Blog

2016 has been an interesting year for Technology and technology-based industries. We’ve seen the rise of mainstream 3D printing, the Internet of Things, the “As A Service” model, Computer Merging and Cyber Security. It’s been a wild ride, and I’d like to take you through a few of the most prominent changes which have affected the way we work in 2016.

 

Cyber Security has been one of the most prominent topics of 2016 with end users becoming more aware of just how vulnerable they can be online. Yahoo! have only recently learned that the 500 million user accounts which were discovered to have been leaked in September was in fact only half of the total 1 Billion accounts which were affected. TalkTalk were hacked in 2015 by a teenager “just showing off”. And the European Union have passed legislation to encourage companies to take ownership of their data and security on a greater level. Now most of this happened before 2016 but it’s only come in to the light of day in 2016.

 

In a nutshell: with more devices being connected more of the time there are more vulnerabilities, and with more companies and services requiring more information from us to personalise experiences, our personal data is more vulnerable. It’s a dangerous trade-off between convenience, privacy and security.

It’s a lot easier for hobby hackers to be able to compromise machines and data to extort money from the owners and end users. With forums, marketplaces and repositories devoted to “how to’s” and resources for malicious individuals on the dark web, hobby hackers are able to deploy increasingly more complicated and devastating attacks without having advanced knowledge of what they’re doing or even how they’re achieving it.

I’ve been posting a lot about Cyber Security and the fact that Cyber Security is now everyone’s priority, not just businesses and IT managers. The only way in which we can reduce the impact of this is by realising that the weakest link in any Cyber Security policy is the end user.

 

The Internet of Things or IoT as its commonly abbreviated to is when everyday devices are connected to a network for remote access and manipulation such as lighting, billboards, sound systems and heating. There are IoT enabled appliances as well such as fridges, kettles, ovens and washing machines as well. This has all been achieved through seeking more convenient and innovative ways to improve our lives.

Imagine being able to check on your fridge’s stock levels from work before you stop by the supermarket on your way home or place an order online for delivery. Imagine setting the temperature for your house so that it’s just right for your return. Want to get the kettle boiled for your morning coffee without having to leave the warm confines of your bed? No Problem.

The first generation of IoT products which we have access to just now is the first step towards a “Jetsons” future or for the pessimists out there a “Cyberdyne” future. I am really excited to see how this progresses.

 

I love Star Trek and their “Replicator” technology: Any physical object (or food) that you want can be created from simple base components by a machine wherever you need it. That’s where this first generation of consumer-based 3D printing is advancing towards.

3D Printing on an industrial scale is fairly commonplace for the production of consumer goods, but with consumers and end-users now able to “build” spare parts and products in their own home with nothing more than a lump of plastic and a schematic replicators are looking more realistic day by day.

 

Computer Merging

As A Service

Summary