Every ten years or so, the telecommunications industry ushers in a new era of mobile technology. 2G, 3G and 4G LTE, all shepherded in with increased speeds and more robust connectivity. Today, this industry stands witness to yet another innovation, 5G. But with plateauing of traditional revenue streams and heavy investment costs to offset, how can telcos position themselves to play a more central role in the economic ecosystem, instead of just being the bystanders of yet another age of better mobile offering.As the newer slew of smartphones hit the markets, touting revolutionary 5g connectivity capabilities, telcos have had to speed up their delivery of this promised innovation. 5G, a massive evolution over LTE, is designed with a trifecta of capabilities: Extremely high-speed broadband, low latency and fully automated machine-type communications.For the layman, these capabilities merely mean faster video streaming, but when combined with IoT these abilities assume enormous significance. From futuristic remote-controlled robotics in healthcare to near real-time video analysis, 5G will unleash the full potential of the IoT value chain, in turn providing telcos with the ability to exploit new market opportunities for their monetization.As per GSMA, the number of global IoT connections will rise to 25 billion by 2025, while global IoT revenue will touch $1.1 trillion, with connectivity revenue only accounting for 5% of the total IoT revenue opportunity. Telcos, until now, have matured into a robust, reliable provider of connectivity services on the go, but to keep up in the future, this industry needs to take a leap forward. It needs to go 'beyond just connectivity'.<h2>At the Crossroads</h2>To make this happen, telcos must escape the commoditization trap, seizing a more substantial role as a service creator and provider for IoT-enabled industries. As IoT devices proliferate across businesses, cities, and environments of all types, connectivity service providers (CSP) will be hosts to vast new arrays of sensors and endpoints, becoming conduits for vast swathes of data that operators will be able to collect and process. In today's world, data is an asset, one that telcos have not capitalized on for years. From usage to location information, from wearable sensors to health information, these interconnected devices can create efficiencies, improve product designs, create new business models, and even enhance customer experiences.<h2>From the Sidelines to Data Enablement</h2>The potential associated with connectivity is big and promising, with a prodigious hurdle at its heart. Most companies are not equipped to handle the magnitude of data generated by IoT devices. Developing their existing infrastructure to account for high-scale data ingestion, storage, and analytics, will provide the stepping stone toward the connected end-state. Cleaning and indexing the scores of disparate datasets being generated every second through myriad endpoints for actionable insights needs to become a parallel focus to connectivity.Do note adopting this does not require any additional technological breakthroughs, most of this can be achieved with technology that is being perfected now. Leading-edge cloud computing and machine learning combined with 5G can provide telcos with the edge to gain critical insights from these massive datasets at previously inconceivable speeds. Building this agility will help telcos, unlock greater value across the IoT value chain and help them make the shift from a sole connectivity provider to the powerhouse of data enablers.Keeping this aspect for B2B aside, telcos still hold strong their 'Trusted Service Provider' position with the end consumer. But this digitally savvy and hyper-informed consumer too, is looking to bring the added benefit of 5g to its very own domestic IoT without substantial incremental cost, creating a business case for a newer, more encompassing pricing strategy.<h2>Overcoming the Pricing Disadvantage</h2>A PWC research published in 2018 shows that just one-third of Internet users would pay more for 5G technology; 33 percent would do so for 5G in the home, while 31 percent would do so on mobile. Notably, the excitement in adopting 5G certainly lags compared to its 4G counterpart, given the benefits. But if the aim is to progress to provide communications and content through broadband networks, a consumer and provider mindset change is in order. Archaic pricing models, which resorted to one size fits all methodology, need to shift to a capabilities-based pricing model.For many customers, in the current environment, seamless connectivity equates to higher bandwidths in terms of capacity and speed than they need, hoping in most circumstances, this will enable a reasonable service level. Herein lies an opportunity for CSP's. By encouraging users to adopt a singular access network like broadband for all their home connectivity and mobile use, they can bring about a simplified pricing model that is specifically enabled by 5g?s unprecedented capabilities.<h2>Prioritizing A Value Creation Structure</h2>But bringing all this to fruition needs an agile mindset that keeps up with the pace of the fast-developing industry. For CSPs this means navigating this massive task through a framework that foremost focuses on its core competency connectivity.Connectivity is the foundation for increasingly intelligent mobility systems. Expanding on their existing capabilities, CSPs need to serve a broader but targeted solution for both B2B and B2Cs. With 5G, telcos, for the first time, have the unique capability to slice the telecom network into an end-to-end digital infrastructure with features precisely tuned to the demands of a specific industry. This creates an opportunity for a pricing model that can be tailored by the size of the network slice they require instead of the traditional speed/data-based pricing that allows a significant proportion of network bandwidth to be allotted and yet not be used.As they progress, telcos, having mastered wider adaptability, have the option to expand their ecosystem horizontally through partnerships that open lucrative opportunities. By expanding beyond their capacity provider role, CSPs can engage in industry experience that can complement and fill capability gaps. Say in healthcare, which is perennially beseeched by a lack of medical/ paramedical professionals, relevant diagnostic equipment, and timely delivery of care. Partnerships that provide real-time diagnostic, consulting, and surgery in cohorts with CSPs providing guaranteed service level agreements regardless of location can significantly expand industry verticals and provide additional monetization opportunities.As they secure their position, they become the orchestrator, building cross-sectoral uses. A matchmaker for B2B players, integrating their offering with third-party bundles. They create and provide complex value at additional levels by combining multiple offerings. For CSPs this will mean a digital marketplace that will serve a fusion of vertical market needs, technology, and process applications.All this redefines interoperability standards. But achieving the full potential of connectivity requires improvements in data security. Data privacy, protection of intellectual property and data ownership might be the purview of policymakers, but collaboration amongst various stakeholders is certainly needed to enable the connected world vision.Keeping challenges aside, opportunities abound for CSPs and companies seeking to capture the full potential of IoT and 5G by becoming closely aligned partners. By extrapolating what we have today in our communications while opening a path to tomorrow that is based on a strategic value drive proposition, CSPs can move beyond connectivity to create an IoT that is smart at every level.

Barkha Sheth

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Technology

Beyond Just Connectivity: 5G & IoT Opens New Opportunities for Telecoms

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) discourse comprises two camps. One who view it as the hope of tomorrow; a breakthrough which, combined with human capabilities, can augment and transform every walk of life. Then there are those for whom AI is the harbinger of a dystopian future. One that, more often than not, resembles some variation of the Matrix. The reality? AI is still in its infancy. It is evolving because we are continually seeking ways to simplify our existence. In that case, could we go too far? Could AI, at any point, become smarter than us or is its existence dependent on the cognitive abilities and native intelligence of humans?&nbsp; A central tenet of the 4th Industrial revolution, AI has been more transformative than anything we have ever seen, at times challenging what it means to be human.&nbsp;From consumer tech to enterprise-grade solutions, artificial intelligence is firmly ingrained in our innovations. It might be easier to collate a list of the part of modern society that is yet untouched by AI than the other way round. AI is influencing every facet of our daily lives, helping improve efficiencies and augmenting human capabilities.&nbsp; <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The Science Behind Artificial Intelligence</h2>In recent years, artificial intelligence has been popularised by software’s like Siri and Google Duplex, though it has been in the works since the 1950s. The human brain has been the primary inspiration for AI researchers, with the quest for replicating cognitive abilities of the brain, being the most elusive of the goals.As it stands, machines are already observing, analyzing, and learning from data and mistakes just like humans can. Instead of being programmed in what to think, AI uses statistics, mathematical algorithms, and artificial neural networks to automatically model and find patterns in data to predict an outcome. Given the amount of data we generate from the touchpoints in our daily life, it is little wonder the use of artificial intelligence has exploded in recent times. <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Abstract Thinking – Can AI Emulate It?</h2>Recently Google released a speaking AI that mimics human conversation, and a google subsidiary, Deep Mind, created an AI that beat two world champions in a board game called ‘Go’. The reason the latter is remarkable is that ‘Go’ is one of the most complex strategy games. There are so many potential moves and game states that it makes chess look like toddler play. Yet, ‘Alpha Go’, Deep Mind’s innovation, conquered it by keeping the memory of the games it has played and studying them as experience. It could collate and sift through its learnings, selecting the choice that had the highest potential for a positive outcome. Does that sound a lot like a human brain, learning from its experiences and using that to decide future interactions?But given all this, the reality is more humbling. While there is substance behind AI’s hype, its underlying hypothesis still centres around the availability of data. The most sophisticated of machine learning algorithm is at its core a computer software that requires the right data sets to problem solve. From facial recognition software that compares billions of pixels to AI-powered Robo-analysts in banking software’s, the same rules apply.Technology evolves, progresses, and becomes more efficient. Deep neural networks enable AI algorithms to analyze data through multiple layers with greater accuracy. Generative adversarial networks let AI create data based on the data set it has trained on, while reinforcement training lets machines learn from feedback-based trial-and-error interactions. However, the fundamental principle remains the same – if you can translate the task into data, AI will do it.But can one break down common sense into data? Can we create datasets that enable AI to think in abstracts when situations do not follow the predetermined course? How do we mathematically define, curiosity? <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Artificial Intelligence vs Our Cognitive Abilities</h2>In continuing with the argument around data, one thing we can certainly say–Humans are dreadful at storing massive amounts of data and are terribly slow in processing larger sets of information. In the time it would take a human brain to translate 200 words, an AI-based algorithm would translate at least a million. The fact is computers surpass us in any operation that involves mathematical computation or data processing.However, the human brain is exceptionally adept at deciding based on common sense, instinct and scarce information. We can transfer learnings across parallel events, use limited information to determine the next best course of action, and when all else fails, we use creativity to construct new responses. What comes naturally to humans is the hardest to translate into machine learnings. <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The Future as It Stands</h2>Artificial Intelligence is the cornerstone of our existence and is here to stay. Machines do obviate the need for a human workforce in some sectors, but they are not a complete replacement. The future does not lie in the hands of either. It is based on the collaborative and complementary intelligence of both; the cognitive abilities, leadership, and creativity of one combined with the speed, scalability, and quantitative strengths of the other, is the way forward for businesses and humanity alike.For sure, as technology advances and gives AI the wherewithal to handle generalizations on its own, the heated debate on its regulation needs to take centre stage. Black-box models of AI can increasingly make predictions and decisions as humans do, but without the ability to communicate the reasoning behind it. Their outcomes could potentially be on patterns which we as humans cannot perceive. How does one then justify a course of action determined by a machine?In either case, we are at a dawn of technological evolution – one where man and machine will need to learn to live together, where the existence of one entirely depends on the other. There is no crystal ball to state if one will overtake the other, but for now, we will just have to allow technology the upper hand and to let AI steadily improve and run amok in our society.&nbsp;

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Algorithm Techniques

Artificial Intelligence ? Will It Outpace Humans?

With futurists looking to re-invent the asset management value chain and consumers demanding more client-centricity, can tomorrow's wealth management solution be led solely by tech? Digitalization is promising a massive upgrade to long-term financial planning. What can this mean for you as an investor? An investor usually has two broad objectives: to grow their capital and, second, to protect what they already have. But such seemingly simple goals can face some tirelessly complex hurdles. From trying to understand asset classes and keeping track of portfolio performance to changing investment buckets based on market trends, an average investor often has a lot to contend with. Combine this with increased uncertainty and the rising cost of risk, and you have a consumer who is frayed at the edges and is demanding a lot more in the way of client-centricity. As per a report published by Deloitte in 2017, we are about to witness the largest wealth transfer in history over the next 40 years, with almost USD 50 trillion changing hands from one generation to another. This makes it even more essential for institutions to gear up to address re-wired Millenials' demands. With increased globalization, it's vital to recognize that digital transformation is no longer a choice but an imperative for sustainability. This is something wealth managers have now realized. Risking disruption to re-invent their value-chain, wealth management is now following in the footsteps of consumer-centric organizations like Amazon, Apple and Netflix, to name a few; to empower a digitally-savvy investor with tools and methodologies that up until now were the purview of a select few. <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The Emergence of Wealth Tech</h2>Just as fintech transformed financial services, Wealthtech promises a revolution in the investment management industry. It encompasses a range of different channels - from B2C robo-advisors to micro-investing platforms that allow users to regularly save small sums of money to even B2B providers that offer digital brokerages and wealth advisory. Wealthtech is attempting to create a fully&nbsp;operational wealth management bank 'in your pocket'.With cutting-edge technology, firms like Wealthfront, Addepar and InvestCloud are helping investors benefit from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep-data-driven analytics to receive real-time personal financial management at a fraction of the cost. <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">No Longer A One-Size-Fits-All</h2>Thanks to Machine Learning, advisory firms are infusing data and analytics to serve clients holistically by generating relevant, timely, and actionable insights for clients and advisors alike.Embedded at the heart of Wealthtech is a behaviour-based segmentation based on risk appetite, interests, and financial goals. This brings a more intuitive experience to the investor, going beyond just recommending portfolio allocation based on risk profile or asset under management (AUM). Instead, more customized offerings are made available based on client personas and interests. With this outside-in approach, technology is bridging the chasm between business objectives and customer expectations. <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Taking Robo-Advisory To The Next Level</h2>But as consumer sentiment evolves, the new generation of wealth customer is looking beyond just growing their capital. With urbanized goals like sustaining a lifestyle, education planning for kids, healthcare costs of ageing parents, or even buying a new home, today's consumer needs more appropriate real-time advice than ever before. This is perhaps where traditional wealth management has sometimes fallen short of its objectives. With analyst, stock picks undermining market indexes more often than not, and underdog plays making headline-worthy moves, advisors often find themselves dragging their feet when it comes to generating timely advice and meeting client goals. For Wealthtech innovators, this is a core focus area - bringing granular level needs-based advisory, real-time, to the mass market. By integrating economic trends and even social media analytics, whose singular stand in recent times has moved markets beyond measure, this type of advice becomes more relevant than ever.&nbsp;Combining this with click-of-the-button UI, Wealthtech brings in user-friendly omnichannel support to simplify investing and at the same time, give control back to the investor. For instance, an investor can individualize their financial planning through goal-based bucket creation to set aside a long-term retirement corpus while having an aggressive short-term bucket for saving up for a down payment on a house. If there are changes in market sentiments in the short term, the investor can shift money from one bucket to another. This is perhaps the most significant takeback from this value chain: more control, better individualization and better expectation management. Taking it a step further, a personalized dashboard gives you 24/7 access to your portfolio with the ability to compare performances across different asset classes ranging from commodities, mutual funds, energy, real estate, and even art. But where does this leave the traditional human element of financial planning advisory? <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The Convergence of Tech And The Human Element</h2>Wealth management has been a long-standing stalwart of a personal advisory model. But algorithms are slowly taking some of the more fundamental functions of human advisors. However, that doesn't entirely render the human element obsolete. On the other hand, it augments the offerings while still retaining the traditional model's personal and emotional component through a more hybrid approach.&nbsp;Human advisory's significance is invaluable for clients with material assets to invest in, or even when it comes to tax planning and estate management. This is why the digitalization of the Wealth Management space is so unique. The pairing of the human relationship with automation to create an omnichannel service makes financial planning a lot more approachable for the masses. <h2 style="color: rgb(14, 16, 26); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Wealth Management 2.0</h2>The paradigm shift in the wealth management landscape is occurring rapidly, and these digitalization trends bear testament to the massive change that the wealth management space is facing. With the gamification of UI, the enormous shift in demographics now controlling wealth and the new and digitally re-wired customer at the helm, Wealthtech seeks to bring far-reaching changes to a system that up until was the purview of a select few. We, for one, are excited at the potential of this change.Welcome to Wealth Management 2.0.

The Future of Wealth Management? Tech or Hybrid?

An insight-driven organization -
It’s been ten years since this phrase found its way into active business
vocabulary, and yet most companies have fallen short of truly being one. Why?
‘Cultural barrier’ might be to blame. <o:p></o:p>

Helping leaders make more
informed, effective and intelligent business decisions is the core idea behind
analytics. Yet, entrenching data, evaluation, and evidence-based reasoning into
the organization’s decision-making processes has fallen short of mainstream
application in a wide variety of cases. In a report published by Deloitte on
Becoming a Data-Driven Organisation, surveyors found that “fewer than four in
10 (37 percent) place their companies in the top two categories of the IDO
(Insight Driven Organisation) Maturity Scale, and of those, only 10 percent
fall into the highest category. The remaining 63 percent were aware of
analytics but lacked infrastructure, found themselves still working in silos,
or were expanding ad hoc analytics capabilities beyond silos”. <o:p></o:p>

Reasons for this vast discrepancy
ranged from lack of leadership direction to even a lack of trust in a machine’s
interpretation of happenings. This would result in falling back onto
traditional working mechanics and failure to expand on AI’s value proposition.
In each of these cases, the organization’s culture has played a significant
role in accepting and successfully implementing deep data analytics." <o:p></o:p>

As most executives eventually
realize, embedding AI-based decision-making into an organization involves
re-wiring the business at a fundamental level. While the initial work might
seem substantial, the rewards are to be leveraged well into the future. <o:p></o:p>

Here are some relatively simple
ways to help employees become active participants in charting a path towards
truly being an Insight Driven Organisation (IDO). <o:p></o:p>

<h2 style="margin-bottom:0cm">Taking the Leap of Faith and
Setting the Tone</h2><o:p></o:p>

Analytics is already mainstream.
However, most businesses still rely on structured data that fits into rows and
columns, missing out on critical insights that are to be gained from product
images, customer interaction recordings and social media messaging. Herein lies
the argument for adopting technologically advanced AI-driven software that can sift,
consolidate and show appropriate recommendations from troves of data. To make
the shift, it’s essential organizations give due consideration to these four
avenues- <o:p></o:p>

<ul><li>Data
Science is a Team Effort – Traditional working mindsets are often the most significant
resistance to the adoption of AI, making it imperative that welcoming
data-driven decision-making starts right from the top.</li><li>Cultivate
the Talent- It’s essential to nurture a diverse team that is curious, numerally
proficient, and capable of walking the median line between analytics and
business requirements. This progressively creates a shift in the right
direction.</li><li>Go
experiential to Data-Driven– Augmenting human decision making with data-driven
insights means trusting the algorithm’s suggestions. It also entails building
the autonomy to act on those insights without higher-level authority. If every
proposal generated by the systems has to be approved, then the purpose gets
defeated.</li><li>Start
with a Minimum Viable Product– While a business system with all bells and
whistles may seem ideal, striving for one from the get-go is a fundamental
mistake. Instead, look towards speeding up development and achieving gains
within weeks with minimum viable products that can iteratively be scaled up. </li></ul><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>

<h2 style="margin-bottom:0cm">Demystify Artificial Intelligence</h2><o:p></o:p>

As the first line of defence
towards building a data-powered organization is taken down, the attention now
needs to swing towards setting up the required mindsets for success.<o:p></o:p>

<ul><li>Explain
the why’s - People often have qualms about adopting newer technology in the
workplace, mainly because the need is never understood. Why break something
that is working? But by demystifying data analytics and explaining the
competitive edge the company is seeking to gain, executives can rapidly help in
creating a unanimous acceptance of AI-driven insights</li><li>Bolster
morale and highlight common ground – From the fear of obsolescence to strict
reliance on the human rationale to build customer-driven relationships, an
organisation usually has a lot to contend with when taking basic calls
suggested by algorithms. In such cases, making a good story, investing in
building the correct information around new systems, and even encouraging
adoption through scorecards and perks, can significantly help break down mental
barriers. </li><li>Bridging
the gap between technical and business – Much like translating software for
languages, a new class of experts are now coming to the fore. Known as
‘Analytics Translators’, they play a crucial role in identifying roadblocks and
streamlining business requirements while ensuring adoption goes smoothly.</li><li>Equal
Budgeting for integration and adoption – It’s easy to sidestep this critical
element. Companies are often found to allocate most of the budget towards
developing the systems, forgetting that workflow redesign, communications, and
training are equally vital. Successful implementors of AI spend almost half of
the analytics budget on activities that drove adoption. </li></ul><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<h2 style="margin-bottom:0cm">Expanding Acceptance with
Organisation Learning (OL)</h2><o:p></o:p>

Once the basic machinations are in
place, it’s time to develop acceptance. Facilitating AI implementation with
Organisation Learning has been shown to increase adoption exponentially. A top-down
approach to educating teams works best and helps align priorities across the
board.<o:p></o:p> 

Aim to target leadership with
broader, higher-level educative content. OL should make executives understand
the impact on workers’ roles, barriers to adoption, and talent development.
Furthermore, offering guidance on instilling the underlying cultural changes
required goes a long way toward a smooth implementation.<o:p></o:p> 

For those at the core of the
business, the ‘Insight-Driven Decision-Makers’, OL should help bring them up to
speed with sessions that incorporate real business scenarios. This focus
enables staff to derive maximum advantage from AI’s insight capabilities and
take effective business calls on product features and launches.<o:p></o:p>

Once a model is securely up and
running, an oft-forgotten faction is the analytics and translators (those who
act as the intermediaries between IT and Business). Here, the organization
needs to up their game by continually focusing on sharpening the hard and soft
skills of those directly involved in creating reports and summaries. This will
ensure that the algorithms being used are established on the most cutting-edge
innovations in data science and that analytical reasoning is aptly applied to
solve business problems. <o:p></o:p> 

<h2 style="margin-bottom:0cm">Culture as a Catalyst</h2><o:p></o:p>

Most AI transformations take up to
18-36 months to complete, with larger projects taking a few years. Herein lies
the biggest challenges for most organisations – loss of momentum in the light
of growing cost and negligible results. Address these challenges by targeting
smaller gains in development and enforce adoption by <o:p></o:p>

<ul><li>Incorporating
learnings and pushing aside misgivings – A key focus area for leadership, who
need to walk the talk, steadfast commitment to AI needs to get highlighted even
considering failed experiments. By highlighting what was learned in the pilots
and reiterating the need for more significant data, organisations can rapidly
scale up implementation and adoption efforts</li><li>Making
business accountable and not the analytics team – Analytic teams are simply
owners of AI products. It is the business factions that need to own products
and see them to successful completion. A scorecard that effectively captures
performance metrics is usually an excellent way to align analytics and business
goals.</li><li>Retaining
an eye on With vs Without - Comparing the results of decisions made with and
without AI can encourage employees to embrace the generated reports. For
instance, if on further investigation, executives learn that non-AI-supported
forecasts are typically accurate, say about 50% of the times, that immediately
bolsters the case for relying on something far more tangible than just
intuition.</li></ul><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>

<h2 style="margin-bottom:0cm">Creating a Virtuous Circle</h2><o:p></o:p>

As is evident, successfully
establishing a data-driven culture is the key driver that helps companies scale
from carrying out analytics projects in silos to a fully insight-driven
organization. Given the research, the willingness to act on analytically
derived insights, make decisions, change processes, and adapt behaviours is
best achieved when the organization in its entirety decides to take the leap of
faith and encourage a unanimous move to the future of data-driven business.<o:p></o:p> 

Such actions create a favourable
cycle of events. Interdisciplinary teams bring together the diverse skills and
perspectives needed to build new and practical tools. With time, this leads to
workers absorbing more collaborative and synergistic practices. Their vision expands as they work more closely with colleagues in other functions and geographies. Workforces move from trying to solve discrete problems in their
departments to completely reimagining business and operating models. This
culture shift enables the speed of innovation as the rest of the organization
adopts the test-and-learn approach that successfully drove the pilot AI
initiatives.<o:p></o:p>

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Artificial Intelligence

Culture Shift: An Indispensable Idea to Building an AI-Powered Organization

?The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space... on the infinite highway of the air.? ? Wilbur WrightOne of the most important and well-known mechanical artefacts in the history of mankind is the Wright Brothers 1902 Flyer. The original aircraft can be found hanging in the expansive exhibit gallery of the Smithsonian Institution?s National Air and Space Museum. Suspended in the air, this hand-made wooden assemblage is an awe-striking structure in its own right and is credited with inaugurating the aeronautical age.Men of simple tastes and towering ambition, the Wright Brothers, were skilled where it mattered and resolute in the face of failure. The fragile piece of minimalist engineering that took to the skies almost 120 years ago was no small feat for these bicycle mechanics. With no institution backing them, no masterminds to guide them, and nothing in the way of tangible ideas, the credit for the 1902 Flyer lies solely with their ingenuity and perseverance.From the Dawn of TimeEver since the start of the literary ages, mankind seems to have been predestined to study flight. One scholar in Spain in the year 875 is known to have covered himself with feathers in an attempt to fly. Others devised wings and jumped from rooftops only to meet untimely demises. Leonardo Da Vinci claimed he was preordained to study flight, ever since he saw a kite soaring into his cradle. His studies were considered the most scientific in early history.For the Wright brothers, it began with a toy created by Alphonse Penaud. A little more than a stick with twin propellers and twisted rubber bands, the helicopter was a gift for the boys from their father, Bishop Milton Wright. So enamoured were they with this bit of plaything that Orville would tell his teachers when he was still a little boy that one day, he and his brother would create a machine that would let them fly.The Early DaysBoth Wilbur (born in 1867) and Orville Wright (born in 1871) never completed their high-school degrees. While a conscious decision on their part, foregoing higher degrees did not mean the end of learning for the two. Supplanting what they had learnt in school with a great deal of private study, the boys at a young age had shown that they were far ahead of their peers in almost every subject. As Orville once reflected, ?We were lucky to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interest; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity??Around 1892, when bicycles had become the rage, the Wright Brothers, much like the rest of the country, took to the streets with their newfound passion ? cycling. By 1893, the brothers opened the Wright Cycle Exchange, selling and repairing bicycles and within two years started building their own bikes, available to order. In the summer of 1896, Orville Wright was struck with the dreaded typhoid fever. While nursing the then 25-year-old Orville back to health, Wilbur came across the works of German glider Otto Lilienthal whose published works and stories reignited the brothers dormant passion for taking to the skies.From there, one book at a time - ?Animal Locomotion? to ?Dissertation on Aeronautics?, the brothers consumed it all. On May 30, 1899, almost three years after Orville?s recovery, Wilbur finally felt ready to embark on what many termed a mad man?s gambit.The Wings of BirdsWilbur turned to the Smithsonian?s extensive library of resources for help with their own literary resources exhausted.Within a month of gaining access to even more exhaustive resources, Wilbur felt he was onto something. By now, he had come to the conclusion that the key to successful flight lay in one word - Equilibrium - the difficulty was not to get into the air but to stay there with sufficient control.Wilbur?s observation of birds in flight had convinced him that all avians used their wings to adjust their balance in the air. By varying the tips of their wings so as to present one end at a raised angle and the other at a lowered angle, birds maintain their balance and equilibrium during flight.This was in contrast to what humans had been trying. Past experiments had pilots shifting their weight towards the left or right to control the movement of the aircraft, thereby affecting their stability while in the air.For the Wright brothers, this was their first significant discovery ? Wing Warping, a critical and altogether original advancement towards their goal.Theoretically, with wing warping, a pilot could pull wires to maintain the craft?s equilibrium or bank into a left or right turn, known as roll control. Ailerons, which are control flaps on the trailing edges of the wings, are used today, but the concept was developed by the Wrights and was a crucial component in their patent for the plane.1900By Spring 1900, the brothers were ready to experiment with a manned glider. All they needed was steady winds and sandy beaches, and a remote fishing town on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Kitty Hawk, fit the bill perfectly.In September 1900, they set up their tent in the sandy banks of Kitty Hawk. Initially seen as a couple of eccentrics, they soon had even the humble townsfolk rooting for them. In the words of a long-time resident of the time - the Wrights were the ?two of the workingest boys? ever seen, and in a place where everyone worked hard to make ends meet, their grit and hard work felt right in place and won many a supporter.On October 19, Wilbur made his first manned flight in the engine-less glider, recording flights of 300-400 feet in length and speeds of nearly 30 miles an hour. Now that the glider worked better than anyone else?s had in the past, they felt sufficiently ready to notch things up a bit.1901By July 1901, the brothers were back in Kitty Hawk, with a larger glider and a wing design recommended by Lilienthal. But after days of experiments, most of which were massive failures, they eventually realized that Lilienthal?s calculation on the curvature of the wings was drastically wrong. Verses that their own design from the previous year had more stability and control. So they reverted back to their design, and the new machine, as Wilbur himself wrote, ?never failed to respond properly to even small movements of the rudder?.But for that year, that was the last time luck favoured them. Any more attempts to fly the glider proved to be a failure. With downed spirits and feeling like they had hit the lowest point in their endeavour, the brothers headed back to Dayton.But as with many inventors, the thrill of a new idea ultimately wins, and Wilbur once again began work in earnest. With their former trust in the calculations of those they looked up to shattered, the brothers set out in the autumn of 1901 to crack the code of the aeronautics themselves. By the summer of 1902, the brothers were back in Kitty Hawk with a new and improved glider. Improving the design as they went along, the brothers added a movable back rudder and attached that to the warping of the wings, by way of a hip cradle, much like the use of hips in manoeuvring a bicycle.The new glider performed remarkably well ? it flew better, glided 600 feet in one test and gave the pilot a lot more control in the air. All in all, 1902 ended as a successful testing season. Now all they had to come up with was the motor.1903By 1903 Dayton was firmly in the midst of an industrial revolution. Automobiles had hit the streets. Gasoline pumps were becoming more and more common, and as far as the brothers were concerned, interest in a flying machine was on the rise.In December 1903, the brothers once again headed back to Kitty Hawk, with a glider and an engine in tow. On December 17 1903, the brothers decided to carry out their first tests with the new motor on a freezing cold day. It was Orville?s turn to pilot the new craft. At exactly 10:35, Orville, now positioned on his stomach at the controls, slipped the rope restraining the Flyer, and it slowly headed forward, pushing against a fierce headwind. At the end of the track, the Flyer lifted into the air and stayed afloat for a total of 12 seconds, covering 120 feet. As the Flyer lifted off the ground, Daniels, a long time resident of Kitty Hawk, snapped the shutter in what would become the most historic photograph of the century.At around noon, Wilbur took the aircraft for a fourth test. This time around, he was in the air for 59 seconds and a distance of 852 feet. Their original Flyer never took to the air again after its single day of triumph. It had served its purpose as a proof-of-concept vehicle, and the Wrights moved on to the larger, more durable craft. By 1905, they had substantially improved the design and added a sturdier motor.But not until 1908 did the Wrights begin to receive recognition. Wilbur?s test flight in France won over doubters in public demonstrations that year, while Orville?s in Virginia brought an Army contract. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever on May 30, 1912, at 45. His younger brother died on January 30, 1948, at 76.Today the brothers are survived by more than a museum artefact. They, after all, have set the standard for the problem-solving methodology of modern aeronautics. Never again has the world been the same. What?s remarkable, though, even after more than a century of flight in air and space, the Wrights would find some of the fundamental things very familiar.*This article is inspired by the exceptionally well researched and a New York Times Bestselling book "The Wright Brothers" by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McCullough">David McCullough.</a>

The Wright Brother?s 1903 Flyer

As the NFT trend picks up steam, it's also drawing in curious new buyers and traditional artists who might otherwise have stayed away. 

NFT's: A 101 On Non-Fungible Tokens

If you belong to the group of uninitiated who have been left scratching their heads on the latest cryptocurrency phenomenon, then this space is for you. Here is a complete 101 rundown of everything you need to know about this new trend in intellectual ownership.Lately, everyone seems to have a question about NFT's. The trend seems to have come out of the ether and rocketed to stardom. After the 254-year-old auction house Christie's recently sold Beeple's NFT artwork 'Everydays: The First 1000 Days' for an eyewatering $69.3 million, the NFT marketplace has become hotter than a boiling kettle.Here is the thing, though - unlike the 'Mona Lisa', Beeple's artwork won't be sitting on a collector's physical wall somewhere. It is a 'jpg' file, of course. There is also nothing stopping someone from right-clicking and saving the file to their desktop countless times.It's usually somewhere after this revelation that curiosity turns to a head-scratching, eyebrow-raising 'Huh!' of a moment.But there is certainly some substance to the basic idea, one that goes beyond CyberKitties and wacky Digi-art (don't worry, it's all explained). Here is everything about NFT's and why some of the worlds leading crypto-enthusiasts are hoping to take it mainstream.What is Fungible and Non-Fungible Mean?In Economics, a fungible asset is referred to as something that can be readily exchanged with another product possessing the same properties and an equivalent value. A $20 note can be exchanged for two $10 notes. Similarly, a 4 lb bag of almonds can be exchanged for two 2lb bags of almonds.However, if something is non-fungible, this is impossible - it means it has unique properties, so it cannot be interchanged with something else. It could be a house, the chair you sit on or even the infamous painting of the Mona Lisa, which, as we all know, is one of a kind. You could buy a print of the portrait or even download it innumerable times; however, there is only one original Mona Lisa.So, what are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)?Non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) are unique blockchain-based tokens; in other words, they are essentially a certificate of authenticity. They can be used to represent the genuineness and the ownership of almost anything, including physical assets. Most tokens are stored on Etherums blockchains, but some other blockchains like TRON, Tezos and NEO also support NFTs.By storing it on the blockchain, artists, celebrities and collectors, establish ownership on a publicly held encrypted ledger secured by blockchain's powerful crypto technology which is a proven ownership and authentication enabler. The NFT is coded to contain specific data relating to its creation, transaction history, and associated timestamps.Bear in mind, though, that the same asset can be associated with several NFT's, but they are still "non-fungible," which means they are unique and cannot be interchanged.How do NFTs Work?Since NFT's are used to embody ownership of items, they let us tokenise things like art, collectables, real estate and most recently, diamonds. They can only have one official owner at a time, and they're secured by the blockchain ? no one can modify the record of ownership or copy/paste a new NFT into existence.With the increasing expansion of our digital presence, video games, digital artwork, logos, photos, music, and a lot more has gone electronic over the internet. Data, including spreadsheets, counts as one such asset. As with all digital assets ? we have to navigate through the legal right to use that resource.Enter the idea of NFT: Complement digital assets with the security of cryptocurrency. In essence, a buyer of an NFT gets a digital asset, with proof of authenticity, hacker-proof encryption, plus legal rights over its use, in one transaction.NFT's have essentially become a much-needed gateway, for artists and collectors, to a democratised market for owning, selling, and buying rare assets. For investors, and crypto-enthusiasts its become another way to cash in on the digital currency boom.Where did NFT's come from?NFT's have been around for a few years. In late 2017 CryptoKitties, became the first project to take NFT's mainstream. It essentially allowed people to buy, sell and breed digital cats. From there, NFT's went through multiple iterations in gaming like Kitty Race and Hot Potatoes.Sometime in late 2018-2019, with a decline or perhaps saturation of the interest in the games, NFT's went through another build cycle. <a href="http://nonfungible.com/">NonFungible.com</a> started a tracking platform for NFT markets and actively monitored the trend and their "blue book" - a reference book of value of NFT assets. The website also helped buyers determine whether there was adequate liquidity for the items they were interested in. This helped in the creation of a new asset class- Non-Fungibles.Around this time, the art world took notice, and digital art happened to be the right fit for this new market. The launch of NFT minting platforms made the market a lot more accessible. By 2020, feature-rich platforms like Rarible and Opensea, allowed anyone to mint NFT's at a fraction of a cost. Off late, OpenSea removed the need to pay 'gas cost' to mint them, making NFT creation free for anyone with the right tools.So, NFT's are all about digital art?Not really. NFT's can be used to tokenise any digital object that represents both tangible and intangible items, including -<ul><li>Art (Physical or digital, though digital seems to be more popular)</li><li>Collectables, think NBA and Pokemon Cards</li><li>GIF's</li><li>Video game skins and Avatars</li><li>Designer sneakers</li><li>Videos &amp; Music</li><li>Real Estate</li><li>Jewellery and more </li></ul>Tweets count, too - Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sold his first-ever tweet as an NFT for <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/22/jack-dorsey-sells-his-first-tweet-ever-as-an-nft-for-over-2point9-million.html">more than $2.9 million</a>. So do Diamonds!A Dubai-based company 'Icecap LLC.' recently launched their tokenized "Icecap Collectibles", a collection of NFT-based high-end natural and rare coloured diamonds. Icecap's diamond tokens are traded on the world's largest NFT exchange, OpenSea.io. A buyer can hold the token as an investment, sell the token to liquidate, or redeem the token and take delivery of the physical diamond itself, which can later be re-tokenised if desired.How do I create an NFT?If you decide to go ahead and create your very own digital art/video to auction, then here's what you need to do.1. Select the blockchain that will host the token for your digital asset. As mentioned previously, apart from Ethereum, options include Binance Smart Chain, Tron, Tezos, Polkadot and a few more. Ethereum, by far, is the most popular. Do note that once you mint (create) your NFT on any of the blockchains listed above, it is most likely impossible to transfer them or sell them on other blockchains. Hence, take the time to research the pros and cons of each blockchain's NFT ecosystem.2. Once you decide to go with a blockchain, you will need a wallet that supports NFTs, and an account on that cryptocurrency-focused NFT marketplace. Some examples of wallets that are compatible with Ethereum, for instance, are Metamask, Trust Wallet, and Coinbase.3. Go to one of the marketplaces that support your chosen blockchain ? Opensea.io or Rarible (for Ethereum), and follow the creative prompts. Once you upload your file, click the "Mint NFT" button. Sign your NFT: Your wallet will prompt you to "Sign" the transaction. In the same way that a painter signs a canvas to confirm its authenticity, you can do the same with your wallet.Minting your own NFTs is almost as easy as creating an account and uploading products on any of the traditional online marketplacesHow do I buy NFT?s?If you're keen to start your own NFT collection, you'll need to acquire some essential items:1. First, you'll need to get a digital wallet that allows you to store NFTs and cryptocurrencies. You will obviously need to convert your dollars to a cryptocurrency, depending on what currencies your NFT provider accepts. You can buy crypto using a credit card on platforms like Coinbase, Kraken, eToro and even PayPal and Robinhood. You'll then be able to move it from the exchange to your wallet of choice.2. Once you have your wallet set up and funded, there's no shortage of NFT sites to shop. Currently, the largest NFT marketplaces are - <a href="https://opensea.io/">OpenSea.io</a>, <a href="https://rarible.com/">Rarible</a>, and <a href="https://foundation.app/">Foundation</a>. In marketplaces like 'Foundation', artists must receive "upvotes" to get featured or invite fellow creators to post their art. This makes the community a bit more exclusive.3. The next step is all about opening your wallet (digitally, of course) and spending on what you like*.How do I transfer a NFT?Much like sending Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency, transferring ownership of an NFT requires a blockchain transaction that can be authorised only by the NFT owner's private key. Moving across blockchains is still tricky, so the transaction will have to remain in the original blockchain.Where to from here?As the NFT trend picks up steam, it's also drawing in curious new buyers and traditional artists who might otherwise have stayed away. Sotheby's recently announced its second curated auction of NFT's. Christie's became the first auction house to have sold a purely digital NFT (it did sell a token and a physical painting before that). And a lot of millennials are making this their sole source of income.However, the entire idea of NFT is built on the premise of rarity and bragging rights. As an investment course, the product you own is worth eventually only as much as its demand.At the same time, concerns over environmental impacts, mining and trading cryptocurrencies are taking centre stage. Furthermore, the market of NFT's is directly linked to the popularity of crypto, which has torpedoed to new heights in the last few months. Any pullback in that market could have a spillover effect. Whether all this affects the popularity of NFT, only time will tell.The question then remains - Are NFTs a passing fad?Who knows! But even with no crystal ball in hand, this is for sure - NFT's have opened a very significant gateway in the creative world by helping artists sell their work directly to people who want and appreciate them.That trend is certainly here to stay.* Caveat Emptor - Since NFT's are still relatively new, the marketplace is a bit unregulated, and it may be wise to research thoroughly and give due consideration before investing.

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