Green vehicles

Last week, the German government announced that it wants all German cars to be emissions-free by the year 2030. This ambitious goal has set a precedent for other countries to follow. As this blog has noted previously, the renewable energy revolution will play a catalytic role in the advancement of the internet. The internet is a already mammoth consumer of electricity. As we enter the age of the Internet of Things and Big Data becomes Colossal Data, the internet will require significantly greater energy supplies to power the needs of the world. Traditional sources of energy will be insufficient to meet this need. Renewable energy will become crucially important as a means of digitalising the whole world and also protecting our environment.
Already, one third of all amphibians and many species of fish are under threat of extinction due to anthropogenic climate damage. Human industry has done irrevocable damage to the Ozone layer, leaving us with no option but to invest heavily in Green energy. Cars are an obvious culprit in this particular domain, with diesel emissions largely responsible for much of the damage to the environment. Germany has long been extremely environmentally friendly and ahead of the curve in regard to renewable energy. Germany also happens to be a major producer of the world's finest cars with BMW, Porsche and Volkswagen firmly established as globally recognised brands.
This latest initiative by the German government demonstrates tremendous forward-thinking and prudence, qualities that are sadly lacking in many governments around the world. Hopefully, other governments will follow Germany's example and aspire to leave future generations with a healthy environment and functional digital economy. Wouldn't that be something worth striving for?

Future of Big Data

We hear about Big Data all the time. But what exactly will be the future of Big Data? Here are ten things we can expect to see happen in the coming years.

1. The volume of data will continue to grow significantly. With the advent of the Internet of Things, this is an indisputable fact.

2. We will develop better and more efficient ways to analyse data. Tools like SQL will become better and more sophisticated in accomplishing this.

3. Business analytics software will focus more and more on prescriptive analytics.

4. Real-time streaming insights into data will become very popular.

5. Privacy will continue to present a huge challenge to Big Data. One of the most contentious issues right now in regard to the internet, is the conflict between privacy and transparency.

6. More and more companies will appoint Chief Data Officers and Chief Information Officers. Data management and governance will be of paramount importance to many companies.

7. Automation will continue to be a huge trend, particularly in regard to AI and robotics.

8. Big Data staffing shortages will emerge as companies urgently require data analysts and scientists.

9. Cognitive technology will become hugely popular as the link between cognitive computing and analytics strengthens. 

10. Big Data will be replaced by "Fast Data" and "Actionable data". Data in and of itself is not useful. What are useful are the insights and applications that can be derived from it. With regard to data, big is not necessarily better. But the way data can be used is hugely beneficial to many companies.

The future of the Internet

What exactly will the internet look like in the future? Some of its characteristics will be:

(a) Ubiquity

(b) Invisibility

(c) Large scale implementation of AI 

The web will radically transform the very look and feel of our planet as we know it. This sort video gives a vivid overview of what to expect in the coming years.

Google's Pixel

For almost eight years, Google has been playing an adversarial role to Apple within the Smartphone marketplace. Google has always sought to match, if not outdo, everything Apple does with its latest iPhone offering. With its latest release, the Pixel, Google has raised the bar and produced a phone that has garnered considerable attention from the media. Why? Because the Pixel is the first phone produced entirely by Google, inside and out. Google did not partner with any manufacturers to produce the Pixel.

The big question on everyone's lips is, could the Pixel surpass the iPhone? Some say yes, others say no. This article on Forbes provides an interesting angle on the topic. What is certain is that the Pixel will pose a formidable threat to Apple's market position. The video below illustrates some of the features of the Pixel. Let's wait and see what happens. It could become enormously successful, or it may just be a fad. Time will tell. 


 

Humans of the future

Israelis have always been world leaders at cutting edge research, and Israeli scholar Yuval Noah Harari is no exception to this rule. His previous book "Sapiens" gave a detailed, thoroughly researched history of the human species from Stone Age times right up to the twenty first century. Harari's most recent book "Homo Deus" carries on where "Sapiens" left off, this time trying to predict what our species will look like in the future. The principal motif of "Homo Deus" is that technology will make humans god-like in the coming century. That is not to say that we will become omnipotent, but rather that we will develop superhuman abilities never seen before in history. Although we will still be human, we will have the ability to do amazing things rather like the ancient Greek gods could, to use the author's analogy. Algorithms and bionic technology will enable us to accomplish things our forefathers could never have dreamed of. We may be able to completely eradicate war and famine, though it would be foolish to assume that this will definitely happen. Search engines like Google will develop a terrifying knowledge of each and every one of their users. But is this necessarily a good thing? What challenges will the age of heightened connectivity bring? Harari adroitly addresses all of these concerns. All in all, "Homo Deus" is a fascinating and stimulating read. Anyone seeking a better understanding of how future technology is likely to unfold should read this book. Below is a video of the author discussing his latest book.

The Cyber effect

We are living in the Cyber age, no doubt about that. But what exactly are the effects of this upon us as a society? That is the subject of Dr. Mary Aiken's book "The Cyber effect", just recently published. The author does an outstanding job of addressing the harms and threats posed by living in the Cyber age. Specifically, the author addresses cyber-bullying, cyberchondria (i.e. healthcare Sherlocks), child porn, the Dark net and the online disinhibition effect (i.e. people are more inclined to say and do things online than they would in real life).

The web has been referred to as "the largest unregulated social experiment of all time". This has very serious implications for our future. Although the web has brought a staggering number of positive things to the world, it has also brought a number of harms. The principal problem is that it is largely unregulated. There is no authority figure on the internet. Nobody owns it. Altough this is not necessarily a bad thing, there is definitely a need for greater regulation. The author calls for a Magna Carter for the web, to make our society a safer one, especially for our children. The author also makes a very salient point. The internet was largely designed and developed by men. This is one particular reason why things like porn and dangerous weapons are so easily accessible online. If the internet had been designed by women it would probably look very different. As great as the web is, there is certainly a need for more restrictions and regulations for what people can search for. This is particularly true for young children. We must as a society stand firm and ensure that the web does not endanger children above all else. The author gives a brief but informative introduction to Cyberpsychology below.

Future crimes

There's an excellent book out now by author Marc Goodman entitled "Future crimes". As you can probably infer, the book addresses the major cybersecurity threats we can expect to encounter in the future. Meticulously researched and well articulated, the book adroitly investigates the evolution of the internet over the past decade or so and analyses the major security threats that we now face. It then explores how digital technology is likely to evolve in the years to come and the types of cyber risks that this will impose. The premise of the books is that because we are now more connected and dependent on the web than ever before, we are also more vulnerable than ever. According to Goodman, businesses may be on track to invest nearly $100 billion on cybersecurity by 2017. Incidentally, China is allegedly responsible for over 40% of all cyber attacks globally, although the Chinese government vehemently denies this. Iran and Russia also pose formidable threats in this capacity i.e. an Iranian hacker group called 'Sword of Justice' launched a major cyber attack on Saudi oil company Aramco in 2012, causing enormous damage. 
One of the most acerbic points that the book makes is that when it comes to the likes of Google and Facebook, YOU are the product, not the customer! The sheer vastitude of data that these companies are collected on each one of us is mind-boggling. This is the core value proposition that these companies make to their advertisers - "We know a huge amount about who your customers are and what they want". Google records absolutely every single thing you search for and tailors your search results based upon your previous search history. Data is the new oil as the saying goes. This has led to an upsurge in data surveillance or "dataveillance", to use the parlance now in vogue. The problem with this is that the more data we produce, the more cyber criminals are willing to consume. As we allow more of our personal data to go online, we leave ourselves increasingly vulnerable. The web could potentially become an all-knowing panopticon or as the books phrases it, "Big data equals Big brother". 
The book carefully examines the role that the likes of Bitcoin is playing in facilitating the Dark net and also explores how we can protect ourselves from online criminals. "Future crime" is a real eye-opener and rather shocking in places. However, the author remains cautiously optimistic that with due diligence we can keep ourselves safe from cyber threats of the future. He also provides a list of detailed recommendations at the end of the book on how to do this i.e. update software frequently, use unpredictable passwords, only download from official (legitimate) sites, encrypt your data and switch off your PC when you are not using it. This book is utterly essential reading for anyone who wants a strong grasp of cybersecurity. Strongly recommended!