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I am not ready for this, not yet…

There’s an article in theguardian.com that reads like a science fiction book or the plot from a Bond movie:

“Google has struck a deal with the healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to develop surgical robots that use artificial intelligence. Google’s life sciences division will work with Johnson & Johnson’s medical device company, Ethicon, to create a robotics-assisted surgical platform to help doctors in the operating theatre.”

The article then ends with: “Google’s life sciences team is also developing systems that can detect cancer and heart attacks using nano particles, and has worked on smart contact lenses that contain sensors capable of monitoring the signs of diabetes – technology that was licensed by the Swiss drug firm Novartis in July 2014 to develop into a practical medical application.”  The link to this article is here: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/27/google-johnson-and-johnson-artificial-intelligence-surgical-robots

There is more, this time from Japan, also from theguardian.com: “Meet Robear, an experimental nursing-care robot developed by the RIKEN-SRK Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research and Sumitomo Riko Company. Unveiled this month, the robot is designed to lift patients out of beds and into wheelchairs, as well as helping those who need assistance to stand up. Robear weighs in at 140kg, and is the successor to heavier robots RIBA and RIBA-II. ‘We really hope that this robot will lead to advances in nursing care, relieving the burden on caregivers today,’ said Toshiharu Mukai, leader of the project’s robot sensor systems research team. ‘We intend to continue with research toward more practical robots capable of providing powerful yet gentle care to elderly people.’
That’s an increasingly urgent challenge in Japan, where the elderly population is growing fast. According to Riken, robots like Robear can play an important role in taking the strain off nurses and caregivers, who may be having to lift patients 40 or more times a day, risking lower-back pain in the process.”  The article is here:

I am not ready for this; not because I belong to the generation that soon will need Robear and hates change. No! I am not ready because all these technologies can and will fail at one point or another – one hopes not in the middle of the heart surgery or while transporting Grandma from her bed to the nearby chair…ouch! Knowing there is a system that is fail proof, designed to be always on, you know, NonStop … Why would you trust yours or your loved ones’ life to anything less? Say we will overcome it, and the technology will become available on NonStop. Is this solving the problem?

As we continue to differentiate the IoT from the Io (Mission-Critical)T I have the sense that greater demands for integrity and robustness will be forthcoming. After all, there’s a whole lot of difference between missing a nut or bolt on a production line assembling household furniture, for instance, to missing a screw while performing a back surgery. Should software updates be transmitted, as we so often see happening on our PCs, would the dreaded blue-screen of death take on more ominous overtones?

I have to believe that as this trend toward automation and AI intrudes into our very lives, NonStop systems will likely find a whole new market segment opening up. This may not be as fashionable as interacting with the latest smartphone or tablet, but really, we are talking about things way more important than fashion.

In the world of all things connected, communicating with each other and sending tons of information to their creators as well as to places where the data gets analyzed and understood, if you let it, there will be a caring robot to help you as you age. I wonder, will you be less alone? OK, as I said, I am not ready for this, not yet…

I am not the only one!

I came across a fascinating article: http://www.rustreport.com.au/issues/latestissue/oz-research-reveals-the-competitive-advantage-of-iot/

“A new Australian report into the application of the Internet of Things has highlighted the significant cost, revenue and productivity benefits for adopting companies, but also revealed an high level of business indifference to the technology. The research was conducted by analyst firm Telsyte on behalf of Microsoft.

Entitled ‘Cut through: How the Internet of Things is sharpening Australia’s competitive edge’, the report shows that two-thirds of organizations that have deployed and measured Internet of Things (IoT) solutions have achieved 28 per cent cost reductions in their day-to-day operations.

Despite those impressive returns, the report reveals there is a long way to go before the competitive advantage of Internet of Things (IoT) is fully harnessed by Australian businesses with just 26 per cent of the 300-plus Australian organizations surveyed indicating they have deployed Internet of Things solutions, and nearly half (48 per cent) have no immediate plans to deploy.”

Yes, half of the Australian companies surveyed are not ready for this, yet!

Telsyte recommends 5 steps toward implementing the Internet of Things, and I found the last one timely: “Prepare for real time data: The Internet of Things will generate real-time data — not just large volumes of data — across a range of business processes. Real-time data is about immediacy, and brings with it the potential for fundamental disruption. When possible, Telsyte recommends processes be modelled around the availability of real-time data to build long-term competitive advantage.” No surprises here for the NonStop community, as this is exactly what WebAction was saying all along!



So, as half of the Australian companies and I, the “new Australian”, are not quite ready for IoT yet, it is reassuring to see that at least one NonStop partner is leading this inevitable move toward taking advantage of the IoT and all the technologies that utilize it.

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