Why are data science certifications important in 2021?

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Data Lake Market Analysis | Recent Market Developments | Industry Forecast, 2029

Research Nester released a report titled “Data Lake Market: Global Demand Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2029″ which delivers detailed overview of the global data lake market in terms of market segmentation by type, industry vertical and region.

Further, for the in-depth analysis, the report encompasses the industry growth indicators, restraints, supply and demand risk, along with detailed discussion on current and future market trends that are associated with the growth of the market.

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Why do Customer Experience and Conversational AI go hand in hand?

Consumer behavior has witnessed a whirlwind of changes in the past decade. Technological developments have enabled all industries to embrace digital transformation at scale. According to IDC, by 2023, digital transformation investment is expected to approach $7 trillion as companies build on existing strategies and investments, becoming digital-at-scale future enterprises.

The Customer Experience Officer has snatched away advertising budgets. And, rightly so. Customers no longer care about which celebrity is promoting the products. They demand the finest experience across all touchpoints – online and offline. Experts predict that by 2024, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator.

In order to align with the changing customer behavior, brands have shifted their focus from “what we want to sell” to “what the customer wants to buy”. Deeper segmentation and laser-sharp targeting – that’s been the mantra for every company.

Customers are giving more and more preference to brands that are constantly enhancing their Customer Experience strategy. Every company wants to win and retain more customers and here is where a top-notch Customer Experience strategy helps. According to research from PWC, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. Customer Experience (CX) will be the center focus as more and more brands embrace digital transformation.

What makes a Good Customer Experience?

Let’s start by understanding what CX means. The business engages with the customer across many different touchpoints. CX is the sum total of how the customer feels about your brand “while” and “after” interacting with you. As soon as he enters your ecosystem (online or offline), he starts to make his judgment. CX is not just restricted to existing customers but also extends to potential customers. Every interaction allows your brand an opportunity to build or ruin what the customer thinks about you. Remember, one bad experience can ruin 10 good experiences!

So what really contributes to a good CX? Here are a few points to consider:

Know your audience

This is the most important part while framing your CX strategy. It’s important for you to know who your customers are. From how they behave, what motivates them, what upsets them – you have to know it all. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Customer behavior is dynamic in nature. As a CX professional, you have to closely observe how customers are evolving and what your business can do to cater to their new needs. The marriage of data analytics and behavioral economics will help you uncover the CX strategy your business needs.

Build with empathy

With all the noise around AI, ML, NLU, NLP, Cloud, this element often gets overlooked. If the past decade was the technological revolution, the coming one will be a psychological revolution. Companies need to build technology that connects with customers. Most high-tech products will fail if they’re not built with empathy. To create a CX that truly stands out – you have to empathize with your customers. Talk to them in person, do social listening, create scalable customer feedback solutions, etc. Do anything to know what moves your customer, build technology on top of it and serve it back to the customer.

Going above and beyond

To create delightful customer experiences, one has to think beyond what is already being done. Every stage of the buying process needs to be constantly re-evaluated and elevated, if necessary. Taking that one extra step that goes beyond customer’s expectations will ensure enhanced CX and customer loyalty.

Hyper-Personalized Approach

Gone are the days when one geography was treated as a single market. The advancement of technology has allowed businesses to create solutions that talk to each customer in their preferred manner of communication. The scope of building a relationship with customers has never been more. Customer Experience elevates when brands talk to customers in a more personalized way. Brands need to humanize their communication and make customers feel that they’re conversing with just another human being.

The Evolving Role of AL and ML in CX Strategy

In the past year, customers have welcomed digital businesses with open arms and have become more tech-savvy. As this trend continues to grow, companies will have to focus on redefining what CX means to them.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc. and Google was quoted saying that AI will be a more profound change than fire and electricity. Well, we can only wait to see if this is true. What is true is that Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have significantly changed how businesses imagined CX.

AI and ML have allowed businesses to enhance systems and processes, provide rich customer insight, build better products, help marketeers with personalized targeting. All of which are extremely important for a well-integrated CX strategy. IDC states that at least 90% of new enterprise apps will insert AI technology into their processes and products by 2025.

The growth in these two areas of technology has given birth to many different business solutions. Every industry is leveraging AI in some shape or form. Global tech giants are spending a huge amount on researching and developing this technology which is set to reimagine how businesses looked at CX.

One of the many solutions powered by AI and ML is Conversational AI. Conversational AI is the use of chatbots and voice bots to create conversations with customers on different channels of communication. According to Forbes, 70% of millennials report positive chatbot experiences.

One thing to notice is that it is not easy to provide a CX that meets every customer’s expectations. The term “Customer Experience” is relatively new. Companies are facing different challenges when it comes to creating a memorable experience for their customers. Hiring and training support staff shoots up the customer support costs. To handle support queries at scale, companies need to hire thousands of agents who can work round the clock to assist customers with their issues. Agents when overworked do not provide the desired support. They are unsatisfied with their job and do not take an active interest in solving customer’s queries. This is a recipe for a bad CX.

Another challenge faced by CX professionals is providing the right buying assistance to your customer. Sales agents are often the reason why a visitor did not turn to a customer. A sales agent is often as clueless about the product as the customer, they talk so much that they forget to ask the right questions, and they lack genuine social empathy. After all the efforts that went into bringing a prospective customer to your ecosystem, the last step ruins it all.

This is where Conversational AI steps in.

How Conversational AI helps Improve Customer Experience

Businesses across different verticals have adopted Conversational AI. CXOs are responsible for providing a best-in-class experience to customers and oversee the entire customer lifecycle. Let’s look at how Conversational AI adds value to a CXO:

Cost Reduction:

Conversational AI solutions have a number of use cases. One of the most common use cases is handling Customer Support queries. Unlike standard AI assistants, a chatbot can resolve queries faster, more efficiently, be available 24*7 and talk to your customers in their preferred language of communication. A chatbot that is built to handle queries at scale will always lead to cost savings.

Employee & Customer Engagement:

Employees are the biggest asset of every company. Happy employees = Satisfied customers. Conversational AI solutions can streamline many HR processes and enhance employee engagement. This helps boost employee satisfaction and in turn affects CX positively.

Apart from handling customer support queries, a sophisticated Conversational AI solution can also assist in customer engagement programs. This helps you create a meaningful relationship with your customers that goes beyond a transaction.

Purchase Experience:

Remember the last you walked into a retail outlet and there was no one to assist you? Or you spent hours looking for a product online but couldn’t find adequate information? All these are components of a bad CX. Getting people to your business’s ecosystem is hard and not turning visitors into customers is unhealthy for your business growth.

Conversational AI has plentiful use-cases and they differ as per different industries. The growth in AI, ML, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) has enabled chatbots to create use-cases that can be utilized by every industry. Let’s dive into three use-cases that are industry agnostic and can be deployed across all businesses.

Customer Support:

The customer service chatbot can be deployed across different channels, hence providing brands an opportunity to create an omnichannel CX. AI-powered chatbots are capable of delivering service 24/7 which means that there’s always someone (not really) to answer customer’s questions anytime! This is significantly cheaper than having live agents with rotational shifts.

If the customer support query is complex or beyond the scope of the chatbot, there is a seamless process to hand off the query to a live agent based on their skill sets and current workload. This also helps the customer support agents to focus on customers which require a detailed solution for their difficult problems. This is where the magic happens! The marriage of AI and traditional customer service is the way forward.

Conversational Commerce:

Conversational Commerce has revolutionized eCommerce. Over the years, brands have realized the true potential of messaging platforms. Conversational AI is being leveraged by some of the largest brands to provide shopping assistance to customers. This is indeed a great opportunity to reduce costs incurred for hiring sales agents and training them. A robust conversational commerce tool is capable of providing superior customer service than a sales agent.

You can truly understand user requirements and provide expert-like guidance to nudge visitors ahead in the buyer’s journey. An intent-based recommendation engine helps you automatically match user requirements with your product catalog, descriptions, customer reviews, and other historical data to offer relevant buying guidance and increase conversions. Know more about how Haptik’s Conversational AI platform can help you sell seamlessly across all messaging platforms.

Agent Assistance:

Support agents need vast amounts of customer information to provide the assistance that customers need.

Conversational UIs (user interfaces) can monitor the conversations – whether by voice or chat – the agent is having with a customer and provide relevant information, screens, or prompts by intervening at appropriate times.

This reduces the hold time and there is no need to transfer the call to another agent because of not having access to enough customer knowledge. This results in a superior CX lowered support costs and high employee satisfaction.

One of the biggest advantages of using a Conversational AI solution is that you can integrate it with your existing systems. This allows your agent to have a 360-degree customer view on a single interface. With this, you can access variables such as the entire user history, chat transcripts, and customer data that assist you to provide a hyper-personalized experience.

What are the results of deploying a good CX?

There are umpteen benefits of an ace CX strategy. Different industries care about different metrics. On a whole, a robust Conversational AI solution can help you decrease your customer support costs by automating queries and boost revenue by powering conversational commerce. Not only it helps enhance the support and purchase experience but also reduces operational overheads. Let’s look at how these things translate into results:

Brand Loyalty & Customer Satisfaction:

According to PWC, 73% of consumers say a good experience is key in influencing their brand loyalties. It is a known fact that it is easier and cheaper to retain existing customers as compared to winning new ones. CX plays a huge role in customer retention. A good CX guarantees brand loyalty and increased customer satisfaction. Globalization has led to cutthroat competition in every industry. There’s no shortcut or hack to winning customer loyalty. Brands have to fight and fight hard to win the CX game!

Word-of-mouth marketing and recommendations:

Brands can splurge all the money they want on advertising but nothing beats word-of-mouth marketing. Happy customers will always talk about the product to their friends, family, and colleagues. Good marketing can’t save a bad product but a good product can almost market itself. A good CX promises more customers, more revenue, and more profits!

Increased Profits:

This is the end goal of every business. But very few companies prioritize a customer-centric approach. Developing a CX strategy requires you to be obsessed with your customers and what drives them. Increased brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, and positive word-of-mouth marketing assures lower costs and increased profits.

Key Takeaways

A recent study states that 70% of the buying experience is based on how the customer feels they are treated. Hence, Customer Experience is every businesses’ key area of focus. As more organizations take the digital route, this focus will intensify even further. Companies need to broaden their definition of CX. It is not just limited to customer interaction but extends to how a customer feels about your brand. A well-crafted CX strategy is stitched at the intersection of data, customer behavior, marketing, and empathy. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have created unparalleled scope for companies to enhance customer communication. It’s now time for brands to integrate technology and psychology to take CX to another level.

A key component of every brand’s CX strategy is Conversational AI. Conversational AI has allowed brands to think beyond basic conversations. Chatbots engage and build relationships with customers which go a long way in boosting CSAT and NPS. In case you’re interested, here’s an eBook we’ve put together that shares the experiences of a diverse set of CxOs as a part of their journey to identify feasible, realistic solutions to solve the challenge of repairing a broken customer experience and scaling high-volume customer queries with AI Automation. You can get your copy here.

Join us in our journey to transform Customer Experience with the power of Conversational AI.

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DSC Weekly Digest 7 June 2021

Computer languages over the years tend to rise and fall in popularity, depending upon what the job market looks like, what’s the hot technology du jour, and what needs it fulfills. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when Ruby on Rails was the must-have language out there, yet Ruby now seldom cracks the top 20 languages in most people’s surveys. I can even remember a time when LISP was the dominant language in the artificial intelligence space, though you’re more likely today to find LISP only as faint echoes in languages like Erlang and Clojure.

If you look through older articles on DSC you’ll find plenty of fodder about whether R or Python is the better language to learn, though by the numbers Python looks to be eclipsing R finally in the great language religious wars. However, the reality is that in the analytics space, your language choice is becoming less and less relevant.

This is partially due to the fact that most language vendors (and database vendors) are increasingly incorporating analytics libraries and extensions into their respective products and communities, especially in those places where you have the ability to compile these libraries into high-performance code.

For instance, native React (a Javascript-based variant) is increasingly taking on analytics and machine-learning loads that would have been unthinkable even a couple of years ago. The ability to push analytics processing capabilities out to edge devices and various web browsers is also changing the nature of the game, especially as web applications increasingly become serverless.

Similarly, DevOps is mingling analytics code and machine learning models with robotic process automation, using Javascript as the preferred glue. Additionally, you’re seeing more web-based analytics suites, where the need to write any formal algorithms is diminishing rapidly. That you still need to understand what the mathematical tools are supposed to do (and how they should be applied) is still true, but the days where data scientists spent all their time writing R scripts is likely in the rearview mirror.

Consequently, the best answer to languages for working as a data scientist is to learn at least one, whether that be R, Python, Javascript, Scala, Java, Clojure, Haskell, or even LISP (okay, perhaps not LISP, though it is a cool language … Scheme might be better) but more importantly learn how to write code in general. Become proficient with query languages including SQL, SPARQL, GraphQL, XQuery, because that’s where you’re going to spend the bulk of your time, and learn to think declaratively, just because declarative programming is more useful for working with data in general than imperative programming is. Finally, don’t discount Excel or other spreadsheets – a surprising amount of work in the analytics space is STILL done in Excel, and you will almost certainly end up having to work with it in some capacity. 

These issues and more are covered in this week’s digest. This is why we run Data Science Central, and why we are expanding its focus to consider the width and breadth of digital transformation in our society. Data Science Central is your community. It is a chance to learn from other practitioners, and a chance to communicate what you know to the data science community overall. I encourage you to submit original articles and to make your name known to the people that are going to be hiring in the coming year. As always let us know what you think.

In media res,
Kurt Cagle
Community Editor,
Data Science Central

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Top Futuristic Modes of Transportation That Will Shape the Taxi Industry

With the entry of the latest advances in the transportation industry, the current going time has been remarkable. All the newest technology advancements bring new hope and contribute towards shaping the taxi businesses. Now that we are in the modern era, booking a taxi ride within seconds is possible. Therefore, all the companies involved in the taxi sector should leverage new technologies to produce futuristic modes of transportation or quality taxi services. This is a necessary step to take to remain competitive in the taxi industry. 

According to the recent reports, the USA taxi market will showcase 30% growth over the next five years. In 2021, the market is expected to generate 3 billion USD in revenue. At this time, a minimum of 10 million ride-hailing trips are made worldwide, and the number is predicted to reach 80 million by 2030.

Future Transportation Modes That Will Impact the Taxi Industry

The transportation sector will acquire new, more innovative sources of energy, future means of transport, and physical and technological infrastructure. Modern technology, electrification, and autonomy are three prevalent topics in transportation innovation. Given the rapid growth of these technologies in recent years, we may expect them to all play a significant role in our transportation future.

SELF DRIVING OR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

While the future of the transportation sector is unwritten, there is still something that our leaders promise – the origin of autonomous driving. Autonomous cars with the sensing feature will be capable of judging the environment without human efforts. Just like classic cars, self-driving cars can also go anywhere. There is no need for humans to take control of the vehicle at any time. 

Behind the operation of self-driving cars, sensors, complex algorithms, ML systems, and powerful processors, they all work. Based on various sensors incorporated inside, autonomous cars automatically map the nearby surroundings. 

Thanks to the dedicated taxi dispatch software that makes it possible for self-driving cars to process the sensory input, send instructions to the actuators and ensure smooth steering. Some of the benefits of self-driving vehicles are

• Minimize traffic blockage
• Cut down operating costs
• Lowers the emission of Urban Carbon Dioxide

FLYING TAXIS

We are in the era where the transport industry has now become more convenient to customers. Flying Taxis could be the next future means of transport that will surely make a significant impact on this industry. The example of major brands – Uber, Airbus, and Toyota- are investing millions of dollars to make vehicles take off and land at a specific place. The origin of Air Taxis will surely change the way transportation businesses run along with an array of advantages for passengers. 

Electric air taxis will come in various shapes and look different from conventional fixed-wing aircraft. Takeoff and landing taxis are specially crafted to minimize the need for long runways. In addition, companies are looking forward to launching taxis with rotating wings and the one that looks like cars, to help in taking the travel experience to the next level.

CONVERTIBLE CAB CUM STORE

In the future, ride-sharing vehicles would be able to transform into new structures. In addition to flexibility, there would be an expansion in the essential dimension of cabs. The company Toyota has come up with an idea how taxis can be changed from the typical taxi to Cab cum store for the selling of any products. Organizations are now bringing incredible changes to make cabs convertible in the forthcoming future. 

The future says that ride-sharing cars will possess the ability to amplify their versatility and functionality. For example, a convertible cab cum store concept will transform the regular cabs into delivery vans that also sell merchandise. Plus, there is also modification to the seats inside vans, and they are more convertible. 

Well, the future of the taxi or transportation industry is welcoming because of a few technological advancements like

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The automotive industry is taking steps in making a vast investment for a bright future. Now the companies are focusing more on Artificial Intelligence to get the most out of self-driving technology. By leveraging the potential of AI, they want to introduce autonomous vehicles and bring a transformation in the transportation industry. 

The AI-powered pickup and delivery app will allow passengers to have reliable travel journeys, experience secure payment options, and get everything done via a smartphone. As a result, people living in urban areas will become more intelligent than before, and traffic management is seamless. This further helps enhance the accessibility for travelers. 

GPS (Global Positioning System)

It’s a well-heard term in the digital age, and one is well aware of GPS and its functionality. However, you can find a significant difference between the latest GPS systems and old ones. Those days are over when GPS-based devices are used to calculate the estimated time of the final destination. But now, the systems can do more than that. The latest GPS devices can better plan any trip and have made the public transportation system smarter and hassle-free. 

SAAS-BASED PLATFORM

People are now less reliant on transportation modes that provide a lack of safety and raise the difficulty for the regular commuters. For safe, secure, and affordable transportation, most companies have started serving transportation services via a SaaS-based platform. Such a solution helps eliminate the issues related to crowd traffic on roads. Moreover, it’s an entirely safe platform, especially for women and employees. They can have a fast and secure taxi service and reach the destination on time. 

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

There are now more convenient traveling options for regular travelers that make them feel safe throughout the journey. Because of the immense popularity of modern automobiles, usability has increased, and it will grow even in the coming years. It is predicted that more than 50% of vehicles will be produced by the end of 2030 that use combustion engines, hybrid technology, and electric power to operate. With this, it is clear that there will be a significant reduction in Greenhouse gas emissions.

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS (ITS)

Nowadays, there is the massive popularity of the ITS, and its usage is making a significant difference in the transportation industry. Such systems include Information and Communication technology to make the management of transportation easy. 

The essential sections inside the system are real-time and smart parking management, automated speed feature, rider information system, and many more on the list. All these additions inside the system have made transportation more organized than before. 

SUMMING UP

The transportation sector keeps revolutionizing with the latest modes, trends, and technologies. Now that taxis have become an integral part of human life, many means of transportation will take place in the future for more convenience. Whether one is going shopping or the workplace, the advanced technologies and modes will help improve the lifestyle. 

The future modes of transportation and latest advancements in transportation will change the way people travel. The current time is the start of leveraging advanced technologies in transportation to drive a promising future. 

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REACT NATIVE VS IONIC: CHOOSE THE RIGHT ONE IN 2021

REACT NATIVE VS IONIC: CHOOSE THE RIGHT ONE IN 2021

The “hybrid vs native” question still lingers among programmers and coders. In 2021, the choice is between React Native and Ionic, the two biggest players in the mobile app development frameworks market. According to AppBrain,

• Ionic is the most used in app development at 3% while React Native is at 1.3%.
• Market share in terms of app installs show 4.05% for React Native and 0.27% for Ionic.

To understand this stat, let us look at the difference between a native app and a hybrid app.

NATIVE VS HYBRID

Native and hybrid apps differ in many ways including UX, performance, technology used, features, and associated costs.

• Hybrid Mobile Apps

The underlying tech in hybrid apps are HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other web technologies. WebView is the platform that they all run on. Through native modules and plugins, they can be developed as Single Page Apps or Progressive Web Apps.

• Native Mobile Apps

Platform specific UI components are needed to run native mobile apps. Java for Android and Objective-Cor Swift for iOS are used to build these apps. They cannot be reused between platforms and there are about no drawbacks to the efficiency of these apps.

Now, with a surface understanding of native and hybrid mobile apps, let us know a little bit about React Native and Ionic.

REACT NATIVE

React Native is a JavaScript based framework. It helps create native mobile apps and is supported by a huge community of developers. The corporate backing comes from Facebook. It uses the “learn once, write everywhere” principle. Facebook, Oculus, Coinbase, Shopify, Tableau, FlipKart, Discord, NerdWallet, Skype, Bloomnerg, Tesla, and Wix among many others use the React Native framework.

IONIC

With a shared codebase between mobile, web, and desktop apps, Ionic is a hybrid development framework for web apps. Ionic is rich in features and much more capable than web apps since it uses Cordova and PhoneGap to access native features. Ionic follows the “write once, use everywhere” principle. The Ionic framework has been used by MarketWatch, Pacifica, Sworkit, Diesel,StockPlan Connect, Honeyfi, McLaren, JustWatch, mcDonald’s, Untappd, Nationwide, and Cryptochange among a plethora of others. According to Ionic, over 5 Million apps have been created using its framework.

Now let us take a quick look at how the Ionic framework and the React Native framework compares against each other and determine the best one for 2021.

IONIC VS REACT

React uses features that are native to the UI. This is what gives it the aesthetics of a native application. The native form also allows the developers to give a seamless experience to the end user.

Ionic uses web tech. This enables it to achieve multi-platform applications. It is based on Angular JS and uses the code base in a minimal fashion. Angular enables Ionic to have a smoother process and be extremely user-friendly.

• Performance

React demands the developers to make platform-specific changes to achieve the most efficient components. React Native has a much more stable framework. This makes it efficient for large scale projects with higher budgets. The framework also enhances responsiveness and detailing of the UI.
On the other hand, Ionic’s hybrid approach makes it much more convenient for prototyping or facilitating an urgent requirement. Using CSS, JavaScript and HTML5 components, Ionic enables faster app development but the user might be asked to download additional plugins to enable the native features.

As discussed earlier, React uses the “learn once, write everywhere” logic. This framework will suggest suitable components that respect the native aesthetics, to the developers.

Contrary to that, Ionic can run the same code across all platforms. It adapts to the platform and learns its behavior in order to provide the native aesthetics.

Apart from these differences, React native has a community of 1752 contributors while Ionic has just 268. And in order to pinpoint the better one for 2021, we need to understand the benefits and drawbacks of both Ionic and React Native.

ADVANTAGES OF IONIC

1. Open source
2. Easy to learn
3. Built in components
4. Speed development cycle
5. Familiar development environment
6. Cordova and PhoneGap wrapping

DISADVANTAGES OF IONIC

1. Requires WebView
2. Apache Cordova required to access hardware functionality
3. Slight performance issues

ADVANTAGES OF REACT NATIVE

1. Stable and reliable for large scale projects
2. Android, iOS and Windows app code re-usability.
3. Codes are not dependent on the platforms
4. Vast community

DISADVANTAGES OF REACT NATIVE

1. Require native development skills.
2. Lack of custom modules
3. Slight debugging and compatibility issues.

Now that we have laid down the facts and figures, let us conclude by determining if one is above the other.

SUMMING UP

The choice will be largely influenced by the type of project you are undertaking, the time of development, and the skills garnered by the team. According to a popularity survey by Ionic,

• 86% of web developers have used Ionic and 16% went for React Native.
• To build PWAs, 72% preferred Ionic while 21% picked React Native.
• On GitHub, Ionic has 41,000 stars and React Native has 89,100 stars.

These statistics boil down to the fact that it is not feasible to put one over the other objectively. We can conclude by understanding that if the requirement is a low budget, high performance app in a limited time, Ionic is the better one and if the requirement is a high budget, large scale app, React Native is the better one, for 2021. At Orion, we specialize and deliver excellence in both.

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The Right Foundation Will Ensure Citizen Data Scientist Success

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The NFT Crypto-Art Bubble has Officially Burst

• Non-fungible token assets are declining rapidly,
• The market is down 70% from its peak,
• NFTs , in a moderated form, are likely here to stay.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), tradable digital certificates that verify ownership of digital assets using blockchain technology, have dominated headlines in the last several months. The media mania hit a high with the $69 million sale of Beeple’s Everydays:The First 5000 Days. A few months after Beeple’s historic sale at Christie’s auction house, the crypo-art bubble has officially burst.

NFTs Take a Tumble

Beeple himself predicted the decline of NFTs in a March 2021 interview with CoinDesk, a media outlet for blockchain and cryptocurrency news [1]. “I think it’s a bubble,” he said. “If it’s not a bubble now, I do believe it probably will be a bubble at some point, because there’s just so many people rushing into this space.”  Concerned about Ethereum’s volatility, he cashed out his earnings into hard U.S. dollars [2]. That wise move protected his stash from the effects of this year’s May 19 sell-off, which wiped $1.2 trillion in value from the crypto market.  According to marketplace tracker Nonfungible.com [3], average prices for NFTs dropped nearly 70% from its February peak to around $1,400. As a result of the crash, and possibly because of environmental concerns, user activity has also plummeted.

Source: Nonfungible.com.

History Repeats Itself

It should not come as a surprise that non-fungible tokens are sliding downwards to a trough; They exhibit the highs and lows of any speculative market, which have followed predictable paths for centuries. In February 1637, a speculative frenzy in the Netherlands was fueled by the sale of one tulip bulb for 6,700 guilders, netting the seller enough to purchase a small mansion. A “tulip mania” ensued, followed by a crash later that month which wiped out up to 95 percent of bulb prices. Centuries later, the dotcom bubble followed a similar pattern, as have dozens of other fads, crazes and speculations. It was just a matter of time before NFT investments were dragged down by the gravity of certainty.

Interestingly, there is an even deeper connection between the 16^th century tulip mania and the demise of crypto art: both occurred during epidemics, which forced people to spend inordinate amounts of time indoors.  Tulip mania coincided with a bubonic plague outbreak in the Netherlands [4], while the current Covid-19 pandemic likely had much to do with the NFT phenomenon as well as GameStop and dogecoin.

What’s the Future?

While history can tell us a lot about the expected peaks and troughs of speculative markets, it also offers a caution about dismissing new technology. Not so long ago, two obscure bicycle repairmen who had never been to college were ridiculed by notable scientists about the impossibility of their invention, until they flew their “impossible” invention—the airplane– at Kitty Hawk [5]. Internet trading was also dismissed as a passing fad after the dotcom bubble, only for Amazon to emerge from the rubble as a virtual powerhouse. It definitely isn’t all doom-and-gloom in the NFT-verse either; While crypto art is certainly taking a tumble, other virtual artifacts like digital real estate are holding their ground; Currently, NFTs linked to digital real estate are outselling crypto-art linked NFTs.

Chris Wilmer, a University of Pittsburgh academic who co-edits a blockchain research journal states in a Bloomberg article [6] that “There will be manias and irrational exuberance, but cryptocurrency is clearly here to stay with us for the long term and NFTs probably are too”. Only time will tell whether the market has long-term potential. While investors are more likely be to more judicious about their purchases going forward, NFTs, including crypto art, are likely here to stay; As long as artists continue to mint new NFTs and buyers still purchase them, the market will eventually stabilize as much as any speculative market can. [7].

 References

Image: Joate3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

[1] CoinDesk.com

[2] Beeple Immediately Converted His $53 Million NFT Earnings From ETH …

[3] Nonfungible.com

[4] Art’s NFT Question: Next Frontier in Trading, or a New Form of Tulip?

[5] They Wouldn’t Believe the Wrights Had Flown

[6] NFT Price Crash Stirs Debate on Whether Stimulus-Led Fad Is Over

[7]  NFTs Combat Bubble Burst Claims As Real Life Use Cases Push Forward

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Personal Cyber Security Tips

We hope that these personal cyber security guidelines will assist our readers in becoming more cyber aware. These security suggestions were prepared based on our expertise managing millions of security events for organisations and professionals throughout the world.
The Top Cyber Security Tips for Individuals

1. Keep Your Software Up to Date

Ransomware assaults were a major attack vector for both enterprises and consumers in 2017, as evidenced by the statistics above. Patching obsolete software, both operating systems and applications, is one of the most critical cyber security strategies for preventing ransomware.

This aids in the elimination of significant vulnerabilities that hackers exploit to gain access to your devices. Here are some pointers to help you get started:

Set your device to receive automatic system upgrades.
Make sure your desktop web browser downloads and instals security updates automatically.
Keep your web browser’s plugins, such as Flash and Java, up to date.

Check out our blog for best practises in patch management!

2. Install anti-virus software and a firewall

To combat malicious attacks, anti-virus (AV) protection software has been the most widely used approach. Malware and other harmful viruses are prevented from entering your device and corrupting your data by antivirus software. Use only one anti-virus tool on your device, and be sure it’s from a reputable vendor.

When it comes to protecting your data from hostile attacks, using a firewall is essential. A firewall protects your device by filtering out hackers, malware, and other dangerous behaviour that occurs over the Internet and deciding what traffic is allowed to enter. Windows Firewall and Mac Firewall are the firewalls that come with Windows and Mac OS X, respectively. To protect your network from threats, your router should include a firewall.

3. Create strong passwords and use a password manager

Strong passwords are essential for internet security, as you’ve probably heard. Passwords are crucial in keeping hackers away of your information! According to the new password policy framework published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2017, you should think about:

Getting rid of the wacky, convoluted combination of upper case characters, symbols, and numbers. Instead, choose something more user-friendly that is at least eight characters long and no longer than 64 characters.
Do not re-use the same password.
At least one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter, one number, and four symbols are required, but not the characters & percent #@ .
Choose a password that is simple to remember, and never put a password hint out in the open or in a place where hackers can see it.
If you forget your password, you can reset it. However, as a general refresh, alter it once a year.

Try utilising a password management tool or a password account vault to make managing your passwords easier. Individuals will find LastPass FREE to be a useful tool. LastPass provides a free account as well as a $2/month premium with additional password capabilities.

4. Authentication with two-factor or multi-factor

Two-factor authentication, often known as multi-factor authentication, is a service that adds additional layers of security to the traditional password-based method of online identity. You would ordinarily input a username and password without two-factor authentication. However, if you use two-factor authentication, you will be asked to provide an extra authentication method such as a Personal Identification Code, another password, or even your fingerprint. After entering your login and password, you’ll be required to input more than two additional authentication methods with multi-factor authentication.

SMS delivery should not be utilised during two-factor authentication, according to NIST, because malware can be used to attack mobile phone networks and compromise data in the process.

5. Become aware of phishing scams and be wary of emails, phone calls, and pamphlets.

This year’s phishing scams are nastier than ever, according to a new blog post. In a phishing technique, the attacker impersonates someone or something that the sender is not in order to mislead the recipient into disclosing credentials, clicking a malicious link, or opening an attachment that infects the user’s machine with malware, trojans, or zero-day vulnerability exploits. This frequently results in a ransomware attack. In reality, phishing attempts are the source of 90% of ransomware outbreaks.

The following are some crucial cyber security tips to keep in mind when dealing with phishing schemes:

In conclusion, do not open emails from persons you do not know.
Know which links are safe and which are not — hover your mouse over a link to see where it leads.
In general, be wary of emails sent to you; check to see where they came from and if there are any grammatical issues.
Friends who have also been affected can provide malicious links. As a result, take extra precautions!

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Seven Famous Apps Using React js

Front-end development is continuously increasing by adding new tools released daily. There are several libraries and frameworks available online and choosing one from them is quite difficult. Talking about front-end development, Angular was the default choice for any business owners but the time has changed, React JS is breaking records in the web development market.

Facebook 

Facebook uses React Native as it is a cross-platform mobile app development platform that develops its own mobile app. There are around 990 million Facebook users daily as this social channel helps us stay connected with friends and family. Facebook is built on React Native version and responsible for displaying the iOS and Android native components. ReactJS library was firstly placed on Facebook when the beta version was created. It was completely rewritten in React Native and called React Fiber.
   

Instagram

ReactJs has played a vast role in delivering a digital experience to the user connected with Instagram. The app gives an amazing look and feels in terms of UI and UX. Moving an existing app to new technology is a big challenge for Instagram, but React Native has comparatively played well. The major change was made in the effect of the app and was easy to maintain for both Android and iOS platforms.
  

Netflix

Today, when you’re enjoying great UI and Ux, it is due to React Native. React Native was also added with Netflix when it was facing low performance on various devices. Netflix has initially published the blog by explaining how the ReactJS library has helped overcome the difficulties and head to speed, starting from improving runtime performance, modularity, and various other advantages.
    

New York Times

Coming with a new design and a great project, the New York Times has given a great move with React Native. The New project adds a great look and feels to the content implemented to it. Looking at the interface we can say that it is built by React Native as there are impressive features added to it
   

WhatsApp

Talking about daily using social platform Whatsapp has officially released ReactJS for building user interface from Facebook. It uses some of the most efficient engines such as Velocity.Js and Underscore.js to give better results. Currently, Whatapp is using React to give a better experience to the users.

Myntra

Myntra is one of the leading Indian fashion e-Commerce Companies from where one can shop for clothing, home furnishing, footwear, and other accessories for men, women, and kids. The perfect look and feel to the finest user experience you get are with the help of the ReactJS mobile app. React Native has given a beautiful presentation of the profiles, catalogs and order placement convenience to the user in a better way. ReactJs Development Services has offered an amazing UI and UX to all Android and iOS users.

Discord

You all must have a heart for free voice and chat app Discord for gamers. The game enables chatting between the team, allows checking the availability, and catch up on text conversations. Using React JS, 98% of the code on iOS and Android were shared which is the best example of using Cross-platform app development.

Conclusion:

Anticipate in this competitive market and craft goals by demonstrating how your business will use this technology and accelerate growth. Raise conversions, cut costs, and brand your business with ReactJS development. We are one of the best ReactJS Development companies that use React JS to ensure better performance than other frameworks. You can hire ReactJS developers to understand the technology and lever the business for a competitive advantage.

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