Info For Use: IRAI Oct 2021

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Thursday, 21 October 2021

Interesting Reads And Information -- IRAI -- 211021

Articles

Cybersecurity Jobs: Opportunities, Skills to Acquire, and Learning Resources

Cybersecurity space is growing as there is a dire need to protect organizations from online attacks and keep their systems, network, data, and digital assets safe.

According to Gartner, the global cybersecurity market is expected to grow at 8.5% CAGR to reach US$170.4 billion at the end of 2022.

That said, more and more businesses are moving online, especially after the covid-19 breakout. It has created a broader attack surface, and the organizations that do not implement cr33rsafe protection mechanisms are being targeted the most.

All the sectors are in danger, and the demand for cybersecurity professionals has increased to secure organizations’ data, finances, and reputations from online attacks.

This is why many cybersecurity jobs are available now in companies of all scales, ranging from start-ups and SMBs to big enterprises. The cybersecurity field is flourishing, and you have so many opportunities to grab if you have skills.

This article will discuss some high-paying cybersecurity jobs, where to find them, and how to prepare for them.

https://geekflare.com/cybersecurity-jobs-and-learning-resources/

How to get a job during COVID-19: 9 smart tips

If you're job hunting during the COVID-19 pandemic, you need practical strategies. Consider this expert advice from recruiters and hiring managers

https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2020/8/how-get-job-during-covid-19-9-tips

How to Not Lose Your Job to Low-Code Software

This article shows you the low-code pinch points for software engineers and how to avoid them.

Key takeaways:

The uptake of low code software is so strong that it will almost certainly make its way into your organization.

Most software engineers working in larger enterprises shouldn’t be concerned about this because they are good at the things that low code software is not yet good at.

The key to surviving and thriving during this change is ensuring that your role encompasses responsibilities that low code can’t do yet.

If your role is solely focussed on activities that low code software can perform you are at risk of being caught in a pinch point.

Examples of pinch points include app/integration roles in small companies or small teams, and app developers working for app development companies.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/lose-job-low-code/

Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century

Back in the 1990s, computer engineer and Wall Street “quant” were the hot occupations in business. Today data scientists are the hires firms are competing to make. As companies wrestle with unprecedented volumes and types of information, demand for these experts has raced well ahead of supply. Indeed, Greylock Partners, the VC firm that backed Facebook and LinkedIn, is so worried about the shortage of data scientists that it has a recruiting team dedicated to channeling them to the businesses in its portfolio.

Data scientists are the key to realizing the opportunities presented by big data. They bring structure to it, find compelling patterns in it, and advise executives on the implications for products, processes, and decisions. They find the story buried in the data and communicate it. And they don’t just deliver reports: They get at the questions at the heart of problems and devise creative approaches to them. One data scientist who was studying a fraud problem, for example, realized it was analogous to a type of DNA sequencing problem. Bringing those disparate worlds together, he crafted a solution that dramatically reduced fraud losses.

In this year 2012 article, Harvard Business School’s Davenport and Greylock’s Patil take a deep dive on what organizations need to know about data scientists: where to look for them, how to attract and develop them, and how to spot a great one.

https://hbr.org/2012/10/data-scientist-the-sexiest-job-of-the-21st-century

Private vs. Public Blockchains for Enterprise Business Solutions

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of using blockchain for business solutions, describing the differences between public and private versions of this technology in practice. We’ll also talk about a new type of chain — a hybrid of private and public chains which takes the benefits of both to create a truly versatile platform with no compromises.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/enterprise-private-public-blockchains

2021 State of Testing Report: Testing Careers, Covid-19, Agile, Coaching & Training, Automation

The 2021 State of Testing report provides insights into the adoption of test techniques, practices, and test automation, and the challenges that testers are facing. Key topics from this report are testing careers, the impact of Covid-19, agile, DevOps and other methodologies, testing coaching & training, and automation and scripting.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/2021-state-testing-report

Enhance Your Testing Strategy with Mind Map-Driven Testing

Mind map-driven testing can enable testers to focus on test idea generation, it exposes you to your thinking and enables you to brainstorm and organize your ideas effectively. This article shares ideas and knowledge about mind maps and shows how they can be used as lean documents to plan, organize, record, present, and report on testing.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/mindmap-driven-testing

Software Testing in the World of Next-Gen Technologies

The introduction of next-gen technologies like AI, Big Data, Robotics and IoT have quickly redefined the way the world looks at software technology. Some of the biggest impacts of these changing trends can be seen in the software testing industry. This article discusses how these emerging technologies need some new approaches, and changes to existing approaches to software testing.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/testing-next-gen

Low-Code Platforms and the Rise of the Community Developer: Lots of Solutions, or Lots of Problems?

Low-code platforms are the hottest enterprise software category right now. With the current level of investment, it is hard to imagine a future that doesn’t feature lots of bespoke business apps being built by non-IT staff for use by their teams. Visibility of low code solutions is the key to managing risk.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/low-code-community-developer

Building Reliable Software Systems with Chaos Engineering

Advances in large-scale, distributed software systems are changing the game for software engineering. As an industry, we are quick to adopt practices that improve flexibility and improve feature velocity. If we can move quickly, can we do so without breaking things? Chaos Engineering practices can be used to navigate complexity and build more reliable systems.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/reliable-systems-chaos-engineering

The Future of Data Engineering

Chris Riccomini examines the current and future states of the art in data pipelines, data streaming, and data warehousing. He presents a six-stage evolution that data ecosystems follow, from a simple monolith to a complex data-microwarehouse architecture as the data engineers who manage them solve problems and clarify their roles as infrastructure engineers, rather than data stewards.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/future-data-engineering-riccomini

Is Artificial Intelligence Taking over DevOps?

For many developers, predicting what’s next in DevOps has become something of a favorite pastime. We’ve seen our industry change rapidly in just the last decade, and in that same period the programmer’s role has also changed fundamentally.

In fact, and particularly among those developers of (shall we say) a particular age, it might seem as though the role of the “traditional” developer no longer exists. Rather than the traditional software development life cycle – in which software is planned, built, and then released – many of us now work in multi-disciplinary teams in which development and operations exist side-by-side, and are increasingly indistinguishable.

That model has become known as DevOps, but only recently. And it only took a few years (or months?) for DevOps itself to start changing and adapting. Now, we are adrift in a sea of acronyms (including the more recent DevSecOps) that denote a slightly different way of working, and each a slightly different view of the future.

Among the most recent of these is AIOps. In this vision, AI tools are slowly replacing the role of the developer – just as DevOps did before – and will eventually supplant DevOps entirely.

Assessing whether that prediction is true is tricky, but in this article we will try nonetheless. We’ll look at what AI promises to do for the development process, assess whether it can really ever take over from human developers, and then look at what DevOps is likely to look like in a decades’ time.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/ai-devops-takeover/

Is Artificial Intelligence Closer to Common Sense?

Intelligent agents lack the common-sense knowledge they need to reason about the world. Traditionally, there have been two unsuccessful approaches to getting computers to reason about the world—symbolic logic and deep learning. A new project, called COMET, tries to bring these two approaches together. Although it has not yet succeeded, it offers the possibility of progress.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/AI-Closer-Common-Sense

Understanding IP Address: An Introduction Guide

Every device connected to the internet or local network has an IP address.

Yes, even your smartphone, smart TV, and smart speakers have it. You might have heard about IP addresses, and you may have also seen how they look – those series of numbers separated by dots or colons.

An IP address is an address to which the information you request from the internet arrives.

For example, when you search for your favorite movie on the internet, the search engine takes a while to load the results and show them to you on the screen. A lot goes in the back that you can’t see. Without your IP address, your request will land nowhere.

That’s how important an IP address is.

So, let’s understand IP addresses in detail and some key information associated with them.

https://geekflare.com/understanding-ip-address/

Introduction to Green Computing for A Sustainable Future

Green computing is an environment-friendly approach to computing. It involves using computers, computing devices, and IT resources with minimal power and disposing of parts appropriately to protect our environment.

There’s so much to add to this, but I’ll save it for the next section.

For starters, let’s understand why we are talking about green computing.

Have you seen Leonardo di Caprio raising his voice on climate change and environmental conservation? If not, check his Instagram profile.

Like him, thousands of people are concerned about the same issues as water level begins to rise, glaciers melting, natural calamities like hurricanes and Tsunamis endangering lives, forests fires spreading, the ozone layer depleting, and the list is never-ending.

All these are the devastating effects of climate change and environmental degradation. Human activities are exhausting natural resources, emitting greenhouse gases, cutting down forests, and polluting land, water, and air.

That said, computers are part and parcel of our everyday lives, from children to the elderly. But they are also harmful to the environment from their manufacturing to usage and disposal. They consume lots of energy and emit carbon dioxide, and if you don’t dispose of them properly or recycle them, they cause pollution.

This is where Green computing green IT comes into the picture. It is an effort to reduce or limit the harmful impacts of computing and implementing eco-friendly means on everyday usage.

In this article, I’ll discuss green computing in detail, cover the challenges and benefits, and how you can implement green computing even at an individual level.

https://geekflare.com/green-computing-for-sustainable-future/

Blockchain Technology: A Guide for Beginners

Blockchain technology is still a mystery to a majority of people. Some find it exciting, and some find it intimidating, while others don’t have a clue about it.

And I get that since it’s still in the early development stage, and there’s so much to learn and implement.

This article aims to introduce you to the basics of blockchain technology, how it works, and its application.

For starters, imagine how easy life can become if you could send money to your family, staying thousands of miles away, in minutes without paying hefty banking fees.

Now, think about having complete control of your money without requiring any permission from your bank to view or transfer it. And you could store your money digitally in a wallet without a bank governing it.

All of these are not dreams; they are possible with blockchain that offers a lot of capabilities and advantages. This is the reason why people are interested in learning blockchain and embracing it. It’s also estimated that corporate investment in blockchain is likely to reach US$12.4 billion by 2022.

But what exactly is blockchain?

Let’s find out!

https://geekflare.com/finance/blockchain-technology-for-beginners/

Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering is a transdisciplinary and integrative approach to enable the successful realization, use, and retirement of engineered systems, using systems principles and concepts, and scientific, technological, and management methods.

We use the terms “engineering” and “engineered” in their widest sense: “the action of working artfully to bring something about”. “Engineered systems” may be composed of any or all of people, products, services, information, processes, and natural elements.

You will learn more at this site by visiting pages referred in the navigation bar

https://www.incose.org/about-systems-engineering/system-and-se-definition/systems-engineering-definition

Do You Think Like a Lawyer, a Scientist, or an Engineer?

Law, science, and engineering offer three distinct approaches to logical thinking. Each is important in different circumstances, and in practice, we can use all three. How much understanding and control do you have of a situation? Do you simply need to follow the rules? Are you operating in a world of uncertainty and volatility? Or are you building and defining the rules as you go along?

https://www.infoq.com/articles/think-lawyer-scientist-engineer

Top predictions for IT organizations and users in 2022 and beyond: Gartner

Gartner analysts presented the top 10 strategic predictions during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo Americas, taking place virtually during Oct 18-21, 2021

Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2022 and beyond. Gartner’s top predictions explore three aspects of the lessons that business and IT leaders have learned during ongoing disruption and uncertainty – the push toward human centricity, the race to resilience and the ability to reach beyond expectations.

https://www.dqindia.com/top-predictions-for-it-organizations-and-users-in-2022-and-beyond-gartner/

Digital transformation is changing. Here's what comes next

IT leaders are in a strong position after digital initiatives saved many businesses. But now, what businesses are asking for is evolving again.

After years of being promoted, piloted and implemented with varying degrees of urgency and success in organizations, digital transformation enabled a rapid pivot to remote working and put the digitization of business processes, including customer and employee experience (CX and EX), to a serious stress test.

In this article, we'll examine where digital transformation is likely to go next.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/digital-transformation-is-changing-heres-what-comes-next

Take Action -- OA 2020 -- Open Access 2020

The Open Access movement has made many laudable efforts over the past 20 years, but progress is slow and we are still decades away from achieving the envisioned open information environment. Worse, even while new OA strategies make headway, the largest traditional publishers are fortifying their paywalls and extracting booming revenues through annual subscription price increases and hybrid publishing (double-dipping). In order to finally make open access the default in scholarly publishing, we need to take collective action and divest of subscriptions, in order to invest in Open Access.

https://oa2020.org/take-action/

UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science

At the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, 193 Members States tasked the Organization with the development of an international standard-setting instrument on Open Science in the form of a UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science to be adopted by Member States in 2021.

https://en.unesco.org/science-sustainable-future/open-science/recommendation

We are ignoring the true cost of water-guzzling data centres

The 1960s ushered in a new age of processing digital information, driven by the intelligence needs of the cold war. Moore’s law meant microchips doubled in speed every two years, shrinking costs and miniaturising machines that once filled entire rooms. Today, the smartphone probably being used to read this article is millions of times more powerful than the computer that landed the Apollo missions on the moon.

While those huge supercomputers have disappeared, the proliferation of the cloud and the internet of things, with everything down to our socks being able to connect to the internet, means more and more computer processors that need to communicate with data centres around the world. Even something as simple as scrolling down on this article triggers communications that may eventually pass through a distant data centre.

Data centres can range in size from small cabinets through to vast “hyperscale” warehouses the size of stadiums. Inside, are computers called servers which support the software, apps and websites we use every day.

As of the end of 2020, 597 hyperscale data centres were in operation (39% in the US, 10% in China, 6% Japan), up by almost 50% since 2015. Amazon, Google and Microsoft account for more than half of these and a further 219 are in various stages of planning.

Data centre water demand is more complicated than the carbon footprint. Reaching zero carbon is a reasonable goal, but zero-water is not necessarily the right choice. Consumption goals need more context.

https://theconversation.com/we-are-ignoring-the-true-cost-of-water-guzzling-data-centres-167750

What Would Happen If All Internal Combustion Engines Were Banned This Year?

Your life could be changed forever.

Imagine a world where internal combustion engines (ICEs) have been completely banned. However, not in 10, 20, or even 30 years, but a single year from now.

It's an aggressive policy to be sure, but it would certainly expedite a reduction in fossil fuels and, perhaps, help us better meet our climate targets. Or so we can imagine.

But what would happen if we banned internal combustion engines this quickly? How would this move play out in reality, and what obstacles would we have to overcome. To answer these questions, we need to have a comprehensive understanding of the exact role this technology has in our world and understand, at least somewhat comprehensively, how many technologies, goods, and services that humans depend on (or at the very least, desire) in their daily life that, in turn, depend on it.

This article is food for thought, especially if we will need to find some way to severely curtail our use of fossil fuels in the near future.

While not an impossibility to eliminate all ICEs, a realistic and well-managed conversion of critical parts of our infrastructure will need to be addressed in order to avoid a catastrophic outcome.

If we are to make grand changes, like removing internal combustion engines completely from our infrastructure, then it must be done intelligently and with consideration and planning, to cause the minimum amount of disruption to the system as a whole.

https://interestingengineering.com/what-if-all-internal-combustion-engines-were-banned-this-year

Viruses are both the villains and heroes of life as we know it

Viruses have a bad reputation. They are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic and a long list of maladies that have plagued humanity since time immemorial. Is there anything to celebrate about them?

Many biologists like me believe there is, at least for one specific type of virus – namely, bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria. When the DNA of these viruses is captured by a cell, it may contain instructions that enable that cell to perform new tricks.

The mighty power of bacterial viruses Bacteriophages, or phages for short, keep bacterial populations in check, both on land and at sea. They kill up to 40% of the oceans’ bacteria every day, helping control bacterial blooms and redistribution of organic matter.

Bacteriophages are viruses that kill specific types of bacteria.

Their ability to selectively kill bacteria also has medical doctors excited. Natural and engineered phages have been successfully used to treat bacterial infections that do not respond to antibiotics.

https://theconversation.com/viruses-are-both-the-villains-and-heroes-of-life-as-we-know-it-169131

Mental Health App Guide

Recent estimates suggest that anywhere between 10,000 and 150,000 mental health apps exist today. So with such a huge number of apps to choose from – how do we separate the good from the bad? We’re here to help. One Mind PsyberGuide provides unbiased reviews of mental health apps to help you choose the app that’s right for you. Start on our App Guide, where you can filter apps based on the conditions and treatment types you’re interested in.

https://onemindpsyberguide.org/apps/

eBook: Software Engineering at Google: Practices, Tools, Values, and Culture

The book Software Engineering at Google provides insights into the practices and tools used at Google to develop and maintain software with respect to time, scale, and the tradeoffs that all engineers make in development. It also explores the engineering values and the culture that’s based on them, emphasizing the main differences between programming and software engineering.

https://www.infoq.com/articles/software-engineering-google

Download the book from https://abseil.io/resources/swe-book

The InfoQ eMag - Becoming a Technical Leader

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch

Leadership is a set of competencies that can be learned. A search online will present lists of the top N traits of leaders (where N is any number from 5 to 101!)

Commonly these lists include things like honesty, integrity, confidence, communication, decision-making, empathy, focus, enthusiasm, loyalty and decisiveness. Some of these aspects can be considered personality traits but all of them can be learned and strengthened through self-discipline and deliberate intent. Effective leadership has always been a key factor for organisational success, and this remains the case in modern tech-heavy orgainsations.

Traditionally these are not competencies that are heavily emphasized in technology education programs, yet consistently the factors that influence career and organisational success are not how well your product works but how well your teams work together, how well they respond to your customers and how well they are led.

For this eMag, we’ve pulled together six articles from the InfoQ content that explore different aspects of what it takes to lead effectively in the technical world.

https://www.infoq.com/minibooks/becoming-technical-leader

eBook: Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options

Data science is emerging as a field that is revolutionizing science and industries alike. Work across nearly all domains is becoming more data driven, affecting both the jobs that are available and the skills that are required. As more data and ways of analyzing them become available, more aspects of the economy, society, and daily life will become dependent on data. It is imperative that educators, administrators, and students begin today to consider how to best prepare for and keep pace with this data-driven era of tomorrow. Undergraduate teaching, in particular, offers a critical link in offering more data science exposure to students and expanding the supply of data science talent.

Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options offers a vision for the emerging discipline of data science at the undergraduate level. This report outlines some considerations and approaches for academic institutions and others in the broader data science communities to help guide the ongoing transformation of this field.

https://www.nap.edu/cart/download.cgi?record_id=25104

Videos: 7 TED Talks for job hunters

Job hunters, stop stressing and start learning: These TED talks will help you navigate challenges and win that role

https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2019/4/job-hunt-7-ted-talks

IRAI Quiz -- 211021

1. What is the name of Google's own phone hardware -- the new system-on-chip?

2. Expand: dApp

3. Which month of the year is observed as National Cyber Security Awareness Month?

4. ----- is touted as the Twitter's Indian alternative

5. ----------------------- are facilities set up for making delivery-only meals

6 BATX Companies include: Chinese firms Baidu, Alibaba, --------------, and Xiaomi

7. Kubernetes manages small units of software called or known as -------------

8. ---------- is the first feature film (of duration 35 to 40 min) shot in the orbit by Russian actor Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko by traveling to International Space Station (ISS) in a Soyuz MS-19 aircraft.

9. --------------- is the first and only (to date) malaria vaccine to get the WHO’s backing on 6th Oct 2021.

10. What is common to these: Dice, Whitetruffle, Tech Fetch, AngelList, F6S

Forthcoming Events

23rd Oct 2021 at 6 pm IST. Webinar on "Best Practices for Commercially Successful Patents" by Dr. Madhan Kumar Srinivasan, Associate Vice President & Lead – Cloud AI & Patents, myWizard AI, Accenture Innovation Hub, Bengaluru, Advisory Board Member, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK & Founder Member, Cloud Computing Innovation Council of India (CCICI). Register at https://bit.ly/2Xy1byx

Other events in Oct 2021: https://bit.ly/3hV8Z4c

13th Nov 2021 at 6 pm IST. Webinar on "The Future of Mobility: Convergence of Electric, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles" by Dr. Shankar Venugopal, Vice President, Technology Innovation, Mahindra & Mahindra & Mr. S. Ramachandran, Lead for Manufacturing and Engineering, Infosys Knowledge Institute. Register at https://bit.ly/3iI0E4p

27th Nov 2021 at 6 pm IST. Webinar on "IPv6 Migration: Need, Issues and Process" by Dr. Mohit P Tahiliani, Asst. Prof. Dept. of CSE, NITK Surathkal, Ms. Nalini Elkins, President, INTC, CEO, Inside Products, Inc., & Mr. Dhruv Dhody, President, IIESoc. Register at https://bit.ly/3BqYvl2

Other events in Nov 2021: https://bit.ly/3mnU4kG

Call for Papers: Research Scholars’ Colloquium 2021 (RSC'21) on "Intelligent and Smart Systems". This Research & Industry Symposium is being organised on 3rd Dec 2021 in honour of Shri. F. C. Kohli, Father of Indian Software Industry by SSN College of Engineering in association with ACM, CSI & IEEE CS Chennai Chapters.

Paper Submission Deadline: 22nd Oct 2021

For more details pl visit https://sites.google.com/ssn.edu.in/rsc21/

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For Answers to IRAI -- 211021, pl visit

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Monday, 11 October 2021

Interesting Reads And Information -- IRAI -- 211011

Articles

10 job boards designed for tech professionals

The job market has been moving and shaking since COVID-19 began. It's a job seeker's market, and these 10 websites specialize in matching tech professionals with the companies that want them.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-job-boards-designed-for-tech-professionals

Cybersecurity jobs: Why so few women?

The percentage of women in cyberspace is extremely low currently. TeamLease Services co-founder & executive VP, Rituparna Chakraborty, said India’s cybersecurity industry is growing fast and the demand for skilled workers in this space has risen accordingly. But, she said, the forecast that has been made for women is only around 11% of the sector’s workforce by 2025.

https://ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/cybersecurity-jobs-why-so-few-women/86574813

How to nail a programming job interview in 2021

Coding interviews are an integral part of the Software Engineering hiring process. These interviews are great for evaluating how deep problem-solving skills one possesses. The assignments that are part of this screening process allow interviewers to assess your level of understanding of the associated topic as well.

It is highly necessary to prepare yourself well for these technical interviews, as the selection of a candidate completely relies on his/her performance during these interviews.

We will now go through a few quintessential questions to answer how you can nail your next coding interview!

https://content.techgig.com/how-to-nail-a-programming-job-interview-in-2021/articleshow/86232871.cms

10 ways the pandemic changed digital transformation

The pandemic has brought lasting changes to how companies do business. Here are 10 important ways in which COVID-19 affected digital transformation initiatives.

https://searchcio.techtarget.com/tip/10-ways-the-pandemic-changed-digital-transformation

IT for Change: Annual Report for 2020-2021

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to trigger a global reckoning of our current economic, social, and political paradigms, our work this year has focused on conceptualizing and demonstrating what agile digital systems that are meaningful and empowering for individuals, communities, and public institutions can look like.

Towards this goal, IT for Change’s approach has reflected the symbiotic relationship between global and local engagement, through research, advocacy, and demonstration projects. We feel emboldened that our work has gained considerable affirmation.

In the past year, we have grappled with the meaning of digital justice activism at a time like this — when networked individualism threatens the very fabric of society and its institutions as we know them. We see the urgent need to re-articulate human rights through a post-liberal framework, in order to re-instate the collective social.

As we look ahead into the coming year, we hope to confront these challenges head on, standing steadfast on the strength of our beliefs and the solidarity of our allies in our vision for a better world.

We invite you to engage further with our annual report and learn about our work and its impact under specific focus areas on Gender Justice in the Digital Society, Digital Economy and Data Governance, Democratizing Digital Justice, ICTs and Education, and our Prakriye Field Center.

https://itforchange.net/Annual-Report/2020-21/

Active learning: “Hands-on” meets “minds-on”

Widespread disruptions to schooling spurred by COVID-19 have amplified long-standing discussions about what high-quality teaching and learning can be. Growing bodies of research and practice, from early childhood to university classrooms and beyond, demonstrate the benefits of moving beyond traditional lecture-driven approaches in favor of “active learning.” Such approaches put students more in the driver’s seat through discussions, in-class questions, and feedback; interactive technologies; and other strategies to engage learners and deepen understanding. Beyond cognitive and academic benefits, active-learning approaches can also provide socioemotional support, particularly for students who may not feel at home in or supported by traditional passive learning. But there is no single active-learning approach. Instead, as the experts below describe, we see a rich and developing portfolio of methods and ideas supporting different ways to produce more effective learning. —Brad Wible

https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.abj9957?et_rid=33789630

25 Essential eLearning Statistics You Should Know in 2021

Today, most lessons happen online in global classrooms, so traditional learning methods with blackboards and chalks can soon become things of the past. That said, it comes as no surprise that elearning has been a big hit over the last couple of years, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic when more and more kids are forced to stay home.

These elearning statistics will show the impact the Internet and elearning have had until now and will have over the next couple of years.

https://seedscientific.com/elearning-statistics/

Amazon’s new mobile shopping feature makes gifting convenient

Send gifts to friends with only their email or mobile number—no delivery address needed.

We’ve all missed that opportunity to send a friend or loved one a gift because we didn’t have their address. Or maybe we wanted to spare them the hassle of returning a gift if it wasn’t quite what they wanted.

Amazon just launched a new feature that allows Prime members to instantly send gifts from their mobile devices, simply by providing the recipient’s email or mobile phone number.

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazons-new-mobile-shopping-feature-makes-gifting-convenient

Digital financial inclusion: next frontiers—challenges and opportunities

Article from CSI Transactions on ICT Jun 2021 issue

India’s Financial Inclusion journey has been phenomenal in the last decade and expressly promoted by the Government of India through their Digital India Movement & Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Reduction of poverty and addressing the challenges of ensuring sustainable income could become a key factor to achieve an inclusive society. Information and Communication Technology are providing access to unbanked population progressively and helping to bring them into the banking segment. Digital Technologies are driving usage and making a positive impact on livelihood of citizens. In this paper we are discussing on what is achieved in Financial Inclusion so far and what next and how do we leverage and harness digital technologies to achieve an inclusive society. This paper enlists various challenges that continue to prevail in achieving an inclusive society. We have put forth recommendations on addressing the key challenges and qualified the importance of collaboration and transparency between all the key stakeholders to achieve an inclusive ecosystem.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40012-021-00328-5

What is an intrusion detection system (IDS)?

An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a system that monitors network traffic for suspicious activity and alerts when such activity is discovered.

While anomaly detection and reporting are the primary functions of an IDS, some intrusion detection systems are capable of taking actions when malicious activity or anomalous traffic is detected, including blocking traffic sent from suspicious Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

An IDS can be contrasted with an intrusion prevention system (IPS), which monitors network packets for potentially damaging network traffic, like an IDS, but has the primary goal of preventing threats once detected, as opposed to primarily detecting and recording threats.

https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/intrusion-detection-system?

What is Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)

An intrusion prevention system (IPS) is a network security and threat prevention tool. The idea behind intrusion prevention is to create a preemptive approach to network security so potential threats can be identified and responded to swiftly. Intrusion prevention systems are thereby used to examine network traffic flows in order to find malicious software and to prevent vulnerability exploits.

An IPS is used to identify malicious activity, record detected threats, report detected threats and take preventative action to stop a threat from doing damage. An IPS tool can be used to continually monitor a network in real time.

Intrusion prevention is a threat detection method that can be utilized in a security environment by system and security administrators. These tools are useful for systems as a prevention action for observed events. In addition, with many potential ways that suspicious activity can occur, it is important to have a plan in place for detecting potential attacks.

An intrusion prevention system is made to expand on the base capabilities found in intrusion detection systems (IDSes).

https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/intrusion-prevention

17 free cybersecurity tools you should know about

Cybersecurity products can get pricy but there are many excellent open source tools to help secure your systems and data. Here's a list of some of the most popular with cyber pros.

Cybersecurity tools aren't just for the enterprise anymore; they're essential for every type and size of organization.

Effective products, coupled with in-depth cybersecurity planning, are a must for all, since bad actors are no longer just going after the big fish. Whether businesses have an in-house security team or outsource these services, every entity needs cybersecurity pros to discover and fix any points of weakness in computer systems. This reality can tax the bottom line, but luckily there are an array of free cybersecurity tools available.

Here is a rundown of some of the free tools cybersecurity professionals use every day to identify vulnerabilities.

https://whatis.techtarget.com/feature/17-free-cybersecurity-tools-you-should-know-about

Library vs. framework: How these software artifacts differ

Libraries are low-level components that deliver a specific function, such as establishing a network connection. A framework is a known programing environment, such as Spring Boot.

When a software lead sets out to build a new enterprise application, they must decide which set of libraries and frameworks they want to use. This begs an obvious question: What is the difference between a software library and a framework?

Both a library and a software framework aid in the development of applications. But they key differences between the two relate to the scope of their mandate, and the manner in which they relieve the burden placed on the developer to write code.

Libraries provide components, classes and methods that developers can invoke to perform a specific function. In contrast, a framework provides code that already performs commonly required functions and invokes code provided by a developer when custom functionality is required.

https://www.theserverside.com/tip/Library-vs-framework-How-these-software-artifacts-differ

10 microservices patterns all architects should know

Choosing the right design pattern is a critical part of managing a microservices-based architecture. Here are 10 distributed design approaches that all architects should know.

Architects and their development teams will undoubtedly encounter frustrating obstacles once they implement a microservices-based architecture. While the benefits of modularity and deployment flexibility are undeniable, the cost is increased complexity when it comes to service discovery, registration, front-to-back-end integration, architecture resiliency and legacy migration.

As microservices have matured, developers have managed to create architectural design patterns that specifically target these not-so-simple issues. While they won't necessarily use every single one, architects should at least familiarize themselves with the patterns to better understand which design approach will best suit their development and application performance needs.

Let's look at 10 patterns all architects should know and understand no matter where they are in their journey toward a microservices-based architecture.

https://searchapparchitecture.techtarget.com/feature/10-microservices-patterns-all-architects-should-know

Magic Quadrant for Multiexperience Development Platforms (includes NoCode-LowCode platforms)

Multiexperience development platforms provide software engineering teams with a productive way to create rich, interconnected user experiences across web, mobile, conversational, digital twin, IoT and AR applications. This research evaluates MXDP vendors based on their vision and execution.

Some MXDP vendor offerings overlap with the low-code application platform (LCAP) market. While most MXDPs do support low-code methods to help improve developer productivity, low-code-oriented MXDPs must also support more technical development tools and custom coding. Low-code development is not the primary purpose of MXDPs. Rather, they are designed to help software engineers to create apps that, with their sophisticated user experience, allow people to use the devices, touchpoints and interaction modalities they prefer while having a consistent, seamless experience as they transition between them. All MXDPs must meet the above definition and provide the requisite capabilities, regardless of whether they use low-code development approaches.

https://www.gartner.com/doc/reprints?id=1-26YW1SSB&ct=210729&st=sb

How Much Data Is Created Every Day? [27 Staggering Stats]

“Data is the new oil” is perhaps one of the most popular catchphrases highlighting the importance of data. The metaphor is, admittedly, a bit inaccurate, but it paints a picture of our collective online footprint concerning the global economy and our digital lifestyle.

But how much data is created every day? Frankly, there is no definitive answer to this basic question. The Googles, Amazons, and Facebooks of the world could not keep count even if they wanted to.

Luckily, we can advance our knowledge of the data-driven world with the fascinating statistics and facts below.

https://seedscientific.com/how-much-data-is-created-every-day/

Human Data Interaction (HDI): The New Information Frontier

After more than 40 years in the field, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is already a well-established design discipline. Now, the pervasiveness of big data, new data collection and interaction techniques is giving rise to a new but related discipline: Human Data Interaction (HDI). This is likely to be a field with major new opportunities for designers and analysts in the coming decades.

Human Data Interaction, until recently, has been as prosaic as the data itself; small sets of data which were manipulated for specific purposes. With the advent of massive databases and new tools with which to collect, manipulate and analyse data there is a need to examine these interactions in greater detail.

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/human-data-interaction-hdi-the-new-information-frontier

The Building Blocks of Visual Design

Visual design is about creating and making the general aesthetics of a product consistent. To create the aesthetic style of a website or app, we work with fundamental elements of visual design, arranging them according to principles of design. These elements and principles together form the building blocks of visual design, and a firm understanding of them is crucial in creating a visual design of any product.

Here, we’ll introduce you to the elements of visual design: line, shape, negative/white space, volume, value, colour and texture. While a close examination of each element is usually not necessary in your daily work as a designer, the principles of design — how to place the elements together to build pages and app screens optimally — play a crucial part in your role. Learning how to achieve unity, gestalt, hierarchy, balance, contrast, scale, dominance, and similarity will reward you time and again. Here, we will also show you how you should consider placing these indispensable visual elements to make the maximum impact. So, let’s begin.

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-building-blocks-of-visual-design

The power of white space

We want to show you a tool so vital that it may amaze you as a designer. It’s as underrated as silence between musical notes. However, it’s powerful enough to mean keeping people on your page – survival, in other words.

Many elements form the layout and structure of an interactive design. Often neglected, one of the most vital is white space (or negative space), the space found inside and surrounding the other design elements.

For a website or app, many different visual elements make up the layout. These include typography, drawn lines, icons, images, etc. Imagine a painting; these parts are the painted bits. However, what do they all need to form that painting? They need a canvas! White space is like a canvas: it’s the background that holds the elements together in a design, enabling them to stand out.

Let’s see why designing the white space is so important.

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-power-of-white-space

How rainbow colour maps can distort data and be misleading

The choice of colour to represent information in scientific images is a fundamental part of communicating findings. However, a number of colour palettes that are widely used to display critical scientific results are not only dangerously misleading, but also unreadable to a proportion of the population.

For decades, scientists have been pushing for a lasting change to remove such palettes from public consumption, but the battle over universal accessibility in science communication rages on.

A colour map is a palette of multiple different colours that assign values to regions on a plot. An example of a misleading colour map is rainbow, which generally starts with blue for low values, then passing through cyan, green, yellow, orange, and finally red for high values. This colour combination is neither diverging, which would allow us to visually perceive a central value, nor sequential, which would make organizing values from low to high intuitive.

https://theconversation.com/how-rainbow-colour-maps-can-distort-data-and-be-misleading-167159

The Metaverse is Taking Over the Physical World

The virtual world is expanding with real world avatars and digital economy.

A metaverse is a group of persistent, shared 3D virtual environments where you (in the form of your digital avatar) can visit places, shop for products, subscribe to services, work with your colleagues, play games, and even customize the scenes around you to meet your personal tastes and requirements, and the digital assets you own. So essentially, a metaverse is a virtual world or worlds, that would allow you to go inside the digital world — to be in rather than on the digital space.

The concept of a metaverse has been depicted in The Matrix, Pokemon Go, Minority Report, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Black Mirror, and countless other movies, video games, and TV shows. However, people still await to experience an immersive metaverse in the real world. Interestingly, companies like Facebook and Microsoft have already announced million-dollar plans directed towards the creation of the metaverse.

https://interestingengineering.com/the-metaverse-is-taking-over-the-physical-world

Intel's RISE Strategy and Goals

Toward a New Era of Shared Corporate Responsibility: Our commitment to positive global impact is embedded in our purpose to create technology that enriches the lives of every person on earth.

Accelerating Progress Against the World’s Critical Challenges: Our world is facing challenges unlike any we have seen before. The urgent need for action on issues like climate change, the deep digital divide, lack of inclusion, and global pandemics calls for a new era of shared responsibility.

Our RISE Strategy: We are raising the bar for ourselves and evolving our corporate responsibility strategy to increase the scale of our work with others to create a more responsible, inclusive, and sustainable world, enabled through technology and our collective actions.

Responsible: Lead in advancing safety, wellness, and responsible business practices across our global manufacturing operations, our value chain, and beyond.

Inclusive:Advance diversity and inclusion across our global workforce and industry, and expand opportunities for others through technology, inclusion, and digital readiness initiatives.

Sustainable: Be a global leader in sustainability and enable our customers and others to reduce their environmental impact through our actions and technology.

Enabling: Through innovative technology and the expertise and passion of our employees, we enable positive change within Intel, across our industry, and beyond.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/2030-goals.html

Future Proof Smart Farming

How fast and how far can data and technology drive agriculture into the Information Age?

Many farmers today still use many of the same production methods their parents and grandparents used, but farming is under extraordinary pressure from many diverse forces including climate change, the need to produce food sustainably, falling commodity prices and the rising debt of farmers. Can Smart Systems, Services and the Internet of Things (IoT) seed a much-needed wave of innovation and technology adoption in the farming arena?

https://harborresearch.com/smart-agriculture/

How to take better photos with your smartphone, thanks to computational photography

Each time you snap a photo with your smartphone – depending on the make and model – it may perform more than a trillion operations for just that single image.

Yes, you expect it to do the usual auto-focus/auto-exposure functions that are the hallmark of point-and-shoot photography.

But your phone may also capture and stack multiple frames (sometimes before you even press the button), capture the brightest and darkest parts of the scene, average and merge exposures, and render your composition into a three-dimensional map to artificially blur the background.

The term for this is computational photography, which basically means that image capture is via a series of digital processes rather than purely optical ones. Image adjustment and manipulation take place in real time, and in the camera, rather than in post-production using any editing software.

Computational photography streamlines image production so everything – capture, editing and delivery – can be done in the phone, with much of the heavy lifting done as the picture is taken.

https://theconversation.com/how-to-take-better-photos-with-your-smartphone-thanks-to-computational-photography-107957

Amazon Lab126’s Dr. Joshua Miele is recognized for his work in making technology more accessible.

Dr. Joshua Miele, a blind principal accessibility researcher with Amazon Lab126, was named one of 25 MacArthur Fellows for his work helping blind and visually impaired (BVI) people's access to technology.

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/josh-miele-amazon-macarthur-fellow

In Defense of the Apollo Program's Guidance Computer

Your iPhone couldn't have gotten Neil Armstrong to the moon, don't kid yourself.

Apollo Guidance Computer is more impressive when you consider how fast it's processing all that — oh, wait, it ran at only 0.043 MHz. That's not even a minor background process on a modern computer. Your laptop in hibernate mode is likely churning through information faster than the Apollo Guidance Computer was at full tilt.

https://interestingengineering.com/in-defense-of-the-apollo-programs-guidance-computer

Viral TikTok video disrupts scientific studies

In July, Sarah Frank, a recent high school graduate from Florida, posted a 56-second video on TikTok about how to make some extra cash by filling out surveys on a website used by scientists to conduct their behavioural research. Within a month, her video was viewed by 4.1 million people and sent tens of thousands of new users to the site. Instead of a typically wide mix of survey participants, the scientists now had to deal with a sudden demographic shift.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/24/22688278/tiktok-science-study-survey-prolific

What is customer intelligence?

Customer intelligence (CI) is the process of gathering and analyzing information derived from customer data that an organization collects from both internal and external sources. The purpose of CI is to understand customer motivations better in order to drive future growth and improve the customer journey.

Internal customer data can be generated by any customer interaction and is typically stored in corporate databases, call center systems and sales systems. Data external to the organization can be gathered from many different sources. Sales and marketing teams in a variety of industries -- such as banking, retail, telecommunications and consumer goods -- work with this data.

https://searchcustomerexperience.techtarget.com/definition/customer-intelligence-CI

Six problem-solving mindsets for very uncertain times

Great problem solvers are made, not born. That’s what we’ve found after decades of problem solving with leaders across business, nonprofit, and policy sectors. These leaders learn to adopt a particularly open and curious mindset, and adhere to a systematic process for cracking even the most inscrutable problems. They’re terrific problem solvers under any conditions. And when conditions of uncertainty are at their peak, they’re at their brilliant best.

Six mutually reinforcing approaches underly their success: (1) being ever-curious about every element of a problem; (2) being imperfectionists, with a high tolerance for ambiguity; (3) having a “dragonfly eye” view of the world, to see through multiple lenses; (4) pursuing occurrent behavior and experimenting relentlessly; (5) tapping into the collective intelligence, acknowledging that the smartest people are not in the room; and (6) practicing “show and tell” because storytelling begets action

https://mck.co/2Ylxh0k

Renewable Energy Paradox: Solar Panels and Their Toxic Waste

Cradle-to-grave solar panels are not as "green" as we are led to believe.

Around the world, there is a massive push to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for various reasons – chief among them the preservation of our home planet. Among the various strategies being developed, one tends to receive the most attention – renewable technologies, like solar panels.

Touted as being completely sustainable, such claims often gloss over – or worse, ignore – the very real damage caused through the production and use of this technology. Just like wind turbines, solar panels may have a darker side to their existence than most truly appreciate.

That's not to say that solar PV panels should be abandoned outright, but that a more honest, and realistic, conversation be had about them.

To give you some idea of the scale of the problem, you can peruse some interesting data provided here. To give you the gist of it, this study, conducted by environmental journalists who favor nuclear power found that solar panels (over their lifetime) create somewhere in the region of 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear power plants.

https://interestingengineering.com/renewable-energy-paradox-solar-panels-and-their-toxic-waste

Journal: CSI Transactions on ICT

The journal CSI Transactions on ICT, a publication of the Computer Society of India, focuses on the practical implications of advances in information and communication technology and associated management issues.

The journal serves domain experts in education, healthcare, management and agriculture who are working to utilize the vast potential of ICT in their respective fields and thereby bridge the digital divide.

Coverage spans a range of topic areas including Systems and Architecture; Software Design and Performance; Cyber and Information Security; Education, Health and Agriculture;

Economics, Practice and Management; and Computing and Computational Science.

The journal is a publication of the Computer Society of India, in keeping with CSI’s mission of “ICT for Masses.”

Examines implications of advances in information and communication technology and associated management issues

Serves domain experts in education, healthcare, management and agriculture, working to utilize the potential of ICT in their respective fields

https://link.springer.com/journal/40012/volumes-and-issues

TED Talk Videos: There's an app for that

Everyone makes the joke, but it's true. Here's a selection of interesting apps and the inspiration behind them.

6 talks · Total run time 52:10

https://www.ted.com/playlists/629/there_s_an_app_for_that

TED Talks Videos: Innovations that made expensive things cheap

A microscope that costs less than $1. A post-natal incubator for $25. These TED Talks highlight exciting innovations that render formerly-expensive things affordable — whether it’s to save you money, or to save lives.

9 talks · Total run time 1:23:36

https://www.ted.com/playlists/248/innovations_that_made_expensiv

On Digital Health ID, proceed with caution

On September 27, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Digital Health ID project (DHID), generating debate on issues related to the use of technology in a broken health system. In an interview, R S Sharma, the architect of DHID, stated that the key objective of DHID was to “improve the quality, access and affordability of health services” by making the service delivery “quicker, less expensive and more robust”. The ambition is undoubtedly high. Given that health systems are highly complex, would DHID be able to address some of the issues plaguing it? What are the pros and cons of DHID?

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/digital-health-id-electronic-medical-records-7554392/

WHY I SCIENCE

The Broad Institute connects approximately 4,000 scientists and other professionals.

WhyIScience invites members of the Broad community to share what motivates them to support the institute’s mission – to accelerate the pace at which the world conquers disease.

Meet some of our amazing researchers and staff in these WhyIScience profiles:

https://www.broadinstitute.org/people/whyiscience

What are the Pandora Papers, and why do they matter?

These are 11.9 million leaked files from 14 global corporate services firms which set up about 29,000 off-the-shelf companies and private trusts in not just obscure tax jurisdictions but also countries such as Singapore, New Zealand, and the United States, for clients across the world.

There are at least 380 persons of Indian nationality in the Pandora Papers. Of these, The Indian Express has so far verified and corroborated documents related to about 60 prominent individuals and companies. What do the Pandora Papers say about these entities? Also, if trusts are not illegal, what is the investigation about?

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-do-the-pandora-papers-matter-7550033/

India's Richest in 2021

https://www.forbes.com/india-billionaires/

Understanding the early-life origins of suicide: Vulnerability may begin even before birth

Suicide is a tragic event. Unfortunately, every 40 seconds, a person dies by suicide. Beyond the premature loss of an individual’s life, more that 100 people may be affected by each suicide, including family, friends and community members.

People considering their own death have often gone through long periods of intense suffering and internal struggles. They may have endured mental illness and experienced a range of adverse life events. Helping people suffering from a mental disorder and/or going through a difficult time is therefore of the utmost importance to preventing suicide.

However, evidence from research conducted in the past two decades has highlighted that suicide is not only the result of such contributing factors around the time of death. Instead, vulnerability to suicide may build up throughout the course of life. It may start with events occurring very early in life, in the perinatal period and infancy, that have long-lasting influences on suicide in adulthood.

https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-early-life-origins-of-suicide-vulnerability-may-begin-even-before-birth-163863

The Top 10 Innovations in Mental Health

A look at methods and technologies that are transforming the work of psychiatrists and psychologists

https://www.scientificamerican.com/report/the-top-10-innovations-in-mental-health/

9 Ways You Can Train Your Brain to be Smarter

You go to a gym to train your muscles, you run or hike to build your endurance, but what can you do to train your brain? Training your brain could not only speed up your memory recall, but it could also help you learn faster. There are, after all, only a limited number of hours in the day.

While you can't work your brain like a muscle (as it isn't one), there are various ways you can sharpen and hone it to its full potential. So, if you want to give one of your most valuable physical assets a real boost, try following some of these basic methods to work your mental powers.

Here are some solid tips and tricks that will certainly get your brain on the right track.

https://amp-interestingengineering-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.interestingengineering.com/9-ways-you-can-train-your-brain-to-be-smarter

IRAI Quiz -- 211011

1. What is common to these: Dice, Whitetruffle, Tech Fetch, AngelList, F6S

2. Expand: K8S

3. CoinSwitch Kuber is the recent and India's 2nd Crypto Platform to become an Unicorn. Which is the 1st Crypto Platform to become the Unicorn?

4. Which is the parent company of PayTM

5. FreshWorks: FreshDesk = FoodieBay: -----------

6. What is known as "mobo"

7. Who said this: "What the Hell is Cloud Computing?...I’ve no idea what everyone’s talking about."

8. Kotak's 811 app draws its name from what?

9. Airtel: India = Telstra: --------

10. RJ-11 : Phone/Modem = RJ-45 : -----------