The Internet of Things is poised to be the next wave of technology to wash over Silicon Valley and it may create a $290 billion global market by 2017, building on past tech waves like mobile, software, personal computers and semiconductors.
Futurist Thomas Frey: In 1998, a column I wrote for The Futurist Magazine took issue with the state of computer displays. Viewing the vast and growing Internet through a little square box on our desk was, in my opinion, the equivalent of watching a baseball game through a knothole.
The use of Bitcoin will evolve beyond ‘store of value’ or ‘transactions’
There was a lot of speculation and excitement about Bitcoin in 2013. A good way to start 2014 is with a list of predictions for Bitcoin. These predictions are based on growth patterns of similar networks, the traction in various ecosystem activities last year, and conversations with various Bitcoin enthusiasts.
Airbnb is a global marketplace where people can list space in their homes for rent.
How far has Airbnb come? More than 10 million people have stayed in Airbnb homes to date. This is a long way from the company’s early days when the founders hosted people on air mattresses in their apartment and basically went door-to-door to get traction.
The OECD is out with new global rankings of how students in various countries do in reading, science, and math. You can see below how Asian countries are obliterating everyone else in these categories.
Helium is a highly necessary commodity in the modern world.
Almost everyday we are told about the unsustainable pressure we’re putting on our natural resources. And while it prompts visions of oil, fresh water, and coal, you’d be surprised at how many of our creature comfort commodities are dwindling just as quickly.
How fast we can access the internet is very important. There is evidence that internet bandwidth is a key driver of economic growth and online participation, and there is plenty of other research to point to its role in social value creation.
Global consumption of natural gas will rival the use of coal and steal the market share from oil on the world market.
The “next defining energy trend” is poised to be natural gas as it increasingly becomes a primary global energy source, according to a report released today by GE.
The State Departments’ goal is having more foreigners learn English and experience the U.S. education system.
U.S. embassies around the world this fall are hosting weekly discussions for students enrolled in free online courses, called MOOCs, in partnership with Coursera, the Silicon Valley-based platform with over 5 million users. Embassy employees and Fulbright fellows (Fulbright being an academic exchange program sponsored by the State Department) will volunteer to host the discussions. There will be over 30 sites to begin with, in countries like India, China, and Bolivia. Topics include English, science, technology, engineering, business, and U.S. civics.
Wind power could generate as much as 18 percent of global electricity by 2050.
Wind energy only accounts for a small percentage of global electricity production even though we have seen more wind farms popping up over the last few years. Wind power generates only 2.6 percent of the world’s electricity, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency, but that number is expected to grow significantly over the next few decades.
Percentage of Data Center Traffic in the Cloud, 2012-2013
More than two-thirds of global data center traffic will be represented by cloud-based traffic by 2017. Cloud traffic will have grown more than fourfold from 2012 to 2017. Cloud-based traffic is already poised comprise the majority of traffic within the next few months.