U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command lack the artificial intelligence capabilities needed to do their jobs to the fullest and maintain an edge over rival nations, according to the leader of both organizations. "My assessment today is I don't have what I need, as far as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to give the decision space to the president, secretary of defense, the chief of defense staff in Canada, the minister of defense and the prime minister in Canada," Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck said at a Defense Writers Group event April 25. The former is responsible for guarding the continental U.S. and its surroundings. The latter combines U.S. and Canadian efforts to monitor and protect North American airspace, among other things. NORTHCOM recently asked Congress for an additional $29.8 million to buy information technology equipment and to optimize infrastructure for AI and machine learning at its joint operations center with NORAD.

There is nothing remotely artificial about the "Special Relationship" that exists between the United States and the United Kingdom. The shared history, common language, and close relations have resulted in a partnership that has existed for more than a century. Now the two nations could be working together in the fields of autonomy and artificial intelligence, and how it can be best utilized by their respective militaries. The United States Air Force Research Laboratory, in partnership with the United Kingdom's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), recently demonstrated for the first time the ability for the two nations to jointly develop, select, train, and deploy state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms in support of the armed forces of each of the two nations. According to the United States Research Laboratory, this research was developed and devised to support adjacent, collaborating U.S. and U.K. brigades with enduring wide-area situational awareness, which aims to improve decision-making, increase operational tempo, reduce risk to life and reduce manpower burden.

Digital transformation is a hard and long endeavor, especially for companies with legacy technology stacks, processes or cultures. However, it is no longer a discretionary initiative. Digitization is a secular trend, and the expectations from customers and associates to engage digitally are becoming table stakes. It is important to understand that digital transformation does not just include the digital experience/engagement layer, which is easy for business leaders to see and comprehend. Digital transformation requires transformation across all four layers and across the intersection of these layers.

It is hoped a new partnership will put Nelson on the map as place to study and advance artificial intelligence technology. Nelson Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAI) is re-locating to the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology's campus, in a move the organisations say will bolster opportunities to train in and develop the technology. Artificial intelligence is an area of software engineering where computers "learn" how to mimic human cognitive functions. Products under development at NAI – which set up in Nelson last year – aimed to help increase both efficiency and environmental sustainability in operations including aquaculture, and commercial fishing. They included a model to detect and classify microscopic algae that could help protect animals like shellfish.

Accenture will soon acquire Mudano, a strategic data consultancy to UK financial services firms. While the terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, the intent of the acquisition is to enhance Accenture's analytics, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation capabilities. After the acquisition, Mudano's team of data professionals will join Accenture Applied Intelligence, which employs more than 20,000 professionals worldwide who help clients scale artificial intelligence, including 6,000 data scientists, data engineers, and artificial intelligence professionals. Ed Broussard, Mudano CEO, said, "Accenture's reputation for excellence and large-scale delivery will enable us to help clients realize the benefits of data transformation -- from setting the strategy and building the culture to leveraging the game-changing insights that data analytics can bring. We are excited to become part of one of the world's leading companies and look forward to the opportunities this will bring for our employees and clients."

Reuters, the world's largest multimedia news provider, announced today that it has joined the newly launched AWS Data Exchange to provide access to trusted news and data to Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers. Even more enterprises will now have quick access to Reuters trusted, independent and impartial news content and data, which are produced by 2,500 journalists in more than 200 locations globally, to power their artificial intelligence (AI) applications. "Reuters is constantly seeking new ways to broaden the reach of our independent, trusted and unbiased news content and data. We are excited to be among the first providers of such content in AWS Data Exchange, where our multi-language news data will be made available to a diverse range of AWS customers around the globe," said Alphonse Hardel, Global Head of Business Development and Strategy, Reuters at Thomson Reuters. "With the increasing demand across industries in using news content to train and power their mission critical AI and analytics applications on the cloud, the depth and accuracy of Reuters coverage means AWS customers are now able to seamlessly access the highest quality of data from AWS Data Exchange," added Hardel.

One of the most fruitful paths to jump-starting innovation is to team up with startups, sharing ideas from outside the corporate walls, as well as drinking in their freewheeling spirit. Since today's startups are usually technology-oriented, the CIO – or other tech executive such as CTO or CDO (chief digital or data officer) – is the best person to nurture a startup relationship. Startups are increasingly playing a role in delivering innovation, a recent survey report from Sapphire Ventures, which finds they are a clear fixture in most enterprise IT landscapes. The study's authors spoke to 72 CIOs or vice presidents, and on average, a median 10% of IT budgets go to startup partners. Such support is accelerating, the study shows – spending is expected to grow to 15% of corporate budgets over the next 12 months.

Kryon, a leading robotic process automation (RPA) provider known for its business-centric approach and unique full-cycle automation solutions, announces its upcoming launch of AI Booster, a set of new artificial intelligence services based on Microsoft Azure's Cognitive Services, to create a unified RPA and AI experience that delivers smarter end-to-end deployment and management through a single, intuitive platform. The unique AI Booster will be included in Kryon's Automation Suite Version 19.4 expected in the Fall of 2019. Kryon's AI Booster will allow business users to deploy and manage AI technology by simply dragging and dropping these elements right into personal process workflows without having to develop complicated AI applications. By connecting seamlessly to Kryon's full-cycle Automation Suite, these advanced AI capabilities will create a superior, unified RPA and AI experience. "This exciting fusion of RPA and AI is a direct result of Kryon's ongoing strategic cooperation with Microsoft. This launch takes us to the next level of consciously feeding information and understanding an enterprise's data movements, generating more intelligent analysis and superior outcomes," said Harel Tayeb, CEO of Kryon.

As artificial intelligence (AI) research and development continues to strengthen, there have been some incredibly intriguing projects where machines battled man in tasks that were once thought the realm of humans. While not all were 100% successful, AI researchers and technology companies learned a lot about how to continue forward momentum as well as what a future might look like when machines and humans work alongside one another. Here are some of the highlights from when artificial intelligence battled humans. World Champion chess player Garry Kasparov competed against artificial intelligence twice. In the first chess match-up between machine (IBM Deep Blue) and man (Kasparov) in 1996 Kasparov won.

The proliferation of data within the military poses a significant challenge for operators interpreting differing data sets into meaningful information upon which to make informed and timely decisions. Artificial Intelligence capabilities are developing at pace and can present opportunities through Deep Learning for operators and decision makers to interpret vast, disparate data sets concurrently. The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has funded two projects led by Montvieux, in excess of £500,000, following a DASA themed competition to find new technologies, processes and ideas to'Revolutionise the human information relationship for Defence'. The Prediction Toolset is a Deep Learning based Artificial Intelligence capability that uses current and historical information to predict the change of control on the ground, in both space and time, between opposing groups fighting within an operational theatre. This capability provides foresight to analysts and collection managers, enabling them to proactively anticipate future events on the ground, thereby enhancing the protection of forces and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of information collection.