The concept behind digital transformation is how to use technology to remake a process so that it becomes more efficient or effective. It’s not just about changing an existing service into a digital version but improving it. Digital Transformation refers to an overall transformation of organizational activities aimed at leveraging opportunities created by digital technologies and data. This requires companies to profoundly transform their business models.
Digital transformation poses many challenges, but it also creates an abundance of new opportunities for your job and your company. Becoming a digital enterprise requires far more profound changes than merely investing in the latest technologies. It calls for change in:
THE FOURTH INDUSTRIA REVOLUTION.
Nowhere is the upheaval of the Fourth Industrial Revolution more likely to be felt than in the workplace. As with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will profoundly affect people’s lives as AI and increased automation see many types of jobs disappear. At the same time, entirely new categories of jobs are emerging.
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution reshapes the future of work, businesses must prepare their people for the new world that lies ahead. This often means an increased focus on continual learning, building more on-ramps to new types of jobs, and a commitment to diversity.
Big Data & Cloud Services
The concept gained momentum in the early 2000s when industry analyst Doug Laney articulated the now-mainstream definition of big data as the three Vs:
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Cyber Security
Fields of Cyber Security
The term Cyber Security applies in a variety of contexts, from business to mobile computing, and can be divided into a few common categories:
Cyber Attacks and Cyber Security Threats
Common methods attackers use to control computers or networks include viruses, worms, spyware, Trojans, and ransomware. Viruses and worms can self-replicate and damage files or systems without the user’s knowledge, while spyware and Trojans are often used for surreptitious data collection. Ransomware waits for an opportunity to encrypt all the user’s information and demands payment to return access to the user. Malicious code often spreads via an unsolicited email attachment or a legitimate-looking download that actually carries a malware payload.
Social engineering is the process of psychologically manipulating people into performing actions or giving away information. Phishing attacks are the most common form of social engineering. Phishing attacks usually come in the form of a deceptive email that tricks the user into giving away personal information. Not always easy to distinguish from genuine messages, these scams can inflict enormous damage on organizations.
Two more advanced threads are DDoS and MITM:
- A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack attempts to disrupt normal web traffic and take a site offline by flooding a system or server with more requests than it can handle.
- A Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack occurs when a hacker inserts themselves between a visitor’s device and a server. MITM attacks often happen when a user logs on to an insecure Wi-Fi network. The user will then unknowingly pass information through the attacker.
Finally, using outdated (unpatched) software opens up opportunities for criminal hackers to take advantage of vulnerabilities to bring entire systems down. A zero-day attack can occur when a vulnerability is made public before a patch or solution has been rolled out by the developer.
Follow these four steps for cyber safety:
- Only trust https-URLs! Only use trusted sites when providing your personal information. A good rule of thumb is to check the URL. If the site includes “https://,” then it’s a secure site. If the URL includes “http://,” — note the missing “s” — avoid entering sensitive information like your credit card data.
- Don’t open unknown attachments/links! Don’t open email attachments or click links in emails from unknown sources. One of the most common ways people are attacked is through emails disguised as being sent by someone you trust.
- Keep your devices updated! Always keep your devices updated. Software updates contain important patches to fix security issues. Cyberattacks thrive on outdated devices because they don’t have the most current security software.
- Regularly back up your files! Back up your files regularly to prevent cybersecurity attacks. If you need to wipe your device clean due to a cyberattack, it will help to have your files stored in a safe, separate place.
The most effective strategy to mitigating and minimizing the effects of a cyber-attack is to build a solid foundation upon which to grow your cybersecurity technology stack. A solid cybersecurity foundation will identify these gaps and propose the appropriate action to take to mitigate the risk of an attack, enabling you to build a robust cybersecurity strategy.
Artificial Intelligence
AI refers to computer systems built to mimic human intelligence and perform tasks such as recognition of images, speech or patterns, and decision making. AI can do these tasks faster and more accurately than humans.
- Weak AI – also called Narrow AI – is able to handle just one particular task. Examples include an email spam filtering tool or a recommended playlist from Spotify. Weak AI is the only form of Artificial Intelligence that humanity has achieved so far.
- Strong AI – also called General AI – could handle various tasks. It is comparatively as intelligent as the human brain. Unlike weak AI, it can learn and improve itself.
- Super AI is a term referring to the time when the capability of computers will surpass humans. Super AI can think about abstractions that are impossible for humans to understand.
What is Machine Learning?
Machine Learning is a subset of AI. With Machine Learning, computers are programmed to learn to do something they are not programmed to do: They literally learn by discovering patterns and insights from data. For example, social media platforms use machine learning to get a better understanding of how you’re connected with those in your social network. They do this by analyzing your likes, shares, and comments and then prioritizing content from your closest connections, serving you that content first.
What is Deep Learning?
Deep Learning is a specialized form of machine learning that teaches computers to do what comes naturally to humans: learn by example. Deep learning is a key technology behind driverless cars, enabling them to recognize a stop sign or to distinguish a pedestrian from a lamppost. In deep learning, a computer model learns to perform classification tasks directly from images, text, or sound. Deep learning models can achieve state-of-the-art accuracy, sometimes exceeding human-level performance. Models are trained by using a large set of labeled data and neural network architectures that contain many layers.
Blockchain
Many people know it as the technology behind Bitcoin, but blockchain’s potential uses extend far beyond digital currencies. Banks and firms are falling over one another to be the first to work out how to use it. So what exactly is blockchain, and why are Wall Street and Silicon Valley so excited about it?
What is blockchain?
Currently, most people use a trusted middleman – such as a bank – to make a transaction. But blockchain allows consumers and suppliers to connect directly, removing the need for a third party. Using cryptography to keep exchanges secure, blockchain provides a decentralized database, or “digital ledger”, of transactions that everyone on the network can see. This network is essentially a chain of computers that must all approve an exchange before it can be verified and recorded. To sum it up, a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked using cryptography.
Key attributes.
1. Decentralization
Before Bitcoin came along, we were more used to centralized services: You have a centralized entity that stored all the data and you’d have to interact solely with this entity. In a decentralized system, the information is not stored by one single entity. In fact, everyone in the network owns the information.
2. Transparency
Every person’s identity is hidden via complex cryptography and represented only by their public address. While the person’s real identity is secure, you will still see all the transactions that were done by their public address. This level of transparency has never existed before within a financial system.
3. Immutability
Immutability, in the context of the blockchain, means that once something has been entered into the blockchain, it cannot be tampered with. This makes blockchains so highly reliable and trailblazing.
We at ICS New Zealand Ltd, love to study your company, organization, Government sector, business cases to transform, in the digital era.
Muhammad Asif
CEO
