Interview Sneak Peek

Morgan: How do you see Information Technology changing and what are you doing to stay ahead of those changes? 

Seth: Honestly, with the advances in AI, machine learning, robotics, and other technologies that have increased the pace of change tenfold, by 2025, I estimate that 50 billion devices will be connected to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), while 70 percent of manufacturers will be using digital twins regularly. 

I use a variety of resources that are available to help me identify industry insights and tech trends. I take advantage of conferences and trade shows to get a sense of the offerings and advances from other players in the industry. I always gather valuable intel from walking around the trade show floor and talking to attending speakers. 

This is also a terrific opportunity to identify what tech is performing well and what is not working in your industry. I try to be smart about the events I choose to attend. I always start with research. I review the conferences agenda before signing up to see if the topics align with my current learning objectives. I always check out the list of speakers to see if they are experts in the field who can share with me the latest trends and resources in the information technology industry. 

In addition, my schedule is always hectic, but it is important to me that I set aside time to catch up on industry insights and/or research from industry leaders on the latest tech advances. Every industry has many newsletters available from diverse sources. I sift through what is available to find the one that best suits me.

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Morgan: What are areas you’re researching and learning right now? 

Seth: Honestly, I have been researching and learning as much as I can on cloud computing. Cloud is a model of computing where servers, networks, storage, development tools, and even applications (apps) are enabled through the internet. Instead of organizations having to make major investments to buy equipment, train staff, and provide ongoing maintenance, some or all of these needs are handled by a cloud service provider. With that being said, there are five key characteristics of a cloud computing environment: 

– Internet Access –
With a public cloud environment, users “plug into” the data and applications via an internet connection giving anytime, anywhere access. 

– Measured Service –
Cloud is often pay-as-you-go, where you only pay for what you use. An example of this would be how a utility company meters how much water, electricity, or gas is used and charges based on consumption. The cloud model is similar. 

– On-Demand Self-Service –
Services can be requested and provisioned quickly, without the need for manual setup and configuration. 

– Shared Resource Pooling –
Cloud often uses the multi-tenancy model. This means a single application is shared among several users. So, rather than creating a copy of the application for each user, several users, or tenants can configure the application to their specific needs. 

– Rapid Elasticity –
Cloud platforms are elastic. An organization can scale its resource usage levels up or down quickly and easily as needs change.

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Morgan: Where can our students connect with you online? 

Seth: In short, LinkedIn is the best place for our students to connect with me.

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Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed, for your service, and being a CityU Associate Faculty.