AI innovation is occurring at a fast clip, with a number of technologies on the “hype cycle” reaching mainstream adoption within two to five years. That’s according to Gartner, which today released a report identifying four trends driving near-term AI innovation in the enterprise. It finds that while the AI industry remains in an “evolutionary state,” technologies including edge AI, computer vision, decision intelligence, and machine learning are poised to have a transformational impact on markets in coming years.
Gartner sees evidence of a trend of companies seeking capabilities beyond what current AI tools can often accomplish. Organizations are focusing on implementation, risk management, and ethics as they look to scale AI initiatives. But data leaders run the risk of failing to realize value from these initiatives if they don’t “prioritize and accelerate” investments in AI technologies at various stages of maturity, Gartner warns.
Responsible AI
Increased trust, transparency, fairness, and auditability of AI technologies continues to be of growing importance to a range of stakeholders, according to Gartner. “Responsible AI” can help to achieve a semblance of fairness, trust, and regulatory compliance — even if biases are baked into the data and explainability methods fall short. For this reason, Gartner expects that all experts hired for AI development and training work will have to demonstrate competence in responsible AI by 2023.
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/09/07/ai-focus-shifts-to-small-and-wide-data/

Women have left the labor force in droves and many workers are eyeing the door amid the “great resignation.” It might serve as a warning sign for employers, then, that women feel less valued and less like they belong at work than men do. 
Just one-quarter of workers feel a strong sense of belonging at work right now, according to Achievers’ 2021 Culture Report, which sought input from more than 3,500 employees around the world. Among men, 31% said this, compared to 22% of women. 
“The gender gap in belonging was the largest we found in our data analysis, showing that gender equality continues to be one of the biggest challenges for business leaders,” Achievers Chief Workforce Scientist Dr. Natalie Baumgartner. “Women do not feel the same sense of belonging that men feel and this means they are less likely to be bringing their whole selves to work. This impacts productivity, engagement, commitment and even feeling safe at work.”
A strong sense of belonging is linked to higher engagement, productivity and commitment to the job, Achievers found. When feelings of belonging are lacking, burnout, alienation and underperformance are more likely, research indicates. Lately, burnout has been especially high among women, who are hesitant to approach managers about it.
In the tech industry, executives overwhelmingly believe women and minority employees feel a sense of belonging at their companies, but only one-quarter of these workers actually do, according to a recent report from the Capgemini Research Institute.
Compared to men, women are less comfortable sharing dissenting opinions at work, Achievers found, and less confident employers value their identities and backgrounds. 
Women don’t find employee resource groups as helpful as men do, in terms of fostering feelings of connection to employers, Achievers found. Women are more likely to say their needs aren’t being met by their company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and the gender pay gap continues to stifle women’s feelings of value at work.
Given the significant loss of women in the workforce as Covid-19 has spread, leaders should put more effort into making sure women feel valued at work, the Achievers report noted.
One simple way to boost employees’ feelings of belonging? Recognition. When surveyed, those who said they were recognized in the past week were nearly twice as likely to have a strong sense of belonging at work. Giving employees chances to contribute and valuing those contributions also builds belonging.
The Achievers report also pointed to diversity’s benefits: Respondents who work at organizations with a diverse group of senior leaders are more likely to say they feel a strong sense of belonging at work. 
Recent research discovered little interruptions at work — “Hey, got a sec?” — can foster a sense of belonging, too. With many still working from home, those moments and spontaneous small talk, which increase workers’ willingness to help coworkers and the company, have been missing. 
Leaders have said maintaining company culture is difficult while everyone has worked remotely, and some workers have felt that, too. Employee functions have been put on hold, and ongoing remote or hybrid plans for some but not all could make employee collaboration more challenging.
Continue reading: https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2021/09/05/gender-gap-belonging-women-men.html

Nicola Mendelsohn, the British advertising executive named Facebook’s vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has been a strong force taking the industry by storm.
She has always been led by her Jewish heritage, with strong values instilled in her at a young age.
“I grew up in Manchester, England, in an Orthodox home in which my parents taught me about tikkun olam, giving to charity and helping people,” Mendelsohn told The Jerusalem Post. “It’s always been a fundamental part of my Jewish life, of my DNA and who I am. It’s something which motivates me in my day-to-day work and which I hope my husband, Jon, and I have instilled in our four children.”
Mendelsohn had her start in a surprisingly different career path, studying English and drama for her bachelor’s degree. She was later inspired by a good friend to pursue advertising and quickly fell in love with the subject. “The creativity, the problem-solving, the innovation, are all skill sets that I have learned and that I continue to draw upon,” she explained. “I’m a believer that your job title doesn’t need to be ‘creative’ to be creative and it can be an integral part of any role. Using past experiences will always bring a new dimension to any role you take on.”
Mendelsohn, the daughter of kosher caterers who started a family business – Celia Clyne Banqueting – has not had it easy. In 2016, she was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, a rare and incurable form of blood cancer. The diagnosis did not stop her, though. She launched the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation (www.theflf.org) and continued her work.
“I feel grateful to be blessed with a life that I cherish and that there were not big changes that I wanted to make,” she said on the matter. “Work is a huge part of my identity and it’s something that gives me energy rather than saps it.”
The coronavirus pandemic surely has not helped her work, but Mendelsohn says it’s allowed for people to find creative ways to continue pushing forward while also bringing people closer with those they love most.
“I know we’re not out of the woods yet,” she said. “But when I talk to business and community leaders, what I’m hearing most at the moment is optimism. An unmistakable sense of hope. And it’s not just about being able to see COVID in the rearview mirror for the first time for 18 months. It’s also about hanging onto the silver linings – the good stuff we’ve learned during an exceptionally challenging time.”
Continue reading: https://www.jpost.com/50-most-influential-jews/women-in-tech-678121

The world is ever-changing and, so is the sector your business operates in. You don’t just need data to keep track of trends that are shaping the economy – you need the expertise to turn that data into valuable insights and sustainable growth opportunities that will unlock your business’ potential.
In the Absa Insights podcast series, The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield engages in conversation with the bank's sector experts about investment possibilities in Agriculture, Consumer Goods and Services, Enterprise Supply Development and Telecommunications, Public Sector and, Natural Resources and Energy.
Telecommunication companies are making a huge impact on agriculture and healthcare in Africa.
One of those companies is Mezzanine – which started its journey in the healthcare industry back in 2004 focusing on medical and healthcare opportunities until it was acquired by Vodacom in 2012 as a subsidiary of the Group with a mandate to support markets with the design and development of digital solutions customers in the agricultural and healthcare spaces across Africa.
Envisioning the era of IoT
From leveraging the basic services of feature phones such as SMS, USSD and voice services, the company has evolved into a digital technology market leader that co-creates digital solutions that enable productive societies.

As engineers, we always dream of the impossible. So, we have these cases in mind but what was overwhelming in a positive way was the reach of making these benefits available to resource-limited settings. So naturally, you would think that these very rich digital experiences will be available to the upper end of the market, but the benefit of mobile is really taking these services to the African continent. Jacques de Vos, Chief Executive Officer – Mezzanine

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Free, perfect, and instant delivery of services
For de Vos, the opportunity in leveraging the digital attributes of delivering free, perfect, and instant services to citizens on the content is exponential.
So, how do we leverage these digital attributes to create new value or business models and use these attributes to effectively deliver value and capture value to supporting governments and private enterprises?

The question we’ve asked is, how do we use mobile in combination with digital in bringing that benefits to the last mile. The definition of the last mile in Africa – it’s in the classroom, it’s on the farm, it’s in the clinic, it’s at the workplace. Jacques de Vos, Chief Executive Officer – Mezzanine

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Mobile has really brought these digital attributes to the broader subscriber base across the continent, says de Vos.
"So, how is this technology helping somebody sitting in rural Tanzania who can’t get to town for medical care,” asks The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield.
In the case of healthcare, Mezzanine has seen digital, and mobile improves the access to health services, the quality of health services and the affordability of accessing those services.
Read more and listen to the podcast: http://www.702.co.za/articles/424621/how-the-internet-of-things-iot-is-connecting-rural-farmers-to-the-world

Many drone pilots today are honing their talents not just for fun, but also for business. Drones can be utilised to capture the aerial beauty of real estate properties, do land surveys, or shoot aerial footage of a live event; the options are unlimited. However, there are factors outside our control, just as there are in any other firm. Accidental liabilities can still occur even if all safety standards and flight practises are followed.
Even if you have other types of business insurance, insuring your drone may be a new concept. It’s critical to understand the features and coverages of a drone insurance policy in order to ensure that your company is protected.
What is Drone Liability Insurance, and how does it work?
Commercial drone insurance is comparable to other types of liability insurance in that it protects you from bodily injury and property damage claims. A drone policy can cover your drone for physical damage to it in addition to liability coverage for harm to other people’s property. The insurance company will pay all losses and costs incurred up to your set limits if your drone is lost or damaged in an accident.
When granting a drone insurance coverage, insurance companies utilise extensive underwriting. In many circumstances, they demand that the drone pilot have maintenance logs, operating manuals, a parts inventory, and proof of training to prove that he or she is a safe pilot. This is done to ensure that your insurer is aware of the risk to your drone, other persons, and the things in your immediate vicinity, as well as the possibility for loss to the insurance provider.
Keep in mind that the safer and more prepared you are, the more likely you are to receive the most affordable drone insurance policy.
Who needs a drone insurance?
There are no conventional norms and regulations for insuring drones because the concept of employing drones for commercial reasons is relatively new. However, because unmanned aerial vehicles are classified as “aircraft” in the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in charge of regulating their usage.
Even if the government does not require it, commercial drone use necessitates coverage to safeguard your organisation from liability. When flying drones, there are numerous hazards to consider, and your organisation could be exposed to potential liabilities if you don’t have the correct insurance.
Here are a few of the most popular enterprises or industries where a drone insurance policy can be required.

• Home inspectors and real estate agents.
• Engineering and construction companies
• Photographers, videographers, and filmmakers who work for a living
• Officers of the law
• Drone insurance for small and midsize businesses is divided into two categories: hull coverage and liability covers. Choosing the correct drone insurance coverage for the exposure you’ll have from operating your drone depends on the sort of business and your needs assessment teams and emergency response units
• Traffic surveillance, media coverage, and news gathering
• Agriculture, agricultural production, and related businesses
• Businesses that maintain railroads, highways, and structures

Continue reading: https://www.dqindia.com/drone-insurance-need-know/

Balancing medical privacy with ease of access for healthcare professionals is a challenge, but technology could provide the solution, says Aleph Zero Foundation’s Matthew Niemerg.
Most people don’t think of healthcare when they hear blockchain, and that’s understandable; the technology so far hasn’t gone much beyond financial instruments – at least, not in the eyes of the public. However, with the current state of affairs in healthcare, the time has come for change. And blockchain may well be at the heart of it.
One of the most challenging problems in the health-care industry is balancing people’s medical privacy with ease of access to medical history via electronic health records (EHRs). EHRs need to adhere to any mandated privacy laws which are distinct from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Data standards across the myriad of solutions also poses a challenge as well.
If appropriately implemented, blockchain-based medical records systems of tomorrow could be far more accurate, secure and accessible than the one-size-fits-all approach applied to today’s electronic health records, all while putting additional power back in the hands of the patients. Here’s how.
The state of medical records today
The complexities and deficiencies of modern medical systems worldwide have strained healthcare professionals for decades. A transition to electronic health records, with opportunities for cost savings and reduced medical errors being the two primary benefits of an electronic-based system, made it hard to argue that a paper-based health record system longer held any merit.
Yet over time, EHRs have failed to live up to expectations, instead becoming the leading cause of physician burnout. This comes from a variety of issues linked to these systems, but there is a big one of note. Many practitioners have expressed the feeling that EHRs cause far too much of their time ultimately being spent on data entry. This takes away from other important aspects of tending to clients and can even eat into the physician’s personal time. Additionally, issues such as poor quality documentation due to template-based reporting, and incompatibilities between different systems have further caused headaches and increased inefficiencies.
“Despite its failings, the EHR remains the central tool for capturing the plethora of new streams of data bubbling through health care”
Furthermore, EHR vendors have been sued for selling non-functioning products to hospitals and accused of acts of fraud, and although EHRs improved safety in some areas, they also introduce new risks systemic in nature. Kaiser Health News and Fortune detail these and other shortcomings in Death by 1,000 clicks: where electronic health records went wrong.
In many ways though, despite its failings, the electronic health record (EHR) remains the central tool for capturing the plethora of new streams of data bubbling through health care, which is increasingly influencing clinical practice as well as pharma trials. Data such as phenotype measures, patient-reported outcomes, baseline genomic data, claims data and more needs to be captured, relying on the ability of all participants involved to properly use the electronic record-keeping systems, which is the biggest challenge on how well the system performs.
This is where the benefits of blockchain technology are frequently discussed and there is widespread agreement that its role could transform drug development and the supply chain, clinical trials management, the delivery of healthcare to patients and much more. Finally, there is now a compelling reason for blockchain’s implementation in life sciences, here’s why.
Blockchain: The ultimate electronic health record
Blockchain technology, popularised by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, stands to hold the keys to a much more comprehensive and secure system of medical records. This is possible because of what a blockchain inherently is: a ledger cryptographically enforced to ensure the integrity of the data on it. When put to work on securing medical data, blockchain can store information in a way that is accessible to anyone on the network, completely immutable, and tamper-proof.
Blockchain-based electronic health records would give doctors and nurses control over the flow of information from a single, trusted platform. Everyone would be able to see the same data, and all updates would be visible to the whole network almost immediately. This means that medical teams can trust that what they learn about a patient is both accurate and up to date.
“One of the critical pieces of technology that can make this all possible is already in the pockets of much of the population – mobile devices”
There are various ways that a system like this could potentially be implemented in hospitals and doctors’ offices worldwide. But one of the critical pieces of technology that can make this all possible is already in the pockets of much of the population – mobile devices. Phones and similar devices now have the power and communication abilities to monitor an individual’s vitals and be an access point for both inputting and retrieving data.
Already many citizens use their phones or smartwatches to keep tabs on their movement, calorie intake, and even mental health, to name a few. Hence, blockchain enables an evolution of these types of services. Putting all forms of health monitoring into a single, standard platform accessible to health professionals streamlines the operation and allows for better oversight on the quality of care being provided. Backing up the information with blockchain means that once data is inputted, it cannot be tampered with or altered really in any way. Through blockchain-based electronic health records, it may even be feasible – in certain situations – to incentivise healthier life choices through a gamified and rewards system. Incorporating such a model would help elevate some of the pressure on publicly funded healthcare systems as patients start adopting healthier lifestyles.
Continue reading: https://pharmaphorum.com/digital/blockchain-healthcare-electronic-medical-records/

Blockchain technology provider Coadjute has announced further progress with estate agency software vendors as it ramps up its efforts to connect the disparate parts of the home-moving process. Claiming to halve the time it takes to move home, it has announced Agent Hub, Power Bespoke, Rex and Veco by Eurolink will all join existing providers, including conveyancing case management providers Osprey and Redbrick Solutions, in their digital network.
Coadjute is a real-time network to speed up property transactions. Launched in July, it is the world’s first digital network to seamlessly connect the property market and give a synchronised view, end-to-end. All parties involved in a property deal – including the estate agent, conveyancer, mortgage lender and broker – will be able to track the live progress of the transaction from start to finish, from their existing software.
Coadjute’s technology acts as a ‘national grid’ for the property market, and will enable future innovations including digital identity, digital titles, and even digital settlement of funds. The use of blockchain technology will provide greater transparency, a reduced risk of fraud and an accelerated process with significantly less admin. Conveyancers will be able to protect sensitive client data by Coadjute’s encrypted network, which only the conveyancer and the receiving party can see.
The announcement follows similar links with platforms Dezrez, MRI, OpenView (VTUK), Reapit. Coadjute now claim the “majority of UK estate agents” and a “growing number of conveyancers” are set to be connected to the network; a key milestone in the digital transformation of the UK housing market.
Steve Dawkins, Chief Relationship Officer at Coadjute said

“By connecting their existing CRM software platforms to other parties in the property market, Coadjute delivers real efficiencies to busy Estate Agents who have better things to do. Our encrypted network enables them to securely share sensitive client data with ease, cutting time chasing for updates and making more time for revenue generating activity. We are proud to welcome Agent Hub, Power Bespoke, Rex and Veco to the rapidly expanding Coadjute community”.

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Agent Hub’s Ashley McKella added

“Agent Hub is all about innovation and future-proofing. As a Salesforce partner, we offer unrivalled technology in sizable chunks and now partnering with Coadute will further help us demonstrate that. As we’ve seen it is now more important than ever before for not only individuals but also for businesses to unite by joining forces and bring their innovation together and work in partnerships. I’m very much looking forward to being part of the journey.”

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Continue reading: https://www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk/main-news/blockchain-making-progress-in-agency-market/

The blockchain technology has been an innovation pertinent to our digital age. When most transactions are offering digitally blockchain provides a secure and more efficient way of transacting money e anywhere across the world without any hassle.
What is the application of the blockchain technology in peer-to-peer transactions? How is it used in this new form of digital currency? These are some of the important questions that we should answer in order to understand how the crypto infrastructure works.
Cryptocurrency is powered by a new model of decentralized ledger that is also known as the blockchain. In the current article, we will explore how blockchain and cryptocurrency are related.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency ever developed. In 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto created this new digital currency which would allow users to make transactions without the mediation of any financial institutions.
Bitcoin was the first real-life application of a ledger technology that is known as the blockchain. It was followed by a number of new cryptocurrencies like Ethereum Litecoin, Ripple, etc. today there are thousands of cryptocurrencies that have improvised on the existing infrastructure laid down by Bitcoin. These new cryptocurrencies offer more features and have lower transaction times than their predecessors.
The Bitcoin is considered a better alternative to a fiat currency because:

1. The ledger system used in Bitcoin is more efficient than the traditional ledger used in banks and other financial institutions.
2. The blockchain ledger is maintained by smart contract technology, unlike the traditional legacy system which is manually maintained. This decreases the time needed for transactions. Cross-border transactions usually take up to 2 to 3 days through banks. With Bitcoin, it is possible to make a similar transaction in a few minutes.
3. Because the Bitcoin ledger is maintained by the smart contract technology it is susceptible to accounting errors. does problems like double spending which is a common issue of the traditional ledger system can we avoid it through the blockchain ledger.
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   Continue reading: https://www.techiexpert.com/the-relationship-between-bitcoin-and-blockchain-mutually-beneficial/

Since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, the blockchain and crypto space has struggled to solve the blockchain tri-lemma problem, which simply states no blockchain is able to achieve all three of decentralization, security, and scalability at once.
Proof of work (PoW) chains have suffered most on scalability, proof of stake (PoS) on centralization etc. In an effort to solve the problem, blockchain developers are now working out ways to achieve all three, without sacrificing any of the properties.
Is Decentralization Being Ignored?
In the haste to build better features for blockchains, many developers are selecting scalability and security over decentralization, an important feature for some of the users in the space. Satoshi envisioned a platform that totally removes any aspects of a central authority controlling the network, no single point of failure and no censorship while maintaining resilience to any external attacks.
As the blockchain field’s total market capitalization soared to a $2 trillion industry, every single cryptocurrency project is foregoing decentralization by choosing to build scalability and security features on the network, sacrificing some or all of their decentralization properties.
Take a look at Bitcoin today. Building its name off decentralization, Bitcoin has backtracked into centralization gradually through its mining processes. Simply put, a group of users (miners) is paid to verify transactions and find new blocks for the rest of the community. This has inevitably led to partial centralization of the network as the blockchain’s hashing power is distributed amongst a few companies or individuals.
Problems with Miner-Centric Proof-of-Work (POW) Chains
As alluded to, proof-of-work chains such as Bitcoin essentially rely on a relatively small number of users (running full nodes) to keep the network safe. These nodes accept valid transactions and keep away bad actors from sending through invalid transactions. However, most of these nodes are not responsible for creating new blocks – a task left for miners – but only validating transactions.
Miners are even more centralized than the node operators. For instance, the top nine Bitcoin mining pools control over 55% of the total mining powerof the network, which gives them absolute power over the network if they choose to collaborate, nothing would stop them from taking over the network. These miners are the deciding factor of which valid transactions actually make it into a block or not, and only this small group is involved in ensuring the liveliness of the network and the prevention of censorship attacks.
You can already sense the lack of decentralization in all of this. If the miners are coerced or paid to disrupt the Bitcoin blockchain, there could be serious consequences that would even render the blockchain useless. This is the case for all blockchains, whether they use PoW or proof-of-stake (PoS), or any other paid consensus.
Continue reading: https://www.coinspeaker.com/blockchain-decentralization-fade-away-security-scalability-take-centerstage/

PETALING JAYA: The ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to process a huge amount of data makes it an important enabler in ultimately helping humans drive better outcomes.
“We see customers struggling with this,” said US-based software firm ServiceNow’s IT Transformation Solution Lead for Asia, Daniel Ng at the August CxO Virtual Dialogue.
“When customers see AI as a technology instead of an enabler, they will typically ask: ‘Have you incorporated AI into this process and that process?’ when they should be asking what are the problems that AI is being deployed on to solve.”
The CxO Virtual Dialogue, sponsored by The Star and ServiceNow, addressed the subject of “Enhancing IT Services and Operations with the Power of AI”.
It featured insights from Ng and Forrester’s principal analyst Achim Granzen, who said that workers should be given more time to do greater value-added work, something that AI can help drive.
“This is where AI comes in, enabling an IT team to quickly enhance their knowledge and drive greater solutions by having all the complex and ample data analysis ready on tap, so they can start problem solving immediately,” he added.
During the discussion, a telecommunications company executive stated that when looking at big digitisation, automation and AI, one must be underpinned by three things – business strategy, technology literacy of the top management and the need for an open data access.
“The only way to deliver value to the customer is if the business understands how the technology translates to value,” said the executive.
“ServiceNow as a platform has always had an open data access capability. Data can be accessed via open APIs documented within ServiceNow documentation and the Common Services Data Model (CSDM),” Ng said.
“ServiceNow CSDM is a critical framework for customers and partners to leverage the full benefit of ServiceNow products on the Now Platform. Think of CSDM as the blueprint to map and transform your IT services.”
When addressing the challenges of new technology adoption and implementation, a senior executive with a financial institution shared that a lot of failures have been observed.
The executive continued that the infrastructure and people are often not prepared for the outcome when embarking on large-scale change projects.
Continue reading: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/09/06/artificial-intelligence-offers-greater-solutions

Cybercriminals are using artificial intelligence (AI) to evolve the sophistication of attacks at a rapid pace. In response, an increasing number of organisations are also adopting the technology as part of their cybersecurity strategies. According to research conducted in Mimecast’s State of Email Security Report 2021, 39 per cent of organisations are utilising AI to bolster their email defences.
Although we’re still in the early phases of these technologies and their application to cybersecurity, this is a rising trend. Businesses using advanced technologies such as AI and layered email defences, while also regularly training their employees in attack-resistant behaviours, will be in the best possible position to sidestep future attacks and recover quickly. 
Mimecast is integrating AI capabilities to help halt some of cybersecurity’s most pervasive threats. Take the use of tracking pixels in emails, for example, which both BBC and ZDNet have called ‘endemic’. Spy trackers embedded in emails have become ubiquitous – often by marketers but also, increasingly, by cybercriminals looking to gather information to weaponise highly targeted business email compromise attacks.  
Mimecast’s CyberGraph uses machine learning, a subset of AI, to block these hard-to-detect email threats, thus limiting reconnaissance and mitigating human error. CyberGraph disarms embedded trackers and uses machine learning and identity graph technologies to detect anomalous malicious behaviour. Because the AI is continually learning, it requires no configuration, thus lessening the burden on IT teams and reducing the likelihood of unsafe misconfiguration. Plus, as an add-on to Mimecast Email Security, CyberGraph offers differentiated capability integrated into an existing secure email gateway, streamlining your email security strategy.
Continue reading: https://www.technologyrecord.com/Article/artificial-intelligence-is-the-future-of-cybersecurity-125678

Predictive analytics is bringing smarter insights and better efficiency into many areas of our lives, even if we aren’t always aware of it. Take healthcare, for example, a sector that has been firmly in the spotlight in recent months. Scientists have recently combined self-reported symptoms data and artificially intelligent (AI) modeling to predict which early signs of COVID-19 can be used for faster detection.
Interest in using data stores to identify useful patterns is also sparking growing commercial interest. Companies that have watched leading players such as Amazon harness AI engines to fuel ever-more refined product suggestions are starting to see these advanced tools as a potential solution to many issues. That includes not only tackling ongoing struggles with delivering personalized digital experiences but also doing so without third-party cookies. 
Data privacy has been climbing up the business agenda for years, with regulations and restrictions constantly bringing fresh customer connection challenges. As access to third-party cookies fades, predictive technologies offer an opportunity to use first-party data as the basis for building marketing and advertising strategies that operate effectively in a privacy-centric world.
Going cookie-free means doing more with less   
Companies have spent 20 years tapping real-time data signals from third-party providers to find, match, and reach relevant audiences with targeted digital advertising. So, it follows that reconfiguring this long-running system is a huge undertaking — one even Google looks to have underestimated — which will mean major changes for traditional data practices.
Among the biggest shifts will be adapting to lower data availability. Recognizing the need to create new data frameworks, organizations are turning their gaze towards alternative, direct sources – with over half of global ad execs set to increase the use of first-party data. But while this approach has many benefits, including continued access to privacy-safe insight, it’s also likely data volumes will fall as the amount of information shared by users varies. 
Ensuring future success, therefore, depends on achieving more with less. Google, for example, has already shown one way that predictive tools can optimize existing assets. Drawing on anonymized browsing data, its Federated Learning of Cohorts (FloC) proposal applies AI modeling to sort users into targetable segments in line with specific interests. By leveraging these types of predictive technologies, firms can maximize their own first-party data value without necessarily strengthening their ties to walled gardens.
Predicting a path to better targeting 
As wider data management solutions develop AI capabilities, there is growing potential for businesses to make better use of the data they own. 
For starters, AI-supported processing powers instant consolidation and analysis of diverse data sets. Providing a granular view of unique needs, tastes, and preferences for consenting users, these smart developments allow accurate profiling and highly tailored experiences. 
Continue reading: https://bdtechtalks.com/2021/09/05/predictive-ai-customer-connection/

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, a standalone VW brand responsible for the development and sales of light commercial vehicles, and Argo AI, an autonomous driving technology company, unveiled the first version of the ID Buzz AD (Autonomous Driving) on Sunday.
The two companies shared plans to test and commercially scale the jointly developed, fully-electric self-driving van over the next four years at the VW night event ahead of the 2021 IAA Mobility Event in Munich. Testing of the prototype, one of the first five planned test vehicles, has already begun and will continue at Argo’s development center in Neufahrn, near Munich, as well as at Argo’s nine hectare closed course near the Munich airport, which tests for a variety of traffic situations unique to European driving conditions, and Argo’s test track in the United States.
“Building on our five years of development and learnings from our operations in large, complex U.S. cities, we are excited to soon begin testing on the streets of Munich in preparation for the launch of the self-driving commercial ridepooling service with MOIA,” said Bryan Salesky, founder and CEO of Argo AI, in a statement. 
In 2025, MOIA, a subsidiary of the VW Group that works with cities and local public transport providers on mobility solutions, will be commercially launching the ID Buzz in Hamburg as part of a self-driving ride-pool system. The ride-pool service is designed to leverage the power of autonomous systems to relieve inner-city congestion.
At the event, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which has developed a separate businesses unit devoted to autonomous driving and acquired a stake in Argo AI, demonstrated how ride-pooling via a self-driving system can help with managing traffic flows.
“An environment recognition system from six lidar, eleven radar and fourteen cameras, distributed over the entire vehicle, can capture much more than any human driver can from his seat,” said Christian Senger, head of autonomous driving at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said at the event.
Continue reading: https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/05/volkswagen-and-argo-ai-reveal-first-id-buzz-test-vehicle-for-autonomous-driving/

Every momentous shift in the way we live and work creates an unprecedented and irrevocable transformation that we often term as ‘revolutionary.’ Are we seeing the beginning of a fourth industrial revolution and the kind of a metamorphosis that we have never seen before? I believe so.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is a term coined in 2016 by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF). And the pandemic has brought it closer to use than ever before. It has changed us or rather impelled us to take stock of obsolete ways of doing business, running companies and exchanging creative energy. We are now learning to reconfigure our place in an increasingly borderless world where structured interactions in brick and mortar workplaces may be a thing of the past.
4IR is here
Technology will continue to actively shape the industrial revolution that is unfolding around us in real time and we no longer know where the digital world ends and the physical and biological worlds begin. We are way beyond the era of mechanised, electric powered or even automated mass production. The proliferation of Information Technology is old news because the digital revolution we are in the middle of is a constantly shapeshifting phenomenon. It is never static, and every day a new dimension is added to it.
We are now seeing complex ideas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), Genetic Engineering, Quantum Computing, 3D Printing, and more being mainstreamed and incorporated in everyday life. This revolution is disrupting the systems, expanse and speed of work that we had become used to.
Women in the 4IR
Women, I believe, will play a major role in the 4IR and not just because the increasing demand for remote talent will create more opportunities for them. It is not an exaggeration that developing and developed economies thrive and become more productive when women work. Their incomes break cycles of poverty and boost social and gender equity. I recently read a report that if countries that are a part of The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development increase female employment rates to match those of Sweden, it would boost their GDP by over $6 trillion. As gender gaps continue to undermine our economic potential, India would do well to heed this suggestion. More women in positions of power are also good for the diversity, effectiveness and overall development of businesses.
Female employment in the pandemic
Still, it is a matter of great concern that the world over, the pandemic has led to a drop in female employment by 13 million from 2019 levels. Globally, in 2020, less than half (46.9%) of all women participated in the labour force. This is a decrease of almost 51% from 1990. Higher education may be more accessible to women now, but societal, patriarchal and cultural restrictions continue to impede their professional growth.
As recent as in 2018, over 104 economies still had laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 economies around the world had no sexual harassment laws in the workplace, and in many economies, husbands could legally prevent their wives from working. Restricted choices, unpaid caregiving, lack of quality child care, inordinate stress levels while juggling home and work also impact career trajectories. In many societies, women struggle to gain access to something as basic as a mobile phone or Internet.
We must ensure that societies do not become even more unequal during our transition into a rapidly digitised world. According to the UNESCO Science Report 2021, women are still under-represented in fields such as computing, digital information technology, engineering, mathematics and physics. The report asks for vigorous efforts at government, academic and corporate levels to equalise this gender imbalance.
Continue reading: https://thecsrjournal.in/will-women-helm-the-4ir-fourth-industrial-revolution/

• NFTs have had a banner month in August. Experts see more growth ahead.
• The final stage of adoption for NFTs is government adoption, said one expert.
• Incorporating NFTs into traditional financial assets could also be an indicator of going mainstream, said another.

Non-fungible tokens had a banner month in August, with sales volume rising to record highs.
Driven by digital art collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins, interest in NFTs drove sales on OpenSea alone to $3 billion, with over 300 million transactions on a single day.
But even with massive growth, the space is still in "very early stages," Lennix Lai, director of financial markets at crypto firm OKEx, told Insider.
Lai said the best use case for NFTs would be to seamlessly integrate into the real world, not just exist in digital form.
"I think if you really want to make something impactful for the real world - actually bring crypto mainstream - you need NFTs," Lai told Insider. "I think the final state would be government adoption."
Lai envisions a world where people's personal information from social security numbers to COVID-19 vaccine cards are safely stored on the blockchain as unique and immutable pieces of data But Lai clarified that the industry needs a "lot more innovation."
"If NFTs are only restricted to collectibles, the future is not that exciting," Lai said.
For now, NFTs - digital representations of artwork, sports cards, or other collectibles tied to a blockchain - still need to overcome multiple hurdles before further mainstream adoption can occur.
Storage is also a problem. Some investors who have purchased NFTs in certain platforms in the past have had issues when those platforms disappeared, said Vanessa Grellet, head of portfolio growth at CoinFund, a digital asset venture fund.
Continue reading: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/nft-opensea-government-adoption-altcoin-meme-stocks-mainstream-crypto-2021-9

• A father and son team of computer programmers help people find lost passwords to their crypto wallets.
• Chris and Charlie Brooks conducted an analysis that led them to estimate between 68,110 and 92,855 seemingly lost bitcoins are recoverable.
• At current prices, the high end of the recoverable bitcoin estimate amounts to $4.7 billion.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

For Chris and Charlie Brooks, finding lost passwords to cryptocurrency wallets requires figuring out how their clients' minds work - and that effort can help their customers retrieve a slice of what the pair estimates is about $4.7 billion worth of recoverable bitcoin stranded in locked wallets.
"We get a really broad spectrum of clients. We have a client who is an early-stage miner in bitcoin who lost all of his information and he knows he's got some bitcoins somewhere … We get clients who were told in 2017 to buy into the hype-bubble and they bought $1,000 [worth] and they are looking for something to cover the rent," Charlie, a 20-year-old computer programmer who joined his father in running Crypto Asset Recovery based in New Hampshire, told Insider in a video interview.
"One of our most recent cracks had about $250,000," in a blockchain wallet, said Charlie, who majored in computer science in college. He's put school aside for now to work at the business. "This is something I've always liked. I would follow along with my dad ... Online treasure hunting, it seemed really cool."
Nearly 40% of 1,000 US crypto owners in a recent survey from Cryptovantage said they had lost wallet passwords and, on average, those unable to find their passwords lost $2,134.
The jumping-off point of the duo's estimate of what can be recovered was a Chainalysis estimate that up to 20% of 18.5 million existing bitcoin appear to be lost or stranded in locked wallets. The figures were cited in January by The New York Times in a story about a San Francisco-based programmer who couldn't find the password to the hard drive that stored his 7,002 bitcoin. After eight wrong guesses, he had two left to figure out the password before the virtual currency was likely lost forever.
The Chainalysis figure sparked a question for the Brookses.
"Yes, that bitcoin is lost but if the owner of that bitcoin were motivated, what percentage of those do we think is reasonable to assume could be recovered?," said Chris, a 50-year-old computer programmer who started his business in 2017 and, after some time retooling, ramped up operations late last year when his son came on board.
Continue reading: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/locked-crypto-wallet-password-recovery-cryptocurrency-chris-charlie-brooks-btc-2021-9

Top 7 companies are using blockchain and artificial intelligence to resolve issues in the music industry.
Some of the biggest challenges now facing the music industry are being addressed by blockchain. Musicians can get equal royalty payments, venues can prevent counterfeit tickets, and record labels can simply track music streams and promptly compensate all artists who contributed to songs or albums thanks to blockchain. Blockchain technology has the potential to help the sector overcome its problems. Decentralized technologies in music have been championed by artists such as Lupe Fiasco, Gramatik, and Pitbull, and supporters tout blockchain’s distributed ledger technology as a way to efficiently release music, streamline royalty payments, eliminate expensive middlemen, and establish a point of origin for music creators. That is to say, blockchain has the potential to re-establish a fair and transparent system for producing, buying, selling, listening to, and managing music.
Vezt:
Location: Los Angeles
Vezt is a music rights marketplace that allows music fans to directly finance their favorite artists, composers, and producers in exchange for royalties generated from their favorite recordings. This is accomplished by the platform collecting royalties on behalf of fans from performing rights organizations, publishers, and record labels, and then tracking them using proprietary blockchain technology. Through an Initial Song Offering (ISO), Vezt’s digital marketplace allows artists and composers to share a percentage of a song’s earnings for royalty-based financing. The ISO specifies the day and time when royalty rights will be made accessible to the general public, therefore raising awareness, demand, and opportunity for the artist and each ISO.
Ujo:
Location: New York, NY
The decentralized technology developed by Ujo builds a database of music ownership rights and automates royalty payments. Artists may submit original works, self-publish, control license choices, and manage distributes on Ujo’s blockchain technology. The Ethereum platform simplifies music ownership by allowing musicians to be paid via smart contracts and cryptocurrency.
Choon:
Location: Devizes, England
Choon is a music streaming and digital payment company that uses blockchain technology to ensure that musicians get paid fairly and on time. Choon’s Ethereum-based platform allows musicians to create smart contracts with each song contributor, ensuring that a certain percentage of total income is distributed to them (80%). Rather than waiting a year to pay musicians, Choon can pay them nearly immediately depending on the number of streams the DLT logged on any given day. The blockchain also makes it easier for up-and-coming musicians to raise funds through crowdfunding, and listeners are rewarded for generating tailored playlists.
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/top-7-companies-using-blockchain-in-music-industry/

For some time, the global climate crisis was a hot topic to debate. But the discourse has changed and a consensus has been reached, moving the conversation toward how to stop — or at least to lessen — the ongoing issue of climate change. Two pivotal moments in reaching this point were the adoption of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose mission is to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all,” and the Paris Agreement, an international accord adopted by nearly every nation six years ago in 2015.
The discussion around how to fight against the global climate crisis has turned to emerging technologies and their role in the process. Back in 2017, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) highlighted the importance of blockchain technology in helping to combat climate change globally. The secretariat of the UNFCCC detailed some specific use cases:

“In particular, transparency, cost-effectiveness and efficiency advantages, which in turn may lead to greater stakeholder integration and enhanced creation of global public goods are currently viewed as the main potential benefits.”

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Decentralized technologies indeed have the potential to help achieve the SDGs by recasting conventional approaches to sustainable development via the benefits of blockchain technology, such as transparency and immutability. As 2020 showed us, many countries around the globe are already turning to emerging technologies in their fight against the climate crisis and in their efforts to lessen carbon-intensive practices. Some examples include Russia, India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, countries in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and certainly the G7 nations — which include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Meanwhile, earlier in 2021, concerns about Bitcoin’s (BTC) carbon footprint became a highly discussed topic both within and outside of the crypto community, forcing some major global media outlets to speak up about Bitcoin’s energy consumption and carbon emissions. However, the topic wasn’t a new one, as experts had already been discussing the pros and cons of Bitcoin mining for a while. Bitcoin’s supporters argued that its energy consumption is irrelevant “when compared with global energy production and waste” and that compared with BTC mining, “Processing gold and steel is wasting money, energy and resources.”
It’s best to set aside the problem of who is right and who is wrong in this debate and instead focus on the impact of it. There is a saying that every cloud has a silver lining, and the most important one that came out of this debate is that the crypto industry has accepted that it must prioritize focusing on green technology, offsetting Bitcoin carbon emissions and leveraging renewable energy. 
To find out the impact these technologies can have in the fight against the climate crisis, Cointelegraph reached out to a number of experts in emerging technologies whose goals are directly related to sustainable development and technological innovation. The experts gave their opinions on the following question: How can emerging technologies help achieve the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and lessen the impacts of climate change?
 
Adelyn Zhou of Chainlink Labs:
Adelyn is the chief marketing officer of Chainlink Labs, a decentralized oracle network.
"While many people are voluntarily altering their consumption habits to combat climate change, a global shift in consumption will likely require significant incentive changes to drive sustainable behavior. Self-executing contracts enabled by a combination of blockchains and oracle networks that pull data from the real world can automate incentive systems to directly reward practices that help our environment.
For instance, the Green World Campaign and Cornell University are building smart contracts that use satellite data to automatically reward people who successfully regenerate tracts of land by increasing tree cover, improving soil and implementing other restorative agricultural practices. When Chainlink oracles pull proof of land improvement (via satellite imagery) onto the blockchain, it triggers the smart contract to release a payout. With this system, land stewards can quickly and efficiently receive their rewards. At the same time, only those making a real impact can earn rewards, as payment only happens when a real-world condition is met and verified on-chain. This entire process is automated, scalable and fraud-proof, and can be replicated across hundreds of use cases across sectors.”
Continue reading: https://cointelegraph.com/explained/how-will-blockchain-technology-help-fight-climate-change-experts-answer

Artificial intelligence and machine learning play an extensive role in catching frauds.
Machine learning refers to analytic techniques that “learn” patterns in datasets without being guided by a human analyst. Artificial intelligence refers to the broader application of specific kinds of analytics to accomplish tasks, from driving a car to, yes, identifying a fraudulent transaction. For our purposes, think of machine learning as a way to build analytic models and AI as the use of those models.
Machine learning helps data scientists efficiently determine which transactions are most likely to be fraudulent, while significantly reducing false positives. The techniques are extremely effective in fraud prevention and detection, as they allow for the automated discovery of patterns across large volumes of streaming transactions.
If done properly, machine learning can clearly distinguish legitimate and fraudulent behaviors while adapting over time to new, previously unseen fraud tactics. This can become quite complex as there is a need to interpret patterns in the data and apply data science to continually improve the ability to distinguish normal behavior from abnormal behavior. This requires thousands of computations to be accurately performed in milliseconds.
Preparation for the Worst-Case Scenario
Because organized crime schemes are so sophisticated and quick to adapt, defense strategies based on any single, one-size-fits-all analytic technique will produce sub-par results. Each use case should be supported by expertly crafted anomaly detection techniques that are optimal for the problem at hand. As a result, both supervised and unsupervised models play important roles in fraud detection and must be woven into comprehensive, next-generation fraud strategies.
Familiarity with Behavioral Profiles
Given the sophistication and speed of organized fraud rings, behavioral profiles must be updated with each transaction. This is a key component of helping financial institutions anticipate individual behaviors and execute fraud detection strategies, at scale, which distinguish both legitimate and illicit behavior changes.
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/top-use-of-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-in-financial-scams/

Neil Murphy is the Global VP at ABBYY, and believes AI is the way forward to tackle the ever rising cases of fraud. Along with other benefits, Murphy explains by using AI, financial organisations can reduce manual steps required in the onboarding stage, and process both structured and unstructured documents. In doing so, financial organisations gain a birds-eye view and can filter out suspicious and fraudulent actors.  
Technological advancements, an increase in investment into security systems and fraud prevention initiatives have been widely adopted by the finance industry in an effort to curb scams and crises from occurring. Yet, the battle against fraud continues as unauthorised financial fraud losses across payment cards, remote banking and cheques totalled almost £800million in 2020, according to UK Finance. With fraud on the rise, the way financial organisations assess and manage risk needs to change.
Successfully selecting and mitigating financial frauds is not just about investing in the latest technologies it’s about digging deeper and taking a holistic approach to protecting organisations. This means financial companies need to take a closer look at improving their processes, using data more effectively and harnessing a combination of technologies to be secure.
So, how can banks and financial organisations take a holistic, AI-powered approach to fighting fraud?
Break down the silos
When it comes to data, there is no shortage of it in the finance industry — structured, unstructured, transactional, account-level – but while this data brings benefits in terms of consumer insights, when in the hands of nefarious actors, it can make fraud more pervasive. It’s true that initiatives like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have certainly ramped up the regulation of consumer data, but there is still a huge opportunity to uncover insights with the data to bring benefits to the financial organisation.
In the financial industry, building trust and customer loyalty is incredibly important, which is why fraud can be detrimental to their reputation, and end up costing them. By collecting the data from fraud, anti-money laundering (AML), and cybersecurity, financial institutions can consolidate information across historically isolated functions and make more informed decisions with a holistic view of risk.
With the significant similarities of the data collected across AML, fraud, and cyber teams, breaking down these silos can provide a more transparent view of the threat landscape, better detect suspicious transactions, and streamline investigations. Since the criminals are using cyberspace to commit fraud and ultimately need to monetise that information and launder the proceeds so that the funds appear legitimate, it makes logical business sense to bring these functions together.
First steps to an AI-powered strategy
Prior to investing in the AI and automation technologies, financial institutions need to be able to identify the bottlenecks and blind spots in their business processes. Process intelligence can do this, giving organisations the tools to analyse less structured processes, identify opportunities for improvement, and increase both the speed and accuracy of executing said processes.
With this holistic approach, financial institutions can collaboratively collect and analyse intelligence from across the organisation. This model improves intelligence sharing across the industry and allows financial institutions to continuously test and improve their security playbooks.
Once they have a 360-degree overview of their business processes, the most effective place to begin automating is the onboarding process. Streamlining onboarding by leveraging modern technologies enables financial institutions to filter out fraudulent actors and deliver a more frictionless experience for their customers. Using a combination of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), and natural language processing (NLP) can enable financial institutions to ingest and process both structured and unstructured documents, minimise manual steps, and reduce the need for making redundant requests of the client. Establishing an effective client onboarding process not only enables faster detection of potential fraud but plays a significant role in developing relationships with new clients.
One thing is for sure, a holistic strategy provides the visibility necessary to better prepare for auditing and compliance requirements. It improves efficiency, protects the brand and reputation, and protects against sanctions or fines. There is greater protection against identity theft and fraud from a customer perspective, and fewer security incidents increase uptime, allowing customers seamless access to their financial lives.
Continue reading: https://thefintechtimes.com/abbyy-fighting-financial-fraud-with-artificial-intelligence/

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused all of us to be confined to our homes, bringing the routine of going to school every day to a standstill. However, I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity and resources to continue with my education online. This made me realise that this pandemic has barred so many students out there in rural India from continuing with their education. With schools being shut, there is no avenue for them to discover what they are truly passionate about, as their schools cannot provide for their education online.  
Education for all
This is what motivated me to build Project Prakash. Project Prakash is an online platform, built using HTML code, which aims at helping young teenagers follow and pursue their passions and dreams. It contains free resources from the internet ranging across various subjects and includes interest pages with free online lectures, career advice, and classes from major universities like Stanford. 
It also includes an online live chat-bot that collects information regarding their interests and hobbies and returns to the information about what they can do to further excel in their goals. The dashboard also contains videos from experienced professors talking about career options related to their respective fields. The platform is available in both Hindi and English, and is also compatible with all mobile devices, making it more accessible to rural India. 
My goal is to help students in rural India look ahead and plan their future. The internet has so many free educational platforms that most students have never heard of. Hopefully, through this platform, I will help teens out there figure out their passions and provide them with all the information and resources they need to excel in their fields of interest.

Currently, the platform has over 2,000 users, and I have partnered with foundations like the Chopra Foundation who have actively been spreading it in villages across India. I look forward to getting vaccinated so I can actually travel to these villages and see the impact it is causing.

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The world is advancing every day, with more and more people getting affiliated with the use of technology in their day-to-day lives. I strongly feel that people who are privileged enough to be educated in these fields should start using this technology for the greater good so it can impact and help so many people, especially the youth. 
Continue reading: https://yourstory.com/socialstory/2021/08/why-this-class-xi-student-built-an-ai-platform-to-/amp

• AT&T's Flying COW, which stands for Cell-on-Wings, is a new technology aimed at providing wireless coverage during natural disasters and big events.
• The device is a cell site situated on a drone engineered to beam wireless LTE coverage across an area of up to 40 square miles.
• The weather-resistant drone can withstand extreme conditions, and its thermal imaging can help search and rescue teams find people in buildings, tree cover, and thick smoke.

AT&T is revolutionizing LTE coverage with the Flying COW, an innovative wireless network made of a cell site situated on a drone. It is engineered to beam widespread satellite coverage to large crowds of people on the ground during natural disasters and large events.
The drone has the potential to hover over 300 feet and is connected by a tether attached to the ground. When someone texts, calls, or uses data, the signal is sent to the drone and transferred through the tether to a router. The router pushes information through a satellite, into the cloud, and finally into the AT&T network.
The tether also provides constant power to the Flying COW via a fiber, giving the drone unlimited flight time.
The drone has the potential to hover over 300 feet and is connected by a tether attached to the ground. When someone texts, calls, or uses data, the signal is sent to the drone and transferred through the tether to a router. The router pushes information through a satellite, into the cloud, and finally into the AT&T network.
The tether also provides constant power to the Flying COW via a fiber, giving the drone unlimited flight time.
Its flying capabilities allow it to soar 500% higher than a terrestrial COW mast, expanding how far the signal reaches, though more drones can be added to widen the coverage area.
Continue reading: https://news.yahoo.com/look-ts-flying-cows-drones-113500471.html

The virtual world is merging with our physical world in thousands of new ways every year. This reality plays out in far more ways than popular fantasy games or the billions of social media users that are growing in number all the time. From more shopping online to an explosion of virtual meetings during the global pandemic to the dependence on online apps for driving directions, most Americans rely on their smartphones for everyday life much more than a decade ago. Indeed, back in 2016 the case was made that leaders in digital merge the physical and the virtual. Here are six business reasons why (with details in the referenced article):

• Expanding product range
• Selling an experience
• Broadening their footprint
• Enriching customer service
• Developing the ability to tell their story
• Accessing rare capabilities

Which leads to this question: Why do most public- and private-sector organizations still maintain separate security organizations for their physical and cybersecurity functions?
THE DECADES OLD CASE FOR CONVERGENCE
The concept of bringing together physical and cybersecurity is far from new — and goes back decades. Back in 2005, Derek Slater introduced me to the concept in this excellent CSO Magazine article: “Sanders defines convergence as the integration of logical security, information security, physical and personnel security; business continuity; disaster recovery; and safety risk management. (Logical security focuses on the tools in a network computing environment; information security focuses on the flow of information across both the logical and physical environment.) Cost savings is one of the important payoffs in this holistic security strategy. Because there's always some duplication in a stove-piped security organization-in overhead and programs, for example-it's more cost-effective to manage an integrated one.
Continue reading:https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/why-should-you-merge-physical-security-and-cybersecurity 

Power is being devoured like never before. We live in an era of digital on-demand – fuelled by the accelerated adoption of 5G, edge computing and the resulting explosion of the Internet of Things (IoT). As a result, businesses are relying on increasingly diversified infrastructures, and colocation facilities form a crucial part of this ecosystem.
Colocation has long benefited businesses by offering them an alternative to costly and complex maintenance of IT in-house. But for colocation providers themselves, the need to keep thinking about the next innovation is equally important. Whether that’s developments in cooling technology, or providing facilities fit for high-density and mixed-density configurations, colocation data centers need to evolve quickly and with the absolute minimal risk to uptime.
That’s why forward thinking colocation providers are using a data center ‘digital twin’ to plan for such innovations, and de-risk their deployment. A digital twin is a 3D representation of a physical system or object, and in the case of a data center it can prove invaluable. It has the ability to be studied, altered and trialled to assess the impact of changes to its real-life counterpart ahead of implementation.
Operating with confidence: the benefits of digital twins to colocation providers
For colocation providers, the implementation of a digital twin enables them to operate with confidence. It provides a holistic overview of how their data center is performing, ensuring they can optimize capacity and mitigate risks – all without compromising the end-user’s experience.
By implementing a digital twin in both the pre-sales and capacity planning stages, operators can accurately understand how cooling, power and airflow are affected by any given change. These are invaluable insights, enabling operators to reduce downtime, while also increasing the facility’s environmental and sustainability credentials.
Take French colocation data center provider, Thésée DataCentre, for example. By using Future Facilities’ 6Sigma Digital Twin with its built-in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling, Thésée DataCentre optimised space management, validating each step of the design to ensure the complex cooling system matched its requirements. This meant testing various possible rack and load layouts, meaning they could ensure that the correct level of cooling could be distributed to different parts of the data hall. Once operational, Thésée DataCentre engineers can continuously validate real customer requests in the same way.
The role of digital twins in driving colocation customer experience
The benefits of a digital twin for a colocation provider are clear; enabling them to continually optimise their facility without clients suffering any compromise. But how does the digital twin play a role in maximizing colocation customers’ experience?
One of the key benefits of a digital twin to a colocation customer is the sense of connection to their infrastructure. Enabling clients to access a 3D version of their IT equipment and operating environment means colocation providers can offer an unprecedented level of personalization, engagement and oversight.
By implementing a digital twin in both the pre-sales and capacity planning stages, operators can accurately understand how cooling, power and airflow are affected by any given changeDave King, Future Facilities
If we look at Thésée DataCentre again, it is enriching customers’ experience by offering data-center-as-a-service; a computer room home-away-from-home experience that customers access via a personalized web service portal.
Continue reading: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/a-digital-advantage-architecting-colocation-data-centers-with-digital-twins/

Singapore University of Technology and Design researchers have revealed a family of 20 vulnerabilities, which they collectively dubbed BrakTooth, that affect more than 1,400 products based on 13 different Bluetooth devices sold by 11 of the world's leading vendors.
The security flaws were confirmed to affect 1,400 smartphones, laptops, keyboards, headphones, and other Bluetooth-enabled devices. But that's a minimum. "As the BT stack is often shared across many products," the researchers said, "it is highly probable that many other products (beyond the ≈1400 entries observed in Bluetooth listing) are affected by BrakTooth."
BrakTooth can reportedly be exploited to conduct denial of service (DoS) attacks and enable arbitrary code execution (ACE) on target devices. DoS attacks can disrupt the victim's Bluetooth connection or, in some cases, require Bluetooth connectivity to be restarted manually. ACE can be used to erase user data, disable wireless connectivity, or interact with other devices.
Continue reading: https://www.pcmag.com/news/braktooth-vulnerabilities-affect-countless-bluetooth-devices