Author: Helen

SoftBank announces $41bn asset sale after COVID-19 struggles

Posted on by Helen

On March 23, technology giant SoftBank Group (SBG) announced a $41bn asset sale in an effort to shore up company finances in light of the coronavirus outbreak. The Japanese firm has significant levels of debt and relies on strong equity markets to meet its financing needs. Before CEO Masayoshi Son announced the asset sale, SBG’s share price had experienced a decline of around 38 percent over the last month.

In order to raise the $41bn that Son believes is necessary to safeguard the company’s future, part of SBG’s stake in China’s Alibaba Group – worth approximately $14bn – is likely to be sold. Moreover, the firm will buy back JPY 2trn ($18bn) of its own shares, in addition to the JPY 500bn ($4.5bn) repurchase that it committed to earlier this month. Collectively, SBG’s buyback would represent around 45 percent of the company’s stock.

Although the coronavirus pandemic has crippled businesses the world over, SoftBank also has financial issues of its own making

“This programme will be the largest share buyback and will result in the largest increase in cash balance in the history of SBG, reflecting the firm and unwavering confidence we have in our business,” said Son in a press release. “This will allow us to strengthen our balance sheet while significantly reducing debt. Moreover, the monetisation of assets represents less than 20 percent of the company’s current asset value.”

Although the coronavirus pandemic has crippled businesses the world over, SBG also has financial issues of its own making. The firm is well known for making sizable investments in innovative start-up – some of which pay off, and others that do not. Last year, Son was forced to admit that SBG had lost around $4.6bn from its ill-fated investment in the real estate start-up WeWork.

Son has made a name for himself in the business world through SBG’s Vision Fund, a technology-focused venture capital fund that supports emerging technologies. These investments are often fraught with risk, however, and in the current business climate, are likely to take a back seat while SBG tries to secure its own future.

TikTok told moderators to suppress posts by the ‘ugly, poor and disabled’

Posted on by Helen

The short-video app TikTok told its moderators to stifle posts by unattractive, poor or disabled users, according to internal documents uncovered by The Intercept and published on 16 March 2020. It is the latest controversy to hit the Chinese social media platform, which is one of the fastest-growing apps in the world.

The internal documents outline how moderators should select posts for the ‘For You’ feed, where content is pushed out to a vast audience based on secret criteria. Moderators were explicitly told to avoid promoting content from users with an “abnormal body shape (not limited to: dwarf, acromegaly)”, “ugly facial looks”, “eye disorders” and other traits deemed “low quality”. In addition, TikTok warned against posts featuring “shabby” environments such as “slums” and “dilapidated housing”. The Intercept also revealed that moderators were told to censor political speech in livestreams and ban users whose comments could harm “national honour”.

Moderators were explicitly told to avoid promoting content from users with an “abnormal body shape (not limited to: dwarf, acromegaly)” and other traits deemed “low quality”

The Intercept reached out to TikTok spokesperson Josh Gartner, who said the guidelines in question “are either no longer in use, or in some cases appear to never have been in place”. However, Gartner failed to provide specifics. He also mentioned that the guidelines were initially aimed at “preventing bullying”, although no mention of bullying is made in the documents.

This is not the first time the platform has been found to censor certain users. In December 2019, it was revealed that TikTok had limited the reach of LGBTQ, disabled or overweight users, no matter what their content was. Once again, it claimed that this was to protect the vulnerable members of the TikTok community.

For the US and other western markets, TikTok presents a unique challenge. With over one billion downloads, its international success is unprecedented for a Chinese-made app. However, the platform’s apparent readiness to censor its users is out of line with western values. The tech giant could face greater scrutiny and tighter regulation if reports of this nature continue to emerge.

Amazon to start selling its cashierless technology

Posted on by Helen

Amazon recently announced that it had begun selling its cashierless technology, named ‘Just Walk Out’, to other retailers. Just days after the announcement was made, airport retailer OTG revealed it would be among the first to use the technology in its own stores. OTG runs more than 350 restaurants and retail locations in North American airports.

It’s been two years since the web retailer launched its till-less Amazon Go chain. Shoppers at Amazon Go Grocery stores need only scan their smartphone on entry and they will be automatically billed for the items they take, without having to use a checkout or interact with a cashier.

Amazon argues that the Just Walk Out technology could free up workers to perform more “valuable activities”

The stores harness technology such as ceiling cameras and shelf-weight sensors that Amazon claims can take “as little as a few weeks” to install. The Just Walk Out system differs slightly from the one used in Amazon Go stores, in that it requires the registration of a payment card on entry, instead of the customer simply scanning their smartphone.

Now that Amazon is selling its Just Walk Out technology, cashierless stores like Go Grocery could be about to enter the mainstream. Other start-ups such as AiFi, Grabango and Standard Cognition are already pioneering their own automated checkout systems, and the market could eventually grow to $50bn, US venture firm Loup Ventures estimates.

The growth of the sector potentially endangers the jobs of more than 3.5 million cashiers working in the US today. However, on its Just Walk Out website, Amazon argues that the technology could actually free up workers to perform more “valuable activities”. It stresses that cashierless stores will still require workers “to greet and answer shoppers’ questions, stock the shelves, check IDs for the purchasing of certain goods, and more”. Nonetheless, some retailers could show resistance to working with Amazon, with many still viewing it as a major rival in the retail space.

How the cloud is impacting banking

Posted on by Helen

Traditionally, banks have been reliant on legacy systems and are often reluctant to make changes to their technology infrastructure. However, an increasing number are now considering a move to the cloud as misconceptions about perceived security concerns are dispelled.

Although daunting, this move promises banks substantial benefits and will help them overcome the challenges they’ve faced with legacy systems in the past. In a recent survey, fintech firm Fraedom found that 46 percent of bankers see these trials as the biggest barrier to the growth of commercial banks.

As banks embark on this journey, we take a closer look at the cloud migration process, some of the benefits banks can expect to see, and how firms can make this transition as seamless as possible.

Banks needn’t see adoption of the cloud as an all-or-nothing venture – it is possible to migrate in stages and manage adoption as a transformational journey

Moving to the cloud
Before migrating to the cloud, banks must ask themselves several questions: do they see migration as a project or a journey? Do they have buy-in from the entire organisation? Do they have systems in need of an upgrade that would particularly benefit from migration?

They must also question whether there are additional benefits to migrating their workload, and whether they have the right resources in place for this transition. Understanding the value of moving to the cloud and what they hope to achieve in doing so is essential.

Fortunately, banks needn’t see adoption of the cloud as an all-or-nothing venture. Instead, it is possible – even encouraged – to migrate in stages and manage adoption as a transformational journey, rather than a one-off project that will take a considerable amount of adjustment. Crucially, banks must acknowledge that doing a ‘lift and shift’ will offer limited benefits to their organisation and customers, as their workloads won’t be cloud-ready, optimised or scalable.

Banks should see the move to the cloud as a gradual transition and start by selecting the most pressing workloads and services to transfer in a controlled manner. This approach will ensure workloads are moved across securely, nothing is lost in the process and customers aren’t impacted by significant periods of downtime. This will result in a hybrid technology infrastructure – at least in the short term – which research by IBM found that 87 percent of outperforming banks are using to reduce operational costs.

Reasons to migrate
Banks’ reliance on legacy systems can make moving to the cloud, even as part of a gradual transition, seem intimidating. Seeking assistance from third-party fintech firms equipped with the knowledge and experience to carry out cloud migrations efficiently can help ensure the process is smooth and secure.

The cloud means banks no longer need onsite infrastructure management, allowing them to focus resources on value-added functions more closely aligned with their core business objectives

One of the most significant benefits of the cloud is its potential to help banks reduce core costs – particularly those associated with delivering new solutions, as well as overall operating charges. This is partly due to the fact that it removes the cost of the upgrade cycle that comes with physical infrastructure. It also means banks no longer need onsite infrastructure management, allowing them to focus resources on value-added functions more closely aligned with their core business objectives. In the long term, cloud adoption can help banks enhance customer satisfaction and bring products to market faster, therefore allowing them to maximise their return on investment.

A further benefit of cloud adoption is increased scalability. Currently, organisations not utilising cloud services must invest in additional hardware in order to scale up. This means spending more time and money. Adopting cloud solutions allows banks to scale up or down on demand, with cloud services able to expand and contract as needed almost immediately. This provides a far better way to manage costs in line with user and business demands.

Vitally for traditional banks, the increased agility and innovation that the cloud offers has the potential to generate significant and continued return on investment. According to Accenture: “Cloud adoption is integral to enabling banks to quickly add new online services, develop applications and improve [the] customer experience.” The ability to build new products and features faster and get them to market quicker will enable traditional banks to offer customers the innovative technology more commonly associated with challengers.

It is important that banks utilise technology driven by consumer demand and their own specific requirements. Moving to the cloud will enable them to build and test new products and bring them to market quickly. It will also allow developers to adopt a fail-fast approach to creating new applications and testing new features.

Facial recognition start-up Clearview AI hacked

Posted on by Helen

A database containing in excess of three billion photographs taken from YouTube, Twitter and Facebook has been hacked, it was recently discovered. The breach has given hackers unauthorised access to facial recognition firm Clearview AI’s client list, which includes several US government agencies, such as the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Clearview AI has emphasised in the days since that its servers were not breached, and that the company is continuing to work on shoring up its defences in preparation for future cyberattacks.

Clearview AI emphasised that its servers were not breached and that it is continuing to work on shoring up its defences in preparation for future cyberattacks

“Security is Clearview’s top priority,” a company spokesperson told the BBC. “Unfortunately, data breaches are part of life in the 21st century. Our servers were never accessed. We patched the flaw and continue to work to strengthen our security.”

Clearview AI was founded in 2017 by Hoan Ton-That and Richard Schwartz. It was created with the intention of compiling billions of photos for use alongside facial recognition technology – a controversial idea, with many tech companies having previously refrained from using such software in order to avoid it being misused.

The company’s decision to use images scraped from the internet has also raised privacy concerns. The full deployment of facial recognition technology has the possibility to end anonymity for anyone walking down the street. Furthermore, a New York Times investigation conducted in January revealed that Clearview AI retains photographs on its database even after users have deleted them from their social media accounts. Following this exposure, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all ordered the company to discontinue using photos taken from their platforms, but so far it is unclear whether this move has been successful.

Despite concerns being raised about the company, Clearview AI has claimed that more than 600 law enforcement agencies currently use its technology, with its software proving helpful in cases involving identity theft, credit card fraud and sexual exploitation.

How technology can help the global refugee crisis

Posted on by Helen

In June 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the number of global refugees had, for the first time since the Second World War, exceeded 50 million. The following year, more than one million refugees crossed the Mediterranean into Europe, with around 800,000 of these travelling via the Aegean Sea from Turkey into Greece.

Although the number of refugees arriving in Greece has lowered in the years since (the UNHCR estimates that 124,000 refugees arrived in Europe in 2019), this does not necessarily signify that fewer people are being displaced: instead, this decrease could well be the result of a 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey stating that Greece would send those who had not applied for asylum back to Turkey.

The tightened migration controls displayed over the past few years have meant that camps once deemed to be temporary have quickly become more permanent homes for many. According to the Brookings Institution, the average length of time refugees find themselves displaced for is between 10 and 26 years.

The tightened migration controls displayed over the past few years have meant that camps once deemed to be temporary have quickly become more permanent homes for many

A helping hand
As we struggle to cope with this crisis, technology may hold some of the answers. It has the potential to not only make the process of rehabilitating refugees more efficient, but also to benefit the communities in which they are seeking asylum. This is particularly favourable if their skills can be used to fill employment gaps. Refugee Talent, a company that aims to match refugees with employers, believes a lot of potential is currently being wasted.

“Labour mobility is one of the great challenges of the 21st century when so many people are displaced, whether as a result of conflict or climate change,” Andrew Keast, Chief Storyteller at Refugee Talent, told The New Economy.

Refugees are desperate to access technology, as it enables them to remain in touch with their family and friends back home. In fact, they will go to such extremes to secure an internet connection that the UNHCR has reported refugees living in Tanzania sacrificing rations of food in order to buy data. 

One organisation using technology to support displaced people across the world is Techfugees, a global platform that has built a sustainable ecosystem of tech-for-refugees solutions while supporting the inclusion of refugees in the wider industry. It has identified five main focus areas where technology can have a significant impact on refugees’ lives: access to rights and information; health; education; employment; and social inclusion. The company has also been hosting hackathons in Zaatari, the largest refugee camp in Jordan, which are designed to utilise the skills of the people living there in order to find technological solutions to problems the camp and its people are facing.

Technology is also being used to help refugees access information and services when needed: Everest, the world’s only device-free, globally accessible payment solution platform, allows users to digitally verify their identity for public services, thus enabling them to claim their social and economic rights. This ultimately helps refugees to be self-sufficient in the long term. The Everest team works alongside refugees to collect and scan identity papers (if they have them), record fingerprints and scan faces in order to create a digital account for each person. Blockchain technology is then used to ensure the account is secure and cannot fall into the wrong hands.

Technological support is helping to streamline the process of educating refugees

Access to services
Technological support is also helping to streamline the process of educating refugees: with the support of universities such as Geneva and Princeton, the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan and Kakuma in Kenya provide online higher education to both children and adults. Mosaik, an NGO set up to assist refugees wanting to get into higher education, is a crucial part of this movement. The organisation’s CEO and founder, Ben Webster, told The New Economy: “Leveraging technology has huge potential for improving access to education for refugees, both in scale and in terms of making programmes flexible and accessible.”

In Western Ghana, education has been brought to children living in refugee camps through the world’s first satellite-enabled, live two-way interactive distance-learning programme. Each classroom in the school has been equipped with a projector and a low-cost, durable computer, which enables them to receive lessons via a solar-powered satellite link.

UNESCO released a report in 2018 highlighting mobile technology’s key role in ensuring refugees receive an education, which will ultimately help them realise there is a brighter future ahead. In the long term, continuing education in conflict-stricken zones can trigger social and economic improvements: digital technologies that capture and analyse educational data can also play an important role in improving the basic operational, planning and controlling functions in education systems in these settings.

The doctor will see you now
Due to cramped and squalid conditions, refugee camps are particularly prone to the spread of infectious diseases. Diagnostic platforms that have the ability to ensure pharmacy services, prescriptions and treatment regimes are all standardised within these areas are now beginning to appear. Furthermore, using technology to improve health services has already proven a success in Lebanon, which has the highest per-capita refugee population in the world: in one of its camps, Syrian women have used technology for antenatal appointments, allowing them to communicate with doctors and receive health information online.

The growth in the number of refugees who either own or have access to a smartphone has also led to an increase in apps that provide these crucial medical services – or, indeed, to help them navigate seas and connect with volunteers during their journey. The demand this creates for mobile data can also be positive for network operating businesses. This was demonstrated in Tanzania’s Nyarugusu camp, which previously had no data service. After local network operators were taken around the camp by UNHCR staff and shown where the demand lay, three new 3G towers were built.

An AI program has recently been developed with the aim of placing refugees in locations where they are most likely to be successful in gaining employment

Employment prospects
For the refugees who are able to leave the camps, safely cross borders and arrive in a new country where they can make a life for themselves, technology can be used to aid them in the next step of their journey.

An artificial intelligence (AI) program has recently been developed with the aim of placing refugees in locations where they are most likely to be successful in gaining employment. Researchers from the University of Oxford, Lund University and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute have been developing the AI-powered software Annie Moore (named after the first immigrant registered at New York’s Ellis Island in 1892) in partnership with HIAS, a global Jewish non-profit organisation that protects refugees.

Alex Teytelboym, an associate professor of economics at the University of Oxford and the lead researcher for Annie Moore, told The New Economy: “Since May 2018, HIAS has placed hundreds of refugees around the US using Annie, and we estimate that Annie can boost refugees’ employment by around 30 percent.” Annie Moore is currently only being used in the US, but researchers hope that in the future it can be used elsewhere, starting with the UK and Sweden.

A perilous journey
Although emerging technologies provide opportunities for refugees to improve their chances in life, they must be used and controlled carefully, as technology can often have unintended negative consequences. ‘Digital litter’ is one of these major such problems: the increased use of tech leaves the internet littered with broken hyperlinks and sites that no longer exist. This litter can mislead refugees by providing them with false information, which can result in them embarking on a dangerous and ill-informed journey.

The electronic collection of sensitive data can also place individuals at risk, particularly if this personal information is stolen by the intelligence services of ill-intentioned organisations. For example, the development of a digital database on Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh was linked to further discrimination and persecution in 2017.

However, if used correctly, technology can be fused with progressive ideas in order to move towards a more flexible and human-centric emergency relief system. Refugees will then benefit from a system that is both more efficient and helps society globally. Furthermore, technology can provide a way for people to be identified, which can enable them to maintain their social and economic rights and allow them to seek employment. By boosting their level of integration in their new country in this way, technology provides them with a better chance of succeeding in the long term.

The UAE unveils its first floating solar power plant

Posted on by Helen

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently unveiled its first floating solar power plant off the coast of Nurai Island, which is set to start producing electricity within days of it being installed. This pilot project is an important test to determine whether other similar projects in the region will go ahead.

Dubai’s manmade islands could stand to benefit significantly from floating solar power cells, which would enable them to generate low-carbon electricity without sacrificing beach space.

Installing and maintaining solar power panels at sea is expensive, costing around three times more than land-based projects

Even so, Stefan Mückstein, COO of Enerwhere, the sustainable energy company that installed the UAE’s new solar plant, has cautioned that installing and maintaining solar power panels at sea is expensive, costing around three times more than land-based projects. The concept also comes with other technical challenges.

“Dealing with waves and corrosion offshore is obviously a lot more challenging technically than installing solar panels on a roof or flat piece of desert,” Mückstein told Bloomberg. “But for a resort island like Nurai, this is still far better than taking up valuable beach real estate which tourists are willing to pay much more for.”

Ultimately, these solar panel power plants located at sea must prove to be financially viable, which is why this low-capacity pilot project is so highly anticipated. It is predicted that light reflecting off the sea and the cooling effect of water washing over the panels could improve their efficiency, but such claims must be tested empirically first.

It is not only in Nurai where floating solar projects are of interest: clean-energy developer Masdar, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s government, is building Indonesia’s first floating solar project. Other UAE state-run energy agencies have demonstrated a similar interest in developing floating solar technology internationally, with Dubai’s government-run utility firm awarding a consultant contract to Germany’s Fichtner Group for a future floating solar project in a location not yet specified.

For now, however, the majority of the UAE’s solar projects will continue to be built on the empty desert land that is in plentiful supply beyond Abu Dhabi’s high-rise buildings.

Senior lawmakers urge Japanese Government to look into creating digital currency

Posted on by Helen

On February 10, senior lawmakers in Japan proposed that the government should create its own digital currency within the next two to three years. With nation states’ monopoly on issuing currency coming under threat, the Liberal Democratic Party’s Kozo Yamamoto, head of the research commission on finance and banking systems, and Akira Amari, the former economy minister, have argued in favour of issuing a digital yen.

Yamamoto’s remarks came in response to Facebook’s plan to develop a global financial footprint with the launch of its own cryptocurrency, Libra. Although the coin has faced a great deal of criticism, it nonetheless poses a threat to national governments and the control they have regarding the issuance of currency. For Amari, meanwhile, the notion of Japan creating a digital coin has greater geopolitical implications, providing a way to counter China’s own moves within this field.

Internationally, banks have been intensifying research into central bank digital currencies, but the People’s Bank of China has emerged as the frontrunner

Internationally, banks have been intensifying research into central bank digital currencies, but the People’s Bank of China has emerged as the frontrunner in this particular race. China’s digital currency could help the country advance its digital hegemony, as well as aid the progress of its Belt and Road Initiative.

In the future, the spread of digital currencies also has the potential to undermine the supremacy of the US dollar, with national digital currencies allowing for faster and cheaper money transfers across borders. Digital currencies could also help stabilise emerging markets that rely heavily on the dollar, such as Cambodia.

While the adoption of a digital currency will take time and a great deal of regulatory wrangling, Yamamoto plans to work closely with Amari to see that the Japanese Government adopts their new proposals and includes them in its mid-year policy guidelines.

Tech firms shut down Chinese offices as coronavirus spreads

Posted on by Helen

Google has made the decision to temporarily close its offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as a result of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Although Google’s search engine is not available in China, the company has four offices on the mainland that focus on sales and engineering for its advertising business.

Amazon and Microsoft have recently taken similar precautions to protect staff from the virus by asking employees to either work from home or extend their Lunar New Year holiday.

The automotive industry has been badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with Wuhan being a major manufacturing hub

The coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China, but has now spread to every region in the country and been identified in at least 15 other countries across the world. China itself has 7,711 confirmed cases of the infection, and a death toll of 170 as of January 30. The virus’ global spread has resulted in at least another 71 recorded cases outside of China.

Subsequently, the city of Wuhan has been placed on on lockdown, while non-Chinese authorities – including those of the US and UK – have begun attempting to evacuate their citizens from the area.

Earlier this week, Facebook became the first major US firm to tell staff to avoid travelling to China and told employees who had travelled there to work from home. Apple also raised concerns about the virus due to the company’s reliance on Chinese factories for the manufacture of many of its products.

The automotive industry has also been badly affected by the outbreak, with Wuhan being a major manufacturing hub. General Motors is the most recent major car firm to announce plans to extend its Lunar New Year holiday plant closures until February 9, following a similar decision by Toyota. Meanwhile, the French carmaking group PSA – owner of Peugeot and Citroen – has announced it is planning to evacuate its French staff and their families from China.

Display technology: where do we go after glass?

Posted on by Helen

We often find ourselves talking about all the ways technology is improving, from smarter chipboards under the hoods of our favourite products to the machine learning underpinning the software inside them. Less-often discussed are the large strides that have been taken when it comes to display technology – an area that has recently seen its own significant advances in what can be achieved.

Conventional glass-based displays are flat, rectangular and breakable, limiting design freedom. Therefore, over the past few years, a lot of effort has gone into developing flexible displays that can transform product design and bring about new use cases. 

A flexible approach
Flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays have been around for several years, and have already been adopted in some smaller-screen consumer products, such as the Apple Watch and Samsung Edge. However, due to their high manufacturing costs and shorter lifetime, the use of flexible OLED displays hasn’t spread to mainstream devices with large screens.

OLCD is three to four times cheaper than today’s flexible OLED displays, and is well suited to applications where conformable displays with a larger area and longer lifetimes are required

A newer technology, known as organic liquid crystal display (OLCD), is addressing several limitations of conventional glass displays by replacing the amorphous silicon transistors on glass with high-performance organic transistors made on ultra-thin plastic substrates. Because of its simpler manufacturing process and compatibility with existing LCD manufacturing equipment, OLCD is three to four times cheaper than today’s flexible OLED displays, and is well suited to applications where conformable displays with a larger area and longer lifetimes are required.

From automotive applications to smart devices and digital signage, this new generation of flexible OLCD screens is going to impact millions of consumers. So, what does this look like in reality?

The automotive interior of the future
Consumers are always looking for the next advancement in the goods they consume, but the automotive industry is one that comes with particularly high expectations, largely thanks to years of Hollywood blockbusters. Many of us find our imaginations going that little bit further when we are asked to envision the car of the future. Just look at the latest launch by Tesla – accompanied by cyberpunk aesthetics and a synth soundtrack, the entire event was a love letter to today’s elevated consumer expectations.

But the cars of the future are quickly becoming a reality, with autonomous functionality and fully kitted entertainment systems already far more advanced those of only a decade ago. One area that is seeing particularly rapid innovation is the display systems within vehicles. These have evolved significantly over the past few years: in 2017, IHS Markit forecasted automotive display system markets would grow to a value of nearly $21bn by 2022. The next big change will be the mass take-up of flexible displays within vehicles, which will allow for everything from the side-view mirrors to the centre console to be replaced.

One of the frustrations with existing side-view mirrors is that they impact the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle, have to be customised for each driver and are held back by natural blind spots. By replacing them with a flexible OLCD on the inside of the vehicle, such as the one Novares utilised in the Nova Car 2, they can be powered by a camera on the outside which will allow for greater visibility. Car manufacturers can also include smarter analytics within the software, increasing safety for the driver.

Flexible displays would also allow sunroofs to become one screen, with the potential to limit or increase the light being allowed in. Furthermore, flexible displays can wrap around the dashboard or centre console of a car, making it easier to read information or manipulate it with physical touch. As vehicles become more autonomous, the potential to make entertainment systems more immersive also becomes a possibility.

The reinvention of the household
OLCD technology will not only impact consumers on four wheels – it will also have an impact on those living within four walls. Although it’s taken longer than some expected, homes are gradually becoming smarter and more immersive in terms of how consumers can engage with them. The biggest trend that has defined the past few years has been the rise of voice-activated controls. However, we will soon start to see an increasing number of conventional displays turned on their head.

It will be possible for flexible displays to be wrapped around everything from the fridge to the oven, allowing information to be displayed across the whole device

It will be possible for flexible displays to be wrapped around everything from the fridge to the oven, allowing information to be displayed across the whole device. The cost of this technology will be far less than that of existing solutions, meaning increasing numbers of conventional household white goods will become more immersive and technically impressive.

Furthermore, this level of immersion will also start to impact the retail and advertising spaces. We are already seeing more demand for engaging forms of advertising within real-world settings; with the current shift towards online engagement, brands are desperate to improve the physical experience for consumers. This means we will soon see a greater fusion between the physical and digital, particularly with interactive displays that can be adapted and engaged with depending on the target audience.

In particular, point-of-sale marketing can enhance the customer experience by communicating information on the product through interactive displays and touch screens – this, in turn, can increase product sales. In the transportation sector, meanwhile, hubs, links and vehicle exteriors provide the opportunity for advertising, or the presentation of up-to-date information on schedules and delays.

What needs to happen next?
Brands are already looking to the future of displays, but the take-up will only increase as the cost of production continues to go down. Flexible displays are going to become a major consumer expectation, meaning that once they are used in a few applications, demand will increase, and brands will have to work hard to keep up. At FlexEnable, we expect to see wrappable displays and curved screens in our homes, cars and public spaces within the next few years.

Southern Illinois University scholarship continues former chancellor’s legacy

Posted on by Helen

Former chancellor of Southern Illinois University (SIU), Dr Carlo Montemagno, passed away in October 2018, but his long-standing passion for education and philanthropy continues through a scholarship named in his honour.

The Chancellor Carlo Montemagno Excellence Scholarship, which will be awarded in perpetuity, confirmed its first recipient as SIU football player Jacob Marnin in December. The choice of recipient is reflective of Montemagno’s firmly held belief that education should be a multidisciplinary affair that combines scientific enquiry and artistic advancement to achieve the best outcomes for society.

Across more than three decades, Montemagno cultivated a reputation as a visionary both inside and outside academia

“My education strategy is directed at empowering individuals with the skills to enable a lifetime of success and prosperity,” Montemagno had previously said. “Students see themselves as innovators and entrepreneurs; they want to be capable of working at the very edge where world-changing knowledge unfolds.”

Across more than three decades, Montemagno cultivated a reputation as a visionary both inside and outside academia. He served as a US naval officer working with the US Department of Energy between 1980 and 1988 before joining the Argonne National Laboratory at the University of Chicago, working first as a programme manager and then as a group leader for advanced environmental studies and environmental physics.

Montemagno’s educational background was equally distinguished, including a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and biological engineering from Cornell University, a master’s degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and a doctorate in civil engineering and geological sciences from the University of Notre Dame. He subsequently became internationally recognised as an expert in nanotechnology and bioengineering, with more than 45 patents emerging from his research programmes.

Montemagno joined SIU in August 2017 as its 20th chancellor. During his all-too-brief time on campus, he quickly earned the respect of colleagues, students and wider community members, while always remaining committed to the long-term health of the institution. It is this that will serve as his most enduring legacy.

Those wishing to contribute to the Chancellor Carlo Montemagno Excellence Scholarship Endowment Fund can do so here.

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.