Female representation in senior management and executive roles in companies around the world remains low, however in South Africa it is stagnant. Worse still, women make up a mere 10% of CEOs at the world’s biggest tech firms, so one can only imagine how low the number is in South Africa.
This is according to Zimkhita Buwa, the newly appointed CEO of Quintica South Africa, the market leader in service experience management, enabling businesses across the Middle East and Africa to evolve digitally.
A person sitting on a chair Description automatically generated with medium confidence
For almost 20 years, Buwa has been a trailblazer in the innovation and digital space, working her way up from SAP Business Intelligence Analyst at an African-based energy group, to Chief Operating Officer at a well-known software development house, and later becoming Head of Intelligent Business Applications Core Practice at a global systems integrator and managed services provider for hybrid IT.
Since 2016, she has served on the board of Silicon Cape, a non-profit organisation that promotes technology entrepreneurship in the Western Cape, Africa’s Tech Capital. Her numerous accolades include winning the Techwomen Emerging Leader and MTN Outstanding Women in ICT awards, as well as being nominated for the Digital Female Awards in the category of Global Hero, representing women who follow diverse global goals and shape the world around them with their digital mindset. Now, she will be leading a local tech business focused on automation in a digital-first business world.
Continue reading: https://gnnliberia.com/2021/09/10/women-must-lead-south-africas-digital-economy/

Cellular internet of things (IoT) connections are expected to rise more than 3 billion by 2026 as the technology becomes more popular in homes and industry, according to new data from ABI Research.
Whereas cellular networks connect smartphones to carry voice through the air, allow text messages or internet surfing, cellular IoT connects physical devices or components, such as sensors, to the internet using the same cellular connections as smartphones.
Cellular IoT connects IoT devices in the home, piggybacking on the same mobile network and provides an alternative to low power, wide area networks (LPWAN) and non-cellular LoRaWAN and Sigfox technologies. Previously, cellular IoT devices used a ton of power, limiting its usefulness. However, with costs decreasing, the technology is becoming a popular option especially with new cellular standards such as NB-IoT, LTE-M and 5G MMTC emerging.
Continue reading: https://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/17167/iot-cellular-connections-to-reach-3-billion-by-2026

Technology is the single greatest contributor to climate change but it may also soon be used to offset the damage we've done to our planet since the Industrial Age began.
In September 2018, a project in Myanmar used drones to fire "seed missiles" into remote areas of the country where trees were not growing. Less than a year later, thousands of those seed missiles have sprouted into 20-inch mangrove saplings that could literally be a case study in how technology can be used to innovate our way out of the climate change crisis.
"We now have a case confirmed of what species we can plant and in what conditions," Irina Fedorenko, co-founder of Biocarbon Engineering, told Fast Company. "We are now ready to scale up our planting and replicate this success."
Continue reading: https://www.upworthy.com/drones-fired-seed-missiles-into-the-dirt-a-year-later-the-trees-are-already-20-inches-tall

Africa loses a good percentage of its food after harvest and most farmers are still using rudimentary technologies to grow and take care of their crops. These scenarios have hampered the continent’s quest to be food secure over the years.
Fortunately, the situation is slowly changing as the youth in the continent take up innovative agribusinesses to offer solutions to farmers.
Some of the technologies were on display at an ongoing Africa Green Revolution Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa.
“Africa does not really lack food security. We produce in plenty. What is missing are storage and processing facilities and technologies,” said Tracy Kimathi, managing founder of a firm that offers cold storage solar services. Her company provides pay-as-you-go services that are ideal for both farmers and traders in urban and rural areas.
“Our affordable solar storage facilities enable people to store meat, fruits and vegetables overnight at a small fee to avoid spoilage,” she said.
Continue reading: https://newsghana.com.gh/africas-youth-embrace-technologies-to-transform-agriculture/

These agriculture drones start-ups have been contributing their part to the agriculture sector
Agriculture is a sector that is always in the hype. It is one of the most essential parts to keep us all alive. As farmers deal with tough times in monitoring and harvesting crops, new technological trends such as drones are making their work hustle-free. Let’s see the top 5 agriculture drones start-ups to know in 2021
1 Aerobotics
Aerobotics is one of the agriculture drones start-ups that are based on farm management and pest management solutions. It offers AI-enabled pest detection, drone imagery services, disease detection, orchard, and yield management. It was founded in 2014 and is a Cape Town-based start-up.
2 Gamaya
Gamaya is a precision farming solution that uses HSI technology deployed through drones. It is one of the agriculture drones start-ups that use small unmanned aircraft systems for remote sensing and high-resolution imagery. The company is also a winner of the IMD start-up competition and was founded in 2014 which is based in Switzerland.
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/top-5-agriculture-drones-start-ups-to-know-in-2021/

The world’s largest companies have been pushing drones as a delivery method of the future for nearly a decade now. The thing is, those same companies are starting to pull back. Recently, both Amazon and DHL, two of the biggest companies that have ventured into the drone space, have shied away from drones, with the latter ceasing drone development entirely.
With the bigger players cooling off on drones, the space is ripe for the picking for the hundreds of drone startups that have been innovating for years behind the scenes. In this new five-week series, Modern Shipper will be highlighting five companies that are making noise in drone delivery. This week, Modern Shipper sat down with Flytrex co-founder and CEO Yariv Bash to talk coffee, cloud computing and drones in your backyard.
Coffee on command
When asked about what Flytrex does, Bash provided an example that sounded downright utopian.
“I can offer a subscription to your morning coffee from Starbucks each morning,” he said. “You can get your Starbucks coffee every morning at 7 a.m. before you start your daily commute, to your backyard, each day. And it’s a robotic system.”
Continue reading: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drone-disruptors-flytrex-is-bringing-drones-to-your-backyard

Saturday marks 20 years since one of the worst tragedies in U.S. history, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
A Hartford-based company called Aquiline Drones is honoring first responders in a unique way.
Aquiline Drones said it recognizes that first responders have a difficult and dangerous job.
It is giving them training that could make their jobs a little safer.
Three years ago, it took three fire departments to get a blaze in Waterbury under control.
It was at a building that used to be the Ansonia Copper and Brass Factory. The fire broke out in July 2018 and for days, smoke could be seen drifting from the huge factory which was over 100,000 square feet.
"We've had four mill fires in the last 5 years,” said Chief Terry Ballou, Waterbury Fire Department. “And mill fires as we all know are spectacular."
Continue reading: https://www.wfsb.com/news/hartford-based-company-supplying-free-drone-training-for-first-responders/article_2617f250-118f-11ec-9d50-83160be45dd8.html

Everyone agrees drone services will bring all sorts of benefits – from search and rescue to inspecting assets and infrastructure to delivering groceries. And there are plenty of small-scale use cases showing the practical benefits of drones. But what key challenges will we need to overcome to really reap the full benefits of large-scale drone operations – for business, for commerce, and for society?
Four key challenges
The way I see it, there are four key challenges facing the mass adoption of drones. The first is rooted in the technological concept itself. Namely, that’s it okay to have one or two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying above our heads, but to have fleets of drones in our skies adds a whole other dimension of complexity. For example, how do you know where every single drone is from one moment to the next? How can you operate them efficiently and effectively? And, above all, how do you manage the airspace they move around in safely and securely?
The second challenge is one of regulation. Commercial drones are relatively new technology, but the regulations governing how airspace is managed are built on a philosophy that’s at least 40 years old. So the big question is, how do you bring the regulatory environment up to date with the enormous advances we’ve seen in digital transformation in the last five years? In other words, how do you digitize airspace? And lastly, on this point, how do you integrate drone traffic and manned air traffic safely and at scale?
Continue reading: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/drone-adoption-journey-from-small-scale-large-part-1-julia-jiggins/?trk=articles_directory

Drones are the key technology of the coming two decades. They are used in many different aspects of industry, and commercial use of this technology has never been higher. IDTechEx predicts that the drone market will reach $22Bn+ by 2041, attributed in part to this wide range of use cases, in its market research report - "Drone Market and Industries 2021-2041". This article aims to provide you with an understanding and insight into this market.
There has been an increase in drone investment over the past 4-5 years at the time of writing. There have been increases in hardware, particularly from 2018-2019, as capabilities in analytical software and machine learning lead to wider use cases and adoption of drone hardware. Furthermore, with drone technology being accessible to the general public, there has been an increase in investment around consumer drones and lower price point products.
With this increase in investment comes a wide range of products. Different drones have different applications. Rotary drones are typically more of an efficient design for smaller drone sizes. With four fixed-pitch props, there are few moving parts and thus reducing the cost of the drone. However, this design does not scale up very well. As a result of this, fixed-wing drones are typically used for longer distances, where less dynamic handling is required. Use cases include surveying or mapping, where the drone can follow a fixed path and map a large area whilst remaining in the VLOS of the drone pilot.
Continue reading: https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-article/drone-technology-the-biggest-disruptive-technology-of-the-next-decade/24712

Michael Anderson mined bitcoin in his dorm room and left a corporate job to invest in cryptocurrency projects. When he bought his first home in San Francisco this year, he didn’t turn to a bank. Instead, he borrowed against his cryptocurrency.
Crypto enthusiasts such as Mr. Anderson are tapping their holdings to buy homes, cars and, often, more crypto. They are getting these loans from upstart nonbank lenders and automated, blockchain-based platforms.
Like banks, these lenders typically take deposits. Unlike banks, their deposits take the form of crypto. The crypto deposits—which earn higher-than-average interest rates—are used to fund loans to borrowers who pledge crypto as collateral. These loans take many forms. Borrowers can get dollars or other traditional currencies, or stablecoins pegged to them, depending on the lender they are working with.
The business is growing rapidly. One group of crypto lenders has $25 billion in loans outstanding to individual and institutional clients, up from $1.4 billion a year ago, according to the crypto research firm Messari.
People use crypto-backed loans for the same reason they borrow against their stock portfolios: to reap the benefits of rising prices without diminishing the size of their bets. Ether, for example, has risen nearly 10-fold in the past year, eclipsing the interest on the average ether-backed loan. Borrowers can also use this strategy to avoid capital-gains taxes.
Continue reading: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crypto-fans-borrow-to-buy-homes-carsand-more-crypto-11631266200

Alephium, which is an efferent sharding-based blockchain, has been able to raise $3.6 million in a pre-sale of its tokens to almost 80 separate buyers. Many large investors participated in the offer, and smaller investors also bought tokens in the pre-sale.
The fresh capital will support development at Alephium, which is developing novel Sharded UTXO Blockchain technology.
Alphemy Capital led the pre-sale, and both White Paper Capital and Archery Blockchain participated. The tokens were predominately bought by smaller buyers, with 91% of the buyers contributing less than $100,000.
Cheng Wang, the Co-founder of Alephium, commented

“After over 3 years focused exclusively on research and development, we are proud and humbled by the success of the pre-sale achieved without any marketing or active online presence…It is rewarding to see the interest raised by our technology and we are excited to have this pre-sale kick-off the expansion of the Alephium blockchain and create the grounds for a broader community.”

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Alephium is creating a blockchain that uses sharding technology called BlockFlow. It is based on stateful UTXO transactions.
Continue reading: https://blockonomi.com/alephium-raises-3-6m/

Cryptocurrency may be the star of the blockchain world. But the same qualities that make blockchain useful for currency — security, transparency, decentralization, immutability — also apply to a slew of other uses. We believe that one of the most important changes on the horizon is in healthcare and we’ll tell you why. But first, let’s go over the basics.
Blockchain basics
Blockchain is a shared and distributed ledger system. It is just like keeping a record of transactions on a spreadsheet (centralized), except blockchain does it through a network of peer to peer computers and follows three essential steps.

• Making a record of each transaction or input
• Verifying the transaction to ensure validity
• Once verified, each input or transaction is added to a block that gets hashed (encrypted)

 Afterward, the block is added to the end of the blockchain.
The important thing to know is that a blockchain is a tamper-proof database that can be accessed by many different parties but is not controlled or manipulated by any single party.
Continue reading: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/blockchain-remake-healthcare-sector-you-ready-kenneth-daniel-tan/?trk=articles_directory

While the Covid-19 pandemic hit the entertainment industry hard, it hit indie artists even harder, especially when it came to them protecting their revenue-dependent consumer fanbase.
When musicians and producers took to social media to keep their careers alive, hosting virtual concerts and regular content drops, it wasn’t long before platforms like Facebook and Spotify began implementing guardrails. This posed a challenge for the many struggling artists out there just needing to stay afloat.
With concerts returning, indie artists have some catching up to do, beginning by leveraging technology like blockchain and crypto to stay ahead. Music-related non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have proved to be a new way for both the artist and, finally, their fans to connect.
An NFT is an electronic ID that authenticates the existence of a digital asset, usually in the art world, or in this case, a limited edition piece of music or related benefit, not available anywhere else. NFT token contracts are unique such that the owner of the NFT token contract is the owner of the original artwork; NFTs create the virtual scarcity that elevates the value.
Continue reading: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/artists-blockchain-todays-world-1221252/

The confluence of data, compute power and advances in the design of algorithms for AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) are driving new approaches in the laboratory. This gives scientists access to additional tools that can open new avenues for research or accelerate existing workflows. 
The increasing interest in AI and ML is driving software companies to examine how they can develop their own software frameworks, or integrate functionality into existing laboratory software to support laboratory scientists’ use of AI.  
Some examples of domain areas that are already seeing benefits of early AI  adoption include predictive maintenance of instruments; predicting efficacy and potential of small molecules for drug discovery; and image analysis for a  variety of different use cases such as crystallography and medical imaging. 
Stephen Hayward, product marketing manager at Biovia, Dassault Systèmes highlights the steps the company has taken to integrate AI functionality into its software:  ‘We have a product called Biovia Pipeline  Pilot, which is all about data science, data preparation, connecting data sources together and performing various functions on it. When we talk about machine learning  and AI, it’s Pipeline Pilot that is core to that.’ 
As the adoption of AI and ML techniques becomes more widespread the techniques are beginning to transform how scientific research is conducted. However, organizations need to ensure their teams are focused on their scientific goals rather than trying to develop expertise in advanced computational methods. While it is true that there should be some staff with a  good understanding of AI and the software frameworks they are using to build these intelligent systems, it is unreasonable to think that specialized domain expert lab scientists should be expected to develop skills in computer science or the development of AI frameworks. 
Continue reading: https://www.scientific-computing.com/feature/ai-revolution

Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) is on the rise as a critical technology to help to scale machine learning in the enterprise. According to McKinsey, by 2030, ML could add up to 13 trillion dollars back into the global economy by enabling workers in all sectors to improve their output. Furthermore, MarketWatch indicates that, in 2021, the global MLOps market size will be USD million and it is expected to reach USD million by the end of 2027, with a CAGR during 2021-2027. According to IBM  by 2023, 70% of AI workloads will use application containers or be built using a server less programming model, necessitating a DevOps culture. What’s more, according to Algorithmia, 85% of machine learning models never make it to production. For businesses, creating machine learning applications, managing those models and putting them into action is challenging. Different companies, such as DataRobot, have emerged as top machine learning operations tool enablers for the industry to handle these challenges. 
Processing, implementing and deploying machine learning models requires specific tools that can solve challenges in the process. The challenge of getting data from aa data to decisions is made more accessible by applying various operations on-device or in the cloud as needed. To do this at scale, businesses need a platform to add support for new ML frameworks through open interfaces. There are several ways to add or remove models and processes.
The leading machine learning operations tools for enterprise are:
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markminevich/2021/09/10/leading-mlops-tools-are-the-next-frontier-of-scaling-ai-in-the-enterprise/?sh=31beaf9263d8

More and more, networking and security teams are realizing that AI has quickly become a serious strategic necessity. But adopting and implementing it can seem like one more enormous challenge in a period that has already delivered many challenges already. In the wake of the pandemic, it is clear that work from home is exploding into work from anywhere — and not just anywhere. Work from anywhere really means work anywhere, at any time and from any device to access any resource in data centers, in the cloud or on networks comprising vast edges of endpoints.
Accommodating work from anywhere is as sprawling as the networks themselves. Organizations are in a constant struggle to see and control who is accessing their network and what actions they are taking. And what they can see is resulting in more tickets and more reports than ever before, even as the economic downturns from Covid-19 have forced them to slash budgets and shrink teams.
Guess who knows about all these challenges? Cybercriminals whose tactics have become household words in the past year. They have taken advantage of the expanded threat surface to increase ransomware attacks tenfold in the last year.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/09/10/ai-is-no-longer-optional-and-thats-a-good-thing/?sh=332df2047852

AI is becoming strategic for many companies across the world. The technology can be transformative for just about any part of a business. 
But AI is not easy to implement. Even top-notch companies have challenges and failures.
So what can be done? Well, one strategy is to provide AI education to the workforce. 
“If more people are AI literate and can start to participate and contribute to the process, more problems–both big and small–across the organization can be tackled,” said David Sweenor, who is the Senior Director of Product Marketing at Alteryx. “We call this the ‘Democratization of AI and Analytics.’ A team of 100, 1,000, or 5,000 working on different problems in their areas of expertise certainly will have a bigger impact than if left in the hands of a few.”
Just look at Levi Strauss & Co. Last year the company implemented a full portfolio of enterprise training programs—for all employees at all levels—focused on data and AI for business applications. For example, there is the Machine Learning Bootcamp, which is an eight-week program for learning Python coding, neural networks and machine learning—with an emphasis on real-world scenarios. 
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomtaulli/2021/09/10/ai-artificial-intelligence-should-you-teach-it-to-your-employees/?sh=598de0587b73

Women are increasingly enrolling in online learning courses and earning STEM certificates during the pandemic, according to the latest Women and Skills Report from Coursera.
Women now make up 52% of new registered users on the e-learning platform in 2021, compared with 47% in 2019. In terms of course enrollments overall, women have nearly reached parity, at 49%, compared with making up just 42% of total enrollment in 2019.
The narrowing gender gap in online learning comes at a time when women have been disproportionately sidelined at work during the coronavirus outbreak. Despite economic recovery in many job market sectors, millions of women remain unemployed or underemployed due to their overrepresentation in in-person service jobs disrupted by Covid-19, as well as ongoing child care challenges over the last 18 months. Unemployment figures also exclude the 1.6 million women who’ve been pushed to drop out of the workforce altogether since February 2020.
But the growing share of women upskilling and reskilling through online learning could be an encouraging sign about the future of women in the workforce, says Betty Vandenbosch, Coursera’s chief content officer.
Continue reading: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/09/womens-enrollment-in-online-courses-certificates-rises-during-pandemic.html

In the lead-up to the Women in IT Europe Summit, Leslie Hawthorn, vertical community strategy manager at Red Hat, and Cali Dolfi, data scientist at Red Hat, spoke to Information Age about digital transformation trends in open source, and promoting workplace DEI.
During the upcoming Women in IT Europe summit, taking place on the 14th September 2021 from 10:00am CET, Leslie Hawthorn, vertical community strategy manager, and Cali Dolfi, data scientist, both at event premium sponsor Red Hat, will be delivering a presentation on the topic of ‘Creating Growth with Data Analytics’. The presentation will cover the work that Red Hat is doing to help open source communities use data to empower themselves, and shape their engagement. To register for this virtual event, please click here.
In the lead-up to the summit, Leslie and Cali spoke to Information Age about how open source has prominently facilitated digital transformation, their respective journeys in tech, and the importance of promoting DEI in the workplace.
What have been the most valuable examples of digital transformation initiatives involving open source technologies that you’ve seen over the past 18 months or so?
Cali: One thing that my mind constantly goes towards is the data-powered research being done at hospitals right now, including studies being carried out around Covid-19. The past 18 months have seen the pandemic dominate our lives, so research is being done that’s powered by AI, data science and open source. For example, the Open Data Hub project is creating a blueprint on how to set up AI and data science initiatives, using open source technology.
Continue reading: https://www.information-age.com/wit-summit-europe-qa-digital-transformation-open-source-123496815/

Today’s Woman in Tech: Miriam Bressan, VMware Tanzu
Miriam Bressan is Manager Solution Engineering, Global Accounts in CEMEA and SEMEA at VMware Tanzu.
When did you become interested in technology? What first got you interested in tech?
My fascination started very early. My parents didn’t allow me to have a Gameboy or game consoles. But there was an old Atari with an unbelievable amount of floppy disks that nobody really needed anymore. The manual wouldn’t have been able to help me, because it was in English, so: Learning by doing
When I was 18, I saved up for my first real PC, which I built myself. Fun fact: The motherboard, drive, and card reader are still in my tower Back then they thought BlueRays would be the absolute hit and now I’m looked at incredulously when I say I can burn BlueRays.
I studied computer science – “media and communication informatics” to be exact – and wanted to become either a game developer or a penetration tester. Somehow it turned out differently…
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-bressan-175445.html

Mastercard has agreed to acquire blockchain analytics start-up CipherTrace, in the latest sign of how major companies are warming to cryptocurrencies.
The payments giant said Thursday it entered into an agreement to buy CipherTrace for an undisclosed amount. Based in Menlo Park, California, CipherTrace develops tools that help businesses and law enforcement root out illicit digital currency transactions. The company’s competitors include New York-based Chainalysis and London start-up Elliptic.
“Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient,” Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard, said in a statement. “With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mastercard shares were up about 0.6% Thursday morning in New York.
Continue reading: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/09/mastercard-to-buy-blockchain-analytics-start-up-ciphertrace.html

The crypto world is known for its volatility, and hard forks—blockchain updates with security patches or other changes in the code—reinforce this perceived lack of stability. With updates like the recent Ethereum London hard fork, resistors are left behind on an obsolete, outdated fork. In perhaps the most famous example of a hard fork, Bitcoin Cash, the adopters didn’t quite steal the show. The split still, however, followed a series of debates within the Bitcoin community, with tensions still high today. 
A better solution is needed to keep communities united while still allowing for blockchains to be updated. One major feature setting Polkadot’s “Layer 0” blockchain apart from others is its choice to be forkless, meaning there’s no need to create a fork in order to update the blockchain. As the crypto community continues to expand, a forkless future is the only way forward.
Blockchain is a decentralized system with anonymity. Therefore, it’s difficult to coordinate updates that will be agreed upon by the whole community, especially when it’s not always clear who is running the software. While blockchain upgrades are necessary for technological innovation, they lead to tensions within their respective communities, with endless debates on the necessity and timing of specific improvements. 
Continue reading: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/no-more-forks%3A-a-case-for-the-polkadot-approach-to-blockchain-upgrades-2021-09-09

Many companies need strong supply chain traceability.  For the most prevalent tracing challenges, blockchain may provide a formidable solution.
Real-World Applications
Using blockchain to trace products is especially promising for certain industries, including the food, fashion and regulated products industries.
Food Industry
Supply chain traceability is crucial in many industries, but arguably none more so than the food industry, where concerns about contamination, intentional adulteration, and bioterrorism are ever-present.
The most promising applications in the food industry involve conducting product recalls and ensuring consumer satisfaction for perishable products.

1. Food Recalls and Market Withdrawals
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   Some of the keys to successfully stopping outbreaks of foodborne illnesses through food traceability protocols include the accuracy and speed of obtaining tracking information and the inability of third parties to manipulate that tracking information.  Companies that attain top recall accuracy and speed by implementing investigation improvements can reduce recall costs, loss of profits, and reputational damage, and in the case of food recalls, save lives.  Enter blockchain.
   Continue reading: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/fast-track-using-blockchain-to-trace-products-through-supply-chain

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be among the most volatile securities trading today.
A safer way to invest in cryptos and blockchain-technology companies is through exchange traded funds.
The Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF BLOK is, by far, the largest ETF focused on cryptocurrencies and companies that use or develop blockchain technology. It has $1.3 billion in assets and is actively managed. The second-biggest ETF in the space is the Siren Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF BLCN, which is passively managed — it follows an index — and has $291 million in assets. Both ETFs were established on Jan. 17, 2018. There’s more about each of them below.
Digital currencies — risks and rewards
Before digging into the blockchain ETFs, consider the risks of bitcoin and other digital currencies beyond volatility. For example, if you hold bitcoin in a digital wallet, make sure you don’t lose your password. One investor lost access to an account with 7,002 bitcoin in 2012, according to Yahoo Finance. That equates to more than $327 million, based on bitcoin’s BTCUSD, -1.30% settled price of $46,777 on Sept. 7
Continue reading: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-a-safer-way-to-invest-in-bitcoin-and-blockchain-technology-11631199388

In the last century, paper lists and ledgers gave way to powerful electronic databases that enable IT admins to search, sort, share and move records and associated information.
But traditional databases have limitations. For example, databases are singularly owned services. A business deploys, builds and manages its database and the data it contains. The business can then use that data -- or sell or share it with other businesses within its digital economy. The business that owns the database has total control over its design, contents and availability -- and data users are wholly dependent upon the integrity of the data and database owner, often dubbed a "trusted authority." And as the world becomes evermore connected and dependent on data and data sharing, the limitations of traditional databases pose challenges to security and trust.
These limitations have driven the development of distributed electronic database systems. It's a technology intended to democratize information by distributing and synchronizing data between multiple independent stakeholders, such as businesses or governments, that choose to participate in the system. The most common example of this system is blockchain.
Continue reading: https://searchitoperations.techtarget.com/tip/Blockchain-An-immutable-ledger-to-replace-the-database