Investing In Kava – Everything You Need to Know – Securities.io

As Bitcoin approaches its 10 years anniversary, the worlds first and most successful cryptocurrency is still a mystery to many people in the market. Even as Bitcoin has made its way into the vocabulary of the masses, the average person still wonders how does Bitcoin work and what makes this computer money so valuable?

The crypto market continues to expand to new heights. Every week new blockchains, tokens, coins, and exchanges enter the market. Each of these products provides users with a valuable service. However, all of these technologies owe a nod of appreciation to the worlds original cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

Per Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoins anonymous creator, Bitcoin is a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. Lets examine this statement in depth to really grasp exactly what Nakamoto states here. Firstly, he states Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer network.

Bitcoin Whitepaper

Peer-to-peer transactions are direct transactions. A great example of this style of transaction is when you hand cash to someone. When you hand your neighbor $5 cash, that is a direct transaction. There was no intermediary involved. There was no account validation, or central bank approving your transaction. You acted freely.

Now look at the same transaction, but this time you pay with your debit card or a payment App. While it may appear as if the funds instantly transfer from your account to theirs, this is hardly the case. Your payment begins a long arduous journey that can take days.

First, your payment order checks with both banks to make sure that the accounts are valid and that there are funds in your account to send. Then your payment action is sent to a major payment processing firm. In most instances, this is Visa or MasterCard.

Next, your funds bounce around 30+ intermediaries before reaching their destination around 3 days later. Thats why when you refund Debit or Credit transactions it takes days to show up in your account.

All of these steps add more time to your transactions. Additionally, each intermediary and verification process tacks on a fee for their services. On top of all of these concerns, your transaction still must go through the regulatory channels. If for some reason, there is a discrepancy between your government and the persons government you want to send a payment to, you will find it impossible to send these funds.

Bitcoin Trading Analysis via CoinMarketCapBitcoin Trading Analysis via CoinMarketCap

The reason behind all of these intermediaries is simple, the current financial system is centralized. In a centralized system, there is one central organization, such as a bank or government that holds all the power. They hold your funds, they approve your transactions, and they decide when to issue more currency. Youre just along for the ride.

In a decentralized network, you remain in control of your assets until the exact moment that they arrive at their destination. When you send Bitcoin from your wallet to another persons wallet, there are no intermediaries between your payment and its destination.

As such, there is no third-party to approve or deny your transactions. The entire process occurs in a peer-to-peer fashion. Its the same as handing someone digital cash. Basically, you regain control over your finances using a decentralized system.

At first, the concept of decentralization can seem a bit awkward to comprehend. However, a quick glimpse into the market and you will see other decentralized systems hard at work. A perfect example of a decentralized system that you are more than likely familiar with is torrent streaming services.

BitTorrent Token

When you go to a torrent streaming website, you probably ask yourself how do these platforms remain open, even though they offer products that they dont have licenses to offer? The answer is simple, they utilize decentralization to prevent censorship. Heres how decentralization is used in this scenario to bring you all your favorite early releases and new music for free.

Websites like BitTorrent dont actually provide you with any content. In reality, they just provide a location for people to meet up and exchange data freely, whatever that data may be. Now, granted, in most cases its music or movies, but it could be anything from political messages to actual value, such as cryptocurrencies.

Because these websites only provide a location for people to meet and exchange data, they are much more difficult to close than a centralized website that offered you these downloads directly. In essence, these streaming websites have done nothing wrong.

The same concepts can be put to use in the financial sector. Though the integration of decentralization, it becomes impossible to censor, edit, or block payments on the blockchain. In this way, Bitcoin represents an ideological shift towards more financial freedom and decoupling of government from currency.

To understand Bitcoin, you first need to take a look at some of the core technologies that make this marvelous coin function. As you now know, decentralized networks are censorship-resistant. There are also a variety of different types of decentralized networks. Bitcoin relies on a blockchain network to provide you with these freedoms.

A blockchain is a decentralized network that utilizes blocks of transactions to create a complete chain of events from the initiation of the network. In Bitcoins blockchain network, there are thousands of transaction validators known as miners or nodes. Importantly, every node validates every transaction on the blockchain but not every node receives a reward.

These miners compete against each other via a complicated mathematical equation. The node that gets the question correct first gets to add the next block of transactions to the blockchain. They receive a reward for their efforts. Today, the reward is set at 6.5 BTC.

Bitcoin Consensus Mechanism SHA-256 Blockchain Technology

The mathematical equation, known as SHA-256 is so difficult that your computer examines it and decides its better to make educated guesses rather than attempt to calculate the equation directly. This guesswork is what drives up the processing on your computer, which, in turn, drives up mining costs.

When you hear that someone has a Bitcoin mining rig, this simply means that they have a specially built computer processor tailored to the SHA-256 algorithm. These devices, known as Application Specific Integrated Chips (ASIC) miners are thousands of times more accurate at guessing the SHA-256 algorithms answer.

The cool thing about Bitcoin is that its not purely mathematical. There is a true psychological approach behind its nature. For example, the larger the Bitcoin network, the more secure it becomes, and the higher the value of BTC. Also, the higher the market value of Bitcoin, the more miners in the market.

As the value of Bitcoin rises, the SHA-256 algorithm adjusts accordingly. These adjustments ensure that the mining rewards get paid out around every ten minutes. These rewards are vital to the Bitcoin network for two main reasons. Firstly, this strategy incentivizes nodes to continue validating transactions.

Secondly, these rewards are the only time that new BTC enters the market. There will only ever be a total of 21 million BTC available to the world. The difficulty adjustment and mining rewards system of BTC ensures that these BTC enter the market in a concise and predictable manner.

Bitcoin Mining Rig How Does Bitcoin Work?

Now lets compare this sound mathematical process to that of the Central Bankers today. In the centralized financial system, the issuance of currency is done at a whim. Just recently, the US government issued trillions in currency into the market as a part of the Covid-19 stimulus package. However, these funds are sure to disrupt the delicate supply-and-demand balance. Consequently, inflation is sure to come soon.

The world needs Bitcoin now more than ever. Bitcoin represents a real danger to the centralized markets because, for the first time in history, it provides the world with a secure digital alternative to the fiat systems in place. Unlike its predecessor, gold, Bitcoin is available to the entire world and requires very little overhead in terms of security.

Now, lets compare gold and Bitcoin for a second to see why cryptocurrencies are the future reserve currencies of the world. Firstly, its important to acknowledge that gold did and still serves an important purpose in the market as a safe-haven for investors. Gold is extremely stable and universally accepted.

The problems with gold are systemic. For one, gold only functions as a reserve currency. You couldnt use gold for day-to-day micro-transactions. Imagine going to your local grocery store and chipping off some gold to pay for your items, not realistic in 2020 at all.

Additionally, gold isnt an asset that you can readily get your hands on. Sure there are tons of gold investors today, but what do they really own? If your gold isnt in a safe located on your property, you really just own a piece of paper that states you own gold. Sadly, in times of great economic strife, gold owners learn this lesson the hard way. Really, for any reason, your gold can be taken.

A perfect example of gold investors coming to terms with reality occurred in the 1930s in the US. During this time, the government of Franklin D Roosevelt seized all the citizens gold bullion and coins via Executive Order 6102. The order forced all citizens to sell their gold to the governmentat well belowmarket rates. Those that refused had their gold confiscated.

Bitcoin holders never have to worry about this scenario. You hold your Bitcoin directly, not just a note of ownership. Bitcoin relies on a pair of cryptographic keys to keep your holdings safe. The public key is what you give people so they can send you BTC, whereas the private key is how you access your wallet. You must never give your private key out to anyone.

As you already learned, the decentralized nature of Bitcoins network is set up in a way that it would be impossible for governments to stop it. Additionally, the security keys also prevent overreaching governments from snagging your hard-earned BTC whenever they deem it necessary.

Bitcoin functions as both a currency and a store of value. You can HODL your BTC and enjoy the appreciation, or you can trade or spend your Bitcoin with impunity. This unique currency affords investors the flexibility of cash, the convenience of digital transactions, and the value storage capabilities of gold.

The future for Bitcoin looks bright. The network is larger and more secure. Also, more people know about this revolutionary protocol than ever. The worlds first crypto also gained some new functionality recently via the Lightning Network.

After the crypto craze of 2017, it became evident that BTCs scaling issues needed resolution. The network traffic reached a point that BTC was unable to fulfill one of its primary roles. It was unable to function as a peer-to-peer cash system due to extreme volatility, delayed transaction times, and huge fees.

Luckily, developers have since corrected many of these issues via updates and other developments. The Lightning Network is one of these developments that continue to garner attention in the market. The Lightning Network is an off-chain protocol that relies on private payment channels to reduce network congestion.

Additionally, the Lighting Network provides BTC with some new functionality such as the ability to utilize smart contracts and oracles. Oracles are off-chain sensors that can trigger on-chain events such as smart contracts.

Today, Bitcoin is a household name. Amazingly, Nakamotos single coin inspired a digital revolution in the market. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies now available to investors. While many of these platforms improve upon Bitcoins core design, none can match Bitcoins network strength and overall community support. For this reason, Bitcoin continues to reign as the king of cryptocurrencies.

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Investing In Kava - Everything You Need to Know - Securities.io

The Power and Paradox of Bad Software – WIRED

When I go to the doctor, they ask what I do, and when I tell them, they start complaining to me about the software at the hospital. I love this, because I hate going to the doctor, and it gives us something to talk about besides my blood pressure.

This is a pattern in my life: When I'm asking at the library reference desk, chatting with the construction contractor with her iPad, or applying for a loan at the bank, I just peer over their shoulder a bit while they're answering a questionnot so much to be intrusiveand give a low little whistle at the mess on their screens. And out pours a litany of wasted hours and bug reports. Now I've made a friend.

Good software makes work easier, but bad software brings us together into a family. I love bad software, which is most of it. Friends text me screenshots of terrible procurement systems, knowing that I will immediately text back, BANANACAKES. I'll even watch videos of bad software. There are tons on YouTube, where people demo enterprise resource-planning systems and the like. These videos fill me with a sort of yearning, like when you step inside some old frigate they've turned into a museum.

Best I can tell, the bad software sweepstakes has been won (or lost) by climate change folks. One night I decided to go see what climate models actually are. Turns out they're often massive batch jobs that run on supercomputers and spit out numbers. No buttons to click, no spinny globes or toggle switches. They're artifacts from the deep, mainframe world of computing. When you hear about a climate model predicting awful Earth stuff, they're talking about hundreds of Fortran files, with comments at the top like The subroutines in this file determine the potential temperature at which seawater freezes. They're not meant to be run by any random nerd on a home computer.

This doesn't mean they're inaccurate. They're very accurate. As code goes, the models are amazing, because they're attempts to understand the entire, actual Earth via programming. All the ocean currents, all the ice and rain, all the soil and light. And if you feel smart, reading a few pages of climate model code will fix you up tout suite. If you, too, would like to know exactly how little you know about the machinery of the natural world, go on GitHub and look through the Modular Ocean Model 6, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the Department of Commerce. Only America would make the weather report to money.

The software people get amazing tools that let them build amazing apps, and the climate people get lots of Fortran. This is one of the weirdest puzzles of this industry.

Every industry or discipline has its signature software. Climate has big batch climate models. Sales has the CRM, hence Salesforce. Doctors have those awful health care records systems; social scientists use SPSS or SAS or R; financial types plug everything into Excel. There are big platforms that help people do all kinds of work. But you know what blows them away? Software for making software. The software industry's software is so, so good (not that people don't complain). Just take a look at the modern IDE (integrated development environment), the programs programmers use to program more programs. The biggest are made by tech giants: Xcode (Apple) and Visual Studio (Microsoft) and Android Studio (Google), for example. I love to mock software, and yeah, these programs are huge and sprawling, but when I open these tools I feel like a medieval stonemason dragged into midtown Manhattan and left to stare at the skyscrapers. My mouth hangs open and my chisel falls from my sandstone-roughened hands.

In an IDE you drag buttons around to make the scaffolding for your apps. You type a few letters and the software guides your hand and finishes your thoughts, showing you functions inside of functions and letting you pick the right one for the task. Ultimately you click a little triangle (like Play on a music player) and it builds the app. I never get over it. And they give it away for free, so that people use it to make more software, which is why all the real estate in New York City is worth around a trillion and a half bucks, and Apple, which takes its famous 30 percent cut in the App Store, is worth $2 trillion. Of course, that's a down payment when you consider what we're going to pay to mitigate climate change.

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The Power and Paradox of Bad Software - WIRED

Peace Train: Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange caught in repressive regime – Colorado Daily

  1. Peace Train: Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange caught in repressive regime  Colorado Daily
  2. Assange revelations among most important in US history, says Daniel Ellsberg  ComputerWeekly.com
  3. At Assanges Extradition Hearing, Troubled Tech Takes Center Stage  The New York Times
  4. Assange on Trial: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm  CounterPunch
  5. Assange's extradition hearing is a farce: defend freedom of speech!  In Defence of Marxism
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Peace Train: Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange caught in repressive regime - Colorado Daily

Why are Amnesty International monitors not able to observe the Assange hearing? – Amnesty International

Earlier this month, the street outside the Old Bailey criminal court in London, where Julian Assanges extradition hearing has been taking place, was transformed into a carnival.

Inside the Old Bailey, the courtroom has turned into a circus. There have been multiple technical difficulties, a COVID-19 scare which temporarily halted proceedings and numerous procedural irregularities including the decision by the presiding judge to withdraw permission for Amnesty Internationals fair trial observer to have access to the courtroom.

If the outside was a carnival, the inside of the court soon became a circus

Arriving at the court each morning was an assault to the senses with the noise of samba bands, sound systems and chanting crowds and the sight of banners, balloons and billboards at every turn.

The first day of the hearing, which started on Monday 7 September, drew more than two hundred people to gather outside the court. People in fancy dress mingled with camera crews, journalists and a pack of hungry photographers who would disappear regularly to give chase to any white security van heading towards the court, pressing their long lenses against the darkened windows.

One of the vans had come from Belmarsh high security prison, Julian Assanges home for the last 16 months.

The Wikileaks founder was in court for the resumption of proceedings that will ultimately decide on the Trump administrations request for his extradition to the US. The American prosecutors claim he conspired with whistleblowers (army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning) to obtain classified information. They want him to stand trial on espionage charges in the US where he would face a prison sentence of up to 175 years.

Assanges lawyers began with a request that the alleged evidence in a new indictment handed down in June be excluded from consideration given that it came so late. The Judge denied this. In the afternoon session, the lawyers requested an adjournment until next year to give his lawyers time to respond to the US prosecutors new indictment. They said they had been given insufficient time to examine the new allegations, especially since they had only limited access to the imprisoned Assange. Indeed, this most recent hearing was the first time in more than six months that Julian Assange had been able to meet with his lawyers. The judge rejected this request.

We requested access to the court for a trial monitor to observe the hearings, but the court denied us a designated seat in court

Reacting to the decision, Kristinn Hrafnsson the editor-in-chief of Wikileaks told me that: the decision is an insult to the UK courts and to Julian Assange and to justice. For the court to deny the request to adjourn is denying Assange his rights.

Amnesty International had requested access to the court for a trial monitor to observe the hearings, but the court denied us a designated seat in court. Our monitor initially did get permission to access the technology to monitor remotely, but the morning the hearing started he received an email informing us that the Judge had revoked Amnesty Internationals remote access.

We applied again for access to the proceedings on Tuesday 8 September, setting out the importance of monitoring and Amnesty Internationals vast experience of observing trials in even some of the most repressive countries.

The judge wrote back expressing her "regret" at her decision and saying: I fully recognise that justice should be administered in public". Despite her regret and her recognition that scrutiny is a vital component of open justice, the judge did not change her mind.

If Amnesty International and other observers wanted to attend the hearing, they would have to queue for one of the four seats available in a public gallery. We submitted a third application to gain direct access to the overflow room at the court where some media view the livestream, but this has also been denied.

Amnesty International have monitored trials from Guantanamo Bay to Bahrain, Ecuador to Turkey. For our observer to be denied access profoundly undermines open justice

The refusal of the judge to not to give any "special provision" to expert fair trial monitors is very disturbing. Through its refusal, the court has failed to recognize a key component of open justice: namely how international trial observers monitor a hearing for its compliance with domestic and international law. They are there to evaluate the fairness of a trial by providing an impartial record of what went on in the courtroom and to advance fair trial standards by putting all parties on notice that they are under scrutiny.

Amnesty International have monitored trials from Guantanamo Bay to Bahrain, Ecuador to Turkey. For our observer to be denied access profoundly undermines open justice.

In the court, the overflow room has experienced ongoing technical problems with sound and video quality. More than a week after the proceedings began, these basic technical difficulties have not been properly ironed out and large sections of witness evidence are inaudible. These technological difficulties were not restricted to the overflow room. In court, some witnesses trying to call into the court room last week, were not able to get in. These basic technical difficulties have hampered the ability of those in the courtroom to follow the proceedings.

If Julian Assange is silenced, others will also be gagged either directly or by the fear of persecution and prosecution

We are still hopeful that a way can be found for our legal expert to monitor the hearing because the decision in this case is of huge importance. It goes to the heart of the fundamental tenets of media freedom that underpin the rights to freedom of expression and the publics right to access information.

The US governments unrelenting pursuit of Julian Assange for having published disclosed documents is nothing short of a full-scale assault on the right to freedom of expression. The potential chilling effect on journalists and others who expose official wrongdoing by publishing information disclosed to them by credible sources could have a profound impact on the public's right to know what their government is up to.

If Julian Assange is silenced, others will also be gagged either directly or by the fear of persecution and prosecution which will hang over a global media community already under assault in the US and in many other countries worldwide.

The US Justice Department is not only charging a publisher who has a non-disclosure obligation but a publisher who is not a US citizen and not in America. The US government is behaving as if they have jurisdiction all over the world to pursue any person who receives and publishes information of government wrongdoing.

If the UK extradites Assange, he would face prosecution in the USA on espionage charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life possibly in a facility reserved for the highest security detainees and subjected to the strictest of daily regimes, including prolonged solitary confinement. All for doing something news editors do the world over publishing information provided by sources, that is in the interest of the wider public.

It is ironic that no one responsible for potential war crimes in Iraq & Afghanistan has been punished. Yet the publisher who exposed these potential crimes is the one in the dock

Outside the court, I bumped into Eric Levy, aged 92. His interest in Assanges case is personal. He was in Baghdad during the American shock and awe bombardment in 2003 having travelled to Iraq as part of the Human Shield Movement aiming to stop the war and failing that - to protect the Iraqi population.

Im here today for the same reason I was in Iraq. Because I believe in justice and I believe in peace, he tells me. Julian Assange is not really wanted for espionage. He is wanted for making America look like war criminals.

Indeed, it is ironic that no one responsible for possible war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan has been prosecuted, let alone punished. And yet the publisher who exposed their crimes is the one in the dock facing a lifetime in jail.

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Why are Amnesty International monitors not able to observe the Assange hearing? - Amnesty International

Here’s to you, Julian Assange! – DiEM25

There is an old joke, from the time of the World War I, about the exchange of telegrams between the German army headquarter and the Austrian-Hungarian one: from Berlin to Vienna, the message is The situation on our part of the front is serious, but not catastrophic, and the reply from Vienna is: With us, the situation is catastrophic, but not serious.

The reply from Vienna seems to offer a model for how we tend to react to crises today, from Covid-19 pandemic to forest fires (not only) in the West of the US: yeah, we know a catastrophe is pending, media warn us all the time, but somehow we are not ready to take the situation quite seriously

Its a legal and moral catastrophe just recall how he is treated in prison, unable to see his children and their mother, unable to communicate regularly with his lawyers, a victim of psychological torture so that his survival itself is under threat. They are for certain killing him softly, as the song goes. But very few seem to take his situation seriously, with an awareness that our own fate is at stake in his case.

The forces which violate his rights are the forces which prevent the effective battle against global warming and the pandemic. They are the forces because of which the pandemic makes the rich even richer and hits the hardest the poor. They are the forces which ruthlessly exploit the pandemic to assert their control over our social and digital space, regulating and censoring it at our expense the forces which protect us, but also from our own freedom.

Assange fought for the public transparency of the digital space, and there is a cruel irony in the fact that the pandemic is used as a pretext to isolate him from his family and his defense. We are always ready to protest the limitation of basic human freedoms imposed on Hong Kong by China should we not turn the gaze back on ourselves? Today one should remember Max Horkheimers old saying from late 1930s: Those who dont want to talk critically about capitalism should also keep silent about Fascism. Our version is: those who dont want to talk about the injustice done to Assange should also keep silent about the violation of human rights in Hong Kong and Belarus.

Now that Assanges very survival is at stake, only such a movement can (perhaps) save him. Remember the lyrics (written by Joan Baez to Ennio Morricones music) of Heres to you, the title song of the movie Sacco and Vanzetti:

Heres to you, Nicola and Bart / Rest forever here in our hearts / The last and final moment is yours / That agony is your triumph.

There were mass gatherings all around the world in defense of Sacco and Vanzetti and the same is needed now in defense of Assange, although in a different form. Assange cannot die even if he dies (or disappears in a US prison cell like a living dead), that agony will be his triumph, he will die in order to live in all of us. This is the message we all must deliver to those who held him: if you kill a man, you create a myth which will continue to mobilize thousands.

The message to us of those who are after Assange is clear: everything is permitted (to us). Why only to them? What they are doing to Assange is radically changing the political weather, so perhaps we need new Weathermen.

Photo: drawing of Julian Assange by Daniel Fooks.

Photo Source: Daniel Fooks on Twitter.

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Here's to you, Julian Assange! - DiEM25

IBM Partners With HBCUs to Diversify Quantum Computing Workforce – Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

September 21, 2020 | :

In partnership with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), IBM recently launched a quantum computing research initiative to raise awareness of the field and diversify the workforce.

The IBM-HBCU Quantum Center, a multi-year investment, will fund undergraduate and graduate research, provide access to IBM quantum computers through the Cloud and offer student support.

Quantum computing is considered a fairly young field and quantum computers were not readily available in research labs until 2016. IBM was the first company to put a quantum computer on the Cloud, which allows it to be accessible from anywhere, according to Dr. Abraham Asfaw, global lead of Quantum Education and Open Science at IBM Quantum.

What that implies is that now anyone around the world can participate, he said. This is why we have this broad education effort, to really try and make quantum computing open and accessible to everyone. The scale of the industry is very small but we are stepping into the right direction in terms of trying to get more people into the field.

The 13 HBCUs that will be part of the initiative include Albany State University, Clark Atlanta University, Coppin State University, Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Southern University, Texas Southern University, University of the Virgin Islands, Virginia Union University and Xavier University of Louisiana.

Each of the schools was chosen based on how much the school focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Its very important at this point to be building community and to be educating everyone so that we have opportunities in the quantum computing field for everyone, said Asfaw. While at the same time, we are bringing in diverse perspectives to see where quantum computing applications could emerge.

Dr. Abraham Asfaw

The center encourages individuals from all STEM disciplines to pursue quantum computing. According to Asfaw, the field of quantum computing is considered highly interdisciplinary.

Teaching quantum computing, at any place, requires bringing together several departments, he said. So putting together a quantum curriculum is an exercise in making sure your students are trained in STEM all the way from the beginning to the end with different pieces from the different sciences instead of just one department altogether.

Diversifying the quantum computing workforce can also be looked at in two ways. One is getting different groups of people into the field and the other is bringing different perspectives into the field from the direction of the other sciences that could benefit from quantum computing, according to Asfaw.

We are in this discovery phase now, so really having help from all fields is a really powerful thing, he added.

IBM also plans to donate $100 million to provide more HBCUs with resources and technology as part of the Skills Academy Academic Initiative in Global University Programs. This includes providing HBCUs with university guest lectures, curriculum content, digital badges, software and faculty training by the end of 2020, according to IBM.

Our entire quantum education effort is centered around making all of our resources open and accessible to everyone, said Asfaw. [Our investment] is really an attempt to integrate HBCUs, which also are places of origin for so many successful scientists today, to give them opportunities to join the quantum computing revolution.

According to IBM, the skills academy is a comprehensive, integrated program designed to create a foundation of diverse and high demand skill sets that directly correlate to what students will need in the workplace.

The academy will address topics such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, blockchain, design thinking and quantum computing.

Those HBCUs involved in the academy include Clark Atlanta University, Fayetteville State University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Southern University System, Stillman College, Virginia State and West Virginia State University.

While we are teaching quantum computing, while we are building quantum computing at universities, while we are training developers to take on quantum computer, it is important at this point to be inclusive and accessible as possible, said Afsaw. That really allows the field to progress.

This summer, IBM also hosted the 2020 Qiskit Global Summer School, which was designed for people to further explore the quantum computing field. The program involved three hours of lectures as well as hands-on learning opportunities. Many HBCU students were part of the program.

This shows you thats one piece of the bigger picture of trying to get the whole world involved in quantum education, said Asfaw. Thats the first place where HBCUs were involved and we hope to continue to build on even more initiatives going forward.

Sarah Wood can be reached at swood@diverseeducation.com.

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IBM Partners With HBCUs to Diversify Quantum Computing Workforce - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

Artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, sustainability & global volatility: DHL Logistics Trend Radar unveils trends that will shape…

In the fifth edition of the Logistics Trend Radar, DHL once more has revealed 29 key trends that will impact the logistics industry over the next years. The Report is the result of an extensive analysis of macro and micro trends, as well as the insights from a large partner network including research institutes, tech players, startups, and customers.

For us as logistics experts, it is important to forecast the challenges ahead and envision possible solutions so that we may best advise our customers. The mega trends that will continue to engage us are not unfamiliar: new technologies, growing e-commerce and sustainability, says Katja Busch, Chief Commercial Officer, DHL. But some areas will evolve faster than others, so there is the need to understand the underlying trends and their impact on logistics not least because of the impact of COVID-19 on global commerce and the entire workforce. As a world leader in logistics, we have the insights and the expertise to evaluate the situation.

Well over 20,000 logistics professionals and technology experts shared their perspectives on the future of the industry when visiting the DHL Innovations Centers over the last two years. The findings are consolidated and reflected on the Logistics Trend Radar which acts as a dynamic and strategic foresight tool that tracks the evolution of trends spotted in past editions, identifying present and future trends with every update.

The next big challenge will be future proofing the logistics workforce through training and upskilling in increasingly technologically sophisticated operations. This will take center stage on the strategic agendas of supply chain organizations in the years to come, said Matthias Heutger, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Innovation & Commercial Development at DHL. The Logistics Trend Radar serves as seismograph for future trends. Based on data from the last seven years, we can make longer-term forecasts and thus support our partners and customers to create roadmaps for their business as well as helping to structure and catalyze further industry-leading research and innovations. In this edition, we already see the impact of COVID-19 is accelerating trends that were already well underway big data analytics, robotics and automation, and IoT, all of which are underpinned by steady progress in artificial intelligence.

Acceleration of transformation processes

The fifth-edition Logistics Trend Radar indicates that we are experiencing an overall stabilization of trends from the past four years. However, with the logistics industry weathering the current global pandemic, transformation processes have been accelerated. COVID-19 has driven changes regarding recent logistics innovation, automation, and digital work more rapidly and has accelerated industry digitalization by years. Conversely, many trends initially perceived as disruptive game-changers for the logistics industry have yet to deliver on their disruptive potential. Self-driving vehicles and drones continue to be held back by legislative and technical challenges as well as limited social acceptance. Logistics Marketplaces are stabilizing on a few leading platforms, and established forwarders are entering the game with their own digital offerings, backed with robust global logistics networks. From cloud computing to collaborative robotics, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, logistics professionals have to make sense of a vast market of novel technology. Modernizing all touchpoints of supply chains, from an elegant digital or customer journey, through fulfillment transport and final mile delivery is the new imperative for long-term success. Those who adopt and scale new technology and upskill workforces fastest, will have a competitive advantage on the market.

E-commerce growth continues to advance innovation and sustainability agendas

E-commerce is still growing rapidly and yet represents only a fraction of global consumer retail spending. Business-to-business e-commerce is expected to follow suit and dwarfs the consumer market size by a factor of three. The coronavirus pandemic has served not only to accelerate both e-commerce growth and supply chain innovation agendas. Key moves to scale and adopt new technology like intelligent physical automation, IoT-powered visibility tools, and predictive capabilities from AI will ultimately determine the ability to fulfill heightened customer demands and secure industry leadership positions in the future.

With governments, cities and solution providers commit to cut down on CO2 emissions and waste, sustainability now is an imperative for the logistics industry. Indicated by the increasing demand on sustainable solutions to reduce waste, leverage new propulsion techniques and optimize facilities, it is also on top of the supply chain agendas. Today, 90+ national bans on single-use plastics exists and bulky packaging causing 40 percent parcel void space, making a rethinking of the packaging inevitable. Sustainable Logistics optimization of processes, materials, new propulsion techniques, and smart facilities provide huge potential for logistics to become more environmentally friendly. Smart Containerization in transportation will also be important in developing environmentally friendly formats for delivery in congested cities.

DHL regularly publishes the Logistics Trend Radar as a key instrument for the global logistics community. Both within DHL and across industry, it has become an acclaimed benchmark for strategy and innovation, as well as a key tool to shape the direction of specific trends, most recently packaging, 5G, robotics and digital twins.

The fifth edition DHL Logistics Trend Radar, including information on deep dives and projects, is available for free download atwww.dhl.com/trendradar

SOURCE: DHL

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Artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, sustainability & global volatility: DHL Logistics Trend Radar unveils trends that will shape...

Inaugural OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference Featured Talks on Emerging Technologies – Novus Light Technologies Today

The unique role of optics and photonics in driving quantum research and technologies was featured in presentations for the inaugural OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference held 14 17 September. The all-virtual event, presented concurrently with the 2020 Frontiers in Optics and Laser Science APS/DLS (FiO + LS) Conference, drew almost 2,500 registrants from more than 70 countries.

Live and pre-recorded technical presentations on quantum computing and simulation to quantum sensing were available for registrants across the globe at no cost. The conference engaged scientists, engineers and others addressing grand challenges in building a quantum science and technology infrastructure.

The meeting succeeded in bringing together scientists from academia, industry and government labs in a very constructive way, said conference co-chair Michael Raymer of the University of Oregon, USA. The high quality of the talks, along with the facilitation by the presiders and OSA staff, moves us closer to the goal of an open, global ecosystem for advancing quantum information science and technology.

Marissa Giustina, senior research scientist and quantum electronics engineerwith Google AI Quantum, described the companys efforts to build a quantum computer in her keynote talk. Googles goal was to build a prototype system that could enter a space where no classical computer can go at a size of about 50 qubits. To create a viable system, Guistina said there must be strong collaboration between algorithm and hardware developers.

Quantum Algorithms for Finite Energies and Temperatures was the focus of a talk by Ignacio Cirac, director of the Theory Division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich. He described advances in quantum simulators for addressing problems with the dynamics of physical quantum systems. His recent work focuses on developing algorithms for use on quantum simulators to solve many-body problems

Solutions to digital security challenges was the topic of a talk by Gregoire Ribordy,co-founder and CEO of ID Quantique, Switzerland. He described quantum security techniques, technology and strengths in his keynote talk titled Quantum Technologies for Long-term Data Security. His work centers on the use of quantum safe cryptography and quantum key distribution, and commercially available quantum random number generators in data security.

Mikhail Lukin, co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative in Science and Engineering and co-director of the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, USA, described progress towards quantum repeaters for long-distance quantum communication. He also discussed a new platform for exploring synthetic quantum matter and quantum communication systems based on nanophotonics with atom-like systems.

Conference-wide sponsors for the combined OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference and FiO + LS Conference included Facebook Reality Labs, Toptica Photonics and Oz Optics. Registrants interacted with more than three dozen companies in the virtual exhibit to learn about their latest technologies from instruments for quantum science and education to LIDAR and remote sensing applications.

Registrants can continue to benefit from conference resources for 60 days. Recordings of the technical sessions, the e-Posters Gallery and the Virtual Exhibit will be available on-demand on the FiO + LS website.

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Teratec to Present the Latest Innovations in Simulation, HPC, Big Data and AI (Oct. 13-14) – HPCwire

Sept. 21, 2020 On October 13 and 14, digital version of the next Teratec Forum will present a review of the latest international advances in the fields of simulation, HPC (High Performance Computing), Big Data and artificial intelligence.

These technologies are more than ever at the forefront at a time when the need for analysis, research, prototyping, innovation is all the more necessary for the revival of industry and the economy. And they are taking such due place in sectors as varied as health, industry, aerospace, construction, and security.

The virtual exhibition will thus present latest technologies proposed by nearly 50 exhibitors (manufacturers and publishers, suppliers and integrators of hardware, software and services solutions, universities and research laboratories, centers of excellence, competence centers, European research projects, infrastructures and service platforms). Visitors wishing to deepen their knowledge, to attend demonstrations and be advised by best experts will be able to arrange for personalized appointments throughout the forum.

The plenary session will address major challenges facing French and European industry for which these innovative technologies will play a key role, with the participation of Thierry Breton, European Commissioner, Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces, Trish Damkroger, Vice President, Intel Data Center Group, Kevin D. Kissell, CTO, Google, as well as French and European industry leaders.

During the technical and application workshops, renowned international experts and industrialists will explain how they developed and implemented these innovative technologies on main themes of the digital twin in medicine, quantum computing, satellite data serving the environment, AI and scientific computing, Cloud computing and HPC, as well as Exascale.

Finally, the Numerical Simulation and AI Trophies will reward one innovative project or a company that has carried out an outstanding operation in the field of numerical simulation, high-performance computing, Big Data or AI. Added to our 5 usual trophies, an exceptional prize will be granted this year: the COVID-19 Trophy awarded to a product, technology or service providing an effective solution in the management or recovery from a health crisis such as COVID-19.

Registration and Information:https://teratec.eu/forum

Source: Teratec

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Teratec to Present the Latest Innovations in Simulation, HPC, Big Data and AI (Oct. 13-14) - HPCwire

Global Topological Quantum Computing Market Demand is Increasing Rapidly in Recent Years With Advanced Technology to Improve Product Facilities. -…

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Global Topological Quantum Computing Market Demand is Increasing Rapidly in Recent Years With Advanced Technology to Improve Product Facilities. -...