Our Christmas episode was recorded under the auspices of Janus, the god of all things related to time. Now into the month named after him, the SmallDataForum reviews its predictions and looks at the year ahead. Will Europe ‘take back control’, or will commercial pressures curb big tech's enthusiasm? Will 2018 be the breakthrough year for chatbots and DPAs (digital personal assistants), both in business and personal use? How will continuous technological and economic transformations affect … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 15 – Reining in tech: responsibility, regulation and education
The appeal of the open Internet
When I reflect on my career over the past few decades, I think about three constants that have always been present no matter the type of work I have done or with whom I have done it. Those three constants comprise business, communication and technology. None of them is separate from the other, yet each of them is a tool of empowerment in its distinct way. Although I have a passion for technology, my larger passion is about communication. It’s about using technology as a means to a … [Read more...] about The appeal of the open Internet
Goodwill 2017
For many people in the UK and elsewhere, today is the last working day before Christmas Day which falls on a Monday this year. I've spent most of today wrapping up work-related matters in order to have a clean slate, as it were, for the fast-approaching Christmas break. Like many of you, I'll be largely in rest and relaxation mode until the first week of January in the New Year. Christmas is a time to reflect on the wider matters that concern us, beyond the daily trials and tribulations we … [Read more...] about Goodwill 2017
For Immediate Release 118: Longer tweets, creepy tweets, and tweetstorms
Shel Holtz and I recorded the December edition of the monthly Hobson & Holtz Report podcast. It is the final FIR episode of 2017: FIR will return on January 8, 2018, in an all-new format. Listen to this episode for details! This month’s topics: A group of UK newspapers using robots to help write stories Research that found higher engagement for tweets that took advantage of the new 280 character count Storify, a great curation tool aimed at journalists, is shutting down … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 118: Longer tweets, creepy tweets, and tweetstorms
2018: the year of chatbots, AI and digital personal assistants
2017 was the year that artificial intelligence (AI) generally gained a greater consciousness in the public mind as well as in the minds of many professionals, not the least being those in the broad communication business – especially public relations, advertising, marketing and employee communication. Every time we see a robot mentioned in the mainstream media, there's either a photo of the Terminator or some human-looking machine which feeds our fear – adding to the uncertainty and doubt … [Read more...] about 2018: the year of chatbots, AI and digital personal assistants