10 Nov 2017  -  Blockchain is an emergent technology that may be as transformative as the internet, according to many predictions. But this innovative new technology has a surprising link to the days of medieval treasuries.  Blockchain is a distributed ledger that uses cryptography—mathematical code—to chain together records of transactions in a tamper-resistant and transparent manner. It is being used as an alternative or replacement for national currencies, contracts, internet device authentication and more.

This form of record-keeping, though technologically novel in the digital era, is not so new after all. Historian M.T. Clanchy tells us that it existed in the medieval era, during the transition from oral to written forms of memorialization. At that time, symbolic objects played a crucial role in providing evidence of transactions, rights and entitlements.

I've been researching how governments and businesses around the world are either planning for or already piloting the use of blockchain for record-keeping. The goal of my research is to determine what these applications of the technology actually do—as opposed to what the marketing hype says they do.

I've been to Estonia to study how the government there is using distributed ledger technology to protect the integrity of citizens' medical records. I've been to Sweden to discuss how its land registry is testing blockchain to record the transfer of land ownership. I've reviewed proposed blockchain systems for land title registration in Honduras, new pilot implementations for land transaction records in Brazil. And I've spoken with innumerable new ventures looking to transform record-keeping with blockchain technology.

Three patterns for blockchain records

From this research, I've noticed three specific design patterns for blockchain record-keeping, which need explanation to understand how blockchain relates to medieval practices. I have classified these categories as mirror, digital record and tokenized systems.

The first of these design patterns is what I call the "mirror" type system. I characterize this type of system as being the most similar to current centralized record-keeping.

In these types of systems—be they for medical records, land titles, public archives or some other kind of records—digital records are neither created nor kept "on chain," despite some claims by blockchain companies to the contrary. Instead, a kind of digital fingerprint of the records in the form of a 256-bit random number, known as a "hash," is entered into the blockchain.

The purpose of recording this digital fingerprint in the blockchain is to protect the integrity of the records and be able to detect if they were tampered with. To prove that the records are tamper-free, the original digital records must be preserved in off-chain trustworthy digital repositories alongside preservation of their hashes in the blockchain.

Proving integrity of the records involves matching the hash of the record you want to validate with its digital fingerprint on the blockchain. If the hashes match, then the record you hold has not been altered.

Digital records

The second type of approach I've noticed is one that I call the "digital records" design pattern. In this type of system, new digital records are actually created within the blockchain itself, primarily by using smart-contracts.

Smart-contracts are computer programs that instruct the blockchain when to carry out a transaction, such as sending funds from one user to another. In these types of systems, the text of records is no longer in natural language that people can read. It is written in computer code for machines to read.

How blockchain technology has medieval roots

Three major categories of blockchain systems classified with examples. Credit: Victoria Lemieux

The rise of the smart contract raises a number of challenging and currently unanswered questions, such as what to do in case an error occurs and a smart contract doesn't behave as expected.

In the 2016 Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) incident, for example, the attacker exploited poorly written smart code to siphon off 3.6 million Ether—an alternative to the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin—roughly equivalent to $68 million at the time of the attack.

Equally importantly, current principles, standards and practices for managing and preserving digital records are not designed for smart-contracts and other distributed autonomous records created on chain. Ensuring that society's evidence infrastructure remains intact presents challenges similar to the early days of email and other electronic records. New approaches, yet to be developed, will be needed.

The third type of blockchain record-keeping design pattern is the "tokenized" type of solution. This is arguably the farthest from our current form of record-keeping, and many would argue the most innovative. With this type of system, not only are records captured on chain but valuable assets are represented and captured on chain.

These assets can symbolize anything of value: currency such as a primary use blockchain, Bitcoin; land, fine wine, food, diamonds, artworks—you name it.

In this third, tokenized form we can find centuries-old predecessors to blockchain.

Medieval objects parallel digital tokens

Are these assets really records? For answers, we may turn to the English archival theorist Sir Hilary Jenkinson, who observed in his 1937 Manual of Archive Administration that "there is a case where an old pair of military epaulettes; and among enclosures to letters, forming in each case an integral part of the document, the writer can recall portraits, human hair, whip-cord (part of cat-o'-nine-tails), a penny piece inscribed with disloyal sentiments, and a packet of strange powder destined to cure cancer."

In Jenkinson's view, these "exhibits" formed part of the archive, or collective body of records, because they provided evidence of business transactions.

We now have come to view these so-called exhibits more as museum objects than records because before the digital era, the physical awkwardness of these objects meant that they could not be managed with other records. Just as coins and paper currency once represented records of reserves of gold in a national treasury, Jenkinson's exhibits were themselves tokens that represented other things.

Today, what once had a material form can be essentially dematerialized. Paper currency can be transformed into cryptocurrency. Land, fine wine, artwork, diamonds, food and other material objects—though still physically in existence—can be transformed into virtual representations called "tokens." In this way, in a tokenized, blockchain record-keeping system, literally every thing potentially becomes a record.

This is not a new idea.

At the time of the Norman Conquest, many grants were conferred by the bare word (nude verbo) without a writing or charter, but only with a sword, helmet, horn or cup. One example is the broken knife of Stephen de Bulmer kept in the archives of Durham Cathedral. It bears a parchment label recording the details of a gift of land made in the middle of the 12th century—which the knife itself symbolizes.

Just like the knives, horns, cups, rings and other objects customarily used in the conveyance of land during the medieval period, today's tokenized blockchain record-keeping systems use valuable cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as symbolic representations of assets like land.

This raises the question of whether blockchain technology will return today's archival repositories to their medieval roots as the treasure storehouses of kings. Will it be back to the future?

| A The Conversation article  ||  November 11,  2017   |||

10 Nov 2017  -  International port logistics company ISO Limited has been selected as the preferred operator for Kawerau's planned container terminal. This selection is a vital step towards the container terminal's completion. Kawerau District Council economic and community development manager Glenn Sutton said the decision was not easy.

"It was an extremely close choice between ISO and the other candidate, C3, as both companies were of high calibre and would have easily met the requirements for the role.

"ISO has high values and an emphasis on community involvement and development that Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau believes will complement and benefit the district."

ISO Limited is an international port logistics company, providing stevedoring, marshalling, warehousing, container-packing, IT and total supply chain solutions to exporters and importers throughout New Zealand, Australia and America.

Its New Zealand operations include Marsden Point, Auckland, Tauranga, Kaingaroa, Murupara, New Plymouth, Gisborne, Napier, Wellington, Lyttelton, Bluff, Nelson and Timaru.

"Consequently, the company brings a wealth of experience and skills to the operation of the Kawerau container terminal and is well supported by its parent company, QUBE," Sutton said.

Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau initiated the container terminal concept in 2012.

"Once completed, the terminal will provide a cost-effective logistics system for Eastern Bay of Plenty value-added exporters to transport their products to port."

Toi-EDA general manager Francis Pauwels said the terminal would support the Eastern Bay for current and predicted growth.

"This project is positive for the entire Bay of Plenty as business and industry work together to better the region.

"The overarching strategy is to achieve cost-effective and efficient logistics solutions for current businesses to grow, and to attract new businesses into the region.

"Moving freight is a key component of that, but also extends to UFB coverage, airport links, wharf facilities and safe roading networks.

"The terminal site is owned by the Putauaki Trust and represents fantastic partnerships between Eastern Bay businesses and communities."

The next step in the project will see Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau and involved partners working with ISO on the terminal's design.

| An ISO release  ||  November 10,  2017   |||

Nov 10, 2017  -  Reinforcing its leadership position in the shift to electric vehicles, Air New Zealand has been announced as the first airline to join The Climate Group’s EV100 initiative. The global not-for-profit works with businesses and governments around the world on initiatives that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. EV100 is its new global programme which aims to fast track business uptake of electric vehicles, encouraging organisations to use their buying power and influence to build demand and ultimately help reduce the cost barrier to mainstream use. Earlier this year Air New Zealand completed the transition of its light vehicle fleet to EVs and the airline’s Head of Sustainability Lisa Daniell says seeing its EVs on the road is a visible reminder of its commitment to more sustainable options. “Electric transport offers a major solution in cutting millions of tons of greenhouse emissions worldwide. Having led the way in New Zealand it’s exciting to be part of a global initiative committed to making EVs the new normal.” Sandra Roling, Head of EV100 says The Climate Group is delighted Air New Zealand is joining EV100 as the first airline in the campaign. “The company’s commitment to rolling out electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in its own operations, as well as its leadership in motivating other companies to do the same, sets a crucial example for making electro-mobility the new normal.” Air New Zealand also initiated a landmark corporate pledge with Mercury Energy and Westpac New Zealand in 2016, which will see 30 New Zealand companies transition at least 30 percent of their fleet to EVs by 2019. The Climate Group announced Air New Zealand’s membership of EV100 on Energy Day of the United Nation’s 2017 Climate Change Conference (COP23) in Bonn, Germany.

| An Air New Zealand release  ||  November 10 2017   |||

9 Nov 2017  -  In 2015 Zespri’s technical team and Everfresh NZ, represented by Ernst Slabbekoorn (EMS NZ and AUS representative), identified a clear need for a rugged and very reliable analyser to monitor ethylene in the post-harvest and transport of kiwifruit.

EMS has had significant experience in developing in house high end analysis equipment for the fresh produce and flower industries. Jan-Kees Boerman from EMS was convinced that the analysers designed could perform under extreme conditions and able to measure very low concentrations (parts per billion, ppb-range) required to store kiwifruit.

Zespri as a leading marketer of kiwifruit chose to put the EMS analysers to the ultimate test and at the same time conduct a thorough test in an independent lab. For the test in the field a number of analysers were placed on board different vessels to monitor ethylene levels and ethylene production and the additionally these analyzers were fitted with O2 and CO2 to monitor respiration.

Zespri Technical Manager, Frank Bollen, with more than 20 years of experience with ethylene measurements, mentioned the outcome of the reports and the results of the field test "a fantastic job" referring to the level of detection of EMS ethylene analysers.

Both tests have had outstanding results and Zespri is now in the process of investigating how to integrate the analysis equipment in their supply chain. This commitment has led to an ongoing relationship between 2 companies which are operating at the highest level.

The EMS MACView® can be used everywhere to keep track of the valuable product throughout the supply chain wherever location. EMS analyzers can be used for cool store, reefer and warehouse monitoring even in the middle of the ocean. Data is synchronized to a web portal which is enables global access to all data.

| An EMS release  ||  November 8,  2017   |||

9 Nov 2017  -  The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has today confirmed that the new Government will strengthen the protection for public conservation land by making it off-limits for new mining.

The announcement was made as part of the Speech from the Throne given today at Parliament, which outlined the Government’s policy and legislative proposals.

“Public conservation lands are set aside for nature to thrive and for New Zealanders and visitors to enjoy. Mining, especially open-cast mining runs counter to that. It destroys indigenous vegetation and habitats, permanently changes natural landscapes and can create sizeable waste rock dumps with a risk of acid mine drainage polluting waterways.

“New Zealanders expect to see our conservation lands and their wild landscapes and indigenous plants and wildlife protected from being dug up by bulldozers and diggers.

“We have a biodiversity crisis with 4,000 of our native plants and wildlife threatened with, or at risk of extinction. The places they live need protection.

“We need to build a sustainable, modern, clean green economy for all New Zealanders. New mines on our protected lands are not going to take us there.

“Coal mining adds to the climate crisis and new mines generally have a 15-year lifespan. Once the coal is gone, the jobs are gone and so is the unique environment of places like the West Coast – which is the basis of a sustainable economy and long-term jobs.

“Places like the West Coast and Coromandel have diversified their economies on the back of their stunning natural beauty and landscapes, and the warmth of local communities. This Government is committed to helping workers in these regions make a just transition from mining.

“Tourism on the West Coast is now responsible for more jobs than the mining sector. It’s crucial that we protect the very thing that draws visitors – unequalled beech and rimu forests, river valleys and a network of huts and tracks.

“The Green Party’s confidence and supply agreement with Labour included a goal of significantly increasing the funding for the Department of Conservation (DOC). I welcome the commitment to that in the Speech from the Throne. The Department of Conservation has been under resourced for the last nine years. We need to scale up its capacity,” said Minister Sage.

| A beehive release  ||  November 9,  2017   |||

8 Nov  -  Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker says the Government will not shrink away from New Zealand’s leadership role on free trade - but it must be on our terms. Before heading to Apec, Parker spoke to Sam Sachdeva, Newsroom's Foreign Affairs and Trade EditorNewsroom's Foreign Affairs and Trade Editor about taking on “the excesses of globalised capital” and avoiding a public backlash.  Befitting his status as one of Labour’s policy wonks, David Parker has been handed an array of challenging roles.

The economic development and environment portfolios, both areas where the Government has some ambitious plans, would be challenging enough, with the Attorney-General position adding more work again.

Yet Parker’s toughest role may be as Trade and Export Growth Minister, where he will be tasked with satisfying the scepticism of supporters regarding free trade deals while placating exporters and the business community.

Early signs have been positive, with a ban on foreign buyers fulfilling Labour’s pre-election pledge without jeopardising TPP talks and existing trade deals (with the exception of Singapore). Yet tougher obstacles may lie ahead.

FTAs 'sexy' but not enough

Under the previous National government, trade ministers Tim Groser and Todd McClay made a virtue of signing New Zealand up to as many free trade agreements as possible.

The Trade Agenda 2030 strategy, unveiled by McClay earlier this year, set a target of having 90 per cent of New Zealand’s exports covered by FTAs.

Parker is less convinced, saying of FTAs: “They’re sexy but they’re not the be-all and end-all.”

“Exports could go down and you could still meet that [90 per cent] target - FTAs are not the driver of investment in the new products and services that we need to sell to the world.”

Continue here to read the full article on Newsroom  ||  November 8,  2017   |||

Nov 7, 2017  - Fiji  - A local manufacturing company hopes to harness the growth in the construction sector with their recent venture into standardised steel production for local and soon export supply.  Gurbachan Singh's Steel Mills Ltd, a steel manufacturing company, has made a lucrative investment in constructing its new major production plant at Lakena in Nausori.  The new facility will see the production of thermo-mechanically-treated steel bars or in short TMT bars among many other steel products for construction use.

According to the company's managing director, Jagjeet Singh, fondly known as Jack, the concept behind the new production facility is to produce quality construction rods out of scrap steel metal.

"We will be processing scrap steel to be processed into construction rods. And these are not just any construction rods but TMT deformed steel bars which have high yield strength," Mr Singh said in an interview with this newspaper.

These bars will be made varying in size from 6mm to 25mm.

"We will also make plain rods, angles and strips from this new plant to be recycled from old scrap steel that we will buy locally."

Mr Singh, however, highlighted should the scrap metal not be sufficient in supply, the company will be complementing with billets, which are ready-made steel blocks that are purchased overseas.

But the process of producing such high quality steel bars requires sophisticated technology and equipment.

Mr Singh said the investment included the purchase of equipment and machinery required for steel production from overseas.

This brings the total investment to about $5 million, he said.

"We will cut the scrap steel into pieces which will be put into an induction furnace.

"This will then be heated up to 1200 degrees Celsius which will make it molten," Mr Singh said.

"This will then be poured and made as moulds to make billets or slabs. It is then again re-heated in the furnace to make it hot again which is later rolled as steel bars."

While the company has eyed supplying the local commercial market, particularly the construction sector, it also has ambitious plan to commence exporting to highly competitive international markets.

"The construction of the steel factory has been completed and we are currently in the processing of trial testing the new machinery and equipment," Mr Singh said.

"The reason why we are doing trial tests is to ensure that we meet standards and qualities that is met overseas."

The 2000sqm steel production plant, which sits on three acre land, was fully boosted last week as electricity supply has finally been installed at the site.

This, Mr Singh said, had been a delaying factor to the project which initially commenced in early 2015.

The new venture will also see more than 100 new and existing staff members being employed including specialists who will be coming in from India and Phillipines to operate the steel plant.

"We are expected to run trials on the November 15 and start full production by mid of December," Mr Singh said.

While the company has set its target of 15,000 tonnes of steel for its annual production capacity, Mr Singh added that this would gradually rise as business advances.

"Our Prime Minister has been emphasising a lot on the environment and the importance of recycling. We see a lot of scrap steel like bulky derelict ships that are lying on the harbour," Mr Singh said.

"With this, we are now ready to buy scrap metal and we will pay them according to the quantity. We intend to buy old ships, fresh cans, car bodies, car chassis and industrial scrap."

The production plant is also expected to officially open in January next year given that trial production and tests run smoothly.

Mr Singh, a businessman from Labasa, has been mainly involved in the manufacturing industry for a number of years with his company specialising in several areas and products.

Apart from his recent steel venture, Gurbachan Singh's Steel Mills Ltd, the company also manufactures PVC pipes, trading tyres, garden hose, water tanks among many others.

|  A FijiTimesOnline release ||  November 7,  2017   |||

7 Nov  -  Dr Lynn Wilcox is the chief technology officer at Fuji Xerox’s Palo Alto Laboratory (FXPAL) in California and an expert in the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI).  Recently, Wilcox and her team at FXPAL have been working on projects in the ambient intelligence space – that is, the real world, practical application of IoT and AI.

From a smart teleconferencing system that will notify individuals interrupting the meeting to tracking the location of patients in a hospital, as Ambient Intelligence develops - the impact it could have across all industries is exciting.

But what exactly is Ambient Intelligence and why should we care about it?

In anticipation of her upcoming visit to New Zealand, Wilcox breaks down why we should be excited about Ambient Intelligence, what’s going on at FXPAL at the moment and what happens when the use of IoT technologies becomes unethical.

What is Ambient Intelligence, and why should enterprises be excited about it?

Ambient Intelligence refers to electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to people.

It utilises IoT to collect data about people and the environment from various types of sensors. It then analyses and makes inferences from this sensor data using AI to provide personalised and contextual actions.

Ambient Intelligence has the power to make work more efficient - for example, by automatically knowing when you walk into a conference room that you would like to display the agenda and other information about the meeting that has been scheduled for this time, and order preferred beverages for the people scheduled to attend the meeting.

How does FXPAL work, do you develop technology solely for Fuji Xerox, or do you do work with other partners?

FXPAL is a research lab wholly funded by Fuji Xerox.

We develop prototypes to demonstrate technology and if there is interest we deploy the technology outside the lab to test real use cases. Our primary goal is to provide successful technology to Fuji Xerox for commercialisation.

In certain cases where FX is not interested in using the technology for their business, we license it to third parties. We also generate a good amount of Intellectual Property in the form of patents, which Fuji Xerox commercialises.

FXPAL is developing some very exciting AI and IoT technology with the capability to track the location of people in factories and hospitals, could you tell me about what has gone into developing these technologies?

The work began as a project to help locate co-workers in and out of the office and used a variety of technology such as GPS, device monitoring and cameras. To achieve more precise indoor localization, we began experimenting with BLE beacons.

FX Australia got interested in the technology and asked us to help develop a solution for office space management that could track which offices and meeting rooms were in use and how frequently various types of space was used. After that, the business development team at FXPAL found an application for patient management at a health care facility and we helped them deploy our technology there.

Last year Fuji Xerox Manufacturing executives visited FXPAL and saw a demonstration of our localisation technology and invited us to do a trial at the FX Suzuka factory.

We did the initial deployment this summer and are working with the factory to maximise the utility of the technology.

How often would you scrap a project?

Do you ever get right to the final stages of development before you decide the technology won’t work?

The typical research cycle is to first describe the concept, usually in an Invention Proposal, then demonstrate the concept to others, then build a prototype to test outside the lab.

There are checks at each of these stages. For example, we review Invention Proposals and if the idea is not sound or has already been described by someone else, research is stopped.

Similarly with demos, if they are not convincing the project is stopped. Finally, if the prototype fails or if no business case can be found we stop the work.

Many of our research projects are never used in products or solutions, sometimes because the technology is just too early for the market.

Could you discuss the FXPAL’s development of a secure document viewer that only allows viewing of an electronic document in secure locations?

Where are you at in the development of this technology and what would define, or who would define, a secure location?

We are at the demo stage of this technology.

We can demonstrate how a secure viewer would work by using our indoor location technology to determine whether you are inside the secure location or not. To secure a specified location, for example an executive office space, we simply deploy beacons around the office.

So far, we have not developed a location aware document viewer that would be needed for a prototype system.

One of the projects that FXPAL is working on that’s really intriguing is the creation of a smart teleconferencing systems that will monitor participants, notifying them if they are interrupting the conversation, or speaking too much.

Could you tell me more about it?

How does it make decisions such as what’s interrupting and what’s considered a contribution?

The system analyses the audio and video content of the video stream during the teleconference. It knows when each of the speakers is talking, and so can detect when a speaker begins talking while another person is talking - that’s an interruption.

It keeps statistics on how long each person is speaking during the meeting and visualises this by smaller or larger circles depending on how much each speaker is talking, so it is easy to see how your circle compares to others.

When can the use of IoT and smart technologies by enterprises, or any users, cross the line and become unethical?

How can this be monitored and prevented, and is there a danger in the power these technologies could give certain users?

That’s a good question - the same problems already arise with our online activities. There we encrypt information before sending it over open networks.

The same could and should be done for IoT devices. I think the general rule is that if a technology provides sufficient value to us we overlook the loss of privacy.

A good example is surveillance cameras.

At first we rejected them but now seeing their value in preventing crime and terrorism, everyone accepts them.

What excites you about the future of IoT? What area would you like to see IoT, AI and AR move into?

I’m particularly excited about AR, which uses IoT for localisation and AI for vision.

I’d like to see AR used for providing more information about things and places in the real world. In the digital world, I can learn more about something by doing a search.

With AR, I’d be able to look at something, for example building, and see information about its history or how it was constructed.

This would be possible with an AR wearable device that could sense my location, then recognise the building, search for related information and project it on a wearable display.

| An ITBrief release  ||  November 7,  2017   |||

7 Nov  -  Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Reserve Bank Governor Grant Spencer today signed an unchanged Policy Targets Agreement (PTA), which sets out specific targets for maintaining price stability. The Minister also released today the Terms of Reference for a Review of the Reserve Bank Act.  The Policy Targets Agreement, effective immediately, is the same as that signed by Mr Spencer and the previous Finance Minister Steven Joyce, which has been in effect since Mr Spencer’s six-month term as Governor began on 27 September. The PTA requires the Reserve Bank to keep future CPI inflation outcomes between 1 per cent and 3 per cent on average over the medium term, with a focus on keeping future average inflation near the 2 percent target midpoint. “The renewed PTA will continue to provide continuity, consistency and stability for the monetary policy target during the period of review of the monetary policy provisions of the Reserve Bank Act, and ahead of the appointment of a new Governor,” Mr Spencer said Mr Spencer said that the Bank welcomes the Review of the Reserve Bank Act and will work with the Treasury on the Review. “The Reserve Bank has been subject to several reviews in the past. The Terms of Reference state that the operational independence of the Reserve Bank remains paramount and will be protected,” he said.

| A RBNZ release  ||  November 7,  2017   |||

7 Nov  -  When it comes to designing a washdown-friendly facility, it really starts before a company even begins to build the factory.  That’s according to Elis Owens, director of technical services at Birko, which offers integrated food safety solutions provided by highly trained and experienced professionals.  The company should ask itself if the actual structure of the facility has been designed in such a way that will make it amenable to effective cleaning, and if the equipment has been designed and built following the principles of sanitary design, he explains.

“It should be designed in a way that can be easily cleaned and with materials that are compatible with common cleaning chemicals,” he says. “The way the equipment is put together into the various production lines and the way those production lines are put into the facility [are important].”

So, for example, making sure there is enough space all the way around the equipment for people to access it for cleaning, including catwalks for cleaning in high areas and making sure the floors in the facility are sloped toward the drains and that the equipment is not installed over the top of the drains, all come into play.

“There’s a whole host of factors that need to be taken into consideration,” Owens says, “foot traffic, product flow, forklifts’ movement around the facility.”

Scott L. Burnett, director of food safety and quality, global food and beverage at Ecolab, says factories should include procedures and structures for hygienic zoning, which complement their food safety plan. The use of hygienic zoning creates a “tortuous path” to reduce the risks of food safety hazards entering the product stream by protecting the critical processing areas.

Continue here to read the full article on FoodEngineering ||  November 7,  2017   |||