Big ambitions and grand challenges: How the industrial strategy fares one year on November 29, 2018 It’s now a year since the industrial strategy was launched. Encompassing a 255-page tome, it laid five foundations for productivity: ideas, people, infrastructure, places and the business environment. It promised waves of sector deals between government and industry to de-risk investment and improve workers’ skills. Six such deals were announced in the first year, from automotive [...]
Wake up to AI Cyber Defence November 29, 2018 From self-adjusting thermostats and email spam filters, to Netflix’s recommendation algorithms and Alexa virtual assistants, AI (artificial intelligence) is fast emerging out of its infancy, and the only way is up. Due to a recent wave of tech innovations, our day-to-day lives are now looking to be enhanced even further by AI. A typical automated [...]
Could you be offered your next job by a robot? November 29, 2018 There has been much talk about machines taking jobs, yet research shows that most employers expect overall headcount to increase as a result of automation. Across multiple sectors, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping organisations to eliminate low-level, repetitive tasks, freeing up humans’ time to focus on delivering more strategic, premium services. The recruitment industry is [...]
Vita Mojo shakes things up with a £10m series A fundraise, backed by Investec November 28, 2018 Healthy food-focused restaurant chain Vita Mojo has raised £10m in a series A fundraising round led by Investec Bank, as it heads for expansion. The firm said it is now "coming out of stealth mode" to help other businesses with its technology, having already signed up a few major customers such as Virgin Active, Chilango and Wokit. [...]
DEBATE: Should Margaret Thatcher be considered as the scientist to be featured on the new £50 note? November 28, 2018 Should Margaret Thatcher be considered as the scientist to be featured on the new £50 note? Emma Revell, communications officer at the Centre for Policy Studies, says YES. People will argue that science isn’t what Margaret Thatcher was most known for, and they’d be right. But the same could be said of Roger Bannister, a [...]
Inescapable investment truths for the decade ahead November 27, 2018 It seems clear to us that the world investors have got used to over the last few years is very different to the one we need to get accustomed to in the years to come. We have identified a number of economic forces and disruptive forces we think will shape the investment landscape ahead of [...]
City Moves for 26 November – Who’s switching jobs at Circadian Trust, London Square and Loopme? November 26, 2018 Who's moving where in the City this week? Circadian Trust Charitable organisation Circadian Trust, which manages several community and lifestyle centres in the UK, has appointed Phil Boobier as chair of its trustee board. Phil has been an independent director at Circadian and chair of its commercial trading arm Sphere Leisure since 2013. He takes [...]
Defence firm BAE Systems plugs £20m into augmented reality and artificial intelligence on warships November 22, 2018 Defence contractor BAE Systems has today announced a £20m investment to innovate combat systems on its warships, using augmented reality and artificial intelligence to bring its fleet up to date with the latest tech. The firm unveiled several new solutions it has been working on as part of the investment, including augmented reality glasses that would [...]
Samsung to put its voice assistant Bixby in all devices by 2020 November 20, 2018 Samsung Electronics has put its faith in its smart voice assistant Bixby, today announcing a pledge to put the software in all of its electronic products by 2020. The technology, chosen as a rival to Amazon's Alexa, was launched last year via Samsung's top tier smartphone range. The Korean tech giant said at a developer conference [...]
Google and DeepMind are playing fast and loose with society’s trust November 20, 2018 Last week, we were greeted by the disturbing news that DeepMind, an artificial intelligence subsidiary owned by Google’ s parent company Alphabet, is moving some of its healthcare activities into the newly formed Google Health. This isn’t the first time that one of the tech giants has been accused of making misrepresentations to consumers, using [...]