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An agile approach can change organizations. Most ideas of this approach can be applied not just to IT, but to all business areas. Is this valid for agile values and principles which refer to software and projects too? Let’s find out.

Change, they say, is the only constant. At nearly twenty years old, the Agile Manifesto describes the values and principles for team collaboration in software development. It has been a guide that puts people at the forefront in order to design better products, get timely customer feedback, and escape the aberrations of conventional project procedures – basically, projects that don’t get done and cost a lot of money.

While the manifesto has served us well over the years, in today’s environment of rapid and sometimes disruptive changes, we would do well to add a few tweaks, to:

• make executable and tested software solutions available incrementally
• extend them, bit by bit
• try them out in practice and learn from them
• understand failures as a means to an end, to become better

Implementing the agile principles naturally impacted the involved teams, which learned new ways of working through the changed cooperation with IT. Many of the applied principles are also applicable to other business areas. Not only IT, but other departments and even the entire organization can become agile to better focus on the customer in the competitive environment.

When we speak of ‘Business Agility’ (the application of agile elements in the business context), there are many ways of doing this – such as, by:

• visualizing open tasks
• performing daily standups
• learning by means of retrospectives
• planning a marketing activity incrementally

The agile values and principles are transferable to other business areas, but not like a direct one-on-one swap on all business activities. The agile manifesto is focused on software development and on product development, which does not apply to all business activities. Although many project-like projects carried out in the organizational structure can be implemented by agile procedures, many activities have to be carried out regularly and repeatedly. Formulations such as “working software is the primary measure of progress” are not applicable there. Should only a part of the agile principles apply to business departments? That would be a pity, because each sentence embodies a certain idea that we do not want to do without.

Thus, we have to re-formulate some of them, generalize them so that they can be used in different contexts. Here is a proposal to cover the possible aspects, by following the original ideas (the tweaks we have made are in bold):

The Agile Values

Instead of working software, I have chosen working solutions, because this term covers the delivery of short term, regular, but also long-term results, as well as their necessary adjustments. Instead of contract negotiations, I have taken the formal approach, co-operation has more value than nitpicking regulations. Project plans exist till only a limited extent in a regular operation, but often, the pattern of always having done something like this scores over following only set plans and habits.

The Agile Principles

Not every department is part of a core process, an activity that is different for each customer. For some people, it is probably not always so clear that they work for internal customers, so I think it is important to replace the customer with our customers – in order to focus on who that actually is. What do they deliver to their customers? In most cases, they are probably services that should be valuable and not unnecessary.

Changing requirements probably happen everywhere, and internal customers are not in competition. So, it’s enough to point out the customer’s advantage. I have replaced working software with solutions that are to be delivered early and are the most important measure of progress.

To work together daily is, of course recommended, but if you look at all experts with their different contact persons, close co-operation probably fits better. Not all work is organized in teams, so organizations should learn and be built around motivated people. Therefore, the best solutions and results are achieved by self-organized teams.

In general, all participants should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. Technical expertise and good design can generally be transformed into excellence and quality of results, to live up to the idea behind the principle.

Would you like to adopt my proposal, with any other formulations that could better meet your company requirements? Then do it, experiment with it, learn from it! Discuss with your colleagues about what Business Agility means for you, according to the motto “Inspect & Adapt”.

Conclusion

Agile values and principles can be transferred to all business areas. Although the functional and content-related range of several departments is very different, the ideas can still be applied. Thinking about what they mean for your own area of responsibility and how they can be appropriately defined could be a suitable introduction to business agility.

References:

https://www.nagarro.com/en/insights-events/filter?tag=agile-methodology

https://www.nagarro.com/en/blog/agile-manifesto-achieving-business-agility

https://busagilitymanifesto.org/

https://startsmallscalefast.com/agile-business-manifesto/

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An agile approach can change organizations. Most ideas of this approach can be applied not just to IT, but to all business areas. Is this valid for agile values and principles which refer to software and projects too? Let’s find out.

Change, they say, is the only constant. At nearly twenty years old, the Agile Manifesto describes the values and principles for team collaboration in software development. It has been a guide that puts people at the forefront in order to design better products, get timely customer feedback, and escape the aberrations of conventional project procedures – basically, projects that don’t get done and cost a lot of money.

While the manifesto has served us well over the years, in today’s environment of rapid and sometimes disruptive changes, we would do well to add a few tweaks, to:

• make executable and tested software solutions available incrementally
• extend them, bit by bit
• try them out in practice and learn from them
• understand failures as a means to an end, to become better

Implementing the agile principles naturally impacted the involved teams, which learned new ways of working through the changed cooperation with IT. Many of the applied principles are also applicable to other business areas. Not only IT, but other departments and even the entire organization can become agile to better focus on the customer in the competitive environment.

When we speak of ‘Business Agility’ (the application of agile elements in the business context), there are many ways of doing this – such as, by:

• visualizing open tasks
• performing daily standups
• learning by means of retrospectives
• planning a marketing activity incrementally

The agile values and principles are transferable to other business areas, but not like a direct one-on-one swap on all business activities. The agile manifesto is focused on software development and on product development, which does not apply to all business activities. Although many project-like projects carried out in the organizational structure can be implemented by agile procedures, many activities have to be carried out regularly and repeatedly. Formulations such as “working software is the primary measure of progress” are not applicable there. Should only a part of the agile principles apply to business departments? That would be a pity, because each sentence embodies a certain idea that we do not want to do without.

Thus, we have to re-formulate some of them, generalize them so that they can be used in different contexts. Here is a proposal to cover the possible aspects, by following the original ideas (the tweaks we have made are in bold):

The Agile Values

Instead of working software, I have chosen working solutions, because this term covers the delivery of short term, regular, but also long-term results, as well as their necessary adjustments. Instead of contract negotiations, I have taken the formal approach, co-operation has more value than nitpicking regulations. Project plans exist till only a limited extent in a regular operation, but often, the pattern of always having done something like this scores over following only set plans and habits.

The Agile Principles

Not every department is part of a core process, an activity that is different for each customer. For some people, it is probably not always so clear that they work for internal customers, so I think it is important to replace the customer with our customers – in order to focus on who that actually is. What do they deliver to their customers? In most cases, they are probably services that should be valuable and not unnecessary.

Changing requirements probably happen everywhere, and internal customers are not in competition. So, it’s enough to point out the customer’s advantage. I have replaced working software with solutions that are to be delivered early and are the most important measure of progress.

To work together daily is, of course recommended, but if you look at all experts with their different contact persons, close co-operation probably fits better. Not all work is organized in teams, so organizations should learn and be built around motivated people. Therefore, the best solutions and results are achieved by self-organized teams.

In general, all participants should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. Technical expertise and good design can generally be transformed into excellence and quality of results, to live up to the idea behind the principle.

Would you like to adopt my proposal, with any other formulations that could better meet your company requirements? Then do it, experiment with it, learn from it! Discuss with your colleagues about what Business Agility means for you, according to the motto “Inspect & Adapt”.

Conclusion

Agile values and principles can be transferred to all business areas. Although the functional and content-related range of several departments is very different, the ideas can still be applied. Thinking about what they mean for your own area of responsibility and how they can be appropriately defined could be a suitable introduction to business agility.

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• OEM vs ODM: What are the Differences between OEM and ODM?
• OEM and ODM are two important terms widely used in the manufacturing sector. Often you will see people trying to compare these two types like using OEM vs ODM. Both these terms are correlated and it can be confusing at times. Some of the startup companies seldom have the resources to design and manufacture products. In such a scenario, these companies outsource the production of certain components to contract manufacturers, also known as the OEM and ODM manufacturing firms
• Original Design Manufacturing
• ODM, or original design manufacturing, is also also referred to as “private labeling.” This is where an importer selects an already-existing product design from a factory catalog, makes a few small changes and sells it under their own brand name. Changes can include things like packaging or product bundles, colors and branding, and some limited adjustments to components or functionality. Two ODM laser pointer cat toys. While both products are manufactured according to the same general design, each is custom branded, colored and packaged according to each buyer’s specifications.ODM doesn’t just refer to electronics though. Ever notice how most American Chinese take-out menus look the same? This is another example of ODM manufacturing. A manufacturer (in this case, a printer) keeps a template on file that buyers can customize to fit their specific needs.
• Product specification examples:
  • 1. CAD files
  • 2. Design drawings
  • 3. Bill of materials
  • 4. Color chart
  • 5. Size chart

Advantage

The advantage of ODM is that it spares importers the need to invest millions of dollars into research and development in order to create a new product from scratch. Why reinvent the wheel when you can just improve one that already exists? And by eliminating or vastly reducing the expense of product development, importers can focus more on marketing strategies.

Disadvantage

The disadvantage of ODM is that it can be more difficult to differentiate your product from competitors’ products that are manufactured according to the same design. Although ODM requires less start-up capital, price competition tends to be steeper, resulting in slimmer profit margins. For example, a customer looking to purchase an ODM laser pointer is more likely to choose based on price than based on differences in color or brand. To really differentiate your ODM product from the others on the market, while still remaining competitive price wise, can require a significant amount of creativity. Original Equipment Manufacturing OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturing, and refers to products that are fully designed by one company and then licensed out to a manufacturer to produce. The Apple iPhone, for example, was invented and designed by Apple, and then licensed out to Foxconn to produce. As a result, the iPhone enjoys a higher level of product differentiation because its design is only available to Apple and its licensed manufacturer.

Modification examples:

• 1. Colors
• 2. Materials
• 3. Coatings
• 4. Platings
• Many other brand name electronics and appliances are OEM. Custom designed clothing, as opposed to a generic garment with a custom logo, is another example of OEM.
• Advantage 
• The main advantage of OEM is that the designer retains total creative control over the design. Whereas ODM products are restricted to a predetermined design, OEM products can be made according to any specifications. The only limitation is the designer’s imagination (as well as budget).
• Disadvantage
• The disadvantage of OEM manufacturing is that it is much more resource intensive. OEM designers often invest millions of dollars into research and development over several years in order to create unique products. Because of this, OEM designers have to guard their designs as intellectual property, lest it be copied and sold by another company for a lower price.
• WHAT IS THE PRODUCTION DIFFERENCE OF THE OEM AND ODM MODEL?
• In most OEM productions, client companies require the production of specific components. These parts are assembled and sold by the buyer with your trademark. Most of the products are available at competitive prices because the costs of the OEM manufacturing process are lower.The client companies that opt ​​for the ODM model, produce the product with all the specifications and details requested. This type of production is beneficial to smaller companies because they do not have to waste their time on research and development. The products produced with the ODM model can be divided into two types of categories: Private label and White label. Private label are finished products sold to an end customer company. On the other hand, white label products are generic products that can be sold by companies under their own brands.

  OEM vs ODM : OEM- Pros

  OEM companies are becoming quite popular among Multinational companies as well as small startup companies. It is a cost effective business for MNCs as they can save on bulk orders. OEM companies that manufacture components provide services at a cheaper rate compared to other companies. OEM solutions are apt for startup companies as there is a dearth for expertise in manufacture and production field. In countries like China, there is an abundance of skilled labor and large supply chains. This explains why there are a larger number of OEM manufacturers in China. Moreover, due to the advent of globalization, majority of the small and medium industries benefit from OEM projects.

  Another advantage of OEM manufacturing business is that you can procure high quality products in bulk amounts at cheaper rates. All these products are quality checked according to the testing standards of the manufacturer.

• References:

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Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, also called additive manufacturing (AM), has recently come into the spotlight because of its potential high-impact implementation in applications ranging from personal tools to aerospace equipment. Even though 3D printing technology has only recently emerged as a hot topic, its history can be traced back to 1983 when the first 3D printer was created by Charles W. Hull, co-founder of 3D Systems.

3D Printing Techniques Using Polymers
• Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
• Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
• Stereolithography (SLA)
• Near-Field Electrospinning (NFES)

Popular Applications

Fashion: At the 2016 New York Fashion Week, two unique 3D printed dresses were unveiled. These masterpieces were produced through a collaboration between fashion designers and the 3D printing company, Stratasys.4 The complex designs (e.g., mixing a variety of interlocking weaves, biomimicking natural animal textures) and cutting-edge material (e.g., nano-enhanced elastomeric 3D printing material) gave the dresses durability and flexibility.

Regenerative medicine: The area of regenerative medicine has also achieved impressive applications within the 3D printing field. Dr. Anthony Atala’s team from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine has successfully used 3D printing technology to fabricate living organs and tissue (including muscle structures, and bone and ear tissue).5,6 These bioprinted body parts are capable of generating functional replacement tissue.

Aerospace: NASA has also been implementing 3D printing techniques and 3D printers to develop materials that allow astronauts to repair or replace essential parts and build structures in space. NASA recently collaborated with researchers at Washington State University to fabricate a replica of a moon rock using raw lunar regolith simulant and 3D laser printing technology.

Construction: The assembly of modular construction materials using giant 3D printers for use in the housing industry has gained significant interest, especially for poorer countries, during natural disasters, or sudden emergencies. Some 3D companies have succeeded in building houses or bridges with cement, sand, or concrete materials.10–12

4D Printing

The rapidly decreasing cost, improved software design, and increasing range of printable materials have helped to bring about a new technology called four-dimensional (4D) printing. 4D printing provides printed objects with the ability to change form or function with time according to various stimuli such as heat, water, current, or light (Figure 1A).13 The essential difference between 4D printing and 3D printing is the addition of smart design, or responsive materials that cause time-dependent deformations of objects.
This review covers both 3D and 4D printing processes and shows the materials related to different printing types.

The process of 3D & 4D Printing Technology

3D printing is the process of fabricating objects by building up materials layer by layer. he 3D printing process from modeling to final printing. Based on the use of computer-aided design (CAD) describing the geometry and the size of the objects to be printed, a complicated 3D model is created in a printable standard tessellation language (STL) file format. Then, it is sliced into a series of digital cross-sectional layers in accordance with the layer thickness setting.
Upon completion of the model, the object is fabricated by a 3D printer through the layer-by-layer fabrication process based on a series of 2D layers to create a static 3D object. 3D printing can involve different types of materials such as thermoplastic polymer, powder, metal, UV curable resin, etc.

Four-dimensional printing incorporates a time component to the 3D printed objects, making the design process more important. 4D-printed structures must be preprogrammed in detail based on the transforming mechanism of controllable smart materials that incorporate time dependent material deformations. 3D structures that self-fold based on the thermal activation of spatially variable patterns printed with a variety of shape memory polymers. Each polymer has a different thermal-dependent behavior that can make the box self-fold in a time-sequential manner based on smart design and thermomechanical mechanisms.14 The choice of materials for 4D printing is significant, however, because most 3D printing materials are designed only to produce rigid, static objects. Recently, some smart shape alloy/polymer memory materials have been developed to utilize their self-assembled behaviors driven by heat, UV, or water absorption-driven. For example, the temperature-responsive artificial hand was printed with a temperature-responsive TPU (thermal polyurethane) filament. It has the ability to contract or expand in response to specific temperatures. In addition, multi-materials having different environmental behaviors are also useful in 4D printing. A research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used two different materials with different porosities and water-absorption abilities to print transformable structures.16,17 It was composed of a porous water-absorbing material on one side and a rigid waterproof material on the opposite side. When exposed to water, the water-absorbing side increased in volume while the other side remained unchanged, resulting in shape deformation.

Future Prospects

Three-dimensional printing technology is highly versatile and efficient with respect to design, fabrication, and applications. 4D printing may be of great importance in the future due to its potential to redefine manufacturing-related industries. However, the technology must be further refined before it can replace conventional manufacturing methods. Therefore, future research and investment in 3D and 4D printing technologies are imperative to bring about improvements in essential areas including materials, printer systems, and product markets.

References:
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/IN/en/technical-documents/technical-article/materials-science-and-engineering/3d-printing/3d-and-4d-printing-technologies
https://dl.uctm.edu/journal/node/j2020-6/17_20-115_p_2094-2104.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00164/full
https://www.sftichallenge.govt.nz/our-research/projects/spearhead/additive-manufacturing-and-3d-and-or-4d-printing-of-bio-composites/

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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are aircraft that can be controlled remotely by a pilot, or by preprogrammed plans or automation systems that enable them to fly autonomously. A large number of industries and organizations are adopting this technology, including military, government, commercial, and recreational users.
As drone technology advances, these aircraft are becoming more common and affordable, giving rise to debates that weigh their benefits against new ethical and legal concerns. As such, the decisions derived from discussing the pros and cons of drones and UAVs are poised to have a substantial impact on the private and public sectors.

Pros of Drones

To properly weigh the pros and cons of drones and their use, it’s important to examine both sides of the debate on their own merits. For instance, plenty of reasons exist to support the use of drones.

Quality Aerial Imaging
Drones are excellent for taking high-quality aerial photographs and video, and collecting vast amounts of imaging data. These high-resolution images can be used to create 3D maps and interactive 3D models, which have many beneficial uses. For example, 3D mapping of disaster areas can enable rescue teams to be better prepared before entering hazardous situations.

Precision
Since unmanned aerial vehicles use GPS (the Global Positioning System), they can be programmed and maneuvered accurately to precise locations. This is especially helpful in a variety of situations. In precision agriculture, for example, UAVs are used for a variety of farming needs, such as spraying fertilizer and insecticide, identifying weed infestations, and monitoring crop health. The precision of UAVs saves farmers both time and cost.

Easily Deployable
With advances in control technology, most drones can be deployed and operated with relatively minimal experience. Combined with the relatively low cost of most models, drones are becoming accessible to a wide range of operators. UAVs also have a greater range of movement than manned aircraft. They are able to fly lower and in more directions, allowing them to easily navigate traditionally hard-to-access areas.

Security
Another plus to drone use centers on security. With the appropriate license, operators can use unmanned aerial vehicles to provide security and surveillance to private companies, sporting events, public gatherings, and other venues. Drones can also gather valuable data during and after natural disasters to aid in security and recovery efforts.

Cons of Drones

While there are numerous pros to using drones, there are also several perceived challenges to their deployment. These concerns are important to consider, particularly given the wide range of circumstances in which drones can be used.
Legislative Uncertainty
Since the widespread use of unmanned aerial vehicles is relatively new, legislation is still catching up. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has established certain rules for small, unmanned aircraft that apply to commercial and recreational use, but there are still ambiguities. Questions include how best to determine airspace property rights and protect landowners from aerial trespassing. Further adding to the confusion are conflicts between federal regulations and some state and local laws.

Safety
Safety is a primary concern when dealing with unmanned aerial vehicles. To avoid mid-air collisions, UAVs must be programmed with “sense and avoid” capabilities that match those of manned aircraft. This means that drones must be able to detect a potential collision and maneuver to safety. In the event of system failures, falling drones are another serious danger, especially when they are used near large crowds or in highly populated areas.

Privacy
One of the most common concerns from the public about UAVs is privacy. Drones can collect data and images without drawing attention, leading many Americans to fear their Fourth Amendment right to privacy may be in jeopardy. This can occur if government entities were to use drones to monitor the public. The way in which the Fourth Amendment is interpreted, and the efforts of privacy rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), continue to influence how this issue of privacy is regulated.

Applications of Drones
Drones are designed to be nimble and relatively unobtrusive. A diverse number of industries use them to execute complex tasks. In many instances, these tasks may otherwise be extremely difficult or costly to achieve without the assistance of drone technology. The results of these myriad applications are equally diverse, ranging from boosted creativity to greater commercial and communal outreach.

Filming Movies
An amateur filmmaker can record high-quality aerial shots using only a drone equipped with a high-definition camera. Less than two decades ago, recording from this perspective was only consistently an option for large movie studios that could afford to use cranes, helicopters, and airplanes. As a single day of a helicopter shoot may cost tens of thousands of dollars, the option to buy a basic filming drone for a few thousand dollars can be far more appealing for modern filmmakers — although renting higher-end professional drones may exceed $5,000 for a single day’s use.
Apart from their costs being more manageable, drones are also useful due to their extreme versatility. Drones are usually relatively small in size, so they are great when shooting a movie scene that requires entering a tight space or moving nimbly. Yet, they are not a complete replacement for traditional aircraft in the film industry. While the size of drones typically allows users to record shots that wouldn’t be possible using a manned aircraft, some filmmakers believe that helicopters are still preferable for shooting high-speed action scenes such as car chases.

Protecting Animals
Poaching is devastating endangered wildlife populations across the globe. Conservationist groups have been working for decades to protect these animals by migrating them into protected lands like animal sanctuaries and national parks. Yet many poachers still trespass into these parks to kill the animals. Therefore, conservationists must strategize new ways to secure these locations and prevent people with malicious intent from entering.
Recently, the conservationist community has discovered how to use drones to help protect wildlife. Using a drone equipped with night vision optics or thermal sensors, conservationists can patrol the parks to deter poachers. One example can be found at Liwonde National Park in Liwonde, Malawi. The park uses anti-poaching drones to find illegal snares, monitor activity within the park, and help law enforcement officials find and arrest poachers.

War Reporting
War zones are extremely dangerous, and war journalists would normally need to risk their lives to record events as they unfold. Using drones, journalists can record the destruction of war without compromising their own safety. This makes it possible to accurately represent the reality of war using firsthand visual accounts filmed in real war-afflicted areas.
Delivering Packages
The future of drone technology will also present consumers with the highly convenient option to receive their deliveries by drone. Amazon is at the forefront of making this a reality. Its upcoming Amazon Prime Air service is expected to allow customers to request drone delivery for packages weighing up to five pounds. How will the process work?
1. A customer purchases a product.
2. The delivery drone is dispatched to an address or to the customer’s smartphone GPS.
3. Upon the arrival of the drone, the customer uses their phone to flash a QR code, barcode, or LED signal to the drone, validating them as the correct customer.
4. The product then is lowered from a safe height using a pulley system and released for the customer.

This application of drone technology has the potential to make delivery far more efficient in the near future, though no widespread drone delivery services are operating at full capacity yet due to government regulations and public safety concerns. The firms that are interested in offering drone delivery services will need to emphasize designing and implementing safe and ethical systems that will not endanger their customer or the public.

Measuring Weather
To create accurate weather forecasts, meteorologists must measure weather data from a diverse set of sensors that are usually affixed to satellites or surface equipment. These tools collect data that can be used to predict common weather changes like precipitation, or even violent storms like tornadoes. Scientists are now working to incorporate unmanned aircraft into the process by using drones to collect research data.

Flying through a storm can be dangerous, but drones can enter storms to collect temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind velocity measurements without risking lives. This data can be used to provide advanced storm warnings, giving people more time to take precautions or evacuate. As drones continue to become more robust, industry leaders expect them to become a more regular aspect of weather measurement and forecasting.

Although unmanned aerial vehicles have existed for several decades, over the past 20 years the technology has seen significant advancements. Drones were once a tool used almost exclusively for military uses, but modern engineering has made them accessible and affordable to private citizens.
By earning a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, aspiring professionals can enhance their understanding of the fundamental tenets of electronics engineering. In doing so, they can improve their ability to contribute positively to the design process of complex electronic devices, like drones.

The Future of Drones

The commercial interest in drone technology began to boom around 2010, and shows no signs of slowing. In fact, all signs point to a bright and exciting future for drones and drone technology. Future generations of drones are projected to feature enhanced autonomy and improved safety and regulatory standards. These and other enhancements have the potential to further impact a wide array of industry sectors, such as commercial transport, logistics, and the military.

Emergency Response
Improved camera technology goes hand in hand with improved drone technology. Because the quality of images produced by drone cameras continues to improve, emergency response teams can increasingly rely on them to locate and identify victims more efficiently. This efficiency could potentially lead to improved victim survival rates. Additionally, drones can be increasingly used to help survey the aftermath of a natural disaster, which could make it easier for response teams to deploy disaster relief and humanitarian aid to the affected region’s most vulnerable areas.

Health Care
Currently, drone-based delivery correlates to commercial goods like an Amazon package. But this delivery aspect could conceivably have important applications in the health care industry, particularly in rural areas where access to health care services may be limited. In this case, drones may be used to deliver time-sensitive materials such as prescription refills. These actions can lead to more timely medical care that could ultimately improve an individual’s own health journey.

Construction

UAVs can cover large areas very quickly, and they can be equipped with tools that can generate 3D images. These dual functions can be beneficial to construction workers, who can use this efficiently gathered data to produce models at the project’s start and assess progress during the construction process. These elements can lead to the creation of safer and more robust buildings, and may make it easier for a construction team to hit the vital metrics of being on time and on budget.

References:
https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-uavs/
https://www.isro.gov.in/applications-of-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-uav-based-remote-sensing-ne-region
https://www.britannica.com/technology/unmanned-aerial-vehicle
https://www.rand.org/topics/unmanned-aerial-vehicles.html

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Remote work is full of challenges. Cross-timezone communication, a lack of structure, more distractions, and isolation all threaten to overshadow the benefits of remote work.
This survival guide to remote work will walk you through the major challenges you will face when working remotely—and how to conquer them.
You sit down at your desk on your first day on the remote job. You’re pumped. You’re ready for anything. About two hours in, you realize you’re drinking from a fire hydrant.
About three hours in, you start feeling very lost as you try to sort through not only the information you need to do your job, but also backlog of Slack chats, and the unspoken norms, expectations, and rules that every company has.
So there you are, with your manager on a five-hour time difference, unaccustomed to your new team, with more questions than you know what to do with. It’ll be tempting to push the panic button, but try these remote work tips instead:

1. Invest in a standing desk.
This will help alleviate lower back or hip pain and promote better health. But this doesn’t mean you should just stand all day. Move around your house — and I’m not just talking about trips to the fridge. Make sure to find times to sit throughout the day, and push your shoulders back to ensure that you are sitting with good posture. Move around and use different locations throughout your home to inspire creativity, encourage different ergonomic positions and have different views and sounds.

2. Take walking meetings when you can.
If you have a phone call that you don’t need to be in front of a computer to take, pick up your Bluetooth headphones and get outside. It’s great for your muscles, your heart, your happiness and your overall well-being.

3. Meal and snack prep.
Too many times I used to get caught in the “I have nothing to eat” scenario and just snack on energy bars and anything else I could find in the house. While you don’t need elaborate meals, make it a point to have a fridge stocked with fresh fruit, cut up veggies, hard-boiled eggs, greens and proteins such as chicken breasts, tuna or whatever you love. You can get creative with eating habits for “brain food” and productivity.

4. Apply the ROWE mindset.
Tim Jones, CEO of Precision Nutrition, an online nutrition and healthy lifestyle coaching and certification company, applies the ROWE mindset. ROWE stands for “results-only work environment,” and Jones encourages it because it helps remove concerns managers may have around employee productivity. “We don’t track hours or care about how you do your work, as long as you’re getting the results,” Jones said. “By focusing on goals and metrics, the old-school idea of how much time was spent sitting at a desk quickly goes out the door.”

5. It’s OK to mix work and life.
Terry Traut, CEO of Entelechy, a company that develops leadership development, management, and customer experience training programs for Comcast, National Grid, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sprint, DIRECTV, Constant Contact and others, urges people to “just go with the flow” and try not to be so rigid with separating work life and home life. Traut explains, “Instead of trying to force yourself to be productive when you’re not, or to relax when your mind’s whirling, just go with the flow. Don’t feel guilty for that time you got up at 3:00 a.m. to document a brilliant thought. Likewise, don’t feel guilty for that morning walk in the woods. You’ll find yourself more productive and happier.”

6. Select and set up your tech, strategically.
Working at home can mean overlapping with other family members’ activities and schedules. Andrey Khusid, CEO of Miro, a whiteboarding platform for team collaboration, encourages having multiple devices enabled with all of your work apps. This helps you be as flexible as possible. “For complex and collaborative work, connect your laptop to a large monitor so you can easily navigate between tools for videoconferencing, chatting, project management and whiteboarding,” says Khusid. “Rely on your tablet or smartphone — with their long battery life and webcam — for quick Slack responses or hours of Zoom calls as you’re on the go.” Khusid’s remote tech stack includes:
Zoom — for videoconferencing
Slack — for chat
Confluence — for internal wiki
Miro — for ideation, strategy and project planning, central project hub, presentations
Google Suite — for spreadsheets, simple docs

7. Have fun with your colleagues.
DJ Haddad is a father of four and Prime Minister of Design and CEO of Haddad & Partners, a full-service creative agency that employs over 65 people and has worked with international brands such as Microsoft, Capital One, Citibank, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Sallie Mae and HBO. He has a mantra of never taking himself too seriously. “I am lucky to work with the greatest team on the planet, and somehow we have all become friends and created this amazing chemistry remotely over Microsoft Teams. Just like in a real office environment, we joke around, we make fun of each other, we make stupid GIFs of each other, we share high school prom photos, vacation photos, we live-chat while watching the Oscars, etc. We have Team chats for everything — book club, employees with kids, employees without kids, competitions, etc. It makes it easy for us to still have fun and have ‘water cooler talk’ throughout the day.”

8. Transfer your commute time to intentional rest time.
John Fitch & Max Frenzel, co-authors of Time Off Book (out in May) suggest that we calculate the amount of time we normally have to commute and translate that time to our “rest” allowance. This is time for us to detach from our work. Instead of starting our day off by stressing out about getting somewhere on time, invest that time into either a relaxing ritual that gets you to a calm and clear state of mind or invest it into winding down your day so that you don’t form a habit of working into the night. The authors explain how this commute time can be a time to set an intentional container for separating work and leisure at home.

9. Remove distractions and set a schedule for these distractions.
What distractions are around you? Nettie Owens, a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization and founder of Momentum Millionaire Network, tells us to think about these distractions and plan your work around them. For example, will noise be an issue at home (while the kids are possibly home, too)? If so, noise-canceling headphones are a must. Set a schedule to let your family know, “I am going to be working from 8 am to noon, then taking a break for lunch.” This helps ensure you can focus without the nagging questions. In addition, you may need to set up some structure for the family to have activities or tag team working with your partner. Is social media a distraction? Then download a social media blocking tool and set your “work hours.” Are you hungry? Decide on designated snack times. Unwashed laundry? Plan to do chores before and after work, and decide how much time you will dedicate to these tasks.

10. Try a zero-based calendar.
Cathryn Lavery, co-founder and CEO of BestSelf Co, a company that makes planners and productivity tools for personal development, believes that especially with remote work, zero-based is the way to go. This means you budget every minute of your day to help you stay on track and monitor your progress. Lavery explained to Well + Good that you don’t need to skip out on your favorite activities with a zero-based calendar, you just need to ensure you schedule them with a specific time block. This way you won’t push off the activities we enjoy due to a lack of time. She reinforced to me over email, “By adding all tasks to your calendar with specific time blocks, you’ll start to become more aware of how long various tasks actually take. Having less ‘open space’ on your calendar can protect your free time and increase your productivity.”
Working from home offers flexibility, liberty, and opportunities for you to create healthier habits while remaining productive. As Slack, Zoom, Trello and Basecamp will continue to help us operate more effectively as teams, make sure that as an individual you get outside, see people in person when you are able, and follow a lifestyle where you can protect your personal time — especially family time like dinner and evening routines.
Working from home offers flexibility, liberty and opportunities for you to create healthier habits while remaining productive. As Slack, Zoom, Trello and Basecamp will continue to help us operate more effectively as teams, make sure that as an individual you get outside, see people in person when you are able, and follow a lifestyle where you can protect your personal time — especially family time like dinner and evening routines.

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How AI, Chatbots and Voice Commerce are Affecting Ecommerce

Ten years ago, the concept of AI, chatbots and voice commerce seemed like science fiction to most of us. These days we hear about them on a daily basis. Take the self-driving car, digital assistants (Apple’s Siri, Google Now, Amazon’s Alexa), the vacuum cleaner (Roomba), and transport solution (Uber) are a few examples. They are already working in our lives.

One estimate says that by 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationship with a company without interacting with a human. Should you be concerned if you are an eCommerce merchant? The market competition will be stiff for sure, but the idea behind the technology is to process information and orders faster. AI helps businesses become more efficient and beneficial to their customers.

Layman’s Terms for AI, Chatbots and Voice Commerce

Focusing on building intelligent machines, Artificial intelligence (AI) is the area of computer science that replicates the thought process of humans.

Chatbots are AI systems that interact either through text or voice interface. With voice commerce, consumers can speak to a device rather than typing on a keyboard.

You’ll find examples of chatbots in Facebook Messenger, Slack, and text messages.

They can adapt to any language and dialect depending on the service area. It’s an advantage to eCommerce especially those who handle international requests in a multitude of languages. And it eliminates the dialect and language barriers faced by human agents.

How Does This Technology Affect eCommerce?

AI technology has changed eCommerce and the way we shop online. It affects all areas of eCommerce brand development; including payments, security, logistics, purchasing, inventory management, and fulfillment.

Merchants have tremendous data and analytics at their disposal to instantly promote, upsell, and otherwise market to their customers wherever they are. With artificial intelligence and machine learning, retailers can offer highly accurate customer support without hiring humans.

In this article, we’re looking at AI, Chatbots and Voice Commerce technology and their effect on eCommerce. Let’s look at AI first.

1. AI Makes Scaling eCommerce Easier

Man Holding Credit Card Using eCommerce AI To Shop Online

AI has improved eCommerce in every area including:

• Streamlining the Supply Chain – NLP (Natural Language Processing) technology can simplify auditing, compliance, and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) by overcoming language barriers between buyer and foreign suppliers.
• Identifying Counterfeit Goods – Apps analyze the trustworthiness of suspicious accounts and products. They can follow up for removal from seller sites.
• Automatic Product Descriptions – AI programs can analyze keywords and benefits to create optimized product descriptions without human intervention.
• Automated Campaign Management – Marketing programs such as Albert are taking over most of the daily marketing campaign tasks from scheduling to analytics. They also track competitor’s campaigns to improve results.
• Total Analytics – AI takes big data and converts into real-time analytics. Merchants can leverage real-time business intelligence for understanding their customer base, analyzing the amount of traffic, transactions, and other information needed to streamline an eCommerce store.
• Abandoned Cart Recovery – Messenger chatbots can bypass e-mail and directly remind users of the items that are still in their shopping cart. Direct messages get read 12 times more than email, with higher conversion rates.

One of the best uses for AI technology has been chatbots. They have enabled retailers to automate the most common questions and responses to help their customers find the right information.

2. Chatbots Are the Must Have Tech

Have you ever called customer service and barely understood what he was saying? It’s one of the main reasons AI-powered “Chatbots” are rapidly replacing human-based call centers. Programmed to answer any question a customer may have; machine learning allows the answer database to grow with every call.

Modern chatbots can adapt to any language including dialects for local service. Other uses for chatbots are:

• Virtual Assistants – Bots that use NLP are now far more advanced and do more through their ability to understand natural language.
• Responding to Queries – “Decision trees” are the thought process bots use to discover the intent behind a customer’s questions and then provides the right answer. Machine learning creates more “branches” to the root question, gaining better accuracy over time.
• Send Shipping Information – Shoppers can receive accurate package tracking directly on Facebook Messenger or another app. This creates a more personal connection with the company.
• Upselling & Cross-Selling – Retargeting (remarketing) is one of the most effective marketing tools. Chatbots can display what shoppers have previously purchased and then suggest new or related items.
• Send Mass Messages and Continuous A/B Testing – Utilize message bots to A/B test messages. Like other chat platforms, past conversations will remain visible for future reference. Messages perform better than emails.

Just like their human counterparts, chatbots improve over time. There are two significant advantages of chatbots, lower long-term costs, and limitless language capabilities.

3. Voice Commerce Is the Future

It’s just a matter of time until voice commerce is as common as smartphones. Here are some of the ways voice commerce is changing eCommerce:

• Less Texting, More Talking – You only need to look at Amazon’s sales of their Echo “smart speaker” to see the trend. People use it to connect to “Alexa,” the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service. Orders for the Echo were seven times more on Prime Day (Amazon’s biggest shopping day) in 2017 than they were the year before.
• High Growth Trend – One estimate says voice-activated assistants will skyrocket from 500 million current users to 1.8 billion by 2021. It wasn’t long ago when mobile apps were the rage. Now that smartphones and people are inseparable, a voice interface is the next step in the eCommerce evolution. Ordering and shopping using natural speech is faster and allows people to do other things instead of focusing on texting.
• Business Giants Are Already Onboard – Big brands like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are leading the way in chatbots, NLP, and voice interface. One and a half years after its unveiling, Amazon reported in 2016 that 32% of Echo owners had already used it to make a purchase. From a marketing company standpoint, now having an extra path for Voice SEO is a huge advantage; if done right.
• Increased Audio Brand Signatures – We already see the increase in sound bites and jingles for brand recognition. Voice commerce has turned back the clock to the days of radio advertising, where every note and syllable has meaning. The next challenge for retailers and advertisers is how to target voice programs. Will they be like radio spots or will there be spam filters to block them?

Of course, voice has its limitations. People buying big-ticket items will want to get close, see it and touch it. But voice will become ubiquitous with people searching from their phones or interactive TVs. With voice activation already showing up on home appliances and shopping lists, it will play a much more significant role in the shopping interface than it does now.

AI has Improved CRM in Every Area.

AI brings a lot to the eCommerce table. For instance, predictive analysis has made it possible for stores to offer shoppers closely related items based on history or current activity. The more history a shopper has with a company, the better the bot can predict and address their needs.

Voice eCommerce SEO teams make the voice systems work easier and safer. We can carry on a conversation with our heads up rather than buried in a keypad. If a shopper abandons her cart, a bot can send a direct reminder that won’t get lost in a spam folder.

With image processing, a shopper can snap a picture of an item (someone wearing a dress, shoes, handbag, etc.), forward it to the store’s bot and get information back about what it is and where they can get it.

Bots and AI keep merchants up to speed on the backend too. Inventory management and fulfillment ensure a quality experience for the shopper and a profitable one for the merchant. Predictive analysis helps match inventory levels with future demand.

In the end, AI enhances both the user experience and improves management controls. Shoppers get what they want just by asking, and retailers can track shopper’s habits to offer targeted goods and services. It’s a win-win for everyone.

To get the most out of AI and all it has to offer, get in touch with Eventide.

References:

https://www.infostretch.com/chatbots-voice-interfaces/

https://uxplanet.org/https-bit-ly-2vpnnsu-2e0c20391078

https://vux.world/the-difference-between-chatbot-and-voice-search-refinements/

https://medium.com/@botanalytics/voice-enabled-chatbots-vs-messenger-bots-everything-you-need-to-know-29f2c7a982c1

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Everyone is expecting decent opportunities in the form of experience as-a-service, with the evolving incorporation of technologies in the world of mobile. They are raising questions on the abilities of typical mobile apps while imploring a clear demand for a personalized experience.

Dispersion of this can be that mobile apps have begun embracing the capacities of AI to eventually emerge as Intelligent apps. Now you might be curious to know what are intelligent apps, so let’s see below.

What are Intelligent Apps?

Intelligent applications are built with AI and analytic technologies. The AI part is a combination of Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and deep learning. In addition, it is powered by data analytics, robotics, expert systems, and much more. Altogether the app acts intelligently with the feedback gained from the user or the surrounding environment.

Intelligent mobile apps are essentially AI-enabled applications that provide a rich, adaptive, and personalized user experience. These apps incorporate the power of predictive and prescriptive analytics, consumer data, cutting-edge technologies, and operational data with application development tools and the latest user-centric design to make a high-end user experience. As we have covered what are intelligent apps, let’s have a glimpse on the intelligent apps examples to understand them better.

Intelligent App examples

Elsa Speak

ELSA Speak is one of the popular Artificial Intelligence apps that assist users to learn English quickly and effectively. The application has a documented down test designed by the professionals which facilitate users to learn and speak English fluently in a smaller period. Furthermore, this Android and iOS app enable them to proceed further by keeping a track of their progress.

Cortana

Microsoft’s Cortana is one of the best Intelligent apps that is altering our lives. The personal assistant app proposes different features and functionalities to users, such as setting reminders, keeping track of important files and documents, getting insight into weather forecasts, etc.

SwiftKey Keyboard

An AI-powered keyboard, SwiftKey Keyboard which auto-corrects your wrong text. Moreover, the app also proposes features like design, changing font colour, style, theme, etc, and enhancing your conversation by suggesting emojis.

Socratic

Socratic is an AI-based intelligent application that simplifies the learning process as it is introduced by Google. The application authorized students to inquire or ask questions either by asking verbally or by taking a photo of questions. The app itself comes up with an optimal question and answer sections, including YouTube videos, and links of the blog, which makes the process of studying quicker and simpler.

Hound

Hound is also another perfect example of how Artificial Intelligence in mobile apps can simplify your life. The app seizes voice commands to execute different actions such as getting familiar with the best hotel, restaurant, or doctors.

Another fascinating feature of this i-app is that it translates speech to text and vice-versa.

IRIS

IRIS, an example of the execution of artificial intelligence in mobile apps for adequate services. It is developed by Paint Technology Solutions. An intelligent reporting Android and iOS app for team leaders, managers, and co-workers of any specific project. The application allows them to get access to the report of any team member. And the favourable part is that multiple users can access the same document at the same time and that too from distinct sync devices.

FaceApp

FaceApp is also another application that uses Neural and AI network technology to build freaky, hilarious, most realistic face transformations.

Youper

Youper is an easy computing Artificial intelligence app that caters to health and fitness issues and accessible on both Android and iOS. The application is established on cognitive behavioural therapy, motivates users to share their social phobia and get real-time stimulating advice. In this way, it enhances their social interactions and lifestyle effectively.

Flo

Flo is yet an i-app that is mainly used in the process of photo and video editing. The app appears with a built-in voice assistant that facilitates users to give a voice command regarding which footage to pick, and on what basis (based on date, location, or tags). And eventually, incorporate them optimally with high-quality music.

The application also assigns Machine learning algorithms that provide options like choosing the best moments, locations, detecting faces, etc. Now, let’s look at the features that make these apps prominent.

Benefits of Intelligent Apps

There are numerous benefits of using a modern intelligent app to ease your work and add value to your business. Let’s check it out step-by-step.

• Action-oriented –  The major factor of i-apps is that these applications do not wait for users to make every move. Instead, they study user behaviour and provide personalized and actionable outcomes using the power of Predictive Analytics. In this way, they cut down the conflict of users and urge them to seize desired actions.

The great example to understand this trait of Intelligent applications is Hound app. It indicates the best nearby restaurants, hotels, and more in real-time. This provides users with a push towards making a booking, which probably would not have been possible if they were asked to search manually.

• Data-driven– The power source of Intelligent apps is data; it is truly dependent on it. Data is an essential part of I-apps, as data serves as the warehouse of information. The I-apps collect data from various sources like websites, mobile apps, IoT sensors, user interaction, etc., & analyze and organize them, thus giving a more immeasurable user experience. One of the key features of Intelligent apps is delivering a data-driven output. The intelligent apps collect information from different sources like be it IoT sensors, websites, mobile apps, beacons, etc., and examine it in real-time. An outcome of which is that you get the exact results for almost everything when asked.
• Contextual– Intelligent mobile apps survey users’ behaviour and preferences, they easily distinguish between which data is appropriate and vice versa. Because of this, these apps furnish highly contextual and suitable data and recommendations to users. Furthermore, they inform users about the problems they might face relying on their modern situation. An instance of this would be Cleo application, an AI-powered budgeting app that evaluates people’s expenditures and notifies them of their spending abilities. On the other hand, the cost of a Cleo like the app is relatively high.
• Adaptive in nature– Since thousands of users will use the app, the expectation of adaptability is obvious. Every user’s mind-set is different, so their use. The versatility of the apps plays a significant role. The use of machine learning helps the application adopt some common points that most users act similar actions to provide a better user experience. Supported by Machine learning algorithms, these apps are adaptive. They can effortlessly promote their knowledge as per their surroundings.
• Exclusion of keyboard inputs- Since providing high comfort is a core objective of i-apps, these applications also stimulate the opportunity to provide commands without using keyboards. It means that these apps respond to commands offered in the form of speech, image, gesture movement, etc. These apps work smartly, responding to the users’ voice, images, gesture movement, etc. that helps the hassle-free user experience.
• Omnichannel– Last but not least, transmitting an Omnichannel experience is also one of the fundamental features of Intelligence apps.
• Responsive– The app should be responsive, and it is the primary factor for getting better user engagement. Users are the best source of information that an app can get. The user input form could be anything like text, photo, or voice. That’s why the app should be highly responsive to understand users’ inputs, needs, and behavior for a better user experience. Intelligent apps are very responsive because of AI and machine learning algorithms.
• Cross-Platform Functionality– Being a smart app, it should have the ability to understand common actions and process the desired output. Also, it should have cross-platform functionality. Here, Artificial intelligence comes into the picture that manages, organizes, and processes the outcome that provides the same user experience on a cross-platform.
• Context-sensitive- As we know, intelligent apps use users’ behaviors and preferences. Based on that, I-apps quickly identify which data is suitable for the user and contrariwise.
• Save time and money– Intelligent apps save users’ time and money also on a certain level. These apps are powered by AI and machine learning, which understand users’ behavior, and based on that, it suggests the action the user should take. This functionality can save users’ time, and also it stops them from making a wrong decision.
• Helps in business decisions – I-apps work smartly, as they understand the user’s behavior and store the data in the backend and provide real-time data and analytics. These data and analytics can help business owners decide what they should do to increase sales and generate more revenue.

The process of development of Intelligent app comes up with:-

• Strong development possibilities with new DevOps and Paas techniques
• Continuous relevance of data
• Delivery of insights in an Omnichannel environment

As we have talked about what are intelligent apps and everything about the model of strengthening intelligent mobile apps, the process is vastly progressive and challenging. It is often better to employ a tech mobility professional to taste the future of mobile applications, i.e, intelligent apps.

References:

https://www.anblicks.com/blog/9-benefits-of-intelligent-apps-to-increase-user-engagement

https://www.infosys.com/services/microsoft-cloud-business/offerings/intelligent-applications.html

https://www.cronj.com/blog/top-10-intelligent-apps/

https://www.dxc.technology/business_transformation/insights/146029-the_rise_of_intelligent_applications

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