iMarket Insights_01_2018

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Volume 02 | Issue 01 | 2018

Powering Industry 4.0 with Artificial Intelligence

What do American corporations denote in the real world? Pg 36

How Netflix transcends boundaries in the lives of millennials Pg 20

Discover the definition of data in human-resources Pg 30

FEATURE | NEWS | TRAININGS | ANALYSIS

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THIS ISSUE

EDITOR’S NOTE As we know, the present-day technology is suffused with deep knowledge and intuitive capabilities that revolutionise sectors worldwide, including offbeat industries such as marine archaeology. In the wake of progression that no one was expecting decades ago, the world’s industrial growth has become swift— thanks to the rise of blockchain and artificial intelligence.

To focus on this revolution in recent years, our current issue lays emphasis on the brilliance of technology. Included are exclusive features on how startups are ideating to develop orchard management, the gravitational force of Netflix on young generation and the evolution of artificial intelligence in shark mitigation.

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Speaking of artificial intelligence, the story highlights how the technology unrolls as an extraordinary mechanism in fighting marine threat, and much in a non-lethal approach. This sort of improvement, has organically given rise to startups. To common knowledge, startups are everywhere. But what is unknown to many is the kind of sectors they penetrate into—that we have tried to explore in this read. Age-old professions such as orchard management and marine archaeology are of new interest that startups thrive on to build nimble technologies.

In addition, we also spotlight technologies deployed in corporate force and their witty rescue in work complexities.

In an effort to support our features with

HIGHLIGHTS

Volume 02 | Issue 01 | 2018

Powering Industry 4.0

more real-life instances, we have reported news sourced from globally established journals. We hope to furnish details that may allure readers from around the world. In this issue, our readers may find topics that range from business innovation to industrial operations to media industry. Yet. The common theme that ties in across all topics is the power of technology. with Artificial Intelligence

What do American corporations

denote in the real world? Pg 36

How Netflix transcends boundaries in the lives of millennials Pg 20

Discover the definition of data in human-resources Pg 30

FEATURE | NEWS | TRAININGS | ANALYSIS

Sangeetha Deepak Editor, Market Insights For queries and feedback, write to sangeetha@ifinancemag.com

P 20

NEWS 12

Ocean robots film microbes unmanned

24

Midnight’s Children to soon transform into Netflix adaptation

Technology 08

AI drones in shark mitigation

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AGERpoint technology deepens the works of agro management

20

Netflix has reworked cinema

P 14

Innovation 26

Role of ABBYY in contractual language

Corporate Insights 30

Big Data in human resources—a myth?

36

Seeing American corporations without rose-tinted glasses

P 26

Trainings 38

Unveiling the additional spend in email communication

Publisher: Sunil Bhat

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Market Insights

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Feature | Role of Artificial Intelligence

Cover Story

Artificial intelligence:

the future of industrial operations The mechanics of artificial intelligence has become sentient in the sector—promising fertile work capacity

E

xamples of artificial intelligence are everywhere.

The discovery of the concept dates back to the 1950s, but has found acceptance and is attached to meaningful patterns only in recent years. The Manufacturer’s Annual Manufacturing Report 2018 rolled out at the House of Lords observed that 92% of high-ranking manufacturing executives are convinced that ‘Smart Factory’ digital technologies

Market Insights

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

Cover Story

Role of Artificial Intelligence | Feature

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of doing any work a man can do.” This is especially true in present-time. Since the Great Recession in 2000, the American manufacturing industry has succumbed to sluggish growth and always remained an expensive buy because of potent dollar value and defining setbacks in the energy sector.

For the purpose of understanding the significance of artificial intelligence, the Boston Consulting Group surveyed manufacturing and technology managers across 1100 industrial companies about the simple features of artificial intelligence and their readiness to integrate the technology into operational processes. The research was facilitated to primarily serve the study: The Ghost in the Machine: Artificial Intelligence in the Factory of the Future—and the numbers are fascinating: Nine out of ten executives globally are inclined to deploy artificial intelligence in the sector in the next three years.

Seemingly, 90% of the executives have devised plans to deploy the technology in the next three years—and 28% of them have defined a strategy for artificial intelligence in manufacturing.

In Germany, one in four industrial companies has already developed an artificial intelligence strategy.

Markus Lorenz, partner and head in machinery and automation at Boston Consulting Group said: “When it comes to AI, Germany only ranks around the middle of the pack internationally and is in danger of falling further behind. If German industrial companies want to maintain their leading international position, they must greatly increase the scale and speed of their commitment to new technologies and intelligent automation.”

including artificial intelligence is shaping the future of industrial operations and what it means for workers.

The American manufacturing industry has been significantly exposed to new technologies in the form of drones and industrial robots since early 1960s. In 1965, Dr. Herbert Simon, one of the founding fathers of artificial intelligence said: “Machines will be capable in 20 years

The study’s author Daniel Küpper, a BCG partner and global head of the firm’s Innovation Center for Operations said: “While most German executives are still wrestling with the basic question of whether and how to apply AI, businesses in China and India are already optimising their smart factories.”

“Emerging market players show more courage when it comes to AI and they keep identifying opportunities to apply the new technologies and improve them on an ongoing basis.” www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

Feature | Role of Artificial Intelligence

Cover Story

The sectors prominent in AI implementation 25%

30% 25%

20%

On that front, the next round of automation revolution awaits patiently as the implication of these numbers speak in goodwill of artificial intelligence, although its adoption is limited, for now.

5%

Transportation and Logistics

Transportation and Logistics

0% Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technology

Singapore

France

Japan

Austria

United Kingdom

Mexico

Germany

Poland

Canada

India

China

0%

10%

Consumer Goods

5%

15%

Energy

10%

Automotive

15%

Transportation and Logistics

20%

USA

PERCENTAGE OF AI DEPLOYMENT

The countries leading in AI implementation

IMPLEMENTATION OF AI

6

The miraculous effect of the technology on manufacturing is acknowledged in two ways. First: capital investments are usually high and profit margins are in reverse for the sector. So keeping this in mind, countries like India and China are already making headway in artificial intelligence for manufacturing and e-commerce industries. Second: deploying the technology in factories ensures a safe work environment using sensory imaging—which is deeply sensitive and accurate than the human eye.

All told, artificial intelligence is finding its groove in manufacturing as the applications are capable of making complex decisions. Michael Mendelson, a curriculum developer at the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute said: “Many tasks, especially those involving perception, can’t be translated into rule-based instructions. In a manufacturing context, some of the more immediately interesting applications will involve perception.”

Market Insights

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INTERNATIONAL

FINANCE w w w. i n t e r n a t i o n a l f i n a n c e . c o m

Providing in-depth industry analysis global trends and thought leadership insights

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Feature | Role of Artificial Intelligence

In the News

AI drones

might prevent shark attacks in Australia Can so-called shark surveillance technologies provide nonlethal resistance against marine life for the sake of beachgoers?

B

ased on Australia’s shark attack episodes, its alluring coastline known for on-water fatalities is among world’s highest.

According to Shark Attack Data, the percentage of unprovoked and nonfatal incidents estimated at 71.3%, while 28.7% confirmed unprovoked and fatal. Late in 2017, six attacks occurred in Western Australia, five in New South Wales, two in Queensland

Market Insights

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

and a single occurrence in Victoria.

Annually, two fatal attacks are recorded in the country, observed 2017 Shark Attack Summary.

One of the first techniques that many experts consider hostile like gigantic shark nets and baited aquatic traps come with an unduly purpose of killing sharks. In fact, this approach has questioned the severity of dealing with marine life. A Senate Committee

In the News

Role of Artificial Intelligence | Feature

have debated the merits of killing sharks, and as a result embrace AI-assisted surveillance to deepen deterrent measures.

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney are building AI drones to signal alerts as they monitor the coastline of Australia.

Nabin Sharma, a research associate at the University of Technology Sydney, says, “It is quite obvious that beachgoers and beach recreation will become safer with the sharkmitigation technologies, but it is also important for us not to disturb the marine life in general.”

Report on shark deterrent measures forced immediate replacement of lethal drum lines with SMART drum lines to help sharks dodge the threat unscathed.

The Senate probe notes “that lethal measures such as nets are no longer supported…reliably ascertaining community views on matters such as this could be quite difficult.” Many conservation activists and officials

“This is a win-win situation for both sharks and humans.” It is not the first to deploy drones to monitor the country’s coast, but the use of AI algorithm has rested a more advanced mechanism to build a harmonious aquatic experience, eliminating lethal approaches.

Against this backdrop, as part of the country’s shark surveillance conduct, drones patrol over 40 beaches in New South Wales and eight beaches in Queensland on hourly-basis. For example: the startup named The Ripper Group developed

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AI-drones trained to identify objects whose images have been extracted from drone camera footage captured over Australian beaches. The drones called Little Ripper Lifesavers are equipped with an AI algorithm, Shark Spotter: to recognise different objects such as swimmers, boats, dolphins and sharks. Their flight time is set to 28 minutes before they can rest on standby and hover again.

Dr. Sharma, who works with Michael Blumenstein and other AI researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, says, “It’s not about replacing human beings altogether, it’s about assisting human beings to get the work done in a better way with more accuracy. That’s what the application is meant for.”

A Perth-based Smart Marine Systems built another surveillance device on active underwater sonar to capture echo of nearby objects. Clever Buoy is a marine monitoring system, highly capable of detecting large marine life within a certain radius, and has built-in pattern-recognition software to comprehend the target’s swimming motion. For example: this helps to distinguish a shark from a stingray or a dolphin.

www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

10 Feature | Role of Artificial Intelligence

At the same time, Clever Buoy sends alert texts to lifeguards.

The texts cause them to open a mobile app which holds all-relevant information about the target, including its size and location with advanced GPS sensors.

In fact, several initiatives have been taken by the Australian government to commit to such technologies. One

example of that is the New South Wales government deployed Clever Buoy at Bondi Beach, which offered protection against shark attack during World Surf League Championship in the country.

But the impact of the AI technology is not all that perfect—both Shark Spotter and Clever Buoy are not dynamic enough to spot the

In the News

difference between a myriad of shark species.

As it stands, there are too many untold signs to exact shark behaviour and reasons why the attacks have climbed numbers in recent years.

There are more than 400 shark species known to mankind, but only 30 of them have participated in unprovoked attacks.

The Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary directly correlates humanshark interactions to the time spent in the ocean. Academia reports 85% of Australians live within a 50km radius of the coast, and coastal locations attract 65% of international tourists.

As the interest in aquatic recreation deepens, scientific reports expect shark attacks to increase at great speed.

Still, there is hope that AI technology can manifest safe aquatic experience by protecting humans and by conserving marine life. The Ripper Group CEO Ben Trollope says the company is closely working with other organisations to extend surveillance capabilities worldwide.

Market Insights

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

12 News | Artificial Intelligence

Self-driving robots capture oceanic snapshot to study microbes Oceanographers and engineers from the University of Hawaii Mānoa and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have deployed three long range autonomous underwater vehicles (LRAUV), reported World Economic Forum.

At first, run as a trial, the vehicles will have the capacity to travel and collate data for more than 966 km before they are found. The LRAUV has built-in sensors to gather data such as water temperature, chemistry, chlorophyll level, and even focus on large organisms under water.

Edward DeLong, oceanography professor in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean, said: “The new LRAUVs can transit for over 600 miles, and use their own ‘eyes and ears’ to detect important oceanographic events like phytoplankton blooms. These new underwater drones will greatly extend our reach to study remote areas, and also will allow us to sample and study oceanographic events and features we can see by remote satellite imaging,

even when ships are not available.”

As they travel, the robots will be able to collect and store data sample of seawater in an Environmental Sample Processor (ESP). This data sample will allow scientists and researchers to understand the different types of microbes and the places they live in across the ocean.

Jim Birch, MBARI’s lead engineer on

the ESP project, said: “When we first talked about putting an ESP in an AUV, I thought to myself ‘this is never going to happen.’ But now I really think this is going to transform oceanography by giving us a persistent presence in the ocean--a presence that doesn’t require a boat, can operate in any weather condition, and can stay within the same water mass as it drifts around the open ocean.”

AI’s extended support for the environment shows in new study

According to PwC press release, a new study from the audit firm and the World Economic Forum examines how AI can help transform how society addresses climate change, delivers food and water security, reduces risk from disasters, protects biodiversity and bolsters human well-being.

The study is the latest in a series of reports from the World Economic Forum’s Fourth Industrial Revolution for the Earth initiative, designed to accelerate progress of the development and use of emerging technology to benefit environmental challenges.

The report focuses on the use of AI in the context of six

critical global challenges: climate change; biodiversity and conservation; healthy oceans; water security; clean air; weather and disaster resilience.

“AI is the electricity of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Today, as tech pioneers and industry execs alike are starting to see the big impact that applying AI can have, our study shows how it can also be directed to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems,” comments Celine Herweijer, Innovation and Sustainability Leader, PwC UK. Risks including performance, security, control, ethics, and socio-economic impact are explored in the report which recommends that to be sure that AI is developed and governed wisely, government and industry leaders must ensure sustainability considerations are integrated into the pressing fields of AI safety, explainability, transparency and governance.

“It’s incumbent on authorities, AI researchers, technology pioneers and AI adopters to encourage deployments that earn trust and maximise positive returns for society and our planet,” comments Celine Herweijer, Innovation and Sustainability Leader, PwC UK.

Market Insights

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14 Feature | Technology in orchard management

Agro-tech Startups

AGERpoint

is the holy grail of agro management The technology’s nimble intelligence in sensing specifics in terms of tree size and growth, inspired by growers’ needs has become a cognitive business model

Market Insights

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

Agro-tech Startups

Technology in orchard management | Feature

Fortunately, this is not the case.

Evolved into big corporations, the companies are stoking their potential to radically transform the development of hardware, software and drugs—powering the world from stagnation.

But what about the agrarian society?

In popular culture, research in agrarian economy has been shadowed for years as there was no fertile ground for literature on smart farming and smart agriculture.

Incidentally, the robust combination of science and technology could have yielded surplus than anticipated, which translates to curbing hunger for 795 million people in the world— where 12.9% of the population in developing countries remain undernourished.

The insides of Silicon Valley have not fully realised their technological capabilities to protect vulnerable industries like farming. Entrepreneur and essayist Paul Graham writes: “I think you only need two kinds of people to create a technology hub: rich people and nerds. They’re the limiting reagents in the reaction that produces startups, because they’re the only ones present when startups get started. Everyone else will move.”

I

magine, what would life be like without startups of the last few decades? The absence of Silicon Valley and Boston area would have left us in the face of a giant void— without computers, data engineering and ever-faster semiconductors.

This means, no Google to expand knowledge. No Amazon.com to streamline shopping. And no Amgen to revolutionise medicine.

The Father of Silicon Valley Frederick Terman in an effort to attract “bright new faculty and students” encouraged graduates to spin off their companies in commercially developed sectors... and for some reason, entrepreneurial impulses are still channelled toward high-concentration of data to serve the elite group.

For top scientists and researchers, powerful network and social establishment is the magic formula that is deeply invested in multi-billion dollar innovations. Amidst this bias, the agrarian society is lost. However, establishment of research groups dedicated to agricultural science has seen some progression in the fields. The Agricultural Research &

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United States is leading with $118.3 billion exports and Brazil stands at $55.4 billion

Technology: Open Access Journal investigates the mechanical properties of fruits, moisture in grains and assessment of plants in order to suggest suitable technology developments. Even The Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators is a reliant statistical platform providing information on agricultural research and development.

Most countries’ economic strength is ceded to agriculture: from employment opportunities to trade.

For staples such as rice, corn, wheat, beans, lentils and animal proteins that feed the world, United States, China, Brazil, India and Indonesia are featured more commonly. Of the top exporters, United States is leading with $118.3 billion exports and Brazil stands at $55.4 billion.

Some argue that stories of Third Agricultural Revolution between 1930s and 1960s has increased focus on agriculture and the works, but it still pales in comparison to the history of research in biotech and the like.

Now, there is substantive literature in the guise of journals, e-Books and videos produced to factor in the feasibility of high-value production and volume production, especially relevant to economies’ crop output.

Albeit, the research could bring remarkable changes to the crop production enough to feed the world’s growing population—the produce levels are heightened only when the right technologies begin to

www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

16 Feature | Technology in orchard management

push forward.

quality produce in the market.

By this example: Florida-based AGERpoint has set eyes on agricultural development using agile technologies and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company has developed several rounds of technologies for the benefit of growers through data acquisition and analysis. The scope for big data in agriculture is much broader than expected, and its very nature to refine operations is extended to ensuring

The concept evolved when the founder of AGERpoint Thomas McPeek, a former architecture professor at the University of Central Florida was introduced to a Citrus grower in the state, who was longing to discover the fundamentals of his plantation: diameter of the trunk, height of the tree and density of the canopy.

AGERpoint has heightened the scope for big data in orchard management

Market Insights

Certainly, this suggests that there is more to a grower’s need: the elements that determine the growth and longevity of the plantation. This soon became the founding reason for the company to establish. “It was that conversation that was the inspiration to start the company,” McPeek said.

“In that period of time, we’ve figured out how to do all of those things.”

AGERpoint specialised in nut and citrus orchard management software using satellite data is the key to combat plantation troubles.

In fact, the company is not involved in scanning the fields as much as it

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

Agro-tech Startups

illuminates the data extracted from the scanning process. The data is then used as a prop to further the process by drawing maps called shape files for the sake of controlling machineries with deep precision. The machineries include sprayer, fertilizer truck and tree shaker.

Farm owners largely benefit from this data offering for better yield. The data is so miniscule that identifying tree specifics becomes easy. “For us, helping us to grow and get connections within the industry was extremely important,” McPeek added.

AGERpoint’s services has gained steam in the last few years and the company is even listed on Forbes for 25 Most Innovative Ag-Tech Startups.

According to Ag Cred: the company has raised $9 million at a valuation of nearly $30 million—and was expected to break-even in 2017 with $3 million in sales. 

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18 NEWS | Exploring Agro-tech Startups

Venture Capital firms target agriculture startups this financial year This year, venture capital firms have funded five startups working in agriculture with a total investment of US$32 million. This shows that the amount could surpass last year’s nascent stage investment in agrobased startups.

Mark Kahn, Co-founder of Omnivore Partners, said: “We were pioneers in funding agri startups in India since 2011-12. But today, agriculture has become much more mainstream, and you have both impact funds such as Lok, Aavishkaar, Aspada, Elevar, Ankur, Unitus and generalist VC funds such as Accel, IDG, Matrix, Kalaari, Nexus increasingly focused on agri startups.”

“Besides, we are also seeing a lot of strategic investors getting involved in this space of late which would help agri start-ups to scale to the next level.”

In total, Omnivore has funded startups in the agriculture space.

Included are Skymet, Stellapps, Eruvaka, YCook, MITRA, Ecozen,

Doodhwala and AgNext. During the current financial year, the company is looking to invest around 700 million.

“We are currently raising a ~6 billion fund, which had its first close of 3 billion in January 2018. Some of the investors in the first close include German government-owned development bank-KfW, SIDBI, DGGF, AXA Investment Managers, The Rockefeller Foundation, Ceniarth, RBL Bank, and the Sorenson Impact Foundation,” Kahn added.

Another firm, Ankur Capital has closed 11 startup deals. Of the deals,

7 startups belong to the agriculture sector. The companies portfolio also comprises of a multi-brand agri store Big Haat; and Cropin that uses farm data to offer real-time information on farming, productivity and other advancements.

Rema Subramanian, co-founder of Ankur Capital, said: “We are seeing a lot of interest in agri start-up space in the last one year. I think, this is the right time to invest in agriculture as the telecom penetration is increasing and the information asymmetry is slowly coming down.”

Investor-interest swells as agri-tech startups rise Agriculture technology is expanding as one of the most innovative sectors this year. This is mainly because of investor-interest and technology startups that are drawn towards agriculture data.

Venture Capital firms such as Accel India and SAIF Partners are processing and evaluating the range of agro-startups in the industry. For example: IDG Ventures-backed Agrostar is in talks with Accel to raise $10 to $12 million.

In 2015, the business grew $4 million and has more than 5,00,000 farmers using the mobile application. The newer

funds will mostly be used to expand the business and deploy advanced technology in terms of creating better apps for farmers.

Abhilash Tirupathy, cofounder of Goldfarm, said: “The funds upraised will be focused on technological updating.”

A report on Insights Success reads: “Crofarm, an agricultural supply chain technology startup that elevated $1.5 million last year, is seeing to increasing $7 million between April and September to permit farmers to yield their produce beyond Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi.

“Accel and SAIF Partners did not immediately reply to queries. Investors such as Omnivore Partners and Aspada Investments, that are attentively on the agri-tech sector, are also sighted interest in their portfolio companies from venture capital and private equity investors.

“Rendering to Kushal Agrawal, partner at Aspada Investments, European family management and other such funds are likely to ponder investing in India as many of these have capital assigned for investment in agriculture in emerging markets.”

Market Insights

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

Exploring Agro-tech Startups | NEWS

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Village Capital Investment selects twelve agri and food startups Village Capital announced the startups to be a part of Food and Agriculture: US 2018 readiness program in partnership with Campbell Soup Company, QBE and UBS. The startups for the program include: • Athena Intelligence • Augean Robotics • Cambridge Crops Technologies • Cerahelix • Goodr • Grow Bioplastics • ProteoSense • Pulp Pantry • Seal the Seasons • SwineTech • Vega Coffee • Wexus Technologies “Big data has opened up a new

world of ideas around the way we grow and transport food, and entrepreneurs are rethinking the science and business of sustainable farming, transforming a food and agriculture sector that just a decade ago, was stuck in the mud when it comes to innovation,,” said Village Capital Managing Director Allie Burns. “Thee twelve food and agriculture startups selected to participate in this year’s cohort have significant potential for growth and impact.”

“We’re thrilled to be supporting these twelve startups that are spearheading innovation in the food and agriculture industry,” said Daniel Sonke, Director of Sustainable Agriculture, Campbell Soup Company.

“Consumers are paying more

attention than ever to how and where their food is grown. At Campbell, we’re focused on supplementing conventional agricultural wisdom with fresh thinking, new business models, and an ecosystem of innovative partners.”

“At QBE we look forward to applying our expertise in crop, agricultural technology and innovation to advise start-up entrepreneurs creating solutions in food security and addressing the challenges faced by small farmers,” said Josie Barnett, QBE’s Foundation Manager. “The QBE Foundation, Crop and Ventures teams are excited to partner with Village Capital to assist in implementing market-based solutions to de-risk our global food system.”

EuroScicon to host the third international conference on Agricultural and Food Chemistry

The theme being current advancements and its applications in Agricultural & Food Chemistry is a global platform for members interested in the chemistry of agricultural and food products, which includes both raw and processed. The event will be held on July 23-24 in Rome, Italy.

According to the official website, the event will be a global platform “to foster programs of general papers and symposia on special topics dealing with this field of chemistry; to promote such other activities as will

stimulate activity in and emphasize the importance of research in agricultural and food chemistry. Our conference provides quality, timely Symposium at International Conference on Agricultural & Food Chemistry.”

The main emphasis of the event is to build a network and engage participants who are fully connected in the likes of agriculture and food chemistry. In addition, it also focuses on improving communication, and market products and services more efficiently. www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

20 Feature | The rise of millennial sitcom

Millennials

Netflix

has reworked cinema After all, the ultimate streaming repository has understood cinematic experience through creation of 76,897 unique micro genres that perfectly describe what millennials want

S

equel making has exposed the movie business to its grandest opening weekends in the last decade. For example: Star Wars and Fast and Furious franchises have majorly contributed to the strategy, speeding-up the big bucks in the industry.

But the idea, somewhat, has become an extrapolation based on year-on-year movie trends and sales figures. 2016 onward, the market for franchise-based content has had a gloomy effect on industry analysts. Box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian told The Hollywood Reporter, “2016 has proven to be a very tough battleground, and the landscape has been littered with a series of sequels that have come up short and thus call into question the entire notion of the inherent appeal of non-original, franchise-based content.”

In the first half of the twentieth century movies were considered sacred. Stories stoked emotions.

Market Insights

But now, the necessity to reproduce the paradoxes of life on screen has flatlined. This contradiction has upturned the movie business from shooting brilliant numbers in the box office to actually losing its action on young audience—the millennials. With an exception that superhero franchises like Marvel, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, Batman vs. Superman and X-Men: Apocalypse built on comic slices is the reason why Hollywood still

There is a streak of commonality inspiring thousands of millions of Netflix viewers from around the world

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

remains in the ring.

The real definition of movies is largely synonymous with Twister, The Rock, Ransom, and The First Wives Club, original screenplays of the 1960s primarily chosen as topgrossing movies of that decade. Yet. It is difficult to assert opposing views on franchise-based content because six of the top 10 movies were sequels in 2015 and 2016. So, the problem for millennials isn’t sequels—it is content iteration.

The movie industry has learned the lesson that original content has made a huge comeback. And now is the time when millennials don’t take visual medium for granted, especially, with the evolution of streaming platforms in the guise of Netflix, Amazon and the like.

Netflix’s trajectory to become a transform in the entertainment industry is the first to savour critics’ goodwill for a long period of time. For example: the Netflix database is unprecedented: their algorithm thinks out-of-the-box offering

is highly popular among millennials

Consumers between the age group of 18 and 34 years were surveyed about the most positively talked about brands

34 Years

18 Years

73.8%

73.5%

73.3%

71.1%

71.1%

71.1%

70.3%

69.1%

67.3%

Source: MediaCom

22 Feature | The rise of millennial sitcom

movies and TV shows that one can possibly remember.

In fact, the brand’s database has rehabilitated Hollywood. The Netflix algorithm and explorative strategy is rather sharp to tell them what kind of shows millennials want. As part of its research process, people are paid to watch movies and tag them with metadata for organic reach.

Precisely, the taggers are provided with a training document which instructs them on how to classify and rate suggestive content, group actors and directors, and assess characters’ morality. Then, the tags are consolidated in an effort to understand viewers’ choices and create new mind-boggling storylines.

When Netflix released critically acclaimed originals like House of Cards, it became a novelty as the show illustrates calculative, realworld instances. More apparent examples might be Narcos and The Crown, perhaps, The Cult—as Market Insights

documentaries, period pieces and satanic stories based on legendary incidents.

So, does this mean millennials are willing to pay for perceived-as-freeinternet content over multiplexes?

Millennials gravitate towards newer content, simply because they are the largest-living generation desired for streaming companies fully immersed in this game plan.

The advertising spend on movies is absurd—all for rebooting content.

Three decades ago, Hollywood invested 20 cents in advertising for every $1 it earned at the box office.

At present, it cost $60 million in return to justify $100 million earning.

This has become Netflix’s greatest advantage to produce their own content and capture unique data at reasonable expense.

The Media.com report reads “Netflix continues to be extremely popular with a younger generation of viewers who

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

Millennials

remain drawn to the service thanks to a range of original and exclusive content.

The brand has harnessed the power of word of mouth recommendations, which has helped to foster growth around the world.”

The average cable subscription costs $99, while Netflix subscription including other streaming services is slashed down to $10, observed Medium,. A 2017 report published

by The Convergence Research Group rolled out unimaginable numbers: In 2016, 2.05 million Americans ended their TV subscriptions. Referring to LendEDU statistics, 79% of American millennials favour Netflix over other original content, and 92% of them own a Netflix account or have shared access.

That said, Netflix is “no longer just a curated collection of classics and movies,” but has become “the beacon of the binge-watch culture” inspiring thousands of millions of viewers from around the world. 

Millennials desire Netflix for best original content LendEDU commissioned an opinion poll asking 820 millennials a predominant question: Which company has the best original content?

3%

4%

79%

Premium Channels

14%

Source: LendEDU

24 NEWS| Shows in the pipeline

Netflix creates new anime series As part of their Netflix-Anime panel at Anime Expo, Netflix announced two new anime series, along with the renewal of popular series Aggretsuko for a second season. Some of the shows listed “hope to excite the boundless passion of anime fans and make Netflix a premier destination for this beloved art form.”

Ultraman An action drama centered around a man possessing the spirit and DNA of the legendary hero “Ultraman” as he wears a metallic ultra-suit and fights against evil.

Kengan Ashura Kazuo Yamashita is an ordinary fifty-six year old man who one day is summoned by the chairman of his company and hired as a gladiator. He learns that these hired gladiators engage in battles called “Kengan Matches: to protect the corporate rights of the businesses they represent. Kazuo Yamashita

is assigned to battle a mysterious Kengan fighter named Ohma Tokita.

Both men join the “Kengan Zetsumei Tournament” with the hope of winning the spot as chairman of the Kengan Organization.

Aggretsuko Season 2 Everyone’s favorite death metal panda is back! Retsuko will return to Netflix for Aggretsuko Season 2.

Produced by Fanworks and featuring a character originally created by Sanrio, the creator of Hello Kitty, season two of Aggretsuko is coming to Netflix.

Castlevania Season 2 Returning to Netflix for a second season, Castlevania, inspired by the classic video game series, is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes himself. Trevor Belmont, last survivor of his house, is no longer alone, and he and his misfit comrades race to find a way to save humanity from extinction at the hands of the grief-maddened Dracula and his sinister vampire war council.

Netflix to adapt Midnight’s Children into global original series Netflix Inc., the world’s leading internet entertainment service, today announced a new Netflix original series based on Midnight’s Children, Sir Salman Rushdie’s seminal work of fiction. The series will be available exclusively to over 125 million Netflix members in 190 countries around the world.

Midnight’s Children (1981) is a literary tour de force that has won multiple accolades, including the 1981 Booker Prize, the Best of the Booker twice - both in 1993 and 2008, and the James Tait Memorial Prize. The critically

acclaimed and hugely successful novel is considered by some to be amongst the 100 best novels of all time by the Modern Library. It is considered a groundbreaking example of postcolonial, postmodern and magic realist literature.

Erik Barmack, VP, International Originals, Netflix, said, “Midnight’s Children is one of the great novels of the world, and its themes are still relevant to the India of today. The narrative continues to fascinate audiences decades after it was first published. We are incredibly excited to translate this pioneering work of fiction that parallels the birth of modern India, for a global audience.

The rich experience and talent of Indian creators combined with the global reach of Netflix, have the potential for millions of more people around the world to rediscover this story.”

Sir Salman Rushdie, was knighted in 2007 for services to literature. Midnight’s Children is considered his magnum opus. On the association with Netflix, he said, “I am absolutely delighted that Midnight’s Children will have a new life on Netflix, and greatly look forward to working with them to help create it.”

Market Insights

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

Netflix market | NEWS

25

The City of Atlanta establishes its own streaming platform ChooseATL is a new launch by the Metro Atlanta Chamber in 2015 in an effort to attract more millennials.

Kate Atwood, executive director of ChooseATL, said: “One of the things that is both special about Atlanta and desired by the millennial generation is diversity and diversity of people, but also diversity of thought, industry, culture and subculture.

“In Atlanta it kind of makes it hard as a marketer to narrow in on a niche identity, but we also know right now it’s something to celebrated.”

THEA being the platform is developed to allow local brands and content generators to create their own ‘YouTube’ to advertise their work in Atlanta.

A report on AdWeek reads “Some of the initial partners for the project include startup hub Switchyards,diversityfocused content creator Blossom, marketing agency Moxie and others. The hope is that as the platform grows, more brands will create channels and promote their content which will encourage and convince millennials to want to move to or stay in the Atlanta area.”

Blossom founder Diamonde Williamson, said: “I knew I had to be involved because I am a creator in Atlanta, I want to grow in Atlanta, I want to bloom in Atlanta so it just made sense.

“THEA really accelerates the opportunity to spread the word about what we are doing, but it also allows us to prove what we are trying to do. We have this platform that is behind us that supports us and their mission is solely dedicated to making sure the world knows about the creative in Atlanta. That’s special.”

Netflix captures Irish market According to Comreg’s Ireland Communications Survey 2017, Netflix is watched in 500,000 Irish households. When the households were asked questions about the giant streaming site, more than two in five—in conversion 42% of them said they watched streaming platform. The survey also found that 56% of viewers range between 15 and 34 year olds, and 11% belong to the age group of 65-plus.

Since Netflix does not publish its viewership numbers on country basis, the estimation is pretty rough. Ergo, number of high-profile audience watching first-class shows such as The Crown, Stranger Things and Orange is the New Black is untold.

A report on The Irish Times reads “If 42% of Ireland’s 1.24 million fixed residential broadband subscriptions were to be used to access Netflix, in line with the survey sample, that would suggest a user base here of

about 521,000.

“If 42% of Ireland’s 1.58 million television homes had access to the platform, that would indicate a higher tally of 663,000 Netflix households in Ireland. Not all television homes have access to broadband, however—a factor that may hold back the growth of the platform in rural areas.”

The company has 118 million

subscribers worldwide. Of the subscriber listing, 63 million are said to be foreign, outside the US. The company’s deal with Sky offers premium customers Sky Q service to directly broadcast Netflix series in addition to the former’s main menu. Also, the streaming service is promoted on Virgin Media, in an effort to fulfill the Netflix partnership with the parent company Liberty Global in 2016.

www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

26 Feature | Text Analytics

Innovation

ABBYY is untangling

the complexities of contractual language Text Analytics for Contracts is creating new dynamics for information-heavy documents—but what are the challenges and benefits this technology could bring to enterprises?

A

s a global provider of content intelligence solutions and services, ABBYY helps companies transform vast volumes of information into actionable intelligence. The firm provides intelligent capture to help organisations drive innovation by providing meaningful insights, data, and relationships to ultimately improve business outcomes. In general, they offer a complete range of AI-based technologies and solutions to transform documents and content into business value.

Fujitsu, Konica Minolta, Panasonic Communications, Toshiba and Xerox.

compare, and analyse contract language through configurable clause libraries.

Paul Goodenough, Head of Enterprise UK at ABBYY, spells out the technology’s core intelligence in processing data and deciphering contractual language for business proceedings, in conversation with International Finance.

ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts is a modular, open, configurable solution. It has ‘snapin’ or ‘snap-out’ functionality as necessary to help clients create different workflows using specific micro-services such as recognition, classification, entity extraction, semantic analysis and natural language processing.

The company works with thousands of organisations globally and more than 50 million people from over 200 countries and regions. They work with a number of content management vendors, including EMC2/ Documentum, HP, M-Files, Laser Fiche and scanner manufacturers such as Sharp, Canon, Epson,

ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts extracts intelligence from contracts to help streamline content migration, obligation analysis and risk mitigation. It incorporates advanced classification, entity extraction and natural language algorithms to understand contract semantics and to identify specific clauses, sections, and obligations. It can also contrast,

Market Insights

What are the core functions of ABBYY’s Text Analytics for Contracts?

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

The technology is a multi-tenant system, providing a scalable, secure environment for clients to extract content intelligence from businesscritical documents. It is anchored in a NoSQL database that can store and manage extracted linguistic intelligence that will enable ABBYY to deliver new capabilities such as visual and predictive analytics going forward.

Text Analytics | Feature

Innovation

•

•

•

Data hub and dashboards: Provides project managers with an overview of all documents within tenant projects and datasets ready for analysis to identify critical documents, normalise data across multiple documents and take action and manage workflows Review and analysis: Allows reviewers to approve or correct interpretations of the identified content for section and obligation analysis, as well as compliance with regulatory clause libraries Exception handling: Identifies exceptions to the process and provides a way to mark-up individual clauses, sections, entities and metadata

Contracts must be understood in context. These may come in the form of lease obligations, M&A transactions, trade finance agreements, mortgage loans or compliance obligations—all of which are mandated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which requires businesses to adhere to a new set of guidelines relating to revenue recognition. Identifying and analysing performance obligations relating to such complex contractual instruments is inherently labour intensive and often prone to error.

•

How business-intuitive is the technology when interacting with data?

The technology can detect the relationship between entities within contracts, such as who the seller or the buyer is. It uses semantic analysis to ensure a high accuracy rate of entities, facts and events, and natural language processing to help understand and identify the relationships between the three.

By extracting key facts and events from content such as email, documents, and faxes, businesses can quickly monitor for red flags or misuse. It can also be used to identify and manage commitments and obligations and to help manage risk.

Can you explain the technical capabilities of this technology to match human-like understanding of contracts and leases?

the names, organisations, locations, dates, quantities and monetary value from contracts •

Document sectioning: This approach can identify information from sectioned documents using natural language processing algorithms that automate the contextual analysis of clauses

•

Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP helps organisations to read and analyse textual information, infer meaning in the context and determine which parts of the document are important by analysing the co-occurrence of text and their relationships within documents

•

Text clustering and classification: Analyses and categorises documents into related clusters based on their similarity and relationship

ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts scans, identifies and extracts meaning from documents, in much the same way as humans do. For example:

•

Recognition: Providing highly accurate, scalable data processing and document capture solutions that intelligently extract, classify and serve critical data from incoming images, emails and document streams.

Once captured, the data is automatically validated for accuracy and compliance, and integrates into corporate information systems such as Contract LifeCycle Management (CLM) systems, ERP and EDMS applications Entity extraction: Automatically identifies and extracts entities such as

“

The technology can detect the relationship between entities within contracts, such as seller and buyer

“

There are three types of core interface modules:

27

What are the key enterprise benefits of using Text Analytics for Contracts?

Contracts define the nature of business relationships between two or more parties. They govern and impact virtually every aspect of an enterprise along three key dimensions: •

Business value: For example, procurement requires timely data from contracts relating to price, quantity, discounts, and incentives in order to efficiently manage cash flow, working capital, and to take advantage of early payment discounts from suppliers

•

Efficiency improvements: Automating contract life cycle management processes reduces transactions costs and

28 Feature | Text Analytics

improves staff productivity.

By automating the discovery, extraction and classification of contracts, business lines and IT departments can identify facts and metrics in order to streamline the time-tointelligence so that they can efficiently perform obligation analysis and input into business decisions •

Risk mitigation: Compliance with regulatory regimes such as FASB and IASB ASC 606 revenue recognition rules and GDPR requires companies to assess their legacy contracts and accelerate their time-to-compliance in order to mitigate risk. By understanding and tracking their commitments, they’re in a much better position to respond to a crisis such as a data breach, particularly in light of the onerous penalties and enforcement measures

Innovation

cycle including retention and enforcement policies, which enables staff to meet document production and preservation requirements in a timely and cost-effective way

Can the Text Analytics for Contracts be configured to suit client needs? Do you have an example?

ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts is designed to address the following client needs: •

How does the technology help businesses reduce turnaround time?

There are several key areas where text analytics for contracts can reduce turnaround times: •

•

Scanning and digitising contracts enables organisations to extract relevant metadata, contract clauses accelerate the contract review process Once contracts are scanned and digitised the contractual meta data and documents may be indexed and also retrieved in a timely fashion

•

Using section based natural language processing, contract clauses can be identified and isolated to make legal review easier

•

Improved control of all contracts throughout their entire life

Market Insights

to opportunities and risks.

In North America sweeping changes to IFRS and GAAP accounting rules require companies to re-evaluate and review their existing contracts and determine compliance with new revenue recognition rules. Such regulations require companies to identify all customer contracts, determine performance obligations, determine the transaction price, allocate this price and then recognise the revenue in conformance to the new rules

•

Content migration: This is a daunting task for organisations with large volumes of legacy contracts—be it paper or electronic. Particularly in light of regulatory and compliance requirements, organisations need to evaluate and assess their obligations and ability to adhere to changes in regulatory mandates. An easy-to-use, extensive and scalable contract analytics service that can automate the extraction of business-critical information using natural language processing is essential to reduce the time needed for review and analysis. This also enables organisations to respond to enquiries and potential audits by regulatory agencies Obligation analysis: Contracts connect directly

The technology is a cloud-based SaaS solution enabling organisations in contractual requirements

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

•

Compliance analysis: GDPR represents a dramatic evolution of current EU privacy requirements that for the first-time place organisations all over the world, not just in the EU, in the cross-hairs of EU regulators, who will now be armed with fines of up to four percent of gross world-wide. Moreover, Article 28(3) demands an exacting set of privacy requirements for all data processing, transfer or use agreements for companies.

Since few organisations have the resources necessary to review and revise all such agreements, ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts can accelerate compliance reviews

How scalable is the technology in terms of flexible deployment and confidentiality?

The technology is a cloud-based Solution-as-a-Service solution that enables organisations to provide for resources as their requirements dictate. It can accommodate multiple projects and is both modular and scalable so that it can support multiple tasks and document volumes. For review and analysis, companies can utilise their own personnel or service partners. For those organisations

Text Analytics | Feature

Innovation

that lack internal support, ABBYY provides Text Analytics for Contracts as a complete managed service. This added resource allows organisations without sufficient legal, compliance, contracting or procurement capacity to take advantage of the technological capabilities to accelerate their time-tovalue.

What are the errors identified in Text Analytics for Contracts’ output?

Machine learning technologies are designed to uncover hidden patterns in contracts to empower businesses to spot inconsistencies and errors, allowing them to: •

Ask whether they been properly classified and managed within the contract repository either for archival or support transactional business processes

•

Identify discrepancies between contractual obligations and compliance with them

•

Assess their ability to adhere to compliance obligations and undertake gap and risk analysis

Since the launch, what has been your clients’ feedback?

Since the launch of ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts in April 2018, we are involved in a number of implementations along with our partners and while we can’t share specific details, the feedback thus far has been hugely positive. It’s also been encouraging to see and hear the positive feedback from the product demonstrations – and customers seem to really see the business value of this software.

What is the next set of improvements outlined for ABBYY’s Text Analytics for Contracts?

29

ABBYY has been, and continues to be, in the vanguard of innovation. We have spent decades trying to connect business documents to business value. ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts makes that connection a reality, enabling enterprises to access critical intelligence from documents needed to drive revenue and reduce risk. We are continuously investing in enhancing ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts with machine learning and AI capabilities. Given its modular and extensible architecture we have the ability to plug in new innovative technologies that streamline timeto-intelligence and document understanding. 

Paul Goodenough is Head of Enterprise for the UK and Ireland, and is responsible for the largest customer relationships and new business in these regions. Before joining ABBYY, Paul served for several years as Head of Insurance/Financial Sector at Iron Mountain, and as a result has gained profound knowledge in these sectors. www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

30 Feature | Revolutionising Human Resources

Corporate Insight

Big Data

in human resources—a myth?

The famous business jargon of all time—Big Data is perceived to become the supreme practice in talent analytics and other fundamentals of human resources that follow…but will the outcome be compelling?

A

scending the corporate ladder means exploring the best ways to supervise talent and meet work demands, which almost always occurs at the same frequency. Countless articles, white papers and studies deeply focus on the predictors that determine employer-employee relationships and Market Insights

the complex issues that surface for days on end.

So, what happens when managers are not proficient enough to demonstrate people skill?

Industry experts argue that humanresources departments are the best contenders to set the tone for all in the workplace. But unfortunately,

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

human resources has quickly been sapped of its substance purely because of common misperceptions, and even more so for being treated as a relaxed, unexcitable profession.

The actual existence of humanresources departments rest in humane treatment of employees during conflict—far from being clinical. And

Corporate Insight

Revolutionising Human Resources | Feature

midst of a great infrastructure project that in some ways rivals those of the past, from Roman aqueducts to the Enlightenment’s Encyclopédie.”

“The project is datafication. Like those other infrastructural advances, it will bring about fundamental changes to society.”

As the book suggest data is everything. For example: 98% of global information is digitally stored and the size has developed fourfold since 2007.

In the middle of trying to become analytic, businesses are forced to remember that human-resources departments only comprise of people, who are sometimes intuitive.

And it is in this defining moment when Big Data is harnessed.

For the uninitiated, Big Data bears the large structured and unstructured data analysed computationally to comprehend trends and patterns, especially relevant to human interactions— without which the process is timeconsuming.

Referring to tangible changes, algorithms responsible for predicting stock-price movements have even transformed Wall Street and the like. In fact, a professor at Cornell’s school of industrial and labour relations said a “huge surge in demand for workforce-analytics roles” has been created in recent years. This serves as an exemplar of

the rudimentary profile of the job being people analytics has popularly evolved in the form of Big Data.

Is Big Data a modish term in humanresources?

In the book Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier writes: “We are in the

Is Big Data a modish term in human-resources?

31

98% of global information is digitally stored and the size has developed fourfold since 2007 how dedicated analytics can predict behavioural patterns for the sake of corporate decision making.

A 2013 report by Dynistics observed that nearly 30% of recruitment professionals were not fully absorbing the capabilities of Big Data. According to the company, those who use Big Data are likely to double their output and significantly lower the total time and money being invested in the evaluation process.

That’s the theory as most of us know it. That line between understanding the application of Big Data in human-resources and launching distinctive protocols for work ethics is ubiquitous.

Now, rising giants have started to explore the new possibilities, and to some extent understand the psyche behind employees’ attributes: attitudes, complexities and growth in the workplace. This can even feel a little intimidating, but unavoidably, they are the bywords for evaluating performance. However, the application might be challenging.

The greatness of Big Data is so widespread in corporate, and has almost been interrogated by Harvard Business Review in its recent study, which assesses the certainty of Big Data in human-resources departments.

The study reads “As a literal definition, HR does not actually have big data, or more precisely,

www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

32 Feature | Revolutionising Human Resources

Corporate Insight

almost never does. Most companies have thousands of employees, not millions, and the observations on those employees are still for the most part annual. In a company of this size, there is almost no reason for HR to use the special software and tools associated with big data.”

Based on the Review, the primary cause of concern for humanresources departments in their quest to make the right decisions is not in the lack of Big Data, but more focused on the simple use of data. The data, in this context, is mostly associated with hiring and performance management, and depending on the requirement they reside in multiple databases. Precisely, most companies including corporate giants do not need highly skilled data scientists to help them with that. Instead, they need data managers to clean up the data coupled with basic softwares such as Excel spreadsheets can do the analysis.

By this example, Google in their efforts to analyse and predict people data introduced a multiyear research project called Project Oxygen. The project helps to identify

Big Data is so widespread in corporate, and has been re-assessed

by HBR in its new study Market Insights

criterias that makes a good manager within the organisation. The exercise is super intensive, but nothing that is undiscovered in textbooks. This means, determining good managers is possible through practical knowledge that plays out within organisations, across teams, but expecting to find unique insights is strenuous.

In some case, companies operating in the European Union are legally bound to keep data in an inflexible manner—where the data cannot be moved on a whim.

Multinational companies are not allowed to study employees’ data across countries at the same time.

Remarkably, this practice might even reveal unattractive numbers in terms

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

of pay disparity, gender inequality and of the sort in the big picture— and therefore, human-resources have to be sure not to turn data over to other departments for the sake of confidentiality.

Quick-witted companies like IBM have adopted the regimen to compile data generated by employees through short surveys and select social media platforms based on the company’s discretion.

After all, quality of data matters. And when companies realise the next big thing in people analytics is not Big Data, but data management—a new era of ‘datafication’ will be reborn. 

BIG DATA TRENDS IN HR

Replacing vanity metrics

Vanity metrics is large in volume, but offers very little insight as they do not reflect numbers that matter while forming decisions or measuring business goals

Smarter predictive analytics

Predictive analytics is proven to be twice as helpful because they are able to extract meaningful insights into employee benefits, talent management and promotions

Focus on human capital

Using data analytics companies can easily earmark financial worth to individual task in order to understand the monetary value each employee brings into the organisation

Seeking new perspective

The discovery of sensor-driven data has inspired human-resources departments as they seek to monitor legitimate work ethics and compliance policies

Source: Villanova University

34 NEWS | Blockchain Disruption

The importance of blockchain in human-resources The blockchain technology is well trialled and its high-function in cryptocurrency space has extended to other sectors such as human-resources, logistics, fashion, healthcare and much more.

The two companies Hays and NRG are in their nascent stages of deploying blockchain into their business processes. Of the processes, humanresources and recruitment will be streamlined using this technology.

Grant Torrens, Business Director of Hays in Singapore, said: “Blockchain’s implications for the finance industry are well-known, but the potential to use the technology in the world of work is huge and it will soon transform HR and recruitment.”

Based on survey in recent years, it is found that blockchain could have positively impact the functions of humanresources in more ways than one: Recruitment Using blockchain, candidate

information comprising of grades, certificates, work history and experience can be streamlined and verified accordingly.

from authorised institutions. This in turn helps to ease the verification process for human-resources department and proceed faster.

Andrew Spence, HR Transformation Director at Glass Bead Consulting, said: “There are problems with our recruitment of different types of workers. These include prejudice and bias, lack of visibility of available workers, low levels of trust in centralised social networks, spam and high fees to intermediaries. We now have the opportunity to build the next generation work platforms enabled by technology such as artificial intelligence, mobile and blockchain, the underlying technology behind Bitcoin.”

Smart Contract Nearly 45% of blockchain users have implemented smart contracts into their organisation. The employeeemployer contract will effortlessly fasten the process of salary credit without any delays or fraud. This system supports the rise of gig economy, and its easier to have an employee on and off contract without heavy time consumption.

Verification The Computer Technology Industry Association found that 51% of early blockchain adopters use the technology to verify digital information that is usually sourced

Attendance The blockchain technology is highly efficient in storing biometric data such as iris scan or fingerprint for record purpose. Human-resources departments can rely on this method to draw real-time insights on employee activities in the organisation and track attendance.

Crowdsale for DISCIPLINA—The first blockchain for education and HR DISCIPLINA is a multifunctional blockchain for projects in the fields of education and recruitment. It ensures the transparency of the platform’s activity and creates the conditions for maintaining the confidentiality and reliability of information entered by the ecosystem participants. The system will allow to keep a unified register of academic achievement and qualifications, and generate a personal score for every user of the platform.

The private element has been introduced in order to store private and personal user data, as well as those materials that are protected by copyright or commercial confidentiality. The private segment does not allow any data except hashes into open access. The public segment provides access to the data that verifies the integrity of the private chains and the reliability of the data stored by the network.

Since the blockchain will store confidential information (such as students’ personal data, grades, and test results), public blockchain solutions that store all of their transactions in open access—Ethereum or EOS, for example—are unacceptable. At the same time, private Market Insights

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

blockchain solutions, such as Hyperledger, do not provide enough verifiability of the data stored on them. That is why DISCIPLINA is being developed as a specific blockchain to ensure the full support for the needs of the educational and recruiting spheres.

This blockchain will allow to digitally store the data on personal achievements and provide access to the data through a unified platform, guaranteeing its permanence and credibility. It will also allow recruiters to search for candidates according to their achievements and fields of expertise and help students establish a clear career path.

The company is an open-source blockchain: any educational or recruiting service will be able to use this blockchain in their projects. TeachMePlease will be the first project in the field of education based on the DISCIPLINA blockchain.

It is being implemented by the TeachMePlease team from Saint-Petersburg in partnership with Serokell—an international company that specializes in the development of distributed systems. They also have experience in cryptocurrency development, one of which is Cardano.

Blockchain Disruption | NEWS

35

Blockchain meets marine archaeology A well-known oceanographer David Gallo recently announced his position as vice-president for exploration for Bahamas-based blockchain marine archaeology startup PO8.

The marine archaeology startup utilises blockchain technology to explore and re-discover artifacts submerged under Bahamian waters for billions of years. The artifacts dates back to the Spanish Galleon treasure ships of the Spanish Empire.

To me PO8 is the most exciting project to come along in decades,” says Gallo. “It encourages the development of new technologies and techniques for undersea

exploration and visualisation. In doing so PO8 will accelerate the ability to locate, document, and protect the precious artifacts of Bahamian undersea cultural resources. The waters surrounding the islands of The Bahamas are not only rich with shipwrecks but also with unlimited treasures of the mind.”

PO8’s Co-founder and CEO, Matthew Arnett is quite thrilled on having Gallo on board, who understands the significance of archaic objects.“We’re thrilled to have Gallo join the core team. Gallo is an authority in the Oceanography field. He understands the importance of blockchain and the

critical role it plays in innovation for our industry. It brings all stakeholders together. Whether it’s transparent record keeping or changing the way artifacts are owned, blockchain provides tremendous benefits to our industry,” Arnett added.

New York City set to launch blockchain initiatives

NYCEDC will soon launch the NYC Blockchain Resource Center, which will become a hub for the blockchain industry by developing public awareness through technology and establishing a good network of entrepreneurs in an effort to promote new ventures. NYCEDC expects to launch the blockchain in late 2018.

NYCEDC President and CEO James Patchett, said: “There’s no city in the world that’s better positioned to lead the way in blockchain. ““We’re a global leader in finance,

real estate, media, and tech – all industries seeing incredible innovation from this new technology. The City is putting a big focus into blockchain to find out how we can grow the industry and make sure it’s creating great opportunities for New Yorkers.”

Kevin Worth, CEO of New Yorkbased CoinDesk, the leading global blockchain technology news outlet, said: “We’re excited that we get to kickoff our Consensus conference with this news, and are pleased to be partnering with the NYCEDC on

the first Blockchain industry job fair as well as supporting their efforts to make NYC the next great hub of innovation.”

“There is an enormous potential for applications and growth of blockchain technology,” said Council Member Paul Vallone, Chair of the Committee on Economic Development. “New York City has already positioned itself as a global leader in this field and initiatives such as this will ensure we remain on the forefront of this rapidly growing industry.”

www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

Seeing

36 Feature | American Corporation in Perspective

Corporate Insight

American corporations without rose-tinted glasses

Paradoxically, corporations have established precedent for social responsibility in the past—but this interpretation is being dissected in the modern age of public knowledge

M

ultinational corporations comprising of C-suite privilege pride themselves on a history that dates back to the sixteenth century as what Robins describes as a “social invention of the state.” The idea first granted for the creation of financial resources and expansion of imperial interests has over centuries travelled to become a globalised Market Insights

object of commerce with interests that sometimes favour their political climate and home economy.

Today, American corporations are on the verge of delight as they enjoy the same constitutional rights as the country’s citizens—empowering themselves to voice opinions that make bold headlines on journals and the likes of Wall Street.

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

In fact, there are plenty of homegrown cases to second this school of thought. Corporations and corporation agencies may seem a bit pretentious, but their potent moves during legal and social battles appeal to the sensibilities of many scholars and advocates—because institutions including churches, societal groups and others can sometimes be sapped of their ability to assert opinions.

Corporate Insight

Citing an old example: when the Legislature of California imposed special property tax on railroad, Southern Pacific Railroad Company charged a powerful statement under the Fourteenth Amendment about the charges being an distasteful act of inequity.

In most recent instance, a webhosting company in Los Angeles called DreamHost LLC is fighting a subpoena by Department of Justice with an opposing memo that illustrates the haughty image of the Justice Department and vehemently argues based on cases defending the Fourth Amendment rights of advocacy groups such as the NAACP and the ACLU— and also in goodwill of multinational corporations such as Amazon, Google, Yahoo and Facebook.

James Cox, corporation’s class professor observed that corporations are “the modern equivalent of the ancient city-state.” The people are not just top management and investors. Included are the corporate employees, their families and everyone else, who enable businesses to operate on national and international grounds.

In 1952, management consultant and author Peter Drucker wrote: “We believe today, both inside and outside the business world, that the business enterprise, especially the large business enterprise, exists for the sake of the contribution which it makes to the welfare of society as a whole.”

To accept American corporations for what they are, their stifling supremacy has to be channelled in the right direction

American Corporation in Perspective | Feature

37

“There is, in fact, no disagreement, except on the lunatic fringes of the Right and on the Left.”

Albeit, the glorious attempts of corporate activities are fastened together, it has somewhat, veiled a variety of incompetent factors— such as pay inequality, poor growth and low productivity, which are not boldly addressed as part of American success. Still, a document from the US Census Bureau Statistics of U.S. Businesses Employment and Payroll Summary: 2012 exclaims that 56.1% of private sector workers are hired by large corporations with more than 500 employees and 48.4% are employed with smaller companies.

This means, unavoidably, the big bucks are tied to corporate forces.

But the downside of the business story—which is corporate capitalism is no joke. The argument about corporations becoming an exemplar of social contribution could actually be a perversion of truth. During a conversation with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Barack Obama once said: “Corporations aren’t people. People are people.”

Alex Gibney in his documentary conversed an unpleasant moment captured in the history of Apple— how the brand under Jobs coiled beyond one’s imagining.

The Week reports “Jobs colluded with other tech overlords to hold down employee wages in Silicon Valley; he made probably illegal use of stock backdating to get big payouts for himself and others at Apple; and of course there were the countless Chinese workers made to endure low pay, wage theft, and brutal conditions in the globespanning manufacturing apparatus that puts together the iPhone, the iPad, and most other Silicon Valley toys.”

It is unfortunate as employees at Apple were commonly referred to as Jobs’ “family”—which touched upon the ironic side of the company’s repute.

In fact, when Jobs’ was asked about workers’ suicide at Foxconn, he was

more upset that people weren’t talking enough about Apple products and their ingenuity in the world of technology.

Apple won’t be the first and the last among other American corporations to abuse power. Yet. In years past, a poll in 1950 found that 60% of Americans showed favouritism towards big businesses signalling that corporations reflect the people and to some extent is true.

To accept American corporations for what they are, their stifling supremacy has to be channelled in the right direction because they must teach assertiveness, strength and courage for a world that still profusely embraces power.

Kent Greenfield, Professor of Law and Law Fund Research Scholar at Boston College penned: “corporations may provide a brake on the political pendulum’s rightward swing…To survive, corporations must be inclusive and multicultural in ways that homogeneous, economically distressed, insular tribes are not.”

In his telling, American corporations need to become more human in their approach and not ‘artificial’. The economic states in the present times have the power to amend corporate laws in order to allow corporations to take ownership as well as to represent the employees and the public on their highly significant board meetings—as a trajectory of corporate citizenship. 

www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

38 Feature | Trainings

Corporate Insight

Do you know

that 25% of your salary goes to email communication?

Just like many others, do you also start and end the day with emails?

W

hether you are at home, on vacation, in meeting, at training, or even having food or while travelling — do you keep checking your mailbox? Are your actions, reactions, and emotions at work are dependent on the emails you exchange? If yes, then this article is a must read for you.

You might be thinking that you are an expert in managing your mailbox.

But, do you know that overuse of emails is actually highly unproductive and eating up to 25% of your productive time? Don’t believe this?

Let’s look into some frightening email statistics.

On average, an office worker sends and receives 150+ messages and spends up to two-and-a-half hours per day only on managing emails. Carleton University (Canada) report suggests that an office worker spends almost 25% of their work time Market Insights

to manage their emails. So if you are paying salary of US $100,000, US $25,000 goes in managing emails.

Top executives spend up to 1000 hr per year in managing their personal and work emails.

As per Radicati Group, the total number of business and consumer emails exchanged per day globally is around 269 billion. These numbers are expected to grow by 320 billion by 2021.

350 300

269

281.1

2017

2018

293.6

306.4

319.6

250 200 150 100 50 0

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

2019

2020

Worldwide Daily Email Traffic (B), 2017-2021 Total worldwide email sent/received (billions)

2021

Trainings | Feature

Corporate Insight

Email is an important part of our work life. Entire corporate world is highly dependent on email for all formal communication. But, too much reliance and dependency on emails affects your productivity and work-life balance too.

This can result into increasing stress levels impacting morale and even office work environment. As per another survey conducted by the altassian, an individual need almost sixteen minutes to refocus on the work after handling emails.

Questions Best part, even you know that email is time consuming. Above discussion might be raising questions like: •

How can you reduce your dependency on the emails?

•

How can you manage your mailbox more efficiently?

•

What can be done to fight with the unavoidable email communication system?

•

What is the solution?

•

Are there any alternatives?

Solutions Some of the possible solutions to manage emails are: 1. Reduce your dependency on email for every other communication (Using alternative method of communication)

Just keep in mind that email is just a means of communication and not a silver bullet. Use it to communicate effectively, and if it’s not yielding the results STOP emailing immediately.

Do’s •

Set email check time: Set dedicated time slots of 15-30 (2-3 times/day) to manage your emails. Thi5 entirely depends on the volume of emails that needs your immediate attention.

•

Set no email time: You should set an email time during which you don’t want to check any emails. Ensure your auto-reply is on during that time and others can reach you through some other means in case of urgency.

•

Reply immediately after reading: Most of the times we read an email and don’t reply instantly. If you read it once; and then come back to reply — you end up reading the email again. Over the course of a week, this ends up being a

2. Start ignoring mails which are not directed to you 3. Set no email timings (no mail access during that time) 4. More efficient use of emails and to the point mails, for this you may like to conduct highly customised training for your team addressing their specific need To start with, just think do you really need to spend time on every single mail coming to your mailbox? In most of the mails, you might be in cc or bcc and no question are asked from you. There could be many system notification mails which might be filling your inbox. Most of these actually don’t need your attention and you can scan them on alternate days.

39

www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 01 | 2018

Market Insights

40 Feature | Trainings

lot of time wasted re-reading the same emails. Read it once, reply and move on. And in case you need to re-read any of the mails, create a new folder to manage such important mails.

•

•

•

Set limits to reminders: We are habitual of giving countless reminders even if you are not getting any reply. Set limit to such reminders to maximum of 3-4. After this, look for other means of reaching out to the individual.

Clean your inbox: Every week or fortnight, set time to clean your inbox, delete unnecessary mails and move important mails in their respective folders.

Flag for recipients: In case you are using outlook, use “flag for Recipients” feature for reminder and other necessary actions.

•

Relevant stakeholders in to and cc: You should include only those people in to field from whom you are expecting some reply or action on the email.

Rest all should in cc. Also, limit the number of people in to and cc fields.

•

Read as recipient: Before clicking the send button, always spend time to read mail as a recipient.

Market Insights

Corporate Insight

Don’ts To save your and others time, and respect each other’s mailbox size and you should take care of the following: •

Stop negotiating over emails: Email should not be used for negotiation. Negotiation is best done face-to-face or over the calls and not through emails.

•

Avoid heated exchanges: It’s not easy but you must practice to not reply in the mails where heated exchanges are going on. Find other means of communication to resolve the same.

•

Bcc to boss: Stop adding your boss and other stakeholder in bcc field. In case there is a need to add them in bcc, let the recipient know whom all have you kept in bcc.

•

Zip/exeattachment: Never send zip or exe file as

attachments as many companies filter out those attachments.

•

Immediate meetings or replies: Stop sending emails for any immediate meetings or replies.

Never assume that person at other end is checking emails 24/7.

Conclusion You should create a plan to reduce the time you spend on email. Note down how you feel before and after, especially what felt like it made you more productive.

You will notice positive changes not only in your work life but personal life as well. Emails are meant to make your life simpler, don’t let them take over your life.

So, take a moment and ask yourself, am I an exploiter or a victim of the electronic mail? 

Rajeev Jain is an Agile Coach and published author having 25+ years of corporate experience. He has managed globally distributed teams and India’s first and only Nasscom certified master trainer of technical writing. He has delivered 100s of corporate training on Technical Writing and Agility for global audience and has also authored many books. Additionally, Rajeev has been awarded by P Rajendran (Co-founder NIIT) for his efforts in promoting Technical Writing profession and enhancing the employability of fresh graduates.

For this reason, he has conducted sessions for top colleges in India and Canada.

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

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Knowledge Next Issue on Renewable Energy

Knowledge

>>

Analysis

>>

Opinion

Cover Story P 16

P8

Analysis

>>

Opinion

Knowledge

>>

Opinion Catch all the action at Singapore & Dubai in January 2018

Knowledge

>>

Analysis

>>

Opinion

How Data is IN Focus with Hessa Al Ghurair, CHRO, Commercial Bank International P 15

P 20

Latin America’s long strides in renewable energy production

Mapping the growth of women in the oil & gas sector

Analysis

Awards 2017

Greener

IN Focus with international arbitrator Sarosh Zaiwalla

>>

P 36

business goals on the horizon

OPEC

and the world oil story

>>

Cover Story P 8

redefining business outreach

Why disruption is the key to success in business today

The present age of global inter-connectedness marked by data-rich platforms

AI is here: What Next?

P 50 P 38

Cloud Computing In An exclusive interview with former OPEC advisor Javad Yarjani on the market outlook for 2017 and the impact of OPEC on global oil markets

A review of IFM Awards Singapore 2016

Sustainability is a big part of the corporate mandate now, with a growing number of businesses actively investing in green ventures

A review of IFM Awards Dubai

Energy and The Environmental Impact Masdar’s trials for low-carbon desalination

Bitcoin becomes a major power consumer

Thailand begins work on major waste-to-energy project

42 Events Calendar

Events-2018 Date

Event Name

Location

23rd -24th July, 2018

International Conference Rome, Italy on Agriculture and Food Chemistry

31st July 1st Aug, 2018

The AI Summit

Hong Kong

Website https://agfundernews.com/ event/3rd-international-conference- agricultural-food-chemistry/ https://theaisummit.com/

28th HR Tech Conference Australia Aug, 2018

https://www.ahri.com.au/nationalconvention/program/hr-tech-conference

5th GDPR & Brexit Workshop London Sep, 2018

https://www.dataprotectionworldforum. com/gdprbrexit?_ga=2.222624979.9593 39763.1531214782-390404620.1531214782

11th – 13th Strata Data Conference New York Sep, 2018

https://www.dataprotectionworldforum. com/gdprhumanresources?_ga=2.449 49484.959339763.1531214782-3904046 20.1531214782.

26th GDPR & London Human Resources Workshop Sep, 2018

https://www.dataprotectionworldforum. com/gdprhumanresources?_ga=2.4494 9484.959339763.1531214782-390404 620.1531214782

30th Sep, 2018

https://www.bitsandpretzels.com/

Bits & Pretzels Munich, Germany Human Resources Workshop

3rd Business Development London Oct, 2018 in Post-GDPR Workshop

https://www.dataprotectionworldforum. com/gdprbusinessdev?_ga=2.47578735.

959339763.1531214782-390404620.1 531214782

3rd – 4th Machina Summit London Oct 2018

http://www.machina-london.com/?utm_ source=imago&utm_campaign=msm17& utm_medium=eventlistinguk&utm_term =visprom

8th – 11th Oct 2018

https://marinebiology-oceanography. euroscicon.com/

O’Reilly Artificial Rome Italy Intelligence Conference

17th – 19th Inc.5000 Oct 2018

San Antonio, Texas

5th – 8th Web Summit Nov 2018

Lisbon

https://websummit.com/

3rd – 04th Dec 2018

Oceanography and London Marine Biology

6th – 07th Dec 2018

Green, Sustainaible and Environmental Chemistry

23rd – 24th May 2019

Food Safety and Zurich, Switzerland Regulatory Measures

Market Insights

https://conference.inc.com/

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Issue 01 | 2018 | www.imarketinsights.com

https://conferences.oreilly.com/artifi cial-intelligence https://greenchem.euroscicon.com/

https://foodsafety-hygiene.euroscicon. com/