In the meantime, here are your key ICT trends and insights this
week: Swisscom launches the first European commercial G.fast;
once again, IoT cybersecurity is in focus following a large
scale DDoS attack; and Tesla’s big autonomous announcement – but
when will regulation catch up?
Tesla’s autopilot ambitions – ready but waiting All
new Tesla electric car models will have the necessary hardware
to become fully
autonomous vehicles, but how long before the necessary
regulation can converge with Elon Musk's ambitions? Does Tesla
also plan to launch its own ride-hailing service? Meanwhile,
Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, said, "We're at the very beginning
stages of becoming a robotics
company." [Learn about ITU’s
annual Symposium on the Future Networked Car here.]
Competition: Consolidation under scrutiny AT&T’s
USD 85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner has raised competition
concerns, with regulators due to meet next month. The deal,
which comes as AT&T reported its sixth straight quarter of
video
customer losses, could mark a new
trend of consolidation.
How have ICTs improved lives in your region or
community? Share an example with us and you could be
featured in an upcoming newsletter! Contact itunews@itu.int
for more information.
Cybersecurity: Mirai’s IoT DDoS A large-scale
DDoS attack on DNS provider Dyn knocked out popular websites
including Twitter, Amazon, Netflix and Spotify on Friday. The “very
smart attack” is potentially the largest
concentrated botnet attack on record, involved "10s of
millions" of unique IP addresses. What does this mean for the future
IoT security? Can we expect more
of these attacks in the near future? [Are cyber
criminals really outpacing cyber defenders? Read our
analysis here.]
Blockchain: The first
cross-border transaction between banks using multiple
blockchain applications took place on Monday. Meanwhile, IBM,
Walmart and Tsinghua University used blockchain technology to
improve the way food is
tracked, transported and sold to consumers across China. And
can blockchain technology help save
the lives of millions of refugees? Finally, why blockchain
start-ups are more vulnerable to hackers and how the
crypto-currencies’ mechanisms
can help.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
G.fast deployment:
Swisscom announced that it launched the
first European commercial deployment of ITU’s G.fast
technology. Meanwhile, ITU standards experts have now
doubled the
access speeds achievable with the ITU G.fast broadband
standard.
Apps: China has
overtaken the US as the biggest
spender on the iOS app store in the world – looks like Apple’s
efforts in the country are paying off.
Connectivity: The Dominican Republic will set
up
5,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas to improve
communications across the country, especially in rural regions
and poorer areas.
Competition: The Eastern Caribbean
Telecommunications Authority (EcTel) approved new
legislation aimed at boosting competition in the region,
addressing issues such as consumer protection, submarine cable
access, network infrastructure access, and wholesale services
rules.
Insights
The New Urban Agenda and Smart Cities With
urbanization set to reach 70% of the global population by 2050,
how will our urban ecosystems cope?
Gary Fowlie shares his thoughts from #Habitat3.
The best, or the worst thingStephen
Hawking recently expressed his thoughts on Artificial
Intelligence: “success in creating AI could be the biggest event
in the history of our civilisation.”
ITU’s contributions to AI are working to make sure of that!
New fund tips the balance? Is Soft Bank’s partnership with Saudi
Arabia’s Public Investment Fund a game changer for tech
investment?
Lachlan Colquhoun explores the USD 100 billion implications.
How standards foster innovation As
part of the kick off of WTSA16 in Tunisia,
ICT executives met for ITU’s 
