How Will Cloud Computing Make Drone-Based Solutions Smarter
Due to its multi-sector application, cloud-processed data becomes a valuable
resource. For governments and enterprises, it can become a viable source of
revenue. As new urban and rural projects are commissioned, these high-resolution
datasets are crucial for the planning process. It is useful in satisfying
several government schemes such as PM Gram Sadak Yojna, PM Awas Yojna, Bharat
FiberNet, and many more. For instance, SVAMITVA data along with DEM layers can
help officials chart out the most optimum route of power lines for rural
electrification. Similarly, digital terrain maps can help ascertain the natural
slopes and assist engineers in designing efficient gravity-aided sewage
networks. Cloud computing creates a centralised repository of GIS data which has
the potential to drive innovation. Prior to cloud processing, data sharing of
this kind had software and hardware limitations. However, the cloud brings forth
unified data standards across the country making it hassle-free to access
high-quality data.
Why Cybersecurity Learning and Development is a Lifeline During Economic Downturn
More than a third of Europe’s largest tech companies are currently based in
London and the UK remains a beacon of technological innovation. Yet, our
research suggests that tech companies across the UK lack the technological
skills they need to thrive and remain safe in the challenging months ahead. With
DCMS’ UK Data Skills Gap report highlighting that the supply of university
graduates with specialist technological skills is limited, companies must accept
they have a larger role to play to increase digital skills internally rather
than simply looking outside for ready-made talent. Business leaders must put
adequate investment and support behind the upskilling of current employees to
bolster cybersecurity talent and drive innovation. At the same time, employees
should prioritize cybersecurity-related L&D to make themselves an invaluable
asset to their organization – proactively identifying training opportunities
with a quality L&D partner, one that aligns with their unique learning style
and objectives. While there is no cookie-cutter approach to upskilling,
employees should be granted access to a range of learning opportunities as part
of a defined path of individual development
Artificial intelligence is here, but the technology faces major challenges in 2023
Whether AI will replace human jobs is less important than more vital ethical
questions that need to be addressed in 2023, Bhargava says. The more pressing
concern is "who's making these things and what questions are they asking about
what biases are baked into it." When tools like ChatGPT are designed by teams
with limited perspectives and diversity, the result is a tool lacking in
perspective. "These systems that get built … are mirrors for our culture and our
practices," says Bhargava. "Which way do they point and who's looking in them?
No, they don't embed bias; they reflect it." There are some measures being taken
to address the ethical questions around AI bias. Dakuo Wang, associate professor
of art and design and computer science, says ChatGPT's real innovation is how it
uses human data labelers during the process of training the AI to limit bias and
increase accuracy. But even then, the technology is only as good as the data
it's been trained on. Without the right data, the inaccuracies and limitations
become much more obvious––and potentially dangerous.
Ransomware Looms Large on Third-Party Risk Landscape
First, it is important to have a clear understanding of the enterprise’s
IT-related supply chain. This includes identifying all of the suppliers,
subcontractors and other partners that process, transmit or store data used in
the creation of the enterprise’s products and services. It is also important to
understand the relationships between these different entities, as well as the
specific products and services that each one provides, which results in a
mapping. Once the supply chain has been mapped out, the next step is to identify
the potential risks associated with each component of the chain. This includes
both external and internal risks. External risks might include things like
natural disasters, political instability or economic downturns. Internal risks
might include things like employee turnover, equipment failure or data breaches.
To identify these risks, enterprises should consider conducting a risk
assessment. This will involve gathering and analyzing data from a variety of
sources, including supplier contracts, insurance policies and regulatory
compliance reports.
DevOps and platform engineering
Despite many new teams and job titles springing up around DevOps, the platform
engineering team is, perhaps, the most aligned to the mindset and objectives of
DevOps. Platform teams work with development teams to create one or more golden
pathways representing a supported set of technology choices. These pathways
don't prevent teams from using something else. Pathways encourage alignment
without enforcing centralized decisions on development teams. Rather than pick
up tickets, such as "create a test environment", platform teams create
easy-to-use self-service tools for the development teams' use. A critical part
of platform engineering is treating developers as customers, solving their
problems and reducing friction while advocating the adoption of aligned
technology choices. ... Platform engineering alone doesn't provide a complete
organizational view of performance. The DevOps structural equation model shows
us capabilities for leadership, management, culture, and product that are
outside a platform team's scope.
The Internet of Things: What security risks should you look out for?
With more businesses adopting the IoT and with smart homes becoming increasingly
popular, focusing on cybersecurity alone is not nearly enough. It is also
important to ensure the physical security of these devices. Most of these
devices are generally quite small and easily accessible and could be tampered
with or stolen. Once stolen, these devices may be taken to another location
where they can be disassembled and probed for any data. These stolen devices
might also be used to breach the IoT systems to which they are connected.
Moreover, a hacker could plant a bug in a device without even having to move it.
These issues highlight how important physical security is and why companies need
to take steps to ensure the physical safety of their device network. There are
several standards for cybersecurity today, and in a lot of cases, companies are
even required by law to comply with some of these standards. Unfortunately, no
such international standards exist for the IoT. All we have are best practices
and recommendations. While steps are being taken to strengthen IoT security, we
have yet to see a framework of recognized, international standards for IoT
security
A Platform Team Product Manager Determines DevOps Success
As you build platforms out across the organization, Kersten said, it’s important
to ensure that the feedback loops expand accordingly. “If you first build
self-service for your own team it tends to be a simpler problem,” he said.
“You’ve got the feedback loops already. You should, within a team, be talking to
each other. Thinking about what you do as self-service and trying to build those
abstractions for yourself, then you’re hopefully freeing up time.” As the
platform embraces other teams, “You can’t do platform engineering if you don’t
have some way of talking to the people who are actually going to be using the
services you build, and working out what their actual problems are, because
their problems will be different from yours.” The “State of DevOps” report’s
findings underscore the need for a product manager with these “soft skills” to
make platform engineering a success at scale. Sixty-one percent of respondents
said strong communication skills were the most important product management
skills for a platform team’s success.
Why Applying Constant Pressure on Yourself Can Significantly Improve Your Productivity and Success
As with so
many things, working through pressure gets easier with practice. It's like a
muscle or a skill — you have to train it to strengthen it. No one is walking
into the weight room for the first time and squatting with 400 pounds, nor
would it be recommended. Without training, you're only going to hurt yourself.
There's a reason Lionel Messi is consistently chosen to take penalty kicks;
he's taken so many before and has found a way to be comfortable and successful
through what's arguably the most pressure-inducing moment of the game. He's
been put in the situation before and risen to the challenge repeatedly in a
way other players haven't mastered yet. ... Different people have different
strategies, but something I've found crucial is recognizing the adrenaline
that comes with the feeling of pressure. On a physical level, the fear you
might feel during those moments is not all that different from the feeling you
get when you're excited, like climbing the highest point of a rollercoaster.
The trick is channeling that adrenaline towards the latter and using it to
fuel excitement rather than fear.
AI and Human Creativity - Could it Lead to General Cognitive Decline?
AI might be able to generate new and novel ideas by remixing what is fed into
it, but that doesn't necessarily help the humans who create the input improve
their access to their own creative powers. It's not just about the quality of
what is generated, it is also about improving our thinking skills. Creativity
might be innate but we can always get better at inviting its presence. In my
experience, that's a mental skill that improves with practice. And
highlighting the importance of the human element in creativity is all well and
good but creators in a hurry could be ever more inclined to just press a
button to get the output to meet a deadline instead of going inside,
reflecting, and finding that creative state necessary to doing it on their
own. And, of course, yes, AI is a tool and it is about how you use it. I think
it is also about how you frame its purpose and how that relates to our values
as a society. Consider the relative importance of the intrinsic value of
creativity versus a context that gives more weight to the speed of delivery
and amount of output.
Enterprise Architecture Must Evolve for Digital Transformation
Current enterprise architectures (EAs) were being developed in the 1980s, and
while there have been iterations of them since, widely adopted EAs are still
utilizing the same architectural foundations as when they were established.
Take for example The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), which had its
first version published in 1995. The foundation still consists of the same
four architectural domains: business, application, data, and technical. That
foundation was laid before the internet existed. And this is part of the
problem. Today it is not uncommon to equate technology with the worldwide
connection that is so ingrained in our everyday lives. While TOGAF has managed
to support businesses up to now by versioning, including integrating the
internet and new capabilities into its architecture, it wasn’t purpose-built
for today’s possibilities—digital business. Our understanding of what’s
possible drives the need for modernizing enterprise architecture.
Quote for the day:
"No man can stand on top because he is
put there." -- H. H. Vreeland
