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The Malta Independent | Thursday 2 October 2014
Communicating by snapping a mobile photo T
he mobile habits of Millennials (those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s) extend beyond just apps - they make widespread use of the camera on their mobile devices and as the camera evolves, the trend is expected to continue growing. This was found in a new study titled, “Millennials, Selfies And The Changing Face of Mobile Commerce” by Mitek – a company specialising in mobile imaging for financial transactions and identity. The survey, commissioned with Zogby Analytics, unveiled the mobile habits and expectations of more than 1,000 U.S. Millennials. “As the pioneer for mobile banking, we wanted to know more about what Millennials are actually doing on their smartphones. While it shouldn’t be surprising that for most Millennials their smartphones never leave their sides, we also found that the role of the camera on a mobile device cannot be minimised,” said James B. DeBello, Mitek president and CEO. “The love of snapping selfies could be written off as a fad, but Millennials are telling us that this is how they want to bank, shop, find healthcare and enrol in classes. With an estimated 86 million Millennials, seven percent more than the baby-boom generation, that’s a lot of spending power and too big of a market population to ignore.” Recognising that most of the younger Millennials (age 18-24) likely can’t remember a time when mobile devices didn’t have cameras, its not surprising that this demographic is inclined to use the smartphone camera for everything from social media to commerce. Key findings include: The smartphone is the millennials’ ‘bestie’ and
why it matters • 87% of Millennials say that their smartphone never leaves their side and 80% say it’s the first thing they reach for in the morning. • 81% of Millennials surveyed say its important for retailers to have high quality mobile apps available for customers and nearly half (47%) say that they visit a business mobile website at least once per day, including 27% who do so multiple times a day. • When asked how they react to businesses that don’t have mobile websites or native apps, 42% said they would still engage with them, but that they might complain about it and 14% said they would avoid businesses that don’t offer mobile services. • 36% of respondents said they have made a decision on where to spend money or switched companies based on what the organisation allowed users to accomplish with a mobile device.
would be able to enter information by snapping a picture. • Highlighting what Millennials see for the future, 60% believe that in the next five years everything will be done on mobile devices. Banks better get the picture • More than half of respondents (54%) say they would deposit cheque by snapping a picture and depositing it via a bank’s app, while 34% say they have already deposited a cheque by taking a picture with their mobile smartphone camera - resulting in a potential marketplace with 88% of Millennials having used or being willing to use a smartphone camera for cheque deposits. • More than half (54%) would pay for goods using their mobile device as a mobile wallet instead of credit cards or cheques if these services were available to them. • Forty-five percent of Millennials would pay a bill by taking a picture with their mobile device. • Only 21% of Millennials surveyed are currently using mobile imaging to pay bills, representing a huge market opportunity because nearly half (48%) of the respondents say they are paying one – three paper bills a month and 19% are paying four – five paper bills each month.
Millennial mobile expectations: a picture is worth a thousand words in every industry • One in three Millennials wish that many important processes in their lives, such as enrolling in classes and signing up for healthcare, could be simplified by taking photos to auto populate data instead of manually entering data. • Nearly half (48%) wish they could do more banking with a snapshot, while 41% would like more mobile imaging in retail, 35% would like more in insurance and 34% would like the credit card industry to adopt more uses for the camera. • One in three Millennials wish that nearly every industry would adopt more mobile imaging functionality, so they
Roderick Spiteri is Marketing and Communications Manager at MITA and editor of Malta Independent ICT feature
S
ome of us feel lost without a mobile phone and a new study found that the young generation is eager to be able to take their mobile experience one step further. The study found that millenials would like to start using the camera of their mobile device to complete transactions and to replace the need to
enter data manually. We live in a very volatile online world and topics related to information security are making the headlines more often than before. MITA is organising the first Information Security Expo on 11th October at SmartCity Malta whereby various experts will be presenting workshops about related topics. There will also be
to electronic devices and other spot prizes. Interested parties
can participate either as a team (maximum 3 people) or as an in-
To register for the hackathon visit www.mita.gov.mt/securityexpo
hands-on workshops by the eSkills Malta Foundation about coding and how to create a mobile app in an hour. Check the MITA site for a full schedule. As part of the Information Security Expo, MITA has partnered with TrustedSec - an American information security firm - and is organising a four-hour hackathon open for ICT professionals, en-
thusiasts and students. Form a team (up to 3 members) or compete as an individual with a chance to win great prizes whilst working with one of the most acclaimed security experts in America. Register your team on www.mita.gov.mt/securityexpo All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature
Information Security Expo – 11 October at SmartCity Malta
A
s we progress into the twenty-first century, it is easy to realise that technology has infiltrated every aspect of our life. It has revolutionised the way we work, transformed the way we live and enhanced the way we play. While the benefits to this technological revolution are immeasurable, there are also a number of potential dangers. It’s easy to start questioning the reliability and robustness of such systems – are they secure against any unauthorised access? If the systems are infiltrated, how easy is it for hackers to create havoc in our personal or professional lives? Is your social networking account safe? What happens if someone gets access to your online banking? Are your online transactions taking place in a safe environment? In such a landscape where in-
formation security takes the limelight, MITA is organising an Information Security Expo. The aim of this expo is to raise awareness about information security topics that affect us all; including Internet safety and cyber bullying, cyber attacks and identity theft, secure e-commerce transactions, spam and phishing. The MITA Information Security Expo will be held on Saturday 11th October at SmartCity Malta, spread over three areas. Area 1: Security Talks - 15 minute talks and workshops by information security experts on various topics, such as securing your wireless internet, securing your mobile device, children’s safety online, security and privacy on social media, coding, and other top security trends. Area 2: Hackathon - The Hackathon is targeted at ICT professionals / students / enthusiasts. The challenge for
participants is to find the most amount of ‘flags’ in the allocated time of four hours. This setup is powered by US-based information security consulting firm, TrustedSec. Area 3: Awareness - An area for companies and entities to raise awareness about various information security topics. We will also have hands-on coding workshops by eSkills Malta Foundation. The Information Security Expo is sponsored by 6PM plc, eSkills Malta Foundation, Institute of Computer Education (ICE), Mediterranean Insurance Brokers (MIB) and TrustedSec. The Information Security Expo will start with an exclusive workshop by David Kennedy – founder of the internationally acclaimed information security company TrustedSec, LLC.
For more information, visit www.miteksystems.com/millennials
dividual in the ‘Professional / Enthusiast’ category or in the ‘Full-Time Student’ Category. Both categories will face the same challenge but will have separate prizes for each category – i.e. two winners! The Information Security Expo is sponsored by 6PM plc, eSkills Malta Foundation, Institute of Computer Education (ICE), Mediterranean Insurance Brokers (MIB) and TrustedSec. Security experts and can win various prizes from cash prizes
Roderick Spiteri
The Malta Independent ICT Feature
“Business and banks especially need to offer or enhance their mobile capabilities for picture-based communication if they are going to remain relevant. Millennials and their mobile device cameras will ultimately change commerce from the written word, to a picture-based experience,” said DeBello.
How good are you? Join the MITA Hackathon MITA has partnered with TrustedSec and is organising a fourhour hackathon on Staurday 11th October at SmartCity Malta. The hackathon is ideal both for ICT professionals and enthusiasts and also for students. It presents participants with a challenge to find as many ‘flags’ as possible and test their skills. This setup is powered by USbased information security consulting firm, TrustedSec. Participants will have the opportunity to meet internationally acclaimed Information
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 2 October 2014
About David Kennedy David is considered a thought leader in the security field and has presented at over three hundred conferences worldwide. He has had guest appearances on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Huffington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, The Katie Show, and other high-profile media outlets. He has over 12 years of security experience, with over five years specifically for information security consulting. Prior to the private sector, David worked for the National Security Agency (NSA) and the United States Marines in cyber warfare and forensics analysis. David was instrumental in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and developed a multi-million dollar clas-
sified system aimed at identifying potentially harmful insurgents and worked in a top secret classified environment for several years. He is the founder of DerbyCon, a large-scale security conference in Louisville Kentucky and coauthor of ‘Metasploit: The Penetration Testers Guide’ book which was number one on Amazon in security for over 6 months. Security for David is more than a
career or job, its a passion in life. Some of the conferences where he has presented include Blackhat, Defcon, RSA, ShmooCon, DerbyCon, INFOSEC World, ISACA, ISSA, Infragard, Information Security Summit, Hack3rCon, BSIDES, and others. For more information and to participate, visit www.mita.gov.mt/securityexpo