Artificial Intelligence is set to take centre stage at BelTech 2017, a major technology conference that will take place in Belfast on 6th April. Belfast is well placed to become a centre of excellence for AI technologies if the province's tech industry plays to its strengths in sectors such as healthcare and cybersecurity, according to the team behind the high profile conference, which aims to be the premier technology event for local software practitioners, business leaders, entrepreneurs and young people aspiring to break into the industry. BelTech is curated by Northern Ireland-based digital solutions provider, Kainos Software, and will feature influential international speakers from the worlds of software engineering, machine learning, connected systems, immersive technologies and cybersecurity. Tom Gray, Group Chief Technology Officer at Kainos, said that the opportunities and challenges presented by the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence are likely to run through all strands of the conference. He said: "There's a lot of work going on to position the UK tech sector and a certain amount of agreement that many of the major areas of tech in the years ahead will be supported by developments in artificial intelligence. "If the UK is going to be a hub for AI, it's inefficient to have all regions focusing on the same tech segments.

Amazon Echo and the intelligent assistant, Alexa, are the most interesting development in digital communications today. Unlike previously-hyped hardware such as Google Glass, Echo made a surprisingly quick entry to the market and has seen strong sales. The chart below from Business Insider shows estimated worldwide unit sales of 2.4m in 2015 and more than double that in 2016. What makes Alexa so interesting to me is not just the confluence of science fiction and reality, but the uncertainty about just how far this technology will be admitted into our lives. Most coverage of Alexa and most anecdotal user feedback (from my friends who have splashed out) suggests that the Echo is used for relatively limited functionality - chiefly, productivity and entertainment.

The report "Drone Software Market by Architecture (Open Source, Closed Source), Offering (App-Based Software, Desktop Software), Application (Control & Data Capture, Image Processing, Analytics), Platform, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is estimated to be USD 2.85 Billion in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 12.33 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 27.63% during the forecast period. Browse83 market data Tables and42 Figures spread through 135 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Drone Software Market" PRnewswire&utm_medium Referral&utm_campaign PaidPR ] Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The key factors expected to fuel the growth of the drone software market include increasing investments and the rising use of drones in commercial and military applications. Based on architecture, the open source segment is expected to dominate the market. Open source software are available freely and many companies are opting for open source software.

AI has accelerated in recent years, especially with deep learning, but current chatbots are an embarrassment. Their deficiency is disappointing because we want to interact with our world using natural language, and we want computers to read all of those documents out there so they can retrieve the best ones, answer our questions, and summarize what is new. To understand our language, computers need to know our world. They need to be able to answer questions like "Why does it only rain outside?" and "If a book is on a table, and you push the table, what happens?" We humans understand language in a way that is grounded in sensation and action. When someone says the word "chicken," we map that to our experience with chickens, and we can talk to each other because we have had similar experiences with chickens. This is how computers need to understand language.

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C37) has launched into space 88 satellites from earth imaging company Planet Labs, giving the startup the ability to "image all of Earth's landmass every day." Planet Labs earlier this month entered into an agreement to acquire Google's Terra Bella business, including the SkySat constellation of satellites, and said that Google upon closing, will enter into a multi-year contract to purchase Earth-imaging data from Planet. The startup expects its data to be useful for a variety of applications such as measuring agricultural yields, monitoring natural resources, or aiding first responders after natural disasters. The launch of the PSLV-37 on Wednesday morning local time was a record for India's space program as it carried 104 satellites into orbit, the largest number so far on a single launch. Launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in south India, the PSLV-C37 launched its primary payload, the 714 kilograms Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation, and 103 co-passenger satellites that weighed about 663 kg at lift-off into a 505 kilometer polar Sun Synchronous Orbit.

From artificial intelligence to virtual reality, emerging technologies are rewriting the retail playbook at a rapid pace, suggests J. Walter Thompson Intelligence in a new report called Frontier(less) Retail. Launched in collaboration with WWD, the report explores the idea that brands and retailers are increasingly putting innovation at the core of their strategies. This relates to everything from digital integration through to the more future-looking technologies helping to shift their businesses forward. Rebecca Minkoff has boosted sales with smart mirrors in dressing rooms, it notes, while Kate Spade has had a hit with Everpurse, a smartphone-charging handbag. It also attributes the success of Under Armour in part to its positioning as a tech-forward brand, and references Topshop's new incubator program, Top Pitch, as a clever bid to achieve the same at a time when its young consumer base is more likely to spend on smartphones than splurge on streetwear. Within all this, however, it is keeping abreast of change that is proving one of the industry's biggest challenges.

The World Is Not Only For Humans: Rajinikanth, Salman Khan, Amy Jackson and Akshay Kumar promoting 2.0, India's most hotly-anticipated film (Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images) At the age of 17, Allirajah Subaskaran came to Europe to escape war-torn Sri Lanka, helping out at his family's Paris restaurant and then at its corner shop. Now Lyca Productions, part of his Lycamobile telecommunications and media group, is making 2.0, a science fiction film starring Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson. Directed by Shanmugam Shankar, the highest-paid movies director in India and promoted under the banner "The World Is Not Only For Humans," it claims to be a spiritual successor to 2010's Enthiran {"Robot"]. It's the sort of story that could be the subject of a Bollywood or Hollywood movie itself. Yet, Subaskaran's creation of a billion dollar-revenue multinational company is no work of fiction.

This week, authorities signed agreements with two truck makers with strong track records in self-driving technology-- Sweden's Scania and Japan's Toyota Tsusho--to work on the project. In the first phase, lasting about a year and starting this month, each company will design, develop, and test a truck platooning system in their respective countries. In the second, one company will be chosen for local trials on a 10 km (6.2 miles) stretch of Singapore's West Coast Highway, hauling cargo between the Brani and Pasir Panjang terminals.

Amazon could be working on a new strategy for dropping packages from its delivery drones to your doorstep. The e-commerce giant has received a patent for a system that'can be implemented to forcefully propel a package from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), while the UAV is in motion'. The document describes using magnets, parachutes or spring coils to release parcels while the unmanned vehicles are in mid-flight – and radio frequencies could help guide packages to their destination. Amazon could be working on a strategy for dropping packages from its drones to doorsteps. The e-commerce giant received a patent for a system that'can be implemented to forcefully propel a package from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), while the UAV is in motion'.

Researchers at IBM have developed a hub for wearables that can gather information from multiple wearable devices and share it with a doctor, potentially cutting down on the time patients need to spend in a hospital. The gadget, which IBM has dubbed a'cognitive hypervisor,' funnels data from devices such as smart watches and fitness bands into the IBM Cloud. There, it's analyzed and the results are shared with the user and their doctor. The idea is that patients can be monitored reliably through the device so they can be sent home to recover from illnesses a day or two earlier than they might otherwise have been allowed. It also means that should a problem develop, a doctor can be alerted immediately and an ambulance dispatched if it's serious enough.