Despite the #LRT demise Emerging Technology is still a go in #HAMONT
Emerging technology has revolutionized every aspect of our lives like high ROIs, smoother process management, and overall increased productivity and efficiency. Gone are the days of faxes, dialup and 13 channel TVs. These have been replaced ubiquitously with email, text messaging, and apps galore. No longer do we pay for long-distance for the most part, why would we, we pay for internet access now. Everything is pretty much web-based. We are always connected if we want to be. This has brought about challenges though with everything from privacy concerns, too much data, and vast amounts of ways to access, manage and utilize information. These challenges though are being met with a new breed of Emerging technologies. Namely, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence(AI). Lets briefly break that down and why I believe this to be the case.
Blockchain is a promising new technology, albeit over 10 years in the making now, but it is still finding its way through our daily lives. It has the ability and has shown it has the ability, to safely and securely keep information pseudonymous. That is if you keep it safe and secure in a decentralized manner and manage your keys, no one without your permission can get access. Trusting a 3rd party to do this has proven to be a bad idea, and harkens back to the same problems we have today. True blockchains are a permissioned, trust-less, decentralized network of computers that allows anyone with their own “keys” to safely and securely send and receive information without the prying eyes of anyone else who does not have the permission of the holder of the keys. Think of it as the “secure browser” session that we hear so much about for online banking. Only you and the person you are dealing with are communicating the information. Only you can give permission as to who can see or use this information. As with everything on the web today being considered information, this includes payment information, what books you read, who you send emails to, and on and on. There is no limit to how blockchains can be used to secure information. It is only bound by the imagination of its creators, the community around it, and its uses.
We have all heard of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the harbinger of the next “SkyNet” that will someday take over the world, that it will replace our of elected officials, or that it will be the utopia of a world where every human will not have to work because the machine will do everything. The stark reality is that is so far from the truth that its hard to shake these “Hollywood” perceptions. If fact, AI is pervading every aspect of our lives and we mostly don’t even notice. It’s not hard to see if you just look. The latest iPhone operating system, iOS 13 has a built-in translator for voicemail. Every time someone leaves you a message, the iOS AI gleefully translates it and send you an SMS with the message. No need to click and listen, its right there for you to read if you like. Making it as the person sent you a text instead of hearing their voice. Or think about the app WAZE, navigating a way through traffic in real-time and relying on many touchpoints to identify accidents, heavy traffic, and police cars sitting on the side of the road to catch that next speeder doing 50 KM over the limit. Never mind the use in the medical field where for example, AI can sift through billions of genes to identify specific markers to cure some disease that would take years to manifest. Then there is sports, where every imaginable aspect of the game is recorded and relayed in real-time to give the viewer the odds of a certain event happening next. Again, AI is only bound by our imagination’s uses.
These are the types of topics and more we will be exploring at the next BlockTechConnect event on January 28th, 2020 in Hamilton, Ontario. This is why we wanted to focus on “How to thrive in a borderless, decentralized and localized world leveraging Blockchain and AI”. If there is something to be gained, it is by connecting to the movers and shakers of this time to better understand our future and ensure we don’t miss out on the exciting opportunities that abound.
As with last year, we have excellent support from the presenters, City of Hamilton’s Economic Development team, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, and others. We also expect a similar crowd as last year that included Business/Technical/Academic Professionals, Lawyers, Accountants, Entrepreneurs, and the like.
So join us and let us explore together and forgot about the fact that #FordNation has forgotten this by squashing the #LRT in #HamOnt. Hamilton is rife with opportunity and we didn’t let the shuttering of the steel mills slow us down, and we certainly won’t let some bureaucrat in Queens park try to dictate our future!