AI and machine learning will continue to enable asset management improvements that also deliver exponential gains in IT security by providing greater endpoint resiliency in 2020. Nicko van Someren, Ph.D. and Chief Technology Officer at Absolute Software, observes that "Keeping machines up to date is an IT management job, but it's a security outcome. Knowing what devices should be on my network is an IT management problem, but it has a security outcome. And knowing what's going on and what processes are running and what's consuming network bandwidth is an IT management problem, but it's a security outcome. I don't see these as distinct activities so much as seeing them as multiple facets of the same problem space, accelerating in 2020 as more enterprises choose greater resiliency to secure endpoints."

It is becoming increasingly evident that China is not prepared to continue being second best in the world of technology. Their meteoric rise in many areas, including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and smartphones, is making the world of technology sit up and take notice. Now the world sees how the ambitious plans of President Xi Jiping to overtake other technologically strong countries are nothing new. Indeed it has been a legacy handed down since the inception of the People's Republic of China. Even though the trade war between the first and second-largest economies of the world persists, China is continuing unabated in a race that they are determined to win. This is how China is becoming more dominant in AI and other technologies.

Every part of our daily lives can play a role in causing it, from electricity, to transportation, the homes we live in, the food we eat, even the healthcare services we rely on. And all of those aspects of our lives are also affected by climate change. Much of what we know about the impacts of climate change comes from sophisticated computer models. Now, a group of computer scientists is calling on their colleagues to put advanced computing and artificial intelligence to work to solve the climate problem. "A.I. can help pinpoint where deforestation is happening using satellite imagery or aerial imagery," said David Rolnick, lead author of a new study outlining how artificial intelligence could help with climate change.

ML6 technology is being used to stop wine being wasted. ML6 might sound like a spy agency but it does not want to be a secret service – this young, Dutch business wants to blow open the mysteries of machine learning and show companies within multiple industries how data can solve their challenges. From allowing financial services to detect fraudulent transactions to improving cancer diagnosis, ML6's self-learning solutions aim to help leading businesses and give them the competitive edge they need. 'We help companies that struggle with unlocking their data in an intelligent way,' says Steyn Heskes, country lead in the Netherlands. 'However, we also partner with industry front-runners who want to use state-of-the-art machine learning to stay ahead.

This post is by Anton Buchner, a senior consultant with TrinityP3. Anton is one of Australia's leaders in data-driven marketing. Helping navigate through the bells, whistles and hype to identify genuine marketing value when it comes to technology, digital activity, and the resulting data footprint. And the Artificial Intelligence (AI) space is no exception. Over the past few years we've seen the rise and rise of AI discussion and solutions in marketing. I have spent the past month talking to a wide variety of industry thought leaders and experts in the AI space – from business, agency, and tech vendor perspectives. With the aim of identifying how Australian marketers are using AI solutions to enhance and anticipate consumer interaction. In this post, I would like to share some of their experiences and learnings to date. However, before we jump in, as I'm sure most of you know, AI dates back decades. Let's take a quick look back at how AI emerged.

Headlines from the likes of The New York Times ("Deepfakes Are Coming. We Can No Longer Believe What We See"), The Wall Street Journal ("Deepfake Videos Are Getting Real and That's a Problem"), and The Washington Post ("Top AI researchers race to detect'deepfake' videos: 'We are outgunned'") would have us believe that clever fakes may soon make it impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood. Deepfakes -- pieces of AI-synthesized image and video content persuasively depicting things that never happened -- are now a constant presence in conversations about the future of disinformation. These concerns have been kicked into even higher gear by the swiftly approaching 2020 U.S. election. A video essay from The Atlantic admonishes us: "Ahead of 2020, Beware the Deepfake."

You don't need to take in Disney's latest Star Wars instalments to see robots battling robots. Just pay a visit to the cyber desk of an energy company. Digital technologies are very democratic -- anyone can access them. All you need is a reasonably advanced smart phone from any of the big phone suppliers, an internet access (free in coffee shops and malls), and a free account on a cloud service. The apps are mostly free too, which tells you they're not costly to make.

As we near the end of the year, it is again time to go to the crystal ball and issue predictions for what the year 2020 holds in store for health care. This year, I consulted three well-known Venice Beach astrologers, two reputed Chakra healers, and an old Ouija board to arrive at 10 predictions that have a 50/50 chance of being correct. In all seriousness, here is how I see the dialog around our nation's health care system evolving in 2020. An under-appreciated driver of costs in U.S. health care is the price of hospitalization. This big price tag, combined with enabling technologies and evolving patient preferences, is creating pressure for health care delivery organizations and health plans to think differently about how and where care is delivered.

As the internet weaves its tentacles more and more into the lives and homes of people around the world and artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more mainstream, does this put more and more people at risk at the hands of the international scamming organizations? In the past few weeks, a number of scams have been reported involving both small and large sums of money. In one, a Canadian retiree purchased a California condo. He had his bank wire a deposit to the sellers California bank account and waited for instructions on paying the outstanding balance of $820,000 Cdn. An email supposedly from the realtor handling the sale advised the balance should be wired to a different bank than the one the seller paid the deposit to.

Attend any cybersecurity conference or exhibition anywhere in the world, and despite the presence of multiple vendors attempting to sell their wares, you simply won't hear from any company the claim that its solution is the be-all and end-all of cybersecurity. There is no such thing as an all-powerful, all-pervasive solution to the dangers of a cyber incursion and data exfiltration or compromise. That's not to say, of course, that every cybersecurity measure is equally compelling. Most enterprise security teams adopt multiple complementary solutions, the combination of which is as effective as possible at any given moment. Just as even the most sea-worthy of vessels keep pumps close to the keel, however, even the most robust of cybersecurity infrastructures must be prepared for attackers to find a way in.