As we all are aware, the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV has turned into a global epidemic, rapidly spreading from animals to humans with no possible cure. AVCOE researched what technology can do to assist in this emergency and our findings are too interesting not to share!

Bluedot

Bluedot calls itself a ‘digital health company’. It uses its analytical system to go through piles of data such as news reports, airline information, reports of animal disease outbreaks and more, tracks this data and identifies trends that are further analyzed by epidemiologists. If the world has access to such insights and predictions of which area/community the disease is going to affect before it does, it may be avoided.
Here’s their website where you can learn about their algorithm in detail: https://bluedot.global/

Digital Maps

The Centre for Systems Science and Engineering at John Hopkins University has developed a digital map that tracks reported cases of the 2019nCoV on a daily basis. The map shows every new case, confirmed death and recovery from the virus and this data can be downloaded as a Google Sheet.
Read more about it from the John Hopkins University: https://systems.jhu.edu/research/public-health/ncov/
Here’s the map for you to experience yourself: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

VereCoV

Singapore-based Veredus Laboratories is developing a ‘portable Lab-on-Chip detection kit’ that has quick and portable detection solutions allowing the identification of infected individuals faster so they can be treated as soon as possible. In the words of Dr Rosemary Tan, CEO of Veredus Laboratories, “This VereCoV detection kit will be one of the first commercially available kits in the world with the capability to detect, differentiate and identify all 3 Coronaviruses in a single test in about 2 hours.”
Here’s the latest news from their website: http://vereduslabs.com/news-and-resources/

Robot Doctors and Nurses 

The patients who are identified to be carrying the 2019nCoV are immediately put into isolation and are kept under 24x7 observation and treatment. The medical staff assigned to these cases are at a high risk of being infected by the deadly disease. A viable solution to these problems could be AI doctors and nurses. Turns out, there is already one case of novel coronavirus being treated by a robot in the U.S.
Read all about it in this CNN news article: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/23/health/us-wuhan-coronavirus-doctor-interview/index.html


We stay amazed at the ability that technology has of making our lives easier!

For more interesting and informative blogs, stay tuned to https://avcoe.blogspot.com/

Do you have a dream to start your own business? Are you a trailblazer? Do you see yourself as an excellent leader and a boss? Your entrepreneurial skills can help you start your very own brilliant business.

In this blog, AVCOE has a few tips on how you can make sure everyone knows and is talking about your brand new venture!

Be present online
With Google being the best way to find and be found, it is obvious that your startup needs to be ‘Google-able’. Submit your company to be listed in various such online directories that expose you to new audiences.

Make sure you learn the ins and outs of SEO marketing. Read up on the craft of increasing your ranking through effective SEO backlinks.


Socialize on social media
Build your brand image on the vast world of social media where anyone from any part of the world can discover your product or service. Host competitions, create hashtags, follow and engage with other businesses from your industry, and use appropriate CTAs.


Network, network, and network!
Try to attend as many conferences, seminars, award shows and other events that you can to build your network. Make it a point to introduce and have a conversation with like-minded individuals in your industry and give out as any business cards as you can.

Here is a list of events you can attend in 2020 to expand your network.

• Startup Grind Global 2020, USA
• 4 Years From Now, Spain
• Connect Bogotá Open Innovation Summit, Columbia
• Latitude59, Estonia
• Collision, Canada

And many more.



For more informative blogs, stay tuned to https://avcoe.blogspot.com/

It’s a fact that we would be nowhere without technology and the many ways it has made our lives easier. But what happens when its power is misused? When it is used to exploit others?

In this blog, AVCOE looks at a few advances in technology that may cause a glitch in the betterment of our society.

Deepfakes
Deepfake is an AI technology used to alter its content and make an artificial video. You can edit any face onto another and create a video of an individual doing or saying something they never actually did or said! You can create entire videos of people without them being a part of it at all. This can be used to change the game of comedy or the movie industry!

But unfortunately, this technology has been used for malicious intent rather than any positives. It is used to commit financial fraud, exploitative videos of celebrities, hoaxes, and blackmail. It plays a vital part in the degradation of women and spreading false information. Video proof may lose all credibility and authenticity as it can now easily be altered.
Take a look at it for yourself! https://youtu.be/8LhI-e2B8Lg

Adobe Voco
Deepfakes can only alter videos. You’d have to be a voice actor to replicate the voice of the person whose face is used in the Deepfake. Or do you? Adobe Voco is a software that allows you to replicate anyone’s voice!

It requires 20 minutes to understand and analyze and understand a particular voice, after which you can produce audio clips in that person’s voice. This phenomenon of cloning voices once again raises ethical questions. Your voice can be manipulated to say anything. It questions the authenticity of any kind of audio proof.


In this way, digital media can now be altered to fit individual narratives and lose any element of truth. Lawyers, journalists and other professionals that use digital media as evidence of the truth can no longer rely on it. Today’s technology uses a person’s identity as a password. If your face and your voice are accessible to anyone, your password isn’t a secret any longer! There are a few ways these AI technologies are being controlled i.e. Deepfakes being banned on many social media websites, but we have a long way to go before we fully understand the repercussions and harm that this technology can cause and find a way to fully eliminate it or find technology to detect it.


For more inspirational blogs, stay tuned to www.avcoe.blogspot.com

Photo credit: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614269/facebook-is-making-ai-deepfakes-to-head-off-a-disinformation-disaster/