The United Nations' digital agency says that operational carbon emissions for the world's top tech companies rose an average of 150 percent between 2020 and 2023 as investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres drove up global electricity demand. Operational emissions for Amazon grew 182 percent in 2023 against 2020 levels, while emissions for Microsoft grew 155 percent, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta grew 145 percent, and Google parent company Alphabet grew 138 percent over the same period, according to the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The figures include the emissions directly created by the companies' operations as well as those from purchased energy consumption. They were included in a new report from ITU assessing the greenhouse gas emissions of the world's top 200 digital companies between 2020 and 2023. The UN agency linked the sharp uptick to recent breakthroughs in AI and the demand for digital services like cloud computing.

In the following contribution, a method is introduced that integrates domain expert-centric ontology design with the Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM). This approach aims to efficiently build an application-specific ontology tailored to the corrective maintenance of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). The proposed method is divided into three phases. In phase one, ontology requirements are systematically specified, defining the relevant knowledge scope. Accordingly, CPS life cycle data is contextualized in phase two using domain-specific ontological artifacts. This formalized domain knowledge is then utilized in the CRISP-DM to efficiently extract new insights from the data. Finally, the newly developed data-driven model is employed to populate and expand the ontology. Thus, information extracted from this model is semantically annotated and aligned with the existing ontology in phase three. The applicability of this method has been evaluated in an anomaly detection case study for a modular process plant.

Indian small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the tech industry are likely to generate revenue of $35-40 billion by FY30, up from $15-20 billion in FY23, according to a report "Indian Tech SMEs" released by industry body Nasscom on Tuesday. Digital tech SMEs, which offer cloud services, advanced analytics, and AI solutions, will account for 35- 40% of the overall tech SME revenue by FY30 up from 21% in FY23, the report added. The overall tech industry in India is expected to double its revenue to $500 billion by FY30. According to Nasscom, 60% of the tech SMEs are BPOs, while 20-25% of the SMEs are in IT services, and 15% offer software products and software as a service (SaaS). The industry body defines tech SMEs as firms that predominantly offer legacy IT, BPM, and subcontracting services, while digital tech SMEs are those that offer cloud and digital transformation services and have also ventured into advanced analytics and AI/ML.

Our work is at the crossroads of two categories of technologies. On the one hand, omnichannel digit services, to address the needs of users in the most seamless way. On the other hand, low code approaches, to build simply even complex software applications. In this twofold context, we propose DSUL (Digital Service Universal Language). It allows to build omnichannel services with minimal work from their designers. We describe precisely how DSUL operates, and its innovation in regard to the state of the art. We also consider the various methods to evaluate this framework.

Elaborating on some points from my previous post on building innovation ecosystems, here's a look at how digital twins, which serve as a bridge between the physical and digital domains, rely on historical and real-time data, as well as machine learning models, to provide a virtual representation of physical objects, processes, and systems. Keith Bentley of software developer Bentley Systems describes digital twins as the biggest opportunity for IT value contribution to the physical infrastructure industry since the personal computer, and they're used in a wide variety of industries, lending enterprises insights into maintenance and ways to optimize manufacturing supply chains. By 2026, the global digital twin market is expected to reach $48.2 billion, according to a report by MarketsAndMarkets.com, and the infrastructure and architectural engineering and construction (AEC) industries are integral to this growth. Everything from buildings, bridges, and parking structures, to water and sewer lines, roadways and entire cities are ripe for reaping the value of digital twins. Here's a look at how digital twins are disrupting the status quo in the infrastructure industry -- and why IT and innovation leaders at infrastructure and AEC enterprises would be wise to capitalize on them.

Jamie Jefferson, chief creative officer at Equator, outlines the process of effective digital transformation in law firms over four concise steps. Investment is pouring into digital transformation at legal firms. Even before the pandemic, legal tech spend had reached $1.3billion according to King's College London; five times higher in 2019 than 2017. If your firm has not yet made strides towards this digital future, now is the time to act. Some companies have already automated many of their processes for the benefit of employees and clients alike.

By 2028, the global machine learning market will grow to $152.24 billion. As the digital economy continues its massive growth, events like the COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated consumers' demand for digital services. As a result, nearly all businesses across all sectors will seek to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Before businesses can venture deep into the sci-fi movie-inspired possibilities of machine learning, it is important to be aware of its underlying principles and what makes it work. At the heart of every machine learning initiative, data labeling forms a key foundation of this disruptive technology.

Artificial intelligence will be the common theme in the top 10 technology trends in the next few years, and these are expected to quicken breakthroughs across key economic sectors and society, the Alibaba Damo Academy says. The global research arm of Chinese technology major Alibaba Group says innovation will be extended from the physical world to a mixed reality, as more innovation finds its way to industrial applications and digital technology drives a green and sustainable future. "Digital technologies are growing faster than ever," Jeff Zhang, president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence and head of Alibaba Damo, said in a report released on Monday. "The advancements in digitisation, 'internetisation' and intelligence are redefining a digital world that is characterised by the prevalence of mixed reality. "Digital technology plays an important role in powering a green and sustainable future, whether it is applied in industries such as green data centres and energy-efficient manufacturing, or in day-to-day activities like paperless office."

Australians want more digital government services and a majority are comfortable with Artificial Intelligence-generated services that personalise assistance based on circumstances, according to the inaugural Publicis Sapient Digital Citizen Survey on digital government in Australia. The survey of more than 5000 respondents across Australia looked at peoples usage, experience, and perspectives on engaging with Governments through digital services. The report highlights an openness to leveraging AI technologies with 83% of Australians open to digital services that remember details of their past interactions, and 78% are comfortable with a government website that personalised services based on their employment status and income or previous interactions with Government. The survey found that millennials are the most likely of any age group to use government digital services (94%) compared to boomers (79%) and builders (61%), driven by their higher use of employment and family-related services. Most citizens are open to many services being made as available digitally as possible - healthcare, ATO, and Centrelink were the most common areas where citizens have suggested extending digital service offers.

In his 2021 Reith lectures, the third episode of which airs tonight, the artificial intelligence researcher Stuart Russell takes up the idea of a near-future AI that is so ruthlessly intelligent that it might pose an existential threat to humanity. A machine we create that might destroy us all. This has long been a popular topic with researchers and the press. But we believe an existential threat from AI is both unlikely and in any case far off, given the current state of the technology. However, the recent development of powerful, but far smaller-scale, AI systems has had a significant effect on the world already, and the use of existing AI poses serious economic and social challenges.