Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category
Friday, March 3rd, 2017
Get the scoop from Chandra Sekhar Saripaka, who is a Senior Data Engineer at DataSpark.
Chandra is an experienced software engineer with more than 10 years in the IT field that included stints in major banks.
An aspiring Big Data scientist should look no further than Chandra Sekhar Saripaka.
Chandra has had an illustrious career since graduating from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, India.
He began his career with Laser Soft Infosystems (a Polaris company) in 1995 where he progressed rapidly to become a senior software engineer leading a team of 13 before joining Franklin Templeton Investments one-and-a-half years later as a senior software analyst.
Chandra went on to join OpenText as an Advanced Software Engineer for two years, Standard Chartered Bank as a Senior Software Engineer and Framework Specialist for a further two years, and Barclays Investment Bank as a Big Data Lead for a year – before commencing his current job with Singtel and DataSpark in May 2014 as a Data Scientist.
As a Senior Data Engineer with DataSpark, he was one of two speakers from the company who participated in Strata + Hadoop World 2016 in Singapore, a conference which attracted the top minds around the world working on Big Data and analytics.
Chandra spoke on how to go “from telco data to spatial-temporal intelligence APIs”, by “architecting through microservices”.
He explained in detail the production architecture at DataSpark and how it works through terabytes of spatial-temporal telco data each day in PaaS mode.
Chandra also shared with fellow data scientists attending his talk how the platform operates in SaaS mode.
Chandra’s in-depth knowledge of Big Data makes him the best person to give pointers to an aspiring IT engineer in the field.
I’ve asked Chandra to share his valuable insights on carving a career in this intensely competitive arena.
What must today’s IT worker do to get a foothold in Big Data?
Chandra: There is a paradigm shift in the way traditional software is being transformed into data-driven software.
With the rise of many small and medium startups in the market, various cloud-ready tools – in terms of storage, compute, processing and visualisation – have emerged.
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Tags:analytics, Big Data, data, data science, DataSpark, Government, Hadoop, mobility, Singapore, SingTel, Spark, Strata, telco
Posted in Big Data, DataSpark, Enterprise IT, Events, events, Interview, Interview, Opinion, SingTel | No Comments »
Thursday, March 2nd, 2017
Ying Shao Wei – Chief Operating Officer, DataSpark – was one of the distinguished speakers in Strata + Hadoop World Singapore to helm a session attended by fellow data scientists and C-suite leaders as he shared his insights into the analysis of “mobility as a vital sign of people and the economy”.
Strata + Hadoop World Singapore 2016 saw the congregation, in Singapore, of thought leaders in the Big Data analytics and insights arena, enabling practitioners to learn through the sharing of experiences and exchange of ideas. It also provided participants the opportunity to network for future collaboration.
To understand more about Big Data and where it is heading, I sat down with Ying to tap his insights into the trends and prospects of Big Data in this fast-paced sector.
Big Data is the buzz word in the world of Enterprise IT. However, to the man in the street, how does Big Data affect them in their daily lives?
Ying Shao Wei: There are significant ways in which Big Data is already benefiting the man in the street.
Ying is a veteran in the Big Data sector with deep expertise in telecommunications and Government sectors in multiple geographies across Asia.
The Imperial College graduate had served as a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore, and was an Associate Principal in McKinsey and Company, before joining Singtel as Head of Strategy and Analytics in the Digital Life Group of the leading telco in Singapore.
Since 2014, Ying has led DataSpark as its COO, transforming the fledgling startup into an innovative Big Data analytics and insights powerhouse which leverages a variety of datasets and technologies to address geo-spatial needs across multiple industries.
Big Data enables the huge amount of customer feedback – through online reviews and social media – to be processed so that companies have a better chance of responding to and acting quickly upon such feedback.
So with Big Data, customers are more likely to have their preferences addressed.
When you visit an e-commerce website, you will be provided more relevant recommended products and services, thanks to recommendation systems enabled by Big Data.
Because of Big Data, I am able to see and sense my surrounding environment with better clarity than ever before.
When I use online maps to navigate or plan for a journey, I am using Big Data to save tremendous time and effort in getting from one place to another.
With Big Data, mobile subscribers are also now getting better network experiences when they use their mobile broadband connections.
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Tags:analytics, Big Data, data, data science, DataSpark, Government, Hadoop, mobility, Singapore, SingTel, Spark, Strata, telco, Ying Shao Wei
Posted in Big Data, Business IT, DataSpark, Enterprise IT, Events, events, Interview, Interview, Opinion, Technology | No Comments »
Thursday, January 12th, 2017
Singapore startup Touché launches what it boasts to be the World’s first Biometric Loyalty & Payment Solution platform.
Startup Touché CEO Sahba Saint-Claire (right) with CTO German Ruiz holding the Touche biometric payments terminal. Businesses are charged a pre-agreed monthly all-in flat-fee for the solution that includes the hardware, which processes payments through DBS Bank.
CEO Sahba shared with me the company’s roll-out plans.
Hopefully we’ll see pilot roll-outs in Singapore from February and in Japan from March.
Grignoter: This Bordeaux wine restaurant was the venue for Singapore startup Touché to launch its Biometric Loyalty & Payment Solution platform.To the left is Chef Justin in the blue shirt, opposite him is Touche CEO Sahba Saint-Claire.
The company now has 23 staff based in Singapore and Barcelona.
CTO German briefed me on the state of payments processing in the industry and the standards currently in place and being developed.
Sahba tells me that in just 3 months, 50 restaurants, 20 hotels and 5 private social clubs have shown interest in taking up this solution in Singapore; while discussions are being held with the potential partners, departmental stores, malls, technology firms, and retail chains etc.
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Tags:#Touche #startups #payments #identity #fintech #Singapore #Japan, t4tEvents
Posted in Accessories, Business IT, Dine & Wine, Events, events, Gadgets, gadgets, Launch, Lifestyle, newArrivals, News, Opinion, t4tEvents, Tickers | No Comments »
Saturday, October 29th, 2016
The “Beyond Boundaries” photo exhibition showcases Laxmi’s photos from multiple visits to the Kashmir. This story first appeared on The Travel Memoir.
Here you can see the photographer, Laxmi Kaul with one of her subjects.. A juxtaposition of the modern Indian woman with one in traditional garb.
Beyond Boundaries presents Laxmi Kaul and her journey with the people and nomads of Kashmir, where life is about simplicity, serenity and sincerity.
“After shooting in a highly turbulent & conflict–ridden area, I have realized that it is the everyday lives of the people living there that matter to me. They are the ones who makes me want to go back to and continue to narrate their stories. Their daily lives & cultures. I have discovered there is something special in the everyday; for one, we are alive,” said Laxmi Kaul.
What goes on around the borders?
Sometimes life is about the unplanned moments, the appreciation of nature and how civilisations interact.
Laxmi Kaul is a self -taught professional photographer, having started photography at a young age when she saw her father’s passion for making images.
Since then, she has never looked back.
Despite being a commercial photographer, she still holds people and documentary photography closest to her heart.
Laxmi connects with spirituality in daily life and travels with a patriotic zeal.
This photo is one of many beautiful shots that Laxmi Kaul is exhibiting at the Leica Galleries Singapore at Raffles Hotel Singapore from now till 5 December, 2016. Photo credit: Laxmi Kaul.
She believes the camera is her tool and photography is an extension of her very being.
(more…)
Tags:exhibition, Laxmi Kaul, Leica, photography, photos, Singapore, travel
Posted in audioVisual, events, Interview, Leica, Opinion, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Press Release, travel | No Comments »
Saturday, June 11th, 2016
As a follow up on the opinion piece that Tony Jarvis contributed yesterday on Endpoint Protection, I asked him to share his take on the Singapore Government’s move to cut Internet access from work computers used by civil servants from May next year.
Tony Jarvis is the Chief Strategist (Asia, Middle East and Africa) for Check Point Software Technologies.
Below are some of his personal views
Question: Is banning internet the right approach to securing government?
There is no right or wrong approach around banning the Internet.
At first glance, the decision to ban Internet access might seem extreme.
Background
The Singapore Government is cutting off Internet connections from work computers used officially by public servants from May 2017, in an effort to plug potential leaks from work emails and shared documents – amidst today’s advanced security threats.
Employees can still surf the Web on their personal smartphones and tablets since these devices are not connected to the government network.
Dedicated Internet terminals will be issued to those who need them in work.
However, it is important to note that this decision will have been made after careful review, taking into consideration a number of factors.
For example, removing access to the Internet will bring with it the benefit of reducing exposure to many threats.
Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of the productivity and effectiveness of the organisation and its employees.
These are policy decisions made by organisations, in this case, the government, and we are certain that they have considered multiple aspects.
This particular case highlights the ongoing challenge organisations have remaining secure in a connected world.
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Tags:byline, Check Point, civil service, endpoint, Government, guest blog, Hyperwise, Internet, interview, opinion, security, Singapore, Tony Jarvis
Posted in Business IT, Interview, Opinion, Security | No Comments »
Friday, June 10th, 2016
The Singapore Government is cutting off Internet connections from work computers used officially by public servants from May 2017, in an effort to plug potential leaks from work emails and shared documents – amidst today’s advanced security threats.
I invited Tony Jarvis from Check Point Software Technologies to share his opinion on how best to secure an organisation’s network and IT assets. This guest blog is written by him.
Tony Jarvis is the Chief Strategist (Asia, Middle East and Africa) for Check Point Software Technologies.
With every detection of a new threat, the security landscape evolves and attackers are no longer just looking at inventive ways to infiltrate a network but also innovative evasion techniques and the damage it will inflict.
“To say the security landscape is constantly changing would be an understatement,” says Tony Jarvis, Chief Strategist (Asia, Middle East and Africa) for Check Point Software Technologies.
What really matters is how vendors respond to the ever-evolving landscape and not just make incremental enhancements to existing solutions that still predominantly focus on detection, rather than prevention.
With the numerous acquisitions and layoffs being announced, the real question that CIOs and CISOs need to ask is: “Is my security vendor in for the long run?”
Central to any effective security strategy is the ability to stop threats before the initial compromise.
The only way to do this is with prevention.
Many vendors simply can’t do it, which is why they talk about detection.
I also asked Tony specifically for his take on the Singapore Government’s move to cut Internet access from work computers used by civil servants from May next year.
Here are more of his opinions in a Q&A format.
The majority of solutions being deployed today rely on a detection capability, with some requiring users to choose whether infected files should be quarantined or allowed to pass through.
Not only is this intrusive to the user experience, it’s also prone to human error.
Inflexible deployment models calling for an all or nothing use of cloud or private malware analysis fail to meet many customers’ requirements.
To make matters worse, the sandboxing process often takes too long, giving malware plenty of time to get to work before its presence becomes known.
(more…)
Tags:byline, Check Point, civil service, endpoint, Government, guest blog, Hyperwise, Internet, interview, opinion, security, Singapore, Tony Jarvis
Posted in Enterprise IT, Interview, Opinion, Security | No Comments »
Thursday, June 2nd, 2016
Businesses compete today in an increasingly digital marketplace, with stakeholders that expect innovative, personalised and efficient interactions with modern digital businesses via interconnected digital technologies.
Brent Michael Nulf shares how enterprises can accelerate their speed of innovation through the adoption of APIs and Microservices.
Following the two keynote presentations at the one-day thought leadership conference by IBM in Singapore, there were two concurrent one-and-a-half-hour Garage Tracks, one on accelerating the speed of innovation and the second on insights-driven IT. I followed the former to find out more about how to extend infrastructure investments to drive innovation. This is the first presentation in this Track.
Brent Michael Nulf – who is a Business Unit Executive for MobileFirst Platform & Cloud, Asia Pacific, IBM Corporation – cited Starbucks, Peugeot and CitiBank as examples of companies that had reaped huge returns by disrupting through digitisation of their businesses.
Brent Michael Nulf on how to industrialise innovation
- Use design thinking to create better user experiences
- Launch of microservices with frequent feature updates
- Adopt cloud-based delivery that make it easy to grow.
- Leverage customer insight by connecting existing systems and data
- Empower employees with real-time mobile analytics
- Build an ecosystem of partners large and small. Eg. Run hackathons with partners to generate new innovative ideas.
The world’s most successful digital enterprises – such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, eBay, Salesforce.com – are leveraging an API-base architecture to enable innovation and power growth.
Valuable business assets are exposed as APIs that are consumed by App Developers to develop innovative apps that result in a delightful experience for customers.
However, within enterprises, a fine balance needs to be struck between the demands by the lines of business for fast speed and agility in the digital ecosystem, against the slower pace of the IT departments for integration and scaling of the core enterprise to ensure stability.
The answer to this “Multi-Speed” conundrum is Microservices, which involves the implementation of the SOA architecture to create small autonomous services that work well together.
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Tags:acebook, API, AT&T Innovation, CitiBank, cloud, disruptive, eBay, Gilt, Google, IBM, IBM API Connect, IBM Hybrid Cloud., IBM MobileFirst, IBM SolutionsConnect 2016, LinkedIn, microservices, Netflix, Node.js, PayPal, Peugeot, Salesforce.com, Singapore, SOA, SolutionsConnect, Starbucks, technology, Twitter, Wallmart
Posted in App, Business IT, Cloud, Enterprise IT, Events, events, IBM, Opinion, Reference, Seminars, Software, software, Wiki | No Comments »
Thursday, June 2nd, 2016
Disruption enables enterprises to cut costs involved in technologies whilst reducing the inefficiencies. Alan Lim shares how IBM Blockchain Labs can help you apply blockchain technology to make more efficient an application that is core to your business.
If your business is based on a network of partners, dealers, suppliers and customers; and if your success is based on a system that can be disrupted; AND if you want to become the next disruptor, you should take a serious look at Blockchain technology.
Enterprises can now leverage on the structured approach for an application or a system based on Blockchain tenets.
Blockchain technology is suitable for any enterprise that involves multi-party, multi-layered transactions.
“Blockchain is the next stage of digitisation,” said Raymond Wong – Country Manager, Software, IBM Singapore – during his welcome address for IBM’s one-day thought leadership conference (“Technology Leadership in the Cognitive Era”) in Singapore.
Blockchain entails the principle of a shared ledger with shared data, leading to visibility of not only the entire history of transactions, but also the customer’s relationship data.
Alan Lim noted that some US$1 billion has been spent on Blockchain technology, and that the investment is moving away from BitCoin specific to the underlying Blockchain technology.
Lim is a Lead Software Architect with IBM Software.
Enterprises do not work in silos, instead they thrive in business networks, generating wealth in the marketplace through the transference of goods and services.
The key then is how to engineer trust among the various parties, especially when it is a challenge to monitor asset ownership and transfers/transactions.
Blockchain technology is based on a concept of a decentralised consensus network, introducing replicated, shared, permissioned ledgers for transparency, whilst privacy is maintained by ensuring that relevant parties can only see what they need.
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Tags:Blockchain, disruptive, IBM, IBM Garage, IBM SolutionsConnect 2016, Singapore, SolutionsConnect, technology
Posted in Blockchain, Business IT, Enterprise IT, Events, events, Howtos, IBM, Opinion, Reference, Seminars, Software, Technology, Wiki | No Comments »
Thursday, June 2nd, 2016
With the blistering pace at which technology develops in this cognitive era, the mantra of the day is “disrupt or be disrupted”. IBM explores the possibilities of exploiting disruptive cutting-edge technologies through real-life case studies of how industry leaders have transformed their organisations and markets to lead the pack.
I am at a one-day thought leadership conference held by technology leader IBM at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre in Singapore. The conference will discuss leading-edge technologies that organisations can exploit to win. I’m looking forward to the solutions showcase that will demo the latest in cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics, amongst other technologies of the day.
Brett Michael Nulf brought delegates through various examples of how technology-driven disruptions had decimated many traditional leaders in various industries in recent years, emphasising the importance for enterprises to stay vigilant in order to avoid getting eliminated because of disruption from existing competitors and new startups.
The impetus for disruptive innovation
At the rate at which devices proliferate, their numbers will reach 75 billion by 2020. In fact, some ninety percent of data created was in the last two years because of this proliferation of devices.
Computing systems nowadays are increasingly capable of taking in unstructured data in its many forms though IoT and the rise of the API economy. This has led to the rise of cognitive computing which is transforming digital organisations into cognitive enterprises.
As a result, new business models are emerging, with many of these based on mobile strategies.
New disruptive businesses are leveraging the confluence of analytics, IoT and cloud to create new applications, putting them ahead of incumbent leaders entrenched in legacy technologies.
To succeed in this competitive race, enterprises must be nimble and creative, despite their size.
In order to do this, winners need to accelerate innovation by evolving a progressive technology mindset, mastering technologies such as hybrid clouds and integrating into the API economy.
He mused at how more than seventy percent of companies have dropped off the Fortune 500 list, with the “Unicorn Club” of privately-funded startups reaching US$1bn in value becoming increasingly crowded.
Nulf is a Business Unit Executive for MobileFirst Platform & Cloud, Asia Pacific, IBM Corporation.
He cautioned that although the Fintech arena is currently seeing the most disruptions, other industries are also prone to technology-driven disruptions, such as in manufacturing, healthcare, and even traditional sectors with a long history – such as consumer packaged goods.
An interesting phenomenon that Nulf described was what he called the “Uber syndrome – where a competitor with a completely different business model enters your industry and flattens you”.
It was an interesting example where the innovative newcomer (in this case Uber) enjoyed rapidly growing revenue and market share at the expense of traditional taxis – while the overall pie remained the same.
One key reason why these disruptive newcomers do so well is the speed with which they move and innovate.
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Tags:API, Cisco, cognitive, disruptive, Flipkart, Google, GrabTaxi, IBM, IBM SolutionsConnect 2016, Kickstarter, Netflix, SAP, Singapore, SolutionsConnect, technology, VMware, WeChat, Yes Bank
Posted in Big Data, Business IT, Cloud, Enterprise IT, Events, events, IBM, Mobile, Opinion, SAP, Seminars, Technology, Uncategorized, VMware | No Comments »
Thursday, May 26th, 2016
Jimmy Fitzgerald – Vice President of Asia Pacific & Japan at ServiceNow – shares six ways to help your employees work smarter, not harder. This guest blog was contributed by Fitzgerald.
Jimmy Fitzgerald’s team at ServiceNow helps customers to eliminate reliance on email, spreadsheets and other manual processes so their employees can work smarter, not harder.
In recent years, online retail platforms such as Zalora have truly streamlined their processes of browsing, checkout and payment, wooing shoppers with their speed, efficiency and superior user experience.
Consumers in Singapore now hold speedy deliveries and seamless experiences as the standard when they shop online.
(more…)
Tags:byline, guest blog, Jimmy Fitzgerald, opinion, ServiceNow
Posted in Business IT, Enterprise IT, Howtos, Interview, Opinion, Reference, Tips | No Comments »
