Search

Cloud Computing, 5G, Metaverse, Electric Vehicles Among the Most Important Areas of Technology in 2023, Says New IEEE Study

By
DTD
-
0
Image credit: IEEE
Media Release by IEEE

IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, today released the results of “The Impact of Technology in 2023 and Beyond: an IEEE Global Study,” a new survey of global technology leaders from the U.S., U.K., China, India, and Brazil. The study, which included 350 chief technology officers, chief information officers and IT directors, covers the most important technologies in 2023 and future technology trends.

A More Connected, Sustainable, and Virtual World
Which areas of technology will be among the five most important in 2023? Global technology leaders surveyed said cloud computing (40%), 5G (38%), metaverse (37%), electric vehicles (EVs) (35%), and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) (33%) will be the five most important areas of technology next year.

The top industry sectors that will be most impacted by technology in 2023 are:

  • (40%) telecommunications 
  • (39%) automotive and transportation 
  • (33%) energy 
  • (33%) banking and financial services

Currently in its nascent stages, the metaverse can be described as an immersive digital network of 3D interactive worlds. Global technologists surveyed said the following innovations will be very important for advancing the development of the metaverse in 2023: 

  • (71%) 5G and ubiquitous connectivity 
  • (58%) virtual reality (VR) headsets
  • (58%) augmented reality (AR) glasses

Technologies that foster sustainability are growing in importance. A strong majority (94%) of those surveyed agree that they have prioritized sustainability goals for 2023 and beyond, and any technologies their company implements are required to be energy-efficient and help shrink their carbon footprint. 

Metaverse-related technologies are also expected to be deployed in various ways: Ninety-one percent of respondents agree that to bring employees together for corporate training across offices, conferences, and hybrid meetings, their company is actively adopting metaverse technology strategies in 2023. In addition, over three-quarters (76%) of global technologists say 26%–75% of interactions with colleagues, customers, and management at their company will be conducted virtually in 2023. 

AI, Robotics, IIoT, and Digital Twins
AI has become ubiquitous. So it is not surprising that 98% of survey respondents agree that in 2023 and beyond, AI-powered autonomous, collaborative software and mobile robots will automate processes and tasks, including data analysis, allowing humans to be more efficient and effective. In addition, when asked what percentage of jobs across the entire global economy will be augmented by AI-driven software in 2023, 24% of technologists surveyed said 1–25%; 40% of those surveyed said 26–50%; and 27% of respondents said 51–75%. Related to the IIoT, which optimizes smart industrial machines, sensors, processors, and the real-time data they generate, 98% surveyed say using digital twin technology and virtual simulations in 2023 to more efficiently design, develop, and safely test product prototypes and manufacturing processes will be important, including 68% who say it will be very important.

EVs, 5G, and 6G
Because of its fast and high data throughput, 5G will impact vehicle connectivity and automation in 2023, 97% of survey respondents agree.

Respondents also said that 5G will benefit these areas the most in the next year:

  • (56%) remote learning and education
  • (54%) telemedicine, including remote surgery, health record transmissions
  • (51%) entertainment, sports, and live event streaming
  • (49%) personal and professional day-to-day communications
  • (29%) transportation and traffic control
  • (25%) manufacturing/assembly
  • (23%) carbon footprint reduction and energy efficiency

A strong majority (95%) of global technologists agree that space satellites for remote mobile connectivity will be a game-changer in 2023 because they enable 5G device connections anywhere, 24/7, leapfrogging terrestrial infrastructure. Close to nine out of ten global technologists (88%) agree 6G will primarily be an evolving work in progress in 2023, but that in half a decade 6G will be standardized.

Cybersecurity Concerns Rise
The cybersecurity concerns most likely to be in technology leaders’ top three in 2023—which rose as compared to levels of concern in 2022—are issues related to:

  • (51%) cloud vulnerability (up from 35% in 2022) 
  • (46%) the mobile and hybrid workforce, including employees using their own devices (up from 39% in 2022)
  • (43%) data center vulnerability (up from 27% in 2022)
Advertisement

NETA Auto selects NVIDIA DRIVE Orin for AI-powered vehicles

By
Luwela R.
-
0
Image credit: NVIDIA

NETA Auto, a Zheijiang-based electric car manufacturer, announced it would build future electric vehicles using the NVIDIA DRIVE Orin platform.

In a statement, NVIDIA said these EVs would be software-defined, with automatic driving and sophisticated features that can be updated over-the-air.

Thousands of new customers will now have access to next-generation car technologies. NETA has led battery-EV sales among new market entrants for the past three months, delivering 200,000 EVs since production began in late 2018, according to NVIDIA.

NETA’s goal is to make travel more enjoyable by utilising innovative technologies that deviate from the usual. NETA vehicles have 5G connectivity and digital assistants.

NETA Auto unveiled the Shanhai Platform, an independently created smart automotive architecture, last year. The NETA S, the first model based on this technology, was released in July.

These vehicles will have centralised, high-performance compute with the inclusion of DRIVE Orin, enabling even greater capabilities.

Street Smarts

According to NVIDIA, traditionally, incorporating cutting-edge technology into new automobiles necessitates lengthy product cycles and the updating of distributed computers throughout the vehicle.

This method has been redesigned using centralised, software-defined computation. The intelligent features of the car are powered by a single, high-performance AI compute platform. When new software is produced and certified, it can be deployed via over-the-air updates, even after the vehicle has been driven away from the dealership.

The DRIVE Orin system-on-a-chip performs 254 trillion operations per second, which is more than enough computational power for a software-defined architecture. It is intended to handle the enormous number of apps and deep neural networks that run in autonomous vehicles at the same time, while meeting systematic safety standards such as ISO 26262 ASIL-D.

NVIDIA said DRIVE Orin’s performance would give NETA vehicles a level of performance that has no equal.

Aiming Higher

Along with using DRIVE Orin to design its vehicles, NETA is collaborating with NVIDIA technologies to provide cutting-edge autonomous driving capabilities.

The businesses are working together to design and create a centralised platform for cross-domain fusion computing for level 4 autonomy.

“NETA Auto is at a new stage of development and sees technological innovation as one of the biggest enablers moving their industry forwards. The close cooperation with NVIDIA will give NETA Auto a strong boost in bringing intelligent, technology-rich vehicles to market worldwide,” NETA CEO and co-founder Zhang Yong said.

Advertisement

ColdQuanta-Swinburne centre to turbocharge quantum tech

By
DTD
-
0
Image credit: Swinburne University of Technology
Media Release by Swinburne University of Technology

A $29 million investment from Breakthrough Victoria will help establish an Asia-Pacific quantum computing and technology facility at Swinburne University of Technology, in partnership with global quantum ecosystem leader ColdQuanta.

The ColdQuanta–Swinburne Quantum Technology Centre will support quantum breakthroughs with commercial potential and expand the state’s quantum capability to create new industries and jobs to make Victoria a global player at the forefront of this critical technology.  

This era-defining deep tech could revolutionise the way we live, work and travel – from emissions reductions and earth monitoring systems, pharmaceutical drug development, optimising flight routes and strengthening cybersecurity systems. 

“Swinburne’s world-leading strengths in cold-atom science and technology make us a natural partner with ColdQuanta as we work together to grow the quantum industry in Victoria,” said Swinburne Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Pascale Quester.

“By using atoms cooled to the lowest known temperatures in the universe, we are opening the pathway to a broad suite of quantum technologies that can potentially revolutionise the world as we know it.

“Working at the intersection of industry, research and investment, we are delighted to be helping upskill and reskill the next generation workforce required to power this revolution and bring people and technology together to build a better world.”

A revolution in technology

Quantum technology uses the subatomic building blocks of nature to perform more efficient computer calculations, improve navigation and timing systems, provide more secure communications, and deliver more accurate healthcare imaging through quantum sensing. However, these quantum breakthroughs require long-term investment and a skilled talent pool.

Building on shared expertise in cold atom science, ColdQuanta will partner with Swinburne University of Technology to bring world-class quantum capabilities to Victoria, connect the research community with industry and create opportunities for local job development and economic growth.

It will provide a gateway to the broader quantum community across other universities and strengthen Australia’s sovereign capability in quantum technology.

“Quantum technology has the potential to transform many sectors, including the pharmaceutical, energy, finance, transport and communications industries,” Breakthrough Victoria CEO Grant Dooley said. “Breakthrough Victoria’s investment will accelerate R&D and commercialisation in quantum technology, attracting greater investment into Victoria.

“The investment will create jobs and develop world class skills development in quantum technology, while producing long-term, sustainable returns for Victoria.”

Powering the next generation of quantum

The investment will fund:

  • ColdQuanta–Swinburne Quantum Technology Centre with world-class quantum capability;
  • Quantum Workforce Development Initiative to establish a world-leading education and training centre to prepare the future quantum workforce and address the global skills deficiency;
  • Advanced manufacturing capability with the potential local production of glass cells used in the cold atom method supporting the miniaturisation of quantum technology; and
  • Advanced manufacturing capability expansion in photonics development and miniaturisation. 

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, estimated Australia’s quantum technology industry has the potential to support 19,000 new jobs and generate $6 billion annual revenue by 2045.

One of the major challenges facing the quantum technology sector is the lack of a qualified workforce. ColdQuanta will work with Swinburne University of Technology to develop new programs to educate and train the next generation of workers to advance quantum information science, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) and related fields.

“Victoria’s investment in quantum will drive economic growth and ultimately a competitive advantage for Australia,” said ColdQuanta CEO Scott Faris.

“Building this Centre will attract new opportunities to Victoria and bring the expertise needed to leverage quantum technology to its fullest extent. ColdQuanta is excited to be part of building quantum capabilities in, with and for Australia.

“This partnership is an important milestone for ColdQuanta as it further expands our global presence and recognises the technical leadership of our hardware and software products.”

Advertisement

Computershare: Virtual AGMs remain popular globally despite relaxed restrictions but two out of three still held in-person

By
DTD
-
0
Image credit: Computershare
Media Release by Computershare

Fully-virtual shareholder meetings have largely retained their popularity globally among clients during the 2022 AGM season despite the relaxation of restrictions on meeting in person in some jurisdictions, Computershare has revealed.

During the 2022 AGM season, 28.3% of AGMs held around the world by clients of the global issuer services provider have been organized virtually, compared to 30.9% in 2021’s, Computershare said.

Nevertheless, in-person meetings remain the most common among Computershare clients, representing around two-thirds of total meetings held in both the 2021 (67.7%) and 2022 (68.3%) AGM seasons.

Computershare said the figures were drawn from meetings held by clients in six areas: the US, Hong Kong, Canada, Continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK, Channel Islands and Ireland.

Hybrid AGMs – which allow shareholders to attend in person or virtually – experienced
the biggest proportional change, moving from 1.3% to 3.4% of all meetings held
globally.


However, the vast majority of this change was experienced in Hong Kong, where the
proportion of AGMs held as hybrids moved from 0.1% to 5.7%, largely as a result of
ongoing pandemic-related restrictions.


“Two years ago, Computershare helped issuers around the world pivot towards hosting
virtual annual meetings to comply with temporary pandemic-related regulations and
safeguard the health and safety of shareholders and stakeholders,” said Naz Sarkar,
Global CEO of Computershare Issuer Services.


“Today, our data suggest that companies in countries where Covid restrictions were
lifted within the first quarter of the year, such as in the US and Continental Europe,
have favored in-person meetings during 2022.”


“Virtual and hybrid meetings were more common among Computershare clients in
regions where Covid-related restrictions were lifted later in the year – including UCIA,
Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.”


“Notably, we also observed a rising trend of virtual-only meetings amongst recently
listed issuers.”


“Virtual, as well as hybrid meetings, can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions, which may become a measurable disclosure for a company’s NetZero
pledge.”


The US
The US experienced a stronger resurgence of in-person meetings than many other
jurisdictions, with the proportion held in a traditional format increasing by 7.0%, the
proportion held fully virtually decreasing by 5.2% and hybrids stopping among
Computershare clients completely.


“In the US, Computershare issuers pivoted back to in-person meetings, especially when
the business could take advantage of an opportunity to showcase its consumer goods
or high-cost equipment, such as farming equipment or truck manufacturers,” said Ann
Bowering, CEO of Computershare Issuer Services in US.


“The ability to show physical products allows issuers to give shareholders specific
insight into the company’s strategic direction.”


Canada
Canada broadly moved in the opposite direction, however, seeing a 6.1% decrease in
the proportion of meetings held in person. The market also saw the greatest increase
in the proportion held virtually (5.7%) and a 0.4% increase in those that were held as
hybrids.


“We saw a distinct growth in virtual meetings in the Canadian market this year, which
may indicate a preference for how AGMs are hosted in future years, but it’s too soon to
tell for sure,” said Irfan Motiwala, CEO of Computershare Issuer Services in Canada.

“More companies are beginning to recognize the value of virtual AGMs as they enable a
much broader shareholder engagement opportunity regardless of where they are
based.”


Australia and New Zealand
Amongst the markets, the second highest increase in the proportion of meetings held
virtually (2.8%) and as hybrids (2.5%) took place in Australia and New Zealand, where
the AGM season is ongoing.


Virtual meetings have accounted for 45.3% of Computershare’s 2022 client meetings
and hybrid accounted for 6.3%


Nearly half (48.4%) of Computershare client meetings in A&NZ have been held in
person: a 5.3% proportional decrease from 2021.


“With the strict border controls and extended lockdowns during the Covid pandemic in
Australia and New Zealand, companies quickly pivoted to a virtual AGM format with
strong shareholder participation, such as lodging proxy votes,” said Marnie Reid, CEO
of Computershare Issuer Services in Australia and New Zealand.


“Since restrictions have lifted, some companies have elected to return to in-person
meetings, but experienced lower attendance than meetings before the pandemic.
“A significant majority of companies are electing to conduct a hybrid meeting format to
encourage broader participation.”


The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Channel Islands
There was a further move towards hybrid and virtual meetings in the United Kingdom,
Ireland and the Channel Islands, with the proportion being held in person decreasing
by 4.0%.


The percentage held as hybrids across the three jurisdictions experienced the largest
increase outside of Hong Kong (2.9%), with the proportion held virtually also seeing an
increase (1.1%).


“In the UK market, we saw a notable increase in companies adding an element of
electronic engagement into their events,” said Mark Cleland, CEO of Computershare
Issuer Services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands and South Africa.
“The pre-pandemic trend of allowing pre-submitted questions has continued, and we’re
also seeing shareholders submitting higher volumes of proxy instructions online, which
we expect to continue into 2023 and beyond.”


“UK companies that want to switch permanently to online environments are finding
ways of showing the long-term engagement benefits of online meetings to senior
executives to effect cultural change inside organizations.”


Hong Kong
Hong Kong experienced the second-highest decrease in the proportion of AGMs held in
person (-7.0%) as well as a 1.4% increase in those held virtually.

Nevertheless, with 92.9% of its meetings being held in person, Hong Kong remains the
jurisdiction with the highest proportion of Computershare client AGMs being held in a
traditional format.


The jurisdiction also experienced the largest increase in the percentage of AGMs being
held as a hybrid – although from a very low original position (0.1% to 5.7%).


“We are pleased that many issuers made use of our virtual and hybrid meeting
solutions this year, while others took the ‘wait and see’ approach,” said Richard Houng,
CEO of Computershare Issuer Services in Asia.


“Significantly, more clients chose to combine the benefits of both online and traditional,
in-person meetings by running hybrid meetings, and their popularity may continue to
grow in Hong Kong as they become seen as the ‘new norm’.”


Continental Europe
Continental European countries witnessed the largest increase (18.6%) in the
proportion of meetings held inperson, with the largest difference between 2021 and
2022 (25.2% to 43.8%, respectively).


Despite this change, the proportion of meetings held in person by Computershare’s CE
clients remained lower than anywhere outside of Australia and New Zealand (43%).


“We saw smaller companies in Continental Europe move to physical meetings, while
‘large cap’ companies typically stayed fully virtual or brought in a virtual element,
especially those with an international board,” said Kirsten van Rooijen, CEO of
Computershare Issuer Services in Continental Europe.


“A number of companies still opted for virtual meetings, both as a result of emergency
legislation remaining in place and the fact that they were able to reach their
international shareholder base more easily.”

Advertisement

AWS and Deloitte research shows harnessing the power of data can grow business revenue by up to 9.5%

By
DTD
-
0
Image provided
Media Release by Amazon Web Services

Today, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, released findings from a new research report, which revealed organisations in Australia and New Zealand that harness the power of data can grow their annual business revenue by 9.5% on average. For large organisations in Australia with more than 200 employees, this is equivalent to AUD $38 million in additional annual revenue.

The Demystifying Data 2022 report, commissioned by AWS and prepared by Deloitte Access Economics, surveyed 609 senior business decision-makers in Australian and New Zealand organisations. The report measured their data maturity – the extent by which an organisation uses the data they produce – using a five-point scale, which ranges from Basic and Beginner (limited or no data strategy, not effectively capturing or analysing data), to Intermediate (emerging data strategy, data is analysed on an ad-hoc basis), to Advanced and Mastery (firmwide data strategy, analytics embedded frequently into decision-making).

The report reveals that organisations with more than 100 employees improved data capabilities in the past 12 months with 34% achieving Advanced or Master levels of data maturity versus 16% in 2021. Almost half (48%) of organisations surveyed reported effectively capturing and analysing data can lead to improved productivity, followed by improvements in customer experience (45%), and a reduction in operating expenditure (42%).

Surveyed organisations in the finance and insurance sector ranked the highest on the data maturity scale, with 50% of these organisations achieving Advanced or Master levels, followed by manufacturing (45%), and information, media, and telecommunication (33%). Conversely, organisations in construction, healthcare and social assistance, and retail trade have the lowest levels of data maturity, with less than 20% of surveyed organisations in these industries achieving Advanced or Master levels of data maturity.

While there are advantages to businesses in improving data maturity, large organisations in Australia and New Zealand continue to face challenges in climbing the data maturity ladder with 42% of organisations achieving Basic and Beginner data maturity. The main barrier cited by organisations to using data and analytics was a lack of funding (44%), which has been exacerbated by COVID-19, with 49% of respondents reporting that competing priorities since the onset of the pandemic has led to less resources for data and analytics. In addition, 37% of organisations highlighted poor data quality as a barrier, which can prevent businesses from adopting more advanced data analytics.

 

“We are excited to see that more organisations have advanced their data capabilities, which will help them to drive productivity, create a positive impact on the economy, while delivering significant financial returns for their business,” said John O’Mahony, partner at Deloitte Access Economics. “Investing in cloud solutions will help businesses to further accelerate their data capabilities and leverage advanced analytics tools such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Internet of Things to achieve data driven insights. In fact, businesses that already use cloud are 71% more likely to have invested in artificially intelligence and machine learning capabilities versus organisations using on-premises data storage. To increase productivity and innovation, organisations should have a clear and practical roadmap for advancing on the data maturity ladder, invest in attracting and retaining talent, and leverage the right technology to reap the full benefits.”

AWS’s commitment to helping organisations accelerate data maturity

According to the Demystifying Data report, one third of organisations in Australia and New Zealand (35%) reported access to skilled resources as a barrier to developing their data and analytics capabilities. To improve data maturity, 33% of surveyed organisations prefer to upskill their current employees to grow their data and analytic capabilities, followed by outsourcing to other organisations (24%), and hiring skilled staff (24%).

AWS is deeply invested in helping local organisations address the digital and cloud skills shortage and bridge the data maturity gap through education. In 2021, AWS launched AWS Data Lab in Australia and New Zealand, which is a complimentary program that brings customers and AWS data specialists together to solve complex data challenges in tangible ways leveraging cloud. By working with local customers such as TEG, Fantom, and Intellihub, and other organisations, AWS Data Lab is helping customers across Australia and New Zealand to accelerate their data maturity journey.

AWS also offers a range of self-paced digital courses such as Data Analytics Fundamentals as well as industry-recognised certifications such as the AWS Certified Data Analytics credential, which is intended for individuals with experience and expertise working with AWS services to design, build, secure, and maintain analytics solutions. AWS has trained over 200,000 individuals in Australia on cloud skills since 2017.

“Data can be an invaluable source of growth for organisations in Australia and New Zealand. The key is recognising its inherent value, analysing it effectively, and building a data-driven culture. No matter what stage organisations are in their data journey, AWS is committed to helping customers leverage the scalability, cost efficiency, and security of the cloud to scale their data projects and unify their data to drive productivity and innovate on behalf of their customers,” said Rada Stanic, chief technologist at AWS in Australia and New Zealand. “Organisations will also benefit from building data skills within their teams, which may involve upskilling current staff through on-the-job training and training courses or collaborating with organisations such as our extensive network of AWS Partners. As organisations increase their data maturity, it will transform how they go about solving problems and building customer experiences, which will lead to breakthroughs in all industries including healthcare, finance, retail trade, and manufacturing operations.”

Swoop Aero is an Australian drone logistics company founded to transform how the world moves, making access to the skies seamless. From medical transport to emergency management and mapping; Swoop Aero is changing how essential supplies and services are delivered and overcoming barriers like vast distances, traffic congestion and inhospitable terrain. They have delivered more than 1 million items by drone, including vaccines and pathology samples and can assist communities through detecting bushfires, monitoring floods and even shark spotting. “Our current operations are already servicing 3.5 Million people globally, scaling to 100 million by the end of 2025. We can only do this by leveraging a mix of advanced cloud technologies, including data, analytics and machine learning, which all play a significant role in our services,” said Eric Peck, CEO at Swoop Aero. “For instance, we developed a data lake on AWS which collates all the flight data from every single one of the aircraft in our fleet, over the tens of thousands of flights that we have done all around the world. With our data unified in one place, we were able to apply machine learning and IoT technology to create a digital twin which acts as a data-enhanced shadow of the fleet, which tracks the health of all aircraft in real-time. Looking forward, we will continue to deliver on our mission to provide the world’s leading platform for sustainable and integrated drone logistics, which includes a greater focus on leveraging data to optimise new and existing Swoop Aero networks and delivery routes. Machine learning and process automation will soon enable one pilot to remotely operate more than 30 aircraft across multiple continents from our Remote Operations Centre in Melbourne.”

Key Facts:

Highlights of the 2022 report includes:

  • The share of organisations with master or advanced levels of data maturity has doubled compared to 2021 (16% vs 34%)

o   Organisations with senior executive buy-in had higher levels of data maturity and were more likely to invest in data and analytics, and more likely to invest in machine learning

o   Finance & insurance organisations have the highest levels of data maturity (with half achieving advanced/master levels)

o   Construction (19%), health care and social assistance (29%), and retail trade (16%) had the lowest relative levels of data maturity.

  • Nearly half (48%) of organisations surveyed shared that effectively capturing and analysing data leads to improvements in productivity.

o   Despite the growing importance of data capabilities in an increasingly digital world, 42% of organizations in ANZ are still in the early stages of data maturity.

o   However, majority of organisations are hoping to step up in their data maturity, with 70% expecting to move up the data maturity ladder in the next five years.

  • Top barriers to using data and analytics – even though we’ve seen improvements from 2021:

o   45% have experienced greater skills shortages for data and analytics due to COVID-19

o   44% report that lack of funding was the biggest barrier to improving data maturity

o   38% report that poor quality data impedes improving data maturity

Advertisement

Binance partners with Inswitch for FIAT On-Off Ramp in LATAM

By
Luwela R.
-
0
Image credit: Inswitch

Inswitch and Binance are collaborating to offer on-/off-ramp services that will allow individuals to buy and trade cryptocurrencies in the context of LATAM and crypto adoption.

Users can convert fiat currencies and digital assets using their Binance wallets thanks to the company’s on-/off-ramp services, which are connected with the most popular payment methods, banks, and local currencies across 10 countries in LATAM. This is the biggest operation between the two partners, according to Inswitch.

Fiat currencies (government-issued currency) can be converted into cryptocurrencies using an “on-ramp” service such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. Exchanging fiat is the most convenient way to acquire cryptocurrencies because fiat is by far the most extensively used form of money worldwide. In contrast, a service that acts as an “off-ramp” from fiat money to cryptocurrencies enables the conversion of cryptocurrencies into fiat currency.

‍”We are working to make the whole experience of buying and selling crypto more appealing and effortless, to bring more users in LATAM to the crypto market with on-/off-ramp services for both new and existing cryptocurrency users. With a simple and friendly user experience and easily integrated APIs companies can expand their capabilities and features and become the trusted wallets of choice for the next billion cryptocurrency users,” Inswitch CEO Ronald Alvarenga said.

Binance Fiat LATAM Director Lara Legros commented: “We are very excited for this partnership with Inswitch, at Binance our focus is always our customers, we are committed to provide them with the most seamless, secure and optimized payment experience. We understand the peculiarities of every country in the region, and this partnership will allow us to reach a higher number of users in Latam whilst maintaining our core mission Financial Inclusion.”

According to Inswitch, ‍the on-/off-ramp payment rails Inswitch provides are quick, secure, and simple to use. They get beyond the limitations and problems caused by the old financial system and let users withdraw fiat money quickly and effortlessly.

Globally, there is increasing interest in adopting cryptocurrency for regular transactions. It is crucial to have a system that enables the conversion of fiat money into cryptocurrency and vice versa. Due to their relationship, Inswitch and Binance’s embedded finance platform is now a fantastic option for meeting this demand.

Advertisement

Aussie startup Orbits challenges tech behemoths with cord-free metaverse

By
DTD
-
0
Image provided
Media Release by Orbits

Since the early days of the pandemic, Sydney startup Orbits has been connecting people in virtual venues that evoke the physical world—it’s now banking on ushering in the future of hybrid life.

Recognising the new normal is hybrid, virtual venue startup Orbits has updated its platform to meet the surge in post-pandemic demands for flexible hybrid work, events and education solutions. Despite the return to physical venues, companies have seen the benefits of hosting a virtual counterpart to stay relevant to workers seeking to hold on to newfound flexibility, or in the case of events, to reach wider global audiences. Visually rich, yet easily accessed via a browser, Orbits has been thoughtfully designed to give context and meaning to digitally fragmented lives. The startup differs from large global players by prioritizing the user’s comfort and needs—no specialist hardware, clunky headsets, or virtual legs required in this metaverse.

“At the heart of Orbits is a mission to humanise the web. Virtual events are currently a mess of robotic links, emails, and reminders. We set out to change the way people meet online by creating digital spaces that feel like home. We’ve all felt the excitement of showing up at a beautiful venue, the pride of being part of a dynamic office, or the quiet sense of purpose from entering a charming space surrounded by like-minded people. Places create purpose, and Orbits is about bringing that sense of purpose and home into our digital lives.” Lachlan Phillips, Co-Founder and CEO, Orbits.

Orbits launched in 2020, rapidly developing a solution for businesses to salvage cancelled physical events and deliver greater value online. In its first two years, the startup has hosted bespoke virtual events for blue-chip companies (Microsoft, ASUS, Sothys, Singtel), organisations (UN Women Australia, Brisbane Powerhouse) and universities (University of Colorado, York University) to name a few.

Clients with various needs ranging from workplace replicas to digital twins of conferences and festivals have chosen Orbits for its compelling rendered maps, impressive suite of tech features and free-roaming, interactive capabilities. From large-scale conferences, expositions and symposiums to intimate fireside chats and hybrid workplaces, Orbits’ bespoke virtual venues can meet any itinerary, audience or ambition.

As the metaverse continues to evolve while the world acclimates to hybrid living and working, Orbits remains at the forefront of creating virtual environments that prioritise the user’s well-being, comfort and digital experience.

Advertisement

Engineers light the way to nerve-operated prosthetics of the future

By
DTD
-
0
Image credit: UNSW
Media Release by UNSW Sydney

A multi-disciplinary team at UNSW has found a way to convert nerve impulses into light, opening the way for more scalable neural implants.

Biomedical and electrical engineers at UNSW Sydney have developed a new way to measure neural activity using light – rather than electricity – which could lead to a complete reimagining of medical technologies like nerve-operated prosthetics and brain-machine interfaces.

Professor François Ladouceur, with UNSW’s School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, says the multi-disciplinary team has just demonstrated in the lab what it proved theoretically shortly before the pandemic: that sensors built using liquid crystal and integrated optics technologies – dubbed ‘optrodes’ – can register nerve impulses in a living animal body.

Not only do these optrodes perform just as well as conventional electrodes – that use electricity to detect a nerve impulse – but they also address “very thorny issues that competing technologies cannot address”, says Prof. Ladouceur.

“Firstly, it’s very difficult to shrink the size of the interface using conventional electrodes so that thousands of them can connect to thousands of nerves within a very small area.

“One of the problems as you shrink thousands of electrodes and put them ever closer together to connect to the biological tissues is that their individual resistance increases, which degrades the signal-to-noise ratio so we have a problem reading the signal. We call this ‘impedance mismatch’.

“Another problem is ‘crosstalk’ – when you shrink these electrodes and bring them closer together, they start to talk to, or affect each other because of their proximity.”

But because optrodes use light and not electricity to detect neural signals, the problems of impedance mismatch is redundant and crosstalk minimised.

“The real advantage of our approach is that we can make this connection very dense in the optical domain and we don’t pay the price that you have to pay in the electrical domain,” Prof. Ladouceur says.

In vivo demonstration

In research published recently in the Journal of Neural Engineering, Prof. Ladouceur and fellow researchers at UNSW wanted to show that they could use optrodes to accurately measure the neural impulses as they travel along a nerve fibre in a living animal.

Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell, who heads the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering and is Director of the Tyree Foundation Institute of Health Engineering, was part of the research team that sought to demonstrate this in the lab.

He says the team connected an optrode to the sciatic nerve of an anaesthetised animal. The nerve was then stimulated with a small current and the neural signals were recorded with the optrode. Then they did the same using a conventional electrode and a bioamplifier.

“We demonstrated that the nerve responses were essentially the same,” says Prof. Lovell. “There’s still more noise in the optical one, but that’s not surprising given this is brand new technology, and we can work on that. But ultimately, we could identify the same characteristics by measuring electrically or optically.”

New dawn for prosthetics

So far the team has been able to show that nerve impulses – which are relatively weak and measured in microvolts – can be registered by optrode technology. The next step will be to scale up the number of optrodes to be able to handle complex networks of nervous and excitable tissue.

Prof. Ladouceur says at the beginning of the project, his colleagues asked themselves, how many neural connections does a man or woman need to operate a hand with a degree of finesse?

“That you can pick up an object, that you can judge the friction, you can apply just the right pressure to hold it, you can move from A to B with precision, you can go fast and slow – all these things that we don’t even think about when we perform these actions. The answer is not so obvious, we had to search quite a bit in the literature, but we believe it’s about 5000 to 10,000 connections.”

In other words, between your brain and your hand there is a bundle of nerves that travels down from your cortex and eventually divides into those 5000 to 10,000 nerves that control the delicate operations of your hand.

If a chip with thousands of optical connections could connect to your brain, or some place in the arm before the nerve bundle separates, a prosthetic hand could potentially be able to function with much the same ability as a biological one.

That’s the dream, anyway, and Prof. Ladouceur says there are likely decades of further research before it’s a reality. This would include developing the ability for optrodes to be bidirectional. Not only would they receive and interpret signals from the brain on the way to the body, they could receive feedback in the form of neural impulses going back to the brain.

The long game: brain-machine interface

Neural prosthetics isn’t the only space that optrode technology has the potential to redefine. Humans have long fantasised about integrating technology and machinery into the human body to either repair or enhance it.

Some of this is now a reality, such as Cochlear implants, pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, not to mention smart watches and other tracking devices giving continual biofeedback.

But one of the more ambitious goals in biomedical engineering and neuroscience is the brain-machine interface that aims to connect the brain to not only the rest of the body, but potentially the world.

“The area of neural interfacing is an incredibly exciting field and will be the subject of intense research and development over the next decade,” says Prof. Lovell.

While this is more fiction than fact right now, there are many biotech companies taking this very seriously. Entrepreneur Elon Musk was one of the co-founders of Neuralink that aims to create brain-computer interfaces with the potential to help people with paralysis as well as incorporating artificial intelligence into our brain activities.

The Neuralink approach uses conventional wire electrodes in its devices so it must overcome impedance mismatch and crosstalk – among many other challenges – if they are to develop devices that host thousands, if not millions, of connections between the brain and the implanted device. Recently Mr Musk was reported as being frustrated at the slow pace in developing the technology.

Prof. Ladouceur says time will tell whether Neuralink and its competitors succeed in removing these obstacles. However, given that implantable, in vivo devices that capture neural activity are currently constrained to about 100 or so electrodes, there is still a long way to go.

“I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but it becomes really problematic if you were to stick to standard electrodes,” Prof. Ladouceur says.

“We don’t have these problems in the optical domain. In our devices, if there is neural activity, its presence influences the orientation of the liquid crystal which we can detect and quantify by shining light on it. It means we don’t extract current from the biological tissues as the wire electrodes do. And so the biosensing can be done much more efficiently.”

Now that the researchers have shown that the optrode method works in vivo, they will shortly publish research that shows the optrode technology is bidirectional – that it can not only read neural signals, but can write them too.

Advertisement

IBM Helps Ecosystem Partners Accelerate AI Adoption by Making it Easier to Embed and Scale AI Across Their Business

By
DTD
-
0
Image credit: IBM
Media Release by IBM

IBM today announced an expansion to its embeddable AI software portfolio with the release of three new libraries designed to help IBM Ecosystem partners, clients and developers more easily, quickly and cost-effectively build their own AI-powered solutions and bring them to market. Generally available today, the AI libraries were developed in IBM Research and designed to provide Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) across industries an easily scalable way to build natural language processing, speech to text, and text to speech capabilities into applications across any hybrid, multi-cloud environment.

The expanded portfolio provides access to the same AI libraries that power popular IBM Watson products. It is designed to help lower the barrier for AI adoption by helping partners and clients address the skills shortage and development costs required to build machine learning and AI models from scratch. Developer and IT teams also have the flexibility to embed the new Watson libraries of choice into their applications to help create customized and compelling products without data science expertise.

“Enterprises must commit to a significant investment in expertise, resources and time required to build, deploy and manage AI-powered solutions,” said Kate Woolley, General Manager, IBM Ecosystem. “By bringing to market the same portfolio of embeddable AI technology that powers our industry-leading IBM Watson products, we are helping Ecosystem partners more efficiently deliver AI experiences that can drive business value for their clients.”

With the three new software libraries, developers can easily access AI capabilities and choose the specific functionality, such as natural language processing, that they want to embed in different parts of an application. The libraries include innovations developed by IBM Research as well as open source technology and are designed to reduce the time and resources required for a developer to add powerful AI to an application.

 The three new libraries available today include:

  • IBM Watson Natural Language Processing Library: designed to help developers provide capabilities to process human language to derive meaning and context through intent and sentiment.
  • IBM Watson Speech to Text Library: designed to enable speech transcription with speed and accuracy to help businesses improve customer service experiences.
  • IBM Watson Text to Speech Library: designed to enable developers to convert written text into natural sounding audio with accuracy in a variety of languages and voices within an existing application.

This release builds on IBM’s existing portfolio of embeddable AI products, which includes industry leading products such as IBM Watson Assistant, IBM Watson Discovery, IBM Instana Observability, IBM Maximo Visual Inspection and IBM Watson APIs. With IBM’s embeddable AI portfolio, CXOs and other IT decision makers can use AI to uncover business insights and build enhanced end user experiences.

Access Embeddable AI through the IBM Ecosystem

IBM Ecosystem partners and mutual clients are benefiting from IBM’s portfolio of embeddable AI products.

“We are thrilled with our ability to embed IBM Watson Natural Language Processing in our technology so seamlessly,” said Yatharth Gupta, SVP Products, SingleStore. “Helping our clients integrate and use capabilities such as sentiment analysis will be invaluable in driving real time analytics to help them better understand, engage and serve their customers.”

Other IBM Ecosystem partners like EquBot, CrushBank, and Sherloq are using embeddable AI technology in their solutions to make informed investment decisions, enhance help desk interactions, and identify marketing leads through web 3.0 compliance and intelligent website design.

As IBM Ecosystem partners build with IBM’s embeddable AI, there are partner programs to help them at every step of their journey, from building with IBM to go-to-market with IBM. Partners can access these valuable benefits including co-create, co-marketing, and co-sell resources to help drive market demand and grow their business. Today’s news follows IBM’s recent announcement to revamp its approach to skilling, offering partners access to the same badges and selling enablement materials as IBMers, comes at no cost and can be accessed through a simplified digital experience.

Advertisement

Wells Fargo’s new virtual assistant, Fargo, to be powered by Google AI

By
Luwela R.
-
0
Image credit: Google Cloud

Wells Fargo & Company has announced its new virtual assistant, Fargo, would use Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more customised, convenient, and simple banking experience.

Wells Fargo’s partnership with Google Cloud is a watershed moment in the bank’s digital ambition to give consumers an easy banking journey tailored to their financial needs.

There has been a significant increase in digital banking and the desire for a full-service digital experience in the previous two years. According to summer research performed by Ipsos on behalf of Wells Fargo & Company, nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of millennials and Gen Z respondents prefer to use a virtual assistant for customer support requirements rather than waiting on the phone for a customer service agent. Google added that most virtual assistant users (84 per cent) reported a positive experience, with 70 per cent citing ‘saving time’ as a key benefit.

Fargo will initially provide consumers with a straightforward, user-friendly way to manage their accounts. Users can ask Fargo for help with everything. If Fargo cannot resolve a customer’s query, it will seamlessly link them to a live representative.

Fargo will add Spanish language support next year. It will also take a more proactive approach to assist clients towards financial wellness by employing predictive analytics to enable meaningful interactions that learn and adapt to each customer. Fargo will greet customers with a carefully curated mix of practical advice and insights, which will include:

  • Highlighting the unusual, such as a rise in a recurring subscription or an increase in purchasing at a particular merchant
  • Simplifying budgeting by determining how much someone can spend safely while still meeting their expenses and saving goals
  • Identifying how much a customer could save by consolidating debt or recognising when a customer could reach their goals faster by allocating additional cash to investments are examples of smart money choices.

Wells Fargo head of Digital for Consumer and Wealth & Investment Management Michelle Moore said as mobile banking has become the prefered method of banking for Wells Fargo customers, we will continue to develop in conjunction with strategic partners such as Google Cloud to create customer experiences that motivate and assist them on their financial journeys.

“This partnership will expand our customers’ digital financial support network by enabling meaningful money conversations conveniently from their mobile device. It’s more than just dollars and cents; it’s about uplifting our customers’ emotional and financial well-being by understanding their financial goals and providing the most convenient interactions to meet those goals,” Moore stated.

According to Google, Fargo will be built on Dialogflow, Google Cloud’s conversational AI platform, and will employ the platform’s language processing skills to comprehend customers’ intents and respond appropriately. The collaboration allows Wells Fargo to leverage Google Cloud’s world-class AI capabilities while the platform design protects and secures Wells Fargo’s client data.

“Today’s announcement marks a milestone for Google Cloud as we expand our partnership with Wells Fargo to evolve the digital banking experience,” said Yolande Piazza, vice president of Financial Services at Google Cloud. “By pairing our leading AI and natural language processing capabilities with Wells Fargo’s industry-leading banking experience, we can provide customers with connected, personalized tools that seamlessly blend with their financial needs.”  

Fargo expands on Wells Fargo’s strategic cloud alliances to execute a new digital infrastructure strategy that will rely on third-party expertise and capabilities. These improved digital capabilities are just the beginning of a series of measures in Wells Fargo’s multiyear plan to become digital-first and revolutionise personal finance.

Google said the industry had taken notice of Wells Fargo’s reemergence as a digital leader since it launched its revamped mobile app earlier this year. In 2022, the U.S. J.D. Power ranked Wells Fargo third in its Banking Mobile App Satisfaction Study, citing how the “complete redesign of the visual language and page layouts enhance the Wells Fargo mobile app experience.”

Advertisement
1...171819...55Page 18 of 55

Design Tech Digital is a platform for people who build, design, and operate modern organisations.

© 2026 Digital Media News Pty Ltd

Latest News

More News