Thursday, 10 March 2016
Robots That Teach Each Other
The Multi-Billion Dollar Robotics Market Is About to Boom
Here’s another sign that the robotics industry is poised to see big gains in the future.
On Wednesday, a report by International Data Corporation said worldwide spending on robotics and related services will hit $135.4 billion in 2019. The research firm said that global robotics spending in 2015 was $71 billion, and is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17%.
Lumping together everything from robot software to hardware components to robot services (like robotic hotel receptionists) in its tally of robotic spending, the report’s authors explain that the total spend on robot services, business consulting, education, and training will eventually eclipse sales of the robots themselves by 2019.
“Robotics as a technology has really reached its tipping point,” said IDC Manufacturing Insights research manager John Santagate in a statement. “Robotic capabilities continue to expand while increasing investment in robot development is driving competition and helping to bring down the costs associated with robots.”
The authors said that the two fastest growing industries for robotics are healthcare and process manufacturing, which is a branch of manufacturing that involves developing products based on recipes or formulas, like sodas or drugs.
Currently, the manufacturing sector is purchasing the most robots and related services. But the report explained that the healthcare sector is expected to see a bump in robotics purchases, with spending expected to double by 2019.
Read More: http://fortune.com/2016/02/24/robotics-market-multi-billion-boom/
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Upgrading India’s cyber security architecture
Two things set aside India’s digital spaces from that of major powers such as the United States and China: design and density. India is a net information exporter. Its information highways point west, carrying with them the data of millions of Indians. This is not a design flaw, but simply reflects the popularity of social media platforms and the lack of any serious effort by the Indian government to restrict the flow of data. Equally important is the density of India’s cyberspace. Nearly 500 million Indians use the Internet today, but they do not access the Internet from the same devices. Apple’s market share in the U.S., for instance, is 44 per cent, but iPhones account for less than 1 per cent in India. The massive gap between the security offered by the cheapest phone in the Indian market and a high-end smartphone makes it impossible for regulators to set legal and technical standards for data protection.
With little control over the hardware used by Indian Internet users as well as the information that is carried through them, India’s national security architecture faces a difficult task in cyberspace. India’s infrastructure is susceptible to four kinds of digital intrusions: espionage, which involves intruding into systems to steal information of strategic or commercial value; cybercrime, referring to electronic fraud or other acts of serious criminal consequence; attacks, intended at disrupting services or systems for a temporary period; and war, caused by a large-scale and systematic digital assault on India’s critical installations.
Indian authorities have spent the lion’s share of their resources tackling localised cybercrime while responding to major attacks on a case-by-case basis. Recognising the strategic dimensions of cyberspace, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) created the position of the National Cyber Security Coordinator in 2014, a welcome first step. There is, however, no national security architecture today that can assess the nature of cyber threats and respond to them effectively. India’s civilian institutions have their own firefighting agencies, and the armed forces have their own insulated platforms to counter cyber attacks.
Read More: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/upgrading-indias-cyber-security-architecture/article8327987.ece
Cyber Security Trends To Watch: 2016
LONDON—One year ago, Control Risks highlighted two prominent cyber trends and made four predictions for 2015. While none of those predictions appear particularly revelatory in hindsight, they have all proven correct and, along with the trends discussed then, are likely to continue through the year ahead. Moreover, they provided a brief snapshot of the dynamism of the cyber threat landscape, a snapshot that I will look to expand upon in this year’s edition of our cyber security trends to watch.
The role of geopolitics and the emergence of cyber deterrence
Recalling a theme from last year, the first point to note is that geopolitics will be the core determinant of the shape and severity of the cyber threat many public and private sector organizations face. As countries grapple with the uncertainties and vicissitudes of contemporary international relations, it is becoming increasingly clear that cyber deterrence will eventually become a core pillar of 21st century diplomacy. The US is currently working out the finer points of its official cyber deterrence policy and, through websites directly linked to state-run media outlets, the Chinese military has given a fairly clear indication of its own. Russia, on the other hand, has already put its approach to cyber deterrence into action, regularly carrying out retaliatory operations seemingly intended to punish and shape the decision-making of strategic rivals and erstwhile allies. Likewise, North Korea has episodically lashed out with disruptive attacks against identified adversaries, knowing that its self-contained internet infrastructure largely protects it from external cyber retaliation.
Alarmingly for business, the majority of apparent cases of cyber deterrence involved targeting of commercial entities. This reflects the imperative role that corporate enterprises play in ensuring that, at a fundamental level, populations are provided with basic commodities like electricity, food, water, fuel and the ability to communicate. It is also indicative of the internet’s status as the backbone of any modern society. Because they deliver a privately-owned public good, critical national infrastructure (CNI) providers are likely to bear the brunt of nation-states’ deterrent cyber attacks. There is little prospect of many of the more outlandish doomsday scenarios put forward about cyber operations against CNI being realized. Nonetheless, the threat is real and growing.
Formerly, Iran was assessed by many observers in the Western intelligence community as one of the nations most likely to conduct a destructive attack against their core industries. However, the lifting of US and international nuclear sanctions will bring about a step change in Iranian operations that will reshape the nature and potentially reduce the scope of the Iranian cyber threat to the West. Namely, there will be a transition from cyber operations almost solely focused on developing situational policy awareness and collecting target-specific intelligence with a view to future disruptive attacks, to a situation in which cyber-enabled corporate espionage becomes increasingly prominent.
Read More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/riskmap/2016/03/08/cyber-security-trends-to-watch-2016/#629e505a1a36
The role of geopolitics and the emergence of cyber deterrence
Recalling a theme from last year, the first point to note is that geopolitics will be the core determinant of the shape and severity of the cyber threat many public and private sector organizations face. As countries grapple with the uncertainties and vicissitudes of contemporary international relations, it is becoming increasingly clear that cyber deterrence will eventually become a core pillar of 21st century diplomacy. The US is currently working out the finer points of its official cyber deterrence policy and, through websites directly linked to state-run media outlets, the Chinese military has given a fairly clear indication of its own. Russia, on the other hand, has already put its approach to cyber deterrence into action, regularly carrying out retaliatory operations seemingly intended to punish and shape the decision-making of strategic rivals and erstwhile allies. Likewise, North Korea has episodically lashed out with disruptive attacks against identified adversaries, knowing that its self-contained internet infrastructure largely protects it from external cyber retaliation.
Alarmingly for business, the majority of apparent cases of cyber deterrence involved targeting of commercial entities. This reflects the imperative role that corporate enterprises play in ensuring that, at a fundamental level, populations are provided with basic commodities like electricity, food, water, fuel and the ability to communicate. It is also indicative of the internet’s status as the backbone of any modern society. Because they deliver a privately-owned public good, critical national infrastructure (CNI) providers are likely to bear the brunt of nation-states’ deterrent cyber attacks. There is little prospect of many of the more outlandish doomsday scenarios put forward about cyber operations against CNI being realized. Nonetheless, the threat is real and growing.
Formerly, Iran was assessed by many observers in the Western intelligence community as one of the nations most likely to conduct a destructive attack against their core industries. However, the lifting of US and international nuclear sanctions will bring about a step change in Iranian operations that will reshape the nature and potentially reduce the scope of the Iranian cyber threat to the West. Namely, there will be a transition from cyber operations almost solely focused on developing situational policy awareness and collecting target-specific intelligence with a view to future disruptive attacks, to a situation in which cyber-enabled corporate espionage becomes increasingly prominent.
Read More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/riskmap/2016/03/08/cyber-security-trends-to-watch-2016/#629e505a1a36
Monday, 7 March 2016
3D Printing and Technology Convergence
Unexpected convergent consequences… this is what happens when eight different exponential technologies all explode onto the scene at once.
This blog (the 5th of 7) is a look at 3D printing. Future blogs will look at other tech areas.
An expert might be reasonably good at predicting the growth of a single exponential technology (e.g. 3D Printing), but try to predict the future when A.I., Robotics, VR, Drones, and Computation are all doubling, morphing and recombining… You have a very exciting (read: unpredictable) future. This year at my Abundance 360 Summit I decided to explore this concept in sessions I called "Convergence Catalyzers."
For each technology, I brought in an industry expert to identify their Top 5 Recent Breakthroughs (2012-2015) and their Top 5 Anticipated Breakthroughs (2016-2018). Then, we explored the patterns that emerged.
3D Printing – Context
At A360 this year, my expert on 3D Printing was Avi Reichental.
Avi is the Founder and CEO of XponentialWorks, an expert advisory, venture investment and incubation ecosystem company that is focused on monetizing exponential tech innovation and business model disruption. For 12 years, Avi was the CEO of 3D Systems, the largest publicly traded 3D printing Company in the world. A dear friend and brilliant entrepreneur, Avi is also part of our core faculty in additive manufacturing at Singularity University.
Before we dive in, here's some more context around 3D printing:
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is the process of printing, layer by layer, any three-dimensional object based on a digital file.
Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/3d-printing--technology-c_b_9397578.html?section=india
Cloud computing: What's coming next
It is ten years since the official launch of Amazon Web Services -- and, during that decade, the cloud has moved from an over-hyped concept to a business reality.
Today, on-demand IT is used in a variety of ways by organisations of all shapes and sizes. But what will the future bring? We analyse the current market for on-demand services and predict how businesses will use the cloud by 2020.
How big is the cloud market, really?
Tech Companies, New and Old, Clamor to Entice Cloud Computing Experts
SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon Web Services, a globe-spanning cloud computing network that is part of the online retailing giant Amazon, has rapidly become one of the most powerful forces in technology. It has also become a target for poachers.
Last October, at a conference in Las Vegas with thousands of corporate executives and software developers in attendance, A.W.S.’s chief, Andy Jassy, strode before an intentionally poorly disguised image of Lawrence J. Ellison, founder and chairman of the Oracle Corporation. Foot-tall words like “bullies,” “extorted” and “strong arm” appeared next to Mr. Jassy and the image of Ellision. The logo of Oracle, one of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley, was barely crossed out.
“Our marketing team needs work on redaction,” Mr. Jassy joked.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
What Microsoft’s Xamarin Purchase Says About the Cloud Computing FightFEB. 24, 2016
Apple Still Holds the Keys to Its Cloud Service, but ReluctantlyFEB. 21, 2016
Microsoft Plumbs Ocean’s Depths to Test Underwater Data CenterJAN. 31, 2016
Better cloaked was the reason for his enmity: Oracle had been slow to get into the cloud business, but recently made multiple hiring raids on A.W.S. Both Oracle and Amazon declined to comment on Mr. Jassy’s dig.
The hunt for the hard-to-find talent that can build and run the massive data centers behind cloud computing is pitting three generations of companies against one another. Old-guard companies like Oracle, tech’s current giants like Amazon and its peers, as well as Bay Area start-ups are offering big salaries and big perks for cloud computing experts.
On the social media site LinkedIn, for example, there are over 130 engineering positions available at Oracle Seattle. Many of them are the kind of jobs that now pay $300,000 to $1 million a year, according to Shannon Anderson, who has been recruiting engineers in Seattle and the Bay Area for 25 years.
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/technology/tech-companies-new-and-old-clamor-to-entice-cloud-computing-experts.html?_r=0
Last October, at a conference in Las Vegas with thousands of corporate executives and software developers in attendance, A.W.S.’s chief, Andy Jassy, strode before an intentionally poorly disguised image of Lawrence J. Ellison, founder and chairman of the Oracle Corporation. Foot-tall words like “bullies,” “extorted” and “strong arm” appeared next to Mr. Jassy and the image of Ellision. The logo of Oracle, one of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley, was barely crossed out.
“Our marketing team needs work on redaction,” Mr. Jassy joked.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
What Microsoft’s Xamarin Purchase Says About the Cloud Computing FightFEB. 24, 2016
Apple Still Holds the Keys to Its Cloud Service, but ReluctantlyFEB. 21, 2016
Microsoft Plumbs Ocean’s Depths to Test Underwater Data CenterJAN. 31, 2016
Better cloaked was the reason for his enmity: Oracle had been slow to get into the cloud business, but recently made multiple hiring raids on A.W.S. Both Oracle and Amazon declined to comment on Mr. Jassy’s dig.
The hunt for the hard-to-find talent that can build and run the massive data centers behind cloud computing is pitting three generations of companies against one another. Old-guard companies like Oracle, tech’s current giants like Amazon and its peers, as well as Bay Area start-ups are offering big salaries and big perks for cloud computing experts.
On the social media site LinkedIn, for example, there are over 130 engineering positions available at Oracle Seattle. Many of them are the kind of jobs that now pay $300,000 to $1 million a year, according to Shannon Anderson, who has been recruiting engineers in Seattle and the Bay Area for 25 years.
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/technology/tech-companies-new-and-old-clamor-to-entice-cloud-computing-experts.html?_r=0
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