people that drones can be used to detect and observe.
In emergency scenarios, such as fires or building collapse, the structures need to be regularly monitored and assessed to mitigate any harm to trapped persons or crews. Using a drone to survey and assess the structural soundness of large structures and buildings provides emergency and rescue services with the confidence to act quickly when working with a burning or collapsed structure. Adding a thermal imaging camera provides a good way to safely monitor fire hotspots within a building, find people under rubble and track crews and people to be rescued.
Using drones to do as well as see
As drones become more powerful and are available in a greater range of sizes, they can be used for a greater breadth of activities beyond SAR surveillance. Airborne vehicles have a clear role to play, particularly in the speed of response, with the advantage of using a drone in an urban setting estimated to be 120 per cent when direct line speed, traffic advantage and field of view are all taken into account. In addition, compared to manned aircraft used for inspection, drones have the advantage of lower resource requirements, and can be deployed in large numbers.
One area that airborne vehicles can help is in the delivery of medical supplies. A project called Gold Dragon, run in partnership with the Welsh Ambulance Service, has shown a proof of concept for the delivery of a mini defibrillator via drone to remote or rural locations that would otherwise be difficult to reach quickly in an ambulance.
Continue reading: https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/long-read/drones-sar-power-hive-mind

Of all the buzzwords in the mining industry, “drones” and “automation” are among the most prevalent, and with good reason. The latter has seen extensive interest from actors across the mining industry, with Australia in particular emerging as an epicentre of autonomous technology and research, while the potential for mapping and information-gathering of the former is an attractive proposition for miners who are forced to search farther afield for mineral deposits to meet the world’s insatiable appetite for commodities.
Indeed, the mining industry may be reaching a tipping point where these technologies are moving from shiny new ideas to established and well-embedded components of the sector, especially within the field of exploration. With many of the world’s untapped and unidentified mineral deposits difficult to reach on foot, or simply isolated from human settlements and development, the prospect of an independent drone conducting mineral surveys far from human oversight is appealing.
Yet technological and human challenges remain, with the drones themselves an imperfect solution, and the prospect of replacing human workers with intelligent machines one that could set a dangerous precedent for the future of mining. Can these obstacles be overcome, and the exploration potential of drones ever be realised?
 
Drones for the present, drones for the future
The benefits of drones in the exploration industry are obvious, as they offer a means to take photographs from great heights, and in relatively remote locations, that can capture a great swath of the environment. Yet their benefits go beyond mere photography, with the process of orthoimagery offering a much more sophisticated snapshot of an environment.
Continue reading: https://www.mining-technology.com/analysis/autonomous-exploration-the-potential-for-drones-in-the-mining-industry/

According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the U.S. commercial drones market generated $899.6 million in 2020, and is expected to reach $3.75 billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 15.8% from 2021 to 2030. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chain, regional landscape, and competitive scenario.
Download Report (121 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, Figures) at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/7096
United States Commercial Drones Market Report Coverage & Details:
United States Commercial Drones Market Report Coverage & Details:

Covid-19 Scenario:

• Manufacturing activities of commercial drones halted due to lockdown measures implemented across the U.S. Moreover, disruptions in the supply chain and shortage of raw materials presented challenges in carrying out manufacturing with full capacity. Ban on import-export activities also added to challenges.
• However, the use of drones for surveillance raised a debate regarding privacy and individual rights on mainstream media as well as social media platforms as these drones were utilized for tracking and monitoring the spread in containment zones.

The report offers detailed segmentation of the U.S. commercial drones market based on type, application, and function.
Request for Customization at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/7096
Based on type, the rotary blade drones segment held the highest share in 2020, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total share, and is expected to continue its leadership status during the forecast period. However, the fixed-wing drones segment is projected to witness the largest CAGR of 20.3% from 2021 to 2030.
Based on application, the government segment accounted for the highest share in 2020, contributing to more than one-fourth of the total share of the U.S. commercial drones market, and is projected to continue its dominant share during the forecast period. However, the energy segment is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 17.2% from 2021 to 2030.
Continue reading: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/10/2364194/0/en/U-S-Commercial-Drones-Market-to-Garner-3-75-Billion-by-2030-Allied-Market-Research.html

Intelligent connectivity proliferated in 2021 as COVID-19 throttled traditional working environments and demanded enterprises find new ways to maintain productivity. 
Now, with around 60% expressing increased confidence in IoT’s ability to generate business insights according to Omdia, there’s enough runway for next-generation IoT applications and sensor-driven analytics.
Many of the drivers behind this change existed last year. Artificial intelligence models like TinyML were already in ascendancy. Edge computing architectures can effortlessly sync up factory, retail and venue IoT networks to the cloud, while connectivity protocols ranging from 5G to LoRAWAN and NB-IoT give enterprises a full range of options.
But products take time to deliver and implement. Some impressive IoT last year came from big companies trying out new things. The private 5G nodes deployed for smart driver notifications and connected safety in underground mines were notable examples.
As we enter 2022 more of these concepts will expand.
On the supply side, the efforts of hyperscale clouds such as Amazon Web Services and Azure will reduce the cost of implementing edge-driven IoT, tempting more enterprises to make upgrades.
“As AI and edge technologies along with 5G converge in IoT in 2022 and beyond, cloud service providers and enterprises cannot ignore the role of the hyperscaler [clouds such as Amazon Web Services and Azure],” John Canali, IoT senior analyst at Omdia. told IoT World Today: “While the hyperscalers are important partners especially around cloud and edge computing, they are also competing against CSPs with their own connectivity solutions and services and against enterprises with vertically positioned products.”
That paves the way for IoT’s full impact to surface enhancing decision-making across entire workforces. No longer restricted to C-suite, technicians and managers, the power of IoT insights will extend right down into the front line of industry, city services, medicine, environmental protection and more.
More IoT Stakeholders Will Adopt AI/ML 
According to Omdia, the convergence of AI and edge computing is set to drive IoT’s impact and value proposition. Edge capabilities on devices out in the field offer reduced latency, power consumption and costs linked to ferrying data to the cloud. That paves the way for more complex data types to be analyzed. Omdia highlights three main bands for deploying AI and machine learning at the edge. 
Continue reading: https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2022/01/10/the-future-of-iot-top-trends-we-expect-to-see-in-2022/

Advance Market Analytics published a new research publication on “AI Edge Computing Market Insights, to 2026″ with 232 pages and enriched with self-explained Tables and charts in presentable format. In the Study you will find new evolving Trends, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities generated by targeting market associated stakeholders. The growth of the AI Edge Computing Market was mainly driven by the increasing R&D spending across the world.
Scope of the Report of AI Edge Computing
Edge AI combines edge computing with artificial intelligence (AI). AI edge computing relies heavily on data transmission and computation of complex machine learning algorithms. It sets up a new age computing paradigm that moves AI and machine learning to where the data generation and computation take place at the edge of the network. It helps make data storage and computation more accessible to users.
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/ai-edge-computing-market-is-going-to-boom-nvidia-cloudera-clarifai#ixzz7Hhc34WWj