From 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ex Machina to Wall-E and Her, artificial intelligence has reliably been a subject of fascination in modern culture. But AI is no longer a thing of imagination, books or film scripts – it is already playing a pivotal role in both our professional and personal lives. And when it comes to the capability of this next-generation technology, we are now on the precipice of an exponential leap. The potential impact of AI on our lives cannot be understated, so the growing AI skills gap must be addressed if we are to ensure that businesses are prepared to take this jump. AI has already transformed the way we interact with banks, how we shop and how we manufacture.

Azure high-performance computing provides a platform for energy industry innovation at scale. Global energy demand has rapidly increased over the last few years and looks set to continue accelerating at such a pace. With a booming middle class, economic growth, digitization, urbanization, and increased mobility of populations, energy suppliers are in a race to leverage the development of new technologies that can more optimally and sustainably generate, store, and transport energy to consumers. With the impact of climate change adding urgency to minimizing energy waste, in addition to optimizing power production leaders in the renewable energy as well as oil and gas industries are accelerating sector-wide innovation initiatives that can drive differentiated impact and outcomes at scale. As the population of developing countries continues to expand, the energy needs of billions of additional people in rural and especially urban areas will need to be catered to.

INCREMENTAL forward steps towards digitalisation made by the air cargo industry are starting to pay off, observes Thelma Etim. There is no doubt that, in many areas of its business, the airfreight industry is still grappling with the burden of paper airwaybills (AWBs), the accompanying pouch and old-generation ground handling operations, such as airside ramp transport and road feeder services, as well as so many other politically complex matters such as analogue Customs agencies. It is not surprising that any digital changes embraced by carriers and others are already showing benefits. "The development and implementation of next-generation technologies, rapid advances in consumer technology, increasing the shift to cloud computing, the utilisation of internet of things (IoT), big data and machine learning (ML) to collect and analyse large amounts of data – are all currently transforming processes in the [airline] industry," an expansive report by consultancy Frost and Sullivan observes. It predicts the airline digitalisation market will earn more than US$35.42billion

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a very broad topic, and the superset for concepts like machine learning. The hype around artificial intelligence has become extraordinarily deafening. Developers, vendors, end users, and the analyst community are routinely making assumption about AI that tests the arrogance and ignorance of everyone involved. What I've found is that, outside a small set of seasoned university professors, select vendors, and patent holders for artificial intelligence algorithms, no one is really an expert in this emerging field. AI is a buzzword carelessly bandied about to evoke "cutting-edge", but the reality of the claims often belong in science fiction. There are broad assumptions on what is possible with AI, what actually works, and, most importantly, what the outcomes will actually look like.

President Trump began his trade war with China out of concern that Beijing was using unfair economic practices to prevent the United States from dominating next-generation technologies like autonomous vehicles, advanced telecommunications and artificial intelligence. But as the two countries move closer to a trade deal, it seems increasingly unlikely that China will give ground in a crucial area that could determine which country wins the technology race. Despite months of pressure from the White House, Chinese negotiators have so far refused to relax tight regulations that block multinational companies from moving data they gather on their Chinese customers' purchases, habits and whereabouts out of the country. Such data is crucial as industries build next-generation technologies. With another round of trade talks underway this week, the United States and China appear headed toward an agreement that could end the monthslong trade war and lift tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of products.

The Top Gun pilots of the future may use radical virtual instruments instead of the traditional dials and levers. The radical system will monitor a pilot's every move, tracking their gaze and brainwaves to work out exactly what they are looking at - and predicting what they want to do next. Experts at BAE Systems say their'mindreading' technology will enable pilots to control the fighter jet of the future with the blink of an eye. The radical system will monitor a pilot's every move, tracking their gaze to work out exactly what they are looking at - and predicting what they want to do next The system would use the same augmented reality technologies being developed by tech firms to create consumer glasses that can project data on top of the real world, with Apple, Google and others all hard at work on systems. The radical system will monitor a pilot's every move, tracking their gaze and brainwaves to work out exactly what they are looking at - and predicting what they want to do next.

HONG KONG – The technology boom powering Asia's economies is about to get a reboot. Explosive growth in new-era gadgets such as wearable devices and internet-linked home appliances is tipped to offset cooling sales of smartphones, which have already dinged Asia's tech manufacturers. "Where demand may be softening in some areas it will be strengthening in others," Koshy Mathai, a senior official in the International Monetary Fund's Asia Pacific Department, said in an interview. He pointed to upcoming demand from "a vast middle class in China, India and other frontier markets." The world is in the early stages of a shift from the late-stage mobile internet era to a new, data-centered computing era, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a report last month.

Advanced, next-generation technologies, like AI and machine learning, are changing the way we work. Technology like chatbot AI, background analytics, image recognition and more are affecting virtually every business process. In this Q&A, Timo Elliott, SAP vice president and global innovation evangelist, discusses three ways that these technologies will be embedded into business processes. What are some ways that next-generation technologies, like AI, will affect business processes? Timo Elliott: The big picture of what we're clearly seeing is that, over the next few years, every single business process will become self-optimizing.

Rebuilding an IT landscape from scratch is often a tantalizing thought. It may mean new tools and processes to analyze vast volumes of data in real time and make more-informed decisions. Perhaps the inclusion of cloud-based models would accelerate the delivery of new capabilities and guarantee secure, continuous operations. Or better yet, the business may decide to take advantage of next-generation technology such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital twins, or advanced analytics. Of course, to many CIOs' disappointment, this dream scenario is simply a luxury that most businesses – from the one-man startup to the largest conglomerate – cannot afford.

What can companies do to alleviate the squeeze on margins and create more value? Major advances in data analytics, artificial intelligence, network equipment, and other technologies have rewritten the industry's winning formula. With the newest software and hardware, along with digital-age management practices, mobile operators can achieve breakthrough cost savings and capital intensity while maintaining or even increasing their scale. To capitalize on these opportunities, executives must take bold action to transform their businesses. Managing networks with next-generation technologies can cut the capital-spending and operating expenses of wireless operators.