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87 Parking Lots in Chandigarh to Get Smart; Tenders to be Floated Soon

Eighty-seven parking spaces in Chandigarh are set to get revamped as union territory (UT) adviser Dharam Pal directed Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL) to float “tenders for smart parking immediately,” reported The Times of India.

A statement on the above concern was released by the Chandigarh administration on February 23, 2023, after the contracts with the two agencies manning those 87 municipal parking lots had expired this January.

UT Adviser Dharam Pal, while interviewed by The Indian Express, said, “Parking is the city’s problem. The administration has faced a lot of flak over the parking issue. A draft of the policy will be placed before the General House of the civic body for discussion. We have merely drawn a draft of new smart parking. We have to become a smart city, and for that, a proposal needs to be made. We prepared a draft, and then it will be placed before the House for discussion. We are all working towards the same goal here, to provide good, smart facilities to the residents of the city.”

On the same day, the Mayor of Chandigarh, Anup Gupta, stated that the General House of the civic body is committed to ensuring the city residents reap the benefits of the smart parking from the first day and soon starting to draft the terms and conditions as per the tender.

“Also, several other issues need to be discussed — like the issue of giving a window of ten or fifteen minutes, whatever is decided, to allow pick-and-drop at these lots,” the Mayor explained.

Smart Parking Features to be Adopted in Chandigarh

The features that are expected to transform the 87 parking lots in the city are:

FASTag-based parking management system

CSCL has demonstrated the plan to introduce a FASTag-based parking management system in Chandigarh. The aim is to move the paid parking spaces to an automatic system wherein most of the toll collected will be cashless, requiring no vehicles to stop. 

Besides FASTags, drivers, however, will have a range of options—such as cash, Paytm, or UPI—while paying their parking charges.

Parking Central Control Centre

All 87 parking lots are set to be connected with the Parking Central Control Centre, Police Command and Control Center (PCCC), and the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) for facilitating monitoring.

The purpose is to ensure the utmost safety of the drivers and vehicles by identifying and minimising incidents—such as tiffs or theft—inside the parking lots.

“The parking management system will be integrated with the Integrated Command and Control Centre of Chandigarh for data analytics and service monitoring,” said Anindita Mitra, CEO of CSCL and commissioner of Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC).

Automated and Single Entry-Exit

A proposal for deploying automated gate control at the entry and exit of the parking lots has also been introduced. An automated entry-exit system will allow authorities to control access by lowering or lifting the boom barrier and stopping vehicles from entering or exiting a parking lot unless authorised. 

On top of that, since vehicle movement will be unidirectional, traffic congestion inside and outside the parking lot will be decreased significantly.

A Parking Management System Application

In order to constantly monitor the availability of each parking lot while also enabling keepers to book slots, the agency handling the city’s smart parking lots would need to use a high-end parking management app. 

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)

According to the MC commissioner, ANPR cameras will be installed to bring all 87 parking lots under stringent surveillance. 

A cost-effective way to provide consistent data to parking enforcement apps, an ANPR camera helps ensure car parking safety and detect repeat delinquents or target vehicles/block-listed vehicles. 

For a ticketless parking space, installing high-end ANPR surveillance cameras, such as ZatPark, is critical to facilitate vehicle access control. Advanced ANPR technologies ensure a 100% capture rate accuracy under recommended lighting conditions.

Wrapping Up

Since Chandigarh was declared a ‘smart city’ in 2016, the revamp of the city’s parking management system has been long overdue. 

The UT advisor expects to turn 25% of the 87 spaces into smart parking lots within one month of the grant of the contract.

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Computers & Software Finance Law & Legal Services Technology

Legalese Decoder Launches Latest Upgrade to LLM, Doubling Usage Credits on Paid Plans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vancouver, Canada – Legalese Decoder, the industry leader in legal language translation and analysis, is excited to announce the latest upgrade to its Legalese Language Model (LLM). The upgraded LLM features faster response times and enhanced accuracy in deciphering complex legal language.

In addition to the LLM upgrade, Legalese Decoder is doubling the usage credits on both the Home and Pro paid plans at no extra charge to users. This means that users can now access twice as many credits to simplify and translate their legal documents.

“The latest upgrade to our Legalese Language Model is a testament to our commitment to providing our users with the most advanced and accurate legal language analysis tool available,” said William Tsui, founder at Legalese Decoder. “We understand the challenges that everyday people face when dealing with legal jargon and we are dedicated to empowering them with the tools they need to navigate the legal landscape with confidence.”

The LLM upgrade features a faster response time, enabling users to receive near real-time translations and analysis of complex legal documents. The tool utilizes advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to identify key terms and concepts and provide plain language definitions.

With the doubling of usage credits on both the Home and Pro paid plans, users can now access even more features and functionality to simplify and translate their legal documents. The Home Plan now includes 40,000 characters credits per month, while the Pro Plan offers 800,000 characters credits per month.

“We are excited to offer our users even more value with the doubling of usage credits on our paid plans,” said Tsui. “Our mission is to provide all the tools needed for everyday people to tackle their legal needs, and this upgrade is just one more way we’re fulfilling that mission.”

Legalese Decoder continues to lead the way in legal language translation and analysis, providing users with the tools they need to simplify complex legal language. With the latest upgrade to the LLM and the doubling of usage credits on paid plans, Legalese Decoder remains committed to empowering everyday people to navigate the legal landscape with confidence.

For more information about Legalese Decoder and its legal language translation and analysis tools, please visit https://legalesedecoder.com/.

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Automotive Computers & Software Finance Technology

How AI Helps Insurance Companies Deliver a Better Experience

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I recently wrote a post about why insurance companies should consider data consolidation. In that article, I discussed how having your business data in one place could help you make better decisions for your business. 

And, at the same time, create a better experience for your customers.

Of course, one might argue that all of that data being streamed into this central “vault” would need to be assessed and analysed to get any value from it.

That’s where artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) come into the picture.

Repairer Driven News, a news site for collision repairers, very recently discussed how technology—specifically AI—makes it easier for insurance companies to produce quotes.

Whilst this article discusses auto insurance specifically (given the nature of the publication), what it says is just as easily applicable to other parts of life that require insurance.

Using AI to Calculate Risk

In the past, risk calculations were done manually, based on information provided by the customer. With AI, however, risk calculations can be automated. And, they tend to be more accurate.

Accuracy, as it turns out, is extremely desirable in the world of insurance. That leads to a more logical premium for the customer, which is good for them and the insurance provider.

At the same time, AI is much better at detecting fraud. 

Fraud detection requires pattern detection. And, if the fraud is sophisticated enough, humans might not be able to see that pattern. AI, on the other hand, can and will. 

According to this article by Business News Daily, machine learning algorithms can detect fraudulent claims with a 75% accuracy rate. Of course, as technology evolves, fraudulent schemes will as well. However, all that means is that data scientists will need to keep up so that AI/ML can keep up as well.

Using AI to Calculate Cost

The article discusses how predictive analysis can determine if a vehicle can be repaired or if it should be written off. It can do that based on information such as the year and model of the vehicle, the type of impact, whether the airbags deployed, and so on.

It also talks about how AI heat mapping technologies can identify which areas of the vehicle were damaged.

With all this information at its “fingertips”, AI can very quickly complete an estimate with no additional help.

In the same way, AI could be used to predict risk and come up with personalised quotes for health and medical insurance, home insurance, pet insurance, and more.

Again, with a better understanding of the cost of treatment or reparations, insurance companies can service their customers better.

Using AI to Mitigate Risk

Safety technology in vehicles is reaching a point where cars can safely (well, more or less) drive themselves. While not all vehicles are autonomous, they do have features that can help human drivers operate a little more safely.

Some of these features, such as parking sensors, rear-facing cameras, and lane detection, can also gather information. This information, in turn, can be processed by AI to help drivers make better decisions; better decisions that lead to fewer collisions.

Helping Insurance Companies Harness the Power of AI and Data

Insurance software providers like Zinnia are offering solutions that help businesses make the most of their data. At the same time, these solutions also help them design better products for their customers, giving them the best experience as well.

For example, Zinnia’s life insurance solutions include data consolidation as well as management. This secure “source of truth” can be used by AI to generate better outcomes for everyone.

And, isn’t that what you want for your insurance business?

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Business Employment Media & Communications Technology U.K

How Tech Startups Can Make Themselves Recession-Ready

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The start of 2023 has seen big tech companies laying off employees in the thousands. To make matters worse, there’s talk of a potential recession happening this year. 

If tech giants are having a rough time, how will smaller tech startups fare in this market?

As a smaller tech company, you’d be justified in getting a wee bit concerned. Fortunately, even when the near future looks bleak, there are ways your business can avoid the doom and gloom that comes with economic downturns.

Here’s how:

Focus on Your Team

A business is made up of not just the brand but also its people. And, as a startup, you want each member of your team to be a valuable asset. The more you invest in them, the more they will be invested in you.

That’s why continuous improvement and on-the-job training are invaluable. Technology changes and grows rapidly, and you want your employees to keep up. Not only are you building a stronger foundation for your business, but you’re also giving your employees a reason to care about the company’s growth. The more you grow, the more they grow.

This is one of the best ways of showing them you believe in their potential. And, also of creating a lean team that will keep your business afloat when times are rough.

Understand the Recession Market

Let’s face it. Recessions are nothing new. And, whilst technology might not have been the same, business principles tend to work in the same way, generation after generation.

So, take a look at what other successful tech companies did in the past. See how you could apply those principles to your business.

That should give you a good baseline for a set of revised business goals for your company during a potential recession.

It helps to have a multilayered strategy with different sets of business goals for various situations. Things might not be as bad as you think. Alternatively, things might be worse.

If you have a plan for every situation, including the worst-case scenario, you won’t be left floundering when (or, if) things do go south.

Be Prepared to Offer New Products

When COVID-19 started spreading in 2020, many countries enforced a strict lockdown. The UK was one of them. Businesses that were deemed non-essential had to close operations. That included manufacturers as well.

However, seeing that there was a shortage of ventilators in the country (at a time when the NHS would require more ventilators than normal), the Government issued the Ventilator Challenge.

Manufacturers who agreed to take part in it got together to make 20 years’ worth of ventilators in 12 weeks.

If you look at other businesses during the lockdown, you’ll see a number of them did have to change their product offerings in order to stay relevant.

In a recession, you may find that the products you normally make are not required. So, you need to be prepared to change your offerings.

(And, if you paid attention to my first point, you’d have a team that would be able to handle that change!)

Focus on Retention, Not Acquisition

You know that saying—a bird in hand is worth two in the bush?

It applies—very strongly, I might add—to customers. 

It is always easier to retain existing customers by keeping them happy than it is to acquire new ones. 

And, if you’re in the middle of a recession, new customers are even more difficult to find.

So, spend time on building those existing relationships instead of focusing on new ones. Reach out to your customers and find out if their needs have changed. If times are difficult, it might be possible for you to help each other out.

Plus, marketing to existing customers doesn’t have to be tedious or boring. As Bold Content pointed out, B2B videos don’t have to be boring. Build a connection with emotional, funny, relatable content.

(Plus, Bold Content is already helping produce content that could help your workforce grow—check out the story about the animation they created for Tech She Can, which encourages young girls to take up STEM studies.)

So, there you have it. Keeping your tech startup going during a recession is all about having a plan and building human connections. Stay creative, and maybe I’ll be writing a case study on your business in a couple of years.

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Computers & Software News & Current Affairs Technology Telecom U.K

DDoS Attack on NATO Websites Affects Turkey-Syria Rescue Efforts

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On the 12th of February 2023, some of NATO’s websites were temporarily disrupted due to a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. The group that claimed responsibility for carrying out these attacks is Killnet, a Russian hacktivist group.

Apparently, the group had announced its intention to carry out such an attack in its encrypted channel on messaging service Telegram. It also appears to have been soliciting donations in the form of cryptocurrency to fund its activities.

According to the report by Computer Weekly, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg assured reporters that the alliance had put together additional defence measures. 

He also said, “The majority of Nato [sic] websites are functioning as normal. Some Nato websites are still experiencing availability issues, but our technical teams are working to restore full access.”

Since it appears that NATO’s classified networks were not affected, it’s likely that the attack was to disrupt the search and rescue mission in Syria and Turkey. That’s because reports suggest the networks affected are used by NATO’s strategic airlift capabilities (SAC).

SAC found that, during one of its search and rescue missions in south-eastern Turkey, it was unable to communicate with one of the C-17s in flight due to the disruption in service. Fortunately, it managed to stay in contact throughout even though communications were down.

A Well-Timed Cyber Attack

This is not Killnet’s first attack. It has been responsible for other DDoS attacks, with healthcare taking a lot of damage.

It is interesting to note that the DDoS attack on the NATO websites took place on a Sunday. Weekend and holiday attacks have become a trend, with cybercriminals relying on the skeleton security crew and lack of staff to hide the breach for longer.

DigitalXRAID discussed this phenomenon in a recent article about its 24/7 SOC service. From delivery companies (Yodel) to insurance companies (AON), no one is safe from weekend-timed attacks.

The reason why cybercriminals attack over the weekend or during holidays is, as I said earlier, due to the lack of personnel. 

The later an attack is detected, the more time the threat actors have to go deeper into the network. They can gather more information and, potentially use the information found to carry out more attacks.

For that reason, quick detection is imperative. Note that the NATO websites attack was detected really quickly and they still had some availability issues. If they hadn’t detected the attack quickly enough, the recovery time could potentially have been longer.

Ongoing Detection for Better Protection

According to DigitalXRAID, having a 24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) can make all the difference when threat actors attack. Your SOC would constantly monitor for any suspicious activity, catching cyberattacks before they become cyber incidents.

However, the problem is that most companies can’t afford to hire an in-house SOC team. In fact, if (ISC)2 is to be believed, the cybersecurity profession needs to grow by 3.4 million people in order to close the workforce gap.

In that case, it might be worth outsourcing your cybersecurity to experts who have the expertise and resources to give you better security from cyber threats.

Companies like DigitalXRAID could help keep your business safe from online threats, whether it is your ongoing services or cloud migration.

Have a think. See if you want to invest in ongoing cybersecurity for your business.

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Computers & Software Marketing & Sales Technology U.K U.S

A Sneak Peek at the Digital Marketing Trends of 2023

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I came across this article on Top Marketing Trends in 2023 by CMSWire. As an SEO content writer, I was definitely interested in what it said. I was even more curious as I’d seen another article in Forbes on the same topic.

The Geek in me wanted to compare the trends these two articles thought would be strong in 2023.

The writer in me wanted to arm myself with industry knowledge—be a more effective content writer and all that.

The me-the-person will read anything and this was as good reading material as any, so…

Anyway, here’s the information, distilled for you by intelligence that is not artificial.

Top Marketing Trends 2023

According to the article, here are the top trends of 2023:

Social Media and Influencer Marketing to Grow

According to HubSpot’s Marketing Strategy and Trends Report, around 25% of marketers use influencer marketing. This form of marketing currently seems to have the highest ROI. 

So much so, it’s expected to grow in 2023, with 17% of marketers planning to try it out for the first time this year. And, of the marketers who are already using this form of marketing, 89% are expected to increase their budgets!

Of course, not everyone agrees with this. Some marketers believe that it’s not influencer marketing that sells but social media marketing. And, influencers are simply harnessing the power of social media.

According to them, content creators who focus on social media will achieve growth, rather than influencers specifically.

Local Search Still Dominates

With the rise of mobile device use, search is slowly becoming more local. If I’m driving and want to grab a bite to eat, it’s easier to look for places in the vicinity. 

With more people browsing the interwebz on their phones instead of a desktop, it’s only logical for local search to become more important in 2023.

So, if you want your technology and software business to be found locally, get yourself an IT marketing company (like Geeky Tech) to help you.

AI-Generated Content to Invade Webpages

I know I have been going on and on about ChatGPT—how it is being used to create malware and how it is going to change SEO—but it’s hard not to. It’s the hot news of the year.

However, it’s not the only AI content generation tool—it’s just the most popular. And, for better or worse, it seems like AI-generated content is here to stay. 

Content generation is a huge part of digital marketing. With AI writing or creating images and videos, marketers will be able to generate vast quantities of content really quickly.

This will mean that, with robotic content saturating the world wide web, original content might find it difficult to stand out.

At the same time, it will create a demand for content marketers who can harness the power of AI to create top-quality content.

Audio-Visual Content Consumption Rises

Social media marketers already knew that posts with images or videos get more engagement. However, now digital marketers are also noticing a rise in the demand for audio and video content.

And, it’s not just audio clips and short videos that are being voraciously viewed. Audiences are also devouring live-streamed content and podcasts.

Another point to note, people no longer want perfectly produced videos. TikTok seems to have created a demand for user-created videos that aren’t professionally edited.

Social Accountability Is a Factor Now

It’s been a growing trend but will continue to play a role for marketers in 2023. Consumers want to align with brands that share the same values as them. In fact, 50% of Gen-Zers and nearly 41% of millennials prefer to patronise businesses that support social causes.

Gamification Wins

Audiences visiting websites are more likely to stay if there are interactive elements to keep them engaged.

Plus, it makes a great talking point, which helps in word-of-mouth marketing!

So, there you have it; the marketing of 2023. These are points you’d need to keep in mind when planning the marketing strategy for your IT company.

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Business Finance Financial Market Technology U.S

Kroger and Albertsons Zero in on Store Divestitures Amid Deal Review

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The Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies Inc are still on track to divest 250 to 300 stores as part of their effort to dispel antitrust issues regarding their proposed merger plan.

The stores slated for sale are valued at USD 1B or above, and are located all across different regions of the US—such as Chicago, Phoenix, Southern California, and the Pacific Northwest—reported Reuters, citing unnamed sources.

Kroger-Albertsons Cos. Merger Deal

In a move to reshape the U.S. supermarket landscape, Kroger and Albertsons Cos.—The US’s two biggest grocery store chains—announced plans to join forces in mid-October.

The retailers hope that this merger, if approved by regulators, would help create a corporate behemoth generating around $200 billion in sales per year.

Combined, Kroger and Albertsons Cos. would operate around 5,000 stores across the country.

Reasons Behind the Divestiture

The retailers have decided to prepare for the store divestiture as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reassessing Kroger’s proposed USD $24.6B investment in Albertsons Cos. 

Since the retailers declared the merger strategy, there has been a flurry of movements from American consumer advocates and lawmakers against it. 

They are pressuring the FTC to hit the brakes on the deal, or at least hold it for some time, over concerns that this merger, if executed, could cause significant hikes in grocery prices amid the current spiralling inflation rates.

While declaring their merger, the retailers stated that the plan was to sell around 100 to 375 stores to win regulatory approval faster. However, Kroger mentioned that up to 650 stores could be divested.

As per the agreement, if the deal falls apart over antitrust issues, Kroger would be required to pay Albertsons Cos. $600M as a breakup fee to walk away from the contract.

The retailers are trying to sound out long-sought buyers for their stores and address the antitrust issue of FTC over their merging. 

Both Kroger and Albertsons Cos. expect these stores to be spun off into a subsidiary dubbed SpinCo by Albertsons Cos. or directly acquired by competitor supermarkets trying to extend their footprint in the USA. 

FTC to Monitor the Financial Viability of the Stores Divested

FTC will closely monitor any sale of the stores coming from this divestment, reported Reuters, citing antitrust experts at FTC. 

The current FTC chair Lina Khan marked the failed AlbertsonsCos./Safeway settlement behind FTC’s scepticism about the Kroger-Albertsons deal. 

The result: The agency is strictly scrutinising the potential impact of the Kroger–Albertsons merger deal.

Navigating Divestiture Challenges to Success

Brian Concklin, an antitrust expert and partner at global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Kroger and Albertsons Cos. to ensure that the stores they have decided to divest can act as formidable players in the industry. Thus the retailers can keep the FTC from blocking their merger deal.

“The Albertsons-Safeway deal will loom large over how these assets are viewed and how the FTC evaluates whether these divestiture packages being offered are viable,” commented Brian Concklin.

As a complex process, divestiture requires a coordinated effort to be successful.

For any dynamic enterprise looking to maximise the transaction value while divesting its business, investing in a consulting service like Fission Consulting is a sensible decision.

Such a high-end service streamlines the process while significantly reducing business disruptions.

Wrapping up

Kroger and Albertsons Cos. hope their plan to spin off the stores as part of the merger deal will help overcome challenges while paving the way to get FTC approval. 

“We believe we have a clear path to achieve regulatory approval with divestitures,” said Gary Millerchip, Chief Financial Officer at Kroger in a Bloomberg news.

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Computers & Software Technology

Why Data Strategy and Management Is the Most Important Step Toward Automation With AI

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has been in the news a lot recently. ChatGPT, the chatbot, has become part of many conversations. 

And, it might seem like a gimmick—AI that has been “fed” data to see how it responds. However, real-time AI has many more uses than just answering questions.

One of the uses that you might have heard about is self-driving cars. The AI is programmed to monitor the road and propel the vehicle safely. To do so, it takes in information from sensors that monitor the road, speed limit, location, and more. 

It, then, uses this information to make split-second decisions to navigate the car through the traffic.

Similarly, AI can be used to improve safety and operational efficiency in airports, detect fraud in online banking transactions, provide patients with better care in hospitals and much more. 

According to this article about Unlocking the Power of AI With a Real-Time Data Strategy on CIO.com, AI can do all that and more.

However, to do so, ”data ecosystems need to excel at handling fast-moving streams of events, operational data, and machine learning models to leverage insights and automate decision-making.”

The Importance of Real-Time Data

In order for AI to make real-time decisions, it needs real-time data. Using the example of AI in self-driving vehicles again, the computer has to constantly get a flow of information for it to make decisions.

A person needs to have all the evidence before they can make an informed decision. AI is no different. 

Like a person, AI needs some input to determine the output.

Unlike a person, however, AI can handle vast quantities of input in a second and still be able to process it quickly. That, in turn, means that AI can be used to detect fraudulent transactions, make product recommendations, and optimise just-in-time business processes in real-time.

Automation Is the Driving Force

Businesses are looking to leverage AI and enable automation. We are living in a world where data capturing is the easy part. Our phones are gathering information about us and our lives. We can have medical information tracked through wearables. Every online interaction we have is providing someone with some information about us.

Data gathering is not the problem here.

The problem is ensuring data quality so that AI can make better real-time decisions—because high-quality data can help Machine Learning (ML) models deliver better outcomes.

So, if we wanted to accelerate automation, we’d need to look at data management and strategy differently.

In order to be more data-driven, you would need to develop a holistic vision for your business. Information cannot be siloed within various ecosystems. It needs to be integrated so it can be analysed. Only then will it be able to help you make a change.

Instead of trying to fit new methodologies into your legacy software applications, you need to invest in “data and model governance, discovery, observability, and profiling.”

Powering Functional ML Models With Data

So, what’s a machine learning model?

An ML model is a software program within which the AI goes through relevant datasets to identify patterns. It will then use this information to train itself to make decisions. 

Once the model is trained, it can be deployed to determine the best course of action based on data input.

As you can see, since the model uses pre-existing data to teach itself, it’s important that the ML processes and data are integrated to get the most out of them.

And, ML models use data for everything—from building to training to deploying. You could say that data is the fuel required to power ML models. The two need to be aligned for you to get the maximum benefit from either of them.

Managing Data Strategy and Storage For AI Consumption

For AI to make real-time decisions, it needs the parallel support of ML process flow and data flow. Real-time AI needs the following from its data ecosystem:

  • A real-time data ingestion platform
  • A real-time operational data store
  • The ingestion platform and data store working together to reduce the data complexity
  • Change Data Capture (CDC) that returns high-velocity events back into the data stream or analytics platforms
  • An enterprise data ecosystem that optimises data flow in both directions

In order for AI to make real-time decisions quickly and accurately, you need ML models that exchange data at high speeds. It’s difficult to build such an ecosystem within your organisation, so a cloud-native approach might be best for you.

Cloud-native is great for scaling your operations, is reliable, and helps portability across deployments.

Of course, you would need a data strategy that would help you optimise your data and how you use it. Fortunately, experts like Agile Solutions should be able to help you prioritise and plan a data strategy that meets your business’s objectives.

A strong strategy would be able to help you automate your processes with the help of AI.

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Energy & Environment Technology Transportation & Logistics Travel World

Emirates Operates Milestone Demonstration Flight Powered by 100% SAF

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Emirates Airlines—a subsidiary of The Emirates Group—has successfully tested its first demo flight in which one of the Boeing 777-300ER’s two engines was powered by 100% drop-in sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF.

The aim was to examine the safety and reliability of the synthetically derived SAF when used as a jet fuel at a higher percentage.

Piloted by Captain Khalid Nasser Akram and Captain Fali Vajifdar, this was the first-ever demo flight in the MENA region that was supplied with 100% sustainable fuel. 

Currently, SAF can be mixed at up to 50% with traditional jet fuel for flying aircraft.

The flight departed from Dubai International Airport at around 11:39 pm on January 30 and was flown for more than one hour over Dubai’s coastline.

The test was part of the Emirate’s effort to help hit the Net Zero target by 2050, as the aviation industry is casting about for cleaner fuel solutions like SAF, reported GLOBETRENDER™.

SAF Can Curb Carbon Emission

SAF—a biofuel derived from renewable biomass and waste products—holds the potential to deliver the efficiency of petroleum-based conventional aircraft fuel but with only a fraction of its carbon footprint.

Case in point: Based on the method and feedstock used for production, SAF can curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 80% over the fuel lifecycle, offering the aviation industry solid footing for significantly decoupling GHG emissions from flights.

Since 2011, over 4,50,000 commercial flights have been taken to the skies using SAF globally. 

Even though SAF has capabilities to significantly limit carbon emissions in aviation, global SAF production accounts for only 0.03% of total fuel use (based on pre-pandemic reports).

World leaders are working relentlessly to devise thought-out strategies for scaling up new processes and facilitating the production of commercially usable SAF.

As a result, the production of drop-in SAF has more than tripled in 2022, compared to 2021, according to IATA.

To date, the approved bio-jet fuel production routes include co-processing, hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), hydro-deoxygenated synthetic aromatic kerosene (HDO-SAK), Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffinic kerosene (FT-SPK), and more.

However, with the increasing bio-content in aviation fuels exacerbating microbial contamination, controlling its effects has become a major concern.

That said, leveraging kits like FUELSTAT® for periodic testing of SAF and blended SAF is critical. Thus contamination can be detected at the earliest stages and before severe safety/operational disruptions occur.

More Insights into Emirates Flight Using Biofuel

Emirates partnered with Boeing, GE Aerospace, Neste, Honeywell, and Virent to produce and buy a SAF blend closely identical to the efficacy and properties of traditional aircraft fuel.

“At each blend ratio, various chemical and physical fuel property measurements were carried out,” explained an Emirates spokesperson. “After multiple lab tests and rigorous trials, [we] arrived at a blending ratio that mirrored the qualities of jet fuel.“

A total of 18T of drop-in SAF blend, made up of 50% HDO-SAK and 50% HEFA-SPK, was used for the test flight. This 100% SAF powered one General Electric GE90 engine of the aircraft, whereas; the other GE90 was supplied with petroleum-based jet fuel.

Emirates hopes the data and success of the flight will act as a step-change in facilitating the future adoption and acceptance of 100% SAF blend as a cleaner alternative to conventional fuel—well over the present limit of 50% drop-in SAF blend.

“This flight is a milestone moment for Emirates and a positive step for our industry as we work collectively to address one of our biggest challenges – reducing our carbon footprint. It has been a long journey to finally see this demonstration 100% SAF flight take off,” said Adel Al Redha, chief operating officer at Emirates Airlines. 

Al Redha goes on to explain, “Such initiatives are critical contributors to industry knowledge on SAF and provide data to demonstrate the use of higher blends of SAF for future regulatory approvals. We hope that landmark demonstration flights like this one will help open the door to scale up the SAF supply chain and make it more available and accessible across geographies, and most importantly, affordable for broader industry adoption in the future.”

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Computers & Software Professional Services Technology U.S

Microsoft Is Predicted to Equip Excel with AI

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Microsoft Excel is poised to get a deep AI boost, however, this software giant isn’t going to tap into ChatGPT or OpenAI.

According to a new paper, in order to equip Excel with artificial intelligence, the in-house research team at Microsoft is working on bringing out an assistive AI system called FLAME, reported TechRadar.  

Calling it a “T5-based model,” the authors stated that FLAME has the capabilities to make the automation on the Excel app more efficient. 

An AI specially designed for Excel-specific tasks, FLAME ensures competitive performance and is more precise than other multipurpose AIs.

Purpose of FLAME

Written by eight of Microsoft’s in-house software developers, the paper highlights Excel as a popular spreadsheet platform that enables users to efficiently organise, format, and calculate data. 

With FLAME, Microsoft is committed to helping users with spreadsheet formulas providing autocomplete suggestions. 

Even better, FLAME can be leveraged to fix buggy and malformed formulas in the future Excel spreadsheet environment when plugged into the software.

“We curate a training dataset using sketch deduplication, introduce an Excel-specific formula tokenizer for our model, and use domain-specific versions of masked span prediction and noisy auto-encoding as pre-training objectives, ” explained the authors. “We evaluate FLAME on formula repair, formula auto-completion, and a novel task called syntax reconstruction.”

The new AI assistant—being a smaller model with 60M parameters and two orders of magnitude less training data—can outshine other larger language models—such as CodeT5 (220M), codex-Cushman (12B) and Codex-Da Vinci (175B).

The result: FLAME is anticipated to be more efficacious and cost-efficient to train or deploy compared with other AI tools.

However, when FLAME will be released or whether it will be free-of-cost for mass use is yet to be revealed.

Microsoft Excel Charts

Even while Microsoft experts contemplate giving Excel an AI boost, the built-in Excel charts are still overwhelming to deal with.

One of the best ways to make large datasets easily discernible is to recapitulate them in visual form. 

Excel’s built-in charts are the go-to option for many when it comes to explaining trends efficiently; deriving actionable insights from massive troves of data; evaluating key values effortlessly, and much more. 

However, for some types of Excel charts, the built-in formatting functionalities are limited, which makes it difficult to create professional-looking PowerPoint presentations. For example, with Excel waterfall charts, users cannot reference cells for titling, change the format (e.g. colour) of the connector lines, etc. 

Again, some charts are not natively available in Excel, requiring users to take the manual approach.

For professionals frequently required to create great-looking PowerPoint presentations with stunning charts, leveraging a high-end add-in like think-cell is a sensible decision. With fewer clicks and less formatting, PowerPoint add-ins streamline the process while significantly saving working hours. 

Microsoft Is Making Incredible Strides with AI

In a move to amplify its offerings in Azure OpenAI service, the software giant has extended its multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI this year. 

Even though Microsoft refused to comment on the deal’s specifics, an investment of around $10 billion is anticipated, with Microsoft getting a 75% of OpenAI’s returns until it recoups the investment. After recouping, Microsoft would hold a 49 % stake in OpenAI.

On top of that, Microsoft has recently demonstrated its plans to integrate the AI engine behind ChatGPT into its Edge web browser and Bing search engine. With Bing’s AI reboot, the company expects to shake up the search business, taking on the search engine giant Google. 

Wrapping Up

Microsoft expects FLAME to boost the process of creating and maintaining Excel formulas, especially for users who need to deal with large spreadsheets with tons of formulas.