The underlying idea is something like the old joke about bacon: How all food is better if you add bacon—bacon on hamburger, bacon with eggs. In many ways, the rush toward Internet connectivity in consumer products is like the bacon impulse—everything, it seems we think, is better once it’s connected to the network in the ever increasing world of the Internet of Things.
Internet-Enabled Automatic Insulin Pump
Imagine a diabetic patient, hypothetically named, David. David’s a retired old man living in Florida. For a number of years, David’s been taking insulin as a way of regulating the sugar levels in his blood. Recently, he got himself a new device. It’s an Internet-enabled automatic insulin pump. He wears it on his hip.
It periodically tests his blood, and he can adjust the insulin dosage either mechanically, or from his mobile phone or tablet. Because the pump is connected to the network, it can also send David’s blood-sugar levels and other test results to his doctor, who can review those results, and make adjustments—without David even going into the office.
The doctor doesn’t have to be in the office either. He could be on the golf course, and use his smartphone to change David’s insulin dosage. This is truly a miracle of modern science. It increases efficiency and gives David more freedom and a better quality of life with respect to his insulin requirements.
DEF CON
During an internet hacker convention in Las Vegas known as DEF CON, two security researchers demonstrated they were able to crack the security on a standard insulin pump—of exactly the sort that David is using.
They demonstrated that they could actually cause the pump to give the wearer a near-fatal dose of insulin. So not only does David have a life-changing, liberating medical device on his hip, he must also come to grips with the fact that he’s carrying around a personal assassination device that could be used to try and kill him.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Now, when David comes to know about this, he has a very sensible answer. He asks, “Why would anyone want to kill me?” And he continues to wear the new insulin pump.
Continue reading: https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/the-proliferation-of-internet-of-things/

It’s common knowledge that fires are now a recurring and increasingly frequent calamity in many states and countries around the world – California being particularly vulnerable. Mindful of that, a San Francisco startup is attracting customers and investors alike with its drone- and tech-based service to map homes as the first step in maximizing their protection from wildfires.
Using drones to protect homes from spiking wildfire threat
Founded a mere six months ago, Firemaps is a fast-moving, rapidly growing company that uses drones and satellite imagery to create maps of clients’ homes. Its computerized analyses of the structures and surrounding terrain then proposes a range of “hardening” improvements – that is, measures that protect houses should wildfire come near. How rapidly does Firemaps act? It can have an accurate property map completed –  down to the nearest centimeter – within 20 minutes of getting its drone aloft. Once potential hardening work is selected and agreed to by customers, Firemaps immediately sends bids to a variety of contractors on the company’s marketplace who are ready to begin work.
Why all the rush? In part because Firemaps is clearly a business with a vision, and a strong drive to bring it into reality. But it’s also because the company has found a way to marry cutting-edge tech with an increasingly urgent service that helps millions of potential clients protect their houses and lives. There isn’t a lot of time to waste in all that.
At the time of writing, there were 88 major blazes raging across 2.4 million acres within the US alone – most in Western states. Over the past decade, fully 90% of the country’s largest infernos occurred in California, at times wiping entire communities from the map, and incinerating countless billions of dollars in private and public property. A June study by a nonpartisan think tank estimated that around 8% of all homes in California are in high-risk wildfire zones. Since 2015, meanwhile, over 950,000 households in the state have been dropped by insurers as being inordinately high fire risks (let us spare a kind thought for the little corporate dears).
Against those diverse, growing threats, it’s little wonder people are turning to Firemaps and its fleet of drones for protection of their homes from wildfire risks. That, in turn, explains why Firemaps has already raised $5.5 million in seed funding from investors that include Andreessen Horowitz and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, among others.
Taking business prospecting lemons to launch a lemonade dynamo
Firemaps was founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jahan Khanna and his brother, who after having earlier launched a ridesharing business turned to activities focusing on climate change. They eventually researched founding a solar power farm, only to be told developing large properties in California had become an iffy prospect due to the risk that they might all go up in flames. Realizing millions of homeowners and other real estate investors were already facing that fire threat, the brothers looked into the fastest, most efficient ways of helping people reduce that hazard through hardening.
Enter tech-toting drones to quickly map the lay of the land and propose improvements, stage right.
Continue reading: https://dronedj.com/2021/08/30/sf-startup-uses-drones-tech-to-maximize-home-protection-from-wildfires/

Professionals in the drone business are asking the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider proposed limits on use of the devices in places such as on roads, trails and at trail summits in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests.
The Forest Service recently released a draft management plan for the jointly managed forests that covers issues such as logging, grazing, wildlife habitat and recreation. It includes language that would prohibit use of unmanned aircraft in places such as developed campgrounds, parking lots, day-use areas and boat launches, and on forest-wide roads and trails and at trail summits. Some other areas also would be covered in the prohibition, and drone use already is prohibited in areas such as designated wilderness.
The prohibition would allow for exceptions in some circumstances via a special use permit.
“I’m trying to understand what problem you’re trying to solve with this,” Kerry Garrison, with Multicopter Warehouse, a Front Range drone company, said when the Forest Service recently held a webinar on the recreation aspects of its draft plan.
Samantha Staley, GMUG’s forest planner, told Garrison the proposal would limit drone use in high-use parts of the forest. But Garrison said existing federal regulations already limit flying drones over people and moving vehicles. He said it’s one thing for the Forest Service to require compliance with Federal Aviation Administration drone rules, but he questions restricting use on roads, trails and summits.
“Often there’s nobody there” when he flies drones in such locations, he said.
Staley said the Forest Service wants public comments on the issue as it moves toward finalizing a plan, and suggested meeting with drone advocates. She said the agency’s recreation planning team is seeing increasing use of drones, and people are flying drones in parking lots and over people’s heads.
Continue reading: https://www.gjsentinel.com/news/drone-users-abuzz-over-possible-gmug-restrictions/article_895be6f2-0779-11ec-8663-27a8ef907b67.html

There are multiple aspects of Blockchain — from business to technical and more — but with the way the industry is exploding, it’s really hard to get it right.
It’s best to divide the blockchain topic into two main buckets in order to understand the development of the ecosystem and the key benefits and innovations it provides. One is cryptocurrency, where we cover industries like financial services, insurance and capital markets, including deals via private equity and venture capital. Then we look into the enterprise world, which is about how we apply blockchain as a technology in different industries.
Enterprise blockchain
Last year, we published our “Time for Trust” report, which covers the top five use cases for blockchain technology: provenance, payments and financial instruments, identity, contracts and dispute resolution, and customer engagement. These use cases will have a significant impact on the GDP of a country and the global economy.
The number-one use case is traceability, or provenance. In the future, with the decentralized technological revolution and evolution, you will need to understand and provide full transparency for your consumers. For example, if you are buying medicine for cancer, which is very high priced, you will need to know that it’s authentic, not fake. And this is where we have a technological solution that is enabled by blockchain technology. It is the same with buying haute couture expensive clothes, cars, etc. Consumers who are paying a lot of money must be sure that they are buying authentic items, which is why those supply chains could constitute a killer use case for blockchain — especially in the next decade.
Continue reading: https://www.technologytimes.pk/2021/08/28/blockchain-has-power-to-change-the-world/

New discoveries in science and technology typically come with hopes of rapid adaptation. Things rarely work out that way. A classic logic/math model can predict this result, known as the “Anna Karenina Principle.” This fundamental principle states: “A deficiency in any one of a number of factors dooms an endeavor to failure.”
Originally theorized from Leo Tolstoy’s, “Anna Karenina (1877),”1 which opens, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Consider the assumption that happy families share common attributes which lead to happiness, while different attributes may cause unhappiness, thus, failure. In blockchain technology, we feel the attributes of Energy Consumption, Governance and Politics, Regulatory Compliance Consulting, Timing, and Technology are paramount attributes to consider.
We view blockchain through an analogous lens to Tolstoy’s work. Consider resemblance between blockchain and industry professionals as members of a not quite happy family. This family (financial and commercial transactions industry) have within it a teenager named Blockchain. It’s frustrating for mature family members to watch powerlessly as this teen tries to find her way in life. Their natural reaction is to grab for control, reduce independent choices and compound the frustration. This common story is even more frustrating for the teen, full of creative energy and passion but lacking in clear direction due to a fundamental lack of relevant experience. But our teen is defiant to allow her dreams to be stifled, causing cycles of yet more power grabbing and frustration. We discuss challenges and advise this “teenager” to help find the environment in which the family can be happy. To help the teen avoid self-destruction along the way, and still allow space for creative development, we offer this first of a series of articles that address what we believe defines blockchain’s current challenges and offer suggestions to maneuver around them to achieve full potential as an important contributor to business and society. Let’s examine Energy Consumption.
Energy consumption concerns: “Only entropy comes easy”2
Entropy simply defines how a system left unconstrained will seek to randomly dispersed into chaos. For blockchain, the order is maintained by timestamping transactions as they are recorded and that requires resources to maintain them in the form of electrical energy.
In early civilization, the world seemed to hold an infinite wealth of resources and it seemed impossible for people to see how they could really cause irreparable damage. In recent history, we overcame obstacles and used resources to constrain chaos and create luxurious lives in the most inhospitable places on earth—hot and humid Florida, the dry deserts of Arizona and the snowy mountains of Alaska. Developing regions of the world fight to “catch-up” to a higher standard of living by investing more in “old school” power generation using more resources, typically in the form of limited fossil fuels.
Continue reading: https://coingeek.com/why-blockchain-has-not-yet-become-widely-used-and-what-will-it-take-to-make-it-happen/

As guests begin their return to hotels, some for the first time since the 2019 holiday season, they’ll do so expecting a higher level of comfort, convenience and customer service, as well as new experiences. Driving this demand isn’t just a year spent wistfully watching “No Reservations” reruns and scrolling travel accounts on Instagram. Consumer expectations are like a rising tide, and the travel, retail and hospitality industries are the ships.
During the pandemic, people grew accustomed to greater convenience and customer service from their favorite places to eat and shop. Restaurants and retailers swiftly deployed digital-enabled ordering capabilities, rapid delivery and next-level customer care. Like their newly developed hyper-awareness of personal space and penchant for hand sanitizer, travelers will unconsciously bring heightened expectations along with them on family vacations and business trips for the foreseeable future.
Three Technologies You’ll Want To Explore
Addressing these new expectations while facing a host of pandemic-related challenges, including tighter budgets and an industry-wide staffing shortage, may seem insurmountable. However, with just three technologies, hotel leaders can tick the comfort, convenience and customer service boxes, plus a few others, to provide guests with an unforgettable experience, while ultimately driving better business outcomes.
The Internet Of Things (IoT)
From smart speakers and doorbells to robot vacuums, the potential applications for IoT in individual daily life are nearly limitless, and the same is true for hotels on a larger scale. Connected technologies can enhance the guest experience from the moment they step into the lobby. Self-check-in kiosks equipped with germ-killing UV light not only get jet-lagged guests up to their rooms faster but can also provide hotel operators with data insights to help them make more informed business decisions. Once guests enter their rooms, smartphone-controlled lighting, thermostats and even shower temperature make for a more convenient and comfortable stay.
Behind the scenes, sensors alert housekeeping that rooms are unoccupied and ready for cleaning. Wearables streamline staff communications, and smart sinks in the hotel restaurants regulate water temperature, soap and sanitizer levels. Meanwhile, connected utilities alert building management immediately when minor issues arise before they become major disruptions. In addition to the direct benefits enjoyed by guests, IoT-enabled processes and utilities help optimize staffs’ time and reduce energy consumption and waste, cutting both costs and carbon emissions.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Building on IoT, AI takes the data gleaned from sensors and connected devices, identifies patterns over time and adjusts accordingly. For example, AI could bring the personalization, convenience and customer experience of the previous guest room example up several levels. With AI, after the first 24 hours of a guest’s stay, adjustments to their room’s lighting and thermostat could happen automatically based on their previous smartphone inputs. In addition to these past inputs, factors such as the weather and time of day may also be used to predict the most ideal temperature or lighting more accurately.
In hotel grab-and-go markets, AI can help ensure the optimal level of stock is maintained for specific items based on historic purchasing behaviors. On the back end, it can identify trends in bookings and then automatically adjust room rates to make them more attractive to potential guests while maximizing revenue on rooms.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/08/27/three-technologies-hotel-leaders-can-leverage-to-improve-customer-experience-and-business-outcomes/?sh=3bf7dd425648

Due to the steady increase in Internet of Things (IoT) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) use cases, coupled with the declining cost of sensors, restaurant operators globally are adopting technology that digitizes restaurant operations, creates greater operational efficiencies and effectuates business decisions based on advanced data analytics.
The vast selection of IoT-based solutions can be confusing for restaurant operators who wish to choose the best fit for their portfolio. Therefore, it is essential that senior leaders carefully evaluate and adopt technologies that deliver excellent business benefits. At the same time, it is also crucial to integrate the analytics outcomes with their mainstream processes and use them to continuously enhance the processes.
While evaluating the IoT & AI solutions, operators should evaluate the scalability and modularity of the potential solution. The quantum of data these systems are collating from each equipment and restaurant every few minutes is enormous. For example, with systems that are collating 90–100 data points every 15 minutes from each restaurant, a restaurant chain with 300 restaurants in its portfolio will collate over 1 billion data points in the span of one year. Analyzing such a massive data set and delivering actionable intelligence for each equipment group and the relevant stakeholder in the hierarchy is critical to delivering a positive business impact. Mere notifications through installing alerts and alarms would not be enough to deliver large-scale outcomes and operational efficiencies.
Distributed networks are groups of similar sites spread across different geographies and regions. There are enough proven use cases in the segment that can be replicated quickly in  distributed networks, especially in restaurants. Operators must understand the capabilities of the solution to ensure it is comprehensive and encompasses most of the functions of the restaurant operations.
Here are the 12 important questions restaurant operators should be asking:

1. How can we utilize this system to identify and reduce deviations in my hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) system?
2. How can we monitor and continually improve customer and employee comfort levels in the dining room and kitchen area respectively?
3. Would this system be helpful in monitoring energy consumption and optimizing electricity and gas utilization?
4. How can this system bring in predictability in the restaurant operations, especially on equipment availability, which is a significant requirement for the quick-service restaurant industry?
5. Can we use this system to track the effectiveness of preventive maintenance and bring in some accountability for internal teams and partners? Further, can it help us move away from preventive maintenance to condition-based / predictive maintenance?
6. Is there a way to reduce truck rolls and fix operational and equipment issues remotely?
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   Continue reading: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/how-implement-iot-and-ai-driven-solutions-your-restaurant

Uniquely designed to deliver data-driven insights to both commercial and industrial facility managers, Iota Communications, Inc., also known as IotaComm (OTC: IOTC), takes a holistic approach to monitoring the quality of commercial indoor environments (IEQ). The company recently announced the official launch of its Delphi360™ internet of things (IoT) platform set for September 1, 2021.
Delphi360 uses machines, gateways and sensors to communicate key environmental data over a LoRaWAN® low-power wide area network (LPWAN). This platform easily connects to both internal and external data sources, visualizing localized environmental statistics, including weather, climate, social and outdoor air conditions.
Connect. Collect. Analyze.
 
Combined data sets are then analyzed, whether onsite or within the cloud, to uncover critical insights that can increase operational efficiency, reduce energy costs and improve both the health and safety of employees and customers alike.
IotaComm is a LPWAN wireless communications and data analytics company providing IoT-based solutions to businesses in an effort to improve the health, safety and sustainability of the workforce. Delphi360 provides facility owners with additional tools and intelligence, committed to improving indoor air quality (IAQ), ventilation and corporate climate conditions, with both desktop and mobile support.
The benefits of using LPWAN include:

• Options for both private and public deployment
• Over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates
• Geolocational controls
• Bidirectional security
• 10+ year battery life
• Coverage, even in rural and non-cellular areas
• Deep propagation of concrete, ground and steel

Delphi360's initial solutions focus on indoor environmental quality monitoring, including indoor air quality and room occupancy sensing capabilities. Actionable insights are delivered to users via an interactive dashboard for further analysis, visualization, and monitoring.
Continue reading: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tool-uses-iot-turn-old-114739444.html

Like anything that has the potential to surpass the survival stage and achieve massive success in both favorable and challenging conditions, whether those conditions be political or economic, the IoT (Internet of Things) movement, or revolution as I like to call it, requires a fundamental component to succeed. And that component goes well beyond sensors and gateways. I’m referring to an essential in all business practices, and that is collaboration.
Every technology ecosystem foundation includes the basics, hardware, software, and services, that ultimately convert data into intelligence that we all can use for practical, everyday applications. I have found in my professional experience that no single technology platform, OEM, or service provider can successfully supply all the necessary elements to create the perfect and complete ecosystem. Thus, we need something intangible – an honest, pure, and benevolent connection between each other.
Collaboration
It’s no secret that teams that work together, cohesively, towards a common goal tend to achieve better results. Collaboration reduces the barriers to productivity, and in the IoT world, speed to market coupled with accuracy and functionality are critical to the success of any new technology solution.
Some predict that the next generation IoT will rely heavily on human-centered approaches, and to some extent, we’re already there. In AI, connectivity, and security, technology companies have built their platforms based on empathy with the people using the product or service. The premise is that by understanding the end-user’s needs, wants, and desires, the product team will build a solution that will be extremely useful and easy to use for the audience in which the solution was intended.
Continue reading: https://www.iotforall.com/why-fundamental-collaboration-is-the-key-driver-to-the-success-of-the-iot-revolution

The internet of things, or IOT, continues to bring unique benefits to restaurant operations. The method of connecting cheap sensors and software to the cloud is still not widespread, but labor headaches are pushing the utilitarian tools into more corners of restaurants.
Jollibee, the Philippines-based parent company and franchisor of the homonymous Jollibee, Chowking and Red Ribbon restaurants, announced it hit the 100-location mark for an IOT-based temperature monitoring. The device, SmartSense, from the IOT developer Digi, has two methods. One is embedded sensors that provide continuous temperature monitoring, the other a Bluetooth monitor for spot checks and food-safety temperature logging.
According to Digi, the product alerts operators if temperatures are out of range, but can also detect potential equipment failures. For Jollibee, it's mostly about food safety.
“Food quality and sanitation is incredibly important, not only to JFC, but also our restaurant and store patrons,” said Maribeth Dela Cruz, president of Jollibee Group North America, in a statement. “Part of our strategy is leveraging technology to make it easy for our team to monitor and comply with regulatory standards."
She said the company has plans for 500 locations in the U.S. and will utilize such technologies as it grows.
Perfect Company, a developer of smart kitchen devices, also just announced a new device called ProMeasure. The smart scale is designed to sit in the kitchen and ensure exact measurements and prompted workflow support. Essentially, back of house workers can set their menu item on the scale, walk through prompts on an accompanying tablet and add exactly the right amount of ingredients.
Perfect Company CEO Michael Wallace said it can work with any food and was launched at the International Pizza Expo and Conference because the industry sees major food cost issues. Over portioning cheese alone, according to the company, wastes more than $280 million in cheese each year.
“Ingredient waste is one of the most pervasive issues commercial kitchens face. Our ProMeasure software and connected scale offer a straight-forward, intuitive way for kitchen teams to portion any ingredient accurately and quickly, lowering the opportunity for food waste and ensuring recipe consistency,” said Wallace in a news release.
Continue reading: https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_news/two-new-takes-on-iot-help-tackle-labor/article_e44b2afc-076d-11ec-9ec3-9381f7bdb961.html

New commercial robots are changing what’s possible in the physical world. They are tackling increasingly complex tasks beyond early uses such as manufacturing assembly lines and material handling in warehouses.
For example, ABB’s PixelPaint uses a pair of high-precision robotic arms to make car painting faster and more customizable. Adidas’s STRUNG is a textile-industry-first robot that uses athlete data to make perfectly fitting shoes. And this year, the world has watched in fascination as NASA’s one-ton rover Perseverance and tiny helicopter Ingenuity explored Mars.
Artificial intelligence and other advances will accelerate robots’ ability to sense and adapt to their environment. Robotics companies are eagerly developing new machines with ever more impressive functionality. Many are built on the Robot Operating System (ROS), which is the de-facto open-source framework for robot application development. (My company chairs the initiative’s security group.)
So the robot future is coming. But robot developers must not lose sight of a critical priority: security.
Robots are far more capable if connected to the internet. That allows them to work with other robots and access enterprise IT systems and the cloud so they can process and learn from huge amounts of remotely stored data. Connectivity also provides agility for quick bug patching or system reconfiguration.
But even if placed behind a firewall, inadequately secured robots may not be safe. We’ve already seen malware that breaches isolated networks — for instance, the Stuxnet malware attack. But that occurred more than 10 years ago. Today’s malware is far more effective. If the malware has a hold on a network and a robot is the unpatched, unsecured link in the chain, the robot will open the door to attackers.
The bottom line: We need to acknowledge that robots are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Imagine the damage that could be done if a hacker was able to maliciously hijack and control robots being used in, say, a healthcare setting.
I worry that many companies, in their focus on development, are paying too little attention to crucial security questions as they approach production.
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/08/28/we-underestimated-iot-security-lets-not-make-that-mistake-with-robotics/

In an effort to support startups working in the field of drones, the Indian government has notified Drone Rules, 2021. This announcement by the ministry of civil aviation is being looked at as a far more liberalized regime for unmanned aircraft systems than what existed before. 
“The new Drone Rules will tremendously help startups and our youth working in this sector. It will open up new possibilities for innovation and business. It will help leverage India’s strengths in innovation, technology and engineering to make India a drone hub,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
The draft rules for the new policy announced in July 2021, some weeks after a drone attack at an Indian Air Force base in Jammu, was issued to ensure ease of using drones in India on the basis of "trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring", said an official statement by the ministry of civil aviation in July. 
The aim of the government is to make India a global drone hub by 2030 and to ensure drone application in transportation, logistics, defense, mining, infrastructure sectors and more, which will generate job opportunities.
Here are 10 things you should know about the new Drone Rules 2021:
Number Of Forms Reduced
In a major relief to drone companies, the number of forms that have to be filled to operate drones has been reduced from 25 to five.
Number Of Fees To Be Paid Cut Down
The total number of fees that are to be paid to operate drones has been reduced from a massive 72 to four. Besides, the quantum of fees, which was earlier linked to the size of the drone, has been reduced and delinked from the size. For example, a remote pilot license fee has been reduced from INR 3,000 for a large drone to a meager INR 100 for all categories of drones, which will be valid for 10 years.
Continue reading: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/382037

Throughout AUVSI XPONENTIAL people asked what the major and/or exciting innovations were this year. And my answer was always the same: integration. It isn’t flashy but integration is an integral aspect toward maturity. Integration can mean many things. From a business perspective, it is the combining of essential components to offer end users a more complete solution—there have been many exciting examples of this recently. For administrator Steve Dickson, it means safely adding drones to the national airspace. Another definition, and perhaps the most exciting, is the integration of drone technology into our daily lives.
For many people in the world, the idea of drones being an integral part of their communities may seem like a novelty. But for the communities serviced by Zipline it is a reality. In his XPONENTIAL keynote, Keller Rinaudo, CEO of Zipline, quantified and qualified the impact of integration for these communities.
Rinaudo began his presentation with a time lapsed video and flight record of a day of deliveries at a distribution center in Ghana. Multiple flights took off and returned simultaneously, and by 12:25 PM, 58 deliveries had already been made carrying over 400 medical products. By the end of the 12-hour day, it had nearly doubled. He then shared several maps of the countries Zipline is servicing, demonstrating that their network was already available across much of these countries.
All of this underlined that Zipline is already performing drone delivery at scale and has been doing so for about nine years. From a logistics point of view this is impressive—Commercial UAV News often talks about how this will look like in the U.S. and Europe. But what Zipline has been able to demonstrate goes beyond logistics or business cases and speaks to how drones can improve lives in meaningful ways.
“We have totally changed the paradigm of health care,” stated Rinaudo. “Today, the ministry of health can train more doctors, nurses, and hospitals who didn’t have access to critical medical supplies to provide services that were only available in a few places. Patients can go to their local clinic rather than travel hours to get treatment. We’ve made over 20,000 life-saving emergency deliveries over the last couple of years. But beyond expanding access to healthcare, we’ve been able to help healthcare supply chains.”
Continue reading: https://www.commercialuavnews.com/drone-delivery/integrating-drones-into-our-daily-lives-for-rural-communities

The FAA is encouraging the drone community to join in activities scheduled for the third annual National Drone Safety Awareness Week from September 13 to 19. Stressing that safely integrating drones into the National Airspace System is a key pillar of its work, the agency said the weeklong event can help forward its mission of ensuring that drone pilots understand their responsibilities.
According to the agency, the awareness week is designed to bring together and educate drone pilots and recreational pilots and highlight new requirements and best practices. Each day of the event will feature a specific theme: Safe Flyers Take the Recreational UAS Safety Test (Monday), Register and Mark Your Drone (Tuesday), Become a Part of a Flying Community (Wednesday), New Rules—Remote Identification and Operations Over People (Thursday), Public Safety & Public Acceptance (Friday), and Share the Skies—Get Out and Fly (Saturday and Sunday).
Continue reading: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2021-08-27/faa-highlighting-safety-during-national-drone-week

Tarika Barrett, who originally started her career as an educator, is now the CEO of Girls Who Code. The international nonprofit organization committed to closing the gender gap in technology has served over 450,000 students to date.
Barrett joins rolling out to discuss this renowned organization as well as her meeting with President Biden to address cybersecurity.
Please introduce yourself to our audience and share your vision? I recently stepped into the seat as CEO of Girls Who Code after working with the organization for five years. Girls Who Code is an international nonprofit committed to closing the gender gap in education, in terms of entry-level tech jobs by 2030. Fifty percent of the girls that we serve come from historically underrepresented groups. So we’re talking about Black, Latina, low-income communities, I’m deeply committed to issues of equity.
So you get the call, and it is the president’s office, what did that feel like, as a CEO? It was extremely humbling to get the call from the director of cybersecurity for the White House asking to be a part of this conversation to have a seat at the table. [Though] there’s a moment where you say, Why me? What can I possibly offer to this conversation? But then, you lean in and say, ‘it is exactly me, I am the person who needs to be in that room.’ Our voices were critical, even across sectors. I represented the education sector, but there was also energy, finance, big tech, insurance, and utilities, [there was] female representation across all of those. But at that moment, I knew that I had to give voice to the concerns of our girls and women, and especially those who have been the most excluded from the tech industry.
Continue reading: https://rollingout.com/2021/08/28/president-biden-selects-girls-who-code-ceo-to-discuss-cybersecurity/

It’s no secret that female representation in the IT sector leaves much to be desired. When searching: “Gender representation in tech” on Google, one is met with headlines like: “Women remain under-represented in emerging tech” (PWC); “Women in tech statistics: The hard truths of an uphill battle” (CIO); and “Are we really closing the gender gap in tech?” (Forbes). Female representation in the IT sector is no longer a taboo subject reserved only for male-dominated conversations, and while previously and consistently questioned, women have proven their capabilities time and time again, and more than earned their seat at the table. Yet inequalities persist, proving that addressing the elephant in the room is no longer the polite thing to do – it’s imperative to the future of the industry.
No, not all female professionals work in HR
“I remember the first few times I interviewed older male candidates who had applied for a job with BBD. I could always tell that they thought I was from HR and wondered when the boss was going to arrive so that we could begin the interview,” tells BBD executive, Charlene Cooke. “At first, I felt weird about it and made sure I invited some older male colleagues to the interview, in case the candidates were put off by me interviewing them.”
Similarly, BBD business analyst Lerato Khabo shares: “I have experienced a few instances at previous workplaces where I was the only woman invited to a meeting and was asked to go and make tea. As women, we have to work harder than men. We need to learn to speak up for ourselves while producing excellent work to backup our claim.”
These stories are two of countless instances where women in tech have been undermined or treated in line with a perception rooted in bias, when the reality is that their presence on technical teams alone is confirmation of their ability to meaningfully contribute to a project – and not with morsels of hospitality like tea, but with hard-earned expertise that can take a solution from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’.
“But the statistics show…”
According to recent studies, code submitted by women is more often accepted compared to that of men. However, it happens only when they are not identifiable as women, as found in research from GitHub. After obtaining data from 1.4 million users, the researcher discovered that the acceptance rate of women’s code was 78.6% compared to 74.6% of those by men, but only when their profiles didn’t contain information on their gender. By comparison, when women did identify their gender, the rate dropped to 62%, revealing not only that code written by women is more likely to be approved by peers than code written by men, but that the tech community at large (where women only account for 19% of the workforce) is biased against women. And this reality has gone unchecked for so long that it has affected women in the industry and how they identify themselves in relation to their male counterparts.
“The gender gap in the industry can affect you in multiple ways. It can make you feel out of place,” says junior software engineer at BBD, Lauren Mitchell. "People's attitudes to women can come out even in the little comments or subtle ways in which they treat you. I've seen how badly this has impacted friends. I have also been told by more than one previous colleague (fortunately not at BBD) that they simply do not believe women should work in the technical field.”
Continue reading: https://www.itweb.co.za/content/KA3WwMdD3K8MrydZ

From a young age, Genia Wilbourn knew she loved math and science.
As an inquisitive, self-proclaimed “daddy’s girl” Genia said in an article, “ I spent a lot of time with him growing up. He took me to football games, boxing matches and the race track (pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to be there). At home, I would just watch Dad fix things around the house and in the garage. I was always fascinated with the way he would find a problem, figure out a solution and then implement it. I loved the whole process – especially seeing the end result!”
Now the Senior VP of Global Network Operations & Assurance, Genia still credits her father for teaching her to never limit herself. It’s that curious spirit and belief that we can all benefit from diverse and creative thinking, that has inspired us to share Genia’s advice for other women in tech.

1. Take the leap and learn new things. This will increase visibility and adaptability, open doors you would not have imagined and keep you relevant.
2. Be prepared by doing your own research. You will have a better understanding of the business problems you are trying to solve. This will increase your confidence level. Always, always stick to the facts!
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   Continue reading: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/run-own-race-not-others-133607472.html

According to data from the Center for Talent Innovation, more than 75% of young women engineers, computer scientists, and other technologists describe themselves as “very ambitious,” with 85% gunning for a promotion in the next 3 years and 62% aspiring to one day reach the C-suite. Just 25% of young women in the tech industry say they get the career support they’ve been promised. Despite the young women’s commitment and enthusiasm, about 2/3 of women engineers leave the profession within 15 years, and that statistic is even more pronounced for women on the technical track.
What’s particularly important about that 80:20 male-to-female ratio in the tech industry is that the research consistently shows a widespread desire to be surrounded by male engineers or computer scientists, and the consequent rejection or minimization of the contributions of minority groups who are seen as different or “diverse”. This leads to exclusion from informal networks that enhance skills and provide useful insights into organizational politics. These biases shape assumptions, perceptions of leadership skills, and advancement. When a woman’s excellence at a “soft” task is seen as “natural,” it’s less valued and not considered a noteworthy achievement. In contrast, an adequate performance by men in stereotypically “feminine” or “soft” skills like nurturing, emotional expressiveness, and communication is considered exceptional — leading to better ratings, faster promotions, and higher pay for them.
These 3 steps will help improve the retention of talented women leaders:

• Challenge them with assignments that require them to learn and practice new skills.
• Connect them with potential mentors and sponsors who will provide feedback and support.
• Invest in them by offering formalized leadership development opportunities for women leaders focused on building the leadership competencies needed to thrive in your organization.

Research has found that men are likely to say they’re ready to take on a new challenge when they feel they have about 60% of the knowledge and skills they need. Women, by contrast, are more likely to wait until they feel they are 90% there. To advance, women need to say “Yes” more often and more quickly. Top women tech leaders are passionate about what their companies do, what their teams are doing, and what they do. Women in leadership roles in the tech industry should understand their value and know what they want.
Continue reading: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/how-to-support-women-in-tech-industry/

Have you ever taken a trip down a technology rabbit hole and wonder if you would ever come out? As a real estate developer, we seek to find ways to enhance our property revenues, but we also search for countless ways to reduce our expenses, become more efficient and enhance our net operating income. In short, we are seeking ways to maximize our investors’ returns and liquidity.
While the world has gone largely digital, certain financial markets remain archaic for managing, buying, and selling assets. This is especially true in the commercial real estate marketplace where the investment sector is very illiquid and inaccessible to most of society. Yes, this represents an inefficient market, but this manually intensive infrastructure also provides for a “technology intervention.”
In short, by using blockchain technology and issuing real estate assets on a distributed ledger (also commonly known as tokenization), the real estate investment market could automate middleman processes, increase liquidity, lower capital requirements for investment and improve transparency.
Basic concepts of blockchain
If you have been following banking, investing, or cryptocurrency over the last 10 years, you may have heard the term blockchain. Blockchain is the record-keeping and storage technology behind many of these financial networks like bitcoin. But what is it … exactly?
In simple terms, blockchain is a database technology that stores information. Specifically, it stores data in blocks that are then chained together … hence the name … blockchain. As new data comes in, it is entered into a fresh block and is then chained onto the previous block, which makes the data chained together in chronological order.
Blockchain was invented for bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as a shared, irreversible ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions, ownership, pricing and tracking assets in a business network. An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk, eliminating fraud, and cutting costs for all involved.
Digital currency
Digital currency is a form of currency that is available only in digital or electronic form, and not in physical form. It is also called digital money, electronic money, electronic currency, or cyber cash. Digital currencies are intangible and can only be owned and transacted by using computers or electronic wallets connected to the Internet or designated networks.
Like any standard fiat currency, digital currencies can be used to purchase goods as well as to pay for services. Digital currencies have all the intrinsic properties like physical currency, and they allow for instantaneous transactions that can be seamlessly executed for making payments across borders.
Continue reading: https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2021/08/27/emerging-trends-in-real-estate-how-blockchain.html

Pat Toomey, the most senior Republican on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, has requested legislative proposals to support cryptocurrency innovation, blockchain and protect crypto investors. At the same time, Democrat Congressman Darren Soto has introduced two bipartisan bills on similar topics.
“Rather than trying to ignore or suppress cryptocurrency and related technologies, regulators and legislators alike need to recognize that open, public networks are here to stay. Our laws and regulations must adapt to these developments,” said Senator Toomey. 
“Not only might cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies be as revolutionary as the internet, they also have the potential to build wealth and financial independence for individuals who are empowered to engage in financial transactions directly with each other, free from oft-costly middlemen.”
Proposals are requested by September 27.
CFTC’s role in regulating virtual currency
Meanwhile, Congressman Darren Soto published two bipartisan bills. One asks the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to explore how price manipulation happens in cryptocurrency markets. It also asks the CFTC to clarify the extent to which it has regulatory authority over market surveillance and enforcement.
Last week, CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump clarified that the CFTC only has regulatory authority over derivatives markets. Hence, for digital assets that are considered commodities – such as Bitcoin and possibly Ethereum – the CFTC lacks regulatory authority, including oversight. However, it does have enforcement authority for the underlying cash markets where there’s price manipulation or fraud because that impacts derivatives.
Continue reading: https://www.ledgerinsights.com/senator-toomey-seeks-input-on-cryptocurrency-blockchain-legislation/

A flaw in the most popular software used to verify transactions on the Ethereum network nearly triggered a crisis for the world’s most widely used cryptocurrency blockchain. 
About half of the Ethereum ecosystem split into a separate chain after a bug in the Go Ethereum, or Geth, software effected users who hadn’t implemented an update meant to fix the mistake, said Maddie Kennedy, a spokesperson at the cryptocurrency research firm, Chainalysis. 
“This could’ve been a big problem, but it isn’t,” Kennedy said.
About 75% of all users on the Ethereum network utilize Geth as a node to mine the blockchain’s native token, Ether, and to create software that runs functions such as decentralized applications.   
At its worst, the split -- or fork -- could have caused a so-called double-spend attack where the same Ether cryptocurrency would have traded twice during any transaction or trade, according to the news site Decrypt. This would’ve created counterfeit currency and possibly a sharp drop in its value. 
Continue reading: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-27/most-used-blockchain-averts-crisis-after-software-flaw-is-fixed

Ishan Pandey:
Hi DH Kim, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind FinHaven?
About DH Kim:
Kim was born in Seoul and studied international affairs, law, and political philosophy in the United States. His degree was split into two halves because he returned home midway through his degree to serve in the military. After completing his last two years, he returned to Columbia University in New York to pursue his master’s degree, this time with an emphasis on international affairs. However, as the economy of several Asian nations, including South Korea’s, collapsed in 1997, he was obliged to return home to support his family, and he split his degree into two halves once more.
Defaulted loans, consecutive days of losses for the Korea Stock Exchange, and an emergency loan rescue to keep Kia Motors afloat were all part of the financial crisis in South Korea. Kim’s father’s firm was among those that failed. “As a result of it, I knew I needed to study a lot more about money, business, and accounting,” Kim adds. He changed his major to finance and business as a result. After graduation, he obtained a position at Merrill Lynch, which lasted almost a decade until the company collapsed and was sold to Bank of America due to the 2008 global financial crisis.
While Kim, a prolific entrepreneur, does not own a crypto corporation, he believes in the potential of blockchain—the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies—and is using it to develop Finhaven, a company at the vanguard of the transformation Kim discusses.
The firm just debuted as Canada’s first private securities marketplace to operate in several provincial jurisdictions, securing $7.9 million in seed and Series A investment. The marketplace functions similarly to a stock exchange, except it exclusively trades private securities.
It is an attitude and a vision that took decades to form, and it’s the result of years of experience working in a variety of industries in the United States, South Korea, and now Canada.
Ishan Pandey:
According to you, how can DLT disrupt capital markets?
DH Kim:
As one of the leading players in global FinTech efforts, I view blockchain technology as a glimmer of hope for such a turn of the tide. Simply stated, public capital market innovation aims to improve liquidity availability, and its success is determined by how safely it can provide liquidity to businesses in the primary market and investors in the secondary market. As a result, I think private capital market innovation should aim towards the same objectives.
Blockchain-based solutions can improve liquidity in private capital markets while also extending their usefulness to public markets over time. Without getting into too many technical specifics, I’d want to highlight a few key features of blockchain technology’s functioning in respect to capital market applications. The phrase “blockchain technology” is used in this article to refer to a distributed ledger system that includes encryption, wallets, and a consensus process.
Continue reading: https://hackernoon.com/how-blockchain-can-disrupt-private-equity-and-capital-markets-31k37gj

Blockchain is swiftly becoming the go-to solution for DeFi. It's reputation as a system so secure that is bringing cryptocurrency into the mainstream marketplace, is not unfounded. But does the buck stop here? Or are better solutions on the horizon. We spoke to Sankar Krishan, EVP and Industry Head at Banking and Capital Markets at Capgemini about the latest developments in blockchain, and which alteratives could be emerging. 
Q: Blockchain is becoming the go-to solution for digital payments. How will this affect centralised, mainstream providers?
Blockchain has emerged to become the better-trusted network for digital payments, for a variety of reasons. In particular, many of the key informational elements of payments, such as the remitter data, routing, and amount, can all be safely stored within the network – providing greater security, transparency, and traceability. Moreover, the assistance of automation significantly reduces the amount of paperwork needed for such transactions, which ultimately makes it the preferred channel for payments.
 As a response to this growing solution, several mainstream providers are now exploring blockchain rails for their traditional payments business and are investing in several crypto-native payments platforms to synergistically enhance their value proposition.
 Q: In light of the recent Poly Network hack, how safe is blockchain, and what are its vulnerabilities?
Since digital payments were first introduced, cybersecurity teams and hackers around the world have been fighting against one another, which is only expected to continue. The recent Poly Network hack has arguably exposed vulnerabilities in blockchain security which are now being fixed. While cryptocurrency, by definition, has no FDIC type of insurance, it is possible that crypto will have greater protection in the future with the introduction of further regulation.
Given that there are many types of blockchain protocols, it is extremely important to understand what the security protocols are for a security breach. While there are initiatives like cloudsecurityalliance.org, which publishes a detailed list of blockchain weaknesses, it is safe to assume that given the growth of payments on blockchain networks the vulnerabilities are high. But that is only because of the growing pains these networks are facing in their early days.
 Q: What guarantees are there right now that customer assets can be protected when they use blockchain?
I am not aware of any guarantees for crypto assets but flat payments on a bank‘s blockchain network are secured by the same laws as those governing deposits – as is the case with stable coins.
Q: What needs to be done to ensure better security in blockchain technology?
It is important to make the distinction between blockchain technology and cryptos. Blockchain technology is highly secure as all parties in a network verify that the transaction has been executed legitimately. The consensus and protocols inside the network help increase security and ensure seamless processing using cryptography, a secure distributed decentralised ledger, and consensus protocols on what actually happened.  As the technology becomes more mainstream, we will see better security as hackers attempt to trick a node or take nodes offline. While there may be some vulnerabilities within the inter-operations between multiple blockchains, the good news is that security is progressively getting better.
Continue reading: https://fintechmagazine.com/digital-payments/blockchain-technology-defi-security-hackers-market

Over the last three or four years, blockchain adoption has expanded tremendously, and each industry is exploring different use cases for the technology. There are multiple aspects of blockchain — from business to technical and more — but with the way the industry is exploding, it’s really hard to get it right.
It’s best to divide the blockchain topic into two main buckets in order to understand the development of the ecosystem and the key benefits and innovations it provides. One is cryptocurrency, where we cover industries like financial services, insurance and capital markets, including deals via private equity and venture capital. Then we look into the enterprise world, which is about how we apply blockchain as a technology in different industries.
Enterprise blockchain
Last year, we published our “Time for Trust” report, which covers the top five use cases for blockchain technology: provenance, payments and financial instruments, identity, contracts and dispute resolution, and customer engagement. These use cases will have a significant impact on the GDP of a country and the global economy.
The number-one use case is traceability, or provenance. In the future, with the decentralized technological revolution and evolution, you will need to understand and provide full transparency for your consumers. For example, if you are buying medicine for cancer, which is very high priced, you will need to know that it’s authentic, not fake. And this is where we have a technological solution that is enabled by blockchain technology. It is the same with buying haute couture expensive clothes, cars, etc. Consumers who are paying a lot of money must be sure that they are buying authentic items, which is why those supply chains could constitute a killer use case for blockchain — especially in the next decade.
The second use case is around peer-to-peer trading. But how does P2P trading make sense within the supply chain? It is around the logistics market. Say, for example, a company wants to send a container from Amsterdam to Australia. It needs to go to a transport company, which will move a container onto a ship, and then actually it goes ahead. There are also transport providers on the other side of the trade, and they do the same. They unload the container and make sure that it is shipped to the importer. But what if you had a marketplace or platform where you could see how many ships are traveling in the next day or next hour? And if there is a space available, you could directly, yourself, place the container that you want to ship out, meaning that you don’t need a middleman. This is what the future looks like with this kind of decentralized technology.
And then the third — and the last bucket — is around document sharing. How can you store all your bills of lading, letters of credit and certificates in a digitized manner? At the moment, you can do it with a cloud solution, but it’s easy to hack a PDF. And there have been cases where transport companies have faced millions and billions of dollars worth of fraud, forcing them to stick with paper documents because then they know that the paper is exact proof, and they have something tangible on their hands. But with blockchain, you can add a timestamp and completely track how a document is being generated, where it is coming from, who has opened it, who has edited it and who has altered it.
Continue reading: https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-technology-can-change-the-world-and-not-just-via-crypto

Washington has historically been in short supply of lawmakers and enforcers who actually understand the technology they're seeking to regulate.
Gary Gensler is among those changing that.
He's the new chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that might also be responsible for creating rules in the volatile and wildly popular crypto space.
But before joining in April, he taught blockchain technology at MIT — he can quote Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious Bitcoin creator, from memory, Bloomberg reported.
So he's not against the burgeoning $1.6 trillion crypto world, but he's also called it the "Wild West." The once-niche decentralized currency has plunged into the mainstream in recent years, worrying regulators like Gensler who want to throw up guard rails to protect customers from fraud, scams, and market manipulation — a reality that some crypto fanatics aren't too keen on.
MIT professor, former CFTC chair, and ex-Goldman Sachs partner
 
Gensler, 63, has a background in blockchain technology and financial policy, has years of government service under his belt, and spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions department.
In 2002, Gensler — a progressive — helped create the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which became a defining piece of legislation to protect investors from corporate fraud following high-profile scandals like those involving Enron.
President Obama appointed him to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2009, and he served until 2014.
Then, Gensler, a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, started teaching at MIT in 2018, including a course called Blockchain and Money — meaning he's interested in cryptocurrencies but has said that doesn't mean he's against protecting investors.
What does Gensler want to do?
For one, he asked Congress to pass a law allowing the SEC to monitor all crypto exchanges, and he's open to possibly green-lighting a Bitcoin-focused ETF.
Gensler told Bloomberg this month that digital currencies could be a boon for economic progress, but only if they have robust regulation. He likened it to the auto industry going mainstream when traffic lights and speed limits were introduced.
The SEC is currently eyeing how to rein in multiple areas of the crypto space, including stablecoins, lending platforms, and decentralized finance, or DeFi, he told the outlet.
Continue reading: https://www.businessinsider.com/gary-gensler-sec-chair-crypto-cop-blockchain-regulation-2021-8