In this modern world of work, there seems to be a solution for every problem we have – even ones that have been wrought by our over-dependence on technology. With so many options to choose from when it comes to the software and systems we use, it can be bewildering, to say the least. That’s where Nucleus Research comes in.

The organisation is on hand to signpost significant players in industry, namely SMB (or, small-to-medium-sized businesses) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) pioneers. Now, it’s been reported by PR Newswire that Nucleus Research has recognised Deltek for delivering value through deep functionality and industry-specific capabilities.

The gold standard

It’s a bit of a mouthful, so let’s dig into what that actually means. Deltek is a leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses. The company came out on top in the 2023 Nucleus Research ERP Technology Value Matrix, an annual report that provides a snapshot of the current ERP market.

Deltek distinguished itself from competitors by delivering value through capabilities and deep functionality across its industry-specific solutions, designed to maximise an organization’s performance at every project lifecycle stage. – PR Newswire

Over 30,000 organizations worldwide trust Deltek to power their projects to success, and that’s a figure that’s likely to skyrocket as a result of this news. Indeed, many of us work closely with the best technology available – consider how we utilise CRM and CMS software – but barely scratch the surface when it comes to the services these systems use. Deltek provides help and assistance to thousands of clients, guaranteeing they’re clued up, using their tools to the best of their ability, and not wasting money.

Nucleus Research – into the matrix

Likewise, The Nucleus Research Technology Value Matrix is an assessment of the operational value a solution delivers to a client. The Matrix provides a relative position of key players in a market and provides a framework for assessing just how suitable a solution might be for a customer.

Vendors, like Deltek, are measured both on functionality and usability, which guide Nucleus’ recognition of value for money. Then, they’re categorised into one of four categories: Leaders, Experts, Facilitators or Core Providers. Deltek being claimed as Experts further legitimises their offering, and proves that the organisation has unleashed its niche, as it were.

“In this year’s report, Nucleus found that large and small companies alike are increasingly adopting ERP software, like Deltek, to future-proof their operations and improve flexibility and agility.”
– Isaac Gould, Research Manager at Nucleus Research

With this boost, Deltek will likely do just that.

Know of any other key players you want to shine a light on here at Tech Insight? Sound off in the comments and keep the conversation going.

Source: Nucleus Research Names Deltek an Expert in the 2023 Enterprise and SMB ERP Value Technology Matrixes.

Want more advancements in enterprise technologies? Read London Tech Week: APAC to Propel UK Tech with £100bn now.

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This week, Apple unveiled its brand new Vision Pro head-mounted display at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The $3,500 (£2,808) price tag is as hefty as its array of high-tech features – for those that can afford it, this new headgear will allegedly change the way we interface with not just digital spaces – think, the Metaverse – but also the world around us. So what can the Vision Pro do? Thanks to its innovative EyeSight feature, the device will allow users to seamlessly transition from AR (augmented reality) to VR (virtual reality) on the fly; it’s an impressive advancement of pre-existing ideas.

For a company that has empowered and encouraged fitness and interconnectivity with its products, this revolution in spatial computing, as Apple puts it so succinctly, seems to be a surprisingly insular experience.

A premium price point and the opportunity to exist in an insular reality where one can watch movies in an empty digital cinema might sound appealing to your typical Apple evangelists. One of the biggest questions that remain, however, is what the practical applications of this device will be. ‘Killer software’, or lackthereof has been a significant hurdle for head-mounted displays – typically, the adoption and uptake of a product fuels software development and diversity.

What can the Vision Pro for industry?

What Apple hasn’t focused its Vision on, so far, is industry. It’s prohibitively expensive, yes, but it packs an impressive array of technology – everything from tiny 4K screens to infrared gesture sensors are in there. But what will that actually be used for? According to LightGuide, augmented reality has the potential to transform industry, and with good reason. Imagine: walking around a digital structure, designed on a computer, in real-time, in the setting it’s due to be built in. Even Nintendo’s now-defunct 3DS device could utilised augmented imagery to project Pokémon onto a table; here, it’s the reported immersion and streamlining that’s so exciting.

Just don’t expect the battery to last quite as long in practice: the Visual Pro’s power source – a literal wired battery pack – only lasts two hours when it’s not plugged in. It’s hardly a day’s work on-site, or at the office. This writer’s had longer meetings!

Seeing things differently

One sector the Vision Pro could come into its own is training and upskilling; imagine truly immersive learning experiences. One of the downsides of wearing any head-mounted device is the lack of facetime (literally) between real people. After all, it’s hard to show your face when you’re wearing ski goggles stuffed with technology! Yet the Vision Pro has plenty of potential to transform training experiences, making them fully interactive – imagine being able to witness best practice in a role not just on paper, but in person, before you start the job. Likewise, imagine an experience akin to a hazard detection test from inside the digital vehicle.

Whilst the Vision Pro lacks haptic feedback, its potential in healthcare is nevertheless present. Augmented reality has always lent itself to sci-fi visions of surgery, and it’s easy to consider this technology empowering doctors. Overlaying vitals next to a patient sounds like an Iron Man HUD-based dream but the practical application of the Vision Pro for physicians cannot be understated. For now, beyond passive forms of media and see-through sensors, it’s not really clear what Apple’s grand vision for the Vision Pro really is.

What would you use the Vision Pro for, as a professional? Let us know below.

Source: Will Apple Vision Pro Make VR Mainstream?

Image sourced from Apple.com.

How Can Technology Change Healthcare? Let’s talk about it.

The post What Can The Vision Pro Do For Industry? first appeared on Tech Insight.

Follow the money, they say. And for those wondering where all their money is going at the moment, the answer might surprise you. It’s been announced that PKO Bank Polski, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest universal bank, is accelerating its expansion into virtual worlds. Banking in the virtual world isn’t a new concept, but so far, it’s been a strictly traditional affair: your real-world money has been usable across digital platforms. Cryptocurrency’s rocky road to prominence has waylaid our species’ single, rapturous leap into tomorrow’s finances, but that hasn’t stopped PKO Bank Polski from going back to the drawing board when it comes to digital innovation.

As per PR News Wire, it has announced that it’s creating “attractive spaces” on gaming platforms such as Fortnite and Roblox, and it wants to develop its activity on Metaverse platforms such as Decetraland and The Sandbox – not household names now, but PKO Bank Polski is banking big on the potential for virtual reality in the banking space. Don’t have time to pop to your local branch? If the CEE’s biggest bank has anything to do with it, you’ll soon be able to have that mortgage meeting in the Metaverse.

“Our previous experience with being in the Metaverse world has been very positive. The Virtual PKO Rotunda embedded on the Decentraland platform still acts as a digital laboratory, but we are reaching the point where it is too small for us. – Katarzyna Dziwulska, PKO Bank Polski

Logging on – banking in the virtual world

As part of the announcement, PKO’s Managing Director of the Strategy and Digital Transformation Division, Katarzyna Dziwulska shares, “We have decided to increase our presence in the Metaverse and accelerate the process of building know-how.”  Building know-how refers to onboarding experts in the virtual world, and this will involve identifying organisations with the appropriate tech experience to collaborate on the maintenance of their Metaverse playpens and define various parameters.

Fortnite’s ‘freemium’ business approach has been both bold and lucrative; free to play, it offers compelling, dopamine-dripping paid-for challenges and cosmetics to its young player base. The anecdotes of old – colourful iPhone games that drain bank accounts with the tap of a single button – have given way to suaver money-making models. A successful digital presence relies on both context and execution, and PKO will need to be sure they don’t overwhelm users of any platform with spammy content and cloying messaging. The core user base of Fortnight and Roblox is savvy and, against all odds, their digital playgrounds are shaping every aspect of their online experiences.

An open call to all

What’s more, Roblox’s rapturous reception has been fuelled by its creators’ call to action – there’s money to be made in these digital hills! Assets, levels and entire games can be created thanks to the program’s intuitive tools, and the Director of the Innovation Bureau at PKO, Marek Myszka, invites everyone to give this innovative approach to digital expansion their best shot:

“This model will allow us to develop simultaneously on various gaming platforms… where we want to create attractive and engaging virtual spaces for users. We invite all interested companies to contact us via metaverse.pkobp.pl.”
– Marek Myszka

It’s clear the future of our finances is being written in real-time, but what do you think? This is part of a much larger push on PKO’s part to integrate their brand into popular virtual spaces, but is it a bit cloying? We’re used to seeing banks on our high streets, but it’s a far cry from Fortnight, and right now, Fortnite creator Epic has been remarkably savvy about how it integrates branded content into its free-to-play world; yes, you can battle and build as an assortment of Spider-Men, but that’s where the brand recognition ends. It’s organic.

By banking on Battle Royale and younger audiences, is PKO Bank Polski missing the mark on what makes the Metaverse special?

Source: The largest universal bank in the CEE region accelerates expansion in the Metaverse.

What do you think? Is this all a bit too Second Life for your liking? Banking from home sounds convenient, but does it threaten to alienate all but those most technologically-minded? Keep the conversation going in the comments.

Want more on the workplace of the future? Click here: What does the future of work look like for IT? Aruba Has A Solution.

The post Banking in the Virtual World? PKO Bank Polski Thinks the Money’s in the Metaverse first appeared on Tech Insight.

Anecdotally, I have had many conversations with my creative friends – graphic designers and music producers – who are terrified as the copyright goalposts shift in real-time. A day doesn’t pass where I don’t see a social media post bemoaning how “artificial intelligence was supposed to do the boring hard jobs and leave us with the fun ones… not the other way around.” Sting has a stark prediction about the future of music, and even 

Tom Hanks doesn’t think people will care if AI keeps him propped up forevermore.

It’s a bleak outlook. I have tried to present a balanced view of the topic on TechInsight, presenting reports on both sides of the argument; I recently reported that the CEO of Digital Science & Research Limited, Dr Daniel Hook, stated that “modern workers must embrace the AI dark arts to thrive.” Reading through the article, I considered this to be a relatively positive spin – yes, there will be a tumultuous recalibration, but ultimately, workers will be buoyed by the burgeoning technology.

Right?

At the beginning of May, it was reported that the ‘godfather’ of AI, Dr Geoffrey Hinton, was stepping down from his high-ranking position at Google. Part of this, yes, has to do with his age (a fact that has been glossed over by some outlets), but Hinton, 75, has served as somewhat of a harbinger for the destructive potential of artificial intelligence. An intelligent utopia of shared, super-powered information is nice though, but Hinton’s right to warn of “bad actors”.

“You can imagine, for example, some bad actor like Putin decided to give robots the ability to create their sub-goals,” he shares. This eventuality might, “create sub-goals like ‘I need to get more power'”. As a species, we’ve marvelled at the theoretical potential of artificial intelligence for close to a century; Vannevar Bush predicted a system which amplifies people’s knowledge and understanding in 1945.

In 1950, Alan Turing proposed that these systems could one day simulate human beings, and play chess.

As a nerd who writes for a tech site, until recently, my first thought on the matter would have been the swatches of spectacular cinema on the topic. Recently, my wife and I have embarked on a bit of an ‘AI binge’, enjoying low-budget gems. 2017’s Marjorie Prime and 2021’s I’m Your Man is both near-future evolutions of 2013’s Her that explore the sociological ramifications of seeking out corporeal (or close enough) intimacy between the lines of code. We’re not quite there yet.

2022’s The Artifice Girl introduces audiences to a nascent presence – a technological breakthrough – generated for thought-provoking, and wholly altruistic reasons. Yet even a film released last year, pondering the future, feels so wholly stuck in the past. Legendary AIs such as HAL 9000 from 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and SkyNet from 1985’s Terminator were presented with cold, calculating, deadly efficiency.

Logical beings, just doing their jobs.

As people imagine they remember where they were when Michael Jackson died, I remember where I was when I heard about ChatGPT for the first time. I’m a writer. Of course, I’m going to be nervous that such technology is threatening me, but after some research – and some usage – I’ve come to realise that it’s not a great writer. It’s a great thinker. It’s also been posited as something other than just another search engine (™).

OpenAI’s invention, at least GPT-4, was trained on data that are capped around September 2021; it can philosophise until the cows come home, but like a guidebook from the past, it’s not going to be able to give you up-to-date information about the Greek restaurant around the corner, but it can guide you towards our landmarks and achievements. Even back in 2019, OpenAI stated its program was “too dangerous” for primetime, providing only limited access to the public.

Skip forward four years and we stand at a precipice. Recently, the British government has baulked at how to wrangle the ever-fluctuating prospect of cryptocurrency, only to later take a backfooted ‘regulatory’ stance. According to Rishi Sunak, the UK will lead on “guard rails” to limit the dangers of AI. His comments come as more than 1,000 artificial experts called for a pause to limit its real-world ramifications.

The rapid rise and integration of artificial intelligence into countless services has come even quicker than many expected; the theoretical is no longer fiction. Isaac Asimov, Bush and Turing’s famous thoughts on the subject are now footnotes in a discourse that’s unfurling in real-time. Rather than doom forecasting, it’s wise to heed Dr Daniel Hook’s words: there’s no harm in upskilling. As every new technology finds its way to the common man, we’re forced to contend with it – today, offices would be unrecognisable without computers, but this wasn’t always the case.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents a fundamental shift in the way we live, work and cooperate, and it’s wholly digital. Artificial intelligence is charting its course. If Goldman Sachs’ predictions are true, then our greatest asset is our humanity: we still have our superpowers to collaborate, communicate and be compassionate.

Right now we’re caught in the riptide – a seismic sea change – and at least one teacher thinks this is a valuable time to instil empathy and ethics into the next generation of workers. In a recent Guardian article, Siva Vaidhyanathan opted not to admonish her students at the University of Virginia for using ChatGPT to generate essay answers but to seize this as a vital opportunity to enlighten and educate.

She says, “We asked them to consider whether the results reflected well on their goal of becoming educated citizens. Of course, they did not.” Artificial intelligence is all around us – we can’t change that fact. In a world where countless citizens will let computers think for them, there’s never been a better time to think for yourself.

The post TechInsight’s Take: Exploring the Turbulent Path Ahead as AI Reshapes Industries first appeared on Tech Insight.

We’ve recently reported on how artificial intelligence assistants are giving physicians a helping hand. Now, Enterprise Tech is reporting how the healthtech landscape is evolving. How can technology change healthcare in the UK? Let’s find out.

Healthcare in the UK is facing steep challenges; Keir Starmer certainly thinks so, and with good reason. Santosh Sahu at Enterprise Tech states that NHS waiting lists are at a record high of 7.3 million due to a lack of funding, resources and staff shortages – all impacted by the pandemic, growth in demand and staff shortages.

How can technology change healthcare?

The crossroads between tech and healthcare is a tricky one. Ultimately, when we’re concerned about our health, we want face-to-face advice and real solutions. Just as Labour leader Keir Starmer argued last week, digitisation may be the key to heralding drastic change.

Currently, pharmacies play a vital role in the UK’s health system, as they offer services that offer the work of GPs, general practitioners. Pharmacies provide consultations, prescriptions and vaccinations, as signalled by the Government’s Pharmacy First initiative, with Britain’s 11,700 ‘community pharmacies’ will be able to play an ever greater role in patients’ lives. Software as a Service is key to easing pressures in the system – Sahu reports that insufficient government funding caused almost 400 pharmacies to close entirely between 2020 and 2022.

“Pharmacies cannot fully take advantage of Pharmacy First due to a lack of funding and resources.”
– Santosh Sahu

So what’s the solution? The ‘healthtech’ industry is a booming market, valued at just over £3 billion in 2021. This number may surprise you, considering the original aim and intent of the National Healthcare Service; like so many other publicly-funded institutions, privatised innovation may be the key to long-term success. Hundreds of healthtech start-ups now exist within our shores, providing a wealth of opportunities for researchers, investors and innovators to do exactly that.

Charac and easy access

One such example is Charac. Founded by Katherine Bridges, its Head of Brand and Clinical lead and a former NHS nurse, it’s one of many digital services offering atypical solutions that are empowering entrepreneurs to produce solutions to “fill market gaps and ultimately improve patient outcomes”. Charac’s modus operandi is simple: an easy way of monitoring prescriptions, any time, anywhere, that allows chemists and patients complete, transparent access to their medication records.

“Charac provides independent community pharmacies with a holistic digital presence, allowing pharmacists to book and conduct consultations online and even deliver medications through its partnership with Royal Mail.”
– Katherine Bridges

If pharmacies are struggling with burgeoning costs, such digital solutions serve and streamline both staff and their communities. Almost half (47%) of patients use pharmacies for repeat prescriptions – if the entirety of this process is liberated by a SaaS (systems as a service) model like Charac and its competitors, staff can afford to be more present and more effective, galvanising the Government’s Pharmacy First approach and freeing up valuable NHS resources to be deployed elsewhere.

Source: From nurses to entrepreneurs: how the healthtech landscape is evolving.

How would you reboot the NHS? Keep the conversation going in the comments.

Want more healthtech news? Click here: OpenAI Changes Healthcare For The Better.

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Ask any Brit and they’ll have an opinion on how the current government handles the NHS. As more and more services seem to be sliced, diced and privatised, it’s becoming increasingly evident that the NHS is shifting further and further away from Nye Bevan’s original ambition for a medical care service that provided point-of-need help, regardless of wealth. Well, it shouldn’t surprise you that Labour’s Keir Starmer, the current leader of the Conservatives’ opposition, has an opinion. If Starmer has anything to do with it, the NHS is going digital… but is that solution just a fragment of a much bigger, more pressing matter?

This week, Starmer shared his vision for a new, digital mode of working within the NHS with the Guardian – if Labour’s leader gets his way, the service will be streamlined. Starmer blasts the current regime: “Tories have run the NHS into the ground with ambulances not arriving until too late, swift GP appointments a thing of the past and more than 7 million people waiting for treatment. But it’s about a lot more than that.”

NHS is going digital – what does this fix?

Yet to the average citizen, it’s not always apparent how the government’s edicts actually affect the outcomes; it’s obfuscated. On behalf of his party, Starmer has outlined a “health mission” that restructures the NHS from the ground up.  Moving from an analogue system to a digital system signals a shift towards showcasing the UK’s flourishing life sciences sector, and utilising an entire population’s data to work on a truly national scale. With so much data segregated, it can’t benefit the bigger picture.

“we are announcing details of our health mission with the clear aim of making the NHS fit for the future – a prevention-first model and a shift from hospitals to the community so that illness is caught early and at home, not late and in hospital.”
– Starmer’s manifesto

Post-Covid care

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In our data-driven world, it can sometimes seem like the rules for tech firms breach borders across the world – the more money you have to play with, it seems, the more rules you can bend. Today, at least, that isn’t the case, as Meta received a record Facebook fine for breaching rules put in place to safeguard users’ information.

Today, Hannah Murphy at the Financial Times has reported that Meta has been hit with a record €1.2bn (£1.4bn GBP) fine by a European Union regulatory board for “privacy violations”, and ordered to suspend all user data transfers to the US. As Murphy points out, it’s the most significant penalty of its kind in the bloc’s – that is to say, the continent’s – history.

Meta wants to go broader than borders

It transpires that Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, the DPC, has taken umbrage with Meta’s handling of users’ data. The regulator exists to keep organisations of its nature accountable; according to the DPC, Facebook, which handles its European operations out of Dublin, had violated rules requiring the transfers of personal data from the EU to the US without appropriate safeguards in place.

It’s significant that the DPC is figure heading for the entire EU – so often, Meta and similar corporations seem to bypass national jurisdiction – but no surprise, considering its European base of operations.

“We are . . .  disappointed to have been singled out when using the same legal mechanism as thousands of other companies looking to provide services in Europe,”
– Facebook’s Nick Clegg

The ruling follows continued pressure within Europe for regulators to keep a close eye on its citizens’ data, and where it’s being used. Previously, activists have warned that private information remains “exposed to surveillance programmes”.

Previously serving as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats and the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, Clegg certainly raised some eyebrows when he joined the company as its president of global affairs. Yet his position within the company provides an indication of Meta’s grand ambitions, and crucially, the calibre of employees the corporation is willing to recruit, to skirt the legal line. This time, it hasn’t paid off.

Clegg, however, offered an indictment of the decision: “This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and the US.”

Facebook fine: where does Meta go from here?

The thing is, it’s easy to demonise one of the most ubiquitous companies on the planet – Facebook alone has 2.91 billion active users. Clegg’s comments potentially signal a sea change regarding how and why gargantuan corporations store “private” user data, but Meta certainly isn’t the only organisation we’ve put our faith in that ships and stores our data globally.

George Orwell once predicted a surveillance state, but he could never have predicted that such surveillance wouldn’t stem from our physical presence, but our digital footprint. Looking to the future, the DPC has issued Facebook’s EU HQ five months to “suspend any future transfer of personal data to the US,” and six months to cease processing EU citizens’ personal information in violation of the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation.

It gives Meta a headstart: a way to either find a new loophole with which to thread the needle, or potentially plan to retreat and regroup on the other side of the Atlantic. Have they overstepped? Maybe, but for a corporation monopolising the market that’s reportedly worth $646.29 billion USD, Meta may just be fine to flex its muscles, incur the cost, and carry on regardless.

Source: Facebook owner Meta hit with record €1.2bn fine over EU-US data transfers.

Is Meta too big to fail? Tell us what you think in the comments!

It’s not all doom and gloom! Click here to read: Microsoft Pledges https://techinsight.newshub.talkabout.tech/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/09/uk-technology-heatmap-3.jpg-Carbon Data Centre by 2030.

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The debate surrounding artificial intelligence rages on. Recently, the CEO of Digital Science & Research Limited, Dr Daniel Hook, claimed that modern workers must embrace AI to thrive. His comments seemed to assuage worries that AI (artificial intelligence) could threaten jobs; now, however, the man considered to be its ‘godfather’ has taken drastic actions to speak out on the dangers of artificial intelligence.

In a statement to the New York Times, Geoffrey Hinton has announced that he is resigning from his high-ranking role at Google, stating that he regrets his work with the burgeoning technology. In the past, it seems like we have all been on the receiving end of a chafing chatbot we know isn’t human, ping-ponging us to different sectors of a site with no real clue what we’re after. Well, Hinton says the dangers of AI chatbots are, “quite scary”.

“Right now, AI chatbots are not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be.”
– Dr Geoffrey Hinton

Look to the future: the dangers of artificial intelligence

Dr Hinton was awarded the 2018 Turing Award, alongside his colleagues Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun, for their work on deep learning, and it’s no understatement to say that his pioneering work on neural networks charted the progression of AI systems now prevalent such as Google’s own Bard technology, and ChatGPT. Neural networks, we already know about in terms of human physiology, and in tech terms, they work in a similar fashion, enabling artificial intelligence systems to learn from experience. That’s an important distinction from how traditional computers operate.

The British government is keen to promote investment in AI in the UK – it thinks the burgeoning tech will eventually drive productivity across the economy. That’s a long-term plan, but what about right now?

We might angle towards a tech utopia, but Dr Hinton warns of “bad actors” in the tech space, who might use its functionality for “bad things” too. “Given the rate of progress,” he shares, “we expect things to get better quite fast. We need to worry about that.”

Right now, protocols are put in place to rein in artificial intelligence, but that could easily change; ChatGPT currently constricts its accessible data to September 2021, a clear line in the sand for users. It’s not supposed to solve today’s problems, but it can help generate answers to broader themes and topics. We have always pooled information to overcome our species’ greatest obstacles, but until now, it’s never been instantaneous.

A million mighty minds

The totality of mankind’s achievements is measured in an instant – this instant. Countless advancements is philosophy and science have been incremental, and have taken centuries, if not millennia, to solve. Hinton warns that multitudes of AI models share the same information, and this is where the dangers of artificial intelligence lie.

it’s as if you had 10,000 people and whenever one person learnt something, everybody automatically knew it. And that’s how these chatbots can know so much more than any one person.”

The exponential rate at which AI is developing has the potential to change everything going forwards. It may not be a Skynet future we’re barrelling towards, but Hinton and other leaders in the tech sector are conscious that we need to take a step back… to move forwards in a way that doesn’t threaten our way of life.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/technology/ai-google-chatbot-engineer-quits-hinton.html | Additional information: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65452940

Which side of the fence do you fall on? Is real life replicating the scariest sci-fi? Let us know in the comments below!

Want to read what Dr Daniel Hook thinks of the oncoming AI revolution? Click: CEO: Modern Workers Must Embrace AI to Thrive

The post ‘Godfather of AI’ on The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence first appeared on Tech Insight.

The pandemic changed many workers’ relationships with work forever, and in a post-Covid world, many of us simply aren’t willing to accept the shortcomings we tolerated before. HPE Aruba Solutions redefined the tech space when we were forced behind our laptop screens; now, they’re hoping to make life easier for enterprise IT teams the world over, with a new IT-fuelled, cloud-native network management solution.

Aruba Solutions is a jewel in the crown for HP, which has gone through somewhat of a transformation itself in recent years. The self-styled global leader in wired, wireless, and SD-WAN solutions that ‘use AI to automate and secure the network from edge to cloud’, is hoping to ease operations across the board with its state-of-the-art solutions. As reported by ChannelE2E, it’s using tech to push enterprises into the future.

Central Intelligence

Make way for HPE Aruba Networking Central. The company have fully gotten their knees under the table at Hewlett Packard, and Aruba has been hard at work, redesigning its flagship technology to simplify operatives, streamline practices and improve productivity. How? By leveraging AI (artificial intelligence) to cut down on manual tasks; with a bit of luck, strained teams can concentrate on higher-value projects as a result.

Heard the term SaaS – Software as a Service? Well, Aruba’s gone one better, providing NaaS (Network as a Service) capabilities to both its customers and partners to acquire, deploy and manage on HPE’s GreenLake platform. These launches serve to take the pain pressure off IT teams – it changes the narrative that the onus is on the worker, or that there is, in fact, a talent shortage. Instead, Aruba’s automation could instead see those same teams prosper by embracing artificial intelligence.

“Networking Central offers Multi-layer physical and logical “sunburst” topology views to transform visualisation of large, complex networks.”
– ChannelE2E

Feature-rich future

In a world that’s still grappling with increasing advancements in AI, it’s a big ask, but Aruba is banking on enterprises being healthier, happier places if technologists take note of Networking Central’s key features. They include operator-centric backend design, intended to enable users across skill levels, and a simplified ‘time-travel’ feature, for a contextually correlated ‘point-in-time’ of a network; if there’s a problem, anyone can rewind to a specific point, a little like a save state snapshot of a video game.

Phil Mottram, the executive Vice President and General manager of HPE Aruba Networking started: “A modernised network is the backbone for powering next-generation digital experience and enabling new business models.” Time will tell how these models shape up, but it’s clear that thanks to the continued, funding, innovation and acquisition of companies such as Hewlett Packard and their new subsidiaries, innovations on the scale of Aruba’s new networking technologies promises to usher in an exciting new age where workers can focus on the future, and not the friction.

Source: https://www.channele2e.com/technology/ai/hpe-aruba-networking-invests-in-ai-solutions-to-ease-pressure-on-it-teams/ 

What solutions would you suggest to further empower IT workers? Do you agree with Aruba? Let us know in the comments!

Salesforce is imagining a greener way of working in the future. Find out more here: How To Be A Greener Developer – Salesforce’s Fresh Initiative.

The post What does the future of work look like for IT? Aruba Has A Solution first appeared on Tech Insight.

Video games are big business in 2023, and that’s only going to accelerate. As the Verge Reports, Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Acquisition has been approved by EU regulators – one of tech’s biggest companies has been given the green light to strong-arm the rest of the industry, and it seems like the end user might be the one that pays. What does Microsoft acquiring Activision mean for you?

Microsoft’s macro bid

In the world of console-based, mainstream gaming, there are three key players: Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony; Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S, and Sony’s PlayStation 5 mark the ninth generation of consumer-grade, home-based consoles. Since Microsoft entered the sandbox with the original Xbox in 2001, it has vied for supremacy with Sony’s PlayStation. Each generation is a new battleground – the Xbox 360, for the longest time, eclipsed its competitor. The Xbox One? Not so much – this time around, Microsoft seems to think that monopolising the industry is the way to go.

As reported by the Verge, the company’s $68.7 billion deal (that’s £54.9 billion in GBP) to acquire Activision Blizzard has been approved by regulators in the EU, just weeks after regulators in the UK blocked the same acquisition. The European Commission has concluded that Microsoft, “would have no incentive to refuse to distribute Activision’s games to Sony.”

“Even if Microsoft did decide to withdraw Activision’s games from the PlayStation, this would not significantly harm competition in the consoles market.” – The European Commission

The future, however, of gaming, doesn’t seem to be anchored wholly in home consoles found underneath your television, and EU regulators found that even if Microsoft’s big bid doesn’t affect where customers can play their games, it could disrupt the distribution of PC and video game through cloud gaming services.

Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard – beyond the box

For years, the Call of Duty series, one of Activision’s big earners, has dominated as a multi-platform behemoth, across both PlayStation and Xbox brands. In 2023, Sony has enjoyed a 44.1% market share, compared to Microsoft’s paltry 16% – many users feared that Microsoft might be attempting to simply close the door on Sony’s Call of Duty player base. Microsoft, however, seems to be setting its sights on a future fight.

The European Commission has identified a remedy in its judgement: decade-long licensing deals that Microsoft has offered to competitors in the space, to assuage concerns that Call of Duty might jump ship. What’s more, a free license to customers in the European Union would allow end-users to stream all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games via any cloud game streaming service of their choice.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), however, had a less optimistic view of Microsoft’s colossal offer, expecting that the acquisition could in fact lead to “reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers.” Nintendo and Sony have traditionally had recognisable mascots in their camps – think Mario and Zelda, and Crash Bandicoot and Lara Croft. Sony’s crop, however, due to deft deals between publishers, has found its way to other platforms. In the walled garden home console space, players have often baulked at these forced, timed exclusivities, with many opting to simply go without that shell out for another overpriced system.

With luck, Microsoft’s Xbox division will stay true to its word and not erect such roadblocks in the future.

The nature of the beast

Ultimately, this is a bid for supremacy in a burgeoning tech space, rather than the ninth console generation, and it’s here that the CMA’s worries lie. Activision is now known as Activision Blizzard because of a similar acquisition – just on a much smaller scale. In 2016, the company acquired King Digital, the mobile game developer responsible for the impossibly popular Candy Crush series.

The company’s chief executive Bobby Kotick castigated the CMA’s move against the acquisition last month, stating he believed it was evidence that the UK was “closed for business”. As Microsoft’s walled garden grows, however, it lends credence to the CMA’s foresight. At this rate, Microsoft could end up with all the toys in the toy box, and if that happens, gamers will be forced to get on board with the Xbox brand, or go find their fun elsewhere.

Source: The Verge

What do you think of this proposed new deal? Is it good news for the end-user? Have your say below!

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