Brazil tops cyberattack ranking in LatAm

The country has seen more than 27 million attacks this year so far, says research
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

Internet users in Brazil are the most targeted by cybercriminals in Latin America, according to a recent study.
Data released by Kaspersky Lab suggests that the number of cyberattacks in the country is way higher than in other nations in the region, based on the 400 million such incidents that it recorded in 2015 so far.

The company has recorded 27.642.589 hacking attempts in Brazil this year, so 31 percent of all local Internet users, while countries such as Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela hovered around 21 percent.

Brazil also happens to be the country with the highest Internet penetration in Latin America.

According to William Beer, managing director of cybersecurity at management consultancy Alvarez & Marsal, Brazilian organizations have a lot of work to do when it comes to protecting information online.

"There is a lack of focus on cybersecurity both in the public and private sector. Senior executives at organizations don't really see that as a priority," Beer tells ZDNet.

The economic crisis Brazil is currently experiencing is an additional area of concern, according to Beer. The security expert recalls that when the downturn hit the UK in 2008, the first area that suffered cuts was security.

"That is because security wasn't considered something that would provide immediate returns. However, those organizations suffered to rebuild their security teams and strategy later on," he says.

In Face Of Global Shortage, World Leaders Praise Israel’s Water Technologies At WATEC Conference

25,000 people from 100 countries are attending the 2015 Water Technology and Environment Control Exhibition (WATEC) conference held in Tel Aviv this week, one of the largest water technology events in the world, featuring 150 exhibitors and dozens of speakers.

By Einat Paz-Frankel, NoCamels  

Despite tensions in the region, 25,000 people from 100 countries are attending the 2015 Water Technology and Environment Control Exhibition (WATEC) conference held in Tel Aviv this week, one of the largest water technology events in the world, featuring 150 exhibitors and dozens of speakers.

According to the UN, 1.2 billion people (almost one-fifth of the world’s population) live in areas where water is scarce, and another 500 million people are nearing this situation. This pressing issue is met at WATEC this week with a host of Israeli solutions, from seawater desalination and water conservation, to grey water recycling and wastewater treatment. Other pressing issues on the agenda include drip irrigation (an agricultural technology developed and perfected in Israel primarily by Netafim) and water purification.

Many WATEC attendees are looking to bring such solutions to their countries. And so is Mark LeChevallier, director of innovation and environmental stewardship for American Water, one of America’s largest publicly traded water utility companies. His company is “looking into the Israeli water companies and water-related technologies, trying to find the next big thing and import it to the US,” says LeChevallier, who’s currently meeting with Israeli entrepreneurs at WATEC in order to find projects to collaborate with.

 

Nuno Fragoso and Angeles Ramos, executives at Spanish engineering firm EPTISA who are attending the conference, tell NoCamels they’re looking for water technologies to be used in arid areas of Southern Spain, but not only. “We have projects all around the world, we can help Israeli companies expand into Latin America,” Fragoso says. Angeles says EPTISA is looking “to form a consortium of strong companies that can solve water shortages. I believe Israel can provide these solutions.”

Chinese executive Yanhua Ca of Umore Consulting Group, says she has brought three of her clients – large, Chinese manufacturers – to WATEC. “They’re looking for industrial wastewater solutions, specifically recycling and treatment technologies.”

According to Israel’s Minister of Economy Aryeh Deri, who spoke at the conference, Israel is a “global leader in developing innovative and breakthrough technologies to manage scarce water resources.”

Since 50 percent of Israel is made up of desert – and with recurring droughts – over the years the Israeli government, scientists and companies have developed cutting-edge solutions to avoid water shortages.

 Now, most of Israel’s drinking water comes from desalination plants that are scattered around the country. “Israel has become an oasis of water technologies,” Deri told a mixed crowd of Israelis and internationals at a WATEC panel discussion on Tuesday.

As retold at the conference, Israel used to rely on natural resources for its water, like the Sea of Galilee, but quickly discovered that “Galilee is really a pond,” as desalination expert Ron Yachini of IDE humorously put it, and that the Jordan River is “famous and holy but lacks water,” as former Israeli president Shimon Peres said at the event.

Now that Israel doesn’t solely rely on natural water, its remarkable water management solutions inspire others – including countries in Africa, Asia and America – to implement technologies developed in the Startup Nation.

“Israeli drip irrigation technologies can transform the lives of millions”

According to William Samoei Ruto, Kenya’s deputy president, only 4 percent of Kenya’s available water is used, and the country is looking for solutions to make the other 96 percent usable. The African country looks to Israel, “the superpower of water,” for solutions, he said. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel.”

Drip irrigation – an Israeli technology that carefully dispenses drops of water to plants, thus conserving water – is especially important for agriculture in Africa, Ruto said. “We have come here with open minds to benefit from Israeli technologies that can transform the lives of millions in our

continent and country.”

Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey said Israel and his state share the same climate and that he feels “truly honored and privileged to be given an unparalleled opportunity to collaborate.” He praised the fact that 80 percent of Israel’s sewage water is reused; combined with extensive desalination for drinking water, these efforts give Israel significant water supplies. “You figured it out,” he said.

And while Arizona is looking forward to collaborating with Israel, California, which is suffering from extreme drought, already provides proof that Israeli water technologies can be successfully implemented elsewhere in the world. Israeli company IDE and its partners are currently building a desalination plant just outside San Diego, which could potentially provide Californians with 54 million gallons of water a day. The plant is using technology Israelis have been using for years, reverse-osmosis, which involves forcing seawater through a film with tiny holes that allow only water molecules to pass through, while the larger salt molecules cannot.

According to Richard Bloom, a California Assembly member attending WATEC, “up until now, Sacramento homes didn’t have water meters, because water has been taken for granted for so long; this needs to change. We never gave another thought to water, and now we’re forced to conserve water and learn from Israel, a world leader in the field.”

Report: LATAM Digital Economy Created US$195 Billion In Revenue In 8 Years

More than half of Latin Americans are involved with the digital economy.

By Narayan Ammachchi for Near shore Americas

  

The digital economy in Latin America created 900,000 jobs and US$195 billion in revenue in the space of eight years between 2005 and 2013, finds a study sponsored by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The revenue it generated is equivalent to 4.3% of cumulative GDP growth in the region, the reported released in the Futurecom conference in Brazil stated.

This significant growth in revenue and adoption has given rise to a call for setting up a digital ecosystem that provides greater space for Latin Americans to excel.

Although more than half of Latin Americans are involved in the digital economy in some way or the other, most of the applications they are using are not created in the region. Of the 100 most-visited websites in the region, only 26 are local. As a result, 63% of the traffic flow is international, going mainly toward the US.

Therefore, the study advocates the creation of a single Latin American digital market that capitalizes on some of the region’s unique advantages. For example, most of the countries in the region, except for Brazil, speak Spanish.

The digital economy in the region is mainly inclusive of telecoms and internet-based services. The report however admits that decline in the price of services and equipments lured a lot of players into digital economy, resulting in a sharp rise in number of Internet users.

The report also calls for creating a productive model based on entrepreneurship and innovation, capable of developing a local industry content, powerful applications and services, creating more jobs and opportunities for the society.

The ECLAC has often argued that digital economy is a crucial force for boosting structural change, making progress to reduce inequality and strengthening the social inclusion.

The research was headed by Argentine researcher Raúl Katz, professor at the Columbia University, and funded, among others, by Telefonica. The survey also presents recommendations based on workshops held in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, Brazil alone will account for about 2.6% of the global digital growth by 2016. It is believed that more than 85 million people connected to the World Wide Web in Brazil.

Europe's hottest startups 2015: Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is where the money is. The startup nation became the exit nation in 2014, with Israeli tech sales and IPOs hitting $15 billion (£9.5bn) according to analysis by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Oliver  Franklin-Wallis, wired magazine

Expect 2015 to be another huge year, with $910 million raised in one January week alone and Outbrain and IronSource preparing IPOs. "What sets Israel and Tel Aviv apart is its openness," says Naomi Krieger Carmy, director of the British embassy's UK-Israel Tech Hub. "You can meet almost anyone, and everyone knows and talks to -- and about -- each other."

The next step, says Windward CEO Ami Daniel, is scaling up. "Entrepreneurs will focus not only on innovative technologies," he says, "but on building disruptive companies out of Israel."

CONSUMER PHYSICS

Consumer Physics wants to build a molecular map of the world. Founded by Dror Sharon and Damian Goldring in 2011, it makes the $250 USB-sized SCiO molecular spectrometer that can identify the chemical make-up of objects. It raised $2.7m on Kickstarter, and says it will be ready to ship its first SCiO this autumn, with 1,000 developers signed up.

PLAYBUZZ

PlayBuzz is an app and tool for creating listicles and personality quizzes. Founded in 2013 by Shaul Olmert -- son of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert -- the company now claims 80 million unique users per month. In March 2015, it announced $16m in funding to expand, and has hired 60 staff. It has also opened an office in New York.

STOREDOT

Spun out of Tel Aviv University in 2012, StoreDot has developed a smartphone battery that can be charged in one minute. It has raised $42m in Series B funding from private investors to develop the battery, which uses bio-organic compounds to create ultra-fast charge storage. It is now working on partnering with smartphone makers and plans a 2016 launch.

WINDWARD

Founded in 2010 by former Israeli Navy officers, Windward analyses commercial satellite feeds and maritime data to track the location and contents of every major seafaring vessel in the world. The company secured £7m in funding led by Horizon Ventures in April 2014. Its aim: real-time updates and insights for maritime markets and intelligence agencies.

MOOVIT

Moovit's transport app provides real-time public navigation on buses, trains and tubes. Using a combination of public-data feeds and feedback from users, it claims to provide travel times more accurately than its rivals. Founded in 2011, the company had 15 million users worldwide and, in January 2015, raised $50m from investors including Nokia Growth Partners and BMW.

SIMILARWEB

SimilarWeb is a tool that lets you analyse the performance of websites and apps. It provides traffic rankings and insights by analysing a pool of data from various sources. In November 2014, it raised $15 million in series D funding with plans to expand into app analytics and to open a New York office, having already expanded to London and Dubai.

ZEBRA MEDICAL VISION

Zebra Medical teaches computers to diagnose diseases. Founded in 2014 by Eyal Gura, Eyal Toledano and Elad Benjamin, the startup has partnered with Israeli imaging centres and universities worldwide to build a database of images. "We have millions of diagnosed MRIs, CT scans and X-Rays," says Gura. In April it secured $8m in funding led by Khosla Ventures.

APPSFLYER

More than 5,000 advertisers use AppsFlyer's analytics platform to measure campaigns and user acquisition on their smartphone apps -- for example, tracking the impact of a Super Bowl ad on downloads in real time. Founded by Oren Kaniel and Reshef Mann in 2011, it tracked two billion app installs in 2014 and claims it is now found on nine out of ten smartphones.

ADALLOM

Adallom provides security to companies using software such as GoogleApps and Office365 by detecting potential security breaches in real time. Founded in 2012 by former members of the Israeli Intelligence Corps, it counts Netflix and Pixar as clients. Since appearing in last year's list it has raised a further $30m in series C funding, led by Rembrandt and HP Ventures.

FEEX

Calling itself "the Robin Hood of fees", FeeX identifies hidden charges in investment and retirement funds and suggests ways for users to save money. Founded in 2012 by Yoav Zurel, David Weisz and Waze co-founder Uri Levine, it claims to have saved $277m to date. In August 2014, it raised $6.5m in series B funding, with plans to expand further in the US.

IBM Brazil places bets on Watson

Big Blue appoints executive to widen the footprint of its cognitive computing platform among Brazilian organizations
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

IBM Brazil is investing on expanding the presence of its cognitive computing platform Watson in Brazil with the appointment of an executive to develop the business area.

The Big Blue's former business development head for SaaS and independent software vendors (ISVs) David Dias is now leading the channel and ecosystem operation for Watson in Brazil.

As well as generating new Watson deals in Brazil, Dias has the goal of creating and developing an ecosystem of ISVs, start-ups and businesses partners for Watson and bringing the technology closer to developers and research and development organizations in the country.

Watson is possibly the best-known example of artificial intelligence in use today. The platform is designed so that business users can literally ask questions -- from medical diagnoses and the likely outcome of business decisions to answers to legal questions -- on the spot.

IBM has a large R&D facility in São Paulo which has been involved in the development of Watson's technology and in the analysis of data in Brazilian Portuguese - something that the company had intended only once interest in Watson turned into actual deals.

Since it started to pitch Watson to Brazilian customers last year, IBM signed a deal with Bradesco, one of the largest banks in the country, which will be used in its call centers to improve internal communication and speed up customer service.

Israeli cyber-security firm gets GE award for Internet technology

ThetaRay to help protect data being processed on General Electric’s cloud platform, Predix

By David Shamah, The Times of Israel

GE   (General Electric) is getting into the cloud business – and it’s taking Israeli cyber-security firm ThetaRay along with it.

After investing along with several partners $10 million in ThetaRay last year, GE presented the company at its recent Minds and Machines Conference in San Francisco with its Industrial Innovation Award for offering the “Most Innovative Industrial Internet Technology.”

The ThetaRay technology, said GE, will be used in its big data platform for industrial and business cloud development, called Predix.

According to Mark Gazit, CEO of ThetaRay, “our relationship with GE will make it possible for many more industrial companies to benefit from our groundbreaking solution. We are honored to receive this award, and proud to be part of the Predix ecosystem.”

GE’s Predix platform offers companies apps that allow them to process cloud-based data to analyze information, helping them use big data to save money and time. Financial news site The Street quoted Bill Ruh, GE’s vice president of global software, as saying at a June conference that GE intends to be a “next-generation industrial company that is going to have as a core competency” the ability to meld the physical and digital worlds.

With its data analysis apps, Predix will help companies analyze specific cohorts of data to do things like providing data to allow wind farm operators to adjust turbines in real time to change the curvature of a blade or make other alterations, allowing a more efficient operation and producing more power, the site quoted Ruh as saying.

When big data meets the cloud, hackers generally aren’t too far behind. It’s much easier for them to get to data that is transmitted to a public cloud than it is to get to that data when it is on a local server, behind a firewall – even when there are substantial defenses in the cloud server. In 2011, for example, hackers were said to have used an account on an Amazon cloud server to steal data from Sony, and in 2014, photos, many of them of celebrities in various stages of undress, were posted on a hacking site after being poached from online accounts on Apple’s iCloud servers (Apple claimed that it was the accounts that were hacked, not the servers).

In any event, ThetaRay’s technology comes in handy for cloud sites seeking to protect their clients. “Hackers are always looking for backdoors,” said Gazit. “They penetrate systems using various methods, like spear-phishing schemes,” in which hackers search for a weak link, matching an email message with a potential victim who is vulnerable to threats, rewards, fear or other psychological tactics to get the victim to click on a link or open a document that will install malware giving them access to data.

“Once they penetrate a system they can put any kind of malware they want into it, turning it into their own little ‘playground,’ installing anything they want. Meanwhile, information continues to flow through the system, and it’s all exposed to hackers’ whims.”

The best way to deal with the threat, said Gazit, was to look at the overall picture in a system, and try to figure out what “doesn’t look right. Our system checks for anomalies both inside and outside a network, evaluating what would be considered ‘normal’ in an organization and what would be anomalous.”

Anomalies could include increased activity inside a network, or greater than usual requests for communication resources outside a network. Those anomalies, for example, showed up on systems that were plagued with the Stuxnet virus, which wreaked havoc with Iranian centrifuges even as it indicated, on screen, that everything was running smoothly, said Gazit.

To arrive at its conclusions, ThetaRay examines lots of data – “the more the better.

“We check for anomalies in the huge amount of data we process, looking for patterns of activity that should not be there,” said Gazit. Data is taken from all input sources — email, web connection data, log files, sensors, cameras and microphones, etc — comparing the activity with expected patterns, with the models, said Gazit, developed over a period of seven years by top graduates of the IDF’s security tech Unit 8200 group, and top professors from Tel Aviv University and Yale University.

ThetaRay was one of only four companies to be honored with Industrial Innovation Awards, alongside PepsiCo, Pitney Bowes, and Salt River Project. The “Most Innovative Industrial Internet Technology” award was designed to highlight a company or offering that significantly advances the Industrial Internet, GE said.

“The success of the Industrial Internet depends on a collaborative ecosystem,” said Harel Kodesh, vice president, Predix, and CTO, GE Digital. “With Predix, GE is driving digital innovation across the industrial world-working with companies like ThetaRay helping advance this mission. We consider its technology a valuable component of the Predix microservice catalog that is helping our customers achieve better outcomes.”

October Newsletter - Enterprise Applications Management

Enterprise Applications Management might be the answer for Organizational needs that are not covered by enterprise application such as, ERP, CRM, etc.. One application to answer enterprise needs such as H.R. Management, Project / Knowledge management, Training, HelpDesk and many others. 
Enterprise Applications Management Technology is Vega’s topic of the month. For a full coverage of this topic please refer to the Full Article published at our Blog.

Enterprise Applications ManagementThe information Age

By 1950 the first programmable electronic computers had been developed. Costly, these early systems were practical only for the largest of organizations. In the 1980’s a generation of powerful, relatively inexpensive equipment (PC’s & Servers) made complex data processing functions affordable for most businesses and many individuals. By the end of the first decade of the 21^st century, the ubiquitous internet, coupled with the availability of sophisticated, multi-function software made even the most complex and specialized computing processes practical for any size organization.

Once only viable for the largest enterprises, advanced application suites with fully integrated modules such

as…

• Knowledge Management
• Employee Evaluations
• Project Management
• Training Administration
  
• Development Path
• Feedback Processes
• Content Creation
• Permissions Management
• Work Plans
• Resources Management
• Re-certifications
• Collaboration
• Recruiting Processes
• eLearning
• Budgets
• Qualifications
• Surveys

                                       …are now available and practical to implement for most organizations.

For more ...... See Vega's Octobe  Newsletter

Brazil’s Start-Ups Attracting Investments from U.S. Investors

500 Startups, Qualcomm Ventures, Redpoint eVentures and Techstars Invest in Startups from the Brazilian Accelerator Program, Start-Up Brasil
By Business Wire

The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) today announced nine start-up finalists that will present at its second annual International Demo Day in San Francisco. InternationalStart-Up Brasil, an initiative from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), managed by the Brazilian Association for the Promotion of Brazilian Software Excellence (Softex). Two startups from InovAtiva, a program from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade were also invited to present.

Demo Day is a program from

Check out Brazil's hottest new start-ups showcasing in San Francisco: http://bit.ly/Start-UpBrasilDemoDay

Graduates of Start-Up Brasil Program have gone on to successfully raise money from U.S. investors including 500 Startups, Qualcomm Ventures, Redpoint eVentures, and Techstars.

The nine Brazilian startups will be presenting their businesses to a panel of U.S. investors on December 10th at the second annual International Demo Day.

“We can estimate U.S. investors committed around USD $12 Billion to the Brazilian Private Equity / Venture Capital Industry in 2014 alone,” said David Barioni Neto, President of Apex-Brasil. “It’s safe to say that Silicon Valley VCs have discovered Brazil’s vibrant start-up scene. We capture 53% of all the Latin America venture capital deals. That´s why our agency has an office in Silicon Valley and many initiatives to present great investment opportunities to U.S. businessmen. The Demo Day is one of them.”

Israeli app-testing startup Perfecto gets $35 million in new funding

Perfecto, an Israeli company that develops cloud solutions for measuring user experience on apps, announced a $35 million Series E funding round on Wednesday led by Foundation Technology Crossover Ventures.

By Gedalyah Reback, GeekTime

The round brings their total haul to $90 million. Current investors FTV Capital, Carmel Ventures,

Globespan and Vertex Ventures also jumped back in. The money will expand marketing operations in North America, Europe, and the Far East. They plan on expanding staff at its Israeli HQ as well as at new locations in Australia, China, Japan, and Toronto. Perfecto previously raised $20 million in Series D last year.

Their main solution is called Continuous Quality Lab, providing constant monitoring and automated testing to optimize user experience on different platforms under real user conditions. They tout being able to test apps in use from any model of device or network. In 2015, they also introduced Wind Tunnel to get predictive analysis of an app’s performance once it hits the market at a later date.

In September, Accenture released survey results of 2,000 executives, only 54% of whom said post-release quality assurance (QA) testing of their apps was critical to their business. Technavio predicted last year that the global software testing marketing would grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.15% through 2018. ABI Research had predicted in 2012 that the market for app testing would quadruple to more than $800 million by 2017.

Its main Israeli competitors are Applause, which has raised $80 million and acquired two companies, and We-Test, which crowdsources testing.

CEO Eran Yaniv, CTO Yoram Mizrahi and former VP Sales Jacky Allal founded Perfecto Mobile in 2006. They employ over 300 people and have more than 1,500 active business customers, including major brands HP, Microsoft, Comcast, Liberty Mutual, and IBM. The company’s HQ are in Rosh Ha’Ayin, Israel.

Enterprise Applications Management - New Age

The information Age

By 1950 the first programmable electronic computers had been developed. Costly, these early systems were practical only for the largest of organizations. In the 1980’s a generation of powerful, relatively inexpensive equipment (PC’s & Servers) made complex data processing functions affordable for most businesses and many individuals. By the end of the first decade of the 21^st century, the ubiquitous internet, coupled with the availability of sophisticated, multi-function software made even the most complex and specialized computing processes practical for any size organization.

Once only viable for the largest enterprises, advanced application suites with fully integrated modules such

as…

• Knowledge Management
• Employee Evaluations
• Project Management
  
• Training Administration
• Development Path
• Feedback Processes
• Content Creation
• Permissions Management
• Work Plans
• Resources Management
• Re-certifications
• Collaboration
• Recruiting Processes
• eLearning
• Budgets
• Qualifications
• Surveys

                                       …are now available and practical to implement for most organizations.

The Challenges

While the availability of this type of functionality is a major advantage, users must be sensitive to installation, training, and operating complexities when mixing components of these types with applications from multiple suppliers. Consequently, a single, comprehensive, and well integrated application suite is always the best choice.

If the single vendor approach is not chosen, the following issues will inevitably need to be addressed:

•  Implementation of separate integrated applications from different vendors, but applying them only for single-purpose requirements, creates unnecessary complexity and adds significantly to overall cost for the organization. Without careful coordination, an organization can find itself using many separate applications with overlapping functionality and no common integration.
• Excessive implementation, training, and operating costs resulting from acquisition of multiple products when a single product suite would have sufficed.
• Redundant and inconsistent data is generated without awareness of other, non-integrated applications.  This is further exacerbated when overlapping and inconsistent data is rolled-up into Business Intelligence and other analytic reporting systems.
• Security issues and other conflicts with the IT group and central administration are almost guaranteed when individual departments implement their own solutions without approval and close coordination across departments.
• Interacting with and managing multiple vendors is always challenging and expensive. Different and conflicting operating environments, database systems, OS releases, Browser support, training issues, etc. always create additional problems.
• Change management and redundant purchase costs occur when a department finds its originally installed application is no longer adequate.  This situation requires new procurement & licensing costs, as well as implementation, conversion, training and integration fees.

An Integrated Solution

In order to address the above detailed issues, corporate-wide adoption of an integrated, comprehensive solution is clearly the most viable alternative. Even if special features/upgrades to the company-wide solution are necessary, the overall costs still strongly favor this approach. These types of applications are now available and affordable for most organizations. Moreover, quality suppliers will normally offer assistance with any special customization or “tuning” of their applications.

The major characteristics of these types of platforms are:

• Modular – The client organization can choose which applications it wishes to address with the platform; to pay for only those that it needs; and not to pay for unnecessary features that are not
  
  being used. In this regard, additional modules & features can easily be purchased and activated when needed.
• Cloud based – The organization doesn’t need to operate or purchase servers. The platform is installed in the cloud and is available anywhere with an internet connection.
• On premise option – Since the new platforms are "light" and easy to install and maintain, the solution will also be offered for "on premise" use.
• Versatile/Multi-use – Features are built in a way that they can be used to address multiple, general purpose requirements. This helps to keep the platforms light and easy to use.
• Operate on any device, operating system, and any browser – Whether the user works on a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone, he can operate all the user side functions regardless to the operating system or the browser that is being used.
• Customization – Although the platform is built to suit any organization, sometimes groups within the enterprise operate in different ways. So the software should be constructed in a way that enables feature-by-feature selection. This is addressed with user-controlled switches that can be turned on and off (not hard-coded), so it will be easily adapted for use by many organizations.
• Integration – The ideal new era platform has built-in mechanisms to ensure fast and easy integration to Active Directory, common database management systems, and other corporate information systems.
• Scalable – A modular platform, by definition needs to be scalable and elastic to support additional massive numbers of users as required. And when operating in the cloud, it needs to automatically activate more servers when overload conditions are identified within the network.
• Reporting – A major advantage of the advanced platform is that users can filter, analyze, integrate, and report information that is being generated from the many features and modules of the system.

Conclusions

Thanks to the availability of low cost network and hardware technology, as well as today’s advanced application software development techniques, the days of expensive (and risky) “custom” software development or one solution application have passed. In today’s “new age” environment, focus on selection of an application suite (and vendor) with the best fit becomes the primary challenge.

Critical to the selection process is the need for an organization to establish a comprehensive set of requirements that can then be mapped against various supplier offerings. Beyond the “fit,” all the normal business metrics then need to be applied. The viability and responsiveness of the vendor, satisfaction of existing customers, support, and the supplier’s ability to provide regular updates to the suite that not only add desirable new features, but also keep it aligned with today’s rapidly changing technology environment - all are important factors in the selection process.

From here, the next generation solutions will undoubtedly be more “intuitive.” That is, by examining network and user habits, they will be able to “sense” what application functions are being used and are therefore necessary for the new solution. From there, they will be able to generate pre-configured solutions for each individual user on a case-by-case basis. Quite a Brave New World… 

Here’s How Brazil Is Giving Every Citizen Free Mobile Data

The government, along with Qualcomm and one of the nation’s biggest banks, has a plan to get the poor online.

By Ian King & Christiana Sciaudone, BloombergBusiness

Once considered the next great growth engine for the smartphone industry, Brazil is on the decline. With its economy shrinking and unemployment on the rise, many Brazilians are making do with dumb phones. They find the cost of an Internet-connected device prohibitive, particularly when they factor in mobile data fees.

One possible solution borrows from a technical breakthrough made by AT&T half a century ago. The Brazilian government is working with local companies and Qualcomm, the world’s largest mobile phone chipmaker, on a modern version of toll-free calling. A new 1-800 system for mobile data

allows Brazilians to access their bank accounts for free on smartphones without incurring data costs. The government of São Paulo plans to extend free data services to some official websites by the end of the year.

Banco Bradesco, one of the country’s biggest banks, began exploring a free data program after observing that many customers had stopped using the company’s app and were switching back to such traditional banking services as phone calls and visits to the teller. A survey of those customers found that they couldn’t afford data plans and didn’t have access to Wi-Fi during work hours, when banks are open. Bradesco teamed up with technology giant Qualcomm, and together they spent a year negotiating with Brazil’s four main phone-service providers. The bank purchased data packages wholesale and started rolling out the program in 2014. Bradesco customers can check account balances, transfer money, and pay bills without buying a data plan. “The response was excellent,” says Mauricio Minas, a vice president at the bank.

Bradesco has signed up almost 7 million of its 26 million checking account customers to the company’s mobile services, Minas says; it had 4 million at the end of 2014. The number of mobile transactions in the first half of 2015 doubled, compared with the same period last year, and the bank expects volumes to keep doubling each year. About 35 percent of all transactions will be initiated on phones by the end of 2015, and that number should rise to 40 percent next year, Minas estimates.

Sponsored data has been tested in other emerging markets, with some success. Internet.org, a pet project of Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, provides free access to a limited group of websites—Facebook being one—in Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. Two of China’s largest mobile operators began offering one-day free access to Alibaba’s Taobao Marketplace in 2013 to get people hooked on the shopping site and to encourage data use.

Bradesco’s service in Brazil isn’t a philanthropic endeavor. Besides creating an incentive to attract new customers, it’s cheaper than hiring additional bank and call center staff. Each visit to a teller costs the bank more than $4, whereas an online transaction costs pennies, according to a study commissioned by Qualcomm. “This solution easily pays for itself,” says Minas.

Qualcomm, which sponsored a report about the program in Brazil that is expected to be published on Aug. 18, is developing similar free-data software that the government will roll out to citizens. Qualcomm is banking on emerging markets to drive future demand for smartphones, most of which rely on the company’s chips. While Brazil, at 282 million mobile subscribers, has more phone lines than people, some 75 percent are on prepaid plans with little to no data. Smartphone sales growth in the country dropped 15 percent last quarter after a 56 percent jump during the same period in 2014, according to market research firm IDC.

Qualcomm is encouraged by the results of its program. “If you apply the same concept that you have with 1-800 calls to data, you can revolutionize the industry,” says Christiano Amon, co-head of Qualcomm’s chip unit. “I believe it has the potential to get adopted in many, many places.”

One place Qualcomm isn’t expected to go after is the U.S. While Amazon.com successfully

introduced a similar, albeit limited, program with free access to its e-bookstore on Kindles in 2007, Americans have resisted the concept of corporate-sponsored Web access. Proponents of net neutrality set their sights on Internet.org in May, saying it’s a vehicle to lock people into Facebook. Past proposals for sponsored data in the U.S. have “caused a bit of an uproar,” says Courtney Munroe, an analyst at IDC. While such services may not work in developed markets, “it makes a lot of sense where data is still relatively expensive,” he says.

Brazilians happy to avoid standing in line at the bank may soon get relief from a second common inconvenience: getting a driver’s license. The state government in São Paulo is developing an app called Poupatempo, meaning “save time,” that aims to speed up the process of applying for a license or identity card. Sao Paulo will spend at least 30 million reais ($9 million) a year to build out the service, and it wants to make sure people are using it. “Most don't access the service online because of the cost associated with data,” says Aldo Garda, an information technology coordinator for the state government.

São Paulo is talking to the four biggest telecoms in Brazil about buying data on behalf of residents. The government hopes to save itself some money by converting people from more expensive call centers to online services, Garda says. He expects a 50 percent reduction in visits to government offices within two years, if the app is successful. Given the recent economic troubles throughout the country and cuts on government spending that impend, Brazil could use any savings it can get.

As cyber-risks abound, airline industry seeks Israeli help

IATA, the largest international airline group, will work with Tel Aviv University to improve on- and off-line security for its members
By David Shamah, The Times of Israel


The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has signed an agreement with Tel Aviv University under which a new joint center for innovation in aviation will be established in order to

develop technologies to protect airline reservations systems, authentication for security purposes, and financial systems, as well as to develop ways to run airlines more efficiently using big data and advanced intelligence.

Two weeks ago, the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for nearly four hours for still-unexplained reasons – possibly, according to some experts, due to hacker activities. That incident generated headlines all over the world, but there was a second unexplained outage as well on July 8 – the grounding of all flights by United Airlines for nearly an hour. Was it due to hacking? A United Airlines official said there was “no indication that this was caused by an outside entity,” but it wasn’t the first time United – or flights by other airlines – were grounded for “unexplained” reasons.

That airlines are vulnerable to hackers is well-established. In June, for example, planes were grounded in Poland after hackers breached the network at Warsaw’s Chopin airport, causing delays that affected some 1,400 passengers. In May, United removed a passenger from a flight after he apparently hacked into a plane’s navigation system via its entertainment system. And in January, Malaysia Airlines saw hackers break into its website.

And airlines realize just how vulnerable they are. In May, United announced a Bug Bounty contest, inviting hackers to test its online systems to find weaknesses. Last week, the airline awarded a million frequent flier miles to two hackers were able to find vulnerabilities. While he couldn’t share the specifics of the hack (to prevent details of the vulnerabilities from coming out), Jordan Wiens, one of the winners, said that the bugs were somewhat “lame” – an indication that the system may not have been very well-protected.

Realizing it has a problem, IATA – which represents 260 airlines that are responsible for 83% of the

world’s airline flights – has teamed up with Tel Aviv University to develop security systems in a variety of areas. With the agreement, IATA joined the companies’ forum of Tel Aviv University’s cyber center, and helped organized an international cyber-security conference that took place at Tel Aviv University last month. As part of the joint activity, IATA’s representatives, together with Ramot and Tel Aviv University’s international cyber center, will identify technologies and information that are relevant to the field of international flight.

Prof. Raanan Rein, vice president of Tel Aviv University, who signed the agreement on behalf of the university, said that it was another important step in the university’s links with international companies and industry.

“The agreement with such a large and important organization as IATA demonstrates Tel Aviv University’s leading role in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as in research,” said Rein.

Kobi Zussman, CEO of IATA Israel, said that like hundreds of international bodies, IATA and the world of flight also wish to benefit from Israeli high-tech academic capabilities. “We are convinced that our collaboration with Tel Aviv University will be most valuable for the flight industry,” he said.

Four Things You Need to Know Before Laying Off Employees in LatAm

Getting to grips with the legal requirements in terms of layoffs can be tricky, even more so in a foreign country. Nearshore Americas unpacks four things you need to know before laying off employees or contractors in Latin America.
Bianca Wright, Nearshore Americas


Terminating employment is never something to be taken lightly, but doing so in a country other than the US can bring its own unique headaches. As Danielle Urban, a partner in the Denver office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, noted: “The US model of employment-at-will is uncommon in the rest of the world.” Urban specializes in foreign HR and employment law issues.

So what’s the deal in Latin America? Labor law across the region differs considerably, but there are some similarities across borders. Responses to layoffs differ widely as well, although there is always negative publicity. IBM Argentina’s 2012 layoffs resulted in threats of union action, a cry repeated in 2014 when Alliance@IBM compiled reports of more than 3,300 layoffs in IBM offices abroad, including 1,500 reportedly let go in Brazil and 600 in Argentina. In contrast a US printing company that closed a plant and laid off workers in Argentina in 2014 was accused of terrorism by the government. Caution is key in ensuring that layoffs are done in the best possible way.

Novel Eye-Tracking Device EyeControl Enables ALS Patients To Communicate

Now, a new Israeli-made device called EyeControl is striving to give a voice to those who are unable to verbally communicate, using the movement of their eyes.

By Roseanne Tabachnik, NoCamels

The viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” that catapulted ALS into our lives last year, encouraging people to

film themselves pouring ice water over their heads, became a social media sensation within weeks. While the philanthropic blockbuster sparked millions of donations to ALS research, still nearly 6,000 Americans are diagnosed with the neuron motor disease every year, losing almost all of their communication skills as the disease progresses.


Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. On average, most patients are diagnosed with the disease when they’re 55-years-old, and eventually suffer from a complete loss of speech. That’s where the EyeControl device steps in.

The screen-free, affordable mobile communication device was developed by a group of Israeli

entrepreneurs who were personally touched by the disease. Both EyeControl co-founder Or Retzkin and head of product Tal Kelner lost their grandparents to ALS, and have been committed to helping individuals who are “locked-in” or are unable to speak due to muscle deterioration ever since. In addition, CTO Itai Kornberg introduced the technology when he embarked on the mission to help an ALS patient communicate with his eyes using a computer to translate the movements.



The EyeControl system is a combination of computerized glasses and a mobile app that captures eye movements and translates them into audio or text commands using an eye-tracking algorithm. The glasses are integrated with a camera that detects eye movement, which is then analyzed by a micro-sized computer installed in the glasses. Using a Bluetooth connection, the commands are then relayed through the system’s headphones or speaker into the patient’s ear.

The system is based on a three-step model: Patients are able to call for assistance, put together pre-determined sentences such as “I am cold,” and compose sentences simply by swiping their eyes in certain directions.

To get the device to market, the company has launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in hopes to raise $30,000. Since the start of the campaign on July 7, the startup has exceeded its $30,000 goal, reaching $42,000 in less than a month. Today, the company decided to extend the campaign in order to raise up to $50,000 in the course of another two weeks. Despite the company’s time-crunched Indiegogo campaign, Retzkin could not confirm a product release date.

A screen-free and affordable device

EyeControl has set its sights on making a difference in the lives of ALS patients by teaming up with

the non-profit organization Prize4Life, headed by CEO Shay Rishoni, an ALS patient. This long-term partnership is aimed at raising awareness to ALS and advocating EyeControl’s solution.


However, EyeControl is not alone in the realm of eye-gaze systems for the disabled. Systems like Tobii DynaVox, LC Technologies, and even the Israeli-invented technology behind the Sesame Phone, all compete to open up access to touch-screen dependent technologies. EyeControl, which unlike many of its competitors doesn’t require a screen, stands out from the competition mainly thanks its portability.

“Most patients need to be at home or in front of a computer screen to use a device,” Retzkin tells NoCamels. “So, if you go inside a car or lie down in bed and the screen is not in front of you, you cannot communicate.”

The portable device uses an external battery as a source of electricity, allowing the patient to travel and communicate through the glasses, regardless of location.

“We use vocal feedback, so there is an ear set, not a screen,” Retzkin explains. “It’s very intuitive, so you can swipe with your eye according to what you hear.”

And unlike similar devices, which range in cost from $3,000 to $10,000, EyeControl is expected to be priced at the affordable price of $100, with the goal of ensuring accessibility to all patients, regardless of their financial standing. According to Retzkin, his team orders the materials in bulk and is building the device in-house, which makes the system significantly cheaper.

Brazil IT sector continues to create jobs

The number of positions has gone up by 44,2 percent despite recession, says research
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

The Brazilian technology sector continues to create jobs despite the country's current economic slowdown, according to a recent study.

Over the first half of 2015, the number of IT jobs on offer in Brazil has gone up by 44,2 percent, according to numbers from human resources consultancy Catho.

In June alone, 10.105 positions were created - that's 3.640 more jobs than the same month last year.

Out of the top destinations for IT job seekers in Brazil, São Paulo concentrates 32 percent of all the tech positions offered in the country, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 9,77 percent and Porto Alegre, the home of major companies such as SAP, with 6,23 percent of all jobs.

Other key centers with opportunities for technology professionals include Curitiba - where most technology workers of banking multinationals such as HSBC are located - with 4,78 percent of all IT jobs in Brazil.

Another top destination is Belo Horizonte, which concentrates 3,66 percent of all IT positions in the country.

According to data from Brazilian IT association Brasscom, the local market currently employs 1.3 million IT professionals and that number will see a 30 percent increase by 2016.