Introduction to the digital age - a package of 6 Knowledge Bits

From SiRi to self-driving cars, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is progressing rapidly. More will change in the next two decades than in the past 200 years. A captivating conversation is taking place about the future of AI and what it could mean for humanity.

Fascinating controversies where the world’s leading experts disagree, e.g.: AI’s impact on the job market; whether it will lead to an intelligence explosion; and whether it’s something we should welcome or fear. But there are also many cases of pseudo-controversies caused by people misunderstanding and talking past each other.

To help focus on the interesting controversies and open questions, not on the misunderstandings, we attempt to clear up some of the most common myths.

This informative course will benefit anyone who is interested in an overview of the evolution and progression of AI in today’s world, and how it is poised to disrupt the way we work.

A new world of cryptocurrency is seeing exponential growth causing a turn in the economy as well as presenting new challenges in the way we do business. While there are around 1600 types of cryptocurrencies available over the internet, it is Bitcoin that has experienced the most fierce value fluctuation of all.

Meanwhile, an accidental discovery has led to much hype around the formations of a decentralised digital ledger, a new and exciting technology that we now call Blockchain.

This has sparked a global debate as to whether this new way of recording transactions could be the solution we have been searching for, in bridging the gap with data protection, digital security and authentication. Many organisations and research facilities already have a taste for the types of answers to digital problems that this new technology could bring.

With cybercrime making headline news, it is more important than ever to be aware of our own digital footprint and the impact that it can have on our surroundings.

Protecting our data and taking vital precautions to maintain our digital privacy and continuity has become of paramount concern. Many users aren’t aware of the cyber threats lurking on the internet, cyber criminals and malicious hackers target regular people like you and me far more frequently than we would like to think.

The cybersecurity market has grown 35 times in the past decade, and is set for exponential growth with spending on products and services to eclipse $1 trillion worldwide.

This course provides information and advice, along with some easy steps to help minimise risk in today’s often confusing cyber landscape.

From the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, influencing our decisions and storing growing amounts of data on demand, Big Data is helping fuel it all.

This course will look at the impact of Big Data in the modern world and how understanding the opportunities available can assist in business.

With today’s world becoming technologically advanced, this course takes a deep dive into some of the driving forces behind the rapid technological evolution. Business are inundated with vast amounts of structured and unstructured data every day. In many cases that data is of such high volumes, that patterns and trends in the data have become difficult for a human to identify.

Big Data is serving us with insights for better decision making and being applied into the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, and personalised services using algorithms.

The way in which we process and manage that data has given rise to Cloud Computing. A way in which services can be provided on demand, everywhere and anywhere with a network connection. Cloud technology has also provided seemingly endless possibilities for storage of growing data. Opportunities have since emerged for new business ideas and start-ups in the tech space.

Change is inevitable. Disruptive technologies, globalisation, ever-increasing competition and uncertainties in the political and economic contexts all result in change upon change to the organisations in which we work. It is quite natural to fear change and want to cling on to the security of the status quo - change can be difficult and stressful and it can cause us a lot of anxiety. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Change can also bring opportunities of which we can take advantage: progress and growth on individual, organisational and societal levels all come from change.

This course looks at positive responses to change so that the individual and the organisation can prosper through change and use it to their advantage.

One of the latest trends in major disruptive technologies has begun to materialise and is the most talked about change since Big Data in the digital landscape.

The arrival of automation brings many positives, and possibly many negatives, such as: military use; rapid disruptive changes in the job market; and new ways of working.

More will change in the way we work in the next two decades than in the last 200 years.

To make sure that the collective choices that will be made about automation in the near future will be for the benefit of all, everybody should take an active role in helping to define how this will shape our future.