Big Data
Google’s Sidewalk Lab has teamed up with the U.S Secretary of Transportation to tackle one of the United States most troubling issues: traffic. The two organizations will work together on a big data traffic monitoring and analysis system called “Flow,” which is expected to be commercialized as a software product. The system will use data from cell phones and consumer mobility apps such as Google Maps, along with roadway sensors and other information sources to shape how people and goods move in the future. Sidewalk Labs will also address other “urban ills,” including cost of living, obesity and fossil fuel dependency.
Although consumers have become more aware of the ongoing fight to end obesity in our country, the epidemic still continues. The Guardian outlines nine ways in which businesses can help tackle the epidemic, including using customer data with restaurants and grocery stores. Data which tracks people’s food purchasing behaviour and personal health could, for example, be used in class action lawsuits against food companies that have knowingly sold “bad” food and contributed to diet-related diseases. The same customer data can also be used positively to help promote healthier shopping baskets, something that British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer, Tesco, is already looking into.
Google looks to big data to cut traffic and create new product– Silicon Beat
From sugar tax to big data: 9 lessons about tackling obesity– The Guardian
IoT/ IIoT
Swisscom, a major telecommunication company in Switzerland, said it’s currently deploying a nationwide network designed to support the Internet of Things. The company plans to have their initial rollout scheduled for the end of the year. The network will be set up to use technology based on the Low Power Wide Area Network standard from the LoRa Alliance, which Swisscom joined in January 2015. The Low Power Network forms the basis for the IoT and thus for smart cities, energy efficient buildings, machine-to-machine networking and new digital application. Apps with high data requirements, such as cars, remote maintenance or real-time control systems, will in the future also use the mobile network. Swisscom said 98% of its customers are covered by its LTE network, which supports 73% of its mobile data traffic.
It is evident that 2015 saw a major shift with the IoT, and many companies took their products up to the next level with integrated connectivity and internet capabilities. According to Gartner, by 2020 at least 25 billion devices will be connected, and this number is only expected to grow year-on-year. In order to prepare for this anticipated growth, businesses need cost-effective technology that can quickly help them make sense if this data. One example is using proven data analysis automation, which is the quickest way a business can get a final reading of all the data, and can help businesses avoid compromises and the risk of losing intelligence from perishable data sets. IoT is starting to find its place within the market and businesses that want to gain a competitive edge need to take advantage of the new wave of resources it will bring.
Swisscom moves to deploy nationwide IoT network– RCR Wireless News
What organizations should be doing now to turn IoT data into information– Information Age
eCommerce
The eCommerce market in Brazil is growing rapidly. According to E-bit Informação, the number of eCommerce orders in Brazil that were made via mobile devices reached 14.3% in December, which was up from 10.1% in June. However, the figures don’t include purchases made via mobile apps, so the total retail mcommerce share is likely somewhat higher. Personalized retargeting company, Criteo, reported that in Q4 2015, 18.6% of all ecommerce transactions across its user base in Brazil were mcommerce, which was up from 10% a year earlier. Most of those transactions occurred on mobile phones, Criteo found: 15.0% of the total, vs. 3.5% on tablets. eMarketer estimates that retail ecommerce sales in Brazil will reach $22.12 billion this year, up 13.5% over 2015. That figure will amount to just 3.6% of total retail sales in the country.
Ecommerce in Brazil Gets more Mobile – eMarketer
Software Defined Networking
Paypal has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, embracing the open-source OpenStack platform as the core foundation for its operations. Yet when it comes to software defined networking, Paypal’s direction is not as concrete. “SDN is a great technology to have but we don’t use technology because it’s cool,” Jigar Desai, VP of cloud and platforms at PayPal said during a keynote at the Open Networking Summit 2016 event. “We use it because we need it.” One use case for SDN deployment at Paypal is in support of security isolation zones across different business units and domains. Another use-case is to logically isolate cloud resources by making use of SDN. Since Paypal is already using OpenStack, they want to be able to enable SDN through the OpenStack Neutron networking project. PayPal has had many challenges with SDN technologies over the years, but they still “love SDN” and are looking to work more with it in the future.
ONS: Why Paypal Loves SDN – but Doesn’t Use it in Production – Enterprise Networking Planet