Adoption of modern technology like Artificial Intelligence by businesses is low. However, it is anybody's guess that such state-of-the-art technology would only make businesses more user-friendly, simpler and automated. Operational efficiency would improve and business processes would be streamlined. In fact, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is optimizing system-operating models and transforming business processes for enterprises and organizations across the globe. However, according to a recent survey, the number of business units and MSMEs utilizing such modern tech tools, particularly in India, is quite low.

Yamato Transport Co. and e-commerce and mobile game operator DeNA Co. on Monday started a trial of a new on-demand delivery method that allows customers to retrieve parcels at a place and time of their choosing. With a view that autonomous driving will soon become commonplace, the two companies will use the results from the self-service trial to develop their unmanned parcel delivery services in the future. DeNA is cooperating with Yamato Transport to provide systems support. Until the end of March 2018, the service area for on-demand delivery, named Roboneko (robot cat) Yamato, will extend to parts of Fujisawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, which is designated a national strategic special zone. Three dedicated vehicles deliver packages between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. every day.

The war between machines likely won't be fought across some bomb-blasted hell-scape, with humans scuttling about like roaches trying to avoid being squashed. Rather, machines will fight it out over fiber optic connections, with the battleground being computer servers and laptops containing valuable information. You'll recall that monochromatic pant suits weren't Hilary Clinton's only problem: Russia (or some obese, Big Gulp-slurping teen in his mom's basement) hacked her private emails. Cybersecurity is still the domain of humans, but the job is increasingly being turned over to predictive systems that use various forms of artificial intelligence that do everything from protecting financial information to detecting fraudulent behavior. It's no secret that cybersecurity is big business.

When I spoke to Tasha Hedstrom this winter, she had been sober for more than 61 days. After struggling with opioid addiction for 15 years, Hedstrom is taking Vivitrol, a drug that blocks the pleasurable effects of opioids and reduces cravings. She goes to a court-mandated recovery program three days a week and tracks her progress on a phone app she found on Facebook, called Triggr Health. Hedstrom says she has never found peer support programs like Narcotics Anonymous helpful. I feel like people are talking about using and glorifying it," she says. Triggr has been a different way to access support. In addition to tracking the number of days she has been in recovery, the app connects Hedstrom to a team of recovery coaches, who chat with her periodically throughout the day by text and app message. If she has not contacted Triggr for a full day, the team contacts her. Generally, they talk about how her day is going or goals she has set for herself, but recently they helped her through an unexpected challenge. A stranger followed her car into a lot and parked next to her, then offered her drugs. "It's not just about addiction," she says. You need to have backup supports."

He enrolled in the NYC Data Science Academy 17-week remote bootcamp program, taking place from January to April 2017. This post is based on his third class project focusing on web scraping in Python. The original article can be found here. Clean technology continues to undergo significant advancements spanning technology, sustainability, financial, and policy issues. Given the field's large scope, there is no shortage of news outlets covering the action.

In dozens of urban centers across the globe, city planners are putting eyes in the sky to help them make more-informed decisions about improving city life. Using advanced technology in digital aerial photography, laser imaging and analytics, cities are tackling a wide variety of problems. Singapore has created a 3-D cityscape to help make decisions about where to place solar panels and plant rooftop gardens, among other things. New York City firefighters are using drones to get better overhead views during fires. In Philadelphia, lasers beamed from airplanes are used to detect dangerous roof damage in dilapidated properties.

Rio de Janeiro's police force, like the rest of the city's public services, is broke. In the headquarters of the bomb-disposal unit, supplies of everything from soap to explosives are running out as the city struggles to pay its debts amid Brazil's deep recession. But, poor as it is, Rio's bomb squad is one of the most technologically advanced in South America. In the cramped storeroom of its base in northern Rio, a state-of-the-art robot takes pride of place. "The robot is a fundamental piece of equipment--it's vital to our day-to-day work," says the bomb squad's boss, Marcelo Corrêa.

Hailed as giving birth to the "fourth industrial revolution," artificial intelligence (AI) is being developed in yet another field -- cancer diagnosis. Medical and research institutions are developing AI technology to diagnose cancer using "deep learning." One example is the Japan Society of Pathology, which began developing AI technology in February at 29 institutions, including The University of Tokyo Hospital and Kyushu University Hospital, to reduce the load on the country's overworked pathologists. The system being developed by the society compiles images of tissue samples from patients at the participating institutions into a database, where AI then decides if the case is cancer or not, learning from its past successes and failures, a method called deep learning. Pathology is a field of medicine where doctors examine samples of body tissues using a microscope and decide whether the patient has a disease, such as cancer.

Emitting a gentle whirring noise, it travels across the warehouse floor while two arms raise or lower themselves on scissor lifts, ready for the next task. Each arm has a camera on its knuckle. The left one eases a cardboard box forward on the shelf, the right reaches in and extracts a bottle. Hitachi showcased it in 2015 and hopes to be selling it by 2020. It is broadcast on the BBC World Service.

This robotic ray, developed at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, is propelled by soft flapping wings made of dielectric elastomers, which bend when electricity is applied to them. Dielectric elastomers respond very quickly with relatively large motions, but they require very high voltages (on the order of 10 kilovolts) to get them to work. Traditionally, dielectric elastomers are covered in insulation, but for this aquatic application the researchers instead just submerged everything insulation free, relying on the water to act as both electrode and electric ground. There are several other reasons why this design is notable. The effect is slightly spoiled when you add the electronics and batteries required for untethered operation, but the fact that it can be self-contained at all is notable as well: A 450-mAh, 3.7-V battery will keep it swimming along at 1.1 centimeters per second for a solid 3 hours and 15 minutes, and it can even carry a tiny camera.