Indonesian multinational telecommunications conglomerate Telkom Indonesia, and South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a smart city project in what will soon be the country’s new capital,

Telkom Indonesia and KT announce MoU for Indonesian smart city project

SINGAPORE - An indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting Singapore has received provisional permission from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to develop 21,243 square metres in gross floor area (GFA) into retail space,

Genting Singapore gets URA nod to develop 228,000 sq ft of retail space, 700 hotel rooms at RWS

CEOs, Metin Taskin and Guillaume Van Gaver, highlights some of the key trends and innovations in home Wi-Fi today. Airties is a leading provider of Smart Wi-Fi solutions to many broadband operators around the world,

Key trends and innovations in Smart Wi-Fi

Easy access to artificial intelligence has empowered hackers. Here’s how cyber-security teams can stay ahead. Read more at straitstimes.com.

With AI now driving cyber attacks, best to fight fire with fire

Investment firm KKR will drop $400 million onto infrastructure and subsea cable services firm OMS Group, which it is the parent of.

KKR to pump $400 million into subsea cable firm

KKR, a leading global investment firm, and the parent company of OMS Group (or the "Company"), a leading telecom infrastructure company and provider of subsea cable services, today announced the signing of definitive agreements under which KKR will commit $400 million in a tailored solution for OMS Group.

KKR to Invest $400 Million in Leading Neutral Subsea Telecommunications Cable Services Provider OMS Group

Korean carrier SK Telecom (SKT) and German operator Deutsche Telekom will jointly develop an industry-specific language model (LLM) as the initial step of the “Global Telco AI Alliance”, previously announced by Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel and SK Telecom.

SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom to develop LLM for telcos

SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are pioneers in exploring AI opportunitiesThe pair recently helped establish the Global Telco AI AllianceNow they are to

SKT and DT unite to help telcos deploy GenAI models faster

SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom struck a deal to develop an AI Model to enhance applications of digital assistants in the telecoms industry.

Deutsche Telekom, SKT to develop AI model for telecoms

SK Telecom (SKT) and Deutsche Telekom have teamed up to create a specialized language model for digital customer service assistants in the telecomm

Global Telco AI Alliance: SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom Collaborate on Language Model

SINGTEL

singtel

For the second year in a row, Singapore is one of the top technology hubs in the world, to a KPMG survey conducted and published in July of 2021. This jewel of the South China Sea has long been known as a thriving Silicon Island, with top tech talent and quality business leaders, a bountiful low-tax and pro-business environment, modern and sophisticated infrastructure, the blessings of good governance, robust regulation and excellent investment opportunities. according With great emphasis placed upon technology, business and strong education through the famed city-state’s excellent universities, Singapore is seen as a true gateway to Asia, with the safest streets in the region. Singapore’s unparalleled reputation has made it the location for the global and regional headquarters for a range of global companies. With 1400 fintech startups registered in the country, Singapore is the world’s fourth-largest fintech hub, to Global Fintech Rankings. The pandemic has had a positive impact on the development of Singapore’s fintech sector, preparing the country for the digital economy of the future. In December 2020, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) the awarding of four digital bank licences, including and for two full digital banks, and two digital wholesale banks. None will have a physical presence but all four will operate online. according announced Grab-Singtel Sea Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Trading in Singapore In Singapore, cryptocurrency exchanges and trading are legal, with a much friendlier position on the issue elsewhere in Asia. There are even cryptocurrency ATMs in Singapore where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly and instantly with cash - just insert Singaporean dollars and withdraw crypto straight to a secure digital wallet. Then there’s one of Singapore’s leading cryptocurrency CFD trading exchange platforms, Bitop, which last month the  launch of its native BTOP token. BTOP has come to revolutionize and resolve common issues in the big data industry by allowing customers to seamlessly trade, conduct transactions of any size, and have a trading, secure deposits and withdrawal environment that is free and open. announced Fintech as a Growing Industry in Singapore With fintech companies in Singapore raising over $1bn in the first half of 2021 across nearly 100 deals, Singapore is set to smash previous records, with even the annual funding growth rate rising nearly 50%. This increased funding for Singaporean fintech startups points to a maturing and sophisticated market that now caters to the underbanked and unbanked populations of South East Asia, propelling fintech funding in the Asia Pacific region to a whopping US$5.5 billion, more than twice as much in 2020. Fintech attracts senior talent and stricter AML rules with crypto regulation being the key. Following a $4 million seed funding, one of this month’s Singaporean startups , announced the integration of the KYC and AML toolkit through its partnership with SumSub to conduct secure biometric checks in just 2 minutes. The company has also recently added the European Union’s Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment method, enabling Euro holders to seamlessly change between euros and cryptocurrencies in a safe way, just like national payments. Cabital As Jonas Narbutas, Cabital’s Senior Money Laundering Reporting Officer commented, “regulating the cryptocurrency industry is essential to its sustainable growth. We will continue to further strengthen the industry’s unprecedented level of legitimacy by leading in compliance risk and promoting a culture embedded in transparency and good business ethics.” Environmental Crypto in Singapore Now, Singapore is set for another pioneering role, which naturally has connections to the world of technology, and that’s . environmental crypto With the approaching taking place from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in Glasgow, UK in partnership with Italy, the Singaporean company Cyberdyne Tech Exchange (CTX) has (CNT). This new token resolves one of the most challenging aspects of the Paris Agreement (COP21) – the ability to properly account for and track carbon credits, using proprietary protocols and blockchain technologies. COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference and sold the first tranche of a new asset-backed Carbon Neutrality Token released Singapore’s robust fintech credentials, with crypto itself not only continuing to revolutionize finance and trade, but now also proudly boast of true environmental excellence.

Singapore, Named as a Top Technology Hub in 2021, Is Now an Environmental Crypto Pioneer

Mobile app development has become an actual topic for many businesses in Singapore and worldwide. Enterprises, startups, and SMEs use custom mobile apps to increase productivity, set business processes, acquire new customers, generate additional revenue — there are plenty of ways how a mobile app can boost a business in the digital era. Some entrepreneurs seek the best service provider, while others are looking for information about the cost of the app creation. To make your life easier and help you make better-informed decisions, I have conducted independent research on the mobile app development industry in Singapore and would be happy to share my findings. This research is based on the complex investigation of the companies' portfolios, customer testimonials, conclusions announced by the biggest market analytics hubs, interviews with software development experts, as well as my own expertise. After long hours of researching and profile-hunting on Clutch, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and a lot of other resources, I have taken the liberty of providing you with this updated information. The Average Costs of Mobile App Development in Singapore After interviewing mobile app development experts, it has become clear that mobile development cost is exposed to a range of factors, such as development frameworks, platforms, the complexity of functions, design, and the level of security. Let's consider this price-factor dependence in detail. Platforms you choose It's pretty simple. There are two main platforms, iOS and Android. In rare cases, companies also need to develop native apps for Windows. The more platforms you want your mobile app cover, the higher the cost. As expected, if you select only one platform, the price will be much lower, particularly when it goes about a native app. App development frameworks The technology stack of a mobile app significantly affects the development cost. There are three main frameworks available in the market today — Native, Hybrid, and Cross-Platform mobile app development. Native apps are the most expensive yet stable at the same time. They are built with technologies that are specifically used for iOS and Android platforms. Native apps are often advised to enterprises that need reliable, well-performing, and easily scalable apps. Hybrid apps are the way less expensive. A hybrid app is basically a website packed into an app that looks like "native" but is developed with technologies matching iOS and Android platforms. It's a recommended option for startups and SMBs with a low budget since hybrid app development is one of the most cost-effective solutions. However, you must also know that these apps are not the best in terms of scalability. Cross-platform apps are a great solution for startups and companies with a medium-sized budget and plan to scale an app. They are written once for iOS and Android at the same time, but their frameworks deploy native elements so that this kind of apps can run natively on these platforms. Here is the cost breakdown for these frameworks. The cost of native apps starts from S$11,000, the cost of hybrid apps — S$5,000, and cross-platform apps — S$9,000. Design complexity Another important factor influencing the app development cost is design complexity. Companies with a larger budget may want to create an app with a custom, hyper-intuitive design. In this case, it's recommended to create an ultimate UX and UI design road map to ensure your users will experience a unique and enjoyable mobile app design. Additional design elements, like in-app animation and illustrations, will add to a cost. Companies with a tighter budget can launch apps with standard yet still functional designs that are much cheaper. Functionality The cost of a mobile app depends on the number and complexity of its features. The price for an app with restricted functionality will likely be around the same as a starting cost of a platform. The complexity of app features also matters. The more complicated the features are, the more developer's time and effort are needed, the higher the price is. Here you can find average estimates for some of the most popular features of a higher level: Geo-localization: S$1,000 - 2,000 Single database CRUD: S$2,500 - 3,000 User module: S$2,500 - 3,000 Social authentication: S$1,000 - 2,000 Multiple database CRUD: S$3,000/database Chat feature: S$2,000 - 2,500 QR code scanner: S$1,000. Cybersecurity requirements Large enterprises and governmental organizations may need an app with extensive cybersecurity protocols to avoid the leaks of important corporate data: the more security requirements you have, the higher app development costs. Top 4 Mobile App Development Companies in Singapore Another most common question is what is the best mobile app development service company to help you implement all this. After the market research, I have detected these five best companies. Swag Soft is a top-tier mobile app development company based in Singapore. It has been recognized as the best app developer by and . Swag Soft was featured on big media, like MediaCorp, Channel News Asia and the Straits Times. The company has delivered projects for global brands like Caltex, BMW, Toyota, and governmental organizations like the MDA and Singapore Air Force. Swag Soft App Futura Top Mobile App Development Company TechTIQ Solutions is a trusted IT consulting and software development company headquartered in Singapore. It's the number one company among the top software providers in Singapore, according to . If you're looking for a reliable digital transformation partner, TechTIQ Solutions can be the best choice. The company offers iOS app development, Android app development, and hybrid app development. Its main peculiarity is a customer success model that includes complex research of the client’s business, pain points, and goals. TechTIQ Solutions Best in Singapore Buuuk is one of the best mobile app development service providers in Singapore. Operating in the industry since 2008, the company has already provided services for famous brands like Audi, Daimler, Scoot, Singtel, DB Schenker, Starhub, , CapitaLand, Decathlon, Tupperware, National Environment Agency, and NTUC. It was featured among the top mobile app development companies on . Buuuk Yahoo Finance Singapore Monstar Lab is a big software development company with offices in 26 cities and 15 countries worldwide. It is among the top mobile app developers in Singapore in 2020, according to . The company has shipped 900 successful projects to 500 clients globally. Its key clients include UOB, Researchplus, JobJira, and 3STransport. Mostar Lab offers end-to-end solutions for iOS, Android platforms, and web apps. Monstar Lab The Manifest Choose Your Best Mobile App Development Partner Singapore is known as one of the biggest innovation hubs in the world. If you are looking for a technology partner to help you incorporate digital transformation in the company's processes and provide a smooth business transition into a new digital economy, Singapore is likely the number one country for your research. The local mobile app development industry is saturated with talented teams that are ready to help you bring your boldest dreams and ideas into reality. It has been an ultimate overview of the mobile app development market in Singapore for 2020. Hopefully, these insights on the cost estimates and the best service providers will help you find the right mobile app development company for your project.

The Overview of the Mobile App Development Industry in Singapore [2020]

I remote chat with Anthony Houlahan, a telco professional who has been working in Singapore for the last 18 years. He initially started on his mission on the 22nd of April to use his time after hours and on weekends to do food delivery, both to stave off isolation, and to raise funds for a good cause. He ends his donation campaign and delivery activity on 21st June. A glimpse into the statistics that govern the days of his cause. 8 May 2020 This is Day 15 and $27,000 was raised for donation in total to date. 9 June 2020 On Day 49, $85,000 has been raised for donation in total. Let’s chat with Anthony Houlahan now. Hi, Anthony! Many of us in Singapore, including myself, read about your journey to use your time outside of work - to work as a food delivery rider, to raise funds for charity. You just bought your bicycle in April, 2 months ago. I’m curious: Was your original intention to use it for food delivery? No it wasn’t, I bought a bicycle just before the partial lockdown to keep active during this period. I figured a bike would be a good way to exercise. How did you decide to take the leap to become a food delivery rider then? The feeling of not having physical contact with people, and the feeling of isolation. I wanted to change that. Deliver some food, I could go for that, I would do it at night or off work hours, but I’m not doing it for the money, so I’ll do that for charity instead and donate the earnings. I chose the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF), and if I do that perhaps people would support me and be on a mission to donate as well, it would become a spontaneous effort from there on. Did you think of doing anything else, other than food delivery? Well, I thought doing food delivery I would have interactions with restaurants, customers, dealing with people face to face, and have a sense of society, to fulfil personal social requirements for the most part. And then what happened after you signed up? Which charity, I was thinking I want to do something with children, it is important to me. I look at CCF, they ranked well, they create good impact with the funds they raised. There’s 150 - 200 new cases of childhood cancer yearly in Singapore, mostly under the age of 4. CCF does amazing work both on the medical side and on the emotional and mental side to help the children develop themselves throughout the cancer, they also believe in a strong support for the family as a unit. I can’t imagine the stress families go through. In this regard CCF is holistic - it is heartwarming to see the support they provide for entire families, both for the children and for their relatives. I believe I made a very good choice to make an impact. You said (in your blog) why you are doing this, when you first started: Why am I doing this? A combination of boredom, the need for interaction and an opportunity to use my ample free time during the lock down to do something meaningful for children who need help. The Children's Cancer Foundation does great work to help improve the quality of lives of children with cancer and their families. so I decided to donate my time to their cause. Do you feel that now, you are creating more meaning than before? The level of interest from the public and the media is unexpected! People are really complimentary with what I am doing, they say it inspires them to do more and they wish that people can do more to help others who need help. I didn’t really think about that initially, or expect that. I’ve got free time and have an opportunity to do more now, it’s been a real surprise to me about the level of support from the public and how strongly some people feel about it - it’s a pleasant surprise. End of the day, my main goal is to meet my target to raise $100,000 for the CCF. I’m sure you will hit it. Yes, right now it is about $90,000 raised in the last 50 days. Foodpanda has helped a lot to promote the campaign as well. I really wanted to know what goes on in your mind, that motivates you to carry on? On weekends, I have free time, I can’t go to the gym, or to the cinema, or meet friends. I am happy to use the time to keep myself busy - I don’t like to be idle and it is a great way of using the time meaningfully. It’s never a real challenge for me. The work is not easy, it can be tough but I think as long as I eat well, sleep well and stay hydrated, I really enjoy it! What I want to say as well, is that a lot of people ask the kind of question you asked. It’s easy for me, but what I’ve done is to find a way that is convenient yet meaningful to raise the money for donations. I don’t know if everyone is able to do it, as they may not have the free time, or the capacity to be as active or to be alone. I think what I’ve found is something that is really easy for me to do. For other people, my advice would be to find something relatively easy, that can fit into your lifestyle, that you can do to create some benefit for others.When we all emerge from the partial lockdowns, what do you intend to do to continue on this path of calling attention to charities and using your time to create benefit for others? Honestly, I have not thought about that, as I have not thought about anything else other than this campaign I started. So when things start to open up again in society and in the economy, I’ve no strict plans. My goal right now is to complete the campaign. How will life look like for you after this month? I work for a Telco networking company, Ericsson and we are a technology led company. My work is focused in strategy - the business strategy and not the technology strategy, I’m not an engineer the same way many Hacker Noon readers are. It’s my job to figure out how technology creates value and I help the organization to position our products in the right way for our customers, enabling them to get new revenue, to help their future focus, and so on. To do this I would need to understand the functional benefit of technology. What are Ericsson’s 5G initiatives? We are leading the 5G market in telco infrastructure, we work in every continent in the world, and are the first to launch in Europe and Asia, and in other continents. We are doing extremely well, we create 5G ready radio access network systems, these products increase our market share. We are the leading company in regard to deployment with mobile operators. How is the 5G deployment being done in view with our country’s 5G goals? Our customers are mobile operators, we work with Singtel in Singapore, and we support similar operators around the world to deploy 5G. The offering basically creates an approach for customers we fully support, developing a high speed, low latency capability together with a significantly reduced cost. If you look at the technology space, when we release new networking capabilities, it has driven innovation that we were not able to forecast prior to the jump. Innovation will happen that takes advantages of these capabilities that are big technological improvements. It will be an interesting time for Singapore and the rest of the world! To donate: Make a direct donation to the Children’s Cancer Foundation via the Giving.sg website Pledge an amount based on Anthony’s earnings as a food delivery rider Join him on his quest by becoming a delivery rider yourself To find out more or to donate, visit Anthony Houlahan’s blog fooddeliveryriderforcharity.com (Information taken from Expat Living) I remote chat with Anthony Houlahan , a telco professional who has been working in Singapore for the last 18 years. He initially started on his mission on the 22nd of April to use his time after hours and on weekends to do food delivery, both to stave off isolation, and to raise funds for a good cause. He ends his donation campaign and delivery activity on 21st June. I remote chat with Anthony Houlahan Anthony Houlahan , a telco professional who has been working in Singapore for the last 18 years. He initially started on his mission on the 22nd of April to use his time after hours and on weekends to do food delivery, both to stave off isolation, and to raise funds for a good cause. He ends his donation campaign and delivery activity on 21st June. A glimpse into the statistics that govern the days of his cause. A glimpse into the statistics that govern the days of his cause. 8 May 2020 8 May 2020 This is Day 15 and $27,000 was raised for donation in total to date. This is Day 15 and $27,000 was raised for donation in total to date. This is Day 15 and $27,000 was raised for donation in total to date. 9 June 2020 9 June 2020 On Day 49, $85,000 has been raised for donation in total. Let’s chat with Anthony Houlahan now. On Day 49, $85,000 has been raised for donation in total. Let’s chat with Anthony Houlahan now. On Day 49, $85,000 has been raised for donation in total. Let’s chat with Anthony Houlahan now. Hi, Anthony! Hi, Anthony! Many of us in Singapore, including myself, read about your journey to use your time outside of work - to work as a food delivery rider, to raise funds for charity. You just bought your bicycle in April, 2 months ago. I’m curious: Was your original intention to use it for food delivery? Many of us in Singapore, including myself, read about your journey to use your time outside of work - to work as a food delivery rider, to raise funds for charity. You just bought your bicycle in April, 2 months ago. I’m curious: Was your original intention to use it for food delivery? No it wasn’t, I bought a bicycle just before the partial lockdown to keep active during this period. I figured a bike would be a good way to exercise. How did you decide to take the leap to become a food delivery rider then? How did you decide to take the leap to become a food delivery rider then? The feeling of not having physical contact with people, and the feeling of isolation. I wanted to change that. Deliver some food, I could go for that, I would do it at night or off work hours, but I’m not doing it for the money, so I’ll do that for charity instead and donate the earnings. I chose the Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF), and if I do that perhaps people would support me and be on a mission to donate as well, it would become a spontaneous effort from there on. Did you think of doing anything else, other than food delivery? Did you think of doing anything else, other than food delivery? Well, I thought doing food delivery I would have interactions with restaurants, customers, dealing with people face to face, and have a sense of society, to fulfil personal social requirements for the most part. And then what happened after you signed up? And then what happened after you signed up? Which charity, I was thinking I want to do something with children, it is important to me. I look at CCF, they ranked well, they create good impact with the funds they raised. There’s 150 - 200 new cases of childhood cancer yearly in Singapore, mostly under the age of 4. CCF does amazing work both on the medical side and on the emotional and mental side to help the children develop themselves throughout the cancer, they also believe in a strong support for the family as a unit. I can’t imagine the stress families go through. In this regard CCF is holistic - it is heartwarming to see the support they provide for entire families, both for the children and for their relatives. I believe I made a very good choice to make an impact. You said (in your blog) why you are doing this, when you first started: You said (in your blog) why you are doing this, when you first started: Why am I doing this? A combination of boredom, the need for interaction and an opportunity to use my ample free time during the lock down to do something meaningful for children who need help. The Children's Cancer Foundation does great work to help improve the quality of lives of children with cancer and their families. so I decided to donate my time to their cause. Do you feel that now, you are creating more meaning than before? Do you feel that now, you are creating more meaning than before? The level of interest from the public and the media is unexpected! People are really complimentary with what I am doing, they say it inspires them to do more and they wish that people can do more to help others who need help. I didn’t really think about that initially, or expect that. I’ve got free time and have an opportunity to do more now, it’s been a real surprise to me about the level of support from the public and how strongly some people feel about it - it’s a pleasant surprise. End of the day, my main goal is to meet my target to raise $100,000 for the CCF. I’m sure you will hit it. I’m sure you will hit it. Yes, right now it is about $90,000 raised in the last 50 days. Foodpanda has helped a lot to promote the campaign as well. I really wanted to know what goes on in your mind, that motivates you to carry on? I really wanted to know what goes on in your mind, that motivates you to carry on? On weekends, I have free time, I can’t go to the gym, or to the cinema, or meet friends. I am happy to use the time to keep myself busy - I don’t like to be idle and it is a great way of using the time meaningfully. It’s never a real challenge for me. The work is not easy, it can be tough but I think as long as I eat well, sleep well and stay hydrated, I really enjoy it! What I want to say as well, is that a lot of people ask the kind of question you asked. It’s easy for me, but what I’ve done is to find a way that is convenient yet meaningful to raise the money for donations. I don’t know if everyone is able to do it, as they may not have the free time, or the capacity to be as active or to be alone. I think what I’ve found is something that is really easy for me to do. For other people, my advice would be to find something relatively easy, that can fit into your lifestyle, that you can do to create some benefit for others. When we all emerge from the partial lockdowns, what do you intend to do to continue on this path of calling attention to charities and using your time to create benefit for others? When we all emerge from the partial lockdowns, what do you intend to do to continue on this path of calling attention to charities and using your time to create benefit for others? Honestly, I have not thought about that, as I have not thought about anything else other than this campaign I started. So when things start to open up again in society and in the economy, I’ve no strict plans. My goal right now is to complete the campaign. How will life look like for you after this month? How will life look like for you after this month? I work for a Telco networking company, Ericsson and we are a technology led company. My work is focused in strategy - the business strategy and not the technology strategy, I’m not an engineer the same way many Hacker Noon readers are. It’s my job to figure out how technology creates value and I help the organization to position our products in the right way for our customers, enabling them to get new revenue, to help their future focus, and so on. To do this I would need to understand the functional benefit of technology. What are Ericsson’s 5G initiatives? What are Ericsson’s 5G initiatives? We are leading the 5G market in telco infrastructure, we work in every continent in the world, and are the first to launch in Europe and Asia, and in other continents. We are doing extremely well, we create 5G ready radio access network systems , these products increase our market share. We are the leading company in regard to deployment with mobile operators. radio access network systems How is the 5G deployment being done in view with our country’s 5G goals? How is the 5G deployment being done in view with our country’s 5G goals? Our customers are mobile operators, we work with Singtel in Singapore, and we support similar operators around the world to deploy 5G . The offering basically creates an approach for customers we fully support, developing a high speed, low latency capability together with a significantly reduced cost. deploy 5G If you look at the technology space, when we release new networking capabilities, it has driven innovation that we were not able to forecast prior to the jump. Innovation will happen that takes advantages of these capabilities that are big technological improvements. It will be an interesting time for Singapore and the rest of the world! To donate: Make a direct donation to the Children’s Cancer Foundation via the Giving.sg website Make a direct donation to the Children’s Cancer Foundation via the Giving.sg website Giving.sg website Pledge an amount based on Anthony’s earnings as a food delivery rider Pledge an amount based on Anthony’s earnings as a food delivery rider Pledge an amount Join him on his quest by becoming a delivery rider yourself Join him on his quest by becoming a delivery rider yourself To find out more or to donate, visit Anthony Houlahan’s blog fooddeliveryriderforcharity.com To find out more or to donate, visit Anthony Houlahan’s blog fooddeliveryriderforcharity.com fooddeliveryriderforcharity.com (Information taken from Expat Living) (Information taken from Expat Living) Expat Living)

Telco Professional & Charity Food Delivery Rider: A Chat About Trying To Raise 100 K In 60 Days

Forter is the leading provider in e-commerce fraud prevention, protecting $130B in digital transactions annually. What's your background, and what are you working on? My name is Michael Reitblat, co-founder and CEO of , the leading provider in e-commerce fraud prevention. Our identity-based fraud prevention solution detects instances of fraud and abuse for all customer interactions in real-time, such as attempts at account takeover, return abuse or loyalty program fraud. Forter Forter protects in digital transactions annually through our global coalition of merchants that includes a network of Fortune 500 retailers, leading travel companies, and digital disruptors across five different continents (including Nordstrom, Priceline, AWAY Travel). $130B Our network allows for unparalleled visibility of consumer purchasing trends and fraud behavior across these merchants, and is five times the size of the largest global retailer alone, meaning that Forter is able to provide more valuable insights than any siloed retailer could hope to. This massive volume of annual transactions is unparalleled in the field, and to reach it, Forter is experiencing exponential growth. We have increased the dollar amount of processed transactions by 100 times over the past three years, and more than doubled the amount since January 2019 alone. My fascination with online fraudsters began following my service as an intelligence officer in the Israeli Cyber Command, and transferred over to the professional realm at the beginning of my career when I led the product teams at several successful Israeli startups, including Pango, Kontera (acquired by Singtel), Fraud Sciences (acquired by PayPal) and Imperva (acquired by Thoma Bravo). I also currently serve as a board member and investor in several other cutting-edge technology companies in AI, robotics and exascale computing areas, and work with several NGOs in education and tech accessibility for the developing world. What motivated you to get started with your company? Our mission when founding Forter was to make a fraud-free e-commerce environment possible. E-commerce is the future as it removes barriers but it has to be safe and inspire trust in all parties. E-commerce businesses face two fundamental pressures. On the one hand, consumer expectations are changing quickly. They want new offerings and more convenient ways to purchase. On the other hand, fraud is also evolving at an alarming speed. There are increasing volumes of fraud attacks, new vectors for fraudsters to utilize, and new types of fraud—such as account takeover or loyalty fraud—that are continuously cropping up. This creates internal friction between maximizing revenue and customer experience by enabling legitimate customers versus minimizing risk by blocking fraudsters. We found that to keep pace with the speed of change and fraud, merchants need to combine data, fraud detection capabilities, and machine learning into a single, integrated system that can be constantly adapted and updated. This is where Forter comes in. Merchants must have a comprehensive view of all customers—their interactions and behavior across the entire customer journey—not just on their site, but on businesses across the globe, and Forter makes this possible. Secure transactions shouldn’t come at the cost of the user experience, and brands shouldn’t have to choose between the two. We want to help retailers and consumers alike rid these pain points when it comes to shopping online so that legitimate customers can be recognized instantly and fraud trends can be caught and protected against quickly across brands. How have you attracted users and grown your company? Continuing to grow our company is extremely important to us and our mission since our value increases with growing strength of our network. Over time, Forter has built an extremely powerful coalition of merchants that are able to provide a wider lens on consumer behavior. These merchants, if working in a silo, are at a disadvantage to e-commerce retail giants, like Amazon, when it comes to fraud detection, simply because of size. If these merchants are all bonded together through Forter’s network, they have the ability to compete at a much larger scale. For example, once a credit card is stolen, fraudsters attempt to use the card as much as possible over a short period of time. In order to protect against this, Forter is able to quickly leverage its massive volume of transactional data and award-winning technology to detect potential threats and block them across its global network in a split second, in essence immunizing the entire network—helping to prevent thousands of dollars in losses. The more merchants we have in our network, the more visibility into consumer behavior we have, enabling us to instantly eliminate inaccurately declined transactions without causing a delayed impact on the experience. What are your goals for the future? As we look to the future, we plan to close the size and visibility gap between our network of merchants and Amazon — leveling the playing field when it comes to fraud detection. But we won’t stop there — we want to eradicate the particularly hard to detect fraud patterns by using our coalition, so that when one pattern is recognized, we can immediately identify and immunize that pattern across all other merchants that could be exposed. What's your advice for entrepreneurs who are just starting out? My advice for entrepreneurs would be to find a problem that everyone can identify with. In my case, you’d be hard pressed to find a consumer out there who hasn’t exposed sensitive information online, or to find an online merchant that hasn’t lost money to fraudsters. It’s a problem that people can understand and get behind, and via our solution, traditionally competitive companies are able to work together to create a better e-commerce experience for both themselves and their customers. Where can we go to learn more? To find out more about Forter, you can visit our or , or to learn about our recent $100 billion transaction milestone. website blog go here This interview is brought to you by , a tool to schedule and automatically repeat your posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and . OneUp Google My Business

Founder Interviews: Michael Reitblat of Forter

Unsupervised Investments (II): A Guide to AI Accelerators and Incubators

Written together with Tiffine Wang of Singtel Innov8, Ryan Morgan of DFJ Growth, and Frederick Dopfel of Samsung Ventures. The short version of this post was featured in VentureBeat Many have dreamed of robots taking over monotonous functions of our daily lives, freeing us humans to work on highly-skilled or creative tasks. Today, robots are increasingly making their way into our homes, offices, and public spaces, but this integration is not occurring in the way that most futurists and popular science fiction writers have anticipated. Here’s our top picks for tasks that were surprisingly easy to automate, and tasks that remain surprisingly hard. Tasks Surprisingly Easy to Automate: Art Prevailing wisdom claimed that computer systems would be incapable of creating art or music, because they lack the natural creativity of humans. However, automated systems have been surprisingly successful at generating works of art. Since the early 2000s, the University of London’s The Painting Fool program has been generating artwork, much of which has been featured in prominent galleries alongside human-created art. Google’s DeepDream software uses a recursive convolutional neural network to iteratively adjust images to morph them into objects in its database (usually dogs, buildings, and eyeballs). Other neural networks such as DeepStyle or Prisma use convolutional neural networks to stylize photos after the work of a specific artist. Google is now experimenting with automated curation of art exhibits through machine understanding of the style and topic of artists’ work. Logo generation systems like Withoomph, Tailor Brands, and Logojoy, use partially- or fully-automated systems to generate logos for a business based on keywords. Researchers have also demonstrated systems that can generate music: Stephen Wolfram has made an automated music generator available to the public since 2005, the University of Malaga has created Melomics, a system that autonomously composes and plays music to match your lifestyle and activities, and IBM has partnered with artists to help compose music with Watson by combining massive musical datasets and their lyrics with sentiment analysis. Although these automated art and music systems are arguably derivative on the work of others, they are undeniably interesting and beautiful in their own right. Many scholars may argue that, like artificial art, all human art is derivative, although that is a discussion best left to philosophers. It appears that natural human creativity is not, in fact, necessary to create beauty. Science/Research Historically, scientific research has been conducted by highly educated researchers and lab assistants, and as such was not an obvious place for a blossoming of applications. However, a core basis of science is reproducibility, and many aspects of science and research are extremely repetitive, requiring neither continuous thought nor the high level of education attained by the individuals who perform those tasks today. robotics Companies such as OpenTrons are working to save scientists both time and money by helping them automate pipetting, a precise but monotonous and labor intensive task used in many biological and chemical laboratories. Startups Arcturus and BioRealize enable scientists to remotely run many genetic engineering experiments in parallel, greatly reducing mistakes and lab time. Other startups, such as Emerald Therapeutics and Transcriptic, are hoping to move research to the cloud, using remote robotic systems to perform the experiment itself. In addition to vastly increased lab efficiency, these systems could greatly improve reproducibility, as researchers need only share their experiment’s source code. Not content with automating manual lab work, machines are now automating scientific discovery and understanding. Scientists at Cornell’s AI lab created a program called Eureqa, that uses an evolutionary approach to model creation and is able to create models on data without being given any prior assumptions. The team has since commercialized the technology through a spinout, Nutonian. Researchers at Cambridge and Aberystwyth have created a similar autonomous science algorithm called Adam, which they claim was the first machine to independently discover new scientific knowledge. That same team moved on to the University of Manchester, where they created Eve, which is a robot designed to make the drug discovery process faster and cheaper. As the pace of scientific research increases, scientists may rely more and more on automated systems. Legal The practice of law requires many years of studying and understanding laws, cases, and other legal precedence. Law firms often employ large teams of paralegals and interns to perform the majority of initial research; current AI technologies can augment and eventually automate the bulk of that research, leaving the more difficult aspects of practicing law such as synthesizing the information and advising to trained legal professionals. To date, case law, contract law, and advocacy law have seen the most automation. Startup DoNotPay helps users appeal traffic tickets; the bot started in the UK and has expanded to cover several US cities. Over a quarter million tickets have been successfully challenged, and several cities have banned the bot. ROSS Intelligence augments legal research by using AI to surface relevant legal passages and cases to increase the efficiency and quality of legal research. eBrevia uses AI to extract data from contracts to accelerate diligence, contract analysis, and other related applications. Legalist automates the qualification process for litigation financing and backs cases they identify as having a high success rate. There is a ceiling, imposed by liability concerns, to how much law can be automated; a startup might expose itself if it advised a client on legal matters, so most companies likely can only research and synthesize information. Because much of the legal industry charges by the hour, it will be interesting to see to what degree lawyers will accept automation and other tools to increase the efficiency of their practice. Policing and Security Unlike warfighting robots, which have clearance to hurt or even kill humans, robots that work as a police force or physical premises security, particularly in areas far from any war zone, are expected to more closely follow Asimov’s three laws of robotics: avoiding injury to humans while still keeping an area secure. For this reason, many would expect criminals to ignore robotic security guards, knowing full well that the robots could not harm them. However, the primary function of human physical security teams is to observe and report security incidents; due to the risk of liability to their employers, many human guards are not allowed to interfere, making their work surprisingly easy to automate. Security automation to date has focused on augmenting existing security forces, inexpensively amplifying the eyes and ears of security guards without increasing their numbers. Traditionally, fixed camera systems could perform this task, but constantly monitoring a large campus by camera is difficult. Knightscope and Gamma 2 Robotics build ground-based security robots that act as “force multipliers” to provide deterrence through physical presence; these robots are being deployed at an increasing number of corporate campuses and shopping malls. Another startup, Nightingale Security, is using flying drone robots to help their customers carry out continuous surveillance. In time, robots may replace substantial portions of police and security forces, requiring humans only for resolving violent incidents. security Tasks Shockingly Hard to Automate Cleaning Cleaning is perhaps one of the most obvious and logical applications for robots, yet with the exception of the occasional household Roomba, robotic cleaning is not widespread. Not only is cleaning an extremely repetitive task that requires very little technical skill, but it is also a task that almost everyone has to do in their personal lives and despises. What makes the dearth of cleaning robots more perplexing is that the cleaning robot Roomba was one of the first commercially available robots to everyday consumers in 2002. Almost fifteen years later, there has not been any real innovation in terms of cleaning robots that has seen commercial success. While Roomba, which is made by iRobot is the best known of these robots, competing products are made by a healthy list of competitors, including Dyson and LG. On the commercial side of the market, work on an automated janitor / cleaner has gone back at least as far as the 1980s, when Electrolux’s subsidiary, The Kent Company was working on a solution. Yet somehow, to this day, cleaning on a commercial scale is still done by hand. Several employees of Kent went on to create a company called Intellibot that creates a large scale automated floor cleaner called TASKI. Another large scale floor cleaner, the RS26, comes from a collaboration of Brain Corp and International Cleaning Equipment. With that said, there are some very interesting applications on the horizon outside of floor cleaning robots. The startup Ecoppia is using robots to clean solar panels, and Kurion has a division that makes robots that are used to clean up nuclear facilities, including Fukushima. Clothing and Textiles It is surprising that textile manufacturing, one of the first industries to flourish in the industrial revolution through automation remains an incredibly hard to automate completely. Robots work best when manipulating solid objects. Textiles, however, shear, stretch, and compress, making them difficult for robots to manipulate, even though such manipulation comes naturally to humans. Machines today can dye and cut fabrics into the right shape for assembly and embroider intricate designs in an instant, but nimble human fingers are still required for assembling that fabric, sewing on buttons, pockets, and adding on delicate finishing touches such as lace and pleats. Even today, few companies have made any headway in sewing. Softwear Automation is one such company, which uses high speed cameras to instantaneously map the position and orientation of a textile as it flexes and bends, allowing the robot to make micro-adjustments as it sews pieces of fabric together. Nike is using automation to circumvent the traditional shoe assembly process altogether with its FLYKNIT line of shoes, which uses robotics to custom-knit the top portion of a shoe out of one continuous thread, doing away with the need to assemble the shoe from multiple separate pieces of material. Alternative textile and clothing manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing are been heralded as poised to revolutionize the fashion industry, but the items created by these processes and new materials remain niche outside of the athletic wear market. Automation has struggled with clothing care almost as much as it has with sewing. Although machines can wash and dry clothing (sometimes in the same machine), the process of loading, unloading, and folding remains repetitive and laborious with few reasonable automated alternatives. Startups Laundroid and Foldimate have developed laundry folding robots, although their solutions are large desktop or closet-sized machines with limited capacity. Robotic clothes care systems similar to those imagined in science fiction are likely many years away. Farming Automating the harvesting of crops that are today picked by hand has so far been hard because many of these crops can be damaged easily and computers have had trouble with visual recognition of the fruit or produce they are trying to pick. Despite these challenges, there are many companies working towards fully automating a variety of agricultural tasks. Harvest Automation has created a robot called the HV-100 that can do a series of tasks in nurseries and greenhouses. According to one of their customers at McCorkle Nurseries, “We have many plants in the field that have been growing for as many as 24-months; they’ve been spaced, collected and spaced again and they haven’t been touched by a person since the day they were potted.” In the fruit picking space, companies such as FFRobotics, Abundant Robotics, and Vision Robotics have worked on solutions for fruit picking. While none of their products are widespread yet, their efforts are helping pave the way towards a more automated world. Abundant Robotics, for instance, is avoiding many of the difficulties of robotic grippers and instead using a suction device to pick fruit. There are also a series of startups working on weeding and thinning robots. Among these are Naio Technologies, which has created a robot called Oz for small scale weeding. It is also working on a robot called Dino for larger scale weeding, and a robot named Ted for vineyard weeding. It should also be noted that many of the the traditional agricultural players are also working towards automating the farm. John Deere has offered some form of kit for autonomy for years, the current version being AutoTrac. While not in farming, Deere also offers a robot called the Tango E5, which is essentially a Roomba for mowing a lawn. Other competitors in the autonomous tractor space include AGCO and Kinze. AGCO, through its subsidiary Kendt, is working on a project they call MARS, or Mobile Agricultural Robot Swarms. These swarms of small farming robots will be dragged into fields in logistics units (which also hold seed supply as well as batteries for the robots), and then split up to do their work. Looking ahead Several themes emerge from this overview that enable us to predict what’s next for the robotics industry. Today, robotics have made significant headway into automating repetitive tasks requiring little finesse and tolerant of blunt solutions, like washing laundry and dishes or creating large quantities of textiles. Tasks that require processing large amounts of data and information can also be augmented by automation. On the other hand, tasks that require complicated manipulation of materials are still difficult to automate and need more skilled assistance, as does the deeper decision making and synthesis of information that robotics help us surface. As much as robotics have transformed many major industries, the need for humans to complete the last finishing steps, as diminishing as they may be, makes it abundantly clear that total robotic world domination remains out of reach.

Top Unexpectedly Easy and Surprisingly Difficult Use Cases for Automation

Yet Another Lightning Hydra Template for ML Experiments

I want to show you, how to generate a Flutter screen in a couple of minutes using Codis (converts Figma design to Flutter code) - a service that currently I'm working on. As an example let's create a screen of a music app: You just need to signup in for free and install . After that, you can choose a frame in Figma file and lunch the plugin. Codis Figma plugin After a couple of minutes you start getting the rendered result to compare: And finally the screen code: class MusicAppScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  MusicAppScreen();

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Container(
        decoration: const BoxDecoration(color: Color.fromRGBO(18, 18, 18, 1)),
        child: Column(children: [
          Container(
              child: Flex(children: [
                Expanded(
                    child: SingleLineLeadingImageListItem(
                        height: 72,
                        leadingImage: Image(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/4e5afe26b35cfbe0ee7fd3216806453df6aefadf.png')),
                        leadingImageHeight: 56,
                        titleText: 'Ukrainian',
                        titleTextFontSize: 16,
                        titleTextFontFamily: 'Roboto',
                        titleTextColor: Color.fromRGBO(255, 255, 255, 1),
                        trailingWidget: null,
                        tileColor: Color.fromRGBO(46, 46, 46, 1)),
                    flex: 1),
                Expanded(
                    child: Padding(
                        padding: EdgeInsets.only(left: 3),
                        child: SingleLineLeadingImageListItem(
                            height: 72,
                            leadingImage: Image(
                                image: AssetImage(
                                    'images/3b6e7710c505439063586bf01566cd4d91d78d8e.png')),
                            leadingImageHeight: 56,
                            titleText: 'Star Wars',
                            titleTextFontSize: 16,
                            titleTextFontFamily: 'Roboto',
                            titleTextColor: Color.fromRGBO(255, 255, 255, 1),
                            trailingWidget: null,
                            tileColor: Color.fromRGBO(46, 46, 46, 1))),
                    flex: 1)
              ], direction: Axis.horizontal),
              width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width * 1.000,
              height: 72,
              margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 9, right: 8, top: 21)),
          Container(
              child: Flex(children: [
                Expanded(
                    child: SingleLineLeadingImageListItem(
                        height: 72,
                        leadingImage: Image(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/5a882e785da5b8be376cd64fda95ca6c9e376e7f.png')),
                        leadingImageHeight: 56,
                        titleText: 'Kids',
                        titleTextFontSize: 16,
                        titleTextFontFamily: 'Roboto',
                        titleTextColor: Color.fromRGBO(255, 255, 255, 1),
                        trailingWidget: null,
                        tileColor: Color.fromRGBO(46, 46, 46, 1)),
                    flex: 1),
                Expanded(
                    child: Padding(
                        padding: EdgeInsets.only(left: 3),
                        child: SingleLineLeadingImageListItem(
                            height: 72,
                            leadingImage: Image(
                                image: AssetImage(
                                    'images/2486cb439930bbd87670d6044e7cd3ffbb1622c5.png')),
                            leadingImageHeight: 56,
                            titleText: 'Liked Songs',
                            titleTextFontSize: 16,
                            titleTextFontFamily: 'Roboto',
                            titleTextColor: Color.fromRGBO(255, 255, 255, 1),
                            trailingWidget: null,
                            tileColor: Color.fromRGBO(46, 46, 46, 1))),
                    flex: 1)
              ], direction: Axis.horizontal),
              width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width * 1.000,
              height: 72,
              margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 9, right: 8, top: 14)),
          Padding(
              padding: EdgeInsets.only(left: 12, top: 26),
              child: Text('Jump back in',
                  style: TextStyle(
                      fontSize: 18,
                      fontFamily: 'Roboto',
                      fontWeight: FontWeight.w600,
                      color: Color.fromRGBO(255, 255, 255, 1)))),
          Container(
              child: Row(children: [
                Container(
                    alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                    decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                        image: DecorationImage(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/4828627fbcfd92d6aa0680ce183af867a6078520.png'),
                            fit: BoxFit.fill)),
                    height: 119,
                    width: 119,
                    margin: EdgeInsets.only(right: 11)),
                Container(
                    alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                    decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                        image: DecorationImage(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/4b2c9cadc138c3d57e613658e081532130f80e64.png'),
                            fit: BoxFit.fill)),
                    height: 119,
                    width: 119,
                    margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 11)),
                Container(
                    alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                    decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                        image: DecorationImage(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/9f6af78ba9c6566e4d1a6c06458e9e845fc0e02e.png'),
                            fit: BoxFit.fill)),
                    height: 119,
                    width: 119,
                    margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 11))
              ], crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start),
              constraints: BoxConstraints.expand(height: 119),
              margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 12, right: 16, top: 17)),
          Padding(
              padding: EdgeInsets.only(left: 12, top: 26),
              child: Text('Recently played',
                  style: TextStyle(
                      fontSize: 18,
                      fontFamily: 'Roboto',
                      fontWeight: FontWeight.w600,
                      color: Color.fromRGBO(255, 255, 255, 1)))),
          Container(
              child: Row(children: [
                Container(
                    alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                    decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                        image: DecorationImage(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/9b0c638d92faeff1b2b8be9c719d48f983f87ab0.png'),
                            fit: BoxFit.fill)),
                    height: 119,
                    width: 119,
                    margin: EdgeInsets.only(right: 11)),
                Container(
                    alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                    decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                        image: DecorationImage(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/d540ce88eb53ebeea3f6a3f46cf3077e5fec1503.png'),
                            fit: BoxFit.fill)),
                    height: 119,
                    width: 119,
                    margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 11)),
                Container(
                    alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                    decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                        image: DecorationImage(
                            image: AssetImage(
                                'images/4a6b1816a0fa9a6bdd5fe4459a7e340c44dbb16f.png'),
                            fit: BoxFit.fill)),
                    height: 119,
                    width: 119,
                    margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 11))
              ], crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start),
              constraints: BoxConstraints.expand(height: 119),
              margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 12, right: 16, top: 17)),
          Container(
              child: Container(
                  decoration:
                      const BoxDecoration(color: Color.fromRGBO(46, 46, 46, 1)),
                  child: Row(children: [
                    Container(
                        alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                        decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                            image: DecorationImage(
                                image: AssetImage(
                                    'images/3b6e7710c505439063586bf01566cd4d91d78d8e.png'),
                                fit: BoxFit.fill)),
                        height: 56,
                        width: 56,
                        margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 10, right: 6)),
                    Padding(
                        padding: EdgeInsets.only(left: 6),
                        child: Text('Star Wars - The Last Battle',
                            style: TextStyle(
                                fontSize: 16,
                                fontFamily: 'Roboto',
                                fontWeight: FontWeight.w400,
                                color: Color.fromRGBO(255, 255, 255, 1)))),
                    Container(
                        alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                        decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                            image: DecorationImage(
                                image: AssetImage(
                                    'images/90f1ba99d38e9dd5fd95985b285511c80b049868.png'),
                                fit: BoxFit.contain)),
                        height: 30,
                        width: 30,
                        margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 16)),
                    Container(
                        alignment: Alignment.topLeft,
                        decoration: const BoxDecoration(
                            image: DecorationImage(
                                image: AssetImage(
                                    'images/e452b6284aca760c898d5d5ca13a4847e85ff002.png'),
                                fit: BoxFit.contain)),
                        height: 30,
                        width: 30,
                        margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 12, right: 17))
                  ], crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.center)),
              width: MediaQuery.of(context).size.width * 1.000,
              height: 70,
              margin: EdgeInsets.only(left: 7, right: 10, top: 44))
        ], crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start));
  }
} Try convert your design into Flutter - it would be great to have your feedback. Codis is currently in its beta stage,  we're working hard to improve the quality of the code.

How to a Make Flutter Screen in 2 Minutes

The popularity of online virtual data rooms has increased over the years. These are innovative software used for safe storage and sharing of files. As the world is modernizing, people are using advanced technology to carry out their daily tasks. As everything today is digital, it becomes more and more crucial to look for new methods to store files. Gone are the days when people used to pile up hard copies of all the files in the offices. Some people are still seen doing that which wastes half of their time. Imagine you have a business meeting in some time and you can’t find a specific file because there is a huge unorganized bundle of files in your office. With virtual data rooms, all your files are well organized. You do not have to get into a hassle of finding a certain file. With just one click, the file appears in front of you in no time. A file system that is well managed virtual data room can ensure that all your files are kept safe and no information is leaked. You can give access only to the people you want to share them with. Virtual data rooms have a wide range of benefits. Some of them are as follows. 1. Give access to anyone from anywhere A virtual data room can be accessed from literally anywhere around the world. Now you do not have to worry about forgetting a certain file at home or misplacing the file. All your files can be accessed in no time with just one click. Furthermore, you can control who you give access to. Given the access, the files can be made available to anyone. 2. Virtual data rooms are secured They are the safest platforms for your files. There is tough competition in business. Many eyes are preying onto your confidential files. A singleleakage of any confidential information might cause big damage to your company. With virtual data rooms, there is no possibility of information leakage, as all the files are highly secured. You can give only the right people, constant access to your files. 3. A well-organized system Virtual data rooms are well organized. These highly maintained data rooms make any file available to you in no time. With just one click, you can have hands-on the file you want. The handling of files in hard copy is a process full of hassle. You have to go through piles of files to find a single file, which literally drives a person half crazy. Technology has introduced so many shortcuts, then why not make use of them to make our lives much easier and happier? With a virtual data room, you can display all the beneficial information in one place. Having everything gathered in one place actually reflects professionalism. Your company seems more trustworthy and people are attracted more towards it.

The Three Basic Benefits of a Virtual Data Room

Depth estimation and stereo image super-resolution are well-known tasks in the field of computer vision. To help researchers get high-quality training data for these tasks, industry-leading lightfield hardware provider Leia Inc. used their social media app, Holopix™, to create Holopix50k, the world’s largest “in-the-wild” stereo image dataset. To learn more about the dataset, we spoke with , one of the lead computer vision researchers involved in Holopix50k’s development. Puneet Kohli Kohli has worked for many large companies in the past, such as Amazon and Barclays. He led the Computer Vision Engineering and R&D efforts at Leia Inc., developing core algorithms and tools for understanding 3D scenes. What is Holopix50k? Holopix50k is a large-scale in-the-wild stereo image dataset that contains 49,368 image pairs. These image pairs were all contributed by users of the Holopix™ mobile platform. Leia Inc. is using their computer vision research to enhance the experience of viewing content on their Leia powered lightfield devices such as phones, tablets, and automotive displays. “The most exciting use cases of Holopix50x are for stereo computer vision tasks like self-supervised depth estimation and stereo super-resolution,” says Kohli. Super resolution is simply the upscaling of lower resolution images into a higher resolution, without updating or changing the hardware of your device. Researchers are exploring neural networks that can estimate how a low resolution image would look in a higher resolution and display that estimation in real-time. The goal in the end would be improved graphical rendering on various devices, with lower GPU costs. “These are well-known tasks in the computer vision community, but to-date there has been no academic dataset as large as Holopix50k focusing on in-the-wild scenarios,” says Kohli. “Holopix50kwill enable researchers to train deep learning models that are trained on mobile photography and the diverse scenarios found in real-life.” PASSRNet [56] trained on Holopix50k Rendering input from the KITTI dataset As you can see from the image above, networks trained on Holopix50k are able to upscale low-res images strikingly close to the ground truth image data. Aside from lightfield devices, this technology can also be used for improving graphics in virtual reality and mixed reality headsets. In the security sector, it can be used to provide HD video surveillance at a larger scale with lower hardware costs. Super resolution can improve virtually any device that displays images or videos for entertainment, educational, or business purposes. The Holopix Social Network is Leia Inc.’s flagship social network mobile app which is similar to other image sharing apps like Instagram but is focused on lightfield content, as opposed to ‘flat’ images. Holopix Holopix is similar to Instagram, in the sense that users can see posts in a feed-view from other users, and upload their own images. The difference is that users upload multi-view images which can have two or more views, and are converted into a lightfield image, using Leia’s proprietary computer vision technology. What is Lightfield Content? Lightfields (or light fields) add a new layer of immersion to images and videos by capturing and displaying the same image from many angles. It is a new visual medium based on an old idea called integral photography by Gabriel Lippman in 1908. Image via Cubicle Ninjas Lightfields give images an illusion of depth, and have various applications in AR, VR, and MR technologies. “Lightfields transform existing device displays with lighting effects, texture and 3D depth,” says Kohli. “It creates a richer experience, making content more beautiful and engaging. When viewed on a Leia device, lightfield images on Holopix stand out with depth and an immersive head-tilt based parallax effect.” Pictures from Holopix are also available on the web, viewed as a Parallax animation. Below are some examples of lightfield images hosted on the Holopix website: Burrito Bowl Image Giraffe Image Birthday Selfie The Benefits of Collecting Data “In-the-Wild” “In a laboratory setting, there is a limited amount of data you can collect,” says Kohli. “For example, if we wanted to create an image dataset of water bottles, we would have to first import and collect as many different types of water bottles we can and take photos of them in our lab”. Mosaic of images from the Holopix Platform “Although we might have collected a large amount of water bottle photos, I may not have covered the large diversity of water bottles available due to a variety of reasons. MaybeI we are not able to procure them past what’s available in our nearby stores, or perhaps there are many custom bottles that I do not have access to. Furthermore, I may not have the time, budget, or physical storage resources to extensively collect all these water bottles! Of course, this is just one example, but the general problem is quite similar.” "We are constrained by our own capabilities." “On the contrary, if we went for an ‘in-the-wild’ approach, where we collected images of water bottles from the internet, or social media, we might be able to collect a larger amount of images, with more unique types of bottles. Of course, we still need to put in the effort involved in collecting and curating such a dataset, but given the scale we can reach through such crowd-sourced means, we could say confidently that we’d have a much larger set of images.” Holopix50k is 5x Larger than Benchmark Stereo Image Datasets Examples of diverse content in Holopix50k “What we are most proud of is the sheer size of our dataset, which is five times larger than the 2nd largest comparable dataset,” says Kohli. “Going into a bit more detail, our HD split which contains images at 720p (0.92Mpx resolution) contains 36k images, and is not only the largest HD dataset, but also has the highest resolution after the Middleburry benchmark dataset.” “What surprised us the most is that Holopix50k was quite consistent in the results across various metrics, and performed relatively well despite the huge size. For example, our complete dataset has the highest score in SR Metric. Our SD set, which contains only the 360p images has an even higher score in this metric.” Accuracy of Holopix50k “In-house we have already built some neural networks based off of the Holopix50k dataset which are shown in our paper,” Kohli explains. “These networks are currently used in various projects at Leia, including Holopix™. We also built a pipeline for which used some of the Holopix50k data for qualitative results.” GPU-Accelerated Mobile Multiview Style Transfer The above image displays disparity maps produced by Monodepth2 models on samples from the Middlebury (Left) and MPI Sintel (Right) datasets, respectively. The (a) column shows results of the model trained on KITTI, whereas the (b) column shows results of the model trained on Holopix50k. The Future of Holopix50k “Given that we’ve released Holopix50k for the research community to use and build models with, we are excited to see new neural networks trained using the Holopix50k dataset for a variety of computer vision tasks,” says Kohli. “We envision that it will be used to fine-tune existing methods. Furthermore, we hope it will be used to train novel methods to improve the generalization of networks to ‘in-the-wild’ scenarios.” The team at Leia also plans to update the dataset in coming years with additional data they collect from the Holopix platform. The full Holopix50k stereo image dataset can be downloaded from . Please note that the dataset is only available for non-commercial research purposes. The full license can be found on the . Github project page Previously published on: https://lionbridge.ai/articles/holopix50k-a-new-benchmark-for-stereo-image-super-resolution-and-depth-estimation/

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