Why We Aren’t Prepared for What’s Waiting Over the Horizon in 2022 and Beyond

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |Over the Horizon in 2022|Why We Aren’t Prepared for What’s Waiting Over the Horizon in 2022 and BeyondAn ambulance is racing down the freeway, transporting a suspected heart attack victim in critical condition. Long before the patient arrives at the hospital, doctors are remotely examining his condition, pouring through up-to-the-second data from sensors and video feeds transmitted from the ambulance over a 5G wireless connection. Even before he gets wheeled into the emergency room, the attending physicians already have a detailed picture of the problem and are ready to go to work. Or, even more exciting, the patient’s life was saved by being remotely treated while in the ambulance.

Amazing stuff, but it’s just the coming attraction.

We’re on the cusp of a transformative era where the deployment of real-time, event-driven technologies turns vast volumes of data into actionable information, leading to fundamental improvements in everything from commerce to personal security. For example, if a child gets lost in Central Park, her picture could be automatically transmitted to thousands of video cameras equipped with AI recognition to enable searchers to find her.

Or think about filling your grocery lists with the help of intelligent shopping carts that guide shoppers through a supermarket, optimizing their route and making suggestions based on what it knows about their buying habits. (In fact, these intelligent shopping carts are already being tested in Israel and the results show shoppers using them are spending on average 20% more per visit.)

That’s a glimpse into our future – if we do it right. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. As cool as it sounds – and it is – this sort of advanced functionality is complicated and requires a reliable infrastructure that can guarantee the kind of high-speed bandwidth for the transfer of massive volumes of information – which still needs to be built.

Gaining an Edge

One advancement that will help speed this transition is the emergence of multi-access edge computing (MEC), which is essentially a distributed architecture where compute and cloud-like capabilities get pushed out to the edge of the network. This will be key because the new applications we’re talking about put extra demands on network capabilities, particularly when it comes to low latency, high bandwidth, and resource consumption. The telcos are best-positioned to lead the way here and we should expect to hear more from them over the next few years.

Think of the possibilities that would arise as massive amounts of data get filtered and processed on the edge in actual real-time as these systems react instantaneously to help manage critical events. Think back to our connected ambulance example. The system is communicating with the biometric systems monitoring the patient in the ambulance. If something about their condition changes, the emergency personnel in the hospital are immediately forwarded an analysis of the voluminous and complex data collected at the edge.

A lot is going on in the background as this deployment must support the dynamic movement of data in a distributed edge-enabled network. While the ambulance moves down the road, data sent from that vehicle must get transferred reliably. Maintaining ongoing contact with the ambulance literally becomes a matter of life and death where the system must guarantee that the information will get picked up by the next MEC down the road.

The Developer’s Dilemma

When it comes to designing applications that make all of that work seamlessly at the edge, we immediately encounter two problems. One is a developmental challenge, the second an operational one.

From a development perspective, you need to tie everything together to create real-time systems that essentially sense, analyze, and act on situations of interest. That’s not easy. Operationally, how do you deploy and then keep this edifice up and running? And how do you make sure that the infrastructure can handle the load as there’s a need for more capacity?

Also, an event-driven application in a distributed environment (such as when a connected vehicle changes from one network to the next) needs to be able to share data across multiple administrative domains. That raises new multi-tenancy issues. Do we share data across multiple administrative domains? How do we do that? Am I sharing inside the company or outside the company? My point being, that in a distributed environment, these developmental and operational issues get extremely complex in a hurry.

Think again about the example of our ambulance passing one MEC after another as it speeds to the hospital. The MEC is running the logic – essentially serving as a mini-cloud – where it’s analyzing the streaming data on the patient, such as an EKG. When the vehicle moves from one MEC to the next, however, what we refer to as the “state information” from the ambulance needs to get transferred seamlessly when the ambulance connects to a new MEC, rather than re-calculated from scratch.

Make it Simple

These types of applications are highly complex, and they won’t work with traditional development platforms where a simple application may take months or longer to create. This is the third time in my career that I’m building distributed systems. I did it at Ingres and Forte – and now again at Vantiq – and I can say from experience that it’s incredibly difficult. Things are getting too complex for us to hard code anymore. Even elite coders are discovering that this kind of task is near impossible and would require a series of discrete products to get the job done; and even then, it might take months to finish the project.

Frankly, we need to make coding a lot simpler – to find ways to help developers convert high-level operational processes into a framework for real digital applications.

One way to overcome this hurdle is to embrace an abstracted low-code framework that allows developers to handle the complexity that they’ll face in these kinds of scenarios. These low-code tools allow for a more agile framework that developers can use to create solutions much more quickly. While different forms of low-code have been around for a while, the approach is fast gaining speed thanks to the market’s demand for digitalization, which soared throughout 2020 as businesses accelerated their plans due to the pandemic. It also fits well with the need for speed found in mature agile DevOps practices.

How this unfolds in practice remains unclear, but the debate over the best approach must surface sooner rather than later. We’re fast approaching a future where we’ll need applications that can take advantage of the latest advances in IoT, AI, machine learning, and edge computing. And we’ll be there in a hurry.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Marty SprinzenMarty Sprinzen, Co-Founder and CEO of Vantiq is a visionary leader and successful software entrepreneur. The organizations he created and led have introduced some of the most innovative software solutions in the areas of systems management, relational databases, internet application development and, currently, real-time, event-driven applications. Sprinzen founded and became CEO of VANTIQ Corporation. Prior to VANTIQ, he was CEO and co-founder of Forte Software, which was acquired for over $1B. He also served as VP of International Operations and VP of Engineering at Ingres and VP of Development at Candle Corporation. He holds a BSEE from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

Post Pandemic: Why Business Tech Is More Important Than Ever

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective |Business Tech|Post Pandemic: Why Business Tech Is More Important Than EverTechnology has completely changed life in so many ways over the past few decades. But we realised it’s value even more over the past couple of years- particularly during lockdowns and the covid pandemic. Not only did tech enable us to order the supplies we needed to stay at home, but it allowed us to keep in touch with loved ones, and also keep the economy afloat by allowing us to move many of our businesses’ processes online. While this has been something that’s been happening gradually for some time, the pandemic accelerated the shift and now that we’re returning to normal life again, there are lots of areas we’ll never turn back in. So implementing good technology is more important than ever if you want to keep up with your competitors and provide the service expected by your customers. Here are three examples of types of tech you can utilise in your company, and specific examples of softwares to consider.

Security Technology

Online security

Security in modern business has to go beyond firewalls and anti-virus software if you want to keep it properly protected. Hackers can interrupt businesses massively, and cost companies millions of dollars every year- as well as their reputations. Good technology can protect your company’s information and finances and is absolutely crucial not to overlook. From AI cyber security to embedded authenticators (which employ multiple levels and methods of authentication working in tandem) to blockchain cyber security- there are plenty of different options out there these days so do your research.

Digitally linked security systems

These types of smart security systems from CCTV to alarms can protect your physical businesses from everything from vandalism to theft. These modern systems are able to provide you with real-time alerts, contacting you via your phone or the police directly. If you have a premises such as a shop, office, warehouse or factory then you’ll need to consider ways to keep it protected.

Customer Service Technology

CRM software

CRM software enables you to offer excellent customer service to all of your customers. It tracks information such as products they have viewed and purchased, the feedback they have given you and any marketing materials you have already shown them. Not only can you use this to sell further products to them, but it gives a more personal feeling approach which can improve customer satisfaction.

Scribe technology

AI based scribe technologies like deepscribe.ai can take care of documentation, allowing businesses such as those in the healthcare industry to take better care of their patients. Human medical scribes are expensive, but medical dictation tools aren’t 100% reliable or efficient. So by utilising AI technology, we’re able to get the best of both worlds. Instead of focusing on the screen, practicioners can focus on their patients and provide a better quality of care.

Recruitment Technology

Online testing

With online testing you can quickly narrow down a large pool of employees by having them take a test set by you, and filter out the ones who fail. This can be particularly useful if your position attracts a lot of candidates, or you’re interviewing for a higher position and feel that the candidate you want should definitely have knowledge of certain areas. While it’s not completely foolproof and could possibly exclude potentially good candidates due to nerves or a silly mistake they’ve made, it can make a wide pool of candidates smaller and more manageable and ensure those that remain have at least foundation knowledge that you’d expect from someone at the level you’re looking to employ.

Video interviewing

The next best thing to a real life interview, since you can see the person including their body language and other factors that might be missed during phone interviews. Pre-recorded video questions can be sent to candidates and then the footage can be watched back at a convenient time. This is something that would be useful if you plan on hiring a remote team, or if covid restrictions where you are means that standard interviewing isn’t possible.

Recruitment software

Lots of metrics can be measured using recruitment software and reviewed afterwards; using technology here will save you time and money. Consider options such as applicant tracking software and management software. If your company is larger and you’re recruiting often then this could be a fantastic investment.

How Does the Stock Market Work?

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |Stock Market|How Does the Stock Market Work?There is a lot of talk about investing in stocks, and no wonder, because they can be a great way to build your wealth. But if stocks are something you are looking at getting into, it is vital that you not only understand what stocks are or how to get started but also brush up on your knowledge of how the market works, as this will play a key role in your success.

Here is some information to help you get started.

What are stocks?

It is important to ensure you first understand what stocks are. Stocks represent ownership interests in a business that you can invest in and are also known as equities. Some businesses choose to make their shares available to the public, as opposed to being owned by an individual, so if you purchase a share of stock, you will own a small part of that business, and in return, get to share the company’s success.

If a business wants to make shares available, they will issue them with an initial public offering (IPO). Once this has been completed, they will be available on an electronic marketplace called the stock exchange.

What is the stock market?

The stock market can be defined as a collection of shares and other financial securities that can be issued, bought, sold, or traded. The purpose of the stock market is to facilitate the exchange of these assets by providing real-time information to the public. The stock market comprises exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange or the London Stock Exchange, which list a variety of stocks that aim to bring buyers and sellers together. The exchange will track the price, supply and demand of each stock.

Typically, on the stock market, you are not buying from the company directly. Instead, you are purchasing a share that someone has chosen to sell. This leaves the majority of stocks being traded between investors.

You only need a basic understanding of how the stock market works to get started. If you want to broaden your knowledge of the stock market, there are a plethora of online resources and books that you can read.

How do stocks work?

You can build your wealth through stock in different ways, for example, capital growth or dividends. Capital growth is obtained when you sell a share for a higher price than you purchased it for. Dividends are obtained when shareholders are rewarded by the company with a portion of their profits.

How are the stocks priced?

Stock prices are known for their risk because no one person is making the decision for their prices, instead, they are governed by the supply and demand between investors. You can think of the selling and buying of stocks similar to an auction. There is always going to be a limit on the price that someone is willing to sell their shares of stock for, and there will always be a maximum price someone is willing to invest when buying stock.

If the demand is high for a particular stock, then the price will rise. If the demand drops for a particular stock, or that stock is being sold more than it is being bought, then the market price will decrease.

How to buy a stock

If you are new to the stock market, before buying any stock, you should always do your research to ensure you are making a worthy investment. Take a look at the financial stability of the company, and use a book value calc.

Once you know what stock you want to invest in, you’ll need to start with a brokerage account to trade shares on the stock exchange. There are a variety of platforms that you can choose from, depending on your requirements and your goals.

All transactions must be carried out via a broker. A broker is an entity, either an online broker or an individual, who is licensed to trade stocks on the stock exchange. You can tell your broker what you want, they will relay the order to the exchange, and then deliver them to your account.

Through your account, you will be able to keep track of the stocks you have purchased and continue to buy and sell more stocks.

How do you know when the market is “up”?

Common terms such as “the market is up” is used when discussing the stock market. This is usually referring to the stock index, which represents the real-time performance of a large group of stocks, or a specific sector. This is a convenient way to benchmark and compare the performance of stocks, or an entire portfolio, and help you to make better decisions with your investments.

Learning about the stock market can help you navigate the industry and make better investments.

A Brief History of Monero Explained

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |Monero|A Brief History of Monero ExplainedAmong the top cryptocurrencies in the world, Monero (XMR) made a name for itself as one of the best digital currencies for anonymous transactions. Its focus on privacy and security attracted a large number of users from all sides of the legal spectrum. While Monero is one of the most well-known coins in the realm of crypto, it may be surprising to some people that the famous privacy-oriented currency started as a humble grassroots movement in 2014.

Learning more about Monero’s history can shed some light on its background and the values that govern its direction. As such, new users and traders can determine for themselves whether Monero, with all of its features and complex history, should be a part of their portfolio or not. Before even considering Monero as a crypto investment option, people should press pause in their search for the best XMR wallet and take a look first at a quick rundown of Monero’s history below.

What Is a Fork?

Before talking about Monero, users need to learn about forks first. A fork in cryptocurrency is very different from the fork that the average person knows. Rather than a pointed eating utensil, a fork in crypto refers to a change in blockchain protocol.

To illustrate this, think of blockchain as an exceedingly long train track. When a fork happens, the track splits, with the original rail going one way and the fork heading to another. The fork and the original rail share the same background and history, but they are heading in different directions.

Forks happen for a variety of reasons, but they can be summed up into three things:

  • To add new functions
  • To improve upon weaknesses
  • To resolve any disagreements in the community about the crypto’s direction

This is the case for many cryptocurrencies, including Monero. Many altcoins are forks of preceding cryptocurrencies, which develop over time to form their own identities.

The Long, Winding History of Monero

The history of Monero can be described as a long fork story. To get to Monero, users need to learn about two other leading characters first: CryptoNote and Bytecoin.

CryptoNote is not a cryptocurrency. It is more accurate to define it as a new protocol or technology which powers up a new line of cryptocurrencies. CryptoNote was first described in a whitepaper written by Nicholas van Saberhagen (which is a presumed pseudonym) in October 2013. The new protocol addresses some of the key issues surrounding Bitcoin about privacy by providing a way to keep users completely anonymous in the blockchain.

Bytecoin then enters the stage. Bytecoin is the flagship coin of CryptoNote, but it ran into a critical problem. Developers realized that 80 percent of the coins that could be mined for Bytecoin already existed, which severely limits its mining potential. A Bitcointalk forum user who went by ‘thankful_for_today’ decided to fork from Bytecoin and encoded a fresh set of ideas into a new coin called BitMonero.

While thankful_for_today presented interesting ideas for the new coin, the community disagreed with its direction. Hence, other open-source developers decided to fork it in 2014, which ultimately led to the birth of Monero.

The term “monero” means “coin” in Esperanto and quite aptly so. Esperanto is a widely-known artificial language developed back in 1887 with the aims of becoming a universal second language, mirroring accurately what Monero–and crypto in general–hopes to achieve in terms of currency.

Who Created Monero?

In its inception, Monero had a core team of developers with five members. Three of them were anonymous, and the other two were publicly known. Today, there are seven members, which, similar two the previous group, only have two members known in public. Riccardo Scagni, well-known by his username “Fluffypony”, was one of the first five and still serves as Monero’s main developer today.

Controversies Around Monero

The story of Monero is not complete without its controversies.

Monero gained an incredible amount of traction in 2016 when it captured the interest of the dark web. Alphabay, one of the biggest darknet market sites, along with a smaller darknet store called Oasis, integrated Monero as a payment option that summer. The following year in July, when authorities shut Alphabay down, they discovered that a significant portion of the store’s revenue came through Monero.

Aside from these, there are also multiple reports of coinjacking and ransomware, which, unfortunately, take advantage of the anonymous properties of Monero.

Based on these reports, it becomes clear that while Monero offers users well-deserved privacy and security in their finances, there are ill-intentioned individuals who use it for illegal means. One of the biggest topics of debate in the crypto world is striking a balance between the good and the bad because, while Monero is known for the latter, it still has a lot of potential for the former.

Overall, Monero’s history has a lot of ups and downs, and it is difficult to predict how it could change and improve over time. For that, users, traders, and developers alike all need to keep a watchful eye and see for themselves where it could go next.

Key post-Brexit tax and customs changes

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |Post-Brexit|Key post-Brexit tax and customs changesThe financial, political and tax world in the European Union has changed for good. One word Brexit, i.e. the UK leaving the European Union, has a huge impact on the European economy, population migration, the UKs domestic economy. For businesses, the most significant changes relate to customs and tax issues.

What after Brexit? Tax issues

The financial, political and tax world in the European Union has changed for good. One word Brexit, i.e. the UK leaving the European Union, has a huge impact on the European economy, population migration, the UKs domestic economy. For businesses, the most significant changes relate to customs and tax issues.

Despite Brexit, the UK will continue to have a VAT system and the government has retained VAT procedures similar to those previously in place. Nonetheless, companies trading exclusively within the European community should familiarise themselves with the changes and take additional steps to prepare for the new reality of the UKs exit from the EU.

Movements of goods

Previously, all movements of goods between the UK and other countries were made on an intra-Community supply of goods basis. VAT on goods imported from the UK was accounted for on both the output and input VAT returns. However, for goods supplied to the UK, a preferential tax rate of 0% was applicable if the relevant conditions were met.

Currently, the situation with the movement of goods is as follows. VAT is changed to import tax. In this case, according to VAT regulations, the tax obligation arises at the moment when the customs duty arises on goods imported into the European Union. Thus, the tax must already be paid when the goods are cleared through customs. While it is usually possible to recover this tax, it must be paid immediately. In addition, companies have to wait for its reimbursement, which significantly affects the liquidity of businesses importing goods from the UK.The good news is that companies exporting goods to the UK will have the opportunity to use the simplified procedure, in which they will not have to pay VAT as soon as the goods arrive in the UK, but will settle it later.

EORI number

Companies trading with the UK will also need to have an EORI number. All traders are required to use this number for any customs transactions within the European Union. If you do not have a UK EORI number, companies should start the process of registering one as soon as possible.

Transport times

In the past, large logistics companies that move goods across the Channel used to have vehicle transport times calculated to the nearest minute. Now, following a change in tax regulations, time for the customs procedure must be added to each delivery, regardless of the mode of transport.

What is the impact of Brexit?

The UK is among the top ten countries in the European Union in terms of the movement of goods. Moreover, the top three suppliers in Europe are countries that are also the UKs main trading partners, that is Germany, the Netherlands and France. And it is these countries that have experienced the most commercial turmoil after a possible Brexit. In terms of industries, Brexit has the biggest impact on the automotive, food, computer, machinery and chemical sectors.

Below is a list of suggested actions companies should take to prepare for Brexit.

Supply analysis. Analyse the rules in place for their impact on new customs and tax obligations. Carrying out the EORI number registration procedure. Appointment of a customs agent or preparation of appropriate software. Registration in the customs systems of the Ministry of Finance. Determination of correct tariff codes. Contact and establish procedures with a logistics company. Consideration of VAT registration in the UK. Review and modify accounting systems to comply with relevant regulations.