• 12/10/2019
• Новини,Технології
• No Comments

Artificial intelligence took center stage as African female technology experts met at Women in Tech Week in Ghana to promote women’s involvement in the field. When Lily Edinam Botsyoe was studying computer science at a university in Ghana, students wrote programming codes on a whiteboard because there were not enough computers. This made it difficult to apply the coding skills they were learning, she says, and the problem continues today.”We have students coming out of schools having the theoretical background — which is very important because you can’t actually appreciate something practical if you don’t have the theory. But, the industry-ready skills is lacking because they didn’t have the hands-on experience,” Botsyoe said.She wants to see more resources for students, especially for girls and women, to get practical experience in technology in Ghana and across Africa.
 
Today, Botsyoe is a system tester and works to mentor other women in coding and artificial intelligence.    Botsyoe presented at the Women in Tech Week in Accra, along with her colleague, data scientist Aseda Addai-Deseh.They explained to participants what artificial intelligence is, how it works and, most importantly, how it can be used and developed by African women. Such uses include helping a community overcome a lack of health professionals, or increasing agricultural yields with automated farming.For Addai-Deseh, the potential for AI in Africa is boundless.  “Africa is the next market because there are so many problems here to be solved, and when you have so many problems, you have so many opportunities,” she said.Addai-Deseh says while more Africans are taking notice of AI, the majority of the industry is in North America, Europe and Asia, and is largely male.  She wants to see more investment into developers across the continent — especially in women.AI concernsReal estate agent Maya Yiadom was watching the two women’s presentation.While excited about AI’s potential, she is also concerned about technology replacing jobs in Africa, where many nations already suffer high unemployment.”Work as we know it is going to change and I’m not sure, millions, possibly billions of us already, how are we going to survive?” Yiadom said.The focus on artificial intelligence at the Women in Tech Week comes six months after U.S. technology giant Google opened an AI lab in Ghana — the first in Africa.  Developers at the lab will focus on creating products for education, health and agriculture to solve problems in Africa.
 
…

відкрити 

• 11/10/2019
• Новини,Технології
• No Comments

A man arrested on suspicion of stalking a female pop idol used the reflections of her pupils in photos she shared on social media and Google Street View to find where she lived.
 
Tokyo police declined comment on the specifics of the investigation but confirmed Friday that 26-year-old Hibiki Sato was arrested Sept. 17 on suspicion of indecent behavior in connection with stalking and causing injuries to the 20-year-old woman.
 
The police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as is often policy at Japanese bureaucracies, said the case was related to the reports about a stalker and pupil images.
 
Police described Sato as an “avid fan.” 
 
Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported this week that details in the woman’s selfies were used to identify the train station she frequented. They said Sato looked at other images she shared, such as her apartment, to figure out where she lived.
 
Police say he hurt her and committed indecent acts, such as groping her after accosting her from behind and knocking her down.
 
Japan has many young female performance groups.Selfie warningTokyo Shimbun, a metropolitan daily which reported on the stalking case, warned readers that even casual selfies may show surrounding buildings that will allow people to identify the location of the photos.It also said people shouldn’t make the V-sign with their hand, which Japanese often do in photos, because fingerprints could be stolen.    
 
Cyberstalking has been a problem for years, with criminals and perpetrators of domestic violence using hacking, clandestine activation of microphones and cameras, and other methods to track their victims.
 
It’s unclear how prevalent the use of high-resolution photos to locate potential victims might be.   
 
…

відкрити 

• 10/10/2019
• Новини,Технології
• No Comments

The European Union’s 2019 cybercrime report said the number of online attacks is going down but criminals are targeting more data and profits.The European Union’s law enforcement agency developed the report that shows that ransomware remains the top cybercrime threat. Ransomware attacks block access to vital data and are described as being targeted, more profitable for the attackers and causing greater economic damage to private and public entities.The report, called the Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment, cited the 2019 “GermanWiper” ransomware as an example of the harm it can bring. That ransomware replaced the files of German companies, making them unrecoverable.The report identified concerns of governments becoming victims to ransomware attacks. Local governments in the United States, like the cities of Atlanta and Baltimore, have fallen victim to it.  According to the report “every state in the U.S. has been hit with an attack, with the exception of Delaware and Kentucky.”The IOCTA said the United States has seen more damage from ransomware than the European Union, but that could change as cybercrime “evolves.”Europol also highlighted online sexual exploitation of children.  A report says cybercriminals can use the internet to access sexually explicit content of minors. It says a growing number of juveniles have been sharing sexual pictures or videos with peers, which could be stolen and reposted.Cybercriminals can also make content themselves. The report targeted deepfakes as being used to create videos of children using their own material. Deepfakes create false images and have been used to produce explicit content from celebrity websites. A comedian used Artificial Intelligence to generate a deepfake of former U.S. president Barack Obama.Other developments in cybercrime like decentralized, unregulated internet marketplaces and phishing scams that steal personal data, remain concerns for Europol because of their potential to continue to evolve even as law enforcement works to prevent it.”Some threats of yesterday remain relevant today and will continue to challenge us tomorrow,” said Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle.  
…

відкрити 

• 10/10/2019
• Новини,Технології
• No Comments

Women from across Africa are meeting at the annual Women in Tech Africa Week, hoping to bring more women into the tech industry and combat inequalities in technology use and access, especially for economic empowerment.Francesca Opoku remembers having to physically send workers to deliver messages or documents when she started her small social enterprise in Ghana 10 years ago. Today, she works to keep up with fast-developing technology to grow her business that produces natural beauty products. She also trains women she works with in financial literacy, such as using simple mobile technology to manage their money.”As a small African business, as you are growing and as you aspire to grow globally and your tentacles are widening, the world is just going techy,” Opoku said. “Business in the world is going techy. It’s especially relevant in small business. It’s the best way to make what you are doing known out there.”She was at the launch of Women In Tech Africa in Accra, with events in six other countries including Germany, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Opoku said she wants to learn more about how she can use technology to make her business grow and to ensure she is not left behind in the technology divide.Across Africa, this divide means women are 13% less likely to own a mobile phone and 41% less likely to use mobile internet than men.Women In Tech Africa founderWomen In Tech Africa founder Ethel Cofie speaks at the opening of the annual Women in Tech event in Accra. (S. Knott/VOA)Ethel Cofie, founder of Women In Tech Africa, an NGO that started in 2015, said addressing this gap is crucial. Her network of 5,000 women across 30 African countries is pushing the conversation about women in technology and leadership.”There is a huge gender gap, and that is part of the conversation,” Cofie said. “When we are out here showing the world we actually exist, are doing things, what it does is, it provides avenues for us to support other women. One of the things Women in Tech has done is work with the Ghanaian Beauticians Association and Ghana traders associations. Even though these women are not necessarily as educated, they also need to be able to use tech to build their businesses.”Cofie says the digital gap between men and women in Africa is a consequence of poverty and economic disparities. Men usually have higher incomes, and better access to mobile phones and internet data.EducationIncreasing digital access starts with education. At the G-7 summit this year, members pledged to work with developing countries to promote inclusion, equity and access for girls and women to quality education, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).Faiza Adam, a network engineer, started Girly Tech this year to inspire underprivileged Ghanaian girls into STEM careers. She’s training young girls in web development, programming and robotics in Accra.”Imagine where girls don’t embrace tech, then in five years to come, we have only males who are in the tech space — there is no diversity,” Adam said. “So, in the decision making, they tend to use the male, male, male ideas instead of female. So, when we have inclusion, or there is diversity — I bring my idea, and the guy also brings his idea from the male perspective — we come together and solve societal problems.”Cofie and Adam both say more women in tech will mean more problems solved in their own communities. But Cofie adds that half the battles — like the gender divide — could be overcome with the right policies in place.
 
…

відкрити 

• 10/10/2019
• Новини,Технології
• No Comments

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will testify at the US House of Representatives this month on the social network’s plan for a global digital currency, officials announced Wednesday.The House Financial Services Committee said in a statement Zuckerberg would be the sole witness at the hearing on “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.”The move comes with Facebook’s planned digital coin Libra facing heavy criticism from regulators and lawmakers in the United States and Europe.Earlier this year, David Marcus, Facebook’s executive heading the digital coin effort, defended the plan during more than two hours at a Senate Banking Committee and said the cryptocurrency would not be launched without regulatory approval.Marcus and other Facebook executives have claimed the new digital coin could help lower costs for global money transfers and help those without access to the banking system.French economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire has warned that under current circumstances Libra posed a threat to the “monetary sovereignty” of governments and could not be authorized in Europe.Last week, digital payments firm PayPal said it was quitting the alliance of companies and organizations promoting Libra, raising questions over Facebook’s ability to launch the coin early next year as planned.
…

відкрити 

• 09/10/2019
• Новини,Технології
• No Comments

Apple became the latest company targeted for Chinese pressure over protests in Hong Kong when the ruling Communist Party’s main newspaper criticized the tech giant Wednesday for a smartphone app that allows activists to report police movements.HKmap.live, designed by an outside supplier and available on Apple Inc.’s online store, “facilitates illegal behavior,” People’s Daily said in a commentary.“Is Apple guiding Hong Kong thugs?” the newspaper said.Beijing has pressed companies including Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways to take the government’s side against the protests, which are in their fourth month.Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.HKmap.live allows users to report police locations, use of tear gas and other details that are added to a regularly updated map. A version is also available for smartphones that use the Android operating system.Asked whether the Chinese government had asked Apple to remove the HKmap.live from its online store, a foreign ministry spokesman said he had no information about that.“What I can tell you is that these radical, violent crimes in Hong Kong have seriously challenged the legal system and social order in Hong Kong, threatened the safety of Hong Kong residents’ lives and property, and undermined the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong,” said the spokesman, Geng Shuang.“Anyone who has a conscience and justice should resist and oppose instead of supporting and indulging those actions,” Geng said at a regular news briefing.The demonstrations began over a proposed extradition law and expanded to include other grievances and demands for greater democracy.Criticism of Apple followed government attacks starting last weekend on the National Basketball Association over a comment by the general manager of the Houston Rockets in support of the protesters. China’s state TV has canceled broadcasts of NBA games.“Apple jumped into this on its own and mixed together business with politics and commercial activity with illegal activities,” People’s Daily said.The newspaper warned Apple might be damaging its reputation with Chinese consumers.Brands targeted in the past by Beijing have been subjected to campaigns by the entirely state-controlled press to drive away consumers or disruptive investigations by tax and other regulators.“This recklessness will cause much trouble for Apple,” People’s Daily said. “Apple needs to think deeply.” 
…

відкрити 

• 09/10/2019
• Новини,Технології
• No Comments

 People in Southeast Asia spend the most time in the world accessing the internet through mobile devices, according to a new study conducted in part by Google, which reported that the region’s internet economy has moved past the $100 billion mark this year. Southeast Asia Leads the World in Mobile Internet UseThais use mobile internet more than five hours a day, compared with more than four hours in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, and three hours as the global average, according to the joint report released last week. That means “users in the region continue to be the most engaged in the world, spending significantly more time on the mobile internet than their global peers,” the report said. Google has been doing the report on Southeast Asia’s internet economy for years with Temasek, the sovereign wealth fund of the Singapore government. This year a management consulting firm, Bain & Company, joined as a third co-author of the report.“The region’s internet economy continues to surpass all previous growth expectations, hitting another milestone this year: $100 billion,” the report said. The authors wrote they “are constantly surprised by how fast the internet economy is growing.”Report Highlights Internet UseThe report highlights both the highs and the lows of the internet economy in Southeast Asia, from how quickly it has spread past big cities, to the challenges, such as the need to train people in new skills and provide efficient logistics. The report, titled “e-Conomy SEA 2019 — Swipe up and to the right: Southeast Asia’s $100 billion internet economy,” focuses on five sectors that explain the growth story:1. Online travel;2. Online media, such as ads and streaming; 3. Ride hailing;4. Online shopping; and5. Digital financial services.With data showing more than 90 percent of Southeast Asians get online primarily through smartphones, the report is a reminder of how the internet caught on differently here than in other parts of the world. While people in developed countries were introduced to the internet mostly through desktop and laptop computers, most people in Southeast Asia leapfrogged that step and went straight to mobile devices. Some will go their entire online lives without ever having touched a traditional computer. Internet Use May Lead a More Even EconomyJust as many early users in the 1990s first envisioned the internet as a great equalizer, so there are signs that the spread of the internet could lead to a more even distribution of economic benefits in Southeast Asia. The “e-Conomy” report predicted a closing of the gap between rural areas and megacities of 10 million people plus, referred to as metros. “As we see internet companies focus more on acquiring new users outside the metros, growth in the non-metro areas is expected to pick up,” the report said. “In fact, the internet economy in areas beyond the metros is projected to grow fourfold between 2019 and 2025, twice as fast as in metro areas.”For instance rural Southeast Asians may live in areas where it is not profitable for banks to set up branches, but they can access financial services through smartphones.Promoters in government and business have started to sell Southeast Asia as a single economy, bigger than the individual economies. The “e-Conomy” report predicted the 10 countries in the region will be the fourth biggest economic bloc in the world by 2030. The Region is getting attentionThe region’s unicorns — startups worth at least $1 billion — and tech growth are attracting attention. Japan’s billionaire tech investor Masayoshi Son, for instance, told Nikkei newspaper he used to envy U.S. and Chinese competitors but now sees Southeast Asia as a competitive motivator.“[T]here are many companies from smaller economies like Southeast Asia that have the fire and are growing rapidly,” he said this month. “Japanese entrepreneurs, myself included, cannot make excuses.”The “e-Conomy” report does not focus on many of the downsides of the internet economy, such as young Southeast Asians so addicted to online gaming their parents unplug internet routers at night, or the plastic waste that is exploding as more people order coffee or clothing online to be delivered. The internet is a story of growth, and growing pains too. 
…

відкрити