Today’s kids are lucky because they were born into a developed and an integrated electronic world where technology helps human beings with every aspect of life. Software, the intellect behind computational technologies, is now considered to be a standard field of business but for many of older ages, it was possible to track its fast development in the past two decades, along with the gigantic effects it had on business and culture. Software engineering and computer programming are two of the most popular jobs for young people as of now and capabilities are ever growing with new languages being developed frequently. Today, a software engineer can easily code a new e-commerce application for a smartphone or understand routing in Vue JS at the click of a button because the library of information is huge and mostly freely available to those interested. Naturally, the market for software is also expanding at a rapid rate, making attention and focus key issues for the wandering eye.
Everybody is aware of the huge developments witnessed in software technology and some, such as Matt Bornstein of Forbes, have paid a close look to possible changes the software market will endure in the years to come. According to the author, “programming and data science will increasingly converge” through the incorporation of ‘end-to-end’ learning modules. Data models will be used to supplement processing power and the new intelligent systems will be more efficient than ever. AI developers will gain worth and value in the market as every company that seeks to profit in large amounts will have to hire an AI professional, while traditional programmers will be forced to adapt to the new rules of the game. Machine learning will develop rapidly in the market, meaning that new sets of digital tools will be required to understand, manipulate and execute AI systems. Finally, Bornstein takes note of how AI systems are significantly different than traditional computer programs as they have a more probabilistic nature, meaning that it will take some time to figure out their rationale. However, as more experience and knowledge is accrued, human beings will be able to follow up on AI logic and profit greatly from the privileges it provides.
A decade ago, the main rivalry in the smartphones market was between Apple and Blackberry but the latter slowly faded into oblivion after facing severe financial problems. Today, Blackberry is focused on producing software solutions for smartphones and the company has never been in better financial standing. The company is currently engaged in a partnership with Microsoft, providing software support for the company’s cloud-based Office 365 application for mobile devices. Blackberry CEO John Chen emphasizes the importance of such partnerships for the wellbeing of the company, stating that partnerships are “what you have to do” in the software business for success. Blackberry’s future list of collaboration includes companies such as Jaguar/Land Rover as the new series of jeeps produced by the company will house Blackberry’s QNX software for navigation and infotainment services as built-in functions. Ford Motors also incorporates Blackberry software in its cars while Blackberry is currently working on a new cyber-security tool called ‘Jarvis’ which finds security weaknesses in onboard computer systems. As the company continues to invest in its partnerships with automobile producers, its stock value increased by 14% this year, disregarding the volatile atmosphere that reigned all over the American stock markets throughout the year.
Google’s rise to prominence was a sight to see for billions of people in the world and in the tech industry, but along with power comes responsibility and the company is currently dealing with legal and political pressures regarding a possible upcoming ‘Project Dragonfly’. Google is working on a separate search engine to be used in China that will abide by the tight censorship laws of the country. Chief Privacy Officer Keith Enright reported to a Senate hearing recently, being accompanied by executives from AT&T, Apple, Twitter and Charter Communications. The senate questioned Enright about data privacy matters while Senator Ted Cruz directly asked him questions about ‘Dragonfly’ to which Enright replied that he had minimal contours regarding the scope of the mentioned project, adding that it was highly unlikely that Google would be launching a private search engine for China. Issues like data privacy and security have been known to embattle software companies but in the case of Google and ‘Dragonfly’, the company will be faced with even more severe legal issues if it indeed goes onto executing the project. The tensions between the US and China will surely have an impact on the public’s perception of the deal, forcing the legal authorities to take action against Google for its partnership with China.
