TCAST: The Future of Data & AI

The globe’s climate is kind of a big deal. After all, we all live in it. As such it’s interesting to look at how different countries are doing when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and exploring renewable energy sources. One might naturally think that the wealthier nations are doing a better job being that they have more money to spend on – well – everything. However, as with a great many things in life, things are not always as you would think.

According to a recent paper from the MIT Tech Review, the wealthier countries are not exactly stacking up as you might think. In fact, it ranks relatively poor countries like Ukraine and Angola above the economic juggernauts of the United States and China. Tiny little Iceland is actually ranked number one. Now before we get into how that is happening and why some might be ranked where they are, let's take a quick look at the criteria MIT was using. 

The paper’s authors looked at a number of factors:

Carbon emissions – Fewer emissions get you a better ranking as does a net decrease in emissions compared to the previous year. 

Energy transition – How many renewable sources are getting built to replace older, fossil fuel power plants?

Green society – This one is a grab bag, including things like how much forest a country has, how many energy-efficient buildings, and a host of other things. 

Clean innovation – Where are the hot spots for developing new, green-friendly technology?

Climate policy – Basically, is the government encouraging the development of new technologies and methods for a more sustainable world?

As a matter of purely objective measures, this isn’t bad, though there is plenty of room for subjectivity to enter in and it is unclear how certain subcategories are weighed. For example, is the use of animal products given more importance than energy-efficient buildings? That would give a society like India a big advantage over many others since their primary religion prevents the eating of cows. Mention is also made of COVID stimulus being used to encourage green development. Personally, that seems potentially opportunistic. If the goals are synergistic, then great. It is something to watch out for though. 

Those criticisms aside, the list is still pretty good and allows for a decent snapshot. So, let’s take a look at Iceland and why they might be ranked number one. Iceland has a lot of unique features that make it particularly well situated to do well with any sort of green ranking system. One is the fact it is a small island. There isn’t a ton of cattle farming that can go on there and as such it’s a nation that has always relied heavily on fishing. That means one part of the green society aspect is going to be well covered. While being very far north, being surrounded by ocean as well as having a large amount of volcanic activity means Iceland is surprisingly temperate given its latitude. That means there is less energy that has to get used for heating and cooling than in Ecuador. They also have made intelligent use of some of their natural resources, making use of all that volcanic energy in the form of geothermal heating. The government there has also shown a willingness to encourage experimentation. In particular, they are pursuing the development of a hydrogen economy that if successful will help Iceland reach carbon neutrality. 

It’s also worth noting that Iceland’s small size means that there are not a number of different cultures within its borders, meaning there are not vast numbers of different mindsets and interests to deal with. A country as large as the United States has multiple cultures that have to be kept at peace. Forcing anything in terms of policy risks causing upheaval no matter what the policy changes might be. Combine that with the expense of new construction, difficulty of labyrinthine regulations, and vast amounts of preexisting infrastructure it is not hard to understand America’s relatively low ranking. 

That said, the US has done a good job of reducing overall emissions in recent years and has at least potential for moving up quickly, given the vast open land that could be reforested and the advances in solar and carbon capture technology that could help a lot in the energy transition sector and further reduce emissions. Hopefully, this potential will be better realized in the near future.

So, what can you do? If you have thoughts on the importance of climate stability, or experience working in a relevant field, then you can put that information in a data packet on TARTLE and share it with those looking for data like yours to help everyone build a better future. 

What’s your data worth? www.tartle.co

 

Tcast is brought to you by TARTLE. A global personal data marketplace that allows users to sell their personal information anonymously when they want to, while allowing buyers to access clean ready to analyze data sets on digital identities from all across the globe.

 

The show is hosted by Co-Founder and Source Data Pioneer Alexander McCaig and Head of Conscious Marketing Jason Rigby.

 

What's your data worth?

 

Find out at: https://tartle.co/

 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TARTLE

 

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Wealth leads to innovation, right? Not always. A recent report of the MIT Tech Review suggests that sometimes wealth can actually be an impediment to innovation. This is shown in their ranking of different countries on how they are doing to become more sustainable in energy usage and the economies as a whole. www.tartle.co

Death and taxes. Both are inevitable and nobody much likes either one. Especially taxes. The system is naturally inefficient and more than a few people of all political persuasions can’t help but think that some if not all of that money is just vanishing into thin air. 

Fortunately, there are a few out there working to reform the Byzantine mess that is the IRS and the U.S. tax code. One of those brave souls is Annette Nellen. Annette is a professor at San Jose State University and has been on so many boards and received so many awards in the area of taxation and accounting that it would take all the space in this article to list them all. Her most recent article that made a wave or two in tax land advocates for getting rid of the standard April 15 due date. 

This in part has to do with the previously mentioned inefficiency of the current system. Given that all of your tax data is collected digitally and then digitally deposited in your account, why do you have to deal with a bunch of cumbersome paper forms, or digital forms that duplicate them, and then send in your tax return, most likely digitally? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier for most people if the IRS just sent you your return? No forms, no waiting, no glitches that lose your return in the mail, they just calculate what you owe and send it to you. Unless you are self-employed or make a lot of charitable donations this system should work very well. 

Some object that they really don’t trust the IRS will their data. The truth is though that they have it already. That’s precisely why the direct return would work. However, Annette has some ideas that would make the situation more palatable. 

First and foremost, all of your data would go into your own unique cloud. This would work whether you work at Starbucks or run a public benefit data management and protection company. That way, you could sync different incomes, donations, accounts, and the software to process it all in one place. The big benefit would be that you could even set the system to process a return for you on your own timetable. It wouldn’t change the total, just when you get it. Or, a person could adjust their various exemptions on the fly if they want to tweak their taxes so that they are only ever paying in exactly what they are required to, eliminating the need for a return at all. 

This could be especially beneficial for those who are self-employed. One of the hazards of working for yourself is hoping you don’t wind up owing a massive amount at the end of the year. Many just set aside money out of their income for that specific purpose. The system Annette proposes would allow the self-employed to pay throughout the year. 

This brings up a question if this would work so well, what is the real hold up? In a word – technology. Not that the technology doesn’t exist. Rather, the IRS and government, in general, doesn’t have it yet. Government agencies tend to lag very far behind in the technology department. There are a lot of reasons for that, but you can also be sure that it will change in the years to come. As the professor observes, the generation currently in college is growing up largely technology dependent. They live in a world where people don’t use cash, or even a card, they just pay with their phones and call it a day. As they move up the ranks in the private and public sector, the need for the technology even in the most backward of government warehouses will need to catch up. 

All of this is just the beginning of course. There are a lot of issues with our current system and many things that could be done to reform it. Until then, make sure your taxes are in on time.

What are your taxes worth? www.tartle.co

 

Tcast is brought to you by TARTLE. A global personal data marketplace that allows users to sell their personal information anonymously when they want to, while allowing buyers to access clean ready to analyze data sets on digital identities from all across the globe.

 

The show is hosted by Co-Founder and Source Data Pioneer Alexander McCaig and Head of Conscious Marketing Jason Rigby.

 

What's your data worth?

 

Find out at: https://tartle.co/

 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TARTLE

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TARTLEofficial/

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tartle_official/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TARTLEofficial

 

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You know who likes paying taxes? No one. Part of the reason for that is the inefficiency in the tax code. To talk about potential solutions, Alex and Jason are joined by Anette Nellen, a professor at San Jose State University. Annette has been on the boards of the AICPA, ABA, and California Lawyers Association, not to mention a host of other positions and awards that are mind boggling. www.tartle.co

Peter Schawacker has been involved in cybersecurity long before data breaches commonly made the headlines. In fact, he’s been helping businesses secure their data long before it was even called cybersecurity. Currently, he is heading the IT Security Team for Axiom Technology Group. In his career, he has been working with some of the biggest names in the business to protect their data and that of their customers. 

The demand for the kinds of services that Peter provides has gone up a lot in recent years, particularly amongst private equity (PE) firms. In the past, such businesses didn’t concern themselves much with cybersecurity, leaving it up to the portfolio managers and others to deal with. However, the sheer number of security breaches and the resulting scrutiny that brings has forced them to rethink their priorities and take responsibility for their own security. Many of these PE firms are also small to mid-size, which is partly why they haven’t been able to keep up with the latest developments. They just don’t have the scale and resources needed to handle security on their own. That also makes these firms tempting targets. They have enough data and money to make it worth attacking but not so much that the companies or the government will spend a lot of resources to go after the hackers.  Fortunately, Axiom is there to pick up the slack. 

One of the most important services that Axiom provides is a full survey of the weaknesses a given firm might have, delivering around 200 security assessments a year, with approximately a quarter of those experiencing some kind of cyberattack. Performing this task well and transparently has earned both Axiom and Peter solid reputations as transparent, honest, and interested in keeping the client’s interests foremost. This seems like it should be a no-brainer but as Peter points out, there are a lot of charlatans in the cyber world, less interested in helping their clients solve problems than they are in making as much money as possible from each client. This is just bad practice. It means not only that a given security company will lose the trust and business of their clients when they figure out that they are being taken for a ride, but it also harms the trust in the cybersecurity industry as a whole. 

There is also the fact that most firms, PE and otherwise are looking to implement the least amount of security possible. This isn’t because they don’t care about their clients’ data, but because at the end of the day they need to make money, which in turn means any Axiom client is looking for the lowest cost services that will bring their risk of a data breach down to an acceptable level. Because the sad truth is that it is incredibly unlikely that data will ever be 100% protected. Someone will always leave a password out or share it when they shouldn’t and a hacker will use it to disrupt a firm’s systems, only letting them go when their ransom is paid. 

When interacting with clients, it is important to keep all of this in mind so you don’t oversell them. It’s also worth keeping in mind that most people don’t know the details of cybersecurity and frankly, they don’t want to know. All they want to know is how you can help them and how much it is going to cost. If someone is ever trying to convince you how awesome security is, they are almost certainly trying to sell a bill of goods. 

Another thing Peter goes into is who makes the best cybersecurity professionals. It isn’t who you might think. People who go through a specific IT program are usually farther behind the curve on the latest development and too rigid in their thinking. The best hires for him tend to be high school teachers and musicians. Both are capable of thinking critically and still improvising when needed. 

What does Peter think is the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to dealing with cybersecurity? Finding who you can trust. The person who knows his stuff, can deliver on time and isn’t trying to oversell you. That is the person who has your interest at heart, who wants to make your systems secure without taking you for a ride.

What’s your security worth? www.tartle.co

 

Tcast is brought to you by TARTLE. A global personal data marketplace that allows users to sell their personal information anonymously when they want to, while allowing buyers to access clean ready to analyze data sets on digital identities from all across the globe.

 

The show is hosted by Co-Founder and Source Data Pioneer Alexander McCaig and Head of Conscious Marketing Jason Rigby.

 

What's your data worth?

 

Find out at: https://tartle.co/

 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TARTLE

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TARTLEofficial/

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tartle_official/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TARTLEofficial

 

Spread the word!

Peter Schawacker has been working in the world of cybersecurity for a long time, since before it was even called that. Over the course of his career, Peter has not just worked with some of the biggest names in the business, he has developed a wealth of practical wisdom as to what works and what doesn’t in the world of cybersecurity. www.tartle.co

Like many of the guests on T-Cast Lauren Imparato has an impressive resume. She has worked on Wall Street, been a Morgan Stanley VP, and the founder of health and wellness company I.AM.YOU. She is also the author of the international bestseller, RETOX, which presents a unique and realistic take on health and wellness in real life. 

Tired of the constant calls for dietary purity, radical changes in lifestyle, constant pushes to seek some sort of perfection in this world, Lauren wanted to offer something else. Something for regular people who lead normal lives with jobs and family. People for whom always preparing the perfect healthy meal is difficult and whose lives exclude the possibility of spending hours a day doing…anything other than what is needed for the present moment can wrap their heads around. The kind of diet and lifestyle changes most health and fitness people recommend are just not sustainable in the long term for most people. Whether it’s a vegan diet, keto, carnivore, no TV, etc, these things are all but impossible to keep up for more than a few weeks or months for the vast majority of people who are mostly concerned with getting bills paid and having a bit leftover. The fact is that the present climate of the health and wellness world fuels a boom and bust cycle that in turn feeds into the already high levels of stress and anxiety experienced by the modern westerner. Lauren wrote RETOX to remind people that it’s okay to enjoy life a little bit. To go out dancing and have a steak from time to time. She’s sort of like the Ramones of the health world, sick of the normal and here to shake things up. 

This applies to the way Lauren looks at data as it is used in the health and wellness industry. We have tons of apps and devices that collect data that pertains to our health. Mostly, all they do is spit out a number, something that doesn’t usually matter to our overall health. How many steps you got, how much you slept last night, your current heart rate. For the most part, they don’t really tell you what you might have done wrong and certainly not how you can make it better, not without selling you a mess of supplements and programs you may or may not need. In fact, her focus really isn’t on what you should take out of your life but on what you should add in from one day to the next. That’s because what you need to be healthy, both mentally and physically, might vary from one day to the next. The only real principles are that we need to move, eat, and connect with someone emotionally. Some days that’s a trip to the gym, a steak, and calling mom; others, it might be a walk through the park, a salad, and a date night with your spouse. You have to listen to yourself a bit and figure out what is needed each day. 

It’s important to understand that this is not some new version of finding the right ‘work/life’ balance. Striving to find some mythical perfect balance only tends to fuel the anxiety and winds up being counterproductive. After all, some days will require a twelve-hour day at work, others only six. You have to be a little flexible and willing to roll with the punches a bit. And of course, if you are focusing too much or not enough on work you will need to swing the other direction a bit. If you are paying attention to what you and those around you need you will self-correct before things get too out of whack and damaging. 

The full interview with Lauren was fascinating and I strongly recommend you head over to T-Cast to check out her thoughts on technology, the issues with the alternative medicine world, and the importance of taking responsibility for yourself.

What’s your health worth? www.tartle.co

 

Tcast is brought to you by TARTLE. A global personal data marketplace that allows users to sell their personal information anonymously when they want to, while allowing buyers to access clean ready to analyze data sets on digital identities from all across the globe.

 

The show is hosted by Co-Founder and Source Data Pioneer Alexander McCaig and Head of Conscious Marketing Jason Rigby. What's your data worth?

 

Find out at: https://tartle.co/

 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TARTLE

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TARTLEofficial/

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tartle_official/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TARTLEofficial

 

Spread the word!

Lauren Imparato has a truly impressive resume. She has been on the Wall Street trading floor, been around the world as a Morgan Stanley VP, started a couple of her own businesses and wrote the international bestseller RETOX. Lauren talks about the need to be flexible in your approach to health instead of getting hemmed in by narrow and often impossible calls to dietary purity. www.tartle.co

Jeffrey Bowman is the co-founder and CEO of Reframe. Through Reframe, Jeffrey is helping companies around the world to build an environment that understands their employees as well as their customers. This has become an increasingly important issue as the global workforce diversifies and many jobs move from a daily drive to the office to working from home, which these days can be almost anywhere. In fact, as Elon Musk’s satellite wi-fi system Starlink expands, people will be able to work from almost literally anywhere on the planet. 

Naturally, as a company’s employees spread out geographically, they also diversify culturally. While the different perspectives and modes of thought that come with that can be a great benefit to a company, there are also some hurdles to be cleared. It is often the case that people from different cultures have a hard time relating to and understanding each other. Put that together with the fact these employees aren’t working in proximity to each other, and might actually be on the other side of an ocean, it can be hard to build unit cohesion. These two problems, companies often not really understanding their own employees and the need to better manage a global workforce are what led to the creation of Reframe. 

Why the name Reframe? A lot of people use the word “reimagine” to get people to start thinking of ways to solve a problem. The issue is that it results in just another way of looking at a problem. If you reframe the same problem you actually change the structure of the problem. Think of the way Alexander solved the Gordian Knot. Instead of trying to figure out how to undo it, he reframed it and cut it straight down the middle with his sword. Problem solved. 

It isn’t only the globalization of the workforce. It’s the fact that historic minorities are both growing in the general population and also working their way through and up the workforce. With that comes more and different cultures interacting with each other that will gradually change the culture in all of these companies. Reframing how these companies handle this is not just a nice and inclusive thing to do, it’s necessary. It will make for a happier workforce and a workforce that is actually retained, rather than being dissatisfied and moving on to something else. 

The other aspect Reframe sought to…reframe was the software experience. Too many businesses use multiple apps to manage their work. Slack, Microsoft, Zoom, Skype, there are just too many different programs all with their own logins. Not only is this inefficient, it’s frustrating and keeps your workforce compartmentalized. Reframe set about creating new apps that would act as a hub, allowing people to have just one login for all of their work related activities. 

Jeffrey uses the example of Nike as a brand that seems to be heading in the right direction. Everyone knows Nike spent most of its time using established athletes in the major sports to advertise for it, which of course was meant to inspire others to be that kind of athlete. However, in more recent years, it’s been expanding its brand to include less well known sports as well as women’s sports, encouraging everyone to be the best athlete they can be. Even if they will never jump like Michael Jordan. 

Another real world example that Reframe was involved in was a hair product company. Like most, it had hair products for some people and then products for ‘ethnic’ people. Reframe was able to help them realize they should change their marketing to hair texture. So their products were marketed for people with wavy, curly, straight, or kinky hair. Race and ethnicity were left out of it entirely, because in reality, it’s irrelevant. What matters for a hair company is the texture of the hair and little else. 

Jeffrey and Reframe have worked with a number of different companies, getting them to reexamine their practices and how they relate to both their employees and their customers. In doing so they aren’t just playing to buzz words, they’re building a world that works better for everyone. 

Welcome our newest Data Champion. www.tartle.co

 

Tcast is brought to you by TARTLE. A global personal data marketplace that allows users to sell their personal information anonymously when they want to, while allowing buyers to access clean ready to analyze data sets on digital identities from all across the globe.

 

The show is hosted by Co-Founder and Source Data Pioneer Alexander McCaig and Head of Conscious Marketing Jason Rigby. What's your data worth?

 

Find out at: https://tartle.co/

 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TARTLE

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TARTLEofficial/

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tartle_official/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TARTLEofficial

 

Spread the word!

Jeffrey Bowman is the co-founder and CEO of Reframe, a company that is working to help companies build environments that are respectful and inclusive of the different cultures of its employees. Too often, companies have paid attention to their customers while ignoring their own employees. Reframe is changing that through their consulting and integrative software services. www.tartle.co