Mark Zuckerberg insists Facebook is not a media company August 29, 2016 Facebook is a technology company, not a media company, despite a move towards live video, working closely with traditional publishers and a recent furore over trending topics on the platform. Speaking at a live question and answer session in Italy, Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook is providing the tools for people to be able to share information but is not itself [...]
A bad night’s sleep can affect your cognitive performance, even if you feel fine August 25, 2016 Brexit has brought with it a period of significant instability. Since the vote to leave, many have feared their job security while watching the pound weaken on global markets. High levels of uncertainty have been fuelling distress in the workplace. In my most recent Sleep To Perform corporate workshops, I’ve heard Brexit fears being cited [...]
The world’s first driverless taxis have hit the road (beating Uber) August 25, 2016 The first-ever driverless taxis have hit the road in Singapore, and despite the ambitious plans of Uber announced just last week that it's about to put autonomous cabs into service, the billion dollar startup has been pipped to the post. Residents of Singapore will spot the robo-taxis driving around the business district and they will even be able [...]
These big banks are working on a digital currency together August 24, 2016 Several of the world's biggest banks are working together to create a digital currency to speed up settlements with the ambitious goal of putting the blockchain-based system into practice by 2018. UBS has been working on the Utility Settlement Coin (USC) since last year and is now being joined by Santander, Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon and the broker Icap on [...]
Watch out Carney: Here’s what Japan’s central bank just said about fintech August 23, 2016 The Bank of England made history this summer with the launch of the first ever fintech accelerator by a central bank. But, forward-thinking Mark Carney is not the only governor eyeing the potential of the fintech sector and its future role in monetary policy making and central banking. Haruhiko Kuroda, the governor of the Bank of Japan, has indicated [...]
Everyone will benefit from the coming “brain free” car revolution August 16, 2016 Driverless cars are making headlines, with the future of travel revealing itself to be grounded very much in the present. It’s a thrilling time to be in the motor business as trials of new vehicles are gaining momentum. And while it will take time for the technology to be fully rolled out on our roads, completely [...]
Driverless cars, artificial intelligence and blockchain: Meet the Gartner Hype Cycle of 2016 August 16, 2016 Driverless car technology is careering towards the trough of disillusionment after hitting the peak of hype, according to Gartner analysts monitoring the progression of the world's emerging technology trends. The firm's annual Hype Cycle tracks where trends such as virtual reality, robotics, personal voice assistants and, of course, driverless cars, are in their journey from talked-about technology to [...]
Facebook will stop users blocking adverts August 9, 2016 Facebook is the latest media company to fight the rise of ad blockers, by serving ads to those who use the software. It will force ads to appear on the desktop version of the social network even if they use the popular software, said Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth. It will also give users greater control over [...]
What can science fiction tell us about the future? August 3, 2016 A recent book on the future of warfare warned that Britain’s pristine new aircraft carriers will be vulnerable to swarms of small, semi-autonomous drones that could not be stopped by conventional protective weaponry. Another looked at whether mass online gaming might be used to recruit networks to attack military or commercial targets. A third raised the [...]
Meet the most influential British innovator in the world August 2, 2016 Demis Hassabis, the man who founded the multi-million pound artificial intelligence company acquired by Google, has been named the most influential British innovator in the world. DeepMind hit headlines in 2014 when it was bought by Google for £400m and this year did it again when its machine learning technology beat the world-leading player of the [...]