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How Data is redefining business outreach
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AI is here: What Next?
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THIS ISSUE
EDITOR’S NOTE
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Volume 01 | Issue 03 | 2017
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Knowledge
Welcome to the digital age. As the world embraces a new wave of innovation across all industries, it begs us to pause and wonder how much is too much? In this issue’s cover story, we explore the growing relevance of data in businesses today and why it’s just not acceptable to turn the other way anymore. We have a special focus piece on the moral and scientific implications of AI. Regions covered in this issue include Asia, Europe and Middle East, with detailed reportage on their latest trends. We also look at how far countries like Australia, Finland, Turkey and South Africa have come in AI, bitcoin adoption, startup culture and R&D for technology and science. We showcase
some of the best and brightest scientific and entreprenerial minds by highlighting their path-breaking innovations. From light-enabled WiFi to AI-brewed beer, we’ve got you covered on the innovation scale. Don’t forget to read our exclusive interviews with industry stalwarts like David Mathison of the CDO Club, social media maverick Roland Abi Najem and specialised global risk advisory specialist Philip Worman. These men give us the inside view of working with data professionals, politicians for business, and decoding social media behavioural patterns for targeted business goals. And lastly, don’t miss an interesting interview with corporate trainer George Pelekanakis,
HIGHLIGHTS
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Analysis
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Opinion
How Data is
MD PPSLtd, who gives us the reality of the changing scene in IT audits. We’ve also thrown in some thought leadership pieces on driving content for sales and understanding millennial behaviour for higher organisational retentivity. We hope you enjoy reading this issue of Market Insights! 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?
Sindhuja Balaji Editor, Market Insights For queries and feedback, write to sbalaji@ifinancemag.com
P 26
NEWS 04
DIFC Launches Fintech Accelerator
04
Bill Gates Makes Historic Donation
05
France To Become A ‘Country Of Unicorns’
FEATURES 16
Social Media For Better Governance
20
Smart Cities In Europe
24
The Silent Revolution In The Arabian Gulf
31
Making ICT A Financial Magnet In South Africa
37
Unveiling The Finnish Experience In Digital
P 28
INNOVATIONS 40
The Future of Human Resource
43
AI-brewed beer - A World-First Innovation
44
Lighting Up The Way To Data Transmission
P 34
TRAININGS 52
Keeping Up With Change In IT Audit
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How To Hire And Retain Millennials
Training Head: Samir Ahmed Accounts: Angela Mathews Media Enquiries: enquiry@ifinancemag.com Knowledge
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Publisher: Sunil Bhat
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Managing Editor: Sindhuja Balaji Editorial & Design Team: Sangeetha Deepak, Prasad Shankarappa, Arthur Warren, Ashton Felix
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Market Insights
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News
DIFC Launches Fintech Accelerator Programme Fintech Hive at DIFC announced the commencement of its inaugural accelerator programme. The programme features 11 finalists and brings together technology leaders and entrepreneurs to address the evolving needs of the region’s financial services industry. “We are excited to kick off the first cycle of the accelerator program and announce our first batch of finalists. These 11 startups demonstrate a delicate balance of remarkable vision, practical application and commercial potential in the fintech space”, said Raja Al Mazrouei, acting executive vice president of FinTech Hive at DIFC. The accelerator program, launched in partnership with Accenture, is a 12-week curriculum in which a group of selected finalists work closely with financial institutions and other stakeholders to create real solutions that aim to address the evolving needs of the region’s financial services industry. Several criteria were used to
evaluate finalists, including the level of business maturity, the potential to thrive in the FinTech Hive at DIFC ecosystem and degree of fit with the partnering financial institutions. “We received an overwhelming number of applications for the programme and the quality of proposals was very impressive. I have no doubt the sector is one that will only pick up pace and create more opportunity in the future,” added Al Mazrouei. Sushil Saluja, senior managing director of financial services in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America at Accenture said, “The exceptional quality of the proposals we received holds great promise for the future of fintech in the UAE and the region. As fintech continues to be a game-changer
for the financial services industry, nurturing innovative talent is a fundamental priority.” The program will run for 12 weeks. In the first phase, each finalist will meet with executives from the accelerator’s financial institution partners to discuss industry challenges and possible solutions to address them. The second phase will revolve around engagement with partners and mentorship by the financial institutions, as well as other select partners who will cover technology, legal, Islamic finance and regulatory themes. The third and final phase will be pitch preparation for the Investor Day in mid-November. On this day, each startup will promote its product to a host of investors, bankers, government officials and members of the media. The finalists selected for the inaugural cycle of the FinTech Hive at DIFC accelerator program are Bridg, Delio, Labiba, Maliyya, Middleware, Norbloc, Sarwa, Semantify, Starling Trust, Theme Chain and WeInvest.
World’s Smallest Surgical Robot Created Using Low-Cost Tech Scientists in the UK have developed the world’s smallest surgical robot with low-cost technology used in mobile phones and space industries. The robot, called Versius, mimics the human arm and can be used to carry out a wide range of procedures in which a series of small incisions are made to circumvent the need for traditional open surgery. These include hernia repairs, colorectal operations, as well as prostate, ear, nose and throat surgery. Such procedures reduce complications and pain after surgery and speed up recovery time for patients. The robot is controlled by Market Insights
a surgeon at a console guided by a 3D screen in the operating theatre. It is much easier to use than existing systems, and take up about a third of the space of current machines. For robots to revolutionise surgery, they need to be versatile, easy to use and small so that surgical staff can move them around the operating room or between operating theatres, or pack them away when they are not being used. “Our robot does all of this and is the first robotic arm to be designed specifically for laparoscopic surgery,” said Martin Frost, chief executive of the Cambridge Medical Robotics. One of the key benefits of the
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
robot is that it works like a human arm and contains technology that detects resistance to make sure the right amount of force is used when the instruments are inside the patient, ‘The Guardian’ reported. Researchers used electronics from mobile phones to help the robot “think” and process information, and gear box technology originally designed for the space industry to help it move. The robot is set to be launched next year.
News
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Bill Gates’ Largest Microsoft Donation, Since 2000 Bill Gates is back in the news again, but for a worthy-cause. The self-made billionaire is strongly committed to education. According to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, he is going to pledge 64mn. shares of Microsoft, worth $4.6bn. Bill and Melinda Gates have gifted nearly $35 bn. of stock and cash, since 1994, according to a review of of Gates Foundation tax returns, annual reports and regulatory filings. Gates on his blog expressed “It’s amazing how little the typical classroom has changed over the years.” In the same year (2015),
on Reddit, “I’m Bill Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ask Me Anything,” he said, “A lot of the issue is helping kids stay engaged. If they don’t
feel the material is relevant or they don’t have a sense of their own ability they can check out too easily. The technology has not done enough to help with this yet.” Gates strongly supports ‘personalised learning’. He explains the method on his blog as “combining digital tools, projectbased learning and traditional classroom work to let students move at their own pace.” In essence, Gates envisions to be able to foster learning in the right direction. According to CNBC, he believes, “the education that we provide [can] make sure innovation goes at full speed.”
France To Become A ‘Country Of Unicorns’ The newly-elected President Emmanuel Macron has a new vision for France: France to lead the technology space in Europe and become the ‘country of unicorns.’ The road to leadership is now held in high regard, reinforcing hope within its citizens. Macron on CNBC said, “I want France to attract new entrepreneurs, new researchers, and be the nation for innovation and startups.” Traditionally, France is not known for good business conditions, but the vision is in line with establishing a businessfriendly culture. However, the country ranks the third-largest in Venture Capitalist (VC) funding for startups. A report on CNBC reads “Venture capital investments in France hit $1.6bn. in 2016, just a touch lower than the $1.7bn. recorded in 2015, according to KPMG. In contrast, VC funding in Germany fell sharply to $1.9bn. in 2016, from $3.6bn. the year before, while the U.K. also saw a hefty drop.”
In comparison with the US, the visa process in France is much better. According to Kristie De Pena, senior immigration counsel at the Niskanen Center, “the US does not have a dedicated visa for tech workers.” In addition, the foreign workers experience hostility in the US, given the number of applicants lowered this year. Talks of the President making way for the tech visa is well-intended.
It becomes easier for companies to recruit talent from foreign countries and for entrepreneurs to establish their business in France. But there is always a roadblock. Going by reports, entrepreneurs in France find themselves in a strenuous situation: the country’s rigid labor laws. Also, the French wealth tax imposes nearly €1.3mn. on individuals with personal assets. In order to assuage the situation, Macron has offered to simplify the labor laws and regulation, and trim down corporation tax.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
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Events Calendar
Events /2017 — 18 Date
Event Name
Location
Website
6–7 September 2017
EnergieEffizienz
IHK Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, Germany
http://www.energieeffizienz-messe.de
19 – 21 September 2017
ITCN Asia
Karachi Expo Centre Karachi, Pakistan
http://www.itcnasia.com
22 – 24 September 2017
Automation & Robotics Pune
Autocluster Exhibition Centre Pune, India
http://www.automationexpo.net
24 – 26 October 2017
NDT Russia
Crocus Expo IEC Moscow, Russia
http://www.ndt-russia.primexpo.ru
15 – 16 November 2017
The Commercial UAV Show
Excel Exhibition Centre London, UK
http://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/ the-commercial-uav-show/index.stm
6–9 December 2017
Industrial Automation & Logistics
Jakarta International Expo Jakarta, Indonesia
http://manufacturingindonesia.com/
20 – 22 March 2018
Hi-Tech Saint Petersburg
Expoforum St Petersburg, Russia
http://restec-expo.ru/
3 April 2018
IT Showcase Pakistan
Karachi Marriott Karachi, Pakistan
www.itshowcasepakistan.com
Awards 2017 Catch all the action at Singapore & Dubai in January 2018 INTERNATIONAL FINANCE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED 843 FINCHLEY ROAD, LONDON, NW11 8NA Phone: +44 (0) 207 193 5502 | Fax: +44 (0) 208 181 6550 Web: internationafinancemagazine.com/events Market Insights
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
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For business news as it happens, subscribe to Market Insights, the latest magazine from International Finance Publications Ltd. In the upcoming issues, you can expect coverage in Oil & Gas • Renewable Energy Technology • Utilities
CONTEMPORARY MEDIA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR EDITORIAL QUERIES : Sindhuja Balaji | Editor Tel: +44 (0) 207 193 9451 | Email: sbalaji@ifinancemag.com REGISTERED OFFICE : INTERNATIONAL FINANCE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED 843 Finchley Road, London NW11 8NA Tel: +44 (0) 208 123 9436 | Fax: +44 (0) 208 181 6550 | Web: www.imarketinsights.com
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Feature | Data Is The New Oil
Cover Story
Data: A Boon Or Bane For Global Business? A few years ago the resource in demand to a new economy was oil. Now data has risen above oil shaping up as a lucrative commodity of the present decade. The metaphorical comparison between data and oil has issued a fundamental insight—extraction and refined use of data’s value can fuel ascertainable profits, like oil.
Market Insights
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
D
AtA INFRAStRUCtUReS ARe CReAteD to power growth. Wind turbines, subway trains, toilet seats and toasters are transforming to become a part of the digital space—as a more recent source of data. even devices such as watches are enabled to connect to the internet. the modern invention of data into Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques such as machine learning is significant in extracting value to generate revenue in more ways than one. even
Data Is The New Oil | Feature
Cover Story
customers’ purchase behavior, choice of preference and servicing can be predicted using Algorithms. A research run by International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast spells out that data created and copied each year will touch 180 zettabytes in 2025. In essence, it will take 450 mn. years to transfer data through a broadband connection. The famous
e-commerce giant—Amazon, for instance, uses trucks pulling shipping containers with storage devices holding 100 petabytes, according to The Economist. The increase in data is driving change between data leaders such as Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook. In America, Amazon dominates a portion of online transactions; Google and Facebook nearly captivated the market in digital advertising in 2016. But the scenario is in question: If data is a valuable business asset or an intimidation to the business world? The data giants in the market are continuously pumping new information to gain a competitiveedge over the rest. For example, quest for data over Amazon’s delivery capacity or Facebook engagement rate can be in Google’s interest. ‘Data-network effect’ among firms has become an enterprise wide engine. It is simple yet dynamic—to attract users, produce large data, enable better services, and attract more users. Facebook can infer user analytics using data related to frequent comments and likes. And so, the ads on news feeds enjoy greater visibility. ‘Assistant,’ Google’s digital butler is another typical use case which improvises its performance based on repeated usage. Even Tesla can enhance its self-driving cars using data. Abundance of data will, in fact, boost protection against competition. But network effect can simply turn around to become a double-edged sword for upstarts because users display steadfast loyalty towards global names. There is a necessity to establish a constructive balance between giants and upstarts in the market. And data has led to an imbalance in the ecosystem. They are no longer well arranged pool of
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digital information but realtime awareness on competitors’ business activities. Google has become the lead in monopoly: the company can see what users search for—on Amazon what they purchase and on Facebook how they engage. The data giants can simply gather views on a new product or service and its success rate. So any upstart or wildcatter that is anticipated to become a potential threat in the business economy is effortlessly tackled with ‘shoot-out acquisitions’. In 2014, Facebook purchased Whatsapp—at the time a company with less than 60 employees. Now, Whatsapp is a sought-after global messaging app. Easy surveillance by data-driven majors is on the brink of staging offline rivals and monopolies: asserting a word of caution among antitrust regulators. The shift in trend has lowered the effect of antitrust laws. A novel approach can possibly change the game striking stability between the old and the new. But first, antitrust regulars have to make way for a fair challenge—and how. Traditionally, regulators considered size of a firm as criteria to intervene. But regulators of today have to seek a new outlook: data assets of a company as the first and foremost criteria. They must use data as a standpoint when determining a merger. In addition, transparency is key. Regulators must ensure there is transparency: companies must be obligated to display their wealth of data to customers under discretion. However, in the data age, it is hard to control every step along the way. Unsettling risks will continue to evolve. But if regulators and the government want to conclude monopoly they are expected to act on it—enough to structure a change.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
10 Feature | The Far Reaching Implications of AI
What’s Hot
As The Robots Go Marching In The world is at crossroads now. Almost every crucial aspect of living has been swept by automation. But will there come a time when we realise we have festered the growth of something dangerous?
t
he MOSt CONFLICtING thought about robots is the economic impact of robotics: Will the technology promise an opulent future—in jobs, in stock market, in profit, in resources and in our lives? the answer will come with time. But for now, the human population is intimidated at the utterance of the word: robotisation. After all, it begins with prejudice and ends with existential judgements. In a dystopian context like this: it is important to understand that Market Insights
innovation is not always a winwin. (Robots were invented to automate more than efficient tasks in certain industries that demand consequential human effort.) economic growth is defined by the growing rate of population and not the number. Analysis on the U.N. predictions speak more than we know of: the rate has slowly declined, since 1960s. Statistically speaking, if the average number of workers and their output (individually) increase by
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
one percent, then the economic growth per year should spike by two percent. the last decade did not see this happen. Why not? Using the act of deductive reasoning: families have fewer offsprings; lesser working age population enter the workforce; advanced medical facilities ensure better health care treatment; and a large number of the expected population belong to the retirement group. In this setting, chile and china experience a very sporadic labor
What’s Hot
The Far Reaching Implications of AI | Feature
instance. (Robots undertake routine tasks, heavy lifting and of the sort.) In practice, Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations plant in U.K. has industrial robots involved in the make of bespoke luxury vehicles, and skilled labor is used for custom jobs such as dual-tone paint and hand-made leather works. But beneath the surface the change is constantly presented in a two-fold doomsday scenario: robots will rob humans of their jobs and throw productivity in question. In the same breath the argument is pointed towards a logical exposition: the run-of-themill aspects of a workforce are performed by industrial robots creating space for human skills to deliver creative outcomes. (This means, robots can be productive, and not creative.) So the fear of failure is negligent. However, the truth is—it may come at the cost of acquiring lethargic jobs.
force. The negative effect of working age population in China is imploding its economic growth. Fundamentally, it is technology and change that will help economies bounce back. Daniel Kahneman on The Washington Post said “You just don’t get it. In China, the robots are going to come just in time.” Technological change is inevitable. The potential threats and gains are many, and the debate is endless. A recent study (1993 to 2015) on ‘impact of robotic automation on economic development’ was conducted on 23 well-developed economies of the world. Interestingly, the findings show a significant correlation between industrial robots and economy: more number of robots result in higher economic development and improved labor productivity. Automotive plants, for
Countries such as Japan dominated the robotic industry until U.S. raised the stakes—increasing the number of robots each year. Reports reveal in 2015, U.S. spent $86 bn. on industrial robots. New theories suggest investing in robotic technology is lucrative for businesses in the long-run against conventional methods. There is no need to issue a caution over robots of the 21st century because they are at our disposal. What matters is—in effect, how smart the technology is integrated into our economy to work with conviction. (It takes human effort to establish the balance so that industries are not fully robotised.) And this is, perhaps, only the beginning of a utopian future.
How much of AI is too much? We live in exciting times. The advent of technology has made the impossible look possible. If you’re fan of the Back to the Future franchise, you would have realized by now that we’re already living most of
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the movie. Gadgets around us have become ‘smart devices’ that do more than just execute commands. And we’ve now stepped into times when jobs are becoming scarce, as they are increasingly machine-driven and decreasingly human-driven. A report in CNBC stated that AI will take more than half our jobs this decade. Kai-Fu Lee, founder of Sinovation Ventures stated that AI will be a “singular thing that will be larger than all of human tech revolutions added together, including electricity, [the] industrial revolution, internet, mobile internet — because AI is pervasive.” It’s interesting to note that many technology savants themselves are warning the world about the downside of AI. In a meeting with US governors at the National Governors Association in USA, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned officials of AI and called it a fundamental existential risk to human civilisation. He called upon the government to focus on proactive intervention before “its too late”. Microsoft founder Bill Gates proposed a robot tax, to compensate those workers who will lose jobs to robots. A number of technology experts believe that the answer to automation is training. Newer ways of coping, understanding and using technology should be made possible for everyone, especially in blue-collar jobs, which face the highest risk of losing employees. In China and India, an estimated 25% to 69% of jobs could disappear in the next two decades, while 40% of Fortune 500 companies could vanish completely. About 47% of workers in the West could lose their jobs. Change is coming, and we can either adapt or perish. It’s time for businesses to take stock of the overreaching effects of AI and figure out ways to upskill large swathes of workers world over.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
12 Feature | Travel In The Time Of Technology
What’s Hot
The Future Of Travel Is Here Modern-day travel has been largely disrupted, and this wave of change is being led by changing preferences of millennials across the world
t
heRe’S PRetty MUCh nothing that a smartphone cannot do today, and that includes making travel plans. For the average millennial, a trusted travel agent is a thing of the past as he looks to his mobile phone to sort out his itinerary within minutes. the introduction of technologydriven solutions has made travel planning easier and seamless, and millennials appear to be making the most of it. A study by Google has drawn a comparative analysis between millennials and other age groups: travel industry experts have reckoned the new wave of disruption in the sector, and Market Insights
predict that the future looks to be more aligned to technologydriven solutions. here are some of the most popular technology developments in the travel sector
Hospitality Disruptors: one of the most vivid examples of disruption in the travel and hospitality sector is the advent of AirBnB, which brought to the fore sharing economy companies. A study by AirBnB in November 2016 stated how millennials are increasingly in pursuit of meaningful travel, which involves living with locals, eating local cuisine and integrating with the local culture. A large part of this
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
experience translates to opting out of hotels and staying in guesthouses, facilitated through websites such as AirBnB. the study mentions that more than 60% of the guests that have ever booked on AirBnB are millennials and the number of millennials booking accommodation through AirBnB has grown 120% from 2015 to 2016. Particularly, AirBnB is a popular option among millennials in china with an 83% booking rate. US and UK millennials too have embraced the idea of staying at someone’s house as opposed to a hotel, with 67% and 57% booking rates on AirBnb respectively. Founded in 2008 by Brian chesky,
Travel In The Time Of Technology | Feature
What’s Hot
At economy class gates in New York and Frankfurt airports, the airline provided its customers 3D impressions of legroom in their cabins with VR glasses. As a concept, Lufthansa plans to integrate VR in its advertising outreach such as banners and social media. Back in 2015, Australian airline Qantas presented to its premium customers on select long-haul flights VR headsets showing options for in-flight entertainment. These headsets are eventually expected to transport fliers to an immersive world, replete with the airline’s products and offerings among other attractions.
70% 60% 50%
Millennials (Ages 18- 35) Others (Ages 35 and above)
40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Shopping for flights
Shopping for hotels
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Level of confidence in online bookings
the San Franscisco-based startup has often been heralded as one of the biggest disruptors in modern day hospitality. With more than 150 million users, AirBnB is active in 191 countries and 65,000 cities. A study has revealed that the cost of renting an entire house or apartment is as much as renting a hotel room, making it a more cost-friendly and wholesome experience. Recently, the tourism arm of the Swedish government collaborated with AirBnB to allow the entire country to be listed on the booking portal for travellers. Barring private gardens and lands under cultivation, travellers can stay anywhere in Sweden. AirBnB is just one of the many aspects of travel that entices the modern traveller today. Now, corporates such as Google, Morgan Stanley, American Express Global Business Travel and BCD Travel have been using AirBnB to book rooms for their employees on business trips.
Virtual Reality in Travel Considered an effective marketing tool, virtual reality in travel was pegged to take off in a big way last year. Hotels are getting into the
Level of confidence planning trips using phones smart devices
Booking flights
Booking hotels
VR space in a prominent manner – in 2015, Marriott and ShangriLa groups announced VR services where guests could virtually travel the world from their rooms. Best Western Hotels and Resorts have also known to leverage this fast-growing technology, through which guests can see all that the company’s 2,000 North American properties have to offer. At the Travel Technology Europe, technology service provider Tigerbay launched a VR ski holiday in tandem with a client Mark Warner. According to Tigerbay MD Carl Morgan, the product allows customers to ‘road test’ their holiday in a way pictures cannot. Content, however, will remain the cornerstone of success for VR in travel so industry experts are heavily relying on quality content to be churned out, on the basis of which VR technology can be enhanced. In addition to hotels, airlines are also experimenting with VR. Lufthansa’s award-winning travel compass allow viewers to look at a beach or a marketplace somewhere in Asia, through a door, installed in the outdoor areas of German metropolises.
Travel Bots: Bots are expected to revolutionise the travel industry in a significant manner. AI-powered applications are being exceedingly used in the travel industry, and their presence is only expected to grow in the years to come. In March 2016, Dutch airline KLM launched a trial bot within Facebook’s messenger platform. FCM’s SAM, which stands for Smart Assistant for Mobile, has been widely touted as a high-profile app for the business travel sector. It allows users view itineraries and receive information on gate changes, driving directions, weather, restaurant recommendations and hotel reservations. In addition, a user can access a live consultant all day long. The scope of travel bots now includes conversation-driven chatbots as well. Voice, according to Patrick Duncan of WayBlazer, will be the ultimate logical interface between people and computers. Amazon is propagating that with Alexa and Echo, and Google with Google Home. Given the ease with which millennials take to tech, sector leaders have plans for the travel sector, with ideas in AI and chatbots to take over travel related processes in the future.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
14 Interview | Disrupting with Data
Expert Speak
The Rise And Rise Of The Chief Data Officer
If you’d asked a corporate employee a decade ago about hiring a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for his company’s success, he would have laughed it off. Today, a CDO is one of the most significant drivers of growth in companies, especially the incumbent ones. In an exclusive interview, David Mathison, CEO of CDO Club talks to us about the rise of Chief Digital Officers in the corporate space today, the rise of an emerging market like India, and how a CDO can play a hugely transformational role in government How is a CDO a transformational force in a company? Almost every industry today has faced or is facing dramatic disruption. the first CDO was hired by Mtv in the USA in 2003. NBC Universal followed suit the following year Both these hires were clearly defensive moves against Napster, which was disrupting the music and entertainment industries. With digital disruption facing every sector today, there are CDOs in retail, transportation, hospitality and government services. Its mostly incumbent industries like these that are witnessing disruption, and therefore, the role of a CDO becomes critical. A CDO focuses on digital transformation, where they are responsible for helping the company transition from an analogue model to a digital one. they usually work with their Market Insights
colleagues in the c-suite such as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO), and report to the ceo. Why is a CDO important to an organization? If you look at three major companies that previously dominated their industries Blockbuster LLC, tower Records,
The risk of disruption exists everywhere, and this is largely to do with the rise of shared and collaborative economies
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
and encyclopaedia Brittanica – they all went out of business. A new wave of technological disruption is the reason. Studies done by capgemini and mIt Sloan Management Review state that those companies with CDOs will be more successful than the ones who don’t have CDOs. It’s evident that digital leaders help corporates surpass performance today. the risk of disruption exists everywhere, and this is largely to do with the rise of the sharing and collaborative economies. Uber and AirBnB are great examples of this – they have successfully disrupted traditional industries like transport and hospitality, which no one thought would get disrupted. most companies have realised by now they are not immune. If you don’t get your digital act together, you will find yourself out of business.
Disrupting with Data | Interview
Expert Speak
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Unless a company is taking risks, there is a fear of being put out of business. Unless you’re willing to disrupt, you’re not really innovating Can you describe a day in the life of a CDO?
How can CDOs drive change in governments?
If you had asked me this question when we first started out, I would have given you a simple enough answer. But now, CDOs are being hired for very specific needs by a range of companies, so their work profile becomes a little complicated – one size does not fit all. For instance, the CDO of UK’s HM Revenue and Customs has a completely different job description and brief than a CDO at the BBC, Burberry or Starbucks. Roles and responsibilities have become very nuanced. Largely, every CDO should focus on putting the customer first, tracking the competition, and aligning digital strategy with overall corporate goals and strategy. It’s a customer-first and mobile-first strategy today.
The role of a CDO in governments is turning out of be a major initiative. In my opinion, the exemplars today are the United Kingdom and Australia. The UK’s Government Digital Service had around 3,600 websites few years ago but now, there’s just one common website – www.gov.uk. This is a prime example of putting customers first. This initiative was led by Mike Bracken, who served as the Executive Director for the UK Government from 2011 to 2015. When I go to a government website, I want to know how to file my taxes, how to get a business permit or how to write a will without a solicitor looking over my shoulder. I have no interest in looking at pictures of politicians and bureaucrats attending social events. A government website should also ideally provide ways for the elderly and disabled to avail of their services and learn more about their initiatives. This is how one can really impact society. Another great example is Paul Shetler, who worked as the CDO of UK’s Ministry of Justice was appointed as the CEO for the Australian government’s Digital Transformation Office, which handles the government’s extensive outreach for the public.
How does a CDO drive innovation? This can be done in different ways. What’s important is to understand that the best innovation doesn’t happen within silos. Making incremental changes cannot be the long-term solution, even if your goals are to enhance customer experience and engagement. Unless you’re willing to radically disrupt, you’re not really innovating. Now, there are innovation labs in many companies, fostering creativity. Unless a company takes some risks, there is always the fear of being put out of business. The CDO has to be the driver of innovation, by taking risks and encouraging the same, and they have to focus on customer needs and demands.
The popularity of your CDO summits indicate the rising relevance of the industry. Can you comment on your future plans? Things are definitely on the upswing. In 2011, 88 percent of CDOs were clustered in Northeast USA. There were hardly any CDOs in other parts of the USA and even
fewer abroad. In 2013, we held our first CDO Summit in New York. The next year, we had two summits in New York and London. In 2015, we added Sydney and Amsterdam to the event calendar. Now, we’re everywhere – in 2018, we have a CDO Summit planned every month. I’m also seeing a lot of traction in India, which is hiring CDOs in the public and private sector. I’m very excited about the market and its tremendous potential. Sree Srinivasan, former CDO of New York City jokingly told me that he sees more Indians at my summits than at Indian events! India is a high-potential market for us, given the natural affinity Indians have for math and computers. For example, we recently announced Dr. Inderpal Bhandari, global Chief Data Officer for IBM as the U.S Chief Data Officer of the Year at our Washington DC CDO Summit. He understands the critical importance of aligning data strategy with overall corporate strategy.
About David Mathison and CDO Club: David Mathison is the CEO of CDO Club and CDO Summit, and is the world’s leading authority on CDOs. He was previously founder, chair and CEO of the Kinecta Corporation, which is now a part of Oracle. He was also VP with Reuters, where he pioneered online content syndication years before RSS was invented. He graduated from Columbia University with a Master’s degree in International Affairs. The CDO Club is the world’s first and largest community of C-Suite leaders with more than 5,000 registered members.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
16 Interview | Strategies for Enhanced Social Media
Expert Speak
Social Media For Better Governance Cybersecurity expert Roland Abi Nejem highlights why everyone needs social media today, including politicians and businesses
According to you, what is the role played by a strong digital & social media plan to enhance the presence and importance of a company?
due to the decrease in sale and the economic problems worldwide. this should give them motive to increase the budget of marketing in order to increase the sale again.
companies should know and understand what are the main social media platforms they should be present on such as Facebook, linkedIn. twitter, Instagram, Google+ and youtube. this will improve their Social media optimisation (Smo). For example, if a company works in fashion, they should be present on Pinterest. An ideal website is one that’s fully responsive with a friendly interface and easy to use. In addition, optimised Seo is essential. this includes website coding, identifying the right keywords and metatags. Now, sound presence on linkedIn for c-level executives is absolutely necessary.
however, the return on investment of traditional media advertising such as tv, radio and newspapers is not up to the level of expectations because one-way communication is not productive anymore. companies are now moving their main investments to digital marketing and social media since it is generating direct ROI and you can measure directly each cent paid on social media to know your reach, and specifically target your key audience.
How receptive are companies today when it comes to allocating a media outreach budget? We all know that most of the companies have financial problems Market Insights
this doesn’t mean that we stop using traditional media, since social media and traditional media complement each other, the budget allocation should be divided – 80 percent should be allocated to digital marketing and social media, and around 20 percent to traditional media. How has social media impacted corporate governance?
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
Social media has a great impact on corporate governance. First companies use traditional Customer Relationship management (CRM) to get feedback for their customers. Nowadays, people don’t wait for companies to ask them about their feedback, they directly provide feedback - positive or negative- on social media, so companies have to follow their customers on these platforms to collect the same. We call this “sentiment analysis”. For instance, I would like to assess how people feel about my products and services – it could be positive, negative or neutral. however, this doesn’t mean feedback on social media should to be taken into consideration. the other side of the story is that social media users tend to give their opinion about anything right from politics and sports to arts. Sentiment analysis should be a tool of measurement and means to collect data but the final decision should be taken by the top management.
Expert Speak
Strategies for Enhanced Social Media | Interview
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Social media has a big impact on political discourse. It can highlight one’s achievement and even destroy one’s career
What are the possible risks that businesses face through their social media platforms? How can they overcome them? I think that the main risk businesses is dealing with negativity. To overcome this risk, we should first accept it. We should accept the fact that we cannot satisfy all the clients and there is no way we can have 100 % client satisfaction. Based on this, we should learn to accept negative feedback and try to solve their problems. Hiding from our clients will backfire, as will ignoring their issues or needs. Another challenge is to continue generating quality content that will engage with customers. In marketing, content is king. If we have good content, people will engage, if content is bad, customers will most likely unfollow us. How can politicians best leverage social media platforms to engage better? Social media is a key to success for politicians. The best example is the social media campaign for former US President Barack Obama that helped him win the US Presidential election in 2008. Social media has helped politicians break the ice with their followers and supporters. Previously, there was boundaries between politicians and their supporters, but now, politicians communicate with their followers and supporters to make them feel safe and to show them that they care about them
What can you say is the impact of social media on political discourse? Social media has big impact on political discourse. It can highlight one’s achievement and at the same time, destroy his career. We can see several instances of voices raised against certain politicians that have led them to face political losses. Knowing this, social media should be taken very seriously when it comes to politics, especially when it comes to certain influencers that have a major effect on the public. How can a politician secure his safety through social media? Cyber security is now a key issue especially for politicians. Every politician should have a social media agency or at least a personal consultant when it comes to social media and his online presence to secure all his account using top security measurements. Having an account manager for the main social media platforms (like Facebook) to support them whenever there is any problem is a must. What specific challenges do government officials face while monitoring social media for their campaigns? The key challenge for government while monitoring social media is Big Data. If we need to estimate the number of posts and tweets and comments we have on daily basis, you will be shocked. Even though there are several
tools and software to monitor social media platforms, we still experience difficulties such as language. For instance, Lebanese Arabic is different than Arabic in Egypt, which is different than Arabic spoken in the Gulf region). Even if we were able to monitor everything, we still need to analyse the results in order to be able to make decision. Here lies another problem of evaluating sentiment analysis since it can never be entirely accurate. How can corporates ensure brand integrity through social media? Brand integrity on social media is related to several factors, and we can summarise those factors to two: Social Media Monitoring: Where we should monitor our performance on social media (posts, post timing, response time) and compare it to best practices and competitors to evaluate our positioning in the market. Social Media Listening: where we should listen to what people are talking about our brands and about our competitors and try to enhance the positive sentiments about our brand and decrease the negative feedback. About:
Roland Abi Nejem is the Managing Partner at Everywhere Pro, a Kuwaitbased technology consultancy. He has previously worked with the Ministry of Information of Kuwait as an IT and digital marketing consultant, and as a social media instructor and trainer in the Middle East. He is also a renowned speaker and runs several digital media agencies in Kuwait and Lebanon.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
18 Interview | Business Risk Advisory
IN FOCUS
Politics In The Time Of Business One of the foremost global political risk advisors, Philip Worman decodes Russia, Iran and the need for political knowledge for enhanced business intelligence Philip Worman Tell us about your journey into political risk advisory I took a Russian degree at Cambridge, at the right time the Soviet Union collapsed and the new model of yeltsin/Gaidar market reforms came into full swing. Russia was chaotic, growing, and ripe for new investment. But, the degree of illicit money making, corruption and sheer cliff-edge deal making had to be seen to be believed. there was a demand for very detailed investigations into business partners. I have spent the last 20 years assisting clients navigate these kinds of issues – partner, political, ‘other problems’ – to help them mitigate risk in commercial decisions; not just in the former Soviet Union but around the world. What are the typical challenges in your job? We are paid to track down difficult information in the most obscure and opaque emerging markets. Whether it’s an ownership document from an Abuja corporate registry, a precise shareholding in an Iranian company, or the personal network of a new Kazakh minister, our work depends on finding and distilling this information into actionable intelligence for our clients. our other challenge is managing client expectations. We are not magicians and do not have the surveillance ability of mI6. We are analysts and researchers who spend intense amounts of time on our clients’ issues providing objective advice – we cannot change the direction of local politics or modify commercial realities.
Market Insights
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
You have worked extensively in Russia. What can you say about the nation and the geopolitical impact it has on the global economy? Russia remains a growth opportunity, despite the constant backdrop of domestic, human rights, geopolitical and governance issues. It is resilient to shocks that would have derailed other countries; it has huge mineral wealth (mining remains virtually unexploited); and has highly educated and motivated urban populations. But, it still has the capacity to cause ripple effects through the projection of its influence over the former Soviet space and beyond and investment conditions are never ideal. Protecting minority shareholders and removing the high-level kleptocracy that bedevils the economy are key. One shouldn’t over think Russia – it’s not bent on world domination. It’s socially conservative, with a highly popular leader at its helm; it wants a hefty sphere of influence in its backyard; and above all, it wants recognition that it is still a player on the world stage. Also, I learned Russian over four tough years, so basically I’m ‘long’ Russia. How have ongoing political upheavals affected Iran’s economy? Iran is an exciting place to invest. President Rouhani has won a mandate to continue with his economic reforms – one of his allies used the metaphor of a car that was crashed in a ravine when he first came to power; in his first four years, he has dragged the
Business Risk Advisory | Interview
IN FOCUS
car out and righted it, now he has to get the engine started. He will need to hold off the hardline factions bent on isolationism, continue manage his surprisingly assertive relationship with the Supreme Leader, and tackle multiple economic challenges – reduce unemployment, keep in inflation in check and repair the banking system, which is in danger of meltdown. On the external side, foreign investment is simply hamstrung by the lack of financing routes and the ongoing pariah status of Iran on the correspondent banking networks. There is a lot of justified pessimism among investors that the financial infrastructure to enable deal flow is just not there. Why is it important now more than ever to value political insights while doing business? In some of the largest emerging markets political risk for investors– rule of law and corporate governance is often subordinate to political decision making and informal influence networks. This has been, and will continue to be, the case in the clan or elite-dominated markets that we analyse. What can organisations do to enhance access to political expertise for improving business?
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It’s important to realise that there is a huge body of country-specific knowledge at all levels of organisations – and often decision-makers fail to capture this. Operational, legal, business development, government relations – all have a view on political risk that should be centralised and tracked. Corporate memory – particularly in long-running investments – has a habit of walking out of the door and companies can often start from the beginning, in understanding a difficult political environment. My advice would be to maintain a ‘country playbook’ that is constantly updated by all stakeholders in the business; coupled with well-chosen external advisors this is a powerful combination. About
Philip Worman is a political risk advisor, with 18 years of experience in the political risk, business intelligence and investigations sector. He advises corporate and financial clients on their exposure to political, regulatory and operational risks in emerging markets. He has managed sensitive investigations in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Currently, he’s managing director of GPW and heads the political risk practice, with special expertise in Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Cloud-based and wireless telecom technology graces Christchurch precinct The Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct will become a top-class facility with advanced cloud-based and wireless telecommunications technology. The agreement between the Ministry of Justice and Spark Digital could be a turning point in the ICT infrastructure of the Precinct. The technology will represent modern communication i.e. wireless on-the-go. The Precinct is scheduled to open in the third quarter of this year and its wireless ICT innovation will enable seamless connectivity. Andrew Bridgman, secretary for justice and chief executive said, “Our people in Christchurch will be able to work flexibly using secure ICT services without being bound to their desks. The mobile connectivity will
improve the flow of information throughout the Precinct from front counters to busy courtrooms, improving the service to the judiciary and stakeholders while creating a more consistent experience for our customers. We can also reduce costs for all of the Precinct agencies by sharing ICT infrastructure.” According to Scoop Business, the Ministry of Justice and Spark Digital will continue to work
together on opportunities to roll out this technology to other Ministry sites. Jolie Hodson, chief executive at Spark Digital said, “We’re looking forward to working with the Ministry in delivering measurable business benefits from crosssector collaboration. We’re committed to making this project a success for the Ministry and are looking forward to seeing it come to life.”
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
20 Feature | Making Europe Smarter
Region Focus
Smart Cities In Europe Europe is the hotbed of smart city innovation but progress is still to be scaled as projects are in the growing stages
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Ay the WORD smart city and it is sure to uncoil deep set thoughts braced with newage concepts. much of the smart city concept is not driven by a vision like in the works of fiction to appeal to new generation aesthetic sensibilities. It is rather the essence of intertwining energy, transport and technology to suit the growing population in the present-day urban sprawl. After all, 70% of the world will live in cities by 2020, observed The Guardian. In this case, however, europe Market Insights
is different. Nearly 73% of europeans now live in cities— higher than the predicted global shift. So, the big question unfolds: How are European cities smartening up?—a tickling thought to most nations worldwide.
Emerging Europe europe is no-longer a province that thrives on the pursuit of power play. Instead, it is self-evolving— revitalising the european legacy. From a fresh perspective, the continent is rooted and progressive
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
at various levels of governance. the european Union (eU) saw merit in refining its cities. the european Union Partnership on Smart cities and communities (SCC) is harnessing the benefits of knowledge-and-technology intensive resources that will translate its cities into the most recent version of urbanisation, with least effect on the environment. Several events have been held in joint efforts by the european Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the european commission. of
22 Feature | Making Europe Smarter
the events, Investing in Europe: conference on smart cities and regions held in Brussels had representatives of EU’s institutions and EU regions come together, in efforts, to decarbonise the economy. Even SCC has clapped eyes on industry-led innovations to benefit the economy and society at large. Europe’s 20-20-20 energy strategy acts as a catalyst for change transforming smart city into climate-smart city. The strategy seeks to reduce 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, speed up renewable energy use by 20% and target 20% in energy efficiency—all by 2020. Additionally, countries under EU must ensure at least 10% of the transport sector runs on renewable energy. In essence, climate-smart cities have the potential to save up to US$22 trillion. Their environmentfriendly infrastructures and green buildings combat climate change and speed up economic growth. In 2014, EU even proposed solutions to promote recycling and annihilate landfilling. To this end if the resilient solutions are implemented well—a circular economy is guaranteed.
Europe and China transition into Third Industrial Revolution Together, EU and China craft the stonework for Third Industrial Revolution. The two forces envision to become the green digital economies of the world: Digital Europe and China Internet Plus. Big Data and the Internet of Things are poised to accelerate efficiency and boost productivity. This provides a global competitive edge to the Eurasian landmass in emerging low-carbon market.
Building an innovation culture Cities breathe innovation and Market Insights
Region Focus
Europe became a static example when Copenhagen Connecting came to fruition even script a life. The innovation exercise in Europe is exploding—at least one in each city. For instance, Vienna. For years now, the city has been rolling out inventive strategies. The development of bio-solar rooftops to build green life and the multifarious uses to which it is put is phenomenal. The green roof system even works in favour of pollinators. But the high-tech 21st century planet is nothing without a digital transformation. Famed for its 22@ Innovation District, the city of Barcelona loves its architecture and design. The plan is to combine the two with digital technologies for an empowering smart city. Sensors within the district is used to monitor pollution and congestion— and it captures details of how people draw directions around the precinct. The data is then analysed to create a dynamic environment that is best suited for both work and living. Living in cities is still a karmic challenge. The buildings and transport hold the lion’s share of emissions. Against this background, London has a life of its own. Its infrastructure is going to power change: bacteria-grown bricks and floor tiles convert footsteps into electrical power generation. Equally important, the food-waste is broken down into
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
energy that goes back into the national grid. Mikael Edelstam, co-founder and chairman of Cleantech Scandinavia said, “During the last 5-8 years, smart cities are seen on the rise using ICT as enabling technology and by also building on open data. The sustainable and smart are now getting integrated.” Scope Technologies and specialist technology Riga Technical University (RTU) unite to build Smart Cities technology. The technology captures data from a range of telemetry to improve the driving infrastructure. The data from social elements such as driving pattern, traffic congestion and road system detects high risk motor areas in populous cities. Europe became a static example when Copenhagen Connecting came to fruition. The plan uses Big Data intended to sculpt a greener city that nourishes life overall. Copenhagen’s cycling culture, GPS in buses, sensors in sewage and data from mobile phones has metamorphosed the city into a smart, liveable place of today and tomorrow.
Projects that beat Europe’s smart city woes Europe’s Action Plan is key to smart innovations and effective business propositions. In fact, in 2013, the Commission was said to invest US$223mn. to bolster smart cities in the coming two years. Adopted by the The High Level Group of the European Innovation Partnership for Smart Cities and Communities, the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) for smart cities is focused on new collaborative ways to bring further advancements in transport and energy, Information Technology, planning and building, and the like. The annex on European Union
Making Europe Smarter | Feature
Region Focus
Press Release Database (2016) reads, “To kick-start projects, the Commission intends to support large, integrated, interdisciplinary and highly visible Lighthouse Projects through Horizon2020 funds, with the aim to develop common successful solutions that can be replicated in a large number of cities.” The Lighthouse Projects represent smart city solutions on a grand scale. The three Lighthouse cities—Stockholm, Cologne and Barcelona are used to demonstrate the 12 smart city solutions. The solutions range from smart local electricity management to sustainable urban mobility. The GrowSmarter project was selected to benefit from the Smart Cities and Communities initiative under Horizon2020 funding.
But there’s always a roadblock A research publicised by the European parliament found on Osborne Clarke’s online document revealed 51% of Europe’s 468 cities are smart cities. That’s a terrific number to lock on. Oddly, only 28% of these cities have actively launched at least one initiative. Then, why not fully implement the change? For the most part, the cities are at its nascent or pilot stages. “Pilot projects are still the most common thing, though many cities strive to
Despite challenges, Europe still remains an inspiration for rest of the world
scale the solutions. Collaboration among groups of cities to create solutions, policies etc. that can be replicated and have an impact is growing common. Reorganising internally as well as setting up external collaboration with business sector is going on, but is in early phases in most European cities.” Although the Commission backs projects in many ways, finance continues to be one of Europe’s greatest challenge. So the developments will take time. “It is still difficult for cities to generate the finance needed to get projects on smart sustainable city development off the ground. From the financial side, focus has traditionally been on the single bottom line. Now, however, financiers from both public and private sector are increasingly requesting data on the environmental and social performance of their investments, and investment models are looking for value creation like greenhouse gas reductions, increased public health and safety, ecosystem services etc. It is therefore crucial to identify how to unlock these green investments by including new values into the models, and come up with innovative financing tools and mechanisms that can handle public-private coinvestments and risk sharing” says Edelstam who has also worked with the European Innovation Partnership for Smart Cities and Communities as expert on financing and business models. Despite challenges, Europe still remains an inspiration for rest of the world. Of course, the struggle is real, but the cities are committed to a healthy, green landscape. The European society works towards an ecologically sustainable economy: preparing Europe to become the leader in world’s smart cities by 2040.
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Tech for traffic control
Europe’s smart cities innovation has powered transformation, even to its neighbouring countries with diverse geography. The city of Valencia is the first in spain to assemble a technological platform for its residents to ensure traffic management control:The AppValencia. The Fundación InnDEA along with the city council of Valentia released the app on Android and IOS—now available to download. The app is designed with multiple functions and furnishes details that are a matter of significance to the residents. Using GPS technology, the app is empowered to inform its users about traffic and the like. The residents can track real-time information on transport such as buses and bikes, make online payments and receive notifications about the city. Most important, the interaction is a way-two communication between the citizens of Valentia and its council. The citizens can also inform the council about live happenings such as accidents of any kind, and upload a picture of the event with geotag. The app allows the council and the citizens to be fully aware.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
24 Feature | Middle East Embraces Tech
Region Focus
The Silent Revolution How the Arabian Gulf region is going through the Fourth Industrial Revolution where technology is redefining the future
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USt A FeW years ago, while gazing out across the vast expanse of empty desert in the Arabian Gulf, you could be forgiven for thinking that the mere idea of the latest technology adoption and innovations (the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)) was utterly devoid of a sense of realism in this part of the world. But, while the thought of Fourth Industrial Revolution in the region seemed elusive to many that time, it doesn’t seem so anymore. From beneath the silent sands, a wave of exciting innovative technologies has been fast gathering momentum and sweeping across the Arabian peninsula. Up until just a few years ago, it was perhaps beyond anyone’s imagination that Dubai, the swankiest of the cities in the Arabian Gulf, would ever be home to world’s first 3D-printed office. Market Insights
But this became a reality in may last year, when Dubai inaugurated ‘Office of the Future’, the first 3D-printed office in the world. While other countries in the Arabian Gulf are adopting new technologies to leapfrog into the smart future, it’s primarily the United Arab emirates (UAe) that’s leading from the front.
Back to the (smart) future the fact that the Gulf region is enriched with crude oil where gas-guzzlers rule the roads, the thought of electric cars would seem like a far-fetched idea for many. But think again! the future of transport is bound to transform into a new look in the region, with Dubai again taking the lead. Dubai’s transport system is working on a smart future plan where one in every fourth journey in the emirate cent will be through
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
driverless transport mode by 2030. According to the head of Dubai government’s Roads and transport Authority, half of private vehicles in the emirate will have selfdriving features within the next 10 years. What’s more, Dubai will begin testing a driver-less flying taxi as early as the end of this year. very soon, tesla will also launch its new models in the UAe and later expand its dealership in Saudi Arabia, oman and Bahrain.
Beyond the hype Not just 3D-printing and driverless transport, the Arabian Gulf region is taking a steady shift towards adopting and leveraging new technologies and automation such as virtual Reality (vR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the investment and development firm Mubadala
Middle East Embraces Tech | Feature
Region Focus
Nidal Abou Zaki, Managing Director, Orient Planet Group
Development Company, the Dubai Future Foundation and GE Additive announced collectively in March this year to establish the first microfactory in the region. The microfactory will have the ability to use cutting edge additive manufacturing technology in the production of specialized components. Another instance is Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme (the agency that provides Emirati housing) that has launched the My Virtual Home App, which uses AR to allow users to virtually tour readymade 3D housing models. Further, Marks & Spencer’s Middle East stores have launched Virtual Closet, using AR for customers to try on outfits and accessories. And the list is endless. From flying taxis to industrial robots, automation is rewriting the rules of business in the Gulf. But is there really a need for the increasing attention to and adoption of the 4IR in the region? It seems so. As the region is diversifying away from its dependence on crude oil and there is an increased pressure on businesses to reduce operational costs due to the drop in oil prices, the adoption of latest technologies has become more of a necessity than just a fad for the region to reinvent itself as a smart, tech-driven, sustainable economy.
Mauricio Zuazua, Partner, A.T. Kearney
As Nidal Abou Zaki, Managing Director, Orient Planet Group, and author of the book The Future Gulf, reasons, “The region considers new technologies essential to the transition of many of its governments from primarily oil-based to highly diversified economies that are empowered by innovation and knowledge.” Adds Amit Singh, Executive Director, Technology Industry Group MENAP, Nielsen, “While this region may not be known for its innovation in technology, it has been fast in embracing the best practices and applying technology to improve the way people live and work. One key aspect driving this is that the decision-making process in this region rests with few individuals, and visionary ones with ‘digital-first’ approach”. However, despite the rapid adoption of new innovation, the region has been facing a few challenges in its endeavour.
The region has been fast embracing the best practices and applying technology to improve lives
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Emmanuel Durou, Partner, Monitor Deloitte
“For the Gulf, the first challenge to benefit from the 4IR is building and maintaining the necessary skills to deal with a high-tech world – which range from innovation to coding, and from project management to biotech engineering,” argues Mauricio Zuazua, Partner, A.T. Kearney. Emmanuel Durou, Partner, Monitor Deloitte also adds that creating organizational cultural change to adopt these new technologies is critical. “While organizations are developing digital DNA, there is still a struggle to get companies to adopt and transition from legacy operations and tools to new ones,” he maintains. To sum it up, as new technologies disrupt the traditional value chains of the Arabian economies, a new paradigm of business landscape is taking shape in the region. Driven by the rapid surge in the Internet users, coupled with a rapidly growing, young, tech-savvy population, and new infrastructure development , the region is poised to see further access to and adoption of emerging technological breakthroughs. The main challenge however will be to match the emerging technologies with new skills.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
– Sunil Kumar Singh Market Insights
26 Feature | Bringing Classrooms Closer
Region Focus
Asia: The Emerging Leader In Edutech
Asian nations Vietnam and India have high potential to dominate the edutech space, but not before they mitigate some hurdles
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RINGING the CLASSROOM to a mobile phone is one among the various inventions setting the benchmark in the technology sector today. education technology has taken over the developing world, in the wake of better connectivity, subsidised education programmes and growing demand for varied skillsets. the brick and mortar style of Market Insights
education will probably never go away, but that’s likely not the aim of edtech. It seeks to co-exist alongside conventional education systems, and probably even enhance the relevance of educational institutions in the modern era. At edtechXGlobal last year, contents of a report produced in partnership with IBIS capital was released, which said that the
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
edtech industry is expected to reach US$250 billion by 2020, and witness a 17% growth per annum. While USA has set the trend for the edtech market, the report says its Asia that will witness the fastest growth in this space, while europe has witnessed a significant increase in mergers & acquisitions. At the edtech Asia Summit held in Bangkok in 2016, Dr. tuan
Region Focus
Minh Pham, founder and CEO of Topica said that in the next decade, 50% of students will receive their education online. According to WCET Distance Education Enrollment Report of 2016, 28 percent of college students in the US are taking at least one online course, and 61 percent of students in the 4,800 US universities and colleges are enrolled in full distance degree programmes. Pham stated a survey done by Babson Survey Research Group, it found that 71 percent of US Chief Academic Officers believed that online education provides similar or superior results than traditional courses. Given how the job market is constantly evolving, it is widely speculated that several jobs will become irrelevant in the next five to ten years, and the only way to stay relevant is to upskill using online platforms. In the next decade, it is speculated that online technology will be a ubiquitous part of learning activities. One of the main reasons for the edtech sector to witness such massive growth is due to the spiralling costs of education. According to the EdTechXGlobal and IBIS Capital report, the global education business stands at US$5 trillion, eight times the size of the software market and three times that of the media and entertainment industry. At the same time, only two per cent of the education sector is digitized, leaving a major gap for edtech companies to establish a formidable industry presence. Specifically, mobile penetration through smartphones is expected to be a game changer in the industry as it can support learning modules. This will especially hold true in emerging markets such as in Asia, where educational and vocational training will be led by mobile-first strategies.
Bringing Classrooms Closer | Feature
For leading education providers, its another way to extend their brand relevance and profit margins into newer markets and across generations. While full-time programmes in a university like Cambridge or Oxford isn’t in every student’s reach, their online or distance programmes certainly are, and sometimes more relevant for a wider cross section of students today. Asia comes across as a solid growth market for edtech companies. Research by CB Insights revealed that funding for venture capital backed edtech startups stood at 96 percent year-on-year. A report by KPMG revealed that global startup investment climbed back up with Asia in second spot with US$12.7bn. Some of the most popular sectors included edutech, health tech, fintech and robotics. Specifically, Vietnam has been witnessing a surge in edtech investments. While Singapore does have more access to capital, Vietnam is a preferred choice in the region due to the rising number of events and an accessible market. However, the government policies, regulations, access to finance and scope for entrepreneurial growth need to be assessed and watched more closely to have long-term predictions. At a time when startup investment could be volatile, investment in an education venture could be considered safer as the industry is largely recession-proof, feel many experts. To enhance Return on Investment, adding technology to the mix could greatly help. With venture capitalists and investors leaning towards deep technology domains in India, edutech looks promising. One of the biggest edutech ventures to witness massive growth and funding
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opportunities is Byjus. The startup is the only one in Asia to be backed by the Chan Zuckerberg initiative, and has a line of major investors such as Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures and Sofina. There’s Khan Academy, backed by Bill and Melinda Gates, which is dominating the space mainly by harnessing users through YouTube. Vedantu offers live online tutoring, while Toppr works largely with students prepping for competitive exams for engineering and medical streams. With its burgeoning market size, Asia is a hot destination for edutech ventures. Technology hubs like Singapore, China and India can elevate the sector to great heights. However, challenges exist such as slow uptake by educational institutions and the difficulty in aggregating the industry, which is highly fragmented. If Asian nations can overcome these barriers, they can very well emerge leaders in edutech in the years to come.
Top Trends in Edutech in APAC •
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Singapore Polytechnic is personalising student services using data. Through a e-concierge system, a student’s needs will be identified and addressed. The system will also notify students of upcoming campus events Australia’s Curtin University is introducing IoT software to provide insights into campus operations Universiti Teknologi Malaysia is using data to ensure students graduate on time, and tracks student performance Students in Japan can attend a virtual high school using VR, AR and smartphone apps Books for Asia library ran digital libraries in five Cambodian primary schools
Source: Govinsider.Asia
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
28 Feature | Western Asia’s Technology Jewel
Country Focus
Western Asia’s Technology Jewel Turkey has conventionally been a leader in science, and now the country is redefining the nature of entrepreneurship and setting global benchmarks
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NAtION thAt hAS long heralded science and technology, turkey is a formidable force in the technology space today. often referred to as the new Silicon valley, turkey has a thriving entrepreneurial culture, robust telecommunications infrastructure as well as an innovation-centric scientific community. Specifically, the country’s ICt sector has become an essential economic component and driver of growth. Ahead of the country’s centennial celebration, turkey’s vision 2023 has some tall goals Market Insights
to boost the technology space, which includes providing internet connection at the speed of 1,000mbps for 14mn houses; increasing Ict sector share in the GDP to eight percent from 2.9 percent and size of the sector
A large section of Turkey’s population is young, making them faster adopters of technology
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
to US$160bn; pushing R&D expenditure to three percent from one percent and reaching 30mn broadband consumers. turkey’s heightened emphasis on developing the technology sector stems from a variety of reasons, including the presence of a large population under the age of 30, presumably better adopters of technology. moreover, mobile penetration is very high in turkey – according to a Deloitte report, 67 percent of surveyed individuals between ages 18-50 owned a smartphone in 2013, and the share rose to 85 percent in
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30 Feature | Western Asia’s Technology Jewel
2015. Although the use of laptops and tablets have also gone up, smartphone usage is still believed to be a major contributor to mobile penetration. Over the years, the popularity of e-commerce has also risen to cater to an already tech-savvy population. Due to this, businesses are working towards digitising their presence online more than ever.
Startups in Turkey Being an innovation-friendly nation has led to the growth of several startups in Turkey. Some of the leading entrepreneurial ventures include mobile solution provider 4play, room rental service Flat4Day, cab hailing service BiTaksi, food delivery service Yemeksepeti and several online retail apps. In addition to allowing innovation to thrive, Turkey enjoys some other advantages as well. Its location serves as a primary bridge between the East and the West. Over the years, Turkey has had its fair share of political turmoil but even that hasn’t affected the country’s business atmosphere. According to IMF and UN estimates, Turkey’s GDP is around US$750bn, making it a substantial market. However, reports suggest that despite having an innovation-centric
Despite being embroiled in political controversies, the nation’s equity as a technology enabler has not been affected ecosystem, startup investments haven’t been as strong. Investors and market analysts, however, still believe there is immense potential in the country’s startup scene. Specifically, healthcare and technology continue to rake in the most amount of investor attention and consequently funds. Over the years, Turkey has developed several technology incubation centres, especially in universities. According to Startup Watch, the number of venture capital investments in Turkey’s technology-centric ventures rose from 11 in 2010 to 85. Moreover, VCs such as 212 Capital Partners has invested in around 12 companies for about US$22mn. Ali Karabey, founding partner of 212 Capital Partners said that there is growing interest in technologycentric ventures in Turkey, and this is where Turkey really expects a fillip in investments. To a large
Country Focus
extent, the political upheavals of the previous year have marred the reputation of the Turkish market and overseas investors are wary of making their way in. However, that doesn’t necessarily reflect on the nature of the startup ecosystem, and experts believe that despite political instability, the interest towards Turkish startups has not diminished. Meanwhile, CVCs or corporate venture capitalists in Turkey have been steadily investing across the country. In 2016, CVCs in Turkey invested around US$25.4mn from US$2.2mn in 2012. Companies such as MV, Koc and Sabanci Holding have been actively investing in start-ups such as Cardtek and Inventram.
Why is Turkey so lucrative? Turkey has been embroiled in political turmoil time and again, but this doesn’t seem to have affected the nation’s equity as a technology enabler. In addition, more than half the population is young (likely below age 35) and can be considered “digital natives”, who are early adopters of technology. Turkey also happens to be one of the world’s bigger economies – according to IMF estimates and World Bank analysis. With a GDP exceeding US$750bn, Turkey’s large market is assuring for investors.
Turkey’s National Technology Move Turkey is anticipated to hit technology transformation: the National Technology Move— largely influenced by concepts developed by its people. In essence, it is an amalgamation of national and unique concepts that stoke Turkey’s transformation. The move is said to be in accordant with the present conditions in Turkey. Selçuk Bayraktar, the Turkey Technology Team Foundation Board of Trustees member said, Market Insights
Turkey Technology Team Foundation will foster tech-based initiatives by the youth.
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
“We should not run after things that are imposed by some to market their own brands, steer the market to take it under control.” Bayraktar explained that they are not in favor of Industry 4.0 concept, because they are braced by foreign companies. However, he also pointed out that the Turkey Technology Team Foundation will foster and support technology-based initiatives by the youth.
Connecting Africa | Feature
Country Focus
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Making ICT A Financial Magnet South Africa’s ICT sector is expected to bring in a lot of profits, but what is stopping the nation from capitalising on this sector’s imminent strength?
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report by International Data Corporation (IDC) has shown that South Africa will have the highest ICT spend this year from the MENAT region, with a total of US$10.5bn as investment. The information and communication technology (ICT) sector in South Africa has shown impressive growth over the years. Specifically, the expansion of
the mobile sector has pushed the country’s rankings upward, and contributes six per cent to the GDP of the nation. Based on data by Statistics South Africa, ICT output in 2005 was valued at US$11.9bn and experts believe those numbers would have increased by now. Mobile operators across the
nation have reported a spike in the use of SIM cards (this also includes duplicate SIM cards as well as ones used for satellite tracking), but individual phone ownership now stands at 86%, according to data by Research ICT Africa (RIA). However, some challenges related to regulation and pricing remain, as policy experts and the government
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Market Insights
32 Feature | Connecting Africa
work to address them and bring about a balanced market for ICT services. In 2012, South Africa’s Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) launched the Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) to ensure access to reliable, affordable broadband to all South Africans. Former communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda, in 2009, announced the ICT Vision 2020, which aims to provide a roadmap for the ICT industry’s long-term growth and to make South Africa a leading ICT hub. The country’s National Development Plan 2030 too reserves a prominent place for ICT. By 2030, the plan states that the country should be a “dynamic information society and knowledge economy”. Key strategies to achieve highest levels of ICT penetration include e-literacy, skills and institutional development, regulation of competitive markets, achieving 100% broadband penetration by 2020, expansion of broadband to 2Mbps atleast, from 256Kbps. Looking ahead to Vision 2030, ICT is among the foremost goals for South Africa’s development. Huawei CEO Steven Wu said, “ICT should be a national priority strategy, with more investment and a supportive policy framework for ICT development. We would also like to see swift progress in significant projects such as SA
There are several policy failings in South Africa’s telecommunications sector Market Insights
Country Focus
Connect and Safe Cities.” At the recently concluded Vision 2030 Summit, Huawei said their aim was to work toward bridging the digital divide, by sharing its experiences on aspects of cloud, Big Data and Internet of Things. Huawei’s Global Connectivity Index (GCI) states that nations which increase investment in ICT by 10% from 2017 to 2025 will benefit from a multiplier effect. While South Africa’s performance is average pertaining to the permeation of broadband, data centres and cloud services, fibre-to-home and fixed broadband services were lagging significantly. Since major market reforms since the mid-1990s, Neotel and Telkom are the most prominent fixed line operators, while Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom Mobile and Virgin Mobile take up the majority market share in the mobile space. In addition, there are several Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Various reports indicate that duopoly has led to price-matching, poor service quality, anti-competitive behaviour have made it very hard to exert competitive pressure. Even though a horizontal licensing regime was introduced in 2005 by the Electronic Communications Act 2005, the market is structured around operators that run vertically.
Policy The policy framework supporting the ICT sector has largely undermined the various reforms brought about to revolutionise the industry. This has led to a weak market structure, institutional arrangements and compromised regulatory effectiveness. According to a report in RIA, there are several policy failings have plagued the DoC, ICASA and Universal Service & Access Agency of South Africa.
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
By 2030, South Africa’s national development plan aims to make the nation a key information society and knowledge economy As part of the RIA’s TRE rankings (2012) to measure national regulatory environment, South Africa came second to last among 11 countries surveyed, just one slot ahead of Ethiopia. The leading factors for South Africa’s low ranking include market entry, QoS, anti-competitive practices, USO, access to scarce resources, interconnection and tariff regulation. Until 2009, South Africa had among the highest bandwidth prices globally. This was because bandwidth was via satellite and a single undersea cable South Atlantic 3, owned solely by Telkom. Today, there are four new submarine cable systems – SEACOM, EASSy, WACS and ACE - causing prices to drop significantly. The landing cables indicated an improvement in international connectivity, but the wholesale cost savings have not always been passed on from operators to customers. There has been a shortfall in the national backbone and high-speed LANs. Infrastructure extension has fallen prey to the poor policy implementation. Moreover, regulatory and approval hurdles have hampered the effective rollout of services. For the country’s ICT services to scale and set benchmarks, effective policy and regulation is the need of the hour, in addition to a strong government-led execution.
Country Focus
Cryptocurrency Wins Favour | Feature
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Will Bitcoin Go Mainstream In Australia? With bitcoin being considered real money in Australia, there is a high likelihood that citizens will embrace this new form of currency in the next couple of decades
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s it stands right now, regular consumers on the streets of Australia are aware of Bitcoin. Eye-catching news articles on how one man bought 100 dollars’ worth of the e-currency back in 2011 and has become a millionaire in 2017 have caught the public’s attention. But success stories such as this one merely scratch the surface of what Bitcoin really is, and how it
can change the way consumers and business owners can spend and receive currency. Recently the Australian government announced that as of July 1st 2017, Bitcoin will be considered real money and it will also be exempt from goods and services tax (GST). This suggests that the cryptocurrency could be about to go mainstream Down Under.
Expert economists such as the CEO of Coinbase Brian Armstrong have predicted that the currency will replace the US dollar by 2030. As for Blythe Masters, a former prodigy at JP Morgan, he stated: “We’re seeking to make [the current financial system] stronger, better, and safer, using blockchain technology.” It is huge news for fans of this new currency to hear that the Australian government is truly embracing innovation. As more official bodies and governments show trust in this new currency, it is likely that consumers will feel more attracted to it. One misconception that is consistent with the general public is that if you hold Bitcoin you will just get rich in a couple of years. It is unlikely that this is going to happen. Bitcoin needs to be seen as a currency like any other. The key difference with Bitcoin and other currencies is that it is brand new. It is only normal that there is going to be ups and downs until more countries like Australia start embracing it as the currency of the future, and not an investment. Alternatively, if you don’t want to deal with these fluctuations, the safest way that seems to be currently available to get involved in this new currency is if you trade bitcoin with CFDs online. CFDs, which are also known as contracts for difference, allow traders to bet on the value of Bitcoin rather than own the currency itself.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
34 Feature | Silicon Valley Down Under
Country Focus
Australia The New Startup Guru In Global Innovation and the next Silicon Valley in the making...
Market Insights
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
Silicon Valley Down Under | Feature
Country Focus
Unlike the US, building a new company in Australia is relatively easy. The recent growth of entrepreneurs, co-working spaces, accelerators and angel groups have established a versatile landscape for the country’s startup community. The Australian tech startup sector has the potential to contribute $109 bn. or four percent of GDP to the Australian economy and 540,000 jobs by 2033 [...] according to PwC report, commissioned by Google Australia (2013).
Australia is becoming a hotbed for young, startup talent
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ustralia has been on a winning streak with legalities and culture in favor of up-andcoming businesses. Home-grown startups are breaking into the lucrative overseas market to lure world-class business partnerships. For tech startups that plan to move to the Silicon Valley, the Land Down Under is the next recognised hot spot. However, it will have to fight China, mainly Beijing—Silicon’s best competitor, to top the game.
Annie Parker, CEO of Lighthouse told Market Insights, “We have some of the best universities in the world for [technical research]. Australia is the home of some major groundbreaking innovations such as Spray-on skin, Ultrasound, Wi-Fi and Google Maps—all created here. Another advantage is our proximity to China and Southeast Asia— huge markets with nearly 650mn. people on our doorstep; and digital penetration within these countries is extremely high, making demand for great innovative businesses a huge growth market [emphasis added]. Great weather, amazing beaches and quality of life...it’s a fabulous place to live.” Australia’s legal framework makes it compatible for a startup build. As a national prerogative, the Australian government has understood the importance of cultivating startups—a game changer for the country. Startup predictions for 2016 on Australian Business Review reads, “2015 was a breakout year for Australia’s tech startup ecosystem, with governments at all levels across the country finally developing
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policies to try and capitalise on the momentum that had been building for years.” In addition, Forbes states that “Australia saw a large boost in startup growth with a 108% increase in total funding applications compared to Q1 2015.” The Turnbull government launched the $1.1bn. National Innovation and Science Agenda in the same year to help Australians market their innovations and set up new job opportunities. Recently, the government rolled out an Australian innovation tax incentives legislation for venture capitalists to fuel startup investments and facilitate long-term mentorship. “I’ve been here for just under four years now and the change in the ecosystem over that short time period has been extraordinary. What was essentially a two city startup market has grown significantly— Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide [to name a few] have all got extremely vibrant startup communities. We’ve got a healthy local venture capitalist scene now too. When I first came here it was pretty small, but we’ve got over $2bn. of funding now locally, and the international venture capitalist companies are beginning to invest here as well. HealthEngine who are a Perth based startup just raised $26mn. in funding which included Sequoia,” she added.
The hub for innovations such as The Capital in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne have peaked in entrepreneurialism, creating jobs for tomorrow
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Market Insights
36 Feature | Silicon Valley Down Under
A recent Huffpost decodes Australia’s entrepreneurial culture is quite unique—much like a snowball effect. Usually, the startup communities tend to form clusters that over time become dense. This even helps businesses in different niches to engage with like-minded people. So the ecosystem is likely to become a virtuous cycle. One way of doing this is by establishing coworking office space. Startup Muster findings on Finder.com shows 73.3% of startups use co-working spaces. Many have sprouted in Melbourne and Sydney such as the famed Fishburners, an exemplary of the largest co-working space in Australia. Sydney’s startup glow comes from the success stories of Stone & Chalk, the Tyro Fintech Hub and Fishburners amongst others. In efforts to bring such organisations together on a single precinct, the NSW government is looking at a ‘supersized’ startup hub to be developed in or near the Sydney Central Business District (CBD). This will help reinforce business competitiveness against other hubs from around the world. Also, the NSW government on Financial Review (2016) is said to have planned to welcome a body of leading Silicon Valley investors and global fintech giants to Sydney, in a hope, to become a regional tech powerhouse. Another giant startup, Lighthouse is set to open in the heart of the Sydney CBD later this year. Lighthouse will empower founders and uplift the prosperity of the startup community. Sydney’s growth is a telling sign of its potential to become Australia’s Silicon Valley. But to become the next Silicon, it will have to compete with China. A non-profit organisation named TechSydney has been launched in a bid to help the city boom in startup performance. The likes of Atlassian, Airbnb and LinkedIn have offered support in this regard. Market Insights
Australia is making advancements in both domestic and international markets such as Europe and China. An Australian based startup,TrademarKVision has tapped into the European market using its latest ‘deep learning’ algorithm. Mai Capital has launched Dragon Egg Fund to bolster the expansion of Australian startups in the Chinese market. Michael Mai, founder of Mai Capital on Financial Review said, “We want to do a lot more business between Australia and China to further the two countries’ economic benefits. We see them as the perfect joint venture. In Australia there are too little people and a lot of resources, China has too many people, too few resources and too much competition.” Fishburners has spread its wings to Shanghai; and Brisbane because of the city’s good spirit in entrepreneurial culture. Brisbane 2022 New World City Action Plan is in the pipeline to shape the city’s growing prominence in innovation. Of the plan, one key specific is to create a dynamic innovation hub. Ergo, The Capital. Brisbane’s The Capital is a $5 mn. innovation hub that made way for 200 startups at the time of inception. Fishburners and Little Tokyo Two are the chief occupants of The Capital and will bring epic changes to the city’s startup economy. The Capital intends to create multiple new job opportunities in Queensland and host startup-based programs such as Power-Up and the Visiting Entrepreneurs Program. Hot DesQ is an Australian-first program by the Queensland government. Advance Queensland speaks, “The program has been designed to put startups across Queensland at the centre by basing the incoming startups in existing innovation hubs around the State.” Hot DesQ beckons startups globally to shift their base to Queensland for at least six months, in an attempt to gradually designate the state as an all round centre for startup innovation.
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
Country Focus
From Australia’s business perspective, the world is your own Developing or developed companies that have forayed into highly-competitive markets such as US, Europe and China are mostly confined to the market requirements. On the globe, Australia is seen differently. It is the hub for creative tech, allowing startups to explore and deliver innovation at their best. The journey of a Melbournebased startup, Rome2rio will stand testament to this progressive approach: the company’s business life cycle is focused on ‘transportation journey planning’, which is more suited to thickly populated regions such as Europe and Asia. Still the company devised this global user base strategy in Australia and has proved successful. Ripe for disruption, Melbourne is the next-stop destination for startup prosperity. The culture is community-centric and the city is coming of age in startup ecosystem. According to an interview on Virgin, Ryan Trainor, co-founder of Republica said, “The business culture in Melbourne supports people who are willing to build their business, but ensures that humility is a key factor and value that remains at the forefront. People within Melbourne would rather come across a secret, rather than be screamed at with a brand. The subtleties of this ensures that brands that have a strong sense of community, are considered with messaging and offer a clear value proposition which can get cut through very quickly, creating strong word of mouth.”
Country Focus
Setting Benchmarks in Innovation | Feature
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Unveiling The Finnish Experience In Digital Finland is a knowledge-driven economy with world-class technology companies exploring opportunities in the Finnish R&D space
T
he journey of Finland in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is exceptional. Finland owes itself to the 1990s transition: from an acute recession that blazed a trail for industrial transformation. Many traditional industries responsible for Finland’s economic growth went dysfunctional during the transformation period. Thus, the ICT industry climbed the top, positively impacting Finland’s economy on a global scale. The Finnish bounced back in less than a
decade, for the most part, because of heavy developments in ICT production. As if to prove a point, the country reinvented itself by becoming a high-level ICT-driven economy in the world. This became a watershed moment in the history of Finnish experience and there was no looking back.
Finland the most-recognised ICT economy in the world? The beginning of the third millennium saw Finland ranked high, three times in a row as one of the most developed IT
economies, based on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report; the country also stood number one in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies of youths’ learning skills and educational attainment, according to e.finland.fi. A study shows 91% of the population are frequent Internet users; the broadband costs are reasonably priced leading to a smart digital strategy. Martti
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Market Insights
38 Feature | Setting Benchmarks in Innovation
Mäntylä, professor at Aalto University School of Science said, “Finns use more mobile data than anyone else.” Finland continues to make headway in being the highest data usage economy in the world based on tefficient industrial analysis—19.3% of sims are dataonly; and an average use per sim is more than 7GB per month in 1H 2016. Referring to the Global Information Technology Report 2015 (GITR) published by INSEAD in partnership with the World Economic Forum and Johnson Cornell University, Finland was listed at the second position with respect to its capacity to prepare, use and leverage ICT on Network Readiness Index (NRI). However, there has been a modest dip in Finland’s competitiveness ranking lately. The Global Competitiveness Report 2015-16 on WEF saw Finland at eighth on the world’s highest competitive economies index. Nevertheless, the country is still ahead of the show in ICT research and innovation, and is building strong ties through learning.
Education is key Finland’s former times in ICT and world-class academic standards has set a benchmark, with a propensity to stir top talent and deliver innovation. Institutions have taken to salient measures, namely the likes of IoT, mobile technologies and forms of digital means as part of the curriculum. This helps the Finnish to stay well-connected to the global market right from the start. Arto Pussinen, head of industry, ICT and digitalisation at Invest in Finland said, “Finland has the world’s best education system, that creates talented engineers. Also the Finnish government sees ICT industry as one of the core industries and is supporting the growth.” Market Insights
Enabling innovation in digitalisation Linux Operating System and Nokia’s iconic legacy formed the cornerstone of the Finnish ICT sector. Finland hit the bull’s eye with 3G revolution and is still going strong in communications. That said, the country is flying bright in its current body of work in R&D, which proliferates its unquestionable growth in ICT. “After the rapid structural change in mobile phone industry, Finland’s ICT industry has started to bloom in several [digital] areas,” added Pussinen.
Of the Finnish ICT infrastructure, the 5G ecosystem, safe traffic and digital health are examples of creative disruption Tampere in Southern Finland is hardwired to cultivate the nation’s ICT culture through round-theclock innovation and research. The city has always had its presence in Finland’s ICT move and is also the main coordinator of National Innovative Cities Program 20142020. Traditionally, innovation and knowledge constitute the DNA of the city, establishing itself as the prime centre for communication technologies and radical research. The University of Tampere’s Internet and Game Studies, for example, conducts in depth research on gaming and its fundamentals. The Finlayson building at Tampere facilitates an incubator precinct for startup and student innovators, and is a ready research facility on ICT-specialised subject matter for companies. But
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
Country Focus
that’s not it. Nokia chose to locate its research site in the city to spur Finland’s ICT and the works. Tampere and rest of Finland are inherently bound to seamlessly adapt to the IT landscape. “Expertise in 4G/5G technology is the strongest scalable asset of Finland. Another strong one is the expertise in data science (modeling, analysis, machine learning and AI),” explained Mäntylä. Global giants such as Ericsson, Huawei, Microsoft, Intel and Qualcomm to name a few march on Finland’s skills and strengths, to locate and invest. Even local data management specialists such as M-Files and Jolla are beneficial to the nation. Of the Finnish ICT infrastructure, the 5G ecosystem, safe traffic and digital health are examples of creative disruption that inspire innovation-driven public funding agencies like Tekes to deliver expert and financial upliftment. The world’s most superior 5G Test Network (5GTN) is a highperformance R&D platform that was introduced by Finland at the Mobile World Congress 2016. The network presents Finland with the best open innovation test bed for products and business models in various projects. For the first time, the 5G Test Network saw the coming of three tech giants— Nokia, Huawei and Ericsson, symbolic to its digital future. The Finnish public funding agency for innovations and technology, Tekes launched the 5thGear programme that aims to build power packed solutions enabling companies and research institutes to offer safe, reliable networks to consumers. The heart of the programme intends to propel Finland as an attractive lead in global investments. Together, the flagbearers of 5G—Nokia and Intel are said to open accelerator laboratories
Setting Benchmarks in Innovation | Feature
Country Focus
in a live environment in Espoo, Finland, which is pointed towards developing, testing and accelerating the commercial readiness of the 5G wireless technologies ranging from device to cloud. The labs could very well prepare Finland for its latest and yet-to-come digital possibilities by capitalising on the two companies’ core technologies such as Nokia AirScale and Nokia AirFrame along with client and infrastructure platforms running on Intel® Architecture and Intel 5G connectivity solutions. The 5G-Safe project is a part of Tekes’ Challenge Finland and makes it possible to induce safe traffic by reducing accidents. The project is underpinned by real-time information in terms of developing new vehicular network solutions, the local road weather and safety measures. This requires
no personal assistance. Data will be collated and warnings will be signaled to users automatically. Tekes also launched the Bits of Health. The Bits of Health was brought to life in an attempt to project Finland as the centre for digital health. The programme is devised for companies that promote health using digitalisation such as early diagnosis, health monitoring and personalised treatment. In addition, the health programme is said to support research, development and innovation projects. By and large, investing or deploying R&D in Finland has proved right going by the success stories of Rolls-Royce, Intel, LG Electronics and IBM. LG Electronics has even set up its own centre in the Finnish R&D space. To stoke digital transformation in maritime industry, Rolls-Royce recently
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announced its plans in presentcentury R&D. The company envisions next-generation remote control and autonomous shipping through planting a marine R&D centre in Turku, Finland. Finland reflects the magnitude of its ICT cluster securing its global status to what it is today. Its digital prowess in existing network technology has even empowered the nation to help China drive a positive change in the Chinese telecom market. Finpro, a part of Team Finland network escorted a group of Finnish companies largely known for data management, wireless messaging and virtual core technologies to Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2016, in a hope to build valuable partnerships. The Finnish technological innovations since recession has refreshed the everyday lives of the world: from start to end.
Finland Revolutionises Its Transport System MaaS Global’s Whim is a mobility app in Finland, which allows seamless transportation because of a wide-range of commute options. The app supports travel by taxi, rental cars and public transport. Taksi Helsinki is Finland’s largest taxi service company.. And so, the two companies have come together to begin a revolutionary service: Taksi Helsinki will provide a convoy of 13,000 cars on rental through Whim app based on Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept. Head of Business Development at Taksi Helsinki, Lauri Suokannas on Whim official site said “Taksi Helsinki wants to be at the forefront of this development. Taksi Helsinki is MaaS compatible and our modern technology enabled an effective implementation. To our clients the co-operation with MaaS Global means access to reliable and first-
class taxi services at a very short notice.” Most important, the reason behind this joint effort is to offer first-class service to customers, even at short notice. The app is well-designed to display valuable
information for customers: estimated time of arrival, tracking location on the map and number details. The fee is paid through the app, upon arrival at the destination. Through technology, an effortless customer experience is guaranteed.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
40 Feature | Bots for Personnel Function
Innovations
The Future Of Human Resource Chatbots are growing popular in the Human Resource sector but will they replace the richness of ‘human’ in Human Resource?
H
uman Resource is a ‘personnel’ function with an undivided responsibility of everything an employee needs. This expectation is yet to change. The possibility of stretching human capability—is almost, next to impossible. And in the common ground of perception: how complex could the function be? In real, more complex than one would willingly imagine. India-based Bash.AI, recently launched its Human ResourceMarket Insights
centric chatbot, six months ago, to strengthen employees and Human Resource with all-possible technological interactions: defining the core of the function. It is, in fact, a slithering intersection between human conversation and bot technology. The chatbots are hybrid. The first: Post Hire Orientation chatbot assists employees with all company-specific queries. Interestingly, the bot can guide them to the cafeteria or the
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
washroom—with a map, of course. During post-hire, the first human thought for the Orientation team is the questions. New employees look for information. The questions are not time-bound as they appear and disappear with days spent in the organisation. So there is an onboarding menu subsumed into categories: hierarchy, vision and mission, teams and sports and cultural activities. And so, employees understand the nature of the chatbot and the compatible
Innovations
questions to ask. The second: HR Help Desk chatbot provides all round information specific to policies and procedures. Employees can check for leaves or Form 16 and of the sort. Bots like this one also know how to process leaves. The third: Employee Satisfaction chatbot is all about surveys and questionnaires with elements of interaction: images, videos and gifs. The traditional surveys are turned around to monitor employee satisfaction and attrition. In an event of employee feedback, the surveys can even depict an animated conversation: presented with movie characters that call out types of managers to rate from. Miranda Priestly, for instance, from Devil Wears Prada. This evokes the power of conversation, especially to gauge emotions. The function has had a revival, since the wake up call—at the time Barkha Sharma was serving her notice at the previous organisation. While she holds substantial experience of 7 years in Talent Acquisition; like most employees, her knowledge of the company policies remained oblivious. On one occasion, she learned that relieving employees were permitted to leave early on request. And soon after, she was told all employees were aware of the rule, except herself. It was an example. Widely known as information dissemination. Barkha in her post-enlightenment interpreted both sides of the story: an employee’s feeling of uncertainty and the hidden distress of Human Resource Management. Generally speaking, the word distress rarely attaches itself to the Management’s line of work. “There was lack of proper communication,” Barkha wryly says, “it branched out into other concerns such as my loan application procedure, which
Bots for Personnel Function | Feature
took multiple follow-ups.” For employees, the situation sprouts a universal sense of debate from within: who is the concerned person and is the information exact. Usually, human perceptions are built on prejudice. “Employees don’t like to interact with Human Resource team. The first thought is they are impolite and useless. I’m quoting the word useless because that’s the term often used. But I speak for the Resource team.” Her advocacy, was in fact, the collective voice of the function. The function is hazy in the eyes of employees. Against popular belief: each Human Resource division does not spell out all things Human Resource. In fact, employees’ constant urge to seek routine information diffuses the work of the function—distorting the meaning of employeeHuman Resource interaction. SMEs deprived of a well-defined Resource Management function, owing to oversized figures are forced to play multiple job roles. It becomes an all or nothing that might cost the company severely. In combination, the events enabled Barkha to concoct the concept: inspired by her own past experience, “it was a typical, Eureka moment.” That, in the realm of Human. Resource. Management. System. is a veritable move.
“Our product and AI will really bring about drastic change and revamp the whole HR function for better,” —Barkha Sharma
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The bots are a front-end chat interface with user-friendly features. Employees can access the interface from anywhere, even via Facebook chat. (If the company is progressive.) It is important for employees and bot technology to understand the purpose of innovation. The bots are programed to deliver information with definite conversations. The chatbots’ original exercise is to act synonymous with the Human Resource for banal, repeated questions and enrich the whole user-bot experience. “Given the fact that HR folks are humans, they get frazzled when mundane questions are directed towards them on everyday basis. The bots sort the problem from both ends: it allows HR to focus on their main skills and encourages employees to approach HR for delicate, important matters with ease. The undesired burden is removed,” in Barkha’s own words. A classic context to this is leave application. If an employee wants to apply for leave, he is expected to use the HR Help Desk. Subsequently, the chatbot will ask him: What kind of leave? (Paid or casual.) Organically, the conversation will work in favor of the bot to extract the right information from the correct database. When the bot responds to the point, the course of the chat is firmed up to eschew mix-up of conversations. Behind the scenes, the chatbots are not a plug-and-play software application. There is a perceptible difference in mechanism with each module: the language, the tone of the conversation and the built-in operations vary much to its developer’s challenge. The modules positively affect the members of the Human Resource function. But the exercise can run into contingencies: Will the bot produce obscure response to
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Market Insights
42 Feature | The future of human resource
employee questions? There is a solution to diminish the likelihood. Employees are encouraged to wisely choose words relevant to the context. They must be company-specific keywords. The keywords are fed into the interface to assuage the bot to comprehend the usage with accuracy. The more users follow the instructions, the more reliable the technology becomes. In case of contingencies the bot answers with composure: “We are unaware of the information. Will get back
to you shortly.” The contact details of the concerned person is also prompted. However, in a vast mysterious world, human assistance is still a psychological prerequisite for people. It is an outcome of traditional belief established by the law of nature. The tug-of-war between actual human emotions and human-esque chatbots continue to raise ethical questions derived from the angst of replacing human support with technology. To which, she firmly persists “That is
Innovations
not our intention, to begin with. It is impossible for the bot to replace human sentiments and actions in the organisation because a bot can only guide, not assist.” The fight is about reducing obscurity of the function. Using bot technology, the Human Resource team will be able to allocate their time and effort toward employee emotions that thrive on long-conversations, feelings and empathy—the richness of ‘human’ in Human Resource that is nearly forgotten.
Designing Unique Solutions To Address Personnel Problems In Organisations Design thinking, also known as human-centered design, is a creative approach to problem solving that leads to innovative solutions that work better for people. Design thinking, traditionally an approach that hails from the product design industry, is now being applied more broadly in various fields, including human resource management. The human-centered design process begins with gaining deeper understanding of the needs of the people you are designing for, and then moves to design where you will consider a broad spectrum of ideas, and then build prototypes to test out what works. From experimentation, you will have data you need to make decisions on what solutions to implement and prepare for adoption. The principles behind the design thinking process are what make it particularly appealing to leverage in HR. A few examples: Human-Centered Design: Human needs are kept at the centre of design thinking. Our work in HR is rooted in people. But ironically, when building out HR practices, Market Insights
we don’t always consider or build experiences that work very well for people in the organization. In design thinking, we learn about the actual needs of people through qualitative research. Throughout the design process, we test what we build with people to ensure we are building practices that meet their needs. Collaborative Design: Having people engaged in the design process from multiple functions is a foundational principle of design thinking. In organisations, we know that people are more likely to adopt practices that they had a hand in building. In the future, the
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
trend for employee engagement in shaping work environments will increase. Creative Problem Solving: Many practices of design thinking originate from creative problem solving. The process enables seeing problems from new angles, and providing the tools help to uncover breakthrough ideas and solutions. In the future, creativity will be critical in helping organizations flex and adapt to rapidly changing business conditions. Source: Karrie Sullivan, HRCI
Innovations
Beer and Data for Multivariate Brewing | Feature
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AI Brewed Beer: A World-First Innovation The British brewing culture is evolving with the help of Artificial Intelligence to create new and interesting craft beer recipes
T
he old Elizabethan England consumed beer. Almost as a staple. Brewed for the right reasons: mild beer became a stand-in for water; a medicinal concoction powered with B vitamins; and in its strong kind for guzzlers. Commoners, children and the Virgin Queen herself were all believed to hydrate with beer or ale—certainly, practicing tradition. Coming from the famed land of brewing, beer art is not a distant thought to the English. Back in the
day, the brew was dark, strong and sweet. Interesting spice-infused variants such as ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves were brewed. The era even saw super-strength versions of British ale and beer. In 1630, John Grove, a pamphleteer in his writing: Wine, Ale, Beer and Tobacco Contending for Superiority added grace to the drink, as he stated—the city calls for beer. Afterall, its laid-back, old-time charm is what appeals to every generation that come of age.
For a few years now, the world has been relishing the goodness of stout, draught and the like. The United Kingdom alone stands out for more than 700 craft breweries. It is time to suit the changes in taste, yet to keep the oldfashioned recipes alive.
Reminiscing the days with two beer innovators Meet the two new-age craft brewers that stand testament to the belief: conversations stir innovations.
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Market Insights
44 Feature | Beer and Data for Multivariate Brewing
Flipping through the pages with Rob Mclnerney and Hew Leith recall the time when they met at a co-working space— WeWork in East London. The two bonded over beer, of course. In the course of conversation, they realised, what if technology could innovate craft beer. Their profound knowledge in innovation and Machine Learning has whipped up a storm in the market. In hindsight, however, it is their insatiable love for beer and data that has helped them to build a world-first innovation—Artificial Intelligence (AI) brewed premium beer. Together, they introduce a mash-up of the Elizabethan brew and science in the modern day of beer and brewing. Ergo, the IntelligentX Brewing Co.
Beer and data, for multivariate brewing For many brewers, every ounce of beer is brewed with passion. Recipes are rediscovered, improved and refined. But what happens next: if they have to find new recipes with changing consumer tastes? A faint challenge, somewhat, greets them—enough to question their intuition: like what to brew and the ingredients to use. The breweries, the brewers market the clone recipes that has been around for years as their
Market Insights
With AI, recipes originate, according to consumer’s choice of liking and brewer’s intuition regulars’ all-time favorite. Thus, Mclnerney and Leith’s work of substance chase beer and data—in effect, to reinvent the craftsmanship of the English brew, and engage customers to tap into the mind-altering tastes and flavours. There’s a reason beer brewed from data has the brewers and the consumers in the same room: where every recipe is desired and brewed carefully. If the word picture sounds unusual, it is, in fact, legitimising the concept: brew your own beer. The scene is quite experimental. This even empowers the brewers to augment their traditional brewing skills in a blip. Leith said “We believe in product development: consumers demand a closer relationship to the products they consume. If you’ve heard of ‘the Ikea effect’—
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
Innovations
the way in which someone feels closer to the something they’ve built themselves—this is one of the key principles we operate under. By doing that, customers are naturally more loyal to the brand and the product.” With AI, recipes originate, according to consumer’s choice of liking and brewer’s intuition. Each batch plays out a distinct taste. It is innovation in the works of brewing.
So, how does it work? The algorithm: Automated Brewing Intelligence (ABI) is the mastermind behind the brew. It deepens the art of brewing, owing to its humanlike learning capabilities. Using a combination of customer feedback, Reinforcement Learning and Bayesian Optimisation, ABI provides beer recipes the human brewers develop. ABI’s bank of wildcard ingredients such as adding fruit to a recipe: one of the more British-inspired samples of IntelligentX brewing, helps push the boundaries of what’s possible within craft brewing. So far, IntelligentX has given its consumers four bottle conditioned beers—Amber: derived from a British bitter: dark in appearance and strong in flavor with a hint of grapefruit; Golden: from the origin of a classic British golden ale recipe featuring Styrian Golding hops; Pale: much like an American pale ale: using significant quantities of Cascade hops for a hoppy taste, in particular; and Black: a real Marmite beer from a classic porter recipe: offers smokey flavour with a twist— is Leith’s favorite. There are only four key elements to brew beer: water, barley, hops and yeast. Each element offers great variety. Because the varieties are vast, it gets confusing so often and so much that it ends with uncertainty: How can the recipes
Innovations
be continuously reinvented? Will the new brew leave a lingering taste of the old? This is a tough call in the life of a brewer. But, on the bright side, the algorithm is able to conceive interesting recipes for the next round of brewing. How? Specific subsets within the varieties are selected and the algorithm is used to enhance the flavour of the subsets. The Reinforcement Learning enables the algorithm to learn through behavioral reinforcement: every positive action (Read: good recipe) is rewarded, and in converse. Its reward is based on hard-coded values that command AI to satisfy consumers’ expectations. The Bayesian Nonparametric Approach defines AI’s level of comprehension. In essence, it provides a scheme of things that allow AI to understand and employ the information learnt. After trying the beers, consumers can report their feedback to the algorithm. On each bottle, there is a URL, which redirects to a Facebook Messenger Bot. The Bot hurls a set of questions to consumers, dynamically. The questions are suggested in a two-fold scenario: knowledge of the consumer and the information essential for the upcoming recipe. The answers are in a yes-or-no format, along with multiple choice. The feedback is interpreted and translated effortlessly: it’s a task that is timeconsuming for humans. And so, the human effort is simply pointed towards improvising the brewing process. This is when the master brewers come into play, ready for their turn. With progress, the first aim is to keep developing the algorithm and feeding it with customer feedback data. A big part of this is getting the beer in the hands of as many people as possible so they can get them feeding back to the algorithm.
Beer and Data for Multivariate Brewing | Feature
“We currently live in a world where companies are using our data to target more advertising at us. We believe we can do something more useful with data, use data to create better products that improve over time. In this example, we combine customer feedback data and a Machine Learning algorithm to determine what consumers like about our beers, then brew new versions which are more finely tuned to people’s tastes. This is the future of data. It’s not about using data to target people with annoying ads,” he added.
Thus, a new episode begins Mclnerney and Leith’s brewing practice is much appreciated by Bart Watson, chief economist of the American Brewers Association. The two Londoners have decided to soon share the recipes with everyone, to retain its origin—all for the love of beer. So far, the beers have evolved eleven times, and nearly, 18,000 bottles have been sold. At present, the bottles are making headway in tech events and stacked in a coworking space: WeWork. The beer is also available from Ubrew in Bermondsey and Code Node. There are plans in the pipeline to expand the beer innovation outside London such as Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Berlin. The company has initiated a move with bars, pubs, distributors and several Michelinstarred restaurants about stocking AI-brewed beer. “We’re getting a lot of interest from them,” he exclaimed. “It’s about creating a great digital experience that improves over time so that people keep coming back.” Even the algorithm’s ultimate objective is to keep learning and win a major beer competition—CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Great Britain: where it all began.
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CRISPR’s Gene-Editing Technology For Corn
DuPont Pioneer announced the USDA will not subject a waxy corn hybrid created with CRISPR Cas9 gene-editing technology to regulations applied to traditional GMOs. The gene changes the functionality of starch. DuPont’s officials believe the corn can be planted in fields in five years. The company is also growing CRISPR-edited wheat. A white button mushroom developed at Penn State University was the first CRISPR Cas9-edited organism to be cleared from USDA oversight. In the mushroom, one of six genes for polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme that causes browning, was lowered by 30%. The result is a longer shelf life and a decrease in browning that results from damage during mechanical harvesting, Yinong Yang, Ph.D., associate professor of plant pathology, Penn State University, told Food Dive. He is part of the team that developed the CRISPR-edited mushroom. He is also researching the use of the technology in rice. These decisions by the USDA enable scientists to continue researching CRISPR technologies in rice, wheat, soybeans and bananas. With CRISPR Cas9, scientists can cut or modify DNA at any point within a genome and splice the ends back together, all without introducing foreign DNA, Source: Fooddive.com
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Market Insights
46 Feature | Automating The Customer Experience
Innovations
Deep Learning For A Better Shopping Experience Two young Indians are taking the shopping experience to a whole new level with the use of artificial intelligence
H
ave you ever walked into a store, found a T-Shirt that you really wanted to buy, only to find that it’s out of stock? It’s happened one too many time with a lot of us. One Indian retail startup Talespin is aiming to enhance a shopper’s experience in a brick and mortar store by using deep learning algorithms. Market Insights
Last year, Tapan Dixit and his brother Tanay decided to launch a startup called Talespin, which would enhance an instore customer experience with the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Following Tanay’s personal experience in a store, the two realized that there were several common challenges
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
across most major retail stores in India, which led to an inconsistent and sometimes, unsatisfactory customer experience. “Our aim was to build tools to help brands that would increase instore conversion. Now, we have expanded our scope to help brands similar results online too,” says Tapan Dixit, co-founder and CEO.
Innovations
Retailers benefits Talespin signs up with a brand and accesses their inventory. The startup uses its deep learning library to tag images, and adds features such as fabric quality, colour, size and appearance. When a user approaches the retailer with a specific query such as “Seeking a deep blue Men’s round collar T-Shirt in size Large”, it becomes simpler to sift through the library and check if the piece is available in the inventory. Inventory information is displayed from across all outlets of that very brand in the area, so it becomes easier for the customer to make a choice. Tapan says that product delivery is up to the retailer – they can either allow for the product to be ordered off an app or provide home delivery options. These tools basically allow a customer to shop on-the-go. While the online experience is subject to many variables, customers generally expect a more wholesome and satisfying experience in a brick and mortar store, believes Tapan. “Studies state that 70% of users first look at a product online before shopping for it. Customer feedback also states that many are comfortable looking at designs and products on screens, as it makes them feel empowered with choice.” Talespin is based on the concept of endless aisle, a part of omni channel technology where brands get an extension on shelf space, online and offline. “This way, customers have more options and information, and brands too can benefit from a wider range of services and products to sell from.” According to Tapan, customer acquisition cost from a brand perspective is high. First, there were websites, now there are apps. However, there is always a risk of an app getting offloaded from his phone by a user, for multiple reasons. To mitigate this
Automating The Customer Experience | Feature
concern and eventually provide a seamless experience online, Talespin provides a chatbot sitting a on a deep learning library. When a customer interacts with the bot, it could be through the website or Facebook Messenger. For a small scale startup, a bot is not a major investment, especially through Facebook. There is a higher possibility of better Return on Investment through social media. Chatbots are multi-utility – they can be used for customer queries, new product launches and disbursement of information. According to Tapan, 70-80% enquiries on the bot are general, while 30% are targeted questions, which would require an instore sales executive answer queries. Eventually, Tapan says chatbots can also be automated to make a sale, which saves time and cost. The use of this technology can also be extended to times involving high volume of sales, such as during discount seasons. The device in question can be used for mPOS (mobile Point of Sale), especially during weekends and discount seasons when the footfalls are high. So, not only can customers understand the inventory status but also make payments as they go. In malls and larger shopping stores, Tapan says atleast six to seven such tablets can be used.
Automation to replace humans? This is a hot topic among the technology community worldover, and the debate has not escaped the minds of Talespin’s founders either. Specifically, in India, salesmen and store managers bring a complete and wholesome retail experience. Tapan says, “With our brick and mortar clients, we tell them that the goal is not to replace their store assistants but to help them perform better, and ensure higher
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turnovers for the company. Talespin is an assistant-selling tool.” He also recommends that clients incentivise assistants to use the machine for sales, over and above the existing sales model. After analysing the cost of labour, especially in Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East, the Dixit brothers believe that their product could help businesses scale down their costs significantly. A combination of facial recognition and conversational commerce could be the key to bringing down costs in businesses and enhancing profits and efficiency. They are especially bullish about overseas markets where clients are more receptive to technology and labour costs are higher. The Dixit brothers view themselves as technology providers for SMBs and big brands. To expect retailers to invest in machine learning and AI in India is a bit far-fetched, as they aren’t aware of the technical know-how. Education of the retail ecosystem is necessary, feels Tapan.
Foreseeing problems and solving them One of the biggest challenges that the startup experiences is the development of a deep learning library. “You need a specific number of images for every attribute, and each attribute needs images. Procuring and resourcing these images is a challenge. In addition, there are not too many data scientists in India who are economical for a bootstrapped startup like us.” For an integrated approach to customer acquisition, an omnichannel approach is necessary, believes Tapan. “Omni channel is the future and instore experience has to change. For better brand recognition and recall, the customer experience has to be top-notch.”
48 Feature | Technology’s dark knight
Innovations
Lighting Up The Path To Data Transmission A young Indian engineer is building the future of data transmission – through light.
I
magine accessing the internet through a light bulb. Sounds futuristic? You bet it is. An Indian startup is working on providing Light Wifi (Lifi) technology to European and Indian markets in the next couple of years. Founder and CEO Deepak Solanki is like any other techie – he loves to build something new. In 2012, Agarwal was working as a researcher for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and was also working with one of the startups in Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) in IIT Market Insights
Bombay. He worked in a startup that was focused on education and robotics. He also dabbled in the self-driving cars domain as early as 2010. Dropping his plans to pursue a PhD, Agarwal decided to take up the famed entrepreneurial route in India. That’s how Velmenni was born. “I came across visible light communication where you transfer data through light, and thought it would be a good idea to build smart light-based communication and integrate data,” explains the young engineer. He recognized that while the LiFi
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
technology isnt new, there was no generic application that allowed for a specific use. Light was primarily used for long distance communication but there was yet to be a product in the market that would use light to transfer data. At the time, Solanki believed that the technology has wide potential and began working on developing it.
LiFi and its revolutionary utility The general term of visible light communication dates back to the 1880s, but commercialization of the
Technology’s dark knight | Feature
Innovations
product has only begun recently. The technology was largely used for one-way communication where one can receive the data but not transmit it. When Solanki began exploring the usage of LiFi, he knew he would have to integrate twoway communication with visible light to enable multi-purpose utility. LiFi can be used in different domains such as aviation – where there are several limitations on radio frequency. Inside an aircraft, several metres of cables are used to bring data from main sensors for Internet access. It is a combination of two systems – RF and cablebased, where LiFi can play a key role. In addition, LiFi can also be used in the telecom sectors of nations experiencing issues with last mile connectivity. For instance, to set up 4G or 5G infrastructure in New Delhi, one would have to run optical cables within cities to connect them to mobile DaRts. To connect to mobiles, DaRts operators have to run cables throughout the city, which can be challenging. One of the major challenges being faced by telecom operators is not connecting towers to optical cables, due to which 4G connectivity and bandwidth becomes a hassle. “If the darts cannot be connected, they cannot provide quality connectivity. The future of street lamp connectivity could be powered by LiFi, saving a lot of time and money for telecom operators. It also allows for better infrastructure of 4G and 5G.” Lifi can also be used in offices and homes for higher security and better data connectivity. As the light remains within the confines of a home, the data is secure.
Estonia calling for Velmenni Initially, Solanki thought LiFi technology isn’t compatible with smartphones and that there has to be another way to integrate it with the current hardware present in smartphones today. He began with using light sensors from the
smartphone or the front camera to decode light, which was oneway communication. It was limited to specific applications such as low positioning, low-speed data images and audio files that could be achieved in a few kbps only. That’s when they thought to build conventional hardware that can grasp data at a faster rate, from the light front and the receiver end. It was around this time that Solanki moved to Estonia to work with an accelerator called BuildIt. “Since we were doing a lot of experiments and investing money on building the hardware, we required a lot of investment.” In Estonia, Solanki was able to find the right kind of investors, technical help and industry expertise to develop LiFi technology for specific use cases. “While going through the accelerator programme, we met a couple of people interested in building a few applications out of the technology. We met an industrialist in Estonia who gave us a Proof of Concept for using LiFi in an industrial environment and wanted us to build a network of light within the industrial environment and transmit data to the server. Since a radio-based system faces a lot of interference due to noise, Solanki and his team decided to work with light. They created their first POC in 2014 and the final one was created recently. Solanki has run successfully conducted trials in an industrial environment, where they achieved speeds of up to 1Mbps per second to transmit data over a distance of up to 40 metres. Ever since, they have received a significant round of funding, attended several conferences and discussed the utility of the technology with different stakeholders and investors. Specifically, Velmenni evoked a lot of interest in the aviation, telecom and utility sectors.
Boosting the interest It was Professor Harold Haas who first coined the term LiFi in a TED Talk held in 2011. Ever since,
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there has been a great amount of traction and interest about the technology, but the adoption has not been commercialised as much. According to Solanki, new technologies always take time for adoption. “WiFi came about in the late 90s but it was not until a decade later that the technology became mainstream.” One of the major challenges that Solanki sees in uptake rates is the lack of LiFi compatibility in cellular devices made by Apple and Samsung. In addition, there needs to be standardization of the technology usage across spectrums, which will eventually lead to the development of a better ecosystem, he adds. More importantly, there are just a few companies that are niche specialists in the LiFi space, and Solanki feels that there are technological challenges, which need to be addressed. He says, “We are testing our technology inside an aircraft currently, as we want to obtain specific results for testing it in an aircraft. Philips is testing the same in a Carrefour retail store in Europe. Its important to test such experimental technologies for specific applications and in controlled settings.” Velmenni is working with aviation major Airbus in Germany to test the technology for the right application.
The Future LiFi technology will enable faster, reliable Internet connections, even when the demand for data usage has outgrown the available supply from existing technologies such as 4G, LTE and WiFi. While these technologies will not be replaced, LiFi will instead work alongside them. Solanki believes that the technology will become mainstream in the next couple of years, and revolutionise the wireless data space.
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52 Trainings
IT Audit Today
Keeping Up With The Changing Reality In IT Auditing by George Pelekanakis, MD PPS Ltd
W
hen I was asked by the Chief Editor to write an article on IT auditing, I sat back and thought that articles need to debate on the most recent developments and forthcoming trends. So what is the most important development of IT auditing nowadays, and what is the most important trend within this discipline? Market Insights
IT auditing is disappearing. After recovering from the shock, read the rest of the article. Is it disappearing because it lost its importance and relevance to the current environment? Of course not.
The reality The business environment today is massively conquered by IT. All business processes, across
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
in all industries are dominated by information systems. ERP applications ensure that business activities will not only be carried out through IT applications, but those applications will operate under a common microenvironment. Data warehousing enables massive amount of information to be stored and retrieved effectively and efficiently. Paper is rapidly
Trainings
IT Audit Today
disappearing. Digital signatures, another form of encryption, are dominating even the last frontier— authorisations. Every business process is either exclusively or at least partially conducted through IT systems. Precious audit trail provides evidence that business transactions have occurred is also available in electronic format.
The challenge Thus, when referring to the disappearance of IT auditing, we refer to the fact that audit shops no longer have the luxury of maintaining a small group of experts within the audit team, popularly known as IT auditors. IT auditing can no longer be a distinct function within the audit process, because the audit process is based on an IT-dominated universe. A 10-15% of engagement budget and time involving the work of this expert group will not suffice anymore. Every single auditor—internal or external— should have a good knowledge of IT auditing. The Audit Program should in majority involve Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs). Auditors without a good knowledge, definitely above awareness, will be considered illiterate and unable to deliver basic steps of the audit process, such as collection of evidence. IT auditing is disappearing because every single auditor must become an IT auditor. Champions and experts will continue to exist. The beast (Read: IT) is hungry and moves rapidly ahead. Most teams will find it necessary to maintain experts and champions that will lead the way and ensure that the audit team will be able to cope with the continuous change and evolution of the audit universe. But every single member of the audit team must acquire a good level of IT literacy. Put audit to the side for one moment. Think about the accounting department or marketing one. Would you hire an accountant today if he/she declared ignorance on spreadsheets and well-established ERP environments? Probably not.
Then why would we hire someone in the audit department without IT literacy?
The roadmap for success I understand that for many colleagues these developments may create stress and discomfort. I am working with very competent auditors that have been – for different reasons – alienated from IT during over their career. It does not mean they are not good auditors but it is very likely they will become obsolete if they do not react at all. There are good news in the current environment as well. IT has become very user friendly—a necessity when approaching the mass. This means that you will not have to struggle with blue screens and endless lines of code. So where do we start from? Auditors need to obtain some cornerstone knowledge on data structures and network fundamentals. If I need to provide you with an analogy, this is the same as we were teaching —we still do—accountants that Assets are debited to be increased and credited to be decreased. And for liabilities, vice-versa. The next step is to become acquainted with IT audit tools that allow CAATs. CAATs represent the ideal introductory step for those auditors that want to start exploring the IT Audit universe. Many tools are available in the market to satisfy various needs and budgets. Most of them are very user friendly and allow the auditor to ‘slice and dice’ huge amounts of data in a fully windows-based environment with clicks and buttons—and not a single line of code. And for those that are concerned with the investment, be aware of scripting. Scripting involves the auditor normally performing an audit test within the CAAT tool. Buttons, clicks, drugs and drops. In the same time, the software is creating the relevant
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script—the lines of code - that is necessary to perform this audit task. Upon completion the script is saved. Auditors may reproduce the same audit task for another branch, period, affiliate etc., literally by pressing a button. Gains in efficiency will rapidly outweigh the initial investment. A last tip: no matter how big your audit shop is, start with a single license. Explore, test, implement and create tangible proof that the tool may help the department and therefore the organisation. No CEO will refuse a further investment as soon as the initial pilot proved successful. It is a recipe that I have been implementing in implement the last 15 years with 100% success rate! Is that it? Of course not. IT auditing is a huge domain. Another important area that keeps receiving prime attention is Information Security (IS). The Internet-of-Things (IoT) is promising coupled with several issues. The IS domain is much more complex and it is expected, for the time being, to be addressed by professionals that have great expertise on this discipline.
Concluding thoughts The time frame is very narrow for those that have not started yet. You cannot afford to stay inactive any longer. For those that have already started dealing with IT audits, enjoy the journey. It is a never-ending one, as technology provides is providing new opportunities for consumers and businesses; and therefore new threats and concerns rise for auditors. If some of you have found this article to include too many buzzwords or if you have already started the journey and you want to move more rapidly ahead, I would love to meet you in one of the training opportunities International Market Metrics may provide in the short future.
www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
54 Trainings
New Strategy For Learning And Development
Content Speaks Content curation is an effective method that is now used in Learning and Development to help learners process information better
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he ancients strengthened the actuality of content—“Pen is mightier than the sword,” and in time, modern civilisation has wrapped itself around in print. A few years ago, the expression had people scout for wordplay and compelling language. Now that’s changing with a small note: originality and choice of data matters. (Original content braised with substantial information readers can relate to is more important than over-elaborate usage.) While it remains complex Market Insights
to write a story, an advertising copy or a blog, oddly enough, companies are willing to thrive on content first. What they can score using great content is no more debatable. But this approach is used to strike an emotional chord with audience, and is seldom considered for a radical change within organisations. (For employees.) Mark Schaefer, a profound content marketing expert coined the term: content shock—a psychological phenomena when
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
continuous learning is muddled by the speedy growth of content. Often, employees are mired in their search of knowledge because there is too much content produced. (The greed for readership is much more than anticipated.) So the ordeal of having to separate valuable information from the clutter affects learning. The relationship between employees and knowledge mining is in some ways analogous to children and Rubik’s Cube. The
Trainings
New Strategy For Learning And Development
outcome is not always wholesome. And it will come as no surprise if the situation turns around to be some sort of an unexpected mindboggling game. The High Impact Learning Organisation study run by Bersin by Deloitte observed that excess information toughens employees’ learning. The boom in quantity of content is intimidating: by observing the increase reports suggest the data produced on internet unfolds twice as much every 9 to 24 months. (The avalanche of content has chafed wisdom.) A simple Google Search on latest insights on a topic can simply furnish a great thousand results. Content marketers believe this is content assualt. Precisely, it took 2 hours a day in the 1920s as opposed to 11 hours in the recent times. The fact is nearly a matter of intellectual life-and-death for learners. And the case that
follows will build a world of work-related problems to solve. Research from IDC (2005) found on Anders Pink Blog estimate that a knowledge worker invests 9.5 hours in searching for information and 9.8 hours in analysing information. The 70:20:10 model still holds highest value in Learning and Development, and is frequently employed to deepen the effectiveness. However, human intelligence has stirred new interest for learners and training experts to polish the learning ecosystem. The key to ignite learning has come about differently—through content curation. The technique moves beyond the traditional methods of Learning Management System. Curation is the art/science of identifying the best information for the organisation and providing context and order to it—Bersin by Deloitte
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Content is always on demand: the world thrives on information to break through life. Sifting through information is expensive, and the aftermath can have an emotional impact: it is salient to remember that text that circulates on the web is content but not all available content is worthy of use. Experience and exposure in learning is stimulating but content curation is focal for the learner. The foremost aspect about curation is to evolve continuously and allow learners to take the lead. The simple steps involved can put the human psyche to play in order to avoid content shock: (Focus, filter, share, archive and asses.) With that, the skill to discover and bring relevant content in an organised, meaningful pattern becomes a continuum. And the most obvious practice of this application is to impart logic before usage in learning that only curation can achieve.
Technology From The Fringes Of Edinburgh
The all-pervasive nature of technology has spared no one, including the arts. At the ongoing Edinburgh Fringe Festival, there are a range of technology events, shows, and exhibitions, showing just how futuristic the festival has become. Agony Auncles is a group of scientists and science
communicators that will perform a show on science at this year’s Free Fringe. Infusing science and comedy, the Agony Auncles will answer queries submitted by the audience. The group include Doctor Jiggs Bowson, a vintage science glamour senstation and creator of Charming Science Friends, Anna Ploszajski as well as veterans of the sell-out Fringe Festival improvs. Their collective expertise includes biochemistry, material science, communication and impressive Youtubing skills. Assembly, founded by William Burdett Coutts in 1981, will be presenting at the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. This will be their biggest programme with around 200 shows in the pipeline. As part of the festival’s Future Play VR Studio, there will be a number of shows including animation, documentaries, multiplayer games and content. Some of the shows are Abstraction – a VR infused dance performance, Cirque Du Soleil and a VRdriven puzzle called Cursebreakers. Mark Thompson, the TV astronomer and author, returns to Fringe this year, who will reveal the fascinating aspects of the universe in his signature style. www.imarketinsights.com | Issue 03 | 2017
Market Insights
56 Trending Now
What Millennials Want
Hiring & Retaining Millennials – Everything IT Enterprises Should Know What does it take to attract millennials in jobs? Why is it more challenging today than ever to keep them engaged at work?
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illennial – there is no escaping the word today. Commonly referred to individuals born between the 1980s and 2000s, millennials now form a majority within the global workforce. According to Pew Research Centre analysis provided by the US Census Bureau Data, millennials surpassed GenX-ers to become the largest workforce in American history in 2015. And in major economies, the workforce is increasingly becoming millennialMarket Insights
heavy, bringing with it a new wave of challenges. To be able to hire, and eventually retain millennials, has emerged into a strategy-heavy process for companies. It’s no longer enough to offer marketrelevant salary hikes or perks alone, the modern day working class professional seeks all this and more from his employer. The modern employee seeks a qualitative professional experience than a quantitative one. IT enterprises, in particular,
Issue 03 | 2017 | www.imarketinsights.com
could largely benefit from understanding the expectations of millennials and conceptualize measures that would engage them for their tenure in the company. While a lot of resources, energy and funds are channelled into hiring the right kind of talent, it will be for naught if the company fails to cater to the immediate needs of a typical millennial. Deloitte’s fifth annual Millennial Survey has revealed that 52% of surveyed millennials in
Trending Now
What Millennials Want
India would leave their current employers in two years, whereas 82% in Peru and 76% in South Africa also admitted to seeking newer employment opportunities in a shorter time span. So, what do the millennials want? What are the employers hoping to decode as the ultimate draw for a young workforce? The answer is multi-fold and the first step towards getting those answers is to understand the mindset of a typical millennial. For him, having a job means more than being able to pay his bills – there is a deeper sense of meaning he attaches to his job. Fundamentally, millennials have a different view of the world than their predecessors, and these individualistic belief systems apply to their personal and professional spheres of functioning.
Decoding the millennial For a millennial, workplace expectations include evolved leadership, collaborative teamwork, unstructured flow of information, employability, work amounting to personal and monetary enrichment, workplace flexibility, outward approach and influence through networks. 1. For a start, during interviews, HR personnel could ask candidates what they want from the job as well as get them genuinely interested in the role they are expected to take on. Moreover, the faster businesses understand that personal growth is instrumental to that of the business itself, employees would be a lot more inclined to take up and possibly stay on in that job. Several recruiters spend hours and days sometimes looking for the perfect candidate, and when they find them, the challenge is to be able to offer them what no one else will. Especially with IT companies, it is longer sufficient to entice candidates with a brand name - its
perhaps more essential to have the potential employee believe he has a greater role to play in the ecosystem. There are increasing number of young workers these days who are not happy with predictable work schedules or boring work environments where the day will pan out in an orderly fashion. Exciting assignments, new projects and a high chance of brainstorming keeps millennials hooked on. Providing these prospects could greatly help enhance a business. In addition to providing new opportunities within a company, if the same company actively supports the employee’s extended activities that could sooner or later benefit the company, there is an added incentive to stay. Several millennials today understand the need to upskill, thereby invest in learning courses and skills on the side. While monetary support in these endeavours may be a stretch for some companies, personnel support would be greatly appreciated. Measures to introduce flexible working hours and re-organizing responsibilities within teams can go a long way with employees. A large number of respondents in surveys carried out by Goldman Sachs, Deloitte and PwC have expressed the importance of a dynamic manager. The IT space especially is clearly at a digital advantage – there’s a lot that can be learnt online or in management schools about the technicalities of a job. But a superior who can nurture a skilled worker and help him navigate the course in a corporate setup is deeply appreciated. Mentorship is a deeply valued asset, and employees have admitted to leaving lucrative jobs due to the lack of a good mentor or the absence of empathy in their managers.
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Loyalty remains a debatable topic – do millennials believe loyalty gets rewarded? Sure. But it’s not that straightforward anymore. In addition to the above factors that make employees question their tenure in a company, loyalty remains an intriguing factor. Some employees are loyal to the company, some to their managers and several more are increasingly loyal to their own needs. This is closely associated with proliferation of personal goals at a workplace, and that fuels one’s notion of loyalty. So, to ask an employee about his long-term plans during an interview, really does come down to the conditions around him for the most part. Call it the movies effect or pop culture, the need for a work-life balance is almost a given. It’s no longer a charm to be holed up at work for hours on end – millennials are quick to list out what they want, and even quicker to list out what they don’t. And they’re not afraid to walk out if they’re not happy. Several companies fail to understand this, leading to high rates of attrition and consequently, good talent. IT companies attract a large amount of technically-sound individuals, who expect a certain level of technological proficiency in their surroundings by offering relevant gadgets for work and business-focused use of social media. IT majors emerged hiring mavericks in the 90s and early 2000s largely by offering hefty pay packages. Now, start-ups, venture capitalists and private equity funds have made it possible for young engineers to venture out on their own or join companies at very competent salaries in addition to the prospect of value-added work. And in the years to come, IT majors have to adapt or they will perish.
Where is Internet of Things headed?
2017 SPEAKS
Big data on the go
Power up machine learning
Boom in IoT marketplaces
IoT devices house large data that can be induced into IoT analytics algorithms to optimise business operations
IoT can scale its capability: to connect to multiple devices together, and therefore result in advanced patterns and context for input
IoT marketplaces enable companies to collaborate with a body of vendors without modifying their existing platforms
Source: Forbes
IoT solution bolsters startup security
Startups gain stability over security concerns owing to Blockchain that ensures security, privacy and efficiency across all transaction types: financial and non-financial
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