Digital transformation plays a major role in allowing organizations to enhance and intensify their performance, customer experience, brand image, and employee engagement. It has become unavoidable for all enterprises and businesses to digitally transform their operations because it enables them to remain competitive and adapt to changing customer expectations, particularly in the pandemic era and beyond.
Joann O’Brien is a digital transformation leader with over 30+ years of experience in driving large-scale change initiatives. Today, Joann leads TM Forum’s Beyond Connectivity Initiative which develops the industry strategies and blueprints for growing telecommunication businesses leveraging the core capability of connectivity and building new business opportunities with high growth potential.  Joann also leads the Business Architecture initiative which identifies the key capabilities of Telco to enable transformative growth. Joann is the Vice President of Digital Ecosystems at TM Forum, the organization which helps communications service providers (CSPs) and their suppliers to digitally transform and thrive in the digital era.
Driving Digital Transformation Globally
TM Forum is an association of over 850 member companies, which include 10 of the world’s top 10 network and communications providers and stretch across 180 countries. Its members tap into each other’s collective experiences and abilities to collaboratively solve complex industry-wide challenges, deploy new services, and create technology breakthroughs to accelerate change.
The organization helps communications service providers (CSPs) and its suppliers to digitally transform and thrive in the digital era. This is done by providing an open, collaborative environment and practical support which enables CSPs and suppliers to rapidly transform their business operations, IT systems, and ecosystems to capitalize on the opportunities presented in a rapidly evolving digital world.
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/joann-obrien-an-innovative-women-tech-leader-accelerating-digital-transformation-across-industries/

DJI, the global leader in drones, and importer CR Kennedy, have set a new benchmark for smart farming in Australia with the introduction of the new Agras T10 and T30 models.
The T30 is DJI's next-generation aircraft, boasting a revolutionary transforming structure and a max payload of up to 40kg. The performance and efficiency of spraying operations have never been better.
With a 30 litre spraying tank, the DJI Agras T30 takes aerial spraying efficiency to new heights.
The transforming body enables more effective spraying, especially for fruit trees. Using DJI digital agriculture solutions, the T30 helps reduce fertilizer use and increase yield with effective, data-driven best practices.
With innovative branch-targeting technology and adjustable arms, the Agras T30 penetrates thick canopies with oblique spraying, ensuring an even application of liquid pesticides and doubling the number of droplets.
Continue reading: https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/7408673/new-drone-innovation-takes-smart-farming-to-higher-level/?cs=4790

Ed Hennessy – PMG’s CEO – has indicated that his firm has assisted Sky-Drones Technologies, a leader when it comes to innovative technology, to launch a target program designed to gain access to high-visibility DOD Program offices/agencies.
Sky-Drones is a fast-paced, high growth expert/authority in the drone market with a pedigree that includes drone electronics, software (including custom algorithms), ground control stations, special use and case support – all wrapped-up in an organization that can leverage standard products-to-custom engineering services, with a keen eye for full-stack systems integration.
Sky-Drones’ flagship product is AIRLink – Artificial Intelligence and Remote Link. This unit is the most advanced AI drone avionics in the industry to date and includes a cutting-edge autopilot, AI mission computer and LTE connectivity unit. AIRLink not only reduces the time to market for drone ventures from months to weeks, but ensures the highest level of flight performance, onboard computing power and connectivity.
With over ten years of demonstrated experience, Sky-Drones has been focused on developing its core business – with an Ecosystem approach, emphasis is put on flight control systems, operations tracking, real-time connectivity and other areas to declare its unique position. Beyond this, its “All-in-One Solution” carries weight and stands alone unrivaled, as an industry symbol.
Continue reading: https://uasweekly.com/2021/08/31/pmg-assists-sky-drones-technologies-in-latest-industry-movement/

Fastprk: Efficiency and Enforcement
In Barcelona, Spain, the city deployed a parking system developed by a company called Worldsensing. The system is known as Fastprk. It’s a real-time data collection system that gathers information about the availability of local parking and transmits it to the driver who has the Fastprk application on his mobile phone device. Instead of trolling through the parking structure looking for a green light, the information is streamed direct to the mobile phone through the Fastprk app.
It will then tell the person that there is a spot open on the third floor of a particular lot; or eventually, even that there is a street-level spot open on the next block over. The benefits of Fastprk are obvious. It’ll reduce congestion in central Barcelona, and in the long run, reduce carbon dioxide emissions—and aid in the fight of global warming.
With Fastprk, one’s identity, and the time of their parking interaction, are immediately shared across the network with the product developer—Worldsensing; and in the absence of some restriction, this information is then also shared with their customer—the city of Barcelona.
Now, imagine that they’ve overstayed their allotted time. Perhaps the space specified a two-hour limit. The Fastprk app has a sensor tied to that space and will know exactly how long they’ve occupied it. The charges are transmitted directly to the app using the Internet. Parking efficiency goes up, to be sure, but so does parking enforcement.
Continue reading: https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/data-collected-by-the-internet-of-things/

Global firm Zventus recently revealed that it would launch a blockchain lab for the financial services industry with a specific focus on “modernizing the mortgage sector.” The firm said the initiative will develop new products, services, and solutions to enhance the loan process to make loan processes more secure and economical.
Zventus says its Mortgage Blockchain Lab, which brings together mortgage domain experts, tech partners, and universities focused on blockchain R&D and delivery, could reduce costs for financial services firms by up to 50% per loan. It is targeting the creation of 1,000 new blockchain tech jobs by 2024.
“There’s no doubt in blockchain’s ability to disrupt the mortgage industry,” said Angel Alban, President at Zventus. “The capabilities of a secure, transparent ledger without a central intermediary is taking off in Europe and Asia and gaining significant traction in the Americas. We’re thrilled to be at the forefront of a technological revolution that will transform mortgage processing forever.”
Continue reading: https://www.globest.com/2021/08/31/heres-how-blockchain-may-shake-up-mortgage-lending/?slreturn=20210801131523

Ethereum has skirted through what could possibly be a catastrophic event, after the main Ethereum blockchain was forced to split due to the severity of a known bug. The bug was found in the Geth software - which is deployed by around 75% of all user on the Ethereum network. Geth is mostly used as a mining node for Ether, and enables the creation of software that runs atop the Ethereum blockchain.
The Ethereum Foundation security lead, Martin Swende, said that "A consensus bug hit #ethereum mainnet today, exploiting the consensus-bug that was fixed in geth v1.10.8. Fortunately, most miners were already updated, and the correct chain is also the longest (canon).” This means that the Ethereum network is safe - but that users making transactions in the outdated sidechain might see them being reversed when they finally update Geth and are brought back into the main chain and its different history of transactions.
Continue reading: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ethereum-blockchain-split-geth

UK-based banking giant Standard Chartered has announced a partnership with Linklogis to create a new platform for trade finance that aims to unlock the power of blockchain and AI for international logistics capital.
The partnership is focused on creating ‘Olea’ – a project it describes as a fully-digitized trade finance origination and distribution platform. It will utilize blockchain technology and AI to bring together institutional investors seeking opportunities in alternative asset classes with businesses requiring supply chain financing.
Standard Chartered’ s relationship with Linklogis’ began in February 2019 when both companies signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the co-creation of innovation solutions that will support the supply chain finance ecosystem.
Continue reading: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/standard-chartered-announce-blockchain-trade-132608541.html

Can AI help deliver a better customer experience?
That’s one of the biggest questions being asked right now. As retailers around the globe look to bounce back from the pandemic, both CX and the use of technology have taken center stage.
According to the Future Stores report - Leveraging Technology For Growth in 2021: A Strategic Restructuring of Retail Post-Covid - 40% of retailers surveyed in Europe said the majority of their budget would be spent on CX innovation.
So what impact can a shift to an AI-driven way of working have on customer-centric industries like retail?
To find out, we spoke to AI-pioneer and change manager Amer Mohammed. Amer is currently the Chief Digital Officer at Coop Sweden (one of the largest supermarket chains in the Nordics!). Before that, he has spent years building a wide range of companies from agile start-ups to traditional corporations.
Here’s how Amer thinks AI will change our future.
Continue reading: https://www.quinyx.com/blog/4-reasons-why-retail-needs-ai-to-survive

The voices on Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and other AI assistants are far ahead of old-school GPS devices, but they still lack the rhythms, intonation and other qualities that make speech sound, well, human. NVIDIA has unveiled new research and tools that can capture those natural speech qualities by letting you train the AI system with your own voice, the company announced at the Interspeech 2021 conference.
To improve its AI voice synthesis, NVIDIA’s text-to-speech research team developed a model called RAD-TTS, a winning entry at an NAB broadcast convention competition to develop the most realistic avatar. The system allows an individual to train a text-to-speech model with their own voice, including the pacing, tonality, timbre and more.
Continue reading: https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/31/nvidias-latest-tech-makes-ai-voices-more-expressive-and-realistic/

Covid-19 and efforts to eradicate it will have a lasting impact on both employers and employees worldwide. As the U.S. and other countries recover, it's clear that the way we work has changed significantly and permanently. As they struggle with labor shortages, many companies are turning to automation because it's impossible to hire their way out of the situation. According to Forrester's Predictions, 2021: "Advances in AI, changes to work patterns, and a fierce global recession have made this drive for automation inevitable — and irreversible."
Artificial Intelligence (AI), low- and no-code solutions, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and other innovations will mean that the future of work in all industries will involve some levels of automation. As a result, adopting a lifelong learning mindset and embracing new skills will be essential to staying relevant and succeeding in this rapidly automating, AI-driven world.
Although automation will be essential to stay competitive as an employer, some employees may worry about AI's true purpose. Are employers simply training a robot to replace them? Any tech leader driving an automation initiative must acknowledge this reality and address your employees' concerns. It starts with a solid foundation of trust. If you want to gain trust as a leader, you must exhibit transparency and consistency in what you say and do. If you get it right, it's far more likely that employees will get on board with your automation and AI initiatives.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/08/31/three-crucial-alignments-to-enable-success-in-automation-and-ai-initiatives/?sh=78b475ac6a4e

As our communities reopen, women reflect on what the pandemic has meant to their families, colleagues, customers and communities. Technology innovation pioneer, branding expert and business road warrior Elissa Moses responded reflexively by pivoting her product development and communications focus to enable “business as unusual” in a changed new world.
“'All my bags were packed and I was ready to go' or so the old John Denver song goes. Covid hit just as I was about to embark on my International Spring speech circuit. I had a new public appearance wardrobe ready with a Lafayette 148 suit, Ferragamo shoes, a Hermes scarf and a new Louis Vuitton bag. I was ready for Spain, France, Chicago, New York, San Diego and wherever else speeches and business meetings took me. But all that came to a screeching halt, replaced by unsatisfying Zoom conferences.
Also abruptly halted was my No. 1 business priority co-launching HARK Connect with business partner and inventor Duane Varan, a new AI-driven tech marketing service for streaming qual research. Our company had invented the ultimate better mousetrap for conducting and watching focus groups in facilities and with WOW features unlike anyone had seen before such as translations, real time transcripts and video editing, automatic tagging, a private virtual back room, etc. All we thought we had to do was build awareness. But almost overnight, focus group facilities closed all over the world. And we were “all dressed up with no place to go.”
Continue reading: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2021/08/in-her-own-words-elissa-moses.html?page=all

Every year, we see multiple organizations releasing reports on the challenges faced by women in the workplace. Lack of guidance on career growth, not being visible and not being heard, staying relevant, balancing work and family, career breaks, and unconscious bias are some of the key areas highlighted time and again. What stands out from these reports year after year is that there is a slight improvement in the numbers. Thus, while we have reached a stage where the barriers to women’s professional growth are well-defined, we still have a long way to go before overcoming them. And I sincerely feel, an approach that can work is breaking gender silos.
Like any woman looking to make a career in the tech industry, I have faced most of these challenges, but my start has been quite novel. As an engineering student, I got to study and graduate from one of the most prestigious women’s engineering colleges in Pune. Seeing myself and many of my fellow female batchmates thriving in this environment instilled a sense of pride in me about what women can do. With the same gusto, I entered the technology consulting industry and initially grew at a fast pace. But soon, many of the obstacles mentioned above came up, and I was completely blind-sided. In a lead role, I was perceived as being too aggressive, and at the same time, my voice was not being heard. I lacked guidance on how to chart my career path, and it was downhill once I had my daughter and decided to take a break to raise her.
Luckily for me, all this changed with my current organization. Despite having taken a break of a few years to raise my daughter, I was hired based on my skills and potential and have seen tremendous growth in the last three years and maintain a decent work-life balance.
Continue reading: https://www.expresscomputer.in/it-people/women-in-tech/women-can-confront-obstacles-in-their-tech-careers-by-breaking-gender-silos/78862/

Soon after she started her career in the manufacturing industry, Nuraizah Shamsul Baharin knew that she would one day start her own business. “I’d always wanted to do something that was my own. My friends and I often talked about how we should be business owners instead of working at the factory, so the six of us made a pact to do that someday. Three of us did that — including myself — but even then, I was so worried. Should I or should I not? That was when one of my friends’ dad gave me a good piece of advice: thinking about things will not move it forward, you have to actually take that step.”
She began her entrepreneurial journey in 2006, when an opportunity arose to acquire a technology company that was about to cease operations. Steadily, she grew the business into a company that was 17 times the net book value of the initial capital. In April 2011, she turned that business into Madcat World and has not looked back since.
Over the years, the company, which builds mobile apps, has received many accolades for its products and is today one of the leading providers of Islamic content and applications.
An electrical engineer by training, Nuraizah says technology has given her the opportunity to be a business owner. “My business exists because of technology. You are not seen based on your gender or your race or even your nationality. You are as good as your products — that is the true value that speaks on your behalf.”
Lim Li Sze, co-founder of Medical Innovation Ventures (Mediven), agrees. “It does not matter who the player is, but which product provides a better solution and is easier to use,” she adds. Lim, who has a doctorate in genetics, started the diagnostics company with Ariff Ismail — a former colleague at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) — back in 2012.
Continue reading: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/tech-women-and-nationbuilding

Where do you find professional community? During the pandemic, it’s probably online.
Over the past 18 months, we’ve repeatedly heard from technologists that online communities are stronger and more essential than ever. In Technical.ly’s most recent AMA interview on our public Slack, four women who run technical meetup groups and professional organizations in Philly and Delaware gathered to chat about their respective groups. All four work in tech now, but started their studies or careers on a different path.
As women working throughout the pandemic, their respective communities have proven to be spaces to breathe and continue to learn, even when lives feels unsteady.
“Having that outlet to connect with other people who are having the same or similar experiences allows us to feel less isolated and feel bolder and take more risks,” said Gloria Bell, cofounder of national org and conference, Women in Tech Summit.
Alice Walsh and Karla Fettich are organizers and board members of R-Ladies Philly, a meetup that promotes gender diversity in the R and data science community. They currently work as the VP of translational research at biotech company Pathos and the head of algorithm development at Orchestrall, respectively. But neither started in tech — not exactly. Walsh has degrees in engineering and describes herself now as “more a scientist that can code than a software engineer that works in science.”
“There is a huge data science community in Philadelphia and a lot of people transition into the field from something else,” she said. “A lot of people are drawn in by the opportunities (good jobs!) but also because data work is also very rewarding and creative.”
Continue reading: https://technical.ly/philly/2021/08/30/women-tech-career-pivots-meetups/

Alphabet’s Wing subsidiary is about to reach a milestone in the fledgling drone-delivery business: Any day now it will deliver its 100,000th package to a customer.
At its busiest delivery hub, in Logan City, Australia, the company earlier this month set a new internal record of 4,500 deliveries in one week. The system will one day be a far more efficient mode of transporting goods to people’s homes than what exists today, according to a top executive.
“We’re extremely bullish on our ability to offer this service at a lower cost than ground delivery very profitably over time,” said Jonathan Bass, Wing’s head of marketing and communications. “You can begin to look at this and extrapolate to what drone delivery will look like in urban and suburban environments around the world.”
Even as government regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere hash out technical requirements for this newish class of flying machines, Wing is expanding rapidly, Bass said. In addition to its Australia test sites, it has plans for growth in Virginia and Helsinki, he said.
The potentially tectonic shift to routine deliveries of sandwiches, cups of coffee and rotisserie chicken remains a long-range goal as regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere wrestle with how to craft rules.
Continue reading: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/alphabets-wing-touts-milestone-in-drone-deliveries/

Winter wheat is an economically (and gastronomically) important grain crop in North Carolina, producing legions of cookies and crackers and almost $100 million in revenue for NC farmers. But Italian ryegrass is an herbicide-resistant weed that plagues winter wheat yields, especially in NC’s Piedmont region. In many fields, once the weed appears, it can’t be chemically controlled. NC State researchers have successfully drone-identified early-stage Italian ryegrass in winter wheat allowing for wholistic weed management options.
“It’s easy to identify a broadleaf weed in a grass crop or a grass in a broadleaf crop. But there were a lot of questions about whether or not we could differentiate within a grass species,” said Wes Everman, NC State associate professor of weed science. “Our aerial imagery was very clear. My team and I quickly realized that we could identify and map Italian ryegrass with up to 96% accuracy and early enough to have some management options.”
Studies have shown that Italian ryegrass reduces wheat tillering causing four percent yield declines for every ten Italian ryegrass plants per square meter. Up to 80 percent yield loss can occur where high densities of Italian ryegrass exist. If a significant Italian ryegrass population forms, farmers often settle to cut the crop for hay, usually at a lower price. 
Continue reading: https://cals.ncsu.edu/crop-and-soil-sciences/news/winter-wheat-scouting-takes-flight/

The Telangana government has partnered with Marut Drones, a Hyderabad-based startup, to launch a drone-based afforestation project, named ‘Hara Bahara’, under which five million trees will be planted in 12,000 hectares across all 33 districts of the state.
The project was announced on Monday by state IT minister K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) during the launch of ‘AgHub’, or Agri Innovation Hub, at the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) in Hyderabad.
Information technology & communication (IT&C) and forest departments have partnered with Marut Drones for the project.
During the launch of ‘AgHub’, the Seedcopter drone by Marut Drones was unveiled along with the poster launch of the ‘Hara Bahara’ campaign, which the state government has initiated to accelerate the mission of a ‘green Telangana’. The mission was initiated under the state’s ‘Telangana ku Haritha Haram’ program, which has been running over half a decade to accelerate afforestation.
Continue reading: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/telangana-set-to-use-drones-for-afforestation-campaign-101630349624469.html

Recently, TA Studio has released the comprehensive book 'the BlockChain Compass - A New Innovation', in which people will get all the information about how to succeed in life through blockchain. People all know very well that blockchain is an exciting new technology. A new radical innovation is on the way in the form of the blockchain compass.
From the financial sector to energy markets, it has the potential to increase productivity. The system can significantly reduce transaction costs by disintermediating, increasing transparency, and increasing auditability. Moreover, it allows existing value chains to be efficiently redesigned challenges and creates new markets.
How does blockchain work?
Blockchain is also called meta-technology and contains three factors: cryptography, game theory, and mainstream software engineering. Protocols on the blockchain encrypt data, timestamp it, and records it as a block into a continuous chain.
There are links between the current block and all previous blocks linked to the original transaction. The network can be used to create assets. Tokens can be used to represent cryptocurrencies and rights to real-world assets, for example. There are two types of distributed ledger technology networks: open (permissionless) and private (permissioned).
Continue reading: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ta-studio-releases-book-blockchain-123500934.html

Management guru W. Edwards Deming famously said: “In God we trust. All others must bring data.” But how far can we trust the data?
This is becoming an important question, as the artificial intelligence systems now being built and deployed across the business landscape are only as good as the data being fed into them, along with the algorithms running the data. AI systems are now making decisions on customer value, courses of action, and operational viability, just to name a few vital functions.
Tellingly, the companies that are struggling with AI are having major trust issues with the insights being delivered by the technology. That’s the major takeaway from a recent survey of 1,000 senior executives released by ESI ThoughtLab and Cognizant, based on the input of 1,000 senior executives.
While 20% of companies are powering ahead in the use of AI for decision-making — a group the survey’s authors call AI leaders — the remaining 80% are struggling with a vicious cycle that holds them back. “In this cycle, the self-reinforcing interplay of three factors is impeding progress: failure to appreciate AI’s full decision-making potential, low levels of trust in AI and limited adoption of these technologies.” they point out.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2021/08/30/artificial-intelligences-biggest-stumbling-block-trust/?sh=7cfc7a207cb3

One of the fundamental elements of product development is solving a problem that many people have. Successful products address many local problems of scattered individuals in a unified, easily repetitive way. Think of products that enable people to conduct online meetings: as the world around us changed over the last year, face-to-face meeting shifted into screen-to-screen, camera-to-camera. A product that enables instant multi-party video calls to anyone and anywhere — as long as they have an internet connection — is indeed a great solution. In theory, AI products should follow the same principle: a repetitive solution that meets common needs shared by all users, with a set of features that are similarly used by all users.
Unfortunately, when it comes to AI things are far more complicated. Generally speaking, AI solutions create data-driven predictions to solve pre-defined problems. These problems are as diverse and widespread as the businesses that order them, across industries, markets, and business cases. Even two companies competing on the exact same market share with similar offerings typically require very different AI solutions: these two seemingly similar companies have different data, different pain points and different business objectives that AI can help solve. To do so, these AI solutions have to be hyper-customized and tailored to these needs. With AI, there really is no “one-size-fits-all.” That specificity characteristic is one of the core challenges in implementing AI at scale nowadays.
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/08/29/the-long-tail-of-ai-problems-requires-hyper-customized-solutions-not-a-silver-bullet/

It should be obvious to anyone in the technology field that artificial intelligence is being hyped to unrealistic expectations at the moment. But this makes it no different from any other technology that society has generated through the ages — from the cloud to virtualization to the service oriented architecture (remember that?), and all the way back to the personal computer. There are probably old newspaper clippings touting the ability of steam engines to create flying machines and rockets to the moon.
While much of hype is wishful thinking, sometimes there is a bit of truth to it. Past technologies have certainly reshaped the world, although not necessarily in ways that early boosters had envisioned.
Starting the cycle
AI is at the nascent state of this process, which Gartner has encapsulated in its Hype Cycle. The latest release has technologies like AI-augmented software and generative AI rapidly closing in on the “Peak of Inflated Expectations,” while more esoteric applications like quantum machine learning and AI-driven innovation are just starting out at the “Innovation Trigger” stage. So far, none are even close to the end-stage of the cycle, the “Plateau of Productivity,” let alone the dreaded “Trough of Disillusionment.”
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/08/30/ignore-the-ai-hype-focus-on-the-value/

If you've given any thought at all to artificial intelligence (AI) and the progress made in the field, you're probably in one of these two camps:
Camp 1: AI is the biggest possible threat to humankind and will take over and make slaves of us humans (aka The Matrix or The Terminator camp).
Camp 2: AI should be embraced by humankind and will drive us to unprecedented new levels of creativity, productivity and societal advancement. AI will largely remain subservient to us, and we will coexist harmoniously (aka the "R2D2" camp).
Most books and movies that deal with AI also lean toward one of these two camps. "Good" and "evil" are somewhat nebulous terms — our baseline empathy sets our definition of "good." For example, most of us know that we should value human life over material objects without needing anyone to tell us so explicitly. Someone who sacrifices a baby to get a new car would automatically be branded "evil." These macro laws/rules are hardwired into us as human beings. But why should human life or animal life be valuable to AI? A dog has no greater intrinsic value to a machine than, say, a sandwich — unless we program our values into our AI systems.
The question isn't really whether AI will eventually become more intelligent than humans (it definitely will) or whether it will turn good or evil. It's what we can do right now to make sure it turns "good" (or, at the very least, doesn't turn "evil").
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/08/30/why-the-ethics-of-ai-are-complicated/?sh=4a1be0dc43a7

To people who are not into the technology sector, everyone in technology is a “techie”, but the definition of this word for an insider is much different. To them, a “techie” is a person who can write code. What does this have to do with women in technology? While some rightfully argue that there aren’t many people in technology, the reality is, women are present in the tech world but not as techies. In contrast, all the top men in the tech world have software engineering backgrounds, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Robin Li.
This is where the difference lies. Employers are not as quick to hire female coders as male coders. Technology is an interesting and rapidly growing sector. Gender aside, everyone wants to be a part of the tech community and contribute to innovations. Not just as coders, technology contains a lot of important tasks to be done and women should be given a fair chance to showcase their skills. Expertise in online business models, digital marketing, e-commerce, new media, social media strategy, gadgets, and IT infrastructure are all essential functions of the tech industry.
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and HP’s Meg Whitman are inspiring women leaders of the tech world, but is that where the tech world draws the line? Sure there are other roles where women can have an opportunity to work, right? There are two possible solutions for a future that is inclusive of women in tech. First, the management. An easy way for organizations to encourage more women into tech and STEM fields is by hiring female management who can set examples. Having women in leadership and managerial roles doesn’t just invite more workforce, but also puts a different viewpoint on the table in crucial business discussions. Secondly, women need to strengthen their corporate portfolios.
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/revolution-and-evolution-its-about-time-women-have-their-place-in-the-tech-world/

Anasua Bhowmik is the first woman engineer to become a Fellow, one of the high ranking designations in the engineering stream at AMD India. In a stint spanning 15 years, Anasua has built her expertise in areas such as microprocessor design, performance analysis, simulation, and compiler design. 
Prior to AMD, Anasua worked as a research scientist at the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore.
After Class 12, when Anasua decided to study engineering at Jadavpur University, she was completely unaware of computer science.
“However, my father, who was an engineer, encouraged me to take up a career in the field. He said it was a fast-evolving technology and going to play an important role in the future,” she says.
While studying computer engineering, she was fascinated by computer systems and hardware design more than the software part of it, as it allowed her to understand how computers functioned at a fundamental level.
After her undergraduate degree, Anasua decided to specialise in computer systems and architecture and pursued a master’s in Engineering in computer science from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and then went to the University of Maryland at College Park, for a PhD.
In a conversation with HerStory, Anasua speaks about her journey in tech, her role at AMD and her biggest successes, and challenges.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
HerStory (HS): Tell us about your work at AMD India.
Anasua Bhowmik (AB): I lead the CPU performance modelling and microarchitecture team for AMD in India. We are at the core of the CPU design and my main responsibility is to ensure AMD CPUs meet the performance targets through our modelling and micro-architecture work.
High-performance computing design is an extremely complex and expensive process that takes multiple years to build. So, it is very important to evaluate the performance of the CPU using an accurate software model and simulating various applications on this model. My team works on this. Along with other CPU architects, we investigate various micro-architectural ideas to improve the performance of the CPUs. Our model is also used to accurately project the application performance of various SoC designs.
In addition, I work closely with business teams and help them to showcase the performance edge of AMD CPUs through benchmark performance, address queries and observations from customers. As a Fellow, I also work with senior architects at AMD to plan IPs that will set the stage for next-generation AMD technologies.
Continue reading: https://yourstory.com/herstory/2021/08/women-tech-fellow-design-engineer-amd-india/amp

After years of Internet of Things (IoT) deployments, the technology has both proven its inherent value and emphasized the need for better IoT security. Due to the current weak state of IoT security, we have seen a series of attacks on IoT systems that seriously damaged privacy. Some recent examples include attacking baby webcams; critical infrastructure, as seen through the Colonial Pipeline; and banking systems, as seen through Mirai.
Accomplishing the needed level of IoT security will require all players—politicians, tech titans, IoT innovators and consumers—to come together in an unofficial coalition. Such a coalition is essential right now, because the IoT has become rather like the Wild West, a lawless world where only the toughest survive.
The Current Patchwork of IoT Security Standards The current weak state of IoT security is not due to a lack of trying. Politicians, leaders and industry experts alike know that security is needed everywhere, especially in the IoT. Unfortunately, we have seen a patchwork of different standards and regulations emerge instead of the global set required for practical security. Because of this patchwork, it is a nightmare to develop products that work globally.
Now we have an innovator problem, because the best ideas will not get to market without security. IoT innovators face the challenge of building products that comply with this array of ever-changing standards. Meeting this challenge is possible when you have tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to devote to your implementation. For smaller IoT innovators, it's impossible.
Tech titans like Amazon, Apple, and Google rely on IoT innovators to create the countless number of products that make the IoT ecosystem robust and versatile. These tech titans create the platforms that enable the innovators to do what they do best: innovate. Until now, there has been a lack of interoperability between the tech titans, who share no standard platform, communications protocols or security requirements. This makes building IoT products even more of a headache for IoT innovators, since they must account for the requirements not just for one platform, but for several.
Uniting the IoT Industry To clean up this mess, the tech titans and IoT innovators have come together for the benefit of all by creating the new "Matter" standard (see  Alliance for IoT Brand Matter Focuses on Standards). As Albert Einstein predicted, creating Matter required a tremendous amount of energy, but it was worth it. The Matter standard, under the Connectivity Standards Alliance, is expected to be released late 2021 or early 2022. With the Matter standard, all IoT products can use a single set of standard protocols to communicate. Security requirements for Matter are uniform and easy for both users and for innovators. The standard works in harmony with the worldwide effort to establish requirements for IoT security and privacy through legislation or regulation.
This standardization will provide IoT innovators, who do not have the capacity to fill the role of security expert, with a better way to implement long-term security without sacrificing time to market. They need a solid and well-secured platform to build upon, including hardware and pre-integrated software. IoT innovators also often need overall guidance on security, which Matter can provide.
Additionally, standardization will set IoT innovators up for the future, as it allows for patches and updates of devices to be done securely over the air. Further, it helps device makers to build in thorough IoT security from the get-go. In this way, they are preparing themselves as much as possible for changes to laws and regulations in the future, so they do not have to revise their products or be excluded from certain regions.
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