Nowadays working days have become too complicated. Spending your time between answering e-mails, status updates, different file types can feel like a second job. Dropbox has launched the new app Spaces, which strongly focusses on teamwork, competing with other applications like Slack.

Dropbox Spaces has cloud storage but also other function such as collaboration, which makes it easier to set up collaboration platforms with colleagues. Files, tasks and meetings can be connected through this function. “Dropbox Spaces transforms your folders into collaborative workspaces that bring your team’s content to life” (Dropbox 2019). Spaces is built with machine intelligence to help you stay focused. Different improvements are made such as the image search. With Spaces it is possible to search for photos based on the content, something that is already possible with Google Photos. Other examples of improvement are the preview of files, paper integration and calendar integration. All these improvements bring Dropbox closer to Slack, Google and Microsoft.

According to Finances Online teamwork applications is the highest growing market segment in 2019 by 60%. Furthermore, there is a 20 to 30 percent increase in productivity which is attributed as a benefit of online collaboration tools and digital workplaces. This raises the question where collaboration platforms and tools head to in the future. Finances Online predictions include, AI-powered bots, AR and VR in team collaboration and even applications that recognize body language in order to guide team interaction (FinancesOnline 2019)

There are numerous collaboration tools, however, sometimes it may become difficult to choose one to work with. Each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. How do you choose which one is the right fit for you and your firm? Do you choose the one you are familiar with, or maybe switch with new developments? Which collaboration platform do you use when collaboration on group projects such as Information Strategy?

“Introducing Dropbox Spaces” (2019) Accessed on 1 October 2019 on https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/product/introducing-dropbox-spaces

“30+ Essential Online Collaboration Statistics: 2019 Analysis of Trends, Data and Market Share” (2019) Accessed on 1 October 2019 on https://financesonline.com/online-collaboration-statistics-analysis-of-trends-data-and-market-share/

We could be standing at the gate of a new computer era. Apparently, Google has achieved quantum supremacy by solving an extremely difficult equation which was even impossible for the most advanced super computer. Possibly, quantum computers are able to solve tasks normal computers are not able to.

Quantum computing takes the possibility of subatomic particles to exists in more than one state at the time. Due to the behavior of these subatomic particles, operations can be done quicker by using less energy than normal computers. In normal computers a bit is a single piece of information that can exist in either 1 or 0. Instead of using these two states quantum computing uses quantum bits, called qubits. Imagine normal bits, 0 and 1, being two poles of the sphere, qubits can be any point on this sphere. This means a qubit can store much more information than a normal bit can (Wired 2018).

Last week a document appeared on the NASA-server describing a quantum processor called Sycamore, which consists of 54 qubits. These 54 qubits were used to control a probability sample, which, according to the document, would take world’s best super computer 10.000 years while Sycamore completed this task in 3 minutes and 20 seconds. However, the experiment was a proof-of-concept-test (NewScientist 2019) .

If the rumor is correct and Google actually reached quantum supremacy, this could be used in various fields such as artificial intelligence, chemistry and mathematics. For example, quantum computers can be used in order to solve extremely complicated mathematical problems like finding very large prime numbers. Furthermore, can be used to model chemical problems, or designing completely new molecules for medicines. Concluding, quantum computing may be a solution to a whole lot of technological problems. However, Google did not yet respond to any of the rumors, so the world is curious to see what’s next.

“Google claims it has finally reached quantum supremacy” (2019) Accessed on 24 September 2019 on https://www.newscientist.com/article/2217347-google-claims-it-has-finally-reached-quantum-supremacy/

“What are quantum computers and how do they work?” (2018) Accessed on 24 September 2019 on https://www.wired.co.uk/article/quantum-computing-explained