The advances in the world of IoT

Currently, there are over 8.4 billion connected devices in the world with 5.5 million new devices being connected every day. (Gartner, 2017) This is expected to grow to between 20 and 200 billion within the next five years. The promise of Internet-of-Things doesn’t end at just connecting the devices to the internet. It is just the first step.

Advances in RF technology and low power computing will bring Internet-connectivity everywhere. Advances in Big Data and machine learning will unlock new business opportunities and models. The possibilities are nearly endless, but they all still lie quite out of reach from the direct consumer.

Limitations

The current situation is that there are many devices with some form of connectivity to the internet, but they are still (mostly) incapable of communicating with one another without vast programming skills of the consumer. Currently, the consumer needs an app for everything, adding to dozens of apps over the coming years. The consumer doesn’t want to find his phone and start an app for simple tasks such as turning on the light, but rather have the light turn on according to a rule or condition such as coming home. The smart device should allow for cooperation in the way the con­sumer wants. Operating devices that have become connected should not get more cumbersome, but less.

The device manufacturers, however, can’t possibly deliver omni-potent apps. There is not one standard or ecosystem currently. Their main focus is to deliver a smooth user experience, which is difficult when depending on third parties. Although there are various devices which allow in­ter-connectivity with other devices (such as the Flic button and the Philips Hue (Shortcut Labs Sweden, 2016)), these implementations are often limited.

IoT apps as a solution

IoT mobile apps act as the middleman. Consumers can connect their devices, apps and services and IoT apps will allow them to work together. Depending on the functionality of the device, app or service, it can work as a condition or an action. Examples of such apps include Triggi, IFTTT, Stringify and Yonomi among others. Generally, these apps allow the combination of one or more of conditions to trigger one or more actions.

By integrating with one of these apps, device manufacturers will immediately expand the capabilities of their devices. In turn, by being connected to such an app, us­ers can use devices beyond its normal scope of functionalities. Both are achieved without any direct investments. You can control your lights, program actions, send an email at a specified time. It works on a basis of ‘if, then’ statements. If you are interested in IoT and would want to start automatizing your life, check this out! Especially Triggi is up and coming ?

Sources and further reading:

https://triggi.com/

https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3598917

The recent, rapid development of natural language processing, machine learning and other AI-based tools leads to the increased usage of such techniques in the hiring process. More and more companies use algorithms to screen your CV/resume, searching for the right keywords. According to the company Resumeterpro, around 72% of resumes are rejected by applicant tracking systems (ATS) before any human can assess them. These systems track every word on your resume, carefully searching for the skill keywords that are essential for the position.

The question remains: How well can a computer assess your ability to do well in a job? I believe that every one of us had or still has a totally vague description of yourself in your resume, including empty, nice-sounding power words: Result-oriented, detail-oriented, team-player… Would you also want to tell me that your biggest personal drawback is being a workaholic/perfectionist? But frankly, do these words add any value?

Resume screening tool analyses not only your professional experience, but also your summary, formatting, grammar, accomplishments. I may agree that it may work in the majority of cases. I, myself, when working in a HR company could screen a resume within a moment, basing my judgment on the formatting and grammar. However, in my opinion, in some cases the resume screening tool may be disadvantageous for the job applicant but also the employer. What if, for example, the job applicant has very unique experiences/achievements that are not covered in the screening algorithm?

Another limitation and also an advice to you, fellow readers is to be aware of the format of your resume. Applicant Tracking Systems may be not able to read all documents saved in .docx format, PDF or as a JPG. Wanted a nice, not super boring, unique resume that was edited in Photoshop & saved as JPEG to save space? Good for you! REJECTED.

If you wonder whether your resume is able to go through applicant tracking system, try Jobscan.co, where you can upload your resume and see whether a robot thinks you’re good enough ?

Sources and further reading:

hbr.org/2016/12/hiring-algorithms-are-not-neutral
accesswire.com/436847/72-of-Resumes-are-Never-Seen-by-Employers
cvsaviour.com.au/8-things-you-need-to-know-about-applicant-tracking-systems
jobscan.co

Aside from disrupting existing industries, Information Technology establishes new ones. A story of an ambitious start up competing against the resources of tech giants for a golden mine of a market has become a cliché over the past years. However, some of the battles draw a bit more of our attention when the stakes are particularly high.

According to the latest valuation, which took place in summer of 2017, Slack, a recently appeared chat service that evolved into an agile business productivity tool, is worth USD 5.1 billion. While the top-flight investors are splashing the cash, Slack expands and serves 5 million users per day, nearly 30% of whom are paying for the subscription. At the same moment, Microsoft and other giants rub their hands and prepare to snap up the booming market.

However, the growth of the demand for a specialized and all-under-one-roof solution for corporate communications was predictable. The businesses of all sizes and many scopes are forced to constantly seek for a source to increase operational effectiveness to stay at par with the competition. Besides, IT has increased the value of intangibles like agility, quickness, adaptiveness and openness to innovation. All the factors are directly related to how flexible and fast is the communication designed within the working groups and the whole company. Therefore, a messaging platform already adopted by millions of users that is willing to transform to add maximum value to corporate clients seems like a perfect match for many industries and use cases.

While there are several alternatives on the market, such as Dropbox that provides advanced solutions for documents exchange for businesses, messaging-based platform seems like a more natural basis for a highly demanded corporate communications organizer. Minding that, Microsoft has recently introduced Teams – a direct competitor for Slack and soon we will now what the awaited competition will bring to the table.

Sources:

• http://www.forbes.ru/tehnologii/350335-ne-prosto-messendzher-pochemu-ocenka-servisa-slack-prevysila-5-mlrd
• http://fortune.com/2017/09/17/slack-raise-valuation/

The ugly truth behind the blockchain is that it consumes a lot of energy.

The amount of energy needed to make one bitcoin transaction is in comparison to one month of energy or electricity for a whole household.
This is enough to let the washing machine run for about 200 times.

Blockchain is an energy consuming phenomenon.

At this moment, keeping the blockchain running costs about 2200 megawatt. Compare that to the biggest power plant of the Netherlands that produces about 1560 megawatt.
One bitcoin transaction is 20.000 times more expensive than one credit card transaction.

Blockchain verifies every bitcoin and cryptocurrency transaction thru a lot of computers/blocks at the same time. This happens with a complicated algorithm that requests a lot of computing power from computers. Because all the processors run at 100%, the bitcoin transaction cost a lot of energy. That is why bitcoin miners get compensated for providing processing power. Miners therefore must consider the bitcoin price over the energy price. If the bitcoin price is higher than the energy price, it is lucrative to be a miner.

I know a friend who’s a cryptocurrency miner. What he told is that in his network of miner’s people are looking for countries where the energy is relatively cheap. The cheaper the energy the more profitable mining gets. My friend told me that he knows miners in certain parts of the world that have whole houses fully dedicated to mining cryptocurrencies. Not for themselves but for people in countries where energy is more expensive. Cryptocurrency mining is becoming more like a business that outsources its operations to countries where labour/ energy is cheaper.
Another side of mining cryptocurrencies is the heat generation. Because the processors run at full capacity they generate a lot of heat. Therefore, a mining rig can get costly or requires enough space between the processors/ video cards. If we can some transform the heat into usable energy, then being a miner becomes more interesting.

Blockchain may be the future, but the more we innovate into the blockchain world, the more power it is going to cost us. We must consider this constraint. And technology firms as well as programmes will have to seek less complex algorithms in order to make the Blockchain more sustainable.

https://www.rtlz.nl/tech/een-bitcoin-transactie-vreet-evenveel-energie-als-een-huishouden-per-maand

The Internet of Things is connecting more and more devices every day.
People are connecting more and more devices to the internet and transforming their homes into smart homes. Reducing the electric bill with smart lighting and other smart devices.
Furthermore new trends will allow cars to connect with smart city infrastructure. Allowing an entirely different ecosystem for the driver. This will make driving from A to B a lot more efficient.
Nowadays people are connecting a lot of healthcare devices to get a deeper understanding of their own health.
These devices and their benefits come with a potential risk. As these connected devices give hackers and cyber criminals more entry points.
Late last year, a group of hackers took down a power grid in a region of western Ukraine to cause the first blackout from a cyber-attack. And this is likely just the beginning, as these hackers are looking for more ways to strike critical infrastructure, such as power grids, hydroelectric dams, chemical plants, and more.
We as consumers are getting more and more concerned about our privacy. But connecting almost all our devices to the internet increases the risk of conserving our privacy.
That is why the article by Tech insider: ‘How the Internet of Things will affect security & privacy’ compiled a list of some of the biggest IoT security issues.
IoT Security Issues
1. Public Perception: people are getting very concerned about the possibility of their information getting stolen.
2. Vulnerability to Hacking: researchers have been able to hack in the security of Samsung’s SmartThings smart home platform.
3. Are Companies Ready: A survey by AT&T Cybersecurity Insights reports that from the 5.000 enterprises questioned, about 10% feels confident that they could secure smart devices against hackers.
4. True Security: Companies need to build security into software applications and network connections that links to smart devices.
IoT Privacy Issues
1. Too Much Data: smart devices create a lot of data. This gives hackers the opportunity to leave sensitive information vulnerable.
2. Unwanted Public Profile: by connecting these new devices you would have agreed that the information that you make could be sold to other parties like insurances. These parties will then use your private data to create an insurance to your life style. This can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your lifestyle ofcoure.
3. Eavesdropping: by lack of security, manufacturers or hackers could use a connected device to invade your home.
4. Consumer Confidence: by carefully assessing this risks can prevent consumers from buying IoT and therefore letting it go mainstream.
When using IoT we must consider the potential risks that come with them. Companies providing these technologies must incorporate security and privacy into their strategy.
We as consumers must get more conscience about the potential risk these new smart devices are subject to.

 
http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-of-things-security-privacy-2016-8?international=true&r=US&IR=T