A Step Ahead

It’s more fun to arrive at a conclusion than to justify it........ Malcolm S. Forbes

Our world has been transformed by digital technology. It would be hard to explain how an IBM mainframe in 1960 will someday replace friends, books, and newspapers, but now our daily habits.

We need to start preparing for a new era of innovation
AI (artificial intelligence) is great for marketing more intelligently and efficiently but AI is simply a requirement for making sense of the vast arrays of data — structured and unstructured

Every member of your team should be able to answer:
How artificial intelligence work?
What it is good at?
What it should never do?

AI will soon move from being a “nice-to-have” capability to a “must-have.”

If you Ask:
Why should a non–data scientists learn data science?
That’s like asking why non-accountants should be expected to stay within budget.

But more precisely

We are at the close of the Digital Era:
1- the technology itself that allows more transistors onto a silicon wafer, known as Moore’s Law is ending.
What enabled us to make our technology exponentially more powerful year after year is no longer easy to achieve.To maximize performance, we now need to optimize existing technology for a specific task

2- the technical skill required to create digital technology has dramatically decreased, by no-code platforms.
The ability to work with digital technology is increasingly becoming a midlevel skill.

3- digital applications are becoming fairly mature. A new device like laptop or phone today, does the same things as the one you bought five years ago.

Essentially, the challenge ahead is to learn how to use bits to drive atoms.

Consider robotics and the effort to develop advanced battery chemistries to drive the clean energy economy, or the discovery of materials that don’t yet exist with the simulations on genomes.

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Art: Intertwine

Voting Beyond Digital and Paper Ballot

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have perverted it with tyranny......Thomas Jefferson

Voting is an absolutely essential tool for any democratic government, it is the carnival of democracy. But it is really fascinating that a lot of countries are yet to move from the digital or traditional paper ballot system of voting.

The Problems with Traditional Paper Ballot System
• From physically going to the venues and waiting in long lines, The entire process is extremely tedious.

• The amount of time taken to count the votes is too high.

• The election can be hijacked via the insertion of bogus ballot papers.

• More powerful parties can use intimidation tactics on the venues to rig the election in a certain way.

• The amount of paper wastage can cause harm to the environment.

• There is no historical record possible to keep track of each and every vote made.

• The cost of expenditure on paper ballots is very high.

• It is impossible to keep track of your vote.

• Once you have cast a vote you cannot change it.

These are some issues with digital voting system:

• The client-side machine could develop a malware which reads each and every vote cast and changes the vote to the other candidate.

• An attacker can directly infect the servers through malware placed on the servers and transfer the votes.

Burning Questions:
What exactly happens to your votes after you cast it?
How is integrating blockchain technology going to fix this?

The goal is simple; To make the election process as transparent as possible.

The use Elliptical Curve Cryptography (ECC) to create votes can make the electoral process transparent. ECC is a form of asymmetric cryptography. Asymmetric cryptography uses two keys (a public key and a private key) to encrypt and decrypt data. ECC is basically what bitcoin and ethereum use for their cryptography

Any potential voter can securely login using their webcam and government issued ID.
After they are done the voting, anyone can use their voting ID to track their votes and check that it has been cast correctly. On top of that. They even give their voters the ability to change their votes any number of times till the deadline.


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Ethical Machines

The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it will take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete and would be superseded.
— Stephen Hawking

You awake one morning to find your brain has another lobe functioning. Invisible, this auxiliary lobe answers your questions with information beyond the realm of your own memory, suggests plausible courses of action, and asks questions that help bring out relevant facts. You quickly come to rely on the new lobe so much that you stop wondering how it works. You just use it. This is the dream of artificial intelligence.

Imagine a more intelligent smart phone embeded in your brain

Hyper-intelligent software may not necessarily decide to support the continued existence of humanity, and would be extremely difficult to stop. This could be a real source of risks to civilization, humans, and planet Earth

There are three philosophical questions related to AI:
1. Is artificial general intelligence possible? Can a machine solve any problem that a human being can
solve using intelligence? Or are there hard limits to what a machine can accomplish?
2. Are intelligent machines dangerous? How can we ensure that machines behave ethically and that they are used ethically?
3. Can a machine have a mind, consciousness and mental states in exactly the same sense that human beings do? Can a machine be sentient, and thus deserve certain rights? Can a machine intentionally cause harm?

Development of militarized artificial intelligence is a related concern. Currently, over 50 countries are researching battlefield robots, including the United States, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Many people concerned about risk from superintelligent AI want to limit the use of artificial soldiers

Wallach describe artificial intelligence as being guided by its two central questions
1- Does Humanity Want Computers Making Moral Decisions
2- Can Robots Really Be Moral

Ethical Dilemmas: As machines make decisions, ethical questions arise. For instance, how should an autonomous car prioritize passengers versus pedestrians?

At present businesses are deploying AI for profit with drones, driverless cars, medical diagnosis and financial apps, why stop the momentum before the ethics concern are adequately understood, articulated and crystalized.

Safeguards such as robust testing, ethical guidelines, regulatory oversight, and ongoing monitoring can help mitigate risks and ensure that intelligent machines are developed and used responsibly for the benefit of society. Ethical frameworks, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public engagement are critical for addressing the complex challenges posed by intelligent machines and fostering trust and accountability in their deployment.

   

In conclusion, apply the three-box framework to your AI business.
The Three-Box Framework, first introduced by Govinderajan and makes leading innovation easier:
Box 1: The present- manage the core business at peak profitability
Box 2: The past- abandon ideas, practices and attitudes that could inhibit innovation
Box 3: The future- convert breakthrough ideas into new products and businesses.

Humans Remain the Biggest Ethical Risk

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Ideas in the Air

Saturate yourself through and through with your subject . . . and wait. —lloyd morGA

Are There Ideas in the Air? There are several scientific discoveries made by separate people working independently in different parts of the world at around the same time.

These coincedences raises the possible question— are there ideas/inspiration “in the air?
If So;

Why can’t that person be You?

These ideas “in the air” are waiting to be snatched up by the right person at the right time in history,
Some Ideas Discovered :

■ Telescope: Hans Lippershey, James Metius, and Zacharias Jansen each independently invented the telescope around the same time. (1608)
■ Electricity: Thomas François D’Alibard and Benjamin Franklin each independently captured electricity at around the same time. (1750–1752)
■ Oxygen: Joseph Priestley and Carl Wilhelm Scheele each discovered the molecules that make up oxygen at around the same time. (1773–1774)
■ Telephone: Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell each independently discovered the telephone at around the same time. (both in 1876) 
■ Social Networking: Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook at around the same time that Tom Anderson invented  MySpace. (2003–2004)

In order to “receive” the ideas in the air, you have to deliberately and consciously scan your environment for ideas that are relevant to your task.

Ideas around batteries include.

Recycling:

Proper disposal or recycling is crucial to managing the environmental impact of batteries. Many types 

of batteries contain materials that can be harmful if not handled and disposed of properly.

Recovery of Materials:

Recycling facilities aim to recover valuable materials from spent batteries, such as metals, plastics, 

and electrolytes. These materials can be reused in the production of new batteries or other products.

These ideas encompass a wide range of initiatives, and their success often relies on 

a combination of individual actions, community involvement, and government policies. Each idea 

addresses different aspects of preservation and sustainability, contributing to a 

healthier planet for current and future generations.  

To capture new ideas, you have to make a new choice about what is relevant.
Then you have to focus to isolate noise
Then you have to record those ideas as they come

Nothing or Nowhere is Useless; Wealth or Poverty, Urban or Rural, Extrovert or Introvert............just be a Willing Vessel

Capture the Ideas in Your Environment

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General Management - A Case Study

General Management Program; Nigeria - A Case Study

Case Study:

Africa is growing; Seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, and the continent's largest economies are becoming less dependent on extractive commodities. The continent's rising middle class has demonstrated a taste for consumer goods and technological innovation and Africa's population - currently more than a billion people- is booming
and overwhelmingly young at a time when population in other regions are shrinking and ageing.

Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's largest economy epitomizes both the promise and the problems the continent faces in the 21st century. The country had failed to thrive for its first thirty years as an independent nation, despite having a developmental head start relative to countries
like China and India, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue.

Macroeconomic management and diversification

Nigeria’s growth was more volatile and tied to oil price swings; chronic exchange-rate and inflation issues and limited diversification made the economy vulnerable.

China/India achieved more stable, export-driven growth and better mobilization of domestic savings into investment.

Why India and China succeeded 

China: centralized political control with high implementation capacity, consistent industrial policy, huge infrastructure and urbanization push, export orientation and massive FDI-led manufacturing.

India: democratic stability, a strong civil service and legal system, English-language advantage, tech and services expansion after liberalization (1991) and significant private-sector dynamism.

What Nigeria could do 

Reduce dependence on oil: diversify into agriculture, manufacturing and services with targeted industrial policy and export promotion.

Strengthen institutions: improve rule of law, judicial efficiency, anti-corruption measures, and public financial management.

Build human capital: prioritize basic education, vocational training and primary healthcare.

Fix infrastructure bottlenecks: reliable power, good transport and ports, digital connectivity.

Improve security and reconcile regions: better conflict resolution, reduce militancy drivers (poverty, grievance).

Reform taxation and governance: build a broad-based tax system to deepen accountability and reduce rent-seeking.

Make business environment reforms to attract long-term FDI and enable SMEs to scale.

Caveats

Comparisons are simplifications: China and India are very different from each other too, and each faced unique challenges and advantages. Progress takes time and requires political will and sustained institutional reform. Nigeria’s large population and market also present huge opportunities if those constraints are addressed.

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Female Startups

In the absence of clear goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until we become enslaved by it.......... Robert Heinlein

One of the most important thing a female entrepreneur can bring to the table is Trust.
Building trust with customers can be challenging but you can overcome that challenge by
Co-creating your products and services,
Associating with prominent figures and
Embracing transparency

Here are Some Interesting Female Startups:

1. Accompany uses AI to be your virtual chief of staff, providing you with all of the information you need before meeting just about anyone.

2. Brandless was just named by Fast Company as one of the world’s 50 Most Innovative Companies. Brandless co-founder Tina Sharkey has created one of the strongest direct to consumer brands around.

3. Verge Genomics uses machine learning and human genomic data to defeat neurodegeneration. This is one exciting genomics startups.

4. Mighty Networks co-founder Gina Bianchini is taking on Facebook once again, having previously co-founded social platform Ning together with Marc Andreessen (which grew to 90 million users).

5. Hipcamp is a marketplace that connects campers and land. If you're an outdoors person you'll love it. Dave Morin says: "This is an amazing idea and so well designed. In love."

6. Lumi co-founder Jesse Genet turned down a Shark Tank deal two years back. Today, the packaging company serves customers from all 50 states and 20 countries worldwide. Lumi recently announced a $9M Series A round of funding, and the company is profitable. 👏

7. Shippo helps businesses succeed through shipping, and powers eBay's Guaranteed Delivery Program (among other marketplaces and platforms). Shippo recently raised a $20M Series B funding round.

8. Guild Education is an education benefits platform that allows employers to offer tuition reimbursement and college degree programs to their employees. Lifelong leaning is one of the most important skills to in internalize.

9. May Mobility is an autonomous vehicle startup that deploys fleets of driverless vehicles for enterprise and municipal customers. For more, check out our list  of the Top Self Driving Car Startups. 

10. Werk is the premier destination for flexibility as the future of work. The company sources highly flexible jobs from top companies.

11. Collective Retreats offers luxury retreats to the kind of destinations that will blow your mind. It's a new, more meaningful way to travel.

12. Modern Fertility introduced easy test that gives you powerful information about your fertility. The same fertility test offered in top fertility clinics, online, and for a fraction of the cost.


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Intrinsic Motivation

Why are some people unimaginative in one context and so creative in another?
Intrinsic Motivation is a major component of what makes people creative, if there is a true commitment to a shared mission, the ideas will come.

Intrinsic motivation is often associated with higher levels of creativity, persistence, and overall satisfaction with one's activities. It contrasts with extrinsic motivation, where individuals are motivated by external factors such as rewards, praise, or avoiding punishment.

Cultivating intrinsic motivation can be beneficial in various aspects of life, including work, hobbies, and personal development, as it fosters a genuine passion and commitment to what you're doing.

Established firms will be disrupted by startups if they fail to innovate. The biggest misconception about innovation is that it’s about ideas. It’s not. It’s about solving problems. So, the first step to building an innovative team is to hire people interested in the problems you need to solve.

Three Ways to Improve Intrinsic Motivation:

1. Create Diversity.
   The challenge for managers is to create an environment that is both diverse and psychologically safe. Great innovative teams learn to constructively work through these tensions. You should be creating an environment where people expect to have their
   perspectives challenged by someone who looks, talks, and thinks differently.
    
2. Value Teamwork.
   Creative people are friendly, gracious, with genuine interest and desire to help others. The best innovators are knowledge brokers, who embed themselves into networks. This character is so consistent that we can conclude that when it comes to innovation, generosity can be a competitive advantage.
3. 
   
4. Promote Psychological Safety.
   The opportunity of each team member to give voice to their ideas without fear of reprisal or rebuke. Perhaps; That one elusive piece of insight can crack that tough problem

The truth is you don’t need the best people — you need the best teams.

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