How IoT and Smart Office applications can improve productivity

In an office setting, everything counts. The smallest bit of increase in efficiency gets amplified manifold times in a competitive environment. Installing features in order to make office space smarter can be considered as one of the many responsibilities of IoT (Internet of Things).

Adoption of smart office technologies is a trend that is increasingly catching up. Using the internet of things gives you an insight into the things that are eating up most of your resources. Increase in office productivity is a definite outcome of using smart offices and workspaces. Not only that, but one can also streamline routines and make the work environment far safer for employees. And safer work environments contribute to better productivity by leaps and bounds.

What is a smart office?

For those who are not well introduced to the concept of a smart office, this is what it is.

A smart office is a workspace equipped with IoT devices. All these devices have an IP address of their own. These devices transmit and receive information over the net. It is a smart ecosystem that relies on multiple devices. This makes controlling and managing office conditions easy.

How can IoT boost smart office efficiency?

Some of the ways in which smart offices contribute to better productivity are:

1. Energy consumption

It is a common sight to see appliances left on even when nobody seems to be using them. IoT manages to makes office spaces smart enough to detect a change in a certain space and automatically puts off appliances that are not in use. This cuts down on electricity bills thereby cutting down on extravagant utility expenses.

2. Safer workspaces

Installation of safety cameras, sensors, and access control systems ensure that the device you are using is safe from malware and any sort of informational theft. IoT acknowledges that privacy is important and hence contributes to making office spaces safer. IoT provides proof in case of any criminal activity in the workspace.

3. Resource management

Many a times it so happens that companies end up investing asset resources to perform trivial tasks due to the lack of employees. IoT allows the determination of patterns and devices algorithms that perform the tasks faster. This helps you to invest your asset resources into more productive tasks and get more important things done.

4. Conditioned climate

IoT also manages to regulate the temperature of the workspace by estimating the ideal requirement. This makes the work environment comfortable enough for employees and they no longer seem distracted. A comfortable work environment consequently aids focus and efficiency, which in turn brings about enhanced productivity.

5. Space management

Owing to IoT’s ability to store tons and tons of data, your workspace becomes a paperless environment. This leaves more space in the office and makes the space more breathable. Good and productive office work requires a spacious workspace.

In conclusion, IoT and its many implications is an endless topic to speak over. However, anything that has IoT as its core functionality has an immense scope of survival in the digitalized future.

As a Google Certified Developer Agency, GoodWorkLabs is hosting a community meetup on Actions on Google for Google Assistant on the 14th of July at GoodWorks CoWork.

This is the next wave of technology and through this event, you will get a chance to be trained by experts, work on code labs and build innovative actions for Google Assistant.

Build Actions that Solve for India

Join us to build innovative and unique actions for Google Assistant that are locally relevant, taking into account aspects of language, devices, battery consumption and connectivity, solving problems for India in the space of agriculture, education, healthcare, FinTech, e-commerce etc.

Register for event

This is an event tailored especially for developers who want to learn new skills and work on AI technology. As a Google Partner, GoodWorkLabs aims to nurture the developer community and conduct workshops on Google technologies.

Register now and join us in building actions that solve for India at our swanky coworking space in Whitefield.

AI in Real Estate Industry

The emergence of disruptive technologies isn’t a threat to human resources. Business ventures, tech biggies, and even small startups are considering Artificial Intelligence as a force to propel their ventures forward. Irrespective of the sector you are operating in, the superior consumer experience is of utmost importance. Especially, if you are offering a service, it would be highly imperative to ensure unparalleled and never-felt-before experiences for target customers.

The real estate scenario

With almost every sector embracing this technology with a lot of warmth, the real estate sector isn’t lagging behind too. Property companies and reputed realtors across the world have come forward and integrated AI systems into their existing infrastructure. Commercial, as well as residential buildings, are becoming smarter with each passing day. To be precise, the real estate sector is transforming and taking giant strides towards development. Here’s a quick look at how AI is making things happen:

The art of having smart buildings

Transforming data into actionable information is a crucial thing to do. Whether it’s a commercial building or a residential unit, AI will help you leverage available data sets and turn them into useful information. The following ways will define its role in ensuring smart buildings:

• Predictive energy utilization

AI-based systems have the power to identify the thermal characteristics of a particular building. You can identify temperature levels and energy consumption amounts thus optimizing smart energy utilization to a great extent.

• Fault detection

Artificial Intelligence can help you delve deep into the nuances of a constructional unit and identify the anomalies existing there. Timely fault detection leads to effective and preventive disaster management.

AI is revolutionizing real estate

Other than helping you transform a simple building into a smart residence, AI directly plays the instrumental role in promoting real estate. With data analysis, interactive chatbots, and machine learning, property developers, and buyers have loads of surprises in store.

1. Interactive bots

Some of the leading real-estate companies have intuitive and communicational bots who can provide 360-degree view of a particular property. Potential clients can have human interaction with these bots, ask questions, and streamline their search according to the suggestions.

2. Effective data analysis

Building IQ is one of those enterprising real estate firms who leverages AI for data analysis. The company captures the right amount of information about a building along with the avenues for improvement. This proves to be a significant move in reducing tenant costs and ensuring optimal comfort for them.

3. Optimum security

Secured living is the key to a happy life. Every individual wants to stay protected in their dream abodes and the security aspect of a building often proves to be a parameter for its saleability. With AI-enabled security systems, automated voice and facial recognition become quite easier.

4. Making recommendations

Whenever a new property enthusiast visits your site, you will have to provide the right information or suggestions that are useful to him. With AI-powered site management systems, you can identify the information that is useful to them and make valuable recommendations.

Signing off

AI can influence purchase decisions and help a real estate establishment earn huge ROIs. The discussion we had above will surely present a crystal clear picture in this context.

Is your UX Design Consistent?

Consistency is an aspect that catapults a brand to the peak of success. Whether yours is a service-oriented startup or an exciting e-commerce venture, consistent approaches will lead to effective branding and highly accelerated bottom lines.

This remains true when it comes to delivering outstanding User Experience. Every brand has a digital representation today. It goes without saying that you have to leave indelible impressions in the minds of your target audience, and that’s only possible when you have an attractive website with impressive UX design.

Revealing the truth

User Experience design is an integral part of a website. A site that fails to make a mark and impress its target visitors will be abandoned by almost 88% of digital customers. Wish to know more? Well, the following stats will act as an eye-opener. Sites with poor loading speed cost a whopping loss of $2.6 billion to retailers. Now, that’s a huge thing for you if you are operating in the retail arena.

Inconsistent, unimpressive, and complicated UX design approaches will surely not lead to clean, streamlined, and clutter-free websites. That’s a fatal blow to any brand which plans to gain a strong foothold in the digital landscape.

The need for consistency in UX Design

Have you ever imagined stepping into a disorganized, cluttered, and untidy room? It is needless to say that the experience would be awful. Delve deep into the nuances of the matter and you will feel that the same thing happens to your target audience when the person comes across poor UX designs.

The prime accentuation should be on deciphering the true connotation of ‘consistency’. Flashy visuals, too many features, or loads of content won’t fetch you visitors. It is imperative to make your visitors feel special and comfortable while they take a look at your business site.

Defining “being consistent” in UX design

The literal meaning of the term indicates towards a systematic coherence between individual elements of a whole thing. In case of UX design, we can say that consistency should be the key to adding elements to the site. So, which are the aspects you should care about:

1. Site design: Captivating yet soothing colors; uncomplicated typefaces, and simple designs.
2. Interaction: Interactive and intuitive site design that helps you build a strong communication with target audience.
3. Content: Engaging and powerful articles, compelling blogs, and informative press releases.
4. Features and elements: Custom navigation, sidebar, footer, etc.

These are some of the crucial areas where you can adopt useful and consistent approaches. As a site owner, the goal should be to ensure comfortable browsing experiences for visitors. If you want them to have a decent experience and translate them into potential consumers, paying attention to these details would be important.

UX is important

There’s no denying the significance of excellent UX design when it comes to converting leads. What you should keep in mind is how consistent design approaches play the pivotal role in this regard, thus helping site owners come up with websites that elevate engagement and drive conversions.

Importance of IoT Privacy and Security

Digitisation is great. It has managed to make the world a smaller place. You feel more connected to people who would not be near you. But is all this connectivity safe for you? Have you weighed the implications of trusting IoT products with the risks that come with sharing private digital information?

How secure is the information in an IoT-connected world?

In a world made small by digitization, how secure is your information really? Privacy is a space you call your own. For your own safety, you need to protect information that is personal to you online. Making them public could lead to disastrous consequences for you and those associated with you.

Privacy also is a subjective concept, on a human level. What one considers to be private information would not necessarily be considered so by another person. This “user-defined limit” to sharing data online is based on the trust in a certain system or its privacy settings in particular. Privacy provisions and trust are the important determinants of how much personal information can be shared.

Privacy and IoT

As you would know, trust is a major factor when it comes to sharing information over the Internet. And as IoT is getting more and more devices connected, more and more people are having connections with companies, the government, conglomerates, etc.

There are an endless string of tools that help in data gathering – sensors, devices, data generated from IP devices, machines that analyze collected cache and cookies and many more. Connecting more IoT-supporting devices increases the threat to your personal data. It becomes more vulnerable to a breach. One cannot connect to IoT devices without lowering defense protocols.

How to protect your privacy in such a vulnerable digital setting?

1. Change your default admin password

Usually, your internet administration password is just “admin” or “1234”. Changing this to something more complex with alphanumerics passwords and symbols will make it harder for hackers to get through.

2. Set up numerous network IDs

Routers these days enable the user to set up numerous Ids. To build up a secure fence, set up networks for your computer, your printer, and other such computing devices. Also, create a separate SSID for your additional devices like gaming consoles and smart TVs. This is to restrict hackers to one network only, in case they break through.

3. Encryption

Against privacy invasion, encryption is your best bet. It is the strongest tool against online theft. Using strong, multifaceted passwords that are hard to decipher goes a long way toward securing your devices.

4. Setting up firewalls

Setting up a firewall is one of the best ways to keep malware and hackers at bay. Though they cannot protect against all sorts of attacks, a firewall can at least fend off backdoor attempts. Firewalling your smartphones and smartwatches should be a mandate in today’s day and age.

5. Connect to trusted Wi-Fi spots only

Free Wi-Fi spots are tempting. However, resisting this temptation is a must. You can easily walk into a mess, which is nothing but a trap laid for you by hackers. When you are on-the-go, only connect to trusted and secure Wi-Fi hotspots only.

Keeping these simple techniques in mind can make you resistant to a load of malware attacks online in an IoT-connected world.

Influence of Data Science on Web Development

The whole ideology behind technology is that it is subject to constant change. It has to be dynamic so as to pave way for something more optimized, beneficial, and less demanding. It is an inevitable path of progress, which has undoubtedly led us to where we are right now. The internet has been one of the turning points of this century. Its implications via technologies like data science are rippling through every sector conceivable including web development.

Enter the concept of data science in web development

Our reliance on web apps has increased over the years. This is because of the ease and convenience they bring to us in the long run. Web apps are software-applications that run with the help of the internet. They do things for you so that you can cut down on doing them manually.

So far, web apps have had a certain way of functioning. Apps were based on focus groups, surveys, and specific educated guesses. This would help programmers have an idea what the masses want. But this traditional method of web app development is soon going to belong to the archived files of modern day technological history.

Developers now have zettabytes of data at their disposal, owing to IoT (Internet of Things). People are constantly plugged in to the net and this generates data every second of every minute. This generated data is carefully analysed which then transforms into precious insights that can be acted upon. Here are some ways applying data science would transform web development for the better

1. Software production

Traditionally, which is also how things happen currently, a software development programmer would decide what goes on in the app menu, based on his or her understanding of what the users would like and appreciate. Data science, on the other hand, would generate data from similar apps and would then suggest what seems to be opted by the users more. Imagine it to be the Autocomplete feature going industrial, in terms of web development.

2. Upgrades would be automatic

Upgrades would no longer be something commanded by a team of programmers. Machine learning would compile the data generated by users using a certain app and introduce version upgrades as and when it seems appropriate. It is like the app learns from you and betters itself to help you better.

3. Personalization to the max

Apps will now have a more accurate AI (Artificial Intelligence) system integrated into its functionality. This would mean that your apps understand you better. Already, your smartphone gives you suggestions based on your location, previous searches, past likes, etc.

Your apps will now interact with you in a more customized manner as it will learn, based on the information collected from the other apps. How users use an app and would contribute to how you use it and the data generated from your usage would improve your user experience even further.

4. Foreseeing the impact

It is hard to estimate how far-reaching the impact of Data science would be in our day to day lives, but one thing remains of certainty that nothing would be the same as it is now. Factors like speed and functionality and security would perhaps remain the same, but what would be interesting to see is how an app ends up adapting to your interests.

These are some of the interesting ways in which data science is expected to transform the web development sector.

Blockchain Technology and Data Security

When it comes to security, computers have never been considered as the most reliable ones. Someone always finds a way to gain access into your computer and misuse the data. This is where blockchains make their entry. In simple terms, a blockchain is an ever expanding list of blocks or records which are connected and secured with cryptographic methods.

Blockchains are used to share precious data over a secure medium. They store data with advanced mathematics and software that are not very easy for hackers to invade.

Let us understand why blockchains are considered secure. In a bitcoin blockchain, the data that is shared contains information about all the bitcoins that have been mined. This can be referred to as an accounting ledger which is stored as a number of copies on a computer network called ‘nodes’. Each time there is a transaction, the nodes ensure that it is a valid one. Valid transactions are added to the other blocks.

Why can blockchain security be considered as hack-proof?

This technology is considered secure with respect to two things:

• Cryptographic fingerprint (hash) assigned to blocks which are unique to them
• The process of sharing history on a network by the nodes also called ‘consensus protocol’.

Generating a hash is time and energy consuming. It involves a huge amount of computational power to earn a bitcoin. It acts as a seal too, because if the block is modified, a new hash is created. Hash verification is easily done by the nodes and the blockchain is updated.

Another feature is that hashes are the links in a blockchain. Each block carries its predecessor block’s hash. When an entry in the ledger has to be modified, a new hash needs to be calculated for all blocks. This has to be accomplished at a lightning speed or else other nodes will keep adding blocks. To achieve this, supercomputers much powerful than all the nodes put together are needed. Else, the added blocks will interfere with the existing ones and nodes would reject them. This process makes the blockchains secure, theoretically.

Any technology is subject to loopholes. Hackers have innovative ways to break into blockchains. There are ways to destabilize a blockchain and a hacker can control a node’s transactions by tricking it. There have been certain cryptocurrency hacks, in recent times where hackers have invaded the e-wallets. But hacking onto a blockchain is not worth the trouble. Since it is very expensive and consumes tons of computational power.

In conclusion, blockchain technology is indeed sturdy, private and secure. You cannot ignore it since it solves enormous problems everywhere, including businesses. After rigid testing practices in pilot cases and by governments and companies, blockchains have proved to be tremendously secure. Institutions everywhere are fast adopting it for their day to day transactions. The advantages are far more significant than the risks it poses. All systems are vulnerable in a world of technology.  Blockchains are still in the nascent stage and have a long way to go to achieve tamperproof perfection.

UX Trends in 2018

The phenomenal business value provided by user experience cannot be overlooked. UX design trends have made a strong impact with their effectiveness and user satisfaction. After years of being relegated to the background, UX has received the attention from expert designers. Keeping in line with the energetic happenings in the world of UX in 2017, this year too promises a lot of action. Here are some UX trends to keep an eye on in 2018:

1. Voice-activated user interfaces

Interfaces are becoming lesser and lesser of visual elements. It is voice-based interactions that are ruling the apps everywhere be it Siri, Google Now, Cortana or Alexa. Voice-activated interfaces make the user experience less stressful by removing the ‘type’ factor. ‘Screenless’ UX designs are the future.

2. VR and AR

Virtual reality and augmented reality, as design features, are finding ways to get incorporated into apps and products. AR is already used by customers to see the products before they purchase them. This will be implemented in more ways than one.

3. Content at the center

Content experience is one of the top priorities of 2018, which iterates that visuals will be presented to make content reading easier. Removal of unwanted features that draw the attention away from content and using white space effectively will be some of the key design elements that we can look forward to this year.

4. Personalized UX

Users of all kinds of apps desire a personalized user experience. These include chat features in an app for interacting with other users, features that modify font size and color depending on the age of the user, login features enabling a quick access to users, in-app messaging based on previous interactions with the app, and push notifications that would be delivered when users are most alert.

5. Minimal design features

2018 will be all about users having a hassle-free experience. The upcoming UX designs will focus on reducing the friction and only display what is needed. Practically, this can be achieved by designing with the most frequent navigation patterns, show only specific features as and when users request for them, pop-up boxes that save the time of the users etc. Trends suggest that designs are now going to be inspired by predicting the user actions and implementing a linear design experience.

6. Biometric Identification processes

Biometric authentication adds that extra touch of security to applications. This eliminates the login requirement and interfaces that accept fingerprints, facial recognition, iris scan, etc. would be the next phase that UX would progress to.

7. Eliminating certain nuisances

Some designs are frustrating and annoying. For example, the Hamburger menu, which was initially thought as a good option to increase room space on a screen by not displaying the menu option soon turned into a confusing factor where users were not aware of the feature and kept looking for a menu.

Designers will be seen incorporating more user-friendly menus such as a tab-based menu. This year can also be the last which uses passwords. Designers would come up with authentication codes and captcha codes.

Thus, these are some of the expected UX design trends of 2018 but are not limited to just these. There is always room for innovation and with technologies advancing, user experience has always got to be right on top.

We are very excited to announce that our CEO, Vishwas Mudagal will be joining Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In – He For She Program in India as a Mentor & Executive Committee Member. This is an initiative that aims to empower women to achieve their ambitions.

Vishwas is known to change lives with his leadership and through this He for She mentoring program, he aims to bring a change by being a male champion of diversity and gender equality.

“This initiative is close to my heart because women development across the cross-section of the society has been one of the key areas where I want to bring a change. In this direction, I truly believe male inclusion in women development is critical,” says Vishwas Mudagal, CEO of GoodWorkLabs.

Further, Mudagal added, “Men have an important role to play in reaching equality & everyone benefits when they do. Children with involved fathers are happier, healthier & more successful. Couples who share responsibilities have stronger marriages. Diverse teams & companies produce better results. Leaning in is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.”

In this video, Vishwas Mudagal speaks more about his thoughts on the LeanIn India initiative.

We are super happy and proud that GoodWorkLabs is part of this social cause. Through this initiative, we want to set an example and urge every man to work towards gender equality.

How IoT is Fostering the Age of Smart Manufacturing

Despite the IoT’s decade-old origin, the technology in recent years has had an exceptional run that could only be paralleled to that of Midas’ Touch. Although Midas’ gift eventually became a curse to him and those around him, IoT has been nothing but a boon to those that use it. There are a great many verticals that have embraced the power of IoT and yet there are many more that still shy away from this relatively new technology. Manufacturing is a sector that has been on both sides of the spectrum when it comes to the implementation of IoT. There are very few companies that employ IoT as part of their manufacturing initiative, even though most industry leaders expect over 75% of the global manufacturing to include technologies such as IoT to boost visibility in the supply chain. This is the basis for the concept termed as Smart manufacturing.

What is Smart Manufacturing?

Smart manufacturing is an aspect of manufacturing where the latest advancements in IT and manufacturing are employed in cohesion to improve productivity and enable flexibility to address the growing needs of a global market. This involves the use of both advanced software as well as hardware which include fields like robotics, AI, IoT etc. This use of technology impacts both the physical aspect of turning raw materials into products and all the logistics and financial concerns associated with the various processes. There is, therefore, a steep demand for adaptability, on the infrastructure, enterprise and workforce levels. This is one of the major reasons why smart manufacturing is not being employed on a comprehensive level even amongst companies that have adopted it to a certain degree.

The IoT factor in Smart Manufacturing

We are approaching a phase called industry 4.0 which could also be defined as the fourth industrial revolution. Here to survive manufacturers must conform to the various technological advancements that dictate the industry or eventually perish. IoT is one of the largest disruptors in the world on almost all fronts of the enterprise. Manufacturing, in particular, relies a lot on this technology to create better visibility and flexibility in their manufacturing processes. As a matter of fact industry, 4.0 is a term that closely associated with the application of IoT in manufacturing and with good reason.

Automation is a staple amongst most large-scale manufactures. Even if in its rudimentary form, automation helps manufacturers keep up with the growing markets and their ever-increasing demands. While automation is a highly productive technology whose roots date back to the 17th century, today’s industry demands connectivity amongst the machines to enable effective management of the production cycle. Data as always is key and IoT helps gather and manage this data to allow the production chain to function without any lags. Furthermore, it also facilitates scalability and improved visibility within the chain.

Does Manufacturing Really Need IoT?

At the moment things are pretty straightforward. However, in the years to come manufacturing sector and associated processes are going to become more complex, particularly on the logistics side of things. As globalization becomes more and more of a factor, companies, particularly the large manufacturers will have to come up with a swift, cost-effective and efficient way to manage their logistics needs.

As more and more technologies and devices are incorporated by manufacturers the entire process is going to get a lot more complex and data generated therein will be a vital aspect of the growth and productivity of manufacturers. So at some point in the near future, IoT will be implemented to make the best out of production and logistics. By connecting devices, companies will be able to make the best out of the data they generate and this data can be leveraged to enhance the production cycle and improve various aspects of the production cycle.

The Challenges

Despite the known prospects of employing IoT in manufacturing, most of the industry is still unapproving of it. Around 70% of the manufacturing industry believes that IoT is not really a necessity at this point for their business. Most of this stems from the ignorance of company leaders. Most of them fail to see the use of IoT beyond a data standpoint. And when it comes to data people find it a vague prospect which costs more than its actual value for their businesses.

The second issue that stops people from adopting IoT is a misconception that the technology will only help large-scale companies and would be a drain on smaller companies’ funds. This is patently untrue as the adoption costs of IoT and the time taken for implementing it are all going down as advancements and research continue. The introduction of open source solutions also provides a good opportunity for manufacturers of all sizes to implement IoT and that too without having to spend much on dedicated engineering staff to monitor the technology. Not only does IoT address immediate issues of the company, it entails several long-term benefits that manufacturers can benefit from by effectively leveraging the technology.

Lastly, one of the biggest hindering factors for the implementation of IoT is the security concerns. The worldwide cyber attacks in recent years have manufacturers bothered about the security risks that this technology could be prone to. This, while a legitimate concern, can easily be tackled by exploring holistic security strategies. There are several cybersecurity providers who will offer the best security solution for IoT systems operating in the manufacturing sector.