We need bees; they're major pollinators for just about every crop we depend on and without them, one-third of our foods would disappear, according to the BBC. Beekeepers and scientists all over the world have been sounding the alarm for declining numbers for over a decade. While the exact cause isn't yet known, protective measures and Internet of Things (IoT) technology could help save bees. Cumulative Stressors Kill Bees Declining bee populations, domestic and wild, have been on the radar since the late '90s, though researchers couldn't pinpoint exactly why. There are several potential causes — climate change, reductions in bee-friendly plant food sources, rise in pesticide use and harmful mite infestations — that studies show to affect bee health, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The organization advises beekeepers that all these factors may contribute to Colony Collapse Disorder and hive loss. While singly these factors may only weaken bee health, adding all these stressors together has enough cumulative impact to kill the insects. Action to Save Bees Agencies, individuals and governments have taken action to save bees — for example, through limiting or banning pesticides and encouraging planting crops that bees use for food. National Geographic reported that the European Union will ban neonicotinoid pesticides, or neonics, heavily implicated in bee deaths, by the end of 2018. Along with other measures under research including probiotics and bee-friendly planting (the University of Georgia suggests creating bee pastures), IoT technology could also help. IoT Technology to the Rescue Domestic beekeeping, or apiculture, ranges from a solo enthusiast with a hive or two to commercial ventures that assist crop pollination. Acting quickly when a hive is in trouble helps save bees. Usually this means regular hive visits and a degree of disruption to daily bee life; IoT technology with remote sensing offers beekeepers fast updates in real time from a distance. Remote Hive Monitoring Eavesdrops on Bees Various smartphone-enabled apps connected with in-hive sensors give beekeepers instant updates on temperature and humidity, which, in turn, indicate bee activity and health. Companies such as SolutionBee explain how remote monitoring assesses factors such as hive weight and local weather as early alerts in order to show food scarcity or conditions that hinder foraging behavior. Listening to the buzz can also indicate the health of a hive. Oldooz Pooyanfar, a Simon Fraser University researcher, uses microphones to listen in on beehives. Adding accelerometers as part of the smart sensor package also captures vibrations, supplementing temperature and humidity data for a broad overview of bee health. Artist Anne Marie Maes gathers hive audio from her bees. Using piezo contact microphones, Maes looks for patterns of communication among bees that signal health and activity. Another sensing opportunity involves smell; distinctive odors might signal bee ill health, and this could be exploited using an electronic nose, according to The Conversation. Follow the Bees Since bees return to their hives regularly throughout the day, it is possible to collect flight data from the insects as they fly in and out. The BBC reported about researchers in Manchester, England, fixing tiny RFID backpacks to honeybees that download flight and location data to sensors back at the hive home base. This data lets scientists know how far and where bees fly to gather food. Remote Healthcare for Bees Efforts to save bees include reducing or eliminating mite burdens in the hive, as mite infestations distress bees and negatively affect hive health. One pesticide-free solution under trial is the Eltopia MiteNot system, a remote-sensing hive insert that monitors bee activity. Through remote sensing, the IoT-enabled frame can tell when conditions are right so that the system delivers a blast of heat just before the honeycomb brood cells are capped; this stops male mites from fertilizing mite eggs on the bee larvae. A digital beehive and IoT technology might be just the answer to save bees and crop pollination; the alternative — robotic bees — might not be the answer we're looking for. Interested in working for a company that cares about the environment? Consider a career with Northrop Grumman. 

The Buzz in IoT Tech to Save Bees

Imagine the smart city of the future, fueled by IoT applications and predictive analytics. That vision isn't far away; in fact, it's already here in some cities. In the past decade or so, young workers have rejected suburbia in favor of places where they can ride their bikes to work and shop locally. Such access is a major reason that urban populations grew more than suburban populations for the first half of this decade, according to the Brookings Institution. Although the trend towards urbanization has dipped a bit as millennials hit their 30s, cities are the future. Approximately 54 percent of the world's population is urbanized today, and the figure could jump as high as 90 percent later this century, according to The New York Times. Cities realize that they are in a race to attract young workers by offering tech amenities like IoT applications and predictive analytics. What Is a Smart City? A smart city utilizes digital technology to measure data related to how a city operates. Ideally, a smart city uses such data to improve quality of life for its citizens by limiting traffic, making public transportation more efficient and even providing alerts when there are long lines at museums. China's Bold Lead in Asia China leads the world with some 500 smart city pilot projects, according to  The Economic Times. The Chinese government began development of these cities in 2012, encouraging the use of IoT applications and artificial intelligence. The fruits of that labor are already apparent. In Hangzou, for instance, the "City Brain," an AI system installed in 2016, tracks crime and traffic and the movements of its citizens. According to New Scientist, car accidents, traffic and crime have all fallen since the system went live. The City Brain can identify criminals and adjust traffic lights to avoid traffic congestion. While Shanghai and Beijing are tech hubs, citizens in various Chinese cities can board trains and enter buildings merely by flashing their faces for facial recognition systems, according to MIT Technology Review. One enterprising KFC is even letting customers purchase fried chicken via facial recognition, per The Guardian. China's not the only leader in Asia. In a 2017 Juniper Research survey, Singapore was voted the world's smartest city in part because it employed "smart, connected traffic solutions," which allows Singaporeans to access traffic and parking data online. Europe's Leaders In Europe, meanwhile, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Barcelona lead the continent. Amsterdam employs dynamic traffic management and has used data to help garbage trucks make fewer runs. It has also replaced most of its traditional parking meters with pay-by-phone apps. In addition, the city has a program called Beautiful Noise that gleans data from posts on Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. Amsterdam uses such data to send out alerts about public transit delays and queues at museums that people are complaining about, according to MIT Sloan Management Review.  In Copenhagen, meanwhile, the city's Copenhagen Solutions Lab unifies all the city's data projects. The city plans to use data-network infrastructure to connect parking systems, smart meters, traffic lights and charging stations to help citizens find parking spaces quickly and cut down on carbon emissions. In Barcelona, sensors have cut the amount of water that city parks use and have made buses more efficient, according to The Financial Times. America's Smartest Cities In America, the progress of smart cities has been comparatively slow. Among the leaders is San Francisco, which has articulated a vision for city-run transportation options that aim to alleviate the city's world-class traffic problems. In 2016, the city earmarked $11 million to establish a "transportation as a platform" service. One component is a vision of shared autonomous vehicles that will reduce the need for car ownership and encourage carpooling, according to the Juniper Research survey. The Urban Future Such transformations are occurring all over the world. One potential game-changing technology is 5G, the high-speed wireless network, which will make broadband-speed internet access ubiquitous. With the mainstream adoption of 5G looming in the 2020s, the stakes will be higher for urban areas everywhere to join the "smart cities" list.

The World's Smart Cities Are Fueled by IoT Applications and Predictive Analytics

A DDoS attack — which stands for "distributed denial of service" — is a type of cyberattack that hijacks innocent users' computers in order to attack a website and render it temporarily inaccessible or inoperable.  In such an attack, the targeted website is flooded with fake user requests, so many of them that they cannot handle the traffic. The site may be knocked offline entirely by the overflow traffic, or its response to legitimate requests may simply slow to such a crawl that the website becomes unusable by its intended users.  And because DDoS attacks operate by hijacking innocent machines, they are exceptionally difficult for security experts to trace back to their originator, meaning that the targeted website usually cannot determine the attacker's identity.  Botnets on the March  But the most distinctive feature of DDoS attacks is that they victimize not only the targeted website (and its users, who suffer the actual denial of service) but also the owners of other computers and internet devices — up to hundreds of thousands of them — whose machines are taken over in order to send the fake requests that cripple the targeted website.  Not all denial of service attacks are "distributed"; such attacks can also be launched using a single machine to send the fake service requests. But as Kim Zetter notes at Wired, such single-origin attacks have been largely supplanted by DDoS attacks.  The computers hijacked for a DDoS attack are "recruited" by being infected with a computer virus that places the infected computer under control of the attacker. A computer thus infected is called a bot (short for robot) or zombie. A network of bots used in an attack is a botnet.  The owners and users of these infected computers are generally unaware that their computers are infected, or being used in an attack. They may notice sluggish performance when their computer is being used in a botnet, but without knowing the cause.  While the computers used in a botnet are infected, the website targeted by a DDoS attack is not itself directly infected by the attack, and its data is not being stolen — it is simply flooded with spurious service calls. However, the disruption caused by DDoS may also be used to attempt other attacks on the targeted website.  Motives for DDoS attacks can vary from straightforward money extortion ("pay up, or we'll keep knocking you offline") to political motivations. The latter involve both so-called hacktivists and state intelligence agencies. One of the most notable DDoS attacks to date was launched in 2007 against Estonian websites by actors associated with Russia.   DDOS Hits Warp Speed  More recently a new type of DDOS attack has come to the fore. ZDNet reports that attackers have learned how to hack into servers running a software application called Memcached, which is designed to speed up web page loading. Servers running Memcached should never be exposed the public Internet — but many website operators fail to provide this protection, allowing DDOS attackers to hijack the servers and put Memcached to work for them.  In 2018, reports Wired, the developer website GitHub was subjected to the most massive DDOS attack yet recorded, when request traffic suddenly jumped to 1.7 terabits per second — roughly comparable to a million users all trying to access the same website at the same time.  The good news is that GitHub recovered within minutes. But most websites are not as well-prepared to handle such an attack.    Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Enter the Internet of Things  In and of themselves, DDoS attacks are not the most damaging form of cyberattack, since the target website is only temporarily disabled, and — unless another type of attack is also involved — its data is not compromised. The machines used in the botnet are compromised, but the attackers are often interested only in using the bots to send fake service requests, not stealing data from them.  But as Margaret Rouse reports at SearchSecurity, the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) is raising the stakes for DDoS attacks. The things in the Internet of Things are internet-connected gadgets of all sorts, from exercisers' activity tracking wristbands to industrial controllers. Few of these IoT devices have been designed for security — meaning that they are all too vulnerable to hackers who want to take them over and use them in DDoS attack botnets.  The challenge of protecting IoT devices against being hijacked by DDoS attackers underlines just one facet of a transformation now overtaking the computing and technology world.  Because of the Internet of Things, "tech" in the sense of computers and information technology is no longer separate from the broader domain of technology. Every sophisticated machine is now likely to also be an internet device, with all the implications for security as well as capabilities.  At Northrop Grumman, you can work with some of the world's most sophisticated connected devices, up to and including automated technology. And security in all its forms is the heart of the business. 

Service Denied! The DDoS Attack Threat

If you own a smartphone, you're familiar with apps that allow you to remotely lock or unlock your home's doors, turn on a garden irrigation system or perhaps monitor your home's surveillance cameras. Underpinned by a robust wireless communications infrastructure, this network — part of the Internet of Things (IoT) — works because every device uses the same rules or Internet Protocols for how it connects to the network and how it packages, addresses and routes data. Warfighters operating in austere environments using disparate sensors and communication systems are hungry for such advanced networking. That's why the Department of Defense is focused on creating over the next five to 10 years an Internet of Warfighting Things (IoWT). Sometimes known as the Internet of Military Things, this separate and ultra-secure network would model the robustness and reliability of the IoT and allow every military asset to communicate, in theory, with every sensor, regardless of service affiliation. "The current challenge for the military is that they have to bring their current infrastructure with them," explained Colin Phan, director of strategy for Northrop Grumman's Networked Information Solutions Division (NISD). "In the past, platforms have had trouble communicating with each other due to services acquiring technology in silos. Today, the DOD is moving to an interconnected network that will make IoWT a reality for our warfighters."   Mobilizing a Well-Connected Future To make IoWT a reality, the DoD is currently undertaking a number of key initiatives with an effort called Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) sitting at the center. "JADC2 aims to connect platforms and sensors from all military services — Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and Space Force — into a single network, accessible by all services," explained Bruce Swett, a Northrop Grumman Fellow in NISD. "The goal is to take the commercial model of the Internet — the network, the computing, the AI — and bring it to warfighters so that they can get better information more quickly and make better decisions with a more complete understanding of what's going on around them." The IoWT could also be used in conjunction with data analytics to predict the maintenance requirements of a fleet of military vehicles, which would reduce costs, increase the availability of these platforms and keep troops safe, he added. "The major services are contributing to JADC2 by developing their own complementary advanced networking initiatives to link sensors and weapon systems across the tactical battlefield," explained Colin Phan, director of strategy for Northrop Grumman's Networked Information Solutions Division (NISD). Phan noted. These efforts include the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System, the U.S. Army's Project Convergence and the U.S. Navy's Project Overmatch. "If the services can connect their assets together — satellites, ships, planes, ground vehicles, etc. — and make them work together, that's a force multiplier and helps the DoD maintain a strategic advantage in an age of data-driven conflict," he suggested. "The goal is to overmatch adversaries' capabilities by connecting all sensors, shooters and nodes together, doing things more intelligently to create a force that's collectively more effective than individual platforms." Integrating Military AI According to Swett, military AI will be a ubiquitous part of the IoWT. "I think of the IoWT as comprising two main sides: an intelligence side and a decision-making or battle management side," he explained. "If the warfighter wants to know what's happening across a lot of manned and unmanned platforms equipped with sensors, we'll want them to be talking to each other, and we'll also want to put military AI at the edge so that those platforms can aggregate and process information locally, then send appropriate alerts to the warfighter." Swett believes that these military AI algorithms will be analogous to algorithms used by top commercial AI providers to suggest additional content based on a consumer's purchasing or viewing habits. However, these IoWT algorithms will be geared toward making "recommendations" to help warfighters understand and make better decisions in complex battlefield environments. Bridging Reality With Gateways According to Phan, one of the key challenges of developing the IoWT will be integrating dissimilar platforms and sensors into a transparent, interconnected network architecture. "In the same way that smart homes are now using wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and smart hubs to allow these technologies to communicate with each other, the military has systems called gateways that translate tactical data from disparate systems and share it securely among warfighters operating in different domains." "A gateway can either be a separate platform or it can be incorporated on an existing platform to make it interoperable with systems it was not originally designed to communicate with," he said. "It can provide a very effective interface between older and newer systems." Phan points to the Northrop Grumman-developed Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) as an example of a separate gateway platform that supports the DoD's move to JADC2. BACN has been in service with the Air Force since 2008; it's a high-altitude, long-endurance airborne communications gateway that delivers interoperable voice communications and data translation between pilots and ground units—regardless of military branch. Shifting to Advanced Networking Phan also expects the IoWT to reflect a DoD shift away from relying on conventional, standalone systems in favor of interconnecting platforms, nodes, sensors and other battle assets. "In the past, the DoD might have opted to use a front-line fighter jet equipped with exquisite sensors to perform a mission," he observed. "Under the evolving vision for IoWT, however, they're now asking 'What if we network this fighter with another fighter or even an unmanned platform? Can we achieve the same or better level of performance with a networked approach instead of that standalone asset?'" The DoD's priority in the near future, he believes, will be to connect those sensors that will enable U.S. and allied forces to maintain a strategic advantage in future conflicts. Repurposing Proven Constructs Swett expects the IoWT to take advantage of many proven constructs from the commercial IoT, even though it will be operating with far more stringent security standards. He points to the IoT's now-common crowdsourced ride-sharing models, for example, as a way to pair up commanders with nearby battlefield assets. "Let's say I'm a commander who needs to create a video or still image of a local area to see what's going on," he said. "Wouldn't it be cool if I could call up my local airborne asset dispatcher and identify platforms that plan to pass over my target location in the near future and that could shoot and send me the desired imagery?" This crowdsourcing example illustrates another vital aspect of the IoWT that should not be overlooked: human-machine interactions. "If we're using military AI algorithms to do predictive maintenance on a bunch of military vehicles, we're going to need some sort of web page to display the output of those algorithms for humans," Swett proposed. "That's where we'll have to move from machine-to-machine communication to machine-to-human communication and start asking ourselves: Who should get the information? Is it timely? Is it correct? And is it easily understandable?" Making the IoWT A Reality Northrop Grumman is investing today in the future of the connected battlespace. We are pushing the boundaries of what's possible to bring forward new and emerging capabilities, and expanding the functionality of existing technologies to enhance mission effectiveness to help bring the IoWT to life across the battlespace. Northrop Grumman is pioneering innovation as we seek to solve the world's most challenging problems. To ensure our warfighters have the confidence to make real-time decisions in complex environments, we are enhancing our capabilities with human-centered machine intelligence to take advantage of emerging digital system capabilities. Many of the company's innovative technologies integrate leading-edge solutions into distributed, dynamic mission systems that are essential to our national security. Northrop Grumman's advanced networking offerings provide the foundation needed to implement the use of the advanced IoWT applications such as secure and ethical artificial intelligence, real-time situational awareness, machine learning, cloud computing and connected battlefield applications, among others. View Northrop Grumman's Advanced Networking Technologies and Artificial Intelligence webpages to learn more." Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Advanced Networking is Creating an Internet of Warfighting Things

Buried under the news of ski jumps, half-pipe competitions and triple salchows at the Pyonghchang Winter Olympics in South Korea was the debut of 5G, a new high-speed fifth-generation wireless network. Organizers of this year's Olympic Games used 5G to power systems that emitted rays, gases and fake tiger roars to ward off wild boars, according to Fortune. 5G and IoT — the Internet of Things, i.e., networks of devices — will dramatically change the way we interact with technology. What is 5G? The most salient benefit of 5G is speed. It is estimated that 5G will be up to 1,000 times faster than 4G, and users will be able to download an entire HD film in about one second, according to 5G.co.uk. That speed will be a boon to mobile-based media, augmented reality, virtual reality and IoT devices. To get a sense of how 5G might change mobile-based media, consider how the introduction of 4G has helped to hasten the spread and introduction of streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. Nelson Granados, a professor at Pepperdine University, posited in Forbes that 5G will allow customers to download media rather than stream it. Meanwhile, live streaming will become more of an option on 5G since the platform offers lower latency and will avoid the buffering that can make watching video on a mobile device so annoying. Another disruptive element of 5G is that it can conceivably replace a wired broadband connection, whether cable, DSL or fiber optic, which can potentially entice more consumers to cut the cord. Will 5G Benefit AR and VR? The lack of a need for a wired connection and 5G's low latency also mean that consumers will be able to easily use mobile augmented reality and virtual reality. For instance, a 5G network will allow for support for richer images for AR interfaces in a store environment. Using their phone or smart glasses, a shopper can use AR to identify the items that they are looking for in-store and point them to products that are on sale, Forbes said. Mobile VR, meanwhile, will allow consumers to virtually attend events (picture grandparents virtually experiencing their grandchild's first steps, for instance) and allow for immersion into mobile-based VR experiences like live sporting events, concerts, meetings and games. What Is The Future of IoT? 5G and IoT are inexorably linked; the introduction of 5G coincides with the rise of IoT. Approximately 8.4 billion IoT devices existed in 2017, according to ZD Net. 5G will make IoT devices ranging from smart parking meters to household devices to autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles work better because they can send and receive data much faster, USAToday noted. For that reason, 5G and IoT will be a potent combination. Coming Soon USAToday reports that AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon aim to rollout 5G networks by 2019. Of course, 5G's success isn't assured. The service will likely be expensive, so many consumers might stick with 4G for a while. It's possible that 5G won't work as well as promised. Barring consumer indifference or unsolvable tech glitches, 5G is likely to make a big splash and usher in a new wave of wireless usage in the 2020s. So, what is 5G? Soon enough you won't even have to ask. 

Will 5G and IoT Revolutionize Technology?

In what many call the Fourth Industrial Revolution, broadband cellular networks, robotics and applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to raise all boats on a technological tide. But the remaking of businesses, education and economies to square with a digital revolution isn't easy. Financial investment, infrastructure readiness and employee preparedness have to take hold evenly so that competition and wages flourish equitably. There isn't a switch to flip — something many African countries are discovering. Digital transformation is moving forward haltingly as the continent contends with poverty, geographic and environmental challenges, and uneven approaches to democracy. Africa also needs to overcome infrastructural issues that other countries solved the previous century. "Access to electricity in Africa is 45%," says Armando Manuel, former minister of finance in Angola and current World Bank director. "You can't develop in the darkness, and you can't go to the Moon when you have constraints to go to the next corner." On this massive continent with competing forms of government, as well as areas of civil unrest, poverty and agricultural deficits caused by climate change, it's worth noting no two countries are alike. That's especially true when considering technological foundations. Kenya has an internet penetration rate of about 90%, advancing the widespread use of applications such as smartphone payments. Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the other hand, have low internet penetration rates, below 10%, while Eritrea sits at the bottom of the list with only about 1% of its population having internet access. Still, for those very reasons, there is great hope that technology can reshape how Africans live, work and learn. With more than 1.3 billion people spread out over a landscape that covers 11 million miles of land, Africa has numbers in its favor. It's a population too great for commercial investors to ignore. A Youth Movement Meets Harsh Realities Africa does need to find the next corner, and somewhat quickly, if it is to seize the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). As the Brookings Institute reports, African countries lag behind developed and other developing countries. For example, in developed countries, there are nearly as many mobile broadband subscriptions as there are people — whereas in Africa, there are only about 25 subscriptions per 100 people. Similarly, schoolchildren in developed nations get nearly 12 years of technology preparedness, while African schoolchildren receive slightly more than four years of schooling in technology. Education, job preparedness and employment opportunities stand as formidable challenges before Africa can effectively embrace technology. This could be an acute problem if not soon addressed because the continent is in the middle of a youth movement. According to the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), Africa has one-fifth of the world's population under 25, and its working-age population could reach 600 million by 2030, which would be the largest such demographic in the world. Young people comprise 37% of that group — a proportion larger than in China. Right now, less than a third of adults in Africa have finished primary school as opposed to nearly all adults in industrialized countries, according to ACET. When in a classroom, children have a low proficiency in reading and mathematics, and low enrollment in science, technology, engineering and math. Advanced learning also suffers: Africa has a low proportion of university students per population. That points to dim job prospects. In sub-Saharan Africa, for the 10 to 12 million youth who annually join the workforce, only 3 million jobs are created. Educators and Employers Need to Meet the Moment Africa indeed has an uphill climb to fully realize the potential of 4IR. According to ACET, "Africa's youth are both an asset and a time bomb. At current trends, nearly half of these vibrant young people will be unemployed, discouraged or economically inactive by 2025. A well-publicized fraction is migrating, often by dangerous routes, to search for jobs. More disturbingly, some 40% of youth joining rebel and terror groups reportedly cite the lack of economic opportunity as the key motivation." While that assessment might seem dire, many in Africa believe that a commitment to education, job training and focused government policy can spur the technological revolution forward and create a productive and fair economy. Tshilidzi Marwala, a professor of AI at the University of Johannesburg, says his school is already working with businesses to incorporate into the curriculum the skills they seek. As he explains in World Intellectual Property Organization Magazine, employers are partnering with African universities to develop tailored learning programs for employees to prepare them for emerging job opportunities. Students want to choose the courses that will prepare them for 4IR, he wrote, and many schools are, in turn, letting them earn "stackable" degrees by giving them "multiple entries and exit options and by using technology, such as data analytics, to develop customized learning paths." Health, Finance and Agriculture Already Notch Tech Benefits The Brookings Institute sees digital applications already changing how industries deliver services across the contintent. In Ethiopia, AI technology is helping medical professionals diagnose cancer. In Uganda, 27,000 public health workers use a mobile system to manage medicine stocks. And Rwanda uses autonomous drones to air-deliver blood transfusions to remote regions. In finance, much has been made of mobile banking empowering Africans to win microloans for their small businesses or to send or receive remittances to family members. But, as the Brookings Institute notes, digital technology also enables those businesses to design and create products and allows governments to more efficiently offer public services. Blockchain, for example, verifies property records and transactions in West Africa and Kenya. All of these digital tools "cascade," as the Brookings Institute states. "Increased financial inclusion contributes to greater capital accumulation and investment, hence potential for employment creation." A robust digital infrastructure could also remake agriculture. Agrilinks, an online publication of the U.S. Government's Feed the Future initiative, reported that more than 60% of Africa's working population makes a living in agriculture, accounting for a third of the continent's GDP. Agrilinks already sees African farms melding IoT, AI and data to be more precise and smarter in estimating crop yields, managing irrigation, choosing fertilizers and adjusting for weather. Farmers can also use drones to monitor crops and blockchain to secure contracts and manage their finances. But outdated farming methods and tools slow production, leading experts to view technology as a critical means to reshape the industry and feed as many as two billion Africans by 2050. Infrastructure Needs Improvement, With No Time to Spare As experts stress, individual and organizational pursuit of digital technology won't go far if Africa can't remake its infrastructure. And it's not just a lack of electricity, internet density and broadband penetration that is slowing progress. The Brookings Institute notes that a dearth of standardized application programming interfaces and common data languages impede the integration of self-sufficient systems, as does poor cybersecurity. "Adequate infrastructure development will drive and sustain economic transformation in Africa," notes the Brookings Institute. "With lower transport and communication costs, countries with suitable agro-ecological conditions can produce high-value products. Closing the internet connectivity and access gap with advanced economies will enable more African countries to enter service export markets. Small-scale manufacturers in Africa may also become more competitive with access to digital platforms for research, sales and distribution." The clock is ticking. As the South Africa-based news service IOL reports, manufacturers are waiting for improved internet and 5G connectivity to implement new technologies. Otherwise, in countries like Kenya, industries such as furniture manufacturing have about 15 years to develop new technological capacity before the cost of production will be lower in the U.S. — where it will rely more on robotic production. Countries such as Mauritius and Rwanda recognize the need to act fast. After setting an AI strategy in 2018, Mauritius created a national incubator program as well as a national artificial intelligence council that offers financial incentives for innovation-driven activities. Even though it ranks 45th globally, Mauritius is the highest-ranked African nation on the Government AI Readiness Index. Meanwhile, Rwanda has turned to a nonprofit to develop a national strategy for AI technology, a process that will include the creation of policy, ethical guidelines and an implementation road map. A Call to Develop as a Continent If Africa is to reap the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, its citizens, businesses, nonprofits and government agencies will have to move together at a rapid pace. "It took on average 20 to 25 years to make the transition from regular phones to smartphones," Youssef Travaly, vice president of science innovation and institutional partnerships at the Next Einstein Forum, told U.S. News & World Report. "Going fast enough means at least being able to make a (technological) transition in less than 10 years." If Africa can't seize the moment, Travaly says it will have to rely even more on developed nations. Travaly goes on to add that this gap in skills and technology between Africa and other parts of the world will likely lead to a corresponding prosperity gap if left unchecked. This highlights how important technological innovation is in the ongoing effort to fuel economic equity and prosperity throughout the world. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Africa Aims to Harness the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Right now, we're fully immersed in the Internet of Things (IoT), where our handheld devices and smart gadgets chatter away to each other across the wireless world. And soon it won't be just the smartphone in your hand that's joining in; with the rise of wireless-enabled implantable medical devices (IMDs), it will be you that's joining in via the internet of bodies (IoB).   Gathering Health Data on the Inside   Breakthroughs in tech innovation, materials fabrication and wireless connectivity are bringing scalability and data collection to IMDs or implantables. Now it's possible to swallow a smart pill for internal diagnostics or upload data from a pacemaker or artificial organ. Distinct from non-invasive sensors, implantables gather data from within the body, either temporarily as a smart pill or longer term as a surgically installed device. Yahoo Finance further describes implantables as either internal (smart pills, pacemakers, cochlear implants) or embedded, where the connection is hardwired and "a human body has a real time connection to a remote machine with live updates."   Connectedness Through the Internet of Things   Advances in the speed of data transmission, especially with the onset of new 5G capacity, means that IMDs can upload data in real time. Since many of us now carry a cellphone, "reading" these devices and connecting them with the internet of bodies is relatively straightforward.   The Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) notes that connectedness benefits both medical providers and patients. Being able to monitor a patient in detail throughout the day could pick up subtle diagnostic signs that are often missed in clinical examination since they happen only sporadically. For patients, implantable medical devices could alert them well before symptoms are noticeable, prompting them to respond to low blood glucose, for example. Remote monitoring could benefit those with chronic diseases and also vulnerable populations such as the elderly.   Internal devices laden with sensors can also help diagnostics gather more information closer to the source. An Internet of Business report describes how ingestible sensors for gastrointestinal bleeds — bacteria on a chip — respond to the presence of blood with luminescence. On-board sensors then pick up signal and relay it wirelessly to the diagnostic team.   The devices may also behave semi-autonomously. Futurism reports on a brain implant that collects data on electrical activity in real-time data collection. When it detects abnormal activity, the device responds by sending out electrical stimulation that control seizures and Parkinson's disease.   New Atlas describes an artificial pancreas system for managing Type I diabetes. The system comprises an insulin pump linked with a subcutaneous sensor that links with a smartphone app for monitoring. Through artificial intelligence, it "learns" about its user to refine insulin delivery for better glucose control.   Whose Data Is It Anyway?   The amount of data generated daily, hourly from all these IoT and IoB devices is growing rapidly, and with it, new questions about cybersecurity and individual privacy. More than who has ownership of the data, which agency should oversee regulation of IMDs and implantables? The Wall Street Journal notes that some devices might be labeled for lifestyle use rather than medical, meaning that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no influence on them. Oversight would therefore be up to the Federal Trade Commission.   The growing internet of bodies will create more and more data, but who should harvest it? For diagnostic purposes, clinicians and medical providers need the data for patient care, but should the information also be available to device manufacturers, researchers and federal agents?   Or lawyers? According to the Washington Post, pacemaker data was used to convict in a case of arson. Can your personal data from internal sensors be used to monitor drug compliance, for example? There are big questions about personal autonomy and the internet of bodies. Could a sensor-laden contact lens be used to snoop on what you are looking at?   Cybersecurity for Wired Bodies   Connectedness also raises questions on cybersecurity for wired bodies. Hacking into wireless signals is a potential risk for IMDs that could allow access to data streams or to control a device. Researchers take this potential threat very seriously and are exploring ways to lock down security.   A team at Purdue is investigating ways to cut down the physical range of signals coming from IoB devices within the body to prevent them from being hacked remotely. The new technology cuts down on the range of emissions from meters to only a centimeter, meaning that signals are more difficult to intercept. The tech in development will also help doctors re-program devices without surgery.   In reviewing the types of cyberattack possible, a journal article in The Expert Review of Medical Devices also lists steps that could boost security. Enabling multi-factor authentication and ensuring clinical base station security are two simple but effective steps. As IMDs advance and become more prevalent, cyberattacks and malware will help manufacturers issue timely security updates to keep connected bodies a step ahead. 

A Living, Breathing Internet of Things All Around You

 The intelligence community is wielding a new weapon against criminals: the smartphone. In New York City, all 35,000 officers carry smartphones linked to Domain Awareness System (DAS), a $40-million computer-based awareness system developed with Microsoft that gives cops access to live video feeds around the city from some 8,000 cameras.    The NYPD has been improving DAS, adding analytics, pattern recognition and predictive policing functions since the system was created in 2008. In 2016, New York news channel NY1 reported that DAS helped cops from the 73rd Precinct make arrests. The cops got an alert from DAS that shots had been fired at an address in Brooklyn. The officers discovered bullet casings on the roof. Using their phones to access DAS, they found a woman in the building had an outstanding arrest warrant. After getting a search warrant via their phones, they found two guns in the woman's apartment and made three arrests.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   The New York program was inspired by one in London. Other police departments in Chicago and Los Angeles are using similar data-based predictive analysis tools, and the intelligence community is employing other AI-based technologies like facial recognition to solve crimes. The use of such technology has sparked a predictable outcry about privacy and the potential misuses of such technology.    Who's Using What?    The NYPD's network of 8,000 surveillance cameras pales in comparison to the U.K.'s 6 million. London is probably the most heavily surveilled place on Earth, with one camera for every 10 people. U.K. police are also applying AI in new ways. For instance, in the city of Durham, police are using an AI tool designed to figure out whether a detainee should be kept in custody based on their perceived likelihood to commit more crimes. London police also use a facial recognition system that matches faces in crowds to a database of 2.9 million images of criminals.    In the U.S., the intelligence community also makes use of AI. The FBI, for instance, uses image recognition to identify criminals by their tattoos. In addition to the New York and Chicago police departments, some 60 local police departments employ technology from PredPol, which forecasts where crimes might occur based on past data. The LAPD, meanwhile, uses AI for predictive analysis about where crimes are likely to occur. If there's a string of robberies, for instance, then the LAPD will alert patrols to keep a close eye on nearby neighborhoods where the next robberies might happen.    Fears of "Minority Report"    Sci-fi authors have explored the idea of preemptive policing, most notably in Philip K. Dick's "Minority Report," which imagined the technique being used to frame the protagonist, John Anderton. Such fears were revived with a report from Stanford University looking at artificial intelligence and life in 2030, by which time it predicted predictive policing would be the norm.    Critics are likely to continue to take aim at AI surveillance tools on privacy grounds. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, for instance, has argued that police and elected officials can use such tools to spy on critics and political opponents. The ACLU has reasoned that surveillance can have a chilling effect on public life, making citizens less free since their every action is being filmed.    Citizens have always had to weigh liberty and security. Different societies have arrived — and will continue to arrive — at different answers. 

Interested in a career with Northrop Grumman? Check out our open positions.