Robots take the streets; Contact tracing apps are here; The cloud’s about to burst; News from the frontlines… Discover Weekly Tech & IT News.
Robots take the streets & make their first en-masse appearance
A news article on pizza-delivering robots. Amazon and its flashy drones. That friendly robot shaking your hand at an industry conference.
Robots had long appeared ready to make the jump to public life. But it took a pandemic to finally start turning the hype into reality. That is, of course, aside from industrial automation.
As humans fled streets and public buildings seeking refuge from the virus, robots started pitching in and even replacing them. Grocery delivery, temperature screening, sanitation, information — you name it.
However convenient robots might be, their growing presence has some people worried. One can understand why when learning about Singapore’s park-patrolling, robotic dogs, which kindly remind you of your social distancing obligations whenever you get to close to another person.
Here’s The Guardian’s look at that and other examples of this rise of the machines.
Contact tracing apps are here
After much debate and speculation around the viability and safety of relying on mobile apps to carry out large-scale contact tracing, the use of these apps is spreading.
Germany launched this week its own version, which is based on the platform created by the Apple-Google partnership. Switzerland, Ireland and Austria are conducting testing, while Japan is expected to announce a Microsoft-powered solution later this week.
Unfortunately, not everything is going well for all those in these arena. After starting testing in the Isle of Wight, the U.K. has gone quiet about its NHS-developed app. Experts in the matter point at the lack of adoption and Bluetooth problems as the most likely culprits behind the authorities’ silence.
Meanwhile, Norway has put on hold its centralized app after a privacy watchdog denounced its unnecessary use of users’ GPS.
The cloud’s about to burst
We recently discussed the cloud’s key role in a post-COVID business world. New developments and information keep highlighting the surge in cloud adoption.
A new study by O’Reilly Media published this week revealed that over 88% of businesses are on the cloud, with most of them expecting to grow their usage in the upcoming months. Furthermore, a staggering 25% of respondents said their companies plan to move all their applications to the cloud in the near future.
Beyond these headline findings, the survey confirms the popularity of the multi-cloud and of microservices. Amazon AWS reigns supreme, followed by Microsoft Azure.
Just this week, Microsoft provided more details on how the increase in cloud demand is affecting its infrastructure, forcing the company to expand Azure capacity and implement smarter workload distribution.
Discover our article: Data security : Is your cloud data secure?
News from the frontlines…
A look at what how technology can help in the fight against the virus.
AI can be used in a number of ways to limit the spread of infections, carry out faster diagnostics and provide better patient treatment. From optimizing the use of human resources at the hospital level to the triage of patients, here’s what AI can do.
Amazon revealed a new AI-powered monitoring tool to help its warehouse employees maintain social distancing. The system, which gives live feedback via TV screens, has been met with backlash by workers and the public alike.
Discover our article about AI for recruitment: How AI will allow recruiters to focus on people
