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Meet the Five Emerging Technology Trends That Will Blur the Lines Between Human and Machine

Meet the Five Emerging Technology Trends That Will Blur the Lines Between Human and Machine

Gartner Identifies Five Emerging Technology Trends That Will Blur the Lines Between Human and Machine

2018 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle Garners Insights From More Than 2,000 Technologies

The 35 must-watch technologies represented on the Gartner Inc. Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018 revealed five distinct emerging technology trends that will blur the lines between humans and machines. Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), play a critical role in enabling companies to be ubiquitous, always available, and connected to business ecosystems to survive in the near future.

“Business and technology leaders will continue to face rapidly accelerating technology innovation that will profoundly impact the way they engage with their workforce, collaborate with their partners, and create products and services for their customers,” said Mike J. Walker, research vice president at Gartner. “CIOs and technology leaders should always be scanning the market along with assessing and piloting emerging technologies to identify new business opportunities with high impact potential and strategic relevance for their business.”

The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies report is the longest-running annual Gartner Hype Cycle, providing a cross-industry perspective on the technologies and trends that business strategists, chief innovation officers, R&D leaders, entrepreneurs, global market developers and emerging-technology teams should consider in developing emerging-technology portfolios.

The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies is unique among most Gartner Hype Cycles because it garners insights from more than 2,000 technologies into a succinct set of 35 emerging technologies and trends. This Hype Cycle specifically focuses on the set of technologies that is showing promise in delivering a high degree of competitive advantage over the next five to 10 years (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018

Source: Gartner (August 2018)

Five Emerging Technology Trends

Democratized AI

AI technologies will be virtually everywhere over the next 10 years. While these technologies enable early adopters to adapt to new situations and solve problems that have not been encountered previously, these technologies will become available to the masses — democratized. Movements and trends like cloud computing, the “maker” community and open source will eventually propel AI into everyone’s hands.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: AI Platform as a Service (PaaS), Artificial General Intelligence, Autonomous Driving (Levels 4 and 5), Autonomous Mobile Robots, Conversational AI Platform, Deep Neural Nets, Flying Autonomous Vehicles, Smart Robots, and Virtual Assistants.

“Technologies representing democratized AI populate three out of five sections on the Hype Cycle, and some of them, such as deep neural nets and virtual assistants, will reach mainstream adoption in the next two to five years,” said Mr. Walker. “Other emerging technologies of that category, such as smart robots or AI PaaS, are also moving rapidly through the Hype Cycle approaching the peak and will soon have crossed it.”

Digitalized Ecosystems

Emerging technologies require revolutionizing the enabling foundations that provide the volume of data needed, advanced compute power and ubiquity-enabling ecosystems. The shift from compartmentalized technical infrastructure to ecosystem-enabling platforms is laying the foundations for entirely new business models that are forming the bridge between humans and technology.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: Blockchain, Blockchain for Data Security, Digital Twin, IoT Platform and Knowledge Graphs.

“Digitalized ecosystem technologies are making their way to the Hype Cycle fast,” said Walker. “Blockchain and IoT platforms have crossed the peak by now, and we believe that they will reach maturity in the next five to 10 years, with digital twins and knowledge graphs on their heels.”

Do-It-Yourself Biohacking

Over the next decade, humanity will begin its “transhuman” era: Biology can then be hacked, depending on lifestyle, interests and health needs. Biohacking falls into four categories: technology augmentation, nutrigenomics, experimental biology and grinder biohacking. However, questions remain about how far society is prepared to accept these kinds of applications and what ethical issues they create.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: Biochips, Biotech — Cultured or Artificial Tissue, Brain-Computer Interface, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Smart Fabrics.

Emerging technologies in do-it-yourself biohacking are moving rapidly through the Hype Cycle. Mixed reality is making its way to the Trough of Disillusionment, and augmented reality almost reached the bottom. Those pioneers will be followed by biochips, which have just reached the peak and will have moved on to the plateau in five to 10 years.

Transparently Immersive Experiences

Technology will continue to become more human-centric to the point where it will introduce transparency between people, businesses and things. These technologies extend and enable smarter living, work, and other spaces we encounter.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: 4D Printing, Connected Home, Edge AI, Self-Healing System Technology, Silicon Anode Batteries, Smart Dust, Smart Workspace and Volumetric Displays.

“Emerging technologies representing transparently immersive experiences are mostly on their way to the peak or — in the case of silicon anode batteries — just crossed it,” said Mr. Walker. “The smart workspace has moved along quite a bit and is about to peak in the near future.”

Ubiquitous Infrastructure

Infrastructure is no longer in the way of obtaining an organization’s goals. The advent and mass popularity of cloud computing and its many variations have enabled an always-on, available and limitless infrastructure compute environment.

This trend is enabled by the following technologies: 5G, Carbon Nanotube, Deep Neural Network ASICs, Neuromorphic Hardware and Quantum Computing.

Technologies supporting ubiquitous infrastructure are on track to reach the peak and move fast along the Hype Cycle. 5G and deep neural network ASICs, in particular, are expected to reach the plateau in the next two to five years.

https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2018-08-20-gartner-identifies-five-emerging-technology-trends-that-will-blur-the-lines-between-human-and-machine

Meet the nine pillars of Industry 4.0 and their relevance to industrial activity

Meet the nine pillars of Industry 4.0 and their relevance to industrial activity

To create faster, more flexible and efficient processes, the Fourth Industrial Revolution also referred to as Industry 4.0, promotes the union of physical and digital resources, connecting machines, systems and assets as a way to produce higher quality items at reduced costs.

Below are the nine pillars of Industry 4.0 and their relevance to industrial activity:

  • The Internet of Things: refers to the networking and connectivity of smart devices.
  • Augmented Reality: displays digital content in the real word through a device, such as a mobile phone or special eyeglasses.
  • Simulation: leverage real-time data to reflect the physical world of product development and production processes in a virtual environment.
  • Additive Manufacturing: these technologies are already playing an important role in key areas as design, prototyping and low-volume production.
  • System Integration: result in an agile manufacturing environment allowing real time production corrections and quick pivots.
  • Cloud Computing: provides scaleable storage and increased computing power, improves data accessibility and integrity, helping to eliminate data silos.
  • Autonomous Systems: robots designed to work in ways similar to humans, with the added ability to monitor and transmit data.
  • Cybersecurity: preparation and protection of company information systems and production lines from cyberthreats.
  • Big Data Analytics: common theme among all of these pillars and new technologies is data collection and analysis.

IRS incentive Section 179

IRS incentive Section 179

End of year can be exciting, and it also signals that it’s time to talk about the IRS incentive Section 179.


Why Use Section 179?
Successful businesses take advantage of legal tax incentives to help lower their operating costs. The Section 179 IRS Deduction is a tax incentive that is easy to use and gives businesses an incentive to invest in themselves by adding capital equipment – equipment that they use to improve their operations and further increase revenue. Taking advantage of the Section 179 Deduction will help your business add equipment, vehicles and software, while allowing you to keep more of your tax dollars.
The key benefit is that, instead of deducting qualifying equipment over time according to a set depreciation schedule), Section 179 allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of the item during the first tax year.

Here are full details, examples and financial calculators to determine how much you can save:

https://www.section179.org/ 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-issues-guidance-on-section-179-expenses-and-section-168g-depreciation-under-taxcuts-and-jobs-act 

Contact us for further information. 

New manufacturing technologies manage welding processes and avoid failures

New manufacturing technologies manage welding processes and avoid failures

Developed to facilitate people's daily lives, the "Internet of Things" (IoT) has also been explored in the manufacturing chain. The term refers to the act of connecting any equipment to the computer network. Besides improving people’s routine, this technological revolution can increase the productivity and profitability of the companies that bet on this strategy.

Sumig, a company specialized in welding and cutting solutions, recently launched a service that fits this innovative concept. With the Intellimig Portal, customers with smart machines, such as Sumig cells and guns, can access all information regarding welding processes through remote management.

The method used for this management is practical and easy to use. When you purchase a Sumig smart cell or gun, the customer receives a key access to the Intellimig Portal. With this login, the user can connect to the web platform through any computer or mobile device.

Data regarding the welding processes of the factory appear in the system in real time. Besides monitoring production, Intellimig Portal crosses information to generate many technical and graphical reports. It is worth highlighting that all this data is stored on a totally secure and reliable server.

 

Smart machines provide more profitability

By controlling welding processes, the Intellimig system can do more than just reporting failures: it enables the welder to prevent them. Since Sumig' smart machines rely on a programmable electronic device, they are able to analyze and control the previously defined parameters.

This function provides real-time monitoring of the machine's voltage and current, interacting directly with the welder. When the professional operates with parameters out of the process variability, an alert is activated. When the machine reaches some critical values, it blocks momently. This avoids wastes on operation time.

Digital Identification

Another Intellimig differential is the user’s identification. Each welder and each machine can receive a different register, which allows the production monitoring in a more detailed way. The parameterization of processes is done by the machine’s administrator login, which is protected by a specific password.

All these innovations provided by Intellimig result in a higher welding quality, since its repeatability is determined. Constant process monitoring also generates management charts, which can be used for cost control and operations optimization.

Watch the video to know how this device can move your company to the next level:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnhFgJJSEv4  

Written by Tales Facchini - Sumig's Technical Engineer