Women in the workplace have historically been undervalued and underrepresented. That’s no secret, but it rings especially true in tech. In the United States alone, women make up less than 40% of the global workforce and only fill 25% of professional computing jobs. Furthermore, a new report found that 45% of surveyed women in tech said men outnumber them at work at ratios of 4-to-1 or greater.
Between the two of us, we possess nearly 70 years of experience working in tech(!), and if you ask us to recount our journeys, we’re likely to recall both great and not-so-great memories. For instance, one of us distinctly remembers being told by an eighth grade math teacher that she wasn’t good enough to take algebra. But in a fortuitous act of youthful defiance, she elected to major in math before landing her first post-grad job as a programmer for a NASA contractor. This would go on to launch a thriving, 50+ year career in tech.
A few decades later, the other remembers serving as the only woman on her company’s leadership team, often feeling isolated and alone. Again, defying the status quo, she instead used this as a catalyst to build a platform focusing on advancing women in the workplace, helping to identify and bring more female leaders to the table.
What these stories illustrate — and what the two of us agree about — is this: While many organizations and allies are making a more concentrated effort to help women progress in their careers and thrive in a male-dominated tech world, much of the onus on driving change and making improvements rests squarely on our shoulders as women. Women are resilient, and they are showing a fresh perspective, energy and dedication to ensure they rebound and regain influence, power and capital after being disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Whether you’re a woman considering a career in tech or a seasoned professional, we all share in this mission and have a role to play in mitigating the gender gap and supporting one another.
Continue reading: https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/29/what-7-combined-decades-in-tech-taught-us-about-perseverance-and-reinvention/

Smart speakers with voice assistants have accomplished one key goal. At a low cost, consumers were able to bring some smarts into their homes on the cheap. And that has led to a surge in the sales of other connected devices to actually control by voice. Think how many more smart outlets, light bulbs, switches, and cameras were bought because they work with smart speakers.
But aside from that, have any companies offered truly compelling reasons to chat more with our in-home digital assistants? So far no, except when it suits them. Hey Alexa, notify me when that changes.
This situation is manifesting itself in low engagement with Alexa, according to a recent Bloomberg report. According to what it says is internal Amazon data, Bloomberg tells us that Amazon’s effort to flood the market with low-cost smart speakers isn’t equating to revenue stream growth based on our fewer and fewer conversations with Alexa. Amazon may be surprised by this, but I’m not.
Goodbye smart speaker sales growth
It’s not a stretch to say that the growth of the smart speaker hardware market has basically ground to a halt. We experienced a few years of sales growth well into the 30 and 40 percent range. Amazon now forecasts a meager 1.2 percent annual sales increase in smart speakers for the next few years, according to the internal documents cited by Bloomberg.
I expected this: Low-cost speakers and deals that include a free speaker with some connected device purchase made it easy to saturate the market. In many homes, the number of these speakers have multiplied like Tribbles in Star Trek. (Or “like rabbits” if you’re not a Trekkie). Most of us simply have all of the connected speakers we need, if not more than that.
Continue reading: https://staceyoniot.com/why-are-fewer-people-chatting-with-alexa/

In the modern times of digital technology, this information age we find ourselves in, we are getting more reliant as a species on the various applications that make life easier or more efficient. There are several millions of users using Paypal each day to process their transactions quickly and safely, vast numbers of people getting their entertainment through YouTube or Twitch, and the number of people who use Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp to contact others rises more and more each minute. But how do we know that all of these applications are secure enough to be used day to day by so many people?
The answer is through application security testing. There are many methods employed for security testing that ensure the application is safe from external attacks or subsequent damages, both reputational and financial. These tools and methods must be considered by developers to make sure that their application is as safe and secure as possible before being released to the general public for all to see. This article will touch on some of the many different methods and tools that can be found and utilised, but it is important for any developer to familiarise themselves with as many methods as they can to ensure they have a healthy understanding of how to test their system’s security.
SAST – Static Application Security Testing
Static application security testing, or SAST for short, is a white-box form of testing that focuses on the actual code of the application whilst the application is at rest. SAST puts a large focus on shifting security left, or tying security checks into the development process. So, throughout the development timeline there will be moments of pause where the code is scanned through SAST whilst the code is not active. This is achieved by integrating SAST at the coding and testing phases, though some organisations and developers have even integrated it into the IDEs that the programmers use moment to moment.
SAST scans are based on a set of rules that are determined beforehand by the programmers. These rules define the coding errors in the source code that must be addressed and assessed. SAST scans tend to be designed to check for the most common security vulnerabilities known, such as SQL injection, input validation and stack buffer overflows. The pros of this system are that security is a top level priority and is constantly being checked over and over again, meaning that any slip-ups the programmers make will be caught immediately and won’t be continued into later versions of the application. However, SAST doesn’t cover all vulnerabilities, rather just the most common ones, as the more advanced ones are often found in run-time. Checking code whilst it is static means that it also cannot detect runtime errors. This is where DAST comes in.
DAST – Dynamic Application Security Testing
Dynamic application security testing, or DAST, is almost the opposite of SAST, as it is a black-box form of security testing. This means that the testers do not know the underlying architecture of the application that they are testing, unlike SAST where the scans can look at all of the code and compare it. DAST is performed by external testers, and is labelled with “dynamic” as it is performed during the runtime of the application. It looks for security vulnerabilities by simulating external attacks, attempting to penetrate the application by checking the exposed interfaces for flaws. Being able to run whilst the application itself is running gives DAST the advantage over SAST as it can pick up runtime errors that SAST cannot find, however it cannot find any internal errors.
Continue reading: https://iotbusinessnews.com/2021/12/29/00802-the-types-of-application-security-testing-you-should-know-about/

The goal of vulnerability research is to improve the security of the industry at large by helping software and device vendors fix vulnerabilities within their products.
Unfortunately, some vendors hinder the improvements with silent patching, which circumvents the public disclosure and documentation of vulnerabilities and their patches. Ultimately, their customers, partners and the cybersecurity community pay the price for silent patching.
During the past two years, my Forescout Technologies colleagues and I have worked on Project Memoria, an extensive study of vulnerabilities in the TCP/IP stacks that connect millions of operational technology devices in many critical industries. Our researchers discovered 97 vulnerabilities in 14 TCP/IP stacks across 3 billion IoT, operational technology (OT) and IT devices. We spent months speaking with government officials and affected vendors about how to mitigate these risks.
Vulnerability disclosure is not always appreciated. Some vendors will do anything to avoid drawing attention to these risks, even if it means continuing to pass these problems along to their customers, partners and even other IoT devices as a result. Some vendors refuse to acknowledge their vulnerabilities, which is why working with government officials can help. Others refuse to prioritize a response but instead may silently patch vulnerabilities. Silent patching raises concern.
Silent patching occurs when vulnerabilities are discovered and privately fixed, but never assigned a Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) ID available for public documentation. Although it may seem that vendors that silently patch vulnerabilities have been responsible in addressing an immediate problem, the lack of public disclosure and documentation can cause a variety of challenges.
An unsettling insight from Project Memoria reveals how silently patched vulnerabilities exist in millions of critical connected devices. In Nucleus:13 we found instances of silently patched vulnerabilities for the second time. That means that millions of vulnerable devices could still be operating unbeknownst to the companies using them because their vendors remained silent about their patches.
The convergence of IT and OT systems, coupled with an ever-increasing number of connected devices and industrial IoT means that TCP/IP software vulnerabilities have the potential for attackers to wreak havoc across multiple industries.

The domino effect in the supply chain
If you've ever had a water leak in your house, you know that stopping the leak is only the first step. Not only do you need to clean up all of the water in that room, but you also need to think about how other rooms in the house are affected, if there could be unseen damage in floors and ceilings, mold and so forth. This same mentality should apply to patching vulnerabilities.
Continue reading: https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/post/The-risks-of-silent-patching-and-why-it-must-end

According to thought leaders in the data management sector, we'll be using some new terminology when talking about enterprise data in 2022.
CTOs and IT managers at all levels will be defining and testing terms like "data as code" and "just-in-time" data analytics for their own production use cases.
AI will be working overtime in the data management space, enabling call centers to mine more cogent information from customers, patching gaps in supply chains, and bolstering healthcare services, both locally and in the cloud.  
Today's data centers remain the nerve center of the enterprise, and automation is powering new levels of agility and digital transformation.
Here are some cogent predictions about what we can expect to see on the data management side of IT in 2022:
WE WILL BEGIN TO HEAR 'DATA AS CODE' FREQUENTLY

The Infrastructure as Code movement, in which infrastructure is automatically deployed, is gaining traction. Infrastructure and applications, however, deliver little value without data. Organizations will need to be able to dynamically clone, distribute, and destroy data copies on demand, so they can develop, test, analyze, build AI/ML models, and meet regulatory requirements. As machines generate more data, IT organizations will not be able to manage data by hand. They will need to make data as dynamic and automatic as infrastructure and applications.  Stephen Manley, CTO, Druva

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AI WILL BE READING BETWEEN THE LINES WITH CUSTOMERS

A major trend in customer service data management for 2022 will be the use of AI to unlock data that is kept in all of the conversations that customers have with contact-center agents. The technology used to review all of these conversations has been in place for a while, but vendors in the space (Genesys, NICE, Twilio, Cisco) are all actively promoting this as a use case -- and even using it as a springboard to start providing solutions for sales and marketing. It's a big play for them. There have been a number of acquisitions in this sector, notably Twilio buying Segment for $3 billion. Max Ball, Pricipal Analyst, Forrester Research

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Continue reading: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-data-management-leaders-see-for-the-sector-in-2022/

Blockchain technology can be used to build solutions that can naturally deliver better software quality. Using blockchain we can shift to smaller systems that store everything in a contract. We have to understand our data needs and decide what is stored in the chain and what off-chain, and think about how requirements, defects and testing history can be built into the contract models.
Craig Risi spoke about testing in the blockchain at Agile testing Days 2021.
Risi mentioned that the key design principles that any Blockchain application should be designed around are data integrity, data transparency, scalability, reliability and availability. The trick is to start checking for all these attributes early in the design phase and have regular checks to ensure you are meeting them throughout the entire design process, Risi said.
In his talk, Risi provided several architecture design tips for working with Blockchain:

You want to work with small services and APIs to allow for the system to scale as needed and avoid single points of failure and build in redundancy so that your system remains highly available even when certain services are down.
To ensure your system meets these above requirements you want to spend a lot of time understanding your solution’s data needs; what is stored in the chain and what off-chain, how large the data elements that need to be stored are and how the encryption will happen.
Having clear requirements allows you to put automated tests in place that can verify the integrity of data in test environments, as you have the required information to mock and test effectively. Along with this functional test effort, effort should be invested in security to ensure that the endpoints that interact with smart contracts are incredibly secure.
Continue reading: https://www.infoq.com/news/2021/12/building-quality-blockchain

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While the number of blockchain projects in the energy sector around the world is not known, in round terms we can put it upwards of 400 with around 300 vendors, based on Guidehouse Insights’ latest vendor and deployment tracker.
Guidehouse Insights reports tracking 385 total energy blockchain projects and 286 unique vendors since 2012. According to the analyst, deployments peaked in 2018 with growth slowing subsequently. And for the record, the top use cases are transactive energy and guarantees of origin, with the former accounting for almost one-fifth of the deployments.
Trends observed by Smart Energy International during 2021 include the continued evolution of blockchain as a technology and its further maturing from piloting to the mainstream with the longstanding players continuing to strengthen their market presence.
As examples, Energy Web upgraded the EW Chain and launched an initiative with Parity Technologies to enable blockchain customisation, and Australia’s Powerledger launched its next generation blockchain.
LO3 Energy continued to secure high level investment backing and Britain’s Electron reported achievement of a local flexibility marketplace on Orkney, while Catalonian grid operator Electra Caldense launched a distribution flexibility initiative.
In further integration of the mobility and energy sectors, Ford completed a long term demonstration on air quality with hybrid electric vehicles (EVs) and Volkswagen launched a project to advance EV charging.
And some novel use cases were launched, such as utilising blockchain for recycling of solar panels in Japan and nickel supply chain tracking for EV batteries.
Looking ahead, Smart Energy International highlights five trends for 2022.
Continue reading: https://www.smart-energy.com/industry-sectors/digitalisation/a-year-in-blockchain-whats-coming-for-the-energy-sector-in-2022/

How can software be faster, cheaper, and more resilient? For many developers, the answer in 2021 was to move the computation out of a few big datacenters and into many smaller racks closer to users on the metaphorical edge of the internet, and 2022 promises more of the same.
The move is driven by physics and economics. Even when data travels at the speed of light, the time it takes to send packets halfway around the world to one central location is noticeable by users whose minds start to wander in just a few milliseconds. The price of data transmission is often surprising, and many CIOs have learned to make sure to include the cost of data exfiltration alongside the price of servers and disk drives.
These fundamental advantages are indisputable, but edge computing will continue to be limited by countervailing forces that may, in some cases, be stronger. Datacenter operators are able to negotiate lower prices for electricity and that typically means right next to the point of generation like a few miles from some large hydroelectric dams. Keeping data in multiple locations synchronized can be a challenge, and some algorithms like machine learning also depend heavily on working with large, central collections.
Despite these challenges, many architects continue to embrace the opportunity, thanks to the efforts of cloud companies to simplify the process. In May 2021, Amazon, for instance, changed its billing granularity for their Lambda@Edge functions from 50 milliseconds to 1 millisecond, opening up more opportunities. Developers are now paying closer attention to the time a function runs and splitting up work into smaller, simpler units that can take advantage of the lower prices.
AWS vs. Cloudfare
AWS’s decision was no doubt driven by competition from Cloudflare, a company with a strong focus on edge computing. In 2021, the company continued to push hard, focusing especially on the high egress fees that some cloud providers charge on data leaving their centers. Cloudflare’s R2 storage layer, introduced in September 2021, is pushing prices lower, especially for data that’s only accessed occasionally. The service is tightly integrated with Cloudflare Workers, their edge functions, opening up more opportunities for both storage and computation in their local nodes.
Cloudflare also announced more opportunities to simplify adoption by adding partnerships with database companies MongoDB and Prisma. Developers can rely upon modern query languages and well-understood database models with their Worker functions, expanding the opportunities to move workloads to the edge.
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/12/28/edge-computing-in-2022/

The regulatory landscape for IoT is evolving rapidly as governments seek to mitigate growing cyber risk and protect not only consumers but societies and economies at large. We are certainly moving in the right direction. Still, with a myriad of standards, regulations, and baseline requirements being introduced to mandate enhanced security across the IoT value chain, there is still some confusion across the ecosystem.
Stakeholders are working towards a more secure connected future. Still, the regulatory picture remains complex without a single source setting out recommendations and specifications that can be applied globally.
So, while we may have come a long way, the need to demystify and defragment the regulatory landscape in a common language and provide a common framework around IoT security is critical to unlocking its potential.
Current Laws and Regulations
On average, there are 5,200 attacks per month on IoT devices, with 7 million data records compromised daily. In 2019, governments started regulating the Internet of Things to mitigate growing cyber risk, especially network and device security. Since then, the IoT regulatory environment has matured at a considerable pace.
Today, the challenge lies in understanding which regulations apply and whether IoT regulatory compliance is enough to provide adequate security. With IoT regulatory requirements and standards changing vastly by geography, the complexities faced in designing, manufacturing, and implementing connected devices cannot be underestimated.
Worldwide, standards organizations guide best practices and ‘baseline’ or ‘core’ requirements for IoT security. In many parts of the world, governments are exploring a firmer, regulatory approach. For example, in California, a law requires manufacturers to implement ‘reasonable security features’ such as having unique passwords per device if they want to sell to consumers in that market. More recently, the US presidency introduced the Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity to push IoT device companies and software providers to adopt security standards and labeling requirements.
In June 2020, the EU introduced a cybersecurity standard for consumer IoT (ETSI EN 303 645 V2.1.1) products. With intentions of driving better security practices and the adoption of security-by-design principles in new connected consumer product development, the standard consists of 13 provisions, including no universal default passwords.
Continue reading: https://www.iotforall.com/iot-security-standards-and-regulations-where-are-we-now

In the not-so-distant past, data was key to only a handful of back-office functions. Today, it has become valuable for all businesses, and the importance of its strategic management is only increasing. According to 2014 data from McKinsey, intensive users of customer analytics are 19 times as likely to be profitable as non-intensive users, and 23 times more likely to outperform in customer acquisition. For me, there is simply no avoiding the signs — it is data or die.
However, being a data-driven organization involves more than data infrastructure or bringing on data experts. To be a truly data-driven organization, you should weave data into every fabric of the organization — from tech to culture. But first, why is it even important for an organization to be all in?
Everyone loses when business strategy and data strategy are not aligned.
Emerging technologies can enable the next generation of data management capabilities. However, without a solid data strategy, the organization’s business goals may suffer, which can result in:
• Inaccurate forecasting. 
• Missed revenue goals.
• Poor decision-making across all business units.
• Misguided marketing.
• Unnecessary costs.
• Wasted time.
As the vice president of marketing at a provider of a data operating system, I would emphasize the need for both business and data strategy. Investments in data and analytics initiatives have arguably never been stronger, and yet some companies still struggle to become fully data-driven. According to a 2021 NewVantage survey, only 24% of companies surveyed have developed into data-driven businesses, and the most significant impediment was culture, business processes and technology.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2021/12/29/are-you-really-a-data-driven-organization/?sh=61fb46d43906

It’s the 21st century, and the year is 2021; with everything going digital and technological advancements occurring at a fast pace, mobile app developments have taken center stage. Entrepreneur spirits are seen to be rising, and so are unique startup ideas.
However, when working on a mobile app idea, entrepreneurs mostly get confused about how to embark on that app development journey. Most entrepreneurs choose to partner with freelance developers or an app development company. But here, a one-man army can also be enough: a full-stack developer who excels at coding and developing an app from all fronts. A full-stack developer is a jack as well as the master of all trades. In this article, we will look at why hire a full-stack developer and how to hire a full-stack developer that can work to your advantage.
Who are Full-Stack App Developers?
Agree or disagree, full-stack app developers are proficient, experienced developers with an average of 4 years of experience. Having been in the mobile app development field for years, they have become well-versed in carrying out programming functionalities with ease. Once you hire a full-stack developer, you can be sure that they can fully create an app for you without any assistance. Besides, as they have launched many apps on the App Stores in the span of time, they can single-handedly deploy apps on the App Stores. All-inclusive, hiring full-stack developers will significantly work in advantage, as they not only act as a one-man army but even are cost-effective to a great extent.
Let’s head on to know why we should hire full-stack developers against individual developers.
Why Hire Full-Stack Developers for Mobile Development?
Mobile apps are a new way for businesses to tell the world that, yes, we exist! In such a scenario, an enterprise owner has to invest a lot of amounts to create an app and get it live on the App Stores. Leave app development just to hire developers or find an app development company; an entrepreneur will have to shed many dollars. And here, a full-stack developer can play an important role. Think about it, giving out one pay package as compared to seven different pay packages. Will it make a difference? Try it yourself and hire a full-stack developer. (wink, wink)
Originally Published at: Why Hire a Full-stack Developer for Mobile App Development?

Edge computing trends play a key role in business because edge deployments are now essentially everywhere. With the list of edge computing devices growing – including smartphones, smartwatches, and autonomous vehicles – at an exponential rate, business professionals need to stay current with edge trends moving into 2022.
Indeed, after developing for several years, it appears that edge computing is set to take enormous strides in adoption and investment in 2022. Below are the edge computing trends to watch.
1) IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is easily the fastest growing umbrella of edge computing devices.
IoT devices include:

• Smart appliances
• Smartphones
• Wearables
• Gaming systems
• Printers

The prevalence of smart devices themselves is projected to quadruple by 2025. Expect this growth to dramatically expand the capabilities of edge computing. In fact, the growth of IoT could bring about greater benefits in the edge computing sector, such as lower latency.
Not only will the rise of IoT devices fuel edge computing, but it will revolutionize various industries such as healthcare and education. In fact, IoT devices within edge computing deployments are being leveraged in the healthcare industry right now to help track evolving data sets and monitor facilities remotely.
2) Customer Experience
One of the more unique ways edge computing is being leveraged to help out businesses is in the customer experience realm. Using edge computing’s reduced latency, businesses are able to provide the optimal customer experience.
Conglomerates such as Disney are using IoT sensors and edge computing to quickly transmit performance data about their rides. Adjustments are made using this data to optimize rides and attractions and ensure minimal disruption for park goers.
On a more tangible level, the improvement in speed that edge computing brings for businesses can greatly impact sales. A Deloitte Digital study found that a 100ms improvement in mobile retail speeds translate to an 8.4% increase in sales conversion. This decrease in latency can also help marketers and businesses process customer data nearly in real-time. This allows for marketing teams to build more personalized and interactive customer experiences, such as advanced chatbots and even offline interactions.
Continue reading: https://www.eweek.com/networking/edge-computing-trends-2022/

With growing demand for clean energy across multiple sectors, an increasing number of consumers are transitioning to solar power for their homes. According to recent statistics, the U.S. alone has installed enough solar panels to power 21.8 million homes, and advancements in panel hardware have made solar energy more accessible to consumers by dropping installation costs. 
However, solar companies are still exploring new ways to keep up with rising consumer demand and prepare for a more sustainable future. Some companies, including national solar and battery installer Sunrun, have turned to drones to transform the planning and design process. Along the way, these companies have discovered a variety of safety and efficiency benefits that have changed the way they do business. 
The Rise of Residential Solar and Consumer Demand
The start of the modern movement toward widespread residential solar can be traced to Congress’ Solar Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 1974, which aimed to make solar energy options feasible and affordable to the public. Paired with 2006’s Solar Investment Tax Credit, consumers soon had new financial and sustainability incentives to reduce their carbon footprint. And demand isn’t subsiding. The size of the U.S. residential solar PV market is expected to reach $14.1 billion by 2028, mainly due to the increasing awareness of alternative energy options and technological improvements over the past few decades. 
While the increase in consumer demand means fantastic things for the sustainability movement, the solar industry is still running into many roadblocks. Like many other sectors, it faces supply-chain challenges and a global shortage of semiconductors, which are integral in converting sunlight to electricity. Furthermore, when it comes to the solar power industry, recruiting, hiring, and training technicians to keep up with the heightened demand is a lengthy process that costs companies precious time and valuable resources.
In response, companies like Sunrun have turned to drones for on-site surveys and mapping of installation environments. Utilizing this technology to work alongside the site technicians can help avoid delays and accelerate installation timelines.
Continue reading: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2021/12/elevating-worker-safety-in-residential-solar-with-the-use-of-drones/

Thank you for sharing this story! However, please do so in a way that respects the copyright of this text. If you want to share or reproduce this full text, please ask permission from Innovation Origins ([email protected]) or become a partner of ours! You are of course free to quote this story with source citation. Would you like to share this article in another way? Then use this link to the article: https://innovationorigins.com/en/in-case-of-emergency-call-a-drone/
Just a few years ago, drone developers found themselves in a modern version of the Wild West, as no clear guidelines or regulations were in place. Meanwhile, drones have undergone a lot of development – including the materials – to such an extent that drones can save lives, and can do that in very many ways. By delivering medicines, by spotting a wildfire or a person in trouble at sea. Furthermore, they can now do it autonomously while keeping in touch with the closest emergency service stations. 
Avy launched the concept of a Drone Response Network, including their autonomous Aera aircraft and its docking stations. The drones have vertical take-off and landing capabilities and can serve a variety of purposes, from transporting medicines to supporting emergency services during incidents. 
Several companies joined Avy’s initiative – including the Port of Rotterdam, PostNL, and the Dutch blood bank Sanquin – to help the company develop its applications and make them fit for purpose. 
Thank you for sharing this story! However, please do so in a way that respects the copyright of this text. If you want to share or reproduce this full text, please ask permission from Innovation Origins ([email protected]) or become a partner of ours! You are of course free to quote this story with source citation. Would you like to share this article in another way? Then use this link to the article: https://innovationorigins.com/en/in-case-of-emergency-call-a-drone/
“When we started the company, it was a bit of a Wild West country. There were no regulations, and the components available on the market weren’t good enough. Making this idea operational wasn’t easy, but we managed to do it,”founder, and Avy CEO Patrique Zaman told Innovation Origins.
After testing the system in different settings and with different applications, the company then announced that the first flights will take place next year. 
A quickly-deployed smart eye The Avy Aera is reminiscent of the design of a bigger airplane. Its wings are 2.4 meters wide, while the whole device is a meter and a half in length. The drone can fly for up to 100 kilometers when unloaded, and has a 3 kilograms payload capacity. The system communicates via a mobile network – 4G or 3G LTE. 
Aera takes pictures and shoots videos using an RGB and a thermal camera. These features enable many more types of applications, such as spotting people in distress at sea or detecting wildfires. 
Continue reading: https://innovationorigins.com/en/in-case-of-emergency-call-a-drone/

World champion drone manufacturer DJI has long said its tech activities extend well beyond UAVs. The Chinese giant seems to be proving that again in announcing the expansion of its DJI Automotive division producing key components for autonomous driving smart cars.
This week a top executive was quoted by the China Securities Journal clearly indicating the company wasn’t just kibbitzing when it launched DJI Automotive last April. Xie Tiandi, head of DJI’s automobile device unit, reportedly said the pace of research and development work has already necessitated a nearly 30% increase in its workforce, from an initial 700 to 1,000 people. He also said the car division had forged relationships with likeminded auto manufacturers – including Volkswagen China and SAIC-GM-Wuling – to scale up to mass production volumes of smart components required for increasingly autonomous driving capabilities.
As DroneDJ noted in covering DJI Automotive’s launch eight months ago, the company’s move into high-tech components for the lucrative, fast-growing smart car sector makes a lot of sense. The activity largely involves the kinds of cutting-edge cameras and other sensors that have made its drones so popular. 
It also needs very powerful software to instantly crunch incoming data from those sources to orchestrate safe, precision calibration of the car’s movements. As a company whose estimated workforce of 14,000 is reportedly nearly 50% engineers, cranking out those kinds of information-processing applications is a routine part of work.
As the recent release of its Ronin professional cinematic camera, and upgrades of Action 2 and OM 5 products indicate, DJI has been working hard to diversify away from the “just a drone company” reputation for some time. The expansion of DJI Automotive is another major step in that effort. The unit’s website says the unit has already tested over 10 million intelligent system technologies, and received over 1,000 patents for autonomous driving applications. 
The company currently features tech solutions catered to 0-80 km/h driving, one for up to 130 km speeds that can navigate cars on and off ramps, during lane changes, and in passing other vehicles. A third application is specialized for parking.
DJI Automotive’s relationship with SAIC-GM-Wuling, meanwhile, goes beyond just component supplying. The two groups are also working together on product research, development, and road testing of what they hope will eventually become an entire, integrated intelligent driving system. 
Continue reading: https://dronedj.com/2021/12/28/not-just-drones-djis-smart-car-unit-navigates-rapid-expansion/

Juniper Research forecasts that smart hospitals will deploy 7.4 million connected IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) devices globally by 2026; over 3,850 devices per smart hospital. This global figure represents total growth of 231% over 2021 when 3.2 million devices were deployed.
The concept of the IoMT involves healthcare providers leveraging connected devices such as remote monitoring sensors and surgical robotics to improve patient care, staff productivity, and operational efficiency.
Juniper Research says smart hospitals in the US and China as leading the global adoption of IoMT devices; accounting for 21% and 41% of connected devices respectively, by 2026.
It highlighted digital healthcare initiatives implemented during the ongoing pandemic and high levels of existing digitalisation within healthcare infrastructure as key to these countries’ leading positions.
Collaborating with network operators crucial
The new report, Smart Hospitals: Technologies, Global Adoption & Market Forecasts 2021-2026, identified remote monitoring as key to delivering smart hospital services. It analysed how the adoption of remote monitoring technologies accelerated during the pandemic significantly, due to difficulties associated with delivering in-person healthcare.
This accelerated adoption is set to continue over the next five years, as patients become acclimatised to remote monitoring and benefit from proactively managing and treating health conditions.
However, it identified that the real-time nature of remote monitoring requires low latency, high bandwidth connections to ensure the transmission of patients’ health data is not interrupted or distorted.
As a result, it encourages smart hospital vendors to develop partnerships with network operators to leverage multi-access edge computing to drive major reductions in lag and latency.
According to research author, Adam Wears the emergence of remote monitoring within healthcare presents an opportunity for network operators to place themselves within the digital healthcare value chain.
Continue reading: https://futureiot.tech/smart-hospitals-to-deploy-7-million-iomt-devices/

Destined to change the technological status quo, the Internet of Things (IoT) was dubbed the “Next Industrial Revolution.” From smart cars to self-monitoring medical devices and smart glass-paned tables that manage an entire factory production floor at the touch of a finger, IoT is no longer the future. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven the growth of IoT in 2021. 2022 will likely continue to bring growth to IoT, allowing new possibilities to improve how we work and live.
Lockdowns and IoT Connectivity
During the early months of the pandemic, most of us were locked down in our homes. Shipping lanes that once filled the oceans with the sounds of diesel engines fell silent, and airports shut down while hotel lobbies gathered dust.
However, digital communications, led by Zoom and similar video conferencing platforms, considerably increased in usage and popularity. In fact, countries like the United States recorded a 100% upsurge in internet traffic. The role of 5G connectivity during the pandemic, or any kind of medical emergency for that matter, cannot be overstated.
For example, connected ambulances use IoT to equip medical staff with high-quality video calls so doctors and specialists at the hospital can attend to patients remotely, especially under social distancing measures.
Commercial IoT services, such as artificial intelligence-enabled remote patient monitoring and diagnoses stations, supported by 5G networks, allow anyone with a medical condition to report back to their local or central healthcare system without having to physically be present.
5G is allowing IoT to work more efficiently, linking the growth of 5G and IoT. In fact, JPMorgan expects that 2022 will be the year that 5G sees previously unmatched growth, which is due in no small part to the growing importance of commercial IoT.
Continue reading: https://www.iotforall.com/coming-soon-iot-in-2022-and-the-year-in-review

As an exploit, it may not rank up there with UAVs saving lives on first responder missions or locating people desperately lost in the inhospitable wilds, but an Australian farmer is celebrating what he believes to be the world’s first sunflower crop to be entirely planted by a drone.
Queensland farmer and agricultural UAV service provider Roger Woods performed the reputedly unprecedented aerial feat in a series of fields near the city of Toowoomba, about 125 km west of Brisbane. As excited as he is at pulling off what he believes is the first 100% drone-executed sunflower plantation, Woods is even more chuffed at what the accomplishment will mean in facilitating the work and lives of farmers around the globe.
“To our knowledge, it’s the first sunflower crop in the world entirely planted by a big agricultural drone that we use commercially,” Woods told ABC News. “It spreads the seeds, and then that drone subsequently fertilized and kept the crop healthy. The only thing it doesn’t do is harvest it.”
Woods says he’s used the craft to spread seeds for growing crops like lucerne, wheat, and barley, but had been warned by peers that UAVs aren’t suitable for sunflower planting. Seeds need to be disseminated far enough apart to favor germination, they advised, while sprouted stalks require sufficient and regular spacing to fully take root and thrive. 
But after 12 test runs to fine-tune his system, Woods carried out his drone flights in September, spreading 45,000 seeds per every 2.5-acre sewn. His objective was to produce 30,000 sunflower plants on each of those component zones. 
“We probably didn’t quite get that in a lot of areas, so we can probably drop that rate a little bit in the future,” he said, proud nevertheless of the thick, tall plants that have arisen from the ground. “I’ve also got some ideas on heights, spin speed, patterning, and just to tidy up what we’ve learned across the 12 experiments here.”
In addition to adding a reputedly difficult crop to the list of those drones now help produce every year, Woods says his sunflower experiment has also again demonstrated the environmental and financial contributions UAVs can make to farming. The craft are more precise and less wasteful than other alternatives in agriculture, and their lack of terrestrial footprint is valuable to crops and ground that can be disturbed, or even damaged, by land vehicles.
Continue reading: https://dronedj.com/2021/12/28/aussie-farmer-plants-possibly-first-ever-sunflower-crop-using-a-drone/

We live in connected times. The technology landscape has been reshaped in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses are leaning on automation, data mining and machine learning more than ever before, and the convergence of multiple technologies is creating a groundswell of innovation. Against this backdrop, IoT is moving into the spotlight, providing tangible competitive advantages for businesses operating across a wide range of verticals. At EMnify, we expect to see a raft of transformative market developments as we move into 2022 and beyond. Whatever your strategic focus for 2022, the year ahead is loaded with potential for business and IT leaders, so read on for our top IoT predictions.
1. A paradigm shift to remote SIM provisioning
The digitisation of SIMs in IoT deployments is underway, allowing businesses to remotely activate the SIMs embedded in their endpoints. Users can install global SIM profiles onto compatible devices in seconds, without having to order and swap physical cards. This significantly simplifies and shortens the provisioning process, as well as bypassing shipping fees and consigning delivery problems to the history books.
Whether it’s a compatible pluggable SIM or an embedded SIM card, combine it with an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) and a remote SIM provisioning platform. This allows even global large-scale deployments to operate with a single SKU approach and switch profiles later, if needed. Roaming restrictions are bypassed and carrier profiles can be switched over the air. Watch out for rapid adoption of remote SIM provisioning in 2022 and beyond.
2. Satellite-based IoT becomes a reality
Internet everywhere is gaining traction, as satellite narrowband IoT is poised to plug the gap between terrestrial mobile connectivity services and non-cellular IoT networks. At present, ground-based connectivity services are far from ubiquitous, with vast tranches of the Earth’s surface not covered by cellular networks.
This presents a colossal opportunity for satellite IoT, which solves the problem of mobile connectivity in remote locations. Potential applications include asset tracking, oil and gas industries, utilities, manufacturing and construction.
Although Starlink is probably the most prominent exponent of satellite IoT, there’s a growing number of companies lining up to harness this new technology. 2022 could be a watershed year for the tech, helping to spawn new sectors and bring niche markets towards the mainstream.
Continue reading: https://www.information-age.com/iot-predictions-for-2022-what-why-how-of-year-ahead-123498180/

With blockchain technology still a relatively new kid on the block in the mainstream, its utilization in aviation systems is still in its infancy. Nonetheless, several processes are already deploying blockchain systems well. Altogether, the tech’s distinct ability to share information instantly and securely between relevant stakeholders, whether they are carriers, passengers, or manufacturers, gives endless opportunities for blockchain. Thus, we can expect its usage to catalyze in 2022.
Keeping record
One particular sector that will benefit significantly from blockchain is the supply chain. For instance, the market spends $50 billion on spare aircraft parts. However, airlines, suppliers, and lessors waste so much time in the manual tracking and tracing of the equipment. So, the introduction of blockchain will do wonders to efficiently record transactions between all those involved. Overall, time and funds are saved with a refined approach.
Additionally, with a clear record of numerous transactions on display, inconsistencies can be identified, which will lead to operational improvements. Subsequently, further mishaps can be addressed in the long term.
Getting the ball rolling
With these benefits in mind, SITA, the IT provider for the air transport industry, has implemented innovations for the next chapter of aviation. The organization is tackling challenges on both the airline and passenger sides. With a plethora of new requirements arising across the industry, blockchain will prove vital in the mission to robustly record and present information.
“For pilots, SITA has developed a proven blockchain-based solution enabling the verification of an electronic personnel license (EPL) without network connectivity. Allowing offline verification in an efficient and privacy-preserving way, SITA’s contribution supports the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) adoption of an industry-wide digital standard for the use of EPLs on international flights,” SITA shares in a statement sent to Simple Flying.
Continue reading: https://simpleflying.com/blockchain-airline-2022/

During the first week of November 2021, thousands of attendees, speakers and vendors gathered in Midtown Manhattan for the third annual NFT.NYC conference. The eclectic group of investors, gamers, artists, programmers and crypto enthusiasts attended panel discussions, speeches and after-parties, all centered on the burgeoning and lucrative new trend in the blockchain world: the NFT, or non-fungible token.
Still a relatively new blockchain phenomenon, NFT technology establishes ownership of digital assets and has most famously (or infamously) been applied to digital art. But this year’s conference had a new spin: There was a palpable emphasis on the future of NFTs, which many believe lies in their use as building blocks in the next iteration of the internet, referred to as Web 3.0 or “Web3.” Ultimately, the convergence of this platform with NFTs is expected to give rise to a massive, decentralized virtual world called the “metaverse.”
An NFT is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on the blockchain that can track a unique digital asset's transfer, ownership and properties. The term non-fungible distinguishes NFTs from other blockchain entities like cryptocurrencies, which are equal in value and mutually interchangeable or fungible.
For example, if two people each have a U.S. one-dollar bill in their pocket, they could exchange those two bills with each other, and neither would be richer or poorer for it because those two bills are fungible. But if those same two parties were holding the Mona Lisa and the deed to their home, respectively, they’d each have ownership of something with unique utility and value.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/12/27/the-nft-metaverse-building-a-blockchain-world/?sh=3c9583e9531c

Web 3.0, also known as the decentralised web, is the latest generation of internet applications and services, powered by distributed ledger technology, the most common being blockchains.
It focuses on connecting data in a decentralised way, rather than having it stored centrally, with computers able to interpret information as intelligently as humans.
The term was coined by ethereum (ETH-USD) co-founder Gavin Wood in 2014. However, the idea started to gain more interest this year from cryptocurrency enthusiasts, as well as large tech companies, venture capital firms, and more recently Tesla (TSLA) and Twitter (TWTR) chief executives Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey.
Web3 is the “new internet” in comparison to the current Web 2.0. 
Web 2.0 is where data and user-created content, such as social-networking services and blogs, are centralised in a small group of Big Tech firms, largely controlled by Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (FB), and Microsoft (MSFT).
"There's a small group of companies that own all this stuff, and then there's us who use it, and despite the fact that we contribute to the success of these platforms, we don't have anything to show for it," said researcher Mat Dryhurst.
Meanwhile, Web 1.0 refers to the period from the early 90s to around 2004, where most websites were simply static web pages, providing essentially a read-only service. The vast majority of users were consumers of content rather than producers like we see today.
As more people seek custom services, search engines in Web3 will provide personalised insights based on an individual’s browsing and search context, where people also control their own data.
Centralised servers will be replaced with information present on multiple computing devices, acting more as a peer-to-peer internet with no single authority.
Another one of the benefits of Web3 is that it is believed to be able to avoid internet hacks and leaks as it acts as a system for specific users, thus being a great pioneer for data security and privacy.
Continue reading: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/blockchain-exploring-the-building-blocks-of-web-30-000200644.html

Everyone is familiar with delivery services such as Door Dash and Uber Eats, which allow consumers to order deliveries of food by accessing an app on their smart phone. Now, a small Florida-based start-up company is hoping to offer the same service nation-wide, featuring delivery by drone.
Zing Drones is gearing up to train potential Part 107 pilots in the use of the company’s winch technology developed for use on DJI Inspire 2 drones. At the outset, Zing will employ its own pilots to fly company-owned drones, with the ultimate goal of enlisting private drone pilots who will act as independent contractors, using their own drones to make deliveries, Ian Annase, Zing Drones founder and CEO, said.
Annase said the company plans sometime next year to hire a regional flight manager to begin the training process. As the company expands its operations into different U.S. cities, additional flight managers would be hired.
“We want the pilots to go through some training with Zing before they start flying with us to make sure they know how to operate the winch,” he said. “The pilots, if they have an Inspire 2 — that’s our go-to drone for home delivery — we would be able to attach our piece of hardware to it.”
Once trained, these pilots would then fly on fixed schedules, determined by the flight manager in their respective areas.
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/12/26/drone-delivery-start-up-zing-taking-the-uber-model-to-the-sky/

In the second edition of DQDeepTech, panelists Vivekdeep Gupta, Kaavya Prasad and Prashanth Swaminathan discussed application of blockchain in governance projects, enterprise, and medium- and long- term changes to be witnessed due to it. 
Vivekdeep Gupta, Country Manager, R3, talked about how blockchain is used for supply chain needs. One big use case of enterprise blockchain identified and being used at scale has been around supply chain finance, logistics, and trade finance. Blockchain solves the information asymmetry that exists among various parties. It also solves the archaic processes, especially in trade finance. There are multiple global and local cases where blockchain has added value. 
R3 runs two global networks. One is called Contour, focused on global letters of credit. The other is Marco Polo, focused on open accounts space. Domestically, there are a number of banks focused on domestic trade finance. Cycle time for processing a letter of credit in India was about 5-8 weeks. We have reduced that by 75% using blockchain-enabled technologies. Blockchain has found its sweet spot. It allows transparency and visibility for multiple parties over a single trade finance app. It also makes the lives of big corporates and SMEs much easier.
Prashanth Swaminathan, Partner and Head of Institutional Business, Woodstock Fund, said there are trends in public domain. One is convergence, where the underlying tech is consolidating. We foresee space for public blockchains to be here. With the bedrock of blockchain, there will be emerging technologies on top of it. This could be AI/ML, VR, etc. We are identifying layers of blockchain and middleware that facilitate creation of futuristic apps. Woodstock is an emerging technology investment firm, investing in early and growth stage distributed ledger technology (DLT) startups and companies.
Second theme is financialization. It is an extension of the DeFi langugge. In DeFi, over last 12-18 months, we have seen that proliferate and create lot of efficiencies. We will see lot more merging of DeFi with traditional finance. We will see supply coming into DeFi, at a global level. It will merge with demand from rea-life use cases. We will have access to supply of such liquidity. We are looking to build on these mergers, and solving real-world use cases.
Continue reading: https://www.dqindia.com/developing-and-managing-blockchain-innovation/

This has been suspected since the company chose to change its name from Facebook to Meta a couple of months back but this has been spelled out only one by its future CTO Andrew Bosworth in a note sent to its employees.
Long Overdue Entry
The company has long been trying to enter into the crypto and blockchain market in a big way, but its progress has been slow due to the various regulatory challenges it faces worldwide. Some critics feel that it has simply grown too big for the regulators to view it kindly any longer as the company looks to pivot its business more into the world of fintech and blockchain. The regulators are worried that the company might be stepping on their toes as it looks to wean away from the users from the real world to the metaverse by its rebranding and by delving more into virtual reality and crypto.
Bosworth signaled that the company would be interested to work with other Web3 companies but also sounded a note of caution as it has to ensure that it continues to operate within the regulatory framework in the coming months as it looks to pull off one of its most audacious moves in recent years.
Continue Reading: https://financefeeds.com/meta-looking-focus-blockchain/