Year: 2019

SoftBank left reeling after $8.9bn Vision Fund loss

Posted on by Jack Pearson

On November 6, Japanese investment giant SoftBank reported its first quarterly loss in 14 years, with its Vision Fund suffering a loss of JPY 970bn ($8.9bn). The huge loss shows that SoftBank has taken significant financial risks by investing in cash-burning start-ups, such as WeWork and Uber.

After WeWork’s failed IPO attempt, SoftBank was forced to bail out the start-up for more than $10bn in October

Between July and September, SoftBank reported an operating loss of JPY 704bn ($6.45bn), having made JPY 706bn ($6.47bn) in profit over the same period a year earlier. The steep loss was far worse than expected – analysts polled by Refinitiv had forecast a loss of JPY 48bn ($442m).

The damage came after SoftBank wrote down the value of some of its biggest investments. After WeWork’s failed IPO attempt, SoftBank was forced to bail out the start-up for more than $10bn in October. The valuation losses in its Vision Fund were also exacerbated by the falling share price of Uber, which lost more than $1bn in the third quarter.

Ultimately, SoftBank has poured more than $70bn into 88 companies, steadily growing its portfolio since 2008.  Its billionaire CEO, Masayoshi Son, who was an early investor in Alibaba, had previously garnered a reputation for wise investments, but the WeWork fiasco has cast serious doubts over his strategy. After the start-up’s botched IPO, Son was accused of placing too much faith in charismatic founders and pouring money into unprofitable ventures. Speaking to investors, he admitted that his decision-making had been poor. “There was a problem with my own judgement, [and] that’s something I have to reflect on,” he said after revealing the quarterly results.

The huge loss comes as SoftBank attempts to launch another $100bn venture fund. Son is expecting significant contributions from the Saudi Arabian Government, which also invested heavily in the company’s first Vision Fund. However, the latest revelations about SoftBank’s investment failings could put his plans in jeopardy.

Nokia targets Malaysian ports for 5G business, but faces competition

Posted on by Jack Pearson

Nokia is making a push into Malaysian ports with hopes of tapping into the South-East Asian country’s 5G market, Reuters reported on November 1. Malaysia is currently one of the leading players in Asia’s 5G race, with plans to launch the technology in 2020.

In recent years, Nokia has focused on deploying 5G technology to make port operations safer and more efficient. Last year, the company partnered with Germany’s Port of Hamburg to test 5G functionality. Use cases included managing traffic lights, processing environmental measurement data in real time and harnessing virtual reality to monitor watergates and constructions areas.

Nokia faces tough competition in Malaysia from Huawei, which has already signed 5G deals with telecommunications firms in the country

Now, the Finnish telecoms giant wants to apply what it has learned to the busy ports of Malaysia. With two of South-East Asia’s major sea lanes on its doorstep – the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea – Malaysia is one of the most important shipping hubs in the region. The development of intelligent ports could help the country capitalise on its position and increase its competitiveness on the global stage.

But Nokia faces tough competition in Malaysia from Huawei, which has already signed 5G deals with telecommunications firms in the country. Huawei has come under intense scrutiny recently amid allegations that its equipment could be used for espionage by Beijing. This led Washington to blacklist the firm and call for its allies to follow suit.

Nokia cited fierce competition with Huawei and the expense of rolling out 5G when it reported in late October that its shares had lost almost a quarter of their value. The Finnish firm has struggled to increase its market share in China, where Huawei is strongly supported. At the same time, the proposed merger of Sprint and T-Mobile in the US has caused disruption in the 5G market and pushed Nokia to the sidelines. Shunned by the two superpowers, it may be in emerging markets where Nokia stands to win business from its 5G roll-out.

PhenoMx executes MOU to develop strategic initiatives for Thailand’s biotech, life sciences and medical industries

Posted on by Helen

As part of the Bio Investment Asia 2019 conference, which took place on September 25-27 in Bangkok, Thailand, the Thailand Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS) – a public organisation established by royal decree in 2011 under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation – and the US-based healthtech company PhenoMx announced the execution of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop strategic initiatives for Thailand in the biomedical, life sciences and medical device industries.

Dr Nares Damrongchai, CEO of TCELS, and Mark Punyanitya, Co-Founder and CEO of PhenoMx, participated in the official signing ceremony, which was held at the TCELS Pavilion on September 27, 2019, following Punyanitya’s presentation on artificial intelligence and big data in medical imaging. As part of its Thailand 4.0 initiative, the Thai Government plans to make Thailand a leading destination for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and a world-class provider of medical care.

Growing medical tourism has led the government to reinforce its policy to promote Thailand as the medical hub of the region

The MOU includes the matchmaking of companies and research institutes in Thailand and the US to encourage more collaboration between different stakeholders across the industry, as well as fostering innovation and commercialisation in the biomedical, life sciences and medical device industries. Specific areas of focus include artificial intelligence, big data, medical imaging with potential projects for ageing-cohort studies, biobanking, and national dementia screening. TCELS has taken part in value-chain development of the life sciences industry, supporting entrepreneurs in Thailand and research from upstream to downstream in order to meet national demand.

Thailand’s medical equipment industry has bright prospects, with an average growth of 8.5 to 10 percent annually (2016-19) – higher than the global average, largely due to the country’s ageing population. It has also been driven by medical tourism in Thailand, which is growing by 10 percent a year. This has led to private hospitals expanding their services and the government reinforcing its policy to promote Thailand as the medical hub of the region.

Meanwhile, the Thailand Board of Investment offers incentives to attract more foreign investors to use Thailand as a production base for medical equipment. However, it should be noted that an inflow of international companies might intensify market competition and affect the business performance of smaller producers.

In 2017, the medical equipment market in Thailand was valued at $1.24bn. A total of 538 producers were registered with the Department of Business Development as of January 2018, supplying 62.2 percent of equipment, 18.3 percent of durable medical equipment, 8.4 percent of molecular diagnostics reagents and equipment, 2.3 percent of services and software supplies, and 8.4 percent in other categories. Thailand is, therefore, a major importer and exporter of medical equipment in the ASEAN region.

In 2017, the global medical equipment industry had a total value at $361bn; this figure is expected to reach $436bn in 2020, with an average growth of 6.4 percent annually. Durable medical equipment made up the majority of existing industry, with 76 percent of the total market, while supplies accounted for 20 percent and diagnostics reagents and equipment sets for four percent.

SAP announces three-year cloud partnership with Microsoft

Posted on by Jack Pearson

On October 21, Europe’s largest tech company, SAP, officially announced a three-year cloud computing deal with Microsoft. The deal will make it easier for SAP’s larger clients to migrate their business processes to the cloud. In return, Microsoft will sell its new partner’s cloud tools to its wide customer base.

Cloud computing has become central to the operations of several big tech companies

The partnership, called Embrace, will help clients run operations hosted at remote servers supported by SAP’s S/4HANA database, according to the company’s new Co-Chief Executive, Jennifer Morgan.

“This partnership is all about reducing complexity and minimising costs for customers as they move to SAP S/4HANA in the cloud,” Morgan said in the announcement. “Bringing together the power of SAP and Microsoft provides customers with the assurance of working with two industry leaders so they can confidently and efficiently transition into intelligent enterprises.”

The deal has helped SAP double new cloud bookings in the third quarter and eased any concerns customers may have had about moving from SAP’s traditional onsite model to its remotely hosted services. It is understood that SAP is also working with Amazon and Alphabet’s cloud platforms as it seeks to attract more customers.

Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Commercial Business at Microsoft, said: “SAP’s decision to select Microsoft Azure as its preferred partner deepens the relationship between our two companies in a differentiated way and signals a shared commitment to fostering the growth of the cloud ecosystem.”

SAP’s announcement of its partnership with Microsoft arrives following the departure of CEO Bill McDermott, who headed the company for five years. Shares responded positively to the news, rising 2.3 percent. In an earnings report released earlier this month, the German tech company also revealed that its third-quarter revenue grew 10 percent compared to the same period last year, while profits grew 15 percent.

Cloud computing has become central to the operations of several big tech companies. Amazon, which migrated the rest of its databases from Oracle to its own service earlier this month, relies heavily on its cloud service for the majority of its profit. The company is currently locked in a contest with Microsoft to secure a $10bn ‘war cloud’ contract with the US military, which is expected to be announced in the coming months.

Top 5 reasons automation should be used for mitigating risk in a financial close

Posted on by Jack Pearson

The financial close is a necessary but time-consuming process for companies of all sizes, from all sectors. During the financial close, a company’s accountants will verify account balances and create financial reports to give an accurate impression of the business’ financial standing. The task takes up a great deal of time and money and must be repeated throughout a company’s lifetime.

In today’s digital economy, time means money. The Journal of Accountancy found that 87 percent of financial professionals work overtime during the financial close process, demonstrating how inefficient current procedures are. Although many companies have begun to embrace digital transformation, in many cases this has not yet reached finance departments, which remain reliant on disparate legacy processes.

Rather than wasting time and money on tedious, manual and error-prone processes from the last century, it’s time to bring the financial close process into the digital age. With the right technology, such as Adra by Trintech, companies can ensure their financial close is conducted quickly, effectively and with reduced risks, leaving finance teams free to provide the strategic insight needed to achieve growth.

As well as a lack of visibility over numbers and performance, manual processes carry a higher risk of human error

CFOs must contend with a growing number of challenges, including assessing and mitigating financial risk. To do so using manual processes, such as going through emails, spreadsheets and paperwork, is ineffective.

As well as a lack of visibility over numbers and performance, manual processes carry a higher risk of human error, with potentially serious consequences. Mistakes can be costly, both for a company’s finances and its reputation.

Here are five ways intelligent software and automated processes can improve the financial close process:

Reduce the people involved
The more people that are involved in the financial close, the more opportunities there are for error. This can be seen in the old processes that many companies are still using to complete their financial closes.

According to Accountancy Age, only half of CFOs trust their numbers and 78 percent of finance directors are under pressure to close faster. Adopting record to report (R2R) automated processes not only reduces the number of people involved, but also improves the quality and reliability of financial data that is collected, removing some of the time pressures.

Put everything in one place
Collecting evidence and documentation during the financial close process has traditionally been a laborious task. Using dedicated financial close software, accountants can deploy standardised workflows across their company, enabling even inexperienced team members to follow intuitive guided processes to collect information for a financial close and risk assessment.

Automating this process delivers operational efficiencies and reduces the risk of supporting documentation being missed, figures being transposed incorrectly and other common problems found within legacy processes.

Increase transparency and visibility
When companies conduct their financial close manually, they can’t be sure if there have been missed tasks, data entry mistakes or misstatements until they reach the end of the process. With an automated approach to the financial close, companies don’t need to wait as long – they can catch an understated expense receipt before auditors come calling and achieve up to a 47 percent improvement in visibility, according to Trintech’s 2019 report, The Business Case for Automated Balance Sheet Reconciliations. This brings a major boost to planning organisational change in advance.

Financial close software will automatically document every step taken, producing a crucial timeline for compliance and audit checks, and removing the costs of human error.

When companies conduct their financial close manually, they can’t be sure if there have been missed tasks, data entry mistakes or misstatements until they reach the end of the process

Shifting focus
By using process automation during the financial close, organisations can create logical steps that execute elements of the workflow with precision. Once processes are correctly automated, they can be designed to occur in the same way every time.

With staff freed from time-consuming processes, they are able to refocus their attention on analysing the close. Meanwhile, CFOs and finance directors can focus on adding real value to the business.

Strict compliance
As more comprehensive compliance laws place greater strain on companies, leveraging technology for the financial close process will make it easier for businesses to meet their obligations. Automated R2R technology enables companies to create a full audit trail, granting internal and external auditors knowledge of workflow, priorities and emerging risks.

While the financial close will always involve a risk of errors, technological developments have made it easier for accounting professionals to mitigate risk. Financial close software goes far beyond the old methods associated with planning programmes.

No matter how capable finance and accounting teams are, without integrated technology, it is difficult to close quickly, efficiently and without risk. With automation, departments are beginning to realise that technology can make the financial close an easier and more effective task.

IBM partnership will use blockchain to improve quality of seafood

Posted on by Jack Pearson

On October 17, IBM announced an initiative to trace scallops sourced from the Atlantic Ocean, in collaboration with Raw Seafoods. The fleet of scallopers working with IBM will record the details of each catch, noting the weight of the scallop, the time and place it was caught and the name of the vessel that caught it. This data will be shared with distributors, suppliers and retailers to improve accountability in the fishing industry.

In the US, around 80 percent of seafood is imported, which can leave the sector vulnerable to mislabelling and fraud

The supply chain has often been put forward as a use for blockchain technology. By providing an immutable record of all transactions, the blockchain can improve transparency and build trust between the various stakeholders on the supply chain.

“Traditionally, tracing the origin of a given food product could take days, if it was possible at all, especially for wild-caught sea scallops,” said Rajendra Rao, General Manager of IBM Food Trust. “By reducing that time frame to a matter of seconds, we’re able to solve three of the core consumer concerns that deter them from enjoying seafood: safety, sustainability and authenticity.”

In the US, around 80 percent of seafood is imported, which can leave the sector vulnerable to mislabelling and fraud. A 2019 study by conservationist group Oceana found that one in five seafood samples in the US were mislabelled. However, if all stakeholders could access the same information via the blockchain, it would be much harder for suppliers to pass off their catch as something it’s not.

When blockchain first entered the public consciousness, it was lauded as a revolutionary technology set to transform everything from elections to banking. More recently, however, interest in adopting blockchain technology has begun to wane. This may be because the maturity of the technology has been overstated, meaning it will be some time before the blockchain is widely adopted. Nonetheless, maritime trade remains a promising sector for blockchain thanks to the need for accountability in the fishing industry.

Amazon ditches Oracle in favour of its own cloud service

Posted on by Jack Pearson

Amazon has migrated 75 petabytes of internal data – previously stored on nearly 7,500 Oracle databases – back to its own servers. On October 15, the tech giant announced that it will no longer use Oracle to store its databases and will instead use its in-house cloud-computing service, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

In an official company blog post, AWS Chief Evangelist Jeff Barr revealed that the database migration had been completed after several years of work: “I am happy to report that this database migration effort is now complete. Amazon’s consumer business just turned off its final Oracle database.”

Cost, performance and a reduction in administrative overheads were cited as the main motivations behind Amazon’s database migration

In total, more than 100 consumer services were involved in the migration effort, including Amazon Prime, Alexa and Kindle. Cost, performance and a reduction in administrative overheads were cited as the main motivations behind the move. Some third-party applications will remain connected to Oracle.

“Over the years, we realised that we were spending too much time managing and scaling thousands of legacy Oracle databases,” Barr wrote. “Instead of focusing on high-value differentiated work, our database administrators spent a lot of time simply keeping the lights on while transaction rates climbed and the overall amount of stored data mounted.”

Each team at the company was tasked with moving an Oracle database to an AWS alternative, such as Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Aurora, Amazon Relational Database Service and Amazon Redshift. The company added that each team was given “the freedom to choose the purpose-built AWS database service that best fit their needs”.

Amazon’s move away from Oracle will come as a crushing blow to the cloud-computing firm. Amazon was a huge client for Oracle, and there are fears that its exit could lead to further departures elsewhere in the business.

Uniti unveils $19,618 electric vehicle

Posted on by The New Economy

On October 14, Swedish automotive start-up Uniti unveiled its new electric vehicle (EV), the Uniti One. The futuristic three-seater will be priced at €17,800 ($19,618) and can achieve a range of up to 186 miles. Most strikingly, the car comprises one centrally positioned driving seat and two rear passenger seats.

Uniti believes this design will give the driver more space and provide additional legroom for passengers. The battery is located beneath the car’s floor to save even more space and, with just three passengers, the Uniti One can store up to 155 litres of cargo. The rear seats can also collapse to create a single-person carrier.

The Uniti One is just the latest example of a trend towards compact EV models for city dwellers

The standard model has a 12kWh battery unit with a capacity of 93 miles between charges, but an optional 24kWh battery pack can lengthen that range to 186 miles. The larger battery can be charged from 20 percent to 80 percent in 17 minutes with a 50kW combined charging system, while the 12kWh model can achieve this feat in just nine minutes, according to the company’s press release.

The ultra-compact vehicle weighs only 600kg. It has two driving modes, ‘city’ and ‘boost’, the latter of which will sharpen the responsiveness of the accelerator and add artificial weight to the steering wheel. The Uniti One can reach 62mph in 9.9 seconds and has a top speed of 75mph.

Customers in Europe can order a Uniti One now, with those in the UK benefitting from a £3,500 ($4,420) government subsidy. The first deliveries are planned in Sweden and the UK from mid-2020.

The Uniti One is just the latest example of a trend towards compact lightweight EV models for city dwellers. It has been designed for the daily commute and will target the second family car market. What distinguishes the Uniti One from other EV models is its unique one-plus-two seat design, though a second Uniti model is expected to come with a more conventional two-plus-two set-up.

Boeing partners with Porsche to develop electric flying taxi

Posted on by Jack Pearson

On October 10, German sports car brand Porsche announced it was working with US aircraft-maker Boeing to develop a prototype electric flying taxi. Porsche is the latest company to join the increasingly competitive market of air mobility, predicted to be worth $86.83bn by 2035.

Boeing has already developed a prototype electric air vehicle through its subsidiary, Aurora Flight Sciences

As part of the deal, Boeing and Porsche will put together an international team to analyse the market potential for premium aerial vehicles. The companies will also explore their possible use in highly populated urban areas.

“In the longer term, this could mean moving into the third dimension of travel,” said Detlev von Platen, member of the executive board for sales and marketing at Porsche. “We are combining the strengths of two leading global companies to address a potential key market segment of the future.”

Boeing has already developed a prototype electric air vehicle through its subsidiary, Aurora Flight Sciences. At the start of this year, the autonomous vehicle completed its first successful test flight in Manassas, Virginia.

However, Boeing is far from the only aircraft maker diving into this emerging industry. Last year, its main rival Airbus successfully flew its autonomous air taxi for the first time. Also vying for the top spot are a number of start-ups, such as Volocopter and AeroMobil, as well as automakers like Hyundai, which recently launched an air mobility division dedicated to developing the technology.

The Porsche-Boeing partnership comes at a critical juncture for Boeing and Volkswagen, Porsche’s parent company. The German car manufacturer is still dealing with the aftermath of its 2015 emissions scandal, while Boeing’s reputation was tarnished after two of its 737 MAX planes were involved in fatal crashes.

By moving into this up-and-coming space, the two firms are no doubt hoping to put the past behind them. Their joint venture also suggests that the age of urban air travel could be just around the corner. Porsche’s own consulting group forecasts that urban air transportation is likely to increase significantly after 2025. Finally, it seems like the flying car market is beginning to take off.

Google to deliver air pollution detection tool to European cities

Posted on by Jack Pearson

On October 10, Google announced that an online tool used to monitor air pollution and carbon emission levels will be made available across a selection of European cities. It will use a vast data network to collect, transport and add data on Google Maps and combines what it gathers with publicly available information about emissions.

According to UN Habitat, cities produce over 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and some 3.8 million premature deaths annually are attributed to outdoor pollution

The tool – known as the Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE) – will be offered to Copenhagen, Birmingham, Manchester, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Dublin. It was previously only available in the US. The search engine company intends to roll out EIE to more cities around the world, and any city resident can nominate their city through an online form.

Director and founder of the Google Earth Outreach programme, Rebecca Moore, wrote in an official blog post that the tool will help garner “new insights, deeper research and more effective climate action”. The EIE dashboard is designed to help cities find the most effective ways to reduce emissions, such as introducing more bicycle lanes or solar panels. It offers data across four categories: building emissions, transport emissions, general emissions and solar potential.

As part of a different project, dubbed Project Air View, Copenhagen will receive what Google describes as hyperlocal, street-level air-quality data, as part of EIE Labs. An official of the city of Copenhagen told the BBC: “With this new data, the city of Copenhagen can see for the first time pollutant levels of air quality at the ultrafine particle level on the roads in the city centre, as well as leading into the city centre, that are contributing the most to the city’s air pollution problems.”

Fighting air pollution in cities has become a central policy challenge for leaders around the world. According to UN Habitat, cities produce over 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and some 3.8 million premature deaths annually are attributed to outdoor pollution. While Google’s new technology will not solve this pollution crisis, it will allow leaders to better locate and target the worst-affected areas.

Blizzard bans leading esports player for “liberate Hong Kong” comments

Posted on by Jack Pearson

Blizzard has placed a 12-month ban on a Hong-Kong-based professional gamer who voiced support for Hong Kong’s protestors during a post-match interview. Chung Ng Wai, who plays under the name Blitzchung, had just won a match at the Hearthstone grandmasters tournament when he appeared for his interview wearing a gas mask – similar to those worn by protestors – and said: “Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our age.”

Two inscriptions on a statue outside Blizzard’s HQ in California, which read ‘think globally’ and ‘every voice matters’, were covered up by members of the Blizzard team

Hong Kong has been in a state of civil unrest for more than four months, with millions of protestors calling for sovereignty from mainland China. In a statement, Blitzchung said he felt it was his “duty to say something about the issue”. He is one of the top players of Hearthstone, Blizzard’s popular digital card game, in the Asia-Pacific region.

Blizzard said the ban was for breaking tournament rules to not offend people or damage the company’s image, but many have accused the US firm of bowing to pressure from China. The company’s shares dropped 2.31 percent on Tuesday and the hashtag ‘BoycottBlizzard’ was trending among Twitter’s gaming community. US senators have also come out to condemn the decision. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted: “Recognize what’s happening here. People who don’t live in #China must either self-censor or face dismissal & suspensions.”

Even some of Blizzard’s employees appear to reject the decision. Two inscriptions on a statue outside Blizzard’s HQ in California, which read ‘think globally’ and ‘every voice matters’, were covered up by members of the Blizzard team to symbolise what many see as the company’s betrayal of its core values.

Blizzard is one of a growing number of multinational companies to become embroiled in Hong Kong’s political crisis. North America’s basketball league, the NBA, lost many of its major Chinese sponsors after its general manager Daryl Morey wrote in a since-deleted tweet: “Stand with Hong Kong.” Apple has also come under attack from the Chinese state media for hosting a mapping app commonly used by Hong Kong protestors.

How connectivity can help airlines cope with rising fuel costs

Posted on by Jack Pearson

For the commercial aviation industry, consumers must come first. This makes providing an efficient, comfortable and affordable flight crucial, which can be problematic when airlines need to make up for unexpected delays as the pilot will often need to accelerate during the flight to make up for lost time. However, doing so burns more fuel and ultimately costs the airline money, as well as increasing a flight’s environmental impact.

According to the International Air Transport Association, by the end of 2019, global airlines are expected to have spent a quarter of their overall costs on fuel. With prices fluctuating, airlines must look for new ways to manage fuel costs while maintaining a high calibre of service for their customers.

Connectivity has transformed the way airlines operate and forward-thinking operators are taking clear strides to optimise fuel use, reduce costs and ultimately provide a better passenger experience

One such measure is improved airline connectivity. Fast, reliable and secure in-flight Wi-Fi that’s available anywhere around the globe has made air travel much more efficient and enjoyable for passengers.

Connectivity has also been hugely beneficial to professionals in the airline industry as it helps cut costs and provides the means to deliver a more efficient and comfortable service, along with improved data analytics and machine learning.

An enormous amount of data can be gathered during a flight, such as distance travelled, wind speed and fuel consumption – this can be leveraged to help airlines make better tactical decisions to optimise fuel usage.

Fuel efficiency solutions are typically made available using subscription models and comprise four key parts: data collection, data quality assurance, data analysis and communication. A quality service will collect, monitor and analyse data from numerous airlines and compare the findings with historic data to identify ways to reduce fuel consumption in real time. This allows pilots to take action during a flight, as well to help airlines reduce operational costs on a broader scale.

These services work in three key ways. First, they optimise fuel usage by leveraging data analytics. This enables airlines to more accurately calculate how much fuel a flight will require – these calculations were often based on estimates previously, resulting in wasted fuel and money. Users of the software have improved their fuel efficiency and have seen annual fuel savings of up to five percent. Given the vast quantity of fuel used by airlines, savings of just a few percent can make a huge difference to an airline’s operational costs.

In addition, pilots using fuel efficiency solutions can more easily identify the most fuel-efficient flight plans. Pilots can review previous flight paths in real time and find alternatives, enabling them to take the most direct route and improve flight efficiency. Airline operators can also analyse flight path data to identify where and when large amounts of fuel are being used and to make efficiency-driven adjustments to the airline’s flight plans.

Lastly, these services not only offer information about planes and their flight paths, but also about airports. Pilots are able to make strategic decisions when taking off or landing to reduce fuel waste, such as using a single engine to taxi out to the runway or selecting a more direct path as they come into land.

Airline operators will never be able to predict exactly how fuel prices will behave. However, they can use software to ensure they are consuming fuel as efficiently as possible, alleviating some of the pressure that comes with rising fuel costs. Connectivity has transformed the way airlines operate and forward-thinking operators are taking clear strides to optimise fuel use, reduce costs and ultimately provide a better passenger experience.