Digital Feed - A2D Consulting

What Problems Can AI Solve For Insurers?

5/30/2017

Insurance companies are sitting on a trove of the one thing AI requires to be successful — data. And AI technologies like machine learning have the ability to make that data actionable. Machine learning can look at data in a number of different ways. It can rank information, putting what it thinks you are looking for at the top of a list; classify information like images; make recommendations; and associate something with a numerical value. It can also group similar things together and detect anomalies.

To improve their customer experience, many are investing in chatbots powered by natural language processing. Chatbots are fast and efficient, and customers can interact with them in the way they are most comfortable communicating — via whatever mobile device they have in their pocket. And, unlike humans, chatbots can help more than one customer at a time and are available around the clock. But they are not strictly a utility play. When they are designed to have personalities that align with the brand powering them, they move from being simply transactional to transforming the customer experience.

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French School Will Use Facial Recognition To Try To Improve Student Performance

5/29/2017

The idea is to use the data to improve the performance of both students and professors. The software uses students’ webcams to analyze eye movements and facial expressions and determine whether students are paying attention to a video lecture. It then formulates quizzes based on the content covered during moments of inattentiveness. Professors would also be able to identify moments when students’ attention waned, which could help to improve their teaching, Marcel Saucet, founder of LCA Learning, says.
The the software, called Nestor, was created by LCA Learning and will be used in two online classes at the ESG business school beginning in September.

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Google’s AlphaGo AI defeats World Go number one Ke Jie

5/26/2017

A computer beat China’s top player of go, one of the last games machines have yet to master, for a second time Thursday, a sign that the field of artificial intelligence is advancing faster than expected.

An IBM supercomputer known as Deep Blue defeated chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997. But many go players expected it to be at least 10 more years before computers mastered go, which is considered far more complicated for machines to master.

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Alphabet Eyes Toronto For Its Foray Into Digital City Building

5/24/2017

The premise of Google's smart city is appealing. A city built from the ground up promises not just the convenience that comes with new technologies, but also the potential of environmental sustainability, health benefits, and even affordability of housing. The vision entails high-speed internet access and free wifi across the hub, self-driving cars, ride-sharing, and sensors throughout that automate the way people engage with their surroundings, making everything from street lights to air conditioning smarter and more efficient.

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Waymo and Left Partner To Tackle Self-Driving

5/22/2017

Lyft and Waymo are getting together in the pursuit of the tools each needs to bring autonomous vehicles to consumers, and in turn generate profits from them. For Lyft, Waymo offers perhaps the most advanced tech in this budding industry. And for Waymo, Lyft offers data that could prove crucial in getting that technology in front of paying customers.
These partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, and even legal battles are going to become more frequent as the auto industry reinvents itself, and new and old characters battle for dominance.

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A2D Consulting Launches MUDA

5/15/2017

DIGITAL CHANGE BEGINS TODAY!
A group of entities from different sectors along with the Portuguese State have joined efforts to develop a number of initiatives to allow the greatest number of Portuguese to benefit from full digital citizenship.
Lisbon, May 15, 2017 - The Movement for Active Digital Use - MUDA is a national initiative promoted by several companies, universities, associations, and the Portuguese State, which have pledged to encourage the Portuguese people to exhibit a greater participation in the digital space. This group is committed to both reduce the number of people who have never accessed the internet and to increase the number of users with more sophisticated skills.
This Movement will be expressed through numerous initiatives, based on nine pillars, identified as strategic areas of action - Digital Access, Digital Commerce, Digital Communication, Digital Literacy, Digital Etiquette, Digital Legislation, Digital Freedom, Digital Health, and Digital Safety.
Through the official website www.muda.pt, the Movement will provide a wide range of didactic and user support content, with particular emphasis on the Quizz MUDA, which will help you measure your digital knowledge and ultimately guide you through improvement suggestions.
In order to increase the knowledge of Portuguese citizens about the advantages of digital use in their day-to-day life, an advertising campaign will be carried out that will communicate the presence of MUDA in different media such as TV, Radio, Press and Outdoors but also on Websites and Social Networks. In parallel, there will be a national roadshow that aims to be closer to the citizen through digital experiences designed for both savvy and non-internet users.
The official MUDA launch ceremony was held today at 3:00 p.m. and accounted among its attendees Dr. Luís Ferreira Lopes, Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic for the area of Business and Innovation.
This moment was followed by an address from Dr. Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, Executive Director of MUDA, under the theme "Active Digital Citizenship in Portugal," which shared the Movement's strategic vision and activities plan, as well as some relevant data on digital adoption worldwide and in Portugal and its resulting impact on society and economy.
Finally, the official inauguration moment of the Movement took place with the presence of the presidents of all the partner entities:

Dr. Fernando Ulrich, Presidente do BPI
Eng.o Licínio Pina, Presidente do Conselho de Administração Executivo do Crédito
Agrícola
Dra. Luísa Gueifão, Presidente do Conselho Diretivo da DNS.PT
Dr. António Mexia, Presidente do Conselho de Administração Executivo da EDP
Dr. Jorge Magalhães Correia, Presidente do Conselho de Administração e CEO da
Fidelidade
Dr. Bernardo Correia, Country Manager da Google Portugal
Eng.o Paulo Neves, Chairman e CEO da MEO
Eng.o Paula Panarra, Diretora-Geral da Microsoft Portugal
Dr. Nuno Amado, CEO do Millennium BCP
Eng.o Miguel Almeida, Presidente Executivo da NOS
Dr. António Vieira Monteiro, Presidente da Comissão Executiva do Santander Totta
Dr. Mário Vaz, CEO da Vodafone Portugal

MUDA is a project managed and implemented by A2D Consulting, a company specialized in consulting services in digital transformation.

Between this and other news, TODAY EVERYTHING CHANGES!

Why Some Digital Companies Should Delay Profitability for as Long as They Can

5/14/2017

In the early 1980’s, Brian Arthur began speculating that in an increasingly tech-enabled world, the law of diminishing marginal returns failed to capture something. He speculated that some industries actually demonstrated increasing returns. The more of something you distributed, the more valuable each incremental piece became. Arthur’s thinking ultimately led to our understanding of network effects and feedback loops. In the world of technology: the more of something you make, the more valuable it can become. Facebook becomes more valuable as more people in your network join. Messaging apps become more valuable as more people sign up. Marketplaces like eBay or Etsy become more valuable to each new member every time a new seller signs up and lists their wares.

When Patrick Collison, CEO of electronic payments company Stripe, helped kick off our second-year strategy course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business this year, he observed that this has created one of the most profound differences in decision criteria between leaders in industrial-era and internet-era companies. When your product can become more valuable to your customers over time, the way you prioritize building features and harvesting profits within a business needs to change.

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Axel Springer's Digital Transformation

5/10/2017

The German publisher’s Journalisten Club is a suite of wood-panelled rooms filled with antique books, leather armchairs and classical paintings. “It is a symbol,” says Mattias Döpfner, the publisher’s chief executive.

Whether it still makes sense as a symbol is unclear, for Axel Springer’s business has shifted rapidly away from print media (though it still owns Bild and Die Welt, two leading German dailies) towards an array of digital businesses. In 2000 it had almost no digital revenue; by the end of last year over 72% of its operating profit came from digital activities. Profits have increased by 37% over the past decade, from €434m ($473m) in 2006 to €596m last year.

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NYC Using Tech To Fight Homelessness

5/8/2017

Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steve Banks wanted a tool that would not only enable workers to coordinate their efforts, but also give the city government a true overview of the homelessness problem that would enable officials to design interventions based on real data, not rough estimates. The city’s tech team worked with non-profit organizations such as Project Hospitality in Staten Island as well as BronxWorks to find out what the outreach workers on the front lines of this citywide disaster need.

To that end, the city is rolling out a new tool, StreetSmart, aims to give city agencies and non-profit groups a comprehensive view of all of the data being collected on New York’s homeless on a daily basis. Think of StreetSmart as a customer relationship management system for the homeless. Every day in New York, some 400 outreach workers walk the streets checking in on homeless people and collecting information about their health, income, demographics, and history in the shelter system, among other data points. The workers get to know this vulnerable population and build trust in the hope of one day placing them in some type of housing.

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3-D Printed Sneakers Tailored To Your Foot

5/4/2017

Proponents of 3-D printing have long talked about the possibility of using the technology to customize consumer products. One of the most oft-cited possibilities is printing sneakers with soles tailored to individual runner’s biometrics or to the quirks of each couch potato’s arches.

Bay Area 3-D-printing company Carbon announced that it has made that happen. Carbon has been working with the apparel company Adidas to develop materials and designs for athletic-shoe midsoles, the squishy, shock-absorbing part of the sneaker.

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