Category Archives: Automation

Oracle on automation as key to operationalizing and evolving 5G

The continued evolution of 5G is very much an exercise in rapidly increasing network and service complexity. On the network side, the shift to cloud architecture, cloud-native core, edge clouds and RAN virtualization make emerging networks look quite distinct as compared to their predecessors. On the services side, the money will come from enterprises and enterprises need customized solutions with unique performance characteristics, and theyd likely prefer to consume those services in an on-demand, IT-type model. So what should operators do in this operational environment? There are three key words and they are automation, automation, automation, according to Oracles Anil Rao.

5G operations must be automation-native by design, he continued. On the convergence of cloud, virtualization, disaggregation and decentralization of the network, If you put all these things together. its fair to say that the networks that underpin 5G are going to look massively different. And its going to be immensely more complex to manage and operate on a day-to-day basis.

Discussing the evolution of services, Rao said, Yes, consumer can expect super-fast mobile broadband but thats really more of the same. Whats different are bespoke enterprise services. This is where it starts to get interesting because enterprises present a whole raft of challenges.

In terms of automating the network resource and service provisioning/delivery of enterprise services, network slicing is something of a North Star. But, Rao said, network slicing require[s] a highly-evolved, automated operations platform. The reasons are three-fold: abstraction and management; exploiting the benefits of the new technology; and sustainable operational economics.

Abstraction because its going to be humanly impossible to do by just throwing more people at it or even just using the traditional operations modelwhere expectations were mainly consumer voice and data. Exploiting the benefits, well, You wouldnt put a Ford engine in a Tesla. And, They need to do all of the abovewithout breaking the bank. Controlling opex is going to be critical to making 5G profitable and operations automation is going to make this possible.

So what does that look like in terms of a real world strategy for both operators turning up 5G for the first or more advanced 5G operators expanding, densifying and onboarding mobile edge computing infrastructure?

According to Rao, theres a focus on remote configuration of cell site routers and zero-touch provisioning of new 5G and MEC infrastructure. Were also seeing the early signs of the use of digital twin concept for digitalization of cell sites. Once you have digitally modeled the entire cell site using high-def cameras mounted on a drone, for example, you can then combine that with other information such as network inventory and telemetry data to make intelligent and automated decisions on configuration and optimization of those sites.

A big part of thisback to controlling opex at sustainable levelsis limiting site touches and attendant truck rolls to control massive managed services agreements. For MEC nodes, a key part of operator 5G monetization strategies, It definitely helps that the MEC sites, to some extent, resemble a cloud data center, and cloud players, as we know, have mastered the art of rapidly replication cloud regions with automation. CTOs are now insisting on an automate everything that can be automated-type approach.

For more from Rao, listen to this episode of the podcast Will 5G Change the World?

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How to manage 5G complexity'Automation, automation, and automation' - RCR Wireless News

Did you miss a session at the Data Summit? Watch On-Demand Here.

As organizations continue to accelerate the adoption of digital transformation across the enterprise ecosystem, leaders in the finance industry are increasingly gaining momentum in the race to a digital future. Gartner reports that business leaders expect digital technologies to dramatically transform their industry by 2026. While CFOs keep attempting to digitize finance, aligning digital strategies with business outcomes presents a new challenge.

DataRails, a New York-based AI-enabled financial planning and analysis platform for Excel users, today raised a $50 million funding in its quest to revolutionize the CFOs office. The AI-powered company claims its unique approach allows CFOs to take advantage of the full potential of new tech while minimizing disruptions to workflow.

In a press release, the company claims it leverages AI and machine learning capabilities to provide real-time financial consolidation and advanced data visualization through intuitive and simple implementation. Many finance teams often manually gather and consolidate data for staple reports like budgets, profit and loss statements (P&Ls), balance sheets and month-end reporting, but DataRails says its automation-driven platform helps finance teams to be faster and more effective.

Didi Gurfinkel, cofounder and CEO of DataRails, said over 80% of small and midsized businesses experience the pain of manual work, broken processes and scattered data while using Excel for financial planning and analysis. He continued by adding that this showed a huge need for real-time consolidation, collaboration and extraction of financial insights.

The company says it uses a cloud-based centralized database enabling real-time consolidation of disparate financial and operational data from across a company to allow teams to enjoy the flexibility and power of Excel.

Sivan Shamri Dahan, managing partner at Qumra Capital, agrees with Gurfinkel, saying that DataRails is leading the transformation of financial teams operations by empowering teams in every organization with profound business intelligence (BI) capabilities.

For the first time, all financial data is uploaded to the cloud, providing continuous agility and content sharing, said Dahan.

While Gurfinkel said DataRails has experienced tremendous growth that makes the company the superior product-market fit, DataRails is not the only company automating time-consuming manual processes for finance teams. A G2 review list shows DataRails has competition in Vena, the native Excel complete planning platform. Other competitors include Planful, BlackLine, FloQast and Prophix Software, which automates important financial and operational processes.

In alignment with DataRails vision to dominate the financial planning and analysis software market, the company will use this additional capital to expand its global customer base and further invest in R&D, as well as sales and marketing.

This funding which is the third investment round in the last 12 months is coming on the heels of a five-fold revenue growth in 2021.

The funding was led by Qumra Capital with participation from new and existing investors.

VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn More

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DataRails wants to revolutionize the CFO's office with automation - VentureBeat

Late last year, ABBYY teamed up with FreightWaves to survey logistics providers about document handling and processing habits. While results showed that most companies across the supply chain are making efforts toward document digitization and process automation, it was also clear that many companies continue to run into document verification hurdles on a regular basis.

The push toward digitization is not surprising. While the logistics industry was once seen as a technological holdout, it has undergone a veritable tech revolution over the past several years. This trend will only continue to accelerate as partners within the space demand greater connectivity and consumer visibility expectations grow.

As shippers move to digitize their documents and automate their processes, they should focus on making sure both efficiency and accuracy benchmarks are met. One document processing error can sideline an entire shipment, undermining profitability and customer satisfaction.

It is important for shippers to be competitive, and the world is digitizing really quickly. It is no surprise that about half of the supply chain leaders say information verification within their processes has become a big deal, Bruce Orcutt, senior vice president of product marketing and management, at ABBYY said. You have to get the documents right, and you have to get the information within those documents correct.

The shipping industry runs on documents. While automation runs on data, the day-to-day conducting of the business the shipping and receiving of goods takes place in documents. Historically, efforts to bring the worlds of automation and documentation together have been clumsy at best.

Lately, however, organizations have focused more investment on making the integration between those two worlds more seamless so shippers can achieve higher reliability and better verification.

Even with organizations that have managed to automate a lot of their document processes, they still run into verification challenges, Orcutt said. The information on shipping documents is often complex and highly variable. Traditionally, we have to rely on experienced workers who understand those details to make a judgment call on what they mean. Judgements about complex information must be made in context.

The complicated nature of these documents has made it difficult to circumvent the human-heavy approach to document processing. This compromises speed and efficiency, especially during a national labor shortage.

Some companies including ABBYY have turned to artificial intelligence and low-code/no-code platforms in order to bridge the gap between document processing and automation.

AI adds a layer of decision-making on top of the simple data extraction, Orcutt said. Verifying the information and making sure it is correct is vitally important, but at the same time, information can be read in multiple ways and must be understood within context. Documents contain more than just data points.

In order for AI to be successful in the document processing space, the software must be able to continuously learn just like an experienced operator who is an expert at assessing these documents and making swift judgment calls. ABBYY is arming AI software with pre-trained document skills in order to make intelligent document processing a reality.

Click here to learn more about ABBYY.

The leading voices in supply chain are coming to Rogers, Arkansas, on May 9-10.

*limited term pricing available.

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Artificial intelligence makes automated document processing a reality - FreightWaves

Trend Overview

Electrical substations are the building blocks of an energy grid. They are responsible for regulating and changing voltage levels as electric power flows from generating station to consumer. Many were built decades ago when switching, adjustment, and data collection were done manually, but digital protection and control devices have become more intelligent. New Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) can collect and record diverse system information, process complex logic in microseconds, and decide whether to send control commands to switches and breakers to clear faults. The increase in information allows for better evaluation of system health, prediction of potential problems, and a quicker analysis of faults.

Automation Tasks

Substation Automation (SA) uses data fromIEDs, control and automation capabilities within the substation along with control commands from remote users to control power-system devices. Data is collected in the form of measured analog current or voltage values, or the open/closed status of contact points. This data can be used locally within the collecting device, sent to another device in a substation, or delivered to multiple databases for use by operators, engineers, planners, and administration.

Computer processes and personnel use the data from IEDs to supervise and monitor the conditions of the power system. Operators and engineers can monitor the information remotely or locally, using the device.

Traditional supervisory control and data acquisition systems rely on operators to supervise the system with commands coming from an operator console on the master computer. Automation allows these command messages to be sent to a device to operate the instrumentation and control (I&C) and power-system devices. Field personnel can also control devices using front-panel push buttons or a laptop.

As the utility grid becomes more automated and digitized, the reliance on the supporting digital network infrastructure becomes even more critical to the reliability and efficiency of the grid. Expanding grid digitization means a bigger cyber security threat. Traditional substation security approaches fall short due to lack of visibility and centralized security policy enforcement. Regulators and utilities strive to continuously increase their security posture to improve visibility and respond to new threats.

Cisco Point of View

Based on more than a decade of collaboration with the utility industry, Cisco has developed solutions to digitize, automate, and secure substations. Over the past six months, Cisco has released the next generation industrial routing and switching platform designed for grid modernization and substation automation. They align with the five 'Internet of Things' essentials for next-generation substation:

Summary

As utilities become more operationally reliant on digital power system end points, they are realizing that a disruption in accessing these end points and their data is a risk to grid reliability. Cisco can help utilities support the business and technical requirements of the modern electric grid by providing a secure, scalable, and highly available foundation including network, compute, and security.

For more, visit cisco.com/go/utilities.

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The Digitization of the Power Grid: Substation Automation Edition - Marketscreener.com

It can take up to 90 days to hire a software engineer with skills in the top 5% of the talent pool. Lengthy processes like this can cripple a project or even an organization, particularly in the current context. Recruiting the right staff and keeping them throughout a project lifecycle is crucial to the success of Nearshore deployments. The changing landscape accelerated by the pandemic means that software engineering staff augmentation vendors need to move at the speed of innovation to address increasingly diverse and expanding client needs.

Hector Cerezo, VP of Operations and Talent Acquisition at Framework Science, says that being able to respond quickly to clients staffing needs is vital to Nearshore success. The demand for software engineering talent is high right now and lengthy processes will create candidate pipelines that are going to drop. Theres too much competition.

Ensuring that the right talent, aligned with and anticipating client needs, is in place in the shortest amount of time is a competitive advantage. Automation to select, hire, onboard and measure performance is thus critical in the new normal and those that retain more conventional approaches are likely to struggle not only to attract but also to retain needed talent.

The average job is open for more than 60 days and this is then lengthened by the interview, hiring and onboarding processes. The math is simple: if you can cut this time down you have a competitive advantage on slower organizations competing for the same talent. Automating the hiring process grants companies speed in movement that they need to meet the exponential demands that the tech industry imposes.

We have been able to shorten the time to hire to 49 days. Hector Cerezo

Such an approach really disrupts the Nearshore outsourcing industry. These are direct employees we hire; not contractors like other platforms, Cerezo says. We have been able to shorten the time to hire to 49 days, Cerezo says.

When demand for talent is high, as in the current context, shaving off days from recruitment processes can make all the difference. Vendors need to consider how they can address issues that often slow or frustrate such processes.

Automation can improve candidate experience at key points in the process. For example, bottlenecks often occur around candidate feedback post-interview in traditional recruitment processes. Automating these feedback processes means candidates receive information on request without the need for additional labor. Similarly, account management can be automated to allow clients to see progress quickly and easily.

Cerezo adds that addressing the culture of the company from an engineering point of view rather than a traditional operating point of view ensures that talent is matched quickly and appropriately and that vendors can anticipate client needs. Looking at things from an engineering perspective means you are better able to understand the problems clients face and address them from a skills and experience point of view rather than an HR one.

This means constantly reviewing engineers learning of new technologies and new frameworks and developing performance improvement plans to help candidates expand their skill sets across languages.

A platform that provides complete transparency across those processes with feedback from vendor and client and allows clients to track progress is key. Such systems allow for candidate sharing to be automated so that the right stakeholders within a client organization have access to needed information.

Using data collected at all stages of the process can also make for better matching of candidates to client requirements. When clients log on to the platform they can start commenting on profiles of candidates before the recruitment process has even started and this data can be used to better align candidates with client needs beyond the traditional job specification, Cerezo explains.

Identifying potential bottlenecks and leveraging automation to smooth processes that may hamper recruitment and retention strategies will separate companies and vendors as they continue to compete for the right talent in an increasingly demanding environment.

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Speed and Automation Crucial to Nearshore Software Engineering Staff Augmentation - Nearshore Americas

If you are searching for, How big is the Water Automation and Instrumentation industry?

Then you came to the right place, here the report of MarketResearch.Biz on Global Water Automation and Instrumentation Market Trends Analysis and Sale By Country 2022 helps you to understand whole aspects of the Water Automation and Instrumentation industry. Water Automation and Instrumentation Market Research is done in two ways, first is primary research which means gathering information by self-conducted research methods and the second way is secondary research which highlighted the information gathered from the previously conducted study.

The report gives a precise view of the future and present market demands. The report is a collection of several vital data about the Water Automation and Instrumentation market in every industry. The marketing factors include in the report are the dynamic market structure, key players product offerings, their challenges, technical innovation, challenges and barriers, information on communication and sales, sales by country, risk, prospects, competitive landscape, growth strategy, etc.

For Detailed Analysis on Key Players and Full Segmentation, you can Ask for a Sample Report:https://marketresearch.biz/report/water-automation-and-instrumentation-market/request-sample

Figure:

The report helps you to go through all marketing areas with detailed research so that one can not face the failure of the business or product.

Highlighted areas in the Water Automation and Instrumentation market are as follows:

Competitive Analysis Today, the Water Automation and Instrumentation industry is making extremely large strides, having tough competition. Dominant players listed in the report covers companies, product, organization, popular brands, and such group that has the highest sales revenue percentage of the Water Automation and Instrumentation market, also who is the largest producer in the world?

Segmentation The global Water Automation and Instrumentation market is segmented based on product type, end-user, distribution channel, market value & volume, and region. Water Automation and Instrumentation Market 2022 brings out a vital outline of the important elements of the industry and the elements such as drivers, restraints, present, and future current trends, administrative scenarios, and growth in terms of technology. Afterward, studying the Water Automation and Instrumentation market report, one can tell which are the major segments in the global Water Automation and Instrumentation Market?

Geographic Zones The location of stores will also impact sales, especially in areas that are difficult to reach or have less traffic because the company can control the customer experience to sell more products. The new trends mentioned in the Water Automation and Instrumentation market report are increasing sales by country in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Consumer demand for Water Automation and Instrumentation has seen a marked increase in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Subsequently, the report assists you to figure out which region is expected to hold the highest market share in the Water Automation and Instrumentation market?

Covid-19 Impact Before the pandemic and new variant omicron had come, the stock market marked the peak position. In recent years, brands are shifting their production methods to producing masks and hand sanitizers. On the other hand, as the number of vaccinations increases, the situation is expected to be normal. Lifting the lockdown and other restrictions have helped the economy regain growth, including the Water Automation and Instrumentation market.

Please Feel Free to Inquire Water Automation and Instrumentation Market Report at: https://marketresearch.biz/report/water-automation-and-instrumentation-market/#inquiry

Water Automation and Instrumentation Business Dominant Manufactures:

Manufacturers mentioned in the report have company profiles, product portfolios, capacity, production value, current growth activities, Water Automation and Instrumentation market shares of the company, marketing policies, and future anticipations.

SiemensRockwell AutomationGeneral ElectricEmerson ElectricABBSchneider ElectricCH2M HillMitsubishi ElectricYOKOGAWA Electric CorporationPepperl+FuchsEndress+Hauser Consult AG.

Water Automation and Instrumentation Market Segmentation:

The report surveys the presence of the distinctive market segment at global as well as the regional scale that defines the Water Automation and Instrumentation market size, demands and growth opportunities, market areas that need to work on.

End User

residential, commercial, industrial

process

collectiontreatmentdistribution of water

hand instruments

level transmitterelectromagnetic flowmetersgas and liquid analyzercontrol valvespressure transmittertemperature transmittersludge density measurementleakage detection systemslow and high AC drives

Water Automation and Instrumentation Market Research Scope:

Forecast Period: 2022-2031

Actual Year: 2021

Historical Data Available for: 2015-2020

Geographical Zones Covered For Water Automation and Instrumentation Market:

The location of stores will also impact sales, especially in areas that are difficult to reach or have less traffic because the company can control the customer experience to sell more products.

Region 1: North America( US, Canada)

Region 2: Europe( Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe)

Region 3: Asia Pacific( China, Japan, South Korea, India, Rest of Asia Pacific)

Region 4: Latin America( Brazil, Mexico, Rest of Latin America)

Region 5: Middle East & Africa ( GCC, South Africa, Israel, Rest of MEA)

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Water Automation and Instrumentation Market Observe Spike In Sales And Growth In Forecast 2022-2031 - Taiwan News

COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Danish customer support innovator Dixa has today announced the acquisitions of analytics leader Miuros, and automation pioneer Solvemate. Driven by a need amongst service teams to connect to customers with intelligence, empathy, and the right information, the double acquisition is valued at $43 million and strengthens Dixas long-term vision to set a new standard in experience and data-driven conversational customer service, giving brands the toolkit they need to utilize data on a new scale for automation, measurement and analytics.

Dixa is used by consumer-facing and digital-first brands to serve customers across multiple channels, touchpoints and experiences from a single screen including social media, chat, voice and messaging apps, enabling an outstanding experience for both customers and agents. With cross-channel prioritization features, powerful routing capabilities, and flexible integrations, Dixa helps brands across the globe deliver value-driven customer experiences at scale, all from a single platform.

Solvemate builds in a powerful self-service layer into the platform that ensures brands can create a painless customer experience with the power of AI to give instant, personal, reliable answers via any customer-facing channel, or funnel requests to the right agent. Its introduction means users can now handle the end-to-end customer journey in a more intelligent, automated and conversational way, while also improving the agent experience through more seamless bot-to-agent handovers.

Miuros was designed to help brands turn customer data into actionable insights with AI-powered analytics, quality assurance and automation. Its addition to the Dixa platform will allow service leaders to harness the power of this technology and gain a better, more comprehensive understanding of the service function. Underpinned by Dixas data-rich foundation, service leaders will be able to make stronger, data-informed decisions, such as spotting and acting upon trends in agent productivity and sentiment.

To create value-driven experiences, brands need a complete platform that leverages data, AI and machine learning to deliver the right knowledge to customers, support agents and internal teams at the right time, said Mads Fosselius, CEO and co-founder of Dixa. In being able to draw on our data-rich foundation and existing knowledge base, Elevio, the addition of Miuros and Solvemate will allow service leaders to leverage data on a new scale for automation, measurement and insights from a single platform, setting an entirely new standard in data-driven customer service.

Dixas acquisition rounds out an impressive service offering that also includes a new, bespoke messaging product that delivers rich messaging across web, mobile, and app environments. Dixa Messenger will launch in March 2022, joining native telephony, email, and social messaging support on Dixas platform.

Dixa Messenger is a powerful new service desk for your brand, allowing customer loving teams to create great experiences wherever your customers are, says Rob Krassowski, Dixas VP of Product, Solvemate and Miuros allow us to take a more data-driven approach to automation and self-service, plus give service agents the tools that they need to create compelling experiences for customers and real business value for their brands.

Erik Pfannmller, CEO & Co-founder from Solvemate added: Powered by smart conversational AI, Solvemate allows brands to create highly personalized chatbot conversations at scale, guiding customers to find answers when they need them. Reducing the number of common, repetitive requests handled by agents means that service teams can focus their expertise where it matters most: solving the more complex cases which require a human touch. By giving consumers faster solutions and taking away noise for agents, we share Dixas ambition to service a multiexperience world for delivering unparalleled customer service.

Benoit Gagnon, CEO & Co-founder from Miuros said: Dixa is the only platform that can turn a traditional customer service organization into a value creation team by elevating both the agent and customer experience, and were delighted to be joining during such an exciting period. Miuros was designed to bring customer service data to life, creating actionable insights to streamline operations, as well as empowering the whole company to create an outstanding customer experience. By adding Miuros analytics capabilities, service leaders will now be able to optimize their operations through AI and obtain actionable insights, without needing to stitch together multiple siloed solutions.

Solvemate, with a global customer base of over 100 brands such as On, JustPark, Sport24, Holidu and CreditPlus, was founded in 2015 by co-founders Erik Pfannmller, Jrgen Vogel and Christian Blomberg. Miuros, with a global customer base of over 100 mid-market and enterprise brands, including Deezer, Wise, About You, Freenow and Swapfiets, was founded in 2016 by co-founders Benoit Gagnon, Dr. Ricardo De Aldama and Daniele Alfarone. Solvemate and Miuros will continue to service their current customers across platforms in addition to expanding on existing integrations with Dixa.

Dixa has raised $155 million in funding to date with backing from Notion Capital, Project A Ventures, SEED Capital and recently from General Atlantic. The company has offices in Copenhagen, London, Berlin, Paris, Chicago, Tallinn, Kiev, Tel Aviv and Melbourne.

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Dixa Leverages $43 Million Double Acquisition of CX Intelligence and Automation Pioneers, Miuros and Solvemate, to Deliver High-value Customer...

Two years of pandemic-forced remote work has shown how much organizations depend on cloud computing. Employees want to work at home, convinced they are more productive from a remote office than at the office.

The great demand for remote work means greater reliance on the cloud. Studies show that by 2025, total data storage globally will be more than 200 zettabytes (or 200 trillion gigabytes) and at least half of that will be stored somewhere in the cloud.

The more data stored in the cloud, the more important cloud security becomes. In fact, according to a new study from Check Point, cloud security incidents are up 10% from the previous year, with 27% of respondents now citing misconfiguration as the top security challenge, way ahead of issues like exposed data or account compromise.

It is clear from this independent survey that security teams are finding the increased reliance on the cloud a bit of a challenge, Tsion (TJ) Gonen, head of cloud product line at Check Point Software, said in a statement.

To meet that challenge, organizations are rethinking their cloud security priorities. According to the study, those priorities are: Automation, preventing misconfigurations, securing cloud apps, attracting and retaining qualified staff and achieving regulatory compliance.

This is how Gonen explained the drivers behind these security priorities in an email interview:

With the shift of moving workloads to the cloud35% of respondents said they have at least 50% of workloads in the cloud, with that number predicted to jump to 75% over the next yearmore and more organizations need to deploy application protection in the cloud.

The Check Point survey also found that organizations are embracing more agile software development methodologies and prioritizing ways to build security that can keep up with the cloud. Almost two-thirds of respondents have already integrated their DevOps toolchain into cloud deployments, yet organizations are still struggling with the lack of expertise that bridges security and DevOps. As the number of misconfigurations increases, addressing DevOps security and the need for security skills among developers is a top priority for improving cloud security.

Also, its no surprise that the majority of respondents cited the need for a single cloud security platform with a single dashboard where they could configure all of the policies needed to protect data consistently and comprehensively across their cloud footprint. Currently, users are spread across multiple cloud platforms. Managing data and applications across multiple platforms makes meeting compliance regulations extremely difficult.

The skills shortage continues to challenge organizations ability to meet their security needs. In fact, 45% of the Check Point respondents cited lack of qualified staff as their biggest day-to-day headache in trying to protect cloud workloads.

Its a cloud security concern that was echoed in research conducted by Siriux (acquired by Vectra) where it was found that less than 20% of enterprise security teams had the skills and resources to detect cloud security incidents.

What our research indicates, when combined with Check Points research, is that cloud security incidents are most likely going undetected. If we take a look at the large-scale incidents reported by DHS and NSA alerts, the broad applicability of the cloud attack tools makes it very easy to find vulnerable cloud environments and rapidly exploit weak default configuration settings, Aaron Turner, vice president, SaaS posture at Vectra, said in an email comment.

Faced with the skills shortage, organizations need to do everything they can to simplify their cloud security management. This is why automation is going to lead the way as the top cloud security priority going forward.

The one mega trend and cloud priority that everyone should be looking at is automation, said Gonen. Your application developers are automating everything. It started with shifting left in automating pipelines, but now the cloud, by definition, automates infrastructure.

And this drive to automation is the security priority that will keep business operations running as other security concerns are addressed.

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Automation is the Top Cloud Security Priority - Security Boulevard

A holistic approach is essential to making sure that the security of machines involved in a large-scale autonomous project can be trusted.

The coming world of autonomous machines will transform how we live, travel, work and engage with the world. Industry from agriculture and infrastructure to logistics looks set to enjoy incredible commercial opportunities. Businesses will benefit from augmentation of human effort that could improve safety, productivity, efficiency, comfort and more. But theres a big question here: how can we trust the intelligence behind it?

Trust is a fascinating, multi-dimensional topic, with both objective (using high rigour disciplines) and subjective (human behaviour) perspectives. Assurances can be given on each dimension, giving us confidence in how a system should behave in any event, and in a way that is not only safe but in keeping with what humans reasonably expect of that machine at any given time.

Nevertheless, challenges remain and the largest and most dangerous tend to be systemic. This is the result of many factors: complexity, connectivity (which leads to blurring of boundaries), uncertain cascading impacts and unclear responsibilities, attribution, or accountability.

To illustrate this, Im going to dip into the world of agritech, more specifically an autonomous harvesting robot. Here, the issue of trust isnt just with the machine itself. This is because the trend, in agriculture and many areas, is migration from a unit sale model to a service provision model. Thus, the robot itself will only be part of the service encompassing data provision, harvesting, fitting out a farm with intelligent components like sensors, and managing the entire process every season.

We now have a cyber-physical system, able to make its own decisions and connected to a wider world. Therefore, addressing trust must extend to all these areas. The service model also means that the owner and operator of the harvesting process may no longer solely be the farmer. This blurs the boundaries of who (or what) makes the decisions on the safety of the operator and those in proximity, operational effectiveness and the cyber security of both robot and associated data services. Furthermore, how do we know we can trust those decisions?

Plenty of concerns then. But here we can pull back to explore the high-level strategic view of how we can maximise the effectiveness of any solution given technical, financial, and regulatory constraints. It seems an obvious point that resources in any business in any context are finite. The real question is whether we know where those thresholds are, be they technical, financial, or regulatory. Part of this is informed by the business strategy, and part of it comes from approaching the situation holistically.

This holistic view is crucial, as it allows us to be adaptable rather than deterministic, something that is especially important when considering the pace of technology, the increased demand for agility, and the ever-evolving threat landscape. This means using probabilistic approaches (whether this be in the realms of opportunity or risk) and taking multiple perspectives. These range from the technology bundles that are most suitable (what sensors or algorithms to use or which verification and validation strategy to deploy), to socio-technical aspects such as finding the right skillsets, to integrating philosophies from different disciplines such as safety and security.

This high-level viewpoint is where the best opportunities lie. If we spot these systemic issues early, we can address them well before implementation becomes irreversible. To ensure the right strategy, several aspects need to be considered. First, we need to clarify commercial constraints such as cost or risk appetite, considering regulations that could influence development. We then draw out high-level technical constraints and requirements such as latency, power, memory and so on. The security strategy for the system would be created in tandem at this stage.

After this vision-setting exercise, a first pass at a threat-analysis or cyber-security risk assessment (both probabilistic exercises) would be essential in determining where to focus initial efforts. A layer down from this would be to balance the risks and the constraints and use those insights to choose optimal technical solutions. These might be the right cryptographic mechanism (as computational overhead could affect latency), the right access control policies (which could introduce complexity and negatively affect user experience), the right identity management system (which could be as light or heavy as desired), and so on.

Another key practice is to monitor the system from the start. Fortunately, our holistic viewpoint, considering varied stakeholders and assurance techniques, can provide insights such as the right degree and the right type before any data is gathered. Early planning for mitigation can also be performed, both for monitoring purposes and based on earlier opportunity or risk analyses.

There will always be a place for the design and implementation of specific solutions to address low-level issues. However, this is akin to treating symptoms rather than the root cause. Large systemic issues will always require systemic multi-layered solutions and the best way to achieve that is to start early and think big.

Dr Madeline Cheah is principal security technologist at Cambridge Consultants.

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Want to benefit from automation? Start early, and think big - E&T Magazine

When it comes to warehouse management, theres a lot to consider. Overhead costs, employee efficiency, order fulfillment are just some of the many daily operations involved in warehousing today. However, there are ways to streamline these processes for greater productivity.

The Benefits of Investing in Warehouse Automation

Article from | KPI Integrated Solutions

When it comes to warehouse management, theres a lot to consider. Overhead costs, employee efficiency, and order fulfillment are just some of the many daily operations involved in warehousing today. However, there are ways to streamline these processes for greater productivity. Read this guide on the benefits of investing in warehouse automation to learn more.

One of the main benefits of warehouse automation is that it reduces labor and operational costs. With supply chain issues constantly on the rise, the main goal for warehouse management is to save as much money as possible with enough oversight in daily operations. Warehouse automation keeps overhead costs low to save you more money and keep your warehouse operational.

Additionally, warehouse automation helps optimize warehouse space. Automated warehouse systems utilize every available space for equipment, storage, and other important facets. From there, youll notice fewer delays in order retrieval. Not to mention theres a greater focus on quality and processing time with more workspace. Optimizing warehouse space further reduces clutter and disorganization, which can impact warehouse efficiency.

Another key benefit of investing in warehouse automation is that it reduces human error. Robotics and automated software have changed the supply chain industry significantly over the years. Now, theres less risk of human error because many daily tasks utilize automated scheduling and technology. This lessens the chance of operational errors, accidents, and mishaps. With an automated warehouse, warehouse managers will notice a more unified team with more precise order fulfillment than before. The minimal human labor further reduces any chance of workplace injuries. Then, employees can remain safe, compliant, and functional for other tasks.

Improved order accuracy is the last benefit to note. Given that warehouses oversee many drop-off and transport loadings of various goods for distributors and retailers, its natural that managers need to streamline this process. Fortunately, automation does that. Theres less inventory loss with automation, which greatly improves order fulfillment by a large margin. Keep this in mind if your warehouse is failing to fulfill orders within the appropriate delivery time.

KPI Integrated Solutions offers the bestcustom warehouse solutionstoday. We leverage technology and operations expertise for various industries, from food, grocery, and retail to healthcare and manufacturing. Our automation and robotics services optimize your warehouses potential in regard to your material flow, pallets, AMRS and AGVS, conveyors and sortation, and more. Call now with any questions or to learn more about how KPI Integrated Solutions can transform your warehouse operations today.

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The Benefits of Investing in Warehouse Automation | RoboticsTomorrow - Robotics Tomorrow