AI is changing the way customers interact with businesses. AI changes everything with how websites and bots will work — along with many other tools and integrated systems. Businesses protect and manage digital assets and data of the company. There is a day-to-day struggle in businesses currently using artificial intelligence, which is made more difficult because of sequential technologies.

Many businesses are intrigued by the idea of turning to artificial intelligence for help in the sales process. AI is certainly capable of finding your best-qualified sales leads. AI can give you efficient issue resolution, and systems that feed actual data back in for future process and product improvements. However, most enterprises do not know where or how to get started with their “new” company AI.

Systems and data must connect to allow full use of capabilities as if all information were native to each. And also, edgeways to present information to end-users, though data is evolving on a constant basis. The environment requires specialized insight and know-how to ensure a smooth and continuous integration that’s both relevant and current.

The intelligent experience is all about leveraging AI to derive predictive insights that can be embedded in the workflow. Companies seeking competitive advantage must find ways to make their business operations more intelligent.

It Starts With a Shift In Focus

AI functionality is poised to be a game-changer, exploring possibilities and opening up new roles and more business-central activities. However, it’s important to first understand how intelligent experience can help improve? It starts with a shift in focus.

Artificial intelligence is edging into business processes across organizations, however, when an organization interacts with the use of AI correctly, that shouldn’t be a sign AI is running the experience behind the scenes.

AI has the power to make customers feel they are making their choices, but it’s the machine learning and the algorithms that are handling those decisions.

The most useful sense, when it comes to shifting in focus, is vision — keeping track of the ability to give suggestions on how to improve.

Artificial Intelligence is going beyond the senses and going straight to the source – the brain. The very reactive tactic, oftentimes, companies are late, identifying customers likely when it’s too late. This is because there is a major difference between predicting significant changes in the economy and a financial sign that becomes apparent only after a large shift has taken place.

Artificial Intelligence aims to heavily impact a number of industries worldwide — shaping online customer experience models. The AI technology will take hold across many industries over the coming decade, and businesses firmly need to decide how AI will help them to optimize conversions.

Automating most internal processes, the operational effort involved in maintaining and controlling devices is reduced. However, simultaneously shifting focus, the marketplace, significantly allows configuration.

More cost-efficiency is rising from artificial intelligence, so customers can focus on increasing the quality and operations of their processes with just an increase in resources.

It is crucial to assess the landscape of the acquisition time period. This often is where perceptive relations start to form. Customers are going to be comparing their initial experience to the expectations entrepreneurs set during the sales process.

Examination; Plug Opportunity

Processes of Artificial Intelligence are making significant progress in reducing several walks of life problems. It also provides automation of not-get interpretation and grasping, restructure the information.

With AI, as per the market, you can spur on processes, get value from data, and provide clients with a better experience. All those benefits can help drive sales and boost revenue.

The application of the AI system may now be defined in considerable detail. As of a rule, the cost of Artificial Intelligence requires intelligence on the work being done for proactive development. The development work is usually split into several feasibility studies and set business and project objectives.

However, if Artificial intelligence claims to be a plug-and-play canned legacy, you need to be highly suspicious. You need to have someone trained to take care of this system. (source: coseer.com.)

The sufficient algorithm performance is a key cost-effective factor, as often a high-quality algorithm requires a round of tuning sessions. To decide between various algorithmic approaches towards businesses, one needs to understand how exactly inculcation takes place under the hood, and what can be done to obtain competency.

If it is not clear up-front, one may end up in a situation of not-more-performing. AI is certainly exciting, but business owners cannot jump into it without first laying the foundation with basic analytics.

Odds Of Probability

With so many possibilities for applying AI across an organization, in all likelihood, deploying an AI system must be effective. AI is often considered solely from a technology perspective and little wonder since its capabilities rely on—and continually improve through—technical innovations.

Deploy with quick-witted positioned skills and a variety of tools to create AI algorithms that can be inserted into enterprise applications. Quick wins bring an added bonus. Meaning that getting the most out of AI is about validating AI’s ability to spark value, keeping momentum and funding, and going for longer-term projects.

AI doesn’t thrive in a vacuum. Businesses that generate value from AI deal with it as a major business transformation initiative that requires non-similar parts of the company to come together and work with probable expectations. AI is the future of business operations.

When contemplating an investment in AI, be sure you have pragmatic predictions and have a setup that will allow you to embed insights into the daily workflow of your organization. Through the power of AI, you can start blurring the lines between sales, service, and marketing.

The power of artificial intelligence needs a hard edge at business processes and the majority of resources. From there, your company can use AI in a way that actually helps your business grow and ultimately boost your bottom line.

Image Source: Pexels

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Cybersecurity is one of the biggest hurdles to progress and digital transformation for companies. Naturally, with new technologies comes new vulnerabilities, which companies can find difficult to navigate especially in new cloud environments.

Legally, cybersecurity designers have to follow strict regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and other laws to protect sensitive information that businesses may possess of their clients.

However, companies that can navigate this system and use their information effectively can more than double their profitability.

Security is a focal point for the future, but it doesn’t have to be the end-all-be-all for companies’ progress and transformation. Companies can not only evolve with technology but stay ahead of the curve and use it effectively. Here are three ways to prevent your company’s security needs from halting the digital transformation of your organization.

Security is Where the Cloud is

The future of security lies in the “cloud,” an ambiguous term that much implies your data is stored invisibly in the sky somewhere. The cloud refers to software and services that run on the internet rather than on your computer’s hard drive.

Data is stored and accessed over the internet (on someone’s server) rather than locally, which can make some companies nervous. The worry or nervousness can prevent businesses from jumping into the next generation of security.

Putting trust in the cloud means trusting that the data will be accessible at all times.

Unlimited accessibility is possible, but it can cost a pretty penny, especially as the companies providing the service can charge for things such as bandwidth.

Trusting the cloud also means trusting the companies providing cloud storage services, which many companies have trouble doing. Big corporations such as Amazon, provide cloud storage services to thousands of smaller companies. The companies can run the risk of outages that can last for hours.

Intellectual property issues can also be an issue with cloud storage. Your business and companies that provide cloud storage solutions may have riffs over who owns the data since they’re the ones storing it. This can depend on where the data was created (locally or in the cloud), and what verbiage is used in the terms of service agreement.

Reasons why companies may not want to implement cloud solutions.

However, cloud computing and cloud-based storage solutions are the future. Local storage is limited, but the storage capacity of the cloud is almost unlimited. Almost constant improvement in cloud services means an improvement in the security of data and infrastructures involved in cloud computing. Cloud security can offer reduced costs since the need to invest in dedicated hardware is eliminated. Reputable cloud service providers eliminate manual security configurations.

Familiarizing with the Cloud can help your organization operate at scale, reduce the costs of technology, use flexible systems that can give the company a competitive edge, and keep moving toward the future.

Tokenization is a Secure Digital Transformation

Tokens are a subject that not a lot of companies have heard of, but can definitely benefit from. A digital token is a digital representation of an asset or right. The asset can be a stock, bond, or real-estate.

The digital token can also represent the rights you have to access a form of data. With security tokens, you can have ownership of the asset, and investors in this asset are protected. Security tokens are useful for private securities.

The security token can often be confused with a utility token, which is when the Howey Test is used to differentiate the two.

The Howey Test is a test made by the Supreme Court that may determine if a transaction qualifies as an investment contract. This test asks if the asset is an investment of money, if it’s in a common enterprise, if there’s an expectation of profits, and if the asset comes from the expectations of others. If the asset passes this test, it can legally be considered a security token.

Security tokens are useful for companies to pay dividends and share and generate profits for token holders.

Paper-backed assets have a liquidity problem, but the cryptographic representation of assets takes care of that issue. By utilizing security tokens, businesses can represent their assets with a simple, government-regulated token. They are rather underutilized at the moment, but as more individuals and companies become interested in owning tokenized versions of assets, security tokens show a lot of promise.

Allocate Funding for Cybersecurity

Ironically, businesses can be held back from progress because they don’t know how much money to spend on cybersecurity. Cybersecurity threats have been dramatically increasing for several years, and data breaches are more common than they were ten years ago.

Cyber threats and data breaches are now considered the norm rather than the exception. Threats such as these have made big businesses to increase spending on defense and cybersecurity, but several firms still underspend on their cyber defenses.

Most firms have the most basic forms of cybersecurity, such as firewalls and antivirus. This may have been enough in the old days, but cybersecurity threats today are much more sophisticated and require more evolved forms of protection.

Authentication, encryption, and digital signatures can all help organizations protect their data from cyber threats, and it’s incredibly important that businesses invest in these to prevent costly breaches.

Investing in protection from breaches can be costly, but the chaos that ensues from data breaches when cybersecurity is not taken seriously can be more costly than their preventive measures.

Spending money on these needs now can prevent companies from having to pause operations to fix mistakes from malware, phishing, ransomware, and other forms of data breaches. In this way, the digital transformation of an organization can continue without needing to worry too much about cyber threats.

In the End

The digital transformation of an organization can be slowed down or even halted in the event of a cybersecurity threat.

Knowing how to evolve with the changing cybersecurity industry through cloud computing, tokenizations, and allocating funding for cybersecurity are just three of the dozens of ways to prevent a company from being left behind in its digital transformation.

Image Credit: Andrea Piacquadio; Pexels

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The more we depend on technology to do business, the more critical cybersecurity becomes. In this age of remote work, companies are relying on more third-party tools and employee devices. Each of those devices and applications represents a potential access point for cybercriminals. Here are five technologies shaping the future of cybersecurity.

The good news is, technology can also be used to combat cyber threats.

Not only can the right software stop breaches now, but these sophisticated tools can be continuously tweaked as new threats continue to evolve.

Here are five technologies shaping the future of cybersecurity:

1. Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR)

SOAR security is a suite of technologies that allow businesses to automate some security processes. Typically used in combination with SIEM systems, SOAR closes the gap between incident identification and response.

SIEM systems are great at telling businesses what the issue is. The trouble with them is two-fold: IT personnel sometimes lack the expertise to stop threats; even if they have that expertise, much of the damage is done in milliseconds.

To understand how SOAR systems work, let’s break down the acronym:

• Security Orchestration

Security technologies need to work in concert with one another. Orchestration is the process of stringing them together so action can be taken swiftly from a single dashboard.

• Automation

No technology can totally eliminate the need for security experts. But by automating certain steps of the process, SOAR reduces response time and the risk of human error.

• Response

Unlike prior software approaches, SOAR can actually stop certain threats. Because breaches cause reputational damage to brands even if no customer data is compromised, preventing them is key.

2. Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

These days, cloud computing and storage is the standard. Most business applications are hosted remotely, which often allows apps to be accessed from anywhere and on multiple devices.

Naturally, easy access attracts bad actors. Any time data is transferred, it has the potential to be intercepted. Protecting your devices during transfer is where Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) come into play.

CASBs sit between a cloud application and the cloud users, carefully monitoring activity. Sometimes CASBs are in-house software, but they can also be cloud-based programs themselves.

CASBs have a couple of use cases. Some of these access security brokers simply notify administrators about potential incidents. Others work to prevent malware or man-in-the-middle attacks.

3. User and Entity Behavior Analytics

User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) systems detect insider threats by monitoring users and entities, which include things like routers. They use a combination of machine learning and human decision-making.

If appropriate access restrictions have not been put in place it’s easy for insiders to access sensitive files. UEBA tools analyze users’ behavior patterns and look for anomalies that could indicate malicious activity.

For example, let’s say a particular employee downloads a few images and Word documents each day. Then one day, that person downloads several gigabytes of files. A UEBA tool would flag that download — and either take action or notify an administrator.

4. Hardware Authentication

It’s no secret that most login credentials can be cracked by dedicated hackers. If all it takes is one username and password to access your sensitive data — from any device, anywhere in the world — you’re devices can be in trouble.

Hardware authentication requires not just a username and password, but also a hardware-based approval from a separate device. There are multiple ways hardware authentication can be done:

• USB security keys

These small devices (sometimes called “tokens”) plug into a USB port to authenticate the user. Using a token will add a layer of protection because the key must be physically possessed, which is difficult to do from a remote location.

• Optical recognition

An optical recognition factor is a futuristic tool that reads your retina and matches it to a database to verify you are authorized to access the network. Each person’s retinas have unique patterns, just like fingerprints.

• Finger swipes

Your smartphone might let you login by pressing your finger to a small sensor. Finger swipes work the same way, by using your fingerprints to authenticate you.

5. Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Often, cybercriminals either sell sensitive data or post it online. Once your sensitive data is out on the internet — getting it taken down is a nightmare. To recover from these attacks, companies often have to send embarrassing emails to customers and reset thousands of accounts and passwords.

DLP is a collection of software and approaches designed to keep sensitive data from leaving the organization’s own network. DLP systems combine a lot of best practices, including:

• Identifying what data is sensitive
• Monitoring and controlling endpoint activities, or how users access information
• Checking data that is uploaded and downloaded from the cloud for malicious software
• Producing reports to stay compliant with governing agencies
• Encrypting data in transit

Cybersecurity technologies aren’t just cool, complex things to talk about. They’re essential tools that protect your business from fraud, data leaks, malware, and more.

Knowing what tools are available to you is, at best, half the battle. Don’t wait until a breach happens to put these “data-best-practices” into your data-protection arsenal.

Image Credit: Soumil Kumar; Pexels

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Data breaches are happening at an alarming rate. The first half of 2019 saw 4.1 billion compromised records, with the business sector accounting for 67% of the reported breaches and 84.6% of exposed records.

People are starting to take the protection of their own digital identities more seriously.

According to a recent privacy survey, 81% of consumers are more concerned about how companies use their data and 89% say companies should be clearer about how their products use data.

This is why more than 80 countries and regions have adopted comprehensive data protection laws and others will soon follow. But are these laws really working to keep the massive amounts of personal data from falling into the wrong hands?

Regulations like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are developed with the intent to protect the privacy of consumers in an age where social media and other digital footprints are making it harder to keep that personal information safe and secure.

There are two interesting factors in play that exempt companies from disclosing what they plan to do with the consumer data they collect in certain situations.

Exemptions

In section 1798.105(d), CCPA states, “a business or service provider shall not be required to comply with a consumer’s request to delete the consumer’s personal information if it is necessary for the business or service provider to maintain the customer’s personal data in order to detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or prosecute those responsible for that activity.”

The statement appears to exempt anyone in cybersecurity from the request if they can prove the data is required to meet one of those activities.

Items within certain security platforms that leverage the device and user identity for detection can operate under this exclusion, which is something both the security vendor and customer should, therefore, be cognizant of.

Services Provided

Additionally, section item 1798.105(3) of CCPA states that business shall not be required to comply with the act if they provide a service to “debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.”  

Read that statement again, please!

It opens another huge exception for businesses that debug or repair devices. It appears they are removed from any responsibility to destroy or delete the data after any period of time.

Another implication of this “law” ties into the consumer’s right to repair. Consider a consumer who has their private data stored on a personal device but modifies or repairs that device in some way that leaves the device susceptible to attack or breach.

Who is responsible? The manufacturer or the consumer?

CCPA does not provide guidance on this leaving ambiguity and potential loopholes.

While businesses may comply within these exemptions and services loopholes, that shouldn’t exclude them from the basic ethical obligation they have to inform their customers on what they plan to do with their data.

And these exemptions aren’t winning any favors with consumers, which is why nearly half of Americans don’t trust the government or social media sites to protect their data.

While governments are attempting to help by enacting privacy legislation, consumers must take the protection of their privacy into their own hands by following a few basic guidelines.

Don’t Open that Link

Phishing attempts have grown 65% in the last year and those attacks account for 90% of data breaches. And attackers are finding new ways to make their phishing scams even harder to detect.

An example shows how these attacks are now happening in real-time. The bad actor pretends to be known to the user who claims to have limited cellphone reception, so a confirmation call is not possible. The victim then helps, which then leads to handing over sensitive data to the attacker.

While phishing is getting harder to detect, there are ways to defend against them.

For instance, if there is a request to click on a link, CHECK to see if there any misspellings or weird characters in the URL.

In these cases, it’s a safe bet you can just delete the email (and link) right away.

Make it a habit to avoid clicking on links sent to you via email or social media solutions – especially those from your bank, utility companies, social networks, etc.

Instead, go to the source and type out the URL in the browser and login there.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication is one of the easiest ways to protect one’s information, yet many consumers don’t know this capability exists. With multi-factor authentication, a user is asked to provide two or more pieces of information for logging into his/her devices.

For example, along with providing a password, an individual can arrange to have a code sent to their device before access is granted. When you login this way, if an unauthorized third-party somehow steals the password, they still can’t log into the account because they won’t receive the follow up mobile text code.

Many consumer services like Google and Facebook support this capability and individuals are well-advised to use this extra security.

Multiple Passwords

People still fall victim to bad password habits despite the incentives to avoid them.

Using unique passwords for all accounts helps ensure hackers only gain access to the one system associated with that password.

You can check sites like haveibeenpwned.com to determine if your information was lost in a breach.

Please use different passwords for every account — whether it’s for business or personal use.

I know it’s a pain in the butt — however, the longer the password, the better. Password manager applications can then help you store all of these passwords securely and protect them with multi-factor authentication.

There is no one sure-fire way to ensure that the billions of global data records remain protected.

Privacy regulations are a first (and much needed) step in the right direction. However, it’s up to everyone – including consumers – to do their part in protecting their personal identities online.

The post Privacy Regulations — Are They Really Working to Protect Your Data? appeared first on ReadWrite.

Data analyst is the process in which the judgment, refining, changing, and modeling data takes place with the aim of making a better conclusion. Data analysis takes part in an important role, it helps in generating scientific conclusions and also increases the regulations in an organization. Here are six skills you need to become a data analyst.

Data-Driven Business Strategies

Today, with the deepening of the concept of data operation, more and more companies are aware of the value of data-driven business strategies and emphasize the participation of all employees in data operations. Developing the ability to analyze data is also a future trend.

A data analyst is someone who accumulates data, processes, and performs analysis of data. He or she can interpret numbers and data into simple English in order to help organizations and companies understand how to make better business decisions.

At its core, data analysis means taking a business question or need and turning it into a data question. Then, you’ll need to transform and analyze data to extract an answer to that question.

Companies of today realize how data-driven strategy is important to them and they are in need of talented individuals who can provide insights into a constant stream of collected information.

Types of Data Analysts

• Finance
• Data assurance
• Business Intelligence
• Marketing
• Sales

The types of data analyst listed above are some of the most challenging fields which require a data analyst in their management.

Here are 6 skills you need to become a data analyst.

1. MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Mathematical skills are important for making a profession in data analysis, as you have to play with numbers and figures all through the day. Necessary mathematics skills include:

*One should be good at calculations

*Measuring and analyzing data

*Having the ability to organize information

*One should know how to schedule and budget

Mathematical skills help in having better problem-solving skills — and also helps in financing our individual businesses.

2. ANALYTICAL SKILLS

As it is called, It is clear that analytical skills are the huge significance of data analysis. These skills include assembling, sorting, and analyzing all kinds of raw data in particular. It also helps you to view provocation or situation from a different angle. Hence, If you want to be a professional data analyst then you need to widen your analytical skills and thinking. Analytical skills help in viewing a challenge or situation from different perspectives. It is one of the most important and efficient parts of the skill you need to become a data analyst.

3. TECHNICAL SKILLS

Good computer and technical skills are very important. The main knowledge of statistics is quite helpful as well as producing languages like python or Mat Lab, and analytical languages like R and SAS are very favorable to know as a data analyst.

The more language you know, the faster and better for you to get your dream job. Examples of technical skills you need to know are:

• Programming languages.
• Common operating systems.
• Software proficiency.
• Technical writing.

4. DETAILS SKILLS

Data analyst is all about details, It helps a data analyst to be able to find and see any basic unseen errors and links, that is especially important at the point of solving problems and making decisions.

5. BUSINESS SKILLS

Aside from the technical skills, there are some business skills that one should acquire to function as a Data analyst. Some of which are:

Communication Skills:

As a data analyst, you are expected to work with different sets of people in your team which makes your communication a really important part of your job. Working well together as a team for the benefit of your organization is also one of your main responsibilities and skill.

You should be able to communicate effectively with the teammates to prepare, present, and explain data. Communication is key in collaborating with your colleagues. For example, in a kickoff meeting with business stakeholders, careful listening skills are needed to understand the analyses they require.

Similarly, during your project, you may need to be able to explain a complex topic to non-technical teammates.

Time Management and Organizational Skills:

As it is expected of you to work with different people in your team. You should be able to manage your time including your responsibilities, as well as meet your deadlines.

Decision-making and Problem-solving:

These skills are the bottom line of data analysis. The main job of a data analyst is to give the right information for decision-making and problem-solving process. Which is why it occurs to be a perfect skill required to be a data analyst.

You might need to research a quirk of some software or coding language that you’re using. Your company might have resource constraints that force you to be innovative in how you approach a problem.

The data you’re using might be incomplete. Or you might need to perform some “good enough” analysis to meet a looming deadline.

6. DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE

Domain knowledge is understanding things that are specific to the particular industry and company that you work for. For example, if you’re working for a company with an online store, you might need to understand the nuances of e-commerce. In contrast, if you’re analyzing data about mechanical systems, you might need to understand those systems and how they work.

Domain knowledge changes from industry to industry, so you may find yourself needing to research and learn quickly. No matter where you work if you don’t understand what you’re analyzing it’s going to be difficult to do it effectively, making domain knowledge a key data analyst skill.

Remember that Domain knowledge is certainly something that you can learn on the job, but if you know a specific industry or area you’d like to work in, building as much understanding as you can upfront will make you a more attractive job applicant and a more effective employee once you do get the job.

Once you have the skills mentioned above — you can use them to attract attention to yourself so as to get your dream job. These are the criteria you need for the data analyst skills checklist.

Academic Background

A bachelor’s degree is often necessary, not all the time though. To work as a data analyst you need to acquire a degree in any of these Science courses.

• Economics
• Business information systems
• Mathematics
• Statistics
• Computer science

As much as the above degrees are important for your success — what matters the most are the skills that you possess. Right now during the COVID-19 problems may be the time for you to upgrade yourself and your skills.

Conclusion

Data analysis is speedily growing field and skilled data analysts are huge in demand throughout the country, in every industry. This means that you would find many opportunities only if you are exceptional and show your excellent data analytic skills.

The post 6 Skills You Need to Become a Data Analyst appeared first on ReadWrite.

The world is in between huge technological transition. Every day there is more use of technology-intensive tools in place of traditional ones. Old tricks used to be tedious, costly, mostly false, and often harmful.  As a result, business intelligence is not what it use to mean a decade ago.

Today, increased automation is making companies to go on the look-out for up-to-date business intelligence software to keep up with the new global technology order. We know that data is the main part that is driving this change. Take for example our growing need for datification to improve our minor as well as major affairs.

Companies around the world are using datification to turn our daily lives into a huge mass of data. This is why datification is the heart of data science. This unique field of science works closely with business intelligence (BI) and many other fields e.g., scientific computing, exploratory statistics, etc., to be able to infer active meaning via data handling.

What is business intelligence and BI Software?

To put it simply, BI is a technology-based process that puts raw data into a readable form. Business and data specialists figure out this raw data and turn it into easy visual facts to aid the decision-making process. Because people tend to make better decisions when they have better information.

BI uses many software with technical and nontechnical sides to turn data into useful facts. These facts greatly assist business organizations in making the right decisions as well as solve serious problems.

The usual BI process takes many complex tools, software applications, and special methods. BI helps businesses in setting up an extensive data collection mechanism through many different sources. The sources usually hold a huge amount of data. The data is then explored, modeled, and analyzed by using highly advanced tools to identify irregularities, patterns, concerns, and trends.

The purpose of extracting information through this process is to develop infographics, dashboards, analytical outcome reports, etc. All of this information communicates results with corporate executives or anyone with the power to make strategic business decisions.

Best Business Operating System

We could go about making a case of one OS against the other and confuse you to no limit. Or we could straight away get down to the best possible option and tell you why it is, in fact, the best for you. We choose to go with the latter. Because frankly, the whole point of this article is to make seemingly difficult choices easy for you.

The saturated spectrum of OS gives us the same names whenever we need a system in tune with our interests.

It usually renders people to believe that compatible or not, only these few names e.g., Windows, macOS, Unix, Android, etc., are their possible options. However, if you dig a little to look behind the obvious you will find the most well-matched solution seemingly hiding in the shadows.

Although the best OS option – Linux – for businesses that we intend to talk about today is not actually hiding in the crowd, it is still not much talked about especially given the unending list of values it is adding to businesses worldwide.

If you, like many others, have missed the appearance of Linux operating systems as a worthwhile alternative to nearly all the existing OS, now is the time to rectify that. it is being estimated that Linux is set to replace the OS arena as you know it today due to its dizzying range of futuristic features that are sweeping the technology bigwigs off their feet. take Huawei reliance on Linux Deepin for its MateBook laptop for example.

Why go with Linux for your business?

2020 is not just the year of further technical advancement if anything, 2020 seems to be more business-centric than anything else regardless of the subject area or nature. The technological progress of businesses can only be ensured if the in-house IT infrastructures are up to date. For cloud computing though, Linux is proving to be an unparalleled fit and rather an inexpensive fit for businesses.

You will also find that the integration of Linux systems is quite simple depending on the specific Linux distribution –  distro – you select in coordination with your computing requirement. The best still is the fact that you don’t have to discard your standing infrastructure to appropriate the flexibility that open-source software and cost-effective functionality of Linux provides. It is literally a free replacement for other OSs, which businesses find more than a little hard to comprehend.

Linux does not require purchase prizes even for the applications unless you are a kind of business that needs expert help from paid tech support. Even that can be worked away, given the variety of Linux system administrator training programs available today which effectively ticks an overhead off the list of businesses’ overall cost.

Best Linux for Businesses in 2020

So how do you figure out which distro is the best fit for your business? Because Linux OS comes in a vast variety with several futuristic business-grade features. Well, we have put together a list of top of the range distribution based on a criterion that includes:

• Stability
• Practicality
• Support

Let’s have a look at some of the best Linux in 2020 with critical uptime, unwavering support, and practical capabilities.

CentOS

CentOS is one of the most popular Linux server distributions. Linux has developed CentOS on the foundation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by the funding support of Red Hat in 2014. Assembled with pleasant Gnome – the default desktop for Red Hat & Fedora – familiarity along with widely supported Red Hat package manager (RPM) open-source, CentOS makes for a highly compatible enterprise-class Linux distro for workstations and servers.

Slackware

Slackware is the oldest Softlanding based Linux distro which is active to date. Patrick Volkerding created it in 1993. Slackware provided bases for many distributions like SUSE Linux distro. It provides end-users maximum control than any other Linux OS but this feature has both sides to consider. For instance, while it gives you huge command control, this lightweight distribution lacks the graphical configuration and software dependency resolution mechanism. If you are looking for a customized distro, Slackware is the one to suit your requirements,

ClearOS

This Linux distro specifically optimizes small and medium enterprises. It serves as a network gateway as well as a network server that you can administer completely from a web-based interface. ClearOS is an effective alternative to commercially supported software solutions with professional tech support availability. Like CentOS, this distribution also has a relatively simple configuration and maintenance due to innate RHEL foundation packages. But the similarities cease here because unlike CentOS, ClearOS is strictly a server platform. Its absolute web reliance proffers the use of varying consoles unnecessary after the distro installation.

Ubuntu

The ever increasing popularity of Ubuntu – Linux desktop distribution – make people think that it is most compatible with personal usage. Which is hardly true given its well-recognized community support system. Ubuntu provides its end-users absolute stability and flexibility along with the free version called Ubuntu Servers for the backend requirement.

Ubuntu is designed based on another Linux distro named Debian. It means Ubuntu can use Debian packages using advanced package tools (Apt) management system to add or remove software. If you choose to select Ubuntu as your Linux OS, you will have the finest support from its massive userbase. The latest releases are marketed as long term support (LTS) backed distros with 5 years maintenance option for professional tech support.

IPFire

IPFire distro is often regarded as a Linux watchdog due to its extraordinary security solutions. This is especially relevant to small businesses that are more susceptible to cyber threats to the security of their networks. Install this distribution and leave it to manage the IP addresses, firewall protection, and employee monitoring for safety or behavioral check. Although it is not difficult to maintain, IPFire will surely require expert-level knowledge to get it installed and running.

There are several reasons for its complex configuration. For example; distinct nature from any other Linux versions, Tor node, proxy protocols, etc. There are several Linux administrator training programs available that should solve these support issues in the installation process of IPFire.

OpenSUSE

OpenSUSE or more accurately SUSE Linux Professional is another Linux distribution community program. It is powered by SUSE Linux GmbH to be used as the basis for commercial SUSE Enterprise. Contrary to CentOS and ClearOS, OpenSUSE is designed with a strong desktop environment that has its window manager called K development environment (KDE). KDE comes with a graphical interface that makes it a heavyweight distro to be highly compatible with timeworn hardware systems. For instance,  Raspberry Pi single-board computers. It is a stable and secure OS due to the latest release of rolling models that has consistent update availability.

Best Business Intelligence Software for 2020

Often the term business intelligence refers to a vast range of brilliant BI software. Software that quickly accesses and analyzes data sets to provide easily understandable and actionable information in the form of:

1. Analytical reports
2. Insightful summaries
3. Dashboards and ad hoc queries
4. Graphs, charts, and maps

Yet, the hunt for just perfect business intelligence software can be a somewhat daunting and costly process. Especially if we consider the fact this software often delivers more than what’s required by small or medium-sized organizations. The good news is that there are many free BI tools maintained by highly skilled developers motivated to break BI monopoly.

Seven of the most optimal free BI software for you to start taking advantage of data analytics — and these cost less.

ChartMogul BI Software

ChartMogul is one of the most popular BI software that manages an extensive user community rather smoothly. It is known to provide the best services to businesses that are working to build a subscription package. It is possible due to its churn rate measurement and customer value features.

QlikView

QlikView is an exceptional ETL data storage and multilayered analysis BI software. Presented by Qlik, this tool also offers an end-user dashboard that connects different data sources to develop data visualizations.

Cluvio

Cluvio is programming language compatible business intelligence software. It lets businesses to process data written in SQL, R, etc., against their databases to produce data visualization and dashboards. It also provides webinars and online training to help businesses get started.

ActivTrak Business Intelligence Software

ActivTrak – released by Birch Grove Software – is a behavior analytics software that can sustain the teams of 5 to 1,000. This BI tool is designed for business, IT, and HR executives, managers. It also assists team leaders to track the overall status and productivity. ActivTrak also comes with both the iOS and Android compatible apps.

Databox

Databox is known to be a powerhouse of the best business intelligence software. It has an impressive interface and simple functionality that allow businesses to keep tabs of key performance indicators (KPI). It presents dashboard reports and information that can be shared on multiple devices. Databox also comes with integrated systems like Adobe Analytics along with iOS and Android compatible mobile app.

Tableau

Tableau, true to its name, is an Excel-based BI software. It is perfect for those who enjoy data analysis within pivot tables. It has an advanced user interface that offers a drag-and-drop feature for data manipulation and visualizations.

Kyubit Business Intelligence Software

Kyubit BI – powered by Kyubit Solutions – is another programming language assimilated business intelligence software. It allows businesses to develop reports off their SQL, CSV, OLAP, etc., data. It is an ideal tool for those with a little bit of knowledge of data analytics or business intelligence mechanisms.

You can install these free BI software from the cloud, web portals, and SAAS and offer 24/7 live support availability.

Significance of Business Intelligence

Today, optimizing BI is no longer considered the province of only mega-corporations. Because affording data centers and computing powers that are required to analyze business data was not for average businesses. Courtesy to inexpensive data-analysis tools today and BI software even small and medium businesses are benefitting from the BI revolution.

An effective business intelligence program can improve business decision making at all levels which leads to improved organization’s tactical management processes. To improve every aspect of the company, businesses need to develop central association. It is only possible with establishing better access to the company’s data. Because after all data is the main factor that brings forth the maximum profitability.

BI and Data Science

Business Intelligence (BI) is a subdivision of data analytics that takes a predetermined set of processes, technologies, strategic architecture to transform the raw data into actionable business intelligence (information).

BI is designed to employs a reverse approach in which it analyzes past data to solve the current problems. Although, this approach provides tactical reports that contain factual statistics but they cannot predict future events. That is where the distinction between business intelligence and data science begins. You use data in an advancing approach to predict the future outcome in data science to make profitable business decisions.

Business Intelligence in data science works by combining business analytics, data mining, data visualization, input/output bounds tools, and data infrastructure, to augment businesses’ decision-making abilities. BI integrated into data-science methods is the faster way of reporting and communicating results through specialized business intelligence software tools.

Specialized business intelligence software tools include:

• SAP Business Intelligence
• Oracle BI
• Microsoft Power BI
• SAS Business Intelligence

At the end of the day, all the areas that we talked about above and more are businesses. You just cannot be a  good data scientist for an organization if you do not have great business intelligence skills. BI as a system connects all the skills that a business has.

So, if you want to work in the field of business intelligence you must get the following few skills:

1. Experience with data analysis tools and SQL Programming
2. Data warehousing concepts
3. Problem-solving techniques
4. Domain knowledge

Conclusion

Today is the right time to take full advantage of the BI software system for your business. Invest in BI training programs, best OS, business intelligence software for good results. Keeping up with technology is no longer a matter of choice for organizations. Today it is a matter of survival for businesses around the world regardless of the size of the company.

The post Best Business Intelligence Software and Business Operating System Options for 2020 appeared first on ReadWrite.

In 2020, phishing is among the most common forms of cyberattacks on businesses and individuals alike. 56% of IT decision-makers state that phishing attacks are the top security threat they are facing, with 32% of hacks involving phishing. Here is video phishing and how you protect yourself.

Phishing is no longer limited to emails from Nigerian princes offering the recipients massive returns on investments.

Many phishing messages and websites have become sophisticated to the point that users are no longer able to recognize them without specific training. Google now blacklists an average of 50,000 websites for phishing every week.

On the upside, the ways that you can protect yourself from phishing attacks have evolved as well in recent years. They range from using up-to-date firewall software to using secure platforms such as cloud-based business phone services.

A new threat is looming on the horizon: video phishing.

Driven by technological advances, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, this new trend has the potential of causing catastrophic security breaches.

Keep reading to find out what video phishing is, what it looks like, and how you can protect yourself.

How does Video Phishing work?

Surprise! Elon Musk is interrupting your Zoom call.

Sounds fake? It is.

But it looks disturbingly real.

See the end of the document for embed.

The video above shows an application of Avatarify, a tool developed by a researcher to transform users into celebrities in real-time during Zoom or Skype calls. Its inventor, Ali Aliev, says that the program’s purpose was to have some fun during COVID-19 lockdown — by surprising friends during video conferences as Albert Einstein, Eminem, or the Mona Lisa.

The technology behind donning someone else’s animated face like a mask is called deepfaking.

Deepfakes are relatively new applications of machine learning tools. These tools generate realistic faces by analyzing thousands of videos and images of a target’s face and extracting patterns for common expressions and movements. Then, these patterns can be projected onto anyone, effectively morphing them into someone else.

You use the image of  Elon Musk. Or President Obama. In fact, a deep fake video of the former President calling his successor ‘a total and complete dips**t’ went viral back in 2018.

The implications of this technology for cybersecurity are wide-reaching and potentially disastrous.

Because instead of trolling your friends, or insulting President Trump via someone famous deepfakes — you won’t know if it’s friends being comical — or the dangerous, video phishing.

What are the Dangers of Video Phishing?

According to CNN, the majority of deepfake videos on the internet as of the end of 2019, were pornography. In total, 15,000 of such videos were counted. That might not sound like much, considering the vastness of the internet.

The reason for these rather limited numbers has been that generating convincing deepfakes takes a fair amount of computational power. Avatarify, for example, takes a high-level gaming PC to run properly.

But lower-quality applications have already been developed, such as a face-swapping app that got banned again fairly quickly.

It is only a question of time before deepfake technology becomes widely available. And widely used for cybercrime.

Some of these scams have already been recorded and you can find them on YouTube.

In one case, hackers used similar technology to deepfake the voices of CEOs and sent voicemail messages to executives. They succeeded in effecting a transfer of a mind-boggling $243,000.

In another case, three men were arrested in Israel for swindling a businessman out of $8 million by impersonating the French foreign minister.

Experts are already warning against other possible applications of deepfake videos for frauds to generate funds. One scenario, for example, is extortion. Hackers could threaten the release of a video containing content that can be damaging to a person’s or business’ reputation. Such content could range from straight-out pornography to the CEO of a company endorsing racist views.

As experiences have shown, that could be disastrous. For businesses, even the regular kind of ‘fake news’ can have catastrophic impacts on industry relationships, and even their stock market values.

“Those kinds of things can put a company out of business through reputation damage,” Chris Kennedy of the AI cyber-security platform AttackIQ said in a recent interview with Forbes. “We’re hitting the tipping point in which technology is taking advantage of the biggest human weakness, we’re over-trusting.”

How to Defend Yourself against Deepfake Video Phishing

Today, having a high cybersecurity standard is more important than ever. With online life proliferating during the COVID-19 crisis, scams and phishing attacks have flourished as well.

The good news in the case of phishing videos is that the technology, as of 2020, is still relatively new, and the case numbers relatively low. That means that individuals and businesses have time to prepare, and disseminate information to ward against such attacks.

Know the basic defense moves

As a most basic form of defense, extreme caution is advised if you receive an unsolicited video call, especially from someone famous or in a position of authority. Never trusting caller IDs, hanging up immediately, and not sharing any information on such calls is essential.

If you receive video messages that might be authentic, but you are uncertain about it, you can use software to determine if what you are facing is a deep fake. For example, companies such as Deeptrace offers software with the capacity to recognize AI-generated video content.

Apart from that, some low-tech solutions to protect against video phishing are having agreed-upon code words when communicating about sensitive information via video messaging, using a second communication channel to confirm information, or asking security questions that your interlocutor can only answer if they are the real deal.

Basically, pretend you’re in an old James Bond film. ‘In London, April’s a Spring month’ and all that.

Final Thoughts

Using AI to morph into someone else and extract sensitive information may still sound futuristic. But it is only a question of time until video phishing hits the mainstream.

As technology advances and artificial intelligence and machine learning applications to copy the face and voice of people become widely available, the number of deepfake scams is set to go through the roof.

The best you can do, is to be aware, keep informed, and brace yourself. Keep safe.

The post What’s Video Phishing and how do You Protect Yourself? appeared first on ReadWrite.

Location intelligence has gained much attention lately, especially as more businesses harness the power of this technology. Location intelligence builds on geographical information systems (GIS) tools, and its definition goes beyond the analysis of geospatial or geographic information. Here is how location intelligence will create even smarter cities.

Location Intelligence is the ability to visualize spatial data to identify and analyze relationships and trends.

The output of location intelligence is actionable insights that help both the public and private sectors to detect patterns and make strategic decisions.

Location intelligence comes from a multitude of sources, such as GPS systems, Internet of Things (IoT) data, and environmental and consumer sources. The technology is not one specific tool but rather the ability to use geospatial data to create business insights. As location intelligence grows in popularity, because its uses are multiplying, it has had an impact on an interesting global technological development: smart cities.

Location intelligence use cases.

Before diving into the implications of location intelligence on smart cities, it’s important to take a step back and look at where this technology has already made an impact.

The insurance industry.

The insurance industry has been leading the charge in the use of location intelligence. By knowing, with high accuracy, if a property is located in a flood, earthquake, or wildfire zone, insurance carriers can more draft accurate policies.

Furthermore, this technology allows carriers to take a more proactive, instead of reactive approach. Instead of simply paying out claims, these companies can help homeowners proactively protect their properties and mitigate risk by understanding the potential damage based on the area.

Financial institutions.

Financial institutions are also using location intelligence to improve fraud detection by better analyzing customer profiles. By matching customer locations and transactions, banks can better understand fraudulent behavior and avoid flagging normal activity.

Both finance companies and retail companies are also using location intelligence to send customers offers when they are near a specific store. Retail companies are taking this a step further by mapping customer behavior in-store to optimize store layout and inventory management.

As more and more industries harness the power of location intelligence, the public and the private sectors are also looking at this technology as a means to create better smart cities around the world.

Location intelligence growing smart cities.

The IESE Cities in Motion Index (CIMI) uses nine dimensions to measure the development of smart cities: human capital, social cohesion, economy, environment, governance, urban planning, international outreach, technology, and mobility and transportation.

The 2019 index (From the Business School at The University of Navarra) named London, New York, and Amsterdam as the smartest global cities based on these criteria, after reviewing 165 cities in 80 countries. Location intelligence plays a critical role in many of these nine dimensions, namely four key parts of any smart city.

Environment

Location intelligence can help with two parts related to the environment. First, natural disasters happen in large cities around the world, causing devastating consequences. From filing damage reports to opening lines of communication, location intelligence can help cities rebuild faster.

Second, location intelligence can help city developers better understand where to plan conservation projects and create green spaces around the city. The technology can also analyze air quality and measure the environmental impact a project will have during and after construction.

Urban planning

Location intelligence is crucial to 3D planning, which has become a considerable part of urban development. From the experimentation phase through construction, this technology helps make sure city planning improves the lives of those in the city and can also help to track and measure operational costs.

Technology

Technology powers almost every aspect of a smart city. According to IESE, (Media iese.edu research, University of Navarra) technology, “is an aspect of society that improves the present quality of life, and its level of development or spread is an indicator of the quality of life achieved or the potential quality of life.

In addition, technological development is a dimension that allows cities to be sustainable over time and to maintain or extend the competitive advantages of their production system and the quality of employment.” Location intelligence clearly aids in this endeavor, as both individuals and cities can use this technology to improve smart city functionality.

Mobility and transport

Smart cities around the globe are revolutionizing transportation using location and mobile data to improve traffic and congestion and optimize travel. City planners are able to harness location data to figure out where traffic is the heaviest, when, and why. Using that information, they can then solve these transit problems with new construction or more modes of transport.

Challenges: Privacy and security.

Data collection happens constantly. From ride sharing apps to food delivery services, consumers are constantly giving out location-based data. While the benefit of this is more customized services, the challenge is consumers are more aware and concerned about how their data is used.

Not only has customer awareness increased, but restrictions such as GDPR have forced companies to be more transparent in personal data collection. Furthermore, as technology advances, so do hackers intent on infiltrating these systems. Security concerns are widespread across the industry, and breaches come with heightened consequences.

On the privacy side, more consumer awareness might end up helping improve location intelligence. Consumers taking control of their data means smart cities can rely more on first-party data, rather than third-party aggregators who may not provide the most accurate data.

On the security side, this challenge will likely always remain and will take a combination of individuals protecting their own data and companies providing more transparent data use initiatives to tackle this challenge.

Location intelligence, however, will continue to grow and aid in the creation of better, smarter cities. Especially as this technology advances, and more cities compete to implement smart initiatives, more will come to rely on location intelligence as the crucial component.

Image Credit: Scott Webb; Pexels

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With the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many organizations have had to re-adjust the way they operate. Remote working is now a reality for large sections of the workforce. Remote collaboration through cloud-based platforms is an accepted part of most workdays. But the utility of cloud-based technology does not end there. Here is how COVID-19 is driving us into a cloud-based future.

A recent report indicates that in the next two years the cloud computing industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.5%. Already a strongly-emerging technology, cloud-based solutions are proving to be invaluable during a global health crisis where people can no longer work at a fixed site. The extent to which cloud-based technologies are driving us into the future are as follows:

Supporting Remote Work and the Freelance Economy

Continued productivity is vital as organizations shift to remote models of working. This is as important to corporate organizations as it is to schools and colleges. During COVID-19, many working and learning programs have continued with high levels of efficiency, thanks to highly-flexible, scalable, and efficient cloud-based solutions.

The seamlessness with which business has continued means that every responsible organization should have a cloud migration solution.

Demand for collaboration tools has seen unprecedented growth in platforms like Zoom and Slack. More entrenched office productivity tools such as Microsoft 365 also sees high demand. These tools are all cloud-based and their excellent conferencing, and productivity suites all enjoy the multiple benefits of the cloud.

When the pandemic eventually subsides, people will have to go back to work. But an increasing number of workers will not. The freelance economy has seen continued growth in recent years, with over 60 million Americans doing freelance work of some sort. Cloud computing is an invaluable tool that has allowed the freelance economy to take hold and thrive.

A boom in E-Commerce and the Fade of Brick and Mortar

As people have been stuck at home, the demand for e-commerce services has risen sharply. Retailers were already migrating away from brick and mortar into the online space before the global pandemic arrived.

Retail companies know that as e-commerce adoption rises, any cloud investment costs will be recouped through cloud cost reduction. This applies to cloud solutions also being responsible for overall reduced IT costs by obliterating the need for most traditional hardware such as servers.

The ways in which global supply chains have become embedded in e-commerce fulfillment points to an inevitable future internet of things. Service provider collaboration and integration happens at the level of the cloud between retailers and logistics service providers, resulting in a smooth and highly-efficient delivery system.

Through the robust scalability of the cloud and its forever switched-on nature, global supply chains can support the wants and whims of consumers everywhere. This has been shown during COVID-19, with online purchases spiking a staggering 146%, and supply chains barely breaking a sweat to deliver.

Growth of the Cloud in the Government Sector

Healthcare has come to prominence during the pandemic. It has benefited greatly from access to a scalable and secure cloud infrastructure. This has been necessary to manage patient information. With millions of people laid low by the virus, it has taken the need for efficient and accurate computing to a new level of importance.

The prominence of the cloud during the pandemic goes beyond patient records. Collaboration between various private and governmental agencies has risen to unprecedented levels. Virus development projects are being shared by many countries and institutions.

Additionally, virus contingency management information is being shared by nations across the world. All these efforts are underpinned by highly scalable and collaborative cloud-based tools.

It is for moments like these that governments were already moving towards a cloud-based future at great speed. Until recently, almost half of all government agencies in the US were actively using cloud services.

These agencies understand the power and versatility of private cloud networks, with benefits such as deep security and information sovereignty being crucial. Cloud adoption within government circles will only continue to rise.

Content Platforms Enjoying a Surge

Binge-consumption of TV and audio content has been a feature of the pandemic. Video-streaming services have reported a strong surge in new subscriptions since the enactment of lockdown orders in many countries.

Not to be outdone, music services and many podcasts and audiobook services have also reported large jumps in membership. The gaming industry has also reported large spikes in usage times. Support services such as mobile networks and internet service providers have benefited from these enforced behavior changes.

Cloud-Dependent Industries on the Rise

The SaaS segment was already a growth area, and its continued importance and growth potential has been revealed during COVID-19. Due to the many daily applications and tools driven by this service, the industry in its entirety is in the limelight.

Service desks, accounting packages, customer relationship management, human resource management, and enterprise resource planning all rely on the SaaS model. Infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, and desktop as a service are all part of the cloud family and are all showing continued growth.

The new model of remote working depends on the streamlined continuation of business-critical services such as human resource management. Cloud service providers have been able to remotely manage and secure underlying infrastructure, allowing organizations to continue to function within their constraints. This versatility has been perfect during the pandemic and will continue to be perfect for the business of the future.

Robust and Sustainable Is the Way of the Future

If anything, the virus has taught us the danger of having all your data tied to office sites and fixed hardware installations. There has always been the danger of data loss through disasters on site. Data loss has been mitigated by on-site security, but cloud services offer a better way.

The better way of cloud services is because hardware inevitably deteriorates, can be stolen, corrupted, or become obsolete. When your data is simply inaccessible, as it has been during the pandemic, a better solution must be found.

There is also the matter of sustainability. Large organizations can collect vast amounts of hardware to house their information. It is the responsible thing to do to cut down your environmental footprint by putting everything in the cloud.

There are also downstream issues like energy efficiency and reduced building usage. Other sustainability wins come with the reduced need for workers to commute to the place where the information is held. These wins have come into sharp focus during the virus as many measures have revealed a cleaner planet, even if just temporarily.

Conclusion

The global pandemic has revealed that cloud services will continue to provide strategic flexibility and scalability for a number of organizations. The virus response would likely have been a lot less effective in a time before cloud services.

It is totally imaginable that habits like social distancing would have been impossible to achieve if people needed to be on-site to manage and control business-critical systems.

At this moment in time, cloud services may heavily favor sectors which are useful during a pandemic, but future prospects are robust across all sectors. There are also no geographical boundaries, with cloud services projected to increase in adoption across the world.

New cloud technologies like cloud direct connect, where private networks can join the cloud, will allow more and more types of organizations and networks to take part. Cloud computing is truly taking center stage in driving us into the future.

The post How COVID-19 is Driving Us into a Cloud-Based Future appeared first on ReadWrite.

Impact of COVID-19 – Coronavirus is not stopping, but it has stopped all the activities in the world. There are many efforts put in by all the governments to control these situations and make things easy for people. Most of the businesses are completely at a halt and have no way of earning revenue at this time. Students are stuck inside their homes, many of them have not even been given their exams. Here are the impact of COVID-19 on sustainability and technology.

It seems that everything is mismanaged and there are still things that are scaring everyone around the world.

Talking about sustainable resources we get to know that they are not being properly utilized and because of that there will be negative impacts. All the stations that generate energy will shut down way early as they will not be able to circulate the extra energy. There will be an accumulation of resources and that will create disbalance.

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the technology sector.

Impact of COVID-19 over Industry

Many people are thinking about how COVID is affecting all industries. If we look at the enterprises that deal with these resources we will get to know the loss they are facing. No petroleum company is getting any revenue other than LPG. Transportation and Industries are at a halt and hence, electricity and fuel are not getting used — all of these happenings affect the sustainability of that industry.

There is one thing that is still giving relief to organizations and people around the world “Technology.” Without technology, everything would have been ten times harder for all of us right now. Many enterprises are being able to continue work by working from home. People who can provide services digitally are working, schools and colleges are working.

There are only a few types of enterprises that are at complete halt otherwise most of them are working. Almost all enterprises can utilize this time for marketing as most people are using the internet. Digital marketing is at its rescue. There are so many things that technology has done for people in this hard time. It is providing ways to learn new things, entertainment as well as all the important news.

Technology and sustainability are being the part of well being of providing solutions of COVID-19

Technology can only be beneficial to the environment only if it goes hand in hand with sustainability. There are people who are confined to their houses and not able to leave. In this scenario, only technology is helping them to work and connect with each other.

People all around the world are learning new and very different lifestyles. Such as the remote style of working and its challenges, remote and online schooling of children, and a whole different lifestyle in general due to the crisis happening worldwide.

Technology is greatly helping in coping up with stress and dealing with this new lifestyle. But when it comes to sustainability and climate change challenges, it is well-known that the virus has not spared political, geographical or religious boundaries. But like every cloud has a silver lining, this virus too has made some positive changes as per technology and sustainability perspective.

Role of technology in coronavirus crisis.

With the help of technology, the world is running all of its businesses and other services. Advanced technology is helping to get reliable information about the happenings of the world. Other than that, people rely on technology to connect with their family, friends and loved ones.

Nowadays, it has become the only source of entertainment as there are no ways to go out during nationwide lockdowns. People all around the world are learning new skills, getting updated, checking on to close people, and doing all that is necessary through technology only. Thus, it is being observed that it is providing extraordinary support to mitigate the negative effects of coronavirus in today’s scenario.

1. Good health and well-being.

Technology is helping people with treatment at home. There are many IoT applications that are allowing healthcare companies to check and provide treatment to people remotely. People can also order medicines and test kits to their home and get treatment for most of the things. Remote treatment facilities have been improved and this is all because of the innovation and advancement in technology during the pandemic.

Scientists and developers are still working hard to offer people and healthcare companies with solutions that can help to keep everyone healthy in these hard times. It would never have been possible without the collaboration of healthcare services and technology.

There are many things that people have realized and there are many more to come. After this pandemic, most of the people will keep using these and there will be many benefits to both doctors and patients because of this. This will solve the problem of waiting for patients and crowded hospitals.

2. Quality education.

There is no denial about the fact that there are many bad effects of closing down the educational institutes. Not just because children are not getting the education they need but also because of other things. There are many schools and colleges that provide shelter and food to many poor students, these are the places where many refugees stay.

All those people needed to vacate them and now they are struggling to stay alive, they do not have anything to survive on. But there are many positive impacts too and no one can ignore them. Colleges and schools have realized that they can teach no matter what happens.

Online lectures and examinations are working and that is keeping the flow going. There are many institutes that have created interactive courses that students can study at their own time and at their own pace, just like online course websites did. Most of the people have realized the importance of online courses and certifications. It is very easy to study remotely, although it is no replacement to in-class study still, it is a way to keep things going in the hard times.

3. Responsible usage and production.

Responsible usage and production are some of the things that would not have been possible without this pandemic. There are so many retailers and traders who will have to re-plan their supply strategies.

There are many products that they discard or don’t pay attention to as they go out of trend or are not as usable as they were in the past, these products get wasted and so does the resources and material used to make them. In this time all these products can be used.

There are chances that in the times to come these products can be on the high demand lists. This will improve the reusability and the way people use things. There will be a balance in production activities too.

More old material and products will be reused to make the new ones. The supply chain will also see a change as there will be all the products that people didn’t buy in the past. This is now the time when people need things in any way possible.

Producing new things will take time and also money and both of them are not available the way people want. This is a good opportunity to recover the losses and manage the way the sales activities take place in the future. The government is also paying attention to these types of options. It will help them in managing things and there will be no scarcity of resources.

4. Partnerships among enterprises.

It is a very smart step taken by many enterprises already that they have collaborated with other enterprises that helps them in working remotely. This is the time that provides people with so many partnership opportunities and it is all for the good.

Both consumers and businesses will get benefits from these kinds of partnerships. There are companies that can create 3D and AI-based applications that can help their clients and consumers understand things in a better way. These solutions are empowering enterprises to grow exponentially.

With each other’s help and constant hard work, enterprises in the world can reach the places that will help them a lot after all this ends. Many enterprises need solutions to deploy their services and products in the market. It is needed that they collaborate with some enterprise that can help.

The way partnerships are being made and the opportunity that is still left is something that will make things better for everyone. The government is also asking for partnerships with enterprises that can help them and the country in this hard time.

Impact of COVID-19 on sustainability

Above mentioned are the positive results that coronavirus brought to humans. The virus has also created a fresh and unimaginable impact on the nature and sustainability of the resources. The only way to prevent the virus from spreading is physical distancing.

For practicing physical distancing, countries have opted for lockdown in which only essential duties will be followed and the rest of the people will stay in quarantine and work remotely.

Due to distancing, there has been a drastic change in the way of living. Though people are still adjusting to this new lifestyle, it has been a boon for mother nature. There has been a significant drop in the consumption of electricity, gas and oil. Vehicles are being used less which is why energy is being consumed less and the pollution levels are decreased at significant levels.

Conclusion

Sustainable development can only happen if there is a perfect balance between technology, sustainability, and consumption. One must understand that even after this pandemic ends, it is important to be cautious about saving the energy for future generations and using renewable resources as much as possible.

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