Air France KLM and Microsoft use blockchain to improve MRO
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Blockchain has enormous potential to improve the efficiency of supply chains and especially MRO, and this is one of the world’s first proof of concepts. Air France KLM’s engineering and maintenance division is evaluating the potential for Blockchain to become its new digital ledger...
The world’s first Quantum blockchain is a “quantum time machine”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The introduction of Quantum computers threaten to undermine the encryption that supports all of today’s blockchain technologies so researchers are trying to develop blockchains that are immune from future attacks. A newly proposed Quantum Blockchain, which at first glance loosely resembles the Quantum Safe...
Basis creates a stable crypto currency, raises $133m from A-list investors
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies swing wildly by the day making them almost useless as a medium of exchange, Basis has designed a stable cryptocurrency and if it works it “could replace money”. On its debut nearly a decade ago, one of...
UPS bets on blockchain to transform the $1 Trillion shipping industry
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s global supply chains are plagued by a multitude of challenges, both bureaucratic and logistical, blockchain technology used correctly reduces the friction and eliminates many of them. The world is run by trade. Freight and logistics in the US alone account for nearly $1.5...
IBM wants to combine AI and blockchain to transform healthcare
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI and blockchain are two incredibly powerful technologies, but for different reasons, however, when they’re combined their significance, and impact, becomes even greater. The combination of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) “could bring significant improvements to a healthcare sector plagued by interoperability problems and...
China bans people with bad “social credit” from planes and trains
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology is a tool, it’s down to governments and individuals how they use and deploy it, and as such it can be used to do great good, or great harm. In another nod to Black Mirror, and to show it isn’t just a sci-fi...
Finland evaluates the results of its Universal Basic Income experiment
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As automation threatens to make tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people redundant, governments are trialling new welfare schemes to support them, one of which is UBI. The rise of the robots, whether it’s hardware robots that are taking over more manufacturing jobs,...
SpaceX will launch it’s global satellite internet ambitions today
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Elon Musk’s company SpaceX wants to bring high speed, quality internet access to every person on Earth, and they’re starting today. Now that the dust has settled from SpaceX’s first successful Falcon Heavy mission earlier this month, which was years in the planning, the...
Quantum sensor breakthrough could one day replace global GPS systems
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s sensors are sensitive, but Quantum sensors are millions times more sensitive, meaning that they can detect even more things with even more accuracy. Thanks to the miracle of GPS we can now work out where we are almost anywhere on Earth, but it...
ShiftWear’s custom E-Ink kicks bring clothing to life
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF E-Ink has many applications outside of just being able to help you read novels on your Kindle, and when combined with other technologies it could just be what we need to move away from smartphones and onto the “next” platform. If you’re one of...
Blockchain without the miners, IOTA unveil their revolutionary new cryptocurrency
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Mining cryptocurrency is an incredibly contentious, complex, and energy expensive operation, but now a German non-profit has built a cryptocurrency that does away with miners completely, and they’re being backed by the biggest names in tech. Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency on a hot...
The future according to Google search results
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Lots of people want to know what the future holds and Google, it has to be said, is most people’s go to reference, so is Google good at predicting the future? Well, check it out for yourself. Have you ever wondered what the future...
Pioneering blockchain experiment rewards volunteering and helping the community
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Most volunteering goes unrewarded and undocumented but Hull’s pioneering social blockchain experiment rewards people for helping the community. Volunteers and community workers in Hull in the UK will soon be able to obtain discounts at local retailers and even reductions in their council tax...
As automation accelerates experts debate Universal Basic Income alternatives
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Increasingly sophisticated technologies are bringing about a new revolution in automation that threatens hundreds of millions of jobs, and if unemployment rises governments will need a way to support people who are affected. In Budapest last week a small crowd gathered to watch Steve Fuller,...
The FDA just approved it’s first trackable smart pill, more to follow
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not everyone takes their medication but now companies and doctors can tell precisely when and if a patient has taken their prescribed meds, but it opens up a whole set of questions about ethics, privacy and security. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...
Blockchain Autonomous Organisations, a new way to tackle corporate fuelled wealth inequality?
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Automation and the emergence of powerful, centralised platform companies are, arguably, helping fuel wealth inequality, could blockchain based distributed autonomous organisations be an answer? Many people know that Blockchain is the pivotal technology behind all of today’s major cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, and while it...
Amazon and Google “set to disrupt the loans industry”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The borders between previously distinct industries are eroding and blurring, and now companies would be wise to re-evaluate the competitive landscape before they find themselves on the wrong end of disruption. It used to be that a tech company was a tech company and...
Russia announces plans to create its own national cryptocurrency
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF With more countries starting to develop and deploy their own national cryptocurrencies it’s only going to be a matter of time before they become the norm, that said though that time is still decades away Hot on the heels of China, Estonia and Sweden...
Infographic: The Future of Money
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of money is an emotive topic but it can be characterised by being cashless, digital, and varied. A little while ago at the iGaming Show in Amsterdam I was asked to present a keynote on “The Future of Money” and then, shortly...
World first as Qualcomm shows off the world’s first 5G to mobile data link
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 5G will revolutionise connectivity and connected devices and services, and Qualcomm are claiming they are the world’s first company to deliver a 5G connection to a mobile device Qualcomm is claiming a world first in the race to bring ultrafast 5G wireless technology to...
