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Microsoft has announced it will invest $5 billion in research, products and services for the Internet of Things (IoT) over the next four years. The investment will be made into IoT operating systems, cloud services for managing and controlling those operating systems, analysis tools to make use of the data from IoT, and business applications. In more practical terms, this means making Windows 10 more IoT aware, and developing Azure further.   The announcement of the investment follows a few days after Microsoft announced it was reorganizing internally, splitting the Windows and Devices Group and reshuffling elsewhere to: "focus on the intelligent cloud and the intelligent edge ," according to CEO Satya Nadella. Making Windows 10 more IoT aware is already underway, with Windows 10 IoT Core and Enterprise already available, and work already announced on making it easier to integrate Windows 10 IoT and Azure IoT. Azure IoT is also getting new services and options...

NEW DELHI: Indian companies are the eighth most optimistic lot globally in terms of  hiring  intentions for April-June with 16 per cent of employers likely to add more staff during the period, while Croatia topped the pack, says a survey. ManpowerGroup  interviewed 58,000 employers in 43 countries and territories and noted that Croatia, where employers were surveyed for the first time, reported healthy hiring intentions based on unadjusted survey data. According to the survey released today by staffing firm ManpowerGroup India, workforce gains were expected across all four regions and seven industry sectors including services, finance, real estate, manufacturing, among others. The survey, conducted among over 4,600 employers across India in various segments of industries, noted that although the hiring pace will slow, few staff reductions are expected. Croatia with a net  employment  outlook of 29 per cent topped the list of being most optimistic i...

The Trump administration decided to delay the decision regarding H4 visa. This is supposed to be a good news, but it has nothing but confused the Indian techies working in the US. The department of homeland security (DHS) deferred issuing the proposal to restrict work permits for H4 dependent visas. The decision was supposed to be taken by February 28 but it has now been delayed to the end of June 2018. The move comes just a few days after the Trump administration announced increased scrutiny for H-1B visa approvals, making it rather confusing for existing H-1B holders. Indian families are largest beneficiaries of H-4 visas. H-1B visa holders that move to the US with their spouses can apply for work permit for their spouses. The provision of H-4 visa has helped many Indian H-1B holders find work for their spouses. The department of homeland security (DHS) was planning to issue the proposal to restrict work permits for H-4 visa holders. The government led by the former...

Everybody is talking about DevOps and agile practices. Enterprises that implement DevOps and agile practices together have observed significant business success. A survey released by CA Technologies and Freeform Dynamics covers 1300 executives from various organizations. 75% of the organizations have fully embraced DevOps and agile practices. These organizations report 60% higher rate of revenue and profit growth. Only a small proportion of the organizations believe that the need for consistency, breadth, and depth needs to be high. Enterprises that adopt DevOps and agile in a comprehensive manner are usually non-traditional in nature. These organizations are forward-thinking, open to innovation and participative. The organizations that really need a good dose of DevOps and agile are not adopting these practices in the manner that they should. The uninspired companies are assuming that they don’t first go out of the business. In order to avoid being disrupted, they ma...

It is no news that IT workers are looking at AI and automation as a big threat. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can solve a number of problems in the country In his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio broadcast, he emphasized on how AI can solve a number of issues in the country. He deliberately focused on how ‘Artificial Intelligence’ can help the country in solving problems like differently abled persons, tracking natural disasters, assisting farmers and extending health services. PMO Modi is keen on learning more about the real-world use cases of AI and automation. If artificial intelligence is harnessed and implemented in a right way, it can add a huge benefit to the society. With the large population and digital literacy, India has a great pool of data that we can use for creating highly-advanced AI technologies. He said, “It was interesting to know about the ongoing miraculous accomplishments in the field of science. Artifi...

Demand is off the charts for blockchain talent, and the capital is waiting to back it up. More than $3.7 billion has been raised through ICOs in the United States alone. Blockchain-related jobs are the second-fastest growing in today’s labor market; there are now 14 job openings for every one blockchain developer. And as Nick Szabo, the developer who coined “smart contracts,” pointed out, there is an extreme “ $/knowledge ” ratio in the blockchain space, where capital by far outpaces talent. Today,  Toptal , a marketplace for on-demand tech talent, is publicly launching their  blockchain engineering talent vertical  out of private beta. In today’s software development landscape, Toptal represents about 50 percent of on-demand engineering labor by revenue. Requests for on-demand blockchain talent are skyrocketing. Last year, freelance talent marketplace  Upwork  saw blockchain rise to the fastest-growing skill out of more than 5,000 skills in terms of free...

The 2018 Data & Analytics Global Executive Study and Research Report by   MIT Sloan Management Review   finds that innovative, analytically mature organizations make use of data from multiple sources: customers, vendors, regulators, and even competitors. The report, based on   MIT SMR ’s eighth annual data and analytics global survey of over 1,900 business executives, managers, and analytics professionals, explores companies leading the way with analytics and customer engagement. BIGGER HARVESTS, BETTER RELATIONSHIPS For many U.S. farmers, improving agricultural productivity while meeting consumer demand to reduce the use of pesticides and chemicals on crops became a goal during the 2000s. To help farmers manage pests, plant diseases, weather conditions, and yields, dozens of startups emerged to offer apps and data services — part of a precision agriculture boom. Many of these companies failed or struggled as data alone proved insufficient; farmers also ne...

SAP has collaborated with an Indian state government to offer skill development program. The initiative is planned to train the engineering students on technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain. With the adoption of emerging technologies, it has become increasingly difficult to find jobs. State and central governments are collaborating with tech companies to create jobs in relevant technologies. SAP has collaborated with Karnataka government’s Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology (ITBT and S&T).  The collaborative plan is to support train 15,000 people on emerging technologies like IoT, blockchain and AI. The initiative called ‘Yuva Yuga’ has been announced by the Department of ITBT for the same. The idea is to train the youth across multiple industries for free. The program is designed to fill the skills gap that has been created in the job market today. The initiative is far beyond the terms of re-skilling. SAP wan...