The UK is testing a sharing economy kitemark in efforts to regulate July 7, 2016 Airbnb, Uber and other companies which are part of the so-called sharing economy may soon be able to get a seal of approval that signals they follow rules of good practice in efforts to regulate the industry. The scheme is the first of its kind to monitor the standards of the hundreds of companies which have sprung up in recent years – [...]
GLI Finance Louise Beaumont says the industry is becoming increasingly dog eat dog July 7, 2016 Like all parts of financial services, the alternative finance sector is coming to terms with the post-referendum landscape and what the Brexit decision means for the future. This comes on top of the ongoing issues at US marketplace lender Lending Club which have continued to attract negative headlines. With the tectonic plates of alternative lending continuing [...]
The best holiday and travel tech: Enhance your galavanting with these essential gadgets July 6, 2016 Bluesmart One Suitcase technology seemed to grind to a halt shortly after we stuck wheels on them, but Bluesmart has just booted your luggage into the 21st century. The Bluesmart One suitcase has global GPS tracking thanks to a built-in SIM card, a battery charger for your devices, can tell you how heavy it currently [...]
Sanofi and US army combine efforts in search for Zika vaccine July 6, 2016 French pharmaceuticals firm Sanofi today revealed it has teamed up with the US military to accelerate development of a vaccine for the Zika virus which has swept through South and Central America. Sanofi said that it had agreed to work with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) which will hand over its Zika vaccine technology. The [...]
This UK cyber security startup just landed $65m July 6, 2016 A UK-founded cyber security startup backed by Mike Lynch, who sold his previous business to HP for billions, has landed millions of pounds in new funding from investors. Cambridge and San Francisco-based Darktrace has closed a $65m (£50m) round of funding lead by Wall Street private equity giant KKR. TenEleven Ventures and SoftBank's SB ISAT fund are new investors [...]
More still needs to be done to help public protect themselves from fraud and cybercrime July 5, 2016 People are still not being given the tools they need to protect themselves from fraud and cybercrime, a report out today has found. The study from the Fraud Advisory Panel raised concerns that many of the shortcomings in fraud prevention 10 years ago still prevailed today. In particular, the report took issue with poorly resourced police departments, [...]
Post-Brexit passporting questions hang over fintech too July 5, 2016 The question of passporting hangs over fintech startups as well as banking in a post-Brexit world. Half of fintech firms in the UK stand to lose access to the European market handed to them by passporting. A snap survey of around 100 members of industry body Innovate Finance following the referendum result found half are authorised [...]
European Commission approves new cyber security initiative and funding July 5, 2016 The European Commission wants EU member states to work together on cyber security. The European Union's executive body has signed an agreement that'll have member states funding and working together with private groups to prevent cyber attacks. There have been repeated warnings over the vulnerability of both private and public institutions in recent months. And it seems we're [...]
iPhone builder plans float for cloud unit that could raise $1bn as demand for data transfer products soars July 5, 2016 The builder of Apple's iPhone has filed to float its cable and connector unit in Hong Kong in a deal that's thought could raise as much as $1bn (£765m). Taiwanese firm Hon Hai Precision Industry – known as Foxconn Technology Group – assembles most of Apple's iPhones and many of the other smartphones in use around the world. The planned initial public offering [...]
Could AI halt blindness? DeepMind and this London hospital are finding out July 5, 2016 DeepMind, the pioneering British artificial intelligence company owned by Google, is researching how the technology may help save people's sight in a new partnership with leading London eye hospital Moorfields. The firm's machine learning technology, which has already demonstrated its ability to beat humans at the chess-like game Go, will be used to analyse two [...]