If you think you have a winning idea that enables people to monitor the impact of climate change, predict a global crisis like Covid-19 or solve one of the the world's many big problems today, then you might be interested in TigerGraph's million-dollar challenge that is on now. The Million Dollar Challenge is calling on people to use graph technology, which can link and map out a lot more information than traditional databases, to find answers to these pressing problems. Announced last month, the contest has already drawn 1,000 registrations from 90 countries. Participants include data scientists, developers, product managers, designers, data engineers, machine learning engineers and students. TigerGraph, which offers graph databases for advanced analytics and machine learning, is behind the challenge that promises US$1 million in prize money.

Singapore enterprises are slower than their counterparts in Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe in adopting machine leaning, despite seeing the importance of automation in handling menial, repetitive tasks, according to a study released today. Only 32 per cent of Singapore chief information officers (CIOs) interviewed say their organisations are already using machine learning in some part of their businesses. This compares with 59 per cent in Australia and New Zealand (49 per cent), in a survey commissioned by enterprise software vendor ServiceNow. In telephone interviews this year, it had asked 500 CIOs in 10 countries for their views on machine learning and automation. They included the United States, France and Britain.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is angling its way into intergalactic travel. However, a nascent industry is beginning, built by the likes of Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos who have invested in aerospace and spaceflight companies such as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin respectively. HPE is undaunted by the long view it is taking to opening a new market. It is taking a baby step by putting its supercomputer into space in a collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). Called Spaceborne Computer, the supercomputer was installed at the International Space Station (ISS) last month for a one-year pilot to check if it can withstand the pull of gravity and harsh conditions of space.

A Singapore-based company has launched a new Android app that helps students and adults learn Mandarin on the go. Dubbed iQ-Hub, the app delivers Mandarin lessons based on a proprietary speech recognition technology that assesses your pronunciation through built-in analytics. Learners are offered immediate feedback on their speech accuracy, while parents and teachers can track a student's progress in each lesson. Besides tuition centres and new residents, the company is targeting airlines and the service industry, where frontline staff may be required to learn Mandarin to converse with the growing number of Chinese tourists in Singapore. The app comes with S$0.99 lesson packages aligned with the Singapore Ministry of Education's primary school Chinese curriculum.