Author: Connected World
What if we could use AI (artificial intelligence) and 3D forest reconstruction from remote sensing data to help find and reconstruct trees in a forest? Researchers at Purdue University’s Department of Computer Science and Institute for Digital Forestry and Germany’s Kiel University are doing exactly this, leveraging AI to isolate and reconstruct forest trees. Up until now, existing algorithms could only partially reconstruct the shape of a single tree from a clean point-cloud dataset acquired by laser-scanning technologies. Now, researchers have introduced TreeStructor in IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing. Lidar (light detection and ranging) works by shooting laser…
#Factoftheweek Hello Q-Day Expect growth from $1.2 billion in 2026 to $13 billion in 2035. Juniper Research suggests there are two primary forces driving the 30% compound annual growth rate of post-quantum cryptography. What is Q-Day? It is the point at which quantum computers can compromise today’s encryption, and it is on the radar of governments and other organizations. Enter cryptography. This is a technological domain that is heavily reliant on interoperability across infrastructure, with many systems required to operate across borders. Quantum attacks are on the horizon. But didn’t we say quantum was safe? Attention: we must be prepared.
Part 1: The Rise of Chargebacks There are some distribution operational situations that have a direct impact on the cost of order fulfillment that tend to increase the cost of goods that you and me, the consumers, pay. One of these is what is known as a “chargeback” that occurs frequently and for which a good amount of money is spent to prevent occurrences. In logistics, a chargeback is a post-transaction financial penalty or cost recovery that one party (usually a retailer, shipper, or customer) deducts from payments owed to another party (usually a supplier, carrier, warehouse, or 3PL (third…
We are entering a new era of work—one where AI (artificial intelligence) and the IoT (Internet of Things) will drive innovation at companies in nearly every vertical market around the globe. At the heart of all of this is the data center. As we enter this new era of work, we must also consider the role of the data center. JLL suggests data center storage capacity will grow from 10.1 zettabytes in 2023 to 21 zettabytes in 2027, which is a five-year compound annual growth rate of 18.5%. As data rises, so too will the need for data centers, and…
Machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) are transforming research across many fields, from energy to healthcare. One of the latest milestones is the formation of the LEADS (LEarning-Accelerated Domain Science) Institute, which is a collaborative effort to make scientific machine learning more accessible and impactful for researchers working with complex data. As one example, Yulia Gel, a professor in the Dept. of Statistics at Virginia Tech, has been named a key contributor to the LEADS Institute, which is supported by the U.S. Dept. of Energy to advance scientific AI and data science. The institute brings together researchers from 14 universities…
#Factoftheweek Get ready. We are going to have another explosive year for AI—at least according to the numbers forecasted. It is anticipated worldwide spending on AI will reach $2.52 trillion in 2026, which is a growth rate of 44% year-over-year, according to Gartner. Much of this will come from AI foundations, with increasing spending on AI-optimized servers and AI infrastructure. Table 1: Worldwide AI Spending by Market, 2025-2027 (Millions of U.S. Dollars) Market2025 2026 2027 AI Services439,438588,645761,042AI Cybersecurity25,92051,34785,997AI Software283,136452,458636,146AI Models14,41626,38043,449AI Platforms for Data Science and Machine Learning21,86831,12044,482AI Application Development Platforms6,5878,41610,922AI Data8273,1196,440AI Infrastructure964,9601,366,3601,748,212Total AI Spending1,757,152 2,527,845 3,336,690 What are you seeing? Do you…
In the heart of upstate New York is a group of institutions coming together to advance the use of AI (artificial intelligence) in higher education. Meet Empire AI, a consortium of public and private organizations, partially funded by New York State and with a grant totaling more than $1 million from Google.org. The Empire AI consortium includes the CUNY Graduate Center, Columbia University, Cornell University, Icahn School of Medicine, New York University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the State University of New York, University at Buffalo, and University of Rochester. Together, these institutions will ensure that New York’s…
#Factoftheweek 65% Some 65% of employees said they are excited about using AI (artificial intelligence) at work. But Gartner cautions leaders must take three actions to reframe AI deployment for enhanced business value. At the end of the day, Gartner research shows resistance to AI is not the root issue in many businesses, but rather it is often executive urgency leading to rushed implementations of AI with insufficient consideration of workforce implications. Do you agree? Do we need to slow down and focus on the people and create better strategies for collaborative approaches to AI? It is definitely something to…
It is the start of the new year, and the 2025 Christmas holidays have come and gone with the blink of an eye it seems. I was at a Christmas party when a friend asked me a question I could not immediately answer. He asked: “How much of the Christmas presents given actually get returned by the recipients?” When I got home, I dug into my work archives because I remember having visited a company that processed product returns for major retail chains. The DC (distribution center) that this 3PL (third party logistics) provider operates is in Eastern Pennsylvania, strategically…
#Factoftheweek Off-highway vehicles telematics systems will rise to 17.6 million units worldwide by 2029, growing at a 12% rate. This is up from 10 million in 2024, and includes off-highway vehicles in construction, mining, agriculture, and forestry. Construction represents the largest share and is driven by OEM telematics systems. Agriculture and mining are the second and third largest shares. Forestry is the smallest sector. What are your thoughts? Are you surprised by this projected growth? Or does it seem in line with where the market is headed?