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Self-help authors and politicians seem to agree on at least one thing: mindset matters. The shelves of bookstores worldwide are awash with motivational books by evangelical writers hoping to convert readers to their gospel of optimism. The central thesis is simple: success depends on approaching life, especially its challenges, with a positive outlook. Politicians and leaders have always appreciated the power of mindset, though less of the positive kind, as attested to by a history of propaganda that dates back to at least 500 BC. More recently, as Covid-19 spread across the globe, language in public discourse showed itself to be carefully selected to shape national mindsets. War metaphors, specifically, became the favoured way of talking about the virus that...

A term first coined by the Japanese government, “Society 5.0” describes "A human-centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space." The fifth evolution of the society, enabled by the fifth generation of cellular networking and cyber-physical systems, imagines technology, things and humans converging to address some of the biggest societal challenges. The concept encompasses Industry 4.0, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Smart-Everything World and other buzzwords of the moment. In the society of the future the more the cyber and physical worlds are combined, the greater the benefits we will experience. However, the same is true of cyber threats. The more technology is incorporated into every corner of...

Neil Harbisson calls himself a cyborg. Without the antenna implanted in his skull, he would not be able to see colour of any kind. Born with achromatopsia, a condition of total colourblindness that affects 1 in every 30 000 people, Harbisson's physical faculties are augmented by cyber technology to grant him access to a life of greater meaning and satisfaction. As technological evolution leads to concomitant advances in medical science, we are seeing more and more examples of humans who are integrating devices and sensors into their biological makeup. For some, like those part of the growing "transhumanist" movement, this is a means of artistic expression or exploration of human potential. For others, it is a solution to a medical...

In a recent session on smart building cybersecurity, a student cheekily asked me "How did we ever connect anything before 5G?" At that moment I realized I might have been overdoing my 5G cheerleading recently. To atone, here are the key performance and cybersecurity attributes of the most commonly used connectivity technologies in smart home / smart building use cases... And 5G. If you thought that the "traditional" home life is under heavy attack from digitization of media and constant communication, wait until you learn about the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Homes. Our most personal spaces - our homes - are rapidly getting digitized and connected. Hundreds of IoT devices - sensors, actuators, smart speakers, smart toothbrushes, and smart...

The human will to innovate is seemingly relentless. The history of our species is one of continual development, with the last 350 years, in particular, representing staggering technological progress. The first industrial revolution mechanized production using natural elements like water. The second revolution used electricity to enable mass production; the third used electronics and information technology to automate production. The fourth industrial revolution unfolding all around us is characterized by an exponential growth in data production and the merging of the physical and digital. Cyber-physical systems (CSPs) like the internet of things (IoT) and industrial control systems (ICS) are capable of reading and influencing physical and biological domains. They are the first wave of super-integrated realities that will see objects, systems,...

The timeline of human history is marked by inflection points of major technological advancement. The plow, the printing press, the telegraph, the steam engine, electricity, the telephone, the internet: each of these breakthroughs precipitated tectonic shifts in how people lived and worked. Now, in the early part of the 21st century, we stand witness to the birth of a new industrial revolution built on 5th generation cellular technology - 5G network. As the name implies, 5G network follows a developmental chain. First came 1G, the first generation of cellular communication that freed us to make voice calls without being tethered to a physical phone connection. Then 2G augmented this by adding data services like SMS and MMS. 3G gave us...

Emerging Technology and Geopolitics of 5G There are several reasons emerging technology is a highly competitive industry, notwithstanding the race for intellectual property that can be licensed by burgeoning markets for revenue. A first-mover advantage is often a way to lock in relationships that can lead to long-term infrastructure commitments, integration support services, and service delivery platform development. As the adage goes, “Whoever owns the platform, owns the customer.” This race to be the first to establish technological platforms and lock-in their customers is increasingly becoming politicized. And 5G, the next generation of cellular mobile communications technology, is the best example of how geopolitics is getting involved in emerging tech decisions and how technology discussions are influencing geopolitics. The potential economic...