It is imperative that Canada develops a national strategy for IoT, in consultation with business, industry, policymakers, and academics. Canada cannot afford to stay behind in this sector, given the pervasiveness of the technology and the economic stakes.

The Internet of Things is the latest evolution of the “web”. In 1969 ARPAnet was born when a message was exchanged between the computers of two research teams at Stanford and at UCLA. In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, as a network of HTML pages accessible through the HTTP protocol. These technologies launched a race, among existing bricks-and-mortar companies, to establish a “presence” on the Internet to advertise their products to a broader audience of potential clients. The mid-90s saw an explosion of eCommerce websites, eBay and Amazon being just two notable examples, selling products and services online without a real-world store. The launch of Facebook in 2004 brought about Web2.0, offering every individual on the planet the opportunity to connect with each other. The Internet of Things, first mentioned in 1999 to promote RFID technology,  is the natural evolution of this increasingly expanded “connectivity” and promises to seamlessly connect the physical world to the Internet, to enable the “sensing” the natural and built environment, the analysis of the collected data at the edge, where it is first collected and on the cloud where it is eventually aggregated, and the optimization of the activities and systems that impact them.

The Opportunity and The Challenge

IDC predicts that the value of the global IoT market will be 1T by 2022. Solid numbers on how much Canada will contribute to this economic activity are not available but unfortunately, there is some evidence that Canada may be lagging behind other countries in taking advantage of this family of technologies. In 2015, there were 363 million visible devices online with some 84 million recorded in China and 78 million in the US. When computing the number of online devices per 100 inhabitants, Canada does not make the list of the top 10 Countries. 

Use Cases for the Canadian Economy

The top five economic sectors in Canada, i.e., Real Estate, Manufacturing, Mining, Construction, and Health, can be substantially amplified by IoT. Modern buildings are equipped with sensors that monitor their indoor environment and building usage; this data can be used to fine-tune the HVAC systems’ parameters to improve comfort and reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs, amplifying the return on real-estate investment. IoT can optimize manufacturing processes through robotic control and automation; the reduction of manual effort and risk can boost productivity and quality. The mining and extraction industries have potentially the most to gain from IoT-enabled innovation: environmental sensing can help to precisely identify mining opportunities, and reduce environmental impacts. Construction projects often suffer from cost overruns that could be avoided if the progress of the work on construction sites was better monitored through cameras and sensors embedded in the machines and materials involved. Finally, health care costs could be reduced, and citizen health could be improved, if the variety of data emitted by the devices worn by consumers was analyzed and considered at the point of care.

Recommendation

It is imperative that Canada develops a national strategy for IoT, in consultation with business, industry, policymakers, and academics. This national strategy should include a framework (and incentives) for public-private partnerships to build the necessary IoT infrastructure and deliver demonstrator projects in all major sectors of the Canadian economy, including the Government itself. Canada cannot afford to stay behind in this sector, given the pervasiveness of the technology and the economic stakes.

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AI for business

The advances made in Artificial Intelligence (AI) over the past decade have transformed the world of business. New AI-powered consumer goods and services such as self-driving cars and smart homes are now available to the public. Both traditional business practices such as hiring processes and new business models such as Industry 4.0 all rely on AI as a cornerstone. And new career options, such as machine learning developer and data scientist, are available to AI specialists. A recent Accenture study shows that over 80% of Canadian businesses consider the adoption of AI as a necessity for growth and see failure to do so as a guarantee of bankruptcy; a number on par with international respondents.

Faced with this new reality, the Canadian government has acted resolutely to embrace AI and its applications to industry. Through new programs and increased funding, it has used its research organizations NSERC and MITACS to foster research collaborations between Canadian universities and industries. In addition, it appointed the research organisation CIFAR to lead its Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the world’s first national AI strategy, with one of its goals being to translate Canadian AI discoveries into real-world applications.

These actions have created a healthy AI ecosystem where universities and companies work together to create and market innovative ideas, and the benefits are being reaped by everyone in our country. The number of AI firms in Canada has increased exponentially over the past decade, and includes both major international players, such the new offices opened by Microsoft, Google and Facebook, as well as AI start-ups which are supported by unprecedented levels of funding. These new businesses create new career opportunities in AI and technology, and as a result the number of jobs in AI is increasing at twice the national average rate. University research labs also benefit from increased research funding and new research collaborations, which attract quality students (enrolment in computer science programs nationwide is nine times higher than the average post-secondary enrolment) and fosters a quality learning environment (three Canadian universities are among the top-25 for machine learning education worldwide). Nowhere is this symbiosis more visible than at the Canadian Conference on Artificial Intelligence, the annual meeting of university professors, graduate students, and industry researchers, where fundamental research breakthroughs and applied solutions to industrial problems are presented side by side.

AI and business for good

Of course, we should not talk about the rise of AI in business and industry without mentioning its darker consequence: the rise of algorithmic discrimination. Indeed, most AI systems learn from examples, and most examples come from human experiences or human decisions. This means that human biases and prejudices taint these examples and are learned by the AI systems. Those systems then naively repeat these prejudices and discriminate in their decisions based on them, negatively impacting both customers and companies.

But even in the face of this major complication, Canada has taken a leadership position. Canadian researchers wrote the Montreal Declaration for Responsible AI , which AI researchers here and internationally are encouraged to sign to commit to working on ethically-responsible AI projects. They also created the International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI with the mission of maximizing the positive impacts of AI and technology. Research labs and individual researchers across our nation are increasingly incorporating societal impacts and ethical responsibility in their research programs and integrating them into the curriculum of AI courses. After taking the leadership in AI for business, Canada is now taking the leadership in AI and business for the good of humanity.

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Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are significant contributors to organization-wide success and innovation. Businesses across industries are using data and AI as strategic drivers for digital transformation and competitive differentiation.

Ronald van Loon is regularly immersed in the latest developments, strategies, and conversations of some of the most prominent global organizations and is well-positioned to discuss what businesses are experiencing when adopting data and AI-related technology.

In conversation with Mediaplanet, he shares his views and experiences with organizations and business leaders, and why he launched his new company, the Intelligent World.

Data and AI misconceptions

Organizations are often under the impression that they can apply AI to either solve more minor problems, or overhaul and reinvent their entire business using AI.

But these two approaches don’t help organizations achieve digital transformation success. If they try to use data and AI across smaller, more disconnected use cases, it’s difficult to scale AI across the organization. On the other hand, it’s too big an undertaking to apply AI initiatives for a vast array of purposes and functions.

It’s better if organizations use data and AI in different areas that can work well together, and for data and technology to be reused across various functions and purposes. This type of approach helps companies build on their AI and technology capabilities to better expand their AI agenda and digital transformation initiatives.

Why organizations are behind the AI curve

Businesses are behind the curve in their AI adoption because they aren’t establishing the right leadership and management teams that will help them embrace technological change and drive AI success across the organization. Also, they aren’t adopting technologies that enhance AI deployment, like cloud data platforms, for example.

Businesses have to create a roadmap that details how AI will help them achieve organizational goals and assign leaders to prepare the workforce to understand how to embrace data-driven decision-making and enact an agile mindset for change.

The Intelligent World

After regularly talking to and coaching executives, directors, managers, and practitioners, Ronald decided to create the Intelligent World.

He realized that executives needed a place to go to discover updates on the latest technological developments applicable to their unique sector, all from the views and opinions of the brightest and most respected minds in technology and business.

Executives today don’t have much time or the capacity to visit physical events to discuss issues and experiences with their peers. Social media, like Twitter and LinkedIn, and video content sites, like YouTube, are great for updates but are not delving deep enough into specific subjects and industry functions that are truly educational.

Lastly, there are just too many online events for executives to visit and get the content they need in a condensed and accessible way.

Ronald discovered that he could use his network as a globally recognized AI and data analytics thought leader to help educate and connect domain experts at scale, focusing on ease of use and personalization.

So the Intelligent World was born:

• Brings practitioners, executives, and directors together on one platform that’s easily accessible.
• Offers personalized content that’s tailored to an individual’s unique requirements and goals.
• A user can build their own curriculum, customize their learning journey, and learn at their own pace.
• Offers opportunities to discuss topics with peers live and uncover answers to questions answered by top domain experts.
• A completely modern, on-demand video-driven content experience that is consistently updated.

Connecting business leaders with technology education

Business leaders can navigate the complexities of data and AI technology implementation and make faster, accurate, and better business decisions with unlimited learning and network support.

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AI is already changing the world dramatically. It’s up to us to ensure that those changes benefit everyone on the planet — and that they benefit the planet itself.

As the information age flourishes into an era of ubiquitous AI, the potential for transformative technological change is boundless. We’re looking at a shift as profound as the Industrial Revolution, with human capabilities augmented by increasingly more intelligent machines. We live in a world that is being reinvented, and so a great responsibility rests on the shoulders of the inventors.

Artificial intelligence — the ability of machines to learn, reason, and react in ways that are similar to humans — is not new. The earliest AI systems were created decades ago, and they’ve been iterated and innovated upon ever since. Today, however, a confluence of factors (faster computing, widespread interconnectivity, and the availability of enormous datasets for training) is creating an environment where AI can truly thrive.

A huge opportunity — but for whom?

AI is shaping up to be the defining technology of our time and the transformation has already begun. There are a lot of big questions. Perhaps the biggest of all is: who benefits?

“As AI systems get more sophisticated and start to play a larger role in people’s lives, we must ensure the technology we create benefits everyone on the planet, as well as the planet itself,” says John Weigelt, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Canada. “There’s a huge opportunity to leverage AI for social good, to empower others in new and more impactful ways to help create a more sustainable, inclusive, and accessible world. A fundamental aspect of our AI for Good initiative is pairing the adoption of trusted best-in-class AI technology with dedicated groups from around the world to help solve some of the most challenging societal issues.”

As established leaders in the AI space, Microsoft has a solemn understanding of the responsibility shouldered by trailblazers. Across its five AI for Good initiatives — AI for Earth, AI for Accessibility, AI for Humanitarian Action, AI for Cultural Heritage, and AI for Health — it has invested $165 million over the course of five years, with the hopes that this investment will reverberate and expand into new initiatives and new investments.

There’s a huge opportunity to leverage AI for social good, to empower others in new and more impactful ways to help create a more sustainable, inclusive, and accessible world.

Business is just the beginning

So often we think of artificial intelligence as a tool of business, something to be used in pursuit of cost efficiency or marketing efficacy. But these same technologies are also compiling and preserving historical artifacts. They’re equally as effective at optimizing the distribution of aid in volatile areas of the world. And they’re indispensable in the creation of accurate and informative climate change models. The applications are endless and each one is a unique microcosm of the power and adaptability of AI.

In Northern Canada, Microsoft is working with the Government of Nunavut to preserve Indigenous languages and has added the Inuktitut text translation to Microsoft Translator. This addition will allow users to translate any of the more than 70 languages to or from Inuktitut, the primary dialect of the Inuktut language.

In British Columbia, BC Cancer is using machine learning to gather data on specific cancer types for drug pairings. “This highly effective method creates a lot of data,” explains Weigelt. “Recently, the lab moved most of its genome database to Microsoft Azure to gain the computational power, security, and compliance it needed to process the valuable data that will lead to cancer treatments and breakthroughs.”

Meanwhile, the City of Calgary and Evergreen are piloting AI for the Resilient City, an AI data visualization tool to help municipalities evaluate infrastructure for climate resiliency and mitigating the impacts of climate change. “One of the largest untapped potentials of AI is sustainability,” says Weigelt. “We know AI and the power of cloud computing will be key to reversing the impacts of climate change as they enable innovators to collect, process, and analyze data at a scale and speed that was previously unimaginable. This enables innovations like the Planetary Computer, a project that provides access to trillions of data points to the world to better understand the challenges faced in planetary health.”

And in Quebec, the City of Laval is transforming its 311 non-emergency response system with an AI virtual agent that’s expediting citizen-agent interactions and answering the more basic inquiries on its own. “By eliminating the clerical task of entering the request in the system, the virtual agent is reducing wait times,” says Weigelt. “It’s also allowing city employees to respond to complex requests sooner.”

Empower and augment

When innovation happens responsibly, as it is here, we don’t need to be afraid that AI will replace us. It can, instead, make us better. “At Microsoft, we’re focused on responsibly creating AI that will augment the workforce,” says Weigelt. “We view AI as a tool that will enable people to achieve greater productivity and growth — not stifle it. Advancements in AI will create new jobs that didn’t exist before, or that we didn’t even imagine could exist.”

The world today is facing incredible challenges, too large for any one individual, organization, or even nation to tackle alone. At the same time, we’re faced with a digital revolution poised to facilitate achievement and collaboration on an incredible scale. So, as we’re imagining the world transformed by artificial intelligence, let us have the courage to imagine it better. We’re on the cusp of an entirely new way of working, living, and being, empowered by technologies that can bring us together and make us more than we ever were before. The lengths of what we can achieve through this transfiguration are limited only by the standards to which we hold those leading the way.

The post The World Is Being Transformed by AI: We Get to Decide into What appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Tracy Fleming

Advanced Solutions, Avaya

The link between company and customer is built on experiences. It might be products and services that bring people to engage with a company in the first place, but it’s the quality of the interaction that retains customers, or loses them. Wherever and whenever that point of contact occurs, there’s a need to deliver an experience that’s welcoming, useful, appropriate, and enjoyable. With more than seven billion people on this planet, however, each with their own needs and desires, it’s simply impossible to curate a single experience that will suit them all. What one customer loves, another will hate.

And that really matters. People are no longer willing to accept friction in their interactions with companies. They know that there’s a better way and they expect it. The data is quite clear that customers are more than willing to walk away from a company after a bad experience. But how can you consistently create a good one for an audience with infinite variety?

The augmented human experience

In today’s era of cloud AI, the golden prize of a truly personalized experience for each customer is finally within reach. The answer is not, however, replacing agents with computers. Instead, we can augment the capabilities of the agents with AI, blending the human and the digital to create a seamlessly personal experience. “The human piece of this isn’t going away,” says Tracy Fleming, Practice Leader for AI at Avaya, a multinational technology company that specializes in cloud communications and workstream collaboration solutions. “Human interaction is still the gold standard. What you’re seeing is AI enabling that human to provide a better experience.”

Artificial intelligence is by no means a new area of exploration within the customer experience field, but as the capabilities of modern AI continue to grow exponentially, the implementation is taking on a whole new character. “The cloud is really the accelerator for the applied use of AI,” says Fleming. “It allows the technology to be applied seamlessly across an entire business model, and so we’re certainly seeing it being deployed in a much broader range of applications. But the core capabilities in this space have been executed in the Avaya world for years.”

Human interaction is still the gold standard. What you’re seeing is AI enabling that human to provide a better experience.

The angel on the shoulder

One of the major new developments is the ever-increasing speed and flexibility with which these AI solutions can be integrated into ongoing interactions. Gone is the time of AI systems facilitating the start of an interaction and then analyzing it afterwards. Whereas it used to be the norm for something like five percent of daily calls to be thoroughly analyzed after hours, now one hundred percent of calls can be analyzed as they’re happening.

AI still plays an integral role in directing the right customer to the right agent, not only for their needs, but also for their personality, demographics, and mood. But then it stays on the line. “What’s been really interesting due to the amount of computing and storage in the cloud today is the way we can provide outcome and input to agents in real time,” says Fleming. “We can have the AI acting as the front door concierge and also sitting on the shoulder of the agent as they’re talking. The AI hears what the customer is saying, finds the relevant data, and then renders it out to the agent on the fly. And it can prompt the agent before the call is over if they forget something, so you never have these incomplete experiences.”

The end result is an experience that is even more human. This is the real arc of the AI transformation, as it allows us to rehumanize our interactions. After decades of digitization and depersonalization, technology is building us a bridge back to genuine human connection.

Let’s see how your company scores on the total experience self-assessment?

There’s nothing artificial about an experience

When implemented properly to build dynamic experiences, artificial intelligence creates an environment where the humanity of both the agent and the customer is able to shine. The Avaya Experience Builders ecosystem leverages all the power of this technology to customize customization itself, so that the experience can be refined down to the essential of the business and then broadened again to fit the rich diversity of its customers. When done right, the most diligent AI experience work renders itself almost invisible.

“When a customer gets off a call thinking that, for 10 minutes, they were the only thing in that person’s world, they may not think to themselves, that was an incredible use of artificial intelligence,” says Fleming. “I would argue that’s the point. I think artificial intelligence is at its best when you don’t know it’s there.”

The post Harnessing the Power of AI to Craft Customized Customer Experiences appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia

Senior Director of Digital Economy, Technology, and Innovation, Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

John Weigelt

National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada

As artificial intelligence grows to become mainstream around the world, the need for building trustworthy AI systems has become paramount. With emerging technology like AI, key factors such as privacy, fairness, safety, transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability need to be taken into consideration. As we look ahead, one thing becomes clear: AI will be celebrated for its benefits but also scrutinized and, to some degree, feared. 

In conversation with John Weigelt, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Canada, Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia, Senior Director of Digital Economy, Technology, and Innovation at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, takes a closer look at how AI can benefit everyone and be developed and used in ways that warrant people’s trust. With facial recognition becoming more widespread, Weigelt and Bahr-Gedalia discuss the concerns about the dangers of the technology and the controversies surrounding it. They also weigh the positive use cases for facial recognition against growing societal concerns, especially as regulators have yet to provide clear rules. 

I firmly believe that if you develop technology that has the potential to change the world, you bear a responsibility to help address the world you’ve helped to create.

Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia: What is the biggest challenge we face when it comes to emerging technologies such as AI?

John Weigelt: I’m excited about the possibility of AI augmenting and amplifying human ingenuity to create great breakthroughs and advances. However, while there’s great potential for technology to help address society’s biggest issues, the pace of this change is also raising new challenges and amplifying existing inequities in our communities. 

I believe that one of the biggest hurdles we face when it comes to AI is ensuring that there are the proper guardrails and frameworks put in place for AI systems. As Microsoft’s President, Brad Smith, has said, “Information technology has become both a powerful tool and a formidable weapon, creating a set of challenges with no pre-existing playbook.” The need for strong advocacy, collaboration, and government intervention has never been more important. 

UBG: How does Canada fare globally when it comes to a comprehensive AI regulatory regime and the development of responsive frameworks for regulating AI? 

JW: In my view, emerging technologies like AI require a legal floor of responsibility governed by the rule of law. It’s important for governments to frame laws to regulate this technology. Unless we act, we risk waking up five years from now to find that facial recognition services have spread in ways that exacerbate societal issues. 

In Canada, we’re doing a lot of work with the government to help advocate for the need for an updated policy. Our fundamental belief is that for AI to benefit everyone and change the world, it must be developed and used in ways that warrant people’s trust.

UBG: What about the responsibility of the private sector? 

JW: As AI systems become more mainstream, we have a shared responsibility as a society to create trusted AI systems, and we need to work together to reach a consensus on what principles and values should govern AI development and its use.

Microsoft was one of the first major technology companies to call for thoughtful government regulation on facial recognition technology because we believe a technology as powerful as this requires both the public and private sectors to develop norms around acceptable use. 

We supported regulations that would apply to all providers of facial recognition services, including our own. In addition, we’ve applied advanced facial regulation proposals to our own business as a matter of self-regulation. This is the type of action and collaboration we need cross-sector. 

UBG: Do you have any recommendations for Canadian businesses considering integrating AI into their business processes?

JW: I firmly believe that if you develop technology that has the potential to change the world, you bear a responsibility to help address the world you’ve helped to create.

My advice would be to proactively establish guardrails for AI systems so that you can make sure that any risks are anticipated and mitigated, and benefits are maximized. I would encourage businesses to review Microsoft’s AI principles to ensure that AI systems are fair, reliable and safe, private and secure, inclusive, transparent, and accountable.

AI is a defining technology of our time, and we’re optimistic about what AI can do for people, industry, and society — now and in the future. But we need to get it right the first time. 

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Danavation’s Digital Smart Label technology incorporates artificial intelligence and big data to help retailers optimize and automate their operations.

Times have been tough for retailers lately, and it has never been more vital to optimize operations and effectively engage consumers. Canadian company Danavation Technologies Corp., the only electronic shelf label provider that is founded and grounded in North America, understands this mandate deeply. John Ricci, Danavation’s founder and CEO, has over 30 years of experience in the retail industry. He noticed that the industry was missing something — a solution that met and exceeded the needs of modern businesses and tech-savvy consumers. And from that, Digital Smart Labels^TM were born.

A powerful intelligence tool for retailers

Digital Smart Labels^TM are digital e-paper displays that enable organizations — from grocers and retails to health care providers, logistics and manufacturing companies, and beyond — to automate labelling, pricing, product information, promotions, and work- flows in real time.

The benefits of Digital Smart Labels^TM include operational efficiencies, including reducing labour costs and automating tedious manual workflows, as well as giving customers a more engaging experience.

Another major bonus is the added insight that this technology bestows. Unlike legacy paper systems, Digital Smart Labels are designed to react in real time. The advanced engineering behind the digital e-paper displays, cloud architecture, software, and, in the near future, data-as-a-service intelligence tools gives retailers valuable insights into consumers’ buying habits. Coupled with parameters such as inventory levels, cost of goods sold, sales velocity, competitor offers, weather conditions, current events, and demand/price-sensitivity, Danavation’s innovative leveraging of AI, big data, and machine learning will allow retailers to automate pricing at the shelf, optimize their product mix, and forecast inventory.

Maximizing revenue with smart price automation

“Maintaining a digital strategy and a pricing strategy is huge in retail,” says Ricci, adding that retailers are currently facing labour shortages. To keep a competitive edge and maintain margins amidst fluctuating pricing and supply, smart retailers want the ability to automate at-the-shelf pricing. The software behind Danavation’s Digital Smart Labels^TM will soon allow for rapid response to competitor activities, adapting offers based on supply and demand plus market trends to increase basket sizes and maximize revenues. “We’re working toward a system where retailers’ pricing will always be competitive,” says Ricci. “There’ll be no need for someone to set price points. The system will do it for you based on data we’re compiling.”

Understanding customer buying habits

The insights provided by Danavation’s Digital Smart Labels will also help retailers optimize their product mix. “Our Digital Smart Labels^TM will capture customer data,” says Ricci. “How long are they staying at the shelf how long do they take to buy, what do they buy, when do they buy it? We’re capturing all that data for our retailers so they can map their stores more efficiently.”

An optimized assortment plan — the right products, at the right time, at the right shelf — helps retailers to meet ever-evolving consumer demand and preferences. Using Danavation’s AI and data insights, organizations can get a clear picture of how their revenue will be impacted by assortment decisions. They can then achieve revenue targets with the best-performing product mix by market, store format, shopper segment, or even planogram.

How long are they staying at the shelf, how long do they take to buy, what do they buy, when do they buy it? We’re capturing all that data for our retailers so they can map their stores more efficiently.

Forecasting demand, the smart way

Digital Smart Labels^TM insights will also enable retailers to more effectively forecast demand. This will reduce out-of-stock events, optimize inventory ordering, increase profit margins, and mitigate excess inventory. It will also help to reduce waste, as a huge portion of global food waste is due to grocers’ forecasting and supply chain inefficiencies.

As we’ve all observed firsthand during the pandemic, the digital transformation of our society has shifted into fast-forward. This shift is affecting all industries. We’re working remotely and doing more online, and the acceleration of digital marketing and the automation of business processes across all industries are happening at a higher speed than ever before. Retailers and grocers are witnessing the shift in real time, too. It’s time for us all to enter the digital age.

The post Using AI and Big Data to Bring Retailers Into the Digital Age appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Corporate decarbonization can be a long and complicated process, but Amp helps its clients become leaders in the push to net-zero.

The transition to a low-carbon global economy is increasing the corporate demand for power purchase agreements (PPAs) as organizations seek to reduce emissions and secure their long-term energy costs. As one of Canada’s leading renewable energy developers, Amp’s vision and technological innovations are reshaping traditional sustainability strategies and helping corporations realize their clean energy future.

Forging a new era in Canadian renewables

Steve Schaefer has been with Amp since its inception in 2009 and now serves as Senior Vice President of Origination and Head of Canadian Operations. Schaefer and his team have developed over 130MW of renewable energy across over 550 projects, primarily in the form of feed-in tariff contracts supplied by solar and, more recently, hybrid solar plus battery storage assets.

“The genesis of our commercial and industrial (C&I) strategy is to solve the challenges associated with C&I clients achieving their environmental sustainability targets by providing the most beneficial solutions,” says Schaefer. “This is why Amp is now a top-tier PPA provider globally.”

With decarbonization being new territory for many C&I organizations, Amp’s initial role focuses primarily on education, data collection, and strategic planning.

“More and more C&I organizations are making ambitious net-zero commitments, but they don’t always know where to start,” says Schaefer. “That’s exactly where we come in.”

A holistic approach to decarbonization

Amp has evolved from supplying clean energy solutions to complete decarbonization strategies. In the increasingly competitive renewable energy sector, one of Amp’s key differentiators is its holistic approach to C&I energy transitions.

“Many organizations have taken small steps in the decarbonization space to date, but have now either generated their own net-zero target or had one imposed upon them,” says Schaefer. “Decarbonization doesn’t rely on one single pillar. The only way to reach these goals is through a holistic approach.”

Amp’s unique approach will include combining renewable generation with battery storage and its proprietary digital energy platform, Amp X. “We’re now integrating and unifying real asset development with Amp X, combining supply and demand through a digital platform with a single optimization engine,” says Schaefer. “We will be taking all the energy nodes, whether they’re consumption, generation, or both combined with storage, and providing the unique capability to optimize behind the meter.”

Unlocking energy flexibility with Amp X

The development and evolution of Amp X has been a revelation in the integrated energy solutions space. Working in conjunction with renewable energy and storage assets, Amp X is designed to unlock new levels of optimization and flexibility, enabling C&I customers to potentially generate new revenue streams via participation in energy markets.

Amp is also rapidly establishing itself as a global leader in the energy storage space, with an expanding portfolio of standalone assets and hybridized systems pairing batteries with solar or wind. In addition to extending the penetration of renewable generation, energy storage is emerging as an effective way to reduce peak energy demand.

Amid the rapid progress of Canada’s C&I decarbonization efforts, Schaefer is excited by the scale of the opportunities that lie ahead. “It’s breathtaking to see how many organizations are making that net-zero pledge, and my team and I are excited to support our C&I partners in achieving this vision,” he says.

The post Enabling Commercial and Industrial Decarbonization with Amp appeared first on HiveInnovates.

As one thinks about the impact and costs of a data breach within their organization, it can be more expansive than most initial estimates. It goes beyond repairing databases and other infrastructure or taking steps to remediate and fortify an organization’s security posture. For many sectors of the economy, there are regulatory and public opinion implications that may be significantly more difficult to fix or address. If there is a financial loss due to a data breach/ransomware attack, traditional insurance coverage likely will not provide appropriate financial reparations.

What coverage does cyber insurance provide? 

Regardless of the legal and regulatory requirements, organizations have an obligation to keep their customer data protected. In the case of Protected Health Information (PHI) & Personally Identifiable Information (PII)), companies may face potential liability if the information is exposed in a data breach. A cyber-insurance policy will generally protect companies against liabilities and will reimburse for expenses related to a data breach (may include: legal costs, a digital forensics investigation /Incident Response, and crisis management). There are different kinds of policy coverages, it is important to work with your insurance policy stakeholders to determine you have the right cyber coverage in place.

Current cyber insurance market conditions

The threat landscape globally for organizational data has never been more at risk. For every dollar spent on cyber coverage, the insurance industry is paying our three dollars – in short, it’s a losing proposition. Insurance companies, in many cases, are partnering with clients to ensure that data protection and cyber security are top of mind for corporate policy-makers. The industry may support activities such as vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to ensure that a standardized security posture is in place. Given the current financial landscape for cyber insurance coverage insurance companies are faced with either supporting customers to ensure that rigorous data security measures are in place or they exit the market. 

At the end of the day the customer must own the responsibility of providing reasonable and effective security measures in protecting organizational and client data and it will be incumbent on the insurance industry to practice due diligence in assessing whether an existing or potential customer is permitted to purchase a cyber insurance policy. It is important to note, this is an evolving model where transparency and framework compliance will help mitigate risk and provide a value proposition to both the insurance company and the customer.

The post What Is Cyber Insurance and Why You Need It appeared first on HiveInnovates.

In the never-ending churn of cybercrime escalation and cybersecurity products, one security firm is innovating to win the race against threats.

Cybersecurity today is a fastpaced arms race. Gone are the days when an off-the-shelf security product could provide sufficient cyber defence for an organization. Maybe those days never really existed at all. Modern cybercriminals have vast resources available to them, they coordinate with agility across oceans and time zones, and they have their own active R&D teams working around the clock to develop innovative threats and expose new vulnerabilities. The current threat landscape is not only a moving target, it’s also an accelerating one, and organizations need a next- generation response if they don’t want to be left behind.

“We’ve entered an era where attacks are more advanced, stealthier, and launched by cybercriminals and nation states that have fully industrialized their craft,” explains Mark Alba, Chief Product Officer of Anomali, a leading cybersecurity company. “Adversaries are keenly aware of how rapidly organizations are expanding their digital surfaces. To take advantage of this new reality, they’ve operationalized their campaigns and are utilizing tools and techniques that are frequently steps ahead of legacy security solutions.”

Superthreats thrive in environments dominated by legacy technologies

“What’s needed now is a new way of thinking and acting. We can no longer operate with a wait-and-see approach. To succeed in the modern business environment, public and private sector organizations must take a strategic approach to deal with cyber threats — one that will allow us to end the race by crossing the finish line ahead of nefarious actors,” says Alba.

A top candidate for a race winning strategy is the deployment of extended detection and response (XDR) solutions. XDR connects and integrates all security data and telemetry, correlates it with global intelligence, and then leverages artificial intelligence to automatically analyze, detect, and stop attacks and breaches, in real time before they become costly and disruptive incidents. Threats are addressed before human intervention even begins and cybersecurity analysts are provided with the analytics that are needed to hone the system, strengthening the defences on each iteration.

“The detection and response capabilities as we’ve known them in the past, have extended way beyond the traditional concept of the enterprise network. With the advent of edge computing, cloud, IoT, blockchain and other emerging technologies, plus the rapidly-changing and dynamic nature of the enterprise environment, an extended detection and response capability continuously adapts and pivots to the new cyber threats and is the way to go,” says Umang Handa, a partner leading the cybersecurity practice at one of the big four System Integrators.

We’ve entered an era where attacks are now more advanced, are stealthier, and are being launched by cybercriminals and nation-states that have fully industrialized the craft.

“Powered by patented artificial intelligence, our proven Anomali XDR Platform automates the collection and correlation of all security data, telemetry, and global intelligence. Our unique Anomali Match XDR product provides the precision detection and optimized response support needed to stop attackers and breaches before they have a chance to disrupt operations,” says Alba.

Will this technology end cybercrime for good? Surely not. But it does provide a welcome opportunity to put the cybercriminals on the back foot for once. “XDR should be thought of as the new phase of cybersecurity that leverages relevant intelligence at scale,” says Alba. “It provides precision attack detection and optimizes ecosystem-wide response to stop attackers and breaches before they have a chance to disrupt business and inflict costly damages. Many businesses have invested in technologies that can detect smoke, but few can find the actual fire, and even fewer can extinguish a blaze before it burns out of control.”

There’s no telling what innovations and advancements in productivity may become possible when our brightest IT minds finally get a break from chasing down fires. With XDR, we just might find out.

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