[Column] Quantum Computing Age to Come ... Big Blue IBM Seeking Opportunities for a New Leap
"I'm not happy with all the analyses that go with just the classical theory, because nature isn't classical, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical..." At 'Physics of Computation Conference' in 1981, a physicist Richard P. Feynman first delivered the message that quantum computing is needed. Since then, after several decades of steady development and research, we are now in the process of defining quantum computing and developing algorithms. So, IT companies such as Microsoft, Google and IBM are developing a 50-qubit quantum computer and are working hard on research. When quantum computing is applied to various fields in the future, a number of things that the existing computers could not do will become possible. Existing computers computed and processed information using a binary system of 'Bit' using 0 or 1. Quantum computers, however, use the principles of quantum physics, also called quantum mechanics. They use 'Qubit (a.k.a Quantum Bit)' which allows 'superstition' state of 0 and 1, such as 00, 01, 10, and 11. Since they exist in an 'entangled' state, once a change occurs in one qubit, the other entangled qubit can quickly process it. In this way, as quantum computers can simultaneously exist in multiple states and act on all the states, it becomes possible to do numerous calculations separately at the same time with only one processor. Today, there are about 3 billion transistors in smartphones. To double the performance of this smartphone, about 6 billion transistors will be needed. On the other hand, the performance of quantum computers can be expressed as 'n square(s) of 2' with n qubit(s) because of the property of 'superstition' state. For example, if you want to double the performance of a device that has 16 qubits, you only need to add 1 qubit. Quantum computing is incomparably faster than computers using 0 and 1 bits. It will be possible to calculate the formula that humans calculate for hundreds of years within a few seconds. ▲ IBM has made it possible for anyone to experience Quantum Computing through IBM Q. (Image source: www.research.ibm.com/ibm-q) IBM has spent the past 100 years cultivating the foundations of IT and seeding it, and now it is changed to a completely different shape. Vacuum tubes, switches, punched cards, quantum computers and AI all exist in the history of IBM. Moreover, cutting out the history of x86 hardware that it had started and the shift from massive hardware- to technology-centered is also a specialness of IBM's history. Therefore, its history and journeys have a special meaning and need to be watched with interest. IBM pointed out three areas as the possible application areas for quantum computing in the future. First, it is expected to be a field of Chemistry including material design, oil and gas, and drug discovery. In fact, IBM published the results of the simulation using quantum algorithms with chemistry in September 2017 in the international science journal, Nature. The second area is predicted to be Artifical Intelligence (AI), which is a key technology of the 4th industrial revolution, including classification, machine learning, and linear algebra. Lastly, the quantum computing will take effect in a field of Financial Services, especially in the sectors of portfolio optimization, scenario analysis and pricing. Quantum computing's development phases include 'Quantum Foundations', which defines the basics of everything in quantum computing, 'Quantum Ready', which can develop algorithms and expand the sizes. And finally, 'Quantum Advantage' is a phase to commercialization and application to reality with quantum computing. Currently, IBM and also other IT companies researching quantum computing are at just beyond the middle of the 'Quantum Ready' phase. In fact, IBM expects quantum computing to be the mainstream in the next five years, and by 2020 it will be at the phase of 'Quantum Advantage'. In preparation for 'Quantum Ready' phase, IBM launched the Quantum Computing Platform called IBM Q Experience in 2017, making it accessible to anyone including students and researchers. At first, only 5 qubits were available, but now, up to 16 qubits are available. Released with IBM Q Experience, the Quantum Information Science Kit (QISKit) is an open source quantum computing system for developers to help make today's quantum development process and research more active. IBM is working on a 100-qubit quantum computer with the goal of developing it by 2020. The 100-qubit quantum computer has the ability to simulate all the atoms in the universe. ▲ The development of quantum computing will reduce this entire data center to just a few racks. (Image source: Samsung SDS) The performance improvements of existing transistor-based computer systems so far are approaching a certain physical limitation. Semiconductor processes are already nearing the level of physically close to the size of electrons, and the interest in what will happen to the next generation of silicon-based semiconductors is growing. Accordingly, the quantum computing has long been anticipated as an innovative way to go beyond "physical barriers." Given the impacts of quantum computing on us, it is likely to lead the changes beyond the cloud than what we see in the near future for various practical issues. This may be because the operation conditions of the initial system will be as tricky as a superconductor. On top of that, quantum computing is evaluated as a "double-edged sword". This is because it is expected to have the power to cause the collapse of the existing encryption system as well as the change in both the existing infrastructure and service structure. In fact, in March 2017, the world's largest security conference, 'RSA 2017', discussed the threats and countermeasures of quantum computer's threats to the existing encryption technology. Especially, the National Security Agency (NSA) has predicted that quantum computing technology could destroy the current code order since 2016. Canadian research institute 'Global Risk Institute' also claimed that it is higher than 50 percent that the current encryption system is collapsed due to quantum computers in 2031. For now, if quantum computing is commercialized and exploited, it is expected to pose a major threat to any industry based on IT technology. Worldwide web communications, Internet banking, and even cryptocurrency will be exposed to the crisis, and it will be time to change all the systems and structures. With these peculiarities in mind, quantum computing researchers will not only focus on the development of quantum computers but will also work in a direction of enhancing the quality of life after its commercialization. In other words, they should be focused on harmoniousness with other industries. That will be a major premise of 'Quantum Computing' for humans.
Google Play Audiobook Korea Release Demonstration Session
On January 24, 2018, Google held ‘Google Play Audiobook Korea Release Demonstration Session‘ in its office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The session was held to announce the outline and characteristics of Google Play's audiobook service, which was released on January 24th in Korea time, with Jae-hui Kwon, manager of Google Play Global Product Partnership Team, and Oh-jun Kwon, leader of Contents Business at Audiensori. According to the announcement, Google unveiled the Google Play Audiobook service, which can be enjoyed in the Google Playbook app. The service was first launched in 45 countries, including Korea, and supports a total of nine languages including Korean. ▲ The demonstration session of Audiobook service Korea release was held. ▲ Korea is included among the first-releasing 45 countries, and Korean is supported. The Google Play Audiobook service is a sound book service that allows you to listen to the contents of a book, and provides various categories of audiobooks and bestsellers based on the global library provided by publishers worldwide through Google Play Books. Through this service, domestic users can enjoy books produced in Korea as well as overseas books as audio books, and some of overseas books are provided free of charge. In particular, Google Play Audiobook service utilizes machine learning technology to automatically generate and provide a detailed table of contents that facilitates navigation underneath the main table of contents. Machine learning technology divides the text of an eBook and the words of an audiobook into syntactic units and automatically generates a detailed table of contents considering the flow of natural contents and a table of contents by detailed table of contents. By applying an individual book purchasing model, users can purchase an audiobook that they want at a 10% discount without any burden of subscription service. In addition, they can listen to a part of the audiobook through free pre-listening before purchasing and decide to make a purchase, and the purchased book is stored in the Google Playbook app, so users can easily check the list of purchased books. Google Play Audiobook service can be used on a variety of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops using platforms such as Android, iOS, and Chrome Web. It also provides functions that are optimized for user’s lifestyle such as sleep timer settings, playback speed settings, skip forward button, listening to each table of contents, checking remaining time, background playback, and offline playback. In addition, through interworking with Google Assistant, which is Google’s artificial intelligence voice secretary system, a number of ‘hands-free’ functions such as voice commands will be provided to Google Play Audiobook service in sequence. Jae-hui Kwon, who introduced Google Play Audiobook service, said, ”Google Play, which has provided a variety of digital content such as games, movies, and books, is launching an audiobook service in the book sector followed by e-book. In particular, this is an innovative service with machine learning that users can use more conveniently in daily life. As interests and demands for audiobooks grow, we will provide richer audiobook contents.” ▲ The Google Play Books app lets you use the Google Play Audiobook service. ▲ It automatically generates and provides a detailed table of contents under the basic table of contents using machine learning technology. After the introduction of Google Play Audiobook Service, the introduction of the features and usage of audiobooks was followed. The audiobook, which means a book listened by ear, is a content produced for users to read more happily. It is produced by a method in which a plurality of voice actors who fit the characters read directly without mixing the TTS, and live sound effects and background music are added. In the past, audiobooks were produced mainly for the blind, but now they are getting the spotlight as a new way of reading. As for the process of producing an audiobook, after selecting the works and proceeding with the script work, the recording is carried out in the state where the music and effects are prepared. After the editing process and quality verification, it is then provided to users in a way of distributing the finished data. For listening purposes of audiobooks, users answered that they mainly use the audiobook contents to enjoy their own contents or to take advantage of free time while moving. Self-development, poetry, essay, genre literature are ranked as preferred genres. Oh-jun Kwon, leader of Contents Business at Audiensori, who introduced about an audiobook, said, ”Audiobooks are gaining attention from people who prefer to use free time, as well as from voice actors and students, and the number of users is rapidly increasing. I look forward to expanding the basics of audiobook users through our partnership with Google Play, and Audiensori will try to provide better content.”
EBS Documentary 'Themes Around the World-Journey through Canada, a Winter Wonderland' Preview
■ Introduction The world is big with lots of places to visit. However, we have limited amount of time on our hands. Is it really impossible to visit all the places around the world? There is a TV program that solves this problem: EBS Themes Around the World. Themes Around the World is not just an ordinary travel guide program, but is created to provide a firsthand experience of traveling as if one was backpacking around the world. There are many travel guide TV programs and information can be easily obtained through books and internet. However, what makes Themes Around the World different and special, nonetheless, are it’s “themes” and “curators”. The first reason why Themes Around the World is special can be found in its title. The program does not simply introduce famous tourist sites. Every episode has a theme and visits the places related to the theme. By doing so, we can visit places that are not yet known to many people and visit the places we already know of with a completely different perspective. Following the scenery seen in movies in Japan or experiencing Shakespeare in London can only be found on Themes Around the World. So how are the themes decided? Here is the second reason why Themes Around the World is special: each destination is led by a different host called the curator. From professors, writers, musicians to sportsmen, curators from various fields select and introduce a destination according to the chosen theme. With their expert knowledge in the different fields, curators provide unique and diverse aspects of the destinations that are unfamiliar to us. They not only lead the tour themselves, but are also the narrators of the program. The expertise of the curators allows the viewers to obtain in depth understanding of the destinations. Let’s take a look at a destination Themes Around the World introduces. The place we are going to look at is Canada. The curator who is going to guide us through Canada is the junior freestyle ski team coach Chang Bum Koo. Shall we start the journey to the winter wonderland? ■ Banff, Encountering the Winter Rockies Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park, is the gateway to the Canadian Rockies. Chang Bum Koo shares a vivid and lively experience of the Canadian Rockies as he skies down the Banff Lake Louis ski slope. He also explains in detail about “tree run” where skiers ski through trees. Curators offering insights into details that otherwise will not be noticed is something only Themes Around the World can offer. ■ The Hidden Treasures of the Rockies, Canmore and Jasper Located between Calgary and Banff National Park, Kananaskis is a vacation city in southwestern Canada. It hosted the alpine skiing during the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary. A helicopter tour of the beautiful Rockies is also available in Kananaskis. Derived from the word that means “stone wall” in Cree language, mount Yamnuska is famous for its scenery often seen in movies such as Legends of The Fall and Brokeback Mountain. To the south of Banff National Park is Canmore National Park. Various activities like dog sledding, horseback riding, and hiking to fully enjoy the Canadian Rockies are available at Canmore National Park. To the north of Banff National Park is Jasper National Park; one of the largest national parks in Canada. Its name derived from the word “jade”, waterfalls and lakes of beautiful colors can be seen at the national park. One of the many beautiful sites of Jasper National Park is Maligne Canyon. It is known for its beautiful scenery of Maligne Lake in the summer and ice walking over the frozen canyon in the winter. Glacier hiking up the Angel Falls also provides a spectacular view in the winter. Last but not least, not too far from the Angel Falls is Queen of Maligne, a waterfall too beautiful to miss. ■ Capturing Aurora, Yellowknife Isn’t aurora somewhere on everyone’s bucket list? You can see and experience aurora without the long hours on the plane through “Part 4 Capturing Aurora, Yellowknife”. The North Pole isn’t the only place where aurora can be seen. It can also be seen in Canada. Yellowknife is known as the “capital of aurora”. The temperature reaches the low of minus 30°C to minus 40°C in the winter and the high of 30°C in the summer. Yellowknife is located on latitude 65~70°, allowing aurora to be seen. Free from air and light pollution, Yellowknife is an ideal place to capture aurora. One can only wait to see the aurora. The program introduces various activities for the long waiting hours. People go fishing on snowmobiles surrounded by fields of snow. Looking at the scenery and waiting for the fish not only provides tranquility but also makes the long wait for aurora precious. Waiting for something in the cold that freezes everything instantly can be difficult and tiring. However, the view of aurora is definitely worth the wait. Aurora is a phenomenon that occurs due to the clash of solar wind particles and molecules of earth’s atmosphere and some people call it the “god’s soul”. You will understand why when you experience the aurora on Themes Around the World. ■ Conclusion We had a look around Themes Around the World under the theme of “Snowfields of Canada”. The tour was made more interesting and informative with a ski coach as a curator. Themes Around the World will visit many more places with various different themes. How about traveling to one of your dream places with Themes Around the World this evening? Part 1. Banff, the Winter of the Rockies Part 2. Canmore and Jasper, Deep in the Rockies Part 3. Lake Louise, a Romantic Winter Lake Part 4. Seeing the Aurora, Yellowknife
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[ACC 2018] Alibaba Computing Conference 2018 Main Forum
Alibaba Group held 'The Computing Conference 2018' from September 19 to 22 at Cloud Town located in Hangzhou, China. The Computing Conference 2018, now in its ninth year, is the annual flagship event of Alibaba Group, and cutting-edge technologies and applications of the group under the theme of ‘Empower Digital China’ were presented. This Computing Conference was held in Cloud Town, a special industrial zone in Hangzhou, China, with more than 60,000 people attending from China and abroad. This year, Alibaba Group's latest technological capabilities in cloud computing, big data, AI, IoT, etc., which have recently attracted a great deal of attention, were introduced. At the same time, Alibaba Group made clear its commitment to contribute to the transformation of society into a digital society by releasing various partnerships.At the keynote of this event, Jack Ma, who is chairman of Alibaba Group, Simon Hu, who is president of Alibaba Cloud, Dr. Wang Jian, who is president of Technology Steering Committee at Alibaba Group, and Jeff Zhang, who is CTO of Alibaba Group, introduced about the latest technologies and the development direction of the company. The keynote highlighted that technologies of Alibaba Cloud are having a positive impact on the real world. Also, various partnerships for global change beyond changes in Hangzhou as well as examples of changes in Hangzhou and China were released through this keynote. ▲ Xu Liyi, Mayor of Hangzhou ▲ Yuan Jiajun, Governor of Zhejiang ProvinceXu Liyi, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor of Hangzhou, introduced “Cloud Town” in Hangzhou, where the event is held, as an area that is in a leading position in various future technologies. Specifically, with a thousand years of history and culture, Hangzhou has been in a position to connect history, culture, creation and innovation and is now one of the most innovation cities. Zhou Jiangyong, secretary of the Hangzhou municipal Party committee emphasized that the event has had a great impact on the digital economic development of Hangzhou since the event was first held, and that Hangzhou has become an increasingly attractive city with various innovations. According to the speech, Hangzhou has created several 'towns' such as 'Silicon Valley' for the implementation of various innovations, and 'Cloud Town' is one of them, supporting for continuous innovation. And the digital economy is a very important part of Hangzhou, and digital and data make Hangzhou a younger and more attractive city. Hangzhou is also introduced as the top city in terms of start-up support and activity. He added that the digital economy has become an important growth engine, an important source for a better life, and is largely changing the traditional industries such as manufacturing, services and agriculture.In addition, he mentioned that the digital technology has made the city smarter. ‘City Brain’ has significantly mitigated the serious traffic congestion in Hangzhou, and new applications such as Internet-based courts and healthcare have become examples of data innovation. And these technologies connect everything in the city to the world and even to the future. Lastly, he mentioned that Hangzhou is a hub for the digital economy and value chain that connect the world with clicks and it is also the best location for realizing the possibility.Yuan Jiajun, governor of Zhejiang Province, stated that the theme parks in Hangzhou are creating the future and economic scale based on various innovations, and the ‘Cloud Town’ is showing alive example of the innovation. And it is mentioned that now Zhejiang and Hangzhou are pioneers of the digital economy, and with the movement toward politic digitization throughout China, data is considered a new growth engine. He also added that the changes to 'digital China' include changes in work and life, as well as changes in social structure and government.According to the speech, in the global economy, the digital economy is growing in size, and in China, the digital economy takes an important part, and has also shown tremendous growth. In addition, Zhejiang is one of the most advanced regions in the digital economy in China, and has a forward-looking attitude and plans through active support and investment in digitalization. At the same time, the 'platform' is pointed out as a way to reduce damage from the recent large typhoons. It also makes it possible to reduce data loss and enable services in all areas through the construction of highly efficient government through sharing and utilization of information, so that the necessary problem solving is resolved at once. ▲ Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group ▲ Alibaba’s machine learning technology is now able to distinguish between intricate handmade and machine-made vehicle.Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, said that Alibaba Group has grown into a group dealing with a variety of business with entering its 19th year. Also, Alibaba Group's total sales volume is about $4.8 trillion, and its strength of the digital side is outstanding. To be specific, its size of users in digital finance reaches 870 million and it has logistics services that support numerous companies. In addition, he mentioned that the ability of digital technology to show in this event will make a change and have a big influence on various industries and lives.According to the speech from Daniel Zhang, over the past decade, the Internet and digital technology has changed our lives. On top of that, over the next 10 to 20 years, new digital technologies such as the next generation of the Internet will affect not only the economy but also all areas of society, and Alibaba will cooperate with various ecosystems for leading the changes into ‘digital China’ and ‘digital economy’. This event will introduce the diverse achievements of the DAMO Academy, which was established last year to study Alibaba's future technology. Moreover, as a technology-driven company, Alibaba will go a way of technology-based business model and digital economy. Meanwhile, Alibaba introduced the new growth engines in five areas at the 2016 event. The foundation for the engines is data, and a variety of new technologies and applications based on it are expected to lead the digitization of China. He lastly mentioned that the Internet, IoT, and IIoT are growing explosively in connection with the new manufacturing, thanks to the government support and the participation of many companies. ▲ Simon Hu, President of Alibaba CloudSimon Hu, president of Alibaba Cloud, introduced the changes in the new life of Hangzhou citizens. Hangzhou is a city with a long history and has undergone a great change in various meanings in history. He stated that Hangzhou recently has become a representative city of e-commerce and a city of cloud developers. The vision of "New Hangzhou" features the hosting city of G20 and the city scheduled to hold the 2022 Asian Games as well as digital technology-based features including cloud town, e-government, ET City Brain, and Hangzhou-style engineers. Therefore, he emphasized that Hangzhou is the area to most actively introduce digital technology.These new digital-based technologies are largely changing the lives of people in the Hangzhou area. Typical examples include collaboration for implementing Alibaba Cloud and E-Government platform of Zhejiang, payment system support for small start-up companies through Alibaba Cloud and Alipay, implementation of virtual court based on the cloud technology, support for telemedicine such as mobile remote diagnosis and connection to doctor, and infrastructure support for start-up. And Simon Hu explained that all these cases use Alibaba Cloud, and the employees of Alibaba Cloud are doing their best to support these applications.As a city of technology along with the activation of mobile governance, Hangzhou is introduced that the application level of Alipay reaches 98% in e-commerce, about 70 million people benefit from digital medicare, about 60,000 innovational start-ups are taking place for leading technological innovations and seeking for opportunities. In addition, the technology is making a change not only in the lives of citizens but also in the industry. Given that, he said that Alibaba Cloud is providing the infrastructure environment and various technologies in changes such as the extension of existing offline-based companies to online and the digitization of the infrastructure based on logistics.In addition, as cases in distribution part, ‘Hema’ from ‘new retail’ environment based on Alibaba Cloud is mentioned, and it is introduced that Alibaba Cloud is supporting the system of implementing order and payment with QR code along with Alipay at ‘2dfire.com’ and connecting a variety of restaurants. Besides, such as CAOCAO, the cloud-based mobility services, Hangzhou Bank, Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HIA), smart elevator of XIZI OTIS and Geely have been using the infrastructure and AI technology of Alibaba cloud. ▲ Dr. Wang Jian, President of Technology Steering Committee at Alibaba Group ▲ 'ET City Brain 2.0' plays an important role in improving the traffic situation in Hangzhou City.Moreover, the AI technology of Alibaba cloud affects the quality of life of Hangzhou. Data collection based on the cloud platform at the city level and decisions using AI will enable quick and accurate decisions, and the real implementation and application of this is the 'ET City Brain'. And its ‘2.0’ version was released at the site. It is also explained that Hangzhou collects a large amount of data through various sensors and analyzes it through a cloud platform to use the outcome in improving the traffic congestion, which was endemic in Hangzhou City, and identifying the site and optimizing the response time at the fire station. Dr. Wang Jian, president of the Technology Steering Committee at Alibaba Group, said that the infrastructure of Hangzhou City is as complex as its long history, so it has been experiencing chronic traffic congestion. As of 2013, the average driving speed was less than 20km/h on the major roads in Hangzhou during the rush hours, and it was ranked as the fifth city with the most severe traffic congestion in China. In 2014, the movements to improve the congestion were started. Various methods and cases were analyzed, and the city introduced ‘ET City Brain’ with Alibaba Cloud. This 'City Brain' is a platform that enables the most optimized traffic flow control by analyzing various data such as traffic volume, signal status and accident situation using AI technology. It brought down the city rank from 5th to 57th. In addition, the speed of progress in the most complex areas has been increased by 50%, and the share of roads has also been improved, enabling more efficient use of available road resources. Besides, in the situation of a medical emergency, the system allows emergency vehicles to drive faster through traffic flow control, which prioritizes ambulances, thereby speeding up their arrival times by 49%. 'City Brain 2.0' has expanded the area to be able to utilize the system not only in traffic but also in the fire department. It also provides various information including the location of gas pipes, water pressure, and the number and location of fire hydrants that can be used for firefighting, and optimizes the route of movement. This platform is also expected to be used in sustainable urban operations through urban resource management, including the detection of leaking water. Many regions are interested in this platform, and Alibaba is trying to solve more problems while continuing the relationship with many companies participating in the project. Alibaba presents technology for cars as well as transportation infrastructure. Alibaba has introduced a vehicle navigation system that uses augmented reality (AR) technology, and said that ROEWE's Marvel X will feature an AliOS-based system. By using AR technology in the navigation system, the driver can see the route information on the real scenery, and active safety technology such as lane departure warning can be utilized. Along with this, the implementation of a smarter road environment will be possible by connecting all the infrastructure of vehicles and the surroundings, and Hangzhou will construct this environment sooner than anywhere else. ▲ Power to lead the change of the world was emphasized through announcements of various partnerships.Announcing partnerships with a variety of regions, organizations and enterprises, Alibaba stressed that the change of Hangzhou through technology of Alibaba is not limited to Hangzhou but is connected to a wider world. First, Xiong'an region will work with Alibaba to establish Urban-X lab and apply digital-based modeling and simulation to urban development plans. This is a ‘digital planning‘ model that composes the actual space with a virtual object, analyzes the interaction of all the components, allows for a sustainable urban development plan in the most optimal form, and creates a new city through combination of the reality and the virtual. In cooperation with UAE Abu Dhabi, the establishment of the AI laboratory for energy security and sustainability aspects with Khalifa University of Science and Technology was announced. Alibaba will provide cloud and AI technology for AI laboratories through this cooperation, and the AI laboratory will study AI for energy security and sustainability, machine learning technology for discovering new energy materials, and AI technology for a smart renewable energy system.As a partnership with Madrid, Spain, collaboration between Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and Alibaba Cloud was introduced. Alibaba Cloud will support the live streaming infrastructure of the OBS Cloud through this collaboration, and OBS commented that the collaboration became an opportunity to fundamentally solve the burden of service providers on the live streaming consumption of the growing Olympic Games. In addition, by efficiently servicing more contents with less resources through Alibaba Cloud’s latest technologies, ‘transforming’ in the consumption of Olympic Games would be possible. As a partnership with Walldorf, Germany, collaboration with SAP was introduced. At the main forum, Alibaba Group and SAP have announced that they will be offering SAP S/4HANA cloud and SAP cloud platform through IaaS of Alibaba Cloud. Through this collaboration, SAP continues to leverage Alibaba cloud technology and Alibaba also plans to use SAP S/4HANA software for its own innovation and new business model development. At the same time, the services of SAP solutions through Alibaba Cloud will help companies in China enter global, and it would also be a critical moment for SAP.With Kenya, a partnership with Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife was announced. Through this collaboration, Kenya will use IoT and cloud technology to protect wildlife such as elephants. Wildlife observation in Kenya is an important tourism resource, and Alibaba's technology is expected to play an important role in managing them. The AI and IoT competencies are key to the project. They are expected to track the location of animals, tracking their health status and movement by collecting data in real time via sensors, IR cameras and drones, enable more wise coexistence with human and maximize visitors’ experience with more sophisticated management. ▲ Cheng Li, COO and CTO of Ant Financial International Business Unit ▲ Damo Academy’s future technology research includes 5 sectors, composed of ‘4+X’.Cheng Li, COO and CTO of Ant Financial International Business Unit, explained that Hangzhou is a world-famous city in terms of mobile payment, and it basis is well established. It is also linked to financial products like microloan. Moreover, beyond China’s own service, Alipay offers services in 10 countries including Korea. In case of Korea, the service is provided through KakaoPay, and Alipay users in 10 countries have reached about 870 million. Alipay was introduced to make it possible for people around the world to change their daily lives more conveniently. In Hong Kong, the penetration rate of AliPay payment system is more than 80%, and in India, it is possible to take a taxi with AliPay. On top of that, Malaysia became the second country in the world to use the QR code for the subway. Besides, Hong Kong and the Philippines have also played a role in linking the world, for example, presenting the world's first bank remittance service based on block chain. On the other hand, it is stated that still many people are using credit cards, and AliPay wants to work with various partners to benefit more people. Also, technology could make society better and truly connect the world.Jeff Zhang, CTO of Alibaba Group, has introduced the achievements of Damo Academy, which enters its first year of foundation. Founded in October 2017, Damo Academy, which is an organization focused on future technology research that looks ahead to the next few years, studies five key areas: Machine Intelligence, Robotics, FinTech, Data Computing and Quantum Computing. It gathered more than 300 researchers, including a number of IEEE fellows. Moreover, he added that the academy is dealing with AI technology, which will be a means to deal with the data that it currently has.Algorithms, big data, and computational power are the basis of AI's implementation, and domain and ecosystem are formed based on this. And Alibaba has a vast amount of data based on the e-commerce platform in the data part, and has introduced that data is being collected from various paths. What’s more, he explained that the ability to analyze and control vast amounts of data requires high performance and cost competitiveness, and the research on algorithms for effective use in various areas is also important.In the area of chip for improving computing power, the first in-house developed AI reasoning chip 'AliNPU' in 2019, and it has a strong advantage in utilization in autonomous vehicles, smart city, and smart logistics. The resulting performance improvement is shown to be up to 40 times that of image processing. Also, Damo Academy will put spurs to research development of AI chips for future cloud training and IoT applications. Furthermore, CK902 series chips for security-related features are introduced, and it is emphasized that this series of environments will be built with unique technology.In terms of 'quantum computing', Damo Academy said it is developing its own quantum processor. As a scenario for realizing quantum computing, it introduced a plan to leverage a powerful computing power by tightly integrating Alibaba Cloud platform with the system, which uses construction of its own ‘Quantum Lab’ with quantum computing simulate in the existing environment before the chip and the production of its own ‘Quantum Chip’. Alibaba, meanwhile, said it has established a company related to semiconductor chip under the group as a way to realize the plans regarding such a series of chips.
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[OID Korea 2018] OpenInfra Days Korea 2018 Press Conference
OpenInfra Days Korea 2018, co-hosted by OpenStack Foundation, OpenStack Korea User Group and Cloud Native Computing & K8S Korea, will be held on June 28-29 at COEX in Gangnam- gu, Seoul. This event was developed from 'OpenStack Day Korea' as a part of efforts to promote various open infrastructure technologies and to revitalize related ecosystem. The event will be held under the theme of "Open Infrastructure: OpenStack, Containers, and Cloud Native Computing”, and it will cover the ecosystem of open infrastructure technology created by combining openStack and cloud native computing technologies such as Kubernetes and Container. The OpenStack Foundation, as well as global open source foundations such as Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will participate in the event, and technical presentations, exhibition booths, and workshops will be held under the sponsorships of Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, NetApp, manTech, and Open Source Consulting. At the press conference of OpenInfra Days Korea 2018, Jonathan Bryce Executive Director, Mark Collier COO, Lauren Sell Vice President of Marketing & Community Services, and lan Y. Choi, President of OpenStack Korea User Group, attended. OpenStack Foundation pointed out AI-related infrastructure environment as an area where the use of OpenStack-based infrastructure begins in earnest. Also, it emphasized that its ultimate goal is to solve many problems in the open source world by making users and technology companies working together. ▲ The press conference was attended by key executives of OpenStack Foundation and Korea User Group representatives Q ) The vGPU support in 'Nova' was introduced, and there were various restrictions on the configuration of the vGPU environment up to now. Does vGPU support in Nova also have these kinds of restrictions? (Acrofan) vGPU is a fairly new concept. Within a GPU, there are hundreds or thousands of small processors, components, and logic gates, and we have to deal with them as a piece of hardware. NVIDIA and Intel are making all of these components possible to virtualize within the GPU. The chip manufacturer's support will be needed to enable the use of vGPUs, and its restrictions will be similar to other environments. On the other hand, there is a limited number of chips available for virtualization. The "Cyborg" project in OpenStack uses a GPU or FPGA as an accelerator without virtualizing the chip, creating an accelerator inventory in the cloud and providing it to users or several tenants. If vGPUs and non-virtualized accelerators are used in the cloud at the same time, it is possible to build an infrastructure with powerful processing performance. Q ) In the case of Kata Containers, virtualization is used for container isolation. In general, the container has an advantage of high efficiency by sharing the kernels. However, it seems that using virtualization might reduce efficiency. What is the reason of combining virtualization with container technology, and what additional security benefits can be gained? (Acrofan) Container technology uses C-groups or namespaces to isolate kernel components. Therefore, no matter what tasks are performed in the container, the same kernel must be used, and the CPU, storage, and network will all run in the same location. In this case, it is inevitable to share with other containers and workloads, and the overhead becomes low, while isolation is not sufficient. Therefore, in order to secure the system configuration, it was necessary to configure it in many layers. In case of large public cloud services, they operated users’ containers on each user’s VM for sufficient isolation, which is a less efficient method. For Kata Containers, it uses a much smaller VM. The size of the VM is MBs, not GBs, and it can be started within 100ms, not minutes. It has small kernel size, small overall size, excellent isolation and security, and less overhead than a complete virtual machine. Another advantage is that it is compatible with existing container tools. It is a technology that runs containers at the lowest level of container technology and can be applied as a plugin to container tools such as Docker or Kubernetes. It has the advantage of using existing container tools and applications as they are. The Kata Containers simply adds an option to run the code at that level. Q ) OpenStack has been expanding from cloud to telecommunication and IoT infrastructure. What are the areas that are expected to expand in the future, and what are the projects that are closely related to this? (Acrofan) The “AirShip” project can be applied to various use cases, but in particular, it will be a big help in the edge area. It automates the software stack that runs on the edge and makes it reusable. Also, StarlingX is a more edge-specific project. Both projects are in early stages, but they are likely to be more interesting next year as they mature and the support increases. Since then, there are examples of using OpenStack environment for machine learning and AI. Hardware support, such as a GPU or FPGA, is intended to support this use case. As workloads from data analysis and others increase, new technologies and the related projects will be developed in the future. On the security side, the technology stack, including virtualization, seems to have a lot of room to improve its security or performance. Kata Containers is a technology that enhances security while reducing the weight of containers. Ultimately, the goal is for users and technology companies to work together to solve many problems in the open source world. ▲ The diversification aspect of the cloud has also been an important reason for the change in the strategy of OpenStack Foundation. Q ) What is the exact meaning of "cloud diversification"? Currently, users want to use a variety of technologies in the cloud. Using a variety of architectures will be more beneficial in handling workloads in AI, machine learning, and containers. Different types of chips and storage hardware, as well as a variety of hardware and software will be available. From this perspective, cloud and data center-related technologies are diversifying. In terms of edge computing, the concept of the cloud is also changing. There is a demand to utilize the cloud on the edge side, and there is also a desire to diversify the cloud. Q ) 'Open infrastructure' could be applied to containers and CI/CDs in addition to the cloud. What meaning does 'Zuul' have in an 'open infrastructure'? Infrastructure is automated and applications running in the cloud are changing, and the driving force behind automation and change is that people want to improve, test, and integrate software and continue to deploy software on the cloud. 'Zuul' allows users to develop software that can run on an open infrastructure as open tools. It is a cloud service that allows you to submit code from any cloud hosted server and whichever community, city or country you are in, and automate testing in the cloud. I think this is well suited to the kind of infrastructure we wanted. On CI/CD, it was previously possible to implement immediate compilation and testing after committing codes when development is done using automation build method through Jenkins and others. have. However, in some cases, such as in code reviews, automation builds do not work well. In the case of the foundation, the Infrastructure Team created ‘Zuul’ to solve these problems, and the foundation's document site is managed by it. I believe that open infrastructure can include not only technical areas, but also infrastructures actually used in development. 'Zuul' was originally developed by the community for the OpenStack project, but it has also attracted a lot of attention from outside projects and software departments. Moreover, there was a huge demand from the outside, so it was separated into an independent project naturally. In March, when version 3.0 was released, I think it was a good time to separate the project into an independent project. Version 3.0 also supports technologies that are not related to OpenStack, but considered important such as GitHub, etc. Q ) What do you think about the contributions of Korean communities and companies? The largest part of the contribution in Korea is the integration of the container into OpenStack. Helm and Kolla are tools designed to facilitate the operation of the container in OpenStack. In this part, Korean companies such as SK Telecom are playing a leading role. By contributing to the integration of the container into OpenStack, the stability of OpenStack is consequentially improved and the upgrades become easier. In case of Samsung Electronics, it has an NFV-related solution. It puts lots of development and resources to the part that is managed after containerization on a Kolla basis, and solutionizes the part. SK Telecom is also participating in a project that allows OpenStack to operate on container platform by combining with container technology to easily build and operate OpenStack itself. In particular, SK Telecom not only simply progresses development internally but also contributes development part to the community and progresses co-development with AT&T, Intel, etc in the community. Korea plays an important role in the movement toward open infrastructure, and there are many booths and sponsors in this exhibition than in the past. OpenStack, Kubernetes, and container technologies are combined to provide people with the 'open infrastructure' solution they really want, and I think this shows how much interest Korea is showing in this move. We participate in various events around the world and meet various community members. Here, we found that each country has distinct characteristics. In case of Korea, local leaders are proactive and collaborative, and the introduction of new technology is fast and user-driven. On the other hand, in the past, there were not many cases where domestic companies were doing business extensively based on OpenStack. But this year, domestic companies are coming up to the position in which they can do business and sponsor with open infrastructure technology. As the scope expands to container technology, the opportunity seems to expand. And this might be the trend seen in sponsors and others of the event this year.
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[OID Korea 2018] ‘OpenInfra Days Korea 2018’ Keynote Address
OpenInfra Days Korea 2018, co-hosted by OpenStack Foundation, OpenStack Korea User Group and Cloud Native Computing & K8S Korea, will be held on June 28-29 at COEX in Gangnam- gu, Seoul. This event was developed from 'OpenStack Day Korea' as a part of efforts to promote various open infrastructure technologies and to revitalize related ecosystem. The event will be held under the theme of "Open Infrastructure: OpenStack, Containers, and Cloud Native Computing”, and it will cover the ecosystem of open infrastructure technology created by combining openStack and cloud native computing technologies such as Kubernetes and Container. The OpenStack Foundation, as well as global open source foundations such as Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will participate in the event, and technical presentations, exhibition booths, and workshops will be held under the sponsorships of Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, NetApp, manTech, and Open Source Consulting. At the event’s keynote address, Mark Collier, COO of OpenStack Foundation, pointed out ‘diversity’ as the future direction of the cloud, and from the perspective of the community beyond the infrastructure, he introduced that OpenStack is focused on introducing and integrating new technologies to solve the problems that users are facing. Also, in this integration strategy, he suggested four steps; finding common user cases, collaborate across communities, build the required new technology, and test everything. At the same time, the Foundation announced the long-term support version of OpenStack and the introduction of functions such as fast forward upgrade. ▲ Mark Collier, COO of OpenStack Foundation ▲ Now, the ‘long-term support version’ will be provided to OpenStack community version. Mark Collier COO and Lauren Sell, Vice President of Marketing and Community Services, gave keynote speech of OpenStack Foundation. First, the Foundation introduced some results of user survey that the infrastructure currently running in OpenStack environment is more than 10 million cores, and 71% of users who are using OpenStack are in production environment or preparing to deploy to production environment within the next 12 months. It is added that its market size is about $6.1 billion. Currently, OpenStack Foundation is running a variety of software projects centering on OpenStack. Recent noteworthy news in these projects was that vGPU support was provided in the virtual machine environment "Nova" and expected to be useful in a variety of use cases. In addition, the offline "Fast Forward Upgrade" allows users to upgrade from originating version to user desired final version for multiple releases at one time. Also, from the OpenStack "Ocata" version, a long-term support version, which provides 18 months of additional support, will be presented to meet the needs of users. OpenStack is currently used not only for data center and enterprise but also for scientific research and infrastructure operation such as traffic. Also, as it is used in various areas, the requirements for OpenStack, cloud, and infrastructure have changed a lot from the past. Today's infrastructure requires more, such as AI, containers, machine learning, and serverless technology, and these functions are used at the edge level beyond the data center. In addition to the existing standard architecture, architectures are being diversified into ARM-based environments, or environments that user GPUs and FPGA, and various open source solutions are used together. ▲ Lauren Sell, Vice President of Marketing and Community Services of OpenStack Foundation ▲ The four stages of integration for 'open infrastructure' flow like this. In the early days of the cloud, everything seemed to be merged on a standard hardware foundation, but now the movement of the cloud is becoming more "diversified" into various architectures. Moreover, various technologies such as AI and machine learning, which are used to solve various problems, are based on open source. However, the foundation emphasized that open source is not enough, and that it needs more than code to transform into an 'open infrastructure'. At this time, the foundation and the community are the best players in solving this problem through cooperation, and what the foundation has learned from communities in building an open infrastructure is that it is ‘human' that ultimately runs the infrastructure. To these changes, the foundation and the community are responding with strategic changes. In the past, the foundation thought about infrastructure from the perspective of an OpenStack project, but it is now thinking from the perspective of the 'community'. In the case of the community, it is featured by using various new technologies besides OpenStack in approaching the problem. As for difficulties in open source and infrastructure, "integration" is pointed out, and it is explained that new strategies for this part to help integrate technologies are discussed last year. Also, the “four steps for integration”, which includes identification of common use cases, collaboration, incorporation of new technologies, and the general testing, is defined. In identification of common use cases, various organizations have participated in introducing white papers relating to containers and edge clouds. After understanding the use cases, collaboration among communities is needed. There a lot of technologies to integrate, so the foundation stated that it can help with smooth integration by establishing relationships with various communities and identifying the deficiencies of each other through collaboration. The white paper on the edge cloud has worked with a variety of organizations, and it was helped by the Kubernetes upstream community. Moreover, the foundation provided resources to the Kubernetes community. New technologies and projects may be needed to overcome poor technology after collaboration. And the OpenStack Foundation has been leading the OpenStack project since 2012, and last year it had just launched a new main project besides the OpenStack project. The new projects are "Kata Containers" and "Zuul”. What’s more, it is announced that “StarlingX” and “Airship” projects will soon be available as well. ▲ “Kata Containers" and "Zuul" are presented as the new main projects of OpenStack Foundation. 'Kata Containers' is a virtualized container technology that can provide performance of containers, isolation of VMs and security. There were some voices that the existing container technology, which is isolated at the domain level while sharing kernels of the host, are insufficient in isolation. Hence, in some cases, the container platform was mounted on VM and the container was operated. Kata Containers is a technology that can take both the isolation of virtualization and the efficiency of container by utilizing virtualization technology into container isolation. It is an open standard project that combines ‘runv’ of Hyper.SH and Intel’s ‘Clear Container’ project. A new thing for this project is that Google, Microsoft, Huawei and others are taking the leadership, and it was evaluated positively in terms of collaboration opportunities with companies. The project that has been for six years, Zuul’s latest release is version 3, and it is said to be an important project in the foundation. Zuul is a technology developed for the community in OpenStack community, used for software development and testing, and it is one of the largest open source project CI systems. It is characterized by the ability to implement continuous test workflows in complex projects in distributed environments involving thousands of developers from hundreds of countries. Individual tasks are written in Ansible. They support Gerrit and GitHub and can be used outside of OpenStack. The startup project, StarlingX, is a project for edge computing and industrial IoT, with Wind River and Intel collaborating on code, and the mailing list is being actively operated. Mainly hosted by AT&T and participated in by SK Telecom in Korea, “Airship” project implements all pipelines for the installation and configuration of OpenStack environment as a container and a cloud native platform, centered on Kubernetes. When the server comes in and connects, it automates the whole process of deploying the container and configuring the functionality, and it enables to implement this process as a single declaration. Meanwhile, SK Telecom is also contributing code in related projects and applying it to the actual working environment. ▲ Lee Je-eung, President of The Linux Foundation Korea Next, Lee Je-eung, President of The Linux Foundation Korea, briefly introduced about Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). It was established in December 2015 as Linux Foundation-affiliated project foundation, and it coordinates policy and direction aspects of various cloud native projects centered on Kubernetes. There are currently 23 projects under management. In addition to the Kubernetes, which had already entered the mature stage, 16 projects in the upbringing stage and 6 projects in the early ‘sandbox’ stage are being managed. CNCF also supports activities such as transference to the next stage through testing. The move from virtualization to cloud-native is focused on optimizing resource utilization through orchestration among containers by breaking down applications into micro-services and packaging them into individual containers. In the process, CNCF provides political management to connect various related projects through open source-based collaboration in the move to cloud native. Meanwhile, it has more than 240 members involved in the cloud-native ecosystem. As the reasons for participation, CNCF cited neutral contribution and activation, provision of selection, validation and support of projects through Technical Advisory Committee, and opportunity to share much information through activation of intercourse between end user, service provider and communities. By joining as a member, you will have the opportunity to participate in various events and inform your products, and you can expect various support for tests and technology exchange. Moreover, the end-user community with more than 54 members is sharing their experience and accepting it so that projects could be carried out to the right direction. The advantages of CNCF’s membership participation include ‘technology leadership’ aspects such as reflecting opinions of direction and contributing of technology, reflecting opinions of technological development strategies that are important to the members' business, leading additional extension development, deciding direction and suggesting guidance on additional functions, etc. The membership participation also has benefits such as strengthening members’ roadmap through community participation and collaboration, cross-collaboration between enterprise and industry, and ensuring interoperability of members’ products or applications. The membership is divided into Platinum, Gold and Silver membership depending on the benefits and the size of the support, and it is proceeded with certification program, online training program and qualification examination system. ▲ lan Y. Choi, President of OpenStack Korea User Group lan Y. Choi, President of OpenStack Korea User Group, introduced the main activities of the Korean user group so far through 'Community Report'. OpenStack Korea User Group was established in February 2011 and is an official user group certified to OpenStack Foundation. In addition, the Korean user group is contributing to both upstream and downstream activities across the OpenStack ecosystem. As for the upstream activities, contribution of translation in the aspect of internationalization and various contributions from “Airship” project, in which SK Telecom participated, are mentioned. Also, as for the downstream activities, various business activities such as global discussion, local meetup, study activities, community cooperation, and domestic sponsorship were introduced. For the past one year, OpenStack Korea User Group has carried out various activities. After OpenStack Days Korea 2017 held in July 2017, the first open source software community day was held in September, and the six study group meetings were held in November and December. There was a networking day in November and a year-end party in December. In addition, 'Korea Community Day 2018' was held in February 2018, the monthly seminar in March and April, and 'MeltingCon 2018' in May with a number of communities. Moreover, the online lectures produced at the community level are also mentioned as important activities. Meanwhile, an event celebrating OpenStack’s eighth birthday is scheduled in July. One of the most important activities of the OpenStack community, 'User Survey' will be published in the Berlin Summit in October 2018. The survey was formerly available only in English, but now contribution of the community is reflected so that it is also available as a Korean version and domestic users can easily participate.
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PARK HYATT BUSAN'S Patisserie Presents Three kinds of Christmas Cakes
Park Hyatt Busan's Pastry Boutique Patisserie is pleased to present three kinds of Christmas cakes from 26 November to 25 December for the upcoming Christmas, allowing guest to enjoy a sweet treat with loved ones during the season’s special occasions. Our three kinds of Christmas cakes include an “Orange-Chocolate Gingerbread Cake,” reminiscent of a cottage in the mountains, a coffee flavored “Igloo Tiramisu Cake” filled with mascarpone cream cheese, and a “Festive Strawberry Shortcake” bursting with the taste of fresh Korean strawberries and soft whipped cream. In addition, a homemade Santa-shaped chocolate figure, “Santa Chocolate,” a “Santa Boot Chocolate” full of white, milk and dark chocolate balls, a “Panettone” with white chocolate and amarena cherries, a “Christmas Tree Cookie” made of Swiss Mailänderli cookies and meringue, and traditional German Christmas “Stollen” bread are also offered. The lovely enticing Christmas cakes with their cute Christmas decorations start at KRW 30,000 and, various Christmas desserts items start at KRW 13,000 (including taxes). Christmas cakes are available daily from 10 AM to 8 PM in Patisserie, located on the 1st floor and require a reservation at least two days in advance. However, guests must make special arrangements if more than 10 cakes are to be ordered. For information or reservations, please call +82 51 990 1411
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JLK Inspection to Showcase its AI-based Medical Solutions at RSNA
Groundbreaking AI-enabled diagnosis technology is able to detect over 30 medical conditions with high-level accuracy including strokes, Alzheimer's, Thyroids cancer, Breast cancer, and Joint diseaseCHICAGO, Nov. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This month JLK Inspection will participate in the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2018 in Chicago, presenting its latest AI-based medical image diagnosis system. AI Hub The company's technology assists medical practitioners with detecting and monitoring more than 30 medical conditions, including strokes, Alzheimer's, prostate cancer, lung cancer thyroids cancer, breast cancer, and joint disease. JLK's AI-enabled image analysis include those conducted in MRI, CT, X-ray and mammography format, with its technology casting a wide net over various diagnostic techniques. "We look forward to demonstrating our medical imaging system at RSNA," JLK Inspection CEO Won Tae Kim says. "We are excited to show how we are able to assist users with quantitative analysis of their medical images at their own convenience." These include neural network solvers and libraries with an on-site AI platform providing a real time, seamless connection through a user-friendly interface. This also means the JLK system is stable and interlocks with all other in-hospital systems. They also provide state-of-the-art multi-contrast MRI and multi-modality images. Not only are JLK's products created to be simple to use, but they provide objectivity of medical care based on quantitative AI analysis in a streamlined, easy-to-analyze format. For this, JLK Inspection has also developed an AI medical all-in-one platform called AI HUB. This month, JLK will debut the JBS-01K at RSNA 2018 which already received approval from the Korean FDA as a class III device. The system analyzes brain MRI images and clinical information to detect and present results of ischemic stroke diagnosis for users. The company's newest medical solution for stroke diagnosis is already in the process of gaining FDA and CE approvals in the U.S. and Europe, respectively. As a multi-diagnosis solution, the JPC-01K also aims at detecting and diagnosing prostate cancer by automatically detecting the exact location of the cancer, then providing the user with a rapid response and prompt diagnosis. Furthermore, the JPC-01K will also give medical professionals the ability to perform an MR-targeted biopsy while helping reduce risks such as injection, pain, etc. As a testament to its goals and efforts, JLK has raised over $17M in VC funding to date. The company has also worked hard to ensure numerous patents for their technology have been registered. The imaging solutions company is planning on going public in the near future, with a set IPO on the KOSDAQ in the second half of 2019. Part of JLK's current global operations include marketing offices in Silicon Valley and R&D and manufacturing facilities in Seoul, ROK. Along with heading to RSNA this month, taking place from November 25-30, JLK Inspection will also be present at the International Security Expo (ISE) in London, UK from November 28-29. The company will be attending the conference on behalf of their imaging technology JSS-01K, a security solution that detects storage devices (USB, smartphone, external hdd, and tablet pcs) in security x-ray images. About JLK Inspection Inc. JLK Inspection is a Seoul, South Korea-based medical solutions provider specializing in AI-based technology. JLK Inspection is a member company of the K-ICT Born2Global Centre. JLK Inspection's universal AI platform is created by a combination of big data, experts, and our own unique engines & algorithms. It provides the on-site/real-time service that is seamlessly connected to all systems. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jlk-inspection-to-showcase-its-ai-based-medical-solutions-at-rsna-300752020.html
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Tianma Microelectronics Exibits Exciting Display Solutions at Biennial Electronica 2018
MUNICH, Nov. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (Tianma), a leading international provider of display solutions, took part in the biennial Electronica 2018 held in Munich, Germany on November 13. Showcasing some new products, Tianma shared its latest technology advances at Electronica. Tianma continues to maintain its position as the world's largest shipper of LCD full-screen panels for the first half of the year, and for the first quarter of 2018 was the third highest in shipments of automotive LCD panels. Highlight 1: Automotive Full-screen Car cockpit display The display helps differentiate Tianma in the fierce competition for automotive LCD panels, laying a solid foundation for its leadership in the global automotive market. Car cockpit display Rearview mirrors The brand new 8.8" e-Mirror features ultra-thin border U/L/R (mm):1.7/1.7/1.7, operating temperature from -40°C to 95°C, wide viewing angle 88/88/88/88, a luminance of 4000 cd/m², providing an enhanced driving experiences no matter the environmental conditions. Using the rearview mirror auto-dimming feature, the driver can effortlessly switch between normal and streaming media viewing providing the driver with an enhanced driving experience. 12.3" Slim freeform display A 12.3" a-Si automotive freeform display fits snugly into a car dash board, while the recessed space above the dash can be customized to accommodate smart accessories such as cameras embedded according to the car buyer's preferences. The application of VPIA (vertical gateline in pixel array) technology for circuit design in the display area allows for a 1.1mm ultra-thin border and circuit-less design, delivering a bezel-less display. In addition, a 7.5mm diameter through hole allows deployment of a pointer or camera. Highlight 2: How much do you know about smart industrial? ESL redefines smart retail Tianma launched its first all-reflective 2.13" ESL (electronic shelf label) display, featuring low power consumption, high reflectivity, long service life and wide temperature range. The all-reflective, low-frequency TFT solution developed by Tianma has distinct advantages over the traditional e-ink technology in terms of power consumption. Water-proof and gloves touch display With a focus on the European industrial control market, Tianma showcased a series of 7"/10.1"/21.5" water-proof touch screens that can be used even when wearing gloves, providing comprehensive and integrated touch solutions for the industrial control and medical markets. Highlight 3: A large-size display for high-end medical Tianma also exhibited a 30" 6-megapixel, high-contrast color display with 1000 cd/m² high brightness and high contrast ratio 1500:1 which significantly reduces front of screen glare in bright environments and enhances readability of the display. Using Tianma's proprietary SFT2 technology, the display's contrast ratio is approximately 30 percent higher than the previous version display. As a major player in the global display industry,Tianma, whose mission statement is "To Create Colorful Life", provides comprehensive new display products and personalized services to its customers. Tianma plans to further strengthen its industry leadership through on-going innovation to continue creating greater value for its partners and customers. Tian Ma team View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tianma-microelectronics-exibits-exciting-display-solutions-at-biennial-electronica-2018-300752002.html
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[KANTAR] Technology Enabled Research!
Market research seeks to identify consumer perceptions, and because it is based on consumer responses coming from their incomplete (i.e., difficult to interpret or express) perceptions, producing accurate results has always been a challenge. To overcome this obstacle, technology-enabled research, a market research applying technology and scientific methodologies, has increased. This article will briefly explore how technology-enabled market research is being used and to what extent it can be applied to market research in the future. ■ Neuroscience Neuroscience has been used in market research for quite a long time. Typical examples include measuring brain activity, eye movement, and irritation analysis. Case 1: EEG(Electro-encephalography): A method to record electrical activity of the brain, measuring consumer reactions such as excitement or frustration to a particular stimulus. It is used in innovation research such as new product launch, concept ideation, and idea development. Case 2: Eye-tracking: A method to measure consumers’ eye movement. It aims to identify and analyze patterns of consumers’ visual attention by observing in-store consumer behavior and tracking their reactions to advertisement. Case 3: GSR (Galvanic skin response): A method to observe consumer reactions to an external stimulus (e.g. Audiovisual stimulus including concept, advertisement, new product). GSR simply measures how intuitive the stimulus is to consumers, and how quickly and easily it links with them. The following shows the brain’s response pattern towards a stimulus. Diagram 1: Brain response pattern to a stimulus The above response pattern can be applied to general market research. Shorter response time for a given stimulus (question) indicates that the stimulus is accepted as highly intuitive. This shows that those that achieved a faster response are more intuitively appealing to consumers than those with just a high response rate. Ex) Neuroscience analysis based on response time The quadrant graph below shows that the ‘new' and 'protective/caring' images as well as the ‘kind/loving,’ ‘comfortable,’ and ‘gentle’ images are all well-delivered to consumers. However, there exists a difference between these images in terms of how intuitive they are. Late consumer response indicates the need for rational judgement, which proves less effective in an environment full of stimulus that requires instant and intuitive message delivery. This emphasizes the importance of understanding the level of intuitive association, rather than just reaching a conclusion only based on consumer responses. ■ A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) Artificial intelligence is being used today in a variety of fields: artificial intelligence speakers, translation, human emotion recognition, linkage between visual images with emotional codes and even creations. Among AI applications, a technology that decodes human expression (and changes in the facial expression) has already been commercialized. Ex) Decoding various human expressions The viewer's emotion will continue to change while watching the 15-second commercial. Communication creative, such as commercials, contains numerous emotional factors those are difficult to be put into words. Decoding changes in facial expression enables various interpretation based on the understanding of these emotions. Ex 2) Can emotions regarding an image or a symbol be decoded? To establish a strong brand image, companies create “brand emotion” using various symbols including logo, color, visual, etc. What kind of emotions do these visuals or symbols arouse? Decoding emotion is about decoding human nature. The following diagram shows a tool to interpret various visual images based on Carl Jung’s analysis on psychological archetype: For instance, different symbols and visual aids should be applied to deliver a sophisticated & premium image as well as a dynamic image. Examples are as follows: A.I algorithm also makes it possible to instantly decode consumers’ emotions toward visual images. By using an A.I Decoder, one can decode consumers’ emotions towards every visual aspect involved in brand activities, including commercial, online, retail stores, logo, images exposed on Facebook/YouTube, leaflet, magazine advertisement, and used color and this allows consistency in brand communication. Human language and thoughts are not perfect. However, this technology-enabled approach, created to overcome limitations of past research methods, will lead to an establishment of insightful and inspirational communication strategies based on a discovery of consumers’ true purchase driver. ========== For more information, please contact Robert Kang Senior Account Director Kantar Robert.Kang@Kantartns.com +82 2 3779 4433
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[Media Actually] Trends of 2018 Chuseok Pilot Programs: ‘Encounter’, ‘Hobby’, ‘Knowledge’
The competition for the pilot programs was fierce in Chuseok(literally ‘Autumn eve’) this year. In total, the number of pilot programs, which was 12, was less than last year (which was 17). However, various programming strategies were tried; 6 one-off programs, 4 regular programs starting from Chuseok, and 2 holiday season programs. By broadcasting company, KBS showed 5, SBS 2, MBC 2, tvN 2, and Channel A 1, and KBS produced the most pilot programs this year as last year. MBC, once called as the strongest player in the pilot program, has not been able to make new attempts since the general strike last year, while KBS has been steadily making aggressive attempts. The pilot program is advantageous in that it can reduce the risk of viewer ratings and production costs by watching the reactions of viewers before organizing the regular program. On the other hand, it can also be a checkpoint for checking the current and future entertainment trends and flows. ◆ Trends of 2018 Chuseok pilot programs are ‘Encounter’, ‘Hobby’, ‘Knowledge’ ① 'Encounter,’ which contains our ordinary stories Among 2018 Chuseok pilot programs, there were many "encounters". In case of SBS <Big Picture Family>, where four stars opened the photo shop with the concept of "the best shot to shoot and share while living" and take pictures with various people’s stories, the program featured encounters with ordinary viewers looking for photo shops. In case of MBC <Secret Workshop>, the encounter with the protagonist in the old things, tvN <Mom I’m Here> and KBS <Mother and Mackerel> illuminated the re-encounters with the celebrities and their parents, who lived together for a long time. As the programs that covered encounter as a theme recorded the top ratings among all of the Chuseok pilot programs, they were in fact the winners of Chuseok pilot programs. Despite the fact that it was not a whole new attempt to put the stories of the public on the broadcast, the reason why the material that deals with someone's encounter recently became popular is that “meeting people” and the “way” of meeting with them and dealing with the story changed. In the past, it was a way of "introducing" those who were somewhat different and extraordinary people, but recently, they deal with the everyday stories of ordinary people who can be seen from anywhere through natural "encounter". The peak of this trend was JTBC <Hyori’s Homestay>. The popularity factors of <Hyori’s Homestay> included not only the daily life of Lee Hyori and her husband but also sympathy shared by the ordinary and simple life of those who visited the guest house of Hyori. So then, the have been paying more attention to dealing with lives that are not much different from the ordinary people when dealing with the lives of celebrities. This trend can be read from the fact that “I Live Alone” and “My Little Old Boy” became popular while “Master of Living”, “Capture the Moment How is that Possible” and “Hello Counselor” were popular in the past. ② From travel to 'Hobby' The keyword for 2017 Chuseok pilot program was 'Travel'. Still, there were some differences in concepts, but six of the 17 pilot programs dealt with travel. However, was it tired of too many travel programs, or was there a gap between trips that anyone could not leave on easily? There was not even one program among the pilot programs this year. Instead, they started to look at ‘hobby’ what people can easily try and enjoy in the daily life. SBS <Big Picture Family> dealt with the picture, and MBC <Secret Workshop> dealt with the workshop. They reflected the emotions and tastes of the young generation sharing and proud of their hobbies on SNS and YouTube. Hobby matches well with ‘SoHwakHeang(meaning small or a little but definitely happiness)’ in that people can try with a little money if they put their mind to through such as ‘one-day class’ and ‘YouTube self-study’, compared to a trip that takes more time and money. <Big Picture Family> and <Secret Workshop> basically have memories and stories in objects and photographs as a large framework, but they created more fun by adding a hobby. ③ Extension of Knowledge Delivery Area Recently, knowledge delivery programs such as lectures have appeared. The infotainment program has been produced steadily in the meantime, but its domain has shifted from a high level of knowledge to common knowledge, basic knowledge, and behavioral psychology. And it started to be produced even in the program called "The Dictionary of Useless Knowledge”. The program deals with the desire for knowledge that is worth knowing in reality. 2018 Chuseok pilot program has applied various methods such as lectures, quizzes, and reasoning for knowledge delivery. In particular, KBS introduced a quiz platform, which has recently become popular in such as 'Jam Live', 'You Quiz on the Block', 'Sweet Quiz Room', and produced <Troublemakers in Rooftop House>, <Battle of Teachers>, and <Quiz on the Korea>. Moreover, tvN focused on human psychology and broadcasted <Just Happened Lab>. Therefore, how to convey knowledge in a funny way and not to feel like teaching might be the key to success of the program.
