The Roku IPO at the Nasdaq, September 28, 2017. Source: Nasdaq Roku has more than quadrupled in value in 2019, making it the best-performing tech stock among U.S. companies with a market cap of at least $5 billion. But it’s been quite a bumpy ride, as investors have puzzled over the streaming company’s future. On […]
Archives for 2019
What’s Next: AI and Data Trends for 2020 and Beyond
After a year of consolidation and post-hype AI deployment disappointment, here’s what we can expect for 2020 and beyond. The year 2019 was a busy one in the data, analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence markets. Yes, there was quite a bit of consolidation among some big players with Salesforce acquiring Tableau, Google acquiring Looker, […]
U.S. sanctions block hurry-up work on Russian gas pipeline – officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Any companies that rush to finish building a Russian natural gas export pipeline to Germany that came under U.S. sanctions this month risk being penalized, senior U.S. officials said on Sunday. President Donald Trump signed a bill late this month imposing sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project led by […]
When Is It Ethical to Not Replace Humans with AI?
There are legitimate questions about the ethics of employing AI in place of human workers. But what about when there’s a moral imperative to automate? Image: zapp2photo – stockadobe.com It is by now, well-known that artificial intelligence will augment the human worker and, in some instances outright take jobs once handled by humans. A 2019 […]
E-commerce, new industrial policies likely to be released this fiscal: DPIIT Secretary
The DPIIT is working actively on the e-commerce as well as new industrial policies, and both are expected to be released by the end of this fiscal, a top official has said. “I personally feel that both these policies will be ready by this financial year end,” Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade […]
Data-crunching investments by insurers rise 20% in 2019
Insurers are increasing investments in systems to improve data crunching by at least 20% over last year. Most of this is toward subscription of data, build stronger data architecture and for updated technology towards better systems to crunch data. The driving force is the challenges that are emerging due to substandard and unstructured data. “For […]
All-in-one digital repository of official data in the works
An umbrella information portal collating official data on employment, industry, health, GST and trade is in the works, as the government plans to put out timely, credible and user-friendly official data through a single window. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is developing a digital repository of all official statistics in the country, […]
CSC to open 700 centres to push Aadhaar enrolment
Common Service Centres, the government-run digital kiosks, are set to open one new centre in each district — close to 700 centres by next year — to restart Aadhaar enrolment and updation services, a top government official told ET. The centres, mostly in far flung areas, were stopped from providing the services after a security […]
The rise of sexbots and artificial human beings
Looks like technology is triggering an orgasmic growth for the $30 billion sex-tech or human-machine intimacy industry. Leading the charge are sexbots or wire-attached, silicon-based artificial human beings, which are designed to be ideal companions in and out of bed. A range of offerings are in the market already and it will only get better. […]
End of cash is near, cashless currencies are in vogue
The case against cash is clear — expensive to print, difficult to track, prone to theft and an enabler of corruption. Western economies, notably the Nordic countries, have come to depend less and less on cash for transactions. In the UK, cash is used for only 30% of transactions while South Korea plans to phase […]