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Posts tagged ‘Stanford University’

Jan 19

10 Charts That Will Change Your Perspective On Artificial Intelligence’s Growth

  • There has been a 14X increase in the number of active AI startups since 2000.
  • Investment into AI start-ups by venture capitalists has increased 6X since 2000.
  • The share of jobs requiring AI skills has grown 4.5X since 2013.

These and many other fascinating insights are from Stanford University’s inaugural AI Index (PDF, no opt-in, 101 pp.). Stanford has undertaken a One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100) looking at the effects of AI on people’s lives, basing the inaugural report and index on the initial findings. The study finds “that we’re essentially “flying blind” in our conversations and decision-making related to Artificial Intelligence.” The AI Index is focused on tracking activity and progress on AI initiatives, and to facilitate informed conversations grounded with reliable, verifiable data. All data used to produce the AI Index and report is available at aiindex.org. Please see the AI Index for additional details regarding the methodology used to create each of the following graphs.

The following ten charts from the AI Index report provides insights into AI’s rapid growth:

  • The number of Computer Science academic papers and studies has soared by more than 9X since 1996. Academic studies and research are often the precursors to new intellectual property and patents. The entire Scopus database contains over 200,000 (200,237) papers in the field of Computer Science that have been indexed with the key term “Artificial Intelligence.” The Scopus database contains almost 5 million (4,868,421) papers in the subject area “Computer Science.”

  • There have been a 6X increase in the annual investment levels by venture capital (VC) investors into U.S.-based Ai startups since 2000. Crunchbase, VentureSource, and Sand Hill Econometrics were used to determine the amount of funding invested each year by venture capitalists into startups where AI plays an important role in some key function of the business. The following graphic illustrates the amount of annual funding by VC’s into US AI startups across all funding stages.

  • There has been a 14X increase in the number of active AI startups since 2000. Crunchbase, VentureSource, and Sand Hill Econometrics were also used for completing this analysis with AI startups in Crunchbase cross-referenced to venture-backed companies in the VentureSource database. Any venture-backed companies from the Crunchbase list that were identified in the VentureSource database were included.

  • The share of jobs requiring AI skills has grown 4.5X since 2013., The growth of the share of US jobs requiring AI skills on the Indeed.com platform was calculated by first identifying AI-related jobs using titles and keywords in descriptions. Job growth is a calculated as a multiple of the share of jobs on the Indeed platform that required AI skills in the U.S. starting in January 2013. The study also calculated the growth of the share of jobs requiring AI skills on the Indeed.com platform, by country. Despite the rapid growth of the Canada and UK. AI job markets, Indeed.com reports they are respectively still 5% and 27% of the absolute size of the US AI job market.

  • Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) are the three most in-demand skills on Monster.com. Just two years ago NLP had been predicted to be the most in-demand skill for application developers creating new AI apps. In addition to skills creating AI apps, machine learning techniques, Python, Java, C++, experience with open source development environments, Spark, MATLAB, and Hadoop are the most in-demand skills. Based on an analysis of Monster.com entries as of today, the median salary is $127,000 in the U.S. for Data Scientists, Senior Data Scientists, Artificial Intelligence Consultants and Machine Learning Managers.

  • Error rates for image labeling have fallen from 28.5% to below 2.5% since 2010. AI’s inflection point for Object Detection task of the Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge (LSVRC) Competition occurred in 2014. On this specific test, AI is now more accurate than human These findings are from the competition data from the leaderboards for each LSVRC competition hosted on the ImageNet website.

  • Global revenues from AI for enterprise applications is projected to grow from $1.62B in 2018 to $31.2B in 2025 attaining a 52.59% CAGR in the forecast period. Image recognition and tagging, patient data processing, localization and mapping, predictive maintenance, use of algorithms and machine learning to predict and thwart security threats, intelligent recruitment, and HR systems are a few of the many enterprise application use cases predicted to fuel the projected rapid growth of AI in the enterprise. Source: Statista.

  • 84% of enterprises believe investing in AI will lead to greater competitive advantages. 75% believe that AI will open up new businesses while also providing competitors new ways to gain access to their markets. 63% believe the pressure to reduce costs will require the use of AI. Source: Statista.

  • 87% of current AI adopters said they were using or considering using AI for sales forecasting and for improving e-mail marketing. 61% of all respondents said that they currently used or were planning to use AI for sales forecasting. The following graphic compares adoption rates of current AI adopters versus all respondents. Source: Statista.  

Aug 3

Roundup Of Cloud Computing Online Courses

careeer startAmazon Web Services, Coursera, Google, MIT Courseware and Microsoft are accelerating the depth and variety of cloud computing courses, courseware and learning materials they are freely making available online.

Over the last six months since the last Roundup Of Free Cloud Computing Online Courses, Amazon Web Services has added an additional series of free instructional videos, self-paced labs and selected free courses in the seven areas their AWS Training programs focus on. Microsoft’s Virtual Academy has grown to include more courses, training material and entire section of free downloadable books from Microsoft Press.  Google’s continual additions to the Developer Academy include online courses to learn more about Google AppEngine, Python App Engine and Google Cloud SQL.

Coursera and the University of Maryland, University of New Mexico and Vanderbilt University are all offering free courses on Android, mobile and web application development.  MIT Courseware continues to add useful courses across the broad spectrum of subjects they cover. The dominant theme of all courses is a new focus on creating and launching a new cloud computing application during the course.

Update on Cloud Computing Online Courses – Full Index Available For Download

One of the best indicators of how serious a software company is about their developer evangelism strategy is how much they invest in free training, easily accessible knowledge, and work to break down learning barriers.  Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft are each accelerating these areas quickly.  Each are choosing to freely provide valuable training videos, books and content in the hope of attracting and educating more developers.

In addition to these extensive evangelism efforts, there are several excellent courses and educational programs available entirely online at various price points.  You can find entire roundup of cloud computing online courses and programs here (in PDF) and also in Microsoft Word.

The following table compares the free cloud computing online courses.  Please click on the graphic to expand for easier reading.

Free cloud computing courses July

Key Take-Aways:

  • DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media is offering a Cloud Computing Technologies Program where students will build their own cloud applications.  Using Amazon Web Services, IBM, Microsoft and Salesforce cloud platforms, students will learn how to create and manage cloud-based applications.  The eleven-week in-depth program in the principles, methods, and technologies of Cloud Computing. The program provides a broad understanding of the different leading Cloud Computing technologies.
  • Stanford University is offering CS309A – Cloud Computing one of the most sought-after online courses in this field, from September 23rd to December 16th, 2014.  This class includes discussions with cloud computing industry leaders and CEOs who share their vision of the future of software-powered businesses.  Previous guest speakers include Hamish Brewer, CEO, JDA Software, Godfrey Sulliva, CEO, Splunk, Human Shah, CEO, RMS, Rob Bearden, CEO, Hortonworks, Bill Ruh, VP & Corporate Officer, GE Global Software and Aaron Levie, CEO, Box.   The course is taught by Timothy Chou, a widely recognized pioneer in cloud computing.  He has been teaching introductory computer architecture at Stanford for 15 years.  He has an extensive background in cloud computing and is a high energy, engaging speaker.   You can find his LinkedIn profile here.

 

Feb 5

Roundup Of Free Cloud Computing Online Courses

career-start1One of the best ways to capitalize on cloud computing’s growth from a career standpoint is to constantly be learning and gaining new knowledge.

Being able to apply the technological aspects of cloud computing to business problems quickly, combined with constantly developing expertise on how to manage legacy systems and cloud platforms is a very valuable, marketable skill.

Many manufacturers I meet with are grappling with the high maintenance costs and time latency of legacy systems when their business models are accelerating faster than ever.   Helping these enterprises bridge the gap between legacy systems and the urgent need for more accurate customer, supplier, pricing, and quality data creates many opportunities for career growth.

Free Cloud Computing Courses

The number and quality of free online cloud computing courses continues to grow, and lately the prices of fee-based online programs are dropping.  Not across the board, but clearly the competition of online education programs is changing in favor of the student.

The table below profiles free online cloud computing certificate and degree programs.  You can download a PDF of the full roundup of cloud computing courses here that also includes fee-based online programs.  Please click on the graphic to expand it for easier reading.

Roundup of cloud computing courses

Key take-aways from the roundup of cloud computing courses include the following:

  • edX & UC BerkeleyX are offering a series of courses on Engineering Software as a Service.  The first of two sessions offered by edX and UC Berkeley concentrate on engineering solid high performance cloud applications using agile techniques to design then code a Software as a Service (SaaS) application using Ruby on Rails.  The second session concentrates on deploying the application in the cloud and enhancing its performance using JavaScript.
  • Coursera and Vanderbilt University are offering Programming Cloud Services for Android Handheld Systems.  This class signifies a broader trend by Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) where cloud computing and mobility are often being included in the same course.  This course includes instruction on how to apply patterns and frameworks to develop scalable and secure cloud services.  Included is coverage of mobile and cloud communication, data persistence, concurrency and synchronization, synchronous and asynchronous event handling, and security. The bulk of the examples are in Java using the Spring Framework and Jetty middleware platform. The examples will be run on Google App Engine and Amazon EC2.  This course is free. 
  • Google Developer Academy – Self-based e-learning site that has an excellent overview of Google AppEngine, Python App Engine and Google+ APIs.
  • Microsoft Research Windows Azure for Research Training – An innovative training program aimed at academicians and researchers, this is going to be an excellent learning platform regarding the Microsoft Windows Azure Platform.  Best of all, the course sessions and eventual online content are free.
  • MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) – One of the most comprehensive collections of courseware available globally today, OCW  is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.

Aug 7

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Coursera, edX Offer Free Online Courses As Cloud Computing Learning Options Proliferate

StanfordThe value and variety of online cloud computing programs being offered by leading colleges and universities is proliferating.

Focusing on the learning needs of IT professionals who need to apply cloud technologies to solve complex business problems, many of these programs and courses sell out before classes begin. This is because CIOs’ career paths are increasingly defined by how well they apply cloud technologies to the unique challenges and problems their businesses face. For CIOs and other members of senior management, getting a solid education on cloud computing’s business benefits is essential for managing effectively today, increasing their long-term marketability and career growth.

These programs are designed for C-level executives and senior managers to get up to speed quickly, often including guest CEOs of prominent software companies as part of the curriculum.  Stanford’s course offered this fall online and on campus has five different CEO guest speakers including Aaron Levie, CEO of Box.net for example.  These programs have an entirely different set of learning objectives versus certifications.  For an excellent analysis of cloud certifications please see David Linthicum’s recent post Are you on the right cloud computing career path?   Also excluded are vendor-sponsored certification programs as the intent of many of these is to promote a very specific view of cloud computing that aligns with their product and service strategies.

Here are key take-aways from following this area:

  •  Georgia Institute of Technology is partnering with Coursera, offering Health Informatics in the Cloud, beginning on September 16th for free.  Coursera is an education company that partners with many of the worlds’ leading colleges and universities to offer free online courses to anyone, anywhere.  They have partnered with 62 universities in 16 countries and offer over 300 courses as of today.
  • University of California, Berkeley is partnering with EdX offering Software as a Service (CS169.2X) beginning August 13th for free.  MIT and Harvard partnered to create EdX, a non-profit organization that is committed to bringing the best of higher education to students around the world.  EdX offers MOOCs (massive open online courses) in addition to interactive online courses in the subject areas of law, history, science, engineering, business, social sciences, computer science, public health, and artificial intelligence (AI).
  • Stanford University’s CS309A looks like one of the best being offered this fall, with five different CEO guest speakers including Hamish Brewer, JDA Software; Godfrey Sulliva, Splunk; Bob Beardon, Horton Works; and Aaron Levie, Box.net.  Dr. Timothy Chou, former president of Oracle OnDemand and Lecturer at Stanford University for over three decades is teaching the course.
  • The following is a comparison of the cloud computing courses and programs designed for senior management starting this fall.  Those entries in green are the free courses that take just minutes to enroll in.  Please click on the image to expand it for easier reading.

Cloud Computing

May 12

Thoughts on How to Out-Innovate Bigger Enterprise Competitors with SaaS

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One of the most interesting and intriguing companies that are quickly gaining enterprise customers is Box.net.

In speaking with friends who are directors of IT and a few CIOs, the buzz on Box.net has grown so fast that they are looking at enterprise licensing for it.  They’re also saying it is becoming the portal of choice for highly distributed teams that have already logged hundreds of hours using it globally.

In the following video clip CEO and Co-Founder Aaron Levie explains how his company has been able to out-innovate larger competitors in the enterprise market by relying on what appears to be Agile-based development methods and the SaaS platform to launch applications faster than entrenched competitors.  His insights into competing on speed using the SaaS platform while outflanking larger, and slower moving competitors is worth listening to.

The full talk this clip is taken from is 59 minutes long and titled Delivering Innovation for the Enterprise.  The video content at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) Entrepreneurship Corner is also worth subscribing to as the center periodically brings in excellent speakers and records them for the public’s benefit.

Aug 30

Update on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Alexa GrepTheWeb Service

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The following presentation from Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Jinesh Varia includes an update on the Alexa GrepTheWeb Service and an excellent overview of AWS components. There is also an update on the AWS cloud architecture and definition of the Compute (EC2), messaging (SQS) and Storage (S3, Simple DB, and EC2-EBS) component integration.

Finally there are an interesting series of slides explaining courses at University of California, Santa Barbara and Stanford University on how AWS is being used to teach data mining and related topics.

This presentation also provides insights into how configurations of AWS can be customized for data mining and content management.

Disclaimer: Amazon and AWS are not clients of mine by the way.  When I write about vendors who are, I will be sure to mention it.

Aug 21

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Stanford University Offering an Online Course on Cloud Computing This Fall

Stanford’s Center for Professional Development does an outstanding job with its programs, I have attended them in the past and they are excellent. Be sure to check out Dr. Tim Chou’s book on cloud computing. It is free and is a fast, highly informative read about cloud computing.

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Jul 11

Marc Andreessen on Cloud Computing Start-ups

On May 12, Marc Andreessen presented on the topic A Panorama of Venture Capital and Beyond (61 min). During that discussion, he made several points about how entrepreneurs who seek out his venture fund, Andreessen Horowitz, rely heavily on Cloud Computing to alleviate infrastructure and hardware start-up costs. He mentions that 96% of firms seeking funding are running on Amazon Web Services and just a few on RackSpace. He also mentions that few are running Google AppsEngine or Microsoft Azure now.

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May 2

eBook Explains and Analyzes the Seven Business Models of Software

Bottom line: Most refreshing about this book is that Mr. Chou is striving to explain each of the seven business models with an unbiased analysis supported with company examples. He is on Twitter (@timothychou) and back in January asked for feedback on this book. If you have a passion for this area you might want to follow him on Twitter and see about helping out with the next edition.

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Apr 8

Thoughts on the Free Software Sales Model for SaaS Apps

For many enterprise software companies this is a very difficult subject as the control of the sales cycle is tantamount. Opponents argue that free software trials potentially derail sales cycles and give them less control.

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