Why the metaverse experience isn’t quite a CX revolution yet
The metaverse aims to solve a key CX sticking point with the current state of
the Internet, which is a lack of interactive, engaging, and immersive
experiences. But there are a number of startups and companies working on
improving the Internet experience without the need for a metaverse. From
interactive content to immersive experiences, the future of the Internet is
looking a lot more interesting, and it all relies on data. In other words, we
can use data to create innovative customer experiences, the metaverse
notwithstanding. For one, the current state of internet content is largely
static. Websites are filled with text, images, and videos, and there’s very
little that allows users to deeply interact with and change the course of the
content. This is changing with the rise of interactive content, such as
quizzes, polls, surveys, and games. One of the best ways to use interactive
content is to create customer feedback loops. This involves using interactive
content as a way to gather customer data, which can then be used to improve
the customer experience. There are several ways to do this, but one of the
most common is to use quizzes and surveys. You can gather data on customer
preferences, demographics, and even purchase history.
Solana Uses Rust to Pull in Developers and Avoid Copypasta
Yakovenko, who is the engineering brains of Solana, firstly noted Rust’s
popularity. “It’s not like we picked Haskell or something,” he joked (a dig
at Solana’s rival blockchain, Cardano, currently ranked 6th on
CoinMarketCap, which did choose Haskell). He went on to explain why they
didn’t choose to build with Solidity and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
“The hard part with EVM,” he said, “is are you gonna get, like, really smart
people full-time thinking about […] how do I build in scale? […] Or are you
just going to get somebody that copies something from Solidity and then
slaps a token on it?” What Yakovenko is getting at is that Solidity, in his
opinion at least, attracts developers that are more likely to copy-and-paste
smart contract code from existing blockchain projects (a practice known
colloquially as “copypasta”). So by choosing Rust, which is a harder
language to learn than Solidity and is much more likely to be used by
professional programmers, they are hoping to attract developers who can
build custom, scalable programs.
Success of web3 hinges on remedying its security challenges
The success of web3 hinges on innovation to solve new security challenges
created by different application architectures. In web3, decentralized
applications or “dApps” are built without relying on the traditional
application logic and database layers that exist in Web 2.0; instead, a
blockchain, network nodes, and smart contracts are used to manage logic
and state. Users still access a front end, which connects to those nodes,
to update data such as publishing new content or making a purchase. These
activities require users to sign transactions using their private keys,
typically managed with a wallet, a model that is intended to preserve user
control and privacy. Transactions on the blockchain are fully transparent,
publicly accessible and immutable (meaning they cannot be changed). Like
any system, this design has security trade-offs. The blockchain does not
require actors to be trusted as in Web 2.0, but making updates to address
security problems is harder. Users get to maintain control over their
identities, but no intermediaries exist to provide recourse in the event
of attacks or key compromises.
Rust-Coded Malware Key Factor in BlackCat's Meteoric Rise
According to some researchers, one of the key factors responsible for
BlackCat's success and rapid growth is reported to be usage of the Rust
programming language in its malware code. Security researchers from
cybersecurity firm Recorded Future say that BlackCat is the first
professional ransomware group to use Rust. The first ransomware strain
coded in Rust as a proof-of-concept was released on GitHub in 2020. In May
2021, the Buer Dropper malware was updated using a code written in Rust.
At the time, researchers from cybersecurity firm Proofpoint told ISMG that
the new code, named RustyBuer, made the modified malware version harder to
detect. Photon researchers tell ISMG that ransomware is most commonly
coded in C, C++ or Go. But they add that Rust has many advantages: "It
features good performance but more crucially, secure memory management,
which reduces the probability that the malware will crash before it can be
executed." Several other languages use a garbage collector to clean unused
memory spaces automatically, but that trades off some performance, the
researchers say.
Understaffing persistently impacting enterprise privacy teams
“People are an essential component of any privacy program, both the
privacy professionals driving the work forward and employees across the
enterprise who follow good data privacy practices,” says Safia Kazi, ISACA
Privacy Professional Practice Advisor. “Enterprises need to sufficiently
invest in their privacy programs and teams, not only to retain privacy
staff and upskill talent to fill open roles, but to also prioritize
privacy training efforts to ensure all employees are supporting privacy
initiatives.” Despite issues with staffing and skills gaps, 41 percent of
respondents report they are very confident or completely confident in the
ability of their privacy team to ensure data privacy and achieve
compliance with new privacy laws and regulations. One in 10 respondents’
enterprises have experienced a material privacy breach in the last 12
months, consistent with last year’s results. ... “Privacy professionals
are vital in driving transparency and accountability across their
organizations, and that has never been more important, as more consumers,
employees and investors dictate the success of organizations that they do,
or don’t, trust,” notes Alex Bermudez, OneTrust Privacy Manager.
Crypto and NFTs: A New Digital Footprint for Enterprises?
There can be a dark side to this new frontier. Increased use of
decentralized assets has brought concerns of exploits -- such as
cryptocurrency money laundering. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a
global organization that combats money laundering, has been looking at how
to mitigate risks around cryptocurrency, says Malcolm Wright, head of
strategy for global regulatory and compliance solutions with Shyft
Network. Regulators in the United States already had policy and guidance
in this arena in place, he says, but the task force proposed wider
suggestions on dealing with these emerging issues. “FATF doesn’t create
legislation but it does lay down recommendations and evaluates countries
against how well they’ve implemented them,” Wright says. Shyft is a public
protocol for validating identity to secure cryptocurrency, establishing
trust in blockchain data. FATF laid out recommendations in 2019 with the
expectation that countries would regulate within two years and industry
would look to comply within two years, he says. This was a way to mitigate
the risk that illicit actors pose.
Nothingness at the top of the heap
Business leaders faced with these issues, as most people sooner or later
are, will want to consult a brilliant and energetic executive by the name of
David Levinsky. You’ll find a few by that name on LinkedIn, of course, but
the one you most need to know exists only between covers. The Rise of David
Levinsky is probably the first important American Jewish novel, yet its
themes—the ambiguous nature of “success,” among them—remain as timely and
universal as when the book was first published more than a century ago, in
1917. If that were all Levinsky offered, it would be enough, as we sing at
Passover. But the book delivers far more, succeeding as literature even as
it illustrates the difficulties of starting a business in a new country, the
importance of manufacturing in fostering innovation, the social tensions
that arise from extreme inequality, and the effects of imposter syndrome—for
Levinsky, a lifelong affliction. “At the bottom of my heart,” he will
reflect as a middle-aged tycoon who employs his own chauffeur, “I cow before
waiters to this day.
Better Metrics for Building High Performance Teams
Not surprisingly, VP’s of Engineering get a lot of pressure to quantify
value and productivity from the engineering department for bosses or peers
who don’t often have the same perspective or skillset, and these metrics are
an easy way to understand activity in the field. But there’s a big issue:
Lines of code rewards bloated solutions, and likewise, optimizing for faster
cycle time may not solve a problem’s root cause. These metrics are often
used to compare individuals against each other and teams to one another.
These are dangerous paths to walk down: you will quickly fail to see the
realities the team or individual may be facing (poor onboarding perhaps, or
even that someone has been pulled off a project to help on something else -
making the dashboard look bad.) When you begin surveilling engineers to get
this kind of data, and then making management decisions based on that flawed
information, you’ll drive turnover and discontent in the organization.
2022: the year of the open source tiger
Open source brings economic savings, that’s true, but beyond this it
supports societal values including collaboration, skills development and
improved and diverse innovation. The UK Government’s digital focus in 2022
will be on “Funding, People and Ideas,” according to Digital Minister, Chris
Philp. The values of open source align directly with this ambition. Talent
will be actively nurtured, and the UK financial sector will be tasked with a
significant increase in its investment in digital start-ups through UK
pension funds. The current 12% level will be driven towards the 65% US
equivalent pension. This increase in investment should create a larger pot
for all, helping to support businesses in establishing their operations and
building sustainable models that take advantage of circular economy models,
rather than than going for all-out perpetual growth. With a greater focus on
scaling UK digital businesses, some of the Brexit pain will be alleviated
with a new fast track visa route launching in March or April, offered to
organisations demonstrating 20% financial or people growth over the last
three years.
Hybrid work: 5 tips for prioritizing the employee experience
In a broader sense, IT plays one of the most important roles in removing any
employee friction. We have opportunities to automate or digitize manual
processes, remove duplicative systems or logins, and fix systems that don’t
talk to one another. We can avoid pushing out patches when they’re in the
middle of something important, we can reduce the time they spend on a help
desk call, and we can simplify how many logins they must manage. When we
proactively remove these big rocks from the employee’s backpacks, we lighten
their load and enable them to focus on more value-added work. Some of the
opportunities IT tackles to improve the employee experience wouldn’t be
labeled as groundbreaking, cutting-edge initiatives. But it’s necessary
work. Take time to sit and talk with your employees and get as much data as
you can out of your help desk and ticketing systems. This will help you
identify trends and proactively tackle problems in the employee experience –
before your employees get so burned out that they leave. When the
organization knows you care about the “little” things, you’ll earn the trust
you need to tackle the big things.
Quote for the day:
"A pat on the back is only a few
vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in
results." -- W. Wilcox
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