After a three-year absence, CompTIA’s ChannelCon conference was once again a live event, a much-anticipated return to in-person meetings, sessions and networking time. More than 1,000 CompTIA members attended 30+ sessions and visited more than 150 booths in the Technology Vendor Fair in downtown Chicago.
If you couldn’t attend this year—or even if you did—you may have missed something during the three action-packed days. Here's a list of 10 things you should know from ChannelCon 2022.
CompTIA Takes Over Downtown Chicago
For the first time since 2019, CompTIA members and partners were LIVE together to network, learn and hear about the latest tech trends—plus have some fun along the way. More than 1,000 attendees descended on downtown Chicago for ChannelCon 2022 for more than 30 sessions across Community, Biztech, Cybersecurity, and Vendor Education tracks.
“It is great to be back in person, to see old friends and old colleagues, to meet new solution providers, and to make great connections. Every day I got up early, learned what I had to learn, discussed new things, and you can’t do any better than that. I’m glad you guys are back,” said Nathan Archer, director of business development at A&H Technology Group.
Introducing… the North America Community
CompTIA's MJ Shoer, chief community officer, and Debbie Schildkraut, vice president, member engagement, welcomed members to the inaugural North America Community meeting at ChannelCon 2022.
The North America Community, representing Canada and the U.S., was created to better align technology businesses and professionals from around the globe with peers in their region of the world. The North America Community joins communities representing the United Kingdom and Ireland (UK&I), Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux). Each regional community includes topical industry committees in areas such as advancing tech talent and diversity, cybersecurity, emerging technology, and managed services. 
“It’s all about making more opportunities available to our members,” said Schildkraut. “More opportunities for you to learn, more leadership opportunities, and more opportunities to grow your business.”
Learn more about the North America Community.
Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/10-things-you-may-have-missed-at-channelcon-2022

Vendors and channel firms are vetting potential partners more thoroughly than ever and getting clearer on what they need out of these relationships. Half of the channel firms surveyed by CompTIA said they’ve dropped a vendor because of a poor partner experience.
“That alone should be a bit chilling for the vendors in the room,” said CompTIA researcher Carolyn April, who presented the findings of two new reports on IT channel partnerships, Partner Experience Trends 2022 Vendor Perspective and Partner Experience Trends during ChannelCon. 
Now that cloud technology has expanded the traditional reseller model into a huge ecosystem, there are more players in the market, getting partnerships to work takes more effort. “On the vendor side, the cookie cutter model doesn’t work anymore,” April said.
What is PX?
In the IT channel, partner experience (PX) includes a lot of things, from recruiting to onboarding to tech support. Most importantly, partner relationships need to make it easier for all parties and end users to do business.
“All of those touch points count as part of the partner experience, and if any of them are not good that can ruin the entire relationship,” said April. The data backs it up. According to the research, 35% of those surveyed said a good partner experience is critical to keeping a vendor, and 57% call the relationship important.
“Channel firms could be making money with a vendor but if their partner experience, habits and quality are not in alignment they know there’s another vendor down the street,” April said. There are plenty of ways vendors can enable partners, but it’s on both parties to do better.
Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/why-partner-experience-matters

There’s a lot of myths or “mythconceptions” around cybersecurity that can be harmful to you or your customers’ businesses. Knowing what’s real—and what isn’t—is an important component of an MSP’s cyber resilience and ultimate success, according to James Stanger, CompTIA’s chief technology evangelist during a session at ChannelCon 2022 in Chicago.
“When it comes to cybersecurity and emerging technologies, the IT world appears to be haunted by quite a few myths. This is to be expected, really,” Stanger said. “Technologies change so quickly. It is often useful to use ‘enabling narratives’ to keep moving forward and contextualize the constant change. But, sometimes, these narratives get in the way of progress, especially if they remain unexamined, and if everyone is using conflicting approaches. As a result, these enabling narratives can quickly become clichés, and the equivalent of educational ‘deep fakes.’”
In particular, there’s a lot of ‘mythconceptions’ around zero trust, Stanger said. He used a zombie movie analogy to explain: “What happens if your best friend turned into a zombie? That’s what zero trust is. You can’t trust your own network or applications,” he said. “What if there’s a problem, if I’m authenticated, I’m good to go, right? I might be for now but what if someone takes over one of my applications.”
And just like the movies, zombies (or cyber risk) can be fast, like “World War Z” or slow, like “Shaun of the Dead.”
Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/it's-time-to-bust-some-cybersecurity-myths-and-mythconceptions

Managed service providers (MSPs) worry about a lot of things—the changing customer, the need for employees with new and advanced technical skills and breaking into new markets, among others. And while these things may keep MSPs up at night, they also present business opportunities.  “MSPs, at least some smart ones who had planned ahead for the future and planned ahead for a crisis, they fared well during COVID. The move to remote work really spurred a lot of companies to need instant IT help,” said Carolyn April, during a ChannelCon 2022 session on the role of the evolving MSP that also featured a panel discussion moderated by Juan Fernandez, CEO of the MSP Growth Coalition.   According to CompTIA research, MSPs indicated they had a generally optimistic outlook about the industry earlier in 2022. However, April provided a caveat: It’s likely attitudes have shifted over recent months with unpredictable and uncertain market conditions.  “We all worry about the big existential things that can happen,” said April, citing MSP concerns over macroeconomics and supply chain disruptions. “But most of them we don’t have any control over.” 
A Shift from Service to Experience 
According to CompTIA research, 54% of MSPs say customer experience expectations is a top change driver in the industry.  “Customers are definitely changing—the way they buy, who they are, and that impacts the business that you are running,” said April. “If you were running an MSP 10 years ago, I would guess that the type of customer you deal with today is different than the type of customer you dealt with 10 years ago... and you’ve either made adjustments or you haven’t,” said April. If you haven’t, it’s probably keeping you up at night, she added. One major shift with customers—the expectations around customer experience.  “I believe the term customer service is dead,” said Paco Lebron, founder of ProdigyTeks during the ChannelCon panel discussion. “I think customer experience is basically the next thing. It’s not just different terminology—it’s the frictionless experience around your ability to sell and support.”
Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/msps-are-evolving

In the current climate, many businesses are learning how to navigate the post-pandemic economy, including a (possible?) recession, continued supply-chain issues, the Great Resignation, and whatever else pops up. But one thing we have learned about the past few years is that fortune favors the prepared. At ChannelCon 2022, Heather K. Margolis and Akilah Murrell, both of 360Insights, offered their top tips for how vendors can encourage their channel partners to sell their solutions when the economy is uncertain and “business nerves” are fried during the session, “Motivate and Enable Partners to Sell Your Solutions.” 
Know and Assess Your Partners
Whether you’ve been doing business together for years or they are a new partner, doing a deep dive on who your partner is and what their pain points are right now can be a productive exercise. Things probably have changed for your partners in the past few years—employees and roles have shifted, budgets have rearranged, products or services are primed for a breakout. Only from doing the homework can you engage your partner with solutions that will work for what they need in this moment.
“Right now, really understanding where your partner is starting from and catering to their immediate needs is most important,” said Murrell. With so much growth and change happening in IT channels, building your partner relationships is an integral step to solidifying your role as a trusted solution provider. You don’t want to lose to a competitor because you didn’t do the homework.
Educate Your Partners
After you’ve assessed the landscape for your partner, it’s time to align what you see as the most cost-effective and impactful solutions to their vision. This is not the time for status quo. Because of the uncertain economic climate, there is a convergence of “megatrends” reshaping the technology market and channels. Things like pandemic experience, demographic shifts, customer expectations, sustainability, everything-as-a-service, and more have led to a huge impact on channel marketing, including:

• Technology redefining sourcing, partner’s roles, and value proposition.
• New types of partners entering the channel.
• Business needs evolving in the rebalanced economy.
• Sales and experience taking precedence over price.

Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/5-ways-vendors-can-enable-partners

No one can say Scott Galloway is short on opinions—or of very loudly sharing said opinions—no matter how much criticism he gets or people he offends.
The author, speaker, professor, podcaster, TV host—just to name a few outlets for his pontifications—has gained a following because of his critiques of staid industries, companies and policies, Galloway shared his thoughts on overhyped and underhyped trends in technology at CompTIA’s ChannelCon conference in Chicago.
In a rapid-fire presentation (nearly 160 slides in 60 minutes), Galloway let loose on the current state of the health care industry, spiraling costs of education and its impact on the workforce, Web3, and much more.
“I’m a narrative vs. numbers guy,” he said, noting that too much often gets made of the latest trends. It’s either the biggest thing ever or it’s going to collapse society. “Nobody ever says, ‘this will make the world marginally better.’ You just don’t hear that.”
Here’s a look at some tech-related industries and what Galloway thinks should happen—and shouldn’t:
Health Care: Telehealth is a Long-Overdue Disruptor
Health care has become a $4 trillion business (“every other industry is small by comparison”) but it has reached an unsustainable model where consumer prices keep increasing while the level of service continues to decline. Telehealth is providing some much-needed relief, offering new choices and opportunities for patients and providers.
“This is an incredibly exciting time at the intersection of technology and health care. When I talk to my students [at NYU’s Stern School of Business] about careers and industries to go into, all things being equal, I tell them to go into health care,” Galloway said.
Funding has doubled in telehealth in recent memory and one of the more disruptive events of the last couple years has been Amazon acquiring One Medical.
“The market expects Amazon to grow by double-digits every year, which means they have to add $250 billion in top-line revenue over the next five years. Can you imagine that? That means there’s really only a small number of industries they can go into to reach that scale. Health care is one. It’s the same reason Apple is going into automobiles—there are only a few industries that size,” he said.
Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/from-technology-to-health-care-to-education-scott-galloway-is-here-to-shake-things-up

There are 40 million adults in the U.S. that want or need a career but are unsure of what they want to do—or how to do it. Many in this so-called “career intent” category also believe technology is too difficult a field to pursue. And that’s a problem, said CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux during a keynote address at CompTIA’s ChannelCon conference in Chicago.
“People think it’s hard to learn to work in our field, that it costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. There are five or six barriers to overcome,” Thibodeaux said.
With the number of tech job postings in the hundreds of thousands, it’s incumbent upon the entire industry—from vendors to MSPs to IT pros—to do more to break down some of the obstacles preventing the career intent from pursuing a career in technology.
“We’ve been so fat and happy. We need to do a much better job fighting for these people, advertising about working in this industry. We do amazing things for so many businesses and individuals. We need to tell that story,” Thibodeaux said. “All the companies and businesses also have to step up and hire those people. If we train people and don’t hire, there’s no outcome.”
Tech ranks below numerous industries considered by career-intent individuals, behind sales, marketing, real estate, hospital, food, travel and tourism, healthcare/medical, business, financial and accounting.
The tech industry needs to figure out how to attract those people, according to Thibodeaux. “We can’t think people will just want to work in tech anymore. We have to tell more stories, show that a career in tech is better and that it’s accessible. You don’t have to be math or science genus to work in this industry. That’s a big one we still need to overcome.”
Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/comptia-ceo-we-need-to-fight-for-more-tech-workers

If it seems like the IT industry has been talking about edge computing for years now, well, that’s because it has – and the same goes for IoT. But in practice, most organizations are just now translating that talk into action.
More and more CIOs and other IT leaders are now taking the reins on developing an edge strategy. In Red Hat’s Global Tech Outlook 2022, 61% of IT leaders reported that they are planning to run IoT, edge, or both technologies in the next 12 months. When combined as a single category, the two outpace AI/ML (53 percent) as the top area for emerging IT workloads this year.
For many organizations, edge computing is a natural expansion of their maturing cloud strategy and architecture – especially (but certainly not limited to) hybrid cloud environments.
“Edge computing complements what cloud computing does for a company’s compute plans – the two work together,” says Ron Howell, managing enterprise network architect, Capgemini Americas.
While edge use cases are numerous (and still emerging), one way to think about its relationship with cloud is that it can pick up where a cloud or centralized datacenter leaves off – especially as endpoints, applications, and data become distributed to infinity and beyond.  
“Secure connectivity is the goal of good network design, protecting all company assets, and industry leaders are coming to know that not all IT and business network requirements can be solved using only a cloud-centered enterprise architecture,” Howell says. “Cloud compute services will be enhanced and complemented with the use of edge compute, edge security, and the right network.”
4 essentials for your edge computing strategy
With that in mind, we asked Howell and other IT leaders and edge experts to share some of the essential concerns of an edge computing strategy. Here are four fundamentals to bear in mind in your own planning.
1. Edge should solve "good problems"
As with any major technology implementation, an edge computing strategy should be firmly grounded in a business case – what problems will an edge deployment solve that you can’t solve (at least not as well) in your cloud or datacenter environments?
“One of the most important things out of the gate is fully understanding the characteristics that make a problem good to solve through edge computing,” says Jeremy Linden, senior director of product management at Asimily.
Continue reading: https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2022/8/edge-computing-4-essentials-cio-it-leaders

Blockchains are considered as a potentially revolutionary technology in a variety of fields, including supply chain tracking and healthcare, as well as the basic technology for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), as reported by Cointelegraph. The huge interest in blockchain technology has spurred a slew of research and development activities.
As a result, the blockchain sector is highly fragmented, with clients having to select between numerous incompatible technology. However, functions such as sending tokens from one participant to another and executing smart contracts can only be performed within a single blockchain because interoperability across several blockchains is not normally expected in existing protocols and standards, Cointelegraph noted.
In the context of blockchains, interoperability refers to a blockchain’s ability to freely exchange data with other blockchains. On a given blockchain, for example, every item possessed and every transaction made are documented. With the correct interoperability solution, any economic activity that occurs on one blockchain may be represented on another. This means that the economic activity from one chain can extend to another, which is one of the primary features of blockchain interoperability solutions.
Continue reading: https://www.financialexpress.com/digital-currency/what-is-blockchain-interoperability/2630681/

Blockchain technology has been hailed as a world-changing innovation, but does it have any use beyond creating speculative financial instruments?
The bitcoin boom spawned new billionaires and videos of beach parties and Lamborghinis. The crypto crash brought devastation for small investors and bankruptcy for many companies.
Blockchain technology underpins crypto and has been hailed as a world-changing innovation, but does it have any use beyond creating speculative financial instruments?
AFP asked crypto critic Stephen Diehl, author of recently published "Popping the Crypto Bubble", to run the rule over some of the most popular claims made for blockchain technology.
More secure voting?
As tension and confusion engulfed the United States after the 2020 election, Changpeng Zhao, billionaire founder of crypto firm Binance, had a suggestion.
A "blockchain-based mobile voting app", he tweeted, would mean "we won't have to wait for results, or have any questions on its validity".
Fellow crypto billionaire Vitalik Buterin replied that there were "significant challenges" but he thought it was "directionally 100 percent correct".
So far, experiments have been very small scale.
For Diehl, blockchain was more likely to introduce problems than solve them.
"From the American perspective, every single district runs its own voting programme," said.
"This is seen as a feature because to corrupt any one election you would have to corrupt many, many civil servants.
"Centralising the voting system in one digital place would be pretty risky -– then all you have to do is corrupt the blockchain and you could corrupt democracy."
Continue reading: https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-blockchain-crypto.html

2022 is the year of automation. From self-driving cars to chatbots, everything is getting smarter and automated. This is especially true in the hotel industry, where smart automation for hotels is making waves.
Surviving COVID entailed cutting operating costs, which came from furloughs and layoffs. But it is not easy to imagine full-scale operations with half the workforce when you’ve been doing things the same way all this while.
Something hoteliers can pick up is smart hotel automation. A smart hotel room uses smart electronic devices powered by the Internet of Things (IoT).
This IoT technology means that previously unconnected devices now have internet connectivity, which allows them to send and receive data, therefore communicate effectively with one another.
This internet connectivity and communication capability enable devices to retrieve information from the internet and interact with other devices in the vicinity. With the advent of smart hotel automation, guests can now enjoy a wide range of once unavailable benefits.
What’s better – hotels management, owners, and stakeholders can enjoy many benefits from smart automation for hotels.
Benefits of Smart Automation For Hotels
1. Personalization
A benefit that helps both guests and hotels is a higher level of personalization through smart hotel automation. This means that hotel guests can quickly and easily make changes to their room to get it exactly how they want it, improving their enjoyment of the room to their comfort level.
Guests can quickly change the conditions within the room by using a smart hub, tablet device, or even through an app on their phone. The heating, air conditioning, lights, and so on can then respond to and maintain those conditions automatically, thanks to IoT technology.
Guests and staff can also interact directly and more effectively via mobile devices or in-room smart apps by leveraging guest portals in hotel automation software. Guests can communicate their needs via apps instead of visiting or calling multiple numbers to get assistance or services.
2. Sustainability
One of the most significant advantages of developing a smart hotel is the cost savings that are frequently engaged in the provision. This is mostly owing to improvements in hotel room sustainability and energy economy, with certain technologies only being utilized when absolutely necessary.
Continue reading: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4111859.html

Around the world, people in cities, towns, villages and hamlets, even in the most remote places, want to get online and enjoy online experiences that are transformational for homes and businesses alike. And over the past few years, demand for high-speed connectivity from anywhere and everywhere has seen an explosion in the number of satellite broadband providers, and now demonstrable financial success.
In August 2022, and despite facing a number of headwinds, satellite operator SES reported a solid first six months of the year, with its networks business outshining a declining core broadcast line, delivering annual growth of 2% driven by important wins at individual companies, such as Argentinean telco Arsat, Hispasat-owned teleport operator and satellite services provider Axess Networks, as well as agreements signed in key industries such as utilities and cruise lines. 
It’s the same story at arch-rival Eutelsat, whose full-year results reported at the same time show fixed broadband and mobile connectivity businesses delivering double-digit growth, highlighting their long-term potential, whereas broadcast continues on a similar decline, albeit tracking at a slower rate.
So buoyed was Eutelsat, and looking to the future, it confirmed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to join forces with the global low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider OneWeb, a company whose dramatic recent history clearly shows the way in which satellite broadband is gaining a higher orbit and delivering for those everywhere.
Despite its somewhat controversial beginnings, being rescued from bankruptcy by a cash injection from the UK government and Bharti Global, OneWeb has established a satellite constellation capable of providing improved capacity, mobile resilience, backhaul and coverage, including fixed wireless access, in challenging geographic locations. 
The company’s constellation of global gateway stations and user terminals is designed to provide an affordable, fast, high-bandwidth, low-latency communications service to the most hard-to-reach places globally, connected to internet of things (IoT) devices and making a pathway for mass adoption of 5G services.
Continue reading: https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Global-broadband-reaches-for-the-stars-to-connect-the-Earth

IoT roaming occurs when a connected device or sensor connects to a network other than its home network, either temporarily or permanently, in cases of permanent roaming.
Roaming IoT devices are capable of connectivity to a variety of different radio technologies, including cellular networks like 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G, LPWA networks such as NB-IoT and LTE-M, RFID and Wi-Fi 6.
With this as a baseline, Juniper Research forecasts that data generated by roaming IoT connections will increase from 86 petabytes in 2022 to 1,100 petabytes by 2027. This is enough data to stream 165 million hours of 4K video from platforms such as Netflix.
Driving this 1,140% growth is the termination of 3G networks necessitating the adoption of low-power cellular networks.
The research found that low-power wide-area networks provide a low-cost alternative to established operator-led cellular networks, such as 4G and 5G, driving the growth of IoT roaming connections through low-power, high-penetration coverage.
Roaming IoT connections use wireless services outside of their registered operator’s network; accessing connectivity from other cellular providers.
IoT roaming growth opportunities
The report found that roaming IoT connections from the US will generate 277 petabytes of data by 2027 and will account for 26% of the global total. With AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon terminating 3G networks during 2022, Juniper Research anticipated that roaming IoT connections will be redistributed to low-power wide-area 4G or 5G networks depending on the use case. 
Research author Scarlett Woodford remarked that US operators must adopt the Billing & Charging Evolution protocol to accurately identify IoT traffic based on network technologies.
Continue reading: https://futureiot.tech/5g-remains-unpopular-with-iot-roaming-use-cases/

With the ever-growing technology industry digitalising the modern world, the Internet of Things (IoT) has an important part to play. The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, relies upon IoT to join operational and informational technology, for the sake of improving quality, reducing risk and minimising cost.
“IoT is a core part of Industry 4.0 because it allows us to build digital networks of machinery, devices, and infrastructure. By using IoT, organisations can assemble smart factories and supply chain processes which continuously collect data” says David Beamonte Arbués, Product Manager (IoT & Embedded Products) at Canonical.
“Businesses can then apply AI and Machine Learning (ML) technologies which, once synchronised, remove silos in the supply chain process and allow unprecedented levels of transparency, automation, insight and control. Industry 4.0 focuses heavily on interconnectivity, automation, ML and real-time data. It marries physical production and operations with smart technology – none of which would be possible without IoT at its core”, he adds.
Managing unprecedented supply chain challenges with IoT
A properly functioning supply chain requires efficient communication and real-time visibility for all stakeholders involved. Recently, however, complex regulations, financial risks and missing data have caused disruptions along the supply chain and put businesses at risk. 
By using IoT devices, businesses can address the problems caused by rising prices and supply shortages.
“Some of the recent supply chain disruptions we have seen are due to a lack of real-time visibility across the supply chain. For a well-functioning supply chain, across multiple levels, you must collect, integrate and analyse data to provide a single view of the supply chain”, explains Bjorn Andersson, the Senior Director of Global IoT at Hitachi Vantara.
“This view should include data from sensors and devices, such as data associated with temperature and vibration. IoT enables this level of visibility, allowing you to see if suppliers can meet their commitments, or to spot when a proactive action needs to be taken to prevent a disruption in production.”
Using sensors and software to calculate specific elements of the supply chain, IoT devices can be used to validate products, streamline the transportation of goods, and track estimated arrival times.
 
Continue reading: https://supplychaindigital.com/digital-supply-chain/improving-supply-chain-management-with-iot-technology

YARMOUTH, Maine—As part of Security Systems News’ and the Security Industry Association (SIA) Women in Security Forum’s (WISF’s) continuing series highlighting the contributions of women in security, this month’s feature is on Stephanie Weagle, Chief Marketing Officer for encryption company Atakama. Weagle’s role involves “driving and executing the company's go-to-market strategy, product and market positioning, demand generation, partner and field marketing, customer advocacy, strategic events, brand presence, and communications programs,” she told SSN.
The following is an exclusive Q&A with Weagle:
SSN: How did you get into and what inspired you to stay in the security industry?
WEAGLE: The vast majority of my marketing career has been in the cybersecurity, IT networking, and physical security space. I specialize in early-stage companies that are looking to accelerate market adoption and reach their fullest growth potential.
I did not start in client-side technology marketing. I originally set out to be a digital design and creative professional, seeking to build brands and develop B2C creative strategies. My career path took a detour early on after spending a couple of years on the agency side of marketing. My clients at the time were some of the largest high-tech B2B companies in the Boston area. I was inspired by the way they thought about delivering meaningful technology to their customers. It was through working hand in hand with these external corporate marketing teams that I decided to change course. It was an important lesson to realize that experiences in every role will shape you, build your skills and foster your career growth.
SSN: What has your journey been like in a primarily male-dominated and historically non-diverse security industry?
WEAGLE: Undoubtedly, there continues to be a lack of women in technology, and even more so in the cyber and physical security industries. Throughout my years of professional experience, the positive experiences along the way have far outweighed the negative ones as it relates to respect, collaboration, and the ability to pursue opportunities and take on new challenges. I have been fortunate enough to experience diverse workforces along the way.
Continue reading: https://www.securitysystemsnews.com/article/women-in-security-feature-stephanie-weagle

When Xenia Kim was pursuing a diploma in 3D animation at Singapore’s Temasek Polytechnic, little did she know that the knowledge she picked up in web programming and databases would pave the way for her career in enterprise software development.
Kim, a developer at backup and cyber protection software supplier Acronis, is part of a development team in Singapore that builds capabilities used across Acronis products. Her job entails designing databases and implementing application programming interfaces (APIs), among other areas.
Although Kim is early in her career, she picked up valuable experience that landed her a job at Acronis. Before she enrolled in the DigiPen Institute of Technology, where she earned a degree in computer science and game design after completing her diploma program, she worked full-time for 10 months at a digital agency that builds custom applications for clients.
“I was fixing bugs at first and that led to bigger projects like developing apps using visual programming,” said Kim. “I have knowledge in user interface and user experience design, so I was asked to code the apps.”
Software developers are often motivated by different goals, whether it is creating something useful for businesses and consumers, or the thrill of fixing problems. For Kim, who graduated from DigiPen in 2020, it is the latter: “I like to solve problems and come up with innovative solutions for different projects, and programming allows me to do this,” she said. “In school, if my friends can’t solve a problem, I’ll teach them how to fix it.”
Continue reading: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252523812/How-a-young-developer-cut-her-teeth-in-coding

Despite women’s achievements in the tech space over the last decade, certain perspectives have been overlooked. When I decided to venture into Web3, crypto, defi, blockchain and metaverse, I encountered so many women doing the real work of pushing for gender equity and diversity in the space. We’re seeing more and more women entering Web3, investing in cryptocurrency and leading NFT projects from top to bottom — and I’m proud to be a part of it.
Here are six lessons I’ve learned from the women of Web3 that inspire me and who are actively shaping its more equitable future.
1. Leaders lift up future leaders.
As the founder of the women-led initiative for artists and mission-driven NFT project Boss Beauties, Lisa Mayer is a prominent advocate for gender equity in the still male-dominated NFT space. Advocating for and supporting young women and working moms, she’s paving the way for a more inclusive digital reality through dedicated scholarships and mentorship programs for women pursuing a future in technology, leadership and the creative space.
Leading by example means demonstrating the necessity for the leaders of today to guide and empower the leaders of tomorrow — and to recognize that future leaders come from all walks of life.
2. A vision for the future doesn’t always have — or need — a blueprint from the past.
Sandra Helou, head of metaverse and NFTs at Zilliqa, is a force to be reckoned with in the blockchain space. To support the burgeoning creator economy, she launched the company’s metaverse-as-a-service platform in 2022. She also assists individuals and brands looking to transition from Web2 to Web3, speaks regularly about designing a sustainable digital future, and advocates for building a metaverse that is inclusive, engagement-focused, free of bias and safety-oriented.
This vision of a sustainable metaverse is one we could all easily be living in decades from now.  Determination, purpose and tireless belief are what we will need to get there.
Continue reading: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/lessons-from-women-leaders-shaping-the-future-of-web3-1395277/

On Saturday, the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Rourkela became the second centrally-run higher education institution in the country (after IIT-Kanpur) to award blockchain-based digital degrees to all its graduates.
Over 1,500 students received their degrees in this format in addition to the traditional hard copy of the certificate.
How is the blockchain-based degree different from a regular digital degree certificate that a student can receive by email and share with employers and higher education institutions electronically? We explain:
Q. First, what is blockchain technology? 
“Blockchain is like a ledger which stores information digitally, in a very secure way. The data is connected as blocks and exist in a distributed manner (across a network of computer systems)”, says Prof. Manish Okade, Head of the Computer & Informatics Centre (CIC) at NIT-Rourkela. He explains that since the data is not stored in one place, nobody can tamper or hack the system.
Q. Why is this technology being used to issue educational degrees and certificates?
Blockchain technology is useful for educational institutes because it helps preserve original documents and store them digitally and securely.
“Blockchain acts as an unalterable ledger for information. Any information once entered in the blockchain, cannot be erased”, says Professor Manindra Agarwal, co-founder of the National Blockchain Project and former deputy director of IIT-Kanpur. The National Blockchain Project, started by IIT Kanpur, is funded by the National Security Council to develop e-governance solutions using blockchain technology.
Continue reading: https://indianexpress.com/article/education/all-you-need-to-know-what-is-blockchain-based-higher-education-degree-how-is-it-different-from-a-regular-digital-degree-8088965/

The 5G rollout in India is likely to begin this month and it could have a significant impact on how services are delivered to consumers and enterprises. The 5G is expected to globally redefine a range of industries such as transport, healthcare and logistics. Unlike 3G and 4G, which largely offered improvements in data transfer speeds on smartphones, 5G will allow a universe of connected devices to interact with each other.
Experts believe that 5G will be the potential enabler that leads to the widescale adoption of blockchain technology in several aspects such as trade financing, logistics, healthcare, education, etc.
The novel characteristics of 5G can be exploited to support new business models and services that require seamless interactions among multiple parties that may include mobile operators, enterprises, telecom providers, government regulators, and infrastructure providers. Meanwhile, blockchain has been increasingly used to register, authenticate and validate assets and transactions, govern interactions, record data and manage the identification among multiple parties, in a trusted, decentralized, and secure manner.
Complementing each other
It’s thus not just 5G enabling Blockchain. Both are complementary to each other. 5G will provide the needed infrastructure for the machine-to-machine interactions, Blockchain will ensure data reliability, and security, enabling smarter and faster value functions.
The ultimate goal is to reduce network bandwidth and make the communication between devices live. Since current devices are centralized, which means that one entity owns it, it makes it riskier for wider adoption. This is where blockchain comes into the picture, it promises decentralization, which means nobody controls how these devices operate, and every transfer of data is recorded in a distributed ledger, giving users full control over their privacy. This wouldn’t be possible on 4G.
Continue reading: https://thefederal.com/business/5g-coupled-with-blockchain-technology-can-open-a-whole-new-world/

Cryptocurrency is bringing forth new innovations to make it acceptable and usable by all. One such recent innovation is the crypto debit card.
Major crypto exchanges and brokers have launched debit and credit cards to allow users to spend cryptocurrency on various products and services. Even financial services corporation Visa (NYSE:V) acknowledged the rise in crypto debit card payments, stating that customers made $2.5 billion in payments with its crypto-linked cards in the first quarter of 2022.
Visa’s CFO, Vasant Prabhu, added that people are using their crypto-linked cards to spend on retail goods and services, restaurants, and travel. So if you’ve been thinking about getting a crypto debit card to facilitate your spending, you might want to read this article. In this piece, you’ll learn about crypto debit cards and how to determine if it’s right for you.
What Are Crypto Debit Cards, and How Do They Work?
A crypto debit card is much like your regular debit card, but instead of being connected to your bank account, it’s tied to a digital wallet that contains your cryptocurrency. It can also be used at various Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that support cryptocurrency.
However, the significant difference between a crypto debit card and a conventional debit card is that the former instantly converts the cryptocurrency you use to your selected fiat currency. Also, with a crypto debit card, you can use cryptocurrencies in your wallet to complete transactions in any business that accepts debit cards.
How Do Crypto Debit Cards Work?
When you use a crypto debit card to make a purchase, the funds will be withdrawn from your crypto wallet or crypto investment account and automatically converted to the acceptable currency of the merchant. More so, just like regular debit cards, the user will be required to have sufficient cryptocurrency in a digital wallet (i.e. crypto investment account) to make a purchase.
Additionally, it is crucial to keep in mind that the type of crypto debit cards used will determine exactly how cryptocurrency is converted to fiat. Occasionally, users may be able to keep their currency in crypto form until a purchase is initiated, or they may need to manually convert their cryptocurrency to their preferred fiat currency.
Ways Crypto Debit Cards Convert Crypto
Generally, crypto debit cards convert crypto in three different ways:
Continue reading: https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/crypto-debit-cards-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-in-defi-2871786

Ethereum, also commonly known as Ether, is the world’s second largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, and like any digital currency, it has experienced its fair share of ups and downs over its relatively short lifetime.
The price of Ethereum rose to a record $US4800 in late 2021, which signified a rise of more than 900% over the previous 12 months and sparked speculation that Ether would overtake Bitcoin in value.
However, Ether was not immune from the crypto routing of May 2022 and tumbled in value alongside many other cryptocurrencies. Ether is now trading at $US1423 (as of July). 
What are cryptocurrencies?
In the truest sense, cryptocurrencies are a digital means of exchange which use cryptography as a form of security. However, in more recent times, the term ‘cryptocurrency’ has evolved to encompass a decentralized financial system (DeFi), a highly volatile asset class that can nose-dive or surge on the back of a Tweet, a space for bad actors to steal vulnerable investors’ identities and money, a mode of asset diversification, and a form of digital payment.
Ethereum once had an effective market capitalization of around $250 billion, however, has recently lost more than $100 billion in value due to the crypto slide of May 2022 and is now sitting at around $135 billion in market cap.  
If you’re familiar with Bitcoin but less au fait with its closest rival, here’s what you need to know about Ethereum including why, one day, it could still become the dominant player on the cryptocurrency stage.
First, a crypto wealth warning
You don’t need to follow the financial world that closely to know that cryptocurrencies have become one of its biggest stories in recent years. 
Nowadays, they pre-occupy the thoughts of governments and major financial institutions alike and divide opinion as to whether they are essentially Ponzi schemes that need to be severely regulated, or are simply volatile asset classes for investors who enjoy a high-stakes gamble.
If your financial plans revolve around capital preservation – hanging onto what you’ve got – then the volatile behavior of cryptocurrencies is most definitely not for you. 
Last month, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, described crypto assets as no better than “vehicles for speculation”. And at its May AGM, the legendary Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman and investor, Charlie Munger, said Bitcoin was “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization”.
Comments such as these, however, fail to put off millions of aficionados around the world from trying to make money from cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. This  includes Australians, who are increasingly getting in on the act: recent Roy Morgan research has revealed that 5%, or more than one million adult Australians own at least one cryptocurrency.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/au/investing/cryptocurrency/what-is-ethereum/

Artificial Intelligence is Changing Marketing, and Here’s What You Need to Do
Without a question, artificial intelligence (AI) is a popular issue right now. Marketing is one of the many industries where technology is making its influence. Nearly all marketing gurus and experts are busy predicting how AI will affect marketing, consumer purchasing patterns, advertising, corporate futures, and other areas.
Thanks to innovations like Alexa, Siri, and other advanced analytics tools based on machine learning, both our personal and professional lives have begun to experience the possibilities of artificial intelligence. Isn’t it sufficient to hint at the fascinating future that AI promises to the marketing industry?
In the past year, the artificial intelligence revolution in marketing has reached its peak. Thanks to the latest data analytics tools, many marketers now have access to them and can afford them. A rising number of marketers are being empowered and encouraged to adopt data-driven approaches to their marketing decision-making processes by the availability of rich and comprehensive datasets, even though they are still noisy.
Almost every marketer is talking and thinking about how AI will affect their work since the winds of development have been flowing in this AI direction — for the time being.
Even though artificial intelligence is still in its early stages, and we are not quite there, it will inevitably continue to advance. Knowing how AI is altering marketing as we currently know it is not enough for marketers; we also need to know what we should do with all of these new AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics capabilities. Let’s look at it.
Continue reading: https://www.inventiva.co.in/trends/artificial-intelligence-is-changing/

One of the myriad challenges of being a modern technology leader is separating the marketing hype from reality when it comes time to procure new hardware or software. Product marketing often tends toward hyperbole and focuses on the positive rather than the negative. With technology products, there’s the added wrinkle of complex technical elements that require specialized understanding.
Mix the historical hyperventilation of most product marketing with a hot technology, and you’re forced to wallow through a dense wall of promises, buzzwords and claims to determine if a product will work for your organization. This is especially true in the era of artificial intelligence, where it seems everything from supply chain software to office furniture claims to have some element of AI embedded. One could almost imagine a late-night infomercial host shouting that the product he’s shilling: “Now includes 30% more machine learning!”
The problem in evaluating products that include AI is that definitions of what constitutes AI can vary widely. If your definition assumes learning algorithms that intelligently categorize new data, and your vendor considers AI to include little more than a bit of fancy computation, you’ll be disappointed. In order to pin down what your vendor means when they tell you there are elements of AI included in their product, here are three simple questions that can help separate the hype from reality.
How does the AI model learn?
A foundational element of most true AI technologies is that they improve based on the data they receive or include technologies that test potential future outcomes and strengthen their calculations based on those outcomes. Game-playing AI’s are a classic example of this technology, where the AI can simulate playing thousands of iterations of a game and improves its performance based on the outcome of each game.
Continue reading: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/separate-ai-marketing-hype/

The product launch stage can make or break the success of your new venture. According to data from the Harvard Business Review, 95% of products fail out of the 30,000 products released yearly. That's massive.
The launch of a product is a critical event for any business. It is the first time that your customers will have an opportunity to experience that product. If you have done everything right, it should be a celebration for everyone involved.
However, this does not always happen. It is common for companies to launch products that fail to meet expectations or even lead to consumer boycotts.
That is where AI comes in.
The New Kid On The Block
Artificial intelligence has quickly become one of the most popular buzzwords in business. AI is already being used to help brands make better decisions. And for good reason—businesses that have adopted AI report increased revenues, higher customer satisfaction rates and improved operational efficiency.
E-commerce companies come into play when using AI to make waves and stay ahead of the competition. Companies like L'Oreal use artificial intelligence to analyze millions of images and predict what consumers will buy next. Nike has used AI to predict how customers will receive a specific shoe on the market and how to sell it. Coca-Cola uses AI to determine which soft drinks to stock at various retailers worldwide.
The future of AI in business is broad, with many applications that we haven't even thought of yet.
Let's talk about using AI to launch new products successfully.
10 Ways AI Helps Businesses Create Successful Product Launches
1. Solid Understanding Of The Market
AI is big on consumers' data. It analyzes data across different channels to the last detail that escapes the human mind. With this, AI understands the market better than humans.
With AI, you can understand your target audience and their needs better—how they think and buy and what they want in a product or service. This will enable you to create something that meets their expectations and makes them want to buy it.
2. Assessing Market Demand
You need to know what people want to determine what kind of product to launch. You can use artificial intelligence to analyze all the data from past product launches, including customer feedback, sales figures and other industry trends. This allows you to make informed decisions about whether or not to enter a new market.
It also gives you information on which products are popular at any given time, whether they be sports equipment, health products or fashion accessories.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/08/12/10-ways-to-use-ai-for-a-successful-product-launch/?sh=782887ee74b1

With any new technology shift or macro change, there are winners and losers. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no exception. In multifamily tech folklore, there is a lingering belief that the AI winners will only be big companies, and the AI losers will be smaller enterprises like leasing teams. I’m here to tell you that is false.
For small to mid-sized operators, if you think AI is only for the large operators and the public companies, then you’re missing the opportunity to let tech help level the playing field. Without taking advantage of current tech, you risk getting disrupted by large operators (and become their asset instead of their competition). Perhaps that sounds dire, but I believe that when smaller operators are looking to prove value and higher costs for their customers than larger competitors, better customer service (i.e., timely responsiveness) is vital. So, if your business has to choose between cost, speed or quality (and cost is off the table), then you know what your focus should be.
For leasing professionals, you should view AI as a colleague and advocate. If you do, you are in the best position to leverage it to win. Does AI sometimes lead to smaller teams via natural churn and attrition? Yes. Does it also work hand-in-hand with team members to allow them to do more with less and automate the parts of their job they hate? Absolutely.
As we know, the arrival of automated machines at Ford factories meant some jobs became irrelevant. Despite this, Ford remained one of the largest employers in the state of Michigan. How does this relate to multifamily? Just like at the Ford plant, when AI is leveraged in multifamily, it means some tasks take longer and are more costly to do manually.
So, if you’re a team member who prides yourself on being the first to respond to every lead as fast as possible without spending the time to craft the perfect response, you may find more success focusing on closing that lead once they’ve been warmed up. Closing is a skill set that AI is not designed for, but a fast response time is. So, focus your time and attention on working with, instead of competing with AI. I personally do not have a goal or belief that AI will replace humans, for I believe both are necessary for our industry; technology can be used to aid leasing professionals and amplify their impact.
Continue reading: 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/08/11/winners-and-losers-three-ways-leasing-professionals-can-embrace-artificial-intelligence/?sh=38cfb9115cf3