Nine financial institutions have joined IBM and foreign exchange settlement provider CLS to begin testing a blockchain-based application platform. Called LedgerConnect, the platform will make available services and applications from different vendors in areas such as collateral management, sanctions screening, and customer compliance checks. The platform, LedgerConnect, is similar to consumer app stores and will seek to make it cheaper and easier for financial institutions to utilize software based on blockchain technology. Because of the security and efficiency benefits offered by the system, many banks have begun testing blockchain-based applications but few have gone into production. CLS and IBM hope that the LedgerConnect platform will help speed up the rate of adoption.
Barclays Plc and Citigroup Inc are two of the nine financial institutions that will be involved in the testing. In an email, Lee Braine from the chief technology office at Barclays, said that "Barclays is participating in the LedgerConnect proof-of-concept so we can gain an understanding and experience of a new network for blockchain applications – and also test some candidate use cases on that network." The development and testing of individual applications by banks is quite costly and time consuming. According to Alan Marquard, chief strategy and development officer at CLS, one of the benefits of a shared platform run by an "existing market structure provider" is that applications from different vendors can be vetted to ensure they meet the financial institutions' security and technology standards. IBM and CLS aim to make the platform widely available to the industry after testing is concluded (if there is enough market demand to do so). Click here to read the full article.
0 Comments
Amazon and United States Major League Baseball (MLB) have expanded their partnership to include Amazon Web Services' machine learning and artificial capabilities. Amazon will begin to provide AI-generated live graphics and statistics during baseball games this season that are broadcast on both TV and digital channels. The deal follows one made in November of 2017 with the National Football League (NFL), and will also bring with it a new brand and logo as Amazon's machine learning technology begins to reach a wider audience. The cloud infrastructure market is expected to be worth close to $82 billion in 2018. Amazon Web Services currently holds 32% of the market (according to 1Q 2018 figures from Canalys).
Amazon Web Services competes with Microsoft and Alaphbet's Google in the cloud infrastructure market, and its recent partnerships with MLB and NFL make for fantastic reference customers. According to Blair Hanley Frank, principal analyst at ISG, "They're large high profile enterprises with complex needs and interests in developing new digital experiences for consumers that translate well to cloud usage." An example of the kind of statistics that will be generated live for fans is a live pitcher heat map that will be able to change according to the hitter, stadium, whether the team is in the playoff hunt, and time of day to display where the next pitch may go. These kinds of multi-variable statistics will be crunched by AWS's machine learning systems and beamed live to give fans insights as they watch their favorite teams. According to research firm Canalys, in the first quarter of 2018, Microsoft Azure came in second in the cloud infrastructure market with 16 % of the market, and Google's Cloud Platform held 7%. Click here to read the full article. What will it mean to be a luxury car manufacturer in an age of autonomous driving? The answer for BMW lies in focusing on the in-car experience and how to use technology to meet the rising expectations of consumers. BMW's VP of Digital Products and Services emphasizes that BMW must become a customer centric company that builds digital services for their cars that provide electronic channels and touch points for customers that ultimately create a direct relationship between BMW and their customers. BMW will look to provides apps, and personal assistants to their customers, but more importantly, they will begin look to communicate with their customers throughout their entire ownership lifecycle.
Historically, dealerships have owned the customer relationship and although BMW wants this to change, they won't cut out dealerships altogether. Customers will still depend on dealerships for their servicing needs for example. Dieter May, BMW's VP of Digital Products and Services, has stated that BMW's interest in owning a larger part of the customer relationship will result in dealers sharing data with BMW, just as BMW will share data with them. The transformation for BMW is significant, and depicts a future where BMW may extract revenue from their customers outside of the sale of cars. In the future, BMW could sell you an electric car and the flat-rate subscription service you would use to charge it. To accomplish this transformation, BMW is betting on things like connected cars and an always connected vehicle. By having vehicles that are always connected via the cloud, BMW can now upgrade in-car software. BMW now also tracks active users and engagement numbers on their ConnectedDrive system, and works to improve these numbers with each and every update. The approach is remarkably similar to those taken by internet consumer companies and these similarities will no doubt increase as BMW looks to increase customer engagement and own the customer relationship. Click here to read the full article. Facebook announced on Tuesday that it has begun trialing augmented reality advertising in the United States. The new augmented reality advertisements will appear on users' News Feed and will enable them to interact with products virtually. The advertisements will appear as normal in-feed advertisements to users but will also include a "Tap to try on" feature which will trigger augmented reality capabilities. Facebook will also launch a Video Creation Kit which will help advertisers create mobile-first advertisements, with Facebook executive Ty Ahmad-Taylor saying " We see video as the best medium for discovering new products."
Michael Kors was the first company to try out the AR capable advertisements, with Pottery Barn, Sephora, Wayfair, Bobbi Brown, NYX Professional Makeup, and King planning to conduct tests later on in this summer. The AR advertisements allow users to seamlessly transition from the AR experience to purchasing the product. Facebook also announced that it would be expanding shopping capabilities on Instagram stories globally by the holidays which let users buy products directly from retailers on its photo-sharing application. Click here to read the full article. Trial of a new, biometric, check-in system has begun in Australia's Sydney Airport. The system will use facial recognition technology to enable automated plane boarding, lounge access, bag drop off, and check-ins. The Australian Government has fully endorsed the biometrics system and has promised to invest $16.6 million to roll out the facial recognition technology in all Australian airports. The Department of Homeland Security in the United States is planning to launch a similar service this year in order to help identify people who exit and enter at the United States border. Facial recognition technology and other biometric identification systems are being increasingly invested in across both public and private areas as organizations seek to tap into the gains in security and efficiency they offer.
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert is very optimistic about the effect the new technology will have on travelers: "There will be no more juggling passports and bags at check-in and digging through pockets or smartphones to show your boarding pass -- your face will be your passport and your boarding pass at every step of the process". Click here to read the full article. Google has streamlined and rebranded its advertising business into three new products: Google Ads, Google Marketing Platform, Google Ad Manager. Google Ads, formerly Google Adwords, which serves as the entry point for advertisers to buy ads on Google's ad network, will also launch Smart Campaigns - a new advertising mode that uses machine learning to optimize targeting, text, and images. Google's advertising business brings in more than $100 billion a year and is being rebranded due to consistent feedback from users that its numerous brands and products can be confusing for advertisers.
Google Ads will continue to provide access to Google's search ad inventory, the Google Play app, and millions of partner sites. Smart Campaigns, which will become the new default interface for Google Ads users, should make it even easier for small businesses to advertise on the Google ad network. The machine learning powering the new feature will assist advertisers in meeting their identified targets (ex: purchases, store visits). The newly minted Google Marketing Platform brand, is aimed at larger media and advertising buyers. The Google Marketing Platform is a combination of the advertising technology from Google Analytics 360 and DoubleClick Digital Marketing. Google Marketing Platform will also launch Digital & Video 360, a new product that merges features from DoubleClick Studio and Audience Center, Campaign Manager, and Bid Manager. The new platform is a response to an increasing need for collaboration among marketing teams- such as between branding/advertising teams and measurement teams. The new Google Ad Manager is a tool for large sellers of advertising inventory, spaces publishers have on their own websites that are available for advertising. The tool is a result of a merging of technology from DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange. Smaller web sites and mobile app developers will continue to be able to use AdSense and AdMob. Google also announced that it will launch new new solutions and campaign types at its Google Marketing Live event on June 10th. Click here to read the full article. |
A2D Digital FeedAcompanhe as principais novidades sobre transformação digital. Categorias |