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Dacor to Launch Full Lineup of Premium Kitchen Appliances at KBIS 2017

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Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

KBIS Decor

ORLANDO, January 10, 2017/Korea IT Times– Dacor, a luxury kitchen appliance manufacturer acquired by Samsung Electronics in August 2016, today announces plans to unveil a new full lineup of premium household appliances at The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show 2017 in Orlando, Florida.

KBIS hosts over 2,500 exhibitors annually from various home appliance brands, while attracting more than 120,000 attendees across diverse industries.Dacor will showcase its new full-package Heritage Lineup which reflects the powerful combination of Dacor’s 50-year expertise in the built-ins segment with Samsung’s industry leading technologies and design.

The new luxurylineup,upgraded from its popular and traditional originals,will featurecompletely reimagined premium Built-In Column and French Door refrigerators, Range,and Wall Oven.The Range and Wall Oven are Wi-Fi-enabled, allowing users to control the appliances with their smartphone using the iQTM feature, and will includeDacor’s Four-Part Pure ConvectionTM technology which heats and cooks food quickly and evenly, inside and out.

Award Winning Energy Efficient Refrigerators

Additionally, nine Dacor refrigerators received the EPA’s Energy Star 2016 Emerging Technology Award and were recognized for their innovative refrigerant systems developed by Samsung. All nine including the Built-In Column refrigerator come in various sizes and were the first Dacor refrigerators to be awarded.

To qualify for the EPA award, the refrigerant system must have a Global Warming Potential (GWP) rating below 15 and produce an energy efficiency gain of 5 percent or higher.Dacor refrigerators have a negligible GWP rating and utilize the eco-friendly R-600 a hydrocarbon refrigerant, which can reduce energy usage by 6.5 percent.

“Our most recent luxury packages are built usingDacor’s top-tier technologies and decades of industry knowledge, paired with the strength of Samsung’s pioneering innovation,” said David Nichols, vice president of products atDacor. “We are honored to receive recognition from the US EPA, and we will continue to invest in new luxury kitchen appliances utilizing green technology in cooperation with Samsung.”

Founded in 1965 in California, Dacorwasacquired by Samsung Electronics in August 2016. The brand is well known for its luxury home appliances and has been a prominent player in the housing and real estate markets in the US and Canada.

The Dacor booth will be open at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando from January 10 through 12 for KBIS 2017.


Asteroid sleuths go back to the future

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Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

Looking up

ESA, January 11, 2017/Korea IT Times-- Careful sleuthing through decade-old images has enabled ESA’s asteroid team to decide that a newly discovered space rock poses little threat of hitting Earth any time soon.

Spotting a previously unknown asteroid for the first time always raises the big question: is there a risk it will impact Earth?

Yet, upon discovery, analysts often have very little to go on. The initial image from the observatory, survey team or individual backyard astronomer who spotted the rock typically gives only basic information – its location in the sky and its brightness – and sometimes these aren’t known terribly accurately.

The most crucial information needed to determine with any degree of confidence whether it is a ‘near-Earth object’ (NEO) – and that it will miss Earth (or not) – is the new object’s path. And determining that requires a series images acquired over a period of days or even months.

“We need multiple follow-on images to compute the trajectory and make a risk estimate, but even then the uncertainty can be very large. It really takes many months of observations to get a good, reliable impact risk estimate, and in the meantime, there can be reason to worry,” says Ettore Perozzi of the NEO Coordination Centre at ESA’s facility in Italy.

Spotted from Arizona
This is precisely what happened on 19 October, when asteroid 2016 WJ1 was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey.

Asteroid 2016 WJ1

Additional images were taken by observers worldwide over the next few weeks, including by a team working at ESA’s own observatory on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, but uncertainty of the path meant that a possible close approach in June 2065 – with a worrying impact probability of about 1 in 8000 – could not be excluded.

“The additional images allowed us to refine our knowledge of the trajectory sufficiently to begin searching astronomical archives, to see if anyone had previously imaged this asteroid without having recognised it as such,” says Marco Micheli, observer at the NEO centre.

If any were found, the team would score what astronomers call a ‘precovery’ – short for pre-discovery.

Precovering
The investigation quickly bore fruit: images found online from the Pan-STARRS survey taken earlier in October showed what might be the target asteroid.

While these were inconclusive, the team assumed they were, in fact, accurate and then used these to call up additional, highly accurate images from a Canadian astronomical image search system.

Bingo: two sets of images from 4 and 5 July 2003 with the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope were found.

ESA observatory

“After careful inspection we were able to pinpoint the object, and the team were able to perform some very accurate determinations,” says Detlef Koschny, responsible for the NEO portion of ESA’s Space Situational Awareness programme.

“The result was that we could preclude any risk of Earth impact from asteroid 2016 WJ1 anytime soon or well into the future.”

ESA is now developing a new set of automated, wide-field-of-view ‘Fly-Eye’ telescopes that will conduct nightly sky surveys, creating a large future archive of images that will make critical precovery confirmations more efficient in future.

The key ICT trends and insight this week :AI and autonomous vehicles take center stage

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Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

Photo copyright: ITU News

The key ICT trends and insights this week, Artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles take center stage, telcos announce new partnership developments and Apple's iPhone turns 10 years old.
Spotlight
Forging paths to 5G: Information and communication technology (ICT) leaders at the recent ITU Telecom World event discussed in detail how to build smart, harmonized 5G systems. They also discussed how best to collaborate in today's digital economy(For a deeper look:ITU News Magazine)

ICT Trends
AI and cars: Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant dominated headlines from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this past week, reflecting the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) as a key emerging technology. Car technology also made a big splash at CES. The two massive trends are often tightly linked, which will raise a number of tricky issues about safety and liability.

Autonomous vehicles: Tech companies' increasing contributions to the auto industry are also on display this week at the North American Auto Show’s Automobili-D conference, where Waymo announced that it has built its own complete automated-driving sensor suite, processing system and software. This means the Google spin-off can likely lay claim to controlling more of the self-driving car technology stack than any other player.

Partnerships: 2017 is already seeing new partnership developments as big telcos adapt to shifting dynamics brought on by IoT and 5G. Among them: Ericsson, Orange and PSA Group’s 'Towards 5G' connected car partnership and AT&T’s evolving strategic partnership with Amazon, including a new dedicated IoT developer starter kit, powered by AWS.

4G rollouts: Vodafone India will expand its 4G network to 2,400 towns. Meanwhile, Kenya's Safaricom has reportedly paid USD 25 million for a 4G licence. Elsewhere, Hungary's largest fixed and mobile operator Magyar Telekom says its LTE users grew 44% in 2016 and that 70% of data traffic is now on the 4G network.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

Connectivity: BT's Openreach kicks off pilot deployment of ITU's G.fast technology.

Hardware: Apple's key product, the iPhone, turns 10 this week.
Infrastructure: Ericsson and Cisco to deliver new IP network backbone to Telefonica Guatemala.
IoT: World's first smart hairbrush knows more about your hair than you do?
Best gadgets for 2017? Here's MIT Tech Review's list of top smartphones, VR headsets, and smart watches set to hit the market this year.

Insights
'Universal Basic Income' If robots and AI steal our jobs, universal basic income can help, argues Peter Diamandis, referring to one proposed solution to job loss due to automation. How could it work? He gives examples.

Virtual Reality in China How did an American animator become a 'guiding force in China's bubbling VR scene'? Yiting Sun reports how Kevin Geiger is kickstarting the Beijing Film Academy's new VR center.

If Robots and AI Steal Our Jobs, a Universal Basic Income Could Help

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By Peter Diamandis
Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

The Korea IT Times have released a transcript of article by Dr.Peter Diamandis as follows
The article is about analysis and response to robots and artificial intelligence that could be steal our jobs.

Some fear that robots and AI will steal our jobs.
They probably will (in the near-term, at least half of them).
If that happens, what will we do for a living? How will we earn money?
In this post I’ll be discussing one of the most important proposed solutions to job loss due to automation—the notion of “universal basic income” (sometimes called guaranteed minimum income). Specifically, I want to discuss:

1. Predictions on job loss
2. What is universal basic income? Who is experimenting with it?
3. Does UBI work? What are the implications?

Let’s dive in.

Predictions on Job Loss
In 2013, Dr. Carl Benedikt Frey of the Oxford Martin School estimated that 47 percent of jobs in the US are “at risk” of being automated in the next 20 years.

The figure was recently verified by McKinsey & Company, who suggests 45 percent of jobs today will be automated with exponential technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics and 3D printing.

The concept is called technological unemployment, and most careers, from factory workers and farmers to doctors and lawyers, are likely to be impacted. The impact will likely be even more severe in the developing world.

The expected implications of technological unemployment vary widely.

Individuals like Ray Kurzweil and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen believe that while today’s jobs will perish, new jobs will be created by technology to replace them.

Other experts project that technological unemployment will be massively disruptive to society.

Still others believe society will adapt, first by constantly demonetizing our cost of living and next by the the widespread deployment of a universal basic income.
(NOTE: In case you missed it, in a previous blog I covered, in detail, how we are in the process of massively demonetizing the cost of living.)

What is universal basic income? Who is experimenting?
Universal basic income (UBI) is a policy in which all citizens of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, in addition to any income received from other means.

UBI’s core motivation—to address social ills by giving people “free” money—is certainly not a new idea.

For some perspective, Thomas Paine outlined a plan in his 1797 essay “Agrarian Justice” to create a national fund making payments of 15 pounds sterling to each adult over 21 years old.

Today, experiments with UBI are spreading across the world, from Finland and the Netherlands to Canada and France.

In France, several members of Parliament have supported running an experiment, and the finance minister is open to it.

In the last decade, over eight countries have formally experimented with UBI. Here are the top three active experiments worth noting:

1. Finland: Early next year, the Finnish government will launch an experiment in which a randomly selected group of ~3,000 citizens already on unemployment benefits will begin to receive a monthly basic income of 560 euros (approx. $600). That basic income will replace their existing benefits. The amount is the same as the current guaranteed minimum level of Finnish social security support. The pilot study, running for two years in 2017-2018, aims to assess whether basic income can help reduce poverty, social exclusion and bureaucracy, while increasing the employment rate.

2. Netherlands: The local government in the Dutch city of Utrecht is planning to conduct an experiment that would give a guaranteed monthly income to 250 Dutch citizens currently receiving government benefits. A two-year test period is tentatively set to begin in January of next year, and some citizens of Utrecht and some nearby cities will receive a flat sum of €960 per month (about $1,100). The Utrecht proposal—called “Weten Wat Werkt,” or “Know What Works”—includes six test groups, and the members in each will receive slightly different stipends under slightly different conditions. In addition to the group that will receive €960 per month without any work obligations, there is a group that will be given that, plus an additional €150 at the end of the month if they provide volunteer services, such as doing maintenance work on schoolyards.

3. India: Over 350 million people (about 30% of the population) remain below the poverty line after two decades of high economic growth. In that context, in 2011 India launched two pilots to test the impact of basic income grants, funded by UNICEF, with SEWA as coordinator. In eight villages in Madhya Pradesh, every man, woman, and child was provided with a monthly payment of, initially, 200 rupees for each adult and 100 rupees for each child paid to the mother or guardian; these were later raised to 300 and 150, respectively. They also operated a similar scheme in a tribal village, where for 12 months every adult was paid 300 rupees a month and every child got 150. Another tribal village was used as a comparison. The money was paid individually, initially as cash and after three months into bank or cooperative accounts.

In January, Sam Altman, the president of Y Combinator, announced the San Francisco-based startup fund was organizing a basic income study in the US.

Does UBI work?

While the implementation of UBI at scale is still in its early days, the results are promising.

Early results in the India experiment show nutrition was improved as measured by the average weight-for-age of young children (World Health Organization z-score), and more so among girls.

In the same study, the UBI grants led to more labor and work, not less, as expected by skeptics.

There was a shift from casual wage labor to more self-employed farming and business activity, with less distress-driven migration out of the region.

Women gained more than men.

That being said, the most compelling study demonstrating how universal basic income could work comes from a small town in Canada.

From 1974 to 1979, the Canadian government partnered with the province of Manitoba to run an experiment on the idea of providing a minimum income to residents called MINCOME.

MINCOME was a guaranteed annual income offered to every eligible family in Dauphin, a prairie town of about 10,000, and smaller numbers of residents in Winnipeg and some rural communities throughout the province.

So what happened to families receiving MINCOME?

• They had fewer hospitalizations
• They had fewer accidents and injuries
• Mental health hospitalizations fell dramatically
• High school graduation rates increased
• Younger adolescent girls were less likely to give birth before age 25, and when they did, they had fewer kids

The program brought most recipients above Canada’s poverty line.

And the employment effects in Dauphin were modest. For primary earners—those with full-time jobs—there was virtually no decline in work.

Essentially, nobody was quitting their jobs.

Cash from the government eased families’ economic anxiety, allowing them to invest in their health and plan over a longer horizon.

MINCOME is now serving as inspiration for basic income’s comeback in Canada.

In its 2016 budget, the provincial government of Ontario announced plans to conduct a basic income pilot this year.

Implications

I’m fairly confident that in the near future, as technology continues to eliminate traditional jobs and massive new wealth gets created, we’re going to see some version of universal basic income deployed at scale.

While I think the implications of UBI are mostly positive, there are certainly many complexities associated with its rollout.

There are still many questions that remain unanswered—where is the additional money coming from? Taxes?

Will UBI cause problems that we can’t anticipate or create more conflict than it resolves?

Can governments react quickly enough, given the pace of innovation and automation in tech? Is it actually a solution to technological unemployment? Or will we still have to go through a turbulent, violent period as we redistribute our labor in a world of robots and AI?

At minimum, I believe that with decreased costs of living, UBI will be one of many tools empowering self-actualization at scale—more people will be able to follow their passions, be more creative, and spend more time on higher-order, personally fulfilling tasks.

When this happens, we’ll be one step closer to a world of abundance.

Dr. Peter Diamandis
He was recently named by Fortune Magazine as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.

He is the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation which leads the world in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions.
He is also the co-founder and executive chairman of Singularity University, a graduate-level Silicon Valley institution that counsels the world’s leaders on exponentially growing technologies.
Diamandis is also the co-founder and vice-chairman of Human Longevity Inc. (HLI), a genomics and cell therapy-based company focused on extending the healthy human lifespan.
In the field of commercial space, Diamandis is co-founder and co-chairman of Planetary Resources, a company designing spacecraft to enable the detection and prospecting of asteroids for fuels and precious materials. He is the also co-founder of Space Adventures and Zero Gravity Corporation.

Diamandis is a New York Times bestselling author of two books: Abundance – The Future Is Better Than You Think and BOLD – How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World.
He earned degrees in Molecular Genetics and Aerospace Engineering from MIT, and holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
His motto is, “The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.”

[IT칼럼] 이유 있는 낙관론, 정부의 대오각성 필요해

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2017 CES 관람기
Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

Korea IT Times는 IT전문 송희경 국회의원의 2017 CES관람 후기를 보도한다. 송의원은 "우리 한국은 G2 사이에 낀 샌드위치 모습을 CES 에서 재현한 것일까. 정말 우리는 4차 산업혁명 전쟁에 늦어버린 걸까. 넘어야 할 산이 많지만 희망과 가능성은 열려 있다."고 역설했다. 

CES의 C는 CAR?
세계 3대 IT 전시로 꼽히는 라스베이거스 소비자 가전쇼(CES)를 다녀왔다. 올해도 역시 전기차와 자율주행차 등 차세대 자동차 관련 기술이 CES의 주인공으로 등장했다. C를 소비자(Consumer)가 아닌 자동차(Car)로 바꿔도 되는 것 아닐까 생각이 들 정도로 AI와 사물인터넷(IoT)를 장착한 화려한 슈퍼카들이 단연 눈길을 끌었다. 머지않아 스마트 홈은 자동차를 품을 것이라는 확신이 들었다. 그러나 최첨단 기술 관람의 즐거움도 잠시, G2(미국·중국)의 위용과 기세에 충격을 받았다.

어마 무시한 G2의 기세에 맨붕!

먼저 IT 전통 강국인 미국은 건재함을 보여줬다. 무인차·인공지능 기술을 리드할 뿐 아니라 신기술에 관한 비전을 던지는 리더 다운 면모를 보여줬다. 반도체 주자인 퀄컴, CPU 주자인 인텔은 무인 자동차 분야에서 기술력을 과시했다. 자동차 Charging Infra 기술도 새로웠다. 중국의 IT 굴기에도 압도되었다. 올해 3800여개의 CES 참가 기업 중 중국 기업은 무려 1300여 곳으로 34%에 달한다. 반면 한국 업체는 10%에 불과하다. 전시장 사방에서 중국어가 영어보다 많이 흘러나왔다. 대중창업, 만인혁신(大衆創業, 萬衆創新)의 슬로건을 내세운 중국 정부의 창업 정책이 서서히 발톱을 드러내는 순간이었다. 부러움보다는 두려움이 컸다.

그렇다면 우리 한국은 G2 사이에 낀 샌드위치 모습을 CES 에서 재현한 것일까. 정말 우리는 4차 산업혁명 전쟁에 늦어버린 걸까. 넘어야 할 산이 많지만 희망과 가능성은 열려 있다.

가전 강자, 우리나라 대기업의 포스! 클래스는 영원하다
먼저 우리나라 대기업의 ‘선전포고’는 여전히 유효했다. 국제 가전의 쌍두마차인 삼성전자와 LG 전자는 TV를 놓고 QLED VS OLED로 맞붙었다. 쏘니가 브라비아 OLED TV를 선보였지만 두 강자를 부지런히 쫓아가는 양상에 그쳤다. 가전의 명가답게 국내 대기업들은 신기술 구현에 그치지 않고 이용자를 고려한 편의성 면에서도 독보적인 클래스를 보여줬다. 현대자동차도 커넥티드카를 앞세워 미래 모빌리티 방향성을 제시하는 등 신기술 공개에 나섰다. 라스베가스를 자율주행으로 질주하기도 했다. 특히 자동차가 도킹 형태로 집과 결합해 하나의 공간을 창출하는 현대자동차의 시연은 영화 제5원소를 떠올리게 했다.

중소기업 및 스타트업 아이디어, 하태하태!
중소기업의 혁신도 빛났다. 우리의 야박한 창업 문화를 생각한다면, 여기까지 오는 것도 쉽지 않았을 테다. 핸디소프트의 커넥디드카 서비스, 한샘의 진공블렌더, 코웨이의 Iot 정수기, 비데 등 스마트 홈에 이어 스마트 헬스 등과의 확장성을 보여줬다. 자물쇠, 디지털, 클라우드를 결합한 ‘플랫폼베이스’의 도어락도 제조업과 디지털의 융합, 산업의 재편을 보았다. 유전체 기반 공유경제 플랫폼 ‘마이지놈박스(mygenomebox)’와 지문 인식 기능이 장착된 스마트 자물쇠 ‘벤지락’등 스타트업의 아이디어도 눈길을 끌었다.

신발 끈 동여맨 청년들과의 만남, 역시 브레인 한국!
마지막으로 CES를 찾은 대학생들과 청년 예비 창업가들의 열정이다. 뛸 준비가 되어 있는 청년들과의 대화는 2017 CES의 가장 큰 즐거움이었다. 창업, 기술 표준화, 투자, 글로벌 진출 등 질문을 쏟아내는 젊은이들이 대견했다.


정부의 대오각성이 필요한 시점
국내 대기업의 관록, 중소기업 및 스타트업의 아이디어, 청년 브레인. 이 뛰어난 주체들을 융합할 수는 없을까. 지난 2·3 차 산업 시대에는 뛰어난 한 주체가 ‘각자’ 혹은 ‘혼자’도생해도 큰 무리가 없었다. 오히려 승자의 독주 체제는 눈부신 압축 성장을 가능케했다. 그러나 지금은 융합과 협업이 생존 전략이 돼 버렸다. 그리고 우리는 이제야 막 대오각성 했다. 제대로 된 트리거만 터져준다면 액션 플랜은 불같이 타오를 것이다.

다만 이유 있는 낙관론의 전제 조건이 하나 있다. 대오각성한 정부의 의지다. 건실한 민간 자본의 투입, 대중소 상생, 창업 인식 제고...우리가 너무 잘 아는 이 해법에는 과감한 국가적 투자와 정책이 절실하다. 하위 법령이나 피상적 규제 개선에는 한계가 있다. 또한 아무리 미리 준비 한다고 해도 법과 제도는 새로운 산업을 앞 설수 없다. 신 산업에 대한 설 익은 제도는 자칫 규제가 될 수 있다.
근본적으로 정부가 기술 창업과 4차 산업혁명의 흐름을 철학적으로 꿰뚫고 있어야 한다. 세세한‘가이드라인’안에서 산업을 지도하고 가르칠 것이 아니라 최소한의 ‘아웃라인’만 그려 주고 도전하라고 하는 것이 맞다. 때로는 ‘선을 넘어도 좋다’는 유연함과 신뢰도 보여 줘야 한다. 이러한 철학이 녹아있는 제도와 정책 마련이 절실하다. 4차 산업혁명은 일자리가 줄어드는 것이 아니라 일자리가 변화하는 패러다임이다.
확실한 새로운 기회다.

[정연태 칼럼]반기문 전 유엔사무총장의 대선주자로서의 가치

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Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

정연태 국가혁신포럼 회장

반기문 전 유엔 사무총장은 현직에 있을 때부터 각종 대선후보 여론조사에서 줄곧 상위권을 달리고 있다. 현재 그는 유력 대선 주자로서 우리에게 어떤 의미가 있을까?

1950년 6월25일 새벽4시 북한은 탱크를 앞세우고 남한을 침략했다 그때 우리의 대통령은 미국서 공부하고 해외에서 독립운동을 하다가 들어온 이승만 박사였다.

그 당시는 미국에서 공부를 한 사람은 찾아보기 드문 시기였다.

6.25가 발생한 바로 다음날 미국의 트루만 대통령은 유엔 안전보장이사회를 소집하고 유엔군 파견을 결정했다. 그리고 전쟁발발 후 3일 만인 6월 28일 미군은 제일 먼저 유엔군으로 우리나라에 파견되었다.

어떻게 전쟁이 발발하자마자 우리 국군도 제대로 대응할 준비를 갖추지 못한 상황에서 유엔군 참전이 곧바로 결정되고 3일 만에 유엔군이 한국땅에 도착할 수 있었을까?

그것은 이승만 대통령이 국제무대에서 뛰어난 영어실력으로 의사소통이 가능했을 뿐만 아니라 미국과의 긴밀한 유대관계를 구축하고 있었기에 유엔의 적극적인 도움을 받아 낼 수 있었던 것이었다.

그 당시 유엔군의 도움이 없었다면 오늘날 자유 대한민국은 존재하기 어려웠을 것이다.

이처럼 나라가 위기에 처했을 때 그 나라의 지도자는 국가의 운명과 국민의 생명을 좌우한다.

이런 점에서 반기문 전 총장의 국제적인 인맥과 네트워크의 가치는 우리 안보에 있어서 그 무엇과도 비교될 수 없이 크다.

국내 대권주자들 열 명을 모두 합쳐도 반기문 전 총장이 10년 동안 국제무대에서 쌓아온 인적 자산과는 절반에도 미치지 못할 것이다.

더군다나 유엔 사무총장의 임기를 마친 직후에 끼치는 영향력과 파급효과는 어느 때보다 크다 할 것이다.

우리는 이러한 반 전 총장이 가지고 있는 이력과 공적자산을 대한민국을 위해, 우리 국민들을 위해 최대한으로 활용해야 한다.

경제적인 측면에서도 반기문 전 총장이 할 수 있는 역할을 살펴보자.

우리는 혈맹국인 미국과의 관계도 트럼프가 대통령이 되면서 어느 때보다도 힘들고 어려운 상황에 처할 것이 분명하고, 중국 또한 북한의 핵과 미사일 개발을 뒤에서 직ᆞ간접적으로 지원해 왔다는 사실을 고려해 볼 때 미ᆞ중과의 외교관계는 특단의 전략과 전술로 지혜롭게 대처해야 할 것이다.

앞으로 중국은 우리나라의 자위권 차원의 사드배치 등을 이유로 혐한류 정책 등 특히 경제분야에서 지속적인 압박을 가해 올 것이 틀림없다. 또한 일본과의 관계도 통화스와핑이 일방적으로 중단되는 등 앞으로 어떻게 진행될지 예측 불가능한 상태이다.

세계의 흐름 또한 자국의 보호무역을 강화하면서 한국을 계속 위협하고 있다.

한국은 이런 난국을 타개하기 위하여 중국에 대한 경제 의존도를 줄이고 유럽, 중남미, 중동, 아프리카, 동남아시아 등 국제간의 교류의 폭을 더욱 더 넓혀 시장의 다양화를 추구해야야 한다.

국내 정치지도자들 중 이런 난제들을 타개할 만큼 해당국가와의 직접적인 교류와 소통이 가능한 글로벌 리더십을 갖춘 준비된 대선후보가 과연 몇 명이나 될까?

아쉽게도 현재까지의 국내 대선주자들의 면모를 살펴 보면 반기문 전 총장 외에는 특별한 대안이 없다.

나라의 안보와 경제가 흔들리는 불확실하고 위태로운 상황 속에서도 국내 기성 정치인들이 보여준 행태는 새로운 변화에 적극 대응하는 커녕 무사안일과 무능력, 무책임으로 일관된 절망적인 모습뿐이었다.

여전히 정치지도자로서의 비전과 국가경영의 올바른 로드맵을 제시하지 못하고 포퓰리즘과 적당주의로 국민의 민심을 호도하고 있으며 국가를 이 지경으로 만든 구태정치의 장본인으로서 겸허한 반성없이 또 다시 정치판을 기웃거리며 대통령을 꿈꾸고 있으니 더 이상 낡고 부패한 세력에게 부강하고 밝은 대한민국의 미래를 맡길 수 없다는 것은 자명한 사실이다.

새 술은 새 부대에 담아야 한다는 말이 있듯이 반기문 전 총장과 같이 국제감각과 통찰력을 갖춘 정치인에게 새롭고 위대한 대한민국 건설의 책임을 맡겨야 마땅하다.

반기문 대세론이 굳혀지자 반 전 총장을 헐뜯기 위해 검증이란 핑계로 온갖 불합리한 잣대를 들이대고 있는 음해세력들의 발로를 미연에 차단시키기 위해서 국민들은 이제 두 눈을 똑 바로 뜨고 반기문 전 총장을 중상모략하는 자들과 전면전을 불사해야 할 것이다.

국민들도 진정 나라와 우리 후대들을 위한다면 이제 우물안 개구리 식의 좁은 시야에서 벗어나 세계가 인정하고 대화를 원하는 반기문 전 총장과 같은 글로벌 지도자를 선택하여 지금 우리나라가 직면하고 있는 총체적 위기에서 하루속리 벗어나야 할 것이다.

건국 이래 우리는 반기문 전 총장과 같이 세계 평화를 위해 봉사하고 헌신해온 통합적 리더십을 갖춘 인물을 배출한 적이 없다. 우리는 현재 어려운 대외관계와 경제문제, 그리고 사분오열 된 민심을 하나로 묶기 위해서도 반드시 반기문 전 총장과 같이 풍부한 경험과 위기관리능력을 두루 갖춘 지도자를 국가지도자로 선택해야 한다.

소용돌이 치고 있는 작금의 정세에서 하루속히 벗어나기 위해서는 오로지 정권찬탈의 야욕과 사리사욕에 물든 낡고 부패한 정치권력을 몰아내고 반기문 전 총장과 같은 깨끗하고 능력있는 지도자와 함께 새로운 미래를 향해 힘차게 달려 나가야 할 것이다.

반기문 전 총장의 가치를 통해 다시 꿈과 희망으로 밝게 열리는 대한민국의 미래를 기대해본다

美 백악관이 보는 인공지능과 일자리의 상관관계는?

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지난달 20일, ‘인공지능, 자동화와 경제’ 보고서 발표
Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

미국 백악관 보고서 ‘인공지능, 자동화와 경제’ 표지

하루가 다르게 발전하는 인공지능의 능력은 과연 인류에게 축복일까, 재앙일까. 수많은 예측들이 혼재하고 있는 지금, 이에 대한 미국 백악관의 보고서가 발표돼 눈길을 끈다.

미국 백악관은 지난달 20일 ‘인공지능, 자동화와 경제(Artificial Intelligence, Automation and the Economy)’라는 제목의 보고서를 발표했다. 이 보고서는 지난해 10월 먼저 발표했던 ‘인공지능 시대를 대비하라(Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence)’ 보고서의 후속 버전으로 인공지능에 따른 자동화가 미국의 노동시장과 경제에 어떠한 영향을 미치게 될 것인지에 대해 예측하고 이에 대한 제언을 담고 있다.

이 보고서는 인공지능(AI) 능력의 가속화가 오랫동안 인간의 노동을 필요로 하는 일부 업무를 자동화할 수 있다고 말한다. 이러한 변화는 개인, 경제 및 사회에 새로운 기회를 열어 주는 긍정적인 측면이 있지만, 수백만의 미국인들의 생계 수단을 혼란에 빠뜨릴 가능성도 있다고 지적했다.

또한 AI가 실업과 장기적으로는 불평등의 증가로 이어질 지는 기술 그 자체뿐 아니라, 제도와 정책에도 달려 있다고 설명한다. 때문에 이 보고서는 AI 기반 자동화가 경제에 미칠 것으로 예상되는 영향을 조사하고 AI의 이점을 높이고 비용을 절감 할 수 있는 광범위한 전략을 설명하기 위해 작성됐다고 배경을 전했다.

미국 백악관은 AI가 노동시장에 미치는 영향은 최근 수십 년 동안 컴퓨터와 통신혁명이 가져온 영향과 비슷할 것으로 예상했다. 향후 10~20년 동안에 9~47%의 일자리가 AI로 인해 위협받게 되지만, 그만큼의 새로운 일자리가 생겨남으로써 실업률은 비슷하게 유지될 것이라고 전망한 것.

또한 AI 기반 자동화에 의해 위협받는 일자리들은 주로 저임금, 단순노동, 낮은 교육을 받은 노동자의 일자리들이 될 것이며, 이는 저소득층의 임금의 감소와 사회 불평등을 높이게 될 것이라고 했다. 예를 들면, 자율주행차가 상용화될 경우에는 버스, 트럭, 택시, 우버 운전자들의 일자리 중 60%~100%가 없어지게 될 것이라고 보고서는 언급하고 있다.

안타깝게도 장기적 관점으로 볼 때, 고임금-고등기술 노동자들도 상황이 좋지 않기는 마찬가지라고 전망했다. 그 이유는 IT 시장 자체가 승자독식 형태의 시장이기 때문에 AI 자동화로 얻어지는 대부분의 이익은 극소수의 사람들(자본가, 경영자 등)이 차지하게 되고 대부분의 노동자들은 임금향상 등의 이익을 누리지 못한 채 사회적 불평등만 키우게 될 것이라는 것이다.

하지만 보고서는 경제적 인센티브와 정부 정책을 통해 기술이 사회에 미치는 영향을 조정할 수 있다고 말하고 있다. 즉, 적절한 관심과 정책을 도입할 경우에 AI 자동화는 생산성을 높일 뿐 아니라 더 많은 일자리 창출도 가능하다는 입장이다. 이를 위해서는 AI 자동화에 따른 예상되는 사회적 문제 및 경제 전반에 미치는 영향을 면밀히 검토하고 이에 대한 대응 전략을 마련하는 것이 필요하다고 강조했다.

이에 따라 해당 보고서는 아래와 같은 세가지 전략을 제시했다.

① AI 개발에 대한 투자 강화 : 미국은 다른 R&D선진국에 비해 AI에 대한 기술개발 투자가 저조한 상황이므로 자동화를 위한 AI 기술개발에 투자를 확대할 필요가 있다.

② 노동자들에 대한 직업 교육 강화 : 학생에게 다양한 직업을 선택할 수 있도록 양질의 교육을 제공하고, AI 자동화에 따른 실직했을 때 다른 직업을 찾을 수 있도록 재교육 기회를 제공 필요하다.

③ 노동자들의 사회 안전망 강화 : 노동자들과 구직자들이 적당한 일자리를 찾을 수 있게 지원하고, 실업상태에 놓일 경우 의료보험, 실업보험, 식비보조 등을 제도적으로 지원해야 한다. 세금 정책 등을 현대화해서 AI 자동화로 얻어지는 혜택이 노동자들에게 돌아갈 수 있도록 하는 정책 마련 필요하다.

이 보고서에 대한 내용을 정리한 한국산업기술진흥원은 “우리나라를 포함한 많은 나라들에서는 AI에 따른 자동화가 새로운 일자리를 많이 창출할 것이라고 예상하고 있지만 미국은 일자리 축소에 대한 걱정을 하고 있다”며 “우리나라도 기술개발이 사회 경제에 미치는 영향을 면밀히 검토하고 이를 보완할 수 있는 정책 수립에 대해 고려할 필요가 있겠다”고 조언했다.

 

스마트폰 보다 '쾅'... 드라이버 모드가 필요해

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Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

교통안전공단 ‘운전중 스마트폰 사용 유형 및 위험성 연구’ 영상 캡처

가끔 운전 중 스마트폰을 손에 들고 카톡이나 메시지를 확인하거나, 전화를 하거나 도착지를 검색하는 지인이나 택시기사, 버스기사들을 볼때면 간담이 서늘해지곤 한다.

운전 중에는 스마트폰을 사용하지 말아야 하는데, 스마트폰이 워낙 하는 일(?)이 많아지고 사용이 일상화 되다 보니, 무심결에 궁금증 반, 조급증 반 사용하기 일쑤다. 진동이나 알림이 오면 온 신경이 거기에 집중되는 것은 물론이다. 하지만, 이러한 운전 중 스마트폰 사용은 매우 위험하다. 자칫 큰 사고로 이어질 수 있고, 본인 뿐만 아니라 타인의 생명을 위협하기도 하기 때문.

실제 사고 위험도 증가하고 있는 것으로 조사됐다. 교통안전공단이 2015년 운전자 540명을 대상으로 설문조사를 한 결과, 42%가 운전 중 SNS 또는 교통정보를 이용하고 있고, 26.1%는 인터넷 검색을, 20.6%는 음악감상 또는 어학공부를, 14.8%는 TV나 유튜브 등 영상을 시청하는 것으로 나타났다.

또한 운전 중 스마트폰 사용으로 5명중 1명(21.3%)이 교통사고가 발생했거나 그와 유사한 위험상황을 경험했으며, 당시 음성통화 중이었던 경우가 50.4%로 가장 많았고 40.9%가 SNS 사용, 16.5%는 인터넷 검색 중이었던 것으로 나타났다.

스마트폰 사용이 운전능력에 미치는 영향은 어떠할까. 교통안전공단 교통안전교육센터에서 24명을 대상으로 실험한 결과, 돌발상황 회피 실험(시속 50km)에서는 자유주행 조건에서 83.3%가 성공했으나, SNS사용과 인터넷 검색 조건에서는 각각 45.8%와 50%만이 성공했다.

특히, 돌발상황에 대한 운전자 반응시간 실험에서는 자유주행 조건에서 0.545초였는데 비해, SNS사용과 인터넷 검색 조건에서는 각각 0.605초와 0.614초로 늦었다. 이러한 차이는 시속 50km 주행 시 돌발상황을 인지하는 과정에서 차량이 약 1미터 정도를 더 진행하게 되어 보행자 사고 등 매우 위험한 결과를 초래할 수 있다.

미국 도로교통안전국(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)에 따르면 운전 중 휴대전화 사용이나 DMB 시청 등을 할 경우 운전자의 반응시간이 도로교통법에서 음주운전으로 규정하고 있는 혈중 알콜농도 허용치 0.05% 보다 훨씬 높은 0.08% 수준으로 저하되고, 교통사고로 인한 중상가능성도 4배 이상 높아질 수 있다고 한다.

이러한 위험성 때문에, 미국에서는 선제적으로 항공기 운행 시 전파 방해를 막아 항공 사고를 방지하기 위해 스마트폰에 탑재돼 있는 ‘에어플레인 모드’처럼 운전 중에도 일부 스마트폰 기능을 제한하는 ‘드라이버 모드(Driver Mode)’ 개발에 대한 필요성이 강조되고 있다.

이미 미국 도로교통안전국은 지난해 11월 스마트폰 제조업체들에게 운전 중 스마트폰을 이용하면서 발생하는 사고를 예방하기 위해 ‘드라이버 모드’ 개발을 권고하는 가이드라인 제작에 착수하라고 했다.

도로교통안전국은 이번 가이드라인을 통해 애플과 삼성 같은 전자기기 제조업체들이 향후 스마트폰의 특정 앱이나 기능을 제한하고 인터페이스를 단순화한 운영 시스템을 설계할 것을 권고한다는 방침이다. 이와 관련해, 앤서니 폭스 미국 교통부 장관은 “스마트폰은 단순한 통신기기를 넘어섰다.”며, “운전 시 주의가 분산되는 것이 문제다. 너무 많은 사람들이 죽거나 다치고 있다“고 언급했다.

정보통신산업진흥원은 이에 대해 "이번 미국 도로교통안전국 가이드라인은 운전 시 사용되는 포터블 기기에 대한 최초의 구체적인 권고안이라 할 수 있다”며 “사실, 미국 도로교통안전국은 전자기기 업체들에게 권고사항을 준수하라고 강제할 수는 없지만, 과거에도 차량용 내비게이션과 엔터테인먼트 시스템에 대한 가이드라인을 배포한 바 있으며 자동차 제조업체들이 도로교통안전국이 제시한 가이드라인을 채택한 바 있다”고 설명했다.

또한 “최근 들어 스마트폰 이용에 따른 사고가 빈번해 짐에 따라 새로운 가이드라인이 배포될 예정이므로, 강제 가이드라인은 아니지만 재계에서 유사한 권고안을 채택한 사례가 있다는 점을 참고해야 한다”고 덧붙였다.

 


[IT休] ‘인간 닮은 인공지능, 과연 옳은 걸까’

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Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

영화 엑스 마키나 포스터

불쾌하고 두려웠다. 인간으로서 ‘인간다운 인공지능’을 꿈꾸는 것이 과연 옳은 것인가 하는 자문을 하게 됐다. 영화 ‘엑스 마키나’(2015, 감독 알렉스 가랜드)는 현재의 인공지능 연구에 대한 근본적인 물음을 던진 영화인 듯 하다.

인간의 편리를 위해 만들고 있는 ‘인공지능’을 과연 인간답게 만드는 것이 옳은 것인지 말이다. 인간의 생각과 그 방식을 모사하는 인공지능이 꼭 인간과 닮은 외형을 가져야 하는지, 그런 인공지능에게 자아란 확립될 수 있는지 같은 물음 말이다.

영화 엑스 마키나의 시작은 이렇다. 전세계 검색엔진의 94%를 차지하고 있는 인터넷 회사의 프로그래머 '칼렙' (돔놀 글리슨)은 어느날, 회사 내 테스트에서 1등을 차지하며, 회장 ‘네이든’ (오스카 아이삭)의 저택에 초대받게 된다. 하지만, 이 만남은 단순한 것이 아니었는데….

그곳에는 매력적인 인공지능 ‘에이바’ (알리시아 비칸데르)가 있었다. 네이든은 천재적인 인공지능 개발자였다. 네이든은 전세계 핸드폰에 저장돼 있는 사진과 영상을 해킹해 에이바의 하드웨어라 할 수 있는 심장, 즉 마음을 만들었다.

소프트웨어는 회사의 검색엔진이다. 사람들이 어떻게 사유하는지가 고스란히 담겨 있기 때문이다. 네이든은 칼렙에게 인공지능인 에이바에게 자의식이 있는지 테스트 해달라고 했다. 물론, 이 실험은 철저히 비밀리에 이뤄져야 한다는 것과 함께. 칼렙은 이를 받아들여 튜링테스트를 통해 에이바를 실험하기로 했다. 하지만, 이 테스트는 생각지 못한 방향으로 흘러가는데….

어쩌면 ‘인간을 닮은 기계’은 필연적으로 인간의 삶에 있어 ‘혼란’을 가져올 지도 모르겠다. 어쩌면 인간이 동물을 지배하고 장악할 수 있었던 것은 ‘외향’이 달랐기 때문일 거다. 물론 지능이 현저히 인간이 높아서 가능한 일이겠지만. 만약 동물이 인간과 같은 겉모습을 가지고 있다면, 인간은 동물을 더 ‘연민적’으로 생각하지 않았을까.

그렇다면 인공지능은 어떨까. 체스게임이나 바둑에서 인간을 비웃듯 승승장구하는 인공지능은 이미 인간의 두뇌를 이미 넘어서고 있다. 그래서 동물과 같이 인간이 인공지능을 쉽게 지배하긴 어려울 것이라는 두려움이 짙게 깔려 있는지도 모르겠다. 지능적으로 나보다 우월한 존재는 두려움의 대상이 될 수 밖에 없기에.

영화 엑스 마키나가 우리에게 던지는 철학적 질문은 간단하면서도 풀기 쉽지 않다. 인간과 꼭 닮은 인공지능, 즉 자의식이 있는 인공지능을 ‘인간’으로 받아들일 수 있는가? 인공지능에게 성별이 필요한가.

또한, 그들을 어떠한 윤리적 잣대로 다뤄야 하는가. 인공지능은 ‘생명’을 가진 존재인가. 그리고 인간은 자신과 똑 닮은 인공지능이 여전히 기계라며, 어떠한 경우에도 흔들리지 않을 수 있는 존재인가. 인간은 인공지능을 선하게만 이용할 것인가. 반면, 인공지능은 자신을 탄생시킨 인간을 배반하지 않을 것인가.

“인공지능이 감정을 표현하는 건지 아님 연기를 하는 건지 어떻게 아나?”

네이든이 칼렙에게 던지는 이 질문은, 인공지능이 인간에 종속돼 있을 것이라는 막연한 희망과 편견에 찬물을 확 끼얹는다. 인간에 대해 모든 것을 학습한 인공지능이 인간 그 자체와 너무나도 닮아있다면, 인공지능과 인간은 동등한 존재로 공존할 수 있을까. 인공지능 개발에 있어, 한번 고심해야 할 ‘화두’를 던진 영화 엑스 마키나 였다.

 

LG디스플레이, ‘세상에 없던’ 모바일용18:9 QHD+ LCD 개발

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Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

모바일 디스플레이의 QHD 해상도 시대를 연 LG디스플레이가 디자인과 해상도를 한층 업그레이드 한 새로운 모바일용 LCD를 선보인다. LG디스플레이는 세계 최초로 18:9 화면비를 적용한 5.7인치 모바일용 QHD+ LCD 패널 개발에 성공하고 본격적인 제품 양산에 돌입한다고 11일 밝혔다.

LG디스플레이는 이 제품을 LG전자의 차기 전략 스마트폰에 처음 공급할 예정이다. 이번 제품의 핵심 키워드는 ‘18:9화면비의 모바일 디스플레이’. 휴대폰에서 가장 넓은 면적을 차지하고 있는 디스플레이는 4:3, 3:2, 5:3, 16:9로 꾸준히 발전해왔다.

최근에는 17:9화면비까지 소개된 바 있다. 이번 제품은 보다 넓고 시원한 대화면을 원하는 소비자들이 많아짐에 따라 18:9 화면비를 구현함으로써 몰입감을 높인 것인 특징이다.

회사측은 “스마트폰으로 동영상 소비와 멀티 태스킹이 늘어나고 있는 추세에 맞춰 18:9 라는 새로운 화면비로 소비자들에게 새로운 시각적 경험을 제공함과 동시에 디스플레이가 진화해야 할 방향을 제시한 것”이라고 강조했다.

또한 18:9화면비는 듀얼 스크린 기능을 활용한 멀티 태스킹에 보다 최적화된 비율이다.

LG디스플레이가 독자 개발한 인터치(in-TOUCH) 기술이 적용돼 뛰어난 터치감을 제공한다. 또한 터치 커버 글라스(Touch Cover Glass)가 필요 없어 더 얇고 가벼운 스마트폰을 만들 수 있다. 모듈(커버글라스 제외) 기준으로 1mm가 채 되지 않은 초슬림 두께에, 기존 QHD LCD보다 위/좌우와 아래 베젤폭을 각각 0.2mm(20%), 0.54mm(10%) 가량 좁혔다.

 

LG디스플레이 김병구 전무(모바일 개발1그룹장)는 “기존의 모바일 디스플레이와 전혀 다른 18:9 화면비의 초고화질 디스플레이를 통해 사용자 경험과 고객 가치를 극대화 할 수 있을 것”이라며 “앞으로도 LG디스플레이만의 차별화 기술을 바탕으로 프리미엄 모바일 디스플레이의 새로운 기준을 제시해 나갈 것”라고 말했다.

 

DrivenBI SRK Self-Service BI Named Most Innovative Product of 2016 by PM360

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Thursday, January 12th, 2017

Pasadena, CA, January 11, 2017/Korea IT Times – DrivenBI, provider of SRK – the only cloud-native self-service BI platform that empowers business professionals without IT’s constant support, today announced that its SRK self-service business intelligence platform was recognized by PM360 as one of the most innovative products of 2016. The innovative products included software, apps, programs, and other solutions designed to improve how those working in marketing of the medical industry do their jobs.

“DrivenBI(www.DrivenBI.com) is eliminating the complexities associated with self-service BI and making data understandable and usable for the business professionals that need to use that data,” said Ben Tai, CEO of DrivenBI. “BI needs to be a business process and in many ways a creative process, not a technical one, to have meaningful impact for businesses. Smart businesses are recognizing that and moving away from IT–centric means of analysis.”

PM360 is the premier magazine for marketing decision makers in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. Published monthly, PM360 is the only journal that focuses on delivering the full spectrum of practical information necessary for product managers and pharma marketing professionals to succeed in the complex healthcare environment.

Established five years ago, PM360’s Innovations Issue, which features the 2016 innovators, serves as a comprehensive guide to PM360’s readers, providing a glimpse at the year’s most cutting-edge companies, divisions, startups, products, services, and strategies.

Usable by business professionals in just a few days, DrivenBI delivers the only cloud native self-service solution that requires zero involvement from technical professionals. Where other BI vendors claim ease-of-use, they refer to IT’s ability to administer. With DrivenBI, all data is available in the cloud without having to build or use a warehouse. Its SRK data analysis platform gives users the ability to bring in their own data, build analysis according to their own specific dynamic requirements, and collaborate with colleagues with actionable sharing. DrivenBI is redefining self-service data analytics by completely removing the IT-centric complexity.

Viable for any vertical market, the SRK platform is used by business professionals responsible for finance, inventory control, corporate-wide KPIs, marketing, operations, resource management, and sales. It dramatically improves the productivity of business professionals who have switched from spreadsheets/ERP, embedded BI, and other traditional BI tools.

 

Thomas Pesquet Spacewalk Test

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Thursday, January 12th, 2017

ESA January 12, 207/ Korea IT Times--ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is set for his first spacewalk, on Friday 13 January. Together with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, he will exit the International Space Station at 12:05 GMT (13:05 CET) to complete a battery upgrade to the outpost’s power system.

Thomas and Shane’s spacewalk this week is the second to work on the batteries. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and Shane spent six hours and 32 minutes outside installing adapter plates and connecting three of the six new batteries on Friday 6 January.

Thomas practised this spacewalk for months on Earth at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, USA, and has spent the last few weeks in space working intensively to prepare the spacesuits and tools for the sortie.

 

 

Rising Media and 3DR Holdings Announce the Launch of Inside Fintech Hong Kong

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Thursday, January 12th, 2017

HONG KONG, Jan. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ Korea IT Times-- Rising Media, Inc. and 3DR Holdings
announced the launch of Inside Fintech Hong Kong, taking place on March 21-22, 2017 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The two-day conference program, will encompass the latest innovative technologies that enhance and develop the global financial ecosystem. Topics include innovation, blockchain technology, big data, InsurTech, RegTech, cybersecurity, investment opportunities, payment systems, regulation, digital and decentralized currencies, such as Bitcoin, and more. It will also look at how Hong Kong competes on a global level as a fintech hub.

The program features 25-30 expert speakers participating in keynote sessions and panel discussions.

"Inside Fintech Hong Kong is going to be the must attend fintech event in Asia Pacific for everyone involved in this space. It will be an ideal opportunity for attendees to hear insights from the brightest minds in the fintech ecosystem and make valuable connections ," said Christoph Rowen , Managing Director -- APAC, Rising Media.

In addition to the two-day conference program, the event features an exhibit hall where visitors can meet and connect with an array of fintech service providers and financial institutions.

Prices for Inside Fintech Hong Kong increase on-site, so register in advance to save. For more information and to register, visit: insidefintechconference.com/hong-kong
.

Physicists ‘Squeeze’ Light to Cool Microscopic Drum Below Quantum Limit

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Thursday, January 12th, 2017

NIST researchers applied a special form of microwave light to cool a microscopic aluminum drum to an energy level below the gene

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have cooled a mechanical object to a temperature lower than previously thought possible, below the so-called “quantum limit.”

The new NIST theory and experiments, described in the Jan. 12, 2017, issue of Nature (link is external), showed that a microscopic mechanical drum—a vibrating aluminum membrane—could be cooled to less than one-fifth of a single quantum, or packet of energy, lower than ordinarily predicted by quantum physics. The new technique theoretically could be used to cool objects to absolute zero, the temperature at which matter is devoid of nearly all energy and motion, NIST scientists said.
“The colder you can get the drum, the better it is for any application,” said NIST physicist John Teufel, who led the experiment. “Sensors would become more sensitive. You can store information longer. If you were using it in a quantum computer, then you would compute without distortion, and you would actually get the answer you want.”
The latest NIST experiment adds a novel twist—the use of “squeezed light” to drive the drum circuit. Squeezing is a quantum mechanical concept in which noise, or unwanted fluctuations, is moved from a useful property of the light to another aspect that doesn’t affect the experiment. These quantum fluctuations limit the lowest temperatures that can be reached with conventional cooling techniques. The NIST team used a special circuit to generate microwave photons that were purified or stripped of intensity fluctuations, which reduced inadvertent heating of the drum.
“Noise gives random kicks or heating to the thing you’re trying to cool,” Teufel said. “We are squeezing the light at a ‘magic’ level—in a very specific direction and amount—to make perfectly correlated photons with more stable intensity. These photons are both fragile and powerful.”

The NIST theory and experiments indicate that squeezed light removes the generally accepted cooling limit, Teufel said. This includes objects that are large or operate at low frequencies, which are the most difficult to cool.

The drum might be used in applications such as hybrid quantum computers combining both quantum and mechanical elements, Teufel said. A hot topic in physics research around the world, quantum computers could theoretically solve certain problems considered intractable today.

Towaga, the latest game from a Swiss startup that aims to challenge the little Italian plumber

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Thursday, January 12th, 2017

Sunnyside games Studio

Available to download from January 11th 2017 on the App Store and Google Play at a cost of 3
CHF (No adverts or in-app purchasing), Towaga, the new, 100% Swiss-made game
by Sunnyside 
games with backing from Switzerland’s crowdfunding community, has ambitions on a grand
scale, aiming for a million downloads in short order, despite an ultra-competitive market.
Sunnyside Games is pinning its hopes on a custom-developed light rendering engine, a
soundtrack that adapts to the player’s actions, and the studio’s previous successes in the mobile
market with Anshar Wars 2 and The Firm, all of which could enable Chimù to do battle with the
Goliaths of the industry.

Screen 02 - Towaga

Lausanne, Switzerland, January 12th 2017/ Korea IT Times-- Towaga is a challenging and exciting 2D action/adventure game developed by the young, Lausanne-based startup, Sunnyside Games. They’ve been around the block before: Anshar II for the Gear VR and Oculus
Rift was one of 2016’s best sellers, while The Firm for iOS sold over half a million copies.

You play the part of Chimù, a powerful, masked character at the top of the legendary Towaga Tower, where you have to complete a
dark and historic ritual that leads to the discovery of ancient worlds while you face up to monsters who are starved of light.

Armed with divine powers, especially a powerful beam of light, you must survive, perform exorcisms and combat the hordes of
monsters while trying to complete the five challenges that will reveal the ultimate mystery, hidden behind the door of the dead.

The process of developing Towaga was made possible thanks to Switzerland’s crowdfunding community, which raised the
campaign’s profile and resulted in it receiving 186% of its funding target. Since then, Sunnyside Games has developed and
implemented several games and has focused its efforts on creating its own, 2D cartoon rendering engine to recreate an
immersive visual experience that resembles a traditional cartoon.

The soundtrack also received special attention, as it was created specifically for the project using the Wwise audio engine so that
it could adapt and evolve dynamically, depending on what the player does on the screen. In summary, this is an adventure to be
experienced with an audio headset for complete immersion.
Sunnyside Games will offer a number of free updates over the coming months, based on feedback from the community. This is a
concept that is close to the heart of the Lausanne-based startup, which always aims to offer an experienced that is designed for
gamers, by gamers.

Sunnyside Games is a young, Lausanne-based startup that was founded in 2013, and which specialises in developing mobile and
VR games. Sunnyside Games defines itself, first and foremost, as a mutually supportive, flexible team that is highly motivated to
achieve its goals, which include the creation of fun, uninhibited and rewarding experiences, and sharing a worldview that has its
roots in the world of animation with the gaming community.


Sentinel-2B Launch Preparations off to a Flying Start

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Friday, January 13th, 2017

The second Sentinel-2 satellite, Sentinel-2B, arrived at Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 6 January 2017 to be prepared for launch. After being moved to the cleanroom and left for a couple of days to acclimatise, cranes were used to open the container and unveil the satellite. Over the next seven weeks the satellite will be tested and prepared for liftoff on a Vega rocket.(Copyright: ESA)

ESA, January 13, 2017/ Korea IT Times--Some of us may be easing ourselves gently into the New Year, but for the team readying Sentinel-2B for liftoff on 7 March it’s full steam ahead.

On 5 January, the satellite was shipped from ESA’s site in the Netherlands – where it had been undergoing testing since June – and arrived safe and sound in French Guiana the following day.

The Sentinel-2 mission is designed as two satellites working in tandem – Sentinel-2A has been in orbit since June 2015.

Offering ‘colour vision’ for Europe’s Copernicus programme, the mission combines high-resolution and novel multispectral capabilities.

Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s Director for Earth Observation Programmes, said, “Since both satellites have a 290 km-wide coverage path and they orbit 180° apart, the time it takes to image the globe will be cut in half to five days once Sentinel-2B is operational.”

The mission mainly provides information for agriculture and forestry and for helping to manage food security. Satellite images are used to determine key information about plants, such as chlorophyll and water content.

This is particularly important for predicting yields effectively and applications related to Earth’s vegetation.

Avezzano, Italy(Copyright: Copernicus Sentinel data (2015)/ESA)

Now in the cleanroom at Europe’s spaceport, Sentinel-2B is already on its stand for the start of a seven-week campaign to test and prepare it to be lofted into orbit on a Vega rocket.

ESA’s launch campaign manager, Paolo Laberinti, said, “It’s good to see that our delicate cargo arrived safe and well" and

"We’ve already been able to set up all the technical equipment that we use to test the satellite and connect it to its electrical equipment – so that it’s ready for testing.

“We are off to a flying start and eager to get our baby into orbit so that it can join its twin and do the job of continuously delivering images to monitor our changing world.”

Concurrently, the Sentinel-2 mission control team at ESA's operations centre in Germany has already begun intensive simulation training for the critical launch and early orbit phase.

Sentinel-2B is scheduled for liftoff on 7 March at 01:49 GMT (02:49 CET; 22:49 local time on 6 March).

New Silkroad’s Casino in Jeju Island Renames as 「美高樂 MegaLuck」

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Establishing New Brand Image Building World-Class Gaming and Entertainment Centre
Friday, January 13th, 2017

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 12 January 2017 - New Silkroad Culturaltainment Limited ("New Silkroad" or the "Company", HKEx Code: 00472) is pleased to announce that its casino at Jeju KAL Hotel, South Korea, has been officially renamed as "MegaLuck Company Limited" ("MegaLuck"), with Chinese name "株式會社美高樂" ("美高樂"). The renaming signifies the success of the new management in consolidating the existing casino business and to usher its brighter future, grasping the opportunities brought about by the rapid development of gaming and tourism in Jeju, and taking a step forward in developing one of the largest integrated resort complexes in South Korea.

The new name in Chinese "美高樂", means the casino will offer a fascinating environment, world-class gaming and entertainment facilities and a joyful gaming experience to all the guests; the use of the English name "MegaLuck" implies that the casino shall bring utmost luck to all its guests. The casino currently operates one Roulette table, two Black Jack tables, 25 Baccarat tables and 24 electronic game machines.

After a sequences of acquisition, New Silkroad now controls 72% of MegaLuck which owns a gaming license on Jeju Island. MegaLuck has already started to make contribution to New Silkroad financially. It has recorded HK$17 million revenue for the first half of 2016, accounting for 14.8% of the Company's total revenue.

Furthermore, New Silkroad has also formed a strategic alliance with Melco International Development Limited ("Melco", 00200) in May last year whereby Melco will provide planning, development and implementation advisory services for the new casino, as well as the preparation and marketing events for the Casino's commercial launch.

In addition, the Company also took control of Macrolink Glorious Hill Co., Ltd ("Glorious Hill") via a capital injection with the objective to develop the project under Glorious Hill into a mega integrated resort complex in South Korea, within which, a large-scale casino, to further expand the gaming and entertainment business of the Company.

Mr. Paul Ng, Executive Director of New Silkroad said, "New Silkroad will see MegaLuck to evolve into a world-class gaming and entertainment conglomerate with the highest standards in operations and internal controls among the industry, at the same time also enabling New Silkroad to grow and enhance its core value while we expands our business into the cultural tourism area, thereby broadening our income sources and enhance business growth. This renaming marks the new management team's key milestone in leading the gaming business into a new stage. It is our goal to strengthen the strategic partnership with Macrolink, Melco and UTour, with an view to further develop our business into a higher dimension."

New Silkroad Culturaltainment Limited (formerly known as JLF Investment Company Limited) ("New Silkroad", HKEx Code: 00472) is an investment holding company. Its subsidiaries mainly focus on development and operation of overseas real estate, cultural tourism and gaming businesses, and production and sale of wine and baijiu under its own brands in China. Macrolink Culturaltainment Development Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Macrolink Real Estate Co. Ltd.) ("Macrolink", SZSE Code: 000620) is the substantial shareholder of New Silkroad. Macrolink is a property developer controlled by Macro-Link Holding Company Limited (on the list of China's Top 500 Companies) and has developed over 30 large scale integrated real estate projects since 1992.

 

Requisite space selfie

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Saturday, January 14th, 2017

Astronaut Thomas Pesquet (Copyright: ESA/NASA)

ESA, January 13, 2017/ Korea IT Times--The Korea IT Times release a transcript of description and photos by ESA as follows

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet during his first spacewalk, on Friday 13 January 2017. Together with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, he spent five hours and 58 minutes outside the Space Station to complete a battery upgrade to the outpost’s power system.
Thomas commented on this picture: "The requisite space selfie! Nice reflection of Earth in the helmet. Unbelievable feeling to be your own space vehicle…"

(Copyright: ESA/NASA)

Yesterday at 01:23, Thomas Pesquet got Inside the station, research in full swing: Peggy Whitson and Oleg Novitsky working on the Fluid Shifts experiment. More than half of astronauts experience changes in their vision and even our eyeballs can change shape during a long-duration spaceflight. Researchers who look into this kind of thing think it is because living without gravity makes the fluids in our bodies move towards the head – increasing the pressure in our brain that pushes our eyes into a different shape. The Fluid Shifts experiment measures how much fluid shifts from the lower body to the upper body to investigate further.

BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Pesquet is a ESA(European Space Agency) astronaut of French nationality. He is currently on a six-month mission to the International Space Station. Thomas is serving as a flight engineer for Expeditions 50 and 51, launched in November 2016 and returning in May 2017. He previously worked as an aerospace engineer, and is also an airline pilot for Air France.

EBRD invest in 378 individual projects worth €9.4 billion In total in 2016

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By Anthony Williams @ebrdtony
Sunday, January 15th, 2017

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) source, continued to deliver strong support for its regions in 2016 with a powerful programme of investments that helped modernise economies and make them more robust and resilient.

In another economically challenging year, the EBRD stepped up its investments in key strategic areas where the Bank can make an important impact.
In total in 2016, the EBRD invested in 378 individual projects worth €9.4 billion, matching the previous record set in 2015.

The EBRD stepped up its financing in local currencies with 93 local currency projects in 2016 compared with 80 a year earlier. And it maintained a strong level of investment in small businesses that are seen as key to ensuring underlying economic strength and providing job opportunities.

The EBRD increased the number of its projects in the least advanced transition countries to 114 in 2016 from 102 a year earlier.

Reflecting the implementation of its Green Economy Transition approach, the share of environmental financing rose to 33 per cent from 31 per cent of total annual investment. This financing included projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate resilience and resource efficiency, according to EBRD

As it continued to reach out right across the societies of its countries of operations, the Bank made progress with its gender programmes, increasing its financing for gender oriented projects to 29 projects in 2016 compared with 23 in 2015.

Major countries of investment in 2016 included Turkey, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Poland and Bulgaria.

The Bank’s updated transition concept was approved in November and seeks to make the Bank’s countries of operations competitive, inclusive, well-governed, green, resilient and integrated, equipping them for the challenges of the 21st century

Iridium Announces Successful First Launch of Iridium NEXT Satellites

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Iridium NEXT Constellation Refresh Begins – First Ten Satellites Delivered to Low- Earth Orbit
Sunday, January 15th, 2017

Next-Launch-Custom

MCLEAN, Va., January 14, 2017 – Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) announced today the successful launch of its first ten Iridium NEXT satellites. The satellites were delivered into low-Earth orbit approximately one hour after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:54:39 a.m. PST. Iridium NEXT is the company’s next-generation satellite constellation, replacing and enhancing its existing network of low-Earth orbit satellites spanning the entire globe – the largest commercial satellite constellation in space.

This is the start of a series of Iridium NEXT launches scheduled over the next 18 months, and marks the beginning of one of the biggest “tech refreshes” in history, completely replacing the only satellite constellation providing 100-percent truly global communications coverage. Once fully deployed, Iridium NEXT will enable a new broadband multi-service capability called Iridium CertusSM, while providing the technical flexibility to support innovative new services and technologies from Iridium’s extensive partner network. Among those technologies is a unique hosted payload from Iridium’s partner Aireon, which will provide a real-time global aircraft surveillance service, extending aircraft visibility across the planet.

The first ten Iridium NEXT satellites were delivered to a 625 kilometer (km) temporary parking orbit where they will be tested and exercised by Iridium over the coming weeks. Upon meeting testing and validation requirements, the satellites will then be moved into their 780km operational orbit and begin providing service to Iridium’s customers. One-by-one, the new satellites will be positioned near a current generation satellite, each moving at approximately 17,000 miles per hour as testing begins. Iridium’s unique inter-satellite communication links from nearby satellites will be repositioned to point to the new Iridium NEXT satellite as it prepares to take over service. Existing satellites will eventually be de-boosted and de-orbited.

“Today Iridium launches a new era in the history of our company and a new era in space as we start to deliver the next-generation of satellite communications,” said Matt Desch, chief executive officer of Iridium. “We have been working endless hours for the last eight years to get to this day, and to finally be here with ten Iridium NEXT satellites successfully launched into low-Earth orbit is a fulfilling moment. We are incredibly thankful for all of the hard work from our team, as well as our partners, to help us achieve this milestone.”

Both Thales Alenia Space, System Prime Contractor for the program, and their subcontractor for production, Orbital ATK, have been integral in the development of the Iridium NEXT program, from the design and manufacturing of the Iridium NEXT satellite vehicles to managing an 18-station, state-of-the-art assembly line production system.

“Leading a worldwide team to manufacture, assemble, test and prepare each satellite for this moment has been incredibly exciting,” said Bertrand Maureau, executive vice president of telecommunications at Thales Alenia Space. “We are very proud to have conducted such a unique program, in terms of scale and complexity as well as to have successfully completed the end-to-end whole constellation on-ground validation. The system is fully tested, and the compatibility of Iridium NEXT with the Block-1 operating satellites has been perfectly demonstrated. It has truly been an honor, and we are looking forward to completing the rest of the Iridium NEXT constellation through 2017 and early 2018.”

“We are proud to be a part of this revolutionary satellite program,” said Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group. “Seeing these first ten satellites launch successfully into space is the result of a unique assembly-line process at our satellite manufacturing facility that represents a remarkable achievement. We look forward to seeing the innovative solutions these satellites, which are great examples of leading-edge technology and manufacturability, will enable.”

In addition to partnering with Thales Alenia Space as System Prime Contractor, Iridium has partnered with SpaceX for the launch of 70 Iridium NEXT satellites on its Falcon 9 rocket.

“We are very proud to be chosen as the launch provider for the entire Iridium NEXT program and are excited about today’s successful first launch,” said Gwynne Shotwell, President of SpaceX. “Iridium was one of SpaceX’s first customers, and working alongside them to deliver one of the largest aerospace projects underway is an exciting moment for us at SpaceX.”

Iridium and SpaceX are partnered for a series of seven launches, deploying ten Iridium NEXT satellites at a time. The next major milestone will be the completion of on-orbit testing of these satellites, to validate performance requirements are met. The second Iridium NEXT launch will be scheduled after this testing is completed, in April. The entire Iridium NEXT network is scheduled to be completed by mid-2018. For more information about Iridium NEXT, please visit www.iridium.com.

Iridium Communications Inc is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. The company has a major development program underway for its next-generation network — Iridium NEXT. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has based these statements on its current expectations and the information currently available to us. Forward-looking statements in this presentation include statements regarding the timing for deployment, development and capabilities of the Iridium NEXT constellation and services to be offered over the constellation, including Iridium Certus and Aireon SM. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words “anticipates,” “may,” “can,” “believes,” “expects,” “projects,” “intends,” “likely,” “will,” “to be” and other expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding potential delays in the Iridium NEXT deployment, the development and functionality of Iridium NEXT and related services, and the company’s ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite constellation, as well as general industry and economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 25, 2016, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium’s expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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