With Big Data projects, the challenge is to clean and filter the huge amounts of information involved. It takes a lot of work to get to the point where business value can be extracted.
Over the coming year, Google will focus on releasing cloud tools and services that ease development tasks, while helping companies monitor their Big Data operations. At their I/O developer conference in June, the company unveiled a number of new products to achieve this.
Cloud computing is an attractive proposition for any organisation not wanting to manage its data in-house, for several reasons:
Reduction in up-front capital investment, on infrastructure.
New cloud-based servers can be up and running in minutes, rather than weeks.
Flexibility, as companies need only pay for the capacity they actually use.
Elimination of maintenance costs related to occasional spikes in demand.
Increased automation and process efficiency.
Added levels of service, and technological expertise.
And, what is it?
Well, in the Internet of Things (IoT), objects, animals or people are able to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The IoT evolves from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and the Internet.
In the IoT, a “thing” could be animal, vegetable, or mineral – so long as it can be assigned an IP address, and given the ability to transfer data over a network. “Smart” devices built with machine-to-machine (M2M) communication capabilities are the most common.
Picture a world where tiny, intelligent devices capture information about how we live, and what we do. And communicate with each other. In our houses, cars, and factories.
Coffee-pots talk to alarm clocks. Thermostats speak with motion sensors. All choreographed to respond to our needs, solve problems – even save our lives.
Simple fact of evolution: when change occurs, you either adapt to it and survive, or don’t – and perish. In business, change is ongoing, and an organisation frequently relies on IT’s ability to develop and adapt technology to support new and improved processes.
In their 2013 report, “The Search for Creative Destruction,” analysts at Goldman Sachs identified 8 products or processes set to impact the business arena, with evolutionary consequences.
Electronic cigarettes (a.k.a e-cigarettes or e-cigs) could grab 10% of the global tobacco market ($10bn), over the next several years. Offering the “good” aspects of smoking, with “none” of the bad (also, not subject to excise taxes or settlement payments), the technology will offer high margins for manufacturers and retailers.
Immunotherapy trains the immune system to attack cancer cells, unlike chemotherapy (which can kill healthy cells) and “targeted” therapy (which cancers often develop resistance to). Combination therapies may earn $10-15 billion by 2025, with lung cancer as the primary sector.
With energy savings of up to 85%, longer life-spans, and programmable capabilities, LED lighting could dominate the commercial sector by 2020.
When Android L arrives later this year, it may put an end to the days of carrying separate devices for work and leisure. The mobile platform now boasts the ability to separate data on a single handset or tablet.
Historically, there’ve been five ways to access your business and personal accounts without having to carry two phones:
Created by software your employer installs on your personal phone. Mobile Device Management (MDM) software like Microsoft’s System Centre can control settings on your phone, making sure your security set-up is safe for work.
Virtual machine software like VMware’s MVP permits a phone to maintain a separate business environment with its own apps and settings, distinct from personal data. A phone within a phone.
Similar to a virtual machine, there are apps (e.g. LogMeIn Ignition on Android) that let a smartphone have access to a Mac or PC. You can see and control programs running on the faraway computer.
The workplace has changed a lot, in the last 20 years. Today, there’s some form of computer at every desk, telecommuting is common, and traditional cubicles have given way to more collaborative work spaces.
Well, PSFK, a popular blog that also acts as a consultancy, has come up with its own version of the future of work, based on ideas that are already gaining ground. Their report runs to 138 pages (and costs around $150), but I’ve summarised several of the main points (and some input from other sources) below.
A recent LSE/PSI project suggests the existence of a digital divide, with manual workers having less opportunity to learn and exercise new information-based skills – even though their knowledge of IT is substantial, from using computers at home.
At government level, there’s a widespread belief that the key to genuine improvements lies in encouraging more skills training among employees – especially in the areas of information and telecommunications technology. Policy-makers see raising the level and value of formal educational qualifications as vital to improving competency at work, and promoting more innovation and creativity.
In future, learning initiatives for young entrepreneurs will become common. In the Enstitute model, university students are matched with start-ups, where they learn the ins-and-outs of a company, take relevant Skillshare classes, work on projects, and sit in on panels.
At Google I/O, the company’s developer conference in June, it was announced that Chrome OS will now support Android apps natively, and that Chromebooks will run them on-screen in their own windows.
Since most people who have Chromebooks also have phones, greater integration between Android devices and the Chrome OS should come as welcome news.
Sundar Pichai, Google’s Senior VP of Android, Chrome and apps, didn’t say when the feature would actually arrive.
“We’re in early days,” was his statement, at the conference. But he did demonstrate some of the functionality that Google proposes.
Being in another world – not just looking at a place on a computer screen, but actually experiencing it, as if you’re standing there.
That’s the magic of virtual reality (VR).
Till now, it’s largely been the province of clunky hardware, powered by high-strength processors. Expensive, and unattainable.
With a new app from Google that lets Android users transform their phones into VR headsets, this looks set to change.
You’ll need to; but, more of that later.
Google’s system, codenamed ‘Cardboard’, was a hit at the recent Google I/O 2014 developers’ conference. It’s so named, because the visor component which houses the phone can be constructed from simple materials. The aim is to create a low-cost platform users can assemble on their own.
There’s been a lot of talk in recent years surrounding security and the cloud and it was something that delayed initial traction in the market until reasonably recently. However, as more and more businesses have made the transition, it’s clear that faith in cloud services has grown.
Despite a recent Ponemon Institute study, which found that moving to the cloud could triple the cost of a data breach, there’s still plenty of evidence to suggest that the cloud is much safer than many business premises.
A recent study by NTT Group found that businesses are still not doing enough when it comes to securing the company network. In fact, it was found (somewhat worryingly) that many businesses don’t even have the most basic protection, such as antivirus software and vulnerability scanning, in place.
