PRODUCTS

CommScope Touchstone

CommScope has released its new Touchstone TG644x DOCSIS 3.1 cable gateways.

With the use of online gaming, video conferencing, AR/VR and other delay sensitive applications on the rise, the opportunity has never been greater to bring low latency broadband services to market. The TG644x gateway supports the compnay’s end-to-end Low Latency DOCSIS (LLD) solution, that establishes a fast lane for delay sensitive traffic from the home to the headend and back, and the enhanced capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 reduces latency and jitter in communications to the end device.

The gateways support high split with a switched diplexer for flexible deployment capabilities to meet the demand for increased upstream capacity, such as using video conferencing for working and learning from home.

The TG644x gateways allows service providers to deliver multi-gigabit data rates to and around the home and small business and enables reliable ultra-HD videos over Wi-Fi. These innovative Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6gateways are intended to serve as the hub of a subscriber’s network and connect all IP capable devices (i.e., internet, data, voice, and video) throughout the customer’s premises.

If additional coverage is required to light up dead spots, the gateways may be supplemented with CommScope’s X5 WiFi 6 extender to deliver high-performance and managed Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home.

The gateways can also be managed with CommScope’s HomeAssure Managed Wi-Fi solutions, providing optimised, high performance Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home.

Furthermore, the TG644x gateways also support SNMP and TR-069 remote management protocols for reducing service providers costs and can be managed with CommScope’s ECO Service Management solutions. It provides service providers visibility into the home network, and the ability to automate and control subscriber devices and experiences. CommScope is a global leader in these areas and has millions of devices under management.

WD Red SN700

Leveraging its strength and leadership in flash, Western Digital has announced the new WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD, a high-endurance, fast-caching solution that accelerates NAS performance for SMB customers.

This new drive is engineered to support 24/7 NAS environments and always-on applications with the ultimate in reliability and endurance. Its fast system responsiveness and I/O performance are perfect for multiuser, multi-application environments, letting SMBs tame their toughest projects from virtualisation to collaborative editing to intensive database storage. Its slim “gum stick” design slips right into the NVMe-ready M.2 slot that is available in many of today’s leading NAS enclosures.

Key features of the WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD drive include: • High Performance – Delivers up to 3,430 MB/s performance (500GB and 1TB models) – more than 5 times the sequential read capability of SATA drives • High Reliability and Endurance – Optimized for 24/7

NAS workload environments offering high reliability and endurance of up to 5,100 TBW (4TB model) to handle the constant caching of read and rewrite cycles • High Capacity – Offered in capacities from 250GB to 4TB to help cover present and future caching needs

The new WD Red NVMe SSDs join Western Digital’s WD Red portfolio of storage solutions that include WD Red HDDs and WD Red SATA SSDs – all purpose-built for NAS.

THE RISE OF AI IN THE MIDDLE EAST

SUNIL PAUL, MD OF FINESSE, ON HOW AI WILL SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE OF THE FUTURE

Results of a survey conducted at the end of 2016 – a time when the Middle East was still trying to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) – were as perplexing as they were a great indicator of the region’s hunger for the technology.

Over 11,000 people in 12 countries were asked if they could replace human doctors with AI and robots. A staggering 66% in Saudi Arabia and 62% in the

UAE said yes.

How did so many people trust machines over human beings for a region well known for a culture of faceto-face interactions?

The two main reasons

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which commissioned the survey, could offer were the very young population in the

Middle East and their digitally savvy.

AI has been around in scholarly circles since the 1950s, but it was only late in the 2000s that it started becoming part of our daily lives. Unfortunately, the Middle East was slightly late in coming to the party compared to many countries. In fact, when Oxford Insight published its 2017 AI Readiness Index, the region was unrepresented in the top-50.

Once the UAE and Saudi Arabia governments decided to adopt AI – often called the ‘new space race’ and the ‘new oil’ – there was no looking back. In just four years, UAE is now ranked 16th globally (with 100% points for vision), while Saudi is No38 in Oxford

Insight’s annual index.

‘Vision’ is a keyword here. It is the biggest reason the UAE and Saudi

Arabia have surged ahead while other countries are lagging. The UAE launched the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, with an explicit intent to make the country a world leader in AI by 2031.

Saudi Arabia also announced its own strategy – part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s Vision 2030 – to reduce dependence on oil and become a technology hub. It also established a dedicated authority to drive the national data and AI agenda last year. Deloitte pointed out three major factors that inhibit AI adoption across the globe – extreme concerns about AI risks, including lack of governance and regulations, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and moderate to extreme skill gaps.

The UAE and Saudi have made sure these concerns are properly answered.

The UAE has appointed a worldfirst Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and also introduced a framework, appropriately called BRAIN (Building a Responsible Artificial Intelligence Nation). It is a precursor to mandatory regulations.

The two countries have also taken concrete steps to reduce skill gaps. In 2019, the UAE established the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, offering MSc and Ph.D. programs in AI. In addition, in July this year, UAE announced 100,000 golden visas for coders. Saudi, on the other hand, established a joint international innovation centre for AI and precision medicine between King Abdul Aziz University and Oxford University.

Both have also managed to convince AWS to set up a Region in their country, which goes a long way in securing data and keeping it inside their own geographical territories.

There has already been impressive progress made. Government agencies in the UAE like DEWA and telecoms company Etisalat are on the verge of achieving 100% adoption of smart services, most of them AI-driven. Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the health authorities in Saudi Arabia have highlighted how AI programs helped them with testing, vaccinating, and finally containing COVID-19.

One of Saudi’s ambitious projects is Neom – a smart city 33 times the size of New York City and built from the scratch at a cost of $500 billion. Everything in this futuristic city will be linked with IoT sensors and AI.

A PwC study evaluated that AI would have an impact to the tune of $320 billion by the end of 2030 on Middle Eastern economies. For example, the UAE GDP is expected to increase by 14% only because of AI, while its contribution to Saudi’s GDP in 2030 would be 12.4%.

AI will touch almost every aspect of life in the Middle East – smart cities (resources and energy), the financial sector, education, healthcare, cybersecurity, defense, logistics and transport, and manufacturing.

Poor datasets, lack of focused approach and resources, and political instability may be holding back some countries in the region. Still, UAE and Saudi have definitely made the Middle East the hotbed for AI activities and implementation.