As the world is digitized, there is rising concern among consumers about the security of their information. The Internet of Things (IoT) is bringing forth a plethora of products that record and transmit details about our daily lives, from our health and behaviors to our search habits and whereabouts. Perhaps nowhere does the people’s trust hang more in the balance than in the public sector. Federal, state and local agencies collect and store some of the most sensitive personal data there is, from Social Security numbers to tax reports to motor vehicle information, background checks, medical exams, voting records and public surveillance footage.

An article from Deloitte Insights spells out the challenges. “Government stores far more data than the private sector and often keeps it on older, more vulnerable systems. Agencies are regularly targeted not just by opportunistic hackers but by teams funded and trained by nation-states. And even as governments try to protect themselves against hostile intruders, employees and citizens alike want their data conveniently available anytime, anywhere.”

What’s a government CIO to do?

Many government decision makers are putting new resources toward cyber threats, according to the 2018 Technology Forecast put out by National Association of State CIOs. “Cybersecurity maturity in state governments is improving as risk-based strategies are being adopted,” according to the association. Some 98% of CIOs surveyed for the technology forecast are leading or participating in cybersecurity policy setting. Data storage is a key part of that policy creation.

Creating a better consumer experience

For the past 100 years, Panasonic has been all about creating a better experience for the consumer. We’ve done that through consumer electronics products and home appliances, and more recently, we’ve engineered these experiences in collaboration with businesses and government entities through integrated solutions that impact the lives of our customer’s customers. We're using today's most disruptive technologies to reimagine how we live and work. IoT is one such technology. As more products, services and devices talk to each other, link and sync, massive volumes of data are being created, and with this wealth of information comes pressing requirements for management and storage. Government must be especially proactive and vigilant, as sensitive constituent data could be lucrative in the hands of criminals.

Here are a few things the public sector needs to know about the future of data storage, to provide constituents and themselves with peace of mind.

1. Machines will produce an unimaginable amount of data

IoT connected products are producing millions upon millions of small files at an accelerating rate. The advent of machine learning will only add to the data overload as devices rip through vast amounts of information in the blink of an eye. Research firm SINTEF estimates that by 2020, IoT connected objects will produce over 40,000 exabytes of machine-generated data. Big Data and storage subsystems must be able to handle the high capacity and keep scaling to keep up with growth.

2. Regulations can dictate storage

New laws, regulations and court decisions are creating data storage and intelligent archive demands that did not previously exist. The Federal Records Act requires certain government agencies to retain electronic documents for more than 100 years. Some police departments must retain surveillance videos from interviews and interrogations for a duration longer than 999 days.

New rules that take effect in the EU later this year promise sweeping changes in how citizen data can be collected, used and stored. Data experts have called the General Data Protection Regulation, which rolls out on May 25 in the EU—the biggest change to global privacy rules in more than two decades. Data experts suggest that the EU rules will impact U.S. companies, and possibly U.S. government practices. Experts are also closely watching a U.S. government case in front of the Supreme Court involving efforts to force Microsoft to hand over emails held on its servers in Dublin. The outcome could have major ramifications on data storage and privacy.

3. Ransomware is everywhere

Businesses and governments responsible for the data produced by connected devices will be increasingly vulnerable to data hijacking, aka ransomware, where hackers lock or encrypt files so they can’t be read unless their owner pays a ransom. Where you store your files can mitigate vulnerability, and data archive solutions that offer absolute immutability will be the long-term storage choice of this new, IoT powered world.

There is no doubt, the digitization of information and processes can help government enhance services, save money and improve the quality of life of its citizens. Investing in a strong cybersecurity strategy and risk-based technologies is mission critical to support these processes.

First came the sky warriors—those frequent business travelers, who would pay up to be able to work in the clouds. They wanted things like always-on email access, uninterrupted conference calls and live streaming webinars more than they wanted creature comforts like on-board showers and champagne. Today a solid connection remains especially important for those passengers who want to work as they fly.

Meanwhile consumer demand for inflight Wi-Fi services is growing in leaps and bounds. The airline industry is meeting it with more connected flights, faster connection speeds and new technologies. “With availability of Wi-Fi connectivity continuing to have a direct impact on the overall air-travel experience, adopting the latest onboard Wi-Fi technology remains an effective way for airlines to distinguish their brand,” noted the International Air Travel Association in its 2016 Global Passenger Survey.

In a recent blog article in UP, Panasonic Avionics Sr. Director for Global Satellite Capacity Planning Todd Hill says passengers on the best-connected flights are able to access average speeds up to 12 Mbps in a speed test, with a maximum 20 Mbps burst speed. This offers business travelers better options for both work and play. “Video and audio plays quickly. Once their work is done, business travelers do the same thing we all do. You can actually access Netflix.”

New satellite systems

Much of the credit for improved service goes to a growing fleet of specialized communications satellites. Over the past two years, operators have placed into orbit nearly a dozen high-throughput satellites that use spot-beam technology to carry higher data loads than conventional satellites. For instance, last June Eutelsat launched a new high-powered satellite that connects air routes in a broad geographic area over the Asia-Pacific region.

Satellites have two distinct advantages over the air-to-ground systems that dominated the early days of inflight Wi-Fi.

First, air-to-ground systems rely upon a network of land-based cell towers, each with a limited geographic range. Aircraft flying over an ocean are too far away from towers, so these systems can only service overland flights. Satellites, hovering in geostationary orbit over the water, can bridge that gap between continents. Satellites can provide overland service, as well.

Second, the newer satellites have faster connection speeds than the aging ground networks. That’s translating into lower cost and increased capacity for things like checking Facebook and watching movies.

Airlines are gradually adding connectivity services to their fleets. Global available seat miles (a measurement that quantifies an airline’s passenger capacity) that “have at least a chance of Wi-Fi on board” increased to 39 percent in 2016, a 10% year over year, according to Routehappy. It estimates for U.S.-based airlines alone, available seat miles rose to 83 percent, up from 77 over the same period.

And as our world becomes ever more mobile those numbers are expected to continue to rise. Today just over 5,200 commercial aircraft offer Wi-Fi services. In the next few years, more than 14,000 commercial aircraft will offer Wi-Fi services, representing over half the global fleet, according to Juniper Research.

Building trust in autonomous tech comes in four stages

People of Pittsburgh have shared city streets with Uber’s experimental self-driving cars since last year. In Atlanta, a busy stretch of roadway is gearing up for driverless vehicles that can communicate with smart traffic lights and other infrastructure. Earlier this year, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation announced ten self-driving “proving grounds” in cities such as Madison, Wisconsin and San Diego.

What many Americans may not realize is that they are already using autonomous features as self-driving technology moves from research to something people rely on daily. In a recent AAA survey, 59% of respondents said that they want autonomous tech in their next vehicle.

Lessons from consumer electronics

This is a tremendous time to be involved in auto tech. The pace of change, the ideas, the willingness to commit to invention has never been greater. What we’ve learned after almost 100 years of consumer technology development at Panasonic, is that the “wow” wears off quickly. Companies that successfully introduce innovations design them so consumers intuitively understand their features. With intuitive use comes delight, trust, and ultimately, from a consumer’s perspective, technology that disappears behind the experience it supports.

The tech adoption curve allows us to bucket auto innovation over the last few decades into four categories: Latent; Just in Time; Cognitive; and Precognitive. This has been a slow process, which leads us to believe that full “go anywhere” autonomy – meaning no human driver intervention – is years away.

Phase 1: Seat belts—a latent technology

The latent bucket can be described as the individual triggering a feature. Safety belts are an example. It took decades to identify the need, get them into vehicles, and – longest of all – get people to use them. Similarly, ABS brakes were rejected for years because drivers didn’t like their feel.

Phase 2: Airbags signal just-in-time phase

Airbags and other active safety technologies moved the industry into a just-in-time phase–when the vehicle or the individual can both trigger an action to avoid catastrophe. That airbag sensor triggered technology the moment the occupants needed it.

Phase 3: Learning a driver’s behaviors

Today, cognitive technologies can “learn” a driver’s behaviors, sense and react. Even with partial information, these smart systems can make decisions to increase safety, and build trust in more sophisticated autonomous features. Now we’re reaching drivers through multiple senses – eyes, ears, touch – and providing a back-up when their own senses might fail them. Panasonic is enabling these technologies by integrating a middleware solution into our in-vehicle infotainment platform to close gaps in the consumer’s journey. We can identify patterns of travel without having to manually select news, traffic and entertainment to complement the route.

Phase 4: The era of predictive thinking

Each day in the U.S., more than eight people are killed and 1,161 injured in crashes reported to involve a distracted driver, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This needs to change.

As an industry, we’ve made a lot of progress in knowing the consumer. The next move is to predict behavior to further close that experience gap, and increase safety, so that a car can sense a situation coming up—another vehicle with a blown tire 20 cars ahead–and begin to prevent it, with or without the driver for a safer experience. As we move into precognitive systems, which enable vehicles to cooperate with the environment, the infrastructure, the other vehicles, and reduce cognitive load on the driver, we can start to relieve the amount of attention needed by the driver. Because we know the vehicle, passengers and environment, we can better understand how to enable these technologies for an improved experience. We’re not talking about forecasting six months from now. It’s about understanding what a consumer wants at this very moment. Wherever they are, whatever they’re doing.

Where corporate research, startups, academia and government are spurring developments in autonomous driving and smart infrastructure

In Colorado, near the Denver International Airport, two developments taking shape promise to give visitors a look at the future, this summer. Plans call for the arrival of EasyMile’s Driverless Shuttles at Panasonic’s Peña Station NEXT operations hub, home to the company’s CityNOW unit, which brings its global smart city expertise to North America. These electric shuttles have already been tried out in different weather and road types, from downtown Dubai to Austin, Texas.

Panasonic is also building a connected vehicle demo center at its Peña Station hub. The center comes out of a partnership between Panasonic and the Colorado Dept. of Transportation to create the first U.S. connected transportation program in which real-time data would be shared across vehicles, infrastructure and people to improve safety and mobility. Panasonic is serving as the design architect of the program’s integrated software platform, and evaluating next-gen tech from across the globe that could support the program.

Tech that reacts faster than humans

What’s particularly interesting is the way the overall effort can serve as a live test case in evaluating important technologies in the different phases of autonomous driving. Teams are now working to determine the best way to communicate information with drivers, and eventually directly to self-driving cars. Panasonic is leading the effort to deploy Dedicated Short-Range Communications, or DSRC, technology in Colorado. Think of it as an incredibly fast, highly secure Wi-Fi network for communication between vehicles and sensors installed along the road. Eventually, when a car several ahead of you suddenly brakes, your car will immediately brake with it to avoid a crash – DSRC-based technology can react faster than any human ever could, even if the incident is beyond the driver’s visual range. The first part of the effort is an initial technology footprint on Colorado’s I-70 Mountain Corridor.

The speed of ADAS development

Researchers have been working on automated driving since at least the 1960s, and much of the technology needed to make smart roads and smart cars already exists—from infrastructure communication to multi-object detection using powerful sensors. In Japan, Panasonic has experience developing smart cities and connected transportation systems to help make roads and cars safer. Some of its latest thinking is put to the test at its ADAS driving test course in Yokohama opened to prove out emerging ideas in machine vision, radar, “surround sensors,” and other communication protocols.

Today smart infrastructure and autonomous driving are in the spotlight thanks to auto electrification, widespread connectivity and growing consumer interest. And Colorado and Yokohama are just two areas to watch. In Ann Arbor, Panasonic is part of a consortium of vehicle makers and suppliers using Mcity, part of University of Michigan’s Mobility Transformation Center. The Mcity test course and controlled environment opened to give industry and academic researchers a chance to experiment with technologies that could lead to mass-market driverless cars.

Incubating in Atlanta

Meanwhile, 700 miles due south, the Harvard Business Review labels an eight-block area in Atlanta on the edge of Georgia Tech among the “leading destinations for corporate research centers.” At the Panasonic Automotive Innovation Center in Atlanta, Panasonic engineers are working with Georgia Tech researchers and local startups to discover and validate cutting edge technologies related to energy storage, heat management, air filtering, optics, deep learning and machine vision. These projects illustrate the ways smart transportation is all about a global ecosystem built from private sector R&D, startups, government and university research.

In addition, the company is on the lookout for acquisitions and partnerships that can help advance smart transportation and ADAS. In March, it announced plans to acquire a majority stake in a Tier 1 full service auto supplier that traces its roots to a workshop of innovation in Barcelona, Spain. Today Ficosa has leadership strengths in smart mirrors and wireless antennas and ranks among the largest holders of European patents for automotive technology. Earlier this year, Panasonic also invested in Drivemode, a U.S. developer of a hands-free app for drivers, and an ability to understand driver behavior on a global scale.

As autonomous driving tech become more visible, one question is bound to come up: when will we take this trip in a driverless car?

Millions of Americans are gearing up for what analysts say will be the most traveled Independence Day holiday in history. A record-breaking 44.2 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home, says travel group AAA, and the vast majority will journey in a car. As autonomous driving tech become more visible, one question is bound to come up: when will we take this trip in a driverless car?

Already, technology exists to move driverless cars through controlled environments such as stretches of highway, self-contained city districts and even a speedway. Now new players—excited by the possibility of autonomous–are emerging to bring fresh ideas to the business of making and selling vehicles.

Forecasting a $77 billion market

Changes are coming fast. By 2030, around a quarter of all miles driven in the U.S. could be in shared autonomous electric vehicles, according to research from The Boston Consulting Group. NYC, LA, Dallas and other cities with 1 million plus people are expected to be impacted first. By 2035, the market for fully autonomous vehicles could reach $77 billion, the firm estimates.

Why is it happening so quickly? Barriers to entry are falling, so it’s becoming possible for smaller companies to enter the vehicle making business. Drive trains, for instance, are moving to electric, which are a lot less complicated (and less expensive) than traditional gas fired engines to make. Furthermore, 3D printing and other specialized manufacturing tools are exponentially improving. Taken together, these developments help open opportunities to niche providers.

Changing consumer behavior

What’s more, consumer behavior and other market fundamentals are changing. Today, people don’t have a car for every scenario so they compromise—a well-used pick-up truck that also functions as wheels to a black-tie gala; a sports car that also shuttles kids to school. Expect to see vehicles developed for specific purposes: a breakfast car, a date car, a workout car.

Domino’s has caught on. It rolled out 155 specially designed DXP delivery vehicles each with an oven and space for 80 pizzas, sides, soda and dipping sauces. The custom vehicles now shuttle pizzas to customers in places like Houston, Detroit and New Orleans. And if the trend expands, fleet owners — such as Domino’s, large apartment buildings or university campuses — will dictate specifications of their custom designed vehicles.

A glimpse at the future

At CES, where the auto ecosystem goes to see and discuss some of the coolest ideas in vehicle technology, the drumbeat of deals earlier this year among friends, foes turned friends, and startups provided a glimpse of what’s to come. Companies announced open innovation initiatives, code sharing agreements and acquisitions to support the development of driverless cars and smart infrastructure. Panasonic, for one, teamed up with Qualcomm Technologies to show an IVI system built on Android’s automotive features that control in-vehicle functions such as HVAC, and demonstrated the integration of Google’s services and popular Android applications with the system.

Collaborating with startups

In “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More,” author Chris Anderson argues that companies including car makers have expanded their product range so much that some can claim they sell no identical products. In other words, they are selling to niche groups, even a “market of one.” This change impacts the supply chain. Some Tier 1 auto suppliers, such as Panasonic, spend more time not only creating their own technology, but also evaluating, testing and supporting nascent entrepreneurial ideas that could be fundamental to future driverless cars. In this scenario, purchasing departments, for example, take on a much greater role as third party ecosystem managers which involves code sharing, open innovation and other partnerships.

The work is happening around the globe including in Atlanta on the edge of Georgia Tech where engineers at the Panasonic Automotive Innovation Center in Atlanta, are working with Georgia Tech researchers and startups to discover and validate cutting edge technologies related to energy storage, heat management, air filtering, optics, deep learning and machine vision—that could form the future of the custom built “breakfast car” that takes you to work in 2035.