Those that own the databases own the power!
How can they communicate and collaborate - working together va working in competition!
What do you think?
What are the issues that we will face with the advent of the proliferation of AI?
Nexttech
Creating Generational Legacies
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft creating a Partnership on AI
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Big Brother is watching you - Googles eye in the sky
The pain
Illegal and unreported fishing by renegade fisherman is a multibillion-dollar business which has proven notoriously difficult to monitor.
A third of the world’s fisheries are overfished, which can create extinction of an important food supply! The ocean is an ecosystem that requires sustainability to survive, and we’re not treating it in a sustainable fashion.
The solution
"Global fishing watch" is a free platform that will help governments, journos, insurance companies and the public (and who else?) monitor the 35, 000 fishing vessels in real time.
Holding people accountable is an important step -
" what you can measure you can manage"
But at what cost?
An example of good use
The government of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati ( 800 sq miles, 103,000 population) used Global Fishing Watch to document how a tuna-fishing vessel had operated illegally inside the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. This resulted in a $1 million fine — a large sum for such a tiny government.
Indonesia recently sank 60 boats that it had impounded for illegally fishing in its waters, part of an aggressive campaign to assert sovereignty over one of its key resources.
What are examples of not so good use?
You can now track anything in the world from anywhere in the world. Big brother is watching you!
Friday, September 23, 2016
$10m acquisition cost per employee
Reducing congestion and reducing road fatalities to name two.
As always, investment in education will be key to who the influencers are and where the centre of influence will take place.
Some BHAFs (big, hairy audacious facts) (supplied from an email from Bob Pritchard)!
- Uber bought Otto for $700m last month, it was regarded as a “talent acquisition,” meaning Uber was interested in obtaining Otto’s 70 employees, not necessarily their core technology.
- General Motor's $1B acquisition of Cruise a couple of months ago. They wanted Cruise’s 40 self-driving car experts to come to Detroit and help them catch up with the pack of companies developing self driving cars.
This means that the going rate for self-driving car talent these days is at least $10m per person,
There are 10 self-driving car companies saying they’ll be in the game in four years when somewhere well in excess of 10 million driverless vehicles are expected to be on the road.
Sebastian Thrun, Google’s self-driving car guru, says companies are desperate for talent and for the skill set to build a self-driving car.... A skill that is clearly in high demand!!!!
ATM Carnegie Mellin in Pittsburgh PA (Detroit)!and Detroit - is the only self driving learning programme - and Uber has just poached 40 of its researchers . which is also why Uber’s first self-driving tests with Volvo launched there.
Udacity, the online teaching school that Thrun co-founded in 2012, is now partnering with companies like Otto, Mercedes-Benz, and Didi Chuxing (the Chinese Uber) to create a self-driving “nanodegree” program. The program, which lasts 9 months, was designed around one single question:
What would it take for these graduates to get a job at one of the partnering companies?
Just know that they have some pretty serious competition -- they’ve received thousands of applications already and will only admit 250 students.
What University or RTO wants to licence or offer such a course in Australia?
- Malcolm Turnbull is it worth investing in upskilling our people in this? Is this innovation important enough to invest in?
- Mike Baird (Premier in NSW) is it worthwhile setting up an area of influence in NSW - I note that there was an RFI asking for submissions in April 2016 https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/DBAssets/InquiryOther/Transcript/7616/Media%20Release%20-%20Inquiry%20into%20Driverless%20Vehicles%20and%20Road%20Safety%20in%20NSW.pdf
Any outcomes? What's next?
- Daniel Andrews (Premier in Victoria) is it worthwhile setting up an area of influence in Vic? I note that you are investing moneys in this space - good on you! (Tech Trials To Bust Congestion On Our Road Network https://shar.es/1x64oE via @danielandrewsmp) (a $13m smarter journeys package)
Victoria has always taken the lead in supporting innovation!
- Jay Weatherill (Premier in South Australia) - is this an opportunity to get back the lead in the Automobile industry in your State? I note that
South Australian Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Stephen Mullighan MP, has recently visited the Transport Research Laboratory’s (TRL’s) UK Smart Mobility Living Lab (ITS International - South Australian Transport Minister gets to grips with UK driverless initiatives https://shar.es/1x6C24 )
- any outcomes?
A bit of research tells me there is the ADVI (Australia Driverless Vehicle initiative) - seems to be a focus group of experts - it will be interesting to know more about this group! Has it got legs?
http://advi.org.au/2016/05/11/driverless-cars-towards-a-crash-free-future/
An article on their website by Antony Harrowell of Huxxer corporation seems to be on the money - saying that Australia should be all over this technology like a rash! Driverless Trucks - are badly needed in Australia - to overcome the tyranny of distance .
Australia seems to be hovering at the edges! Maybe it's time to take serious action!
I know NBN is important!!! How does self driving cars rate in Australia's future?
- Nige? (Joel speak to your dad)
- Glaze (Dan) (Geoff, speak to your son) ? - GG and Pete? Tezz? Is this something to focus on?
- Jus (something to invest in?)
Just saying!!!!
Who will be the leaders in this field in AsiaPac?
- Australia?
- Singapore?
- China?
- Korea ?
- other ?
Who do you think?
Sunday, September 18, 2016
China rolls out its eco-friendly skytrain
Only actions will remove the doubts... China rolls out its first sky train...the third country after Germany and Japan to develop the technology. The two compartments can hold more than 200 passengers, and when compared with subways and trams, sky trains have lower costs, better climbing and turning ability, and higher wind resistance. The overhauled railway is driven by batteries which can run for four hours at a time, and the batteries can be changed when stopped at a station, with the whole process lasting only two minutes..It's a sign of progress!!
Comments are really interesting - below are a few
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Chinese are setting milestone for developing countries and encouraging for out of box ideas.simply delightful.
CAN WE TRY SUCH TECHNOLOGY IN MUMBAI AND OTHER METROS AS A PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM? Only 200 such Sky Trains can solve our traffic problems and jams, make lifestyles better and green!!
Yeah and if they mounted solar panels above the overhead tracks for recharging the batteries it may almost be an off-grid transportation solution.
The key is innovation with commercial use here - brilliant
Innovation, Commercial use in very less time to market. Technological self sufficiency. Many things to observe and learn.
Admirable, it shows their foresight, discipline tenacity in building such devices for the betterment of their lives and country.
Amazing to see but not surprised. The sad story is that Our own Walt Disney told the California politicians in 1958 to build his Monarail trains above all our freeways in California. He offered them the plans for his Monorail Trails. Walt said" you will need it" and our bright California leaders response was; " we won't need that, our super highways of tomorrow will handle all our future traffic" and Walt said; " No they won't"
Sad. We had a brilliant man with great ideas and our leaders didn't have a clue. We, I guess China can build our future cool stuff.
Congrats for the innovation and need to be disseminated all over the Globe for developing an eco-friendly environment. All the best..
My view - this is great innovation and China is taking action! A great idea is as only as good as its implementation! Talk is cheap . If action is taken and it doesn't work - they will learn and realign until they perfect the invention
What do you think?
Friday, September 16, 2016
So what is blockchain?
Blockchain is set to disrupt the financial industry.....
 |
| Some of the banks exploring blockchain |
“If you asked 10 people in this room what a blockchain is you'll get 10 different answers and I think that's why it's at the peak of the hype cycle… we need to understand it, we need to come to shared agreement of what is it and what are we going to do about it,” he told the conference.
SO what is "BLOCKCHAIN?"
Instead of one central database of who owns what, blockchain allows for a network of identical, linked databases that talk to each other and are updated simultaneously. Simon Taylor, VP Blockchain R+D at Barclays, said blockchain is best viewed as a reconciliation technology, rather than a payment technology.Below is a great video on how Bitcoin (the first application of Blockchain works
 |
| from http://www.bpaybanter.com.au/news-views/will-blockchain-destroy-the-banking-industry-or-be |
Here is a cool video ( I think its gone viral) that explains what Blockchain is
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has concluded that blockchain technology "will fundamentally alter the way financial institutions do business around the world" after a year-long study of the emerging technology.
"It represents a fundamental threat which could disrupt almost every process in financial services" says Bank of New York Mellon head of EMEA Innovation Centre.
“Banking processes in place for 100 years-plus will be massively disrupted,” UBS’s Bussmann said
"Twenty-five global banks, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank, are now working together through the R3 distributed ledger initiative, which is developing a framework for using blockchain technology in markets"
Blockchain technology could potentially underpin a global market infrastructure, built on an open protocol, for money and financial assets.
Blockchain can drive simplicity and efficiency in financial services and will redraw processes and disrupt orthodoxies that are foundational to today’s business models.
Blockchain will become the beating heart of the finance industry. "It will build innovative solutions across the industry, becoming ever more integrated into the structure of financial services, as mainframes, messaging services, and electronic trading did before it."
To make a change or add onto the blockchain the majority of members of the network must sign off on it. This cuts out the need for middle men in transactions, because the fact that everyone signs off means trust is built into the system.
By cutting out middle men, cost is reduced. The process also reduces error.
The technology could be used to record anything that involves transactions. Applications are being developed for everything from share records to art and diamonds.
Banks and financial institutions have been going crazy for blockchain technology over the last year and a half. Institutions are spending heavily on proof of concepts using the technology, issuing countless white papers, and joining industry-wide bodies to figure out how to use the protocol.
WEF says 80% of banks will start blockchain projects by 2017 and $1.4 billion has been invested into the technology over the past three years. 90 central banks are looking at the technology.
WEF identifies six "key value drivers", which are basically reasons why everyone is so enthusiastic about it. They are:
- operational simplification,
- regulatory efficiency improvement,
- counterparty risk reduction, near real-time settlement.
- clearing and settlement time reduction,
- liquidity and capital improvement and
- fraud minimization. and
- lower direct transaction costs
When technology fouls up user experience!
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Technology makes our lives better. Right?Some positive examples quickly come to mind:
- automobiles and airplanes versus horse and buggy,
- cellular telephone versus telegraph and semaphore,
- light bulbs versus candles,
- microwave ovens,
- computers, and
- Wi-Fi…
to name a few.
But I suspect that about as fast as you read this list, you had to fight off strong thoughts of examples where the opposite is also true — when technology failed to make the user experience better.
There are many opportunities during the customer buying journey for technology to foul up the experience. And of course there are also many opportunities after sale.
If the shiny object dulls quickly because it doesn’t meet our expectations, then the emotional pretense of the sale is tarnished.
Last week, Apple unveiled its latest offering, the iPhone 7. This event along with some other recent brushes with commerce got me thinking about the role of technology in user experiences. And it’s not always a good thing.
Let me explain.
The Make-up of User Experience
When we consider a purchase, our buying journey includes a customer experience. We are wooed by advertisements and company brands. These ads target our emotions to muster the courage to overcome any resistance and compel us take action to make a purchase.
For more expensive purchases, the process is longer. When purchases involve greater sums of money, our impulsiveness is tempered. For these, a business must invest considerably more time and resources in courting us.
As in mating courtship, the process begins with attraction. It is followed by engagement … not in the literal sense just yet, but figuratively. A relationship must develop that includes interaction.
We are diligent in our investigation of the field of products. We conduct research. We examine specimens. We touch and hold it. We test drive it. We use it.
All the while, businesses strive to ensure that our experience is positive. Failing that and we are gone. Out of there. Vamoose!
There is always another business with a similar product that has the right mojo to win our business — that overcomes our rational barriers by making us feel emotionally connected, that strokes our ego and satisfies our ethos.
During the buying journey, customer experience transitions into user experience. After sale, our focus is using our new product or service. We put it into service; we interface with it.
Businesses need this user experience to be positive also. They want our continued loyalty for future sales. They have already invested in us and it is much less expensive for them to stay top-of-mind and keep us happy until our next purchase than it is to cultivate a new customer.
If they really excel at retaining loyalty through a positive user experience, heck, we may pledge our allegiance, buy the T-shirt and become a loyalist, a promoter … even an advocate!
Times when technology is not right
I have always traveled a moderate amount for business and pleasure.
I enjoy new adventures. As much as I like to discover the sights and sounds of new places, I especially enjoy the people.
The people of a place are the culture if they are deeply woven into its fabric. They are telling of a place’s character. They are a barometer of the times. For that reason, I try to discover the places away from the usual tourist traffic.
Often, I will sit and watch. The pace of a place speaks volumes. I will strike up a conversation with just about anybody. This is how you learn more about a place, its people, its underlying ideology.
Hardly a day goes by in which technology doesn’t work like it’s designed to—kiosks, debit machines, computers, parking meters, bus fare machines, airline travel, etc. When you are away from home and on travel it often seems exaggerated and worse than it is. And every time, it’s how the service folks handle the situation and the affected people that defines the user experience.
I was in New Orleans recently and got hustled by a street vendor. I guess I just didn’t disengage fast enough, but before I knew it he gave his opening line “I bet you a dollar, I can tell you where you got your shoes.”
While I was sorting through the young man’s accent pondering his claim and before I could decline, he thrust his hand into mine to shake on it. A gentleman’s commitment. Then without waiting, he delivered his punch line. “Why you got your shoes on the bottom of your feet … on Canal Street … in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Got me. He was correct sure enough. I couldn’t argue with his salesmanship and paid up.
On this and other trips, I find some people to be so friendly or pleasant or accommodating that they really are the gems in the rough that show the character of a place. They take time out of their day to converse with me — a total stranger — to share information and ideas. And best of all, they share a little bit of themselves.
Far too often now, when I walk around my hometown or travel elsewhere, I see people buried in their smartphones. To be sure, some are using their devices for navigation. That’s cool.
But when they are stationary and part of a group, they are missing the special things close up … failing to stop and smell the roses. I’ll see two people on a park bench occupied by the digital world. I’ll see them at the same table in restaurants avoiding the human experience.
These are examples of when technology is simply not right. Is the user experience simply that engaging that we have lost our filters?
Technology test drive
I recently wrote on the subject of simulated customer experiences. You can read about it here:
http://www.charleslaymon.com/tech-business-overlook-critical-marketing-tactic/
It is typical today for scrutinizing, tech-savvy prospects of expensive software, equipment or instrumentation to engage in the experience of simulating what it’s like to be a customer of a specific business.
Both the technology and the company are on trial here.
Knowing that their purchase will require a substantial after-sale relationship, the prospective customer’s goal is to get the most realistic experience possible of what it will be like to do business with a specific company. They will be hyper-sensitive to the interactions that take place and the relationship that develops.
At the same time, the prospect wants to use and “test-drive” the product. They are past sales resistance and fully engaged. In my article, I wrote about different ways the simulation can be accomplished. Suffice it to say, it is a very in-depth, personal shopping experience.
But this is precisely where technology gets put to the test. If the simulated customer experience does not translate to a positive user experience in this controlled setting, or the customer does not see a smooth path forward, then the sale will be derailed and scuttled.
To render a good experience, the simulation experience itself need to be very well thought out and engineered with an undeniable positive outcome.
Foul! Forced compliance is totalitarianism
And then there's Apple.
As we all know now, the iPhone 7 is due out very soon. This is the company that Thinks Different. Or is it that they want you to Think Different.
After all, they just made a new high-tech phone, no wait…it’s a mobile device, WITHOUT AN AUDIO JACK! What were they thinking? Differently, for sure.
If you haven’t already, you can read more about the iPhone 7 here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/apple-iphone-7-you-fking-kidding-me-shelly-palmer?trk=hp-feed-article-title-hpm
Steve Jobs understood that design and functionality dictated user experience. But this is a perfect example of how technology has fouled up user experience.
Did the engineers forget to include a 3.5 mm audio jack? Did they not think we needed it, or wanted it? Were the customer’s wants ignored? Or was this an intentional redesign to go a different direction?
Ah, perhaps this is part of a covert plan to bilk consumers into shelling out more money for an over-priced adapter cable — on the order of US$40. And since it will be impossible for consumers to keep up with it, there will be an endless supply of repeat purchases!
Now, you tell me…has Apple lost its sensitivity to the connection between design and user experience?
To be fair, the iPhone 7 comes with EarPods that are wired to a Lightning connector.
But as I understand it, the iPhone 7 has only one lightning port! To use any existing equipment, we require an interface adapter dongle (say that three times fast). Engaging in multiple functions simultaneously, like charging the battery and using wired headphones with a microphone, is not realistic except by purchasing a specialized dongle from a third party.
Apple is forcing iPhone 7 users to change. Apple is calling the shots on user experience. They want us to evolve by purchasing wireless headphones. Compliance is hardly optional. I guess wires are just too old school now. We will have to try and keep up with two tiny wireless earbuds. Drop one on the floor in an airplane and good luck.
Not having been part of the decision-making team makes this whole thing stink. It just doesn’t sit well with me.
Are you ready to embrace this change or do you feel a bit like a fast one has been pulled on you and your hand has been forced?
Leave your comments below? I look forward to seeing what you think?
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Article by Charles Laymon @ CharlesLaymon.com
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