Our healthcare system is trapped in an impasse as pharmaceutical firms struggle to fund medical innovations May 1, 2019 The price of technological innovations in health care has once again been brought into focus. Orkambi, a new pharmaceutical treatment for a specific type of cystic fibrosis has not been approved for availability on the NHS because its price is deemed too high. Meanwhile, there is panic at the relentless rise of fatal antibiotic-resistant infections [...]
CEOs are split over whether they are responsible for AI job losses or not, says PwC April 30, 2019 Bosses are torn over whether or not the private sector must shoulder responsibility for job losses as AI replaces roles traditionally performed by humans. A PwC survey of chief executives has revealed that while 49 per cent believe the government should be responsible for offering displaced workers a safety net, 41 per cent disagree. Read [...]
DEBATE: Should the UK’s judicial system embrace using artificial intelligence in the courtroom? April 30, 2019 Should the UK’s judicial system embrace using artificial intelligence in the courtroom? Emily Foges, chief executive of Luminance, says YES. The explosion of digital information, from social media posts to WhatsApp messages, can lead to cases collapsing in our courts as police and barristers struggle to review evidence in time. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is [...]
Has the government’s £1bn artificial intelligence sector deal made any difference? April 26, 2019 One year on, has the government’s £1bn artificial intelligence (AI) sector deal made any difference? Dr Jeremy Silver, chief executive of Digital Catapult, says YES. A year after the announcement of the government’s sector deal, investment is at an all-time high. AI startups in the UK raised nearly £1.3bn in 2018, very nearly eclipsing the [...]
City Moves for 26 April 2019 – Who’s switching jobs at Sage, Faraday Grid and GPP? April 26, 2019 Today's City Moves includes Sage, Faraday Grid and GPP. Sage Sage has appointed Aaron Harris to the role of chief technology officer (CTO) with immediate effect. Harris will report to chief executive officer Steve Hare as part of his executive committee. Previously, senior vice president, head of engineering & technology at Sage Intacct, which was [...]
The UK’s young ‘tech for good’ startups provide £2.3bn boost to British economy April 24, 2019 The UK is a burgeoning hotspot for socially responsible technology companies, forming a sector valued at billions of pounds to the UK economy. So-called tech for good businesses were worth £2.3bn in 2018, with a turnover of £732m, according to data published today by Tech Nation. It tops the amount produced by the consumer manufacturing [...]
Leaving the legacy behind: Meet the tech company that could put a stop to the banks’ IT failures April 23, 2019 IT meltdowns are becoming dangerously common among the big banks. According to Which, at least one British bank suffered an IT failure every day during the last nine months of 2018. TSB’s outage last year, which left 1.9m customers locked out of their accounts and cost the bank £330m, demonstrates how catastrophic these IT issues can [...]
We are at the big data frontier – we’re going to need some rules April 23, 2019 We create data all the time, even if we don’t realise it. Whether from social media use, video-watching habits, satellite images, traffic flows, or location data from smart devices, companies are increasingly able to use this information to extrapolate trends and capitalise on behaviour patterns. This has driven change across many industries, but it’s of [...]
City grind: Will law’s stuffy image and long hours stop it attracting top talent? April 22, 2019 Law firms are the original pyramid scheme. The model depends on a wide base of junior lawyers working long hours to generate cash for partners who sit at the top and take a share in the profits. Arguably it is a model that has had its day in an era where a younger generation increasingly prioritises [...]
London AI startup Cytora raises £25m from Swedish backer EQT Ventures April 17, 2019 Cytora, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to transform commercial underwriting in insurance, has today closed a £25m series B funding round led by EQT Ventures. Existing investors Cambridge Innovation Capital and Parkwalk also participated in the round, as well as a number of angel backers. Read more: Startups eye bigger slices of the [...]