Big Data wears Prada

In early September 2016, the underground train route, Circle Line of Singapore experienced multiple disruptions. Trains stalled for no apparent reason due to “intermittent signal interference”. Simply put the incidents were caused by some form of signal loss that would trigger the emergency brake safety feature in those trains causing them to stop randomly in tracks.

GoVTech (Government Technology Agency of Singapore) worked together with LTA (Land Transport Authority) and SMRT (Singapore Mass Rapid Transport) to identify the problem. A complete account of this, is provided in the beautiful blog post written by Daniel Sim which documents all the analysis done by GovTechies Lee Shangqian, Daniel Sim & Clarence Ng.

Further data visualization revealed that a rogue train was causing signal interference in opposite, nearby trains causing them to stop at the tracks. On his post PM Lee described this as “a fascinating account, demonstrating close teamwork, sharp analysis, and a never-say-die attitude”, adding that “this is how a Smart Nation should use data to solve real-world problems”.

The Data scientists acknowledged that the quick analysis was possible mainly due to the data provided by SMRT and LTA. Availability of Data is perhaps our most vital instrument to solving complex issues such as this. Data collection has become more and more easy due to various advancement in the storage and retrieval technology, but Data alone cannot make any sense of issues. Every branch of industry and business generates a large amount of data which is stored faster than our ability to use it, for making decision.

Simply put data alone has no value in itself if no information is generated out of it. Design plays a secret yet vital role with Big Data in the form of Visual Analytics. Data visualization turns information overload into opportunities.

Visual analytics is highly interdisciplinary and combines various related dimensions areas such as visualization techniques, data mining, data management, data fusion, statistics and cognition science etc. On a grand scale, visual analytics provides technology that combines the strengths of human and electronic data processing.

The Analysis of Rogue Train was inspired by the extensive visualization project of Boston Subway system. The keyword here being the Visualization. A quick glance at this page would enable you to understand the power of charts, graphs and other creative visualizations that were used to achieve this interactive exploration. Design drives visualization and it helps cross functional teams such as the one who worked on “Rogue Train” issue to work on multiple aspects with common understanding.

Conclusion
A picture is always worth a thousand words, especially when you’re trying to find relationships and understand data, which could include millions of variables. In my opinion we need more of design thinking approach and design oriented professionals to contribute on data visualization realm to bring about radical change in the way we visualize & utilize data. Designers & Developers of Tech Companies should start validating visual outputs by applying more design ideas in creating a rich experience for the end user. Big Data needs some accessorizing and now it’s the time!

Srivatsan Aravamudan

General Enquiries	:	info@psibertech.com.sg
Sales Enquiries	:	sales@psibertech.com.sg
Telephone	:	+65 62689551
Fax	:	+65 62689858

Business Analyst - Snr Software Consultant.

PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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Disruptive Technology: How to brace for 2017

Anxiety ridden, businesses brace up for another hopeful year. The term that is consistent with last and this year is Disruptive Technology. While we all believe Technology is supposed to aid Business and work in accordance to it, often the reality proves otherwise.

A disruptive technology is one that displaces an established technology and shakes up the industry or a ground-breaking product that creates a completely new industry. It’s nothing new and always been part of Tech evolution i.e. consider this PC is a disruptive technology to Typewriter, Email is disruptive to letter-writing & Cell phone enabled us to call people anywhere disrupting the telecom industry.

AI: 2017 as experts predict, would be the year AI Robots ran the world. AI would practically make suggestions from everyday things like which route you take to work to making major decisions in business. AI would entirely depend and boost automation of everything it touches. Gartner recently pointed to AI and machine learning as two most disruptive trends on 2017.

Automation: As more people embrace devices with AI technology, an increasing amount of manual processes will become automated.  We are sure to witness automation replacing outdated systems both in-home and in-office for practical uses.

Internet of Everything: IoT would be Internet of Everything this year, and Hopefully your watch might talk to your air-conditioning, informing to switch it on full blast since you are coming home from running on a hot day.  

Geared VR: Samsung went all out this year in marketing its VR, Google and Facebook joined in the cause by providing significant leaps in this arena. Virtual Reality is would taking leaps and booming this year as its uses are tangible.

Print Everything:  3D printing made splashes to conventional printing. One could download and print almost anything from athletic wears, prosthetic legs, guns and even food. I cannot believe where we have come from squeaky disturbing sounds of dot matrix printer.

Digital ID: We have seen the rise of digital money and paying without card or cash in 2016. 2017 would add on to that by banking on validation using Digital Identification, like credit cards, driver’s license, Social security Number / Fins. I can only imagine someday everything about our identity would be online and digital.

Conclusion : We have witnessed paradigm shift in all of these disruptive technologies. This would be disruptive in the way we build products and also business as the new trends would command its usability into everything that we make today. Companies should be more open about how business and technology should be and venture into connected-ness, automation & intelligence. 

Software development is already evolving rapidly to provide for all the needs from these disruptive technologies and would continue to be so.  I believe it’s time we depend on each other more and It would be ideal strategy for companies to collaborate to provide innovative services and products for mutual benefits.  

Srivatsan Aravamudan

General Enquiries	:	info@psibertech.com.sg
Sales Enquiries	:	sales@psibertech.com.sg
Telephone	:	+65 62689551
Fax	:	+65 62689858

Pre-Sales, Communications and Digital Marketing Manager

PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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Perks of Being Uncle Bread

New year confetti are being cleaned up along with several nameless small businesses who couldn’t afford to continue any longer. Deep rooted anxiety of tomorrow has crept up and business owners are pulling their sleeves up for the steep hill. Amongst all this clutter stands a noble business man “Uncle Bread” from Singapore.

Pics courtesy : Strait Times, Singapore

Every day for the last 55 years, Mr Foo (known fondly as Uncle Bread) sold fresh breads to residents of Serangoon gardens and Seletar Hills Estate. The 78-year-old would go around tooting his Toyota Van’s horn to inform his customers, the bread has arrived. He would be surrendering his van keys for scrapping and would be retiring this Wednesday 11 Jan 2017.   "Uncle, take care, I will miss you," said a teary Filipino helper, who lives in Seletar Hills Estate, who has been buying bread from him for 12 years.

This simple man with humble business is the talk of the town today and for all the right reasons. Mr Foo had always greeted his customers and been regular in selling bread. He even obliged to take detour to sell to customer who was moved away from Serangoon gardens to Braddell.  Mr Foo thinks it was the customer's way of making sure he had business. Some even made special requests for a particular kind of bread and Mr Foo went out of his way to get it. Several customers had accounts with him, which is recorded in a notebook and would only pay him at the end of the month.  And then there were some niche details and agreements with his customers who had unique ways of informing him whether they needed bread for a day or not.

Uncle bread had made deeper connections with his customers, with his consistency, service and attention to details. Personal touches like greeting and attending to unique needs can go a long way in making sure the business continues even at changing times. He is a perfect example as how a small business could make an impact in customers lives, small yet in significant manner.  When asked about what he wanted to do next by Strait Times he replied “My daughter has been asking me to retire, and says she will give me an allowance. I want to read the Chinese evening paper properly and enjoy a slow walk in the park.”  Which I think is a perfect exit strategy ;)

Srivatsan Aravamudan

General Enquiries	:	info@psibertech.com.sg
Sales Enquiries	:	sales@psibertech.com.sg
Telephone	:	+65 62689551
Fax	:	+65 62689858

Pre-Sales, Communications and Digital Marketing Manager

PsiberTech Solutions Private Ltd

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