WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation
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Curated by Farid Mheir
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Smartphones are driving all growth in web traffic

Smartphones are driving all growth in web traffic | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

Smartphones are driving all growth in U.S. web traffic, while tablets and computer web access has declined, according to new data from Adobe Analytics.

Farid Mheir's insight:

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Mobile is eating the world and the stats tend to prove that this is true. Companies that do not have a mobile strategy or support mobile on their websites are at risk of loosing leads, clients, customers, etc.

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How to Browse the Web and Leave No Trace

How to Browse the Web and Leave No Trace | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
On today’s web it’s hard to set a (digital) foot online without it attracting dozens of trackers and log entries, as companies look to learn everything about you and sell that data on to advertisers. To hide you’ve got a few tools at your disposal, many of which we’ve talked about in the past, and all of which add up to a largely anonymous browsing experience. What we can’t do is promise 100 percent that you won’t be tracked—we’re not privy to the inner workings of the FBI or your employer’s IT system—but this is as much as you can do.
Farid Mheir's insight:

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is the basics you need to know: incognito mode, VPNs and TOR network. If you don't read this.

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Evolution of Dropbox’s Edge Network shows 50% performance improvement and makes the case for #CDN

Evolution of Dropbox’s Edge Network shows 50% performance improvement and makes the case for #CDN | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
Since launching Magic Pocket last year, we’ve been storing and serving more than 90 percent of our users’ data on our own custom-built infrastructure, which has helped us to be more efficient and improved performance for our users globally.
Farid Mheir's insight:

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Internet is a global resource and often we forget that there is a cost to delivering web pages across the world. This paper from Dropbox shows just how important it is to use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for websites.

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17 Web Design Trends To Watch in 2017 via @Shopify

17 Web Design Trends To Watch in 2017 via @Shopify | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

What does 2017 have in store for us? We asked the industry’s experts for their views on the future of web design trends.

  1. Conversational interfaces
  2. Machine learning
  3. Emotionally intelligent design
  4. Virtual reality
  5. Location and context awareness
  6. Micro-interactions
  7. Colors
  8. Cohesive experiences
  9. Even more JavaScript!
  10. Designed failure
  11. Design sprints
  12. Better collaboration across design and development
  13. Merging of UX and service design
  14. Facebook and Google as destinations for content
  15. Credibility becomes king
  16. Mass disruption to foundational Internet services
  17. The rise of the diversity designer
  18. Bonus: 2017 According to Jeffrey Zeldman
Farid Mheir's insight:

Lots of elements to account for in your 2017 digital strategy.

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The Internet Health Report: @mozilla 

The Internet Health Report: @mozilla  | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

Mozilla’s new open source initiative to document and explain what’s happening to the health of the Internet. Combining research from multiple sources, we collect data on five key topics and offer a brief overview of each.

Farid Mheir's insight:

Mozilla has always been promoting Internet security and privacy and this new report paves the way for a very interesting ongoing look at key elements of the public Internet.

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Your #browser has a 'fingerprint' & online #trackers use it to follow your online activity #PrivacyAware 

Your #browser has a 'fingerprint' & online #trackers use it to follow your online activity #PrivacyAware  | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
Online tracking is no longer about "cookies." New technology helps trackers link online breadcrumbs — including across devices — through browser settings, battery levels and other details.
Farid Mheir's insight:

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

We are being tracked everywhere as I reported in a previous article about behavioral tracking: http://fmcs.digital/blog/behavioral-tracking-explained-in-9min-video-by-gary_kovacs-via-ted-mustsee-privacyaware-dataprivacyday/ 

This new tracking method is very clever as it uses your browser configuration settings to derive an almost unique fingerprint to track you everywhere, even in the absence of cookies or ad beacons on a web page. On this Data Privacy day 2017, be aware, and be careful.

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Today is Data Privacy Day: what will you do to protect yourself better? #PrivacyAware @DataPrivacyDay 

Today is Data Privacy Day: what will you do to protect yourself better? #PrivacyAware @DataPrivacyDay  | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

Data Privacy Day Reminds Organizations That Protecting Customers’ Privacy is Critical to Their Business

Farid Mheir's insight:

If you only do one thing here is what you should be doing: 

http://fmcs.digital/blog/digital-moi-introduction/ 

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Inspect Element: How to Temporarily Edit Any Webpage

Inspect Element: How to Temporarily Edit Any Webpage | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
There's a powerful tool hiding in your browser: Inspect Element.
Right-click on any webpage, click Inspect, and you'll see the innards of that site: its source code, the images and CSS that form its design, the fonts and icons it uses, and the Javascript code that power
Farid Mheir's insight:

A simple overview of a very useful and powerful tool.

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17 Web Design Trends To Watch in 2017 via @Shopify

17 Web Design Trends To Watch in 2017 via @Shopify | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
What does 2017 have in store for us? We asked the industry’s experts for their views on the future of web design trends.
Farid Mheir's insight:

Always good to know what is trendy to make sure we can support it with digital technology.

Robson Grant's curator insight, January 12, 2017 9:57 AM
The internet is only 9291 days old (25 years, 5 months, 7 days including today). On 6 August 1991 the World Wide Web became publicly available. If you're into technology and the net and want a glimpse into where it's headed the Peter Smart: The Future of the Web and How to Prepare for it Now video is a must watch.
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In 2016 renewable energy became cheaper than coal & other Top 10 Tech Trends Transforming Humanity 

In 2016 renewable energy became cheaper than coal & other Top 10 Tech Trends Transforming Humanity  | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

2016 was an incredible year for technology, and for humanity. Despite all the negative political-related news, there were 10 tech trends this year that positively transformed humanity.

For this “2017 Kick-Off” blog, I reviewed 52 weeks of science and technology breakthroughs, and categorized them into the top 10 tech trends changing our world.

I’m blown away by how palpable the feeling of exponential change has become.

I’m also certain that 99.999% of humanity doesn’t understand or appreciate the ramifications of what is coming.

In this blog, enjoy the top 10 tech trends of the past 12 months and why they are important to you.

Farid Mheir's insight:

I am not a big fan of trends and yearly predictions as a glimpse into the future. However, I like them because they provide a good state of the nation - a condensed picture of where we are and what are hot topics. 

 

This review is of particular value in that respect and I especially like #2 where author states "2016 was the year solar and renewable energy became cheaper than coal" because it goes against what we often hear, yet confirms something we expect will happen as it has been predicted for such a long time.

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Using Progressive Web Apps

Using Progressive Web Apps | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
Why choose between website and native apps when you can use both at the same time? With PWAs, you can browse what you want to, whenever you want to.
Via TechnoRousseau
Christopher Herbert's comment, January 10, 2017 3:36 AM
Thanks https://www.synapseindia.website/solutions/mobile_application_development.php
Jean-Anne McMahon's curator insight, January 12, 2017 8:42 AM
No more separate apps for web and mobile in the future.
 
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What the entire internet looked like in September 1973

What the entire internet looked like in September 1973 | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
Before it became a ginormous ocean of information carrying over a zettabyte of physical transcontinental connections, the internet used to be a lot simpler. Half a century ago, the entirety of ARPANET, predecessor of the internet, was just 45 computers connected to 40 nodes. The logical map above shows the state of the internet in Sept. 1973. It was charted by Advance
Farid Mheir's insight:

Sometimes good to look back when you wan to se ahead.

Ronald Przygodzki's curator insight, December 25, 2016 11:57 AM
Wild how far we've moved on..
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Why #AdBlockers May be as Bad as the #Ads they are blocking: they need to make $$ using ads+tracking

Why #AdBlockers May be as Bad as the #Ads they are blocking: they need to make $$ using ads+tracking | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
For publishers and advertisers, Internet ad blockers are a scourge. But the blockers also have to pay the bills.
Farid Mheir's insight:

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Surveillance is part of the web browsing experience mostly due to ads and social beacons. Trying to block them off not only degrades the user experience but may not provide the expected benefits as it may provide a different type of surveillance. Ad blocking does not appear to be the solution after all. So what can provide more privacy when surfing the web? The question remains open.

Jean-Marie Grange's comment, December 20, 2016 1:12 PM
Maybe one solution would be for content publishers to offer the choice of paying a fair amount for ad-free content... http://sco.lt/7CrAVl
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Inside Russia’s Creepy, Innovative Internet and other #video stories on #digital via @valleyhack @bloomberg

Inside Russia’s Creepy, Innovative Internet and other #video stories on #digital via @valleyhack @bloomberg | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
For the past five years, Russia’s been building walls around its web and packing it with tech oligarchs, startup cities, face-finding algorithms, hacker hunters, and, of course, a few bears.
Farid Mheir's insight:

Hello World is an amazing series of video reports on digital transformations and Internet and technology. I find this episode on Russia of particular interest regarding privacy - or the loss of privacy. Must listen.

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The land rush for #emoji #domains is coming via @qz

The land rush for #emoji #domains is coming via @qz | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

Emoji URLs for websites are the logical endpoint of a global, mobile internet. Emoji have quickly emerged as a language understood by almost anyone with a smartphone, regardless of their native tongue (though sometimes these symbols are up for interpretation). Rather than words and phrases, companies and individuals can promote a universal, memorable string of visual symbols easily entered into smartphones.

Farid Mheir's insight:

A short post with links to useful resources claims that we may very soon have emoji URLs. Instead of the familiar www.cnn.com for example you may find emojis such as hearts and smileys.

 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Internet has become so important and the browser so essential to many that URLs have started to "mean" something instead of being purely a reference to a website. I remember the dotcom URL rush, where savvy investors were registering short URLs such as pet.com or meaningful ones like mcdonalds.com then sitting on them for months or years and selling those URLs for thousands or hundreds of thousands. Are we going to relive that era? Maybe...

capitalistshovels's comment, November 10, 2016 12:49 AM
NICE ONE
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The #Internet Has Reached Saturation with 0.1% growth in north america

The #Internet Has Reached Saturation with 0.1% growth in north america | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
Nearly four of every 10 websites have seen a decrease in traffic over the past three years, according to a new Adobe Digital Insights report.
Farid Mheir's insight:

Although overall growth has slowed it looks like Internet users are becoming more mature and selecting the websites they go to. Is this a trend for the future, where big sites will keep getting bigger?

 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Business will have to fight for their sites to stay relevant otherwise they will start to see declining trafic.

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#cloudComputing is greener than in-house: Google DeepMind #AI reduce energy by 40%

#cloudComputing is greener than in-house: Google DeepMind #AI reduce energy by 40% | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

To address this problem, we began applying machine learning two years ago to operate our data centres more efficiently. And over the past few months, DeepMind researchers began working with Google’s data centre team to significantly improve the system’s utility. Using a system of neural networks trained on different operating scenarios and parameters within our data centres, we created a more efficient and adaptive framework to understand data centre dynamics and optimize efficiency.

Farid Mheir's insight:

Google uses artificial intelligence to analyze energy consumption in its data center to improve cooling and reduce energy consumption by 40%.

 

The paper also links to other most interesting links on data center operations including:

 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Energy is the main cost of data center operations so this is great news. Companies should thus use this news to further move their computing to the cloud as large data centers - Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others - are way more efficient than anything even large corporations can do.

 

This is true for energy consumption, and I contend it is also true for many other areas including security and speed of implementation. It is essential that any digital transformation make cloud computing the primary de facto standard over any on-premise operation.

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The origins of #DevOps: 10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation at Flickr

The annual Velocity conference in Santa Clara is just around the corner and everyone involved is full of anticipation. Interesting story—about 9 years ago, Steve Souders and Jesse Robbins realized that their separate "tribes" were talking about many of the same things. Frontend developers and engineers were figuring out how to make web pages faster and more reliable, while web operations folks were making deployments faster and more resilient. That's how Velocity came to be.

Velocity is also where John Allspaw and Paul Hammond, then employees of Flickr, gave their now-classic presentation 10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation at Flickr that's credited with giving name—and life—to the DevOps movement.

Farid Mheir's insight:

45min video presentation from 2009 that explains how Flickr development and operations team have agreed to work together to increase the speed and the quality of the code they deploy.

 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is the original talk that gave rise to the devOps movement. It is as useful today as it was 7 years ago, proving that devOps is a really important and profound cultural change.  I urge every developer to listen to itt, but also avery IT resource, including and especially CIOs. Then ask yourself: how can we do devOps in our own organization?

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State of the Internet 2016: web stalls, voice+image recognition & car revolution grow

State of the Internet 2016: web stalls, voice+image recognition & car revolution grow | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

At 213 pages, there's a ton of data, but here are our Top 3 takeaways.

1) The internet itself is seeing slowing growth. In the past two decades, the internet economy was affected by macroeconomic trends, but it was external issues like the housing crisis and the financial crisis that were driving the slowdown. Now it is global internet growth itself that is slowing down.

2) Typing text into a search bar is so last year. In five years, at least 50 percent of all searches are going to be either images or speech.

3) The home screen has acted as the de facto portal on mobile devices since the arrival of the iPhone and even before. Messaging apps, with context and time, have a chance to rival the home screen as the go-to place for interaction.

Farid Mheir's insight:

218 slides of jammed packed information. Soon I will be able to blog one slide of this Mary Meeker State of the Internet annual presentation per day for the whole year. Wow...

 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is an annual event for digital experts: the state of the Internet. This year, it focusses on deep learning (think voice+image recognition) and cars. Because really the Internet growth is slowing down. So is mobile phone usage. The trend thus appears to be what we build on top of the Internet and not the Internet itself. Finally.

 

Every company executive and board member should listen to this talk. Even if you don't understand everything you should ask yourself: how is our company positioned to address those trends? In most cases I assume the answer will be: we are not. This should be cause for concern and action.

 

For previous year presentations, go to http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-transformation-of-businesses/?q=meeker 

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Websites are still screwing up user experiences via @troyhunt

Websites are still screwing up user experiences via @troyhunt | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

We’re a few days into the new year and I’m sick of it already. This is fundamental web usability 101 stuff that plagues us all and makes our online life that much more painful than it needs to be. None of these practices – none of them – is ever met with “Oh how nice, this site is doing that thing”. Every one of these is absolutely driving the web into a dismal abyss of frustration and much ranting by all.


And before anyone retorts with “Oh you can just install this do-whacky plugin which rewrites the page or changes the behaviour”, no, that’s entirely not the point. Not only does it not solve a bunch of the problems, it shouldn’t damn well have to! How about we all just agree to stop making the web a less enjoyable place and not do these things from the outset?

Farid Mheir's insight:

A great review of the most annoying website features that exist on the web today. Do you have those in your website? If you do, it may be time to reconsider...

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The Canadian Internet FACTBOOK 2014 via @CIRA @RCEQ

The Canadian Internet FACTBOOK 2014 via @CIRA @RCEQ | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
Canadians have always been early adopters of new technologies. Canadians have been at the forefront of development and use of communications technologies. This trend continued in 2013 with Canadians’ use of the Internet and adoption of new technologies like smartphones.
Farid Mheir's insight:

Full of data about Internet penetration and usage in Canada. Of particular interest in the usage of netflix, above or near 20% everywhere but in QC...

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Netflix + YouTube = 55% of Internet traffic

Netflix + YouTube = 55% of Internet traffic | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
Netflix is the biggest bandwidth hog, making up more than 37% of all downstream traffic during peak hours. Google's YouTube is a distant second, with about...
Farid Mheir's insight:

Video now accounts for more than half of Internet traffic. This is inline with other bandwidth information I have seen.


WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Internet used to be about browsing websites and chatting with friends on Facebook. Today it is all about viewing video which means telcos should really be scarred about cord cutters - people moving away from cable or satellite TV. In the future, I assume the proportion of bandwidth will continue to increase.


With billions of internet-connected devices showing up in the next 10 years, will IoT become the bandwidth hog then?

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#Web design is dead

#Web design is dead | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
High quality templates, mature design patterns, automation, AI, and mobile technology are signaling the end of web design as we know it.
Farid Mheir's insight:

Author makes the compelling argument that web design is not essential anymore as we consume our web in standardized forms, well recognized patterns and many different forms (mobile app anyone?).


WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Web consumption has been codified and its patterns defined over the past 20 years. sOmeone looking to innovate on the web still can I would argue, but most businesses do not need to and thus must identify partners that can decipher the web codes for them and identify the best ones to propel their business. Plus there is a reference to an AI based web design solution called the Grid which I had never heard of before but sounds promising.

Chris Bryant's curator insight, July 17, 2015 2:53 AM

This makes me wonder what we are preparing our children for as they move through school. What skills and capabilities will they need? web design was a recent emerging career field  and now this too could be automated. So what will prepare our children for the future?

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The annual #mustread from @KPCB is out! @maryMeeker 2015 Internet Trends Report

KPCB’s Mary Meeker presents the 2015 Internet Trends report, 20 years after the inaugural “The Internet Report” was first published in 1995. Since then, the nu…
Farid Mheir's insight:

The reference for anyone tracking Internet related technologies and solutions. 196 slides of pure bliss...

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Why your data doesn't match (SiteCatalyst, comScore, Google Analytics) via @MikeWebGuy

Why your data doesn't match (SiteCatalyst, comScore, Google Analytics) via @MikeWebGuy | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it
It seems like every web analyst's dream is to have numbers from similar reports match across their vendors. However this is never the case. The core of the question I am addressing is: "Why don't my
Farid Mheir's insight:

Nice overview of discrepancies between web analytics data, this paper raises a very important issue when thinking about data, business intelligence and Big Data: multiple sources of data often requires a very strict data quality management process in order to interpret the data meaningfully. This paper provides a very good example of it. Thank you Mihnea.

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