Queensland Brain Institute Pushes Technology To The Limit

Researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) work to discover the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the ability of the adult brain to generate new nerve cells and form functional connections.  A research team from the Queensland Brain Institute in Australia is working on a breakthrough treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia that takes the lives of more than 40 million people worldwide each year, with an estimated treatment cost of $600 billion. QBI’s treatment is unique in that it makes use of non-invasive high-frequency ultrasound—not drugs—to clear a path for blood proteins to enter the brain and clear out clusters of lesions that cause memory loss and a decline in cognitive functions in Alzheimer’s patients. This may not only cure Alzheimer’s but may reverse its effects. Successful trials were run on mice, but more research had to be done before a human trial can begin due to the thickness of the human skull.

 

This involves the capture, indexing, storing, sharing and archiving a tremendous amount of data that includes DICOM for human model data, NGS Genome sequencing data, electrophysiology which is the study of the movement of electrical charges in biological tissues, and high end super res + confocal microscopy. Imaging is the biggest driver of data growth and research techniques such as confocal microscopy can quickly eat up gigabytes and gigabytes of data space. Resolutions of images in whole brain imaging workloads can create 140,000 pixels by 70,000 pixels per image.

 

QBI is storing about 7 petabytes of structured and unstructured data. Oracle HSM, Hitachi Accelerated Flash, Hitachi’s VSP G series arrays, and Brocade Gen 6 fibre channel switches help deliver the storage infrastructure needs of the researchers.

Jake Carroll is the senior IT manager (research) at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) and he is constantly pushing the boundaries of technology to keep up with this deluge of data and the users of this data. In this research environment, faster and more precise scientific instrumentation is constantly being developed which could double or triple the data load in a matter of months.

 

We were hoping to have Jake Carroll present "Delivering High-Throughput Science with Brocade Gen 6 Fibre Channel and Hitachi Flash Storage " at the Hitachi NEXT 2017 event at 4:50pm on Wednesday September 20 in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, he will not be able to attend, so and Corin O'Connell of Brocade and I will present the QBI story.

 

If you were fortunate enough to get a ticket to this event, please attend this session. We are very pleased to be supporting QBI in their research to cure Alzheimers.

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Don’t Miss the Keynote Speakers at Next 2017!

In my last few blogs I have been writing about some of the topics that will be covered at Hitachi’s NEXT 2017 event in Las Vegas on September 19 and 20. With this event we hope to show the business world that we are more than just an IT infrastructure company. We are in a digital revolution and we want to show how businesses can innovate and win with the latest solutions and services that are made possible through the integration of information technology and operational technology from Hitachi. Hitachi with over 107 years of operational technology experience and 58 years of information technology experience is unique in its ability to innovate in both these areas and work with you to deliver integrated solutions and services that can help businesses succeed and societies be safer, healthier and smarter.

 

The demand for this event has been so overwhelming that the event is sold out. However, you can still catch the keynote speakers in your office if you go to HitachiNEXT.com on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific, and again on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. Of course, it’s not the same as attending the live event, but we don’t want you to miss the valuable insights from our stellar speakers.

 

On Tuesday Sept. 19 from 8:30 to 10:00 (PDT) we will be live streaming the following speakers

 

Hitachi Ltd President, CEO and Director, Toshiaki Higashihara who will kick off the event with a talk entitled Transformation Today

 

He will be followed by HDS President and COO, Brian Householder speaking on Unleashing the True Value of Data

 

HCC President and CEO Hicham Abdessamad will be joined by Bud Denker, Penske Executive Vice President of Penske Performance and Penske Automotive Group and also Senior Vice President of Penske Corporation and will talk about Transformation in Action

 

The quest key note speaker will by Geoffrey Moore an American organizational theorist, management consultant and author, best known for his work “Crossing the Chasm:” Mr. Moore will talk about Competing to Win in the Age of Disruption

 

This general session will close with the announcement of our Transformation Award finalists.

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On Wednesday Sept 20 from 10:00 (PDT) to 11:15 we will be live streaming the following speakers;

 

A number of Hitachi Technologists will set the stage with The World is the Domain of IT.

 

 

Sean Starling, General Manager - Research, Development & Innovation at Meat & Livestock Australia will then talk about The power of Analytics and IoT to Drive Real-World Outcomes

 

 

Dr. Michio Kaku a well-known futurist who is professor of theoretical physics, author of three New York Times best sellers on physics, and host of several TV special on BBC, the Discovery Channel, History Channel , and the Science Channel will address What Does the Future Hold? “The Next 20 Years”

 

Dr. Kaku will then be joined on a panel by Senior Hitachi R&D executives to discuss Future Technologies: AI and Robotics. These executive will include:

 

Dr. Masahiro AOKI is General Manager of the Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) in the Research & Development                Group (RDG) of Hitachi, Ltd., leading a research organization of over 2000 researchers.

 

Dr. Kazuo Yano is a corporate officer of Hitachi, Ltd. and corporate chief scientist of the Research & Development Group. Dr Yano is a recipient of many prestige technical awards and currently is best known for his work in General Purpose Artificial Intelligence.

 

Dr. Umeshwar DAYAL is Senior Vice President, Big Data Lab, and Senior Fellow, Information Research at Hitachi America Ltd. In April 2017, he was also appointed to head the newly announced Insights Laboratory in Hitachi R&D

 

This is a list of speakers that you will not want to miss!

For more information on our Keynote speakers please go to this link and be sure to tune in on HitachiNEXT.com on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific, and again on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m.

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Manage your data governance journey through the intelligent use of RegTech

Last week I posted a blog on New Data Sources and Usage Requires New Data Governance where I referred to Forrester researcher, Henry Peyret’s work on researching the need for Data Governance 2.0. He points out the need for adopting a new data governance framework based upon the new types of data and uses driven by new systems of engagement, automation, and design. I expanded the discussion to include systems of sharing to address the phenomena of blockchain.

 

The industry vertical which is most impacted by the disruptive impact of new systems is the financial industry. The explosion of regulations which followed the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, the hack attacks that exposed the financial data of millions of people, the increasing concerns for privacy, and the disruptive competition from Fintech startups are driving the need for new data governance. Fortunately, there is a new wave of technology that is emerging to help financial organizations understand and manage their risks.

 

This new wave of technology is known as “RegTech”. The term 'RegTech' was coined in 2015 by the Financial Conduct Authority, which described it as “a sub-set of FinTech that focuses on technologies that may facilitate the delivery of regulatory requirements more efficiently and effectively than existing capabilities".

 

Regulatory changes are accelerating, as new technologies and business models are being developed in the Financial sector. These disruptions require the use of real-time information with the incorporation of algorithms and analytics. New approaches will be required for AML and KYC (Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer) using social media and biometrics for due diligence, anti-fraud, and detection of suspicious activity.

 

Here is just a few of the companies who can be classified as RegTechs. An interesting new area for RegTechs are the regulations and risks around the legalization of cannabis by some state governments in the United States.

 

Find out how to manage your data governance journey through the intelligent use of RegTech, and how Hitachi can help your organization navigate the complex regulatory landscape by attending RegTech Adoption in Financial Services: Turn Regulation Into Opportunity on Tuesday September 19 at Hitachi’s NEXT2017 event in Las Vegas.

 

                                                                             

We are pleased to have Nirvana Farhadi Global Head, Financial Services RegTech, Risk and Regulatory Compliance Affairs Hitachi Data Systems, present this session. Nirvana is counted amongst the leading industry voices within regulatory reporting and RegTech. She brings her global experience of working across multiple Financial Services sectors, instruments, products, industry regulations and jurisdictions. Nirvana is also the founder and CEO of FFS-RegTech, which provides specialist advice in the RegTech space. As the former Head of Regulatory Reporting at KPMG, Nirvana has led the business, practice, and development for regulatory reporting at KPMG UK, and is a sought-after keynote speaker.

 

Register to attend today at http://ift.tt/2xOAZ0U

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Manage your data governance journey through the use of RegTech

Last week I posted a blog on New Data Sources and Usage Requires New Data Governance where I referred to Forrester researcher, Henry Peyret’s work on researching the need for Data Governance 2.0. He points out the need for adopting to a new data governance framework based upon the new types of data and uses driven by new systems of engagement, automation, and design. I expanded the discussion to include systems of sharing to address the phenomena of blockchain.

 

The industry vertical which is most impacted by the disruptive impact of new systems is the financial services industry. The explosion of regulations which followed the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, the hack attacks that exposed the financial data of millions of people, the increasing concerns for privacy, and the disruptive competition from Fintech startups are driving the need for new data governance. Fortunately, there is a wave of technology that is emerging to help financial organizations understand and manage their risks.

 

This wave of technology is known as "RegTech", for regulation technology. This is a subclass of FinTech, using technology innovation to deliver more efficient and effective solutions for regulatory compliance and monitoring than existing capabilities. Regulatory changes are accelerating driven by new technologies, new business models, and new threats in the financial sector. New approaches will be required for AML and KYC (Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer) using social media and biometrics for due diligence, anti-fraud, and detection of suspicious activity.

 

Here is just a few of the companies who can be classified as RegTechs. While the big focus is on the financial service industry, RegTechs are also addressing other regulated industries like life sciences, Pharma, and HR. A new area for RegTechs are the regulations and risks around the legalization of cannabis by some state governments versus the federal government as you can see in the lower right hand corner of this chart.

 

Find out how to manage your data governance journey through the intelligent use of RegTech, and how Hitachi can help your organization navigate the complex regulatory landscape by attending RegTech Adoption in Financial Services: Turn Regulation Into Opportunity on Tuesday September 19 at Hitachi’s NEXT2017 event in Las Vegas.

 

                                                                             

We are pleased to have Nirvana Farhadi Global Head, Financial Services RegTech, Risk and Regulatory Compliance Affairs Hitachi Data Systems, present this session. Nirvana is counted amongst the leading industry voices within regulatory reporting and RegTech. She brings her global experience of working across multiple Financial Services sectors, instruments, products, industry regulations and jurisdictions. Nirvana is also the founder and CEO of FFS-RegTech, which provides specialist advice in the RegTech space. As the former Head of Regulatory Reporting at KPMG, Nirvana has led the business, practice, and development for regulatory reporting at KPMG UK. She has published various industry articles, co-authored the upcoming RegTech book, presents at numerous industry and client roundtables and is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, in relation to her specialist area of expertise. Nirvana is also a Founding Member, of the Committee to Establish the RegTech Council and a lead expert on multiple industry working groups across Regulation, FS Cyber security and Blockchain.

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What is are the Challenges of IT/OT Integration?

When we talk about Digital Transformation we often talk about the integration of IT and OT as though it is a given. We want to integrate machine data with transaction data to gain better insights into the total business and provide better goods and services. We need to stop and think about what that means and what that entails. We need to start with some definitions and good place to start is with Gartner’s glossary of digital marketing terms.

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Here are some definitions from this glossary:

 

Operational technology (OT) is hardware and software that detects or causes a change through the direct monitoring and/or control of physical devices, processes and events in the enterprise.

 

Information technology is the entire spectrum of technologies for information processing, including software, hardware, communications technologies and related services.

 

IT/OT integration is the end state sought by organizations (most commonly, asset-intensive organizations) where instead of a separation of IT and OT as technology areas with different areas of authority and responsibility, there is integrated process and information flow.

 

These definitions are pretty straight forward. However, we need go a little deeper. OT systems are used to control devices like motors and other machines and monitor sensors to regulate various processes, detect anomalies, or prevent hazardous conditions. The operating systems technologies and communications protocols that are used for OT have been very different from IT technologies and protocols, since they were focused on specific tasks and operated in real time or near real time. Advances in IT technologies like Intel processors, Linux and TCP/IP are now making it possible to run more OT systems on IT technologies.

 

However, because of its focus on internal, operational processes, OT systems often lack the maturity of IT systems management in terms of enterprise availability, security, governance, and transparency.  Many OT systems use simple passwords for ease of use and do not keep current with software upgrades. The Miriai Malware attack which occurred last year, exploited this by installing a remote bot into OT devices like IP cameras and routers. On October 21, 2016, the bots were activated and caused a Distributed Denial of Service attack against major DNS servers which made several high profile websites like Airbnb and Netflix inaccessible. When we bring OT devices into the enterprise world of IT and networking with the outside world we have to ensure that it does not enable new avenues of attack. This requires rethinking how we manage OT systems in an open enterprise environment.

 

Most OT systems do not use external storage so data simply wraps over itself. In a recent incident at San Francisco airport, an incoming flight almost landed on a taxi runway where three other planes were ready to take off. Luckily, the landing was aborted at the last minute and the lives of the passengers on all four planes were saved. When investigators got around to examining the flight recorder, the data had already been over written by a subsequent flight and valuable investigative information was lost.

 

As we move to automation like self-driving cars, more data will be created and processed on the edge and decisions must be made as to how we curate the data; what data is thrown away and what data is sent back to the mother ship. A self-driving car may be processing terabytes of data on the fly as it navigates through traffic and it cannot wait for someone in the cloud to process the data remotely to tell it what to do next. There are some fundamental challenges in the growing number of OT connected assets that generate large-volume, high-speed data. We will have to consider new data storage and retention requirements when incorporating OT data into an enterprise governance environment.

 

The integration of IT and OT can be challenging and the degree of difficulty depends on the type of business. Financial services and retail already have a high degree of IT and OT integration while other verticals like healthcare, manufacturing, oil and gas have less integration. Often times the integration is less about the technology and business and more about people. If the operations people are used to running their own systems, it will be difficult to redefine roles and responsibilities. 

 

Hitachi is a unique company with over 106 years of experience with OT systems, starting with electric motors and generators, and over 57 years of IT systems experience. We understand the challenges of integrating OT with IT. We will be presenting a number of  use case for IT and OT integration at our NEXT 2017 event in Las Vegas, September 18 to 20.

 

One session you should attend is Unlock a Greater Business Value With Fog Computing by Sudhanshu Gaur Director, Digital Solution Platform Lab Hitachi America Limited, in which he addresses the challenges of a growing number of connected assets with fog computing that distributes various functionalities and applications anywhere along the continuum from cloud to things. Discover how this fast-emerging trend gives you higher scalability, agility, programmability and trustworthiness in industrial IoT systems.

• See how fog computing uses IT and OT technologies.
• Improve scalability, agility and programmability.
• Accelerate product and services rollout

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New Data Sources and Usage Requires New Data Governance

Just over 10 years ago we were looking at two types of data, structured and unstructured data. Anticipating the explosion of unstructured data Hitachi began the development of object storage with rich meta data capabilities to handle the management, search, and governance of massive amounts of data that could no longer be handled by traditional technology architectures and hierarchical file systems. In 2007 we delivered the first version of our object storage platform HCP.

 

Today, there are many more forms of data and data usage that require extensions to how it must be managed and governed. Henry Peyret of Forrester research, has been researching the need for Data Governance 2.0, adapting to a new data governance framework based upon the new types of data and uses. In his research he identifies four different types of data governance by systems of insight. I have taken his four basic systems of insights and expanded on them here:

 

Systems of record. These are our traditional types of structured databases supporting OLTP and OLAP where governance is focused on quality, Master Data Management, and compliance.

 

Systems of Engagement. This is driven by new systems of customer, employee, and partner engagement, social media, chatbots, mobile apps, etc. Here governance deals with the need for data personalization versus the need for data privacy.

 

Systems of Automation. This is driven by IoT integration, OT data, event correlation, analytics and AI. Data governance not only has to be concerned about data context, as Mr. Peyret identifies, but also the source and quality of the data which may be created and processed on the edge of your business or outside of your normal realm of responsibility. What governance is required for an automated system like self-driving vehicles where data compromise may result in loss of life?

 

Systems of design. These are systems for creativity and innovation where the stake holders may be product designers or researchers. Applying standards of data governance to creativity may not be as well defined as in the previous systems. Data governance in this case may entail social, legal, ethical or moral questions.

 

Systems of Shared data. This is a category that I have added to address the phenomena of blockchain. Blockchain is a shared database for recording transactions in a way that does not allow a record to be altered at a later date. Bitcoin is a well-known example of blockchain. It is a system of value transfer that is outside the control of central banks and enables actors to exchange value independent of traditional government or regulatory oversight. While there is probably no way to govern public blockchains such as crypto currencies, there may be requirements for data governance of private blockchains in enterprises or consortium of enterprises. For instance, there are industry discussions about how banks could maintain their own privacy in a shared blockchain database. This begs the question: what is the appropriate regulatory input into a blockchain system that can automatically execute smart contracts?

 

Forrester recommends that vendors should develop a new data governance domain to address these new systems. In the picture below, previous data governance is illustrated by the blue icons, where governance was based on the processing of data and meta data. The new data governance domain shown in green, must now consider data context.

 

Forrester Henry Peyret, Principal Analyst     

 

Hitachi agrees with this assessment and has expanded their Hitachi Content Platform suite to include Hitachi Content Intelligence to surface business insights and expand the governance domain for new and future systems.

 

Hitachi Content Intelligence is purpose-built to help you along your governance and analytics journey, regardless of the degree to which these five systems may be integrated into your organizational architectures. With Content Intelligence, Hitachi is focused on helping you answer the following:

 

1. What value exists in your data or can be extracted from it?
2. Can you trust the contents of the data?
3. Based on your data, what has happened, what might happen next, and what is the right
     answer for your business?
4. Is insight being delivered to the right people at the right time?
5. How do you embed data analytics more pervasively into your organization?

 

These are questions that are current, and will continue to, plague every modern organization relying on digital assets.  As the producers and consumers of data continue to grow at exponential rates, answering these questions accurately and rapidly will place greater reliance on digital advisory and recommendation solutions.  To that end, not only does Hitachi Content Intelligence help an organization answer those question, it can also be partnered with Hitachi’s Pentaho business intelligence solution. Together, you’ll have your “databases” covered with a navigable view of your data real estate.  Together these solutions deliver:

 

The regulatory requirements for these new systems are still a work in process in many cases. Data governance will require co-creation as we are charting new territories. By partnering with Hitachi, we can help you discover, assure, describe, predict, optimize, empower, and embed data of the highest quality and relevancy throughout your organization. We will work with you to gain greater data insights and work through new data governance requirements.

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Benefits of Co-Creation approach to IoT

Our Chief Technology Strategist Greg Knieriemen recently interviewed Christian Renaud, Research Director of 451 Research’s IoT practice, and Rob Tiffany, our Chief Technology Officer and Global Product Manager for Hitachi’s Lumada IoT platform, who joined us this year from Microsoft where he was the Global Technology Lead for IoT. The topic was the benefits of co-developing IoT solutions to drive better business outcomes. Please take 5 minutes to view this video.

 

 

If you want to hear more about Hitachi's approach to IoT with our Lumada IoT platform? Attend Hitachi's NEXT 2017, September 18 to 20 in Las Vegas.

 

Join Lumada CTO Rob Tiffany for his session on "Choose the Right IoT Platform for Your Business,” at 3:00pm on Wednesday September 20th, as he walks you through the elements of both general-purpose and industry-specific IoT platforms. With literally hundreds of IoT platforms on the market, how do you choose the one that’s right for your business? You’ll discover important things to look for from end-to-end such as performance and scalability needs of global operations and security everywhere. He will cover how to connect old and new machines, analyze data at the edge, bring value to your business with the right analytics and deliver meaningful outcomes. You’ll leave this session equipped to make smart decisions in IoT and digital transformation that will make a positive impact on your business.

 

See you at Next 2017!

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What Can You Do Without an ATM Card?

Suppose that you are a cool young man strolling on the beach and notice a hot young lady who wants a cold bottle of water. A cold bottle of water is available for a price, but the young lady obviously does not have any money on her person.

 

The chivalrous young man would like to help but he also does not have any money to pay for the water. You are in Luck, if you happen to be in Poland! Watch this video to see how this young man saves the day with the help of Hitachi technology!

 

 

In a distributed digital world, to have 100% identity assurance and authentication is vital to financial and transactional security. Discover the key identity assurance technology that is at the heart of a digital security portfolio: Hitachi’s unique and innovative finger vein biometric technology.

To learn more about this, plan to attend the breakout session by Ben Eddington and Tadeusz Woszcynski of Hitachi Europe on "Strong Authentication via Hitachi Biometric Technology" at  Hitachi's NEXT 2017, September 18-20 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in LasVegas. Signup now!

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What is the future of Blockchain?

Last year I was on a CNN Future Cities Panel in Singapore along with a member of the Singapore government and several startup companies. There the topic of blockchain came up and one of the participants made the assessment than blockchain was a solution looking for a problem, partly in response to all the hype about blockchain at that time and the lack of successful implementations aside from Bitcoin. In August of last year, Gartner published a report which claimed that blockchain had reached the peak of the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.

 

By now everyone should have a basic understanding of blockchain technology as a distributed ledger. Bitcoin is the best known application of a blockchain technology, and has been widely publicized as the currency for ransomware and the purchase of illicit goods on the internet. While Bitcoin is based on blockchain technology, there are other types of blockchain technologies, that are more scalable, more efficient, private and public, and more focused on doing good rather than rewarding bad behaviors.

 

A year ago, Bitcoin was starting to see some problems. As the volume of transactions in bitcoin increases, the blockchain becomes longer and longer increasing the time to process transactions. Here is link that shows the increasing transaction times and its erratic behavior over the past month. There are peaks in average confirmation times close to 5 hours and one as higher as nine plus hours. As the volume increases, transaction times will increase even further.

 

The other problem with bitcoin’s blockchain, is known as “counterparty risk”. When you pay for something using Bitcoin, there is no guarantee that the other party will deliver the promised asset. How many companies who paid the $300 in bitcoin ransom to “WannaCry” ever received the decryption key to unlock their data? While there seems to be some code of honor among ransomware thieves to deliver the decryption key, it only emboldens their future activities. There are other blockchain initiatives that address this problem like Hyperledger and Ethereum whose Crypto currency Ether, began to surpass the valuation of Bicoin in the beginning of this year.

 

Bitcoin blockchain also has other limitations like the number of transactions per block, and the total limitation in the number of Bitcoins. Every block introduces 50 new coins in the system. This quantity (50) halves every 210,000 blocks so this geometric progression comes to 21 million Bitcoins in total. Bitcoin has already had two halving events and the current payout is just 12 bitcoins per block. It is estimated to halve again in about 3 years. What happens when you run out of new Bitcoins? The miners who create and propagate the block chain in exchange for bitcoin, will need some other way to get compensation for their efforts or leave the mining business. What happens to the price of Bitcoins in fiat currency? Some believe that it will implode while others think it will continue to increase like a Ponzi scheme, where the initial investors will get richer and richer.

 

Increasing the number of transactions per block would make Bitcoin more scalable, but since transactions in a block chain cannot be modified, creating a new block size with more transaction would require a new blockchain. This is known as “forking”. On the first of August, Bitcoin got forked, meaning that a new cryptocurrency, called Bitcoin Cash was created and has begun to be mined as a separate blockchain from Bitcoin. Bitcoin cash is built on the same blockchain network as bitcoin, but the new software increases the number of transactions per block that make up the network to allow it to process more information and increase transaction speed. Prior to August 1st, many in the Bitcoin business community like Circle warned against the potential negative consequences of Bitcoin forking and were advising their users to convert to fiat currencies like dollars or euros before the fork. Now almost a month after the fork what did this do to Bitcoin?

 

After an initial dip in price, Bitcoin rallied and accelerated even higher to hit $4,305 by August 18!  (The price of Bitcoin on January 1, 2017 had hit, what was then an all-time high, of $1000”.)  Bitcoin Cash was initially slow in getting miners to participate in creating and propagating the new blockchain, but was up to $499 by the same date in August. Meanwhile, Ether, the cryptocurrency for Ethereum, which was poised to overtake Bitcoin in valuation earlier this year is still in second place with a price of $320.

 

Crypto currencies can be exchanged at various online exchanges. These exchanges are beginning to act like a central ledgers, which is contrary to the distributed ledger reason for having a blockchain. Also the cost of a Bitcoin transaction is rising. The median transaction value is about $500 and incurs about a $4 fee. This is based on value of transaction and amount of data in it. Just two years ago, the costs were almost negligible. So what started out as “free money transfers” to beat banks and credit cards, is looking a lot like the same old thing. http://ift.tt/2sn8eWk

 

The crypto currency hype trend continues and seems to be accelerating. While cryptocurrencies are leading the blockchain surge, the use of blockchain in other areas are still mostly in proofs of concept stages. However, once we see some first movers deliver new blockchain solutions, we may see another surge in blockchain hype. I think we are a few years away from the “Trough of Disillusionment” before we see the “Slope of Enlightenment” and the “Plateau of Productivity” per Gartner’s Hype cycle for emerging technologies. Is it possible that Blockchain will skip the intermediate stages and go directly to the Plateau of Productivity? There is a lot of confusion about the future of Blockchain, fueled by a lot of speculation.

 

See what Hitachi’s David Pinski, Chief Strategist Financial Services – Center for Social Innovation Hitachi, has to say about Blockchain for the Real World at Hitachi’s Next 2017 event, September 18 to 20 in Las Vegas. Register now.

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Hitachi and VMware Provide the Technical Elasticity for Digital Transformation Meet Us at VMworld 2017

Digital transformation is a journey that will continue to evolve over time. During this time there will be exponential changes in technologies, an even greater explosion in information, and new business models that will need to be integrated into this transformation in order for it to be sustainable. The platforms we choose for transformation must have the elasticity to not only scale to meet the volume demands but also incorporate new changes in technologies.

 

That is what makes the partnership with Hitachi and VMware so exciting. We have demonstrated over the years how we have been able to be at the forefront for integrating new technologies.

 

In the early days of virtualization Hitachi was the first vendor to integrate our storage virtualization with VMware’s server virtualization. When converged systems came into play, Hitachi’s unique integration with VMware through its Unified Compute Platform orchestration software layer has always been a key innovation from the very beginning. Last year Hitachi Data Systems announced enhanced integration with VMware Solutions with new support for VMware NSX, Docker Containers and enhanced VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes, which strengthens Converged and Hyperconverged Portfolios to automate IT, improve security and enable application continuity. Hitachi also debuted all-flash versions of UCP 4000, UCP 4000E, UCP 2000 and UCP HC V240F and now offers all-flash configurations across its entire portfolio of converged and hyperconverged infrastructure platforms, to deliver powerful performance for enterprise applications and help customers move to an all-flash data center. Hitachi extended its OEM agreement to include VMware NSX for use with Hitachi Unified Compute Platform. These were all made possible through the elasticity provided by our Storage Virtualization Operating System, SVOS and our UCP orchestration software layer

 

Digital transformation requires an elastic and reliable infrastructure that can deliver cloud like economics and agility, with improved efficiency and simplified manageability. IT transformation requires a solution that can modernize their core legacy applications while enabling them to bridge to innovative new cloud based solutions. The innovations in the partnership between VMware and Hitachi Data Systems will help businesses drive change and stay ahead of the competition. Unlike DIY or joint efforts by multiple compute, storage and networking vendors, Hitachi’s OEM relationship with VMware provides a major benefit in streamlining the acquisition, maintenance, and ongoing support for VMware vSphere solutions.

 

Hitachi and VMware have the technical elasticity to scale for future  growth from core to edge to cloud.

 

See what else is new with Hitachi at VMworld 2017 | August 27-31, 2017 Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas, NV.

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Using Blockchain to Fight Poisoning

I have been out sick for the last two weeks due to a stomach bug. Never missed as much work before in my life. It was so bad I went to acute care twice for an IV. During this time between bouts of fitful sleep and trips to the bathroom, I listened to the TV news which was even more depressing with escalating nuclear threats, opioid explosion, extremist demonstrations, and tragic hate crimes.

 

However, there was one bit of news which I felt promising. The San Jose Mercury News reported that Blockchain technology is being used to fight food fraud which has become a serious global issue. Walmart is just completing a trial run to trace pork in China where it has more than 400 stores. A Chinese company said it will use the technology to track chickens from coop to processing to the store. Alibaba is also investigating block chain technology to provide greater product integrity working with food suppliers in Australia and New Zealand as well as in China.

 

If there was a global way to ensure the safety of our food supply, it may have helped prevent the suffering which I just went through. This is just another use of technology for social innovation.

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IDC’s Digital Summit: Dominance of Digital Enterprise 1.O

 

Next week I will be participating in IDC’s Digital Summit in New Delhi, 4-5 August at the Andaz Hotel. The theme of this Summit is “Dominance of Digital Enterprise 1.0”. IDC has been a thought leader in recognizing the digital transformation trend and many are familiar with their Digital Transformation MaturityScape which is a methodology for companies to measure their progress in the digital transformation journey. Others have written and blogged about the Digital Enterprise, but Digital Enterprise 1.0 seems to be IDC’s identification of a special stage in the journey.

 

IDC say that the conversation has changed from “Is it real?” to “How do we leverage it?” IDC also understands that digital transformation is as much about organization, change management, and new business models as it is about people, process, and technology. Digital Enterprise 1.0 is an enterprise where digital becomes all pervasive in the corporate world.

 

IDC identifies the following subthemes to the Digital Enterprise 1.0

 

Continuous Altering of Business models: Dominance through designs that disrupt, “not just affording digital opportunities for customer experiences or value, but altering business fundamental such as “car as a Service”

 

Managing Exponential Technology Change: “Managing disruption with exponential change requires a different enterprise technology fabric – a fabric which demands enabling agility and architectural elasticity and provide a foundation to successful digital Transformation”.

 

Measuring Digital Transformation: “It is crucial that enterprises now start measuring business value and Digital Dividend at digital velocity.

 

These themes fit well with Hitachi’s approach to digital transformation and IoT.

 

Continuous altering of the business model is enabled by our co-creation approach to innovation. Instead of taking the “build it and they will come” approach, Hitachi has completely revised their research and development organization to a “market –in” approach. I blogged about this is in my post about the transformation of Hitachi Research, where the focus is now about business outcomes rather than the number of patents filed.

 

Managing exponential technology change is enabled by our Lumada platform. Lumada is an open and adaptable architecture that can apply to a wide range of industries and use cases, where core solutions can be extended or repurposed across multiple verticals or easily tailored to specific situations. Hitachi’s extensive expertise in OT and IT provides a unique understanding of the fundamental requirements to build and deploy IoT architectures at scale. This allows Hitachi to help customers get actionable business insight that translates into real business value, faster.”

 

Measuring Digital transformation is crucial to success. You cannot improve what you do not measure. Hitachi engagement begins with an economic assessment of where we are in the enterprise and projects out what the expectations should be. Hitachi is willing to share the risk with the customer, providing on demand, pay as you go, or managed services based upon KPIs.

 

I will be presenting at this conference next week, giving some use cases that illustrate our support of these three sub themes.

 

If you are in New Delhi next week I hope to see you there

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A New Twist in Making Secure Biometric Authentication Easier to Use

In my last post on The Future of Secure Authentication: Biometrics, a comment came in from Jens-Uwe Dzikowski who referenced an article in the recent Hitachi Research website entitled: Making Society Safe and Convenient with High-Precision Walkthrough Finger Vein Authentication : Research & Development.

 

This describes the research being done to provide a walk through Finger Vein authentication in .3 seconds which makes it possible for use in high traffic situations. According to the  international Journal of Advances in Science and Technology which I referenced in my last post, finger vein has the highest accuracy, long term stability, and security level compared to other biometrics such as facial recognition, iris scan, finger print, and voice recognition. Finger vein patterns are created in the womb and do not change as we age. Hitachi Finger vein technology is proven technology. It was introduced in Japan in 2002 for ATMs and while ATMs are the biggest use case, it has been used for other applications like access control, claims verification, and time and attendance management in Europe, Asia, and Asia Pacific. Barclay’s bank provides UK corporate banking customers with a finger vein biometric authentication dongle that attaches to a USB slot on their PC and lets them “easily access their online bank accounts and authorize payments within seconds, without the need for PIN, passwords or authentication codes”. With finger vein there is no need for two factor authentication. However, up to now, it required people to stop and place their finger on a fixed location, with an infrared light above the finger that shines through so that the image of blood in the veins can be captured.

Although finger prints are not as accurate or secure as finger vein, finger prints have been considered easier to use and subsequently has higher market acceptance. Finger print authentication often requires two factor authentication such as an ID card or photo. Now Hitachi researchers have found a way to read finger veins by passing your hand over an L-shaped scanner using an array light source of multiple LEDs, making it possible to expose the fingers to near-infrared rays no matter where the fingers are. Also since you scan all five fingers, you can authenticate as long as three of the five finger’s vein patterns match providing very high accuracy despite the open environment. Now it is more convenient and faster to use than finger print scanners, while still providing higher accuracy and security without the need for two factor authentication.

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the research lab where this walkthrough finger vein authentication is being developed. I was able to register my finger veins in less than half a minute by scanning my hand 3 times. Once I was registered I was able to pass through with a single scan. My colleague from Asia Pacific was very excited to see this demonstration since there is a growing demand for high volume biometric authentication in his region. The uniqueness and accuracy of the finger vein may eliminate the need for two factor authentication and the non-contact scanning eliminates the health concerns associated with finger print scanning, where you press your fingers on a plate that has been touched by hundreds of people before you.

 

Currently this is being tested for entry control in a Hitachi building in Tokyo. Instead of scanning their employee badge, employees pass their hands over a finger vein reader. This prototype processes 60 to 80 persons per minute per unit. While walkthrough is currently in development, other finger vein devices are available today from Hitachi. Businesses should know about the advantages of this biometric technology and consider it in their security planning.

 

This new twist in high precision, walkthrough finger vein authentication, will make it easier to use where individuals in large queues need to be authenticated, at transportation centers, concerts, hospitals, kiosks, etc. If you register your finger vein with an electronic wallet you could also use your finger vein in place of a debit/credit card. This could provide better security for vending machines users. Avanti Markets, a provider of vending machine kiosks, was hacked earlier this month, with malware that infected 1900 of its vending machines and stole the names, payment card data, and finger print data of some 1.9 million users.

With finger vein, you eliminate the need for a name and payment card data and if they steal your finger vein pattern, you’re the only one who can use it because you need a live finger with blood in the veins for it to work. With the increasing number of hack attacks and terrorism threats, the time is right for high precision, walkthrough finger vein authentication.

 

You can hear more about this and other social innovation solutions at our NEXT 2017 users conference, Sept 18-20 in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. Click on the website for NEXT 2017 and register today to attend this conference.

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Hitachi Research 100 years later: Lead What's Next

Seven years after the founding of Hitachi in 1910 by Namihei Odaira, Hitachi established its first research laboratory in 1917. This was the foundation of Hitachi’s Central Research Laboratory which has kept Hitachi in the forefront of technical innovation for the past 100 years. In that same year Hitachi published the first edition of the Hitachi Hyoron technical journal in which technicians published their research results. This publication continues today providing valuable insights into Hitachi’s future technology direction. Today, Hitachi research publications can be found at this website http://ift.tt/2eOFnGr

 

In the past, research has been measured by the number of patents that have been filed and Hitachi has consistently ranked among the companies with the highest number of patents. Innovation strategies for the most part concentrated on processes and products with the objectives of producing quality products at a low price, and building products with novel performance and functions. In the Hitachi Review published in July of 2015, Hitachi reveled a new direction for research which is measured less on the number of patents and more on business outcomes that support our Social Innovation strategy. The goal is now to build the future by working with customers to deal with the challenges facing society on a global basis. Hitachi believes there is a need to consider research and development from the perspectives of customers and business in this new age of digital transformation.

 

In response to the need for digital transformation and the focus on business outcomes, Hitachi’s R&D group was reorganized along three strategic axes.

The Center for Exploratory Research CER, is focused 10 to 20 years into the future and is pure research. The Center for Technology Innovation CTI is focused on technologies that drive business outcomes, and the Global Center for Social Innovation CSI is focused on co-creation of services and solutions with customers and collaborating partners.

In addition to the CSI lab in Tokyo, four CSI labs were established around the world to facilitate regional collaboration with customers.  CSI labs are located in APAC, China, Europe, and the Americas. CSI Americas has locations in Santa Clara, Detroit, and Brazil, with the biggest facility in Santa Clara, in the heart of Silicon Valley.

 

While the number of patents has declined in the past year the quality and focus of Hitachi’s patents has increased and has resulted in market leadership.

More importantly this approach has accelerated social innovations in healthcare, transportation, energy, and public safety.  Many of the new innovations today have their roots in the vision-driven exploratory basic research of the past. For instance, Hitachi filed a blockchain patent in 2003 under the title “Hysteresis signature research” five years before the introduction of Bitcoin. While the customer facing part of Hitachi research is now the Centers for Social innovation, Hitachi still maintains its centers for exploratory research CER, and technology innovation CTI which feed into CSI.

 

To learn more about Hitachi Social Innovation, Hitachi Research and see demonstrations of some IoT projects, signup to join us at the NEXT 2017 event in Las Vegas, September 18 – 20. The theme of this event is “Lead What’s Next”. Better outcomes. Better business. Better society.

 

We will have a number of researchers speaking, like Dr Yano, Hitachi Chief Scientist, speaking on Artificial Intelligence and David Pinski, Chief Strategist for Financial Innovation and Head of the Financial Innovation Laboratory in CSI Americas speaking on Blockchain. We will also have developers and business leaders who have translated Hitachi research projects like Finger Vein biometric authentication into business outcomes. 

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The Future of Secure Authentication: Biometrics

The world is going through a massive digital transformation. As the world becomes more digital and distributed, being absolutely certain about who we are dealing with and protecting our access credentials is critical to our safety and well-being. It used to be that an access badge was sufficient to grant access to a restricted area. A passport and signature was enough to get you through immigration, and a credit card and signature was enough to buy goods and services, or an ATM card and pin number was enough to draw money from your account. In this digital age that is not enough and many are turning to biometrics for authentication.

 

Biometrics are human features which are unique to an individual. Common biometrics include facial recognition, voice, iris scanning, finger vein and finger print, and vary in terms of cost, accuracy, ease of use and security level. With a biometric authentication system, the user enrolls in a system or service and provides a biometric sample, such as a fingerprint. Later, when the user wants to use the system, he presents his biometric to a scanner which matches his biometric with the previously stored biometric template. If the biometric matches the template, he is granted access to the system. If the biometric data is linked to a funding source, the process acts as both authentication and transaction enabler, greatly simplifying the transaction process. Biometrics are easier to use than having to remember and manage passwords. Smart phones like the iPhone are now equipped with an app to register a fingerprint and scan it for authentication in place of a password. 

There are some criticisms about the use of biometrics. Facial recognition and voice have low accuracy. In the case of fingerprints, studies have shown that skin conditions like dryness or Dermatitis may cause fingerprint verification failures. The need to press your flesh against a scanner that hundreds of other people have touched is also a hygienic concern. When the touch verification was introduced by iPhone, articles were written on how biometrics would not work because, they could not be kept secret. We leave our fingerprints on everything we touch and if there was a way to lift our prints and use them on a scanner, there is no way that we can change our finger print, like we could with a password. Researchers have shown that Gummi bears can be used to generate counterfeit fingerprints. 

 

Iris or retina scanning is a biometric approach which is considered to be the most accurate. This has been popularized in many movies. In the 2002 futuristic movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise’s character replaces his eye with one he purchased on the black market to bypass this surveillance technique. This is harder to spoof, but more expensive and not as convenient as other biometric approaches. 

Hitachi’s approach to biometric is the use of finger vein. Although not as well known as finger print, finger vein is as convenient to use as finger print but bypasses the concerns of using finger prints. Finger vein has very high accuracy, and is not transferable or obscured by conditions on the skin. Unlike fingerprints that are left on everything you touch, finger veins are hidden inside the finger. When a near-infrared light is transmitted through the finger and partially absorbed by hemoglobin in the veins it is possible to capture a unique finger vein pattern profile, which is then matched with a pre-registered profile to verify individual identity. The finger does not need to touch the camera or the light source, so it relieves the concern for hygiene. If a finger is not live, or otherwise detached from the blood supply, there would be no vein ID. 

A comparison of Biometric methods, published by the international Journal of Advances in Science and Technology, shows that finger vein biometrics has the highest accuracy, long term stability, and security level compared to facial recognition, iris scan, finger print, voice recognition and lip recognition.

 

 

Hitachi VeinID technology was introduced in Japan in 2002 and has gained wide acceptance with over 40,000 ATMs and several million smart cards with finger-vein ‘match on card’. In 2010, finger vein ATMs were introduced in Poland and Barclay’s bank provides UK corporate banking customers with finger vein biometric authentication devices that will let them “easily access their online bank accounts and authorize payments within seconds, without the need for PIN, passwords or authentication codes”.

 

Hitachi VeinID has been gaining wider acceptance in Europe since its introduction in Poland. The man most responsible for introducing VeinID to Poland is Tadeusz  Woszczyński, who is currently the country manager for Poland and CCE for Hitachi Europe. Ben Edgington, Head of Engineering, Information Systems Group, Hitachi Europe, leads the engineering team, covering pre-sales, development, delivery, post-sales support and product management across our Digital Security solutions which includes VeinID. For more information you can link to this data sheet which was published by Hitachi Europe.

 

I am very pleased to announce that both Tadeusz and Ben will be at our NEXT 2017 users conference, Sept 18-20 in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas to present a breakout session entitled: Putting identity at the heart of security: strong authentication via Hitachi's biometric technology. Click on the website for NEXT 2017 and register today to attend this conference.

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Blockchaining in Singapore

Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Singapore with David Pinski, Chief Strategist Financial Services for Hitachi and Toshiya Cho, Hitachi Fintech and board member of the opens source Hyperledger consortium. The initial purpose of our visit was to attend the 2017 Blockchain for Finance Conference where one of the Hitachi Proof of Concepts was being presented by Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. I would describe Singapore as being one of the leading nations for blockchain activity, primarily due to the efforts of the government of Singapore and the Monetary Authority Singapore (MAS) who has established a sandbox for the use of fintech developers. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ POC was done in this sandbox.

However, we were only able to attend a few sessions due to the demand for us to visit Financial Services companies in Singapore who know us for our IT solutions and were interested in understanding what Hitachi is doing in the blockchain space. One of the companies who seemed to be the most interested in blockchain was looking at an application outside of the financial services space.

 

While I have been posting blogs about blockchain and Fintechs over the past two years, I was really amazed at what progress that has been made in this area after hearing David and Cho-san, who come from financial services backgrounds, discuss this with financial IT leaders in Singapore. While blockchain is most famously known as the technology behind crypto currencies like Bitcoin and Ether, there are a number of POCs that are beginning to show promise in other areas of the financial industry. Even when POCs fail, each POC helps to shape the future of various blockchain applications.

 

In Asia, crypto currencies are reaching fever pitch, as the value of Bitcoins in USD has more than doubled since the beginning of 2017 to over $2500. In June of 2016 the New York Times reported that over 70 percent of the transactions on the Bitcoin network were going through just four Chinese companies, known as Bitcoin mining pools — and most flowed through just two of those companies. Bitcoin received a boost in recognition with the recent “Wanna Cry” ransomware attack, which demanded payment in Bitcoin. Nearly everyone I talked to in Singapore knew some relative or friend who has already made a fortune in Bitcoin. However, the New York Times reported last week that Bitcoin is being out performed by another cryptocurrency, Ether, which has risen 4500% since the beginning of the year with a total worth 82% as much as all the Bitcoin in the world. Ether is another cryptocurrency that is based on a block chain distributed computing technology called Ethereum.

 

Although the rampant speculation in Bitcoin and Ether sounds like a pyramid scheme and a currency for criminal activities , there are many other applications of the basic technology, which could drive more beneficial social innovation. Blockchain acts like a distributed ledger where all transactions are properly conducted and recorded without the bottleneck of a central ledger.

• Blockchain can shorten the settlement of funds transfer from days to minutes, for earlier release of funds, reduction of risk, and reduction of processing fees.
• It could be used for a distributed cloud where no one vendor controls all of your online assets.
• Blockchain technologies could make tracking and managing digital identities both secure and efficient, resulting in seamless sign-on and reduced fraud.
• Programmable digitized contracts can be entered on the blockchain as variables and statements that can automatically release funds using the blockchain network as the executor, rather than trusting a single central authority.
• Block chain may even solve the problem of “Fake News”

 

Hitachi has a long history in blockchain development going back to 2003 when they were granted their first patent on what was then known as Hysteresis signature research. The picture below illustrates how transactions are chained together. It shows a triangle transaction embedded into a cross, embedded into a hexagon, embedded into a circle, etc

Hitachi is an active participant in the open source Hyperledger consortium, an umbrella project of open source blockchains and related tools, started in December 2015 by the Linux Foundation, to support the collaborative development of cross-industry, blockchain-based distributed ledgers.

 

I am pleased to announce that we have secured David Pinski to present at our NEXT 2017 users conference September 18-20 in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. David will cover Hitachi’s participation and contributions to the blockchain effort.  I will provide more information on this event and David's presentation was we get closer to the date.

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