IOT – The next BIG Thing

IOT – The next BIG Thing

While you are reading this blog, we are already a part of the next Industrial Revolution because of the way it’s going to change the way we live, play, work and do our businesses etc.

“Internet of Things” is “the next big thing”.

* What is IoT?*

It’s network of physical objects that are connected to the Internet allowing them to send, receive and exchange data.

In the time when human population is increasing manifold, the number of Internet-connected devices has already outnumbered the human population on the earth, that too back in 2008. Cool!

* Examples*

1. Fitbit wristband which monitors your all-day activity – tracks steps, distances, calories burned, sleeping cycle, daily goals; wirelessly sync up with your smartphones and computers.

2. A. R. Rahman’s unbelievable live concert without musical instruments at CES 2016 in Las Vegas. He wore devices containing a tiny hardware unit (Intel Curie), which could sense hand/body gestures, a transit that into mini data, send it as input to software and that software would, in turn, generate music. Intel inside, music outside. Literally!

3. Alexa, an Amazon home product. In a format it can recognize, order take-out food from Domino’s or Pizza Hut, play music, set alarm, ask for weather and traffic updates etc.

It can control several smart devices, using itself as a home automation system.

It’s clear that IoT platform integrates data from many devices, apply analytics to generate valuable data, pass it to the software which results in desired output.

Already in 1982, this concept had started, when at Carnegie Mellon University a Coke Machine became the first Internet-connected appliance. It could report its inventory and tell whether newly loaded drinks were cold.
But it was later in 1999 when this term was coined by Kevin Ashton of Proctor & Gamble.

* Phil of the Future *

1. Smart Homes – Switch on the lights and ACs before reaching home. Switch them off after leaving. Change the wall colors and ambiance using smart light systems (watch Philips Hue ad).
Smart home companies like Nest, Ecobee, Ring, and August etc. are already planning to deliver a never seen before experience for their customers.

2. Internet Refrigerator – Imagine your fridge to order groceries for you, based on their quantity inside. Anything specific or different you wish, write that on its note section, and it will be done.
Hollywood movie “The 6th Day” had a similar scene.

As you can see, this is going way beyond laptops and Smartphone; towards connecting all sort of electronic machines & providing them an ability to think & care for us.

Devices like connected cars, smart cities, connected healthcare, agriculture, and farming are all part of IoT now.
Interestingly a Dutch company makes use of Internet-connected sensors on cattle to tell farmers when the animals are sick or pregnant. Approximately 200 MB of data, that’s what each cow sends per year. Wow!

* Being Humanitarian *

In South Africa’s mining sectors, hundreds of meters deep down, miners are at risk of losing their lives due to various work hazards. Often, the controlling teams don’t even get to know the status of these teams in time.
IoT enables a sensory mechanism that does continuous monitoring and detection of methane levels in mines to improve workplace safety. Rescue operations are invoked at the very first clue of any lack of movement in the mine.

* I know what you did last summer *

With unrestricted boundaries, privacy is at risk than ever before. More the personal information will be accessed by the devices/sensors more would be the chances of its theft or misuse, and more the manufacturers and advertisers will be watching over us like “Big Brother”.

In the end, progress is up to us – let it serve us or let it control us.

Blockchain or Battery !!

Blockchain or Battery !!

I manufacture commercial drones at H Robotics. My biggest constraint is battery power. I watch closely to see if there are new ways to store power. So far, there is alot of research but few real breakthroughs. Elon Musk's Tesla has just announced that they are building the largest lithium storage grid-scale battery in the world in Australia. It will store 129 megawatt hours, which is enough to power 50,000 homes. But, it's not enough. Not by a longshot. One data center in the US can require the same energy as 5m American households use each year. One man was apparently able to create electricity out of nothing - Nikolai Tesla. Tomorrow is his 161st Birthday and we should be asking questions about his "power tower", the Wardenclyffe Tower, because it could light up lightbulbs and transmit power without needing any wires. (One wonders who ordered the destruction of that structure and why). It's the kind of big thinking we need today as we move from an analog to a digital world where more and more is going to stored and managed in the cloud and in the blockchain. Until we can create electricity out of nothing, we are going to need a backup if the power goes out. Batteries and the problem of power storage are not just a technical problem - they are central to the governance of our society.

Why? It is because we are abandoning bits of paper for computer bits and qubits. The next step of digitaisation is to store absolutely everything in the cloud and in the blockchain. Every transaction, every record, every document and every image will all be digitised one way or another. That means society is becoming more dependent on electricity. Transactions, payments, communications, data, analytics, contracts and even relationships can't occur without it. It is reasonable to ask - what happens if electricity stops? There are many reasons it can stop from bad weather to new EMP weapons to the wave of a hand according to Wired Magazine.

My own experience of power loss occured on 911 when I worked in the White House. The power station for lower Manhattan was underneath the World Trade Center. First it was on fire and then it flooded. There was no electricity. But, we had to find a way to power up the New York Stock Exchange to forward the data so that the equity markets could clear. The global equity markets hung in limbo for days, waiting for the US stock market to re-open and clear the trades. In the end, the US Government commandeered a power generator, which was shipped into lower Manhattan, in order to restart the stock market. Who could have imagined that the global financial market could be so vulnerable to the loss of electricity. And yet it was. Today we are placing many more "assets" than stocks into the cloud, where they cannot be accessed without power.

Do we want to become so vulnerable to a single risk? One answer is – batteries. If we want blockchain and a digital society, we need better batteries.

I’ll leave the scary weapons argument for last. Let’s start with the risk that we simply have too many air conditioners on and that blows the power. PG&E, one of America’s largest power companies, just announced that triple digit temperatures have caused a surge on the demand for power to record levels. That’s when systems tend to blow. Blowouts and brownouts have been around for a long time. But, we are now more dependent on less stable sources of energy. Wind and solar are great sources of electricity but the flow is more volatile than oil and gas. So, power outages have a bigger impact.

As we expand the use of data, we increase the need for refrigeration. More data requires more power. Faster processing requires more power. This is why we hear about many data centers being placed in cold locations like the Arctic such as the the Lefdal Mine data center or in deep underground locations like Iron Mountain in Pennsylvania. Google has just acquired all the power produced by the largest solar energy park in the Netherlands, Sunport Delfzijl to power it’s data center in Eemshaven. Ten years ago, one data center used the same amount of power that was required by 5 million US households. There have been efficiency gains since then. But, the amount of data is growing exponentially. It is now estimated that the energy demand by data centers will triple in a decade. The new quantum computers need temperatures need -273 degrees Celsius to operate properly. The crygenic coolers they require take power too.

Meanwhile, urban populations are increasing at a pace that clearly overwhelms existing power infrastructure. But, local blackouts and brownouts are not the core problem. The real issue is a massive failure than cuts off states and nations from the net and all its data. That means computer viruses are a more serious threat than before. The Internet of Things connects our kettles and refrigerators to the net. But, it also connects them to viruses like the Mirai Botnet which “recruited” such devices and used them to launch a massive DNS attack in 2016. That attack briefly shut down all the access to the net on the East coast and then the West coast of the US.

Thankfully the net hasn’t been taken down for long to date. And, thankfully blackouts and brownouts don't last long in most places. But we should also remember that batteries have their limits. They still can’t hold a charge for that long. It’s still hard to move power from the source to a battery. Batteries are still liable to degrade fast in the cold. Battery powered cars can’t go very far if it’s freezing outside. Sadly, Tesla's secret power generating and power storage ideas went to his grave with him.

What about weapons? This is not a silly question in a world where the superpowers spend billions perfecting weapons that can disable all forms of electricity including SATNAV, Wifi, GPS and even batteries. They are called EMP devices. Michael Peck writes in The National Interest that the US is seeking to build a “Munition-Delivered Non-Kinetic Effects (NKE) `weapon” which is the 21st century version of the neutron bomb. It would leave the people alive and the buildings standing but eliminate all forms of electricity and electronic communications. “If the (US) Army has its way, America’s next secret weapon may be an electromagnetic pulse artillery shell that paralyses an enemy city. These special shells won’t carry high explosive. These special shells won’t carry high explosive. Instead, they will emit EMP bursts, or some other non-kinetic technology, to disrupt the computers, radio communications, Internet links and other ties that bind modern societies. And do so without creating any physical damage.”

All this matters in a digital world where more and more of our lives is just an electronic signal. Remember how much of your life will be digital - even your desk!

I am all for the efficiencies digitisation and blockchain will bring, but I just wonder whether we need to be more aware of our vulnerabilities? Better batteries are not just a technical issue. They are perhaps a critical component of governance in civil society as we move into a digital era. Tesla's birthday reminds us that we need to devote more time to insulating our societies from risk as we step into a digital future. We cannot take power or access to it for granted. Ironically, our new high tech world is especially vulnerable to low tech events - like loss of power and having no battery big enough to re-access the cloud and blockchain..

Success has a thousand fathers, while failure is an orphan

Success has a thousand fathers, while failure is an orphan

Any battle-hardened individual will talk about the darkness before the dawn—those make-or-break moments when they could have quit but held on with stunning success. Here are nine ways to stay optimistic when your life hits a speed bump.

1.           Know that you’re probably about to succeed.

Years ago, I read this Chinese saying, “The temptation to give up is the greatest right before you’re about to succeed.”

There’s something magical about the saying. I don’t know if something deep in our subconscious mind realizes we’re about to succeed. But the 11th hour is when the pressure builds and things seem to go wrong; once you hit midnight, things start to go well.

2. Keep a calm head.

I’ve had many dark moments over the years; everyone has. The key is understanding these are essential for building yourself or something significant, like a business.

Nothing grows without a make-or-break moment. Understanding that challenges are part of growth gives you the calmness to handle what might normally be a very stressful time. When problems arise, assemble your dream team of experts to look at the problem and work together to find a solution.

3. Weather the storm.

I’ve experienced many failures, including once being $750,000 in debt.

• First, realize that “this too shall pass.” The tides will rise eventually.
• Then surround yourself with friends, mentors, coaches and people who tell you how it is. Be open to criticism; it’s the only way to develop.
• Build your emotional immune system. Get used to extreme highs and lows. Don’t freak out during a “low low” or overcompensate (i.e. party like it’s Friday) during a “high high.”
• Finally, don’t take yourself seriously. Always ask: “Are you doing something to impact and serve others or serve your own emotions and ego?” It’s harder to quit when people are counting on you.

4. Get over the fear.

Everyone has moments of doubt, fear and anxiety that are usually associated with a big decision: Do I keep going? What I’m doing isn’t working. What if I quit? These questions and feelings are par for the course.

Having built two successful companies in highly competitive markets, I’ve been there more than once. But these three questions have helped me and countless others:

What’s the worst-case scenario if X happens?

• What’s the most likely scenario if I do X?
• What’s the best-case scenario if I do X?

By answering these questions, you quickly understand the “worst-case” scenario (usually death) is highly unlikely. And if the worst case is starting over, know that sometimes you need to fail a few times before you succeed. The most likely scenario is usually the one you have to accept. If you can accept it, take action.

5. Crunch your numbers.

When things start going south, detach emotionally. For example, if you’re struggling financially, examine your finances like a cold assassin.

My company needs $230,000 to $250,000 weekly revenue to break even. If revenue drops or we hit an unexpectedly slow patch, I have a worksheet of things I can cut immediately and additionally over 30 days—consultants, marketing, travel and trade shows, for example.

Soon you’ll realize something: In every crisis, there’s opportunity. Keep your eyes peeled on the positives you can control. Maybe there’s a benefit you can leverage to your advantage; for example, a client might owe you thousands in unpaid invoices but leave you with people or inventory to work with.

There’s a lesson in growth to be found amidst all the number-crunching. Use that lesson to move yourself to the next level.

6. Communicate.

Being a cheerleader during thriving times is easy. But staying optimistic and finding small wins to celebrate during struggling periods is both vital and valuable.

Don’t pretend everything is fine. People are smart. They know when you’re not winning. In my business, we communicate strategy and team goals more than ever during tough times—holding a monthly company-wide meeting, for example. We celebrate small wins along the way and take ownership of mistakes. Finally, expect the old saying to be true: “Success has a thousand fathers, while failure is an orphan.”

7. Put things into perspective.

Seventy-one percent of the world's population lives on less than $10 a day. When I consider facts like this, it provides perspective and allows me to appreciate the challenges before me with a sense of gratitude. This levity and thankfulness has a way of leading me to empowering outcomes and solutions.

8. Use grace under pressure.

At a crossroads in life, I invested in some very expensive mastermind training. I knew that I had to either grow or go into debt, but if I was willing to do more than the guy next to me, I could make it. With a young family depending on me, I knew it was a make-or-break moment and that I had to make it, despite the risk. Having that accountability made quitting not an option—the stakes were too high.

When you have to jump into the unknown, you tend to make it. The people who don’t make it usually fail because they’ve got too much of a safety net.

9. Stay true to the vision.

Undeniable certainty in your vision and purpose is the only way you will break through those difficult, overwhelming, desperate times.

If what you see for yourself is stronger than what’s really happening out there (the outer vision), you’ll succeed. If what you say to yourself is stronger than what people are saying about you (the outer voices), you’ll overcome the difficult times.