Atera, which makes a joint RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) and PSA (Professional Services Automation) platform with a single code base, has announced a new release with a broad range of enhancements. Chief among them are the addition of auto-healing scripts, and enhanced out-of-the-box monitoring, both of which reduce the amount of work an MSP has to do.

One significant addition is the addition of Auto Healing Scripts, which trigger a script to run when a threshold level is exceeded.

This is a very key thing, because it allows the MSP to build a set of automated actions and reactions, said Gil Pekelman, Ateras CEO. And its all automated, so they dont have to do it again in the future. Anything that is automated in autohealing is work the MSP wont have to do.

It extends the monitoring path once a threshold is reached so you can react automatically with a script, said Oshri Moyal, VP of Research and Development at Atera. If you are close to running out of disk space, for example, you will automatically clean the disk.

Enhanced out-of-the-box monitoring has also been added, which include allowing MSPs to select multiple events in one threshold item.

In feedback, this was high on the list of missing features, Moyal said.

Users have said we want a lot more monitored out of the box, Pekelman said, But how much do you monitor, thats the issue. If you monitor too much, you get lots of false positives and you run around chasing them, and if you monitor too little, you dont get alerts when you need them. A few things are absolutely essential, but beyond that, its tough to determine what gives you the biggest bang for your buck. We have effectively engaged in Crowdsourcing to get feedback, and have given what the crowd has told us they wanted. We added new capabilities out of the box so there is less work to do. Combined with autohealing, where things will be automatically fixed for you, you become more efficient.

The Splashtop remote app has now been fully integrated into the Atera system.

We started with a tool for remote management that we developed ourselves, but we decided to focus on our core competency and we released the integration with Splashtop in September, Pekelman said. Then, you still had to go through Splashtop and get a Splashtop account. Now, when you sign up with Atera you are fully connected. You dont have to set up another account or deal with a third party.

The agent installation process has been streamlined through newly integrated troubleshooting diagnostics, improving the speed and ease of installing agents.

Oshri Moyal, Ateras VP of Research and Development

What we have done here is taken how we handled support cases, and turned it into a piece of software, Moyal said. Our diagnostic tool checks connectivity and in one click finds potential issues when an MSP installs an agent that can the MSP how to fix the problem.

Atera doesnt charge per agent, and so this troubleshooting capability is especially valuable here. Pekelman stated. We dont believe in support, not in this day and age. You dont call Google and Facebook for support. We have a very dedicated support team, but we dont want you to have to call them.

Other improvements beyond the automation ones include the addition of Integrated Wake-on-LAN (WoL) capabilities, which Moyal said was among their most requested enhancements, and which lets a computer to be turned on or awakened directly from the Atera console.

This is a very cool feature, Pekelman said. If a server is down and off and you need to access it, you dont have to drive over to do that. You just click a button, and it wakes up.

User activity status updates now allow MSPs to see if an account is active, disconnected, idle, or locked before they remotely connect to the workstation.

MSPs say when they connect remotely to a machine, they want to know if user is on the machine or not, so that they will only connect if its idle or disconnected, Moyal stated.

Atera stresses its uniqueness in having the same code for its RMM and PSA capabilities, and Pekelman indicated improvements have been made on the PSA side as well.

We now have automatic email alerts on contracts that are about to expire, and more detailed invoices based on contract type, ticket, and time entry, he said.

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Atera adds multi-faceted automation capabilities in new release of joint RMM-PSA platform - ChannelBuzz.ca

The DevOps Zone is brought to you in partnership with Sonatype Nexus. The Nexus Suite helps scale your DevOps delivery with continuous component intelligence integrated into development tools, including Eclipse, IntelliJ, Jenkins, Bamboo, SonarQube and more. Schedule a demo today.

DevOps is something that everybody wants to do. Since it's being adopted by a large number of software organizations, a lot of confusion is arising. Everybody is practicingDevOps but are they doing it properly? Is there a roadmap for DevOps success?

It depends on the type of the organization. Today, I am going to show you a holistic view of a road map to DevOps success.

For many years, organizations have struggled to adopt and truly become Agile. DevOps to the rescue!

Here's a systematic mapon how to achieve DevOps success:

You must always remember that zero-touch automation is the goal but that doesnt mean that you have to be deploying straight to production. However, if you want to do it, you should be able to do it. It should be so easy that even an operation guy can do it with just a push of a button without needing to SSH bunch of servers.

DevOps is broken into four different blocks:

Along with these four stages, an organization must go through all of the environments as shown in the image.

The goal here should be moving the automation in your organization as far to the right as possible.

The automation is built on these four core pillars.

Your entireenterprise should be using a common image formator a common image on which all your applications will be getting built. This pillar is a way to check thepackaging and to check what versions will installed across the enterprise.

Just running a particular task is not enough. You need to know all of the other tasks that are running, when they were last run, stable versions, artifacts like IP addresses in automation, Docker container tags, etc. All of these things should be systemically available.

You need to know how the entire workflow is happening without needing to go to each thing. You need to be able to see everything in a single pane. This helps visually get an overview of your application automation process and status.

This pillarhas to do with explaining how you deploy, how you scale, etc.

Doing DevOps the right way starts with figuring out the critical processes that you can automate. If you want more information, this DevOps automation process is explained very well in this video.

The DevOps Zone is brought to you in partnership with Sonatype Nexus.Use the Nexus Suite to automate your software supply chain and ensure you're using the highestquality open source components at every step of the development lifecycle. Get Nexus today.

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devops ,devops adoption ,test automation

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Achieving True DevOps Automation - DZone DevOps - DZone News

The world is going through what some people term the fourth industrial revolution, according to Data61 CEO Adrian Turner, led by the rise of automation and an increasingly connected world that relies on devices.

But rather than fearing the change brought about by automation in the workplace, Turner said Australian businesses and governments should focus on creating new jobs that embrace and adapt to these changes.

Speaking at the first day of the Garner 2017 APAC Data & Analytics Summit in Sydney on Monday, Turner said that although 40 percent of jobs won't exist in 15 years because of automation, this 40 percent will roll into new industries. As such, Australian businesses and the federal government should work together to make sure the nation is well prepared.

"The future is not certain and not known, and we have an opportunity to create it en lieu," Turner said. "We've got all the smarts, we got a sense of where it's all going, we have a tremendous opportunity to step up and create new industries that will create new jobs; there's no reason why we shouldn't do it."

Australia actually has a massive advantage over other western economies in implementing these changes through government, according to Turner, because of the nation's relatively small government, the size of its economy, and the quality of the universities.

"We think that Australia is in prime position to lead a whole bunch of new industries. If you think about trying to do some of these things in a market like the US or the EU, it's much more fragmented, it's harder to get everything lined up, whereas in Australia we can."

Turner particularly stressed "underemployment and not unemployment", and said that Australia should look to adapt to changes straight away in areas such as education.

"The reality is the education sector is changing. The challenge is that the market context is changing so quickly that in a four-year degree cycle, you have to think differently about how you teach. We need to do a better job of contextualising why technology matters for graduates and for kids," he said.

"In Israel, they teach kids from 14 years old cybersecurity and the fundamentals of cybersecurity; we don't right now. The government has a role to make sure there's a safety net for us as an economy to help transition."

Companies are adopting new technologies, automation, and data collection methods at an impressive rate, according to Turner, and not only because of operational efficiencies, but also because of the multiple types of natural bias that humans have that can affect the interpretation of data.

As a result, the increasing move towards automation is affecting industries that had previously never been thought of as being susceptible. For example, he said in law, through the application of machine learning and analytics, computers can understand any piece of regulation and break it down into machine-readable objects.

There will, however, be a counterbalance, Turner said, where more opportunities are created because of automation in areas such as in and around the arts, cultural activities, content production, precision medicine, and trading, as well as entertainment. Turner pointed to the US, where in the national security industry, data analysts are looking for a wide range of professionals to derive insight from data -- even artists and philosophers.

He pointed to the belief of Toby Walsh, professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales and Data61, who said that as well as being technically literate, creative thinkers will be fundamental for a systems-thinking point of view and knowing what questions to ask computer systems.

"It's not about this technology replacing jobs, but shifting the nature of jobs. New jobs will be created, make no mistake. It'll be jobs that require a lot of dexterity."

Turner also stressed that some industries will be less affected because there are certain types of jobs that systems and machines will have a hard time replicating. Even a simple manual job such as folding a towel, for example, will always take longer for a robot than for a human.

Australia now needs to recognise those areas where the technology can really make a difference, according to Turner, and past the obvious structural changes that are now necessary because of technology.

"If we take a step back and break it all down, there's actually enormous opportunities for new industries. The world's moving, the models are shifting, we're moving to more rapidly iterate more careers within our career. We shouldn't fear this change, we should embrace it. We should work with the technology.

"What we're moving to -- at a country level, a corporate level, an individual level -- it's really the survival of the digital fittest."

Last year, Gartner predicted virtual personal assistants to become the front-line interface between government and citizens, while government agencies will shift to autonomous business processes and business intelligence capabilities to help humans make better decisions based on context in real time.

"What you'll see as these machines become smarter, more data is fed into them, more real-world experience is extrapolated from them, what you'll see is fewer humans interacting with transactions," said Rick Howard, research vice president at Gartner.

Government CIOs must also adopt threat-aware, risk-based approaches that allow governments to make informed decisions about risks, according to the company, and those that are too slow to adopt technology innovations will increase business risk and cost, while compromising the mission of their organisations.

Gartner predicted worldwide government spending on technology products and services to reach $476.1 billion by 2020.

"By 2020, 30 percent of the transactions we engage in today will no longer exist," Howard said. "The focus is now on effectiveness and outcomes, and the contribution that technology makes to the operations of government."

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Automation must be embraced by government: Data61 - ZDNet

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Certainly there will be taxes that relate to automation. Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, social security tax, all those things, declared Gates. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, youd think that wed tax the robot at a similar level.

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There are many ways to take that extra productivity and generate more taxes. Exactly how youd do it, measure it, you know, its interesting for people to start talking about now, he continued. Some of it can come on the profits that are generated by the labor-saving efficiency there. Some of it can come directly in some type of robot tax. I dont think the robot companies are going to be outraged that there might be a tax. Its OK.

Gates added that you ought to be willing to raise the tax level and even slow down the speed of that adoption somewhat to figure out, OK, what about the communities where this has a particularly big impact? Which transition programs have worked and what type of funding do those require?'

You cross the threshold of job-replacement of certain activities all sort of at once, Gates concluded. So, you know, warehouse work, driving, room cleanup, theres quite a few things that are meaningful job categories that, certainly in the next 20 years, being thoughtful about that extra supply is a net benefit. Its important to have the policies to go with that.

Billionaire and entrepreneur Mark Cuban also claimed robots are going to cause unemployment, posting, Automation is going to cause unemployment and we need to prepare for it, to Twitter on Sunday.

Last week, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk warned that deep A.I. could potentially be dangerous to the human race, who he described as already part-cyborg.

One of the most troubling questions is artificial intelligence. I dont mean narrow A.I deep artificial intelligence, where you can have AI which is much smarter than the smartest human on earth, proclaimed Musk during the World Government Summit in Dubai. This is a dangerous situation.

Pay close attention to the development of artificial intelligence, he continued. Make sure researchers dont get carried away. Scientists get so engrossed in their work they dont realize what they are doing.

In November, Musk also predicted that automated robots would lead to mass unemployment, which he claimed could eventually create a universal wage from the government.

Charlie Nash is a reporterforBreitbart Tech. You can follow himon Twitter@MrNashingtonorlike his page at Facebook.

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Bill Gates Calls for Robot Tax to Offset Jobs Lost to Automation - Breitbart News

The future of automated industries may be playing out in a New York toy fair. As adults worry about whether people will need a basic income to supplement lost earnings from robots taking over jobs, kids are putting together new machines and learning how to make them do their bidding. A new generation will grow up knowing how to make robots their masters.

The 114th North American International Toy Fair, a convention running from February 18th through to the 21st at New York Citys Javits Center, is a center point for new trends in toy technology. This year, 24 exhibitors mention robots in their description. It might sound like childs play, but the products on display show that manufacturers are considering how the robo-revolution will change the demands of future industries.

Its no secret that an economy shifting towards automation will require different sets of skills. The Obama administration produced a report in December looking at robot automation. The report concluded that the best way forward was to invest in artificial intelligence, rethinking the social safety net and, yes, educating Americans so they can take on the jobs needed in the future.

At the Toy Fair, several products are teaching kids how to build their own robots using simplified parts. One example of this is Tinkerbots, which uses simple rearrangeable building blocks, paired with a smartphone app, to create imaginative new designs:

Another product is Tami, a block building system created by Robotron. The blocks are interesting in that they come in both non-robotic and robotic forms. Kids can make simple designs using the basic Tami blocks, before moving onto simple and advanced Robotami kits, some of which use touch and infrared sensors to teach the basics of hardware creation and software programming.

Other toys focus more on the software side than on hardware. WowWee is the creator of Coji, a robot that teaches kids how to code using a smartphone app. The bot responds to input via the app, and its up to kids to work out how various emojis will string together to create commands. Similarly, Wonder Workshop are the makers of the Dash and Dot pair of robots, which interact with smartphone games that teach basic programming logic in an easy-to-understand interface.

The automation of kids toys cant come soon enough. Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims that automation is going to transform the workforce, and a universal basic income will be necessary within 20 years of the first autonomous car hitting the road, which could be as soon as this year. Familiarizing kids with the shifting robot landscape will be crucial to helping the next generation understand this new world of technology.

Photos via Tinkerbots

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Robots Visit NY Toy Fair While Adults Worry About Automation ... - Inverse

One of Michigans largest technology and manufacturing business associations foresees a growth in the tech industry in Oakland County.

The 2017 Technology Industry Report, completed by Troy-based Automation Alley, is a nationwide survey of nearly 400 senior technology and manufacturing executives to determine their knowledge of Industry 4.0, and whether they are ready for the digitization of manufacturing within their company.

Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth industrial revolution, refers to the convergence of digital and physical technologies currently disrupting the manufacturing industry,

We believe that there is a huge opportunity for the technology industry to grow, both in Oakland County and across Southeast Michigan, said Automation Alley Executive Director Tom Kelly.

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(This can be done) by providing their products and services to the manufacturing industry, because the manufacturing industry is planning to spend a lot of money on new technological advancements.

According to the 2017 report, the top three technologies in which companies currently invest are the cloud, cybersecurity and big data/analytics.

Kelly said when it comes to Southeast Michigan and Oakland County, the majority of tech businesses plan to invest in one particular area.

Regionally, we found that manufacturers plan to invest in autonomous robots, said Kelly.

RELATED: Uber opening driverless vehicle research and tech center in Wixom

RELATED: County Executive L. Brooks Patterson says county premier location for advanced vehicle technology

The report highlights where communication gaps exist between technology and manufacturing executives, the lack of company resources dedicated to technological advancements and how Southeast Michigan is ahead of the curve when it comes to the development and adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Kelly said, based on the report, that national manufacturers are not prepared for Industry 4.0,

They see the benefits of technological advancement, but they face many obstacles to adopting new technology, said Kelly. What did surprise us about the report was that the local manufacturing industry is more prepared for Industry 4.0 than their national counterparts.

Locally, within Southeast Michigan and Oakland County, the Industrial Internet of Things and simulation (42 percent of those surveyed), followed by autonomous robots, horizontal and vertical system integration, and the cloud (all at 33 percent of those surveyed) are a top priority for Automation Alley manufacturers

85 percent expect an increase in their companys budget for technological advancement in 2017 (nearly a third of them plan to increase their budgets by 10 percent to 15 percent)

88 percent believe technological advancements can be beneficial to their companys competitiveness

62 percent believe that technologies in the cloud will improve their companys competitiveness in 2017

54 percent said the biggest barrier in making technological advancement in their company is cost

76.7 percent said Industry 4.0 is currently not an initiative within their company

65 percent said Industry 4.0 will have very much, quite a bit or some impact on their company in 2017

Automation Alley publishes the Technology Industry Report to provide the technology business community with valuable insights into the future of the tech industry, both locally and nationally.

The organization helps to connect businesses with talent, resources and funding to accelerate innovation and fuel Southeast Michigans economy.

The non-profit includes nearly 1,000 tech-focused members in businesses in Southeast Michigan.

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Huge growth opportunity for tech industry in Oakland County, says ... - The Oakland Press

Siemens has received a certificate for network automation solutions from TV Sd, Munich, Germany, in accordance with the international standards series IEC62443. The secure substation framework from Siemens has been certified to IEC 62443-2-4 (requirements for system integrators) and IEC 62443-3-3 (requirements for the security functions of systems). The certified architecture is based on Siemens experience and knowledge as a globally active company, and the processes described in the certification ensure the necessary transparency of the security-relevant procedures in line with the standards. Siemens thus develops and implements network automation solutions for power supply companies and grid operators which are based on the latest international standards in terms of cyber security and have been adapted to the current security guidelines.

In addition to the existing standards for cyber security, IEC 62443 has evolved today into one of the most future-oriented security standards worldwide. It goes further than other standards and defines requirements for all parties involved, including product suppliers, system integrators and operators. Whereas IEC 62443-2-4 certification is based on a security concept and engineering process developed by Siemens, the secure substation framework from Siemens is the basis for evaluation in accordance with IEC-62443-3-3. This security framework is made up of products such as the station automation system Sicam PAS/PQS and Sicam AK3, as well as the operating and monitoring system Sicam SCC, Siprotec 5 protection devices and the Siemens Ruggedcom portfolio consisting of switches, routers and firewalls.

Digitalization and cyber security are two closely interrelated topics that are of great strategic importance for Siemens. With regard to the further development of cyber security measures for its network automation products, systems and solutions, for example, Siemens is taking a comprehensive security approach that is driven by international standards such as IEC 62443.

In order to further improve the security standards for intelligent power supply grids, Siemens experts are represented in the relevant international standardization organizations. Furthermore, Siemens advises supervisory bodies on technical and process-related topics. Thanks to a company-wide cyber emergency response team (CERT), Siemens has a global overview of vulnerabilities if and when they occur. This also applies for the cyber security of power supply grids, where digitalization is making further advances.

Secure network automation solutions are part of the Siemens Division Energy Managements product portfolio. As a product supplier, system integrator, and solution and service provider, the Division offers power supply companies and industry cost-efficient, reliable, and intelligent solutions for the transmission and distribution of electrical power. The portfolio ranges from products and systems for low-voltage and distribution networks and smart grid and energy automation solutions to high voltage transmission systems. With a presence in more than 100 countries, the Siemens Division earned approximately 11.9 billion in sales and 895 million in profit and employed around 52,000 employees worldwide last fiscal year, which ended on September 30, 2016.

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Siemens Awarded Cyber Security Certificate for Digital Grid Automation Solutions - Transmission and Distribution World

It is difficult not to view Donald Trumps administration, regardless of its politics, as combative towards at least some portion of the American public. Unlike previous presidents who ultimately relied on messages that conveyed some attempt real or theatrical at national unity, Trumps team has decided to draw very clear lines between his supporters and everyone else. Whether it is the press, radical Islam, or the politically correct, Trumps style of leadership appears to rely on scapegoats. This bitter political ideology will likely be ineffective in guiding the country through the next decade of developments in the economy.

As artificial intelligence, robotics, and new forms of automation continue to flourish, the forms of work that millions of Americans rely on are at risk. The political solutions to navigating these changes are going to require broad public initiatives that havent been accomplished in decades, and everyone is going to have to be on board.

Before leaving the White House, President Obama commissioned a report titled Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and The Economy, that provides an in-depth look at the changes that will occur as automation becomes more sophisticated. Far from the doom and gloom projections of a workplace without humans, the report charts the subtle ways that, at scale, AI will have a tremendous impact on how our economy, and labor force, functions. Citing the current wave of AI, which the report describes as having begun around 2010, the study describes how the the types of jobs available in the economy are rapidly changing, and these changes are primarily impacting low income and less educated Americans.

According to the MIT Technology Review, 83 percent of jobs that pay less than $20 an hour are under threat from automation. Simply put, as technology makes things like ordering a cheeseburger, buying groceries, and shipping goods, require fewer human beings involved, the number of jobs available for poor Americans will shrink dramatically.

Ford, a company whose name is synonymous with the dream of American manufacturing jobs, recently announced goals to provide fully autonomous ridesharing by 2021, and earlier this month, allocated $1 billion for the autonomous vehicle startup Argo. Trumps former candidate for Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder, wrote in the Wall Street Journal that, in areas like retail and foodservice, increases in minimum wage were to blame for the increase in automation. Of course, he also cites consumer preference as The major reason.

Lots of high-minded technological thinkers, particularly Elon Musk, have proposed a universal basic income, a form of wealth distribution that ensures every citizen receives a baseline income whether or not they are employed, as a likely solution to the problem of workforce automation. But the White House report takes a more somber approach, describing a basic income as giving up on the possibility of workers remaining employed. Instead, the report suggests a number of policy proposals (like Obamas national free community college initiative, and expanded unemployment benefits) as ways of actively facilitating the transition into a more AI driven economy.

In an interview with the MIT Technology Review, Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution calls for what he calls a universal basic adjustment benefit. Unlike a universal basic income, it would involve targeted benefits for those left out of the workforce, providing tools like wage insurance, job counseling, relocation subsidies, and other financial and career help.

The Future

A McKinsey report estimates that 59 percent of manufacturing jobs can be automated.

Uber has already made significant strides automating cars and delivery vehicles.

Manufacturing in the US has actually increased just not with the help of human workers.

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LA Times

The White House report points out that the U.S. government spends roughly 0.1 percent of its GDP on programs to help people deal with changes in the workplace much less than similar developed nations. This funding has also declined over the past three decades.

This is where Trumps style of leadership appears, at worst, disastrously cynical, and at best, ignorantly short sighted. By invoking a bygone era of American manufacturing, Trump undoubtedly tapped into a significant form of anxiety present in a large portion of the country. But his solutions, a dramatic reduction in immigration and tax breaks for corporations who move sparse manufacturing jobs to the U.S., dont even take into account changes in technology.

The people left behind by the advances in automation have faced the steady creep of obsolescence, in the form of a shrinking number of available jobs, for the past decade, and Trump promised to rewind time, to a period before artificial intelligence. A post-election analysis from FiveThirtyEight found that one of the best predictors of whether or not a county voted for Trump wasnt unemployment or income, but its proportion of jobs that are considered routine, an economic term for jobs that are easily automated. Areas with a high percentage of routine jobs voted in significant numbers for Donald Trumps vision of an America stopped in time.

Republicans in the House and Senate, similarly, have no discernible plan for how to address technologys impact on the workforce. Theyve instead spent the past decade working single-mindedly on taking control of the government in order to enact an economic and moralistic vision frozen in the 1980s.

Im very worried that the next wave [of AI and automation] will hit and we wont have the supports in place, Lawrence Katz, an economist at Harvard told the MIT Technology Review. Katzs research is focused on how public spending on education in the 1900s helped America make the economic shift from agriculture to manufacturing. Theres plenty of reason to believe that, as Wireds Clive Thompson points out, the next blue collar job in America could be computer programming. An initiative to teach coding to the millions of Americans whose jobs will slowly phase out in the face of AI would take years to develop and enact, and it doesnt even appear to be on anyones mind.

The report from the final days of Obamas White House makes sure to point out that:

The next few years will find our government squabbling over a health care law that for the most part works, and passing dramatic forms of austerity that have never proven effective in the long term. The cost of attending college, a critical tool for finding a job in the new economy, will likely continue to rise unabated. All the while technology will continue to alter the way millions of Americans work, for better and for worse.

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AI and automation are about to - The Outline

Help Me Build is a technology-centric and social commerce platform with a managed multi-vendor marketplace. It focuses on interior design and architecture related ideas, inspirations, and integrated project solutions. Its founder and CEO Prasoon Shrivastava, also an architect, speaks to Ateeq Shaikh about the portal and its plans.

An architect by profession, I come with extensive international experience. While we were working on multiple real estate projects, largely residential and hospitality, we realised the gap in the market. The gap was that the developers were working on big projects as architects and designers, home owners were approaching us for small solutions. This is what triggered creation of this platform back in 2013. There isnt any platform to provide simple solution to home owners.

By 2014-end, we realised that we needed to offer more than a listing platform and have a social/commerce platform wherein commerce would be the main criteria.

We are there in all major cities. In terms of numbers, we have over 1,000 pin codes in cities of Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Indore and Lucknow.

There are 105 vendors, selling close to 1,00,000 products on our platform.

I have invested my own savings into the business. Till date, around Rs 3 crore has been invested and we plan to invest more in the coming months. Our target is to seek capital in the first quarter next year to scale up our business. As part of the first round, we are hoping to raise around $5 million, which includes funds for projects related to social, commerce and Internet of Things. We need money to scale up our business and create brand awareness, to bring in much more revenues.

Internet of Things and automation is the next big thing and hence, we are focusing on that to scale up our business. Every decade, construction industry adopts some trends and becomes part of our lives gradually. This decade is about home automation and IoT. By next decade, it will be part of our life and we will be using it day-in and day-out. Thus, funding should not be a problem for us. There are a couple of offers from the US already, but they are from HNIs and not institutional investors. We would go out for institutional investors first, as apart from money, they get in experience and an eco-system to guide in scaling up the business.

We do not maintain the inventory ourselves but our vendors. Initially, the vendors were very unorganised. We realised that the vendors had not updated the inventory online and the product seemed unavailable. Our team put in a lot of efforts to ensure that the vendors remain engaged on our platform and now we have reached the stage where we know that the logistics and delivery side is taken care of.

This year we will hit Rs 3 crore in revenues. Of this, 20% will come from the market sales, and the rest from the design-build solutions that we provide to the home owners.

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Decade is about home automation, IoT: Prasoon Shrivastava - Daily News & Analysis

Feb. 20, 2017

Photo source: istock.com

By Ashish Gambhir, co-founder and president, MomentSnap

On the front line, efficiency is the name of the game. Enhancing workplace flow is an easy way to notch up the bottom line, and companies dedicate tremendous bandwidth to working out operational kinks.

Increasingly, the result of these self-audits is a move toward automation.

The buzz about bots is on the rise. No, not the all-knowing Isaac Asimov supercomputers the 1-800-number variety that never seems to detect any urgency in the phrase "I'd like to speak to a person."

The bots we encounter in our everyday lives are still rudimentary, but McKinsey estimates automated processes will eventually be able to replace 45 percent of current workplace activities. As the benefits of automation cost reduction, more efficiency with human capital become clearer and clearer, the development of self-governing systems and our reliance on them will accelerate.

Many corners of the industry have already embraced automation as a cornerstone of the future: Between Tesla's autonomous Model-S vehicle, Amazon's flirting with self-guided drone delivery and fully automated stores, and Japanese companies deploying customer service robots on sales floors, the process has been set in motion.

This raises a pressing question for industry: how much is too much?

There is no categorical imperative for when and where automation is appropriate; the most forward-thinking companies will continuously push the boundaries to see how much they can get away with.

Intrinsic to automation, though, is the capacity to severely disengage employees and customers alike. It's crucial to recognize certain circumstances in which automation should be leveraged with extreme caution. Some are intuitive others less so.

1. Employee recognition. As one of the cornerstones of employee engagement, recognizing great work is sacred. The dilemma, of course, is that in 90 percent of hourly workplaces, managers readily admit that they don't recognize employees enough as it is. That's why top-notch engagement platforms are incorporating automated recognition systems that sync with performance data to push achievements and badges to workers who are excelling, with no managerial onus good work never goes unrecognized. The flip side to such systems is that recognition can easily begin to feel canned and hollow, as if the company is just checking a box. The happy medium here is that there must always be a method of giving authentic, organic recognition that's hand-crafted rather than triggered by an algorithm: whether it's a function built into an engagement platform or it requires a manager to actively seek out the top five weekly performers and give them a hearty kudos. This way automation can play a role in recognition maintenance while not eclipsing the human element of acknowledgement.

2. Fielding customer feedback. There's a reason the clueless phone bot has become a television trope: whether a customer wants to congratulate a brand for good work or mount a complaint, the worst way to make them feel as if their thoughts are being heard is to herald them with a voice recording. Some customers particularly younger generations are open-minded when it comes to dealing with voice bots, and certainly there is a place for them in routine practices like checking account balances or processing a simple refund. For many customers, though, bots only serve as an initial source of frustration that makes life more difficult for human customer service specialists at the end of the phone chain. Bots should be programmed to pass sensitive call topics directly to a person, and further, should respond to basic commands like "I want to speak to a representative."

3. Guest interaction. The caveat to the McKinsey statistic: although 45 percent of work activity can be automated, the impact on the overall number of occupations will be negligible. This means most jobs will remain human, with varying percentages of the tasks that are currently handled by people being taken over by machines. For retail workers, McKinsey estimates around 55 percent of tasks could be automated: things like folding and hanging clothing, counting inventory, and maybe even greeting guests. Some frontiers are currently outside of robots' reach, though. Stylistic advice at a fashion outlet, for example, requires a human sense of intuition. The same goes for the majority of specialty retail stores, from cooking and furniture to music and entertainment. Unless we achieve perfect artificial intelligence, machines will lack the crucial ingredient that is passion and that's what makes retail employees shine when dealing with customers.

Topics: Customer Experience, Customer Service, Technology

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The art of balancing workplace automation - Retail Customer Experience (blog)

NEW DELHI: Contrary to popular belief, 89 per cent of people are positive about the role robots can play in helping them in the workplace, rather than taking away jobs, says an Adobe study.

According to the Adobe Digital Insights Future of Work Report, people are open to man and machine collaboration for work benefits.

"The Future of Work looks promising, as robotics and automation gear up to enable employees to be more productive and creative in their roles," said Abdul Jaleel, Vice President, People Resources India, Adobe.

Despite some concern around the impact of automation in the workplace, people are demonstrating positive commentary around how automation can undertake mundane tasks, and allow them to focus on creative and strategic responsibilities that matter most to them and their careers.

Robotics holds promise especially when it comes to the automation of traditionally mundane tasks.

Jaleel noted that automating document and signature processes, for example, could open up new possibilities for people as the tech revolution advances. Faster transportation and self-driving cars could revolutionise local travel.

"Moreover, the virtual office has big potential in the Future of Work. Work environments should continue to improve as employees demand more from their space, especially with automation ruling the minds of people," he said.

The findings are based on over three million Future of Work -- a phrase covering broad group of topics around what work would look like in the future -- related social mentions across several digital platforms including Twitter, news, blogs and forums, between January 2016 to January 2017.

The study's social analysis features regions including the US, UK, India and Australia.

The research is based on the analysis of select, anonymous and aggregated data from more than 5,000 companies worldwide that use the Adobe Digital Marketing Cloud to obtain real-time data and analysis of activity on websites, social media and advertising.

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89% people want automation at workplace: Adobe - ETCIO.com

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the opening ceremony of 'Make in India Week' in Mumbai on Feb. 13, 2016. PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images

Automation and the new U.S. administration were the big unknowns at the Indian tech sector's annual shindig this week, with machines threatening to take away thousands of jobs and concerns over possible visa rule changes in the key American market.

But senior executives from the $150 billion industry, which rose to prominence at the turn of the century by helping Western firms solve the "Y2K" bug, said companies with skilled English-speaking staff and low costs could not be written off yet.

The sector, led by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro, is lobbying hard as the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump considers putting in place visa restrictions.

The administration may also raise salaries paid to H1-B visa holders, a move that could significantly increase costs for IT companies that are already facing pressure on margins.

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The longer-term challenge and opportunity for the sector was automation, executives said, as global corporations from plane-makers to consumer firms bet on the use of machines to further cut costs and boost efficiency.

That threatens lower-end software services and outsourcing jobs in a sector which employs more than 3.5 million people.

Summing up the mood at the three-day NASSCOM leadership event in Mumbai ending on Friday, Malcolm Frank, Chief Strategy Officer at Cognizant which has most of its operations in India, spoke of "fear and optimism."

Even top IT executives were "fearing the machines," he said.

Some Indian executives, including Infosys' Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao, said that greater automation was expected to help engineers and developers shed repetitive jobs for more creative roles.

"Some part of the work we'll be automating 100 percent, you don't require people to do that kind of work," Rao told Reuters. "But there are always newer things, where we will be able to re-purpose employees who are released from those areas."

Moving Up Food Chain

With rapidly changing technology, Indian IT firms are emphasizing the need for retraining their workforce, in many cases setting up experience centers and learning zones on their sprawling campuses.

Some companies are partnering with universities to design and fund education programs, while staff members spoke of employers laying on training and webinars to help develop skills in automation and cloud computing.

"The threat from automation killing jobs is more than Trump's anticipated visa rule changes," a general manager-level employee at a top Indian IT firm said.

NASSCOM chairman and Tech Mahindra CEO C.P. Gurnani said technology would create new roles where "man will manage machines," even if a fourth of Indian IT jobs were to be replaced by machines over the next four years.

Indias Coal Consumption Problem

Hiring patterns may also change, with unconventional, high-value graduates likely to be more attractive, to the possible detriment of hiring from India's engineering colleges.

Infosys, which traditionally recruited only engineering graduates, is considering hiring people educated in liberal arts to add creative skills to its workforce, COO Rao said.

In a first, NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies), the leading Indian IT lobby group, delayed its initial growth forecast for fiscal 2017/18, citing market uncertainty.

Indian IT Sector Warns Against U.S. Visa Bill

NASSCOM officials said it had deferred its predictions by three months to give it time to gauge policy announcements in the United States which could make immigration rules tougher.

The industry body aims to announce a firmer growth forecast after the quarter to March when IT companies report annual earnings and give guidance for the next fiscal year.

"A certain level of ... uncertainty will continue over the medium-term," said NASSCOM President R. Chandrashekhar. "And businesses therefore have to take essential decisions on new technology in the face of a certain degree of uncertainty."

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Both Trump and Automation Are Challenging India's IT Industry - Fortune

(Reuters) Automation and the new U.S. administration were the big unknowns at the Indian tech sectors annual shindig this week, with machines threatening to take away thousands of jobs and concerns over possible visa rule changes in the key American market.

But senior executives from the $150 billion industry, which rose to prominence at the turn of the century by helping Western firms solve the Y2K bug, said companies with skilled English-speaking staff and low costs could not be written off yet.

The sector, led by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro, is lobbying hard as the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump considers putting in place visa restrictions.

The administration may also raise salaries paid to H1-B visa holders, a move that could significantly increase costs for IT companies that are already facing pressure on margins.

The longer-term challenge and opportunity for the sector was automation, executives said, as global corporations from plane-makers to consumer firms bet on the use of machines to further cut costs and boost efficiency.

That threatens lower-end software services and outsourcing jobs in a sector which employs more than 3.5 million people.

Summing up the mood at the three-day NASSCOM leadership event in Mumbai ending on Friday, Malcolm Frank, Chief Strategy Officer at Cognizant which has most of its operations in India, spoke of fear and optimism.

Even top IT executives were fearing the machines, he said.

Some Indian executives, including Infosys Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao, said that greater automation was expected to help engineers and developers shed repetitive jobs for more creative roles.

Some part of the work well be automating 100 percent, you dont require people to do that kind of work, Rao told Reuters. But there are always newer things, where we will be able to re-purpose employees who are released from those areas.

With rapidly changing technology, Indian IT firms are emphasizing the need for retraining their workforce, in many cases setting up experience centers and learning zones on their sprawling campuses.

Some companies are partnering with universities to design and fund education programs, while staff members spoke of employers laying on training and webinars to help develop skills in automation and cloud computing.

The threat from automation killing jobs is more than Trumps anticipated visa rule changes, a general manager-level employee at a top Indian IT firm said.

NASSCOM chairman and Tech Mahindra CEO C.P. Gurnani said technology would create new roles where man will manage machines, even if a fourth of Indian IT jobs were to be replaced by machines over the next four years.

Hiring patterns may also change, with unconventional, high-value graduates likely to be more attractive, to the possible detriment of hiring from Indias engineering colleges.

Infosys, which traditionally recruited only engineering graduates, is considering hiring people educated in liberal arts to add creative skills to its workforce, COO Rao said.

In a first, NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies), the leading Indian IT lobby group, delayed its initial growth forecast for fiscal 2017/18, citing market uncertainty.

NASSCOM officials said it had deferred its predictions by three months to give it time to gauge policy announcements in the United States which could make immigration rules tougher.

The industry body aims to announce a firmer growth forecast after the quarter to March when IT companies report annual earnings and give guidance for the next fiscal year.

A certain level of uncertainty will continue over the medium-term, said NASSCOM President R. Chandrashekhar. And businesses therefore have to take essential decisions on new technology in the face of a certain degree of uncertainty.

(By Sankalp Phartiyal and Promit Mukherjee; Additional reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Euan Rocha in Mumbai, Sayantani Ghosh and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

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Trump and automation challenge India's IT industry - VentureBeat

In a new interview with Quartz , Microsoft founder Bill Gates makes a rather stunning argumentthat robots who replace human workers should incur taxes equivalent to that workers income taxes.

Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed . . . If a robot comes in to do the same thing, youd think that wed tax the robot at a similar level.

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Gates argues that these taxes, paid by a robot's owners or makers, would be used to help fund labor force retraining. Former factory workers, drivers, and cashiers would be transitioned to health services, education, or other fields where human workers will remain vital. Gates even suggests the policy would intentionally slow down the speed of that adoption [of automation] somewhat, giving more time to manage the broader transition.

The idea of what amounts to a tax on efficiency would seem anathema to much conventional economic wisdom. For decades, the dominant line on automation has been that displaced workers shift into more productive roles, in turn growing the total economy.

But that thesis has begun to show cracksas Gates puts it, people are saying that the arrival of that robot is a net loss, demanding greater active engagement with job retraining and other programs that target impacted communities. (Though the effectiveness of job training programs is still somewhat debatable ).

While Gates resolutely comes down in favor of governments role in managing automations impacts, he offers two points that should be at least slightly compelling to free marketeers.

First, Gates says, the impact of robotics and artificial intelligence in the next 20 years will be a much more concentrated version of the steady, incremental displacement that was common throughout the 20 th century. The market alone wont be able to deal with the speed of that transitionand, Gates further suggests, much of the potential for putting free labor to better use will be in the public sector.

Second, and probably even more importantly, Gates says automation won't be allowed to thrive if the public resists it. It is really bad if people overall have more fear about what innovation is going to do than they have enthusiasm . . . And, you know, taxation is certainly a better way to handle it than just banning some elements of it.

In other words, Gates believes that if automation doesn't clearly benefit all members of society, it could generate some sort of neo- Luddite movement that would restrain technology much more severely than any tax.

If you dont believe him, just look around. The widespread belief that globalizations benefits were poorly or unfairly managed has led directly to a political resurgence for fans of walls and tariffs. The same dynamic could repeat itself if automation isn't rolled out wisely.

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Bill Gates Says Robots Should Be Taxed Like Workers - Fortune

Chinas spectacular growth in the past thirty years has begun to slow down in recent years. Emerging signs suggest that China is woefully unprepared for the fallout from exponentially rising automation of manufacturing jobs.

The former Supreme Leader Deng Xiaoping of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) orchestrated the countrys economic miracle through a dramatic increase in exports to the rest of the world. For the next several decades, China reoriented the world economy, and many companies stationed their factories within China to take advantage of the cheap labor.

As wages rise and the population ages, the value of the original bargain is starting to erode. In absolute terms, China is leading the world in the number of robots used for production. Over the next decade, China will start to catch up to other advanced economies in terms of per capita robots. By 2019, China may even nearly double its number of robots. At the same time, robots will complete increasingly complex tasks, threatening an even wider range of jobs for humans.

Inevitably, this will cause many low-skilled workers in China (and around the world) to lose their jobs. And absent incredibly disruptive government intervention that would likely do more harm than good, these low-skilled jobs will never come back.

Young people in China are more educated than ever, and are increasingly less likely to want to pursue factory jobs anyway. Automation can help propel China toward a more innovative and service-based economy by freeing up labor for these higher value pursuits. In the meantime, though, college-educated Chinese are having difficulty finding jobs as Chinas economy readjusts.

Without a proper safety net in place, China risks facing social unrest as automation begins to accelerate. As it stands, Chinas main welfare program dibao is too bureaucratic and ineffective to handle the influx of unemployed individuals because of all of the conditions attached to the program.

When addressing automation, Chinas best solution may be to universalize the dibao to create a universal basic income. This would allow for a smooth transition away from Chinas reliance on human-led manufacturing.

China acts as a pillar for world economic growth. The basic income would not only stave off the most destabilizing aspects of the coming automation revolution in China, but it is also crucial for the stability of the international economy.

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China must be ready for automation - Basic Income News

The traditional benefits of IT outsourcing to nearshore locations have included geographic proximity, time zone alignment, cultural affinity and shared language. The one area these adjacent providers have not been able to compete with their offshore counterparts on has been price.

[ Related: Building a business case for offshore robotic process automation ]

But that could change as robotic process automation (RPA) takes hold. The automation itself will begin to chip away at the offshore competitive advantage of labor arbitrage. But more importantly, argues Marcos Jimenez, CEO of Softtek North America, it will highlight areas in which nearshore providers excel: proximity, agility, and flexibility. A nearly 20-year veteran of the Mexico-headquartered company, Jimenez has doubled the profitability of Softteks U.S. and Canadian business since taking it over in 2011.

CIO.com talked to Jimenez about the potential impact of RPA on the global IT and business process outsourcing market, new demands from customers for outcome-based engagements, the role of digital labor management in the future of IT services, and best practices for RPA success.

CIO.com: Traditionally, what have been the key criteria for customers choosing between offshore and nearshore models?

Marcos Jimenez, CEO, Softtek North America: One traditional advantage of nearshore has been flexibility in accommodating requests outside the specific parameters of contractual obligations and statements of work. Lets say, for example, that a customer asks a member of an application development coding team to collaborate in real time to meet a deadline. Its typically easier for a nearshore provider to accommodate that request because we are working concurrently with clients and matching their work scheduleincluding the same holidays. Under the offshore model, meanwhile, the most experienced people work on different time schedules, since senior people in countries like India typically dont want to work night shifts.

So, when a U.S.-based client has an urgent request they need to either rely on a less experienced person or they need to wait. So under the offshore model, its more difficult to go outside the lines of defined roles and processes. And thats a problem as todays fast-paced digital world demands agility.

Theres also the obvious geographic advantage of proximity. For U.S.-based customers who have to regularly visit service provider operations, traveling to Mexico vs. Mumbai becomes a lot more convenient and productive.

In terms of staffing, the dramatic growth of offshoring has over the years contributed to high turnover rates, as staff constantly seek new opportunities. Nearshore providers tend to have lower turnover and more stability.

All of that said, by virtue of their ability to effectively leverage labor arbitrage, offshoring has clearly had the advantage when it comes to price. In that arena, the nearshore model has historically not been able to compete. And, of course, for many customers in many situations, price is the key factor in making a sourcing decision.

[ Related: 11 ways to address RPA and AI in IT outsourcing contracts ]

CIO.com: How have you seen that dynamic begin to shift?

Jimenez: At Softtek, weve been able to leverage RPA and other types of automation to shrink the traditional price gap between offshore and nearshore.

In the last year, were also seeing more interest in nearshore based on our managed services offerings, with fixed price annual cost rather than just labor arbitrage and rate per full time equivalent (FTE). Our clients are asking us for year-over-year annual cost or efficiency improvements with a strong focus on automation.

CIO.com: Can you share an example of what might have tipped the scales in favor of the nearshore approach for one of your customers?

Jimenez: Many of our customers are looking to agile development methodologies to drive innovation quickly and in a cost-effective manner. Agile requires close collaboration between different teams. So you can have a U.S.-based team at a client site working with remote teams in Monterrey and Latin America, which makes collaboration easier. If the teams are in the U.S., India and Europe, that works well for the follow the sun model where you have teams handing off development work at the end of each day, but it tends to be less effective for agile.

One specific example is a major U.S. airline customer of ours. After working for more than 10 years with large Indian providers, this customer consolidated all of their application services with Softtek. The airline had more than 500 FTEs in a labor arbitrage model and faced significant challenges accelerating response time and innovation. In addition to offering a competitive price, Softtek transformed the application management model from labor arbitrage to SLA-based, digitized governance, and lean sigma to drive innovation and continuous improvement.

CIO.com: Its clear how automation could erode the labor cost advantage of offshore providers. But how about the role of IT service provider in helping customers implement RPA internally?

Jimenez: The providers role is to work with the customer to assess the automation opportunity, define the processes and functions that will be automated, and implement the automation software. The actual software can be either a third partys, such as Blue Prism or IPsoft, or a home-grown solution. The provider also typically oversees the transition and change process and then manages the new environment on an ongoing basis.

The extent of the providers involvement can vary depending on the situation. In some cases, the tool developer will be directly involved in the implementation, while in others the tool will be licensed to the service provider. Indeed, as the market matures, the major automation tool providers are figuring out how they want to position themselves in terms of doing implementation work vs. simply licensing. That will certainly play a role in the competitive landscape going forward.

[ Related: Robotic process automation is killer app for cognitive computing ]

CIO.com: What threats and opportunities does RPA pose for offshore and nearshore providers?

Jimenez: At a high level the threats and opportunities are the same for offshore and nearshore providers. The basic threat is that RPA undermines established models of service delivery, while the basic opportunity lies in delivering more value to customers more efficiently.

For large offshore providers, the most pressing immediate threat is the cannibalization of their labor arbitrage-based BPO businesses. This threat will continue to extend to their IT services business. Theres also the issue of how to redefine their business models. There are lots of headlines about the large India heritage providers scaling back on hiring and how, rather than adding 10,000 new people, they are looking at cutting staff or redeploying large numbers of staff.

There is a big opportunity here for second tier traditional offshore providersas well as for nearshore playersto challenge the tier one with a more advanced portfolio of services that relies significantly on automation.

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Robotic process automation makes nearshore outsourcing more ... - CIO

President Trump has made a huge deal of his attempts to bring back blue-collar manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas and to shame companies into building plants here rather than in other countries. Both of which I think are fine.

But Trump would probably get greater value for working-class Americans and for American consumers by spending some of his time leaning on companies to preserve a huge, threatened class of blue-collar jobs: cashiers. Yes, cashiers.

Speaking up for cashiers, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics says is the second-largest occupation in the country, wouldnt be as glamorous or tweet-able as berating Ford or General Motors or Carrier for the loss of American jobs.

[Why bodyslamming big companies is good for America]

But it would be a great way for him to get back to playing offense and showing he cares about the working class. Supporting the nations 3.5 million cashiers could help preserve the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of low-paid people who are in entry-level jobs or rehabilitating-themselves jobs or trying-to-feed-their-family jobs.

Whats more, theres even an example, not far from Trump Tower in New York, of how preserving cashier-type jobs could be done, at minimal (or perhaps no) cost to consumers. Its in my home state of New Jersey, which has saved thousands of such jobs those of gas station attendants.

Its the unintended but welcome outgrowth of the states 1949 ban on the self-pumping of gasoline, which many out-of-staters ridicule. Even so, it is so popular that Jersey residents have resisted repeated attempts to end it.

Now, lets step back a bit.

The number of cashier jobs No. 2 only to retail sales clerks, according to the BLS was almost exactly the same in 2015 (the most recent year for which statistics are available) as in 2005, even though total U.S. employment was up by 7.6 million.

Still, its obvious that these jobs are threatened as never before.

[How to save good jobs]

Go into any large, reasonably modern supermarket, drug store or retail store, and you see more and more self-checkout lines and fewer and fewer manned cashier lines.

McDonalds is using self-checkout in some locations. Even Costco a big company that seems to care about employing people is experimenting with it.

And heres the crowning blow. Amazon, which has upended Americas retail business (and whose chief executive, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post), is building physical stores that have no cashiers. If Amazons initiative succeeds, can cashier-less days at mainstream operations be far behind?

Look, Im not proposing that the United States turn into a modern-day version of old-style Russia, where it took half a dozen people to check you out of a store. And Im not proposing to return to pre-bar code days, when checkout lines were slower and there was more work for cashiers.

But I just look at the gas stations in New Jersey and compare them with the large, modern retail outlets in Atlantas northern suburbs, where my wife and I recently spent considerable time.

Georgia customers using the self-checkout line got no savings whatever in return for doing the stores work. Late at night, at least some big stores had so few cashiers on duty that self-checkout became the norm.

By contrast, at New Jersey gas stations, someone pumps my gas. Thats a boon to those of us, like me, who have arthritic wrists that dont react well to pumping my own gas, which I did in Georgia. And the Jersey gas lines moved more quickly.

[What to expect at work in 2017]

Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey trade group that represents gas stations and convenience stores, estimates there are about 9,000 gas-pumping jobs in the state. (The BLS once tracked Jersey gas-pumping jobs but no longer does.) Risalvato, who wants the self-pumping ban repealed, estimates that having attendants increases the price of gas by about 10 cents a gallon. To put that in context: The state increased gas taxes by 23 cents a gallon in November, and the recent average cost of gas ranged from $2.32 a gallon for regular to $2.79 for premium, according to GasBuddy.

Robert Scott III, a professor at New Jerseys Monmouth University who in 2007 published a scholarly article about the self-pumping ban, thinks it adds little or nothing to gas prices. A major reason, he says, is that insurance costs for Jersey gas stations are lower than they would be if customers pumped their own gas.

To be sure, you dont see the plight of cashiers portrayed nightly on cable news, and theres no big public fuss made when cashier jobs quietly slip away. But if Trump can dig out of his current problems and get back to playing offense, he could do a lot of good for cashiers and himself by publicly leaning on retail chains to preserve those jobs or even add to them.

And who can say? Just as we Jerseyites appreciate having gas pumped for us, store customers across the country would probably come to appreciate cashier-based checkout. Wed keep cashiers working instead of having to live in poverty or go on welfare or file for disability. Wed all win. And so would Trump.

Read more:

Trumps awful boast about paying no taxes

The whopping $1.2 trillion omission in Trumps tax reform plan

Why I cant (and wont) stop writing about Social Security

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The working-class job that Trump could save from automation - Washington Post

Anusorn: Reaction to China dumping

SET-listed Delta Electronics Thailand, a maker and distributor of power management solutions and electronic components, will focus on Asean, India and Australia as markets for high-potential products, says executive director Anusorn Muttaraid.

The new products will include electronics for electric vehicles (EVs), electronic parts for power plants and components for industrial automation, Mr Anusorn said.

Delta will de-emphasise electronic parts for telecommunications and the mobile sector to avoid competing with cheaper products China is dumping on the markets.

"We will focus on India and Asean countries as these markets are likely to continue growing, with demand for electronics parts for industrial automation and the auto parts industry still expanding rapidly," he said.

China continues to dump cheap electronic components for telecom and mobile products on major markets including in the US, Brazil and EU, forcing Delta to switch its emphasis, said Mr Anusorn.

"The company will continue to cut operation costs for its EU manufacturing plans to maintain efficiency and price margins," he said.

The US market accounts for 25% of the company's total revenue, followed by India (15%), China (14%), Germany (12%) and other countries (34% collectively).

The company reported revenue of 47.65 billion baht last year, down 0.7% year-on-year, because of intensified competition in a global market that had not yet fully recovered.

This year Mr Anusorn expects flat revenue growth because of escalated competition, particularly continued dumping from China onto world markets.

He expects net profit to rise by 10% in 2017 because of higher value products earning a greater profit margin.

"Delta Electronics hopes the Indian market exceeds its target for the year, as that would help offset falls in other markets," said Mr Anusorn.

The company set a growth target of 50% in India, which generated US$200 million last year.

Delta Electronics wants to expand its investment in India to raise its production capacity.

The company set aside an investment budget of 1 billion baht for 2017, mostly for maintenance issues in both domestic and overseas markets.

Mr Anusorn said he has no concerns about the economic policies of US President Donald Trump, as they are not expected to affect the company's business.

DELTA shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 90 baht, down one baht, in trade worth 196 million.

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Delta veers to EV parts, automation - Bangkok Post

NEW DELHI: Contrary to popular belief, 89 per cent of people are positive about the role robots can play in helping them in the workplace, rather than taking away jobs, says an Adobe study.

According to the Adobe Digital Insights Future of Work Report, people are open to man and machine collaboration for work benefits.

"The Future of Work looks promising, as robotics and automation gear up to enable employees to be more productive and creative in their roles," said Abdul Jaleel, Vice President, People Resources India, Adobe.

Despite some concern around the impact of automation in the workplace, people are demonstrating positive commentary around how automation can undertake mundane tasks, and allow them to focus on creative and strategic responsibilities that matter most to them and their careers.

Robotics holds promise especially when it comes to the automation of traditionally mundane tasks.

Jaleel noted that automating document and signature processes, for example, could open up new possibilities for people as the tech revolution advances. Faster transportation and self-driving cars could revolutionise local travel.

"Moreover, the virtual office has big potential in the Future of Work. Work environments should continue to improve as employees demand more from their space, especially with automation ruling the minds of people," he said.

The findings are based on over three million Future of Work -- a phrase covering broad group of topics around what work would look like in the future -- related social mentions across several digital platforms including Twitter, news, blogs and forums, between January 2016 to January 2017.

The study's social analysis features regions including the US, UK, India and Australia.

The research is based on the analysis of select, anonymous and aggregated data from more than 5,000 companies worldwide that use the Adobe Digital Marketing Cloud to obtain real-time data and analysis of activity on websites, social media and advertising.

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89% people want automation at workplace: Adobe - Economic Times

16 Feb 2017

Ship owners have traditionally paid scant regard for the automation basics that will enable technology-driven gains

Ship operators must strengthen their focus on automation basics if they are to reap the rewards of technological advances, writes The Motorship editor Gavin Lipsith.

How much care do shipowners generally give to automation? It speaks volumes that one company, giving a checklist to owners before they consult with ship designers on a new vessel, offers such basic advice as keep spare batteries onboard. It seems obvious, but if the battery of a programmable logic controller in your propeller control unit dies, a blackout could leave a ship immobilised until software is reinstalled and parameters are reset.

Owners can specify equipment down to component level, choosing cargo pumps by brand, for example. But rarely will they specify that pump controls should play nicely with their power management systems. So its no surprise that shipyards too can view automation, and how onboard systems will be integrated, as an afterthought.

Its a view that must change as automation encompasses ever greater spheres of ship operations. The engine cannot today be viewed in isolation from its electronic controls or power management. Those connections will become more important as ship owners consider multi-fuel operation. Managing loads between fuel cells, solar panels, batteries and diesel gensets, for example, will make properly integrated automation critical.

A more considered approach will also be vital to reaping the benefits of big data analytics. More and more companies are offering industrial internet platforms enabling operators to mine sensor data for insights to improve vessel efficiency and fleet profitability. Large liners and cruise operators, including Maersk and Carnival Corp, are already doing so. Predictive maintenance is a worthy goal. But the long-term view is much deeper.

Data analytics will redefine the way ships are built. Layering real-time and historic sensor information over digital ship models will allow unprecedented insight into how vessels behave. According to Knut rbeck-Nilssen, CEO of DNV GL Maritime, speaking at the launch of the class societys own industrial internet platform Veracity, the established development cycle of class rules status quo, incident, refinement will be dramatically accelerated.

Ultimately the way rules are made will need to adapt, allowing greater flexibility in ship design as data draw a more complete virtual model of vessels. Recent moves towards goal-based rather than prescriptive rules are a first step in this direction.

Its a view of the future that promises to be both challenging and rewarding. But without a more disciplined approach to automation ship owners and operators will not maximise their returns from these advances.

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Editorial: Improving automation - The Motorship