Writing on topics from software to society
Blog
I'm passionate about open-source, green software, and Microsoft AI: you can find blog posts I've written on these topics below, along with other random topics mixed in. You can also find some of my presentations, YouTube videos, and podcasts on the speaking page.
May 2022
How can Open Source Help Reduce Software Emissions?
The podcast Environmental Variables, hosted by Asim Hussain, invited me to join as a guest! I joined as co-chair of the Open Source Working Group at the Green Software Foundation, with Dan Lewis-Toakley; Green Cloud Lead at ThoughtWorks, and also co-chair of the Open Source Working Group at the Green Software Foundation. We discussed the benefits of open source versus closed source, what tools are already out there and how open source can help reduce software emissions
Green Software Engineering at Microsoft Build 2022
I talked about using Green Software practices to develop applications in Azure, including optimal use of microservices, training of machine learning models, and carbon awareness at Microsoft Build 2022. I was joined by the awesome Darshna Shah [https://twitter
February 2022
Call to Action: Establishing a Centre of Excellence
The Call to Action (CTA) series at the Green Software Foundation continues [https://greensoftware.foundation/articles/call-to-action-on-green-software-establishing-a-centre-of-excellence] , a recurring series on practical actions around Green Software
Call to Action: Success Factors, Measurements and Driving the Right Behaviour
The Call to Action (CTA) series at the Green Software Foundation continues, a recurring series on practical actions around Green Software. > There's a growing understanding of the need for organisations to be green or consider sustainability
The Future of Edge – “demassification”
Microsoft's new blog on using Azure Quantum to manage communication with space missions [https://cloudblogs.microsoft
Call to Action: Spreading the Message of Green Software
I wrote a blog for the Green Software Foundation [https://greensoftware.foundation/articles/call-to-action-spreading-the-message-of-green-software] - the start of a recurring series that I'm very excited about - Call to Action (CTA) - practical steps for spreading the message of green software within organisations
December 2021
Industry group aims to tackle energy-efficient software development
A number of media mentions around the launch of the newly published Green Software Foundation Software Carbon Intensity specification. Industry group aims to tackle energy-efficient software developmentHow many processor cycles does an algorithm use? Can it use less and, if so, how will this reduce overall energy usage and greenhouse emissions?ComputerWeekly
Green Software - Making an impact
I've been absolutely chuffed to be part of the Green Software Foundation, as one of the many members and contributors to the Software Carbon Intensity specification [https://greensoftware.foundation/projects/software-carbon-intensity-sci-specification]
September 2021
The Wonderful World of GitHub Actions
I've been open sourcing projects at Avanade for some time. I've recently needed a ton of automation - from code scans for security vulnerabilities and licensing compliance to automatically merging pull requests after a certain amount of time
The Metaverse - finally here?
Aside from (quite a few!) talks recently, around querying Azure Digital Twins with PowerBI [https://sealjay.com/querying-azure-digital-twins-with-powerbi/], I've been pretty quiet
July 2021
Azure Confidential Ledger – attestability for the masses
I co-authored a blog for Avanade Techs and Specs [https://www.avanade
Microsoft Inspire 2021: Protecting your Ledger with Azure Confidential Computing
I spoke with Vikas Bhatia of Microsoft, and Paul O'Neill of intel to discuss a number of industry examples around Azure Confidential Computing. Source: Protecting your Ledger with Azure Confidential Computing (microsoft
May 2021
Understand medical information in text
Over the last year, it won't have escaped anyone's notice really that there have been massive and unprecedented changes to the health of the world, and by extension, how healthcare is delivered. From mobile applications, like the COVID-19 app in England [https://covid19
Querying Azure Digital Twins with PowerBI
A Digital Twin is a digital replica of a physical object, space, or abstract process. It allows us to model the state of these things virtually, and then respond to events as they happen in real time
April 2021
Thinking machines: Azure Digital Twins
I co-authored a blog for Avanade Techs and Specs [https://www.avanade
Open Source Models
I've spent a lot of time recently, trying to understand open source models, and how they cover their costs. I personally love open source, and the community around it
March 2021
MIT Future Compute: A round-up
Following my blog post about MIT Future Compute, I co-authored a more in depth article about cloud tech trends and connectivity for Avanade Techs and Specs. [https://www
Power Automate for individual group notifications
If you're like me, you probably wish you got less email! But, equally, you don't want to tag a whole group of people in Teams either - starting a whole discussion. Sometimes I find myself needing to send an urgent message to a group of people, but I want to make sure each individual gets it as a message
3 ways to turn your supply chain into a growth engine
A blog I co-authored for Avanade insights
Intelligent search at your fingertips: Semantic Search
This week at at Microsoft Ignite, Pablo Castro and Jeremy Chapman [https://myignite.microsoft
Using Cognitive Search to make the law more accessible: Part 1
In a previous blog post, I talked about the endless possibilities that Cognitive Search [https://sealjay.com/unlocking-content-with-summaries-and-insight/] gives you, making various datasets more easily accessible
Cognitive Search Series
Dataset: 1. How to set up an indexer on a blob store - Create an indexer - Azure Cognitive Search | Microsoft Docs [https://docs
Ethical and productivity implications of Intelligent Code Creation
I co-authored a blog for Avanade Techs and Specs [https://www.avanade
February 2021
Oral culture and the rise of literacy
A colleague recently shared an interesting blog post about the historical anomaly of written culture - and it gave me a lot to think about. I liked many of the conclusions, but some elements need continued observation
What's on the horizon? 2021 and beyond
I was lucky enough to attend MIT Future Compute 2021, to understand the convergence of various technologies, from the Internet of Things to new(-ish) connectivity options, like 5G and LoRaWAN. Future Compute 2021An examination of the computing landscape, hosted online by MIT Technology Review February 10-11, 2021Future Compute [https://event
Tech Talent 2021
I was lucky enough to present at Tech Talent 2021- speaking about CognitiveSearch, XR, VR and the Future of Work! > The wait is over - #TechTalent2021 [https://twitter.com/hashtag/TechTalent2021?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw] takes place TODAY! 🎉 We’re so excited to welcome all of these companies to Tech Talent 2021
Extracting transcripts and insights from videos in Python
Compared to YouTube from Google, and Twitch from Amazon, Microsoft's experiments with media have been.
Unlocking content with summaries and insights!
Cognitive Search is an awesome service that allows you to take the documents and information you have, wherever it may be, index it, and apply additional transforms to make the information searchable and usable - through the use of cognitive skills [https://docs.microsoft
CLI wizardry - Bing News Search on the fly
You've probably heard of Bing, one of the largest search engines around, love it or loathe it. But did you know it has a nifty API? Bing Search APIs have moved recently out of Cognitive Services (as of October 30, 2020 [https://docs
Enabling https on a Uvicorn Python Application deployed to Azure
Including the X-Forwarded-Proto and X-Forwarded-For headers in your Uvicorn application
Running an ASGI Python Web Application in Azure with Gunicorn and Uvicorn
Assuming you're using a Linux web application plan, and running a Python application that requires the use of Uvicorn, here are some tips. You'll need to have a startup command set in Azure [https://docs
June 2019
How facial recognition technology threatens basic privacy rights
I was mentioned in Computer Weekly. How facial recognition technology threatens basic privacy rightsAs adoption of facial recognition systems continues to grow worldwide, there is increasing concern that this technology could undermine fundamental privacy rights and how it can be kept in checkComputerWeekly
Ready by Design: Help to design a better digital future
I was one of the presenters at Women of Silicon Roundabout. > Emerging technology has given us unprecedented opportunities and challenges for business, society and the world
Enabling a future-ready business with AI and IA
I was referenced by the Telegraph. > While digital transformation by harnessing artificial intelligence and intelligent automation is a clear priority, there is no single path to success because companies are not starting from the same point
BBC World Service, Chris Lloyd-Jones, Al Specialist, Avanade
I joined the BBC World Business Report to discuss what needs to be done to combat the emergence of deepfake videos [https://www.avanade
February 2019
Quantum computing — coming soon to an enterprise near you?
I was referenced in Information Age. Quantum computing -- coming soon to an enterprise near you?Quantum computing will be one of the defining technologies that will emerge over the next five to ten yearsInformation AgeNick Ismail [https://www
Chatbot implementation: Best practice tips from Avanade
I was referenced in Information Age. Chatbot implementation: Best practice tips from AvanadeThis article will explore Avanade’s deployment of Carrie, a security chatbot for Carlsberg
IOT Now: Focus on your business goals
How can IoT empower new digital business models? How can innovative companies prioritise design and data to improve the employee and customer experience? Is IoT a panacea to create new competitive differentiation in your industry How is IoT bridging the gap between the digital and real, to mediate the continual exchange of data and services A discussion of real examples. Avanade - News - Global Executive Events [https://www
June 2017
Intelligent Workforce of the Future
Intelligent Automation is the essential new co-worker in the digital world, and companies will need to apply the human touch to those activities that need it most. We’ll show you some real examples of the Intelligent Workforce, and the value proposition involved with leveraging smart technology effectively and efficiently
Blue Prism World New York 2017
I presented an overview of RPA and how that can be integrated with Microsoft Cognitive Services.
Blue Prism World London 2017
I looked after the Avanade relationship with Blue Prism throughout 2017, and accepted an award onstage for 'creating client value.' Blue Prism World Events in New York and London Bring Together More Than 1,200 Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Users, Partners, Experts and Industry Leaders Blue Prism attracted more than 1,200 attendees to its Blue Prism World events, making it the largest RPA event of the year