Tag: Recent News

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Microsoft partners with telecommunications industry to roll out 5G and more

The increasing demand for always-on connectivity, immersive experiences, secure collaboration, and remote human relationships is pushing networks to their limits, while the market is driving down price. The network infrastructure must ensure operators are able to optimize costs and gain efficiencies, while enabling the development of personalized and differentiated services. To address the requirements of rolling out 5G, operators will face strong challenges, including high capital expenditure (CapEx) investments, an increased need for scale, automation, and secure management of the massive volume of data it will generate.

Today starts a new chapter in our close collaboration with the telecommunications industry to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever. We’re building a carrier-grade cloud and bringing more Microsoft technology to the operator’s edge. This, in combination with our developer ecosystem, will help operators to future proof their networks, drive down costs, and create new services and business models.

In Microsoft, operators get a trusted partner who will empower them to unlock the potential of 5G. Enabling them to offer a range of new services such as ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity, mixed reality communications services, network slicing, and highly scalable IoT applications to transform entire industries and communities.

By harnessing the power of Microsoft Azure, on their edge, or in the cloud, operators can transition to a more flexible and scalable model, drive down infrastructure cost, use AI and machine learning (ML) to automate operations and create service differentiation. Furthermore, a hybrid and hyper-scale infrastructure will provide operators with the agility they need to rapidly innovate and experiment with new 5G services on a programmable network.

More specifically, we will further support operators as they evolve their infrastructure and operations using technologies such as software-defined networking, network function virtualization, and service-based architectures. We are bringing to market a carrier-grade platform for edge and cloud to support the operator’s goals to future proof their infrastructure with disaggregated, and containerized network architectures. Recognizing that not everything will move to the public cloud, we will meet operators where they are—whether at the enterprise edge, the network edge, or in the cloud.

Our approach is built on the acquisitions of industry leaders in cloud-native network functions—Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch and on the development of Azure Edge Zones. By bringing together hundreds of engineers with deep experience in the telecommunications space, we are ensuring that our product development process is catering to the most relevant networking needs of the operators. We will leverage the strengths of Microsoft to extend and enhance the current capabilities of industry-leading products such as Affirmed’s 5G core and Metaswitch’s UC portfolio. These capabilities, combined with Microsoft’s broad developer ecosystem and deep business to business partnership programs, provide Microsoft with a unique ability to support the operators as they seek to monetize the capabilities of their networks.

Your customer, your service, powered by our technology

As we build out our partnerships with different operators, it is clear to us that there will be different approaches to technology adoption based on business needs. Some operators may choose to adopt the Azure platform and select a varied mix of virtualized or containerized network function providers. We also have operators that have requested complete end-to-end services as components for their offers. As a part of these discussions, many operators have identified points of control that are important to them, for example:

  • Control over where a slice, network API, or function is presented to the customer.
  • Definition of where and how traffic enters and exits their network.
  • Visibility and control over where key functions are executed for a given customer scenario.
  • Configuration and performance parameters of core network functions.

As we build out Azure for Operators, we recognize the importance of ensuring operators have the control and visibility they require to manage their unique industry requirements. To that end, here is how our assets come together to provide operators with the platform they need.

CommServiceProviders

Interconnect

It starts with the ability to interconnect deeply with the operator’s network around the globe. We have one of the largest networks that connect with operators at more than 170 points of presence and over 20,000 peering connections around the globe, putting direct connectivity within 25 miles of 85 percent of the world’s GDP. More than 200 operators have already chosen to integrate with the Azure network through our ExpressRoute service, enabling enterprises and partners to link their corporate networks privately and securely to Azure services. We also provide additional routes to connect to the service through options as varied as satellite connectivity and TV White Space spectrum.

Edge platform

This reach helps us to supply operators with cloud computing options that meet the customer wherever those capabilities are needed: at the enterprise edge, the network edge, the network core, or in the cloud. The various form factors, optimized to support the location in which they are deployed, are supported by the Azure platform—providing virtual machine and container services with a common management framework, DevOps support, and security control.

Network functions

We believe in an open platform that leverages the strengths of our partners. Our solutions are a combination of virtualized and containerized services as composable functions, developed by us and by our Network Equipment Provider partners, to support operators’ services such as the Radio Access Network, Mobile Packet Core, Voice and Interconnect services, and other network functions.

Technology from Affirmed and Metaswitch Networks will provide services for Mobile Packet Core, Voice, and Interconnect services.

Cloud solutions and Azure IoT for operators

By exposing these services through the Azure platform, we can combine them with other Azure capabilities such as Azure Cognitive Services (used by more than 1 million developers processing more than 10 billion transaction per day), Azure Machine Learning, and Azure IoT, to bring the power of AI and automation to the delivery of network services. These capabilities, in concert with our partnerships with OSS and BSS providers, enables us to help operators streamline and simplify operations, create new services to monetize the network, and gain greater insights into customer behavior.

In IoT our primary focus is simplifying our solutions to accelerate what we can do together from the edge to the cloud. We’ve done so by creating a platform that provides simple and secure provisioning of applications and devices to Azure cloud solutions through Azure IoT Central, which is the fastest and easiest way to build IoT solutions at scale. IoT Central enables customers to provision an IoT app in seconds, customize it in hours, and go to production the same day. IoT Plug and Play dramatically simplifies all aspects of IoT device support and provides devices that “just work” with any solution and is the perfect complement to achieve speed and simplicity through IoT Central. Azure IoT Central also gives the Mobile Operator the opportunity to monetize more of the IoT solution and puts them in a position to be a re-seller of the IoT Central application platform through their own solutions. Learn more about using Azure IoT for operators here.

Cellular connectivity is increasingly important for IoT solutions and represents a vast and generational shift for mobile operators as the share of devices in market shifts towards the enterprise. We will continue our deep partnership with operators to enable fast and efficient app development and deployment, which is critical to success at the edge. This will help support scenarios such as asset tracking across industries, manufacturing and distribution of smart products, and responsive supply chains. It will also help support scenarios where things are geographically dispersed, such as smart city automation, utility monitoring, and precision agriculture.

Where we go next

Our early engagement with partners such as Telstra and Etisalat helped us shape this path. We joined the 5G Open Innovation Lab as the founding public cloud partner to accelerate enterprise startups and launch new innovations to foster new 5G use cases with even greater access to leading-edge networks. The Lab will create long-term, sustainable developer and commercial ecosystems that will accelerate the delivery of exciting new capabilities at the edge, including pervasive IoT intelligence and immersive mixed reality. And this is just the beginning. I invite you to learn more about our solutions and watch the series of videos we have curated for you.

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Microsoft demonstrates how to increase green energy one rooftop at a time

Solar panels being installed on the roofs of dozens of schools throughout Dublin, Ireland, reflect a novel front in the fight against global climate change, according to a senior software engineer and a sustainability lead at Microsoft.

The technology company partnered with SSE Airtricity, Ireland’s largest provider of 100% green energy and a part of FTSE listed SSE Group, to install and manage the internet-connected solar panels, which are connected via Azure IoT to Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform.

The software tools aggregate and analyze real-time data on energy generated by the solar panels, demonstrating a mechanism for Microsoft and other corporations to achieve sustainability goals and reduce the carbon footprint of the electric power grid.

“We need to decarbonize the global economy to avoid catastrophic climate change,” said Conor Kelly, the software engineer who is leading the distributed solar energy project for Microsoft Azure IoT. “The first thing we can do, and the easiest thing we can do, is focus on electricity.”

Microsoft’s $1.1 million contribution to the project builds on the company’s ongoing investment in renewable energy technologies to offset carbon emissions from the operation of its datacenters.

A typical approach to power datacenters with renewable energy is for companies such as Microsoft to sign so-called power purchase agreements with energy companies. The agreements provide financial guarantees needed to build industrial-scale wind and solar farms and connections to the power grid.

The new project demonstrates the feasibility of agreements to install solar panels on rooftops distributed across towns with existing grid connections and use internet of things, or IoT, technologies to aggregate the accumulated energy production for carbon offset accounting.

“It utilizes existing assets that are sitting there unmonetized, which are roofs of buildings that absorb sunlight all day,” Kelly said.

Two men standing amidst greenery
Conor Kelly, left, a senior software engineer and sustainability lead at Microsoft, and Fergal Ahern, right, a business energy solutions manager and renewable energy expert with SSE Airtricity, stand outside a Microsoft office in Dublin, Ireland. The two companies partnered on a project to demonstrate the feasibility of distributed power purchase agreements. Photo by Naoise Culhane.

New business model

The project is also a proof-of-concept, or blueprint, for how energy providers can adapt as the falling price of solar panels enables distributed electric power generation throughout the existing electric power grid.

Traditionally, suppliers purchase power from central power plants and industrial-scale wind and solar farms and sell it to consumers on the distribution grid. Now, energy providers like SSE Airtricity provide renewable energy solutions that allow end consumers to generate power, from sustainable sources, using the existing grid connection on their premises.

“The more forward-thinking energy providers that we are working with, like SSE Airtricity, identify this as an opportunity and industry changing shift in how energy will be generated and consumed,” Kelly noted.

The opportunity comes in the ability to finance the installation of solar panels and batteries at homes, schools, businesses and other buildings throughout a community and leverage IoT technology to efficiently perform a range of services from energy trading to carbon offset accounting.

Kelly and his team with Azure IoT are working with SSE Airtricity to develop the tools and machine learning models necessary to unlock this opportunity.

“Instead of having utility scale solar farms located outside of cities, you could have a solar farm at the distribution level, spread across a number of locations,” said Fergal Ahern, a business energy solutions manager and renewable energy expert with SSE Airtricity.

For the distributed power purchase agreement, SSE Airtricity uses Azure IoT to aggregate the generation of all the solar panels installed across 27 schools around the provinces of Leinster, Munster and Connacht and run it through a machine learning model to determine the carbon emissions that the solar panels avoid.

The schools use the electricity generated by the solar panels, which reduces their utility bills; Microsoft receives the renewable energy credits for the generated electricity, which the company applies to its carbon neutrality commitments.

The panels are expected to produce enough energy annually to power the equivalent of 68 Irish homes for a year and abate more than 2.1 million kilograms, which is equivalent to 4.6 million pounds, of carbon dioxide emissions over the 15 years of the agreement, according to Kelly.

“This is additional renewable energy that wouldn’t have otherwise happened,” he said. “Every little bit counts when it comes to meeting our sustainability targets and combatting climate change.”

Woman stands behind podium
Victory Luke, a student at Collinstown Park Community College in Dublin, Ireland, gave a speech about combatting climate change at the 2019 Global Conference on Energy Efficiency, which was organized by the International Energy Agency. Photo by Fennell Photography.

Every little bit counts

Victory Luke, a 16 year old student at Collinstown Park Community College in Dublin, has lived by the “every little bit counts” mantra since she participated in a “Generation Green” sustainability workshop in 2019 organized by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SSE Airtricity and Microsoft.

The workshop was part of an education program surrounding the installation of solar panels and batteries at her school along with a retrofit of the lighting system with LEDs. Digital screens show the school’s energy use in real time, allowing students to see the impact of the energy efficiency upgrades.

Luke said the workshop captured her interest on climate change issues. She started reading more about sustainability and environmental conservation and agreed to share her newfound knowledge with the younger students at her school.

“I was going around and talking to them about energy efficiency, sharing tips and tricks like if you are going to boil a kettle, only boil as much water as you need, not too much,” she explained.

That June, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland invited her to give a speech at the Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in Dublin, which was organized by the International Energy Agency, an organization that works with governments and industry to shape sustainable energy policy.

“It kind of felt surreal because I honestly felt like I wasn’t adequate enough to be speaking about these things,” she said, noting that the conference attendees included government ministers, CEOs and energy experts from around the world.

At the time, she added, the global climate strike movement and its youth leaders were making international headlines, which made her advocacy at school feel even smaller. “Then I kind of realized that it is those smaller things that make the big difference,” she said.

SSE Airtricity and Microsoft plan to replicate the educational program that inspired Luke and her classmates at dozens of the schools around Ireland that are participating in the project.

“When you’ve got solar at a school and you can physically point at the installation and a screen that monitors the power being generated, it brings sustainability into daily school life,” Ahern said.

Man stands in hallway holding a tablet looking at a TV monitor
Brian McCloskey with green energy provider SSE Airtricity checks out a dashboard inside Kinsale Community School in Kinsale, Ireland. The dashboard monitors energy generated by solar panels installed on the school’s roof as part of a project with Microsoft to demonstrate the feasibility of distributed power purchase agreements. Photo by Naoise Culhane.

Proof of concept for policymakers

The project’s education campaign extends to renewable energy policymakers, Kelly noted. He explained that renewable energy credits – a market incentive for corporations to support renewable energy projects – are currently unavailable for distributed power purchase agreements.

For this project, Microsoft will receive genuine renewable energy credits from a wind farm that SSE Airtricity also operates, he added.

“And,” he said, “we are hoping to use this project as an example of what regulation should look like, to say, ‘You need to award renewable energy credits to distributed generation because they would allow corporates to scale-up this type of project.’”

For her part, Luke supports steps by multinational corporations such as Microsoft to invest in renewable energy projects that address global climate change.

“It is a good thing to see,” she said. “Once one person does something, other people are going to follow.”

Top image: SSE Airtricity employees Derek Conty, left, Francie Byrne, middle, and Ryan Doran, right, install solar panels on the roof of Kinsale Community School in Kinsale, Ireland. The installation is part of a project with Microsoft to demonstrate the feasibility of distributed power purchase agreements. Photo by Naoise Culhane.

Related

John Roach writes about Microsoft research and innovation. Follow him on Twitter.

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Microsoft and United Nations: What to watch

This week, the United Nations celebrated its 75th anniversary, and Microsoft announced the launch of its UN Affairs team, led by John Frank. In addition to being the 75th anniversary, this year saw the first all-virtual UN week.

Lively conversations took place around the UN General Assembly, addressing topics that impact people across the globe, and included leaders such as Microsoft President Brad Smith.

Here’s a look at recent events from the week:

In Conversation: Trevor Noah | September 23, 2020

How does having “the mind of a pessimist and the soul of an optimist” affect Trevor Noah’s view of the world? Microsoft President Brad Smith had the chance to interview him for this first edition of In Conversation, a discussion series launched from the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in celebration of the UN’s 75th anniversary.

In Conversation: Brad Smith and Trevor Noah from the 2020 UN General Assembly

YouTube Video

Net Zero Carbon Panel: Climate Action and Ambition | September 16, 2020

Microsoft kicked off a series of livestreams in partnership with the Eurasia Group’s GZero Media. The first, Net Zero: Climate Ambition and Action, was moderated by Julia Pyper, host and producer of the Political Climate podcast. It also included Gerald Butts, vice chairman and senior advisor, Eurasia Group; Lucas Joppa, Chief Environmental Officer, Microsoft; Rachel Kyte, Dean of Tufts University’s Fletcher School; and Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance.

Net Zero Carbon LIVE Panel: Climate Action and Ambition | GZERO with Microsoft & Eurasia Group

YouTube Video

Peace One Day: Q&A with Microsoft President Brad Smith | September 21, 2020 

Brad Smith participated in a live Q&A for Peace One Day, to mark the UN’s International Day of Peace. Kate O’Sullivan, General Manager, Digital Diplomacy at Microsoft, was part of the event along with Fabrizio Hochschild, Under-Secretary-General, UN; Robert Redfield, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization; and performers Annie Lennox and Jude Law, among other guests.

Peace One Day Live Global Digital Experience

YouTube Video

Reimagining While Rebuilding: Panel with Brad Smith | September 23, 2020

Brad Smith and Ian Bremmer discussed the concept of multilateralism – where civil and public organizations band together to solve complex societal problems – and whether the global challenges of 2020 will lead to more inclusive multilateralism in the future. They were joined by guests including former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, Microsoft’s Director of UN Affairs John Frank, and the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser, with special appearances by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah.

Reimagining While Rebuilding: Livestream Panel | GZERO with Microsoft and Eurasia Group

YouTube Video

High-Level Climate Change Roundtable | September 24, 2020

Brad Smith participated in the live High-Level Climate Change Roundtable convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The session brought together a select group of global climate leaders who are taking bold action as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

High-Level Roundtable on Climate Action – 24 September 2020

YouTube Video

Learn more on the Microsoft UN Affairs site and follow @MSFTIssues on Twitter.

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Get paid for your photos with Trove, a Microsoft Garage project

We’re excited to share a big announcement for Trove, a Microsoft Garage project! Now, people can get paid for contributing accepted photos to AI projects in the Trove marketplace with new PayPal integration. Anyone can try Trove via the new web app and a now open app for Android, expanding participation in the experiment beyond the select set of users at the time of the initial May 2020 launch. At this time, please note that photo contributions are only available in the United States. Trove is accepting AI projects from anywhere.

Start an AI project or get paid for your photos via Trove today. Learn more about Trove in the Microsoft Ignite 2020 session.Three screenshots of the Trove app experience

Payments now enabled in Trove

Trove is a marketplace app that allows people to contribute photos to AI projects that developers can then use to train machine learning models. They’ve tested early versions of the experience with thousands of users, inspired by the desire to create a place where people can get rewarded for their photos, the Trove team has enabled payments for accepted photo contributions.

Now, users can set up or connect a PayPal account, scroll through available projects and their associated photo offer prices, and submit new or existing photos using the newly released Camera Roll feature. When photos are accepted, users will be notified of payment and can find the reward in their PayPal balance.

Today, users might find AI projects looking for photos on books, magazines, and newspapers, hand-written notes, or numerical digital displays (such as a digital watch or clock). The reward per photo varies by the project, but users might expect to be paid roughly 50 or 60 cents per approved photos.

Feedback loops and quality inputs for research projects are also driving objectives of the marketplace, so the new feature also gives AI researchers and developers the opportunity to provide payment upon approval of photos, and optionally, to set per user photo contribution cap to ensure a variety of submissions.

Responsible AI starts with responsible data collection

Trove was created and imagined by an incubation team who was inspired to bridge their passion for AI advancement with their vision for people-first gig work that promotes transparency and choice. In Trove, they’ve built a marketplace that enables researchers to build machine learning models using responsible data collection. Read the full origin story and inspiration behind Trove in our May 2020 launch blog.

Photo contributors have reported being drawn to the opportunity to contribute to AI and the ideals of a transparent, empowering marketplace. Sebastian, a photo contributor in the earliest versions of Trove, shared, “These little projects are fun to do and it feels like I am doing something bigger than I could ever do on my own.”

“Again and again, we heard from our earliest users that they were excited to be contributing to the march of progress and science, to be part of something bigger than themselves,” shared Christian Lisenberger, one of the Trove project leads. “It is so rewarding to see that we’re able to provide an alternative, responsible way to both advance AI and give people more agency over data and gig work.”

To learn more about Microsoft’s approach to Responsible AI and learn more about Trove, watch Mitra Azizirad’s Microsoft Ignite 2020 talk, available live at 9:55 – 10:40 AM Pacific Time and later, on demand.

New features inspired by community feedback

In addition to being more broadly available, the team has added new key features to the user experience. When the team set out to create Trove, they were inspired to make a people-first solution. They’ve spent the past few months working with customers to understand how to improve their photo contribution or AI project experiences.

Notably, many users expressed excitement for uploading photos from their camera roll, in addition to taking new photos directly from the app. The team is hopeful this will make it easier to bulk upload existing photos and expand the photo variety and volume researchers can include in their computer vision projects.

What’s new

  • Payments for accepted photos Receive monetary compensation for every approved photo that you submit.
  • Camera roll upload Upload photos from camera roll or take a new picture via the app
  • Community forum Submit feedback via answers.microsoft.com

For the full list of key features and trial details, see the Trove Garage Workbench page.

Try it out

Trove is now available as a web app experience, or for download via the Google Play Store for users in the United States. The team continues to be excited for feedback and encourages users to share their thoughts and ideas.

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CVP Sam George: How Azure IoT enables business resilience

Businesses around the world have been harnessing the Internet of Things (IoT) to reduce operational expenses, power breakthrough customer experiences, and create new revenue streams. Now, faced with the unprecedented challenges of our times, businesses are also harnessing IoT to create safer workplaces as employees return to work, reduce expenses to weather downturns, reduce environmental impact and help with sustainability goals, and remain competitive as IoT becomes a standard way of operating a business.

Microsoft is a recognized leader in IoT. Our mission is to simplify IoT and make it available to every organization on the planet, regardless of size or technical capability. And we haven’t stopped there; we simplified IoT with no code and low code offerings like Azure IoT Central that customers and partners can use without any cloud solutions development skills.

At Microsoft, we deeply understand the value of embracing tech intensity, of using data and AI to address challenges and identify opportunities. Azure IoT plays a leading role in this transformation with an edge and cloud methodology that instills confidence in organizations’ ability to act on the insights presented to them.

Azure IoT is uniquely positioned as a fully open, flexible platform that spans industry applications and simplifies the development process. This week at Microsoft Ignite, we shared the latest from Azure IoT and how partners and customers are using these innovations in amazing ways.

RXR Realty builds on Azure IoT to increase safety

When faced with the question of what is needed to enable a safer, sustainable return to the workplace, New York-based RXR Realty looked at how they could quickly pivot the work they were doing around smart buildings to support a holistic end-to-end approach that spans an employee’s entire day—from waking up, to entering the office building and having a productive day, to going home. The result was the RxWell program, a connected environment solution built on Azure IoT, which was developed and deployed in under six months through partnership with Microsoft, McKinsey, and Infosys.

RXR Realty knew that for every one office worker that returns to the office, it drives five service jobs, such as food service and childcare providers, therefore helping stimulate the local economy. Azure technology allowed them to quickly build an edge-to-cloud solution that merges physical and digital assets, giving office workers the tools and peace of mind to navigate the workplace in safety. This technology helps manage employee rotations and enable touch-free building and elevator access.

Additionally, real-time analytics deliver insights into occupant density, air quality, humidity, and population health, enabling businesses and their workers to make informed decisions and navigate office buildings safely and confidently. Read the RXR Realty customer story and watch the Microsoft Mechanics—How We Built It video featuring RXR Realty to get a demo-rich, technical breakdown of the RxWell solution.

GE Aviation digitally models and observes aircrafts with Azure Digital Twins

As connected solutions continue to grow, companies are looking for ways to create richer models of entire connected business environments. Companies are currently able to use Azure Digital Twins to design and build sophisticated digital replicas of assets, environments, and business systems that can be used across connected environments including, smart buildings, utilities, factories, farms, railways, and entire cities.

Many of our customers and partners are already benefiting from Azure Digital Twins. Using Azure Digital Twins, GE Aviation can model digital representations of individual aircrafts and their components to track asset performance, monitor component usage, and view maintenance history. In a world where it’s not always possible to send someone on site, these insights allow GE Aviation to observe the plane inside and out and mitigate issues before they occur—helping get essential supplies and goods to our doors.

“Azure Digital Twins allows us to fuse vital data—whether it’s from our Asset Records system, our EMS system or another—into the asset-centric point of view needed for the new Asset Lifecycle product we’re creating to show an asset’s state at any point in time. Azure Digital Twins also provides an out-of-the-box ability to track changes for properties or relationships between components over time for advanced analytics. This proves valuable for supporting airlines in making critical maintenance decisions, such as whether or not to keep parts on the wing longer, while also helping reduce their maintenance burden, costs, and the amount of downtime or out-of-service-time for an aircraft.”—Nate Hicks, Sr. Product Manager at GE Aviation’s Digital Group

Azure Digital Twins, currently in preview with general availability coming soon, will bring many new capabilities plus the scale, reliability, and broader market availability necessary for customers to build production-ready solutions. Partners can use its flexible integration capabilities to bring together any service and data points from edge devices, as well as any business system—even from outside Azure. Its use of an open modeling language, Digital Twins Definition Language (DTDL), allows companies to create custom models of any connected environment while maintaining compatibility with other parts of the Azure ecosystem.

ENGIE helps decarbonize energy production with Azure Time Series Insights

The emergence of connected environments also means the continued generation of large volumes of data as assets are connected and brought together. To truly see the benefits, companies require comprehensive analytics across large-scale IoT data sets. ENGIE Digital, a European provider of renewable energy, integrated Azure Time Series insights with Azure IoT Edge to deliver a robust data and AI-driven analytics platform across hundreds of renewable energy sites. This enabled them to support historical data analysis and keep pace with large volumes of data while generating contextualized insights, Azure Time Series Insights ensures they always have the latest data at hand.

Azure Time Series Insights Gen2 is a powerful, fully managed IoT analytics platform created to help contextualize and turn IoT data into actionable insights. Features made generally available in July included multi-layered, scalable storage options for both highly interactive analytics over a short time span and advanced analysis of decades worth of historical data. Rich semantic modeling also enables the analysis of billions of events across millions of IoT sensors to identify trends and anomalies, conduct root-cause analysis, and deliver insights for operational excellence.

AT&T builds cellular-enabled guardian module with Azure Sphere

Security continues to be a key investment area for Microsoft as it is imperative that every IoT device is secured by design.  Accordingly, we are very pleased to share the news from Microsoft Ignite that AT&T and Microsoft are teaming up to enable enterprises to seamlessly connect machines and equipment to the cloud with highly secure global network connectivity. The new, cellular-enabled guardian module shows how Microsoft is empowering customers to achieve more, and in turn, to deliver innovation and opportunity to their customers. Check out the full announcement blog post to see opportunities created.

In addition to all the great customer and partner announcements, we announced the following product innovations:

Azure IoT Hub on-premises in Azure Stack Hub

While customers and partners love the power and productivity Azure IoT Hub brings in the cloud, they also asked for support on-premises. We are bringing Azure IoT Hub on-premises in Azure Stack Hub. This is another industry first from Azure IoT and enables customers to take advantage of Azure IoT Hub in occasionally connected or fully disconnected environments, such as manufacturing shop floors, remote industrial sites, and more. We are putting the finishing touches on preview, which will be available in October.

Azure Defender for IoT with CyberX capabilities

IoT security is fundamental and needs to be addressed throughout the ecosystem as organizations’ assets, data, brand, and overall reputation are on the line. Building on this security momentum and research that shows 97 percent of companies highlight security as a concern when adopting IoT, we are expanding upon our existing industry-leading IoT security offerings.

First, we rebranded Azure Security Center for IoT to Azure Defender for IoT. Already generally available, this offering integrates seamlessly with Azure IoT Hub to proactively monitor IoT and IoT Edge devices and cloud solutions and provide security recommendations and alerts.

Next, we are bringing the availability of Azure Defender for IoT CyberX capabilities, which incorporates agentless technology from our recent acquisition of CyberX and offers new capabilities for securing unmanaged brownfield devices used in operational technology environments. The combination of on-device, agent-based monitoring with the new agentless CyberX capabilities makes Azure Defender for IoT one of the most fully featured and sophisticated security offerings in the industry.

And finally, we continue to partner with industry to refine the IoT Security Maturity Model (SMM) in the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC). This establishes a consistent approach for matching security investments with need, addressing areas including governance, processes, technologies, and operations—for which Microsoft co-authored and edited the Practitioner’s Guide.

New Azure IoT Central capabilities

Azure IoT Central is our IoT application platform that builds on top of the Azure IoT platform. It’s an easy, cost-effective way to build, manage, and operate IoT solutions. Go from idea, to proof of concept (PoC), to enterprise scale in weeks with one of the most advanced IoT application platform in the industry.

At Microsoft Ignite, we announced a set of important new Azure IoT Central capabilities including:

  • New Azure IoT Central application template for video analytics—Use this new application template to quickly and easily develop and scale AI-powered video analytics solutions through Intel AI Modules. Leverage existing IP cameras with Azure Media Services and Azure Storage to store and stream relevant portions of the live video feed and live video analytics.
  • Continuous data export—Send filtered and enriched data from your devices in near real-time to cloud destinations unlocking business insights with IoT data. The new data export capability allows you to re-use destinations, send only specific streams of data, and enrich your data with data from your Azure IoT Central application.
  • Use Jobs to interact with devices—The Jobs experience in Azure IoT Central has been redesigned with a new wizard that allows you to create, run, and save jobs. The UI includes rich charts and interactions for monitoring the progress and completion of jobs across a fleet of devices. Next month, we’ll be releasing additional capabilities that include job schedules and batches.
  • Command-line interface (CLI) improvements—The Azure IoT Central CLI extension has a new set of commands including az iot central user, az iot central api-token, and az iot central device compute-device-key for generating device SAS keys used during provisioning.
  • Raw data views—Use the new raw data view to inspect telemetry in real-time as it flows from your devices.
  • File upload—Azure IoT Central now supports uploading media and other files directly from connected devices.

New Azure IoT Edge capabilities

Azure IoT Edge is a leading edge compute offering in the industry, offering unparalleled production readiness and security. At Microsoft Ignite, we announced a set of breakthrough new capabilities including:

  • Nested Azure IoT Edge preview support enables customers to deploy Azure IoT Edge nodes across networks organized in hierarchical layers, such as ISA-95 network topologies, adhering to strict networking requirements to ensure a secure environment from real-time production all the way to the cloud.
  • Azure IoT Edge security with enclaves are now generally available, enabling deployment and execution of Trusted Applications in devices suitably equipped with trusted execution environments.
  • Edge Compute Node protection profile for IoT device security certification combines industry standard definitions and practices to enable how IoT stakeholders create and consume device security claims.
  • Industry-leading monitoring with the latest release of Azure IoT Edge enables rich monitoring of Azure IoT Edge fleets and applications at scale by emitting a rich set of metrics from IoT Edge system modules. Our new monitoring support easily integrates with existing monitoring solutions and even enables local monitoring for offline use cases.

Unified Azure Certified Device program and final certification for IoT Plug and Play

A unified Azure Certified Device program expands on previous Microsoft certification offerings that validate IoT devices meet specific capability needs and work great on Azure. This program helps device builders increase visibility of their products while making it easy for solution builders and customers to find the right device for their IoT solutions via the Azure Certified Device Catalog.

Certifications currently available include: Azure Certified Device, IoT Plug and Play, and Edge Managed. The Final IoT Plug and Play certification, announced in August, helps reduce time to market for device builders. Additionally, Azure IoT platform services and SDKs for IoT Plug and Play will be generally available by the end of this month.

View our developer documentation for more information, and join the companies already beginning to prepare and certify their devices for IoT Plug and Play.  Also, read the full technical blog to learn more about these certifications and others in development.

Accelerate technical skills with Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification and new learning content

Part of empowering tech intensity in our customers and partners is providing the tools and resources for individuals to successfully use advanced digital technologies, such as machine learning and IoT, so they can see projects through to realization. The Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification is a great first step to support developers in gaining technical knowledge, advancing their career, and becoming recognized as experts on their journey to building innovative new solutions.

Developers looking to start their IoT learning and certification journey can find free online courses at Microsoft Learn. They can also prepare for certification with the new Internet of Things Event Learning Path on GitHub. This series of five video-based modules explores topics including IoT device connectivity, IoT data communication strategies, use of AI at the edge, data processing considerations for IoT data, and IoT solutioning based on the Azure IoT reference architecture.

We encourage you to explore these new releases and innovations in depth, and learn more about how Azure IoT can help with  business resilience and staying agile for the future of connected ecosystems. We also recommend checking out these

Microsoft Ignite sessions:

Additional IoT learning resources:

Azure. Invent with purpose.

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New training resources for educators worldwide

As the world and our education systems continue to evolve, the role of technology to enable learning, whether in classrooms or at home, continues to be of great importance for educators, leaders, parents, and students alike. Every day we experience, see, and hear triumphant stories of the human character and celebrate the heroes in education who courageously push beyond boundaries to create new opportunities for students to learn and grow. And like never before, investment of resources and time into peer support, coaching, professional development, and training is critical for education leaders, educators, faculty, and staff.

As we continue to work to empower every student on the planet to achieve more, I am excited today to share three professional development resources to support educators on their journey.

Get training with Microsoft Store

Microsoft Stores have undergone massive transformation and are now extending support through live virtual training events. Geographical borders no longer limit the training support that Microsoft Store teams can provide.

  • Students, educators, and parents are invited to explore and attend virtual workshops and training sessions of interest.
  • Microsoft Store education trainers also engage on a 1:1 basis to provide customized training sessions to schools and institutions to help adopt technology faster, more effectively, and more cohesively. These trainers speak more than 20 different languages and the training can be customized to customer needs. The best way to take advantage of this offer is to work with the local Microsoft account teams.

Explore the Microsoft Educator Center

Over the past several decades, Microsoft built deep connections with the educator communities that we serve around the world. It is our goal to nurture and empower them with learning resources and training. With their support and feedback, we created the Microsoft Educator Center, which offers a vast variety and depth of technology learning resources.

As our worldwide community of educators continues to grow and become stronger, Microsoft recently announced the newest cohort of over 20,000 Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Experts. These educators demonstrated exceptional ability to spark their students’ creativity and improve learning outcomes with Microsoft technologies. They are always looking to connect with other inspiring educators across the globe and are excited to share their ideas with others. Many of their ideas are reflected in the Microsoft Educator Center.

In particular, I wanted to highlight the newly released Learning Path on Hybrid Learning Strategies for Success. It is comprised of four courses that are organized around student grade level and will resonate with every educator and faculty member:

Work with a Global Training Partner

Clearly, when it comes to teaching and learning, one size does not fit all. We realize the complexity of having different education systems, approaches to curricula, and languages around the world. So in addition to the Microsoft Store and the Microsoft Educator Center online learning resources, we developed an exclusive network of Global Training Partners (GTP). These training organizations are qualified and ready to co-create locally relevant professional development strategies and execute curated face-to-face, blended, and online training sessions across the globe. The Global Training Partners program currently includes 370 companies that serve over 70 countries. 

I just had a chance to spend this week with some of these trainers over a series of virtual readiness events at our annual Global Training Partner Summit and was blown away by the innovation and energy they are bringing into discussions. I would encourage any educator or education leader to visit the Find a trainer page where you can find a Microsoft-trained and certified partner in your location who is able to work hand-in-hand with any educational institution to craft a plan that best supports specific and relevant training needs.

To recognize the outstanding impact these Global Training Partners are driving throughout the world, we introduced Global Training Partner of the Year awards in each of the major geographical regions. This year they went to the following:  

Together, we continue to face tremendous challenges and opportunities, witnessing the rise of the “new normal” in teaching and learning. I hope that the resources I shared will help educators and faculty provide improved and inspiring learning for all students worldwide. Thank you for allowing Microsoft to be a part of your success.

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NextGen Network report on ‘How AI Can Work for Humanity’ launches

Whether it is being used to analyze the human immune response to COVID-19 or map the spread of wildfires, artificial intelligence (AI) has proven itself to be a powerful tool for tackling the kinds of challenges that have been thrust into the spotlight this year. However, as the use of AI becomes more widespread, it is also becoming clear that, without action to ensure AI will be used responsibly, it could create problems of its own, disrupting jobs, threatening social and economic inequality and potentially undercutting progress on human rights.

As the use of AI grows, a broad discussion is needed about how to realize its full potential in a way that also addresses the challenges it creates. And, as the ones who will live and work with this technology for years to come, the voice of young people must be at the forefront of these discussions. Launching today, the NextGen Network report How AI Can Work for Humanity seeks to elevate the perspectives of young people around the world, helping them inform the debate on how AI can be used responsibly. The report includes three core recommendations:

  • Governments must take the lead in putting into practice new frameworks for responsible AI.
  • Countries must work together to drive greater international co-operation on AI and create an international framework for responsible AI use.
  • Organizations of all kinds should put a set of values at the center of how AI is deployed to ensure its use is human-centered, accountable and transparent.

Broadening the conversation on AI

The mission of the NextGen Network is to provide a platform for young people to help shape decisions on technology. The report and today’s launch event with Věra Jourová, EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency, and Sarah Bird, Responsible AI lead for Azure AI at Microsoft, provide an opportunity for young people to share their ideas on how the technology should be developed and used.

NextGen member Enrique Zapata, the data and new technologies lead at the Latin American Development Bank, explained why it’s so important for young people to be part of these discussions: “Our generation, as well as generations Z and A will be the ones living the impact of AI in our lifetimes. It is critical that our voice, values and expectations are taken into account as the main inputs for the future use of digital technologies, even more than those of previous generations, which already had their chance.”

The report is the product of six workshops and a poll of young people from 13 different countries. It finds that the group is positive about the impact that AI will have in general and its ability to drive breakthroughs in healthcare and environmental sustainability. But it also highlights concerns about potential disruption to the world of work, as well as the impact of AI on income inequality and human rights.

The report seeks to add to the global discussion about how to use AI responsibly. This discussion is advancing in many parts of the world, with the EU Commission having recently launched its white paper on AI, the New Zealand government publishing its Algorithm Charter and the UK Government creating its Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. These developments take place alongside many fruitful conversations happening elsewhere. The hope is that the ideas represented in this report can help catalyze further discussion and translate this into positive action.

The breadth of geographical representation and wide range of backgrounds of those feeding into the report was designed to help foster a more international conversation around AI. In doing so, the Network hopes to broaden the conversation around AI and help address concerns that have been raised that the current discussion on AI may be dominated by a narrow group of countries and people in a way that could hinder efforts to ensure responsible use. NextGen member Henri Brebant, graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School, stressed the need for this diverse and global conversation, stating that “only a global conversation on AI ethics can generate the momentum that is needed.”

NextGen perspectives on next generation technology

The report is the first of its kind from the NextGen Network, a partnership between the Aspen Institute and Microsoft. The Network was launched in 2018 to provide a forum for young people from around the world to discuss issues of technology and society. Currently active in Mexico, India, UK, France, Germany, and Central and Eastern Europe, the Network brings together people from the fields of science, business, government and journalism as well as civil society, creating a diverse conversation. The Network also looks to create spaces for young people to interact with leaders from across government, business and civil society, providing a platform for an intergenerational conversation on how to ensure technology can be used for the benefit of society.

The opportunity to share ideas with others is often why young people join the Network. Suhasini Vira, NextGen member and founder of the Clean Hands Initiative, said she “got involved in the Network because of its focus on creating spaces for thought-provoking, structured and open conversations about the role of technology in society.”

Similarly, Charlotte Douglas, NextGen member and post-doctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute, said that “engaging in the NextGen network gave me this incredible opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and passionately discuss the impact of digital technologies and how the conversation regarding these technologies is growing and expanding globally.”

Learn more about the NextGen Network here and get the report here.

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AI for Humanitarian Action expands program beyond nonprofits

Last December, before the onset of COVID-19, I had the opportunity to visit Zaatari in Jordan – the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees – to learn more about the challenges and opportunities refugees face. I met a young girl, Doha, who was participating in a computing class. I asked her what she thought about this class, and she said, “Computing is the language of life today. It’s how things get done.”

This week, while participating in the 75th United Nations General Assembly, I’m reflecting on Doha and the inspiring leaders of the camp to see what more we can do to empower refugees and vulnerable communities, especially given the impact of the global pandemic. With the urgency of the moment, this week Microsoft Philanthropies will expand the reach of one of our programs to help underserved communities.

Two years ago at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, Microsoft President Brad Smith announced AI for Humanitarian Action as part of the Microsoft AI for Good program, a $165 million initiative to help unlock the power of data and AI to address some of the biggest challenges facing society today. The five-year AI for Humanitarian Action commitment was launched to help change the way front-line relief organizations anticipate, predict and better target response efforts related to disaster recovery, the needs of children, promotion of human rights, and protection of refugees and displaced people.

Over the past two years, we’ve worked with selected nonprofit and humanitarian organizations to deliver on the program’s promise to help respond to global humanitarian issues. Some examples include:

  • Human rights – Empowering the Clooney Foundation for Justice with innovative technology that supports monitoring and responding to trials around the world that pose a high risk of human rights violations.
  • Refugees and displaced people – Combating wrongful deportation of asylum seekers with the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and KIND.
  • Disaster response – Improving the reach of open mapping of vulnerable areas with Bing and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)
  • Needs of children – Enhancing surgical outcomes and helping more children in need of facial surgery through the use of a facial modeling algorithm with long-time nonprofit partner Operation Smile.

Since 2018, the need to accelerate the pace of innovation has increased rapidly due to growing inequality and the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on the progress of the past two years and the urgency of the moment, we’re expanding the program beyond nonprofits to include applications from any type of organization through October 31, 2020, with this web portal.

The challenges faced by children are inextricably linked to those of women, including access to healthcare, which is disproportionally affecting women and children during COVID-19. As a result, we have also expanded the focus on children to include women.

“An effective response to COVID-19 accounts for the disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities, including women and girls,” said Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE. “It is essential to listen to women and girls and ensure that all involved collect, publish and act on sex-disaggregated data to design inclusive and effective responses to COVID-19. That’s why Microsoft’s expansion of its AI for Humanitarian Action initiative to be inclusive of the needs of women and children is needed now more than ever.”

As we work with new partners through AI for Humanitarian Action to enable their work and accelerate their impact, we remain committed  to using our expertise to help empower vulnerable populations – like those in Zaatari – by ensuring we leverage technology to address the broadest societal needs.

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Xbox Family Settings app now available for free on iOS and Android

At Xbox, we believe that gaming is a source of joy, inspiration, and social connection with friends and family – and this is true now more than ever before. With COVID-19 continuing to have impact our daily lives, gaming has helped people stay connected while social distancing. Gaming is a great way to unify and bring people together, but we also believe that gaming should be part of a balanced life as well as safe and welcoming for all, and we know this is especially important to families.

Today, just in time for the new school year, we are launching the Xbox Family Settings app, which is available for free to download for iOS and Android. The app is an important next step in our journey to provide families with the tools they need to help create the right balance of gaming in their lives. Right from their phone, parents and caregivers can easily create child accounts, update screen time limits, respond to notifications, and much more. It’s an easy and simple way to set guardrails on children’s gaming on Xbox One and, come November 10, on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S!

The app has been in preview for the last few months, which has provided valuable customer feedback to help us to refine the experience that is available today. We are also thrilled to unveil three new app features that parents and caregivers can manage right from their fingertips:

  • Accept or decline friends your child wants to add
  • View and manage your child’s friends list
  • Proactively grant your child more screen time – this was a common suggestion from our users during preview. Thank you for the feedback!

How to Use the Xbox Family Settings app

An important first step to using the app is to ensure that each child has their own child or teen account. And setting up a child account is quick and easy through the app and on average, takes just minutes.

Once a child account has been set up, parents and caregivers can customize access to gaming for each child:  

  • Screen time limits – set limits for each day of the week; for example, you can allow for more game time on the weekends or reduce it during the school week. And a new feature available today allows parents to proactive grant additional screen time – a great option if they did well on a test or completed their homework!
  • Content filters – set filters based on the age of each child; for example, an 8-year-old can only access games that are rated E and will be blocked from accessing titles that are intended for more mature players
  • Play and communication settings – choose the option to block all access to play and communication with other players, limit access to “friends only” or grant permission for older children to play and chat with “everyone”
  • Friends list – new with the app is the ability to approve or decline friend requests your child has made to add friends; parents can also view their friends list
  • Activity reports – view daily and weekly activity reports for each child to understand how they are spending their time on Xbox

The app also includes a feature to easily enable access and multiplayer capability for Minecraft, which is rated E10+.  Sometimes parents of younger children want to provide access to Minecraft and possibly enable online play with their friends, and a convenient toggle in the app unlocks those specific capabilities quickly.  We received positive feedback on this feature from users and we may include similar functionality for other games in the future.

We know that one-size does not fit all and it’s so important that as parents, you have the flexibility to decide and customize what the right access to gaming looks like for your child. With the app, you can also respond to notifications in real time, such as requests from your child to extend the console screen time limit for the day.

Looking Towards the Future

Parents and caregivers know best what content is right for their child. By bringing key family settings features right to your phone, we hope that families feel empowered to have important conversations about how to balance gaming with other responsibilities like school and time with friends. We will also release additional new features in the future for the Xbox Family Settings app to provide families with the tools and support they need for safer and fun for everyone.

Download the Xbox Family Settings app today for free for iOS and Android to jump in and easily manage gaming for your family!

For more information about the Xbox Family Settings app, visit Xbox.com/family-app.

Microsoft is committed to empowering families to set boundaries and encourage responsible technology use by offering choices on the tools that are right for each family’s unique needs – learn more here.

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Toshiba joins Azure Quantum, providing machine to solve complex optimization problems

Complex optimization problems exist across every industry, such as vehicle routing, supply chain management, risk assessment, portfolio optimization, power grid operations, and many others.  

While a number of sophisticated algorithms have been developed that can solve certain optimization problems very efficiently, many real-world optimization problems remain hard to optimize despite the remarkable advancements in both algorithms and computing power over the past decades. These scenarios usually involve many variables and are computationally difficult to solve using traditional methods. 

Leveraging quantum methods allows us to find more accurate solutions in far less time with much less work, even for the most complex problems. In practice, emulating quantum systems has led to promising breakthroughs in MRI technology, improving traffic congestion, materials design, and more. 

Emulating nature with Azure Quantum

Many optimization algorithms, such as simulated annealing, parallel tempering Monte Carlo, or genetic algorithms, mimic natural processes. As we’ve developed a deeper understanding of quantum mechanics, new optimizers have been developed that make use of quantum mechanics to accelerate optimization and escape local minima in the cost function landscape through emulating quantum tunneling. 

Simulating these quantum effects on classical computers has led to the development of new types of quantum solutions that run on classical hardware, also called quantum-inspired optimization (QIO) algorithms. These algorithms allow us to exploit some of the advantages of quantum computing approaches today on classical CMOS-based hardware, providing a speedup over traditional approaches. Using quantum solutions on classical hardware also prepares us for the future of quantum optimization on scaled, fault-tolerant quantum hardware.  

Azure Quantum enables customers to run optimization algorithms on industry-scale classical hardware with self-service solutions designed to solve binary optimization problems on CPUs, GPUs, and FPGAs in Azure.  

Toshiba offering Simulated Bifurcation Machine through Azure Quantum

Expanding the portfolio of QIO algorithms and solvers, Microsoft is pleased to announce that Toshiba is joining the Microsoft Quantum Network and will be offering Toshiba’s Simulated Bifurcation Machine (SBM) in Azure Quantum. Toshiba joins existing partners 1Qbit, Honeywell, IonQ, and QCI in providing services to the growing quantum ecosystem. 

Toshiba’s cutting-edge technique quickly obtains highly accurate solutions for complex large-scale combinatorial optimization problems and has demonstrated an approximately 10-fold improvement over other competing devices. Some examples of combinatorial optimization problems include dynamic portfolio management, risk management, and high-frequency trading. Practical applications include optimizing routing for electrical transmission lines considering cost, safety, time, and environmental impact; or finding the shortest route between cities, considering the time of day, traffic incidents, and driver schedule.  

In principle, every computational problem we see in practice can be translated to a particular type of binary optimization problem: searching for the ground state of an Ising model. While, in general, this mapping can be too costly to be practical, combinatorial optimization problems are often easy to rewrite into this form, and for problems that are native to this form (such as planning, scheduling, or partitioning), techniques such as those employed by Toshiba’s solution provide a powerful tool for solving them. 

Emerging from quantum computing research at Toshiba, SBM is a practical and ready-to-use Ising model solver—a software solution that is able to solve large-scale combinatorial optimization problems at high speed, while harnessing the GPU resources in the Azure cloud. 

Azure Quantum users will soon be able to utilize the Toshiba SBM to explore highly accurate solutions using quantum methods for their own scenarios. 

Build quantum solutions today

Azure Quantum is an open ecosystem of quantum partners and technologies. Building on decades of quantum research and scalable enterprise cloud offerings at Microsoft, Azure Quantum brings you rich software capabilities and development tools paired with quantum and classical hardware through a familiar Azure environment. 

With our ever-growing offerings, like Toshiba’s SBM, achieve immediate impact with quantum-inspired optimization running on classical hardware today and build for tomorrow with quantum hardware. Sign up to become an Azure Quantum early adopter. 

Join us 

With this announcement, we are excited to welcome Toshiba to the Microsoft Quantum Network. The Microsoft Quantum Network is a broad community of individuals and organizations collaborating with Microsoft to advance a comprehensive quantum ecosystem, develop practical solutions, and build a robust quantum workforce.  

To build this right, we need to build it together.