In the ever-evolving landscape of design and engineering, technological advancements continue to redefine how we approach complex projects. One such innovation that’s gaining traction is the concept of “Digital Twins.”
Initially introduced as a way to monitor and maintain physical assets in real-time, the concept of Digital Twins has expanded to play a pivotal role in design and engineering processes. Let’s delve into some of the current and revolutionary use cases of Digital Twins today.
What are Digital Twins?
A Digital Twin is a virtual replica of a physical object, process, or system. It encompasses both the physical aspects and the digital representation, offering real-time insights and simulations to understand, predict, and optimize the behavior of the real-world counterpart.
They are revolutionizing the way products are designed and prototyped. Engineers and designers can create virtual prototypes that closely mirror the physical product, allowing for rapid iterations and testing. This not only speeds up the design process but also reduces the cost and waste associated with traditional trial-and-error methods. From automobiles to consumer electronics, Digital Twins enable engineers to simulate various scenarios and make informed decisions before a physical prototype is even built.
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Salient Use Cases
Predictive Maintenance: In the realm of engineering, the concept of predictive maintenance has gained prominence. By integrating Digital Twins into machinery and equipment, engineers can monitor the real-time performance of these assets and predict maintenance needs. This proactive approach minimizes downtime, prevents costly breakdowns, and extends the lifespan of equipment.
Simulation and Analysis: Digital Twins offer a platform for comprehensive simulations and analysis. Engineers can simulate the behavior of a system under different conditions, helping them identify potential challenges and opportunities for improvement. Whether it’s testing the aerodynamics of an aircraft or evaluating the structural integrity of a bridge, Digital Twins provide a safe and controlled environment to conduct experiments virtually.
Smart Cities and Infrastructure: As urbanization accelerates, the need for smart infrastructure becomes crucial. Digital Twins play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and managing smart cities. From optimizing traffic flow to monitoring energy consumption, these virtual replicas offer insights that facilitate more sustainable and efficient urban planning.
Collaboration and Communication: Digital Twins serve as a common platform for interdisciplinary collaboration. Engineers, designers, architects, and stakeholders can all interact with the virtual model, fostering better communication and understanding. This collaborative environment leads to more innovative solutions and reduces the risk of misunderstandings.
Lifecycle Management: The benefits of Digital Twins extend beyond the design and construction phases. They can be used to track the entire lifecycle of a product or system, from conception to decommissioning. This holistic approach helps organizations make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency and sustainability.
Takeaway
In conclusion, the concept of Digital Twins has transformed from a mere monitoring tool to a game-changing paradigm in design and engineering. With its ability to enhance design, predict maintenance needs, facilitate simulations, and foster collaboration, Digital Twins are reshaping how we approach complex projects. As technology continues to advance, we can expect even more innovative use cases to emerge, further solidifying Digital Twins as a cornerstone of modern engineering and design practices.
Must-Have Software Tools for Small Businesses to Outpace the Competition in 2023
In today’s fast-paced business landscape, staying ahead of the competition is crucial for small businesses. Fortunately, a plethora of powerful software tools can empower you to streamline operations, boost productivity, and unlock growth opportunities. So, let’s dive into the nine software tools that your small business should consider incorporating into its arsenal in 2023.
1. Communication & Collaboration
Google Workspace offers a suite of collaboration tools including Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and more. It enables seamless communication, file sharing, and real-time collaboration, allowing your team to work efficiently and stay connected regardless of their location. Efficient collaboration and communication are vital for remote and hybrid work environments. In addition, platforms like Slack, Skype, or Microsoft Teams can further facilitate seamless teamwork and enhance productivity. It is always a good thing to have at least two depending on what your customers or stakeholders use as well.
2. Accounting/Banking
Efficient financial management is essential for your small business. This helps you monitor every expenditure and keep good records for easy tax filings. Utilize accounting and banking software like QuickBooks or Xero to streamline invoicing, expense tracking, and financial reporting. These tools simplify bookkeeping tasks, helping you make informed decisions and ensure financial stability. Bigger companies can use Microsoft Dynamics 365’s financial packages to manage their larger turnovers.
3. Cybersecurity
Don’t think just because you are a small business, you do not need adequate online security. One security breach can do a lot of (financial and reputational) damage and stop you from growing. Remember, bigger companies can afford to repair damaged brands/images. Protecting your business from online threats is, therefore, paramount. Acunetix by Invicti, a web protection software, offers robust security features, including vulnerability scanning and web application testing. Safeguard your business’s digital assets and customer data to gain trust among your clients.
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4. Artificial Intelligence(AI)
Enhance customer support and streamline communication with ChatGPT. This well-spoken-about AI-powered platform provides multiple language-based automated solutions like a chatbot that provides instant responses to common queries. This frees up your team’s time and delivers quick solutions to your customers’ questions. They even offer personalized assistance 24/7, ensuring customer satisfaction. Setting Chatbots up properly with the right prompts can help you automate almost anything else that requires not much ‘human interaction’.
5. Project/Task Management
They say failure to plan is planning to fail. To keep projects on track and teams aligned, project management software like Asana, Notion, or Trello is therefore indispensable. These tools help you organize tasks, assign responsibilities, track progress, and collaborate effectively, ensuring timely project completion. Depending on the level of technicality of the team you can even use more agile tools. Tools such as ClickUp, Miro,or Jira, are more suited for software development teams.
6. Customer-Oriented
Without them, your business ceases to exist so you need the best tools to engage with your customers, suppliers, and partners at all times. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, such as Pipedrive, Zoho, Freshworks or HubSpot, enable you to nurture leads, track customer interactions, and manage sales pipelines. With CRM tools, you can enhance customer engagement, improve conversion rates, and foster long-term customer relationships.
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7. Social Media Management
Most of your existing and potential customers spend a significant amount of hours online – sometimes just browsing aimlessly through TikTok or watching cat videos on Youtube. Twitter has recently even started ‘rationalizing’ the amount of engagement people can have on its platform in a bid to allow its servers to ‘cool off’ and prevent AI bots from running amok. A strong online presence is, therefore, crucial in today’s digital landscape. Utilize social media management tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule posts, monitor mentions, and analyze engagement. These tools simplify social media marketing, enabling you to reach a wider audience and drive your brand awareness.
8. Email Marketing
Despite the power of the above-mentioned social media ‘movement’, Email marketing still remains a powerful tool for nurturing your leads and driving conversions. Tools like Mailchimp or Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) provide user-friendly interfaces, automated campaigns, and in-depth analytics, helping you create targeted email campaigns and measure their effectiveness. Naturally you have to do a little work to find the right prospect, or else all these will end up in a spam folder never to be seen.
9. Data Analytics
Thanks to two of the world’s software giants, you can now easily harness the power of data with analytics tools like Google Analytics or Microsoft Power BI. These tools will help you to gain insights into customer behavior, and website performance, and create better-targeted marketing campaigns. Data-driven decision-making will enable you to optimize strategies, identify growth opportunities, and therefore gain a competitive edge. You can even further feed the data into AI tools (like ChatGPT) to further analyze and decipher the data in simpler ways to quickly understand. Naturally, you should only input ‘non-private’ or generic data for the “open-source” program to crunch.
As a small business owner, leveraging the right software tools can be a game-changer in for you 2023. From streamlining operations to enhancing customer experiences, these top software tools will most certainly empower you to stay ahead of the competition. Embrace the digital revolution and equip your business with the tools necessary to drive efficiency, productivity, and growth.
For more about some of the tools mentioned – get in touch for a free consultation!
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed from a buzzword to a practical reality, revolutionizing numerous industries across the globe. With its ability to process vast amounts of data, learn from patterns, and make intelligent decisions, AI has become an invaluable tool for businesses seeking innovation, efficiency, and competitive advantage.
In this brief, we will explore real-life use cases of AI, differentiate it from machine learning, AGI, and NLP, discuss potential job transformations, and shed light on the limitations and dangers that come with its implementation.
The key to artificial intelligence has always been the representation
Jeff Hawkins
Defining AI, Machine Learning, AGI, and NLP:
Before diving into the applications, it’s crucial to clarify the distinctions between AI, machine learning (ML), artificial general intelligence (AGI), and NLP. AI refers to the broader concept of machines imitating human intelligence, enabling them to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as problem-solving, decision-making, and natural language understanding.
On the other hand, ML is a subset of AI that focuses on algorithms and statistical models that allow systems to learn from data without being explicitly programmed.
AGI, often considered the next step beyond AI, represents machines with the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across multiple domains, akin to human-like intelligence.
There is, also a less-mentioned subfield of artificial intelligence that focuses on the interaction between computers and human language. This ‘system’ encompasses the ability of machines to understand, interpret, and generate natural language in a way that is meaningful and useful.
Known as Natural Language Processing (NLP), it combines techniques from linguistics, computer science, and machine learning to enable computers to process, analyze, and respond to human language.
Some applications of NLP:
Virtual Assistants: Virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Assistant utilize NLP to understand voice commands and respond appropriately. They can perform tasks like setting reminders, playing music, providing weather updates, and answering questions.
Sentiment Analysis: NLP techniques are used to analyze and determine the sentiment expressed in text, such as social media posts, customer reviews, or survey responses. This information is valuable for businesses to understand public opinion, customer satisfaction, track trends, and brand perception.
Language Translation: NLP is widely used in machine translation systems like Google Translate. These systems employ sophisticated algorithms to process input text in one language and generate the corresponding translation in another language.
Chatbots: NLP is essential in creating intelligent chatbots that can understand and respond to user queries. Chatbots are employed in various applications, including customer support, information retrieval, and virtual assistance.
Information Extraction: NLP techniques enable the extraction of structured information from unstructured text. This is particularly useful in fields such as data mining, knowledge management, and content analysis.
Spam Filtering: NLP plays a vital role in email spam filters by analyzing the content and language patterns to identify and block unwanted or malicious emails.
Voice Recognition: NLP powers voice recognition technology, allowing systems to convert spoken words into written text. This technology is used in applications like transcription services, voice assistants, and voice-controlled devices.
Medical Text Analysis: NLP is utilized in healthcare to analyze medical literature, patient records, and clinical notes. It helps in extracting valuable insights, automating administrative tasks, and supporting medical decision-making.
News Summarization: NLP algorithms can summarize large volumes of news articles or documents, providing users with concise and informative summaries.
These are just a few examples of how NLP is applied in various domains. Its versatility and potential continue to grow as researchers and developers explore new ways to leverage human language for improved communication and understanding between humans and machines.
Some Real-World AI Applications in Industry
Courtesy of Pixabay
Healthcare: AI is revolutionizing healthcare by enhancing diagnostics, personalized medicine, and patient care. Companies like Zebra Medical Vision utilize AI algorithms to analyze medical images, improving the early detection of diseases like cancer. AI-powered virtual assistants also assist doctors in accessing patient information quickly, reducing administrative burdens.
AI-Generated Factory. Courtesy of Pixabay
Manufacturing: Smart factories are embracing AI to optimize production processes, quality control, and predictive maintenance. Companies like Siemens leverage AI algorithms to predict machine failures and prevent downtime, ensuring efficient and uninterrupted operations. AI-driven robots and cobots are streamlining repetitive tasks, improving productivity and employee safety.
Courtesy of Pixabay
Finance: AI is transforming the finance sector by automating manual tasks, detecting fraud, and improving investment decisions. For instance, PayPal utilizes AI to detect suspicious transactions and prevent fraud in real-time. Robo-advisors powered by AI algorithms analyze vast amounts of financial data to offer personalized investment recommendations to individuals.
Courtesy of Pixabay
Transportation: The transportation industry is harnessing AI to enhance safety, efficiency, and sustainability. Self-driving vehicles leverage AI to perceive their surroundings and make real-time decisions, reducing accidents and traffic congestion. Ride-sharing platforms like Uber employ AI algorithms to optimize route planning, reduce waiting times, and enhance the overall customer experience.
Courtesy – Apple Inc
Design/Entertainment: Overall, AI has significantly impacted the design and entertainment industries by providing new tools, enhancing creativity, improving user experiences, and streamlining various processes. The experiences can thus be enhanced and simplified in Generative Design, UX Design, Data Visualization,Game Development & Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) – the Metaverse particularly comes to mind here. Apple’s new ‘Vision Pro’ augmented reality headset is ‘the most advanced’ device to date.
Job Transformations
While AI promises immense benefits, there are concerns about job displacement. Routine, repetitive tasks are likely to be automated, leading to changes in the job market. However, AI also creates new opportunities by augmenting human capabilities. Instead of replacing jobs, AI has the potential to transform them, enabling us to focus on complex problem-solving, creativity, and empathy-driven tasks.
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Limitations and Dangers
As with any technology, AI has its limitations and potential risks. AI systems heavily rely on data quality, and biased or incomplete datasets can lead to inaccurate outcomes or reinforce societal biases. Ensuring ethical AI practices and addressing algorithmic bias is crucial. Moreover, AI lacks human-like common sense and reasoning abilities, making it prone to errors in unfamiliar situations. The ethical implications of AI, such as privacy concerns and potential misuse of personal data, also require careful consideration.
Afterthoughts
The practical and realistic use of AI has already begun reshaping various industries, unlocking new possibilities, and transforming how businesses operate. By embracing AI, organizations can streamline processes, improve decision-making, and unlock insights from massive amounts of data. However, it is essential to navigate the limitations, address ethical concerns, and ensure a human-centric approach to AI implementation.
The adage that whatever you see in science fiction, you will witness in reality, seems to ring true more than ever in the 21st century. In fact, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg is probably one of the biggest believers having bought the virtual reality company, Oculus as far back as 2014.
Now, he and people from all walks of life are embracing the creation and adoption of a “Metaverse”.
But is this a buzz term or a new reality, and are the ultra-rich throwing money at it because they are trying to entertain themselves? Or is it because they actually want to ‘augment’ hundreds of millions of peoples’ senses of reality with beneficial technology?
Like many things in life, the truth isn’t black or white in this regard. While multi-dollar billionaires including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have looked to build cities in space that we can escape to when the world becomes overpopulated or uninhabitable, others are developing the ‘Metaverse’ as a complementary set of enhancements and parallel spaces for our lives on earth.
What is The Metaverse?
Is the Metaverse more than just ‘sales speak’ for a bunch of sales-speak-for-tech companies? It has been bandied about throughout 2021 but Zuckerberg has been even more brazen, having announced at the end of October that Facebook would be rebranded as Meta. Rather cheeky!
But what is this swanky new world we may soon be living, and maybe thriving in? I’ve been called Mr. Anderson for over 20 years, so it feels like a fitting time, with the release of the fourth Matrix movie, to ask: “What is the Metaverse(Matrix)?”
The Metaverse is a hypothesised iteration of the Internet, that supports persistent online 3-D virtual environments via conventional personal computing, as well as virtual & augmented reality headsets.
Wikipedia
It’s still being given a concrete definition but essentially it is an advanced version of the Internet wherein we can become immersed. You don’t just look at the Internet; you are ‘digitally immersed’ in it. Instead of just looking at a 3D object on your PC using a mouse to scroll up and down to see it from different angles, in the Metaverse your brain will convince you that you are in the same world as that object.
Metaverses, in some limited form, were already present on platforms like VR-Chat or video games like Second Life. These suggest that we have been moving toward living in a Metaverse for years. But why should we care so much now about the Metaverse then?
Why The Metaverse Matters
The Metaverse has the potential to bring fulfilment, economic opportunity and equity to people. But, for this to happen, we would probably need a situation where a handful of companies – here’s looking at you Zuckerberg – are prevented from dominating it. The virtual world could overcome the shortcomings of the physical one which humanity has lived on for millennia. Digital environments could become actual places where people don’t only live; but also thrive.
It is for these reasons that we believe Metaverses will be pervasive across our lives from a young age until our retirement.
Images courtesy of the respective companies
For example, the gaming platform, Roblox might be unknown to well, adults, but this 13-year-old platform is booming. Children and teenagers use this platform to play existing games together but also to create new games. It also sports a marketplace where users can sell those experiences and other products like online outfits and personalized avatars. Another incredibly popular online multiplayer game Fortnite is well poised to switch its huge user-base into ‘Metaversians’. Two upcoming multi-billion dollar gaming platforms built on Blockchain technologies are Decentraland and The Sandbox.
The former made the news recently when a tech company bought a patch of virtual real estate in the Decentraland metaverse for 618,000 MANA (its native currency) – valued at $3.2 million.
Virtual ‘land’ and other items (digital assets) in Decentraland are sold in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are a class of crypto assets. All of these are authenticated using a Smart Contract component of the blockchain.
Play-to-earn is another incentive to getting onto the Metaverse. You will now be able to earn virtual tokens (with monetary value) while emersed in your favourite game. This no-brainer strategy has seen an explosion of Blockchain play-to-earn games in the last quarter of 2021.
Other Use Cases
Back in the “real working world” virtual productivity platforms are also growing as companies’ employees use MS Teams, Zoom and other platforms to be able to communicate easily and at any time.
You will be able to now have online offices and attend online conferences in virtual conference centres while represented by avatars. No more suiting up or wasting time on perfect makeup! So, while one can’t stop people from spending time in a cyber world, we can, however, enhance their experiences using cutting-edge technology.
The opportunities for business and revenue generation will not be limited. Simulations for building and engineering projects will make presentations almost real – without having to travel to the actual sites. Online gambling/shopping companies will also look to capitalise by offering virtual casinos and stores in the Metaverse.
Marketing Spin-offs
There are even talks that companies may sell apparel and clothing and are designing virtual versions thereof. Virtual shoes could become status symbols which is rather bizarre but perhaps fun for the nouveau riche. Joke if you want but brands like Gucci, Adidas, and Nike are prepping (with partnerships) to board the Metaverse for obvious marketing opportunities.
People are rapidly immersing themselves in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) worlds. Headsets are becoming more affordable and an assortment of AR/VR programmes are being written daily. These include entertainment programmes for PlayStation 5 as well as for pornography apps (another billion-dollar industry).
Soon the Metaverse will become a tool that improves our lives and will go beyond being just an entertainment novelty.
It doesn’t stop here. There is a little-known Metaverse company currently worth $2bn, that has made some major breakthroughs using Blockchain tech. They have actually created a device to scan entire people and objects to immerse them into the digital world.
The ambitious project, MetaHero will be paying people a decent amount to have their avatars made and used in games from January 2022. Sounds absurd but perhaps you need to take a look yourselves.
Final Word of Caution
Bear in mind that the Metaverse may exacerbate problems faced by humans because of the Internet. We need a better grasp of managing data rights, data security, misinformation, the radicalisation of morally wrong ideas such as racism and vaccine hesitancy as well as platform power.
Somebody needs to rein the likes of Facebook, um I mean Meta, in. We should not just allow the Metaverses to distract millions of us with a ‘wonderful’ cyber world.
The pandemic has thrown us into a state of flux and some tech entrepreneurs have found opportunities in the funk. One major trend involves playing with blockchain technology.
Even though most people you come across pretend to understand blockchain, many don’t actually understand its full capabilities. Some clever Trevors, however, are making it work for them.
DeFi (Decentralised Finance)
For centuries, our money has been controlled by central banks. But this has given too much power to certain authorities. Now cryptocurrencies are set to help us shake the game up.
Enter DeFi or Decentralised Finance – an umbrella term that refers to a variety of financial applications in cryptocurrency. These DApps are geared toward changing the roles of financial intermediaries or removing them altogether.
Essentially, DeFi is a financial system built on public blockchains such as Binance Chain, PolkaDot, and Ethereum.
It is a relatively new project which started later than Bitcoin in 2014. It was brought into the limelight in 2020 by a little-known South African called Andre Cronje. Cronje created the now almost billion-dollar DeFi-protocol called Yearn Finance (YFI).
DeFi is an alternative to what people feel is an outdated, clunky financial system that is inefficient and prone to abuse. The idea is that DeFi will be a new digital-only and fully automated financial system which exists separately from our enormous, interlinked financial system.
When you swipe your card, the institution has control over your transaction and retains the authority to record it in its private ledger, stop or pause it.
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They also control financial all matters like insurance, loans, and alternative investments like derivatives, crowdfunding, and gambling. All this while literally owning all your data. They can use or share them with their stakeholders as they wish.
Functionality
DeFi aims to create an open-source, permissionless, and transparent financial service system. The yields you get from borrowing and lending digital assets on these platforms also put those offered by traditional banks to shame. This system is also relatively safe because lenders are certain to get their assets back because you need collateral (other cryptos) to borrow in the first place.
You even, in DeFi, have mechanisms to maintain liquidity – just like Central Bank’s liquidity swaps. Some of them have ridiculous names like SushiSwap or PancakeSwap and perform these functions surprisingly well. this is possible because of their underlying computer-backed algorithmic technology.
The current centralized nature of the global financial system means wealth is only amassed by those that have access to financial services. This has created further inequalities in our societies.
Nevertheless, DeFi is a rapid technological innovation that is helping us to decentralize financial systems and foster financial inclusion. Cutting out the middleman also involves the use of Smart Contracts. Naturally prone to attach it is evolving but quickly gaining the acceptance of those ‘in the know’.
Smarter Contracts
According to Blockgeeks, a smart contract is a computer protocol intended digitally to facilitate, verify or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. They allow the performance of credible transactions without third parties.
For example, ordinarily, you would go to a lawyer or a notary, pay them, and wait while you get the document. With smart contracts, you simply drop Crypto into a vending machine-type structure (digital ledger), and your escrow, driver’s license, or whatever, drops into your account.
Courtesy: Law and Forensics.
Smart contracts define the rules and penalties around an agreement just like a traditional contract does. Additionally, they also automatically help you enforce those obligations.
Ethereum is the industry-leading Crypto company/platform that provides that functionality. It is, however, receiving strong competition from newcomer platforms such as Binance Smart Chain – which is actually a revised clone of Ethereum.
Non-Fungible Tokens(NFTs)
This is a technology that has been around for a few years but is enjoying new popularity. Fungibility refers to something that is easily interchangeable, such as the exchanging of a $50 note for five $10 notes.
But non-fungible tokens have been created with the opposite goal.
These are unique or scarce digital objects represented as tokens that cannot be replicated.
They are literally anything that can be digitalized to form a collectible item – just like your paintings, collectible cards, or stamps.
This is why they are infiltrating the auctioneering world. Digital content is tokenized through a process called minting.
Minting involves assigning a coin on a blockchain to any given work and you can assign as many copies as you so desire.
A key difference from authenticating other objects is that instead of a physical certificate of authentication, NFTs use blockchain technology as a verifiable digital ledger.
The NFTs created on Ethereum’s blockchain are immutable, so they cannot be altered. No one can undo your ownership of the NFT.
In 2017, a game called CryptoKitties was invented. This was a blockchain game that allowed players to adopt, raise, and trade virtual cats.
At one point, CryptoKitties were selling hundreds for thousands of euros. Since then, people have been pumping money into the NFT market which has more than quadrupled in value since the pandemic.
Investors saw the value of investing in a verified item of art that no one else possesses. As a result, many new digital (NFT) marketplaces such as OpenSea and SuperRare were established – and thriving. The NBA has also gotten in on the action. NBA Top Shot is a first-of-its-kind collectible website that allows you to collect, trade, and sell your favorite NBA highlights as digital tokens. One of the highest-selling NFTs there(only 2 minted) is one of a reverse dunk by LeBron James – which fetches a cool $210 000.
Rock band, Kings of Leon earlier in March 2021 became the first musical artist to sell its album as an NFT. Their eighth studio album, When You See Yourself, is being sold in standard digital and physical formats but also has an NFT.
Within a week, the album had made more than $2m. This includes around $500 000 which was donated to Live Nation’s Crew Nation, designed to support live music crews during the pandemic.
Enter the Dogecoin
The year 2021 wanted to add a bit of humor to the world whilst making some people rich. You may call them clever or maybe reckless – or both, but some people traded an invisible investment called Dogecoin and significantly pushed up its price.
Dogecoin was like a parody of Bitcoin symbolized by its face, the Doge meme. Entrepreneur Elon Musk punted the coin which was actually started as a joke in 2013. The price of dogecoin has exploded by more than 1,100% this year.
The cryptocurrency has gained increased attention from endorsements by Musk, who at one point was the world’s richest man on paper. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban, rapper Snoop Dogg, and musician Gene Simmons are also backers of the Crypto-coin.
Now Musk wants you to be able to trade Dogecoin using the Coinbase platform.
Musk’s Tesla motor car company had allegedly used the Cryptocurrency exchange to buy $1.5bn worth of Bitcoin in February.
The Gamestop effect
Also this year, online traders caused chaos among financial systems, showing big institutions that they can beat them at their own game.
A bunch of people got together on Reddit and discussed how they would pump up the price of Gamestop, a US rental games company. Gamestop saw its fortunes wane as people turned away from buying or renting disc versions of games in favor of downloads. The Reddit ‘movement’ was aided and abetted by a group called WallStreetbets.
The group has since pledged millions of dollars from the proceeds towards saving Gorillas – epic!
The price went through the roof as Gamestop became a gambling tool, with little underlying value in the company.
A number of people won big but others who got in late weren’t as lucky. The price later crashed, costing gamblers a lot.
It has since fluctuated wildly and is now on a downtrend. For every new multimillionaire, there has been someone who has lost their life savings.
Tread carefully with new technologies
It will take time for the use of these new technologies to settle in our society. You must, however, be skeptical even when Musk, who recently changed his designation from CEO of Tesla to ‘Technoking’ posts such things on a social platform.
Whenever he tweets something, people react. Musk convinced scores of people to buy Dogecoin and now he is quite excited about NFTs.
The Billionaire recently actually turned down a $1.1m offer to buy one of his tweets as an NFT after putting it up for sale, quoted saying: “it doesn’t feel quite right.”
Musk said that he was going to sell a tweet of a song about NFTs as an NFT. This was days after an NFT had sold for a record $69m. But it turned out he was joking around when he tweeted: “Actually, doesn’t feel quite right selling this. Will pass.”
Musk’s tweet was listed on the blockchain-backed auction platform valuables and has attracted a bid of $1.12m from a user called @sinaEstavi.
The tweet is of a techno song about NFTs, with the lyrics: “NFT, for your vanity, computers never sleep, it’s verified, it’s guaranteed.”
If you don’t believe how volatile these currencies are, just check out how Bitcoin lost more than 80% of its value from December 2017 to May 2018. It is currently hovering just below $60,000 after a low of around $3,500 only in March 2020.
If you decide to invest, do so knowing that rapid price fluctuations come with the territory.
Remember these new blockchain assets are highly volatile investments. Their values can swing literally like a yoyo, based on the jokes made by a multi-billionaire who wants to live in space.
People will always find an opportunity in a crisis. This year has been one of the strangest years we will ever experience. Because of the global pandemic, we have been ‘shut-in’ physically and mentally. Hiding in our homes in an effort to save the lives of the elderly and sickly.
Technologies that enable people to communicate with each other from different locations and work remotely have had an excellent year because of this.
Who needs phones & email?
The pandemic may have stopped us from having face-to-face meetings because of self-isolation and social distancing. So just like that, we all needed to have online meetings and digital collaborative meetups.
In 2020, we just stopped phoning people. We needed to see what other humans looked like. So, we engaged more in video calling, using whatever technology available that supports that functionality.
The online video-conferencing tool Zoom, therefore, went from being a company you’d probably never heard of, to global ‘overnight’ success. It was founded in 2011 by Eric Yuan, a former Cisco engineer, and executive, who then launched it in 2013 as software for companies. It was valued at $1bn in 2017 because it enjoyed very strong revenue growth and was easy to use, and became profitable in 2019, and listed on the Nasdaq.
“You’re on Mute! “
Quote of 2020
Come early 2020, Zoom entered a boom period as most of us used it while in quarantine. Its share price, therefore, grew more than 490% from $68.72 to around $406.
MS Teams, Microsoft’s answer to Zoom. is believed by many to be more reliable and secure than Zoom – which suffered a major breach earlier in the year. Google’s Meet also features on the list of top video calling/conferencing apps.
We won’t delve into comparison here. The pros and cons are highly dependant on what you use it for and your business size/budget. The usage stats below speak volumes though albeit just for the two major economies.
Other tools
When we weren’t working, we were using social communication applications such as House Party which, apart from allowing you to stream music and play virtual DJ, enabled you to play games with one another.
They were mostly silly general knowledge games but hangman made a welcome comeback to society thanks to this app.
Discord, an American Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that uses instant messaging and runs a digital distribution platform also gained new users. It no longer just relies on gamers and people in creative computer development roles to drive its usage.
The Home Office
We started (forcibly) working from home and those who believe it made them more efficient and productive are considering carrying on with it in 2021. The working from home concept, therefore, changed from being something associated with putting in half the effort and lazy lie-ins.
Companies at least in the developed world, have to offer the option of working from home. Like any viral pandemic, Coronavirus will still be around in 2021 as the vaccine could take a while to ‘take effect’. Working from home isn’t disappearing any time soon!
To operate a home office though, you need to have an advanced enough computer system, the right anti-virus software, and other methods of securing your work. Companies became concerned that people were using their personal computers to log onto work servers and bringing problems along with that. It’s not just good enough to get a laptop to have a ‘home office’.
We have also had to set up reliable phone systems for business. Landlines are becoming old-fashioned plus virtual phone systems that are simple to set up and use are becoming popular.
Smart speakers are also becoming popular. You can use them to play music via Spotify or the radio but can also be used to create the right audio ambience for your meetings and remind you about important events, tasks, and meetings.
It’s all about getting tech products and virtual assistants to make working easier. People also invested in better desks and other office accessories such as computer or mobile-phone-operated coffee machines. Yes, those do exist! Expect the internet of things (IoT) to play a bigger role in your life next year and beyond.
Cybercrime on fleek
Naturally, because we are all forced online, this is no better time for cyber-thugs. They have upped the ante with cleverer ways to dupe you out of your already diminishing funds. Here some of the highlights of 2020 when it comes to crime on the web according to cybersecurity provider ID Agent:
–A cyberattack is attempted every 39 seconds. -700 million people in 21 countries experienced some form of cybercrime. –The damage related to cybercrime is projected to hit $6 trillion annually by 2021. -Ransomware attacks rose 148% in March 2020. -Cloud-based attacks rose 630% between January and April 2020. -Two in five SMBs have been the victim of a ransomware attack. -More than 80% of reported cyberattacks are phishing. -Phishing attempts have increased by more than 660% since March 1, 2020. -Organized crime gangs account for 55% of attacks.
The rise of AMD
Chipmaker AMD has had a stellar year as it has brought out some of the most advanced (yet affordable) computer chips ever built and has managed to outshine rival behemoth, Intel.
Its share price on the Nasdaq bounced from $49.10 to about $95.92. The company has been a runaway success story, especially over the past five years. At the end of December 2015, AMD stock was a paltry $2.87, that’s 3242% growth in half a decade!
Another contributing factor for the company’s success is that AMD’s Ryzen line of processors has been a huge hit since its release. They are used in some of the best mining CPUs money can buy.
Mining is the process of acquiring Bitcoins and other Cryptocurrencies using special software together with your PC’s hashing power.
Crypto makes a comeback!
Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced returns of more than 216% and 390% year-to-date respectively. The argument is that institutional investors including some of the world’s largest finance houses and banks are now backing the world’s most popular digital currency.
This is despite the fact that most ‘9-5 people’ are not using Bitcoin to buy much on a daily basis – but this trend is changing. It is still purported to be a means for criminals and drug dealers to help avoid banking authorities from checking their transactions. Or maybe that is just an underground rumour (or FUD) created by the fearful banking system.
But seriously, a few things are speculated to be behind the Crypto surge. The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates, loaned more than $1.5 trillion to banks and financial institutions. It also increased its purchases of US treasury securities to stabilize the economy when the pandemic struck. This response was very strong and helped to weaken the effects of a national lockdown on the largest economy in the world.
These actions created a favourable ‘macro environment’ in which to invest in an asset that is perceived as very risky given its lack of use and lack of clarity around what it can be used for. The high returns compared to Gold, interest-bearing and other traditional assets have certainly got the major asset managers excited.
The second trend that propelled cryptocurrencies was the above-mentioned expansion of digital life. This may have lead to more investors feeling comfortable using a digital wallet. From payment systems, storage, finance, to gaming, gambling and sports: There is now literally a crypto-based coin for anything under the sun! This digital transformation has even prompted global Central Banks to seriously consider a move away from paper money.
The Future
Our lives are progressively going digital. Many older people who had never used a computer to shop online before, did so for the first time in 2020. They also using messaging apps for the first time as well as streaming entertainment services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus.
To sum up, the year 2020 has been an abomination of a year. Who knows what 2021 will bring? Maybe (tech-driven) Tesla stock will keep on rallying after successfully listing on the S&P500. But maybe also because owner, Elon Musk kind of took an interest to Bitcoin. This year has indefinitely made us aware of two things: proper sanitization and the practical use of computers.
Over the past decade container technology has become a popular method for packaging applications in an effective way. Some developers believe is better than that offered by virtual machines and other technologies.
Container technology has been embraced by the big cloud computing providers including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google’s Cloud platform.
Examples of the actual container software include the Apache Mesos, Docker, rkt (pronounced rocket), and Kubernetes.
But what is container technology?
Logically, it gets its name from shipping. Shipping containers standardize how goods are moved around. Goods get placed in steel shipping containers which can be picked up by cranes and fit into ships. They tend to have standard sizes.
By standardizing the process and keeping the items together, your container can be moved as a unit and it costs less to do it this way.
In computer terms, container technology is referred to as just a container: a method to package your applications so they can be run, with their dependencies, isolated from other processes.
Container technology decreases the potential for problems when developers move programs from server to server before the program is in a state where it is saleable.
When you use container technology to create an application, you can code everything using just one operating system and database. This makes the application quite easy to replicate as resources including memory and the central processing unit (CPU)are shared. This also makes your technology great for scaling and for working within the cloud.
Out with the old…
If you don’t use container technology, you can have a situation where a program runs well on one machine but has problems on your server. This common problem occurs when you move a program from a data server to a cloud server.
Many issues can happen because of variations in machine environments. These include differences between your operating system, secure sockets layer libraries, storage, and network topology.
So, computer container technology picks up all of your software and related parts which include dependencies, being libraries, binaries, and configuration files. They all get migrated as a unit, avoiding the differences between machines including operating system differences. This will also include underlying hardware that leads to incompatibilities and crashes.
And, importantly, containers also facilitate the deployment of your software to your server. Advocates of using container technology say it is a much better tech to use than that which preceded it – virtual machines.
In this case, one physical server would be used for multiple applications through visualization technology. Each virtual machine contains the entire operating system, as well as the application to run.
The physical server then runs several virtual machines, each with its own operating system, with a single hypervisor emulation layer on top. By running several operating systems simultaneously, you incur a lot of overheads on your server as resources get used.
…and in with the new
Container technology allows your server to run a single operating system because each container can share that system.
The parts of your operating system that are shared are read-only to not interfere with the other containers. Therefore, compared with virtual machines, containers require fewer resources of the server, and are much more efficient.
You can pack many more containers onto a single server. Each virtual machine may require you to have gigabytes of storage. But each container running a similar program may only need megabytes.
How do the containers operate?
Containers are set up in an architecture known as a container cluster. Then, in a container cluster, there is a single cluster master, with the other related containers set as nodes, that are your multiple worker machines. The cluster master schedules the workloads for your nodes, and also to manage their lifecycle, and their upgrades.
Containers allow programs to be broken down into smaller pieces, which are known as microservices.
A major advantage of having a program as component microservices is that different teams can work on each of the containers separately as long as the interactions between the different containers are maintained. This facilitates faster software development.
Containers are also flexible and can be orchestrated. Since the operating system would be already running your server, a container can be started and stopped in just a few seconds.
Some containers within architecture can be turned on during peak demand, and turned down when not needed. The software can control this type of orchestration, and distribute the tasks among the container cluster.
The way forward with the tech
But is container technology overrated? Some people are concerned about the security around it.
Because multiple containers share the same operating system, there are growing concerns that container technology is less secure than virtual machines. If there is a security flaw in your host kernel it will affect your multiple containers.
Other software is being used to have more secure container technology. The use of isolated containers is, therefore, being constantly improved.
Everygreat product begins with an idea—even while the world waits in lockdown. In fact, some of history’s best masterpieces stemmed from periods of isolation, like Sir Isaac Newton’s Theory of Gravity or Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.
Whether you’re fulfilling a lifelong dream or simply seeking a new income stream, there are ways to get your groundbreaking tech idea to the market today.
Do your planning & research
The first step of software or web development is to appraise the idea itself. Most successful start-ups begin as answers to urgent consumer concerns. They also usually change the way things are done and are therefore called disruptive technologies. To be considered, your tech idea should, therefore, help resolve a relevant problem.
If you are not solving a pressing need, the fanciest invention or service (even with a solid marketing and financial plan) will fail to appeal to your target market. It will also not catch the eye of potential funders.
Many startups fail because visionaries fail to elucidate their idea to the people that can make it a reality.
Next, you should analyze the possible competition. With millions of Apps, DApps, and software developments out there, someone might have already created the same thing. If that’s the case, you could see how your product improves upon its predecessors. It might be a good idea to get your work patented or copyrighted. Likewise, you might want to check to see if the idea has not already been patented.
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Of course, transforming this amazing tech idea into reality involves a LOT of planning, too. That’s why you should research and map out an approximate timeline, possible tech builders(if you can’t DIY the work), related APIs, and most importantly, a budget.
Some software developers may offer to partner with you – as your startup’s CTO. This could be for an equity/share in the venture or to provide a discount on the work done. This is a good option if you are still early in the fundraising phase.
Finding the funds
If you don’t have the money to get your idea off the ground, not to worry! There are plenty of other ways to find the funds, such as angel investors, banks, or crowdfunding sites.
While some people rely on traditional loans from banks, others prefer to apply for grants from the government. There are also pages like GoFundMe and Kickstarter, where you can post your idea and crowdfund from private individuals around the world.
For example, Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus (a virtual reality headset), raised over $2 million using Kickstarter to begin his business. If you instead opt for an angel investor, an individual willing to invest a large sum into budding businesses, studies show that your business is more likely to succeed.
Another form of assistance is to go through a startup incubator. You might want to look up the best ones in your country – but as ideas are not limited geographically – you can join any of the top incubators in the world.
Test & distribute
Finally, after proper planning and fundraising, you can execute and test out your brilliant tech idea. As AOL Founder, Steve Case, once said, “You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can and be one of the exceptions.”
This stage will also include a working prototype and a few open sessions or what is referred to in tech terms as ‘Beta-testings’. You can collect more insights from potential users to make your product stand out from others – preferably before you launch it.
There are many online tools to help you in this phase. Most of them offer free trials, so you can get away with using them just for the test period.
Covid-19 is no excuse not to launch a good venture provided it serves a pressing need as mentioned. In fact, projects that address the pandemic directly will indefinitely get preferential treatment when it comes to funding and support.
The world is slowly realizing that it needs to rely less on old systems in order to manage its way out of financial crises. One of the oldest systems which saw the US dollar as the vehicular currency of the world may be slowly coming to an end.
Enter the Bitcoin: the brainchild of cryptocurrency, a means of exchange that is less regulated and which is built on the Blockchain, a technology that is supposedly difficult to hack into.
A quick recap for those of you not familiar with the tech: A Bitcoin is a computer file that can be stored in a ‘digital wallet’ app on your smartphone or computer. With this technology, every single transaction you make is recorded in a public list or publicly distributed ledger.
This makes it easier for authorities to track and record your transactions but not you personally. We will not, however, get into the potential abuse of such anonymity in this article.
Adoption
We have been very slow to adopt new financial technologies for two reasons. First, there are many regulations that help maintain the US dollar as the vehicular currency, used by central banks and other financial institutions to secure assets. Second, many developers of the technology are hesitant to throw it upon us – yet.
But this will change as the robustness and reliability of cryptocurrencies is proved study by study and case by case. One method is by using cryptology.
Cryptology is used to protect your information from hackers. In fact, the protection of your data is more important than ever before. We have made our lives more public thanks to social media.
While you may not mind so much if hackers get unauthorized access to your pictures and social media profiles, some information is actually valuable. This includes your banking details, birth certificate, licenses, and intellectual property.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced us all to work from home. Those employees of numerous companies are accessing commercial information using personal computers instead of office computers. But personal computers might lack anti-virus software, firewalls, and other security measures.
Right now, cybercrime is costing companies at least $45bn a year worldwide.
This is why now is cryptology’s time to shine. It will also be used to protect your online purchases made using cryptocurrencies instead of traditional money. It will help ensure that funds go from your bank account to a retailer’s quickly but securely.
Using Crypto for daily activities
Let’s face it, we are going to use Blockchain for shopping: Lamborghini already accepts purchases in Bitcoin. The concept might still be difficult for you to grasp, but they are still being developed and soon it will be near impossible to live without them.
Gaming companies are already embracing cryptocurrencies. Fortnite, a popular online game, with more than 250-million players, allows you to buy in-game products using cryptocurrencies.
Beyond regular shopping, you could soon buy a house using a cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology and the underlying distributed ledger technology is being used to increase transparency in real estate transactions using smart contracts.
To reiterate the use case for Crypto, many countries like Germany are relaxing laws and giving licenses to allow ‘Crypto Banks’ to operate. This is one effort to ensure that your Cryptos are properly taxed when used for investment purposes.
One such bank, Bitwala, allows you to purchase Bitcoins or Etheruem securely and quickly from a charges-free bank account which they provide.
Your transactions are then documented so that you can seamlessly submit reports of the purchases to the local tax authorities (Finazamt) to avoid penalties. You can do this all directly from the Bitwala App.
The blockchain and cryptocurrency are even being explored on national levels: China is allegedly creating its own national digital currency.
The way forward
Monetary systems will continue to be tested every day. Banks the world over are spending big bucks to protect themselves from hacks. But one day, a hacker could throw them into turmoil.
When that happens, you might be unable to withdraw your money. A central bank’s database could be hacked making it difficult for it to work with other banks. In the meantime, alternatives to classic monetary systems need to be developed.
Cryptocurrencies backed by cryptology could be a very strong alternative. There are also some valid cases for using Bitcoin as a global currency. This, however, will only become a reality if it shakes off its high trading volatility to become more stable.
We live in a world where we need to be cognisant of our health and how viruses can spread easily and quickly like wildfire. It equally is imperative to realize that cyber attackers could get and infect our data just as swiftly. Using modern technologies can help prevent these intruders from creating a ‘digital security collapse’ pandemic.
This year may have felt like it was dominated by political shenanigans, but technology also had its wild ride.
The USA vs Huawei
A story that has persisted throughout the year is the heat around Huawei in the US. The Americans have stopped Huawei phones from being sold in their country because they say the Chinese mobile phone maker has stolen technology from American companies and has spied on them.
The tussle began in 2018 but kicked into gear in 2019. Nevertheless, some American companies and organisations are still doing business with Huawei despite the ban by US President Trump’s government.
The President of Microsoft, Brad Smith, also wants to the US government to offer more evidence to back up its Huawei ban.
The core issue with Huawei has been around concerns with Huawei’s close relationship with the Chinese government and fears that its equipment could be used to spy on other countries and companies.
Huawei has also hit back at US ‘bandwagon followers’ and recently threatened to boycott Germany’s Auto industry if the European powerhouse banned them from offering 5G (broadband) in the country.
Not a great year for big tech
Big technological companies like Facebook, Alphabet, Google and Uber have faced a barrage of probes in 2019 be it around anti-competitive behaviour, spying on customers or their staff abusing customers. We also haven’t seen many new companies graduate to super-size status.
After a long drought of big-name tech IPO (initial public offerings), 2019 promised to be a banner year. A crop of highly anticipated, highly valued tech companies — with hot marquee names such as Lyft, Uber, Pinterest, and Slack listed on the public markets. The idea was to allow you to take a stake in their business.
Their reception, however, was truly tough. These companies’ stocks have not gained momentum and being listed has attracted greater public scrutiny.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – We’ve been talking about this for decades since Terminator came out but scientists are managing to harness the technology especially in manufacturing and medical fields.
Most of the top tech companies (Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, and Google) have already embraced AI. Many tout it as one of the main distinguishing features to set them apart competitively.
A little of this tech has gone into robotics with much fanfare and fear over their capabilities and propensity to ‘initiate a judgement day’. Check out Boston Dynamics
Bitcoin
Blockchain – Bitcoin may be highly volatile and not the get rich quick scheme people thought it could be, but it is still out there. Clever people are finding ways of making commerce more efficient.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)– this is a technology that could explode in 2020. Right now, only large enterprises are using RPA but it could become more affordable and workable for smaller businesses in 2020. RPA is the process of automating mundane tasks such as taking data from one file and entering it into a business application like CRM software.
It’s about computerizing repetitive tasks that are an inefficient use of time, so it makes our lives more efficient.
RPA is not a physical robot. It is also an approach to working across multiple business applications and entering, maintaining, migrating, integrating, mining and testing data on spreadsheets.
These tasks are prone to human error which is why computerizing them makes so much sense.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality – VR made strong progress in 2019. This was most useful in gaming, real estate companies, pornographic entertainment and for people with disabilities.
For you gamers – it is best to buy an Oculus Quest for your PC. Sony’s VR headset is still the best and only gaming set.
Look after my data – or not!
The first fines around the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) were lodged in parts of the EU. The GDPR was promulgated in 2016. It is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individual citizens of the EU and the European Economic Area.
It also addresses the transfer of personal data outside the EU and EEA areas. GDPR was enforced because of concerns about data breaches and attacks on privacy by the likes of Facebook and Google.
Then there were concerns our banks, insurance, and other data keepers were selling or losing our data to dangerous entities.
The types of personal data exposed included your names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and even passport numbers.
Lessons learned
The Marriott hotel group’s data breach of 2018 resulted in the exposure of 339-million customer records. Around 30-million of the records belonged to European Union citizens, and therefore they were subjected to a GDPR fine.
Back home in Berlin, on October 30th the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information issued a €14.5m fine on a German real estate group, die Deutsche Wohnen SE. This was the highest German GDPR fine yet. The infraction related to the over retention of personal data.
Despite the turbulent year for tech companies and consumers, we look to 2020 with breathless anticipation. We also ponder on which of the mentioned technologies will stick out and make a positive impact on our lives.
