Summary Bullets:

• New processor chip design platforms from Arm will strengthen and deepen Arm’s importance within the data center technology industry.

• These developments increase the competitive and other pressures currently facing Intel, and could also jeopardize NVIDIA’s proposed acquisition of Arm.

Arm’s latest chip design platforms will strengthen and deepen the UK’s firm’s importance within the data center technology industry. This will increase the competitive and other pressures currently facing Intel, which are chipping away at Intel’s dominance in the data center processor space. It could also jeopardize NVIDIA’s proposed $40 billion (£29 billion) acquisition of Arm, which is currently under investigation by the UK government.

Continue reading “Arm’s Growing Clout in Data Center Technology Threatens Intel and Potentially NVIDIA’s Planned Takeover” →

Summary Bullets:

• IBM and eProvenance recently announced the availability of VinAssure, a blockchain-based solution for the wine industry that helps users address traditional supply chain challenges.
• Although VinAssure is off to a good start with its first member, a growing membership will help to reinforce the new solution’s strength and utility.

IBM and eProvenance, a Franco-American company that specializes in monitoring wine shipment conditions, recently unveiled plans to create a new wine industry ecosystem by harnessing the power of blockchain.  Central to this initiative will be VinAssure, a new, IBM blockchain-powered platform that is designed to provide users with a more insightful and secure way of tracking wines as they move through the distribution and transportation process from vineyard to consumer.  For example, using existing identifiers, such as a QR code on the bottle, consumers will be able to learn about a wine’s provenance and flavor profiles, or whether it meets certification standards for organic, biodynamic, or sustainability practices.  Similarly, retailers will be able access information about a wine’s production environment or the conditions in which the wine was transported. Continue reading “IBM and eProvenance Deploy Blockchain to Address Wine Industry Supply Chain Challenges” →

Summary Bullets:

• HPE’s SBC-2 computer system on the International Space Station will enable advanced data processing in support of space-based research, while connecting to Microsoft’s Azure cloud on Earth.
• Despite SBC-2’s potential, the new computer system will be vulnerable to the same environmental challenges as its predecessor.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Microsoft have joined forces to combine the potential of HPE’s edge computing technology and Microsoft’s cloud computing capabilities in outer space. HPE’s Spaceborne Computer-2 (SBC-2) system – soon to be deployed on the International Space Station (ISS) – will enable many new activities on the space station that require advanced data processing. It will also connect via satellite to Microsoft’s cloud data centers on Earth for more demanding requirements. However, despite the potential offered by SBC-2, the new computer system will be vulnerable to the same environmental challenges as its predecessor. Continue reading “Microsoft and HPE Bring Advanced Data Processing and Cloud Computing to Space Station” →

Summary Bullets:

• There a growing interest in how blockchain, a distributed ledger technology (DLT), can help governments and health authorities address the challenges associated with COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

• However, several hurdles and barriers mean that specific blockchain-based initiatives are likely to be slow to materialize and may never be fully realizable on a global scale.

With some countries, including Russia and the United Kingdom, having already started vaccinating populations against COVID-19, and with others expected to follow suit in the coming weeks, there is a growing interest in how blockchain could help governments and health authorities address some of the many challenges associated with vaccine distribution and dissemination. Continue reading “Blockchain Won’t be a Global Solution for COVID-19 Vaccination Plans Anytime Soon” →

Summary Bullets:

• The transatlantic voyage of the Mayflower robotic ship will be an important testbed for the use of edge computing and artificial intelligence at sea.
• Potential use cases for commercial autonomous ships include marine research, ocean clean-up, remote marine pilotage, and defense.

On September 16, the UK’s first robotic ship, named the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, will embark on a transatlantic voyage from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts, retracing the route of the original Mayflower on the 400th anniversary of its crossing. The transatlantic voyage of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship will be an important testbed for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing, and is widely expected to pave the way both for the development of commercial autonomous ships and for the advancement of use cases ranging from marine research and defense to remote marine pilotage and ocean cleanup. Continue reading “Mayflower Voyage Opens Up a New World of Opportunity for Edge Computing and AI” →

Summary Bullets:

• Altran of the Capgemini Group has enhanced its Ensconce-branded edge computing platform with Intel software, in a move that specifically targets the needs of application developers.
• Altran is one of several companies now targeting the edge computing requirements of app developers, a trend that will necessitate vendors to differentiate around features, functionality, and flexibility.

As a growing number of companies target emerging opportunities associated with edge computing, some have begun to differentiate their edge IT offerings with solutions that address the specific needs of application developers. In doing so, they are acknowledging the central role developers will play in driving new market growth opportunities, especially those based on new, high-performance, low-latency applications and digital services. Continue reading “Altran’s Latest Platform Enhancements Acknowledge the Central Role of App Developers in Driving Emerging Edge IT Opportunities” →

Summary Bullets:

• The market for edge computing solutions is becoming increasingly competitive as the hyperscale cloud providers announce new service offerings and telco partnerships.
• Going forward, solution providers will benefit from efforts to more clearly demonstrate and articulate the use cases and advantages of edge computing.

The recent launch of AWS Snowcone represents a further moment of intensification in the increasingly competitive market for edge infrastructure solutions. AWS Snowcone is a new edge computing and data transfer device from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is the smallest member of the AWS Snow Family of devices. At just under five pounds, the solution is designed to be highly portable and able to fit in a standard mailbox or a small backpack. It is also designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions and support a range of use cases outside the traditional data center – especially those that lack consistent network connectivity. Although Snowcone customers with internet connectivity will be able to send data to the AWS cloud using Ethernet or WiFi with AWS DataSync, one interesting innovation is the option to ship the device to AWS. This makes it suitable for edge use cases without any network connectivity, including drilling platforms, military operation sites, and remote filming locations. Continue reading “Recent Investments and Team-Ups by AWS, Microsoft, and Google Demonstrate Their Intent to ‘Play It Big’ in Emerging Edge IT” →

Summary Bullets:

• A blockchain’s scalability is currently limited by the amount of power it consumes and the time lag involved when processing transactions across its distributed ledger.
• By enabling local data processing and storage, edge computing could offer a solution to blockchain’s current scalability limitations.

The disruptions to global and local supply chains which occurred as a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis have refocused attention on the ability of blockchain to enhance supply chain resilience. However, blockchain continues to face several basic challenges that prevent the technology from becoming truly scalable. These include the amount of power it consumes and the time lag that is involved when processing transactions across its distributed ledger. As a blockchain expands, both its power consumption and the amount of data processing latency increase, with inhibiting implications for platform scalability. Continue reading “Edge Computing Could Offer a Solution to Blockchain’s Limitations” →

Summary Bullets:

• Edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT) innovation could play a major role in helping to drive a post COVID-19 recovery for the UK economy.
• Initiatives to harness the benefits of edge computing will need to be collaborative, as well as addressing important questions about architecture design, energy use and security.

Edge computing involves the use of computer processing, data storage and analytics capabilities close to the places where data is collected and where digital content and applications are consumed. Edge computing is increasingly seen as an essential enabling technology for a wide range of applications related to IoT, including environmental monitoring and traffic optimization sensors as well as IoT solutions that support energy and water management in social housing and public sector buildings. Local processing capabilities remove the need to send data to far-off data centres for processing, therefore accelerating the speed at which IoT sensor data can be processed and acted on. An associated benefit is the lower bandwidth and storage consumption costs that can be gained by not having to send large volumes of data to be processed elsewhere. Continue reading “COVID-19: IoT and Edge Computing Could Support Green Recovery for UK Economy” →