Barack Obama just welcomed driverless cars September 20, 2016 The US President Barack Obama is on board with driverless cars, welcoming the technology's potential for increasing safety and reducing pollution on roads across the US as the country announces new rules for the vehicles. "In the seven-and-a-half years of my presidency, self-driving cars have gone from sci-fi fantasy to an emerging reality with the [...]
Fraudsters hit Brits with a financial scam every 15 seconds September 20, 2016 The UK suffered an incident of financial fraud ever 15 seconds in the first six months of the year, as the rise of scams to obtain passwords, bank details and cash shows no sign of abating. Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA) found more than one million separate accounts of people handing over personal details between January [...]
As Neil Woodford criticises its attitude to funding startups, is the UK capable of producing the first trillion-dollar company? September 20, 2016 Luke Hakes, investment director at Octopus Ventures, says Yes. You have to believe the UK is capable of building the world’s first trillion-dollar company. Historically, the UK ecosystem lacked the weight of capital required to take startups to the next level, especially when compared to Silicon Valley. But that’s been changing and the UK has made [...]
London in line for new Internet of Things hubs September 20, 2016 The so-called Internet of Things (IoT) scene in London is set to get a boost from the government. The Innovate UK-funded Digital Catapult – set up to help small businesses grow their digital capabilities – is rolling out 50 IoT hubs around the capital, called the Digital Catapult Things Connected programme. Businesses will be able [...]
Lloyd’s of London cyber risk report: 97 per cent of UK businesses have experienced a data breach in the last five years September 19, 2016 UK firms have fared worse than companies in other major European economies on the cyber security front in recent years. According to new data from Lloyd's of London, 97 per cent of UK firms have experienced a data breach in the last five years, against an average of 92 per cent of firms across Europe. Firms [...]
US tech leaders still ❤ London, even after Brexit September 19, 2016 Entrepreneurs and tech leaders in the US still have an eye for London as the transatlantic special relationship continues to flourish despite the looming prospect of Brexit. The capital still tops their list as the top tech hub in Europe and the best place from which to build business across the continent, a new survey of more than [...]
Skyscanner acquired by Chinese travel giant Ctrip in a £1.4 billion deal September 19, 2016 | City Talk Edinburgh-based travel search company Skyscanner has been acquired by Chinese travel giant Ctrip in a £1.4 billion deal. Ctrip, a Chinese online travel agent, claims two thirds share of the market in China. Headquartered in Shanghai, it was founded in 1999 and began life as a review site, then branched to hotel business and across [...]
Cars will go the way of DVDs in a decade and more predictions for the future of transport according to Lyft founder John Zimmer September 19, 2016 A transport revolution is coming thanks to technology – that's according to the founder of ride sharing startup Lyft, a rival to Uber, John Zimmer. In an ambitious manifesto, the entrepreneur has predicted the third transport revolution will arrive with the development of driverless cars, one of the hottest, most talked about and potentially disruptive developments in [...]
Takeaway.com IPO: Is Europe about to get its next tech unicorn? September 19, 2016 Dutch dot-com startup Takeaway.com could be on the verge of becoming Europe's latest tech unicorn. The firm issued more details this morning about its long-awaited float on Amsterdam's Euronext exchange, with the company set to flirt with a €1bn price tag. Takeaway.com, founded in 1999, said its shares will go public on 30 September – Euronext's first IPO [...]
What3Words co-founder Chris Sheldrick explains how his company is creating Mongolian addresses and helping the UN in disaster zones September 19, 2016 Back in November 2014, advertising executive Rory Sutherland called What3Words “the best navigation idea [he’d] seen since the tube map”. The idea is simple: take the globe, divide it into 57 trillion 3m by 3m squares and ascribe three common words to each square. To cover the globe, What3Words needs to use 40,000 words – [...]