Innovative startups are helping corporates combat security risks posed by smart phones and tablets. Sometime last November an anonymous group of hackers began hijacking smartphones and redirecting their browsers to a website that conducts “crypto-mining,” the term for using computing power to tally transactions made on the blockchain, a type of digital ledger technology. By the time cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes detected the campaign against…

FUTURE OF WORK DATAIKU UNITED STATES WHAT IT DOES: A software platform that pulls in data from across a company and uses visual design to make it accessible to employees in order to drive analysis and decision making. www.dataiku.com FUTURE OF WORK TALMUNDO THE NETHERLANDS WHAT IT DOES: An HR…

Industrial control systems are an easy tantalizing target for hackers In 2017 NotPetya ransomware caused an estimated $10 billion in damage as it shut down ports, disrupted shipping, infected factories and hit power grids. Such havoc is entirely predictable. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is expected to transform manufacturing…

The technology is being used to manufacture everything from orthodontic devices to cars and rocket engines. MakerBot was among the first to develop desktop versions of 3D printers that put additive manufacturing within reach of a new generation of entrepreneurs and product developers. Initially it saw sales grow fast but they hit a wall when widespread consumer interest failed to materialize. Stratasys, a leader of industrial…

Robots are increasingly working next to humans, raising efficiency in warehouses, factories and labs. — At a warehouse in the French city of Bordeaux, Skypod, a robot created by startup Exotec Solutions, carries a bin that can hold up to 30 kilograms as it wheels around using a laser scanner for navigation. When it reaches inventory racks, it grabs onto rails and glides upward until…

The technology is adding transparency and efficiency to a system that still runs on phone calls and handshakes. The industries that power the global supply chain have stubbornly resisted radical change for decades despite being plagued by fraud, buried under mountains of paper, and suffering mind-boggling inefficiencies. This conservatism makes their sudden love affair with blockchain technology one of the crypto era’s most surprising twists. IBM and shipping…

A digitally-optimized logistics industry could add huge value to the world economy. From the time a product leaves a factory in some distant corner of the world to the moment it reaches your doorstep, it uses a dizzying number of services, with dozens of companies exchanging hundreds of different data points. …

The country is expected to have tremendous global influence over the design, operating rules, and sales of driverless vehicles. While Silicon Valley took an early lead in the race to develop autonomous vehicles, many observers believe it will soon be surpassed by China. And thanks to a ferocious push by the government that has catalyzed efforts by tech giants and startups alike, China seems poised not just to lead…

Wide-scale deployment of commercial drones is being constrained by outdated aviation rules. A new effort led by the World Economic Forum aims to help regulators take an innovative approach to managing aerial traffic. The Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has a network of 40 drones that have made more than 20,000 deliveries of small items such as food or smartphones to remote areas around the country. The economics are compelling: It’s six to seven times as expensive for the company to send similar products…