Doctors embrace AI: computer calculates best radiation treatment
A computer that calculates an entire series of optimized treatment plans for prostate cancer in 30 seconds – that took some getting used to for medical specialists. Using artificial intelligence, the computer presented better plans and more insight than the doctors thought possible. The first patients are due to be treated accordingly already this year.
Secure communication with 7 bits per photon
Fast development of quantum computing increases the risk of breaking cryptography. At the University of Twente, researchers developed a new method using photons for secure key generation, resulting in transmission speeds of up to 7 bits per photon.
So, you’re customer centric?
This week, for the umpteenth time, I met a team in the process of putting a new product in the market, telling me that they were so customer centric. What they meant was that during development, they’d talked to a number of potential customers and some of the employees had used prototypes. For those that read my articles on a regular basis, it will come as no surprise that I disagree with this view. There are at least three aspects that I think are critical to be truly customer centric: choose your customer, measure before you build and focus on behavior, not words.
Lack of funding leaves Dutch AI lagging
Several initiatives to promote AI research in the Netherlands have emerged over the past two years. Bits&Chips asked foremen Max Welling, Frank van Harmelen and Maarten de Rijke to highlight the importance of artificial intelligence for Dutch economy and Dutch society.
Lithium ion’s sulfury cousin one step closer to commercialization
Adding to much of the research progress in recent years, scientists from Australia’s Monash University have ticked yet another box for getting promising lithium-sulfur battery technology ready for commercial application.
Building a foundation for the Dutch high-tech ecosystem
Despite competition from China and the US, the Netherlands continues to play a major role in the world of high tech. Patrick Strating of NTS believes it starts with high-tech companies that have close ties to top-notch technical universities and continues with ambitious workers that thrive on life-long learning through training.
High tech prepares for AI
Artificial intelligence promises mountains of gold. As smart algorithms are spreading like wildfire in the high tech industry, engineers are facing all kinds of obstacles. AI specialist Albert van Breemen tells us what tech companies have to take into account if they want to master the technology.
If you already know everything, how will you ever learn something new?
In the midst of a tight Dutch labor market, companies are working harder than ever to keep and attract new talent. Thermo Fisher software manager Reinier Perquin believes that providing his employees with training opportunities not only helps bring in new personnel, but it also keeps his people fresh.
WaveLAN: the tech that brought Wi-Fi to the world
Wi-Fi, one of the most recognizable technologies on the planet, turns 20 this year. While Steve Jobs and Apple had a hand in bringing it to the masses, the building blocks of the world-renowned technology sprouted from right here in the Netherlands. One of its founding fathers, Bruce Tuch, discusses the journey from the early days of the Dutch-developed WaveLAN to the globally recognized Wi-Fi.
Engineering machines that learn
Artificial intelligence (AI) is undeniably experiencing a new wave of attention, energy and sky-high expectations. This wave is driven by the abundance of data that’s being generated in our connected, digital society, and by the low-barrier availability of enormous computational resources. Among the various AI techniques, machine learning, in particular, has come to play a key role.
Don’t build new platforms
During the last months, I’ve met with several companies that had an interesting common denominator: they were all building a new platform to replace a legacy platform and things weren’t going so well. The legacy platform often is decades old and has functionality in it that’s the result of hundreds of person-years of effort. And it typically forms the basis for a significant part, if not the entire, product portfolio.