Hypertech Magazine Infote R47 May-June 2019

hypertech E-MAGAZINE ISSUE INFOTE R47

MAY - JUNE 2019

hypertech what’s inside Foreword AI Platform-As-A-Service Blockchain Robotic Process Automation Connected Homes

04 06 18 32 44

foreword 4

HYPERTECH

By Prof. Gary A. Grey This issue of Hypertech E-magazine features 4 emerging technologies: • • • •

AI Platform-as-a-Service Blockchain Robotic Process Automation Connected Homes

The underlying emerging technologies which enable these featured technologies are the convergence of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Cloud Computing. The key word is that all of these are still EMERGING. Thus, while they hold tremendous potential economic and social benefits, there are certain adverse and possibly unintended consequences which could negate these benefits.

The convergence of these technologies point to the emergence in turn of new business models. In a white paper by DataRobot (http:// datarobot.com), the convergence of RPA and Machine Learning in the knowledge industry fundamentally shifts the economics of companies in all sectors. Smart Homes or Connected Homes will converge with Smart Offices to evolve into Smart Cities. The featured articles conduct a SWOT analysis of these technologies, cost-benefit analysis, and explore the ethical and nation-building implications of these technologies.

Hypertech Magazine Issue Infote R47 May-June 2019 Gary A. Grey, MBM, is a consultant for software development engaged in creating optimal decision-making systems and intelligent process support software for the global market.

He is concurrently a faculty member of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business where he teaches Information Technology, Business Intelligence, E-Marketing, Technopreneurship, and E-Commerce. In the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, he teaches Health Informatics. He took up undergraduate studies at De La Salle University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude major in Economics in 1972. He served in the banking community for the last 26 years with stints in Union Bank of the Philippines, Bancom Development Corporation, and PCIBank.

HYPERTECH 5

01

6

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE INTRODUCTION Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms give users a means to create intelligent applications. These combine decision-making algorithms with data which assists developers to make business solutions. There are platforms that provide pre-programmed algorithms and simple workflows where users can fill-out information and can easily connect important data to the final solution. These can include recognition of images and voice, natural language processing, predictive analysis and recommendation.

AI PLATFORM CONSISTS OF 3 CORE AREAS: 1. AI SERVICES: Developers can immediately use high-level “finished” services that accelerate development of AI solutions.

They be able to create clever applications, tailored to the organization’s security, availability, and compliance needs.

2. AI INFRASTRUCTURE Services and devices that are backed by infrastructure to handle high security, availability, compliance, and manageability. It enables utilization of power at an infinitely scaled infrastructure and integrated AI services.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE 7

3. AI TOOLS Leverages a set of comprehensive devices and frameworks to create, implement, and operationalize AI products and services. Using the vast sets of supported devices and integrated drives of your choice and utilizes the intelligence with huge datasets through your ideal learning frameworks.

TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION Platform-as-a-Service was initially provided to developers by Google App Engine, Engine Yard, Heroku, and Azure. Cloud providers such as these companies saves AI service vendor in investing with the massive AI infrastructure.

According to Brian J. Dooley, “On the surface, AI-as-a-service is a predictable development, but AI is not as coherent as other services. It tends to be a component, hidden in the background to provide extended capabilities, optimization, and user interface improvements. The major platform providers are simply integrating AI capabilities into their other platform offerings.”

PaaS provides ready-to-use programming components that enable developers to build new projects and abilities into the applications that include innovations in and with technology. Examples such as Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots (a natural way of doing business using a conversational user interface and has enabled companies a better option for providing an enhanced version of customer service), blockchains (a ledger that is distributed on a cloud basis that provides a shared inalterable and secure record of transactions throughout the company’s network which involves joining and creating an extended network to operate), and the IoT (Internet of Things technology that enables organizations to easily connect to sensor devices to collect and analyze data in real time and acquire new business information).

AI PaaS includes solutions from analysts to end users, from professionals in IT to management. It is Inclusive of large data analysis and content administration, database organization, systems functionalities and security.

Businesses with PaaS can in turn simplify and set standards in operations, hasten possible evolutions in technology with ready-to-use options and reducing risks in terms of operations, security and management.

IT had to consistently and often assess, procure, assemble, dispatch, join, promote and maintain licensed products that are sourced from different suppliers.

This also involves licensing, installing and assembling, configurating, securing and implementing on a regular basis which was very tedious and incurred more costs to stay updated and continually chase after updates and modifications.

8

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE

Suppliers tried to simplify what seemed to be a never ending cycle of dependency and frustration by creating middleware suites (a digital platform for the business and the cloud that enables them to create and run fast, intelligent applications that maximizes efficiency in IT by using modern hardware and software architectures).

In the mid-2000s, suppliers began offering a new set of middleware cloud services that enabled standard APIs, hence, PaaS came to life. But back then the suppliers only offered servers, network services and storage and the solutions by PaaS were only made for low-risk and lower standards of development.

But from this, it slowly transitioned to lightweight production capacities which later on continued to evolve into proven enterprise middleware.

Companies continued to demand a solution to predictable and consistent outputs and higher levels of service-level agreements (SLAs). PaaS and the information-as-a-service (IaaS) layers needed to come together and work as one.

With PaaS it is imperative to demonstrate that the threats can be countered and prevented. Enterprise PaaS, along with increasing cloud capacities, provides a complete and reliable logging and auditing capabilities.

TRENDS IN THE TECHNOLOGY Platform providers such as IBM with Watsons and its Bluemix platform; Microsoft with Azure Machine Learning Studio; Amazon with Amazon Machine Learning; Microsoft with Azure Machine Learning Studio; Google’s network (TensorFlow and Cloud Prediction API); Microsoft with Azure Machine Learning Studio focus on vertical industries such as Salesforce’s Einstein.

Microsoft’s Azure Machine Learning is a cloud predictive analytics service that allows it to rapidly create and provide predictive models as analytic solutions. This machine learning is cloud-based and gives compute resource and memory flexibility without the actual set-up and installation of massive mainframes as this can be made accessible through any PC connected to the internet. This service can boost productivity with agile development. This is a subcategory of Artificial Intelligence.

This platform can give customizable developmentoriented services that can be combined and integrated to create sets of algorithms. AI application is highly specialized as to horizontal or vertical skills. Horizontal skills, such as vision, can include natural language processing and image recognition. Vertical skills, such as comparison, has to be cautiously created to address the needs of their specific function and has a slim scope of application. Both skills are necessary for a complete solution in accessing specific data.

Figure 1INTEGRATION OF SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTH • Increase in workplace productivity by maximizing man-hours on repeated tasks with the developed algorithm of the AI. The system can multi-task and generate accurate data to avoid penalty errors. As the systems continue to learn and develop, the more chances of even more refining the quality of data.

• Adopted in many industries, these systems are used in several industries like digital marketing, finance, healthcare, retail, distribution, and more.

• It encourages a better quality of life wherein AI can reduce the cost of electricity at home by managing appliances as an example. AI in vehicles can assist during driving and parking, even pre-collision. A prime example would be the Tesla cars which are now evolving from a basic car format to developing a new SUV mode which is perfect for families.

WEAKNESS • Artificial intelligence remains inhuman - AI lacks human connection when communicating as there is no emotion. It will not be able to grasp the complexity of human emotion.

• The chance to outsmart us - The system has the capacity to learn task, retain the information, and integrate to provide solutions faster than humans.

• Governments are slow on the uptake Government offices to date lag behind in keeping with the technology.

OPPORTUNITIES • Combing AI with new technology - AI is linked to other forms of technology like Internet of Things, deep learning, and machine learning. Integration enables the developers to reverse problem solve.

• Smart cars drive progress for people with disabilities - The adoption of AI for the automobile industry allows the mobility of people with disability to go places. This technology has already been adopted by companies like Tesla.

• Less strain on employees - AI automates tasks that consumes more time rather than focusing of the bigger issues. This allows more productive man-hours on core functions of the employees.

THREATS • Job stealing - possibility of job loss for less skilled employees. Self-checkout at Walmart eliminates the need for additional employees for cashier.

• Possibility of losing control - IBM has supercomputer that is hooked to the cloud and can mine information, analyze using algorithm, and retain information. The threat to people if the system can override commands at will.

• System error with AI - AI can be used in diagnosing patients, this may cause fatality if there will be system glitches.

This may also cause accidents for AI driven automobiles.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE 9

INDUSTRY APPLICATION AI PaaS was initially suggested as a category of cloud-based digital assistants and chatbots. Maximizing AI can give us the start of an integrated cognitive response, though it may seem narrow in scope as it is specialized.

The more interesting service being offered are “Microservice AI Integration�. This form enables AI solutions to answer specific problems. The trend of cloud computing is a game changer in the applications equation and the application development platforms are now an ideal prospect to simplify what is complex.

Revenue loss on stock level management could be prevented with the platform service application.

Clearance sales for the entry of new products can lead to heavy loss of retails companies. AI PaaS can provide data on excess stocks in advance and suggest insights and potential impact.

The system could also present revenue recovery strategies by suggesting strategic locations with faster movement on specific items. The impact of the solution, comparing it to existing problem, can be generated for corporate decisions.

The system can also detect customer purchase patterns allowing another application to send communications to target customers on suggested items to purchase, as what Azure Machine Learning service can offer. This is because the algorithm created in the system is customized for the need of the company.

The first key objective of AI PaaS is IT efficiency, it removes and streamlines task for administrators. This also increase the productivity of IT administrator. This allows swift scalability and increases the speed and quality of developer, while decreasing IT cost. Second in business innovation, this can increase revenue and enhances service to stakeholders.

It can also expand analyst and user productivity and improves IT focus on the business outcome instead of platform management.

10

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE

Third is risk reduction by decreasing security threats and disruption. It gives high availability with limited downtime and loss of all data and warrants fast recovery.

AI PaaS supports business drivers on these three key objectives. IT efficiency will allow self-service provisions to integrate with Infrastructure-as-aService. This gives complete API-first (Application Programming Interface) coding for developers. It also allows ultimate automation for lifecycles and operational activities as it utilizes common dashboards and devices for management and security processes.

Lastly, decreases the number of technology suppliers.

In business innovation, this gives easy-to-use coding mediums for end-user and rapidly develop and expand applications (for developer and non-technical users).

Capitalizing on emerging technologies like AI, naturallanguage processing, Internet of things, blockchain, and analytics reduces risks as it delivers automated patch management and employs zero-trust resource access model. There is a default data encryption and combines identity and security management. This gives cross-regional availability automation with high-speed network support and with high service-level agreement guarantee.

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Several industries are increasingly investing on artificial intelligence to lessen costs in manpower.

Take for example below we presented the expenses of Walmart and will illustrate using a cost-benefit analysis.

Walmart tested automating the role of cashiers by allowing the customers to pay for the items using the app, initially. Now, they are giving in-store representatives the capacity to help customers pay on mobile devices. Walmart has been using an automatic checkout system since 2013. They started with 70 stores nationwide. The company uses QR codes that could be scanned at a self-checkout counter and then pay using the mobile app or credit card. This continued to roll-out in 120 other stores in 2017, expanding even more so to an additional 120 stores in 2018.

The total salary cost per store for 5 counters is at least $18,600.00 monthly. This does not include other benefits like Health Care, Insurance, SSS employer share and overtime or holiday pay. Walmart has 5,355 stores across America with a total annual salary expense of $1.195,236,000.00.

Total Salary expenses in 1.5years is $1,792,854,000.00.

If Walmart fully applied artificial intelligence in their retail stores with self-checkout counters, this will give a projected total capital outlay of $401,950,000.00. Estimated depreciable years before obsolescence is at 1.5years.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE 11

This is roughly 41% of the total salary expense of manned counters, while 60% of the total cost are saved. Estimated expenses including Repairs & Maintenance and Electricity for 1.5years is$725,995,829.80. Total savings after 1.5years is $1,066,858,170.20 Investment will be realized in 5 months based on the $401,950,000.00 capital outlay over. The annual net cash inflow which comprises the annual savings of 711,238,780.13 and annual depreciation of 267,966,666.67. The return on investment is at 265% after 1.5years. The objective is to automize only 40%-50% of the cashier per branch to continue providing employment to the community.

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS Boosting employee interaction and reducing workforce turnover may be the advisable course of action prescribed by an HR officer to the CEO in order for the company to maneuver talent progress resources properly and making the transition to digitalizing the process happen. Workforce analytics has become popular but it comes with a warning from Greta Roberts (CEO & Cofounder of Talent Analytics Corp.).

“Engagement is not a great prediction metric to identify who is and who is not poised to be part of the transformation effort. You are going to have to identify the right ways to use analytics in this regard. Don’t leave it up to the data scientists. Your leader will have to formulate the real problems.”

According to Ms. Elissa Tucker, principal research lead for Human Capital Management, APQC: “Organizational maturity is about adapting to compete successfully in an increasingly digital environment.

Organizational maturity goes beyond implementing new technology. It’s all about aligning the company’s strategy, workforce, culture, technology and structure to meet the evolving expectations of customers, employees, and partners.”

The call made in today’s generation is for the implementation of a Chief Digital Officer which should not be the a part of the IT Department. It has to do from a cultural perspective. Cross-functional collaboration will have to be encouraged and this falls in the responsibilities of the Chief Digital Officer.

This means making sure the product’s innovational capabilities are in check, customer service innovation, and other kinds of innovation can be taken advantage with the implementation of support technology. But that this would not be overshadowed or eliminated due to what is considered a traditional culture within the organization.

12

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE

The employment scenario will change over time, inevitably. Managing change within the departments that includes training, hiring, rewarding and so forth, the experience as a whole will need to evolve. Whether it be direct contact with a client or designing innovations in technology that will help in dealing with customers or analyzing data that has been collected. Everything will need to change.

Successful business transformation has to be taken in stride and dealt with accordingly and not just passively.

Companies implementing PaaS will be subject to continuous evolution and learning, that also means that competitors who do not catch up may be left in the dust. Day-to-day tasks may already be done by AI and employees are primed to adjust along with the innovations implemented, achieving better customer relations and efficiently finding new ways to bring in the monetary benefits.

Those who fail to catch up may find it even harder to make up for the lost time. It’s no longer just about the product or service, it’s the whole experience of existing as a company and a whole new level or relationship with customers and suppliers.

NATION BUILDING Estimates done by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) put an approximate 20% of healthcare expenses is wasted in a global basis. In the United States, as the United States Institute of Medicine puts it, is around 30%. Putting that data together with 15 other countries, we come up with an average of $1,100-1,700 annually per person. Making the average waste per person is 10 to 15 times more than other 50 countries classified at the bottom on healthcare. These countries fall around $120 per person.

Reasons for this waste is preventable and can be revised in systems that would include care delivery failures, over-treatment and improper care delivery.

With AI in the picture, inefficiencies may be rectified, steam lining and effectively aligning health ecosystems.

With the introduction of AI, clinical decisions and right interventions and treatments are now customizable according each patient. Personalizing approach to health care. This will promote decisive improvements in the results and will also eliminate costs related with post treatment complications.

AI-enabled

systems

can

now

perform

uncomplicated jobs like CT scan analysis and other tests which would result in less human related errors and enabling a quicker diagnosis and action in a timely manner.

An example is a company based in Israel that has developed AI algorithms that resemble closely to a humans in the field of early detection of conditions such as coronary aneurysms, bleeding from the brain, malignant findings in breast health examinations and osteoporosis.

An article published in Wired, AI has proven a 99% accuracy with 30 times speed in reviewing and analyzing mammograms.

AI also has the potential to enable speedier developments of drugs that save so many lives while saving billions in cost.

Artificial intelligence enables the patient to put more power in their own ability to decide in cases of their health.

The University of Toronto supported a start-up company that programmed a super computer with an algorithm that simulates and studies a number of medicines that could help in the fight against Ebola. These involves millions of medicines to process but with this algorithm, it could help save in physical tests that are costly and enables the re-activation of existing drugs.

Biomarking platforms (allowing gene-level identification of diseases) can analyze in seconds from just a drop of blood using devices found at home.

Artificial intelligence enables the patient to put more power in their own ability to decide in cases of their health. Wearable technology combined with the data gathered could help patients of their possible health risks. Mobile apps are now available that provide patient profile information that could help them manage their health, promoting better health and wellness.

Figure 2https://cloud.oracle.com

These are just a fraction of what AI can do not just for the nation but for humanity as a whole. Healthcare will always be an issue.

CONCLUSION The development of integrated solutions in platform is approaching human thought with the ability to determine solutions to consider when making decisions. The technology may offer sound calculated solutions, but the experience and critical thinking of a human brain will still make the final decision. Cloud storage may be a very efficient way to store and process important data, however, local site mainframe storage is still essential to prevent data loss.

Figure 3https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/ artificial-intelligence-privacy-and-legal-issues/

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE 13

Figure 4http:// www.netsuiteblogs.co m/how-does-oracle- cloud-infrastructure- impact-netsuite

Figure 7https://www.mckinsey.com/ industries/capital-projects- and-infrastructure/ our- insights/artificial- intelligence-construction- technologys-next-frontier Figure 5https://www.surveycto.com/blog/how-artificial- intelligence-is-changing-development/

Figure 6https:// www.ecommercetimes.c om/story/85134.html Figure 8 https:// cloud.oracle.com/ digital-assistant

Organizational maturity goes beyond implementing new technology.

Figure 9 https:// www.newswire.com/ news/conversational- platform-as-a-servicecompany-rapportboost- ai-becomes-20521357

14

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE

Figure 10 https://readwrite.com/2019/04/01/11-artificial- intelligence-trends-every-business-in-2019-must- know/

Figure 11https:// www.absolutdata.com/ analytics-products/navik- ai-platform/

Figure 12 https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/20/why-we- need-to-fine-tune-ourdefinition-of-artificial- intelligence/

REFERENCES: AI Platform-as-a-Service, Brian J. Dooley https://tdwi.org/articles/2017/06/29/ai-as-platform-as-a-service.aspx?m=1 Microsoft AI Platform – Build Intelligence Software, September 2017 https://www.forbes.com/sites/janakirammsv/2018/02/22/the-ri...intelligence-as-a-servicein-the-public-cloud Using Digital Platforms and Artificial Intelligence to Outpace Rivals Harvard Business Review Analytics Services, 2018 https://medium.com/aimarketingassociation/most-successful-use-cases-of-artificial-intelligence-for-businesses-1c638154da54 What Is Platform as a Service (PaaS)? https://www.oracle.com/ph/cloud/platform/what-ispaas/ https://pestleanalysis.com/swot-analysis-of-artificial-intelligence/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/05/four-ways-ai-is-bringing-down-the-cost-ofhealthcare/ https://azati.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-utilize-machine-learning-artificial-intelligence/ https://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/locations/united-states#/united-states https://digiday.com/retail/inside-walmarts-journey-cashierless-retail/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/walmart-canada-self-checkout-scan-and-go-amazongo-1.4899698 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE 15

group 1 16

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE

MEMBERS Zheena Rose D. Balbastro Divine Antoniette T. Limsui Maria Cristina H. Syching

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM-AS-A-SERVICE 17

02

18

BLOCKCHAIN

BLOCKCHAIN I. INTRODUCTION Like the advent of internet, blockchain has hugely captured the imagination of almost everyone in the planet in a continuously fast-paced rate. The dramatic effect is more than just a buzzword to every household as this emerging technology is forcing us to redefine the old ways of conducting transactions, storing data and moving industries. To say in modern parlance, the hype is beyond real.

When world markets were on the verge to crumbling down in 2008 on account of the largest recession since the Great Depression, people begin to look for proverbial bridges while the degree of reliability and stability of the financial systems of the world hang in the balance.

It was a wake up call for the optimist to inspire workable solutions when difficult situations arise. Blockchain technology marches on to advance the cause of eliminating trust and transaparency issues. Combined with the openness of the internet and security of of cryptography, blockchain gives everyone an alternative to a safer, faster and trustworthy technology.

The promise of this emerging technology presupposes to eliminate trust issues not just in economic sector. This extends beyond the realm of political, social, legal domains and virtually to almost to all walks of life. But the questions remains, is blockchain technology trustworthy enough?

Hence, this paper hopes to draw the salient points in understanding blockchain. Welcome to the world of blockchain technology.

BLOCKCHAIN 19

II. TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION Blockchain is a system of records to transact value in a peer to peer fashion. Third parties in between is already eliminated as blockchain technology operates in a shared, decentralized, and open ledger of transactions.1 A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, considered a time-stamped series of immutable and distributed ledger of data that is managed by cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data are secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles.2 Goldman Sachs highlights blockchain technology at its heart to be a digital record of transactions like that of a traditional ledger.3 Being a distributed ledger, it can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. Since it is a shared and immutable ledger no one can alter or tamper with the data that has already been stored in the blockchain. The blockchain is designed to resist modifications of the information without being detected by other users.

Unlike the traditional transactions, the technology of blockchain is a democratized system. Blockchain works in a network that has no central authority where verifcation comes from the consensus of other users. It is transparent in nature because all the information in it is open for anyone and everyone to see.

Information on the blockchain is shared and continually reconciled. It is a decentralized database wherein data stored are duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. It is like a spreadsheet or a ledger designed for everyone to see and can be regularly updated. The records it keeps are public and easily verifiable. Despite its being public, data is cryptographically stored, hence, it still preserves the data’s privacy.

The blockchain is a simple way of passing information from the sender to the recipient in a fully automated, safe and cost-free manner. The process starts with the creation of a block by one party to a transaction. This block is verified by millions of computers distributed around the net. Once verified, the block is added to a chain stored across the net, creating not just a unique record. It would then be improbable to falsify a single record or block as it would mean falsifying the entire chain in millions of instances. A very popular investment window, Bitcoin, uses this model for monetary transactions. This technology has been employed by other industries as well.

20

Blockchain technology marches on to advance the cause of eliminating trust and transparency issues.

Technical Environment How the blockchain technology works?

Mark Atwood explains that blockchain is a distributed database. Multiple computers have multiple copies of the database, and the computers fomr their own network with a peer-to-peer connection. This network doesn’t have a centralized server or database; the database is rather within a decentralized network.

When a transaction takes place, it is signed digitally through a cryptography. Users can use public keys to sign and encrypt messages being sent; only the recipient can decrypt the message using a private key of their own. Public keys are also used to authenticate identites and transactions – they are used to confirm that blockchain transactions are indeed not altered.

To process the transaction, users have to be sure that the sender has the asset that will be transafereed and that it won’t be traded twice. The blockchain allows the validation of the ownership and transafer of assets.

To provent double spending, the blockchain commands several nodes to approve the transaction and to have it processed. Each block is securely hashed – meaning it is rendered into a digitial representation and the hash is stored in the next block which makes it nearly tamper proof. Each data block typically contains four pieces of information: a reference to the previous block, the list of inscluded transaction including the transaction summary which is created by hashing all the transactions in the block, a time stamp, and optionally a cryptographic proof that ensures the nodes stay ture.5

The brainchild of a group of a person or people under this technology known by the pseudonym is Satoshi Nakamoto. This invention became relevant as early as 2008 and has since then evolved into something bigger and has now been widely used globally.4

New blocks are also connected to the old blocks which means it won’t be impossible to revert old transactions. If there are new transactions, then the other nodes must be infomred as well. This is to ensure that all nodes are in sync and won’t have any conflicts with one another.

Those general features of the blockchain are the reasons why the technology gained so much admiration and popularity.

The blockchain will be updated by reconciling distributed copies so that they all have the same information – this is known as the consensus process.6

BLOCKCHAIN

Source:https://www.ft.com/content/eb1f8256-7b4b-11e5-a1fe-567b37f80b64#axzz41DtGYYEo

Application of Technology Blockchain technology has a growing list across finance, healthcare, media, government and other other sectors in mankind’s everyday life. Here are a few of the real-world examples that are utilizing blockchain today.

Blockchain in Healthcare MediXserve pioneers the use of blockchain in the Philippines. It aims to fully integrate the universal medical records for better healthcare system by having different partners from the public and private health sectors. It is creating streamlined, personalized, and cost-effective healthcare ecosystems for much easier transactions of physical examination and consultation for Filipino patients. 7 Blockchain in Financial Services Unionbank – sees the need for the 80% of the “unbanked” Philippine population especially on the rural banks to catch up on infrastructure, IT and and banking process automation is fielding a test trial of enabling Blockchain within its banking system and extend the platform to rural banks. With blockchain technology, it

becomes an instant solution to upgrade the modern banking capabilities of rural bank.8 Coins.ph – The financial platform founded in the Philippines in 2014. It uses the blockchain platform making its users possible to do online shopping, pay bills, buy game credits and get digital currencies and make P2P wallet transafers. This wallet is officially recognized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.9 Blockchain in Government Blockchain system in government offices will facilitate faster growth of the technology in the Philippnes according to Blockchain Association Philippine (BAP) Vice Chairman Vicente de Vera during the Blockchain Application and Economic Forum 2018. BAP aims to create a blockchain center of execllence in the country that will help develop the gorwth of blockchain application across various sectors in the philippines and to use it as driver for inclusive prosperity.10 Blockchain in Retail and Supply Chain Philippines IBM is working with Unionbank to build a blockchain-based solution for reinventing supply BLOCKCHAIN 21

In the simplest of terms, considered a time-stamped series of immutable and distributed ledger of data that is managed by cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. chain finance. Through a permision digital ledger – the “IBM Blockchain Platform”. IBM also unveiled “P-Tech” (Pathways in Technology Early College High), a tech education program that aims to prepare students for “new collar jobs”, which are tech-based jobs expected to be in demand in the future generating 500,000 tech jobs in the Philippines by 2022.11 Gcash - Through blockchain, the payment system is headed for a paradidigm shift as it allows seamless peer to peer exchange according to Lorenzo Valdez, platform manager for Globe Telecom’s Gcash by allowing the payment system to shed costly back-office paperwork as a model for optimizing the process for efficiency.12 Appsolutely- This platform aims to help businesses improve relationships with their customers by developing digital strategies and assists with creation of rewards programs, websites and apps. It provides solutions for digital marketing and e-commerce to allow business to drive more internet traffic.13 Blockchain in Insurance The impact on Insurance agreements are centered on the effective realizeation and serialization of “Smart Contracts” in the blockchain enabled insurance markets.

Smart Contracts for insurance under a blockchain setup, follows a familiar process. The “contract” or know as the insurance policy is still executed for future claims but instead of having the form of a paper, the contract (insurance policy) is in digital format or as an “insurance token”, similar to Bitcoin. These insurance token still contain the policies and stipulations which are claimable.14 Blockchain in Online Shopping Online purchases have been a convenient means of buying for our commodities, leisure and relaxation.

These sellers or service providers we pay online require payments using consumers or end users’ credit cards.

These credit card companies take a cut for processing the transaction. The credit card companies are the middlemen in this process. With blockchain, the service provider, say an airline company, save on credit card processing fees. The two parties in the transaction are the airline company and the buyer. The airline ticket is a

22

BLOCKCHAIN

block, which will be added to an airline ticket blockchain.

The airline ticket blockchain is also a record of all transactions for a certain train route or even the entire airline network, comprising every ticket sold, every journey taken.

Blockchain technology now becomes a profitable venue to sellers and service providers such as the given example above because they can charge for anything in any amount and they receive in full the amount charged because there are no third parties (i.e., credit card company, bank) who will cut into their profits.

Service providers like Uber and AirBnB are threatened by blockchain technology, both are website applications that serve as middlemen for booking land transportation rides and accommodations, respectively as they will no longer be needed with this technology. All you need to do is encode the transactional information for a car ride or an overnight stay without entering their websites.

Amazon, Shoppee, Lazada, Zalora, and other online marketplace may then be unnecessary. Instead of them taking a cut, and the credit card company earning money on the sale, the sale will be facilitated directly by both parties- the seller and the buyer.

The trade finance market has also seen the benefits of blockchain technology. For years, the trade finance market has suffered from logistical setbacks because of old, outdated, and uneconomical manual documentation processes. Blockchain technology can help exporters and importers provide each other more visibility as to the data on country of origin, product and will thus enable companies to securely and digitally prove the validity of the transaction and assurance of delivery.

Further, payments between importers and exporters could take place in tokenized form depending upon delivery or receipt of goods. Blockchain supports smart contracts wherein importers and exporters could set up rules that would ensure efficient settlement of transactions and cut out the possibility of missed, lapsed, or delayed shipments.

Since blockchain entails transfer of financial obligations, more specifically payments and investments which is usually done via bank to bank transactions, this technology is seen to have revolutionary changes in the

financial world. Blockchains will change the way stock exchanges work, loans are bundled, and insurances contracted. Bank accounts and practically all services offered by banks, like deposit taking and bank transfers will be eliminated. Hence, an imminent bankruptcy once the advantages of a safe ledger without transaction fees is widely appreciated and implemented.

The worlds of the consumer, trading, the financial institution, and blockchain are slowly converging as the latter signifies the solution and opportunity to streamline and simplify their complex worlds.

Dilemma in Banking System Blockchain is so unlike the banks, the latter as having a centralized system. A centralized system has the following characteristics which is looked upon as prone to vulnerabilities: All the data is stored in one system making them easy targets for potential hackers.

A software upgrade will halt the entire system If the system shuts down and will no longer be revived, chances for accessing the information it already possesses may be improbable.

On the other hand, in a decentralized system such as a blockchain, the information is not stored by a single entity. Once an information is entered, everyone in the network owns the information. If you wanted to interact with a user in the blockchain, say a supplier, then you can do so directly without going through a third party, which is the main ideology behind Bitcoins.

You and only you alone are in charge of your money.

You can send your money to anyone you want without having to go through a bank.

Blockchain technology provides a ledger that nobody administers capable of specific financial services such as payments without using a middleman, like a bank.

While the banks have various products, facilities and services, this paper will focus on the basic banks transactions like deposit generation, check clearing and settlement and fund transfers. The technology can facilitate faster payments, fund transfers at zero cost. Distributed ledgers will enable closer to realtime transactions between financial institutions as it can keep track of transactions better than existing protocols like SWIFT. In today’s process, a simple bank transfer from one account to another has to go through a complicated system of intermediaries via SWIFT, from correspondent banks to custodial services, before it finally reaches its destination or recipient. The two banks then reconciles across a global financial system which can take longer than when transacted in a blockchain. Instead of using SWIFT to reconcile each financial institution’s ledger, transactions via an interbank blockchain could be settled directly and publicly.

Furthermore, settlement of payment will no longer wait for the clearing of check payments as it settles payments as soon as they are made.

This cost-saving and efficient fund transfer features of blockchain are seen to reduce traditional roles within the financial industry. Banks may reduce the number of its tellers, new accounts officer, back office staff as the technology opens up ways for individuals and corporations to transact directly without banks.

Blockchain technology provides a ledger that nobody administers

It further allows the use of smart contracts to be automated instead of the manual processes of the documentation process.

BLOCKCHAIN 23

SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

Decentralized network Open source Security and modern cryptography Instant Settlement Cost Reduction Privacy

Private Money with no Legal Tender Absence of Leadership and Oversight Bodies Adverse Environmental Effects Concentration Risk Immutable Records High Start up Cost People need to be education

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Business process acceleration and efficiency Reduced fraud Reduced systemic risk Government Revolutions Efficient Cross-Border Payments Inclusion of Unbanked Population

Technology failures Uncertainty Cybercrimes Probability of unemployment in some industries/ sectors

STRENGTHS: • Decentralized network- information stored are distributed across a large network of computers, unauthorized manipulation of data is difficult and it is resilient against data loss and infrastructure failures. It means that it is not under the control of any authority or person. Hence, it is not subject t any form of manipulation.

• Open source- transparent by nature – It has the round the clock functionality which operates 24/7 and it is also reliable as it has a high level of integrity.

• Security and modern cryptography- once data is entered into the blockchain, it cannot be modified. It is immutable. Hence, you don’t need to worry about your database to get compromised.

• Instant Settlement- payment for transactions can easily be facilitated because of the absence of middlemen • Cost Reduction- payment is direct to the seller/supplier/service provider, hence, service fees are eliminated • Privacy-with the use of modern cryptography, the identity of the user in the block chain is anonymous

24

BLOCKCHAIN

WEAKNESSES • Private Money with no Legal Tender • Absence of Regulatory Bodies- prone to cybercrimes, including money laundering • Environmental Cost- requires an enormous amount of electricity to power the database • Concentration Risk • Immutable Records• High Start-up cost – extreme change to your existing business model may be expensive.

Hence, you must have a budget for it.

• Noteworthy to mention that this technology is still at its infancy stage. Many people still don’t know about it. Thus, we need people to be educated through information dissemination.

OPPORTUNITIES • B usiness process acceleration and efficiency- absence of middlemen makes the peer to peer transaction faster as a step in the process is eliminated; placing an order and its corresponding settlement of payment is more efficient due to the elimination of middlemen (banks, settlement platform) • Government Revolutionsgovernment records will be made public. The transparency

of their transactions will enable to abolish corruption and spurious purchases and transactions • Efficient Cross-Border Payments-least cost in sending or receiving payments or funds internationally without a bank account • Inclusion of Unbanked Population- unbanked population who may have been declined to open a bank account due to deficient or lacking documents for their proper identification, may execute financial transactions via the blockchain THREATS • • • •

Technology failures Uncertainty Cybercrimes- its feature Probability of Unemployment industries/sectors

in

some

III. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS While the benefits of most technologies can straightforwardly be quantified, blockchain technology’s cost is difficult to measure. For sellers and end users, blockchains have the potential to reduce costs, maximize profits and increase efficiency as mediation or middlemen entail additional costs.

Traditional and most common way of transferring funds from one person to another is through banks and financial institutions. Transacting through them as mediation for the transfer of funds would entail measurable costs such as: service fee, transportation, real time availability of funds, computing and transaction cost as well as immeasurable costs like time and convenience.

Below are transaction costs (per 100USD or its equivalent peso amount) of the more common remittance centers in the Philippines:

Remittance Center

Local to Local

Local to International International to Local

Western Union Palawan Express Cebuana Lhuillier LBC

115.00

500.00

560.00

90.00

-

-

220.00

-

-

220.00

-

260.00

Commercial Banks

50.00

250.00

150.00

BLOCKCHAIN 25

Further, this is the strategic value of Blockchain in various sectors in the economy:

26

BLOCKCHAIN

IV. ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS Blockchain technology raises two major ethical issues: its adverse effect on the environment and cybercrime leading to serious criminal acts.

Its heavy reliance on encryption and solving of complex mathematical puzzles needs a gigantic amount of computing power to run the blockchain networks. In a study, Bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption is 1.5 percent of the United States’ annual consumption and is now responsible for 0.6 percent of the world’s entire electricity usage.

The technology’s decentralized and complex nature using crypto-based transactions make it difficult for governments and regulatory bodies to control.

The website can be a window for cybercriminals to sell drugs, weapons and other banned items. This also opens an opportunity for smugglers, syndicates and money launderers who would have been easily caught when their transactions go through financial institutions, hence, are traceable. a. May lead to economic sabotage- due to anonymity, public blockchains are vulnerable to 51 percent attacks which may occur when a group of hackers produces more than 50 percent of a blockchain’s computing power thereby making the group the network majority and can assume control of the entire blockchain. b. Privacy and security issues- all transactions and data recorded on the blockchain is available to everybody. A person may not be identified however in sectors like finance, healthcare and legal, data should always be held confidential like patient’s medical records, a person’s bank account. c. Legal Issues • Jurisdiction: There are differing approaches to major legal documentations like titles, ownership, contracts, and liabilities from one country to another. Blockchain technology uses smart contracts represented by lines of codes. Taken that into consideration, should there be lapses in the performance or implementation of the contract, who would be responsible for conflict resolution?

• Contract enforceability: Since by nature, smart contracts are purely computer coded, should there be contract disputes, it is indefinite if a smart contract enforceable in a court of law.

• Leaving a blockchain: The information and transaction records inputted in the blockchain will be intact in the chain and remain there even when a user or member has already left. The technology does not hand over the information and complete records of transactions to a user or member

even when he or she has already decided to stop using the service that supplies the blockchain. d. Regulatory Issues- Governments from all over the world are now taking a heightened level of interest in this technology, particularly on cryptocurrencies in anticipation for the probable market manipulation. Experts believe that the extraordinary rise of cryptocurrency in the latter part of 2017 was the direct result of collusion between exchanges. Another issue in relation to government regulation is the blockchain’s immutability feature. Since no one will be able to amend or update the information, those who are currently compliant with the regulations today and may not be able to meet future regulations, may still remain in the blockchain, despite falling short of the governmental requirements.

V. NATION BUILDING Blockchain is widely used among many countries worldwide for the many reasons they have been benefited by the technology: 1. It is a means of providing a trusted, digital National identification system which enables India to secure transactions by anchoring people’s identities, thus facilitating trade 2. Key identity information of citizens from birth to death (Switzerland) 3. Health care benefits from blockchain as it can potentially improve the securing and sharing of patient’s medical records. Estonia established a national electronic health records. Sweden has already initiated to develop a national blockchain for health records.

4. Blockchain allows everyone to take control of their educational credentials for possession of verified records. Consortium of Malaysian universities combat fake degrees as blockchain enables veracity of records.

5. Using smartphones could develop participatory democracies. The Swiss use their blockchain IDs to conduct the city’s first blockchain enabled e-vote.

6. Sweden fully block-based land registration to ward off fraudulent titles and deeds.

7. Modernization and digitization of governmental functions in Dubai spurs innovation by moving all government documents (more than 100M docs) by 2020 8. Blockchain makes transaction costs manageable giving way to open world markets. Developing world countries are given opportunity to offer their products worldwide at competitive costs.

9. Trustworthy infrastructures 10. New markets and opportunities to access the formal economy on equal terms 11. Lower prices and improve quality of goods for all consumers BLOCKCHAIN 27

Blockchain Infographic: Source: https://www.dotcominfoway.com/ blog/growth-and-facts-of-blockchain-technology 28

BLOCKCHAIN

CONCLUSION

Fascinating Blockchain Statistics 15

The blockchain revolution is a transaformation that has already begun. Despite the hype and its popularity, blockchain technology is still a work in progress.

Others foresee that blockchain will augment and some say altogether replace the traditional financial infrastructure. There is a big probability that blockchain will indeed transform the banking industry because as presented above, it provides a venue to do a lot of useful things that are not feasible using traditional, centralized databases. The technology is however, not perfect.

It has its drawbacks in terms of 100% guaranteeing data security, enabling instant data transactions, and providing total transparency. To top its limitations, blockchain technology is yet to fulfill regulatory and legal requirements to ensure stability of the economy.

The benefits obtained from this technology may not be adequate with the probable adverse effects as it will be an attractive venue for money launderers, cybercriminals and criminals in general.

• 90% of European and North American banks were exploring blockchain in 2018 • The global blockchain technology market is estimated to accumulate 20 billion dollars in revenue by2024 • Blockchain can reduce 30% of banks’ infrastructure costs • Financial companies can save up to $12 billion a year from using blockchain • More than 90% of people engaging in Bitcoin are men • FBI owns 1.5% of world’s total bitcoins • 55% of healthcare applications will have adopted blockchain for commercial deployment by 2025 • The financial sector has spent a total of $552M on blockchain in 2018 Source: https://techjury.net/stats-about/blockchain/

Singal, B., Beginning Blockchain: A Beginner’s Guide to Building Blockchain Solutions. 2018. Scribd Library. https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/ 3 https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/pages/blockchain/ 4 https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/ 5 https://www.scribd.com/document/336329861/Demystifying-Blockchain 6 Ibid.

7 http://manilastandard.net/tech/business0/280175/medixserve-pioneers-in-blockchain-technology.html 8 https://www.dqtsi.com/2018/06/12/state-of-blockchain-in-the-philippines-and-the-leading-nations-of-asia/ 9 https://philippines.bc.events/news/top-5-blockchain-and-crypto-companies-in-the-philippines-93297 10 https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1036833 11 https://bitpinas.com/news/ibm-working-unionbank-blockchain-based-supply-chain-finance-solution/ 12 https://www.dqtsi.com/2018/06/05/dynaquest-in-the-manila-blockchain-conference-2018/ 13 https://philippines.bc.events/news/top-5-blockchain-and-crypto-companies-in-the-philippines-93297 blo 14 https://www.dqtsi.com/2018/06/05/dynaquest-in-the-manila-blockchain-conference-2018/ 15 https://techjury.net/stats-about/blockchain/ 1 2

BLOCKCHAIN 29

group 2 30

BLOCKCHAIN

MEMBERS

Julie Ann Gonzales Dawn Coscolluela Balt Chavez

BLOCKCHAIN 31

03

32

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:

Robotics Process Automation

a.k.a. RPA

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION 33

TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION Automation of business processes is a key driver of next generation operations, which will deliver customer experience, compliance and competitive advantages.

Any organization striving for digital transformation should look at how they want to develop and deploy their automation strategy.

WHAT IS ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION? Robotic Process Automation is the technology that allows anyone today to configure computer software, or a “robot” to emulate and integrate the actions of a human interacting within digital systems to execute a business process. RPA robots utilize the user interface to capture data and manipulate applications just like humans do. They interpret, trigger responses and communicate with other systems in order to perform on a vast variety of repetitive tasks. Only substantially better: an RPA software robot never sleeps, makes zero mistakes and costs a lot less than an employee.1

HOW DOES RPA WORK? Bots are capable of mimicking many, if not most– human user actions. They log into applications, move files and folders, copy and paste data, fill in forms, extract structured and semi-structured data from documents, scrape browsers, and more.2 Below is a table which outlines the criteria in choosing which processes to automate

Source: RPA Awareness Training, Lesson 2: Process Fit for RPA (p. 5-6), www.academy.uipath.com

TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT

An RPA software robot never sleeps, makes zero mistakes and costs a lot less than an employee.

34

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION

RPA is really as simple and powerful as it sounds.

RPA enables you with tools to create your own software robots to automate any business process.

Your “bots” are configurable software set up to perform the tasks you assign and control. It works the way people do. The bots sees, compares, references, and establishes patterns. It is equipped with the same (digital) skillset (in most cases even better) as your workforce. The vastness of its applications cuts across various industries and processes.

Source: RPA Awareness Training, Lesson 2: Process Fit for RPA (p. 3-4 &7), www.academy.uipath.com

DIFFERENCE OF RPA AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) For simplicity, you can think of RPA as a software robot that mimics human actions, whereas AI is concerned with the simulation of human intelligence by machines.

On the most fundamental level, RPA is associated with “doing” whereas AI and Machine Learning are concerned with “thinking” and “learning” respectively.

RPA enables you with tools to create your own software robots to automate any business process.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION 35

TRENDS IN THE TECHNOLOGY Several categories have been outlined by practitioners depending on the kind of work and the extent of the work each ‘bot’ is programmed. They are usually classified as attended and unattended robots.

Source: RPA Awareness Training, Lesson 4: Introduction to UiPath (p. 5), www.academy.uipath.com

Attended Automation refers to the kind of automation where the bot or the agent passively resides on the user’s machine and is invoked by the user at certain instances. The triggering has to actively happen by the user’s action since the points of triggering are programmatically hard to detect. It makes the users feel good as they are still a part of the process but no longer a part of the mundanity or monotony. This improves productivity, not only by

36

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION

saving time but also by increasing their efficiency.

Unattended Automation, on the other hand, elevates RPA to another level. Not all the tasks in a process need to explicitly run – they can run in the background, processing the essential data and giving the output. This could save a lot of time for the back-end employees who do not have to deal with customers but more with data and processes.

SWOT analysis BENEFICIAL to achieving the objective

WEAKNESSES: STRENGTHS: • RPA dependence on human• Elimination of redundant inputted parameters suggests or already irrelevant human the tendency to commit interaction resulting in error in a massive scale upon increased ROI while ensuring implementation. timely and accurate results.

• The quality of output is at • Accuracy and timely the mercy of the employees’ deliverance of required results capability to capture the • Opportunity to re-align tasks company’s query in a of existing employees that can parameter set-up further increase their potential • RPA is limited to its and profit generating capacity parameters and cannot • Code Free & Ease of address exceptions. implementation.3 • Improved Compliance: • Inability to provide creative Companies can now operate solutions on certain problems. more efficiently in accordance • The cost of adapting an with the standards as bots are RPA system (licensing fees, salary of IT professionals, more reliable, less risky and maintenance, training, etc) everything is monitored.4 • Infrastructure Compatibility: software and tools are designed to be compatible even with legacy platforms.5

INTERNAL (factors within the organization)

EXTERNAL (factors brought environment)

about

by

DETRIMENTAL to achieving the objective

the

THREATS: OPPORTUNITIES: • Susceptibility to change • Upskill Employees (application of new technology • Redefining company such as RPA to the business) processes to its optimal level • Advancements of AI and ERP • Technology advancement (i.e. in the future can lead to the AI and ERP) redundancy of RPA. • Increase in company’s profit • Susceptibility to change & value by at least half of the • Bots replacing humans current growth percentage • Lack of management support • Globalization by institutionalizing various business/product/service under one standardized process.6 • Governance framework should be in place to ensure that RPA initiatives are tracked and sure to deliver business value. 7

The SWOT Matrix generated a more positive review favoring the implementation of RPA. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages as RPA helps boost the value of the company due to its standardized operations providing timely and accurate results with lesser expenditures thus allowing the company to be at par with other competitive organizations nowadays.

By having a leaner and a more seamless process, more focused employees and reliable data on-hand, RPA ensures a significant ROI as compared to not implementing the automation process. It creates a leverage against other competitors allowing the company to be preferred by its target market which translates to an increased profitability.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION 37

It promises to deliver more effective service levels to customers and allow the business to operate more efficiently.

Business/Industry/Education Applications Digital transformation is heavily dependent on how it is contextualized in an organization. As evident on the table below, automation is widely practiced and can be applied in various industries. For the purposes of discussion, we will be focusing on the Shared Services Organization (a.ka. S.S.O). When SSOs talk about digital transformation, they usually mean Process Automation.

Process Automation and the technology associated to it acts as an enabler in achieving business results.

It promises to deliver more effective service levels to customers and allow the business to operate more efficiently. Although there is a surge of sophisticated intelligent automation tools, most SSO usually start their automation journey with RPA before they progress to more complex automation initiative such as AI.

Source: 7 steps to successfully deploying RPA in your Enterprise, http://www.ssonetwork.com/

Higher employee satisfaction as employees are more satisfied as they can now focus on higher-value adding tasks.

38

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION

Some of the realized benefits by SSOs through the deployment of bots are ease of deployment (RPA is easier to deploy than other solutions), high scalability of this technology solution to meet customer demands, Full Time Employees ((a.k.a. F.T.E.)) savings (realized through labor hours saved, redeployment or through natural attrition) thereby allowing the company to do more work with fewer resources, quality output delivered in an efficient manner as there are no errors incurred and bots, unlike its human

counterpart is not only faster but can operate 24/7.8 Lastly, higher employee satisfaction as employees are more satisfied as they can now focus on higher-value adding tasks.9 How to successfully deploy RPA in your organization: Selecting the right process will ensure seamless deployment of the bots. Table below serve as a guide on how to choose the best candidate for process automation:

Source: RPA Awareness Training, Lesson 2: Process Fit for RPA (p. 5-6), www.academy.uipath.com

To further assess and prioritize, automation opportunities can be assessed by mapping out the process and highlighting the number of steps involved (both manual and for potential automation). Through this exercise, the organization will be able to identify which processes require automation intervention through the automation rate.

Source: 2018 Tech Mahindra, RPA Discovery Report (p. 2) *Computation: Automated Steps divided by Manual Steps

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION 39

RPA can significantly boost the workforce and provide opportunities to streamline operational processes.

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS Total investment would largely depend on to what extent they want to deploy RPA in their business. To maximize the benefits of RPA, organizations should strive in identifying processes that will yield the greatest benefits when automated.10 Organizations can select different types of RPA solutions depending on their requirements and strategies. Another aspect to consider is the spectrum of RPA solutions and the features offered by the technology providers.

A handful of RPA providers have emerged.

Currently, the 3 leading RPA platform vendors are UiPath, Automation Anywhere & Blue Prism, which are known also known the Big 3 as noted on the chart below (scored based on technology capability and market share).

With RPA, businesses can automate mundane rule-based processes, as it mimics the activity of

40

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION

human beings in carrying out repetitive tasks more quickly and accurately within a process. This enables employees to devote more time to higher-value tasks and deliver higher quality services and customer experience. Through its automation capabilities, RPA can significantly boost the workforce and provide opportunities to streamline operational processes.

This ultimately helps an organization manage its cost while at the same time, boosting their operational efficiency. 12 13 Study shows that the implementation of RPA provides a cost reduction to at least 30% on process operations and investment recovery period in as short as 6-9 months.14 Below is a sample computation for ABC company: • 1000 employees • Expenditures to consider are the initial set-up fee and annual licensing fee • 30% reduction in manpower (from 1000 to 700 employees) through the implementation of 50 fully automated bots

issues around automation become fully avoidable. Most ethical issues surrounding automation software are born from the failure to remember that automation is there to improve the work of your employees. It’s not the enemy, and it’s not a usurper. As long as it is treated as an enabler and not a replacement, any ethical problems are addressed.

NATION-BUILDING IMPLICATIONS The possible uses of RPA in government services are almost endless. Many of the documentary requests of the citizens can be fulfilled by employing RPAs in the different agencies of government, This would make entail faster processing time that can drive the economy. But other than delivering basic services, automation can greatly help the computation of economic tools that can drive economies.

CONCLUSION: Enabling RPA in your business will significantly transform your business. It will allow your business to be more structured, streamlined, flexible and better respond to the growing needs of your customers. The faster you harvest this potential, the faster you create a competitive edge for your business. Bots can be seamlessly integrated into any system. It also sends out progress report so you can scale it by using operational and business predictability, while improving strategically.

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS Implementing change that will transform the business will create a sense of uncertainty among the employees due to the fear of being replaced by the implementation of RPA. This was mainly driven by two factors – 1. Fear of the unknown; and 2. limited understanding of the benefits and the role it will play within an organization.

If the introduction of automation is not managed carefully, it can be both unsettling and stressful. The best way to deal with this potential ethical hazard is to instill a good level of awareness and sense of assurance to employees. Reassure employees that automation is here to help them, rather than replace them. Embracing the change rather than fearing it can also be a good selling point for our workforce to take advantage of it as a learning opportunity to upskill and further their knowledge or even supplement their career development plans. This clarity helps reduce workplace anxiety, and therefore reduce the ethical concerns surrounding employee mental welfare.

Automation is a tool (thus morally ambiguous) and not a behaviour, so the question ‘is automation ethical’ really boils down to whether the creation and use of automation software are ethical. It only becomes unethical when used incorrectly. Fortunately, this means that those ethical

https://www.uipath.com/rpa/robotic-process-automation https://blog.aimultiple.com/rpa/#history www.everestgrp.com – (Defining Enterprise RPA, 2018), p. 12 4 https://www.uipath.com/rpa/robotic-process-automation 5 https://www.edureka.co/blog/interview-questions/rpa-uipath-interview-questions/ 6 www.everestgrp.com – (Defining Enterprise RPA, 2018), p. 5 7 Ovum Decision Matrix: Selecting a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Platform, 2018–19 (p. 2) 8 https://www.ssonetwork.com/rpa/articles/the-birth-of-bot-shoring 9 Lacity and Willcocks (2015), Robotic Process Automation: The Next Transformation Lever for Shared Services, p. 26 10 https://blog.aimultiple.com/rpa-implementation/ 11 https://www.ssonetwork.com/rpa/articles/5-predictions-on-how-rpa-will-drivefinance-forward 12 UiPath: Know your RPA ROI https://www.uipath.com/hubfs/Whitepapers/Know-Your-RPA-ROI-V1. pdf?utm_campaign=AP188GOV&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz903x1v6KDmkSZzh64cUNjOH0RD0gRuT6pTWUxCpHqiM-TzVWzdnCQ_ W0s_mZqKmWpCAQjyhrIO4rIgpwwRBQqBR-sfUg&_hsmi=67383209&utm_ content=67383209&utm_source=hs_automation&hsCtaTracking=9bf af442-7a10-4783-8970-bfa0c0c12c65%7C7ddd5e0d-aca3-41f2-8303829801fa19b8&fbclid=IwAR3q9z_VGjqpaS6atxwy9p778lehKz_dk5K7QEeG542iledj9MWtTQXosic 13 https://www.uipath.com/blog/robotic-process-automation-insurance-companiescore-processes 14 https://www.uipath.com/blog/rpa-by-the-numbers, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM): RPA implementation can provide companies with a “cost reduction of 35-65 per cent for onshore process operations and 10-30 per cent in offshore delivery…[and] an investment recovery period as short as 6-9 months...”

1 2 3

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION 41

group 3 42

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION

MEMBERS Tae Hwan S. Kim Neupito Saicon, S.J.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION 43

04

44

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER:

Connected Homes I. TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION a. Introduction Smart home technology, also often referred to as home automation or domotics (from the Latin “domus” meaning home), provides homeowners security, comfort, convenience and energy efficiency by allowing them to control smart devices, often by a smart home app on their smartphone or other networked device. A part of the internet of things (IoT), smart home systems and devices often operate together, sharing consumer usage data among themselves and automating actions based on the homeowners’ preferences.1 Internet of Things defined Also known as IoT, it’s the umbrella term that refers to the connection of devices to the internet. These devices broadly encompass connected appliances, connected cars, wearable tech, smart health and fitness, security cameras, smart TVs, smart clothing, smart homes, smart cities and all of the services that are layered on top of those.

As the Internet of Things grows over the coming years, more devices will join that list.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES 45

Smart home systems and devices often operate together, sharing consumer usage data among themselves and automating actions based on the homeowners’ preferences.

The origins of the smart home With the 1975 release of X10, a communication protocol for home automation, the smart home, once a pipe dream a la The Jetsons, came to life.

X10 sends 120 kHz radio frequency (RF) bursts of digital information onto a home’s existing electric wiring to programmable outlets or switches. These signals convey commands to corresponding devices, controlling how and when the devices operate. A transmitter could, for example, send a signal along the house’s electric wiring, telling a device to turn on at a specific time.

However, as electrical wiring isn’t designed to be particularly free from radio-band “noise,” X10 was not always fully reliable. Signals would be lost and, in some cases, signals wouldn’t cross circuits that were wired on different polarities, created when 220-volt service is split into a pair of 100-volt feeds, as is common in the U.S. Additionally, X10 was initially a one-way technology, so while smart devices can take commands, they cannot send data back to a central network. Later, however, two-way X10 devices became available, albeit at a higher cost.

Figure 1: Illustration of Smart Home; Source: IOT Agenda Website

When home automation company Insteon came on the scene in 2005, it introduced technology that combined electric wiring with wireless signals. Other protocols, including Zigbee and Z-Wave, have since emerged to counter the problems prone to X10, though X10 remains a widely installed communications protocol to this day.

Nest Labs was founded in 2010 and released its first smart product, the Nest Learning Thermostat, in 2011. The company also created smart smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and security cameras. After being acquired by Google in 2015, it became a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. in the same year.2 Examples of smart home technologies3 Nearly every aspect of life where technology has entered the domestic space (lightbulbs, dishwashers and so on) has seen the introduction of a smart home alternative: • Smart TVs connect to the internet to access content through applications, such as on-demand video and music. Some smart TVs also include voice or gesture recognition.

• In addition to being able to be controlled remotely and customized, smart lighting systems, such as Hue from Philips Lighting Holding B.V., can detect when occupants are in the room and adjust lighting as needed.

46

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES

Smart lightbulbs can also regulate themselves based on daylight availability.

• Smart thermostats, such as Nest from Nest Labs Inc., come with integrated Wi-Fi, allowing users to schedule, monitor and remotely control home temperatures.

These devices also learn homeowners’ behaviors and automatically modify settings to provide residents with maximum comfort and efficiency. Smart thermostats can also report energy use and remind users to change filters, among other things.

• Using smart locks and garage-door openers, users can grant or deny access to visitors. Smart locks can also detect when residents are near and unlock the doors for them.

• With smart security cameras, residents can monitor their homes when they are away or on vacation. Smart motion sensors are also able to identify the difference between residents, visitors, pets and burglars, and can notify authorities if suspicious behavior is detected.

• Pet care can be automated with connected feeders.

Houseplants and lawns can be watered by way of connected timers.

• Kitchen appliances of all sorts are available, including smart coffee makers that can brew you a fresh cup as soon as your alarm goes off; smart refrigerators that keep

track of expiration dates, make shopping lists or even create recipes based on ingredients currently on hand; slower cookers and toasters; and, in the laundry room, washing machines and dryers.

• Household system monitors may, for example, sense an electric surge and turn off appliances or sense water failures or freezing pipes and turn off the water so there isn’t a flood in your basement. b. Technical Environment

other to create a strong customer experience.4 Smart vs. Connected Homes The terms smart home and connected home have evolved to be used interchangeably.

A truly smart home is equipped with lighting, heating, or electronic devices that can be controlled remotely — as in when you’re away from your home — by a computer, tablet or smartphone.

A connected home is networked to enable the interconnection and interoperability of multiple devices, services and apps, ranging from communications and entertainment to healthcare, security and home automation. These services and apps are delivered over multiple interlinked and integrated devices, sensors, tools and platforms. Connected, real-time, smart and contextual experiences are provided for the household inhabitants, and individuals are enabled to control and monitor the home remotely as well as within it.

Using the technology within the home, you can control and see what is going on in your house, even when you’re not there by using websites or apps on a smartphone, tablet or computer.

The technologies behind the connected home can be grouped in the following categories:

Smart thermostats are intelligent because they can make calculated decisions based on other system components, such as the owner’s previous room temperature adjustments, built-in algorithms, and sensors.5

• Networking: Familiar home networking technologies (high bandwidth/high power consumption), such as Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, as well as 3G and Long Term Evolution (LTE), are complemented with low-power consumption networking standards for devices and sensors that require low bandwidth and consume very little power, such as thermostats.

• Media and Entertainment: This category, which covers integrated entertainment systems within the household and includes accessing and sharing digital content across different devices, has proved to be the most prolific and contains some of the most mature technologies in the connected home.

• Home Security/Monitoring and Home Automation: The technologies in this category cover a variety of services that focus on monitoring and protecting the home as well as the remote and automated control of doors, windows, blinds and locks, heating/air conditioning, lighting and home appliances, and more.

• Energy Management: This category is tightly linked to smart cities and government initiatives, yet consumer services and devices/apps are being introduced at massmarket prices that allow people to track, control and monitor their gas/electricity consumption.

• Healthcare, Fitness and Wellness: Solutions and services around healthcare have proven slow to take off, because they have to be positioned within a health plan and sold to hospitals and health insurance companies.

The fitness and wellness segment has strong and quickly developed ecosystems that range from devices to sports wares to apps, which integrate seamlessly with each

For instance, if you’re expecting a delivery while you’re away, you can install a home camera that allows you to check in on your front porch. That way you can see when your package arrives or interact with people who come to your door even when you’re away.

c. Trends in Technology Today’s home technology is smarter than ever, providing homeowners comfort, convenience, security, and energy and financial savings. Architects and designers have been integrating connected and greener homes in order to reduce carbon footprints among environmentally conscious luxury market hence the evolution of greener and sustainable homes influencing even the middle class home owners.

Green & Sustainable Smart Homes Smart home automation can reduce home’s energy consumption and in doing so make it greener. There

Today’s home technology is smarter than ever, providing homeowners comfort, convenience, security, and energy and financial savings.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES 47

is an ever growing range of affordable smart home technologies. A few of the most popular include: a)

Temperature Control

Computerized thermostats give you the power to minimize your carbon footprint in several ways. One way is by allowing you to regulate the temperature in your home through your mobile device. If you’re on vacation and suddenly remember you forgot to adjust the thermostat you can do so right from your phone. If someone leaves a door open, a smart thermostat can shut off the air conditioning or heat automatically. And you can set a smart thermostat to turn the air conditioning or heat down while you’re at work, and turn it back up just prior to your arrival back home. Smart thermostats like the Nest can also learn your temperature preferences, making it even easier to maximize energy efficiency. b) Lighting Smart home lighting solutions give you greater control over the lighting in your home and in doing so make your home more eco-friendly. Features include the ability to adjust the lighting in and outside your home remotely through a web enabled device, or by using a control panel within your home. Instead of leaving porch lights and path lights on all day, you can program them to turn on just as you arrive home from work or according to sunrise and sunset- saving energy and enhancing safety and security. You can program smart home lighting solutions to alert you via text message when a light has been left on. Then, right from your laptop, turn it off and minimizing energy waste. c) Window Treatments Take advantage of smart window treatment systems and you’ll reduce your home’s HVAC energy consumption by keeping your home cool during the summer and warming it when winter arrives. For example, to keep your house cool and minimize air conditioning use, you can program window shades or blinds to close during the hottest part of the day. On the other hand, if you’re trying to warm a cold house without running the heat, you can set shades to open during the day. d) Irrigation A smart irrigation system can help save thousands of gallons of water (and hundreds of dollars) a year.

Systems like Cyber Rain are customizable to any size yard and allow you to monitor and adjust the system from any Internet connected device. Systems like Cyber Rain conserve earth’s precious water resource by checking the weather forecast for you, and automatically adjusting the irrigation schedule when rain is detected.

According to its website, Cyber-Rain users average a 35 percent reduction in water consumption.

Smart home systems also allow you the opportunity to monitor your home’s energy usage and make adjustments to further reduce your environmental impact and save even more money. Energy management 48

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES

systems like Savant keep an eye on your home’s power consumption so you can discover which systems, appliances or electronics are using the most energy and then control their use- especially during peak electricity price periods.

If you’re looking to simplify your life, save money and become more eco-friendly, adopting one or more of these smart home technologies is a great start. To find out more, discover what Vivint offers to help you save money and energy in your smart home.6 d. SWOT Analysis 1. Strengths 1. Convenient and efficient home activities monitoring Using Online CCTV’s, it is more convenient and more efficient to monitor home activities even while outside the house or while using your mobile devices.

2. Security and peace of mind Using Smart home Technology, it automatically secures your Home using Wi-fi technology and as well as putting motion sensors all over your house.

This way you can track on whatever happens to your House and as well to monitor sensor status and view live and recorded video 3. Financial savings in the long-term7 Using Smart home technology, you can have plenty of savings such as using the ff. a) Energy Efficient LED Lights b) Energy Efficient Thermostats c) Remote Power Management d) Energy Cost Monitoring 4. Reduction of Carbon Footprint Using Smart home technology basically helps save the environment and is helping us save energy, It is also paving the way for cleaner energy use. By providing homeowners with increased control over their appliances, smart homes allow users to make their energy expenditure more efficient without sacrificing comfort.

2. Weaknesses 1. System glitches and hacking Basically, The Design of the Smart home Technology has plenty of security flaws which could enable theft of passwords or other sensitive information These weaknesses could also allow online attackers to interfere with the use of domestic devices, potentially causing stress and damage to their victims.8 2. High initial investment cost Smart Home Technology has a high initial investment cost which the technology does not come out cheap.

The Average cost of installing a home automation system is a little bit over $1,000.00 and with the

high-end Price of $3,500.00 3. Lacking support infrastructure A smart home will be extremely reliant on your internet connection. If your connection drops you’ll be left with a lot of smart products that won’t work. Additionally, wireless signals can possibly be interrupted by other electronics in your home and cause some of your smart products to function slowly or not at all.9 3. Opportunities 1. Increasing market size The volume of middle class home owners continue to grow and this pose an immediate opportunity to introduce this technology as this group of end-users are most likely to try new concepts.

2. Continuous upgrade in infrastructure of internet service providers Major players in telecommunication industry are racing to upgrade their systems to accommodate fastpace advancement of technology and demand of the market.

4. Threats 1. Lack of government support Concerns departments in government and some private sectors are showing weaknesses in terms of infrastructure support such as faster internet highway and stability of electricity supply. These two are prerequisites of an reliable connectivity.

2. Expensive Technology Set-Up Availability of this technology in the local market poses threats as to price acceptability of end-users.

II.BUSINESS/INDUSTRY/EDUCATION APPLICATION Market Outlook 201910 The Smart Home market constitutes the sale of networked devices and related services that enable home automation for private end users (B2C).

Considered are devices that are connected directly or indirectly via a so-called gateway to the Internet.

Their main purposes are the control, monitoring and regulation of functions in a private household. The remote control and monitoring of individual devices and, if applicable, their direct communication with one another (Internet of Things), is an essential component of intelligent home automation. Therefore, services which are necessary for the maintenance or control of the household network are also considered, e.g. subscription fees for control apps or external monitoring services. The worldwide revenue of US$53.2 billion in 2018 is expected to increase to US$145.4 billion by 2023.

Philippines Outlook11 • Revenue in the Smart Home market amounts to US$134m in 2019.

• Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2019-2023) of 43.8%, resulting in a market volume of US$572m by 2023.

• Household penetration is 1.5% in 2019 and is expected to hit 9.4% by 2023.

• The average revenue per installed Smart Home currently amounts to US$58.33.

• A global comparison reveals that most revenue is generated in United States (US$27,747m in 2019).

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES 49

Smart home technology also can change the type of buyers that potentially are interested in a home.

Due to the growing market for smart homes and positive outlook, This technology will be useful in Real Estate industry, in Medicine and Wellness, and in Education.

Real Estate Industry12 Primary use of smart is obviously on residential homes but it can also be used in shopping centers, commercial buildings, hotels, and recreational facilities.

The real estate industry has been affected over the past several years by smart home technology. It has made a huge splash into the industry and all signs point to it continuing to make a huge impact.

Below are some of the ways smart home technology has changed the real estate industry over the past several years.

1. Higher Resale Values Arguably the biggest impact that smart home products have had on the real estate industry are resale values of homes. The most important thing for any home seller is the amount of money they can sell their home for.

One thing that is factored in when determining the market value of a home is what features and amenities a home has. A home that has smart home technology products installed will have a higher value than a comparable home that doesn’t have smart home products.

2. Less Amount Of Market Time There is no formula to determine how long it takes for a home to sell. There are certainly factors that impact the amount of market time for a home, such as price, condition, features, and location.

A home that has smart home technology products typically will sell faster than a home that doesn’t have these products.

3. More Potential Buyers Smart home technology also can change the type of buyers that potentially are interested in a home. Many millennial home buyers are attracted to homes that have cutting edge technology features. Installing smart home

50

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES

products in a home is a great way to improve the chances of attracting a millennial home buyer.

Smart home technology does not only can attract millennial home buyers. For example, installing a smart home security product in a home can be an excellent way to attract a home buyer who is a single parent, due to the increased security feature of the home.

Since many of the smart home technology products focus on improving the energy efficiency of a home, it’s also feasible that these products can attract buyers who are very cautious about energy efficiency and the ecosystem.

Medicine & Wellness Industry13 Smart Home technology also known as Smart Health Technology in the Medicine and Wellness Industry is used on hospitals and wellness centers, basically there are big expectations for the potential of Smart Health Technologies to support healthcare. This type of technology is still in its infancy, but Smart Health Technologies are expected to be commonplace in the future. However, further research and development is needed, e.g. to ensure the accuracy of data.

There are many opportunities for companies to develop Smart Health Technology solutions that will support the healthcare sector, e.g. within telemedicine and early detection. However, there are also definite barriers, e.g. the infrastructure and competencies needed to incorporate Smart Health Technologies in daily operations. Advice for companies includes ensuring data security and using global open standards, and much more.

Smart Health Technologies are believed to cause drastic changes over a short period of time as well as provide an opportunity of incorporating both health data from private citizens through wearable technologies and smart health data from within the hospitals. This latter aspect will give rise to intelligent operations and maintenance. Hal Wolf argues that not only wearables, but also sensors and robotics will be available for remote monitoring by 2025.

According to Niall McDonagh, Smart Health Technologies cover a variety of solution types. In hospitals they can be e.g.:

• • • • •

Sensors Medicine dispensation Smart pills Smart surgeries Holographic devices/simulation

Beyond the hospital sphere they can be e.g.: • • •

Wearables Early registration devices Remote technologies (McDonagh, 2017)

While Data Analytics enable IT-systems to deliver tailored advice based on advanced analysis, the analysis will only ever be as good as the collected data. With recent advances in the development of health technology, we are seeing pervasive technology within healthcare which empowers citizens, patients and healthcare personnel as well as the operations of the healthcare system in general.

Smart Health Technologies are able to obtain and engage with various kinds of data related to personal health and wellbeing.

The trend of recording especially personal health information has been steadily growing for several years with the notion of the Quantified Self. This movement has seen a steep increase in recent years as the rising abilities of IT and decreasing costs has made a wide variety of Health Technology available at an ever-lower cost. The current state of Smart Health Technologies is advanced but still in its relative infancy. It will combine and grow alongside Data Analytics.

Next how is smart health technology being used in hospitals and wellness Centers, The use of sensors in self-monitoring has long been the cornerstone of the notion of Quantified Self. The combination of recording personal health and the possibilities within Data Analytics enable Smart Health Technologies to provide engaging and personalised output. In the future, machine learning may enable Smart Health solutions to provide users with predictive recommendations based on their lifestyle recorded through different data sources.

Smart Health Technologies make both real time and historic health data available to the citizens and healthcare personnel. The reliability of the collected data, however, is often discussed. Smart Health Technologies are still in their infancy and the reliability of the data is still not high enough for healthcare providers or end-users to rely on the precision and accuracy of the data.

Education14 Smart Home Technology in the Educational Sector is being used in Schools and universities The education sector has seen a noticeable increase in educational standards, advancement and innovations in

recent years. Schools and other educational institutions have begun to adopt modern teaching methods through interactive intelligent boards, projectors and smart notebooks, etc. And we cannot deny, these technological updates make the education system more interactive and easier. Students prefer to use tablets, phones and other devices to share and transfer study material that saves their time and efforts. On the other hand, this smart technology helps teachers to turn boring lectures into an engaging session. It is not just about sharing information but also creating a better online presentation by avoiding the need to write manually.

There are plenty of Benefits in using Smart Home Technology in Education 1. Enhanced Learning Experience By using smart classroom technology and interactive whiteboards, information can be illustrated with the help of photos, maps, graphs, flowcharts and animated videos.

This makes learning more attractive, interesting and easy to understand. It encourages the ability of students to learn and memorize the topic for a prolonged period.

It is a universal truth, when we learn through visuals, we grab the subject easily rather than just looking into the blackboard & listening.

2. Interactive Learning Experience The presence of smart boards helps teachers to deliver lectures more effectively by using the different projections in their presentation to explain the topic. Teachers can easily explain each and every part of the lesson with some special effects and graphic presentations. It helps to create a quick FAQ session between teachers and students that actually makes a wonderful learning environment in the classroom.

3. Easy Access to Online Resources A smart class has digital display boards and projectors that are synchronized. A teacher can easily show some practical solutions from the web. While students can see various online resources on the internet.

4. Follows Go Green Concept Smart classroom technology follows a dynamic information sharing approach and there is no need of paper, pen, pencil & printouts, thus stepping into ‘ Go Green Concept ‘. We can say, this is one of the major benefits of smart classroom technology to keep nature clean and green.

5. Time Saving Technology In contrast to the traditional learning method, where students had to make long written notes. Smart class technology allows students to make presentations online

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES 51

While home automation offers the convenience of remote smart home control, the benefits of automatic energy savings, and advanced security or property, its weakness is the one thing that enables it all to exist: the internet. and get feedback from their teachers in less time. Same for teachers who do not need to tell students to make rough notes, as presentation can be shared directly with everyone. This saves a lot of time of teachers and students that can be used for another interactive activity.

6. Increased Productivity Data shared with the help of intelligent class technology is presented in a visual format that is more likely to engage the students. Not only students’ involvement but, they understand things more easily in minimal time. This motivates students and teachers accomplish pretty good results leading to improved productivity.

7. Smart Boards are Fun! Smartboard technology makes learning experience more fun among the students. It can turn a boring lecture into an amazing and interactive session. Instead of just talking about the topic, digital boards engage it by displaying content in the form of animations, visuals and previews. At the same time, students are likely to engage more that makes the session successful.

III. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS a. Cost of Owning Connected Homes The direct cost of owning smart and connected homes is in building and setting up itself. This includes preparing house infrastructure and system.

In the US, the cost of setting up one automated room amounts to $1,000.15 In the Philippines, this can range from 50,000 to 70,000 depending on location of installation address. A fully automated house with 5 rooms averaging 400sqm can easily require 250,000 pesos installation cost. b. Benefits of Owning Connected Homes

52

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES

Aside from providing greater degree of comfort for occupants, smart homes also provide the following: a) Greater Efficiency, this is translated to time savings. b) Lower Energy Consumption, this is translated to actual financial savings. The average home in the United States spends around $3,052 per year on utilities.16 The amount average is $254 or about 12,000 in Philippine peso. In the Philippines, the average energy cost consumption of 400sqm house is at 10,000 pesos. Smart homes offers direct savings at 15-20% less. Twenty Percent (20%) of 10,000 is 2,000 In energy consumption, a 400sqm house may spend 250,000 for automation and saves 24,000 annually.

This system will pay-off itself in 10 years.

IV. ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS It’s no secret that when it comes to the ethics of the Internet of Things, there can certainly be a dark side.

While home automation offers the convenience of remote smart home control, the benefits of automatic energy savings, and advanced security or property, its weakness is the one thing that enables it all to exist: the internet. While the “Internet of Things” has taken over with a generally positive reaction, there still exists the possibility for security issues, privacy concerns, and safety problems.17 V. NATION-BUILDING IMPLICATIONS a. Promotion of Green Technology Using Smart Home Technology helps us save energy and power. Harnessing the sun’s energy to keep you warm and heat your water, natural ventilation also keeps you cool in the summer. And living in a smart home means using energy efficient appliances, heating and lighting.

The US Environmental Protection Agency found that consumers could reduce energy usage by 10 – 30% by using programmable thermostats.

Smart homes also use less water, which is a limited resource, and by reducing our water use, as well as building in ways that minimize earthworks and protect native plant life, we help to safeguard the ecosystems in rivers and other waterways.

But ultimately, it’s up to us to use our smart home technology in the most energy-efficient way – for example, not leaving TVs on all day, and adjusting heating and cooling schedules. Because without us taking responsibility for our own energy usage, even the smartest of homes won’t be able to reduce our carbon footprint by much.18

b. Reduction of Crime & Domestic Violence Using smart home technology, it basically lower crime rates using technology such as the use of motions sensors in their households which basically detects movement outside and inside the premises.

They can activate floodlights, motion activated response lights and security alarms when services are armed, and residents are away, thwarting any would be thieves in the process. Cameras are very much an integral part in any household as this allows it to capture in real time the movement inside homes that can be monitored from Smartphones, tablets and hubs. 19 c. Smart home technology allows us to always be connected to homes.

To promote the use of smart home technology to promises to transform the way we live. Second, because it has been at the cusp of taking off for decades. And

lastly, because it represents big business for technology companies and tech startup entrepreneurs.

Think about smart homes as places where people live that contain devices connected to the Internet.

Companies write software to program these devices all with a design to make your life easier. Let’s imagine for a moment all of the places you might want connected devices outside of the home. A car could have a device that monitors where it goes and the wear and tear on the wheels. This would all be reported back to the cloud, sharing with the driver at some later date that’s it’s time to realign or change the tires. Machinery within a factory might send out a report of their performance and then be adjusted to increase the output of whatever the factory is making. The Fitbit bracelet on your wrist captures your steps and can suggest what you need to do to improve your health. All of these examples are smart devices. And all of them, including devices that make up the smart home category, are part of the bigger category the Internet of Things, or IoT.20

Using smart home technology, it basically lower crime rates

https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/smart-home-or-building https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/smart-home-or-building https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/smart-home-or-building 4 https://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/connected-home/ 5 https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/03/02/smart-home-vs-connectedhome-there-difference/2538115002/ 6 https://www.safewise.com/blog/what-is-a-smart-home-and-how-does-it-supportgreen-living/ 7 https://www.imore.com/6-ways-investing-smart-home-can-save-you-money 8 https://phys.org/news/2019-02-smart-home.html 9 https://regencyhomesomaha.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-convertingyour-home-into-a-smart-home/ 10 https://www.statista.com/study/42112/smart-home-report/ 11 https://www.statista.com/outlook/279/123/smart-home/philippines 12 https://www.rochesterrealestateblog.com/smart-home-technology-impacted-realestate/ 13 https://path2025.dk/smart-health-technology/ 14 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/322587 15 https://www.fixr.com/costs/home-automation 16 https://www.simplyss.com/blog/smart-home-savings/ 17 https://medium.com/@ryan.c.laux/its-no-secret-that-when-it-comes-to-the-ethicsof-the-internet-of-things-there-can-certainly-a-ea79d73e41f7 18 https://www.andrew-lucas.com/journal/green-smart-homes-and-how-they-cansave-the-world/ 19 http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/smart-home-tech-crime-uae/ 20 https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewweinreich/2017/12/18/the-future-of-thesmart-home-smart-homes-iot-a-century-in-the-making/#44ecfe0a57ac 1 2 3

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES 53

group 4 54

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES

MEMBERS Abuana, Rouel S. Po, Ivan Herrick T.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PAPER: CONNECTED HOMES 55

AMDG

hypertech E-MAGAZINE ISSUE INFOTE R47

MAY - JUNE 2019

hypertech E-MAGAZINE ISSUE INFOTE R47

MAY - JUNE 2019