It should go without saying that the Internet of Things (IoT) has become far more accessible in recent years thanks to the rise of smartphones. Devices are more powerful and the Internet more widespread than ever before, meaning more vendors are looking to find success with their own smartphone application.
There is a catch, of course, and it is that the world's favorite smartphone runs on a specific operating system that warrants extra attention. The Apple iPhone accounts for a significant chunk of active smartphones today—more than one billion worldwide—and yet its famous iOS operating system demands additional considerations from application developers.
How can you go about programming the Internet of Things with iOS? What's more, how can you build an  IoT iOS app? Let's look at the five key steps to building applications for Apple audiences.
Step 1: Learn Xcode and Swift When developing an app, you need to choose whether to do it natively, hybrid or cross-platform. The best of these options—if your app is only for one operating system—is native development. This is because it lets you access OS features, such as GPS or the camera, and gives your app better performance. When developing natively for iOS, you are going to want to use the native Xcode.
Continue reading: https://www.rfidjournal.com/the-five-steps-to-build-iot-apps-on-ios

Tom Guy is chief product officer at Vodafone Smart Tech. An experienced hand in the culture of start-ups, Guy has brought a new dynamism to the company’s newly established product division, a 50-person team that has already made its mark with products like the Curve smart GPS tracker and Curve Bike light & GPS tracker. In particular, Guy has managed to parlay the experience he garnered from being one of the founding members of Hive, and working closely alongside consultants like Yves Béhar, into Vodafone’s new venture. ‘Vodafone realized the opportunities that were coming out of the Internet of Things and they wanted to connect people,’ Guy explains, ‘Our challenge is to bring a new level of attention to the products. At Hive we were obsessed with quality and customer experience and that’s exactly what we’re doing here. It’s not about technology for technology’s sake.’ 
Guy admits that the Internet of Things hasn’t always been easy to understand. ‘The customer expectation has sometimes been higher than what the tech provides,’ he says, giving the example of a smart light bulb that requires someone to get out their phone and open an app just to turn a light on. ‘Vodafone had a roadmap of projects but also some clear customer pain points,’ he continues, ‘I had to ask, what problems are we trying to solve? What is the magic moment we want to create? You can’t simply use new products just to create that ‘wow moment’.’ 
As well as the Curve range, Smart Tech systems also include the Neo, a Disney-infused smartwatch for children that takes youthful curiosity and aptitude for technology and turns it into a timepiece, calendar and camera that’s sprinkled with favorite characters, as well as being an easy way for parents to stay in touch. Guy worked once more with Béhar on this project, and he implies that future tech from Vodafone might take some of Neo’s innovations and apply them to different sectors.
Continue reading: https://www.wallpaper.com/technology/vodafone-smart-tech-interview-tom-guy

In the last couple of years, and for various reasons, society hurtled into the digital era. As we know, innovation is now ingrained into the metrics for the success of any business. The internet of things (IoT) is becoming the norm for homes. For instance, millions now own intelligent products, such as televisions and personal digital assistants like Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod and Google Home. So, as more people become comfortable with smart technology, more will want the same convenience in their places of work.
As a business leader, one always has to think one, two or even five steps ahead. For example, while all of our employees work on-site at our international headquarters, we have off-site consultants and freelancers. Years ago, we looked into making remote workers part of our team and our meetings. We settled on the Owl Labs platform. It was about a year after the launch of Zoom and before it became a well-known brand. That need nearly eight years ago helped us survive and not miss a beat during 2020 when local restrictions had our employees working from home instead of the office.
Every leader looks to maximize efficiency and increase productivity. Thankfully, technology exists to do all of it and support human teams. And that’s the reason that you should consider creating an intelligent office for your business.
Continue reading: 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2021/08/17/five-steps-to-create-a-smart-office-for-your-business/?sh=7f7d54aa4c84

Getting ahead in a male-dominated field as a person with a marginalized gender is no easy task. Consider the tech industry, for example. According to the Society of Women Engineers, only 13% of engineers are women and 26% of computer scientists are women. And even then only 12% of women in computing roles are Black or Latinx.
But that doesn’t mean women and other marginalized genders can’t find success in roles that are popular in tech, such as engineering. Take Amanda Gellhouse, Kate Dameron, and Tracy Burge—three members of the engineering team at Hinge Health, a digital health company for treating back and joint pain and one of the top 10 unicorns in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Here, they offer advice on how they’ve navigated their careers as female engineers—from the importance of having mentors to finding the confidence to speak up and make their voices heard.
1. Cultivate a Support System
While it would be great if our credentials could always speak for themselves, it’s helpful to have someone who can advocate for you as well. That’s where mentors come into play. Don’t have one yet? Not to worry. You may know someone already you can turn to for professional (and personal) advice.
Senior engineering manager Amanda Gellhouse suggests taking stock of your existing network, including current and former colleagues and managers. “All of my mentors appeared around me, and I recognized them as people who could provide valuable input,” she says. “Connect with people, and start learning from them.”
Continue reading: https://todayuknews.com/entrepreneurs/7-career-tips-for-succeeding-as-a-woman-in-tech/

By 2026, Deloitte’s Digital Pulse Report forecasts that there will be over 1.1 million technology workers in Australia, representing an average annual growth rate of 5.4%. There is already a significant skills shortage in the Australian tech workforce, so increasing female participation — which is already low — would not only expand the talent pool but help address the increasing skills gap. However, with women leaving high-tech jobs at twice the rate of men, there’s a danger that tech’s skills shortage could worsen without some serious self-assessment from within the sector. 
I frequently hear women talk about how they have to deal with a hostile “bro-culture” common in many companies in the tech sector. This pervasive environment, which can manifest as overt or unconscious, I believe, is a leading cause of women leaving the industry. 
One theory is that tech startups begin with a core of young, like-minded male employees who recruit from their existing networks. They are more focused on growing their business than employment policies so by the time they add an HR department, the “boys being boys” culture is ingrained, and difficult to change.  
My own conversations with women in tech uphold this theory. Many women say that the environment is set up in a way they feel they can’t be themselves and still be in the mix. For example, after work beers and pizzas are the norm in the tech world; it is where many of the conversations and deals are made. However, for women with kids this is not a viable option, so they are not involved in the conversation. Women say that they must change their whole persona to fit in and succeed in the tech world. 
Continue reading: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/opinion/women-tech-bro-culture-gender-diversity/

Former Microsoft channel chief Gavriella Schuster officially has left the company after more than 25 years with plans to devote her time to promoting and facilitating diversity, equity and inclusion in the technology industry.
Schuster, who served as corporate vice president of Microsoft’s One Commercial Partner program, will divide her time among multiple organizations in advisory and board member capacities.
“My primary focus is around tackling one of the biggest challenges that we face in high tech, which is to really continue to drive that innovation curve, we need greater diversity,” Schuster said. “We don’t have it, and we are not making fast enough progress. In fact, in a lot of ways, we are going backwards in the progress that we are making.”
The percentage of women entering the technology industry is lower today than it was 20 years ago, according to Schuster. The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on people dropping out of the workforce has significantly impacted women more than men, as well as people of color more than the majority white population, she said.
Continue reading: https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/gavriella-schuster-details-post-microsoft-plans

Business Analyst at City of Durango Farmington, New Mexico, United States
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariajgutierrez/

FIT’s Women Choose Tech apprenticeship program builds on the non-profit’s previous work to encourage diversity in Ireland’s tech industry.
Non-profit Fastrack into IT (FIT) is on a mission to grow Ireland’s tech talent pipeline and provide people traditionally underserved by the higher education system with career opportunities, training and apprenticeships.
Its latest apprenticeship program focuses on increasing women’s involvement in the tech industry – a sector that has long suffered from a lack of diversity.
FIT established its Women Choose Tech apprenticeship program this year specifically for women who want to get into the industry or further their career. The goal is to attain 33pc female participation in tech apprenticeships in Ireland by 2022.
The program aims to build on partnerships with tech and other employers to encourage the recruitment of women apprentices in technology roles, provide supports for applicants considering a tech apprenticeship, and increase awareness of the opportunities available.
Continue reading: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/fit-irish-women-choose-tech-apprenticeships

Today’s Women in Tech: Emi Olsson, US Chief Technology Officer at Kyndryl
In her 23 years with IBM, Emi Olsson has reinvented herself numerous times—working as a system administrator, as a software coder, with research, as a consultant and as an IT architect. In her current role with Global Technology Services, she serves as the chief technology officer overseeing IBM’s work with financial services clients in North America.
Each time, Emi’s personal remit has been to transform herself and grow her skills while helping clients reinvent themselves for the age of cloud and AI. “You have to start with a vision, communicate that vision, empower and listen to your stakeholders, and lead by example to demonstrate how transformation works,” she says.
Emi’s inspirations for reinvention, long before she got to IBM, were her parents—especially her father, whose life in Japan was upended by war. “My father’s education was disrupted by World War II, and so he never completed high school,” Emi says. “After the war, he worked cleaning animal cages at a U.S. Naval Base research lab, and eventually followed the researcher he worked for when that scientist moved to Yale University.”
While making the most of his circumstances and supporting his family, Emi’s father remained intellectually curious. An autodidact, he absorbed volumes of knowledge about biological research, and in retirement was accepted to medical school in Japan. At age 66, he was the oldest incoming student in the school’s history. “My father lost his battle with cancer before he could complete his medical degree,” Emi recounts, “but even in his final days when he was confined to a wheelchair, his colleagues wheeled him to class.”
Emi continues the tradition of her father’s intellectual openness and competitive drive. “When I talk about having a vision for a client engagement, it’s not about having an off-the-shelf objective,” she says. “You have to pull back so you can see the bigger picture—at first with less specificity, and then with a clear focus on the end user. To make that work, you have to give your team buy-in so that they become stakeholders. Then you have to allow them to think, and trust them to be innovative and accountable.”
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-olsson-175186.html

DJI, the industry leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, is making its Agras T30 and T10 agriculture drones available in over 100 additional countries. The Agras T30 and T10, developed in partnership with farmers, make aerial precision agriculture more accessible and convenient.
DJI’s new flagship for digital agriculture, the Agras T30, features a 30-liter spray tank and a spreading system payload capacity of up to 40kg. With 16 nozzles and a spray range of 9 meters, the T30 improves the efficiency of aerial spraying and can cover up to 40 acres in one hour. It also features a fuselage made of carbon fiber composite materials with a one-key locking arm design, which helps reduce volume by 80% after folding.
The Agras T10 is compact but powerful, featuring an 8-liter spray tank and spray width of up to 5 meters, able to cover up to 15 acres an hour. Its sturdy and reliable folding truss structure allows for convenient transportation and quick deployment
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/08/17/dji-crop-spraying-drones-now-available-internationally/

Fresh off the notoriety of having its processors power NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, Qualcomm has rolled out its next-generation technologies for drones on Earth — aiming to drive adoption beyond hobbyists and into commercial industries.
The San Diego wireless technology company announced its Flight RB5 5G Platform on Tuesday. It is the first drone system to include 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence technology, which eventually could help enable autonomous, beyond-line-of-sight flights for such things as crop inspection, search and rescue, powerline/wind turbine monitoring, package delivery, mapping and so on.
In addition to the processing/connectivity platform, Qualcomm also launched its first-ever reference design kit for drone developers — essentially an aircraft body, rotors and other necessities to help companies develop drones faster and easier.
“This will help accelerate the development of commercial and enterprise drones in this field and really open up innovation possibilities for industries looking to adopt high performance, low power, long-range, autonomous and intelligent drones,” said Dev Singh, senior director and general manager of Qualcomm’s robotics and drone businesses.
Continue reading: 
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/technology/story/2021-08-17/sd-fi-qualcomm-drones

Visit the Zift careers page and see if there is an opportunity for you: https://ziftsolutions.com/about/careers/

Visit the CompTIA careers page to see if there is an opportunity for you: https://us60.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/comptia

Workforce Development Manager - Cybersecurity and IT at Greater Phoenix Chamber
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nganp/

Shunning new technologies and ways of doing business has never yielded positive results; crypto is no different.
Given the deluge of crypto coverage and analysis recently, between legislation, regulation, and market opinions, it would be understandable if a certain thread had slipped under the radar; the connection between cryptoassets and national security. Something that has been stated on several occasions at this point is that the continuing integration and utilization of cryptoassets – be it bitcoin or stablecoins – poses a systemic threat. This threat is stated to apply to the financial markets, the US dollar’s status as the global reserve currency, and the strategic success of the United States abroad.
This could not be further from the truth.
Blockchain and crypto have proven themselves to be perhaps the most disruptive technology since the development of the internet, with applications and use cases still being discovered on a daily basis. With such fundamental disruption there will invariably be some dislocations and changes to the status quo, but that is not the equivalent of being a national security risk. Rather, the continued development and proliferation of cryptoassets brings with it the potential for new and innovative applications across virtually every economic sector.
Let’s take a look at how and why cryptoassets should be viewed as a national strategic asset, and why its further development should be encouraged and nurtured.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/seansteinsmith/2021/08/17/crypto-is-a-national-security-asset-not-a-liability/?sh=517e072e606f

Humans love tools. They enable us to do what we have to do and what we like to do. From the chisel to virtual assistants, we have created our tools with the same objective: improving our lives.
Internet of Things (IoT) emerged from this mindset: a global network consisting of billions of physical “things” embedded with sensors and connected via the Internet. This ecosystem is replete with these new kinds of tools and is poised to impact our lives significantly. It can advance everything from health and security to convenience and comfort. In fact, by 2030, smart devices are expected to outnumber humans 10:1. There is obvious value in harnessing these tools to our advantage.
There is, however, a risk. These devices are not perfect. We are quick to welcome them into our homes, even on our bodies, but we do not always consider our privacy and security implications.
Data Value
Our data is precious. Big Tech profits immensely from commodifying and analyzing the data we create online. With the proliferation of smart devices, these companies now have access to our physical data. They can see us with their cameras, hear us with their speakers, and sense us with their fitness trackers. To make matters worse, recent large-scale hacks should make our hair stand up at the idea of holding sensitive information with a singular third party.
IoT can be a handy place for new tools, but we have to use it correctly. Fortunately, when IoT is coupled with another influential technology, it retains its benefits without eliminating the right to own your data. Blockchain can ensure smart devices serve us instead of encroaching on our most private selves.
Continue reading: https://www.iotforall.com/civil-liberties-blockchain

Many of us have increasingly become used to making transactions using digital wallets and online payment systems. We are also exhorted to never share our PIN numbers and passwords to prevent hackers and fraudsters from breaking into out account and stealing money. So, while the transactions are digital, the fears are pretty analog, akin to having our pocket picked or property burgled. Such worries though are largely non-existent in the world of cryptocurrency for all the talk of the unsavory ways in which they are used. That is because of the blockchain technology underlying cryptocurrencies, which ensure that it is terribly difficult to tamper with records or get away with unauthorized transactions.
WHAT IS THE BLOCKCHAIN?
It’s a combination of two words ‘block’ and ‘chain’, and the meaning is quite direct. To begin with, what you need to know is that Bitcoin — the earliest and the most valuable cryptocurrency — records transactions in tranches known as ‘blocks’, and then adds such one block to another in a continuing ‘chain’ of all transactions. Much like a ledger or an account book, where entries are listed one below the other. Except that here there is no single person who records the entries but everybody who owns the cryptocurrency gets to play an active role in the upkeep and fidelity of the account book.
WHY WAS THE BLOCKCHAIN CREATED?
Any cryptocurrency is a digital token. That is, say you own 10 Bitcoins, you don’t actually hold them in your hands. Your crypto assets will exist as lines of code on a computer and any transaction you make will have to be digitally executed and verified.
Now, to have a purely digital currency, which exists only as code, can be more complicated than physical money. That is because with physical money, if you have a Rs 10 note and you gave it to a shopkeeper to buy a pen, you will not be able to use the same note again because you have lost, or exchanged, custody of the Rs 10 note for the item you bought. However, with a digital currency there is a problem that the same line of code, which represents a set monetary value, can be sent to multiple people. How would they know that one hasn’t already spent the money that is being offered afresh?
Continue reading: https://www.news18.com/news/explainers/explained-why-the-best-thing-about-cryptocurrency-may-be-the-blockchain-tech-that-anchors-it-4098050.html

Across the globe, women have been sidelined when it comes to finance and technology, and the Middle East is no exception. Luckily, things are changing, and the internet is providing new opportunities for learning and inclusion. 
Blockchain offers a blank slate in the Middle East: a new industry where the rules have not yet been fully defined and where women can get involved and make it their own when given the right tools. 
It is no secret that in areas of the Middle East, women have far less financial autonomy in society than men. A 2020 McKinsey report on “women at work” in the Middle East found high inequalities persist, most notably in legal protection and financial inclusion with a significant number of women in the region remaining unbanked. 
The distribution of knowledge is more egalitarian nowadays, as anyone with access to the internet can learn to code or trade. Decentralized finance (DeFi) can help to level the playing field when it comes to women’s finances, removing the need for intermediaries and reliance on centralized institutions that often fail to safeguard their money. 
Continue reading: https://www.coindesk.com/blockchain-empowers-women-middle-east

In the middle of rural Texas, a cryptocurrency mine is currently under construction.
Hundreds of machines more powerful than the average computer will soon be housed in this 320-acre mining facility in Dickens county, where they will work day and night to solve a complex series of algorithms. If successful, the reward will be newly minted bitcoin, currently worth about $44,000 each.
Kevin Brendle, Dickens county’s top elected official, embraced the idea of the mine when Argo Blockchain, a Canadian cryptocurrency mining company, first approached him with the idea of building a facility in the area. Dickens county, population 2,300, “is mostly improved pasture and grassland”, Brendle said.
“It’s wide-open range land, it’s cattle country with a little farming,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of economic development.”
A mine could help stimulate the economy, creating jobs and improving the county’s tax base. And in return, the mine will be powered by some of the cheapest electricity in the world.
Continue reading: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/aug/17/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-mining-texas

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with dual degrees, Claire McAfee’s post-collegiate job search was buoyed by a desire to find a role with ample opportunities for learning. Since coming aboard Austin-based Acrisure Technology Group as a software engineer a year ago, McAfee has not only found that those learning opportunities have materialized but that she and her team members are well-positioned to make a significant impact in risk distribution.
“We have a lot of autonomy. People’s voices go a long way here,” McAfee said. “We pivot from one thing to the next quickly, and we have the resources to propel us in the direction we’re trying to go.”
At high-growth insurance broker Acrisure, team members said they are developing a large collection of mapped business and individual risk data and are using AI to transform prospecting, retention and client service for their network of Agency Partners — the brokers who make up Acrisure’s global distribution network.
Seasoned technology veteran and Principal Product Manager John Cathey said those tech tools can help augment customer acquisition efforts to complement human expertise.
Continue reading: https://www.builtinaustin.com/2021/08/17/spotlight-acrisure-technology-group-team

Even though Frank Pica has spent much of his career in tech-enabled marketing and advertising, he realized how difficult it is to understand consumer behavior online after looking at himself in the mirror.
"I took a look at myself, and I was like, 'Man, if I was a freaking company trying to understand my preferences from one day to the next, I'd f------ quit,' " Pica said.
But Pica didn't quit. Instead, he launched a company that uses artificial intelligence to try to gain a deeper understanding of why people do what they do online when looking at food and beverage CPG products and produce. Pica serves as CEO of Native.AI, the company he founded with Sarah Sanders, who is the startup's chief operating officer.
Native.AI uses technology known as natural language processing to try to parse the sentiment and meaning of things that consumers write about products online — on reviews, surveys and online comments. This information comes directly from consumers, meaning it's not filtered through retailers or online services, and can be extremely valuable. But by definition, it doesn't necessarily have a logical structure and requires attention to detail or sophisticated technology to make it useful.
Continue reading: https://www.fooddive.com/news/how-nativeai-is-bringing-consumer-data-closer-to-manufacturers/604977/

Not too long ago, AI was the topic of futuristic movies. What was once a fictional draw at the Box Office is now a reality in offices worldwide. AI is everywhere and rapidly transforming the way we work. What remains scarce though is the technical talent in healthcare to see this tech revolution through. 
AI is quickly expanding into the technical infrastructure of the U.S. healthcare system. Its transformative potential is incredibly promising, from enhancing clinical workflows and streamlining administrative and payment processes to extracting life-saving insights from EHR data and genomic research. As the trust in AI grows, so does its perceived value in the healthcare space.  
A July 2020 Intel survey of U.S. healthcare leaders found that 84 percent of respondents have already deployed or expect to deploy AI into their clinical workflow. Additional findings from Intel conclude that the top areas of application for AI in healthcare would be predictive analytics at 94 percent, and clinical decision support and cross-specialty collaboration to improve patient care, both at 92 percent. But healthcare’s embracement of AI also comes with fears, including improper implementation and underperformance. These noted obstacles make AI executive recruitment even more critical for future solution developers in digital health.
Recruiting already sought-after AI talent can be quite an undertaking, especially for emerging developers who must compete with tech giants like Google, Apple and Microsoft. Young companies and startups don’t need tons of cash to attract the right talent. What they need is a strategic plan and guide—one that’s deliberate, intentional and honest.
Continue reading: https://hitconsultant.net/2021/08/18/guide-hiring-ai-talent-digital-health-biotech-life-sciences/#.YR0brIhKg2w

Data engineers have an important job of transforming data into valuable insights for businesses.
Given the exponential growth of big data, and the ability of data engineers to manage and manipulate this data, data engineers are essential to a company’s success.
Challenges Of Data Engineering
That said, data engineering is far from easy.
The more data you have, the harder it is to make sense of it. After all, the average person can only focus on four pieces of information at a time. Even if we’re told that “data is the new oil,” more data also means more complexity.
One major obstacle is that the infrastructure needed to handle the data is costly and not available in most organizations. 
This is particularly the case when building artificial intelligence (AI) models, which require a ton of computational power and specialized infrastructure. For instance, when building models for complex tasks like fraud detection, the size of the data required is huge. When you factor in the cost of renting hardware from cloud providers, model training and retraining and deployment, it can get very expensive.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2021/08/17/how-data-engineers-can-achieve-competitive-advantage/?sh=6293a84a7db5

Successful IoT deployments require expertise and skill across all ecosystem areas, from hardware to software to security, throughout the entire lifecycle from solution design to end-of-life. Most enterprises lack the internal resources needed to ensure success for their IoT initiatives. In addition to staff limitations, many organizations don’t have the experience or expertise to identify and overcome configuration, deployment, and ongoing maintenance challenges.
So how is an organization supposed to deploy successful IoT solutions? By starting with one device and working with a partner who pays close attention to seemingly small details, such as having additional hardware ready in case of a failure, getting devices into the field swiftly, and efficient supply chain management. IoT managed services providers help enterprises do just that through a full suite of forward and reverse logistics that streamline operations and simplify the complexity of IoT deployments.
Continue reading: https://www.iotforall.com/start-with-one-device-iot-managed-services-for-forward-and-reverse-logistics

Standard Chartered Bank UAE has announced the launch of the third cohort of the Women in Tech program, held in partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Fintech Hive and Hub71.
The launch event, which took place at the DIFC Fintech Hive, was attended by several members of the local start-up community, as well as executives from Standard Chartered, Hub71, Fintech Hive and Finyal Media. In its third year, Standard Chartered’s Women in Tech program aims to promote the economic and social development of women entrepreneurs in the UAE through innovation and technology-led entrepreneurship.
The UAE-leg of this program is part of the bank’s global Women in Tech initiative that is live across nine markets, including Standard Chartered New York, Kenya, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Bahrain. In the UAE, the program is focused on capacity building for women-owned enterprises and targets female-led entrepreneurial teams to provide them with training, mentorship and seed funding. In addition to mentorship programs, Standard Chartered, DIFC Fintech Hive, and Hub71 will be giving away a total of $100,000 in funding to the winners of this year’s cohort.
Continue reading: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/local/standard-chartered-uae-launches-third-cohort-of-flagship-women-in-tech-programme