data related items

Technology predictions for the second half of the decade — from techcrunch.com by Lance Smith

Excerpts:

Big Data and IoT evolve into automated information sharing
Self-driving vehicles become mainstream
The appearance of artificial intelligent assistants
Real-time agility through data virtualization

EdTech trends for the coming years — from edtechreview.in

Excerpts:

EdTech is about to explode. The coming technology and the new trends on the rise can’t but forecast an extensive technology adoption in schools all around the globe.

Specific apps, systems, codable gadgets and the adaptation of general use elements to the school environment are engaging teachers and opening up the way to new pedagogical approaches. And while we are scratching the surface of some of them, others have just started to buzz persistently.

Wearables + Nano/Micro Technology + the Internet of Things
3D + 4D printing
Big Data + Data Mining
Mobile Learning
Coding
Artificial Intelligence + Deep Learning
- Adaptative learning: based on a student’s behaviour and results, an intelligent assistant can predict and readapt the learning path to those necessities. Combined with biometrics and the ubiquitous persona (explained below) a student could have the best experience ever.
- Automatic courses on the fly, with contents collected by intelligent searching systems (data mining).
- Virtual tutors.
The Ubiquitous Persona + Gamification + Social Media Learning
Specialised Staff in Schools

Phones and wearables will spur tenfold growth in wireless data by 2019 — from recode.net

Excerpts:

Persistent growth in the use of smartphones, plus the adoption of wireless wearable devices, will cause the total amount of global wireless data traffic to rise by 10 times its current levels by 2019, according to a forecast by networking giant Cisco Systems out [on 2/3/15].

The forecast, which Cisco calls its Visual Networking Index, is based in part on the growth of wireless traffic during 2014, which Cisco says reached 30 exabytes, the equivalent of 30 billion gigabytes. If growth patterns remain consistent, Cisco’s analysts reckon, the wireless portion of traffic crossing the global Internet will reach 292 exabytes by the close of the decade.

9 ed tech trends to watch in 2015 — from the Jan/Feb edition of Campus Technology Magazine

Learning spaces
Badges
Gamification
Analytics
3D Printing
Openness
Digital
Consumerization
Adaptive & Personalized Learning

Even though I’ve mentioned it before, I’ll mention it again here because it fits the theme of this posting:

NMC Horizon Report > 2015 Higher Education Edition — from nmc.org

Excerpt:

What is on the five-year horizon for higher education institutions? Which trends and technologies will drive educational change? What are the challenges that we consider as solvable or difficult to overcome, and how can we strategize effective solutions? These questions and similar inquiries regarding technology adoption and educational change steered the collaborative research and discussions of a body of 56 experts to produce the NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition, in partnership with the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). The NMC Horizon Report series charts the five-year horizon for the impact of emerging technologies in learning communities across the globe. With more than 13 years of research and publications, it can be regarded as the world’s longest-running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake in education.

From DSC:
Speaking of trends…although this item isn’t necessarily technology related, I’m going to include it here anyway:

Career trends students should be watching in 2015 — from hackcollege.com by

Excerpt:

Students Need to Pay Attention to Broader Trends, and Get Ready.
For better or worse, the post-college world is changing.

According to a variety of analysis sites, including Forbes, Time, and Bing Predicts, more and more of the workforce will be impacted by increased entrepreneurship, freelancing, work-from-home trends, and non-traditional career paths.

These experts are saying that hiring practices will shift, meaning that students need to prepare LinkedIn profiles, online portfolio, work at internships, and to network to build relationships with potential future employers.

———-

Addendum on 3/6/15:
Self-driving car technology could end up in robots — from pcworld.com by Fred O’Connor

Excerpt:

The development of self-driving cars could spur advancements in robotics and cause other ripple effects, potentially benefitting society in a variety of ways.

Autonomous cars as well as robots rely on artificial intelligence, image recognition, GPS and processors, among other technologies, notes a report from consulting firm McKinsey. Some of the hardware used in self-driving cars could find its way into robots, lowering production costs and the price for consumers.

Self-driving cars could also help people grow accustomed to other machines, like robots, that can complete tasks without the need for human intervention.

Addendum on 3/6/15:

Top 5 Emerging Technologies In 2015 — from wtvox.com
Excerpt:
1) Robotics 2.0
2) Neuromorphic Engineering
3) Intelligent Nanobots – Drones
4) 3D Printing
5) Precision Medicine

Adaptivity Tops Gartner’s Strategic Tech List for Ed [Schaffhauser]

On 03/03/2015, in analytics, assessment, data related items, education technology, higher education, IT in HE, K-12 related, leadership, mobile learning, mobile technologies, research, social learning / networks, strategy, trends, vendors, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Adaptivity Tops Gartner’s Strategic Tech List for Ed — from campustechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser

Excerpt:

Even as education spending is projected to inch up two percent this year to reach $67.8 billion worldwide, the way in which school districts, colleges and universities are spending that money is evolving to reflect the growing digital nature of teaching and learning, according to Gartner. In a new report, “Top 10 Strategic Technologies Impacting Education in 2015,” the business IT consulting firm ranked 10 innovations and tech trends that it believes the education CIO should plan for in 2015.

Many of the technologies aren’t emerging from within education itself, said Gartner Vice President Jan-Martin Lowendahl. They’re being “driven by major forces such as digital business and the consumerization and industrialization of IT.”

…

1. Adaptive Learning
2. Adaptive Digital Textbooks
3. CRM
4. Big Data
5. and 6. Sourcing Strategies and ‘Exostructure’
7. Open ‘Microcredentials’
8. Digital Assessment
9. Mobile
10. Social Learning

2 items on those increasingly powerful algorithms

On 02/27/2015, in 21st century, analytics, business, career development, computer science, data related items, ethics, mathematics, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Can technology identify China’s top graduates? — from bbc.com by John Sudworth, Shanghai

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Has the humble CV finally met its match?
…
[L’Oreal] has chosen the world’s biggest jobs market – China – to utter two words that would be music to the ears of beleaguered recruitment executives everywhere: “Goodbye CV”. This year, the 33,000 applicants for the 70 places on the company’s Chinese graduate recruitment scheme have been asked to save themselves the paper, the printer ink and the pain. Instead, they were asked to answer three simple questions via their smartphones.
…
“We have developed algorithms that can take the words that people use and derive context from them,” said Robin Young, the founder of Seedlink Tech.
…
Here’s how it works: students use their mobile phones to access L’Oreal’s website which prompts them to answer three open-ended questions.
…
The answers, which have to be at least 75 words long, are automatically fed into Seedlink’s database and the software gets to work. It analyses the language used and compares each candidate’s answers with the many thousands of others. Then, supposedly calibrated to mine for the specific personality traits that L’Oreal is looking for, it produces a ranking with, in theory, the person most suited for a career at L’Oreal at the top.

Excerpt from the March 1, 2015 edition of CIO Magazine (emphasis DSC):

The almighty algorithm is the fuel for today’s data-driven businesses. They stoke the data engines that recommend purchases, trade stocks, predict crime, spot medical conditions, monitor sleep apnea, find dating partners, calculate driving routes and so much more. “These math equations,” writes Managing Editor Kim S. Nash, “may someday run our lives.”

In the wrong application, they may someday ruin lives, as well.

The fascinating story that Nash unearthed will show you exactly why CIOs need to develop what one expert called “algorithmic accountability.”

Why you now need a team to create and deliver learning [Christian & Grush]

On 02/26/2015, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, analytics, animation, attention, blended learning, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, computer science, copyright/ownership/NFTs, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, design, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, distance education, e-books, education reform, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, expectations, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty/staff, future of higher education, game-changing environment, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, learning, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, online learning, online media, programming, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, traditional / tradition, trends, universities, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, web design and production, writing, by Daniel Christian

My thanks to Mary Grush at Campus Technology for her continued work in bringing relevant topics and discussions to light — so that our institutions of higher education will continue delivering on their missions well into the future. By doing so, learners will be able to continue to partake of the benefits of attending such institutions. But in order to do so, we must adapt, be responsive, and be willing to experiment. Towards that end, this Q&A with Mary relays some of my thoughts on the need to move more towards a team-based approach.

When you think about it, we need teams whether we’re talking about online learning, hybrid learning or face-to-face learning. In fact, I just came back from an excellent Next Generation Learning Space Conference and it was never so evident to me that you need a team of specialists to design the Next Generation Learning Space and to design/implement pedagogies that take advantage of the new affordances being offered by active learning environments.

Breakthrough technologies 2015 [MIT Technology Review]

On 02/20/2015, in 3D, biology, business, data related items, emerging technologies, geography / geology, human-computer interaction (HCI), machine-to-machine communications, Near Field Communication (NFC), technology (general), by Daniel Christian

Excerpt:

Not all breakthroughs are created equal. Some arrive more or less as usable things; others mainly set the stage for innovations that emerge later, and we have to estimate when that will be. But we’d bet that every one of the milestones on this list will be worth following in the coming years.

From DSC:
To set the stage for the following reflections…first, an excerpt from Climate researcher claims CIA asked about weaponized weather: What could go wrong? — from computerworld.com (emphasis DSC)

We’re not talking about chemtrails, HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) or other weather warfare that has been featured in science fiction movies; the concerns were raised not a conspiracy theorist, but by climate scientist, geoengineering specialist and Rutgers University Professor Alan Robock. He “called on secretive government agencies to be open about their interest in radical work that explores how to alter the world’s climate.” If emerging climate-altering technologies can effectively alter the weather, Robock is “worried about who would control such climate-altering technologies.”

Exactly what I’ve been reflecting on recently.

***Who*** is designing, developing, and using the powerful technologies that are coming into play these days and ***for what purposes?***

Do these individuals care about other people? Or are they much more motivated by profit or power?

Given the increasingly potent technologies available today, we need people who care about other people.

Let me explain where I’m coming from here…

I see technologies as tools. For example, a pencil is a technology. On the positive side of things, it can be used to write or draw something. On the negative side of things, it could be used as a weapon to stab someone. It depends upon the user of the pencil and what their intentions are.

Let’s look at some far more powerful — and troublesome — examples.

DRONES

Drones could be useful…or they could be incredibly dangerous. Again, it depends on who is developing/programming them and for what purpose(s). Consider the posting from B.J. Murphy below (BTW, nothing positive or negative is meant by linking to this item, per se).

DARPA’s Insect and Bird Drones Are On Their Way — from proactiontranshuman.wordpress.com by B.J. Murphy

.

From DSC:
I say this is an illustrative posting because if the inventor/programmer of this sort of drone wanted to poison someone, they surely could do so. I’m not even sure that this drone exists or not; it doesn’t matter, as we’re quickly heading that way anyway. So potentially, this kind of thing is very scary stuff.

We need people who care about other people.

Or see:
Five useful ideas from the World Cup of Drones — from dezeen.com
The article mentions some beneficial purposes of drones, such as for search and rescue missions or for assessing water quality. Some positive intentions, to be sure.

But again, it doesn’t take too much thought to come up with some rather frightening counter-examples.

GENE-RELATED RESEARCH

Or another example re: gene research/applications; an excerpt from:

Turning On Genes, Systematically, with CRISPR/Cas9 — from by genengnews.com
Scientists based at MIT assert that they can reliably turn on any gene of their choosing in living cells.

Excerpt:

It was also suggested that large-scale screens such as the one demonstrated in the current study could help researchers discover new cancer drugs that prevent tumors from becoming resistant.

From DSC:
Sounds like there could be some excellent, useful, positive uses for this technology. But who is to say which genes should be turned on and under what circumstances? In the wrong hands, there could be some dangerous uses involved in such concepts as well. Again, it goes back to those involved with designing, developing, selling, using these technologies and services.

ROBOTICS

Will robots be used for positive or negative applications?

The mechanized future of warfare — from theweek.com
OR
Atlas Unplugged: The six-foot-two humanoid robot that might just save your life — from zdnet.com
Summary:From the people who brought you the internet, the latest version of the Atlas robot will be used in its disaster-fighting robotic challenge.

AUTONOMOUS CARS

How Uber’s autonomous cars will destroy 10 million jobs and reshape the economy by 2025 — from sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com by

Excerpt:

Autonomous cars will be commonplace by 2025 and have a near monopoly by 2030, and the sweeping change they bring will eclipse every other innovation our society has experienced. They will cause unprecedented job loss and a fundamental restructuring of our economy, solve large portions of our environmental problems, prevent tens of thousands of deaths per year, save millions of hours with increased productivity, and create entire new industries that we cannot even imagine from our current vantage point.

One can see the potential for good and for bad from the above excerpt alone.

Or Ford developing cross country automotive remote control — from spectrum.ieee.org

Or Germany has approved the use of self driving cars on Autobahn A9 Route — from wtvox.com

While the above items list mostly positive elements, there are those who fear that autonomous cars could be used by terrorists. That is, could a terrorist organization make some adjustments to such self-driving cars and load them up with explosives, then remotely control them in order to drive them to a certain building or event and cause them to explode?

Again, it depends upon whether the designers and users of a system care about other people.

BIG DATA / AI / COGNITIVE COMPUTING

The rise of machines that learn — from infoworld.com by Eric Knorr; with thanks to Oliver Hansen for his tweet on this
A new big data analytics startup, Adatao, reminds us that we’re just at the beginning of a new phase of computing when systems become much, much smarter

Excerpt:

“Our warm and creepy future,” is how Miko refers to the first-order effect of applying machine learning to big data. In other words, through artificially intelligent analysis of whatever Internet data is available about us — including the much more detailed, personal stuff collected by mobile devices and wearables — websites and merchants of all kinds will become extraordinarily helpful. And it will give us the willies, because it will be the sort of personalized help that can come only from knowing us all too well.

Privacy is dead: How Twitter and Facebook are exposing you — from finance.yahoo.com

Excerpt:

They know who you are, what you like, and how you buy things. Researchers at MIT have matched up your Facebook (FB) likes, tweets, and social media activity with the products you buy. The results are a highly detailed and accurate profile of how much money you have, where you go to spend it and exactly who you are.

The study spanned three months and used the anonymous credit card data of 1.1 million people. After gathering the data, analysts would marry the findings to a person’s public online profile. By checking things like tweets and Facebook activity, researchers found out the anonymous person’s actual name 90% of the time.

iBeacon, video analysis top 2015 tech trends — from progressivegrocer.com

Excerpt:

Using digital to engage consumers will make the store a more interesting and – dare I say – fun place to shop. Such an enhanced in-store experience leads to more customer loyalty and a bigger basket at checkout. It also gives supermarkets a competitive edge over nearby stores not equipped with the latest technology.

Using video cameras in the ceilings of supermarkets to record shopper behavior is not new. But more retailers will analyze and use the resulting data this year. They will move displays around the store and perhaps deploy new traffic patterns that follow a shopper’s true path to purchase. The result will be increased sales.

Another interesting part of this video analysis that will become more important this year is facial recognition. The most sophisticated cameras are able to detect the approximate age and ethnicity of shoppers. Retailers will benefit from knowing, say, that their shopper base includes more Millennials and Hispanics than last year. Such valuable information will change product assortments.

Scientists join Elon Musk & Stephen Hawking, warn of dangerous AI — from rt.com

Excerpt:

Hundreds of leading scientists and technologists have joined Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk in warning of the potential dangers of sophisticated artificial intelligence, signing an open letter calling for research on how to avoid harming humanity.

The open letter, drafted by the Future of Life Institute and signed by hundreds of academics and technologists, calls on the artificial intelligence science community to not only invest in research into making good decisions and plans for the future, but to also thoroughly check how those advances might affect society.

SMART/ CONNECTED TVs

Potential for good:
Learning/training-related applications, networking, obtaining employment and new projects
.
Potential for bad:
Spying on people (Is Your Smart TV Spying On You? Samsung SmartTV Privacy Policy Reminds Us To Watch What We Say Around Connected Devices — from idigitaltimes.com)

Though there are many other examples, I think you get the point.

That biblical idea of loving our neighbors as ourselves…well, as you can see,
that idea is as highly applicable, important, and relevant today as it ever was.

Addendum on 3/19/15 that gets at exactly the same thing here:

Teaching robots to be moral — from newyorker.com by Gary Marcus
Excerpt:
Robots and advanced A.I. could truly transform the world for the better—helping to cure cancer, reduce hunger, slow climate change, and give all of us more leisure time. But they could also make things vastly worse, starting with the displacement of jobs and then growing into something closer to what we see in dystopian films. When we think about our future, it is vital that we try to understand how to make robots a force for good rather than evil.

Addendum on 3/20/15:

Scientists seek ban on method of editing the human genome — from nytimes.com by Nicholas Wade

Jennifer A. Doudna, an inventor of a new genome-editing technique, in her office at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Doudna is the lead author of an article calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the new method, to give scientists, ethicists and the public time to fully understand the issues surrounding the breakthrough.
Credit Elizabeth D. Herman for The New York Times

NMC Horizon Report > 2015 Higher Education Edition — from nmc.org

Excerpt:

What is on the five-year horizon for higher education institutions? Which trends and technologies will drive educational change? What are the challenges that we consider as solvable or difficult to overcome, and how can we strategize effective solutions? These questions and similar inquiries regarding technology adoption and educational change steered the collaborative research and discussions of a body of 56 experts to produce the NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition, in partnership with the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). The NMC Horizon Report series charts the five-year horizon for the impact of emerging technologies in learning communities across the globe. With more than 13 years of research and publications, it can be regarded as the world’s longest-running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake in education.

Will micro-credentialing be an example of the use of big data in education and training?

On 02/04/2015, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital audio, digital video, ideas, innovation, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, social learning / networks, social media, workplace, by Daniel Christian

I ran across a few items that may tie in with my Learning from the Living [Class] Room vision:

A very interesting concept at Stackup.net (@ScoreReporting)

Score everything you read + learn online. Use the StackUp Report to prove to employers that your dedication and interest make you the ideal candidate.

From DSC:
This is big data — but this time, it’s being applied to the world of credentials. Is this part of how one will obtain employment in the future? Will it work along with services like Beansprock (see below)?

Then there was spreecast: An interactive video platform that connects people:

From DSC:
A related item to these concepts:

The Future of Lifelong Learning — from knewton.com

Created by Knewton and Knewton

—————

AI software that could score you the perfect job — from wired.com by Davey Alba

Excerpt:

Today, little more than two years later, Levy and Smith are launching a website called Beansprock that uses natural language processing and machine learning techniques to match you with a suitable job. In other words, they’re applying artificial intelligence to the career hunt. “It’s all about helping the job hunter find the best job in the job universe,” Levy says.

.

IBM Awards University of Texas at Austin Top Spot in Watson Competition — from indiaeducationdiary.in

Excerpts/applications (emphasis and numbering via DSC):

New York: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the first winner of its Watson University Competition, part of the company’s partnership with top universities through its cognitive computing academic initiative. The winning team of student entrepreneurs from the University of Texas at Austin will receive $100,000 in total in seed funding to help launch a business based on their Watson app, which offers the promise of improved citizen services.
…
The University of Texas at Austin took home top honors with a new app called 1) CallScout, designed to give Texas residents fast and easy access to information about social services in their area. Many of Texas’ 27 million residents rely on the state’s social services – such as transportation, healthcare, nutrition programs and housing assistance – though they can have difficulty finding the right information.
…
“These academic competitions expose students to a new era of computing, helps them build valuable professional skills, and provides an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life.”

…
Two other innovative projects rounded out the top three finalists in the competition. Students from the University of Toronto took second place with 2) “Ross,” an app that allows users to ask Watson legal questions related to their case work, speeding research and guiding lawyers to pertinent information to help their case. In third place, students from the University of California, Berkeley, designed a new app called 3) “Patent Fox” that conceptualizes patent ideas, simplifies queries, streamlines filing processes and provides confidence-ranked, evidence-based results.
…
“Through this program we have been able to create a unique experience that not only enabled our students to develop skills in cognitive computing, app development and team work, but also in business development.”

Stanford 2025, a mobile app to advise undergrads, “What if students made a school?”, plus other interesting ideas

On 01/19/2015, in analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, data related items, emerging technologies, future, IBM, ideas, innovation, student-related, by Daniel Christian

.

NYC students spark innovative ideas to improve higher education, city services using IBM Watson
CUNY and IBM announce winners in Student App Competition

3^rd place –Education: Advyzr
A mobile app that would advise undergraduates and college counselors on ideal courses and schedules based on learning preferences, graduation requirements, majors, and career goals. It would seamlessly integrate academic targets and user preferences.

Also see:

Student teams to present final ideas — from baruch.cuny.edu
For CUNY-IBM Watson Case Competition | Watch Videos to Learn More About the Teams and Their Ideas

What if students made a school? — from nextgenlearning.org by Tom Carroll

Excerpts:

What would happen if we trusted students to design their schools? Student voice and choice are core principles of a personalized learning movement that is empowering today’s youth to take responsibility for the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to thrive in college, careers and life.

As new education models grow to support this movement, are we ready to take the next step: asking students to help us customize the staff, space, curriculum, tools, and time they need for deeper learning?
…
Although these competitions took place over a decade ago, the students developed five design concepts that are as relevant today as when they were originally drafted.

Co-Created Curriculum
Collaborative Learning
Commitments from Capable Adults
Connected Learning – Doing Real Work
Comfortable, Customizable Learning Space

10 classroom ideas to try in 2015 — from blogs.edweek.org by Jennie Magiera

Karl Kapp “The Case of the Disengaged Learner” #ATDTK — from cammybean.kineo.com by Cammy Bean
These are my liveblogged notes from Karl Kapp’s session at ATD TechKnowledge, happening this week in Las Vegas. Forgive any typos or incoherencies.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Start instruction with ACTION and not objectives. Draw the learner in with action and encourage engagement. Make the learner do something. Have them identify something right away; make a decision right away; answer a question. Give them a complicated problem to solve. Confront a challenge. Create a curiosity gap — something you can do before hand that will raise a question that they want to know the answer to.

Law & Order (the tv) creates open loops — you HAVE to watch to the end to find out what happens. Leave them on a cliffhanger…it pulls you along.

In ID we create a closed loop: “by the end of this module, you will learn…” Instead open with “Do you know the #1 method to close sales in our company. Find out in this module.”

Start with a question that pulls the learner in – this creates an OPEN LOOP that draws them into the instruction. Don’t lead with the objectives (you still need ’em to design your instruction).

Create a challenging experience. Don’t make it frustrating, but create some struggle to get to the answer. Our best experiences are when we have that ah-ha moment, that breakthrough.
…
Add novelty. New and different catches our attention.

Also see Karl’s slides of “The Case of the Disengaged Learner“

Excerpt from Cammy Bean’s posting: David Kelly “Building a Learning Strategy from an Ecosystem of Resources” #ATDTK (emphasis DSC)

So what is a learning and performance ecosystem? It’s an organic entity that evolves over time. It’s finding the resources all around that support performance (not just training!). We’ve got multiple systems in our orgs — in a well-run org, those systems are all connected.

It’s a new mindset for those in L&D and training.

3 predictions for the future of jobs — from agenda.weforum.org by Kristel Van der Elst and Trudi Lan

A coming age of entrepreneurship:
Advances in technology will make self-generated livelihoods increasingly more viable
Retire first, work later?
In the future, our work-life duality patterns may change substantially
The new jobs robots can’t take:
We will soon see a plethora of jobs that currently do not exist

Also see:
Global Strategic Foresight Community – Members’ Perspectives on Global Shifts
As an extension of its own Strategic Foresight practice, the World Economic Forum has established a new community initiative, the Global Strategic Foresight Community (GSFC). A diverse, multistakeholder group, it brings together eminent and forward-looking thought leaders and senior practitioners from leading public, private and civil society organizations. The purpose of the Global Strategic Foresight Community is to provide a peer network to compare and contrast insights as well as to positively shape future-related industry, regional and global agendas. Below you will find information about the members as well as their foresight perspectives on “global shifts”. These shifts concern topics or issues which GSFC members believe should be highlighted now and added to the agendas of the Forum and relevant organizations to inspire constructive action for the future.

From Jobs of the future — from theguardian.com

Example job titles in 2020 — for education

Online education broker
Tailors a bespoke learning package for the client, dovetailing relevant modules from courses and syllabuses around the world.
Space tour guide
With Virgin Galactic planning commercial flights from 2011, space tourists will need cosmic enthusiasts to shed light on all that darkness.

What Are the Top Jobs and Skills of the Future? [Infographic] — from youtern.com

The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. Linus Pauling #smallbiz #business

— Shawn Winkler-Rios (@Soloprenur) January 18, 2015

A smorgasboard of items re: data science and data scientists, including machine learning

On 01/06/2015, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, computer science, corporate / business world, data related items, future, professional development, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Ten Trends in Data Science 2015 — from linkedin.com by Kurt Cagle

Excerpt:

Data Science Teams
I see the emergence within organizations of data science teams. Typically, such teams will be made up of a number of different specialties:

Integrator. A programmer or DBA that specializes in data ingestion and ETL from multiple different sources. Their domain will tend to be services and databases, and as databases become data application platforms, their role primarily shifts from being responsible for schemas to being responsible for building APIs. Primary focus: Data Acquisition
Data Translation Specialist. This will typically be a person focused on Hadoop, Map/Reduce and similar intermediate processing necessary to take raw data and clean it, transform it, and simplify it. They will work with both integrators and ontologists, Primary Focus: Data Acquiisition
Ontologist. The ontologist is a data architect specializing in building canonical models, working with different models, and establishing relationships between data sets. They will often have semantics or UML backgrounds. Primary focus: Data Awareness.
Curators. These people are responsible for the long term management, sourcing and provenance of data. This role is often held by librarians or archivists. They will often work closely with the ontologists. Primary Focus: Data Awareness.
Stochastic Analyst (Data Scientist?). This role is becoming a specialist one, in which people versed with increasingly sophisticated stochastic and semantic analysis tools take the contextual data and extraction trends, patterns and anti-patterns from this. They usually have a strong mathematical or statistical background, and will typically work with domain experts. Primary Focus: Data Analysis
Domain Expert. Typically these are analysts who know their particular domain, but aren’t necessarily expert on informatics. These may be financial specialists, business analysts, researchers, and so forth, depending upon the specific enterprise focus. Primary Focus: Data Analysis
Visualizers. These are typically going to be web interface developers with skills in areas such as SVG or Canvas and the suites of visualization tools that are emerging in this area. Their role is typically to take the data at hand and turn it into usable, meaningful information. They will work closely with both domain experts and stochastic analysts, as well as with the ontologist to better coerce the information coming from the data systems into meaningful patterns. Primary Focus:Data Analysis
Data Science Manager. This person is responsible for managing the team, understanding all of the domains reasonably well enough to interface with the client, and coordinating efforts. This person also is frequently the point person for establishing governance. Primary Focus: All.

Infographic: What’s Hot in Data Science in 2015 — from data-informed.com; with thanks to Michael Caveretta’s tweet on this

Michigan State Wants a Big Data Professor on Campus — from edtechmagazine.com by D. Frank Smith; back from Nov 2014
Explosive growth in the data science field is pushing higher education to extend its analytics expertise.

Excerpt:

There is a torrent of information flooding today’s higher education institutions. Michigan State University is hoping to find Big Data experts to turn it into results.

Putting Big Data to use in an educational setting takes a special set of skills. MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences recently held a search for an assistant professor of Big Data and health, a position that will lead courses on data analytics and IT in the Department of Media and Information.

“We seek a scholar conducting cutting-edge social and/or technical research utilizing big data approaches — including theory-building, analytics, applications, and effects,” according to MSU’s job listing, which has expired, but is still available on LinkedIn.

Is Data Science a buzzword? Modern Data Scientist defined — from marketingdistillery.com by Krzysztof Zawadzki

Great #infographic! MT @exaptive: #Datascience isn’t = a single #datascientist / super employee. pic.twitter.com/iw6WfTILir ht @analyticisms
— Michael Cavaretta (@mjcavaretta) December 12, 2014

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From DSC: Those working in higher ed – take note of this 12 week bootcamp:

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Should Big Data Skills Be Taught in K–12 Classrooms? — from by D. Frank Smith
A new report recommends that schools begin preparing students to think like data scientists at an earlier age.

Excerpt:

The skills necessary for the data analytics jobs of tomorrow aren’t being taught in K–12 schools today, according to a new report released by the Education Development Center, Inc.’s (EDC) Oceans of Data Institute. The Profile of the Big-Data Enabled Specialist projects a workforce shortage for data-driven positions. Based on a 2011 McKinsey & Co. report cited by the Oceans of Data Institute, ”By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.”

Difference between Data Scientist and Data Analyst — from edureka.co; again, with thanks to Michael Caveretta’s tweet on this

Excerpt: .

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The Data Scientist’s Toolbox — course from coursera.org

The 25 Hottest Skills That Got People Hired in 2014 — from linkedin.com

Excerpts:

Statistical analysis and data mining
Business intelligence
Data engineering and data warehousing

16 analytic disciplines compared to data science — from datasciencecentral.com by Vincent Granville

Excerpt:

What are the differences between data science, data mining, machine learning, statistics, operations research, and so on?

Here I compare several analytic disciplines that overlap, to explain the differences and common denominators. Sometimes differences exist for nothing else other than historical reasons. Sometimes the differences are real and subtle. I also provide typical job titles, types of analyses, and industries traditionally attached to each discipline. Underlined domains are main sub-domains. It would be great if someone can add an historical perspective to my article.

Tech 2015: Deep Learning And Machine Intelligence Will Eat The World — from forbes.com by Anthony Wing Kosner; with thanks to Pedro for his tweet on this

Excerpt:

Despite what Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk say, hostile Artificial Intelligence is not going to destroy the world anytime soon. What is certain to happen, however, is the continued ascent of the practical applications of AI, namely deep learning and machine intelligence. The word is spreading in all corners of the tech industry that the biggest part of big data, the unstructured part, possesses learnable patterns that we now have the computing power and algorithmic leverage to discern—and in short order.

The effects of this technology will change the economics of virtually every industry.

The rise of machines that learn — from infoworld.com by Eric Knorr; with thanks to Oliver Hansen for his tweet on this
A new big data analytics startup, Adatao, reminds us that we’re just at the beginning of a new phase of computing when systems become much, much smarter

Shivon Zilis, Machine Intelligence Landscape

Data Science Dojo — @DataScienceDojo
Stanford startup focused on all things data science.

The 2 Types Of Data Scientists Everyone Should Know About — from datasciencecentroal.com by Bernard Marr

Excerpt:

It depends entirely on how broadly you categorize them. In reality, of course – there are as many “types” of data scientist as there are people working in data science. I’ve worked with a lot, and have yet to meet two who are identical.

But what I have done here is separate data scientists into groups, containing individuals who share similar skills, methods, outlooks and responsibilities. Then I grouped those groups together, again and again, until I was left with just two quite distinctly different groups.

I’ve decided to call these two types strategic data scientists and operational data scientists.

Deep learning Reading List — from jmozah.github.io

Reflections on “The University of Southern California, Condé Nast and WIRED launch Master of Integrated Design, Business and Technology”

On 11/18/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, Amazon, analytics, Apple, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, career development, changing business models, collaboration, competency-based learning/education, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, design, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, IBM, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, MBA, Microsoft, new business models, pace of change, professional development, real-world assignments, reinvent, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, technology (general), workplace, by Daniel Christian

Following up on yesterday’s posting, History Channel bringing online courses to higher ed, I wanted to thank Mr. Rob Kingyens, President at Qubed Education, for alerting me to some related work that Qubed Education is doing. Below is an example of that work:

The University of Southern California, Condé Nast and WIRED launch Master of Integrated Design, Business and Technology — from qubededucation.com
New Learning Model Combines Network and Access of WIRED with Academic Strength and Vision of the USC Roski School of Art and Design

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

MARIN, Calif., October 1, 2014 – The University of Southern California, Condé Nast and WIRED today announced a partnership to create a new online Master’s degree in Integrated Design, Business and Technology. The partnership creates an unprecedented learning experience, combining the expertise of the editors, writers, and designers at WIRED with the academic rigor of USC, a leading research university known for its pioneering interdisciplinary programs. The aim of the 18-24 month degree is to educate creative thinkers and technologists to better equip them to transform the world of industry and enterprise. The first cohort is scheduled to begin in the 2015-2016 academic year.

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“The pace of technology development requires higher education to continue to respond with programs that are flexible and adaptable, and that meet the needs of future cultural and business leaders,” said Dean Muhl.

“We’ve been thinking for years about what a university curriculum with WIRED would look like, and now we have a chance to build it with a terrific partner,” said Dadich. “Taking the best from USC and WIRED, we can teach discipline and disruption, business fundamentals, and the very latest innovation models from Silicon Valley. This is going to be thrilling.”

…

USC’s program development and build out will be powered by higher education partners Synergis Education and Qubed Education.

From Qubed’s website:

Qubed is the gateway for world-class, global brands to enter the education market with top tier universities.

From DSC:
I’ve long wondered if institutions of higher education will need to pool resources and/or form more partnerships and collaborations — either with other universities/colleges or with organizations outside of higher education. This reflection grows stronger for me when I:

Think that team-based content creation and delivery is pulling ahead of the pack
Hear about the financial situations of many institutions of higher education today (example1; example2)
See the momentum building up behind Competency Based Education (CBE)
Witness the growth of alternatives like Ideo Futures, Yieldr Academy, Lessons Go Where, ClassDo, Udemy, C-Suite TV.com and others
Hear about the potential advantages of learning analytics
See the pace of change accelerating — challenging higher education to keep up

For some institution(s) of higher education out there with deep pockets and a strong reputation, I could see them partnering up with an IBM (Watson), Google (Deepmind), Apple (Siri), Amazon (Echo), or Microsoft (Cortana) to create some next generation learning platforms. In fact, this is one of the areas I see occurring as lifelong learning/self-directed learning opportunities hit our living rooms. The underlying technologies these companies are working on could be powerful allies in the way people learn in the future — doing some heavy lifting to build the foundations in a variety of disciplines, and leaving the higher-order learning and the addressing of gaps to professors, teachers, trainers, and others.

Reflections on “C-Suite TV debuts, offers advice for the boardroom” [Dreier]

On 07/21/2014, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adult learning, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, communities of practice, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, data related items, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), IBM, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, machine-to-machine communications, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online tutoring, participation, personalized/customized learning, platforms, second screen apps, social learning / networks, streams of content, student-related, technologies for your home, telecommunications, television, training / L&D, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

C-Suite TV debuts, offers advice for the boardroom — from streamingmedia.com by Troy Dreier
Business leaders now have an on-demand video network to call their own, thanks to one Bloomberg host’s online venture.

Excerpt:

Bringing some business acumen to the world of online video, C-Suite TV is launching today. Created by Bloomberg TV host and author Jeffrey Hayzlett, the on-demand video network offers interviews with and shows about business execs. It promises inside information on business trends and the discussions taking place in the biggest boardrooms.

The Future of TV is here for the C-Suite — from hayzlett.com by Jeffrey Hayzlett

Excerpt:

Rather than wait for networks or try and gain traction through the thousands of cat videos, we went out and built our own network.

See also:

Mind your own business
From the About page:
C-Suite TV is a web-based digital on-demand business channel featuring interviews and shows with business executives, thought leaders, authors and celebrities providing news and information for business leaders. C-Suite TV is your go-to resource to find out the inside track on trends and discussions taking place in businesses today. This online channel will be home to such shows as C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett, MYOB – Mind Your Own Business and Bestseller TV with more shows to come.

From DSC:
The above items took me back to the concept of Learning from the Living [Class] Room.

Many of the following bullet points are already happening — but what I’m trying to influence/suggest is to bring all of them together in a powerful, global, 24 x 7 x 365, learning ecosystem:

When our “TVs” become more interactive…
When our mobile devices act as second screens and when second screen-based apps are numerous…
When discussion boards, forums, social media, assignments, assessments, and videoconferencing capabilities are embedded into our Smart/Connected TVs and are also available via our mobile devices…
When education is available 24 x 7 x 365…
When even the C-Suite taps into such platforms…
When education and entertainment are co-mingled…
When team-based educational content creation and delivery are mainstream…
When self-selecting Communities of Practice thrive online…
When Learning Hubs combine the best of both worlds (online and face-to-face)…
When Artificial Intelligence, powerful cognitive computing capabilities (i.e., IBM’s Watson), and robust reporting mechanisms are integrated into the backends…
When lifelong learners have their own cloud-based profiles…
When learners can use their “TVs” to tap into interactive, multimedia-based streams of content of their choice…
When recommendation engines are offered not just at Netflix but also at educationally-oriented sites…
When online tutoring and intelligent tutoring really take off…

…then I’d say we’ll have a powerful, engaging, responsive, global education platform.

IBM and Apple form partnership to bring big data & analytics capabilities to your iPhone/iPad

On 07/17/2014, in analytics, Apple, business, computer science, corporate / business world, data related items, IBM, innovation, mobile technologies, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Apple joins with IBM on business software — from nytimes.com by Brian Chen and Steve Lohrjuly

Excerpt:

In a deal that could deepen Apple’s sales to corporations and strengthen IBM’s position in business software, the two companies announced a wide-ranging partnership intended to spread advanced mobile and data analysis technology in the corporate world.

IBM and Apple have been working together on the venture for several months, and they are jointly working on more than 100 business software programs developed exclusively for Apple’s iOS operating system and for use on iPhones and iPads. The applications will be tailored for use in industries including retail, health care, transportation, banking, insurance and telecommunications.

Apple and IBM forge global partnership to transform enterprise mobility — from apple.com

Excerpt:

CUPERTINO, California and ARMONK, New York—July 15, 2014—Apple® and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced an exclusive partnership that teams the market-leading strengths of each company to transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps—bringing IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone® and iPad®.

The landmark partnership aims to redefine the way work will get done, address key industry mobility challenges and spark true mobile-led business change—grounded in four core capabilities…

The next level of enterprise mobility: where data meets engagement — from IBM.com

Breaking down the Apple – IBM Announcement for our Ecosystem and Developers! — from socialbusinesssandy.com by Sandy Carter

Excerpt:

What did we announce? An exclusive partnership that teams the market-leading strengths of each company to transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps—bringing IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone® and iPad®.

Apple-IBM: Infographic of announcements! — from socialbusinesssandy.com by Sandy Carter

Why the Apple-IBM deal matters more to banking than you might think — from by JJ Hornblass

Apple teams up with IBM for huge, expansive enterprise push — from techcrunch.com by Darrell Etherington

From DSC:
It would be very interesting times, indeed, if Watson merged with Siri! Here’s a posting to that effect:

When Watson met Siri: Apple’s IBM deal could make Siri a lot smarter — from venturebeat.com by Richard Byrne Reilly & Devindra Hardawar

Excerpt:

One of the long-term results of Apple’s new partnership with IBM — which the two announced yesterday as a joint effort to give both a stronger standing in the mobile enterprise — could be an eventual union between Watson and Siri, a “cognitive” technology expert familiar with both tells VentureBeat.

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Addendums:

Educating the ‘big data’ generation — from by Katherine Noyes
Classes—and even degree programs—focused on data analytics are cropping up all over the U.S. Behind them? Tech’s largest companies.

Report: Cognizant computing will have ‘immense’ impact on mobile computing — from by Joshua Bolkan

Excerpt:

Gartner has unveiled a new report forecasting that cognizant computing, which the company says is the next phase of the personal cloud movement, “will become one of the strongest forces in consumer-focused IT” in the next few years to “have an immense impact across a range of industries, including mobile devices, mobile apps, wearables, networking, services and cloud providers.”

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With data analytics as its backbone, cognizant computing uses simple rules and data associated with an individual to create services and activities delivered across multiple devices. Examples include alarms, payments, health and fitness monitoring and management and context-specific advertisements.

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Reflections on “The Internet of Things will radically change your Big Data strategy” [Kavis]

On 07/14/2014, in analytics, career development, computer science, data related items, higher education, internet, programming, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The Internet of Things will radically change your Big Data strategy — from forbes.com by Mike Kavis

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Companies are jumping on the Internet of Things (IoT) bandwagon and for good reasons. McKinsey Global Institute reports that the IoT business will deliver $6.2 trillion of revenue by 2025. Many people wonder if companies are ready for this explosion of data generated for IoT. As with any new technology, security is always the first point of resistance. I agree that IoT brings a wave of new security concerns but the bigger concern is how woefully unprepared most data centers are for the massive amount of data coming from all of the “things” in the near future.

Some companies are still hanging on to the belief that they can manage their own data centers better than the various cloud providers out there. This state of denial should all but go away when the influx of petabyte scale data becomes a reality for enterprises. Enterprises are going to have to ask themselves, “Do we want to be in the infrastructure business?” because that is what it will take to provide the appropriate amount of bandwidth, disk storage, and compute power to keep up with the demand for data ingestion, storage, and real-time analytics that will serve the business needs. If there ever was a use case for the cloud, the IoT and Big Data is it.

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Even if enterprises manage to make it past the data ingestion phase, the data storage phase presents another set of challenges. In this area, companies must learn new technologies like Hadoop, Map Reduce, etc. and be able to provision enough disk, network, and compute capacity to keep up with the influx of new data. There is a major skills shortage in the area which creates a serious challenge in the do-it-yourself (DIY) model.

…

In the DIY model, engineers need to acquire a broad range of skills in order to work with the underlying technologies.

From DSC:
The above item made be wonder:

What are institutions of higher education doing to equip our students with the skills needed to be effective working with the Internet of Things (IoT)? With Big Data?
Are we able to be responsive to these needs? If not, what changes do we need to make to be more responsive to market needs?

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