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How to stop websites accessing your webcam and microphone

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By Maria Mellor

When was the last time you checked what permissions you’ve given the sites you visit?

Websites want to control your computer. It might be using your web cam for video chats, your microphone for voice commands or your location in order to get the weather for your area, but to do they need access to your machine’s settings. Over time, it’s likely that you’ve handed away a lot of control.

Much like apps on your phone, websites have to ask for your permission to use these settings. But after years of using your web browser without clearing your data, you could be giving permission to dozens of websites to access your settings. Take a look at what permissions you’ve given to check that you are comfortable with what websites are allowed to do with your computer, says David Emm principal security researcher cybersecurity company Kaspersky. “It’s a good idea to go to the settings and look at the ones that particularly relate to tracking,” he says.

Cookies are the most common form of online tracking. They aren’t inherently malicious – they are used to carry information about your interaction with websites, for example keeping you logged in, remembering your preferences and to understand how you are using the site. Disabling all cookies may limit your ability to use a website, but you may want to limit how much you are tracked on a browser in order to limit the amount of data collected about you.

Since the implementation of GDPR, in May 2018, most websites will ask you before using cookies that will allow personalisation of ads. In your browser settings you are able to make it so that you automatically don’t allow these information collecting tools called third party cookies.

But there are other ways websites can make change to your computer. It’s important to keep an eye on whether a website is asking to use a setting that is unrelated to what you are trying to do – for example if you’re trying to check a news report but the website is asking for access to your microphone, it may be trying to do so for more nefarious purposes. “The key thing is always just to keep focused on who’s asking and what’s the purpose and that really links back to why are you there,” says Emm.

Chrome

Google may have a bit of an image problem when it comes to privacy – as an advertising giant it’s in its best interests to track you in order to show you personalised ads. However you can still use its settings to restrict websites from tracking you. In Chrome, go to settings by clicking the three dots in the top right hand corner. Find the ‘Privacy and Security’ section and click on ‘site settings’. To manually block cookies, go to ‘cookies and site data’ – here you can choose to block just third-party cookies by turning on ‘block third-party cookies’ or block all cookies by turning off ‘allow sites to save and read cookie data’.

In the ‘site settings’ section you will also be able to find the settings for the location, camera and microphone, which will all automatically be set to ‘ask before accessing’. Click the toggle to block websites to use these – if you’ve been using Chrome for a few years, the list is probably pretty long. You can also control which websites are allowed to send you notifications, turning off ‘sites can ask to send notifications’ so you’ll no longer get those pop-ups asking you every time. You can add sites to the list of those either blocked or allowed to send you notifications.

Firefox

Head to the hamburger menu in the top right corner of your Firefox and click on options. On the left, the fourth section down ‘privacy & security’ is where you will find all the options to cut down what permissions websites have. Firefox automatically has tracking protection – it blocks trackers and other malicious scripts to cut down on the amount of data websites collect about your behaviour online.

However, you can choose to ramp up the level of protection from ‘standard’ to ‘strict’. Although Firefox warns that this could impact the functionality of some sites, it’s actually just blocking all first and third party cookies. There’s also a third option to customise your protection where you can choose to block cross-site and social media trackers, cookies from unvisited sites, all third-party cookies or all cookies.

Additionally you can get Firefox to send websites a ‘do not track’ signal. The setting is voluntary for websites to honour – and most do not – but it adds an extra indication that you’re opposed to too much tracking. If you scroll down in the same settings page, you’ll find the ‘permissions’ section, which will give you options for blocking access to your location, camera and microphone. Click on settings for each and you’ll be able to see which websites have requested to access. If you don’t want a website to have these permissions, simply remove it from the list. At the bottom of the pop-up window, you can tick ‘block new requests asking to access your location’.

Safari

To stop websites accessing your location, camera and microphone you need to visit the ‘websites’ section of Safari’s preferences. To get here you need to navigate to the top bar above your Safari browser, click the Safari menu, then select ‘preferences’. Once you have found the websites section, you can see which sites you have already given permission to. At the bottom of the box, there is an option box for ‘when visiting other websites’ – set this to deny to automatically block them from accessing these settings.

Under ‘privacy’ you can tick the box ‘prevent cross-site tracking’ and tick ‘ask websites not to track me’. This will send a message to websites, but it’s up to the website creator whether they choose to follow your request not to be tracked. As with all browsers, the do not track setting is largely redundant. Blocking cookies is just below this – untick the box to block all cookies.

Microsoft Edge

Go to the three dots in the top right corner of Microsoft Edge and click on ‘settings’, three options from the bottom. ‘Privacy and settings’ is the second option on the left. Here you have three options – ‘basic’ will allow most trackers, so websites can collect data about you and personalise ads, but blocks known harmful trackers. Microsoft Edge automatically sets your tracking prevention to ‘balanced’ which blocks more trackers but sites still work as expected. Choosing the ‘strict’ option will mean you have the least personalised content and ads. In this section you can also choose exceptions to these rules and if you scroll down, you can ask the browser to send ‘do not track’ requests.

To manually block cookies you need to go to the ‘site permissions’ section on the left. Here you can switch on the toggle to block third-party cookies or turn off ‘allow sites to save and read cookie data’ to block all cookies. On the site permissions page you can also choose whether to let websites ask to access your camera, microphone, motion and light sensors, and location – if you don’t then the sites will be blocked from accessing these settings entirely.

Feature Image Credit: WIRED

By Maria Mellor

Maria Mellor is a writer for WIRED. She tweets from @Maria_mellor

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3 Ways Covid-19 Has Pushed Brands to Reevaluate Social Strategies

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Marketing on platforms has a renewed focus on communities and tone

For years, social media teams for brands all over the world advocated for resources to be more than just a distribution channel for marketing assets. They presented data, they touted growth numbers, and they elevated the best of their community content to executives to show just how powerful these channels were.

How do I know this? I was one of them. And I work with these types of organizations every day still as a consultant.

Up until a few months ago, the teams looking after these social channels were managing brands. Distributing brand messaging from a larger campaign, maintaining a presence on social to check a box or operating on a shoestring budget to build their social-first strategy inch by inch. Then Covid-19 hit; their brands started pulling advertising spend from out of home, TV, radio and all of the other traditional avenues a brand would allocate money to. Agencies were put on notice, and we collectively entered an entirely new space as marketers.

With everyone sheltered in place, where would attention turn? In that moment, every brand’s social media strategy went from nice to have to a necessity.

Acknowledge reality

In the first two weeks of the pandemic, channels went dark. Those that posted (some of which was likely scheduled posts) felt the wrath of Twitter, but most brands took a step back and assessed the chaos that had engulfed our world. Then brands, in the trusty hands of their social media organizations, started to emerge. They acknowledged the crisis, offered to help, pointed their communities toward government messaging and reiterated the messages we were seeing everywhere: shelter in place, social distance, wash your hands, stay safe.

Building a creative muscle that will rely less on the creation of content but instead on curation of content will serve every marketing team, not just the social team.

In that moment brands reflected the reality their communities of followers faced without hyper produced imagery, influencers, fictional storylines—just reality. We didn’t need the fluff; we needed acknowledgment. And brands did their best to support us in this new reality.

With every executive now increasing their focus on one of their only active channels (social), another big shift emerged from the chaos: comment sections and replies needed to be addressed and were exposed as underutilized or underfunded. With everyone in an organization now focused on these posts, brands increased their presence in finally treating these connections as conversations, ranging from how they can help or be of service to content creation. 

Curation versus creation 

The evolution of content hasn’t happened slowly during the pandemic. It felt like it happened overnight, and honestly, it’s still evolving.

Just take a look at your favorite brands. For many, you can visibly see where the shutdown started. One day they were posting beautiful product imagery, then—boom!—it’s all information on how to wash your hands, how they’re here for you during shelter in place, how they’re creating PPE.

Then something interesting happened. As creative agencies and brands wrestled with not being able to go into a studio and produce the beautiful imagery we were accustomed to, many brands looked inward. We don’t know how long we’ll socially distance or when we can even go back into the office. Building a creative muscle that will rely less on the creation of content but instead on curation of content will serve every marketing team, not just the social team.

The pandemic has prioritized the need for community content and also the executive attention necessary to make sure this continues on through the global recovery and beyond in the brand’s plans for marketing. 

Shattering the social ceiling

As social media teams within each brand have adjusted to this new normal they face heightened visibility from the organization, an increased pressure to post, scrutiny normally saved for a TV campaign (for a single post), more executive communication to show what’s working and what’s not. While this is all an adjustment, it’s also an opportunity to up-level the internal awareness and showcase the discipline of what it takes to run a social media team.

These teams will come out of the pandemic highly experienced and with a newfound respect from peers within a marketing organization and across the leadership ranks. They kept the brand going, they engaged the people that the brand serves, and they evolved the brand.

As we continue our journey sheltered in place and wait for the pandemic to give us a glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel, I encourage everyone to continue to learn, evolve and share insights with your teams and those across our industry.

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How to become a data scientist without getting a Ph.D.

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Data science is a growing speciality with plenty of opportunity. Read some insights from an industry expert on how to build a career in this promising field.

Data science is a field offering plenty of diverse career path opportunities, and Glassdoor.com named it the number one job in several recent years.

Northeastern University lists on its site a comprehensive set of potential jobs related to data science including business intelligence developer, data/applications/infrastructure architect, machine learning scientist/engineer, and, of course, the traditional data scientist role.

SEE: Big data management tips (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

My colleague Alison DeNisco Rayome covered data science last year and provided a plethora of details related to the topic. I recently spoke with Martijn Theuwissen, co-founder of DataCamp, a data science educational organization, to learn more about the concept.

Scott Matteson: What skills are needed to be a data scientist?

Martijn Theuwissen: There is a common misconception that to become a data scientist one needs to know statistics, linear algebra, calculus, programming, databases, machine learning, I could go on. Some even say a Ph.D. is required. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, anyone can become a data scientist. All you need is a learning plan with measurable objectives, and a basic understanding of the popular data science languages like SQL, Python, and R.

But let’s step back a bit to see what data science really is. Data science can often be segmented as descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics.

  • Descriptive analytics is essentially describing data that your company already has in the form of reports, dashboards, or other ways to share data visualizations and summary statistics.
  • Predictive analytics is the realm of prediction and machine learning: For example, classifying whether an email is spam or not, based on its content, whether a customer will churn, based on interactions with your company, or whether a tumor is benign or malignant, based on diagnostic imaging.
  • Prescriptive analytics, or decision science, brings rigor to decision making by tying it to the data world. Sure, machine learning is sexy, but the lion’s share of the value data science has created today across most verticals is actually in descriptive analytics by serving relevant summary statistics, visualizations and dashboards to relevant internal stakeholders.

SEE: What does a data scientist do? We talked to one to learn about this popular and lucrative field (TechRepublic)

And anybody can do this! I’ve seen data scientists on marketing, commercial, and product teams need to redefine their own roles as their “non-technical” teammates have learned some SQL and data visualization in Python or R to do work and create value that was previously inconceivable. And these are just some of the skills that we want to help build data fluency throughout the world.

Scott Matteson: Can you look within your organization to find the useful skills? Should enterprises turn to education and training?

Martijn Theuwissen: Yes to both. There are data scientists at every company. Instituting a mentor program, for example, combined with a continuous learning curriculum can greatly improve data fluency across an organization.

And this is no longer an option — it’s an imperative. Data is king in business. Data science is a means by which you can use data to make business decisions. Without the basic data science skills, employees can’t make these important decisions.

As your team becomes more comfortable with the language of data, they’ll be more comfortable bringing data to bear on important business decisions. It will become clear that some team members are more comfortable using data skills than others are. Encourage the proficient ones to mentor others. Even at DataCamp, where data science is our business, some people don’t work with data continuously. When they need help on a complex problem, they pair up with those who do.

SEE: How to fail as a data scientist: 3 common mistakes (TechRepublic)

It’s all about shared tools, skills and responsibilities — they can dramatically improve communication and understanding between employees, which ultimately improves workplace culture.

Scott Matteson: Can employees be trained in data science?

Martijn Theuwissen: Absolutely. But first, companies need to create awareness that data science today is not exclusive to data scientists. In fact, many tasks at companies require some level of data science—finance, marketing, operations, and HR, just to name a few. It’s a cultural challenge as much as a skills challenge.

Second, companies need to implement upskilling initiatives that fit the lifestyle of their employees. Solutions like DataCamp that provide on-demand and interactive learning options were specifically built for busy people. This reflects a fundamental shift in the upskilling and reskilling initiatives taking place in many industries. We’re seeing a transition from L&D functions creating in-person training material to them, curating personalized content for their employees using online resources.

SEE: Oracle using data science to give retailers an intelligence edge (TechRepublic)

Most importantly, don’t take your foot off the gas pedal. Learning isn’t a one-off, especially in a dynamic space like data science. Make sure the programs you’ve implemented are repeatable and that you’re measuring success and growth. In the future of work, continuous learning is the norm. The number of tools developed and skills needed to solve real business problems is growing quickly. We’ve entered an age where continual learning is essential to staying professionally relevant. This is true generally, but even more so in the data world.

Scott Matteson: Do data scientists need a Ph.D.?

Martijn Theuwissen: There are no shortcuts to writing code, but with practice, anyone can build the skills needed to solve problems using data, especially with the right education tools.

For example, one of our employees pivoted from account executive to data scientist using DataCamp. We’ve also heard similar stories from our customers. Then you have examples of well-known data scientists without formal degrees. Cloudera Co-founder Jeff Hammerbacher, election forecaster Nate Silver (of FiveThirtyEight), and Moneyball brain Paul DePodesta are three that come to mind.

This is not to say there isn’t value in having a university degree in data science. In fact, we give DataCamp subscriptions for free to many universities because we stand for democratizing data science, regardless of the education medium.

Scott Matteson: Is being a data scientist about the skill, dedication, understanding, or education? A mix?

Martijn Theuwissen: A major part of being an effective data scientist, which goes beyond having any sort of degree or training program, is knowing how to conduct conversations and ask the right questions around such topics as:

  • Data generation, collection, and storage
  • What data looks and feels like to data scientists and analysts,
  • Statistical intuition and common statistical pitfalls
  • Model building, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI)
  • The ethics of data, big and small

Monica Rogati, who’s a total rock star in our field, wrote a great article on this topic called Data Science Hierarchy of Needs that’s worth seeking out. I’m biased, of course, but I also highly recommend our brand new Data Science for Business Leaders course to learn more.

SEE: Top 5 things to know about data science (TechRepublic)

Scott Matteson: Can you describe what the daily activities of a data scientist are, using subjective examples?

Martijn Theuwissen: Today’s data scientists add value on a daily basis by conducting data collection and data cleaning; constructing dashboards and building reports; data visualization; statistical inference; communicating results to key stakeholders; and providing quantifiable evidence to decision makers on their results.

Data scientists in the tech industry now know how data science works and the value it provides. They begin each day by putting a solid data foundation in place–one that will conduct robust analytics. From there they utilize online experiments and other methods that will result in sustainable growth. Last, but not least, they construct machine learning pipelines and customized data products to help them gain a greater understanding of their business and customers and make better decisions.

Scott Matteson: How long would it take for an individual to learn the trade and launch a career in data science?

Martijn Theuwissen: A reasonable estimate is spending six months dedicated to learning full time and completing projects. This would also include writing them out in Jupyter / R Markdown notebooks. The work should also be published on github and a personal blog. All of that work would equip someone well for an entry-level position like junior data analyst or junior data scientist. From that point on, the key is continuous learning that includes all of the latest tools, techniques, concepts, communications, and questions.

Feature Image Credit: NanoStockk, Getty Images/iStockphoto

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Customer experience software can help companies weather the Covid-19 storm

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By Cath Everett

Advanced customer experience software can help companies weather the current Covid-19 storm, as well as build resilience. Marks & Spencer is one firm exploring the technology.

The rapid spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the resultant global economic downturn as countries put their citizens in lockdown means that both individual organisations and entire industries worldwide are having to rethink how they operate.

But rather than simply abandon the customer experience (CX) management activities and competencies they have been building steadily over the past few years, Bruce Temkin, experience management (XM) guru and head of the Qualtrics XM Institute, recommends they focus on “adjusting and reprioritising their efforts to align with the organisation’s changing needs”.

He believes XM professionals have an important role to play in assisting their companies to weather the current storm by helping them to understand how customers and staff are feeling and then using such insights to adapt their activities quickly.

“In these times of rapid change, the last thing you want to do is to lose a connection with your customers,” Temkin says. “You need to be listening and responding even more than you have in the past.”

While there are various ways of doing so, which include gathering input from employees and undertaking pulse surveys among the client base, asking for feedback needs to be undertaken with care, otherwise organisations risk appearing “self-absorbed” rather than supportive of customer needs, warns Temkin.

Moreover, it is important to bear in mind that the “ideal pace of feedback” should be defined by a company’s “capacity to act on what it finds”. This is because the ultimate goal is to “drive actionable insights” across the business, with the aim of enabling it to adapt appropriately on an enterprise-wide basis rather than simply in pockets.

“CX is about changing the entire organisation to become more focused and responsive to the needs of the customer,” Temkin says. “But it’s not good enough to just learn what customers are thinking and feeling – you have to get actionable insights into the hands of the people who have been empowered to do something with them, such as customer support or product design, and in a form that’s useful to them.”

CX maturity is at base camp

Unsurprisingly then, given the extent and depth of the organisational transformation required to adopt this kind of approach, Temkin rates the “CX movement” as currently being at “base camp” in terms of maturity – a finding that would appear to be backed up by technology services company NTT’s latest Global customer experience benchmarking report.

This study indicates that, according to most of the organisations questioned (57.8%), their CX strategy is still in development, with a further 13.8% acknowledging it is only at the planning stage and has yet to be defined. A mere 7.6% said they would describe their CX strategy as being optimised, while only 12.1% believe their customer base would give them a positive Net Promoter score.

This is despite the fact that 81.6% were convinced CX offered the business a competitive edge, with 58% considering the approach to be a primary differentiator – although only 14.4% stated that CX formed a crucial part of their overall organisational strategy today.

According to Rob Allman, NTT’s senior vice-president of customer experience, there are three key reasons that companies are failing to optimise their CX strategy effectively. These consist of “lack of leadership, a lack of inter-departmental cooperation, and a lack of empowered capability in implementing well-designed, intelligent processes and outcome-driven data fluency”.

As a result of this scenario, Temkin believes it will be another three to five years before CX progresses into the mainstream, not least because most enterprises are currently just moving through the first of three waves of adoption.

The first wave consists of deploying some form of CX or XM platform plus analytics and dashboard functionality to help organisations start collecting and distributing customer experience data, which can then be combined with operational information to create “signal data”.

“So experience data is what you collect, but signal data is what you take from that information,” Temkin says. “For example, if a telco sees that young consumers in the South East are reacting poorly to a particular service, that’s a signal.”

CX: the difference between success and failure

Other key technology initiatives that are currently being prioritised by CX teams, the NTT study indicates, include customer journey management and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) software. The latter is mainly taking the shape of virtual assistants, natural language processing and machine learning applications to undertake specific tasks rather than acting as a means of automating the entire business.

The second CX wave, meanwhile, is about introducing more intuitive analytics tools and integrating the CX system and underlying processes more tightly with organisational workflows. It is also about designing effective ways to put information and insights into the hands of employees who can take action on them.

Finally, the third wave will take place when a clear understanding exists of what data is required to operate effectively, Temkin says. In other words, companies’ CX system and processes will be able to provide staff with the right information to take immediate and appropriate action when dealing with customer issues, whether that means starting an action ticket or informing the customer support team of a particular problem.

But, he advises, it is important to bear in mind that CX is not just about how you treat an individual customer – instead, it is about “creating an entire system that continues to learn”.

“This system propagates insights and adapts rapidly in a repeating pattern that you have to make faster and better across the organisation. There’s no individual or team that owns CX – it affects everyone,” Temkin says.

But looking further into the future, he believes that AI software will also have an increasingly important role to play due to its ability to spot “signals” much earlier. This, in turn, will inevitably mean that companies are able to “reorient themselves at a much faster pace” – something that could make the difference between success and failure in the face of yet another crisis, whether local or global.

Case study: Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer’s decision to add a chatbot to its interactive voice response (IVR) system not only led to it generating incremental sales of several million pounds, but enhancing the customer experience at the same time.

The high street retailer’s IT team started working on the initiative about 18 months ago in response to a challenge from the senior leadership team to cut costs and adopt a digital-first strategy, with the aim of moving all sales online by 2026. This situation translated into a focus on simplification and automation, which included improving support for efficient processes and eliminating inefficient ones.

To this end, the choice was made to layer natural language processing (NLP) and customer intent analysis software on top of the company’s IVR system. The aim was to have the resultant chatbot act as a gateway, initially to deal with the high-volume, low-value and low-complexity customer calls coming into 12 of the company’s stores that still used legacy switchboards – although the software has since been rolled out at the company’s contact centre too.

When calling, most customers simply wanted to be put through to a specific store, department or individual, but rather rely on an expensive team of 135 switchboard operators – most of whom have since been redeployed – the aim of introducing the chatbot was to route people intelligently to the right place after establishing their intention.

As to how the system works, the NLP software, which was integrated with the telephone platform using Twilio’s speech recognition application programming interface (API), converts customer speech into text in real-time. Further integration with Google DialogFlow also enables the software to determine why the customer is calling. It then routes the call to the appropriate destination.

Much more flexibility

Chris McGrath, Marks & Spencer’s IT and digital programme manager, says the deployment has made a significant difference in customer service terms. “At the store level, it wasn’t a great service as between 60-70% of calls weren’t being answered, but that’s completely changed now,” he says.

As a result of this turnaround, the monetary gains have been high. Not only are customers happier with the service they receive, but stock enquiries are now handled by a centralised call centre rather than individual stores, which has resulted in a sales boost.

Reporting is also much quicker than previously as the retailer knows exactly how many customers are calling about what in real time. This means it is clear which products are in high demand and which are not, which helps improve forecasting.

In other words, says McGrath: “We’ve turned the system from not providing actionable insights into providing actionable insights.”

He also indicates that, although the expectation had been that 10% of calls would still need to be managed by humans, in reality 97% of customers are happy to communicate with the chatbot and have it route their call.

Such levels of acceptance are particularly important during the current Covid-19 lockdown when the number of contact centre agents required to work from home has expanded greatly.

“From a call centre point of view, it’s been really challenging as while supporting food-related enquiries is an essential service, we have a duty of care in not bringing people together. So, NLP technology has given us much more flexibility at the front end in redirecting calls, which has been really useful there,” McGrath says.

By Cath Everett

Sourced from ComputerWeekly.com

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Pandemic Marketing’s Consumer Paradox: Force For Good Vs. Exploitation

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Pandemic-related marketing is creating a paradox of perceptions among American consumers, with a significant majority seeing both as a “force for good,” as well as “trying to take advantage” of the situation. That’s the top line finding from a “Coronavirus Pulse” fielded earlier this month by global marketing researcher GfK.

“Seventy-eight percent of consumers agree (strongly or somewhat) that companies have been acting as a “force for good” as the country copes with COVID-19’s effects,” the GfK report finds, adding: “But 68% also say that they have noticed companies “trying to take advantage” during the crisis.

The study — which was conducted among a nationally representative sample of Americans from April 10-14 — is significant, because 83% of the respondents said that the way brands conduct themselves during the crisis will impact whether they do business with them in the future. That’s up from 73% when GfK asked the same question in late March.

 

Not surprisingly, price gouging is one of the top ways that Americans see brands “taking advantage” of the situation, especially for essential products in short supply such as hand sanitizer.

While half (50%) of GfK’s respondents blame other Americans for hoarding large quantities of such products, a quarter (24%) said marketers that make the products are responsible for he price gouging, while 26% blame large brick-and mortar stores and 32% blame online retailers.

GfK also discovered potentially negative perceptions of retailers that keep their stores open during the crisis.

“Four in ten (40%) Americans say that companies that keep their doors open “in spite of everything” are putting their workers at risk, while just 30% view those companies as helpful,” GfK noted.

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These 25 Technology Trends Will Define The Next Decade

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By Bernard Marr

We may not be living on Mars or traveling to work using jet packs, but there’s no doubt the coming decade will bring many exciting technological advances. In this article, I want to outline the 25 key technology trends that I believe will shape the 2020s.

1.     Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The increasing ability of machines to learn and act intelligently will absolutely transform our world. It is also the driving force behind many of the other trends on this list.

2.     The Internet of Things (IoT). This refers to the ever-growing number of “smart” devices and objects that are connected to the internet. Such devices are constantly gathering and transmitting data, further fueling the growth in Big Data and AI.

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3.     Wearables and augmented humans. What started with fitness trackers has now exploded into a whole industry of wearable technology designed to improve human performance and help us live healthier, safer, more efficient lives. In the future, we may even see humans merge with technology to create “augmented humans” or “transhumans.”

4.     Big Data and augmented analytics. Big Data refers to the exponential growth in the amount of data being created in our world. Thanks to augmented analytics (highly advanced data analytics, often fueled by AI techniques), we can now make sense of and work with enormously complex and varied streams of data.

5.     Intelligent spaces and smart places. Closely linked to the IoT, this trend is seeing physical spaces – like homes, offices, and even whole cities – becoming increasingly connected and smart.

6.     Blockchains and distributed ledgers. This super-secure method of storing, authenticating, and protecting data could revolutionize many aspects of business – particularly when it comes to facilitating trusted transactions.

7.     Cloud and edge computing. Cloud computing – where data is stored on other computers and accessed via the internet – has helped to open up data and analytics to the masses. Edge computing – where data is processed on smart devices (like phones) – will take this to the next level.

8.     Digitally extended realities. Encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, this trend highlights the move towards creating more immersive digital experiences.

9.     Digital twins. A digital twin is a digital copy of an actual physical object, product, process, or ecosystem. This innovative technology allows us to try out alterations and adjustments that would be too expensive or risky to try out on the real physical object.

10. Natural language processing. This technology, which allows machines to understand human language, has dramatically changed how humans interact with machines, in particular giving rise to…

11. Voice interfaces and chatbots. Alexa, Siri, chatbots – many of us are now quite used to communicate with machines by simply speaking or typing our request. In the future, more and more businesses will choose to interact with their customers via voice interfaces and chatbots.

12. Computer vision and facial recognition. Machines can talk, so why shouldn’t they “see” as well? This technology allows machines to visually interpret the world around them, with facial recognition being a prime example. Although we will no doubt see greater regulatory control over the use of facial recognition, this technology isn’t going anywhere.

13. Robots and cobots. Today’s robots are more intelligent than ever, learning to respond to their environment and perform tasks without human intervention. In certain industries, the future of work is likely to involve humans working seamlessly with robot colleagues – hence the term “cobot,” or “collaborative robot.”

14. Autonomous vehicles. The 2020s will be the decade in which autonomous vehicles of all kinds – cars, taxis, trucks, and even ships – become truly autonomous and commercially viable.

15. 5G. The fifth generation of cellular network technology will give us faster, smarter, more stable wireless networking, thereby driving advances in many other trends (e.g., more connected devices and richer streams of data).

16. Genomics and gene editing. Advances in computing and analytics have driven incredible leaps in our understanding of the human genome. Now, we’re progressing to altering the genetic structure of living organisms (for example, “correcting” DNA mutations that can lead to cancer).

17. Machine co-creativity and augmented design. Thanks to AI, machines can do many things – including creating artwork and designs. As a result, we can expect creative and design processes to shift towards greater collaboration with machines.

18. Digital platforms. Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb are all household-name examples of digital platforms – networks that facilitate connections and exchanges between people. This trend is turning established business models on their head, leading many traditional businesses to transition to or incorporate a platform-based model.

19. Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles. These aircraft, which are piloted either remotely or autonomously, have changed the face of military operations. But the impact doesn’t stop there – search and rescue missions, firefighting, law enforcement, and transportation will all be transformed by drone technology. Get ready for passenger drones (drone taxis), too!

20. Cybersecurity and resilience. As businesses face unprecedented new threats, the ability to avoid and mitigate cybersecurity threats will be critical to success over the next decade.

21. Quantum computing. Quantum computers – unimaginably fast computers capable of solving seemingly unsolvable problems – will make our current state-of-the-art technology look like something out of the Stone Age. As yet, work in quantum computing is largely restricted to labs, but we could see the first commercially available quantum computer this decade.

22. Robotic process automation. This technology is used to automate structured and repetitive business processes, freeing up human workers to concentrate on more complex, value-adding work. This is part of a wider shift towards automation that will impact every industry.

23. Mass personalization and micro-moments. Mass-personalization is, as you might expect, the ability to offer highly personalized products or services on a mass scale. Meanwhile, the term “micro-moments” essentially means responding to customer needs at the exact right moment. Both are made possible by technologies like AI, Big Data, and analytics.

24. 3D and 4D printing and additive manufacturing. Although this may seem low-tech compared to some of the other trends, 3D and 4D printing will have very wide applications – and will be particularly transformative when combined with trends like mass-personalization.

25. Nanotechnology and materials science. Our increasing ability to understand materials and control matter on a tiny scale is giving rise to exciting new materials and products, such as bendable displays.

Read more about these 25 key technology trends – including practical examples from a wide range of industries – in my new book, Tech Trends in Practice: The 25 Technologies That Are Driving The 4th Industrial Revolution.

 

Feature Image Credit: Adobe Stock

By Bernard Marr

Sourced from Forbes

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8 ways life could be different after cities reopen and quarantine ends

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Mandatory face mask use all day long. Plexiglass dividers between you and everyone else. Temperature taking at schools. Trying on clothes while wearing plastic gloves. Coronavirus antibody testing before you’re cleared to return to the office. These are some of the measures that could go into effect as the coronavirus lockdown restrictions ease across US cities and states, and around the world.

The pandemic is far from over. New coronavirus infections are still occurring and public health officials are keeping track of a recently reported mystery illness that appears to be related to COVID-19 and is affecting children. Amid the fears and concerns over a second coronavirus wave, businesses are slowly reopening in an effort to keep flagging economies from collapse.

But when will it happen, and what will life be like? Here are some ways that certain sectors of society could reopen, from restaurants to gyms. Keep in mind that your local situation could differ, and that this story updates frequently as the global coronavirus changes.

Restaurants and bars: Hours, service, masks or no?

Many restaurants are already open for some combination of delivery, take-out or curbside pickup. As restaurants reopen, those that allow dine-in customers may place patrons six feet apart and restrict capacity by, say, half, in order to uphold social distancing. You might order through a plexiglass divider at a counter, or your server might stand at a distance or wear a mask.

Menus might be disposable, or laminated and disinfected after each use. Servers could also wear plastic gloves. In the warmer months, it’s possible we’ll see outdoor patios opened to a limited number of seated orders, with tables and chairs sanitized between parties. Limited hours are probable. In Austria, for example, restaurants, cafes and bars will reopen May 15, but must close at 11 p.m., Reuters reported.

The most significant challenge dine-in service faces is the inability to wear a face mask while eating. If the coronavirus can transmit through droplets when you speak and breathe, in addition to spreading via coughs and sneezes, eating indoors could be riskier. It also isn’t clear if air conditioning causes air flow patterns that could infect healthy diners if a customer winds up being asymptomatic. It’s worth noting that the World Health Organization has said airplane ventilation systems present a fairly low risk of transmission.

How shopping malls come back to life, changed

Simon, the largest shopping mall property in the US, announced that it will reopen malls in over 20 states by May 16. Not every store within the mall may open at once. For example, individual retailers may choose to keep their doors shut. To help limit the spread of COVID-19, single-use items like shopping bags and coffee cups will be used exclusively, and shoppers will be encouraged to wear face masks. Employees definitely will be.

Store hours will be limited, for example from 11 a.m to 7 p.m. most nights, closing early so cleaners can rigorously disinfect common areas and bathrooms. Every other urinal will be off-limits to encourage social distancing, and there are protocols in place if employees get sick.

You may have to line up outside a shop to go into a crowded shop, and it isn’t clear if there will be rules about touching items or trying on clothes.

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Like many businesses, gyms put people — and their bodily fluids — in close proximity.

César Salza/CNET

Airplanes and airports: More pleasant, or less so?

Face masks post-security and during your long flight? How about limited meals or only bottled water to drink? Most airline lounges are closed to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. One journalist described his recent flight as “worse than I thought it would be,” describing withering looks and frayed nerves, despite the fringe benefits of no middle seats, quiet airports and quick trips through security. Here’s what the major US airlines are doing now.

Gyms, hair salons, movie theaters

Essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies and hardware stores are open, but smaller retail shops, like clothing boutiques, hair salons and malls, often aren’t. It’s likely that as these stores reopen, the number of customers allowed in at the same time could be based on the size of the retail space, as is the current situation in Germany, according to The Guardian.

As with American shopping malls, hygiene precautions could also be put in place, like sanitizing your hands before and after leaving the business, and wearing face masks or coverings. It’s possible that some services might be temporarily suspended if they put people’s faces too close together.

Senior hours are already in effect in many grocery stores — giving people over 65 the opportunity to shop before the general population could carry over to these other retailers.

coronavirus-empty-stores-closed-5316
Many businesses have begun using cashless payments and a safety precaution.

James Martin/CNET

Schools and universities: Staggered schedules?

The question on every parent’s lips: When will schools reopen? In some countries, it already has, with students subject to temperature checks, distance seating and rules about how often to wash hands and how many children can play together at once. Denmark was among the first European countries to reopen schools, at least for younger students. Beijing and Shanghai reopened classes for older students, with both teachers and students wearing face masks.

Where schools are closed, school administrators, government officials and teachers are all scrambling to create policies that keep students from potentially transmitting the virus when doors reopen. Some municipalities are exploring the potential to stagger student meals and schedules throughout the day.

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Many trails are closed to discourage people from gathering.

James Martin/CNET

Beaches, hiking and nature trails

The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and large parts of Yosemite National Park are closed as part of the National Park Service’s coronavirus prevention efforts, but some will see phased reopening. For instance, the Great Smoky Mountains is reopening in a phased approach.

Many local beaches and nature trails are too, to discourage groups of people from congregating. Meanwhile, in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has given municipalities the authority to reopen the economy and outdoor spaces, with social distancing practices in place. Jacksonville’s mayor officially reopened beaches during set hours and limited gatherings to 50 people.

Concerts, sports, amusement parks and other major events

The state of Georgia is lifting lockdown restrictions that would see gyms, tattoo parlors, hair salons and elective medical procedures reopen as long as distancing and hygiene guidelines are enforced.

Meanwhile, major gatherings worldwide continue to be canceled, including Germany’s iconic annual Oktoberfest celebration, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and most major sporting events. Amusement parks like Disneyland and music festivals that attract large crowds are also closed, cancelled or postponed until further notice.

Lockdown could happen again, we’re warned

One continuous refrain from public health officials is that reopening economic and social life too soon could trigger a resurgence in coronavirus cases and deaths related to the COVID-19 disease. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned of continued outbreaks if states open prematurely.

Meanwhile, Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, lifted restrictions, but warned that a second wave of infections could come. She echoed the words of WHO leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who said, in a coronavirus briefing last month, that “lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence.”

It happened in Singapore, which was thought to have the coronavirus outbreak contained and under control before more cases erupted. In China, a spike in positive cases has reportedly resulted from travelers reintroducing the virus upon their return.

Whichever phase of reopening you’re in keep in mind these seven things you shouldn’t expect to do when lockdown ends, 16 practical coronavirus tips to help stay safe in public and information about what to do if someone you live with gets sick.

Feature Image Credit: Will you still need to wear a face mask when the world reopens? James Martin/CNET

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Consumers are Loyal to Experience, not Brands

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By Ted Rubin

It’s not just the brand, product or price, IT’S The EXPERIENCE…. especially now when Health at Safety are the top of everyone’s list!

Think about your favorite song or artist and consider why it’s your favorite. Do you remember when you first heard it? Does it transport you back to a certain time in your life? It may not be the ‘best’ song you’ve ever heard on a technical level, but it means something unique to you because of the way that you experienced it. If you happened to be listening to a different song frequently at that important time in your life, perhaps that one would be your favorite instead.

While we interact differently with art than we do with brands, there’s no doubt that our personal experience with a brand plays a more important role in where we shop than any name, logo, or marketing materials. That personal experience is often a reflection of the brand’s overall commitment to the customer. The consumer’s interactions with employees, trust in the company, quality of service, ability to get what they need, when they need it, and so many more factors shape a consumer’s experience with a brand. If the experience isn’t there, then the consumers won’t be either.

Unless you make the brand the experience

The most effective brands understand that the experience is what matters most to consumers, and that brand loyalty can evaporate instantly if the experience no longer delivers what the consumer is seeking. If you want the consumer to be loyal to your brand, then you need the brand to be synonymous with the experience that it represents. Making that happen takes work, because loyalty must be earned, and the process of earning loyalty never really stops.

You don’t need me to tell you that Amazon is the behemoth of online retail, or that it offers an experience that is hard for many brands to replicate. For most of us, the Amazon experience is very familiar and is constantly associated with the brand. The selection of products, prices, diverse services, convenience, marketplace and innovation of Amazon is the experience. If you’re a loyal Amazon customer, then that experience is likely what drew you in and keeps you coming back.

But what about small, mid-sized, or chain businesses that have nowhere near the clout of Amazon? Why do you buy your hardware, automotive supplies, food, or anything else you need at one local store instead of another? So often, it comes down to the quality of the people, and the small, meaningful connections that you build with the brand over time. If a smaller business remembers you, caters to your needs, makes you feel welcome, stocks your favorite items, and helps you find what you want in a quick, convenient way, then it’s creating an experience that earns your loyalty.

Never be satisfied with a substandard experience

In fact, don’t even be satisfied with an excellent experience. Always look for new ways to make your brand more valuable to consumers, and never take their loyalty for granted. The experience can always be improved, and there will always be competitors working hard to earn the loyalty of your customers. If you don’t adapt, they will.

Every consumer is a micro-influencer, because ‘everyone influences someone.’

Ultimately, the experience is what defines your brand, and not the other way around. Consumers are simply too savvy. They read reviews, compare their experiences with others, and they’re not afraid to speak up when the experience is substandard. This makes every consumer a micro-influencer, because ‘everyone influences someone.’

Warby Parker is a great example of experience defining the brand. Its product is not the best, BUT it is good enough… because the experience is outstanding in every way. It is not simply a company that ‘gets’ the OmniChannel experience, it exercises the concept of being OmniPresent… be where your customers are, and be prepared to deliver and communicate in the way they prefer. The store shelf is now wherever the consumer wants it to be.

The good news is that, when the experience is a consistently positive one, consumers are willing to speak up about that, too. Smart brands understand the influence that each consumer wields, and work to create an experience that causes consumers to use their influence in a positive way for the brand. A referral alone isn’t close to enough to build brand loyalty, but it does provide the opportunity to show one more consumer why your experience is worth their loyalty. #WeAreInThisTogether… Be Safe Everyone.

 

By Ted Rubin

Sourced from Medium

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Become a Photography Entrepreneur

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Sourced from https://erickimphotography.com

You control your destiny.

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Rachel Brenke: “Here Are 5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Very Successful Podcast”

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By Jason Hartman

Brand, brand, brand. Put yourself out there — no matter the topic. Podcasts are done with voice and people want connection.

part of my series of interviews about “5 things you need to know to create a very successful podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel Brenke.

Rachel Brenke is the head attorney behind TheLawTog® — the legal resource for photographers, RachelBrenke.com, FitLegally®, and the host of The Business Bites Podcast®.

As an MBA, business consultant, multi-state licensed attorney, she knows the ins and outs of what goes into running a business AND how to legally protect yourself. Not only does Brenke have real world entrepreneurship experience, but she combines this with her intellectual property law and business knowledge to provide a one-stop resource to help protect your business.

Her resource is currently helping creative industry professionals all over the world initiate, strategize and implement strategic business and marketing plans through various mediums of consulting resources and legal direction.

With hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, TheLawTog.com has become the go-to legal resource in the industry. Pair this with the international stages that have held TheLawTog’s teachings, you’re sure to learn a lot from Brenke. Brenke’s experience and teachings have been featured on CreativeLIVE, WPPI, Professional Photographers of America, Business Insider, TedX, International Business Times, and more.

As a mother of five, Army Veteran spouse, Team USA Athlete, and IronMan competitor — she understands that life is busy, and we don’t have time to mess around.

Disclaimer: I am a lawyer but I’m not your lawyer! View my entire disclaimer here

Websites: https://rachelbrenke.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelBrenke2/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelbrenke/

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit of your “personal backstory? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?

hen I was back in elementary, middle-school, I knew that I would never fit into a box. I was always giving my teachers suggestions on how they could do things better. As you can guess, it wasn’t very well-received. Fast forward a few years, I’m in college studying criminal law and married. We had our first son, and I realized that I didn’t want to work for someone else’s dreams and goals. At that point, I really dug into learning business. I got my MBA and then later went to law school. I was doing photography while in law school and realized the need for photography-related legal education. Eventually, TheLawTog® was born to help photographers with their legal needs and education.

Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?

Due to my exposure through podcasting and speaking my story was picked up by Ironman Tri and NBC Sports. I was invited to compete as a featured athlete in the 2018 Ironman World Championships and had cameras follow my whole journey.

Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaways you learned from that?

My biggest mistakes were spending time on things that didn’t’ require my fingers or time. I tried to be the best house cleaner and homemaker when it was taking away from my business time.

How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?

My first show kicked off in June 2016. Currently, we have 117 episodes with more scheduled!

What are the main takeaways, lessons or messages that you want your listeners to walk away with after listening to your show?

My goal with each episode is to give quick bites of education with actionable steps that business owners can take now. I’m pretty transparent with mistakes I’ve made and lessons I’ve learned so hopefully they don’t have to learn the hard way.

In your opinion what makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or your content?

Most of my episodes are 15–20 minutes. I recognize that entrepreneurs are busy, so I want to give them valuable education as well as valuing their time. I own my own businesses, so the education I give is real-time and things I’m currently using myself. When we are vetting guests for the show, we look for people that fit our client avatar and have topics that they will relate to the best.

Doing something on a consistent basis is not easy. Podcasting every work-day, or even every week can be monotonous. What would you recommend to others about how to maintain discipline and consistency? What would you recommend to others about how to avoid burnout?

Don’t try to do everything on your own. Also, batch-processing is a life-saver. My team works towards finding guests or brainstorming topic ideas if I’m recording solo. They make sure to get the guest terms signed and guest assets turned in, and then I do the interviews. I try to record multiple episodes at a time, and I have set days every week that I schedule interviews on. Once the episodes are recorded, then my team works on getting them ready to post on the website and links and assets out to our guests. We try to have extra episodes ready to go because we all know that life happens…especially when we aren’t expecting it.

What resources do you get your inspiration for materials from?

I have a Facebook group for TheLawTog® where I get some of my topics. I just listen to what people are asking about and needing. When I see the same questions being posed over and over, then I will record an episode about that topic. I don’t just look at my group though. I pay attention to what is going on all through social media. Sometimes things come up in my own businesses that inspire topics as well.

Ok fantastic. Let’s now shift to the main questions of our discussion. Is there someone in the podcasting world who you think is a great model for how to run a really fantastic podcast?

One of my favorite podcast hosts is Amy Porterfield

What are the ingredients that make that podcast so successful? If you could break that down into a blueprint, what would that blueprint look like?

Identifying your audience avatar and combining that with the unique selling proposition. The USP is not only the niche but the format of shows and platforms where the shows are delivered.

You are a very successful podcaster yourself. Can you share with our readers the five things you need to know to create an extremely successful podcast? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can.)

  1. Identifying the target listener avatar — down to their specific demographics, characteristics, preferences and name
  2. Identifying a unique selling proposition — Identifiying aand putting out what makes you different than other similar podcasts
  3. Focusing on specific format — this goes along with the avatar — what is your avatar interested in? Solo? Interviews? Long form? Quick?
  4. Focusing on specific platform s- whereis your avatar? Spotify? Apple? Or prefer a native podcast player.
  5. Brand brand brand. Put yourself out there — no matter the topic. Podcasts are done with voice and people want connection.

Can you share some insight from your experience about the best ways to: 1) book great guests; 2) increase listeners; 3) produce it in a professional way; 4) encourage engagement; and 5) the best way to monetize it? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can.).

  1. Sometimes, we have people reach out to us about being on the show. We go to their websites and look at their blogs and social media. If we feel they may be a good fit, then we move on to the next steps. When we come across someone we want on the show, we reach out via email telling them why we would like for them to be on the show and why we think they would be a great fit for our audience.
  2. The podcast is hosted on multiple platforms including iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, etc. We also have it posted on our website with show notes and links to related episodes and other tools and resources that can further their education. The day the episode airs, we post episode graphics across our social media channels. If we had a guest, we provide them with a graphic to use as well.
  3. We have a defined workflow that we use to make sure we stay consistent from show to show. Each episode has its own board in Monday.com with each step of the workflow. This allows others to step in and fill in when necessary. We use email templates for different parts of the process, changing them up to personalize for each guest. By doing this, we ensure that steps aren’t forgotten.
  4. To encourage engagement, we link to the Business Bites Facebook group on every episode page. We post 3 times a week for each episode; each post also has a link back to the episode. Every episode also has a link to a downloadable guide available only to members of the FB group. Our 3 posts consist of a link to the episode with a blurb saying what it’s about, an engagement question relating to the topic, and we end the week with a quote from the show. Anytime someone comments, one of us is there to reply to try to keep the conversation going.
  5. We have just recently started taking sponsorships for our shows. I’m also an affiliate for Amazon and other businesses and will link different resources from there.

For someone looking to start their own podcast, which equipment would you recommend that they start with?

A computer and an internal microphone. Turn on quick time, throw a blanket over your head to reduce sound and done!

Ok. We are almost done. 🙂 Because of your position and work, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would want to impress on quality of life over business. No matter how much we love business — life is more important.

How can our readers follow you online? Instagram: @rachelbrenke @businessbitespod. Facebook: @rachelbrenke2 Website: https://rachelbrenke.com

By Jason Hartman

Sourced from Medium

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