This is the year for businesses to find their purpose in life January 22, 2019 One year ago, BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink called on businesses to define their societal purpose, sending a message to the corporate world that working towards profit alone was no longer good enough. Last week, Fink’s push towards purpose was in the papers again, when a hacker concocted an elaborate hoax in the form of [...]
DEBATE: Is there any point to the annual WEF summit in Davos? January 22, 2019 Is there any point to the annual WEF summit in Davos? Bill Michael, chairman and senior partner of KPMG in the UK, says YES. Elements of the World Economic Forum (WEF) do raise an eyebrow. From the setting in the Swiss Alps to the A-listers in attendance, it can seem like the last bastion of global [...]
London-listed Draper Esprit to double down on European tech with £100m share placing January 21, 2019 Venture capital firm Draper Esprit has today announced it will acquire a larger stake in funds managed by its European counterpart Earlybird, with the intention of raising £100m through a fresh share placing to finance the move. The London-listed tech investor first partnered with Earlybird in July last year, committing up to £76m into the German firm's [...]
Ancient Origins founder Joanna Gillan travels the world to write about history and explore historical locations January 21, 2019 What would be your ideal job? For some, it might be trying to make the world better by saving the pandas or cleaning up the oceans. Others may simply want to make lots of money while wheeling and dealing in a high-stakes career. But for many of us, I’d wager the ideal job would involve [...]
AI deployment rockets as businesses seek competitive edge January 21, 2019 The number of organisations using AI has rocketed 270 per cent since 2015, a survey out today reveals. Firms across all industries are increasingly using artificial intelligence as they seek to gain an edge over competitors, research firm Gartner's 2019 CIO Survey found. Read more: Automation and AI are leading the UK into a new industrial [...]
Don’t hand control to the machines just yet January 18, 2019 Bad news: the robots are destroying jobs. The good news, however, is that the jobs they are destroying are their own. This week, a hotel in Japan was forced to lay off its 243 robots, after they ended up creating more work for their human colleagues. The Siri-like virtual assistants couldn’t answer the guests’ questions, [...]
IBM links up with Vodafone for $550m cloud computing contract January 17, 2019 IBM and Vodafone have entered into a joint venture to provide businesses with support for linking up cloud systems, which can support next-generation technology such as machine learning or 5G networks. Vodafone will pay IBM $550m (£423.4m) under an eight-year contract as part of the deal, the firms said today, enabling it to offer tools [...]
The future of infrastructure needs artificial intelligence and new ways of working January 15, 2019 During our morning commutes to work, many of us will grumble about unreliable trains, packed tube carriages, or too much traffic on our highways. And yet, despite these complaints, we tend to keep a stiff upper lip and bear with the current state of infrastructure, rather than question how things could become better. But if [...]
Audit must reclaim its Victorian roots to win back public trust January 15, 2019 Today marks the first anniversary of the collapse of Carillion. It is also the first day that the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee takes evidence in its inquiry into the audit market. Carillion’s downfall brought the role of audit in business and society into the spotlight, and was a watershed moment for the [...]
DEBATE: As Open Banking turns one year old, has it been a success? January 14, 2019 As Open Banking turns one year old, has it been a success? Didier Baclin, chief innovation officer at Zopa, says YES. A year on, Open Banking has already helped many people enjoy smoother experiences with certain financial providers, by enabling them to securely share their data through the open application programming interfaces. The initiative is about [...]