ERP Today • 15th April 2022

All work and all play: Do young professionals really want an office metaverse?

Imagine you’re three weeks into the new job, and an email lands in your inbox. It’s the HR team, reminding you to take the mandatory cybersecurity training course you’ve completely forgotten about.

ERP Today • 18th March 2022

AI in healthcare: What now after Watson?

The start of the year saw the end of the road for IBM’s healthcare ambitions when Big Blue essentially sold off its Watson Health operation for reportedly more than $1bn.

ERP Today • 14th February 2022

Enterprises better strap in for a journey to the metaverse

When social media giant Facebook changed the name of its holding company to Meta in late 2021, both the internet and enterprise world were abuzz with confusion over what it all meant. After all, here was CEO Mark Zuckerberg talking about something called the ‘metaverse’, both to us and a digital image of himself in a rather pretentious promo video.

Electronic Payments International • 8th February 2022

Digital currencies: How to be more China, less El Salvador

February has been a busy month for digital currencies. In China, the Winter 2022 Olympics has led to a wider rollout for China’s official digital currency, the digital yuan. Last week also saw India announce plans to launch a central bank-run blockchain version of the rupee in 2023.

Verdict • 27th January 2022

How the 2022 Olympics will flaunt the Great Technology Wall of China

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games taking place in February in Beijing are already a hot potato for host nation China. Countries such as the US and Australia are diplomatically boycotting the event, whilst the official app for the event has been dogged by reports of technology flaws and political censorship.

Verdict • 25th January 2022

China metaverse trademarks knocked back as Beijing looks to grip the virtual world

The Chinese state is rejecting trademark applications relating to the metaverse, rebuffing companies big and small as hype ratchets up.

Verdict • 19th January 2022

Mega-disruptor Kakao sees stocks tank as controversy grows in South Korea

South Korea internet giant Kakao has seen its stock price slump to its lowest point in almost a year, as corruption rumours surround the company CEO and the CEO of its fintech subsidiary KakaoBank. All of Kakao’s subsidiaries on the KOSPI market felt the pain during a particularly brutal day of trading.

Verdict • 14th January 2022

China government says virtual idols are just as bad as real human ones

The Chinese government has issued a state-sanctioned report warning internet companies to be cautious when seeking to deploy so-called “virtual idols” – synthetic celebrities intended to gain large human fan bases – in the possibly-forthcoming digital metaverse.

Verdict • 23rd December 2021

Fast Fail: McDonald’s sells off AI operation

McDonalds’ loss is Mastercard’s gain, as it’s been announced that the fast food stalwart will sell off its AI operation Dynamic Yield to the card giant for an undisclosed sum.

Verdict • 17th December 2021

Sidewalk Labs folds back into Google. Have “smart cities” had their day?

Sidewalk Labs, the embattled urban planning subsidiary of Alphabet, is officially folding back into Google as its CEO steps down with health concerns. The news follows a history of bad press for the company over data privacy in the smart city space, which had led Sidewalk to attempt to distance itself from the search giant.

Retail Insight Network • 7th December 2021

If the UK is to escape cheap labour using automation, it’ll need more than just Ocado robots

According to research from analytics firm GlobalData, the robotics industry was worth $45.3bn in 2020. Researchers forecast a compound annual growth rate of 29% and expansion to $568bn in the year 2030. But where does UK automation fit into this picture? And how important to it is grocery tech company Ocado, rated by GlobalData as the leading British brand for robotics in a recent report on robotics?

Future Rail • 13th November 2021

Can vaccine passports be truly inclusive?

A 2019 study by US non-profit MITRE found that biometrics that required holding a phone or laptop in a certain position in relation to one’s face lack usability for users with limited or no vision. It’s also known that those with a loss of dexterity may have trouble using biometric fingerprint technology, while someone with a voice or physical tremor could struggle with voice and face identification respectively.

Verdict • 12th November 2021

From ABB to AI: Finding alpha in the $45bn robotics industry

In a ranking of the top ten companies by market cap in robotics, one won’t find Europe’s ABB Robotics. A list from GlobalData of the technology companies leading in robotics is, as one might expect, led by Microsoft at $2.5tn, ahead of Alphabet, Amazon and Tesla who command figures on a scale between $1.9tn and $1.1tn in the robotics market.

Verdict • 8th November 2021

Japan is leading the way into the elderly-population future. Its solution? AI-powered “Society 5.0”

The world is ageing: According to the WHO, the proportion of elderly persons aged 60 and over in the global population will increase from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050. This could mean smaller workforce and overburdened healthcare systems around the world. The solution? For Japan, it may be an AI-powered future called Society 5.0.

Pharmaceutical Technology • 2nd November 2021

Psychedelics and mental health: This may be the next big thing in pharma technology

Virtual therapy got a big boost last year from meditation apps like Headspace and Calm, luring the user into a meditative state using words and music. In the midst of a global mental health crisis, it should be no surprise many of us are seeking such digital tonics: A report by GlobalData on mobile health apps estimates a combined total of 90 million users for meditation apps Headspace and Calm as of June 2020.

Verdict • 30th September 2021

Zoom edtech chief: Bricks-and-mortar universities will be next to face digital disruption

The “Zoom Boom” of the last 18 months has seen more of us work and play in video calls, leading to a much-discussed sea change in employment and entertainment. But the impact of virtual conferencing on the future of education will be just as great as on the future of work, and there’s growing investment in edtech as a result.

It's Nice That • 22nd September 2021

Everything you need to know when entering the creative industry

Several of my articles shared as part of The Next Generation guide.

Verdict • 16th September 2021

The Metaverse: Future of post-pandemic business, or just another attempt to kickstart VR/AR adoption?

The metaverse is described by GlobalData social media research as a “virtual world where users share experiences and interact in real-time within simulated scenarios”. And for those who see a business future for the metaverse, 2020 was a breakout year: the year in which the metaverse began to gain traction beyond the entertainment sector and started to enter the mainstream.

Verdict • 3rd September 2021

An Uber Eats experiment paves a new path for gig workers

This year’s Tokyo Olympics, like each Olympiad before it, was a celebration of all things speed, the fastest runner or swimmer bespangled in medals. But just a few months before, the city of Tokyo began to host a pilot project from Uber Eats trialling walking couriers, making for a slower sort of food delivery than you might expect from gig workers.

Verdict • 1st September 2021

Smart contactless cities will keep tourism safe and pleasant in the Covid era

Big cities may rely on historical sights and antique treasures to draw in the tourists, but they can still benefit from infrastructure upgrades. Tourism will help to drive this evolution in the near future, and as one of the industries most rocked by Covid-19, the tourism sector is steadily getting smart and preparing for a world in which everyone is free to travel again.