Why Is IoT So Insecure? by Christopher Lamb via @DZone

Taking a look at IoT, high demand for functionality and poor forethought have led to serious security breaches. But the industry can still act toward common standards.

I think like all new technology it starts with no standards, but definitely for widespread adoption IoT vendors must start thinking seriously about security.

The power of data ownership: Getting it right in 2017 by @joshmanion via @martech_today

Columnist Josh Manion believes that complete data ownership is the only option for enterprises seeking to engage individual consumers with relevant and timely experiences.

I found this really interesting - it's really important to identity the owner of data, the meaning of it, how to get it updated or changed, and how long it should be there.

Who Owns Blockchain? Goldman, BofA Amass Patents for Coming Wars by Olga Kharif via @infomgmt

Recently, some of the biggest names in business, from Goldman Sachs to Bank of America and Mastercard, have quietly patented some of the most promising blockchain technologies for themselves.

This definitely is building up to be a showdown.

Data Product to Support Research On Human Genome by Fred Bazzoli via @infomgmt

PHEMI, based in Vancouver, is releasing PHEMI Central Precision Medicine Edition to address the data challenges posed by genomic research.

This looks interesting - it's just an example of how code reuse can save time.

The Great A.I. Awakening by Gideon Lewis-Kraus via @NYTmag

How Google used artificial intelligence to transform Google Translate, one of its more popular services - and how machine learning is poised to reinvent computing itself.

This is long but SO worth the time investment to read.

Google DeepMind Makes AI Training Platform Publicly Available by @jeremyakahn via @technology

DeepMind is open-sourcing the source code for its training environment (previously called Labyrinth, now DeepMind Lab). You can download the code and customise it to help train your own artificial intelligence systems—or create new game levels for DeepMind Lab and upload these to GitHub.

Something fun to have a play with and see what you can achieve.

What You Are Too Afraid to Ask About Artificial Intelligence by @Francesco_AI via @Datafloq

Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence is moving at a stellar speed and is probably one of most complex and present sciences. The complexity here is not meant as a level of difficulty in understanding and innovating (although of course, this is quite high), but as the degree of interrelation with other fields apparently disconnected.​ There are basically two schools of thought on how an Artificial Intelligence should be properly built

Neuroscience

Along with the advancements in pure machine learning research, we have done many steps ahead toward a greater comprehension of the brain mechanisms. Although much has still to be understood, we have nowadays a slightly better overview of the brain processes, and this might help to foster the development of an Artificial General Intelligence. So what is neuroscience and how does it relate to Artificial Intelligence?

Technologies

The recent surge of AI and it is rapidly becoming a dominant discipline are partially due to the exponential degree of technological progress we faced over the last few years. What it is interesting to point out though is that AI is deeply influencing and shaping the course of technology as well.

These are great and well worth the time investment to read through them.

EBOOK: Embedded Analytics Empower the Citizen Data Scientist via Statistica

With the advent of technologies that connect more people, machines and processes to one another, the importance of extending advanced analytics and machine learning to your users is growing fast. But the effort to derive maximum benefit from those advanced analytics is still limited in most organisations by the human element. Data scientists, seen as the only people sufficiently trained to navigate big data successfully, become the bottleneck.


Download from here

What Business Intelligence Skills Do You Need On Your Team? by Boris Evelson via @infomgmt

You have gone through the Discover and Plan of your Business Intelligence strategy and are ready to staff your support organisation. What skills, experience, expertise and qualifications should you be looking for?

Interesting suggestions.

SLIDESHOW: Top Companies for Data Quality Tools: Leaders and Challengers by David Weldon via @infomgmt

Great data analysis starts with top data quality, which is why the data quality tool market is growing at nearly 50 percent faster than the enterprise software market overall. Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant report looks at the top vendors in the market

Interesting companies in the list.

Breaking Down Big Data Barriers in 2017 by David Gorbet via @infomgmt

Enterprises will find that it’s harder than they thought to bring together the data they want to use in their predictive models, especially unstructured data and the most important data of all: customer event data.

I would point you to the Slowly Changing Dimensions technique which is nicely described here.

The major advancements in Deep Learning in 2016 via Tryolabs Blog

Deep Learning has been the core topic in the Machine Learning community the last couple of years and 2016 was not the exception. In this article, we will go through the advancements we think have contributed the most (or have the potential) to move the field forward and how organisations and the community are making sure that these powerful technologies are going to be used in a way that is beneficial for all.

This a really good article which needs the time to read it properly (and it deserves that you do that). So set aside 10 minutes to go through it.

Found in translation by Barak Turovsky via @Google

Google has replaced its old statistical machine translation method with a new one based on deep learning.

Great example in the article which just shows what is possible.

Big Vendors Deserve Some Respect by David Menninger via @infomgmt

The fundamental problem is a mismatch in expectations. As an industry we should not generally expect groundbreaking innovations from the largest software companies.

I see what he is getting at - just not so sure others would agree with him being so understanding.

What CIOs Say About Business Intelligence and Analytics by Cindi Howson via @infomgmt

At the Symposium, I facilitated a round table discussion on how to modernise BI and analytics portfolios, presented on this year’s BI and Analytics Magic Quadrant, and conversed with more than 40 CIOs.

Interesting thoughts.

SLIDESHOW: 10 Reasons Why 2017 Will Be the Year of Data Literacy by Dan Sommer via @infomgmt

The growth in data analytics and governance is leading to an increase in the workers that manage and master it all. The result will be a new level of ‘data literacy’ in 2017. Here are 10 reasons why.

I have to agree with him for all his points in varying degrees.

SLIDESHOW: Top 5 Tips for Effectively Deploying IoT Solutions by Dan Jackson via @infomgmt

The Internet of Things will be one of the top IT trends for 2017, but IoT adoption is often difficult. Here are five tips on how to have a smooth and efficient experience.

Repeatable and Scale-able are key (I'm assuming you already know to sort out the Data)

How to build a Successful Big Data Analytics Proof-of-Concept by @GoCloudMoyo via @Datafloq

For all kinds of organisations, whether large multi-national enterprises or small businesses, developing a big data strategy is a difficult and time-consuming exercise. In fact, big data projects can take up to 18 months to finish. While a few within an organisation may be very well aware of what Big Data is and what the possibilities of Big Data are, not everyone else, including the decision-makers, are aware of this.

Useful bullet points in this that are well worth remembering.

WEBINAR: Optimizing Analytical Insights, Data Security and Visualization - 15 December 2016

Overview

Title: Optimizing Analytical Insights, Data Security and Visualization

Date: Thursday, December 15, 2016

Time: 09:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

Duration: 1 hour

Summary

Optimizing Analytical Insights, Data Security and Visualization

How do you gain visibility and insights from all your data when you are faced with analyzing over 4M records from 5 different systems?  Join us for this latest Data Science Central webinar and learn how Erik Miller was tasked with analyzing Western Union’s information security measures and visualizing the data in Tableau. Challenged with over 500,000 locations and high volumes of data in Excel, Access, MySQL and more, the process initially took over 100 hours per month.  Erik will show how he turned a 100 hour process into a 5 minute process while also:

• Seamlessly integrating 36 disparate data sources into Tableau, allowing him to tell a story with all available data
• Gaining analytical insight into risks posed by malicious insiders, hackers and uniformed users
• Building out a flexible and modular analytics program for quicker insights

Brian Dirking -- Product Director -- Alteryx 
Erik Miller -- Sr. Systems Engineer, Cyber Security Analytics -- Western Union  

Hosted by: 

Bill Vorhies, Editorial Director -- Data Science Central

Register here

WEBINAR: Advanced analytics in the era of big data - 15 December 2016

Complimentary Web Seminar
December 15, 2016
2 PM ET/11 AM PT
Hosted by Information Management

Today’s advanced analytic environments are putting greater pressure on decision support infrastructures, creating a mandate for a better, more agile foundation to support them. If you are cracking under the pressure of delivering BI and analytics in a timely way, register for this webinar to hear experts share tips on delivering value to the business faster.

Learn about cutting-edge, data integration and database technologies that simplify the preparation and engineering of data – automating the means by which it is integrated, transformed, and managed – along with the process of manipulating and analyzing data at massive scale.

Topics to be covered include:

• Technologies that enable the rapid and agile integration and processing of data
• How to simplify and accelerate the efforts of data scientists and business analysts
• The role of big data in advanced analytics

Featured Presenters:

Moderator: Eric Kavanagh Information Management	Speaker: Donald Farmer TreeHive Strategy	Speaker: Shawn Rogers Statistica	Speaker: Imad Birouty Teradata	Speaker: Michael Whitehead WhereScape

Sponsor Content From:

Register here

How Big Data Takes the Retail Industry to a Whole New, More Informed Space by @GoCloudMoyo via @Datafloq

Speculation around the future of retail often tends to drift into visions of drones flying through the skies and delivering packages within minutes of a consumer clicking a few buttons on a site. In this projection, the bricks and mortar retail stores are old-fashioned, out of date and a relic of the past. Yet the reality of today’s retail environment is a far cry from that distant future, but with Big-Data-as-a-Service, retail can become a lot better. What kind of insights can be collected with data?

I have to agree - what is the point of getting yet more data when you may not either understand what you have or not have used it properly.

Why Big Data as a Service is the Hottest Trend in Cloud Now by @GoCloudMoyo via @Datafloq

Big data as a service (BDaaS) is an evolution of software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS), with the added ingredient of massive amounts of data. Essentially, the BDaaS offering is a solution for companies to solve problems that they are facing by analysing and interpreting their data. Organisations around the world have warmed to the idea that their next phase of growth will be driven by understanding the insights that are gleaned from the data which is produced by their interactions,

Definitely the way to go.

Harnessing the Power and Complexity of the Configuration Data Exchange by Pater White via @infomgmt

By digitally capturing the current configuration of an asset, additional intelligence can be derived from that information when compared to the expected values using product data attributes or the Digital Thread.

I found this really interesting.

SLIDESHOW: Top 10 IoT Technologies and Trends for 2017 via @infomgmt

The Internet of Things will continue to be one of the largest areas of technology investment in 2017 and 2018, says technology analyst firm Gartner. Here's a look at the top trends to expect.

I definitely agree IOT standards are important.

Telling the Difference Between Good Data and Bad by Berry Ritholtz via @infomgmt

Initial reports, thanks to the National Retail Federation, are a case study in how to obtain meaningless data and then put it to bad use.

Interesting thoughts and something we should all remind ourselves of.

SLIDESHOW: Future History of Machine Learning: A 25-Year Look Forward by Jeremy Achin via @infomgmt

Great advances are being made with machine learning and artificial intelligence, but nothing compared to what the next quarter century has in store. Jeremy Achin, data scientist and CEO of DataRobot shares his thoughts on what we can expect.

Great slideshow of what might/could happen in the future. Can't wait.

How the Singapore Circle Line rogue train was caught with data via @datagovsg

Great data detective story! For months, a train line suffered from mysterious disruptions and created confusion and distress. Here's how a team of data scientists saved the day.

This is a great real life example and shows the results you can get from something when you dig down into the data.

5 architectural principles for building big data systems on AWS by @ConnerForrest via @TechRepublic

If your company is looking to make a bet on big data in the cloud, follow these best practices to find out what technologies will be best for your AWS deployment.

Useful tips

The Critical Importance of Classifying Attributes by Tom Davenport via @Data_Informed

Tom Davenport offers tips if your company’s promotions aren’t succeeding, or if your new product or service success rate is low: Take a cue from aggressive adopters of attribute-based analytics.

Some interesting points.

Deluge Of Data Makes Case for Advanced Business Intelligence by Bob Violino via @infomgmt

The market is moving away from traditional BI processes involving complex spreadsheets toward agile BI systems that offer a deeper understanding of correlations in data.

I definitely agree with him - these days a spreadsheet is just not good enough. The business wants/needs/demands  graphs, dashboards, data across systems joined together, the ability to change the report themselves to drill down.  BI is moving towards self service and whilst it is fine for you to give a good starting point and all the necessary data, today's user is more sophisticated and needs to be able to behave more like a hybrid between a data analyst and a business user.

WEBINAR: Digital mesh or digital mess? Prepping for the future of IoT management - 8 December 2016

Complimentary Web Seminar

December 8, 2016
2 PM ET/11 AM PT
Hosted by Information Management

Sensors, wearables, smart homes, kiosks. The IoT explosion is rapidly transforming the way we serve customers and the way we live our lives.

But if you’re charged with managing and supporting new remote “Digital Mesh” environments that link IoT and smartphones over Wi-Fi, you’re going to face some major challenges. So it’s not too early to assess those impending IoT-related challenges and start strategizing about solutions.

Join us for this thought-provoking session to efficiently learn about the soon-to-arrive future of IoT and the latest thinking about the remote management challenges that it will create, including:

• The new role of IoT in your business
• OS fragmentation in the Digital Mesh
• Wi-Fi as the “new oxygen”
• The coming cost/scale conundrum

You’ll also be able to ask top IoT thought-leaders your own personal questions about how your business should prepare for the future of Digital Mesh.

Featured Presenters:

Moderator: Lenny Liebmann Founding Partner Morgan Armstrong

Sponsor Content From:

Register here

WEBINAR: Analytical Success: Making Smarter Business Decisions From Your Data - 8 December 2016

Webinar Event Details

Date: Thursday, December 8, 2016
Time: 1:00 pm ET/ 10:00 am PT
Duration: 60 minutes (including Q&A)

What You'll Learn Data has become a critical asset for any business in any industry. However, data alone will not drive improved decision-making or better business performance. What is needed is the right data and the right analytics to turn data into business value. Many organizations simply feel lost within the endless data sources and analytics approaches they now have access to because they lack an actionable strategy for using analytical insights to drive better decision-making and performance improvements. This one-hour webinar will explore the development of an analytics strategy that enables the behavioral changes and operational transformation necessary to gain the competitive upper hand on your data. Attend this webinar to: • Understand why data and analytics are a competitive differentiator in every industry • Learn how leading companies turn data into real value • Discover how to apply analytics more strategically to deliver tangible business results • Become aware of the key pitfalls to avoid in data and analytics projects Presenters Bernard Marr,  Bestselling author, keynote speaker, strategic performance consultant, and big data guru, Data Informed Board of Advisers Bernard Marr is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, strategic performance consultant, and analytics, KPI, and big data guru. In addition, he is a member of the Data Informed Board of Advisers. He helps companies to better manage, measure, report, and analyze performance. His leading-edge work with major companies, organizations, and governments across the globe makes him an acclaimed and award-winning keynote speaker, researcher, consultant, and teacher. Radu Miclaus,  Senior Manager Analytics Pre-Sales, SAS Institute Radu is a creative analytics professional with more than 8 years of experience architecting enterprise analytics infrastructure that focus on transforming raw data into actionable insight for National accounts and commercial accounts at SAS Institute. With deep expertise in business application related to risk analytics, supply chain, IoT, customer intelligence and personalization, Radu focuses on engineering platforms that prepare analytics data, model it and deploy analytics decisions back into operations systems at the scale and speed needed by customers. Currently Radu leads a team of data scientists and pre-sales engineers who support customer engagement cycles related to Big Data initiatives using SAS technologies like Grid, In-Database, Hadoop, In-Memory and Event Stream Processing for high-availability, near-real-time and real-time analytics application.  Register here

A Bid Farewell to Blockchain by Henk Jan van der Klis via @infomgmt

Now, on the brink of yet another new year, it's time to bid farewell. If everyone is joining, the party's momentum is here, the peak of inflated expectations around the corner, followed by the Trough of disillusions.

Strange blog - I think the thrust of this article is that everything is now moving towards centralised code and this can be done by anyone and everyone.