Artificial intelligence is a popular topic in boardrooms and C-suites today. As AI becomes one of the most-discussed opportunities, businesses are making significant investments in technologies designed to innovate new business models and improve business processes.Yet if history proves anything, many companies will swing and miss at this latest business strategy. Why? From the dot-com boom and bust in the late 1990s and early 200s to the collective reluctance of cloud computing in the last decade, businesses have missed obvious opportunities for growth.Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Google fear that companies are already missing out. Their [...]

Our world is hyperconnected, driven, in part, by advances in digital technology and wireless functionality. The convergence of these innovations is called the Internet of Things. It is transforming the way we live, work and play. Just what is the state of the Internet of Things right now and where is it headed? Put simply, the Internet of Things is a network of millions of connected objects and devices that are smarter and much more than simply a collection. An IoT device is any object that is fitted with software, sensors, and wireless capabilities. They can detect information, collect and store [...]

Most social media platforms operating today have been built with scale as a dominant metric in their business strategy. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and their kin wanted to build out as big as possible to keep revenues flowing. Yet increasingly, social media is becoming more than social media if, by that, we mean that media that connects friends and communities. Social media is becoming the platform on which an increasing amount of other media is produced and consumed. The venerable New York Times, for example, notes that Snapchat’s access to newspapers, magazines, and television on its platform channels is “online media [...]

Finance companies are not always linked with digital innovation in the way that, say, social media or technology companies are. However, digital innovation is affecting the industry, from venerable investment banks to blockchain developers. Fast Company annually publishes a list of the world’s 50 Most Innovative Companies, but it also breaks the list into sectors. Want to know who the most innovative companies in the finance space are? Read on to see the latest technology news on the top four. Goldman Sachs: Into a Digital Lending Platform The #1 company on Fast Company’s financial sector list is a highly venerable, highly traditional investment bank. [...]

The IoT allows for the measurement, collection, transmission, and usage analysis of countless objects, from cars to clothes. For marketers and business strategists, the IoT generates massive amounts of data that exposes the behaviors and passions of millions of customers and potential customers. In this time of great concerns over privacy and security, the question remains, regarding the Internet of Things: How Safe? Security Concerns In October 2016, a denial-of-service attack crippled Dyn, which provides vital internet infrastructure. The attack was carried out via a botnet of hacked devices -- webcams, camcorders and even baby monitors. Fortunately, there were no casualties [...]

A concern that machines will replace workers animates much discussion about the future of technology. Robots, drones, and virtual reality all seem to portend a time not far distant when machines do work once done by humans. Indeed, in some instances, that future is already here. Proponents of augmented reality (AR), though, are increasingly saying that AR will improve employee performance, hiking both productivity and safety and increasing worker satisfaction. The key point to them is simple: machines and human employees, working together, perform better than either performs alone. On the Factory Floor… Most people in the U.S. likely know [...]

Americans have more access to better food and food for a sophisticated palate than ever before. Great meals can be had everywhere from airline terminals to 5-star restaurants specializing in haute cuisine. Most people are aware of the rise in the foodie culture, where people from 18 to 75 pursue sophisticated foods ranging from roasted squab to artisanal chocolate to craft beer. But most people don't think "digital data" or "analytics" when they think of eating. In fact, technology news like digital data and analytics have a great deal to do with food and restaurant companies and their ability to meet the [...]

Every year, Fast Company compiles a 50-company list of “The World’s Most Innovative Companies.” It surveys the business universe for companies whose products and business strategies have made the greatest impact.Innovation in social media likely has one of the most significant impacts of any digital workplace. Why? Social media is increasingly expanding the category of social media itself. Think of it as technology news, a way to get in touch with friends and crowd-share opinions a la Twitter? Not anymore. Social media is blazing a trail in how information gets disseminated and re-envisioning what functions are performed via its channel.Here is an [...]

Businesses worldwide are losing “digital IQ” at a rapid rate, according to a yearly survey conducted by PwC. The Digital IQ survey tabulates responses from business leaders at over 2,200 companies and defines Digital IQ as “the measurement of an organization’s abilities to harness and profit from technology.”In 2016, 67% of businesses surveyed self-rated their digital IQ as strong. In 2017, which marks the survey’s tenth year, the number had fallen to 52%.Yet businesses were responding well to technology news, saying they had increased spending on emerging technologies over the decade, to 18% of the budget versus only 1% a decade ago.Upper [...]

Many digital technologies use images for security, along with consumer-specific knowledge-based authentication (KBA) such as passwords. However, sound is increasingly moving to the fore in technology news as a means of providing digital security. In the Call Center and Outside It: Detecting Fraud One reason is that some digital fraud is committed via the sound of a voice. Call centers are frequent targets of fraudulent calls. Forbes, for example, highlighted an attempt by one caller to have fraud protection on his bank account removed for 30 days because he was traveling overseas. But the call was not because a consumer [...]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is frequently the focus of technology news. There is a marked tendency, however, to treat AI as if it were a singular thing.The Varieties of AIIt isn't. A recent article in Wired points out that there are many varieties of artificial intelligence. If you hear of deep neural networks, for example, you are reading about a pattern recognition system. Facebook, Microsoft, and Google all use neural networks.Another form of AI uses probabilistic programming. This type of AI uses the hypotheses of programmers, and then use data generated by AI to test and refine those hypotheses.Probabilistic programming can be used [...]

Snap Inc., the company that brought us the social media app Snapchat, is going public shortly. In the materials for its initial public offering (IPO), Snap described itself as a "camera company." The description caused no small amount of commentary, largely because Snapchat is a social media smartphone app, not a camera.Snapchat uses cameras, of course - one of the key selling points of Snapchat is the ability to send photos and videos, embellished with drawings and animation. But the use of a camera is different than the production of one. The latter is what "camera company" implies.Or, does Snap [...]

Potential changes to net neutrality guidelines have digital companies wondering about how they will deliver content in the future.Ajit Pai, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has expressed his opposition to net neutrality. As he takes control of the federal agency, tech leaders are asking: Are we headed for a new world for net neutrality?Net Neutrality DefinedNet neutrality is a series of rules that restrict internet service providers (ISPs) from restricting, slowing, or speeding up access to certain websites or applications. Guidelines passed in recent years by the FCC have imposed rules that forbade ISPs from blocking, throttling or [...]

In 2015, 22% of Americans used social media several times every day. As a result, more than 70% of corporations planned to increase their spending on social media branding. Brands and social media are not always good bedfellows in business strategy, however. The structure of social media and its associated technologies means that potential customers can opt out of brand advertising. Think of streaming video on YouTube, for example. You often have to watch a snippet of an advertisement, but may also be able to proceed after a few seconds, with the entire advertisement unwatched. The Relative Failure of Branded Content [...]

You probably don't even notice it anymore. Connect to a website, and you're likely to find a small lock symbol in the upper left corner of the address bar. Sites with the lock indicator are built and displayed with encrypted content. Today, for the first time, the average volume of encrypted internet content is greater than unencrypted content. Reaching this point is an important milestone for web security. With the rising tide of web encryption, it's time to look forward. What does this latest technology news portend for the future of cyber security? What's Locked Up The small lock symbol indicates the [...]