Weekly News Digest #3

A week in retrospect…

Have you
ever dreamt of becoming a bestselling author? Well, get that manuscript ready,
because it’s never been easier.

You just
need to send a memo to your 48,000 employees encouraging them to buy your book
and expense it as business material. At least that’s what Salesforce co-CEO Marc
Benioff did.

Hey
— At any rate, they donated the profits to charity. Or so they say.

On a way
more serious note….

The coronavirus keeps making headlines as fear of a pandemic spreads across the globe. Sadly, the death toll continues to rise, and many countries are activating their lockdown and quarantine protocols. The good news is that scientists around the world are racing to create a vaccine. Their focus? A protein responsible for identifying entry points into a cell. But the tech silver lining to this story is that the Canadian AI firm BlueDot was the first to detect the outbreak. Solid evidence of how AI can help humanity in so many critical ways.

Last but
not least. Let’s talk about the UK for a second…

Remember
last week’s story about the EU considering a 5-year ban on facial recognition
technology? Well, the UK just went and did the opposite.
It’s almost February, and Brexit is in the air.

I’d say
we’re actually experiencing somewhat of a repeat of the days before the
referendum. Trump and Nigel Farage are again teaming up, this time to stop the British government
from allowing Huawei to build part of its 5G network. Oh, well. Too late — Or maybe not?

Ironically,
this is all unfolding at the same time that the UK has announced a very
comprehensive set of IoT security regulations to protect connected
devices and spur innovation.