At IBM Research, we are exploring new solutions for a range of health care challenges. One such challenge is emergency room (ER) overcrowding, which can lead to long wait times for treatment. Patients who use the ER for non-emergency situations are more likely to return to the ER multiple times (Poole et al. 2016), further contributing to overcrowding. Identifying those patients who are likely to return to the ER may enable hospitals to intervene to ensure access to necessary care outside the ER and potentially alleviate overcrowding. My team at IBM Research-China took on this challenge.

The safety of our online lives has become increasingly important. Whether it be interference in elections, attacks by hostile forces, or online fraud, the security of the web feels fragile. Cybersecurity has reached a crossroads and we need to decide where it goes next. The outcome will touch each of us – will we pay more and yet still be less safe? Will we face higher insurance premiums and bank charges to cover the rising number of cyber-incidents?

As countries race to soar their economic footprint by leveraging modern technological advancements, businesses ranging from corporate giants to SMBs are gearing up to propel their operations and clientele. Data science and analytics are reshaping legacy marketing strategies and has opened new doors for profit growth and business expansion. In this age of rapid digitization, big data analytics is enabling enterprises to accomplish mammoth tasks in real time with unexceptional ease. As per International Data Corporation(IDC), the global revenues for big data and business analytics will soar from $130.1 billion in 2016 to more than $203 billion in 2020. Data science and analytics incorporates statistics, mathematics along with other strategic scientific mechanisms to analyse data which is mounting with each passing day.

Which AI applications are playing a role in automation or augmentation of the retail process? How are retail companies using these technologies to stay ahead of their competitors today, and what innovations are being pioneered as potential retail game-changers over the next decade? Innovation is a double-edged sword, and as with any innovation results are a mixed bag. While many AI applications have yielded increased ROI--this case study of AI in retail marketing segmentation is one example--others have been tried and failed to meet expectations, shining a light on barriers that still need to be overcome before such innovations become industry drivers. Below are 10 brief use cases across five retail domains or phases.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba launched its'glimpse' into what the future of fashion is last month, a project it has called FashionAI. Alongside Italian fashion house Guess, it created a pop-up concept store on the Hong Kong Polytechnic University grounds, to show Guess's retail experience, alongside Alibaba's latest AI technology. Alibaba will now look to integrate the FashionAI technology into new projects and with other brands but The Drum caught up with Menglei Jia, Senior Staff Engineer, Vision and Beauty, Alibaba Group, senior staff engineer, vision and beauty at Alibaba Group, to find out how the collaboration with Guess had been received. According to Jia, the FashionAI project has been underway for a long time. "FashionAI is a new artificial intelligence concept that aims at exploring new format for fashion stores for the future. We have devoted almost seven years to develop, train and refine this technology that will ultimately create a difference to both customers and retailers."

Social robot company Jibo is sadly running on fumes after burning through nearly $73 million in funding. In a story first reported by BostInno and since confirmed by The Robot Report, Jibo has laid off the majority of its workforce to enable "additional time to secure additional funding or pursue an exit." Jibo was once heralded as "the first social robot for the home." Founded in 2012 by famed MIT roboticist Cynthia Breazeal, Jibo successfully raised over $3.5 million when its Indiegogo campaign ended in 2014. At the time, Breazeal promised to usher in a new age of social robotics.

"The only thing constant in life is change," said 17th century French thinker François de La Rochefoucauld. The Internet of Things explained: What the IoT is, and where it's going next. That goes for double in the tech industry. By 2006, the people of the world were doing 100 million Google searches every day--which, by the way, we thought was an enormous number at the time. Now, we're doing 4.5 billion searches a day--45 times as many--which shows just how far and wide the digital revolution is still sweeping the planet and embedding itself deeper and deeper into our everyday lives.

There have been continuous debates whether there are enough jobs created in the country with the fast- paced technological evolution. Globally, there is a debate about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Like each wave of innovation brings fear of job reduction, the fear that AI will make human effort redundant is rising. This leads to the question - "Is the goal to eliminate jobs or to enhance the quality of jobs?" AI is an umbrella term for an array of technologies designed to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. These include machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and voice recognition.

From robots to rockets, footwear to wearables, the startups at this year's summit are breaking new ground in their respective industries all across the continent. The video above showcases just a handful of the startups featured in this year's discovery area, including Greensole from India, Linkspace from China and Soundbrenner from Hong Kong.

China's progress towards its goal of becoming the world's leader in AI by the year 2025 remains unchecked. While its efforts still lag behind the US, thanks to the likes of Google and Microsoft, there's an alarming amount of research indicating the gap is shrinking. It's only been a year since TNW reported China's announcement it was shifting its national strategy to claim the artificial intelligence crown. In that time China has advanced its agenda to a startling degree, at least according to the experts. Air Force General VeraLinn "Dash" Jamieson, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on the Air Staff at the Pentagon, spoke last Thursday at a military event. She told attendees she was concerned that China is taking AI more seriously than other nations.