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Deloitte hack compromised US government and major firms' emails | Further investigation of the Deloitte hacking a year ago has revealed that the breach was potentially far more extensive than first reported. Initially Deloitte suggested the hack had "impacted" only six clients, but the compromised server contained emails of an estimated 350 clients, including Fifa, banks and other major companies. Among the emails and attachments were ones from US government departments, including State, Energy, Homeland Security and Defense. The extent of details stolen by the hackers is not known by Deloitte but user names, passwords, IP addresses and health information, along with attachments with sensitive security details would have been vulnerable.
| https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/10/deloitte-hack-hit-server-containing-emails-from-across-us-government | 2017-10-10 10:36:08.630000 | The hack into the accountancy giant Deloitte compromised a server that contained the emails of an estimated 350 clients, including four US government departments, the United Nations and some of the world’s biggest multinationals, the Guardian has been told.
Sources with knowledge of the hack say the incident was potentially more widespread than Deloitte has been prepared to acknowledge and that the company cannot be 100% sure what was taken.
Deloitte said it believed the hack had only “impacted” six clients, and that it was confident it knew where the hackers had been. It said it believed the attack on its systems, which began a year ago, was now over.
However, sources who have spoken to the Guardian, on condition of anonymity, say the company red-flagged, and has been reviewing, a cache of emails and attachments that may have been compromised from a host of other entities.
The Guardian has established that a host of clients had material that was made vulnerable by the hack, including:
The US departments of state, energy, homeland security and defence.
The US Postal Service.
The National Institutes of Health.
“Fannie Mae” and “Freddie Mac”, the housing giants that fund and guarantee mortgages in the US.
Football’s world governing body, Fifa, had emails in the server that was breached, along with four global banks, three airlines, two multinational car manufacturers, energy giants and big pharmaceutical companies.
The Guardian has been given the names of more than 30 blue-chip businesses whose data was vulnerable to attack, with sources saying the list “is far from exhaustive”.
Deloitte did not deny any of these clients had information in the system that was the target of the hack, but it said none of the companies or government departments had been “impacted”. It said “the number of email messages targeted by the attacker was a small fraction of those stored on the platform”.
This assurance has been contested by sources that spoke to the Guardian. They said Deloitte’s public position belied concern within the company about exactly what had happened and why.
The Guardian first revealed the existence of the hack on 25 September.
Since then, the Guardian has been provided with further details of the attack, which seems to have started in autumn last year at a time Deloitte was migrating and updating its email from an in-house system to Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 service.
The work was being undertaken at Deloitte’s Hermitage office in Nashville, Tennessee.
The hackers got into the system using an administrator’s account that, theoretically, gave them access to the entire email database, which included Deloitte’s US staff and their correspondence with clients.
Deloitte realised it had a substantial problem in spring this year, when it retained the Washington-based law firm, Hogan Lovells, on “special assignment” to review and advise about what it called “a possible cybersecurity incident”.
In addition to emails, the Guardian understands the hackers had potential access to usernames, passwords, IP addresses, architectural diagrams for businesses and health information.
It is also thought that some emails had attachments with sensitive security and design details.
Deloitte has insisted its internal inquiry, codenamed Windham, found that only six clients had information that had been compromised. The review had also been able to establish “precisely what information was at risk”, the company said.
However, that analysis has been contested by informed sources that have spoken to the Guardian. They say the investigation has not been able to establish definitively when the hackers got in and where they went; nor can they be completely sure that the electronic trail they left is complete.
“The hackers had free rein in the network for a long time and nobody knows the amount of the data taken,” said one source.
“A large amount of data was extracted, not the small amount reported. The hacker accessed the entire email database.”
Another source added: “There is an ongoing effort to determine the damage. There is a team looking at records that have been tagged for further analysis. It is all deeply embarrassing.”
The Guardian has been told Deloitte did not at the time have multi-factor authentication as standard on the server that was breached. A cybersecurity specialist told the Guardian this was “astonishing”.
The expert said the migration to the new email system would have “utterly complicated the kind of forensic investigation required to see what had happened”.
“A hacker has got into Deloitte’s email system and been undetected for months, and only six clients have been compromised? That does not sound right. If the hackers had been in there that long, they would have covered their tracks.”
When the Guardian put all these points to Deloitte, it declined to answer specific questions, but a spokesman said: “We dispute in the strongest terms that Deloitte is ‘downplaying’ the breach. We take any attack on our systems very seriously.
“We are confident that we know what information was targeted and what the hacker actually did. Very few clients were impacted, although we want to stress that even when one client is impacted, that is one client too many.
“We have concluded that the attacker is no longer in Deloitte’s systems and haven’t seen any signs of any subsequent activities.
“Our review determined what the hacker actually did. The attacker accessed data from an email platform. The review of that platform is complete.”
In recent months, Deloitte has introduced multi-factor authentication and encryption software to try to stop further hacks.
Dmitri Sirota, co-founder and CEO of the cybersecurity firm BigID, warned that many companies had failed to use such methods because they were inconvenient and complex.
“Privileged accounts are like keys that unlock everything, from the castle to the treasury. They provide unfettered access to all systems, which is why they are so valuable.
“Organisations are monitoring databases, not the data in it. It’s hard to detect changes, prevent incidents or compare your data to notice breached information unless you have an inventory of what you have.” |
Online professional development courses launched by MIT | The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has launched a programme of online professional development courses. MIT's Digital Plus offers organisations courses for their staff that involve project-based challenges and last between six and 10 weeks. The first course being offered is The Intersection of Leadership and Innovation, which is being developed in partnership with Cahoot Learning. Students who complete the first course can apply for the certificated courses Leading in the Transformative Era and Strategic Leadership and Innovation.
| https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/10/09/mit-launches-digital-plus-courses-for-professional-learning.aspx?admgarea=news | 2017-10-10 10:06:13.697000 | Distance Learning
MIT Launches Digital Plus Courses for Professional Learning
MIT Professional Learning is launching a new program designed to offer organizations courses for their employees that feature project-based challenges designed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty.
Dubbed Digital Plus Programs, these new offerings aim to provide personal and effective learning environments for individual participants while providing their organizations information on participant engagement and outcomes by leveraging online platforms and collaborative tools.
Ranging from six to 10 weeks in length, the courses use "a variety of design and teaching modalities that range from interactive online to in-person sessions in order to impart leading-edge content and practices that are highly relevant to professionals across all industries," according to a news release. "The courses include embedded group-based projects, challenges and learning activities, enabling knowledge-sharing, networking and innovation."
The first course offered through the new initiative, The Intersection of Leadership and Innovation, is being offered in partnership with Cahoot Learning, provider of an online platform designed to accommodate multiple cohorts from around the world with features such as collaboration and live communication tools, customizable assessments and analytics focused on engagement and progress.
Digital Plus Programs will also include professional certificate programs that require completion of four courses. The first two certificate programs, Leading in the Transformative Era and Strategic Leadership and Innovation, are currently in development and will require completion of the first course offering, The Intersection of Leadership and Innovation.
For more information, visit professional.mit.edu. |
Neighbourhood Ventures sets up crowdfunding property platform | Arizona-based property start-up Neighbourhood Ventures is to launch a crowdfunding site for local retail property investors. The company will give residents of the state the chance to invest in income-producing apartment projects in the Phoenix area using its crowdfunding site, under the guidance of professionals. Neighbourhood Ventures hopes to offer its first project to investors in November.
| http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neighborhood-ventures-becomes-first-arizona-based-real-estate-crowdfunding-company-300533627.html | 2017-10-10 09:35:16.170000 | PHOENIX, Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Neighborhood Ventures (NV), Arizona's first crowdfunding real estate company, is pleased to announce its formation and launch in the Arizona (Phoenix) marketplace. The company allows all Arizona residents the opportunity to be shareholders in apartment projects in the Phoenix area.
The company was formed by apartment real estate veteran John Kobierowski and former Goldman Sachs tech analyst Jamison Manwaring.
Mr. Kobierowski, also Senior Managing Partner at Phoenix based ABI Multifamily, brings 25+ years' experience in multifamily real estate, has brokered 900+ multifamily transactions, owned/operated over 1,000+ multifamily units and successfully developed and sold 500+ condominium units.
Mr. Kobierowski states, "The new Crowdfunding legislation has empowered all Arizonans with the opportunity to invest locally in business start-ups, which had been for decades reserved for only qualified investors. Neighborhood Ventures will focus on commercial Real Estate investment property, specifically multifamily assets. Investing in income-producing apartment buildings with the guidance of a team of seasoned professionals is the core of our investment strategy. We intend to be the go-to company for Arizonans to make investments in the apartment market."
Prior to launching Neighborhood Ventures, Mr. Manwaring was VP of Investor Relations at Tempe-based LifeLock, where he helped lead the company to a successful sale in February 2017. Prior to LifeLock, Mr. Manwaring was a software analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York City where he participated in over a dozen software IPOs, including LifeLock's public offering in 2012.
Mr. Manwaring states, "Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter have given entrepreneurs a large audience to showcase and fund new technologies. Platforms like GoFundMe have transformed how donations for charitable causes can be raised quickly online. Neighborhood Ventures is excited to take crowdfunding to commercial real estate to allow every Arizona resident the opportunity to own a portion of an apartment project within their neighborhood."
Thomas M. Brophy, Director of Research for Neighborhood Ventures, states, "Never has there been a better time to invest in multifamily (apartment) real estate than now. Rental housing has entered its most significant growth period in a generation fueled, in large part, by monumental demographic changes at both ends of the age spectrum. These changes will continue to propel the industry for years to come."
The company plans to open its first project for investment in November 2017.
Neighborhood Ventures is Arizona's first, exclusively multifamily, real estate crowdfunding platform and asset management company.
This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.
SOURCE Neighborhood Ventures
Related Links
http://www.neighborhood.ventures
|
Training New Doctors Right Where They’re Needed | Dr. Olga Meave didn’t mind the dry, 105-degree heat that scorched this Central Valley city on a recent afternoon. The sweltering summer days remind her of home in Sonora, Mexico. So do the people of the Valley — especially the Latino first-generation immigrants present here in large numbers, toiling in the fields or piloting big rigs laden with fruits and vegetables.
| https://californiahealthline.org/news/training-new-doctors-right-where-theyre-needed/ | 2017-10-10 09:21:33.237000 | https://californiahealthline.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/10/2017_1005_06.mp3
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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Dr. Olga Meave didn’t mind the dry, 105-degree heat that scorched this Central Valley city on a recent afternoon.
The sweltering summer days remind her of home in Sonora, Mexico. So do the people of the Valley — especially the Latino first-generation immigrants present here in large numbers, toiling in the fields or piloting big rigs laden with fruits and vegetables.
Meave’s sense of familiarity with the region and its residents drew her to an ambitious program in Bakersfield whose goal is to train and retain doctors in medically underserved areas.
She is now in her third and final year of the Rio Bravo Family Medicine Residency Program, operated by Clinica Sierra Vista, a chain of more than 30 clinics, mostly in the Central Valley. Meave, 34, graduated from medical school in Mexico and has pursued additional education and training in the U.S.
This story also ran on The World . It can be republished for free ( details ).
She plans to practice in Bakersfield after she completes her residency next year.
“The goal is for [doctors in training] to come for three years and stay for 20,” said Carol Stewart, director of the program.
Rio Bravo is one of eight teaching health centers in California and 57 nationwide that were created by the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to serve areas with large unmet medical needs.
This academic year, there are 732 residents in teaching health centers across 24 states.
Unlike the Affordable Care Act itself, these teaching centers enjoy bipartisan support among federal lawmakers, who say such hubs will alleviate the primary care doctor shortage. But long-term funding is still in question. Last week, Congress agreed to temporarily finance the teaching health centers through the end of the year while debating whether to extend funding beyond that. President Donald Trump later signed the temporary extension.
A residency is a stage of graduate medical training that’s required after medical school and before doctors can set up their own practices. Most family practice residencies last three years.
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Traditional residency programs are generally based at large, urban hospitals in areas where there are typically a sufficient number of doctors to go around.
The first teaching health centers began training residents in 2011. They operate primarily out of clinics in rural communities and other areas where primary care physicians are in short supply.
The ideal ratio of primary care physicians to patients is about 1 for every 2,000, Stewart said. The ratio in east Bakersfield “is more like 1 to 6,000, so we have a lot of catching up to do.”
Though teaching health centers remain relatively new, experts say they’re already succeeding: Their residents generally stay in the regions where they trained, putting down roots in communities with a big demand for health care.
In June, the Rio Bravo program graduated its first class of six doctors. Two joined the staff at a Clinica Sierra Vista clinic in east Bakersfield. The other four are practicing in clinics serving low-income communities in Sacramento, Riverside and Los Angeles counties.
Stewart estimates that the six recent graduates together saw nearly 10,000 patients during their three years of training.
“That’s a significant contribution,” she said.
Though not all teaching health centers have affiliations with medical schools,
the Rio Bravo program has an academic partnership with the UCLA medical school, which helps develop its curriculum, Stewart said. It also coordinates with a local hospital, Kern Medical, where residents complete rotations in different specialties related to family medicine.
A 2015 survey by the American Association of Teaching Health Centers found that 82 percent of their graduates stay in primary care and 55 percent remain in underserved communities. By contrast, about a quarter of graduates from traditional residency programs remain in primary care and work in underserved areas, according to the same survey.
Many graduates of teaching health centers have an incentive to stay in these areas because they may qualify for other programs that offer perks, such as help with paying off medical school loans.
The centers take their patient populations into consideration when selecting applicants. For instance, Rio Bravo aims to train culturally sensitive doctors, given the large local immigrant population, Stewart said.
It looks for applicants with ties to the Valley or who come from the cultures — and speak the languages — that are familiar to patients they will serve.
Meave doesn’t have a personal connection to the Valley, but she worked with low-income patients in Mexico. She has found that the population in the Valley, and its needs, aren’t much different from those in her home country.
At Clinica Sierra Vista, she sees patients who haven’t been to a doctor in decades. “They’ve never had a physical exam, never had their eyes checked. … They just deal with their aches and pains,” she said. “I think they feel happy that I can understand them and excited that someone from the same background is providing them care.”
Teaching health centers are financed by federal grants administered by the Health Resources & Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Congress determines the amount and duration of the funding. The current allocation, an extension of the two-year funding that expired Sept. 30, runs through the end of the year.
In July, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) introduced legislation that would fund the program for an additional three years at about $157,000 a year per student — a total of $116.5 million annually.
The amount proposed would be a 65 percent increase from the current funding of $95,000 a year per resident.
Lawmakers are likely to begin debating the funding measure this week, and it is still subject to change.
“I’m glad we moved forward with a short-term extension of the … program, but we also must advance a long-term solution to provide certainty for our teaching health centers, their residents, and their patients,” McMorris Rodgers said in a prepared statement. “Without a sustainable funding level … the program will unravel.”
Should that happen, California’s teaching health centers could draw from a pot of money administered by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to pay for the remainder of the current residents’ training.
Programs in other states may not have the same safety net.
“If [federal funding] went away, our residency program would have to close,” said Dr. Darrick Nelson, director of the teaching health center at Hidalgo Medical Services in Lordsburg, N.M.
Lordsburg, with a population of roughly 2,500, is a “small railroad town,” Nelson said, and like many rural towns desperately needs versatile primary care doctors.
“What you’re getting is three doctors for the price of one,” he said. “You get someone who can do pediatrics, someone who can do obstetrical care and someone who can do internal medicine.”
In California’s Central Valley, there is no medical school, and new doctors often avoid the area in favor of richer urban centers, where they can make more money.
Earlier this year, lawmakers earmarked $465 million from the state’s new tobacco tax to boost payments for some Medi-Cal providers, which could help make poor areas like the Central Valley more attractive to doctors.
At Clinica Sierra Vista’s location in east Bakersfield, where Meave’s residency is based, 75 percent of patients are covered by Medi-Cal — the state’s version of the federal Medicaid program for low-income residents — and 15 percent are uninsured, Stewart said. Asthma, diabetes and other chronic conditions are major health problems.
Veronica Ayon, a former farmworker, is one of Meave’s patients. Like her doctor, she is a native of Sonora.
Ayon, 48, was treated for cervical cancer in 2010 and last year underwent surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor. She feels comfortable with Meave because of their similar backgrounds and language, she said.
“She is very special to me,” Ayon said, speaking in Spanish inside her home in the town of Shafter, about 20 miles north of Bakersfield. “She explains things at a level I can understand.” |
California Today: Homeless Camps, With Official Blessing | Governmental czars have been appointed, ambitious plans crafted and billions of dollars spent, yet California’s homeless crisis still grows. Roughly a quarter of the nation’s homeless — about 118,000 people — live in California.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/california-today-homeless-camps-with-official-blessing.html?partner=rss&emc=rss | 2017-10-10 09:21:05.993000 | Good morning.
(Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.)
Governmental czars have been appointed, ambitious plans crafted and billions of dollars spent, yet California’s homeless crisis still grows.
Roughly a quarter of the nation’s homeless — about 118,000 people — live in California.
Frustration over the lack of headway has some city leaders now embracing a strategy once considered unthinkable: Sanctioned homeless camps.
“The entire West Coast is in a housing crisis,” said Joe DeVries, an assistant city manager in Oakland. “What we really need is housing. But as we build it, we need something to make people’s lives better.”
Oakland plans to open two camps for roughly 80 people within the next month or so, Mr. DeVries said. The sites will have prefab sheds, round-the-clock security and social services. |
Culture of buy-in can improve healthcare's performance | An organization's culture and philosophy is one of the primary predictors of its financial success and ability to retain employees. That was the message from organizational culture experts and authors Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick at the Medical Group Management Association's conference Monday in Anaheim, California.
| http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/mgma-culture-buy-can-improve-healthcares-performance | 2017-10-10 09:20:06.993000 | An organization's culture and philosophy is one of the primary predictors of its financial success and ability to retain employees. That was the message from organizational culture experts and authors Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick at the Medical Group Management Association's conference Monday in Anaheim, California.
Elton and Gostick used numerous examples from other industries to make the case that healthcare organizations would benefit from a culture of positive engagement, both internally with their employees and externally as they reach out to service their customer base.
[Also: Clinician satisfaction tied to healthy workplace, report says]
Being engaged, energized and enabled were the three main tentpoles of their approach, and they pointed to statistics that highlighted the efficacy of that type of culture. According to their research, companies with high engagement had a 14.3 percent higher operating margin, while companies that focused on those three E's showed an average 27.4 percent higher margin.
In particular, Elton pointed to Canadian airline WestJet, which ran a promotion one holiday season in which customers received free Christmas presents, simply for flying on the airline.
[Also: NYC H+H announces hiring cuts in response to state withholding $380 million in DSH payments]
"Their profitability is through the roof," said Elton. "They're the most popular airline in Canada, bar none. It's harder to get a job as a baggage handler at WestJet than it is to get into the Harvard School of Business." And he wasn't joking.
Gostick said that healthcare leaders looking to implement the three-E approach would be wise to consider a cautionary tale offered by General Motors. A few years ago, in an effort to make cars more in line with the quality that was coming out of Japan, GM embarked on a joint venture with Toyota, learning the latter company's production method. But GM didn't become more efficient. The production method, they decided, was too much work, they were too busy to focus on quality, and employees and middle managers all resisted, thinking the whole exercise was an excuse to start shedding employees. GM declared bankruptcy soon afterward.
"Great organizations are more agile," said Gostick. "People in these organizations feel psychologically safe to speak up. They can challenge the status quo, the conventional way of doing things."
The key to making that work in the medical world, he said, is to create a safe atmosphere in which everyone can ask questions and challenge each other without being negative. Anyone in the organization, from top to bottom, should be able to suggest innovative ideas without being considered disruptive. The most successful businesses, he said, are prone to experimentation and unique ideas.
Aside from having the potential to increase margins, such cultures typically fare better when it comes to turnover, particularly among Millennials, said Gostick. Microsoft had cut its MIllennial turnover in half by having aspirational meetings, asking employees how they want to grow, and encouraging them to give and receive feedback.
It's a challenge businesses will continue to face, as Millennials tend to job-hop much more frequently than past generations -- staying 1.5 to 2 years in an organization, on average. Knowing they're making an impact, having a good work/life balance and being able to learn in their jobs were ranked highly among Millennials, while things like autonomy and money rank near the bottom, according to Gostick. Healthcare organizations should heed these trends if they want their younger employees to stick around.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: [email protected] |
Can the U.S. Repair Its Health Care While Keeping Its Innovation Edge? | The United States health care system has many problems, but it also promotes more innovation than its counterparts in other nations. That’s why discussions of remaking American health care often raise concerns about threats to innovation.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/upshot/can-the-us-repair-its-health-care-while-keeping-its-innovation-edge.html | 2017-10-10 09:18:22.493000 | The United States health care system has many problems, but it also promotes more innovation than its counterparts in other nations. That’s why discussions of remaking American health care often raise concerns about threats to innovation.
But this fear is frequently misapplied and misunderstood.
First, let’s acknowledge that the United States is home to an outsize share of global innovation within the health care sector and more broadly. It has more clinical trials than any other country. It has the most Nobel laureates in physiology or medicine. It has won more patents. At least one publication ranks it No. 1 in overall scientific innovation.
Strong promotion of innovation in health care is one reason the United States got as far as it did in our recent bracket tournament on the best health system in the world. Though the United States lost to France, 3-2, in the semifinals, it picked up its two votes in part because of its influence on innovation, which can save lives in the United States and throughout the world.
Now we shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking Americans are inherently more innovative than people in other countries. In fact, many American innovators are immigrants who may or may not be citizens. Many technological and procedural breakthroughs in medicine have occurred in other countries. |
Researchers Predict a Quarter-Million New Cases of Breast Cancer in the U.S. | Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women except for skin cancers.` Researchers at the American Cancer Society estimate that there will be 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women in the United States in 2017. Some 40,610 women will die from the disease.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/health/breast-cancer-rates-united-states.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&_r=0 | 2017-10-10 09:17:49.757000 | Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women except for skin cancers.`
Researchers at the American Cancer Society estimate that there will be 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women in the United States in 2017. Some 40,610 women will die from the disease.
In addition, there will be 63,410 cases this year of carcinoma in situ, abnormal cells that may be an early form of cancer.
Over a lifetime, a woman living in the United States has a 12.4 percent risk — one in eight — of being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks have higher breast cancer incidence and mortality than other racial and ethnic groups. The incidence of cancer in black women was slightly lower than that of whites, but the death rate during 2011 to 2015 was 42 percent higher in black women. |
Shouldn’t Doctors Control Hospital Care? | Who ultimately should be in charge of care at our nation’s hospitals — physicians or businesspeople? In January 2016, the board of directors at Tulare Regional Medical Center, a small community hospital in central California, voted to terminate the elected leaders of its medical staff office.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/opinion/shouldnt-doctors-control-hospital-care.html | 2017-10-10 09:17:19 | Doctors were once expected to scrutinize and, when necessary, challenge administrative actions on behalf of patients. No more.
The dispute at Tulare must be viewed in the context of this larger struggle. As hospital managers make decisions based on business, not clinical, imperatives, both patients and their care providers are getting squeezed. For example, doctors are being pressed to discharge patients quickly — sometimes too quickly — to maintain “throughput.” There is a focus on increasing the rates of profitable procedures, such as orthopedic and heart surgeries, at the expense of relatively poorly remunerated general medical care. Administrators are even exerting control over traditionally medical domains, such as the credentialing of new physicians with hospital privileges. If a hospital board can dismiss elected medical officers with impunity, as at Tulare, it will indicate to many doctors the increasingly tenuous nature of the position they currently hold.
The very best hospitals in America are still run by physician chief executives — Toby Cosgrove at the Cleveland Clinic, for example, and John Noseworthy at the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic says that it is physician-led because “this helps ensure a continued focus on our primary value” — namely, that “the needs of the patient come first.” Indeed, a study in 2011 found “a strong positive association between the ranked quality of a hospital and whether the C.E.O. is a physician.” Overall hospital quality scores were about 25 percent higher when physicians, not business managers, were in charge.
Of course, correlation does not prove causation; it is certainly possible that better hospitals choose physicians as their leaders. But when day-to-day decision making is done by people with clinical training, it appears that patients do benefit.
There are many factions to blame for the corporate takeover at America’s hospitals. Doctors need to accept some of the responsibility, too. If we had taken better care of our institutions, perhaps there would not have been a need for others to manage them for us.
How the court rules in the Tulare case, once it resumes, will have profound consequences for whether medical staffs can do their work independently of nonclinical administrators. And it will also provide an answer to the more important question of who should be in charge of hospital care. |
Trump’s Cuts to Health Law Enrollment Efforts Are Hitting Hard | Michigan Consumers for Health Care, a nonprofit group, has enrolled thousands of people in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and was honored last year as one of the nation’s top performers — a “super navigator” that would serve as a mentor to enrollment counselors in other states.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/politics/obamacare-trump-cuts-open-enrollment.html | 2017-10-10 09:16:48.807000 | All told, the Trump administration has reduced funds for the navigator program by 41 percent, to $36.9 million, from $62.9 million last year. Among the states hit the hardest, according to data provided to Congress by the administration, are Georgia, down 61 percent; Michigan, down 72 percent; New Jersey, down 62 percent; and Ohio, down 71 percent.
In the face of such numbers, some navigator groups have simply quit.
To Democrats and supporters of President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, the cuts are another sign that President Trump will sabotage a law that he could not persuade Congress to repeal. To social workers in the trenches, eager to connect those in need with the insurance available, it is mystifying.
“When we received the notification, we were shocked, to say the least,” said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, the executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, which was notified by the Trump administration that its budget would be cut by 71 percent, to $486,000, from $1.7 million. “We have yet to receive any explanation of the cut. We have met or exceeded every one of our performance metrics. There was never any feedback that gave us any indication that we were not going to receive the same amount.”
Indeed, in an email to the Ohio Association of Foodbanks earlier this year, the federal employee supervising its work, Donnamarie Spencer, said, “You guys are superstars!”
Her group decided to pull out of the navigator program altogether.
The cuts come at a time of turmoil in insurance markets, when more consumers than ever may need help navigating the health care system. Insurers are withdrawing from many markets, rates are shooting up more than 40 percent in some states and the enrollment season will be shorter than in the past. Mr. Trump has stoked uncertainty, saying he would “let Obamacare fail” and threatening to cut off certain subsidies paid to insurers for low-income people. |
Officials air concerns about potential for worse flu season | Public health officials have warned over the past several weeks the U.S. flu season this year may be worse than usual following a tough flu season in Australia.
| https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2017/10/officials-air-concerns-about-potential-for-worse-flu-season/ | 2017-10-10 09:15:33.853000 | About Bara Vaida Bara Vaida (@barav) is AHCJ's core topic leader on infectious diseases. An independent journalist, she has written extensively about health policy and infectious diseases. Her work has appeared in the National Journal, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg News, McClatchy News Service, MSNBC, NPR, Politico, The Washington Post and other outlets. View all posts by Bara Vaida →
Public health officials have warned over the past several weeks the U.S. flu season this year may be worse than usual following a tough flu season in Australia.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN that “in general, we get in our season what the Southern Hemisphere got in the season immediately preceding us and an intelligent guess” is that North America will most likely have a bad flu season.
Further, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, influenza chief at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Associated Press that: “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but there’s a chance we could have a season similar to Australia.”
The warnings come as the CDC began its annual campaign to encourage Americans to get their flu shots before the virus begins spreading during the fall and winter. About 5 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu each year. The flu can cause severe illness and life-threatening respiratory complications. Adults 65 and older, children, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems are among those that are the most at risk. In the 2016-17 flu season, which was described as a “moderate,” more than 600,000 were hospitalized due to complications from the flu, said Jernigan. Since 2010, 200,000 to 710,000 people have been hospitalized annually due to the flu, and 12,000 to 56,000 died each year too, according to the CDC.
“Influenza is an unpredictable infectious disease,” said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “I like to say flu is fickle. I am often asked ‘how severe will the season be?’ It will be severe and it will always be severe. Flu vaccination is our first and best line of defense to prevent flu.”
Though Australia has not finished collecting all its data from its past flu season, the flu vaccine may not have been as effective as past years, and more than the usual number of older adults and children contracted the flu. Flu vaccine effectiveness fluctuates annually because the virus constantly mutates. Researchers have also recently questioned whether the vaccine manufacturing process might also make the vaccine less effective. About half of Americans were vaccinated during last year’s flu season and the vaccine was about 42 percent effective. The figure means that people who got the shot had about a 42 percent lower chance of needing additional medical care due to the flu.
To monitor the flu’s development, go to the CDC’s FluView, which provides weekly state-by-state summaries of the disease’s progress. Written reports on the flu based on data collected from health providers and state health departments in the previous week are posted every Friday. This hour-long Flu101 webcast hosted by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, a Bethesda, Md.-based nonprofit that often partners with the CDC to promote disease prevention efforts, explains in detail how the CDC monitors the flu, what information the agency provides on its website and common questions and answers about the flu.
Reporters looking for more information on understanding how the flu virus works, how the flu vaccine is made, how the CDC monitors the flu and many more resources, can check out this new tip sheet on covering the seasonal flu. And be sure to join us for a webcast on Oct. 10: Is the U.S. prepared for a flu pandemic?
Bara Vaida (@barav) is AHCJ's core topic leader on infectious diseases. An independent journalist, she has written extensively about health policy and infectious diseases. Her work has appeared in the National Journal, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg News, McClatchy News Service, MSNBC, NPR, Politico, The Washington Post and other outlets. |
Technology speeds access to patients' end-of-life wishes | Just four hours earlier, Sallie Cutler had been sharing Mother's Day lunch with her mom, Alyce Cheatham. Then, that same evening, Cheatham, 96, landed in a Portland, Ore., emergency room, lethargic, unable to speak and paralyzed on her right side by a massive stroke.
| http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/09/health/oregon-end-of-life-wishes-partner/index.html | 2017-10-10 09:14:20.917000 | Story highlights Nearly every state has a program to document the care patients want at the end of life In Oregon, organizers have taken a step to ensure that medical wishes are honored
Just four hours earlier, Sallie Cutler had been sharing Mother’s Day lunch with her mom, Alyce Cheatham.
Then, that same evening, Cheatham, 96, landed in a Portland, Ore., emergency room, lethargic, unable to speak and paralyzed on her right side by a massive stroke.
Cutler now admits her first impulse was to demand action.
“It’s, like, do something; make her better,” said Cutler. “As a child, you can’t just say let her die.”
But Cheatham’s medical records contained a different demand. When the doctor on duty at Oregon Health and Science University clicked once in the chart header, it was immediately clear: Cheatham wanted no efforts to prolong her life.
“He said, ‘The good news is, your mom had a POLST form, so you don’t really have any decisions to make,’ ” recalled Cutler, 63, of Sherwood, Ore.
“I was so relieved. I cannot tell you how relieved I was. She had made all the decisions for me ahead of time.”
POLST forms, formally known as Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment, have become a staple in care for the fragile or seriously ill. They document in detail what kind of medical treatments patients want – or don’t want – at the end of life. Nearly every state in the U.S. has a program; dozens are established or developing.
But in Oregon, where the documents were developed in the early 1990s, organizers have taken a step to ensure that final medical wishes are honored.
Officials at OHSU have partnered with a California technology firm, Vynca, to allow health care providers to electronically find any of the 172,000 active forms in Oregon’s POLST registry with a single click, no matter where they were filed.
Since the link went live June 1, OHSU providers have clicked nearly 14,000 times, said Dana Zive, the registry’s director.
“It’s not just in the ER setting,” Zive said. “It’s actually any health professional, in any setting.”
Previously, OHSU providers had access to the 16,000 POLST forms filled out by patients within the hospital system, but not those submitted elsewhere. The hospital, which tops the state list in the annual U.S. News & World report rankings, reports more than 1 million visits from nearly 300,000 patients each year.
Now, during any of those visits, the information is easy to see at the top of the patient’s medical chart, said Dr. Susan Tolle, director of the OHSU Center for Ethics in Health Care and a co-founder of the state’s POLST program.
“POLST forms only work if health care professionals can find these orders quickly, especially in an emergency,” she said.
Expanding OHSU’s electronic capability is the first step toward universal, instant access to the forms by health systems across the state. Samaritan Health Services, a nonprofit network of hospitals and clinics in Portland and the surrounding area, plans to add the feature later this year. And Oregon officials are negotiating with additional vendors to expand accessibility, Tolle said.
The state’s Oregon Health Authority pays about $380,000 a year to run the POLST registry. The cost of the electronic expansion is paid by the hospitals, however. Neither hospital officials nor Vynca representatives would reveal the price tag, saying it was proprietary information.
Research suggests that POLST forms guide end-of-life care, whether patients die at home or in a health care facility. A 2014 study of deaths among Oregon POLST users found that 6.4 percent of patients who specified comfort-only measures died in a hospital, compared with 44.2 percent of those who chose full treatment – and 34.2 of people with no POLST form on file.
A recent analysis found that seriously ill patients in Oregon are more likely to have their end-of-life wishes honored than those in nearby Washington state – or the rest of the U.S.
Still, it’s been difficult to ensure immediate access to POLST forms and other advance care planning documents in emergency settings, said Dr. Ryan Van Wert, a critical care physician and chief medical officer for Vynca.
“The problem is, if you come into an ER in distress and you’re unable to speak for yourself, the default is we do everything,” he said.
So, sick or frail patients who don’t want CPR or intensive care might receive aggressive treatments against their will, simply because medical personnel couldn’t find the forms.
Oregon is the first state with one-click access to POLST registry forms. New York, which uses forms called Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment, or MOLST, has a different system, a web-based application that allows completion of and access to forms at sites statewide.
Amy Vandenbroucke, executive director of the nonprofit National POLST Paradigm, said individual states are still figuring out what works.
“We’re still very much in an innovation stage,” she said. “Right now, we don’t have any guidance to say what is the best way to do it.”
For Alyce Cheatham, however, OHSU’s easy access to her POLST form ensured her wishes were followed. After the stroke last May, she returned to her Portland retirement home, where she died a week later.
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“She didn’t want any kind of life support at all,” Cutler, her daughter, recalled. “She didn’t want to be on any feeding tubes at all.”
Being able to determine her care was important to Cheatham, an independent, forceful woman who was active in many Portland civic groups and projects, including development of the POLST program. Over the years, she contributed more than $500,000 to the center that developed it, records show.
“She was very excited about the POLST form,” Cutler said. “There’s a symmetry to it. It’s good that it worked so well.” |
Many Medicare Advantage members have narrow provider networks | Medicare Advantage (MA) has gained popularity with members and payers, but a new study of 2015 data by the Kaiser Family Foundation(KFF) found that MA plans offered narrow networks to many enrollees.
| http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/many-medicare-advantage-members-have-narrow-provider-networks/506615/ | 2017-10-10 09:13:39.267000 | Dive Brief:
Medicare Advantage (MA) has gained popularity with members and payers, but a new study of 2015 data by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that MA plans offered narrow networks to many enrollees.
In what KFF said is the first study to examine the size and composition of MA plans’ physician networks, researchers found that 35% of MA enrollees were in narrow-network plans compared to 22% who were in broad-network plans in 2015.
The report also found that an average of only 46% of all physicians in a county were in MA networks, which limited doctor offerings for members.
Dive Insight:
About one-third of those in Medicare have an MA plan, and the CMS predicted that number will increase in 2018. Payers have also been bullish about MA’s future. UnitedHealth Group, which is the largest MA payer, expects that eventually half of all Medicare beneficiaries will have an MA plan.
The KFF analysis looked at 2015 data for 391 plans offered by 55 insurers in 20 counties, which made up 14% of MA enrollees.
Researchers found that physician network size varied greatly. Access to psychiatrists was more commonly restricted compared to other specialties. MA plans only provided an average of 23% of psychiatrists in a county. That includes 36% of MA plans that had less than 10% of psychiatrists in their county. Other specialty problems included few cardiothoracic surgeons, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons and radiation oncologists in many MA networks.
The narrower networks meant fewer physician options, but much lower prices for members. Broad-network HMOs averaged $54 per month compared to $4 for narrow-network plans, and broad-network PPOs were $100 a month compared to $28 for narrow-network plans.
Payers have increasingly turned to narrow networks as a way to control costs and improve quality of care. To take part in the narrower networks, physicians usually have to agree to payer demands about cost and quality.
So, though the narrow networks are reducing costs and are cheaper for MA members, the trade-off is fewer in-network doctors. If there’s an emergency, MA members in narrower networks are unlikely to make sure providers are in-network, so may receive out-of-network care and face hefty medical bills.
“Differences across plans, including provider networks, pose challenges for Medicare beneficiaries in choosing among plans and in seeking care, and raise questions for policymakers about the potential for wide variations in the healthcare experience of Medicare Advantage enrollees across the country,” said KFF.
KFF's findings aren't the only concern about MA provider networks. The CMS has said that many MA provider directories include incorrect information, such as which providers are taking patients. The CMS found that 45% of MA provider directors had wrong information. The CMS is requesting more oversight over MA payers’ provider networks, so insurers will give current and accurate information about their providers. |
Rethinking connected health for our aging population | No doubt, aging is a hot topic, both for each of us as we grow older, and for society. It is also a significant opportunity for digital technologies to create a new kind of old, enabling individuals to remain vital, engaged and independent through their later years.
| http://www.mobihealthnews.com/sponsored-content/next-fountain-youth-rethinking-connected-health-our-aging-population | 2017-10-10 09:12:49.107000 | No doubt, aging is a hot topic, both for each of us as we grow older, and for society. It is also a significant opportunity for digital technologies to create a new kind of old, enabling individuals to remain vital, engaged and independent through their later years. Connected health tools can also better understand the “soft science” of wellbeing and address the neglected crisis of caregiving.
It is such an important topic that this year’s Connected Health Conference focuses on The Connected Life Journey, featuring cutting-edge developments in aging, chronic care management, consumer and physician adoption, as well as policy, research and the investment community. I'm especially excited about our closing plenary session, Envisioning the Connected Life Journey, when I have the privilege of sharing the stage with some insightful and truly visionary colleagues, including Charlotte Yeh from AARP and Rudy Tanzi, a renowned researcher who co-discovered the first Alzheimer’s disease genes and directs the Alzheimer’s Genome Project.
I have also taken on the topic of aging in my new book, The New Mobile Age: How Technology Can Extend the Healthspan and Optimize the Lifespan, which will look at how digital technologies are enabling people to remain vital, engaged and independent through their later years. We explore what needs to be done in order to achieve healthy longevity and create a better and more responsive healthcare system for everyone. Below is a sneak peek at two fundamental concepts we discuss in-depth in the book.
First some context. We’ve added 25 years to our lifespan in the last century through various public health innovations, but we haven’t provided tools to help us use those additional years in the most productive, fulfilling way. Instead, we’ve put folks in that demographic (those in the latter 25 years of their life) into a category of “old.” They retire, are perceived as no longer adding value or, even worse, become a burden to their “sandwich generation” adult children.
We must turn aging from being a dreaded inevitability into something to be celebrated. My friend Jody Holtzman from AARP, who is quoted in the book, coined the term “Longevity Economy,” and defines it as the 100-plus million people in the United States over age 50 who account for $7.1 trillion in annual economic activity. He quite accurately notes that only in the eyes of the U.S. government would this population be viewed as a burden. Rather, we need to refocus on this group of older adults as an opportunity!
Hence, our priority should be to enhance the healthspan, by giving people the tools needed to improve their health and inspire them to maintain healthy lifestyle choices. If we do this right, we will turn this growing cohort of older adults from being seen as a burden to one that is remaining vital, connected and adding value. And, of course, connected health is a big part of the solution. There are multiple dimensions at play, and I can’t cover it all here, but I want to touch on two areas that became clear to me while researching the book.
The first group of insights comes from another respected friend and colleague who is helping society rethink aging, Charlotte Yeh, MD, Chief Medical Officer for AARP Services. Once I learned of her perspective, I became tuned in to several reproducible findings in patients in my own clinical practice.
We’re used to thinking of predictors of longevity in a very scientific, dry way – measures such as exposure to tobacco, high blood pressure, blood cholesterol level and the like. Of course, these are valid and important, but Charlotte opened my eyes to a different set of important measures. One is a sense of purpose. People who have some purposeful activity they pursue in retirement are healthier. Research bears this out. The second is social connections. Again, there is a remarkable body of evidence on this, and it turns out that isolation eats away at an individual and has the same effect on health as multiple packs of cigarettes a day! Finally, physical activity. This can range from taking the stairs or walking each day to going to the gym or even remaining a competitive athlete.
None of these measures are unique to aging, but to strip away the traditional, clinical science and break it down into these three simple predictors was liberating for me. Of course, the bonus is that connected health can play a role in all three, whether it is participating in the gig economy to drive purpose, being active on social media or FaceTime to keep up social connections or tracking your steps on a Fitbit. All of these challenges are made easier by modern technology.
The second important insight driving new, increasing opportunities for personal health technologies has to do with managing chronic illness. As much as we’d all like to stay healthy all our lives and die peacefully at a ripe old age, the fact is we all suffer from system wear and tear and require more illness management as time goes on. We are at the breakpoint as a society, and, very soon, we won’t have enough healthcare providers and caregivers to tend to the aging population if we only rely on one-to-one care delivery models. We spend a lot of time in The New Mobile Age talking about how to use technology to create one-to-many care delivery models.
I look forward to sharing the learnings in my new book during the opening keynote at the Connected Health Conference, continuing the discussion and advancing care delivery to support healthy longevity for all in this New Mobile Age.
Join us in Boston this October 25-27. Learn more at www.connectedhealthconf.org
About the Author: Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Vice President, Connected Health, Partners Healthcare, Program Chair, 2017 Connected Health Conference
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P&G turns digital marketing focus to deliver personalised content | Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) is to focus its digital marketing on delivering more personalised messages. P&G, which says it reaches five billion consumers each day, wants to build digital brands that "exceed customer expectations" by using big data. But Sophie Blum, P&G's vice-president of marketing for Europe and IMEA, stressed that staying true to a brand's purpose was key to striking a balance between personalisation and mass messaging.
| https://www.marketingweek.com/2017/10/10/pg-mass-one-one-marketing/ | 2017-10-10 08:33:27.493000 | Procter & Gamble says it will seek to strike a balance between personalisation and mass targeting by not compromising on its brands’ purpose.
P&G’s Always brand will look to target a mass audience with personalised messaging.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is pivoting its digital marketing to deliver more personalised messages on a mass scale. To lead this transformation, it is also looking to champion an increasingly diverse set of marketing skills.
The consumer goods giant, which claims to reach five billion consumers every day, has set its sights on building brands digitally that “meet and exceed consumer expectations”. It looks to do this by using ‘big data’ to determine what people really want, according to Sophie Blum, P&G’s vice-president of marketing for Europe and IMEA (India, the Middle East and Africa), speaking at the Festival of Marketing last week.
“This depth and intimacy of understanding every single consumer is very new. That is what’s transforming the profession. You either get overwhelmed, or you embrace it with tools to be able to interact with and answer [consumers] in a way that is better than your competitors,” she tells Marketing Week.
What follows this focus on big data is mass one-on-one marketing – something the company’s chief brand officer Marc Pritchard briefly referenced in a speech at Dmexco last month.
One example is Pampers. The moment mums-to-be start searching for pregnancy-related information on Google, P&G gets a signal that someone is starting their “journey” and will target them accordingly. During a woman’s third trimester of pregnancy, for example, it might offer advice on what to put into nappy bags, or once the baby is born it will show consumers different nappies to buy as the baby grows.
“At P&G we have this ongoing understanding of one-to-one [messaging]. It’s a day-to-day journey. We are there to accompany consumers by having the right message at the right time,” she says.
It’s not about the channels or tools that are transforming. For us it’s important [to focus] on the way we go about it. Sophie Blum, P&G
When asked how P&G ensures it gets the right balance between personalisation and mass messaging, Blum says staying true to a brand’s purpose is key – and points to feminine hygiene brand Always.
“Always is about female empowerment, no matter what age you are. What will change are consumer expectations. I have different expectations of Always compared to my 14-year-old daughter. The moment I’m in touch with Always, the product [on show] is going to be different. But there are things we don’t compromise on; the brand is the brand,” she says.
P&G has also had a focus on cleaning up the “murky” digital ecosystem after Pritchard’s now seminal speech in January. But when asked if these issues impact the company’s ability to use digital as a brand building tool, Blum instantly refutes this.
“No – it just forces us to be extremely rigorous and disciplined in what we do and how we measure things. We are serving our consumers, it’s not about the channels or tools that are transforming. For us it’s important [to focus] on the way we go about it,” she explains.
READ MORE: ‘Marketer of the Year’ Marc Pritchard on his quest for transparency
The marketing team of the future
Overhauling the company’s culture to become more digitally-focused hasn’t been easy, however. Blum claims one of the biggest challenges has been to create “talent for tomorrow”, where marketing leaders are expected to be able to work across multiple disciplines, understand mathematics and algorithms, while also being able to empathise with people.
“You have a base and then a unique human understanding of what is behind data that is telling the consumer story. You need both the human and tech-savvy side. That’s the new level of recruitment, and a whole new ballgame of leadership,” she says.
As a result, Blum’s plea to young people in the profession is to adopt a diverse set of skills, and to think of brands as a “force of good and growth”.
She concludes: “That’s the role of big brands. The weight on the shoulders of marketers today has never been so heavy; not only to change behaviours and change the conversation, but to be a force for good.” |
Chris Forrester joins The Telegraph as chief revenue officer | The Telegraph has hired Chris Forrester as chief revenue officer, a newly-created position at the paper. Forrester, previously country manager of Spotify UK, will head up The Telegraph's ad revenue teams, including Spark, the media organisation's content and data division brand. He will also be responsible for all commerce revenues, bar those generated by Telegraph Financial Services and Telegraph Travel. "The Telegraph has consistently broken new ground and I am excited to be able to join", said Forrester.
| http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/10/10/the-telegraph-appoints-spotifys-chris-forrester-first-chief-revenue-officer | 2017-10-10 08:26:47.267000 | The Telegraph has appointed Chris Forrester, formerly the country manager of Spotify UK, to the newly created role of chief revenue officer.
In this new role, Forrester will lead the company's advertising revenue teams including display ad sales, client strategy and development, as well as Spark, the Telegraph's branded content and data division.
He will also have responsibility for all commerce revenues, excluding that generated by Telegraph Travel and Telegraph Financial Services.
He joins the newspaper with over 20 years experience from some of the industries biggest brands including four years at Primesight, where he first held the position of commercial director and later becoming managing director.
In May 2016 he became country manager of Spotify UK, a role he held until April this year.
The appointment of Forrester forms part of the Telegraph’s ongoing commitment to focus on diversifying into new revenue streams, including advertising, digital subscriptions, travel and financial services and events, in order to offset declines in print.
In 2016 revenues at Telegraph Media Group fell sharply to £295m from £314m in 2015, while advertising revenues declined 12% and circulation revenues 3%, according to TMG accounts.
Forrester will report directly into chief executive Nick Hugh.
Hugh said: “We are delighted to welcome Chris Forrester to the Telegraph in the role of CRO. His extensive experience and forward thinking attitude make him well positioned to lead our commercial efforts into the future.”
Forrester added: "The Telegraph has consistently broken new ground and I am excited to be able to join now, at a time when never before have so many people, from such diverse backgrounds consumed the content we create in so many different ways.” |
Spanish law firm Garrigues develops legal transcription AI | Spanish law firm Garrigues has been working with the Instituto de Ingeniería del Conocimiento (IIC) to develop a Spanish-law legal transcription artificial intelligence tool. Called Proces@, the technology is able to transcribe and catalogue Spanish-language legal texts, videos and audio with a very low error rate. Proces@ uses legal dictionaries and a variety of advanced search options to give it the legal context necessary to carry out semiotic analysis. Álvaro Barbero, director of algorithm engineering at IIC, said "artificial intelligence systems will generate valuable recommendations that will improve lawyer decision-making”.
| http://www.globallegalpost.com/big-stories/garrigues-joins-ai-revolution-52581579/ | 2017-10-10 08:26:37.257000 | The Spanish law firm, which is hosting the first legal tech competition in the country, has created a robot to streamline its processes for its lawyers.
The law firm has pioneered its own AI tools, giving lawyers the ability to improve response times, César Mejías, chief information officer at Garrigues, said at an event discussing how AI was changing law firms. He said that his firm had developed a robot with the Instituto de Ingeniería del Conocimiento (IIC), making the firm at the forefront of the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in the sector. It was 'the first tool in Spanish that allows scanned legal texts, videos and audio to be transcribed and indexed quickly and easily, with minimal errors, a functionality that facilitates the work of our lawyers while at the same time improving our client response times. Proces@ includes advanced search options, legal dictionaries etc, meaning that it has sufficient context to make sense of any text it is given. We are the first law firm in the world to have a robot of these characteristics in Spanish.' He added that AI enabled the law firm 'to automate work of lesser value and increase our professionals’ productivity, giving them more time to provide added value to clients.
South Summit
The impact of artificial intelligence on the legal services industry was one of the main subjects at an event entitled 'How artificial intelligence is changing law firms', held today as part of South Summit, the summit for entrepreneurs in Southern Europe, which runs this week in Madrid. 'Artificial intelligence will take our sector into a new dimension, although not in the short term. With the ultimate aim of providing value to clients, inspiring trust and offering better quality service, at Garrigues we are harnessing the multitude of options offered by technology to provide our lawyers with the tools necessary to be more productive and reduce response times,' Mr Mejías said.
Prescriptive analytics
Álvaro Barbero, director of Algorithm Engineering at Instituto de Ingeniería del Conocimiento (IIC), said that 'the main revolution will not only be in terms of automation but also in terms of prescriptive analytics, since artificial intelligence systems will generate valuable recommendations that will improve lawyer decision-making.” In his opinion, machine learning solutions aimed, for example, at reducing the length of lawsuits “will help clients to make decisions.'
Automation
José Ángel Sandín, CEO of publishing house Lefebvre - El Derecho, added: 'Artificial intelligence and, above all, automation, are already transforming the legal services industry. We must adapt our roles to this new reality and, in our case, we do so directly with our clients in mind, who demand quick, affordable and tailor-made solutions that we can only offer if we combine technology and quality content.'
Tasks of little value
According to the three experts, within a law firm there are an infinite number of tasks that professionals spend a long time on but that provide little value: transcriptions from the courts, review of contracts on a major scale, extracting data from different documents, review of uncertified extracts, identification of potential fraud, etc.
Employment
As regards employment, Mr Sandín believes that artificial intelligence will lead to a major transformation of legal and paralegal services, while Mr Mejías says it will modify lawyer profiles. It is increasingly important for lawyers to have technological skills, meaning that one of the challenges is to have more professionals with the necessary training in this field”. He added that Garrigues is one of the first law firms in Spain to have engineers on its workforce, putting together multidisciplinary, technology-oriented teams and we have a specific area dedicated to information and communication technology.
Legal Tech Competiton
The 1st Legal Tech Competition, organised by Garrigues and Spain Startup, will take place at South Summit on 5 October. The four finalists will have the opportunity to present their projects and the judges will choose a winner, who will receive free advisory services from Garrigues professionals. |
Google buys Relay Media to speed up loading of mobile web pages | Relay Media, which developed technology to speed up loading of mobile web pages, has been acquired by Google. The company's software converts publishers' web content into the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) HTML format, which simplifies data and makes pages quicker to load on smartphones. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
| http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-acquires-relay-media-in-mobile-push/#ftag=RSSbaffb68 | 2017-10-10 08:23:12.643000 | (Image: Doogee DG580 | CC)
Google has acquired Relay Media, potentially to take advantage of the firm's technology for speeding up mobile web pages.
On Monday, as reported by TechCrunch, the news was quietly posted on Relay Media's homepage.
The company, a creator of a converter of web pages to the AMP HTML format, said Relay Media was acquired by Google this month.
No financial details have been disclosed.
"We're excited to announce that Google has acquired Relay Media's AMP Converter technology," Relay Media says. "Service for current customers will continue uninterrupted as we transition the Relay Media AMP Converter to Google's infrastructure. We're pausing new publisher onboarding as we focus on the integration effort."
The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Project is an open-source initiative to promote the new AMP HTML standard for quickly loading mobile pages -- adverts, analytics, paywalls, and all.
It is sometimes the case that a company or vendor will have a sleek, intuitive desktop browser-based domain, but when attempting to load the same domain on a mobile device, extra embedded content such as adverts or popups can slow down loading or disrupt the entire structure of a page.
The AMP Project utilizes AMP HTML -- with some restrictions -- to improve performance; the AMP JS library for quick rendering, and the AMP Cache, Google's cache, which can be used to serve cached pages.
Relay Media launched in May 2016. At the time, CEO and co-founder David Gehring, who has otherwise worked with Google and news publishers through the Digital News Initiative (DNI), said that mobile is far from dead, as there are "favorable currents amidst the troubled waters of the digital ecosystem for quality publishers."
"More users encounter content on the open mobile web than on desktop browsers or apps, and total mobile ad spending is now outpacing desktop," Gehring said. "Programmatic CPMs are rising for quality publishers and viewable impressions. Unfortunately, publishers' ability to compete for revenue and engagement is impeded by cluttered, slow-loading pages and non-viewable ads."
"AMP is a well-timed opportunity to course-correct, providing the instant experience users desire and a clean, well-lit environment for monetization," the executive added.
Google may close down the separate service and harness the converter technology itself to boost its own AMP push. Faced with the issues that mobile pages often present consumers, dedicated apps for particular sources -- such as news outlets -- have become a viable alternative.
However, if AMP takes hold, then Google is able to scrape revenue from mobile searches, and so it makes sense for the tech giant to invest in the project.
Update 15.58 BST: A Google spokesperson confirmed the acquisition to ZDNet.
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Antibiotic resistance may cost global economy $100tn by 2050 | Bacteria carrying the antibiotic resistant mcr-1 gene is spreading fast globally, warn scientists. Since the UN general assembly cited drug-resistant infection as a key threat to humanity last September, around 700,000 "super bug" related deaths are reported. However, Wellcome Trust estimates that by 2050, deaths caused globally by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could number 10 million p.a., cost the economy about $100tn and push 28.3 million more people to extreme poverty. A recent study reported mcr-1 is prevalent in China's water, food, animal and human population, and separately, the World Health Organisation warned of a global shortage of antibiotics in pipelines to deal with drug-resistance. | https://wellcome.ac.uk/news/global-call-action-drug-resistant-infections | 2017-10-10 08:14:11.613000 | Understanding how human cells and tissues operate can help us fight diseases and develop new drugs. Creating lab-based models of tissues is one way to do this, but it has its challenges. In their research, Dr Chris Spicer and his team are tackling this head-on using newly engineered biomaterials. |
Antibiotic resistance may cost global economy $100tn by 2050 | Bacteria carrying the antibiotic resistant mcr-1 gene is spreading fast globally, warn scientists. Since the UN general assembly cited drug-resistant infection as a key threat to humanity last September, around 700,000 "super bug" related deaths are reported. However, Wellcome Trust estimates that by 2050, deaths caused globally by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could number 10 million p.a., cost the economy about $100tn and push 28.3 million more people to extreme poverty. A recent study reported mcr-1 is prevalent in China's water, food, animal and human population, and separately, the World Health Organisation warned of a global shortage of antibiotics in pipelines to deal with drug-resistance. | https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/08/world-faces-antibiotic-apocalypse-says-chief-medical-officer | 2017-10-10 08:14:11.613000 | Scientists attending a recent meeting of the American Society for Microbiology reported they had uncovered a highly disturbing trend. They revealed that bacteria containing a gene known as mcr-1 – which confers resistance to the antibiotic colistin – had spread round the world at an alarming rate since its original discovery 18 months earlier. In one area of China, it was found that 25% of hospital patients now carried the gene.
Colistin is known as the “antibiotic of last resort”. In many parts of the world doctors have turned to its use because patients were no longer responding to any other antimicrobial agent. Now resistance to its use is spreading across the globe.
In the words of England’s chief medical officer, Sally Davies: “The world is facing an antibiotic apocalypse.” Unless action is taken to halt the practices that have allowed antimicrobial resistance to spread and ways are found to develop new types of antibiotics, we could return to the days when routine operations, simple wounds or straightforward infections could pose real threats to life, she warns.
That terrifying prospect will be the focus of a major international conference to be held in Berlin this week. Organised by the UK government, the Wellcome Trust, the UN and several other national governments, the meeting will be attended by scientists, health officers, pharmaceutical chiefs and politicians. Its task is to try to accelerate measures to halt the spread of drug resistance, which now threatens to remove many of the major weapons currently deployed by doctors in their war against disease.
The arithmetic is stark and disturbing, as the conference organisers make clear. At present about 700,000 people a year die from drug-resistant infections. However, this global figure is growing relentlessly and could reach 10 million a year by 2050.
The danger, say scientists, is one of the greatest that humanity has faced in recent times. In a drug-resistant world, many aspects of modern medicine would simply become impossible. An example is provided by transplant surgery. During operations, patients’ immune systems have to be suppressed to stop them rejecting a new organ, leaving them prey to infections. So doctors use immunosuppressant cancer drugs. In future, however, these may no longer be effective.
Or take the example of more standard operations, such as abdominal surgery or the removal of a patient’s appendix. Without antibiotics to protect them during these procedures, people will die of peritonitis or other infections. The world will face the same risks as it did before Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.
“Routine surgery, joint replacements, caesarean sections, and chemotherapy also depend on antibiotics, and will also be at risk,” says Jonathan Pearce, head of infections and immunity at the UK Medical Research Council. “Common infections could kill again.”
As to the causes of this growing threat, scientists point to the widespread misuse and overuse of antibiotics and other drugs and to the failure of pharmaceutical companies to investigate and develop new sources of general medicines for the future. Western doctors are over-prescribing antibiotics to patients who expect to be given a drug for whatever complaint they have. In many countries, both land and fish farmers use antibiotics as growth promoters and indiscriminately pour them on to their livestock. Drug manufacturers also often do not dispose of their industrial waste appropriately. In the latter case the end result is antibiotics leaching into streams and rivers with alarming results, particularly in Asia.
“Environmental areas around drug manufacturing plants in Hyderabad, for instance, have had alarming concentrations of antimicrobials. Effluent from one treatment plant had concentrations of antibiotics higher than levels we try to achieve in the bloodstream of patients,” says Davies.
In Asia, the widespread use of the antibiotic colistin as a growth promoter in pigs encouraged the evolution of resistant strains which have spread to humans. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
The creation of these soups of antibiotic-laden waters and banks of drug-soaked soils is ideal for the development of “superbugs”. Rare strains that are resistant to antibiotics start to thrive in farm animals that are raised in these artificial environments and emerge as highly potent infectious agents that then spread across the planet with startling speed. Examples of these include tuberculosis, which was once easily treated but which, in its modern multi-drug-resistant form, known as MDR-TB, now claims the lives of 190,000 people a year.
Another even more revealing example is provided by colistin. “Colistin was developed in the 50s,” says Matthew Avison, reader in molecular biology at Bristol University. “However, its toxic side-effects made it unpopular with doctors. So it was taken up by vets and used in animals. But as resistance – in humans – to other antibiotics has spread, doctors have returned to colistin on the grounds that it was better than nothing.”
But the antibiotic’s widespread use as a growth promoter for poultry and pigs in Asia had – by this time – encouraged the evolution of resistant strains and these have now spread to humans. “Colistin was a drug we discarded and gave to the vets and now, all of a sudden, we expect that we can take it back again,” said Avison. “However, the genie is already out of the bottle.”
The position is summed up by Lance Price, an antibiotic researcher at George Washington University in Washington DC. “Superbugs are gaining strength because we continue to squander these precious medicines through overuse in human medicine and as cheap production tools in animal agriculture.”
Bans on the agricultural use of antibiotics like colistin are being imposed in Asia but have come far too late to be effective, a problem acknowledged by Lord Jim O’Neill, whose report to the UK government on antimicrobial resistance was published last year. “When we were putting our report together, colistin resistance was considered to be a problem that would not affect us for some time. Now we find it has already spread all over the place.”
The report that was overseen by O’Neill – who will be speaking at this week’s conference in Berlin – put forward a number of proposals to stop antibiotic resistance from overwhelming health services. In particular, it argued that drug companies should now foot the bill for the development of new antibiotics and that patients should not be allowed to get them without a test to ensure they are needed.
“I find it incredible that doctors must still prescribe antibiotics based only on their immediate assessment of a patient’s symptoms, just like they used to when antibiotics first entered common use in the 1950s,” O’Neill said in the report, adding that the development of rapid diagnostic tests on patients – which would establish whether an antibiotic was necessary and, if so, which kind – must now be an urgent priority.
The proposal – to be debated at the conference this week – is popular, although Professor Alastair Hay of Bristol University counselled caution. “It is a very good idea, but we should note that a new type of diagnostic test like this will also add time and work for our already overburdened health service,” he points out.
Then there is the issue of travel, one of the biggest problems we face over the spread of antimicrobial resistance, according to Davies, who has spearheaded Britain’s part in the battle to fight its spread around the world.
“One Swedish study followed a group of young backpackers who went off on holiday to different parts of the world. None had resistant bacteria in their guts when they left. When they returned a quarter of them had picked up resistant bugs. That shows the pervasive nature of the problem we face,” she said.
Tourism, personal hygiene, farming, medical practice – all are affected by the issue of antibiotic resistance, and it will be the task of the conference to highlight the most effective and speedy solutions to tackle the crisis.
“In the end, the problem posed to the planet by antimicrobial resistance is not that difficult,” says O’Neill. “All that is required is to get people to behave differently. How you achieve that is not so clear, of course.” |
More insurtech IPOs likely after ZhongAn success | The success of China's online-only insurer ZhongAn's initial public offering in Hong Kong is likely to encourage similar Chinese firms to seek funding in the public market. ZhongAn's share price has risen 52% since its IPO in late September. With the liquidity of the Hong Kong stock exchange a major plus, mainland China's start-ups may look to the exchange when they require funding, according to Nick Yu Fengqi, founder of ZCX Management Consulting. The number of international participants trading in Hong Kong is another draw, Yu said.
| http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2114623/zhongans-resounding-success-likely-lure-other-mainland-and | 2017-10-10 07:56:59.907000 | The mainland’s first purely online insurance platform is up 52 per cent on its IPO offer price when the shares debuted on September 28 |
CNN's branded content accounts for 60% of revenue | Branded content now accounts for 60% of CNN's revenue, up from the 54% recorded last year. The broadcaster's in-house production company Create was launched ten years ago to make traditional TV adverts for clients, but has now evolved to produce a range of content from video to graphics, image-led articles and galleries. The role of Create has changed since the launch of CNN's 'Great Big Story' website other developments including the rolling out of parent company Turner's in-house ad platform, Launchpad. | https://digiday.com/media/branded-content-deals-account-60-percent-cnn-internationals-revenue/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digidaydis&utm_source=uk&utm_content=171010 | 2017-10-10 07:31:22.897000 | Despite the struggles of many publishers’ in-house branded-content studios, CNN International’s branded-content revenues continue to swell. The news broadcaster claims 60 percent of its revenue comes from deals that incorporate branded content created by its in-house studio Create, up from 54 percent last year.
Much of that growth is due to changes in how deals are sold to clients, along with a spurt in distribution capabilities across its own and off-site properties. The media owner has tried to move away from banner ads and click-based reporting, and it has increased the number of native ad placements on its sites by 300 percent since it started using native ad firm Sharethrough’s distribution platform a year ago, though CNN International wouldn’t share specific numbers.
The Create team has 25 permanent staffers and grows when necessary based on the scope of client campaigns. Around 75 percent of what Create produces runs across multiple platforms, including mobile devices and social platforms. Formats span long- and short-form video, animation, graphics-led ad formats and text and image-led articles and galleries. The ads are all distributed using Sharethrough’s technology across CNN’s main site and its money, style, travel and sports verticals, as well as its social video network Great Big Story, which counts Japanese airline All Nippon Airways among its biggest clients.
Publishers commonly use native ad platforms like Sharethrough. But fully automating the distribution of native ads has freed up CNN International’s sales team to focus on larger, video-led creative pitches with advertisers, helping to differentiate it in the highly competitive ad market, said Rob Bradley, vp of digital commercial strategy and revenue at CNN International Commercial.
“We’re no longer in a position where the sales team around the world from Latin America to London, mainland Europe or Asia and Pacific markets are selling traditional advertising,” Bradley said. “They’re all tasked with selling creative, video-based stories. The goal is that any of the cross-platform teams can sell a PMP as much as a video or native campaign.”
This took time, though. Create is 10 years old, and, historically, it predominantly made traditional TV ads for clients. The arrival of Great Big Story, CNN’s answer to BuzzFeed, and the development of its advanced data-monitoring service, AIM, which now runs through all its clients’ on- and off-site campaigns, required retraining. Parent company Turner introduced the latest mass training exercise after the roll-out of Launchpad, an in-house platform created to help advertisers distribute sponsored videos that Turner companies, including CNN and Great Big Story, create.
Since growing branded-content revenue relies on increasing views of content, growing campaigns is tough without serious paid social investment. About 80 percent of publishers use some form of paid distribution on half of their campaigns, according to native ad firm Polar. The downside: That can eat into margins on branded-content campaigns, which are costly to produce. Launchpad addresses this, Bradley said.
Like many U.S. publishers that launch in Europe, CNN is often regarded as a U.S.-centric news brand and therefore not the go-to media brand for branded-content projects for Europe, according to some agencies.
“CNN’s reach in [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] is far greater than perhaps some buyers expect,” said Julian Purnell, partnerships and emerging media director at agency Essence. Great Big Story is a “compelling” proposition for buyers, being geared toward young audiences, though it faces competition from more established brands like BuzzFeed and Vice, he added.
“Undoubtedly, the quality of their [Great Big Story] videos is on par with the very best, and they have the scale and data, through CNN and Turner, to ensure a smart distribution strategy,” Purnell said. “We’ll see more branded-content plays from them in 2018.”
Image courtesy of CNN for ANA campaign |
Japanese bank's cryptocurrency set to enable micro-payments | Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) unveiled a digital currency prototype called MUFG Coin ahead of this year's Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies IT and electronics expo in Tokyo, which took place earlier in October. A blockchain-powered mobile app would allow users to buy and transfer MUFG Coin, and make it possible to send smaller amounts of money deemed impractical by traditional banks; an area expected to grow along with hourly on-demand services, such as insurance, said Hirofumi Aihara, general manager of MUFG's digital innovation division.
| https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/Japan-s-big-banks-showcase-fintech-at-Ceatec-show | 2017-10-10 07:29:36.243000 | TOKYO -- All three of Japan's megabanks are attending the annual Ceatec IT and electronics expo for the first time to show off financial technology from digital currencies to biometric payment authentication.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group presented its prototype digital currency, dubbed MUFG Coin, to reporters on Monday ahead of the exhibition's Tuesday kickoff at the Makuhari Messe convention center near here. |
Regus Regus launches workplace app in South Africa | Regus has launched its mobile app in South Africa, which provides access to information about flexible workplaces in a wide range of locations. The app allows users to check the availability of workspaces from private offices to meeting rooms and business lounges, and to book them for as little as an hour. The app also gives directions to workplaces and allows users to invite colleagues to them.
| http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2017/10/new-mobile-workplace-app-launched-in-south-africa/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+itnewsafrica+%28ITNewsAfrica.com%29 | 2017-10-10 07:10:29.303000 | Regus, a company that provides flexible workspace solutions, has launched an app that aims to make it possible for businesses to find a location when on the move and book the space they need. The app also allows businesses to manage bookings, it provides directions as well as invite colleagues.
Regus specialises in co-working spaces in over 100 countries and in 3000 locations worldwide. According to Regus, they understand that clients require a mobile app to be a major touchpoint between them and their mobile office. An app is a way that people want to work. Along with the co-working concept, the key lies in keeping people connected wherever the workday takes them. Whether it be in city centres, on the road, at a transport hub, in South Africa and around the world, a professional workspace, fully-equipped with all the tools you need to stay productive, is now at your fingertips.
Research from Mobithinking suggests that the estimated number of app users worldwide will hit more than four billion by the end of 2017. Such a figure not only indicates the growing demand for mobile applications, but the reality lies in the fact that mobile content is shaping the way people utilise their mobile devices.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has predicted that by 2017 South African consumers will be spending a total of R59.6 billion on internet access (a massive leap from 2014’s R19.8 billion).
What the app does
Find the perfect space for your meeting and work
Check live availability and reserve in confidence
Choose the right space for the job, from meeting rooms and private offices to drop-in business lounges
Book space for you or your whole team, from as little as an hour
Stay flexible, workspace at short notice when your plans change
Book on the go, either online or with our mobile apps
Sign up or Log in with the email address associated with your account
Edited by Fundisiwe Maseko
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Sony relaunches Aibo robo-dog as smart home device | Sony is returning to the robot market by relaunching its Aibo household companion as an AI-powered smart home assistant. The company created the robot dog in 1999 and produced new versions each year until 2005, when it was discontinued. The new version will be developed by the same engineers who designed the original Aibo, and the operating system will be open sourced, with outside developers invited to add capabilities. It will be capable of controlling smart home devices, acting in a similar way to smart speakers like Google Home or Amazon Echo.
| http://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/sony-is-bringing-back-the-aibo-robotic-pet-as-a-smarthome-device-infused-with-ai-4126307.html | 2017-10-10 06:56:40.697000 | tech2 News Staff
Sony is bringing back its robotic pet Aibo as a smarthome assistant. The pet was first available to the public in 1999, a futuristic companion that had a new version coming out every year till 2005. The development of robotics at Sony stopped because of the lack of AI technologies to make the robots fully autonomous at that time. Now, with AI emerging as the transformational force for technologies over the next decade, Sony feels that the time is ripe for another foray into the market.
The new Aibo will be infused with AI, and will help control smarthome devices, as well as act as a robotic dog. Think of it as a smarthome speaker such as the Google Home or the Amazon Echo, but with an outer shell of a robotic dog. Sony has plans to open source the operating system, and invite developers to add more functions and capabilities to the new incarnation of Aibo, according to a report in Nikkei Asian Review.
Sony is bringing together the original engineers who worked on the initial run of Aibo robots, for the new Aibo project. The workers were absorbed into different teams in Sony after the company stopped making new models of the Aibo. Sony will be making its own AI, but it does not have the amount of data that is available with Google or Amazon to stay competitive, according to company executives at a high level meeting.
Sony has indicated that it will be returning to the toys business with the launch of the Toio, a rotating motorised cube scheduled to be released in Japan on 1 December. Sony does not have plans on making the Toio available worldwide. Last year, Sony had indicated its intentions of returning to the robotics business, about a decade after it stopped making and selling robots. |
DONG distances itself from hydrocarbon past with name change | Pending approval by shareholders on 30th October, DONG Energy is to change its name to Ørsted, after the Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted, who worked extensively on electromagnetism in the 19th century. Danish Oil and Natural Gas (DONG) was created by the Danish state in 1972, to extract fossil fuels from the North Sea. In May 2017, the company agreed to sell all of its upstream and gas interests for $1.05bn to Ineos, following two decades of investment in electricity production and renewable generation. | https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/dong-energy-changes-name-while-dropping-fossil-fuels | 2017-10-10 06:47:57.563000 | While memorable, "DONG" had become a misleading name for a Scandinavian clean energy heavyweight.
Now, the sound of DONG will peal out and vanish, like the chimes at midnight.
The change in name follows the comprehensive overhaul of the company's business model from fossil fuels to exclusively clean energy. The mellifluous moniker arose from the company's original products: Danish Oil and Natural Gas.
In its place comes a new identity with an old heritage: Pending approval by the energy company's shareholders October 30, it will adopt the name Ørsted, to honor "the innovative Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851)."
Ørsted discovered electromagnetism in 1820, making him an intellectual forebear to the modern electric power industry. He also founded the Technical University of Denmark, published philosophical writings and poetry, and befriended fairytale maestro Hans Christian Andersen.
The Danish state created the company in 1972 to extract fuels from the North Sea. A few decades down the road, Dong moved into electricity production, and renewable generation in particular, parlaying its North Sea drilling experience into offshore wind. Meanwhile, oil and gas drilling in the North Sea became relatively expensive due to the basin's maturity.
In May, Dong agreed to sell its complete upstream oil and gas interests to global petrochemical manufacturer Ineos for $1.05 billion plus contingent payments.
This year, offshore wind prices also started to beat fossil fuels on cost in tenders in Germany and the United Kingdom, CEO Henrik Poulsen said.
"It has never been more clear that it is possible to create a world that runs entirely on green energy," Poulsen said in a statement. "The time is now right for us to change our name to demonstrate that we want to help create such a world.”
The company is off to a strong start. It has already decoupled earnings from carbon emissions. Company-wide emissions are down 52 percent compared to 2006, and they will be 96 percent below 2006 levels by 2023, when its last coal plants abandon that fuel.
"For a major utility to have gone this fast in the transformation to CO2-free generation, I cannot think of anyone who's close," said Thomas Brostrøm, president for North America, in an interview.
In the last few years, Dong has chased global expansion, as the company brings its pioneering offshore experience to new markets.
"That has been entirely driven by renewables, in this case offshore wind," Brostrøm said. "This is what we do the best. We have enough cash coming in that we have an appetite to invest in new markets."
The company's Boston outpost is now developing the Bay State Wind project south of Martha's Vineyard, with other projects on the way. Dong also set up a small office in Silicon Valley to poke around for new venture opportunities in the clean energy space. It hasn't made its first investment yet.
There's also a new energy storage solutions practice in Austin, Texas. The company has begun deploying storage alongside wind farms in the U.K., as developers across the wind industry explore business cases for storage add-ons.
"When you look to wind, it's a fantastic synergy with storage given that wind is intermittent," Brostrøm said. "It's still early days, but we're quite serious about storage solutions."
In addition to offshore wind, Dong has expanded its waste-to-energy and biomass capacity -- those coal plants have largely been converted into the latter. It has not extended into solar development, so far anyway.
Now the North America offshore market is finally gaining momentum, years after the Europeans worked out the kinks on the North Sea. The five-tower, 30-megawatt Block Island project that came on-line in Rhode Island last year looks like a toy compared to Dong's 174-turbine, 1.2-gigawatt Hornsea Project One, under construction off the east coast of England.
Now, though, the U.S. stands to benefit from Europe's learning by doing.
"You are deploying the newest and the latest technology, so you'll get whatever is best in the market," Brostrøm said. "The time is right. We like to go out early and create the market; we like to be the pacesetter."
Soon, Dong's swan song will end, and a new name will rise in its place, one more fitting of a pure-play renewables company. Enterprising readers who Google the name will enrich their minds with Danish scientific history, rather than other forms of edification.
And for other companies mulling such a transition and wondering if it can be done profitably, the rise of Ørsted may prove instructive.
"We do care a lot about the world -- 'the home,' as we call it -- but you have to make your investment in a disciplined way," Brostrøm said. "Balancing those two is the whole challenge here. It's been very good business the last few years, and we expect to remain profitable while we transform ourselves into being a renewable energy company."
Join GTM for a deep dive into the budding domestic energy storage market at the U.S. Energy Storage Summit 2017. Utilities, financiers, regulators, technology innovators, and storage practitioners will all come together for two full days of data-intensive presentations, analyst-led panel sessions with industry leaders, and extensive, high-level networking. Learn more here. |
Facebook and Instagram pitch themselves as cross-platform | Facebook and Instagram are increasingly joining forces for cross-channel ad campaigns, according to a study by Nate Elliott, principal at Nineteen Insights. A third of case studies involved both platforms in 2017, compared to just one in 2016. Facebook has reversed its position on the issue, stating that it's "best practice" to use both platforms, offering similar bundles for larger campaigns. While most buyers are happy with the crossover, some have called on Facebook to reveal performance breakdowns between the two sites.
| https://digiday.com/marketing/instagram-facebook-cross-post-case-studies/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digidaydis&utm_source=uk&utm_content=171010 | 2017-10-10 06:36:32.970000 | Facebook and Instagram are pitching themselves to buyers as a cross-platform play, if their recent case studies are anything to go by. An increasing number of case studies on Instagram include numbers gleaned from Facebook campaigns.
For instance, a Woodford Reserve case study on Instagram showed the brand switching to mobile-optimized video ads during the Kentucky Derby and achieving a 12 percent increase in brand awareness. It’s the same as a case study for the product on Facebook — except the Instagram case study said it used both Facebook’s and Instagram’s best practices, while the Facebook one said it used Facebook’s best practices.
“The Woodford Reserve team partnered with Facebook’s Creative Shop and creative agency Kertis Creative to repurpose its TV commercial into two mobile-optimized video ads for both Facebook and Instagram,” reads the text under the result.
Another example is a case study for DiGiorno pizza on both Facebook’s and Instagram’s business pages that shows 21 million people reached and a six-point increase in purchase intent. The Instagram case study also includes how many people were reached on that platform’s Stories product.
Each case study mentions that both platforms were used, although where they disclose this differs.
Nate Elliott, principal at Nineteen Insights and a former Forrester analyst, said he studied 50 case studies from 2016 on social networks. In 2016, only one Instagram case study mirrored a Facebook case study. But this year, he said he found that a third of case studies supplied on Instagram had the same results as the same campaign on Facebook, noting examples from brands including Sonos, Pura Vida and Sour Patch Kids.
One buyer said it’s not about hiding where the results come from, but that Facebook and Instagram are “subtly selling how effective cross-platform campaigns can be through whichever entry points brands or agencies are comfortable with.” The buyer said the interesting thing is how Facebook is pitching both products. Facebook used to recommend running different creative campaigns on Instagram and Facebook, but it now says it’s best practice to use both platforms for the same.
Another buyer said for larger campaigns, Facebook has begun packaging the offerings together, with advertisers often messaging across the Facebook platform — in-stream, Instagram, Facebook and Facebook Audience Network. Then, that’s coupled with one-off tactics to do specific things on, say, Stories or Messenger. “Outside of the scale benefit, doing this allows advertisers to control frequency and automatically optimize cross-platform,” said this buyer.
Most buyers agree there’s no deception, but Facebook and Instagram need to break down platform-specific results. “If I paid for Instagram ads and received a bunch of impressions from Facebook, I might be upset because it impacts my Facebook strategy. They aren’t the same necessarily,” said Justin Johnson, a freelance creative strategist.
“The results for each case come across as a little deceiving. For example, one might think they accumulated 21 million impressions on just Instagram after quickly scanning the case study,” said a buyer. “If you actually read the case study, they are transparent and note that it was run across both platforms. However, they don’t disclose the breakdown across both platforms.”
That’s by design, as Facebook is positioning itself more as a “network” with Instagram than it has previously, said another buyer. “Grouping Facebook and Instagram together is a recent trend because they’re now able to deliver the best results if you’re using both,” said Brendan Gahan, evp at Epic Signal. Facebook, however, is likelier to deliver the majority of results compared to Instagram because it’s simply bigger, he added.
Platform-supplied case studies are a curious beast in general. They’re marketing material — essentially ads for the platform themselves. Most agencies develop their own case studies.
“We look at case studies like this often, but in aggregate. In addition, we would never consider a case study enough ‘evidence’ to run on a particular platform or with a specific tactic,” said one head of paid media at an agency. “They are merely directional guides that showcase common scenarios with specific verticals, client types.”
Ross Benes contributed reporting |
JD.com launches luxury online e-commerce platform Toplife | JD.com has launched Toplife, its first luxury online platform, which will allow brands to sell directly to consumers via an e-commerce ecosystem that takes in online stores, premium customer service, delivery, marketing, warehousing and inventory. La Perla, Rimowa, B&O Play, Trussardi and Emporio Armani are among the brands that have joined the Toplife platform so far. Alibaba's Luxury Pavilion site on its e-commerce platform TMall went live in August.
| http://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/2114665/jdcom-launches-luxury-e-commerce-platform-toplife | 2017-10-10 06:22:02.597000 | Chinese online retailer flexes its muscles in the luxury sector with the launch of its new site, Toplife, rivalling Alibaba’s Luxury Pavilion. |
California's vineyards at risk as wildfires sweep across the area | Wildfires have swept through California's wine country, resulting in a state of emergency being announced in Napa and Sonoma counties and in nearby areas. The rapidly moving wildfires are threatening vineyards, marijuana crops, houses and general infrastructure. The fires have come at a crucial time for the area, which is part-way through harvesting this year's grape crop.
| https://qz.com/1098087/napa-fires-map-news-and-photos-of-the-wildfires-in-napa-sonoma-yuba/?mc_cid=3a6803c719&mc_eid=a37072368a | 2017-10-10 05:59:20.090000 | This story has been updated.
A state of emergency has been issued for California counties of Napa Valley, including Napa, Sonoma, and Yuba after multiple fires threatened thousands of homes and forced residents to evacuate, governor Jerry Brown said today (Oct. 9).
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The wildfires are hitting the valley at a critical time for the region, which is celebrated for its vineyards. Grapes are first picked in early August, and the harvest season continues through late October or early November, according to the local tourism board.
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Local marijuana crops may also be at risk. There are as many as 3,000 cannabis gardens in Sonoma, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing community surveys.
Napa Valley Vinters, a nonprofit trade association of wine producers, said it had no information as of yet on how the fires may affect the harvest season. “Our immediate priority is ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues and our neighbors,” a statement on its website said.
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Prior to this most recent bout of wildfires in California, the effects of climate change were already being felt in the wine industry. As Quartz reported, in vineyards from Tuscany to South Africa, temperatures are becoming too hot for grape growing, and extreme weather—like hailstorms or wildfires—are seen as a growing threat.
In Napa Valley, home to a relatively small but celebrated number of vineyards, the costs of repairing a damaged vineyard can be devastating. Replanting a single acre of vines can cost between $15,000 and $25,000.
The area is home to approximately 700 grape growers, and 95% of the valley’s wineries are family owned, according to Napa Valley Vinters.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Toshiba makes EV battery with 200 mile range, six-minute charge time | Toshiba has developed a new battery utilising a titanium niobium oxide anode that is capable of giving a 200-mile charge to a compact electric vehicle in just six minutes. Current laboratory testing using a 50Ah prototype of the new battery found that it was able to maintain over 90% of its initial capacity after 5,000 charge and discharge cycles. Toshiba expects to release the product by the close of fiscal year 2019. | http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2017_10/pr0301.htm | 2017-10-10 04:40:53.493000 | TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), an industry leader in lithium-ion battery technology, today announced the development of its next-generation SCiBTM, which uses a new material to double the capacity of the battery anode. The new battery offers high- energy density and the ultra-rapid recharging required for automotive applications, and will give a compact electric vehicle (EV) with a drive range of 320km* after only six minutes of ultra-rapid recharging—three times the distance possible with current lithium-ion batteries.
Toshiba launched the SCiBTM as a safe, long-life, fast charging lithium-ion battery in 2008. Since then, the company has constantly refined the technology and improved real-world performance. For its next-generation SCiBTM, Toshiba has developed a titanium niobium oxide anode material that has double the lithium storage capacity by volume of the graphite-based anodes generally used in lithium-ion batteries.
The new battery also offers high energy density and ultra-rapid recharging characteristics, and its titanium niobium oxide anode is much less likely to experience lithium metal deposition during ultra-rapid recharging or recharging in cold conditions—a cause of battery degradation and internal short circuiting.
Toshiba’s current SCiBTM employs a lithium titanium oxide anode, and is known for excellent operating characteristics in respect of safety, long life and rapid charging. It has found wide use in vehicles and industrial and infrastructure applications, including automobiles, buses, railroad cars, elevators and power plants. The high energy density of the battery, and its rapid recharging, have made important contributions to enhancing the convenience and promoting the spread of EV.
Building on this heritage, Toshiba has developed a proprietary method for synthesizing and disarranging crystals of titanium niobium oxide and storing lithium ions more efficiently in the crystal structure. The anode of the next-generation SCiBTM realized through this approach has double times the capacity of the anode of current lithium-ion batteries.
“We are very excited by the potential of the new titanium niobium oxide anode and the next-generation SCiBTM,” said Dr. Osamu Hori, Director of Corporate Research & Development Center at Toshiba Corporation. “Rather than an incremental improvement, this is a game changing advance that will make a significant difference to the range and performance of EV. We will continue to improve the battery’s performance and aim to put the next-generation SCiBTM into practical application in fiscal year 2019.”
Rigorous testing of a 50Ah prototype of the new battery has confirmed that it retains the long life cycle, low-temperature operation, excellent safety and rapid recharging characteristics of the current SCiBTM. The energy density by volume of battery is twice that of the current SCiBTM. The next-generation SCiBTM maintains over 90% of its initial capacity after being put through 5,000 charge/discharge cycles, and ultra-rapid recharging can be done in cold conditions, with temperatures as low as minus 10°C, in only ten minutes.
Toshiba will continue to develop higher energy density batteries that extend the range of EVs and support ultra-rapid recharging, and aims to commercialize the next-generation SCiBTM in fiscal year 2019.
Part of the research work on the next-generation SCiBTM was subsidized by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
* A compact EV with a 32kWh next generation SCiB™ in JC08 test cycle |
Visible Alpha to use email filter for Mifid II compliance | Visible Alpha, a research platform provider, is planning to employ an email filter to block unsolicited research. The move is being made with the incoming Mifid II regulations in mind. The filter will assess the content of emails to stop traders receiving research they may not have requested from brokers. Visible Alpha is also implementing a budgeting tool on its research platform, which will allow clients to better manage and allocate costs to comply with the incoming regulations. | https://www.thetradenews.com/Technology/Visible-Alpha-adds-email-filter-to-research-platform/?elqTrackId=357680326ec74f2195f11a52376ba059&elq=35c62103d1b242a2a69a876a6651c9ec&elqaid=2484&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2035 | 2017-10-10 04:33:52.530000 | Research platform provider Visible Alpha has added the ability to filter non-solicited research from inboxes, which could fall foul of incoming rules in MiFID II.
Visible Alpha said email could be an inducement risk if traders receive research they did not request from brokers. To tackle this, it has added the ability to flag and filter emails that could be considered inducements to its ONEaccess research platform.
The application can classify all email data, including content, links and attachments and can flag anything which could constitute research.
Its email solution has been created in conjunction with compliance technology specialist SPi Global.
Visible Alpha is also adding a budgeting tool to the ONEaccess platform which will enable firms to manage fixed and variable research costs. Firms can set budgets and allocate funds to specific groups, individuals and time periods.
Both tools are intended to help firms with their MiFID II compliance, which will force firms to unbundle research and execution costs and stop research being used by brokers as an inducement to gain execution business. |
Microsoft, GE to study Europe's first battery-integrated wind turbines | Microsoft will purchase all the power from GE's 37 MW wind farm in Ireland, which will be the first European implementation of wind turbines with integrated battery storage. Both companies will use the project data to understand how each battery could store excess energy better and possibly feed it back to the grid. Microsoft will use some of the output from the installation to power its Irish data centres. The purchase agreement is for 15 years. | https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/09/microsoft-buys-15-years-worth-of-energy-from-ge-s-irish-wind-far/ | 2017-10-10 02:08:04.420000 | Microsoft buys 15 years worth of energy from GE’s Irish wind farm Both companies will measure all the power stored in the batteries and sent to the grid.
Microsoft announced that it has bought all the energy that will be produced for the next 15 years by GE's 37-megawatt Tullahennel wind farm in Ireland. But this isn't just a good marketing move: Both companies will take the opportunity to mine the powerplant's data to understand how each turbine's battery can better store energy and potentially redistribute it back into the grid. As Microsoft's statement notes, it's the first deployment of battery storage integrated with wind power in all of Europe.
We're expanding our #renewableenergy purchases to Europe with new 37 MW wind deal in Ireland: https://t.co/SEyoQxm1ew — Microsoft_Green (@Microsoft_Green) October 9, 2017
At least some of this energy will go to powering the data centers Microsoft has in Ireland, forming a sustainable loop. The purchase brings the company's total global direct procurement in renewable energy projects to almost 600 megawatts, Microsoft noted in a statement. But at the end of the day, sustainable -- and cheaper -- energy is entirely in the interest of the big tech corporations which are always looking for ways to make their power-sucking data centers more affordable. And, of course, obtaining cleaner energy sources might keep your company from getting slammed by Greenpeace. |
M&S launches suit made with 55% recycled wool | Marks and Spencer, the UK retailer, has launched a line of suits made with 55% recycled wool. The suits use fabric donated by customers to Oxfam, enouraged by the firm’s Shwopped initiative. The wool is recycled in Italy and then spun into £149 ($196) suits. The new range is part of Marks and Spencer’s Plan A 2025 sustainability initiative, through which the firm aims to achieve a target of 25% recycled material in its clothing products. The company currently sources 49% of its cotton and 27% of its leather from “sustainable sources”.
| https://www.ecotextile.com/2017101023014/fashion-retail-news/m-s-launches-recycled-wool-suit.html | 2017-10-09 22:00:00 | PRATO – M&S has launched a range of suit made with 55 per cent recycled wool, including wool M&S customers have donated through the company’s Shwopped initiative with Oxfam. The company says the wool is recycled into suit fabric at Nova Fides mill in Prato, Italy. The suits are due to retail at £149. |
US set to repeal Obama’s Clean Power Plan | The US Clean Power Plan, introduced by President Obama in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is facing repeal. Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced plans to withdraw the plan on Monday. The EPA has yet to decide whether to replace the plan with alternative emissions regulations. Under the previous administration, the EPA claimed that the Clean Power Plan would reduce premature deaths by between 2,700 and 6,600, while reducing the number of childhood asthma attacks by 140,000 to 150,000.
| http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/09/politics/environmental-protection-agency-scott-pruitt-clean-power-plan/index.html | 2017-10-09 22:00:00 | Story highlights CNN obtained the leaked proposal over the weekend The Clean Power Plan requires states to meet specific carbon emission reduction standards based on their individual energy consumption
Washington CNN —
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced Monday his agency’s plans to withdraw the Clean Power Plan, the sweeping Obama-era rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
While speaking in Kentucky at an event with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Pruitt said he will sign the proposed rule repealing Obama’s plan Tuesday.
“When you think about what that rule meant, it was about picking winners and losers. Regulatory power should not be used by any regulatory body to pick winners and losers,” he said at the event. “The past administration was using every bit of power and authority to use the EPA to pick winners and losers and how we generate electricity in this country. That’s wrong.”
CNN obtained a copy of the leaked proposal to repeal the milestone Clean Power Plan, the outcome of President Donald Trump’s executive orders calling for the review of the plan and questions the legality of the original rule.
“Under the interpretation proposed in this notice, the CPP exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority and would be repealed,” the proposal reads. “The EPA welcomes comment on the legal interpretation addressed in this proposed rulemaking.”
The proposal also says the EPA has yet to determine whether it will create an additional rule on the regulation of greenhouse gases.
Bloomberg News first reported on the repeal proposal.
The Clean Power Plan requires states to meet specific carbon emission reduction standards based on their individual energy consumption. The plan also includes an incentive program for states to get a head start on meeting standards on early deployment of renewable energy and low-income energy efficiency.
Under President Barack Obama, the EPA estimated the Clean Power Plan could prevent 2,700 to 6,600 premature deaths and 140,000 to 150,000 asthma attacks in children.
When asked earlier this year on Fox News about the health consequences of doing away with the Clean Power Plan, Pruitt ducked the question and focused on how the plan would cost jobs. He argued the plan was bureaucratic overreach.
“As much as we want to see progress made with clean air and clean water, with an understanding that we can also grow jobs, we have to do so within the framework of what Congress has passed,” Pruitt said.
Former EPA employees have reacted harshly to the planned repeal of the rule. Obama’s EPA administrator, Gina McCarthy, called the proposal “just plain backwards.”
“A proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan without any time line or even a commitment to propose a rule to reduce carbon pollution, isn’t a step forward, it’s a wholesale retreat from EPA’s legal, scientific and moral obligation to address the threats of climate change,” McCarthy said in a statement Friday.
Environmental advocacy groups quickly blasted Pruitt’s decision, with many vowing to fight the measure in court.
“Now the public has an opportunity to weigh in, as EPA is required to accept public comment on the proposed repeal and a discussion paper on a replacement,” Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement Monday. “In addition, NRDC expects to take EPA to court when the Clean Power Plan repeal is made final.”
When reports of the EPA’s planned move began to be reported over the weekend, Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp said repealing the plan without replacing it with any protections from “climate-destabilizing pollution” would fail to protect Americans from harmful pollution designated under the Clean Air Act.
And Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said Trump and Pruitt are launching “one of the most egregious attacks” on public health and climate safety.
“No matter who is in the White House, the EPA is legally required to limit dangerous carbon pollution, and the Clean Power Plan is an achievable, affordable way to do that,” Brune said in a Monday news release. “It is a key element in continuing the progress moving toward clean energy and retiring coal.”
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whose philanthropy said it would donate $15 million toward supporting operations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change after the Trump administration announced intentions to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, tweeted his criticism of the repeal proposal Monday.
“The EPA can repeal the Clean Power Plan but not the laws of economics,” Bloomberg tweeted. “This won’t revive coal or stop the US from reaching our Paris goal.” |
Proctor & Gamble to launch ocean plastic soap bottle | Proctor & Gamble, the US consumer goods company, is to launch a limited-run bottle of Fairy soap made from 10% recycled ocean plastics and 90% post-consumer use recycled plastic. The bottle has been created in collaboration with US recycling firm TerraCycle. The initiative, which will see 320,000 Fairy Ocean Plastic Bottles on sale in the UK in 2018, will be the largest production run of its kind. If successful, the scheme will be extended to other brands and regions. | https://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/procter-gamble-launches-dish-soap-bottle-made-recycled-ocean-plastic.html | 2017-10-09 22:00:00 | 8 Ways to Use Honey to Pamper Your Skin and Hair |
Almost 80% of UK adults believe they'll need elderly care: Aegon | Only one in five UK residents believe they won't require care during their later years, according to a survey from Aegon. Just 22% of those surveyed, however, said they would consider looking in to social care insurance. Of those surveyed, 43% said they would use their pension to pay the cost of social care, while 31% said they'd rely on selling their homes or relinquishing some form of equity position to meet the costs. | http://www.theactuary.com/news/2017/10/just-one-in-five-brits-sure-they-wont-need-social-care-as-cost-fears-rise/ | 2017-10-09 14:40:20.547000 | That is according to research by Aegon, which reveals that of those that think they will need care, 67% don't believe it will be until they are 80 or older.
In addition, 80% of people believe the average time needing care is over three years, and 30% think it is more than five years.
However, it was also found that almost nine in ten believe there should be an absolute limit to the amount an individual pays, and most are unwilling to sacrifice their home.
"We need to face up to the growing crisis around how we pay for the increasing number of elderly who'll need some form of social care," Aegon pensions director, Steven Cameron, said.
"The state won't pick up the full tab and failing to plan ahead could have serious implications for inheritance aspirations."
The research shows that approximately a quarter of UK adults believe the government should pay for all the costs of social care, however, two-thirds think they should be shared.
Plans were set out in the last Conservative manifesto to include the value of a persons home when assessing their ability to pay for care, however, 61% of people object to this.
This was particularly true among older age groups, with 73% of people aged over 65 opposed to the proposals, falling to 53% for 18-34-year-olds.
When asked how they would make advance provision for social care costs, 43% said they would use their pension, while selling a home or equity release was picked by 31%.
Some 22% expressed an interest in a social care insurance policy, and the same amount said they would cash in other savings, while a new care ISA was the least popular option.
"As the debate about care costs evolves, getting professional financial advice may help to ensure people are well placed to meet any future costs," Cameron concluded.
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L&G sees 380 claims via early warning system in 2017 | An early warning system employed by Legal & General has helped it pay out 380 claims this year. The system alerts brokers when an issue may arise for a client, allowing intermediaries to make sure coverage is in place. Among the issues picked up by the early warning system are lapsed or voided policies, as well as incidents of bounced credit. The firm says it has paid out £30m ($40m) resulting from its early warning system during 2017.
| https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/legal-and-general-claims-pay-out-boosted-by-early-warning-system/1425206.article | 2017-10-09 14:28:33.903000 | 380 claims have been made thanks to Legal & General’s Early Warning System (EWS) since the beginning of 2017, resulting in a pay out of over £30m.
The EWS system is a free tool designed to alert advisers when policies are at risk. This helps brokers keep clients updated when there could be an issue and ensure that cover does not lapse.
The system picks up on issues such as bounced or cancelled direct debits, lapsed policies and times when the policy is void from the outset.
Legal & General has received 2,655 claims through the system since its inception in 2010 and has paid out over £200m as a result of it.
Legal & General internediary director Craig Brown said: “It is fantastic to see that since the launch of this system it has enabled a total of 2,665 claims to be paid, with over £200m being paid out to our customers since 2010 as a result.” |
Homelyfe launches app for home-buyer insurance coverage | Homelyfe, an app-based insurer aimed at home buyers, has launched this week. The company is planning to introduce various lines of insurance to its app over the coming months. The firm aims to offer prospective home buyers protection from gazumping. Homelyfe says it can provide insurance from £35 ($46). Homelyfe is an appointed representative of Lloyd's of London managing agent Vibe MGA.
| https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/technology/3156916/insurtech-futures-homelyfe-launches-home-buyer-cover-via-app | 2017-10-09 14:27:39.153000 | The business, which is an AR of Vibe MGA, is planning multiple lines of insurance on its app platform.
App-based insurance provider Homelyfe has launched with cover to protect home buyers from gazumping.
According to Homelyfe, which is an AR of MGA Vibe, it is set to release multiple lines of insurance over the coming months.
The firm stated that its technology would allow users to manage all their insurance requirements within one “easy to use” app.
Homelyfe is available today (9 October) with Home Buyer’s Insurance for £35 online, or via the Google Play and Apple App Stores.
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Insurance software provider Guidewire acquires Cyence | Property and casualty insurance software provider Guidewire Software has acquired Cyence, a software firm focused on data analytics. By using the data analytics software provided by Cyence, insurers can underwrite risks which have little claims history. Such policies could consist of cyber security insurance or insurance covering modern business interruption risks. Guidewire paid $275m for Cyence in a deal structured between cash and equity.
| http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2017/10/06/466684.htm | 2017-10-09 14:26:32.200000 | Guidewire Software Inc., a provider of core operations software to property/casualty insurers, has agreed to acquire Cyence, a data science and risk analytics software company.
Guidewire will pay approximately $275 million in cash and stock.
Cyence applies data science and risk analytics to enable P/C insurers to underwrite “21st century risks” including cyber, reputation and new forms of business interruption risk that have gone underinsured or uninsured. These risks are new and evolving rapidly and typically lack extensive claims history to inform underwriting and pricing. Also, according to Cyence, their complexity and non-obvious patterns of risk linkage and risk accumulation require more diverse and dynamic data sets to be modeled effectively.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Cyence launched in September, 2016, when it announced it had raised $40 million from investors that included Dowling Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and IVP.
Cyence offers a “data listening and risk analytics solution” combining Internet-scale collection and curation of external data with machine learning and risk modeling. Its services support product management, actuarial, underwriting,and enterprise risk management functions.
“Cyence is an exceptional technology company that, like Guidewire, focuses on serving the strategic needs of the P&C industry,” said Marcus Ryu, co-founder and CEO, Guidewire Software. “While Guidewire has focused on core operations, data management, and digital engagement, Cyence applies expertise in data science and machine learning to the modeling needs of insurance product design, pricing and underwriting for 21st century risks. As traditional actuarial approaches struggle to address the unique characteristics of emerging risks like cyber, Cyence’s next-generation approach will enable insurers to broaden the scope and value of the products their policyholders need.”
Cyence’s CEO Sees an Urgent Need to Model Cyber Risk
Arvind Parthasarathi, Cyence co-founder and CEO, said his firm started applying data science to cyber risk due to significant demand from the insurance industry on what is an existential threat for their insureds.
“We look forward to joining Guidewire and continuing our mission to enable insurers to enter new markets by insuring emerging risks like cyber,” said Parthasarathi.
The total consideration to be paid of approximately $275 million, or $265 million net of $10 million cash on hand, is subject to customary transaction adjustments. Consideration provided at closing will consist of net cash of approximately $140 million and approximately 1.6 million shares of newly issued Guidewire common stock. Of those shares, approximately 260,000 are in the form of deferred equity consideration, which are subject to the achievement of certain retention and operating milestones.
Guidewire has been expanding in part through acquisitions.
Guidewire announced plans to buy FirstBest last August, a move it said helped boost its capacity to serve property/casualty insurers focused on complex commercial risks. FirstBest produces an underwriting management system for P/C insurers. In February, Guidewire completed a $160 million acquisition of ISCS, a cloud computing technology outfit focused on areas including policy administration, underwriting, claims, billing, business intelligence, reinsurance and mobile products.
In 2016, Guidewire acquired EagleEye Analytics, a provider of SaaS-based predictive analytics products for property/casualty insurers.
Related:
Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Carriers Tech Underwriting Data Driven Property Casualty |
Trusted IoT Alliance debuts open-source code product | Trusted IoT Alliance has released one of its first open source repositories in its mission to secure the next generation of smart internet of things (IoT) products using blockchain. MQTT-Trusted, or MQTTT, is a modification to the popular MQTT communication protocol used in many IoT applications. It lets MQTTT sign messages using an ethereum account, proving the identity of the sender.
| https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2017/10/09/trusted-iot-alliance-announces-contribution-secure-messaging-protocol-mqtt-trusted/ | 2017-10-09 14:24:21.037000 | The newly formed Trusted IoT Alliance has announced today “…in alignment with its mission of connecting and securing the next generation of smart IoT products with blockchain technology” the release of one of its first open source repositories, MQTTT or ‘MQTT-Trusted.’
Developed by Oaken Innovations CTO, Shuang ‘Lex’ Liang, MQTTT is a modification to the popular MQTT open source communication protocol widely used in IoT applications today.
This modification allows MQTTT to sign messages utilizing an Ethereum account thereby proving who its sender is. This sender could take the form of a standard Ethereum account or a hardware signer such as Oaken’s ACORN device.
The MQTTT library brings Ethereum identity, trust, and security to the machine to machine communication protocol.
Further developments are planned to add more schema and semantics to the protocol that will help machines to better understand the messages in order to improve interoperability as well as encourage wider adoption of the protocol within the ecosystem.
The MQTTT secure messaging protocol will join the already present Identity Registry as early evidence of the active member contributions within the Alliance, which was formed just last month.
John Gerryts, CEO of Oaken Innovations said:
“Oaken Innovations found a need for such a protocol while developing its Peer2Peer Carshare PoC in collaboration with Toyota Research Institute. The MQTTT protocol allows for near-instant cryptographically secure messaging which Oaken required to maintain a great user experience by both keeping latency low between a mobile app and the unlocking of a vehicle and ensuring that only a valid user would be able to unlock and start the ignition of the vehicle being shared. “We’re also excited to make one of the first member code contributions to the Trusted IoT Alliance. We hope that this is the first in a long list of member contributions in setting the standard for the next generation of the Internet of Things. The team here at Oaken is already working on more tools for the ecosystem.” |
Lemonade's portfolio doubles every 10 weeks | US-based insurtech Lemonade doubles its portfolio every 10 weeks, according to Daniel Schreiber, the firm's CEO and founder. Around 80% of Lemonade's customers are first-time buyers of a renter's insurance policy, Schreiber said. Among first time buyers in its home state of New York, the firm has a market share of 27%. Schreiber added that the firm often provides policies 80% cheaper than competing insurance products.
| http://insurancethoughtleadership.com/lemonade-anniversary-interview-with-ceo/ | 2017-10-09 14:20:44.643000 | Lemonade is currently the most talked-about disruptor. That’s why we’re pleased that, for the first time in Europe, Lemonade will present at DIA Munich what the pioneering concept is all about in a keynote presentation. As a special DIA Munich appetizer, we spoke to Lemonade CEO and co-founder Daniel Schreiber recently, exactly one year after the company launched. DIA: Daniel, congratulations on Lemonade's first anniversary. It must have been a roller coaster ride. Thanks for being willing to share some of the experiences and learnings. Did the first year meet your expectations? Daniel: "Yes, it has been quite a ride. But it is great to see that we're striking the right chord. We already sold ten thousands of policies. Our portfolio doubles every 10 weeks." DIA: If you had to name just one thing, what would you say is the key success factor so far? Daniel: "Our renters insurance is 80% cheaper than what competitors offer and takes less than 90 seconds to purchase.” DIA: 80% cheaper is almost unbelievable … Daniel: “Many industry insiders think so, too. [They think that] at least 40% of what insurance carriers receive in premiums is paid out in claims. So if Lemonade is 80% cheaper it must lose money on every policy. That is not true. Renters insurance covers personal property, not real estate. The expected loss is therefore significantly lower and so should the corresponding premium be. Unfortunately, the enormous overheads incumbents have make low-premium products impossible. Their minimum premium reflects their high costs rather than your low claims.”DIA: We can imagine that such a price difference attracts a specific segment … Daniel: “Yes, indeed. We offer a good price, especially at entry levels. No less than 87% of our customers are first-time buyers. Lemonade is the preferred insurance brand among first-time insurance buyers. In the state of New York, where we first launched Lemonade, we now have a market share of 27% among first-time buyers.” DIA: Was this the target segment you planned to focus on initially? Daniel: "Not really, at least not to this extent. This was definitely not planned or expected. It appears our proposition is attracting people who did not think of such an insurance before; because it was too expensive, too much hassle, or because they had little trust in the added value. So it turns out we actually opened up an underserved, untapped market. This was really a surprise for us, as well. It just shows that with really new propositions there is only so much that you can plan." DIA: This suggests the Lemonade concept is about solving frictions that customers experience when dealing with a traditional insurance incumbent. Aren't you selling yourself short here? Daniel: "True. It is not just about solving frictions; being faster, better or cheaper. That wouldn't be sufficient in the long run. When we started conceiving Lemonade, we immediately realized there is no way you can beat insurers at their own game. We needed to think beyond that. We decided to foster trust, not suspicion. Our business model is built on two very distinctive pillars: behavioral economics and artificial intelligence.” DIA: The pillar that is often highlighted is behavioral economics, one of the reasons we like Lemonade so much. Insurers could benefit much more from psychology and social sciences. Daniel: "The vast knowledge and experience of our Chief Behavioral Officer Dan Ariely (professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University) is instrumental in this. We apply behavioral economics to neutralize the adversarial relationship, the conflict of interest, between customers and their insurance provider. We take 20%, and the rest (80%) goes to paying claims, and this includes our reinsurance. If less than the 80% is used to pay out claims, for instance 75%, the 5% unclaimed money is donated to charities chosen by customers. The maximum amount that can be given back is 40%. Lemonade gains nothing by refusing a claim. This way we are reinventing insurance from a necessary evil to a social good." DIA: Can you explain how behavioral economics reflects in Lemonade's daily customer experience? Daniel: "Not just our business model but also the whole product flow is informed by behavioral economics. For example, we ask people to sign on the top of the form, not at the bottom. Behavioral research shows that asking people to pledge honesty first results in forms that are actually more accurate." DIA: How does this affect the combined ratio? Daniel: "Multiple ways. For example, we also apply behavioral economics to reduce fraud. In the onboarding process, customers are asked which charity they want the money that is not used for claims to go to, let's say the Red Cross. Now, when at some point in time a customer files a claim, we first remind the customer of the charity he or she selected before diving into the claim. We do that on purpose. To many people, insurance fraud is considered a victimless crime; you're not really hurting someone, at least that is the perception. Research shows that 24% say it’s okay to pad an insurance claim. We're changing that by immediately creating the presence of a victim. Making it crystal clear that a claim harms a charity someone cares about inhibits misuse." DIA: Do you already have proof points that using behavioral economics this way works at a larger scale? Daniel: "Obviously we're a young company, so the amount of claims that we receive are still limited. But we already have early indications that this really works. In the last two months, we actually had six customers who claimed and got paid, but later on returned the money. Someone, for instance, thought his laptop was stolen, claimed and got paid. A few weeks later, it turned out he had left the laptop with his mother-in-law. He then decided to return the money, probably because he didn't want to harm the charity he selected. I would really love to know how many customers of traditional insurers are returning their money." DIA: Insurers need to manage the feelings side of financial services much better than they do today. Quite a few tend to forget that when they are going digital. Others are building hybrid solutions of, for instance, chatbots and human experts. How do you secure the human side in a pure play such as Lemonade? Daniel: “Behavioral economics is one pillar of our business model; artificial intelligence is the other. Thanks to AI, we don’t have to rely on brokers and paperwork. Underwriting and claims handling are taken care of by AI, as well. This makes it even more important to secure that we are recognized as living, breathing people who really care. My co-founder Shai Wininger has a rare talent to marry technology with customer understanding. Our bot has a name. It talks in an approachable manner. It doesn't say, ‘I don't understand.' We know its limits and anticipate the direction in which the conversation is going. Next-level questions are seamlessly moved to our, human, support staff.”DIA: We quite often see that traditional insurance carriers have a strong immune system when it comes to embracing insurtechs. Apparently, different cultures are difficult to match. Sometimes we even see organ rejection. We noticed that the Lemonade team not only incudes tech veterans like yourself but also former executives from AIG and ACE. How do you make that work? Daniel: “When we started thinking about a new concept in insurance, we just had a rudimental understanding of insurance. We had the advantage of being ignorant. We had no preconceived notion. This helped us to question the basic principles of the industry, such as the conflict of interest. "Coming from the outside helped us to rethink, reconceptualize in a fundamental way, from scratch, what Lemonade should be about. "Now, it is only so far you can take that. As soon as you move to execution, you really need to have deeply entrenched insurance knowledge on board. Think of the regulatory maze we have to go through. Then it comes to finding the right people, which was not that easy. We soon realized that we were looking for ‘insiders’ who were ‘outsiders’ at the same time. In our recruitment ad, we actually said it was a requirement to be in the throes of a midlife crisis; not feeling happy in the corner office anymore. They had to buy into our vision.” DIA: We noticed that your fast growth in an market segment that is so difficult to reach by incumbents has led companies such as GEICO and Liberty Mutual to use "lemonade" in their marketing and promotion activities … Daniel: “Ha ha, yes, we’ve noticed that as well, of course. GEICO even introduced a ‘lemonade’ TV commercial at the same time as we launched the company. Liberty Mutual, in fact, introduced a new brand, Lulo, and paraphrased everything, from logo to pricing. "We take it as a compliment that such renowned brands are looking at us, and try to learn and use our ideas. But the examples also show that it is not that easy. Lemonade is more than a logo. You really need to understand the two pillars of our model: behavioral economics and artificial intelligence and how that reflects in the way we operate. And you need to understand that we are really a different kind of company. Obviously, we have duties to our customers, employees and investors. But we’re also a B-Corp, which makes us legally committed to social impact. Our customer base is therefore more like a community of people around a cause – which in turn results in more trust and less fraud. It is about aligning customers and insurer, and giving up underwriting profits. We’re rebranding the insurance sector.” |
CFC Underwriting uses phishing simulation to combat cyber attacks | CFC Underwriting is offering a phishing simulation tool as part of its insurance policies, allowing clients to train their employees on how to deal with cyber attacks. The service is intended appeal to small and medium-sized businesses without large IT departments monitoring the prospect of cyber threats. The tool exposes staff to simulations of potentially harmful emails, allowing them to recognise phishing schemes in the future. The tool was developed by cybersecurity firm Cyber Risk Aware.
| https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/cfc-underwriting-phishing-simulation-aims-to-cut-cyber-breaches/1425221.article | 2017-10-09 14:19:42.300000 | Lloyd’s MGA CFC Underwriting has developed a phishing simulation tool with cyber security and training specialist Cyber Risk Aware. The tool has been customised for CFC Underwriting’s insurance needs and it will be offered as an additional extra to its policies.
The simulation comprises of multiple email templates to make sure that the user being assessed does not become aware that they are tests.
By being exposed to forms of phishing in a simulated environment, staff can then apply the knowledge they have gained to the real world and will be less likely to open dangerous emails.
“The number of reported phishing cases has been increasing and we’re seeing many people being tricked into clicking on malicious links and transferring funds,” explained CFC Underwriting head of incident response Anthony Hess.
Hess continued, “This prompted us to look at a risk management solution that would address the issue and Cyber Risk Aware’s phishing simulation platform emerged as a great tool for this.”
The pro-active approach is somewhat unusual for cyber insurance products, claims Cyber Risk Aware Cyber Risk Aware co-founder Stephen Burke, with most offering help after the event of a breach.
However, where SME’s do not have the resources to employ an IT team, this kind of training can be particularly valuable.
Burke said: “Historically, cyber insurance products have focused on post-breach activities, whereas this is something designed to help clients avoid the incident happening in the first place.
“CFC Underwriting should be applauded for the thoughtfulness and innovation it is bringing to its product, and we’re delighted to have worked with them to deliver it. Customised functionality and flexibility is a key tenet of our approach to market, allowing us to add that extra value to our customers.”
CFC Underwriting outperformed its peers in the Insurance Times Cyber Product report 2017. In September it released dark web cyber insurance tool CFC BreachAlert for its policyholders to monitor data breaches. |
Cleveland Clinic launches insurance offering | Ohio-based healthcare provider the Cleveland Clinic has entered the insurance market, with the launch of a number of branded policies in partnership with New York-based insurer Oscar Health. Under the "narrow-network" system, policy-holders will only have access to services from the clinic's own doctors and hospitals. The provider will share the financial risk with Oscar Health. It has also partnered with the Kentucky-based insurer Humana to offer policies with no monthly premiums to patients on Medicare and Medicaid assistance programmes. | http://www.4-traders.com/HUMANA-INC-13000/news/Humana-Cleveland-Clinic-more-accessible-with-insurance-products-25251228/ | 2017-10-09 13:38:39.390000 | Secure and increase the performance of your investments with our team of experts at your side.
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HK-based Hanson partners with Etisalat on Middle East robot sales | Hong Kong-based tech company Hanson Robotics has announced a partnership with the UAE's biggest telecoms company to promote its robots in the Middle East. The deal with Etisalat was launched at the Gitex Technology Week event in Dubai, where Hanson's humanoid robot Sophia is being jointly exhibited by the companies. Sophia is a lifelike "social robot" designed by former Disney employee David Hanson to resemble the late Audrey Hepburn, and has 60 programmed facial expressions. Etisalat is now working on a business plan to realise the robot's commercial potential.
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DUBAI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Hanson Robotics, producer of the celebrity humanoid robot Sophia, is partnering with United Arab Emirates' (UAE's) biggest telecom firm Etisalat for future sales of its robots in the Middle East, the company said Monday.
With Etisalat's help, Hanson Robotics, based in Hong Kong, is showcasing Sophia at the ongoing IT fair Gitex Technology Week, which has gathered 4,100 exhibitors from over 70 countries including China.
Jeanne Lim, Hanson Robotics' chief marketing officer, hailed Etisalat for its interest in artificial intelligence, while adding that Hanson's partnership with Etisalat is "still in a test phase."
At Etisalat's stand at Gitex, visitors can talk to Sophia and ask her questions in order to test her humanoid capabilities.
Lim told Xinhua that the use of Sophia in the education and business fields converges with Etisalat's support for digital educational strategy implemented in the UAE.
"Sophia can be used as an educational toy," Lim said, stressing that Sophia fits into the UAE's digital educational strategy.
Sophia, designed by David Hanson, a former Walt Disney Imagineering employee and founder of Hanson Robotics, looks like Hollywood legendary actress Audrey Hepburn.
It is a lifelike social robot that can establish relationship with people through 60 programmed facial expressions.
"Sophia is a media personality, she was part of a movie and on a TV show," Lim said.
However, Lim said that more work needs to be done for the commercialization of Sophia, and a proper plan is needed to be designed by Etisalat to put the robot into commercial use at the shopping malls, schools and hospitals in the UAE.
So far, Hanson has only launched the consumer robot Professor Einstein for private homes in the United States, as it has not yet started large-scale manufacturing of the robots. Enditem |
A million UK hospitality staff face retirement poverty: TUC | Nearly one million hospitality staff in the UK face poverty in retirement, according to an analysis of the government’s pensions auto-enrolment system by the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The scheme, launched five years ago, was designed to boost retirement savings. However, the TUC claims that up to six in 10 workers in low-paid sectors, including agriculture and retail, are not enrolled in a pension scheme. Such workers earn less than £10,000, the minimum level at which employers are required to establish a savings plan. The TUC claims that almost nine million UK workers cannot afford to save for a pension. | https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-reveals-pension-blackspots | 2017-10-09 13:11:09.617000 | The TUC has today (Monday) revealed the UK’s pension blackspots.
The analysis shows that in some industries, like hospitality and agriculture, six in ten workers are not enrolled in a pension.
The TUC says many are missing out on a decent retirement because they earn less than £10,000 – the level of earnings at which employers must enrol someone into a workplace pension.
Despite the success of pension auto-enrolment, nearly 9 million UK workers are still unable to save into a pension scheme.
The five industries with the lowest level of pension cover are:
Agriculture, forestry and fishing – 65% of employees (93,000) do not have a pension.
65% of employees (93,000) do not have a pension. Hospitality – 60% of employees (908,000) do not have a pension.
60% of employees (908,000) do not have a pension. Other services (hairdressing and beauty) – 56% of employees (270,000) do not have a pension.
56% of employees (270,000) do not have a pension. Construction – 50% (493,000) of employees do not have a pension.
50% (493,000) of employees do not have a pension. Arts and entertainment – 48% of employees (253,000) do not have a pension.
The TUC also found evidence of a “pension lottery” among those saving into a workplace pension.
In low-paid sectors, like wholesale and retail, nine out of ten savers received contributions worth less than 8% of salary from their employer.
By contrast, in industries like financial services (where there are more high earners), the vast majority of savers received more than 8% in contributions from their bosses.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Auto-enrolment has been a great success. But it’s not a case of ‘job done’.
“Millions remain at risk of poverty in retirement because they are saving nothing, or very little, into a pension scheme.
“We urgently need the government to help more low-paid workers join schemes. And ministers must set out a plan for increasing contributions from employers.”
ENDS |
A million UK hospitality staff face retirement poverty: TUC | Nearly one million hospitality staff in the UK face poverty in retirement, according to an analysis of the government’s pensions auto-enrolment system by the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The scheme, launched five years ago, was designed to boost retirement savings. However, the TUC claims that up to six in 10 workers in low-paid sectors, including agriculture and retail, are not enrolled in a pension scheme. Such workers earn less than £10,000, the minimum level at which employers are required to establish a savings plan. The TUC claims that almost nine million UK workers cannot afford to save for a pension. | https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/09/tuc-raises-alarm-over-retirement-poverty-facing-hospitality-staff | 2017-10-09 13:11:09.617000 | Almost a million hospitality staff are among workers at risk of a retirement in poverty, a study of blackspots in the government’s flagship pensions policy has shown.
According to the TUC, as many as six in 10 workers in low-paid sectors such as retail and agriculture are not enrolled in a pension. They slip through the net of the government’s pensions auto-enrolment system as they earn less than the £10,000 minimum level at which employers are forced to set them up with a savings plan.
Launched five years ago in one of the biggest shakeups for pensions in recent memory, auto-enrolment was introduced by the government to boost levels of saving for retirement. More than 8m employees have signed up for a workplace pension since, according to official figures.
But workers in low-paid sectors appear not to be receiving the same level of contributions from their employers as those at the top. As many as nine out of 10 savers in the wholesale and retail industries received less than 8% of salary from their employer. In high-paid sectors such as financial services, the vast majority of savers received more than this amount.
The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “Millions remain at risk of poverty in retirement because they are saving nothing, or very little, in a pension scheme. We urgently need the government to help more low-paid workers join schemes. And ministers must set out a plan for increasing contributions from employers.”
The industries with the lowest level of pension cover are agriculture, forestry and fishing, hospitality, construction, arts and entertainment, and other services such as hairdressing and beauty. The TUC said nearly 9m workers in total were unable to save into a pension scheme due to low pay.
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “More than 8.5 million people are now enrolled into a workplace pension, thanks to the introduction of automatic enrolment.
“But we know there is more to do, which is why our review is looking at who is eligible and the evidence around future contribution increases, to ensure as many people as possible are saving towards their retirement.” |
MRI Software buys Qube to expand its commercial property platform | Proptech company MRI Software has acquired Qube Global Software in order to add to its real estate applications and solutions. The acquisition means the US-based multinational can expand its services to property investors, agents and tenants around the world, and improve innovation and development. The combined firm now has a worldwide team of over 1,000 employees, serving about 5,500 clients, making it one of the largest proptech providers in Europe. Qube specialises in property, facilities and financial management.
| https://www.mrisoftware.com/news/mri-software-acquires-qube-global-software-leading-uk-based-provider-property-facilities-management-solutions/ | 2017-10-09 12:40:46.120000 | Acquisition Extends MRI’s Global Reach; Expands Offerings for Property Investors, Agents, Occupiers, and Tenants; Provides Greater Scale for Innovation and Development
London – October 4, 2017 – MRI Software, a global leader in real estate software solutions, today announced the acquisition of Qube Global Software, a leading UK-based supplier of property and facilities management software. Qube both extends MRI’s global reach and brings further expertise and scale for continued innovation in property technology. Following MRI’s acquisitions of Qube and Real Asset Management, which was announced last month, the combined company now serves 5,500 clients with a global team of more than 1,000 employees. MRI’s 350 employees in the UK make it one of the largest property tech providers in the country, and in Europe as a whole.
“The global real estate sector is growing at unprecedented rates, with investors and capital seamlessly crossing borders and spanning continents,” said Patrick Ghilani, Chief Executive Officer of MRI Software. “The union of MRI Software and Qube Global Software establishes a technology powerhouse to support investors, agents, and occupiers globally and locally. By uniting MRI’s strength and history in North America with Qube’s European market expertise, along with both companies’ long-standing Asia-Pacific footprint, we are uniquely positioned to address the varying needs of the global real estate market with a comprehensive and flexible portfolio.”
Qube’s extensive property and financial management capabilities, as well as facilities management, integrated workplace management systems (IWMS), and space management solutions, complement MRI’s existing offerings and provide greater choice and flexibility for the combined company’s worldwide client base. Qube’s property management offerings serve both the commercial and residential real estate sectors, including lettings, which is experiencing increased demand in the UK. The acquisition also provides Qube clients access to MRI’s world-class financials and investment suite, including solutions for asset management, scenario modelling, and investor relations.
“It’s rare to find two organisations so closely aligned strategically as MRI and Qube, with a long history in the real estate space and a shared vision of providing an open platform that maximises flexibility and choice for clients,” said John Cuppello, Chief Executive Officer of Qube Global Software. “It’s a tremendous time to become a part of MRI, and our capabilities and expertise will play a meaningful role in helping the combined company continue to grow and thrive.”
Through the addition of Qube’s offices in the UK, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore, MRI is well-positioned to continue exceeding the demands of its growing global client base with increased in-country resources. Both Qube and MRI clients will continue to be served without interruption while near-term integration activities focus on providing expanded offerings to all clients.
About MRI Software
MRI Software is a leading provider of innovative real estate software applications and hosted solutions. MRI’s comprehensive and flexible technology platform coupled with an open and connected ecosystem meets the unique needs of real estate businesses—from property-level management and accounting to investment modelling and analytics for the global commercial and residential markets. A pioneer of the real estate software industry, MRI develops lasting client relationships based on nearly five decades of expertise and insight. Through leading solutions and a rich partner ecosystem, MRI liberates real estate companies to elevate their business and gain a competitive edge. For more information, please visit mrisoftware.com.
About Qube Global Software
Qube Global Software is a leading supplier of property and facilities management software throughout the world. Over the last 40 years it has helped thousands of clients, ranging from small investors through to global corporations, manage every aspect of their property portfolios. Its products can bring increased revenue and efficiency, reduced costs and full access to vital information for every sector of the property industry. For more information, please visit www.qubeglobal.com.
Contact Information:
Jeff Miller
LEWIS
[email protected]
541-207-3461 |
Generali introduces Italian-based insurtech accelerator | Generali Italia has backed an Italian-based accelerator for insurtech firms. Dubbed the Generali Health & Welfare Accelerator programme, it will provide eligible applicants with a grant of €10,000 ($11,780) and a four-month incubation course. The accelerator will also provide counselling and services to companies to help them refine business models, allowing them to enter the market with greater ease.
| http://www.finsmes.com/2017/10/generali-italia-and-h-farm-launch-insurtech-accelerator.html | 2017-10-09 12:29:28.373000 | Generali Italia and Roncade, Italy-based Milan-listed venture incubator H-Farm have launched a new insurtech accelerator.
The Generali Health & Welfare Accelerator program aims to identify and collaborate with innovative domestic and international startups in their early/middle stages that are developing solutions for the market and who are exploiting emerging technologies and exploring new business models linked to the areas of prevention, accessibility, treatment and innovation.
All applications to the program must be submitted here by October 31. The 5 best startup candidates will take part in a 4-month acceleration course on the H-Farm campus.
During this period, they will develop their project, receiving mentoring and tutoring, a work space, food and lodging, as well as €10k in seed founding.
Generali Italia will guarantee startups a range of services designed to consolidate their business models and that will simplify their entrance into the market of their specific field through individual workshops and meetings.
FinSMEs
08/10/2017 |
Redrow Redrow highly commended at National Apprenticeship Awards | Redrow was recognised and celebrated at the Midlands final of this year's National Apprenticeship Awards. The housebuilder is committed to ensuring at least 5% of its workforce is made up of apprentices, trainees and graduates, and 2017 is the fifth consecutive year that Redrow has been recognised at the awards. Clare Hindley, new entrants programme manager at Redrow, said the company was "passionate" about nurturing new talent in an industry that is a "cornerstone of the UK economy".
| http://www.buildingconstructiondesign.co.uk/news/redrow-recognised-for-fifth-consecutive-year-at-national-apprenticeship-awards-2017/ | 2017-10-09 12:23:01.040000 | Redrow has been highly commended at the Midlands regional final of the National Apprenticeship Awards 2017. This is the fifth consecutive year the housebuilder has been recognised at the awards for the training it offers to its apprentices.
Training and development sits at the heart of Redrow’s business and it is working hard to nurture the next generation of construction industry talent. As part of this the housebuilder joined the 5% Club which means it is committed to ensuring at least 5% of its workforce comprises trainees, graduates and apprentices. Currently, nearly triple this number, 14%, are working at the business.
Redrow’s apprentices benefit from working alongside and learning from some of the industry’s most experienced professionals and can take on a diverse array of roles at the business, whether as a tradesperson on one of the housebuilder’s developments or supporting the business’ growth at headquarters. The housebuilder offers apprenticeships from entry-level all the way up to Level 7 which is the equivalent of a Masters Degree.
Redrow also supplements all the formal training apprentices receive with opportunities for them to develop their soft skills, including leadership, teamwork and communication. Recently Redrow apprentices have done so by participating in the annual Brathay Apprentice Challenge and working as a team to put their skills to the test and design and build a sensory garden for dementia patients at Deeside Community Hospital.
Commenting, Clare Hindley New Entrants Programmes Manager at Redrow, said: “Recognition at the National Apprenticeship Awards for the fifth year in a row is no mean feat. We are delighted to have our industry-leading apprenticeship programme feature alongside those of iconic companies like the BBC and Volvo. At Redrow we are passionate about nurturing the next generation of construction industry talent and giving them the practical and soft skills needed to succeed in an industry that is a cornerstone of the UK economy.”
Sue Husband, Director of the National Apprenticeship Service, said: “The National Apprenticeship Awards allow talented apprentices and committed employers from across our regions to receive well-deserved recognition for their apprenticeship achievements.
“The highly commended finalists at these awards show the range of sectors and variety of job roles apprenticeships are available in, and how they can deliver the skills employers need. I congratulate all highly commended finalists on their success in this competition.”
The National Apprenticeship Awards, now in their fourteenth year, are run by the National Apprenticeship Service and recognise excellence in two areas: businesses that grow their own talent with apprentices and apprentices who have made a significant contribution to their workplaces. |
Database may help cut greenhouse gases from cement production | Scientists from around the world have built a database that's aimed at helping cut pollution in the production of cement, a major contributor of greenhouse gases. The so-called Cemff database lists molecular dynamics models that simulate the properties of the building material. Created by a team from 11 institutions, the models will allow scientists to create computer simulations of cement mixes, enabling the development of more efficient, eco-friendly manufacturing processes. Cement production is the source of up to 8% of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
| https://phys.org/news/2017-10-cement-greener-concrete.html | 2017-10-09 12:08:50.883000 | Concrete is the most-used construction material in the world – its manufacturing contributes as much as 8 percent of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Credit: eugenesergeev, iStock
An international team of scientists has created a new database of molecular dynamics models that simulate the properties of cement in all its varieties. It's intended to help fine-tune this component of concrete and curtail emissions in its manufacturing process.
Cement is used to bind concrete, the most-used construction material in the world and a significant source of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Its manufacturing contributes as much as 8 percent of the greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.
Investigate atomic interactions
A new database, called cemff, for cement force fields. In this case, the force field isn't an invisible barrier from a science-fiction story. It's the collection of parameters scientists use to build computer models of atomic interactions. These parameters include the intrinsic energy of the atoms in a simulation system. They are used to calculate how atoms interacts individually and collectively with their neighbors to give the material its properties.
Application of accurate atomistic force field models allows to do computer simulation of various types of inorganic minerals present in cement. Very importantly, it helps academic and industrial researchers to draw upon many types of force fields to make reliable simulations and predictions of purpose-built cement formulations. Cemff could help industry design stronger, more durable construction materials that also curtail carbon dioxide emissions from the manufacture of more than 3 billion tons of cement and concrete a year.
Transmission electron microscopy image of cement and atomic structure of model cement. Credit: ETH Zurich/EPFL/Rice University
Develop of eco-friendly cements
"The publication of this common database represents a milestone for the field that will greatly increase the impact for molecular modeling in the development of new and eco-friendly cements", says Robert Flatt, Professor of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zurich and one of the scientific adviser of cemff database project.
Fifteen scientists at 11 institutions worked on the project led by Ratan Mishra of ETH Zurich, Rouzbeh Shahsavari of Rice University and Paul Bowen of EPFL Lausanne. In their research, the simulation of force field models show how the component molecules in cement interact with each other. These microscopic interactions determine how well concrete performs in real-world applications and allow for fine-tuning the material to perform at its best for decades and in the most environmentally conscious way.
"Molecular modeling still requires multiple trade-offs," said Mishra, lead author of the paper and a materials scientist in the group of professor Flatt. "The typical example is time versus accuracy, but more importantly, it is essential to recognize what specific models are good at and what they may be challenged with." Cemff will allow researchers to have a more comprehensive view on this question and to select the best approach for the problem they are tackling.
A simulated construct of cement produced by a model in the cemff database. The model contains hydrogen (white), oxygen (red), silicate (yellow) and calcium (green). Credit: ETH Zurich
Reduce the carbon footprint
Cement consists primarily of calcium silicates that react with water to produce the hardened material that confers mechanical properties and durability to concrete. Nearly 60 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from cement production come from the decomposition of limestone, the source of calcium in cement. To reduce the carbon footprint, manufacturers often supplement the mix with clays, waste materials like fly ash and recycled materials.
These all influence the mechanical characteristics and resilience of the product; that is why there is a need for simulations at nanoscale that let manufacturers test mixes for strength and durability even before making real cement.
"I hope the open format and international base of the cemff database will encourage both the modeling and experimental community to create solid benchmarks to help understand and predict more accurately the properties of the most-used material on Earth and help us build a more sustainable future," says Paul Bowen, professor at the Powder Technology Laboratory of EPFL, and initiator of the project. |
Hepstar integrates insurance offering into travel-booking platform | South African global insurance aggregator Hepstar has added Cornerstone Travel Insurance to Amadeus channels, allowing travel agents to access a range of products through one booking page. Without needing to leave the booking process, agents will be able to add insurance policies on the fully integrated system. The move should "revolutionise penetration and distribution of insurance", according to Cornerstone's Head of E-Business and Alternative Markets, Kolawole Ladejobi. | http://punchng.com/hepstar-integrates-cornerstone-travel-insurance-into-amadeus/ | 2017-10-09 12:04:49.220000 | Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi
A Cape Town-based global insurance aggregator, Hepstar, has integrated Cornerstone Travel Insurance into Amadeus channels.
This, Cornerstone Insurance Plc said, would enable travel agents booking through Amadeus channels to have a variety of travel insurance products they could offer their travellers from the comfort of a single booking page.
According to the insurance firm, travel agents can now add an insurance policy to a flight booking without leaving the booking flow.
“Trip and traveller details are automatically pre-populated so no data needs to be entered twice. This saves time and effort for the agent. Insurance bookings are fully integrated into the Passenger Name Record and back office systems, allowing for easy reporting and after-sales servicing,” the firm said in a statement.
The Cornerstone’s Head of E-Business and Alternative Markets, Kolawole Ladejobi, was quoted to have said that the aim was to revolutionise penetration and distribution of insurance through cutting-edge technology.
“With our partnerships, we have made travel insurance more accessible for Nigerians and seamless for travel agents,” he said.
The Hepstar’s Chief Operating Officer, Claudia Snyman, was also quoted to have said that the firm was making it easier for travel agents in Nigeria to book insurance products smoothly through the GDS, adding that it would be hugely beneficial for travel agents and travellers alike.
The Amadeus Nigeria’s General Manager, Yann Gilbert, said the channel would continue to add value to the travel ecosystem by ensuring that customers had everything they needed to offer their travellers the best service.
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Shaw Academy crowdsources $1.5m for live online learning platform | Shaw Academy has raised £1.1m ($1.5m) in six days on UK crowdfunding site Crowdcube to expand its live online education platform. The Irish company states in its Crowdcube campaign that it has grossed more than €25m ($29m) in sales since starting up in 2013, employs more than 180 staff in Dublin and India and has taught four million students. It's said to be signing more than 250,000 users to its service each month. The fundraising campaign is targeting £2.1m, with the company valued at £83m.
| https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/shaw-academy-crowdcube | 2017-10-09 12:00:47.627000 | Irish start-up is targeting £2.1m in ambitious crowdfunding campaign.
Shaw Academy, the online education company led by James Egan, has raised more than £1.1m in just six days on Crowdcube.
The company was set up in 2013 and now employs more than 180 staff between Dublin and India. It is understood to be signing up more than 250,000 users per month.
The crowdfunding campaign is aimed at raising £2.1m in total, but could exceed that target.
Crowdcube, a UK-based crowdfunding platform, has emerged as a go-to marketplace for fundraising by Irish-led start-ups. In 2015, Sugru – the start-up founded by Kilkenny native Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh – raised £3.5m on the platform.
In recent weeks, HouseMyDog, an Irish-based Airbnb for dogs, broke records raising more than €200,000 in the first 36 hours on Crowdcube, before settling at £535,220.
Educating the world
According to its Crowdcube campaign, Shaw Academy has so far taught over 4m students, grossing over €25m in sales to date. It teaches students a variety of subjects live through its own bespoke software platform.
The company has partnered with brands like GoDaddy, Adobe, Vodafone and Flipkart and awards students with internationally accredited professional diplomas.
Shaw Academy has raised £1.114m from 595 investors so far, and it plans to use the funding from the crowd-sourced campaign to scale globally.
It began trading six days ago with an £83m pre-money valuation and offered investors 2.5pc equity. |
UK CRM giant Reapit confirms Accel-KKR-backed management buyout | Reapit, a leading UK supplier of customer relationship management software to the property industry, has confirmed it was taken over in a management buyout backed by Californian investment firm Accel-KKR. CEO Gary Barker, who remains at the company with sales director Simon Whale and client services director Matthew Goddard, said his team plans "to create new technological and digital innovations that will enable our clients to grow revenues, save costs and address a continually evolving legislative landscape”. Countrywide, Knight Frank and Savills are among Reapit's customers.
| https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/10/management-buy-out-for-reapit-with-major-new-proptech-investment | 2017-10-09 11:49:22.563000 | The cloud software business has a customer base of over 200 estate agencies and over 20,000 users in the UK and Australia. The firm employs 130 people across its five offices in the two countries.
After some months of speculation within the industry, high-profile supplier Reapit has confirmed today that it is the subject of a management buy out with the help of a California-based investment firm, Accel-KKR.
It says the additional investment will enable it to “accelerate its growth and innovation, enhance products and services, and expand its technology offering.”
The Reapit senior management team will continue to be led by Gary Barker as chief executive, Simon Whale as sales director and Matthew Goddard as client services director.
“This investment will allow us to significantly scale our development capabilities and deliver new and exciting solutions. We plan to create new technological and digital innovations that will enable our clients to more effectively grow revenues, save costs and address a continually evolving legislative landscape” says Barker.
Accel-KKR specialises on investing in software and IT-enabled businesses. It says it focuses on “middle-market companies”. In addition to California, it has offices in London and Atlanta.
“Accel-KKR has sought to work with management teams who are both clear leaders in their industry and passionate about providing great service and technology. We look forward to working with the Reapit team to grow and extend its product leadership with the leading estate and letting agencies across the UK and Australia” says Park Durrett, managing director at Accel-KKR. |
US researchers develop medication-releasing smart bandages | A smart bandage has been developed that automatically releases doses of medication at pre-determined intervals. Operated by a smartphone, the bandage is made up of conductive fibres coated with a medicated gel that is released into a patient's wound when programmed. It has been developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Harvard Medical School.
| https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/app-controlled-smart-bandage | 2017-10-09 11:10:54.123000 | These Bandages Release Medication On a Predetermined Schedule
A group of researchers working out of Harvard Medical School, MIT and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have developed a high-tech smart bandage that is capable of releasing medication over a period of time based on a pre-programmed schedule.
This smart bandage is constructed out of conductive fibers that heat up when the embedded microcontroller sends a voltage signal. When the fibers heat up, they heat up a gel that they are coated with, releasing them into the wearer's wound.
What's great about this smart bandage is that it can be controlled by a smartphone, making it possible for medication schedules to be entered into a phone so that manual oversight isn't necessary to ensure timely medication release. |
FreeMilk malware used e-mail conversations to infect networks | Several corporate networks around the world have been infected by malware dubbed FreeMilk, which has intercepted e-mail conversations to deploy malicious payloads without the victims knowing. According to researchers at Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42, the highly targeted phishing attacks have been taking place since May, and victims have included an international sporting organisation and a Middle Eastern bank. The malware downloads two payloads, one of which collects data including username and ethernet MAC addresses. The hackers behind the malware have yet to be identified.
| http://www.zdnet.com/article/this-sneaky-phishing-attack-hijacks-your-chats-to-spread-malware/ | 2017-10-09 11:08:01.377000 | Victims of the highly-targeted FreeMilkphishing campaign include a bank, a services firm and an international sporting group. Image: iStock
Hackers are intercepting legitimate email conversations between individuals and hijacking them to spread malware to corporate networks by using highly-customised phishing messages designed to look as if the victim is still communicating with the person they were originally messaging.
The target still believes they're in contact with the person they were originally messaging, but in fact they have fallen victim to a highly targeted cyber attack and may have infected their network via a malicious attachment.
Attacks using this technique and have already infiltrated several networks, including those of a Middle Eastern bank, European intellectual services firms, an international sporting organisation and 'individuals with indirect ties to a country in North East Asia'
Dubbed FreeMilk - after words found in the malware's code - by the Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers who uncovered the campaign, these attacks have been active since at least May 2017.
The attack leverages CVE-2017-0199, a remote code execution vulnerability in the way Microsoft Office and Wordpad parse specially crafted files - which was subsequently patched in April this year.
The exploit allows attackers to take full control of an infected system - likely through credential theft - then intercept in-progress conversations with specific targets using carefully crafted content designed to fool them into installing malware from what the victim believes to be trusted source.
Upon successful execution of a FreeMilk phishing attack, two payloads will be installed on the target system - named PoohMilk and Freenki by researchers.
See also: What is phishing? How to protect yourself from scam emails and more
PoohMilk's primary objective is to run the Freenki downloader. The purposes of Freenki malware are two-fold - the first is to collect information from the host and the second is to act as a second-stage downloader.
Information collected by the malware include username, computer name, ethernet MAC addresses, and running processes. Freenki can also take screenshots of the infected system, with all the information sent to a command server for the attackers to store and use.
Freenki is also capable of downloading further malware to the infected machine, although researchers have so far been unable to identify any additional payloads being dropped.
While the threat actors behind FreeMilk have yet to be formally identified, Unit 42 notes that the PoohMilk loader tool has previously been used to carry out attacks. One campaign saw it distributed in a phishing campaign which saw emails disguised as a security patch in January 2016.
Attackers also attempted to distribute Freeniki in an August 2016 watering-hole attack on an anti-North Korean government website by defectors in the United Kingdom
While researchers describe the FreeMilk spear phishing campaign as limited in the number of attacks carried out, they note that it has a wide range of targets in different regions across the globe.
But by hijacking legitimate conversations, and specially crafting content, the attackers have a high-chance of successfully infecting the individual within the organisation they're targeting.
READ MORE ON CYBER CRIME |
iMedTech to 3D-print breast implants for poor cancer survivors | South African prosthetics firm iMedTech plans to 3D-print prosthetic breast implants for 1,000 low-income breast cancer survivors. Company founder Nneile Nkholise used her prior experience in mechanical engineering to launch the initiative, using additive manufacturing technology to create the artificial breasts.
| http://www.3ders.org/articles/20171006-imedtech-launches-project-to-3d-print-prostheses-for-1000-breast-cancer-survivors.html | 2017-10-09 11:07:01.250000 | Oct 6, 2017 | By Julia
Just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, South African prosthetics company iMedTech has launched a new initiative for low-income breast cancer survivors. Spearheaded by iMedTech founder and acclaimed mechanical engineer Nneile Nkholise, the new project aims to 3D print 1000 prosthetic breasts for 1000 mastectomy patients in need.
While 3D printed prosthetics are nothing new, Nkholise’s initiative focuses squarely on the underrepresented issue of artificial breast forms. It’s a type of prosthetic that’s often overlooked by the mainstream media, yet just as important as 3D printed limbs such as arms and legs when considering the trauma of breast cancer survivors. Take into account the target group of low-income South African women, who lack the resources and funds necessary to acquire a prosthetic, and the iMedTech plan pretty much tops the list of the best news we’ve heard all week.
As an award-winning technologist, Nkholise is no stranger to groundbreaking innovation. At only 28-years-young, the South African engineer is the founder of iMedTech Group, a Thaba Nchu-based organization that fabricates prostheses using additive manufacturing technology. The idea was born out of Nkholise’s graduate research at the Central University of Technology, where she discovered that the same methods for treating burn victims and patients with facial deformations can be used to benefit women who have undergone a mastectomy.
Since graduating several years ago, Nkholise has applied her research extensively in the fields of education and technology. Beyond her work with iMedTech, the up-and-coming social entrepreneur is also renowned for project Minute Words, a fun, educational game that uses 3D printed components to engage primary school students in building their vocabulary.
With iMedTech, Nkholise is keen to see those educational opportunities extended to young African women as well. The progressive organization boasts a primary commitment to employ African women under the age of 30 with research experience in mechanical engineering, thus providing a professional platform for innovation and industry development for those often excluded from the field. We all know being a black woman in tech isn’t easy (to say the least), but with iMedTech, Nkholise is carving a new space for others like her to grow, learn, and thrive.
So far, her hard work has already started to pay off. Nkholise recently represented South Africa at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in San Francisco, and was named one of Africa’s top female innovators at the World Economic Forum last year. The iMedTech founder has also been featured in Forbes Africa Woman magazine, and has participated in the Discovery MedTech Silicon Valley program and Tony Elumelu Foundation. By showing just how much rural African women are capable of achieving in the tech world when given the opportunity, Nkholise is quickly changing the perception that technological advancement can only emerge from first-world nations.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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Fundstrat creates five cryptocurrency-tracking indexes | Fundstrat Global Advisors has launched five FS Crypto FX indexes to give institutional investors insight into 630 cryptocurrencies. The indexes include FS Crypto 10, which tracks the 10 largest cryptocurrencies; FS Crypto 40, tracking the next 40, and; the FS Crypto Aggregate, covering all 630. Co-founder Thomas Lee has predicted bitcoin's value will top $20,000 by 2022 from its present value of around $4,417.
| https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/06/fundstrat-launches-five-indexes-to-track-bitcoin-and-other-digital-currencies.html | 2017-10-09 10:59:08.770000 | Investors can then analyze the relative performance of different digital currencies within the indexes, similar to how the advance-decline line of the number of S&P 500 stocks rising versus falling on a given day can indicate the health of the market.
Fundstrat's indexes track a total of 630 digital currencies, divided into five groups by market capitalization and trading volume.
In July, Lee, former chief equity strategist at JPMorgan Chase, boldly predicted bitcoin could be worth more than $20,000 by 2022. On Friday, it hit a high for the day of $4,417.45. He was the first major Wall Street strategist to formally present his views on bitcoin, and remains the only one.
Fundstrat Global Advisors' Thomas Lee said in a report Friday that the FS Crypto FX indexes are for institutional investors "to better understand the evolution and behavior of crypto-currencies."
A prominent Wall Street strategist who predicted bitcoin could more than quadruple in value in five years has created five indexes to track digital currencies.
The advance-decline line for digital currencies peaked in June, Fundstrat technical strategist Rob Sluymer, said. "It gives us a sense that something's happening in the cryptocurrency move, that you don't have the same speculative move as you had in the first quarter, second quarter," Sluymer told CNBC in a phone interview.
The five indexes Fundstrat has created are:
FS Crypto 10 — tracks the 10 largest and most liquid digital currencies including bitcoin, ethereum
FS Crypto 40 — tracks the top 11 to 50 digital currencies by market value and liquidity including NEM, bitconnect and Lisk.
FS Crypto 250 — tracks the top 51 to 300 cryptocurrencies by market value and liquidity including BitcoinDark, Singular DTV and FirstCoin.
FS Crypto 300 — tracks the 300 largest digital currencies by market value and liquidity.
FS Crypto Aggregate — tracks the performance of 630 digital currencies.
Fundstrat said it uses a proprietary algorithm to determine the weighting of each coin in an index, which is reconstituted every quarter. The indexes are intended for research right now, rather than supporting any investment products, Sluymer told CNBC
Some digital currency enthusiasts have already created their own indexes. In July, tech entrepreneur Roger Bryan launched the Digital Currency Index, which tracks 30 significant digital currencies. William Mougayar, a venture capitalist who organized the Token Summit in New York this May, announced Thursday he is launching the William Mougayar High Growth Cryptoassets Index, tracking a basket of 15 digital currencies.
The development of the digital currency indexes also reflects the growth of the market to a size that may be increasingly attractive to institutional investors, Fundstrat's Lee said in the report. He pointed out daily trading volume in the 10 largest digital currencies is a "surprisingly high" $3.5 billion.
In his Friday analysis, Lee also noted that even a 2 percent allocation to digital currencies would have added about 2.29 percent to total return for a traditional portfolio with 60 percent allocation to stocks and 40 percent to bonds.
Digital currencies like bitcoin have soared to record highs this year amid increased interest, particularly from institutional investors.
Bitcoin is up more than four times in value for the year, according to CoinDesk. Ethereum traded mildly higher on Friday near $302, up more than 3,000 percent for the year.
To be sure, digital currencies tend to be highly volatile and the majority have tiny market capitalizations.
Only 11 cryptocurrencies have a market capitalization above $1 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. About 345 digital currencies have a market value between $1 million and $100 million. The largest digital currency by market cap, bitcoin, has a market value of $72 billion, slightly less than that of Adobe .
The Fundstrat report also included technical analysis of some of the largest digital currencies by market cap.
For bitcoin, Sluymer doesn't expect its price to break above $4,800 to $5,000 before the end of this year. Ethereum also appears to be struggling for further gains, but the price should not fall below $206 or $195, Sluymer said.
Disclaimer |
Blockchain key to securing personal data: Harvard Business Review | Distributed ledger technology – or blockchain – has the potential to put control of personal data back in the hands of the public, rather than centralised corporations, which are increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to Michael Mainelli, executive chairman of distributed ledger company Z/Yen Group. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, he cited the Estonian model of using blockchain to create ID-kaarts, a secure identity system that has proved popular with the population. Mainelli said a decentralised identity database could also give people the right to sell to, or withdraw their personal information from third parties, as they saw fit.
| https://hbr.org/2017/10/smart-ledgers-can-help-us-reclaim-control-of-our-personal-data?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=crowdfire&utm_content=crowdfire#157042161-tw%231507325384052 | 2017-10-09 10:42:55.637000 | Using smart, distributed ledgers to prove our identities and store our personal data could shift the power of (and profit from) data management from big, established firms back to individuals. This would havebig implications for identity systems. We could keep certified copies of identity documents, biometric test results, health data, or academic and training certificates online, available at all times, yet safe unless you give away your key. At a whole system level, the database is very secure, as each single ledger entry among billions would need to be found and then individually “cracked” at great expense in time and computing.
It’s a strange world we live in when large companies such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion are able to store huge quantities of our personal data and profit from it in a way that doesn’t always benefit us. And when those same companies lose our personal data and make us susceptible to identity theft, there’s virtually nothing we can do about it. Equifax lost the data of more than 140 million people, and recompense is not forthcoming. Meanwhile, the CEO may be stepping down with a pension worth $18 million. Clearly, the system is broken, and it’s time to stop and ask ourselves why we continue to rely on a system that doesn’t stand up to the challenges we face in a digital society.
Credit-referencing agencies benefit immensely from our data, but there are many other data privateers — from online shopping sites to retailers to media firms – that are doing the same, including our own governments. U.S. Social Security numbers, or UK National Insurance numbers, were originally created to keep track of the earnings history of workers for entitlement and benefit programs. Both have since morphed into critical numbers assigned at birth that can be used by government agencies not just to collect taxes, but to identify individuals. They are also now used by private industry to track our financial and commercial histories.
Many countries have such a national identity system. With the governments of China and India both providing their citizens a national identity (Hukou in China and Aadhaar in India), it’s safe to say that well over a third of the world uses government-issued identitifiers. Among the various ways to prove identity, the U.S. stands out for its complexity, relying on a mix of varying state mechanisms — for example the ubiquitous use of state driving licenses, combined with Social Security numbers. A decade ago, the UK attempted to establish a national identity system, which was ultimately scrapped for many reasons, which included political overreaching, lack of security, and cost overruns. None of these nation’s systems have proven to be a practical, reliable way to protect and prove our identities.
Still, numerous smaller countries, such as Singapore, are exploring national identity systems that span government and the private sector. One of the more successful stories of governments instituting an identity system is Estonia, with its ID-kaarts. Reacting to cyber-attacks against the nation, the Estonian government decided that it needed to become more digital, and even more secure. They decided to use a distributed ledger to build their system, rather than a traditional central database. Distributed ledgers are used in situations where multiple parties need to share authoritative information with each other without a central third party, such as for data-logging clinical assessments or storing data from commercial deals. These are multi-organization databases with a super audit trail. As a result, the Estonian system provides its citizens with an all-digital government experience, significantly reduced bureaucracy, and significantly high citizen satisfaction with their government dealings.
How Blockchain Works Here are five basic principles underlying the technology. 1. Distributed Database Each party on a blockchain has access to the entire database and its complete history. No single party controls the data or the information. Every party can verify the records of its transaction partners directly, without an intermediary. 2. Peer-to-Peer Transmission Communication occurs directly between peers instead of through a central node. Each node stores and forwards information to all other nodes. 3. Transparency with Pseudonymity Every transaction and its associated value are visible to anyone with access to the system. Each node, or user, on a blockchain has a unique 30-plus-character alphanumeric address that identifies it. Users can choose to remain anonymous or provide proof of their identity to others. Transactions occur between blockchain addresses. 4. Irreversibility of Records Once a transaction is entered in the database and the accounts are updated, the records cannot be altered, because they’re linked to every transaction record that came before them (hence the term “chain”). Various computational algorithms and approaches are deployed to ensure that the recording on the database is permanent, chronologically ordered, and available to all others on the network. 5. Computational Logic The digital nature of the ledger means that blockchain transactions can be tied to computational logic and in essence programmed. So users can set up algorithms and rules that automatically trigger transactions between nodes.
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have increased the awareness of distributed ledgers with their use of a particular type of ledger — blockchain — to hold the details of coin accounts among millions of users. Cryptocurrencies have certainly had their own problems with their wallets and exchanges — even ID-kaarts are not without their technical problems — but the distributed ledger technology holds firm for Estonia and for cryptocurrencies. These technologies have been working in hostile environments now for nearly a decade.
The problem with a central database like the ones used to house social security numbers, or credit reports, is that once it’s compromised, a thief has the ability to copy all of the information stored there. Hence the huge numbers of people that can be affected — more than 140 million people in the Equifax breach, and more than 50 million at Home Depot — though perhaps Yahoo takes the cake with more than three billion alleged customer accounts hacked. Of course, if you can find a distributed ledger online, you can copy it, too. However, a distributed ledger, while available to everyone, may be unreadable if its contents are encrypted. Bitcoin’s blockchain is readable to all, though you can encrypt things in comments. Most distributed ledgers outside cryptocurrencies are encrypted in whole or in part. The effect is that while you can have a copy of the database, you can’t actually read it.
This characteristic of encrypted distributed ledgers has big implications for identity systems. You can keep certified copies of identity documents, biometric test results, health data, or academic and training certificates online, available at all times, yet safe unless you give away your key. At a whole system level, the database is very secure. Each single ledger entry among billions would need to be found and then individually “cracked” at great expense in time and computing, making the database as a whole very safe.
Distributed ledgers seem ideal for private distributed identity systems, and many organizations are working to provide such systems to help people manage the huge amount of paperwork modern society requires to open accounts, validate yourself, or make payments. Taken a small step further, these systems can help you keep relevant health or qualification records at your fingertips. Using “smart” ledgers, you can forward your documentation to people who need to see it, while keeping control of access, including whether another party can forward the information. You can even revoke someone’s access to the information in the future.
Several organizations are working on returning the value of your data to you, such as the state of Illinois’ pilot to test a blockchain-based birth registry/ID system. Taking this idea one step further, when you are the sole owner of your personal data on purchases, online browsing history, or mobile data, you can also choose whether or not to “sell” your own data, with rights and restrictions using smart ledgers. This could shift the power of (and profit from) data management from big, established firms back to individual users. This would also shift the responsibility. If you lost your cryptographic “keys,” then they would be truly lost and you would have to build your identity again.
Equifax and others have shown the weakness of central databases in the hands of a single firm. Mutual distributed ledger systems have the potential to provide us with identity and activity management, even permitting us to make a market selling information about ourselves, taking control and cash back from companies like Equifax and Yahoo and giving it back to ourselves. There will certainly be mistakes along the way, but how can we truly object to reclaiming control of our most private property — our personal data? |
National Flood Insurance Program to be exhausted by November | The US National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will be "fully exhausted" by the end of October, it has been warned. The NFIP was already $24bn in debt before a series of hurricanes devastated parts of the US and Puerto Rico. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Mick Mulvaney said the storms had caused projected losses of $16bn and warned the body was "simply not financially sustainable in its present form". He proposed a series of measures, including allowing private insurers to sell cover in flood-prone areas and introducing an affordability scheme for low-income policyholders.
| https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-flood-insurance-may-never-be-the-same/ | 2017-10-09 10:06:15.877000 | As Hurricane Nate -- the fourth cyclone to batter the U.S. this hurricane season -- aimed at the U.S. last week, the Office of Management and Budget issued a dire warning and a pessimistic prognosis to Congress. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will have "fully exhausted its financial resources," including its $30 billion borrowing authority, before the end of October. After that, it will be "unable to pay claims," according to a letter that OMB Director Mick Mulvaney sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The NFIP was already $24 billion in debt even before this year's monster storms ravaged the U.S. First, Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Louisiana, saturating Houston with 60 inches of rain. Then Hurricane Irma scored a bullseye on Florida, tracking right up the peninsula with 135-mile per-hour winds. Hurricane Maria virtually decimated the island of Puerto Rico, destroying the power grid and major roadways. Damage reports there are still coming in.
"The recent hurricanes have inflicted projected losses of $16 billion," said Mulvaney. Now, Nate will dump at least an additional three to six inches of rain on the already soaked Gulf region.
Congress has repeatedly been slow to act on flood insurance -- already delaying once this year -- and in the past it has let the program lapse, which ultimately stopped construction in coastal areas where flood insurance is required to obtain a mortgage.
But now political pressure from the thousands, perhaps millions, who've been the victims of storm surge and floods will force the divided federal legislature to finally act, possibly even before the Dec. 8 deadline now set by President Trump. The White House has already asked Congress for $29 billion in disaster aid, which would include $16 billion in debt "forgiveness" for the NFIP to keep it afloat a while longer.
But Mulvaney is asking for a lot more than that, such as measures that are sure to be controversial and divide Congress, in some instances along flood-prone lines rather than by party. "The NFIP is simply not financially sustainable in its present form," he stated in the letter.
Others, including environmentalists and taxpayer advocates, agreed. "More must be done to fix the nation's problematic disaster policies … including the NFIP," said SmarterSafer, one of those groups, in a statement.
Among the reforms Mulvaney is proposing:
Identify homes and properties subject to repeat flooding because some homeowners have collected three and four times from the NFIP. Coverage for these properties would be "discontinued" if they flood again.
Increase the NFIP's reserve fund and exempt it from a cap on annual rate increases.
Phase out NFIP insurance coverage for newly constructed homes and commercial establishments located in designated "Special Flood Hazard Areas."
Allow private insurers to sell flood insurance in these flood hazard areas. Remove the legal barriers for those who want to switch from the NFIP to private insurance even though insurers would be in competition with the NFIP. Private insurers would get access to now-restricted NFIP data.
Flood insurance risks would have to be disclosed before a real estate transaction is completed.
Mulvaney recognized that many homeowners in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico cannot afford flood insurance -- federal or private -- as premiums continue to climb. So he suggested an "affordability program" for low-income policyholders. His proposals seem to echo some of the bills Congress is currently considering, which are already being criticized by coastal builders, which in many instances would be shut out of lucrative shorefront real estate.
Consumer advocates such as Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, have criticized the idea of letting private insurers compete with the NFIP because insurers could "cherry pick" their policyholders leaving the worst ones for the NFIP, which would only fall further into debt.
But Mulvaney's letter -- and Nate adding to this year's onslaught of tropical cyclones -- will almost certainly raise the pressure on Congress to act … quickly.
Trending News Why Amazon pays employees $5,000 to quit |
Workbench raises $1.7m for its project-based learning platform | Online learning platform Workbench has raised an additional $1.7m in funding to expand its marketing and sales operation. The company, based in Baltimore, Maryland, provides resources for teachers at primary and secondary schools. Workbench has now attracted total funding of nearly $5m including from the most recent round, which was led by investment firm Brown Advisory. The raise will reportedly be used “to expand sales and marketing outreach for its hands-on learning tools”.
| https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-10-06-project-based-learning-platform-brings-in-1-7m | 2017-10-09 09:53:33.380000 | WORKBENCH, a project-based learning platform for K-12 educators, has raised $1.7 million, the Baltimore Sun reports. The deal is part of an ongoing $2 million seed funding round led by Brown Advisory, and brings the company’s total funding to nearly $5 million.
Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Workbench offers ready-made project ideas, as well as curriculum and directions for implementing projects into the classroom. The platform also connects users and makers with companies and products that sell maker tools and other project ideas.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Workbench’s recent raise will be used “to expand sales and marketing outreach for its hands-on learning tools.” |
Regus WeWork accused of corporate espionage by co-working competitor | Knotel CEO Amol Sarva, co-founder of New York's third-largest office space provider, has accused rival firm WeWork of "corporate espionage". Sarva alleged that his company was infiltrated by WeWork staff posing as customers, who then targeted Knotel's clients with marketing materials and offers of free rent. "It's hard to say whether the CEO is orchestrating bad behaviour, or it's just a frat party run amok," said Sarva. According to reports, other co-working companies have experienced similar issues. WeWork did not respond to the accusations.
| http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20171004/REAL_ESTATE/171009967/co-working-company-knotel-accuses-rival-wework-of-committing | 2017-10-09 09:52:16.737000 | On the wall of one of Knotel's New York locations, a "wanted" poster displays the mugshot of a man the company believes is secretly employed by WeWork, its main co-working rival.
Amol Sarva, chief executive and co-founder of the fast-growing Knotel, claimed that man and several other employees of the $20 billion co-working giant posed as prospective tenants to gain access to Knotel's co-working spaces.
"WeWork had their paid staff lie about who they were to enter our secure areas," Sarva told Crain's. "That's corporate espionage, and it's in service to a hostile and negative strategy."
Once inside, the WeWork spies were able to assess Knotel's clientele, some of whom were later targeted with aggressive marketing materials in which WeWork offered up to a year of free rent and money to help tenants buy themselves out of their current Knotel leases. |
Yandex.Checkout deal enables Russians to pre-order Tesla Model 3 | Russian online payments giant Yandex.Checkout has partnered with electric-car supplier Moscow Tesla Club to enable customers to pre-order a Tesla Model 3. Payments covering car registration and delivery can be made using a Yandex.Money e-wallet or bank card at teslamodel3.ru. | https://financialit.net/news/payments/yandex-checkout-provide-advanced-payments-tesla-model-3-orders | 2017-10-09 09:49:00.927000 | Yandex Checkout to Provide Advanced Payments for Tesla Model 3 Orders
Yandex.Checkout, Russian leading online payment service, is the first in Russia to offer advance online payment for Tesla Model 3.
Tesla Model 3 electric car is now available to Russian customers for online booking pre-ordering at teslamodel3.ru. It is a special platform by Moscow Tesla Club, the independent supplier of electric cars in Russia and the Club of Tesla owners.
Tesla Model 3 is Tesla's first electric sedan for the mass market. (The electric car went on sale in July 2017.)
"In order to book Tesla Model 3, Russian customers need to make the advance payment of 145 thousand rubles (=2490$) from a bank card either from an identified Yandex.Money e-wallet the money will be spent on the car registration and delivery. Recently, the number of cars sold online in Russia has been growing Yandex.Checkout users have already paid for more than a hundred of different models of cars. Thanks to the partnership between Yandex.Checkout and Moscow Tesla Club, Russian fans of this high-end electric car maker now have the opportunity to make a quick and safe prepayment online. We are confident that in the coming years, online car sales will continue to grow," - says Dmitry Karmishin, Head of Sales at Yandex.Money. |
Surging debt and liquidity pose global risk: Schäuble | Surging levels of worldwide debt and liquidity present a massive risk to the world economy, said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. There is also danger of "new bubbles" forming in the financial markets, said Schäuble, thanks to the trillions of dollars banks have pumped into them. JP Morgan's Marko Kolanovic warned that the world is on the brink of a "great liquidity crisis" last week.
| https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/wolfgang-schäuble-warns-of-another-global-financial-crisis-1.3249285 | 2017-10-09 09:38:04.783000 | German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, the warhorse of the eurozone debt crisis, will attend his final meeting of eurozone ministers on Monday, October 9, 2017, as variously the most loathed or loved figures in EU politics. (Photograph: JOHN THYSJOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)
Wolfgang Schäuble has warned that spiralling levels of global debt and liquidity present a major risk to the world economy, in his parting shot as Germany’s finance minister.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the Europhile who has steered one of the world's largest economies for the past eight years, said there was a danger of "new bubbles" forming due to the trillions of dollars that central banks have pumped into markets.
Mr Schäuble also warned of risks to stability in the eurozone, particularly those posed by bank balance sheets burdened by the post-crisis legacy of non-performing loans.
A strong advocate of fiscal rectitude, Mr Schäuble dominated Europe’s policy response to the eurozone debt crisis and has been vilified in countries such as Greece as an architect of austerity.
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But he will mainly be remembered as the most ardently pro-European politician in German chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet, skilled at selling the benefits of the euro and of deeper European integration to an often sceptical German public.
Mr Schäuble told the FT that the Brexit vote last year had demonstrated how “foolish” it was to listen to “demagogues who say...we’re paying too much for Europe”.
“In that respect they made a great contribution to European integration,” he said. “Though in the short term that doesn’t really help Britain.”
Mr Schäuble is to move to a new job as Speaker of the German Bundestag, amid widespread concern about how the legislature will be affected by the arrival of 92 MPs from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a rightwing populist party that stunned the country’s political establishment by winning 12.6 per cent in last month’s election.
Mr Schäuble, who will attend his last meeting of the eurogroup finance ministers on Monday, sought to reassure Germany’s allies that the AfD’s surprise success would not in any way affect the country’s commitment to liberal democracy.
“There’s no chance Germany will ever relapse into nationalism,” he said.
The AfD’s voters were dissatisfied, felt excluded, were angry about perceived injustice and worried about how the world was changing. “But there’s no reason to believe that democracy and the rule of law are in danger,” he said.
However, he warned that the world was in danger of “encouraging new bubbles to form”.
“Economists all over the world are concerned about the increased risks arising from the accumulation of more and more liquidity and the growth of public and private debt. I myself am concerned about this, too,” he said.
His comments come a day after Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said the world was enjoying its best growth spurt since the start of the decade, but warned of "threats on the horizon" from "high levels of debt in many countries to rapid credit expansion in China, to excessive risk-taking in financial markets".
Mr Schäuble’s views also chime with those of the Bank for International Settlements, which has long argued that aggressive monetary easing by central banks was fuelling bubbles in asset prices.
The BIS warned last month that the world had become so used to cheap credit that higher interest rates could derail the global economic recovery.
Mr Schäuble defended austerity, saying the word was, “strictly speaking, an Anglo-Saxon way of describing a solid financial policy which doesn’t necessarily see more, or higher deficits as a good thing”.
He said Germany’s current economic boom, with rising domestic demand and investment and the lowest unemployment rate since reunification, was a vindication of an economic policy that prioritised “sticking to the rules” and avoiding deficits. Under his stewardship the country has run balanced budgets since 2014.
“The UK always made fun of Rhineland capitalism,” he said, contrasting Germany’s consensus-driven, social market model with Anglo-American free markets and deregulation. “[BUT] we have seen that the tools of the social market economy were more effective at dealing with the [FINANCIAL]crisis...than in the places where the crisis arose.”
Mr Schäuble praised Emmanuel Macron’s “vigorous initiatives” for overhauling the EU, without directly addressing the French president’s proposals for eurozone reform. He said only that the key task facing the single currency area was to “reduce the risks, which are still too high — think of the bank balance sheets in many EU member states”.
“We have to ensure that we will be resilient enough if we ever face a new economic crisis,” he added. “We won’t always have such positive economic times as we have now.”
(Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017) |
California governor to sign drug price transparency bill that infuriates pharma | In a blow to the pharmaceutical industry, California Gov. Jerry Brown is expected on Monday to sign a bill that would require drug makers to explain and justify price hikes, making this the latest state to actively address the high cost of medicines.
| https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2017/10/08/california-drug-pricing-bill/ | 2017-10-09 09:28:59.600000 | In a blow to the pharmaceutical industry, California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed a bill into law that requires drug makers to explain and justify price hikes, making this the latest state to actively address the high cost of medicines.
The bill, which was vociferously fought by the pharmaceutical industry, is set to become one of the more comprehensive state efforts to address pricing transparency.
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For instance, drug makers have to provide 60-day notice to insurers and government health plans before increasing list prices of any medicine that costs more than $40 by at least 16 percent in a two-year period. And health plans have to provide detailed information about prescription drug costs and the portion of premiums attributed to this expense. (Here is a fact sheet on the bill.) |
To slow deadly hepatitis outbreak, paramedics will now provide vaccinations to the homeless | Paramedics are the newest troops in the fight against San Diego’s ever-growing hepatitis A outbreak. A letter signed this week by the director of the state Emergency Medical Services Authority temporarily expands state laws that govern paramedics, granting them emergency powers to “vaccinate at-risk populations in response to the outbreak.”
| http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-paramedics-hepatitis-20171006-story.html | 2017-10-09 09:26:20.293000 | Paramedics are the newest troops in the fight against San Diego’s ever-growing hepatitis A outbreak.
A letter signed this week by the director of the state Emergency Medical Services Authority temporarily expands state laws that govern paramedics, granting them emergency powers to “vaccinate at-risk populations in response to the outbreak.”
Dr. Kristi Koenig, director of the San Diego County Emergency Medical Service, requested the temporary scope of practice expansion on Sept. 20 and said Wednesday night that she received approval in the mail Tuesday.
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Paramedics will be able to deliver hepatitis A doses only under the supervision of nurses and only at special events created to inoculate those who are at high risk of infection, including homeless residents, drug users and those with liver disease or compromised immune systems.
Usually only nurses and doctors are allowed to give the vaccine.
“Paramedics already have basic skills in terms of delivering injections, and this approval allows us to give them extra training to do vaccination but only in very specific settings with very specific oversight,” Koenig said, adding that they will not be able to administer vaccines during emergency calls.
She said getting the state to approve the request took a fair bit of back-and-forth with California regulators. Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, added a letter of his own urging approval on Sept. 27.
Gloria said Wednesday evening that he believes paramedics can take pressure off public health nurses who have been engaged in a large and growing public vaccination campaign to stop the outbreak, which has now killed 17 people and sickened nearly 500 people throughout the region.
He said that these first responders can be effective with the homeless and drug-using population that has been disproportionately affected by the outbreak.
“Paramedics are often in communication with this population and, frankly, might be better able to get them to say yes to the vaccine,” said Gloria, a former city council member. “This adds hundreds of healthcare professionals to the vaccination campaign. Having more boots on the ground, so to speak, I think can help us keep this outbreak from spreading any more than it already has.”
The campaign, by all counts, continues to gain steam. Last week public health officials reported that more than 42,000 doses have been administered. During a presentation at the San Diego Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon that number was bumped up to 54,000 by Dr. Eric McDonald, director of the county’s Epidemiology and Immunization Services Branch.
Paul Sisson writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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Proposed MACRA participation threshold gets mixed reviews | Proposed changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) – the value-based payment program established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) – are drawing mixed reactions from physicians.
| http://www.mdedge.com/oncologypractice/article/148306/practice-management/proposed-macra-participation-threshold-gets | 2017-10-09 09:25:09.700000 | Proposed changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) – the value-based payment program established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) – are drawing mixed reactions from physicians.
A key component of the proposed update to the QPP is an expansion of the exemption threshold for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Currently, physicians are exempt from MIPS if they bill $30,000 or less in Medicare Part B charges or have 100 or fewer Medicare patients. The proposal would increase the number of exempt physicians by raising the threshold to $90,000 or less in Part B charges or 200 or fewer Medicare patients.
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Eligible clinicians and group practices that fall below the threshold can still voluntarily submit data, but they will not be scored for their participation in MIPS and will not be eligible for bonuses or face penalties for not meeting goals.
The expanded threshold proposal drew praise from the American Medical Association for exempting many small and rural practices from the requirements, but they also called on the agency to move more quickly in notifying physicians if they fall into the exempt category.
The American College of Surgeons expressed support for the changes to the threshold, adding that going forward the threshold should “be maintained at numbers no lower than that proposed for the 2018 performance period so that providers may have certainty of the criteria and their participation responsibilities from year to year.”
The American College of Cardiology supported the expansion of the low-volume threshold and encouraged the agency to review the levels annually.
But the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons suggested the volume threshold didn’t go far enough. “We ask that CMS consider a further widening of the threshold to all practices with 18 or fewer clinicians,” the group said in its comments on the proposal. “A threshold in terms of billing amounts and the number of patients creates an unhelpful incentive for physicians to turn away Medicare patients in order to qualify for the exemption.”
The group argued that larger practices can better absorb the cost of complying with MACRA regulations and basing participation on billing could create uncertainty due to fluctuations in billing from year-to-year.
Opt in option?
Several other groups sought a pathway for exempt physicians to opt into the program and take advantage of bonuses, especially those who had already prepared for the program based on the lower initial threshold.
“By raising the low-volume threshold and not offering an opt-in ability, CMS is further and needlessly delaying practices from payment based on value over volume, as well as the intent behind the establishment of virtual groups,” the American Academy of Family Physicians wrote in comments to the CMS.
The American Gastroenterological Association voiced its support for expanding the exclusion threshold and supported the idea of an opt-in, but called on the CMS to hold harmless those practices that opted in. “Clinicians and groups opting-in to the QPP should not be subject to negative payment adjustments,” AGA said in its comments to the CMS.
The American Academy of Dermatology Association supports the proposed low-volume threshold and called upon the CMS to allow those who want to participate to create a path to opt into MIPS.
The Endocrine Society supports the expansion of the threshold, but called on the CMS to provide a pathway for those who want to participate if they are otherwise excluded.
The American Osteopathic Association also called for a pathway for exempted physicians to opt in. And they cited two negative effects of expanding the threshold to a wider group of physicians. “First, it will result in wasted resources from practices that prepared for MIPS participation and are now unable to participate,” the association said in comments to the CMS. “Second, it will have the effect of dividing all practices into two levels: those that are incentivized to provide value-based care, and a significant number that are not eligible for such incentives.”
Individuals vs. groups
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) supports the proposed threshold for individuals, but suggested changes for groups. “ACOG continues to believe that the threshold should only apply to individual clinicians and that CMS should develop a new, separate definition if the agency believes that groups should also have a low-volume threshold,” ACOG said in comments to the CMS. “Setting the low-volume threshold at both the individual and group level introduces unnecessary complexity into the program because other exclusions for MIPS only apply to individual clinicians.”
The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), while supporting the general goal of reducing burden on small and solo practices, suggested it needed to be tweaked for the group setting.
“MGMA continues to question CMS’ application of the same threshold at both the clinician and group practice level,” the association said in its comments to the CMS. “This approach significantly disadvantages groups of clinicians who, in the aggregate, rarely care for Medicare patients, but include one or two members that actively participate in the program. MGMA urges CMS to extend its own logic behind setting a group practice equivalent for the non-patient-facing definition by exempting group practices when 75% or more of the national provider identifiers who bill under the group’s tax identification number meet the threshold on an individual basis.”
Expansion goes too far
But the AMGA, which represents group practices, called the new threshold “counterproductive” in its comment letter and suggested that the CMS should be lowering the threshold, not raising it.
AMGA noted that eligible clinicians who do not meet the threshold, but who are providing high-value care as defined by the QPP, are “forced to leave higher reimbursement rates on the table; these could be considerable over time.”
In addition, AMGA said that expanding the exemption decreases the money available for those who are required to participate. The CMS estimates in the proposed rule that in payment year 2019, $1.333 billion would be paid to top performers (including $500 million in exceptional performance bonus payments), but under the newest proposal, that number drops to $673 million (including $500 million in exceptional performance bonus payments). This will translate to a 0.3% bump in payment in 2020.
“The effect of eliminating of two-thirds of eligible clinicians from the MIPS formula is to financially undermine participating clinicians,” AMGA said in comments to the CMS. “They effectively lose by winning.”
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A Health Care Plan That’s Universal and Bipartisan | After the collapse of Republican efforts at one-party health care reform, many Democrats have embraced Senator Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All proposal. Few liberals would object to this “single payer” plan if it could be enacted with a magic wand, but the political realities of getting it through Congress are daunting.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/opinion/universal-catastrophic-health-care-coverage.html | 2017-10-09 09:24:29.910000 | After the collapse of Republican efforts at one-party health care reform, many Democrats have embraced Senator Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All proposal. Few liberals would object to this “single payer” plan if it could be enacted with a magic wand, but the political realities of getting it through Congress are daunting.
Could there be a way to preserve Medicare for All’s simplicity and its guarantee of universal health care access while cutting its cost and increasing its bipartisan appeal?
Universal catastrophic coverage just might be the idea that could bridge the gap. So far, the idea has gotten more attention in conservative circles, but if liberals would give it a careful look, they would find a lot to like.
The basic idea is simple. Everyone would have a policy that covered all medical expenses above a deductible amount. For those with very low incomes, the deductible would be zero. For others, routine health care would not be covered, but they would be protected against the truly unaffordable costs of chronic illnesses and severe accidents. For example, the plan would not cover the cost of a visit to a doctor’s office to make sure a bad cold is not something worse, but it would cover all costs of treatment above the deductible amount if the cold turned out to be lung cancer or a serious case of pneumonia. Ideally, a broad range of health care needs would be covered, including dental and mental health. |
Schumer Says He Rebuffed Another Offer From Trump on Health Care | President Trump reached out to the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, on Friday to propose yet another effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but Mr. Schumer later said he had quickly shot down the offer.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/us/politics/trump-schumer-obamacare.html | 2017-10-09 09:24:04.210000 | The Trump administration, the aide said, needed to stop sabotaging the law before bipartisan negotiations could begin.
Mr. Trump has established an easy rapport with “Chuck and Nancy,” as he likes to call Mr. Schumer, a fellow New Yorker, and Ms. Pelosi, of California. The three bonded last month over a dinner of honey sesame crispy beef in the White House, and their discussions have gone beyond the fiscal deal and how to protect young immigrants brought to this country illegally from being deported.
They have prodded Mr. Trump to put aside the Republican credo of “repeal and replace” in favor of more modest tweaks to the existing law. They have urged him to preserve subsidies, known as cost-sharing reductions, paid to insurers under the health law to help low-income consumers pay for out-of-pocket health expenses like co-payments and deductibles.
But Mr. Schumer’s quick rebuff of Mr. Trump on Friday shows the limits of the partnership. The senator has said that much will depend on whether the president keeps his promise to protect the young undocumented immigrants who are beneficiaries of the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
“Whether he pivots or not will be one of the most fundamental questions of this administration,” Mr. Schumer said recently. “It’s the $64,000 question. The only way it can happen is if we have a successful negotiation on DACA, and secondly whether we get health care.” |
Trump Takes Away Fundamental Health Care for Women | The average American woman spends just three years pregnant or trying to become pregnant, and a full 30 years trying not to be pregnant. So it’s no surprise that birth control is a standard part of most women’s lives. In fact, roughly nine out of 10 women will use birth control during their lifetime.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/opinion/trump-birth-control-contraception.html | 2017-10-09 09:22:47.397000 | A few years ago, I had a patient who was a nurse practitioner at a Catholic hospital in Baltimore. She needed an IUD, but her insurance didn’t cover it because her employer objected to contraception. That meant she would have to pay almost $1,000 for the device herself, and with her modest income, that was impossible for her.
Fortunately, Planned Parenthood was able to help her get the basic health care she needed. I remember how grateful she was, and I think of her every time I read about employers refusing to cover birth control. Under the Affordable Care Act provision, she would have still been able to get birth control through her insurer, even though her employer had opted out. Today, she would again be left with no other options.
I also think of the college students who are working hard to build their futures, where the cost of birth control can put textbooks or groceries out of reach. Or moms who are forced to decide between school clothes for their kids or birth control.
And those hardest hit by this policy will be poor women and women of color. According to a survey, 51 percent of African-American women ages 18 to 34 said they have had trouble purchasing birth control, and cost can be one of the most significant barriers for women of color in getting health care. In addition, these women too often suffer higher rates of chronic conditions because of systemic barriers to care. Not all of these diseases are pregnancy-related, but many can be managed by contraception. |
New Trump Executive Order Could Gut Obamacare Markets | The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that, according to a senior administration official, President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order this week that could significantly weaken the Affordable Care Act. The order is not a done deal yet, but reports from other outlets have surfaced similar details about its specifics.
| http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/10/trump-executive-order-could-gut-obamacare-markets.html?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=s3&utm_campaign=sharebutton-b | 2017-10-09 09:22:13.237000 | A health-care policy wonk. Photo: Mandel Ngan/Getty
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that, according to a senior administration official, President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order this week that could significantly weaken the Affordable Care Act. The order is not a done deal yet, but reports from other outlets have surfaced similar details about its specifics.
According to the Journal, Trump will mandate the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury to make it easier for people to sign onto health-care plans that are skimpier than what Obamacare currently allows, circumventing rules laid out by Congress when it passed the law in 2010.
As part of the executive order, Trump will exempt “association plans” from the strictures of the Affordable Care Act. This means that small businesses will be able band together to buy insurance coverage as a group, allowing them to negotiate lower prices and premiums for employees. But it also means that the health-care plans they purchase are not required to cover essential health benefits like preexisting conditions, maternity care, and other basics of Obamacare. When the Affordable Care Act passed, association plans were classified as small businesses and became subject to the same, stricter coverage rules as larger corporations.
The Trump administration may also allow individuals to use this loophole, which could be an attractive choice for young, healthy consumers who want to pay lower premiums for more bare-bones coverage than the Affordable Care Act allows. But if such consumers peel off from the current individual markets, the Obamacare markets would be left with a preponderance of old and sick people, resulting in the “death spiral” that has long been breathlessly predicted by Republicans — but which has not yet come to pass.
Trump will also allow insurers to offer “short-term medical insurance,” a low-cost option that had been restricted by the Obama administration, to be made available to consumers for up to a year, as opposed to the current three months. He will expand “health reimbursement accounts,” which employees use to pay for out-of-pocket expenses. And he will allow individuals to buy insurance across state lines.
All of these measures are seen by health-care experts as having the potential to damage significantly the already fragile Obamacare individual markets, which depend on a mix of healthy and infirm enrollees.
“This appears to be a backdoor way of undermining the Affordable Care Act,” Kevin Lucia, a professor at Georgetown’s Health Policy Institute, told Vox.
The order is sure to face court challenges from states that would prefer to keep their Obamacare markets as they are.
The new rules have been favored by many Republicans for years, and the executive order appears to be, at least in part, the brainchild of Kentucky senator Rand Paul, who has criticized past Obamacare repeal efforts for not going far enough. The Journal reports that Paul has been working with Trump for months.
Andy Slavitt, who led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid from 2015 to 2017 and has become an influential advocate for protecting the Affordable Care Act, has labeled the executive part of “synthetic repeal” a multi-pronged approach to undermining Obamacare in lieu of repeal legislation.
Even before the executive order, the Trump administration has been busy sabotaging the law from the inside. It has drastically cut the budget for outreach, made Healthcare.gov inaccessible at key times, and prevented even conservative measures to stabilize state markets, among other measures.
But Trump has not given up on congressional repeal just yet.
At a fundraiser in North Carolina Saturday night, the president told a group of wealthy, restive donors that he was still committed to repeal, though he acknowledged it was a steep climb. He also discussed his unexpected phone call to Chuck Schumer on Friday, in which he discussed a possible deal with Democrats on health care. The New York senator said he told Trump on Friday that he needed to stop sabotaging the law before Democrats would come to the bargaining table.
Whether Trump is serious about a bipartisan effort, or just wants to spook his fellow Republicans, remains to be seen. But if the reported executive order comes to pass, it would be another sign that the president’s burning desire to roll back his predecessor’s achievements supersedes his desire to improve Americans’ health care. |
Democrats accuse Trump of ‘sabotage’ on Obamacare sign-ups | Obamacare's first open enrollment season under the Trump administration is expected to be a flop — and even the law's most ardent supporters are worried there's little they can do to change that.
| http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/06/trump-obamacare-signups-democrats-sabotage-243553 | 2017-10-09 09:21:43.123000 | While the Trump administration failed to repeal Obamacare, it’s doing everything it can to whack it administratively — pulling resources, while pursuing strategies that are likely to depress sign-ups for the law’s fifth open enrollment. As a result, even supporters acknowledge that Obamacare enrollment will likely drop for a second straight year as more young and healthy people jump ship, putting even more stress on fragile markets and driving a fresh round of partisan bickering over who’s to blame.
“They’re trying to sabotage the markets,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), warning that Republicans are fully responsible for the law’s fate. “It’s now all them. It is all them. One hundred percent.”
Republicans insist that if enrollment tanks, it will be because of rising premiums and dwindling choices.
“A much bigger driver than a government agency trying to get you to enroll is what’s going on in the market itself,” said Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan. “Our market has been the poster child of the disaster.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services defended the reductions as a bid to reduce wasteful spending, contending most people are already aware of open enrollment and don’t need as much help. Officials have said they cut funds to navigator groups that failed to meet their enrollment targets last year. Navigators dispute that, however, saying that agency didn’t account for people they helped enroll in Medicaid, advised to automatically re-enroll in Obamacare, or helped to start applications but who finished at home.
A CMS spokesperson also emphasized that individuals will still have a range of options to help them sign up this year, including local insurance agents and brokers and certified application counselors.
The impact of the cuts will be felt most acutely in the 28 mostly red states that rely solely on the federal government to run open enrollment. The Trump administration’s 90 percent cut to its advertising budget means individuals won’t see television ads urging them to visit HealthCare.gov. Its decision to eliminate 40 percent of federal grant money to enrollment assistance groups means far fewer on-the-ground resources, especially compared with states like California and Massachusetts that continue to pour resources into state outreach.
Concern about the cuts has already spurred a counter-offensive led by former Obama administration officials Lori Lodes and Josh Peck, who oversaw outreach and education for HealthCare.gov. Their new nonprofit — called Get America Covered — is planning to do some of the outreach that federal health officials won’t, enlisting celebrities and pushing out information aimed at getting people covered.
Several Senate Democrats have talked with Get America Covered about turning their own political networks into a makeshift campaign to drive people to HealthCare.gov.
“If the administration is going to try to undermine open enrollment, we’re going to have to build a massive operation outside of Washington,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who met Tuesday with the group. “I’m going to be helpful in any way that I legally can be, including pushing the message out and helping raise money for it.”
On Friday, 13 former regional CMS directors wrote to acting Health and Human Services Secretary Don Wright objecting to the agency’s decision not to allow regional directors to participate in sign-up events around the country.
“To continue down the current path would undermine the will of Congress in passing the ACA — which remains the law of the land — and unnecessarily damage the marketplace,” they wrote.
Obamacare’s supporters admit there’s little chance of matching the federal government’s vast reach or resources. The Obama administration used every imaginable option to spur sign-ups over the last few years. Even then, enrollment had begun to plateau at about 10 million — less than half the level originally projected by the CBO.
With half the enrollment time and millions less to spend, those closely involved with the enrollment effort say they’ll struggle to build on that number — especially coming off a bruising repeal fight marked by President Donald Trump’s claims the law is already dead.
“The recent repeal efforts have created a great deal of political noise,” said Jessie Menkens, who oversees outreach efforts for the Alaska Primary Care Association, which lost about 25 percent of its federal funding this year. “It has caused a lot of confusion and it has caused a sense of unease.”
Congressional Republicans, though, say that Obamacare was already in a free fall before the Trump administration took office. They note that nearly half the counties in the country have just a single insurer selling plans, and premiums have skyrocketed in many places.
“I think Obamacare is sabotaging enrollment because the costs are so high, the choices are so limited,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).
Those problems, while real, are unlikely to cause the markets to implode. That’s because there’s a core group of millions of enrollees who receive generous subsidies tied to their incomes. So even if premiums jump, many of those customers won’t see their monthly bills increase, making them unlikely to drop coverage.
Beyond those people, though, the lack of advertising and outreach is likely to put a big dent in Obamacare’s sign-ups.
“My fear, of course, is that people will lose coverage because they didn’t do what they needed to do to re-up,” said Margarita Labarta, CEO of Florida’s Meridian Behavioral Healthcare, which saw its federal grant cut from $550,000 in 2017 to just over $40,000 now. That wasn’t even enough to fund one full-time worker, she said, so the group turned down the money.
Just one group is now doing outreach work in the 17-county, predominantly rural area where Meridian works, she said.
In Louisiana, funding for the main statewide navigator group was cut 72 percent. The hit forced Navigators for a Healthy Louisiana to lay off 14 people and make very tough choices. It reassigned its remaining five navigators to the communities where they’ve seen the highest enrollment, leaving broad swaths of the state without anywhere to turn for in-person help.
“North Louisiana — the entire upper part of the boot — is without navigator services,” said Brian Burton, the group’s state director. “It leaves more people needing assistance and fewer people to assist them.”
It also remains unclear what will happen once HealthCare.gov opens for business. Randy Pate, who heads the CMS office that oversees Obamacare implementation, told staffers last week that the agency is making it easier to find the sign-up site, and for people to enroll through insurers and brokers.
But at the same time, it’s planning to shut down HealthCare.gov for 12 hours on five of the six Sundays during open enrollment — a popular time for people with weekday jobs to sign up. The open enrollment period itself has been compressed from 12 weeks to six, from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.
“What we’re doing is focusing on those things we can control,” said Cheryl Gardner, the CEO of New Mexico’s health exchange, which manages its own marketplace but relies on the HealthCare.gov website. “These [outages] are pretty long and right in the middle of open enrollment, which is really inconvenient.”
State officials have also complained that CMS is keeping them in the dark on how it plans to manage the expected crush of people trying to access the website. A CMS spokesperson said that call center staffing will be consistent with prior years and that they’ll use waiting rooms and a callback service to ensure everyone who wants to enroll by the deadline can do so. But the agency has not said how many call center employees will be dedicated to open enrollment, or whether it has a contingency plan should HealthCare.gov suffer technical problems, said Heather Korbulic, the head of Nevada’s state health exchange.
That all adds up to big questions about how enrollment under the Trump administration will actually work.
“The good thing is that the bar is so low and they’re doing so little, that anything people do on the outside is going to have an impact,” Lodes said. “But nothing can replace the government.” |
Tips for post-retirement adventure, health and happiness at Successful Aging Expo | If all goes well, El Cajon residents Rex and Christiane Beckham soon will be spending six months in Ireland, then six months in Germany, then who knows where. “My wife and I are getting ready to retire,” Beckham said Saturday. “We’re going to do a lot of traveling, and we’re looking at our options.”
| http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/sd-me-successful-aging-20171007-story.html | 2017-10-09 09:16:33.177000 | Colleen Soto, an instructor at MiraCosta College, center, lead her class, Fitness for the Active Older Adult, during The San Diego Union-Tribune Successful Aging Expo held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds Saturday.
If all goes well, El Cajon residents Rex and Christiane Beckham soon will be spending six months in Ireland, then six months in Germany, then who knows where.
“My wife and I are getting ready to retire,” Beckham said Saturday. “We’re going to do a lot of traveling, and we’re looking at our options.”
As part of their retirement research, the Beckhams joined thousands of others at the one-day Successful Aging Expo at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
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“We need to look at our retirement income and start to live within those means now, while we’re still working, to see if we can manage that,” his wife said.
People thinking about retirement also should look for ways to declutter and downsize, she said. And they need to prepare ahead for ways to keep themselves occupied after they’ve left their full-time jobs.
“It’s really important to prepare for that change,” she said. “It’s huge.”
After six years at the Town & Country Resort in Mission Valley, the aging expo moved to the fairgrounds this year to make more room for guests, speakers and exhibitors. The event grew from 140 booths last year to 245 booths this year.
“We’re trying to give people the tools they need,” said consultant Beth Reynolds, who worked with sponsors The San Diego Union-Tribune and Sharp Healthcare to organize the event. “There’s a lot of interactive information here.”
Tory Chainel wears 360-degree virtual reality goggles at the California Earthquake Authority booth during The San Diego Union-Tribune Successful Aging Expo at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and experiences a simulated 5.0 to 6.0 magnitude earthquake. (Howard Lipin/U-T)
Exhibitors ranged from health services to legal firms, from hearing-aid sales to real estate agents. Longtime San Diego television meteorologist Pat Brown offered travel tips, newspaper columnist and radio host Richard Lederer delivered a talk titled “The Gift of Age,” and experts in other fields shared their wisdom.
Carlsbad resident Charles Ables said he was there to learn more about long-term care, an important issue for many older families.
He and his wife, who uses a wheelchair, have made some modifications to their home, and they want to stay there as long as they can. He was collecting information from an organization that helps disabled people stay independent.
“Long-term care is a big issue for us,” Ables said. “It’s great to have everything like this in one place.”
Medical marijuana dispensary Torrey Holistics also joined the participants for the first time, providing a booth and a speaker to discuss the latest developments in the use of cannabis for healing and pain relief. Gray-haired guests lined up three deep at the counter to ask questions about cannabis laws, dispensaries and consultants.
“Our booth has been busy all day,” employee Aleks Kirilenko said.
Gerontologist Diane Darby Beach talked to a room of 50 or more people in the Mission Tower building about the four keys to a healthy brain: nutrition, social connections, mental exercise and physical exercise.
“Your brain is a muscle,” Darby Beach said. “It needs to be exercised. Your brain craves novelty.”
Getting out of the house, maybe for dinner with friends, could be one way to cover all four of those brain-boosting activities.
“We as human beings were made to interact with other human beings,” she said. “If we get isolated, we get depressed.”
Recent research shows people continue to grow brain cells all their lives, she added, so new activities have a positive effect on people of all ages.
[email protected]
Twitter: @phildiehl |
India to pilot technology-based education scheme | India's Union Ministry of Science and Technology will test-run teaching through gaming and technology in selected schools with a view to rolling out the method nationwide. The trial will see Finnish education firms collaborate with Indian government initiatives Atal Innovation Mission and the National Institution for Transforming India. | http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/virtual-labs-board-games-to-come-to-indian-classrooms/article19825541.ece | 2017-10-09 09:15:36.253000 | October 09, 2017 12:00 am | Updated 04:35 am IST - Bengaluru
Is there a better way to teach today’s youngsters, who have grown up with smart devices, than through the use of the same technology?
Edugaming and edutechnology have changed classrooms across the world and the Union Ministry of Science and Technology is keen to implement similar methods in classrooms across India. The Ministry will soon start a pilot in schools in the country with the collaboration of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog and Finnish education companies.
A four-day conclave is being organised from Monday at the Centre for Cellular And Molecular Platforms, NCBS-TFIR Campus, Bengaluru, to work out the framework of the pilot programme.
Secretary of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, K. VijayRaghavan, said: “Should they be on board, we plan to put edugaming and teaching methods in the same schools where there are tinkering labs. And depending on their success, we will take them to other schools in the country.”
Dennis C. Joy, Resident Editor, Science Media Centre at IISc., Bengaluru, said: “Edutech and edugaming is the use of technology to teach children. It could be through games to teach mathematical concepts, or virtual laboratories to teach biology and chemistry.”
Shirin Kulkarni, Research Director and co-founder at CCE Finland, one of the companies participating in the programme, said that what set apart the education system in Finland was the freedom given to teachers to design the course structure based on the student’s requirement. “In Finnish education, formal education begins only at the age of six when the child is put to pre-school. It is only at the age of seven that they start learning alphabets and mathematics,” said Ms. Kulkarni. However, informal learning starts in daycares where children go to from a young age.
Technology is given great importance in Finnish schools, particularly for older students. “From class seven onwards, they have more technology in their learning. The teacher designs experiments based on the student’s aptitude and level of understanding,” explains Ms. Kulkarni.
According to Mr. Joy, a pilot trial will be done in a few schools in the country, which will be finalised during the conclave, and if successful, the programme would be scaled up.
Edutech and edugaming is the use of technology to teach children. It could be through games to teach mathematical concepts, or virtual laboratories to teach biology and chemistryDennis C. JoyResident Editor, Science Media Centre at IISc., Bengaluru |
Electron system allows creation of electrochemistry compounds | Scientists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Evonik Performance Materials have developed a unique electron system that could unlock the niche technology of sustainable green electrochemistry, using electrons to create chemical compounds instead of reagents. In an article published in Science Advances, the JGU team revealed how their electrolyses allowed operation in a wider current-density window, with no negative impact on selectivity or productivity. The study also said excess renewable energy could be used for the electrochemistry process, as reactions stop when the power supply stops, resulting in minimal waste. | https://phys.org/news/2017-10-electro-organic-synthesis-sustainable-green-production.html | 2017-10-09 09:10:38.577000 | A researcher setting up a flow electrolysis experiment. Credit: ©: Alexander Sell, JGU
In the cooperative EPSYLON research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, scientists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Evonik Performance Materials GmbH have developed a state-of-the-art and innovative electro-organic synthesis method.
The results of their research, presented in last week's issue of Science Advances, allow the use of electrosynthesis as a sustainable green chemistry for technical applications. The method allows the operator to react flexibly to the available supply of electricity. Moreover, the operator no longer has to rely on customized electrolysis apparatuses and can use a range of equipment.
The method was developed more than 160 years ago by German chemist Hermann Kolbe. Although electrochemical synthesis methods are used in the chemical industry, this has so far been a niche technology. One reason is that electrolysis conditions must be very finely controlled and uniform current input is essential. Due to the sophisticated technical infrastructure required, the option of electrosynthesis remained out of reach to most chemists. Today, the green potential of electrochemistry has been rediscovered. It makes sustainable and eco-friendly chemistry possible with very simple means, particularly with the use of surplus power from renewable sources such as wind or solar energy.
Electrochemistry is a versatile and powerful method to produce chemical compounds or to effect chemical changes in molecules. To put it simply, electrons replace costly and toxic reagents. Unnecessary waste can be avoided and the reaction can be halted at any time by simply switching off the power. Another advantage over classical synthesis is that many individual steps are more easily implemented by electrochemistry. In some cases, this can shorten synthesis by several steps. However, electrolyses often require a narrow current-density window and long reaction times. In addition, selectivity and scalability are more difficult or even impossible.
Up to eight different experiments can be simultaneously performed in this screening electrolyzer. Each small plastic cup houses two electrodes. Credit: ©: Carsten Siering, JGU
The key to the success of the research group at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is the use of a unique electrolyte system. The electrolyses here have extremely high stability to variation in current density, allowing operation in a current-density window with a width extending over more than two orders of magnitude, with no loss of productivity or selectivity. If the supply of current permits, the electrolysis may be carried out in a short time with very high current density.
More information: "Unexpected high robustness of electrochemical cross-coupling for a broad range of current density" Science Advances (2017). advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/10/eaao3920 Journal information: Science Advances |
Mobile payments boom in China | China is fast becoming a cashless society as mobile payments cause a major shift in the nation's daily commerce, more than doubling to $5tn last year, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital. The data also showed that in Q1 2017, Alipay had 54% of the mobile payments market, while WeChat Pay took 40%. "High mobile internet and ecommerce penetration, and an underdeveloped traditional financial market will drive growth", said Elinor Leung, head of Asia Telecom and Internet Research at CLSA. | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html | 2017-10-09 09:08:07.333000 | watch now
Mobile pay is taking China by storm and changing daily commerce. The transformation of a society limited to bills denominated in 100 yuan ($15) or less into one where QR payment codes abound was by far the biggest change in mainland China since my last visit four years ago. When eating out or shopping with local friends, they paid by scanning a QR code on the restaurant table or by showing a similar code on their smartphones to the store clerk. A spices shop, museum souvenir store and seller of traditional Chinese calligraphy brushes all had signs saying they accepted mobile pay. Rather than, "Do you take credit cards?" the question was often "Do you take Alipay? WeChat Pay?" The running joke was that street beggars would rather take a mobile donation than cash.
A dessert store worker scans a mobile QR payment code in Beijing, China, while the blue sign below promotes the store’s use of Alipay. Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
Lack of red tape and a less developed financial system have apparently allowed mainland China to leapfrog the developed world into embracing mobile payments. Mobile payment volume in the country more than doubled to $5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital in a May report. In the first quarter of this year, Alipay had 54 percent of that mobile payments market, and WeChat Pay accounted for 40 percent, the study said. The Chinese mobile pay habit is also affecting other countries. More than 6 million Chinese traveled abroad during the "Golden Week" national holiday in early October, according to state-backed media outlet Xinhua. That puts pressure on popular tourist destinations like Japan and Hong Kong to add mobile pay services. Just over the border in Hong Kong, I heard a few mainland Chinese customers asking a store clerk to scan their phones' QR codes while Cantonese-speaking locals paid in cash. In April, Nikkei reported that the number of stores accepting Alipay in Japan will double to 45,000 this year, according to the regional head of Ant Financial Services.
Customers can buy traditional Chinese calligraphy brushes at this Xi’an, China, store using QR payment codes. From left to right: WeChat Pay, Alipay and the QR code for the store’s WeChat account. Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
The growth of mobile pay in China comes off a solid base of smartphone users. The ubiquitous WeChat messaging app from Chinese technology giant Tencent reached 963 million monthly active users in the second quarter. In professional settings, adding each other on WeChat sometimes replaced business card exchanges. Alipay, which is owned by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services, has 520 million users, according to its international website. The app is linked to online money market fund Yu'e bao, encouraging users to invest and spend with Alipay. Attractive interest rates of nearly 4 percent or more have turned it into the largest money market fund in the world, with 1.43 trillion yuan ($217 billion) as of the end of June, according to state media reports citing Yu'e bao's manager, Tianhong Asset Management. Hong Kong-based research investment company CLSA expects Chinese electronic payments volume to quadruple to 300 trillion yuan by 2021. During that time, online wealth management products' assets under management should triple to 6.7 trillion yuan and online loans could also triple to 3.5 trillion, said Elinor Leung, head of Asia Telecom and Internet Research at CLSA. "High mobile internet and ecommerce penetration, and an underdeveloped traditional financial market will drive growth," Leung said in a Sept. 5 report. Mobile pay is growing so rapidly in mainland China that as a foreigner I sometimes found it difficult to complete basic transactions without it.
After scanning the QR code on the table at this restaurant in Beijing, China, customers enter the payment amount in the app. Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
When I tried to pay at a Beijing McDonald's on a late night, the only payment options were China's Union Pay credit card system, Apple Pay or WeChat Pay and Alipay. As an American visitor without a Chinese bank account, I wasn't able to find a way to use those systems and the store clerk wouldn't take my cash. "Cash is accepted in all McDonald's restaurants across China. After our investigation, we believe this is an isolated case that happened during night shift change, and thus, all cash counters were temporarily closed," a McDonald's China Customer Care Center told me in an email. Taxis were also nearly impossible to hail in Beijing due to the rise of Didi, a ride-hailing app that bought Uber's China operations in a deal worth $35 billion last summer. Because Didi was linked through WeChat, I couldn't use it without a Chinese bank account. When I finally did get a taxi, the driver gave me a fake 50 yuan bill in change. Several stores also claimed three of my 100 yuan bills from a New York money exchange were counterfeit. If I could participate in the cashless society, I would not have lost about $50.
The bike unlocks after the customer scans its QR code through a bike-sharing app. Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
The growth of mobile pay in China has supported another business: bike sharing. Led by a few start-ups, the number of bikes stacked along the side of the street or sometimes scattered even alongside highways in China has exploded. The number of monthly active users doubled from February to more than 20 million in March, according to TrustData cited by Hillhouse Capital. Two of the largest Chinese-based start-ups, Ofo and Mobike, say they have a combined more than 13 million bikes around the world and have each raised at least $1 billion. Incidentally, Mobike entered the U.S. on Sept. 20 by deploying bikes in Washington, D.C., while Ofo made its first foray into the country by launching in Seattle in August.
A bicycle from bike-sharing startup ofo in the Muslim Quarter of Xi’an, China. Evelyn Cheng | CNBC
The dominance of mobile pay also means companies like Ant Financial and Tencent have access to hordes of personal data. That data can then be shared with the Chinese government, which prioritizes control. Some parts of China have been testing a personal credit score system linked to mobile pay data. But unless privacy issues have immediate negative consequences, convenience may trump all. A smartphone is increasingly the only thing someone in China needs to carry when going out. Disclosure: Travel to Asia was supported by the East-West Center, the Better Hong Kong Foundation and the All-China Journalists Association. |
Amazon's 'Thursday Night Football' reaches fraction of audience | Amazon's live-streaming of football games reached only a fraction of the audience it publicly claimed. The company is reported to have spent $50m in total buying the rights to its first package of sports programming, and claimed that 1.9 million people viewed the first 'Thursday Night Football' game on their platform. However, the 'viewers' figure has been challenged as misleading, with a number of journalists pointing out that actual number of people watching for at least 30 seconds on Amazon Prime was just 372,000. This represented just 2.5% of the programme's audience, and just 3.5% of Amazon Prime's members.
| http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2017/10/09/amazon-s-dismal-nfl-audience-shows-tv-s-naysayers-deserve-penalties | 2017-10-09 08:29:03.733000 | "Views" is a useless metric. I “view” ads on social media networks as I quickly scroll past them. I “view” banner ads on websites as I consequently ignore them. I "view" every TV show that I see for half a second as I channel hunt with the remote control.
But tell that to many of the media reporters who covered Amazon Prime’s global live-streaming of the first of eleven Thursday Night Football games during this season of American football. The New York Post, Fortune magazine, and Reuters, for example, all highlighted NFL figures stating that a reported 1.9m people “viewed” the kickoff show.
At first glance, the number looked impressive -- especially for a tech company’s first foray into big-league sports programming, which cost Amazon a reported $50 million for the total package. The result seemed to lend credence to the opinions of people such as creative director JP Manterola and MobiTV chief executive Charlie Nooney who think that sports will soon be watched online along with everything else. (Of course, the latter has an obvious bias.)
But the picture becomes fuzzier as one digs more deeply.
Todd Spangler of Variety and Peter Kafka of Recode wrote two of the best media reviews of the event. Their articles put the right numbers in the correct context and stated that the average audience watching Thursday Night Football for at least 30 seconds on Amazon Prime Video was 372,000, with each person watching an average of 55 minutes.
Spangler and Kafka deserve credit for discussing average viewership in their stories and not highlighting the sensationalist 1.9m number instead.
(Note: I filed this column before the second Thursday Night Football game, which was scheduled to occur a few days before publication.)
Why is this important?
Many marketing pundits – myself included – discuss the positives and negatives of digital mediums compared to traditional ones. But such analyses are always going to be faulty because the metrics that online and offline marketers use are completely different. We have only apples-to-oranges comparisons.
TV and radio have average viewers and listeners. Print has average circulations. These numbers represent human beings, are usually audited by independent third parties, and have standard definitions throughout the industry.
Online ad platforms have “impressions,” which is the number of times that one browser made one request for one advertisement to load. Digital video platforms have “views,” which means little. Furthermore, these numbers are very prone to fraud, not yet independently audited, and are defined differently by every ad network in the context of measures such as “viewability.”
So, it is difficult to contrast online and offline because we cannot compare marketing apples to apples. There should be one metric to rule them all in the online and offline worlds. One example: as Facebook releases more original programming on the Watch platform, I challenge the company to report the exact same metrics as TV networks do.
Comparing online to offline
In the case of Amazon’s Thursday Night Football, we can finally make some concrete comparisons in the context of the single metric of average audience size. According to the Variety and Recode reports and my own calculations, here is what we can surmise:
2.5% (372,000) of the total average audience (15.1 million) watched on Amazon Prime.
97% (14.6 million) of the total average audience watched on traditional television.
3.5% of Amazon Prime members viewed the game (there are an estimated 54 million in the US).
In another example, Business Insider advertising editor Mike Shields recently wrote that “cable TV should be worried” because the BuzzFeed food show Worth It had gained 280 million views. But again, “views” means nothing. Anyone can throw some money at a bot network or click farm and get millions of “views” of anything.
I want Buzzfeed to report the average viewership of Worth It consisting of a decent length of time. Then, we can see whether the company is truly anywhere close to television. Just remember that Yahoo’s streaming of an NFL game in 2015 garnered 15m “views,” but the number plummeted to 2.4m when television’s metrics were applied. The average game gets 10m to 20m on TV.
These are yet more examples of how television is nowhere close to being “dead”.
Quantity versus quality of views
It’s not only about the number of views. It’s also about the quality of views. Even if Amazon were to obtain a large viewership, it might not necessarily mean that the programming would be useful for marketers.
We in the marketing profession are in the business of selling stuff. So, our chief concern should not be which mediums are most popular but which ones are best at helping us to do our job. Whether more people watch American football on television or Amazon is not the primary issue.
Just because a medium is popular does not mean that it is good for marketing. A medium that is used by millions of people can still be a bad marketing channel. A medium that is used by few people can be a great marketing channel. Popular mediums and effective marketing channels are not always one and the same.
Mediums themselves have their positives and negatives. We need to know which ones are the best at selling stuff by their very natures. In this context, television soundly defeats online video such as Thursday Night Football as well.
In this email newsletter, Ad Contrarian Bob Hoffman summarizes a presentation by Karen Nelson-Field, a professor at the University of Adelaide and the founder of Media Intelligence Company, at a recent ReThinkTV event in Australia:
More people actively view an advertisement on television compared to the same ad on YouTube or Facebook. (All of the research is here.)
Advertisements on television take up the entire screen on television but not on YouTube or Facebook.
Hoffman notes:
“The combination of an ad's time, pixels and coverage Dr. Nelson-Field calls 'visibility.' It should be obvious that ads with higher 'visibility' would be more effective. But in an irrational advertising environment in which anything online or 'digital' has been imbued with magical properties, it is significant that someone as made a conclusive effort to check the science.”
People go online to get something done, which makes the cold internet a set of mediums that are best suited for tactics such as direct marketing. People watch television to have experiences such as watching sports on the large boxes in their living rooms – and that makes the warm medium best suited for advertising campaigns.
Marketers who think that television is “dead” need go back to the practice squads.
The Promotion Fix is an exclusive biweekly column for The Drum contributed by Samuel Scott, a global marketing speaker who is a former journalist, newspaper editor, and director of marketing and communications in the high-tech industry. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Scott is based out of Tel Aviv, Israel. |
UK rents dip as landlords saturate market in southeast | UK asking rents outside London fell 0.2% in the three months to September, the first dip for the period in Rightmove data going back to 2011. It revealed a glut of properties had reduced prices in the southeast by 2.3%, while the average rent in the northeast rose 2.6% to £564 ($747) per month. Across the UK, the national average monthly rent in September was £789. A third of UK households were renting from either private or social landlords at the end of last year, according to official figures.
| https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/09/uk-rents-fall-amid-property-glut-in-south-east-england | 2017-10-09 08:18:20.260000 | Rents in Britain dropped in the final summer months for the first time in at least five years, according to Rightmove.
National asking rents outside London fell by 0.2% in the three months to September, which is one of the busiest times of year for tenants looking for a new home. It was the first fall at this time of year since Rightmove started tracking rents in late 2011.
The decline comes as landlords flood the south-east of England with newly available rental properties, distorting the national picture, as they turn away from a stuttering London property market.
The glut of homes available to rent pushed down rents in the south-east by 2.3% in the period. Average rents rose in every other UK region apart from Greater London and Yorkshire and the Humber.
The biggest quarterly increase came in the north-east, where the average asking rent rose by 2.6% to £564 per month.
Britain’s housing market is looking increasingly broken amid a chronic shortage of new homes. Young people are particularly hard hit, with millennials spending three times more of their income on housing than their grandparents, often for worse quality accommodation, according to the Resolution Foundation.
The proportion of households privately renting in the UK has ballooned in the past 20 years. According to official figures, around 65% of UK households were owner-occupiers at the end of 2016, while 17% were renting from a private landlord and 18% from a social landlord.
Theresa May pledged an additional £2bn a year to councils and housing associations for affordable homes in her speech to the Conservative party conference in Manchester last week.
Rightmove’s head of lettings, Sam Mitchell, said more landlords were acquiring homes immediately outside London, therefore increasing the supply of available property and pushing down rents. “Agents are reporting that some investors looking for better yields are shifting their focus from London,” he said.
Areas such as Surrey, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are among the most popular for landlords seeking investments outside of London. Prices have not fallen as much in areas with good commuter links, where demand remains strong.
Asking rents in the capital fell at an annual rate of 3.3% in September to an average of £1,920 per month. The average asking rent per month across the country in September was £789.
However, Mitchell said he expected the cost of renting to increase in London due to the supply of available accommodation decreasing as landlords look elsewhere for investments. |
FeetMe raises $2.3m for shoe insole fitness-tracking technology | French start-up FeetMe has raised €1.9m ($2.28m) to develop smart, connected shoe insoles that gather data through sensors for analysis of a user's walking and running gait. The data, sent to an app via Bluetooth, also can be used by physicians to assess treatment efficacy, detect early warning signs of conditions such as multiple sclerosis and help design orthotics. For consumers, the company offers the FeetMe Sport platform, which analyses runners' metrics, such as stride power, for use by an artificial intelligence-powered virtual fitness coach.
| http://www.mobihealthnews.com/content/feetme-gets-23m-smart-connected-insoles | 2017-10-09 07:52:41.330000 | Paris-based FeetMe, which is creating smart, connected insoles, raised $2.28 million (1.95 million euro) in seed funding. The round was led by Kurma Diagnostics. Other investments came from the Paris Saclay seed fund, Idinvest Partners, Seventure, and SOSV.
“This seed round will help us pursue the development of our product to target therapeutics areas in collaboration with market players,” Alexis Mathieu, founder and CEO of FeetMe, said in a statement. “The connected insole allows patient and physician to manage and evaluate, in realtime and remotely, treatments’ efficacy to adapt them more precisely and without constraints for the patient. Creating new digital biomarkers will reinforce existing therapeutics with a companion diagnostic and monitoring solution.”
FeetMe’s insoles contain pressure sensors and motion sensors. They communicate via Bluetooth with an app, and the companion software includes algorithms that can use that data to analyze patients’ walking and running gait.
The company deploys the insoles in both the clinical sphere and the consumer space. For clinicians, FeetMe’s smart insoles can be used to detect early warning signs of Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis, to assess a patient’s recovery from orthopedic surgery, to collect data to aid in the design of orthotics, or to monitor for diabetic foot ulcers.
In all these clinical cases, the advantage of a sensor is that it provides quantitiative, comparable data, whereas the status for gait analysis is highly subjective and observation-based.
In the consumer sphere, FeetMe offers FeetMe Sport, which uses the sensors to analyze runners’ metrics like stride power and running pace, and feeds that data to an AI-powered computerized running coach. It also integrates with consumer apps including Strava and Runkeeper.
FeetMe Sport can be purchased on the company’s website for $175.54 (149.99 euro). The clinical product has CE Mark clearance, but is not currently cleared with the FDA. |
Apple now ships more chips than Intel | Apple now dominates the processor market, shipping more chips than Intel. Apple's A11 Bionic processor has 4.3 billion transistors, six cores and a custom GPU, and its performance is almost double that of its competitors. A decade ago, the tech giant said it would take control of the subsystems in its mobile products and has since sought to apply this across-the-board approach to all types of silicon, including controllers for displays, sensors and batteries.
| http://www.asymco.com/2017/10/02/silicon-valley/ | 2017-10-09 07:51:06.667000 | You’ve probably heard of Jony at Apple but probably don’t know about Johny.
Jony is a celebrity executive known as the face of Apple Design. Johny is the executive in charge of custom silicon and hardware technologies across Apple’s entire product line.
Under Johny’s leadership, Apple has shipped 1.7 billion processors in more than 20 models and 11 generations. Currently Apple ships more microprocessors than Intel.
The Apple A11 Bionic processor has 4.3 billion transistors, six cores and an Apple custom GPU using a 10nm FinFET technology. Its performance appears to be almost double that of competitors and in some benchmarks exceeds the performance of current laptop PCs.
A decade after making the commitment to control its critical subsystems in its (mobile) products, Apple has come to the point where is dominates the processor space. But they have not stopped at processors. The effort now spans all manners of silicon including controllers for displays, storage, sensors and batteries. The S series in the Apple Watch the haptic T series in the MacBook, the wireless W series in AirPods are ongoing efforts. The GPU was conquered in the past year. Litigation with Qualcomm suggests the communications stack is next.
This across-the-board approach to silicon is not easy or fast or cheap. This multi-year, multi-billion dollar commitment is rooted in the Jobsian observation that the existing supplier network is not good enough for what you’re driving at. Tiny EarPods, Smart Watches, Augmented Reality, Adaptive Acoustics require wrapping your arms around all parts of the problem. The integration and control it demands are in contrast to the modular approach of assembling off-the-shelf components into a good-enough configuration.
There are times and places where modules are adequate and times and places where they aren’t. The decision depends on whether you are creating new experiences or new “measures of performance” vs. optimizing for cost within existing experiences or measures of performance.
The very notion of a microprocessor is a rejection of the discrete component designs that preceded it. Earlier computers had central processors made up of many discrete components. VLSI stands for Very Large Scale Integration with emphasis on Integration. As computing has progressed toward ambience and ubiquity the idea of using discrete components became normative again but that was not considered sufficient by Apple.
So while the “Silicon” in Silicon Valley has come to be seen as an anachronism, silicon development today means competitive advantage. The only problem is that it takes years, decades even to establish competence. The same duration that it took for the building of Apple as a design-centric business fronted by Jony Ive.
Apple also now needs to be understood along the dimension of silicon-centric engineering as led by Johny Srouji. |
Munich Re partners with ride-sharing car rental firm Drover | Drover, a UK ride-sharing car rental firm, has teamed up with Munich Re to offer insurance coverage to its client base. The partnership will allow the firm to offer bespoke policies for ride-sharing drivers and fleet owners, according to the two firms. Prior to this arrangement, Drover made use of traditional fleet insurance policies, which didn't gel with its business model.
| https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/news/new-ride-sharing-insurance-policy-drover | 2017-10-09 07:23:47.330000 | Drover, a UK-based ride sharing and mid-term car rental company has partnered with reinsurance giant MunichRe to offer a bespoke insurance product for gig-economy drivers.
Insurance used to be available to drivers through traditional fleet cover policies but it was expensive and insufficient for Drover’s business model.
MunichRE is offering a tailor-made product for fleet owners and ride share drivers. They can buy, maintain and renew policies via the Drover platform. Drover CEO Felix Leuschner says the insurance is a game-changer that will deliver cost savings and a whole new level of customer service.
Mobility as a service
The company was established in 2015 by self-titled serial entrepreneur Leuschner as a mobility-as-a-service platform, bridging the gap between short-term car hire and long-term vehicle leasing.
“We’re changing the way people access cars,” he asserts
Described as Netflix for cars, Drover connects fleet owners with individual drivers and enables them to acquire the use of a vehicle through a flexible monthly rental agreement. It specializes in offering PCO, Uber-ready vehicles.
SaaS-based Fleet Management
Bookings are made through the company’s website and it offers a SaaS-based fleet management interface, mobile app, fuel card and other services, including insurance.
London-based Drover also set up shop in Manchester in September and continues its commercial relationship with BMW (UK) (established through its participation in the car giant’s 2016 Innovation Lab). |
Google struggles to make ads load as fast as content | Google AMP loads content too fast for ads, meaning publishers make less money per page view than they do from their own sites, it has been claimed. Six publishers said ads were not deemed viewable because AMP content loaded so quickly, meaning readers scroll past ads before they have even loaded. This, in turn, is costing publishers advertising revenue, they claimed. Google recently made adjustments to speed up ad-load times, but has not made advertisers adopt its spec to make ads load quicker. | https://digiday.com/media/publishers-find-google-amp-loads-fast-ad-views/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digidaydis&utm_source=daily&utm_content=171009 | 2017-10-09 07:09:03.287000 | One person’s page speed is another person’s monetization problem.
Six publishing sources, requesting anonymity out of fear of angering Google, said their ads load slower than their content on AMP, and that is part of the reason why they make less money per pageview from AMP than they do from their own websites. In one instance, the revenue per page on AMP was less than half of what the publisher got on its owned and operated properties. In effect, the user experience is almost too good, with content loading so fast that people scroll past the ads before they’ve been able to load, resulting in ads that aren’t deemed viewable.
But these publishers had trouble isolating how much of this discrepancy is due to how AMP loads content since AMP’s standardization also restricts page design, article recirculation and the type of ad units that publishers can use, and each of these variables makes it more difficult for publishers to make money on the platform. However, they agreed the gap between content and ads loading persists even though Google has worked on the issue since AMP launched about 20 months ago.
“There are a variety of issues around AMP with ads, and the fact that AMP [editorial content] loads ‘too fast’ is definitely among them,” said a publishing exec.
Publishers have struggled with getting ads to load as fast as the content loads on AMP for awhile. Google recently tweaked how ad requests can be made within AMP to speed up ad-load times.
But Google hasn’t forced advertisers or tech vendors to adopt its spec that trims JavaScript to make AMP ads load faster. Since Google has so much power within media and marketing, it is bound to irritate somebody regardless of which route it takes to load AMP’s ads and content.
If Google forced advertisers to cut down their tracking code, reduce the size of their creative or do extra work to implement special tags for AMP ads, it would piss off clients that collectively push billions of dollars through the search giant’s products. But by loading content faster than the ads, Google makes it harder for publishers to make money on AMP. Since Facebook Instant Articles is frustrating publishers, appeasing them could benefit Google by giving it an edge over its rival.
Google acknowledges upfront that the goal of AMP is to improve user experience and page speed first, and figure out monetization second.
“The aim of AMP is to load content first and ads second,” said a Google spokesperson. “But we are working on making ads faster. It takes quite a bit of the ecosystem to get on board with the notion that speed is important for ads, just as it is for content.”
Getting text to load fast is simply easier than quickly loading ads with high-resolution imagery and multiple tracking tags. Rather than blame Google, one publishing source blamed advertisers and their heavy creatives for slow-loading ads within AMP.
A perverse incentive is in play: The quicker AMP loads content, the more noticeable the lag on ad load becomes. And it’s not just publishers that are affected. If Google’s exchange sold the ads that users scroll past without seeing, then Google also loses out on a chance to make money.
But there is a bigger issue than driving CPMs with fast-loading article templates. In the long run, it’s in Google’s best interest to maintain its dominance in search, and one way to keep people engaged on the open web is to speed up webpages, even if that means sacrificing some short-term revenue.
Publishers, which are already dependent on search traffic, are scared of acting against the platform’s wishes, even if that means adopting a platform where some ads don’t load in time for the user to see, said Paul Vincent, CEO of Neuranet, a tech company that helps publishers comply with Interactive Advertising Bureau specs for fast-loading ads.
“The whole reason that publishers are considering AMP is that Google gives AMP pages prioritization in search,” he said. |
Conde Nast launches new website geared towards millennials | Architectural Digest magazine, owned by publisher Condé Nast, is launching Clever, a site aimed at 18-34 year olds. Created by Architectural Digest editor Amy Astley, Clever will focus on capturing the attentions younger readers, like college students moving out of home or young couples setting up their first home. The site will also open up Architectural Digest to a wider range of advertisers and expand its readership through Clever, whose audience, it is hoped, will migrate to the sister publication as they grow older.
| https://digiday.com/media/new-offshoot-clever-architectural-digest-pivots-millennials/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digidaydis&utm_source=daily&utm_content=171009 | 2017-10-09 07:03:55.167000 | Though the average age of an Architectural Digest magazine reader is 53, the Condé Nast–owned publication is setting its sights on a wider demographic. On Monday, it launched a new website called Clever, dedicated to the age 18-34 cohort.
The site echoes the aspirational tone of Architectural Digest, but with a more accessible approach and a focus on topics including small-space decorating and do-it-yourself home projects. Unlike Architectural Digest, which is full of expensive luxury items, Clever will showcase more affordable options for readers still in school, early in their careers or with limited disposable incomes.
Clever was the brainchild of Amy Astley, the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue who took the helm of Architectural Digest in May 2016. In advance of the creation of the vertical, she pushed the publication to expand its reach by first testing the appetite for articles on topics like designing on a budget. As a result, there has been a 759 percent increase in millennials visiting Architectural Digest’s site, she said.
“The first thing I felt when I got to Architectural Digest last summer was that I really wanted it to be the dominant source of shelter information for all audiences,” she said. “It was like we were leaving a huge portion of the general population off the plate. Clever came from wanting to make a product that would be relevant for a new reader.”
Clever will operate autonomously from Architectural Digest, with three core editors dedicated to the site’s content, as well as a video and social team. Keith Pollock, Architectural Digest’s executive director of digital, said as part of Clever’s mission to “democratize design,” it will cater to readers undergoing significant life transitions, such as moving out of college and into a first rental apartment, or couples purchasing their first home.
To complement this, Clever will also include real-life advice on topics like living with roommates and dealing with contractors. “It will have all the conversations around living and being young, and starting out,” Pollock said.
Social media will be a primary driver to the site, Pollock said. Clever will soon roll out a social-first video series on apartment fixes and renovations featuring guests like design expert Nate Berkus, as well as celebrities including Jessica Alba and Sophia Bush. In addition to Clever’s own social channels, Architectural Digest will drive readers to the site through its accounts, as well as in ads in both the print and digital editions.
Though Astley said Clever was not conceived as an advertising play, the vertical does open Architectural Digest up to a larger pool of advertisers, including brands like CB2, Lowes and Pottery Barn, which offer goods at lower price points than brands traditionally featured in the magazine. Astley said despite being geared toward millennials, the new site will have style tips and purchasing ideas for a wide variety of ages and income levels.
“Clever is for people who want to live with style on a smaller budget, but that can be anybody,” she said. Likewise, “Architectural Digest is meant for the discerning person and design enthusiasts — and that can be [anyone].”
Giulio Capua, chief business officer and publisher of Architectural Digest, said Clever is also a response to the rise of high-low collaborations that have helped bring luxury design to the masses. The long-term goal is to serve as an entry point to capture future Architectural Digest readers, who may transition to the publication with time, he said.
“Design is much more prolific. Target started a trend when they brought name brand designers in that were approachable,” Capua said. “You can see designs from any museum in the world on your smartphone. People are getting more information about what good design means, at a younger age. There’s an elevated sensibility.”
In an attempt to avoid alienating its core readership, Architectural Digest is continuing to push AD Pro, a daily newsletter launched earlier this year and intended for design professionals who view the magazine as a trade publication and educational resource. Though Architectural Digest had an existing monthly newsletter, Astley said Pro will help the publication continue to position itself as design authority, while expanding its readership through Clever.
“We want to create a new demographic of design enthusiasts,” Astley said. “There’s a great enthusiastic group of people out there who want to live with style and are so much more sophisticated than they used to be. We wanted to serve them.” |
Fintech Qbera partners Droom for used car loans in India | Indian online used vehicle marketplace Droom has partnered with Bangalore-based lender Qbera to offer "affordable, efficient and paperless" car and motorbike loans. Droom hopes the move will help customers overcome what Qbera CEO Aditya Kumar called sector's "high rejection rates, heavy paperwork and unaffordable credit terms". Buyers will be able to get approval for loan applications within 24 hours, while interest rates will be the same as those of traditional financial institutions.
| http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/fintech-startup-qbera-join-partners-with-droom-to-enable-used-car-financing/articleshow/61003578.cms | 2017-10-09 06:38:16.817000 | MUMBAI: Fintech lender Qbera has partnered with online automobile marketplace Droom to enable loans for vehicle purchases on the latter’s platform. The partnership will help Droom strengthen its ‘Droom Credit 21st Century’ programme which is an end-to-end, fully automated online credit marketplace that enables auto financing for used automobiles.Bangalore-based Qbera typically offers unsecured loans for salaried consumers with operations in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi.“Traditionally financial institutes offer loans at interest rates starting from 14% and can go as high as 18%. Qbera follows a risk-based approval procedure and offers you instant loans at the same rate in the shortest span of time, which is 24 hours,” said Aditya Kumar, Founder and CEO of Qbera. Qbera has a loan book of about Rs 12 crore achieved over a period of 8 months even as the company claims a monthly CAGR of 70%.The partnership with Droom will allow consumers to take personal loans of upto Rs 7.5 lakhs approved within 24 hours for purchase of used cars, used bikes or new cars.“High rejection rates, heavy paperwork and unaffordable credit terms make it difficult for consumers seeking loans for used car purchases. Droom Credit 21st Century auto financing is a smart step to make the auto loan process smooth, affordable, efficient and paperless. I expect this collaboration to be a win-win situation for both of us,” said Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Droom.Currently Qbera offers personal loans for multiple purposes including refinancing existing debt, travel, medical, education, vehicle purchase and weddings. Personal loans for vehicle purchase currently forms about 8% of its loan book. The fintech firm claims it is on track to reach a loan book of about Rs 65 crore by March 2018. |
Amazon seeks Indian patent for markers that help drones navigate | Amazon has filed documents at the Indian Patent Office seeking exclusive rights to multi-scale markers known as fiducials. According to the filing, the black-and-white fiducial markings, which can be applied to any object, help drones to pinpoint specific locations – such as delivery addresses. They can also be applied to other drones and also aircraft.
| http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/amazon-files-patent-for-deploying-exclusive-drones-in-india-117100800237_1.html | 2017-10-09 06:29:54.070000 | In this section
First Published: Oct 09 2017 | 1:04 AM IST
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Amazon files patent application in India for tech related to drone safety
Amazon files patent for deploying exclusive drones in India
As part of its efforts to use drones to handle some of its operations, online marketplace giant Amazon Inc has filed a patent application in India for exclusive rights on multi-scale fiducials, black and white marks on any object for the self-operating aerial vehicles to identify them from different distances. The proposed drones can also be used to identify other such objects, along with aircraft, plying within Indian skies, said the company.
According to the specifications filed with the Indian Patent Office, the multi-scale fiducials will have three or more scales, where the child fiducials are nested or linked by a relative position to the parent fiducials, thereby, facilitating target identification and tracking. Another application may be focused solely on an innovation that would enable target identification of other drones or similar aerial vehicles.
Fiducials are optically recognisable features often used in computer v
Amazon India plans to set up experience centres in several Shoppers Stop outlets as part of the Rs 179-crore deal with the retailer
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Willis Re, TigerRisk team up to develop digital reinsurance platform | Insurers Willis Re and TigerRisk are partnering, forming a third-party entity - RePlace Holding. The goal is to advance GlobalREMarket, the digital reinsurance platform developed by TigerRisk, which aims to help reinsurers and brokers share information without the need for long email chains or file sharing websites. Since its launch in 2015, GlobalREMarket has been used by 200 reinsurers. | https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/willis-re-and-tigerrisk-partner-on-reinsurance-placement-platform/1425210.article | 2017-10-09 06:21:02.147000 | Willis Re and TigerRisk will form a new third-party company RePlace Holding to develop TigerRisk’s GlobalREMarket digital reinsurance placement platform.
GlobalREMarket was launched in 2015. Almost 200 reinsurance carriers – and a total of almost 1,000 users – have used the platform.
The digital platform allows reinsurers to securely share information such as analytics, exposure and terms and conditions with brokers. It also operates as a platform for reinsurance markets to receive offers and submissions.
TigerRisk global head of analytics and technology explained that the platform increases efficiency as it enables users to cut out the use of multiple emails or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites.
TigerRisk chief executive Rod Fox said: “We are extremely pleased to announce this initiative. This has been an important mission for us over the last several years. Since the launch of globalREmarket in 2015, all TigerRisk business has been transacted through the platform and it’s proven hugely successful with our markets. Close to 1,000 users from over 200 reinsurance carriers are using the platform to see our business.”
This is not the first time that TigerRisk and Willis Re have collaborated on a project. They were recently among 23 insurers, reinsurers and risk specialists to join B3i’s international blockchain initiative. |
Disruptor social network has crowd pay cryptos to content creators | Blockchain-based social network Steemit is out to disrupt the social media sector, with a more populist model that attributes a value to contributions. In contrast to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Steemit pays fractions of a cryptocurrency called steem directly to users in return for posting content, with the crowd deciding the value of tokens distributed via a voting system. Since its quiet launch in April, and first payouts in July, the network claims 50,000 users have received $30m worth of steem, which can be converted to regular currency. As at September, Steemit had 350,000 registered users. | https://www.wired.com/story/the-social-network-doling-out-millions-in-ephemeral-money/?mbid=nl_100417_backchannel_p1 | 2017-10-09 02:44:53.583000 | Every time you log onto Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to share a photo or post an article, you give up a piece of yourself in exchange for entertainment. This is the way of the modern world: Smart companies build apps and websites that keep our eyeballs engaged, and we reward them with our data and attention, which benefit their bottom line.
Andrew McMillen is a freelance writer and the author of Talking Smack: Honest Conversations About Drugs. Sign up to get Backchannel's weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Steemit, a nascent social media platform, is trying to change all that by rewarding its users with cold, hard cash in the form of a cryptocurrency. Everything that you do on Steemit—every post, every comment, and every like—translates to a fraction of a digital currency called Steem. Over time, as Steem accumulates, it can be cashed out for normal currency. (Or held, if you think Steem is headed for a bright future.)
The idea for Steemit began with a white paper, which quietly spread among a small community of techies when it was released in March 2016. The exhaustive 44-page overview wasn’t intended for a general audience, but the document contained a powerful message. User-generated content, the authors argued, had created billions of dollars of value for the shareholders of social media companies. Yet while moguls like Mark Zuckerberg got rich, the content creators who fueled networks like Facebook got nothing. Steemit’s creators outlined their intention to challenge that power imbalance by putting a value on contributions: “Steem is the first cryptocurrency that attempts to accurately and transparently reward…[the] individuals who make subjective contributions to its community.”
A minuscule but dedicated audience rallied around Steemit, posting stories and experimenting with the form to discover what posts attracted the most votes and comments. When Steemit released its first payouts that July, three months after launch, things got serious.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are only worth whatever value people ascribe to them, so there was no guarantee that the tokens dropping into Steemit accounts would ever be worth anything. Yet the Steem that rolled out to users translated to more than $1.2 million in American dollars. Overnight, the little-known currency spiked to a $350 million market capitalization—momentarily rocketing it into the rare company of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the world’s highest-valued cryptocurrencies.
Today, Steem’s market capitalization has settled in the vicinity of $294 million. One Steem is worth slightly more than one United States Dollar, and the currency remains a regular presence at the edge of the top 20 most traded digital currencies.
It’s a precipitous rise for a company that just 18 months ago existed only as an idea in the minds of its founders. More than $30 million worth of Steem has been distributed to over 50,000 users since its launch, according to company reports. It’s too early to know whether Steemit can hold onto its users’ interest and its market value. But its goal—upending a model built by social media giants over decades of use in favor of a more populist system—is significant in itself. By removing the middlemen and allowing users to profit directly from the networks they participate in, Steemit could provide a roadmap to a more equitable social network.
Or users could get bored or distracted by something newer and shinier and abandon it. The possibility of a popped bubble looms over every cryptocurrency, and the bubbles are filled with both attention and speculative investment. Steemit’s value is based on money that its founders have virtually willed into existence. Fortunes could vanish at any moment, but someone stands to get rich in the process.
The creators of Steemit didn’t set out to build a social network. When Ned Scott and Dan Larimer first spoke on the phone in mid-2015, having previously chatted online, they began dreaming up new applications for blockchains—the distributed, verified databases that back today’s wave of digital currencies. Scott, a former financial analyst, was fascinated by the economics that drive cryptocurrencies. Larimer, a computer scientist, already had cryptocurrency bona fides, having developed an ambitious exchange called BitShares. |
Ben & Jerry’s to eradicate glyphosate from production chain | Ben & Jerry’s (B&J), the US ice cream manufacturer, will remove all ingredients tainted with the weedkiller glyphosate from its production chain. The company will open an “organic dairy” range next year, after research indicated that traces of the chemical were common in the company’s European ice-creams. A survey by US testing service Health Research Institute laboratories discovered traces of glyphosate, which were within European safety limits, in 13 out of 14 B&J tubs analysed in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Glyphosate, first marketed by Monsanto in 1974 as RoundUp, is the world’s most popular weedkiller. | https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/09/ben-jerrys-to-launch-glyphosate-free-ice-cream-after-tests-find-traces-of-weedkiller | 2017-10-08 22:00:00 | Ben & Jerry’s has moved to cut all glyphosate-tainted ingredients from its production chain and introduce an “organic dairy” line next year, after a new survey found widespread traces of the controversial substance in its European ice-creams.
The dramatic initiative follows a new survey by Health Research Institute (HRI) laboratories which found traces of the weedkiller in 13 out of 14 B&J tubs sampled in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
It will add to a growing unease around the herbicide, which was first marketed in the US by Monsanto in 1974, as RoundUp, but is now the world’s most popular weedkiller, made by companies worldwide. Recently Prosecco DOC announced that wines marketed under the banner would not be able to use glyphosate and the US state of California added it to its list of chemicals that cause cancer.
Similar levels of glyphosate in B&J ice-cream have also been recorded in the US, although scientists told the Guardian these were “very low and not likely to pose a public health problem”.
Laura Peterson, a spokeswoman for B&J, said that the firm was “disappointed, but not totally surprised” to hear the results of the latest analysis.
“Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides in agriculture and is everywhere – from mainstream food, to natural and organic food, and even rainwater – and that’s the issue,” she told the Guardian.
The herbicide is commonly used on crops such as wheat, barley, oats and peanuts, making it likely that it came from B&J’s cookie dough, peanut butter or other added ingredients.
“But simply saying trace levels are in everything is not a strategy,” Peterson added. “By no later than 2020, we will stop sourcing [ingredients] made with crops chemically dried using glyphosate. In addition, we intend to advocate for policies that would end use of glyphosate as a chemical drying agent.”
A new B&J 100% certified organic dairy line will launch next year and is expected to account for 6% of total US sales, she added.
Ben and Jerry’s is known for its environmentally friendly brand image. The Unilever-owned firm has campaigned against Arctic oil drilling and does not use GM crops, which are often manufactured to resist Monsanto’s RoundUp.
Glyphosate has received regulatory approval from several agencies, despite the WHO’s cancer wing deeming it “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Monsanto insist their product is safe to use, and the European Chemical Agency decided “the available scientific evidence did not meet the criteria to classify glyphosate as a carcinogen.”
The trigger for Monday’s move was a survey which found that popular B&J 500ml tubs of flavours such as Peanut Butter Cup, Half Baked and Chocolate Fudge Brownie in the UK all contained between 1 and 1.23 parts per billion of glyphosate.
Other B&J flavours that tested positive for glyphosate in France, Germany and the Netherlands were: Karamel Sutra Core, Cinnamon Buns, Cookie Dough and Topped Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough.
Ronnie Cummins, the international director of the Organic Consumers Association, which commissioned the new survey, said: “Although we are happy to hear that consumer pressure has forced Unilever/Ben and Jerry’s to declare that some of their non-dairy ingredients will no longer be sprayed with RoundUp … the campaign to force Ben and Jerry’s to begin the transition to 100% organic will continue until the company signs a legally binding agreement and timeline to make this global transition over the next three to five years.”
European food safety authority guidelines put the levels of glyphosate found in the HRI tests well within safe limits. But one peer-reviewed study published by Nature magazine earlier this year found that much lower doses triggered fatty liver disease among rats.
Michael Antoniou, who heads the gene therapy group at King’s College London which produced the study, said a 35kg child would have to eat 114ml of B&J ice cream daily “over many years” to be at risk.
Products derived from wheat, barley, rye and oats – which can contain glyphosate levels 646 times higher than in the ice-cream – were more troubling, he added.
“Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease affects 20-30% of Europeans,” Antoniou said. “Our results imply that even extremely low daily ingestion of glyphosate-based herbicides may be a hitherto unsuspected risk factor for this disease.”
Ben & Jerry’s said their products were safe to eat, pointing out that “the trace levels of glyphosate detected in both the US and European study are below allowable US and European standards”. |
Australian cities could experience 50C temperatures by 2040 | Australian cities, including Melbourne and Sydney, could see “unprecedented” summer temperatures of 50C by 2040, even if global warming is restricted to the 2C increase agreed under the Paris Climate Accord, according to scientists. Previous highs were 46.6C in 2009 in Melbourne and 45.8C in 2013 in Sydney. The research has raised concerns for the impact on vulnerable people, such as the elderly, and on infrastructure and energy resources. However, the study, which uses new forms of modelling, indicates that restricting temperature increases to 1.5C could avoid the 50C extremes.
| http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-cities-temperatures-50c-melbourne-sydney-global-warming-a7988881.html | 2017-10-08 22:00:00 | For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the
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Australian cities could soon experience “unprecedented” temperatures of 50C, even if international climate targets are met, scientists have said.
Summers in Sydney and Melbourne could regularly see sweltering temperatures by 2040, raising concerns for how the elderly will cope and the pressures the weather could pile on energy resources and infrastructure.
Restricting global warming to 1.5C – less than the 2C which was agreed by the international community under the Paris climate deal – could avoid the 50C days, scientists said.
Reducing emissions won't stop global warming, claims study
Their findings, which looked at just Victoria and New South Wales states, were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“The increase in Australian summer temperatures indicates that other major cities should also be prepared for unprecedented future extreme heat,” said lead author, Dr Sophie Lewis, from the Australian National University.
Recommended Australia has hottest winter on record thanks to climate change
She continued: “Our climate modelling has projected daily temperatures of up to 3.8 degrees Celsius above existing records in Victoria and New South Wales, despite the ambitious Paris efforts to curb warming.
Warming is likely to be incremental, the scientists warned.
“One of the hottest years on record globally - 2015 could be an average year by 2025,” Dr Lewis said.
The highest temperature ever experienced in Sydney was 45.8C in 2013. In 2009 in Melbourne the mercury hit a record high of 46.4C.
Dr Lewis called for immediate work to be done to reduce the chance of extreme seasonal temperatures.
“Urgent action on climate change is critical – the severity of possible future temperature extremes simulated by climate models in this study poses serious challenges for our preparedness for future climate change in Australia,” she said.
World news in pictures Show all 50 1 / 50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty
The study used new modelling and observation methods to predict how extreme temperatures could become more frequent.
“Previous scientific studies have focused on how current temperature extremes have been impacted by climate change, or on how the frequency of these current extremes will change in the future,” said Dr Andrew King from the University of Melbourne’s Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science.
“This study takes a different approach and examines how the severity of future temperature extremes might change in the future,” he added. |
UK audit reveals widespread racial disparities | A race equality audit by the UK government has revealed wide disparities across the country. The research finds that: Black Caribbean pupils are permanently excluded from school three times as frequently as white British pupils; nine out of 10 white Gypsy and Roma children fail to reach expected educational standards at 11; the employment gap for black people compared to their white peers is 13.6% in the north and 9% in the south; 112 black men are sentenced to custody for every 100 white men; among the UK’s poorest children, white British pupils perform worst at school. | https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/09/audit-lays-bare-racial-disparities-in-uk-schools-courts-and-workplaces | 2017-10-08 22:00:00 | White teenagers are far more likely to smoke than their minority ethnic counterparts, Roma children are falling well behind their peers at school and black men face the highest likelihood of being found guilty in court.
Those are just some of the issues that will be highlighted in a government audit on race equality that will reveal deeply ingrained disparities across the country when it is published on Tuesday.
Much of the data shows disadvantage for black and ethnic minority communities, and there is a postcode lottery in school performance.
But it also makes clear that among the poorest children in the country, white British pupils do worst at school. Among that group, just 32% reach the expected standard of reading, writing and maths at 11.
Theresa May has said she wants the findings – which shine a light on vastly different experiences for ethnic groups in Britain’s schools, workplaces, hospitals and justice system, and reveal huge regional disparities – to reveal “uncomfortable truths”.
She said: “People who have lived with discrimination don’t need a government audit to make them aware of the scale of the challenge. But this audit means that for society as a whole – for government, for our public services – there is nowhere to hide. These issues are now out in the open. And the message is very simple: if these disparities cannot be explained then they must be changed.”
Communities secretary Sajid Javid the data would not provide the answers to why disparity existed, but said the government wanted to work with outside groups to come up with ways it could tackle the injustice.
“We are not pretending today we are sitting here with all the answers, some of them might have a rational explanation but others will require action,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today. “There are hundreds of thousands of Pakistani or Bangladeshi women who don’t speak proper English or hardly speak it at all.
“That might be through choice in some cases, a cultural issue. But it is a big issue because it does then hold those women back from the employment market and other opportunities.”
Javid said he would address some of the problems, including English language issues, when his department publishes a new integration strategy. “I think there will be many people out there today listening to this, taking notice, and thinking this is just the kind of thing we want our government to do,” he said. “That means where there are injustices, we are doing everything we can to tackle them and reveal them.”
The figures come alongside new research that suggests minority ethnic women are being hardest hit by austerity. The report by the Runnymede Trust and Women’s Budget Group claims black and Asian households have faced the biggest drop in living standards, of 19.2% and 20.1% respectively. That amounts to a real-terms average annual loss of £8,407 and £11,678.
May’s project, which she launched soon after taking office, brings together government statistics covering ethnic breakdowns in 130 areas across health, education, housing, employment and criminal justice.
Other findings, which include known data presented in a new manner alongside unpublished information in 24 areas, are:
Black Caribbean pupils are permanently excluded from school at three times the rate of white British pupils – triggering a Department for Education review.
Almost nine out of 10 white Gypsy and Roma children do not reach the expected standard for reading, writing and maths at 11.
9.2% of white 15-year-olds smoked in 2014-15, almost four times the proportion of black teenagers (2.4%).
Black men are more likely to be found guilty at crown court, with 112 sentenced to custody for every 100 white men.
Employment rates are higher for white people than ethnic minorities across the country, but the gap in the north (13.6%) is significantly wider than that in the south (9%).
The data goes beyond breaking down figures by colour, delving into differences between a variety of ethnic groups. Chinese pupils excelled at primary school, with 71% reaching the expected standard for reading, writing and maths, compared with 65% of children from an Indian background, 54% of white British pupils, 51% of black children, and 13% of white Gypsy and Traveller children.
Officials said one of the big surprises of the findings was the large regional disparities. As well as bigger gaps for employment in the north, there were big differences in schooling.
More than three-quarters of black children reached expected levels in Sunderland and Gateshead (although the overall numbers were low), compared with less than a quarter in Stockport, laying bare a postcode lottery in schooling.
Areas with larger minority ethnic populations and with strong performances among black children included Kensington and Chelsea and Greenwich in London.
The government said the data would affect policy, with the Department for Work and Pensions taking action in 20 targeted hotspots to help people from minority ethnic backgrounds into work with mentoring schemes and traineeships.
There will also be recommendations taken up from the Labour MP David Lammy’s review of the justice system, including performance indicators within prisons to assess outcomes for different ethnic groups.
Lammy told the Guardian: “We simply can’t let this racial disparity audit bring forth more talking shops. We’ve had a lot of talk, it’s now time for action.”
Omar Khan, director of the Runnymede Trust, said: “Once the details of the audit are digested, we want to see a comprehensive and government-wide plan with the goal of eliminating racial barriers in a generation.”
Simon Woolley, director of Operation Black Vote, said: “Yes, some findings make uncomfortable reading, but unless these things are laid bare we can’t begin to resolve them.” |
UK audit reveals widespread racial disparities | A race equality audit by the UK government has revealed wide disparities across the country. The research finds that: Black Caribbean pupils are permanently excluded from school three times as frequently as white British pupils; nine out of 10 white Gypsy and Roma children fail to reach expected educational standards at 11; the employment gap for black people compared to their white peers is 13.6% in the north and 9% in the south; 112 black men are sentenced to custody for every 100 white men; among the UK’s poorest children, white British pupils perform worst at school. | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/race-disparity-audit | 2017-10-08 22:00:00 | This report provides an overview of the main findings from the first release of data from the Race Disparity Audit, published in October 2017.
As well as a review of each topic on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website, the report presents an overview of disparities that have most impact across all aspects of people’s lives.
The report is not updated each year. Find updates to the data on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website (including information about new and updated pages). You can also read updates from the Race Disparity Unit.
This analysis helps to understand and assess differences between ethnic groups, and to identify those public services where disparities are diminishing and those where work is needed to develop effective strategies to reduce disparities between ethnic groups. |
Russians face suspicion in Silicon Valley after hacking scandals | Allegations of hacking and influence campaigns during the US election are affecting the Russian immigrant community in Silicon Valley. Start-ups are reportedly more cautious about accepting funding from such sources, while Russian-born engineers are claiming that they are being treated differently in both social and work situations. Lawyers have also argued that some tech companies are restricting foreign-born coders' access to data. Conversely, some companies have shown an increased interest in hiring Russian tech workers as the country’s reputation for hacking has grown.
| https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/technology/russian-election-hacking-silicon-valley.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 | 2017-10-07 22:00:00 | SAN FRANCISCO — Pavel Cherkashin, a Russian investor based in this city, thought he had the perfect name for a Catholic church that he is spending $11.5 million converting into a tech palace. It would be called Hack Temple.
But that was before the nearly daily deluge of news about Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election by hacking computers and using Facebook and Twitter to spread inflammatory messages and sow division.
“We had so many concerns from our investors saying this would be inappropriate and we should change it,” said Mr. Cherkashin, 44, who planned to officially open Hack Temple this fall. “A bunch of Russian guys opening a hacker temple in the middle of San Francisco at a time when Russian hackers are considered the most evil in the world. They say you can’t.”
With news of the hacking and influence campaigns escalating all year, the Russian immigrant community of Silicon Valley, which numbers in the tens of thousands, is in a strange new position. Some Russian venture capitalists said start-ups were more wary about taking their funding, while several Russian-born engineers said they were being treated differently socially and in their companies. Lawyers also said some tech firms were installing tighter security measures restricting what data foreign-born coders can see. |
Dove criticised for ad showing black woman becoming white | Dove, the UK toiletries brand owned by Unilever, has apologised for an advertisement featured on its Facebook page which showed a black woman turning into a white woman after using its body lotion. The brand stated on Twitter that the ad, which has now been removed, had “missed the mark”. Almost 3,000 comments, overwhelmingly negative, appeared in response to the tweet, with many users of social media calling for a boycott of the brand. In 2011, another advert for Dove featured a black woman turning into a white woman after using the brand’s body wash.
| https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/08/dove-apologises-for-ad-showing-black-woman-turning-into-white-one | 2017-10-07 22:00:00 | Dove has apologised after publishing an advert on its Facebook page which showed a black woman turning into a white woman.
The brand was accused of racism over the online advertising campaign and it later admitted it had “missed the mark” with an image posted on Facebook.
The advert showed a black woman removing her top to reveal a white woman underneath supposedly after using Dove body lotion. The white woman then removes her top and turns into a Middle Eastern woman.
Dove apologised for 'racist' Facebook advert showing a black woman turning white after using @Dove lotion. pic.twitter.com/NGXyhnGuBZ — Habeeb Akande (@Habeeb_Akande) October 8, 2017
The campaign has since been removed from Facebook but was shared by Naomi Blake, an American makeup artist who goes by the name Naythemua.
“So I’m scrolling through Facebook and this is the #dove ad that comes up … ok so what am I looking at,” she wrote as the caption.
Under the post, she was asked if people would be offended if the white woman had turned into a black woman. She said: “Nope, we wouldn’t and that’s the whole point. What does America tell black people? That we are judged by the color of our skin and that includes what is considered beautiful in this country.”
She added that Dove’s marketing team should have known better and said “the tone deafness in these companies makes no sense”.
Following the removal of the advert, Dove, which is owned by Unilever, tweeted: “An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of colour thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offence it caused.”
In a further statement Dove said: “As a part of a campaign for Dove body wash, a three-second video clip was posted to the US Facebook page.
“This did not represent the diversity of real beauty which is something Dove is passionate about and is core to our beliefs, and it should not have happened.
“We have removed the post and have not published any other related content. We apologise deeply and sincerely for the offence that it has caused.”
However the damage was done and the nearly 3,000 comments below the tweet were almost exclusively negative. Many social media users called for a boycott of Dove’s products.
ENOUGH!
IS ENOUGH!@Dove Needs to be an example of black boycott worldwide!!!
They need to see the power of the black and brown money power — A Soldier of the Art (@SelinaNBrown) October 7, 2017
Ava DuVernay, the director of the film Selma, was one of many prominent people to criticise both the advert and the apology. She said on Twitter: “You can do better than ‘missed the mark’. Flip + diminishing. Deepens your offence. You do good work. Have been for years. Do better here.”
The trans model Munroe Bergdorf, who recently was at the centre of a racism row with L’Oreal, tweeted to say: “Diversity is viewed as a buzzword or a trend. An opportunity to sell product to women of colour. Dove – Do better.”
Others pointed out this was not the first time the company has been accused of racism. In 2011 Dove’s before-and-after advert charted the transition of a black woman to a white woman after using its body wash.
Okay, Dove...
One racist ad makes you suspect.
Two racist ads makes you kinda guilty. pic.twitter.com/hAwNCN84h2 — Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 8, 2017
At the time, Dove said in a statement: “All three women are intended to demonstrate the ‘after’ product benefit. We do not condone any activity or imagery that intentionally insults any audience.” |
Lithuanian start-up TransferGo begins operations in China | Lithuanian money transfer start-up TransferGo has begun operations in China to capitalise on growing demand for remittance services between local buyers and Chinese manufacturers. TransferGo, which moves about $20m globally each month through 46 nations, says transfers between businesses and individuals will reach Chinese recipients within a day.
| http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2017-10/06/content_41691372.htm | 2017-10-06 17:02:29.403000 | You are here: Home
VILNIUS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- TransferGo, Lithuanian money transfer services startup, has started operations in China, announced the company on Thursday.
One of Lithuania's biggest startup companies explains the move is based on intensifying economic cooperation between Lithuanian and Chinese companies.
"During recent years, Chinese direct investments into Lithuania have increased almost six-fold. We hope that fast and cheap international money transfers would contribute to strengthening ties between Lithuanian and Chinese businesses," Daumanats Dvilinskas, chief executive of TransferGo, was quoted as saying in a press release.
Dvilinskas sees demand for money transfer services coming from companies purchasing commodities and goods directly from Chinese manufacturers.
The company says money transfers from businesses and individuals would reach a recipient in China within a day.
Up until now, in Asia the company's users were able to transfer money to Hong Kong, India and the Philippines. TransferGo currently operates in 46 countries with monthly transfers averaging around 15 million British pounds (19.7 million U.S. dollars). The company aims to expand beyond Europe.
Since its launch in 2012, the startup has raised 10.55 million U.S. dollars in total from private equity investors. TransferGo says its revenue has doubled in recent 12 months, without specifying the number.
Earlier this year, the Lithuanian regulator issued e-money institution license to Chinese fintech company IBS Lithuania, a branch of International Business Settlement Holdings Limited, allowing the company to issue and redeem electronic money, provide payment services across the European Union. Enditem |
EBA acknowledges importance, supervisory challenges of fintech | The European Banking Authority (EBA) has acknowledged the role fintech is likely to play in the region's economy. In its 2018 Work Programme review, the EBA outlines plans to draw up fintech regulations and recognises the potential impact of cryptocurrencies on financial institutions and business models. The EBA will evaluate how to provide protection for consumers of digital banking, taking into consideration the growth of peer-to-peer lending and payment services. | https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2017/10/122830-european-banking-authority-adds-fintech-work-program/ | 2017-10-06 16:54:18.177000 | The European Banking Authority (EBA) has a mission of working towards a single regulatory and supervisory framework for the European Union member states. The goal is to make things simpler for consumers and businesses to operate across the EU. As the digitization of banking and other financial services heat up globally, it would be pretty difficult to ignore the Fintech revolution occurring across all financial services. As part of a mandated comprehensive review of the EBA’s objectives for the coming year, the Agency has just published their 2018 “Work Programme” and hidden within is a section on Fintech.
According to the Agency and its objectives for Fintech:
“The EBA will focus on the following priority policy areas: (i) the regulatory perimeter of Fintech firms – Fintech firms authorised and registered under EU law (including CRR/CRD, EMD, PSD2, MCD), Fintech firms regulated under national regimes, and non-regulated Fintech firms (in addition, the EBA will also explore ‘sandboxing’, ‘innovation hub’ schemes, etc.); (ii) risks (prudential and operational) and opportunities for credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic money institutions; (iii) impacts on the business models of credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic money institutions; (iv) consumer protection and retail conduct of business issues; (v) the impact of Fintech on the resolution of financial firms; and (vi) the impact of Fintech on AML/CFT.”
The EBA expects to publish follow-up papers in relation to the above priority policy areas as it seeks to ensure that its work on Fintech is consistent with the work of the Commission and the BCBS, as well as that of international forums including the FATF on AML/CFT-related issues. |
Advertising helps online property agents boost market share 19% | Heavy TV and radio advertising investment by online estate agents has helped the sector grow its share of the property market by 19% in Q3, according to customer intelligence firm TwentyCI. Even so, that still represents less than 5.5% of the overall market. Citing more than 29 billion pieces of data on property purchases and rentals, TwentyCI also said Q3 2017 property moves fell 6.2% YoY. However, home exchanges increased 15.2% and prices rose 1.5%. And while London saw a 9% surge in exchanges, prices slid 8.4%.
| http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/online-agents-share-of-market-bounces-up-19-as-millions-spent-on-tv-adverts-draw-in-consumers/ | 2017-10-06 15:55:46.467000 | Post navigation
Online agents’ share of the market has gone up 19% year on year – but still represents just under 5.5% of the market overall.
The finding is in a new report, out today, which says that the growth in online market share is testament to the power of advertising and the huge sums that have been spent on TV and radio adverts.
It is the second time that customer intelligence firm TwentyCI has issued a quarterly ‘home mover’ report. Its latest covers the three months to September.
While the firm is largely unknown to the industry – its customers include the likes of Heinz – we are told it does work with a number of estate agents, and that its interest in the property sector will become clearer as the months go by.
It claims to have exclusive access to over 29bn pieces of data covering property purchases and rentals.
Its new report says that in the third quarter there were 6.2% fewer home moves than in the same period last year.
However, exchanges across the UK were up 15.2% on the same period last year, with prices increasing by 1.5%.
In London exchanges were up by 9%, and prices down by 8.4%.
It was a patchy picture elsewhere, says Twenty CI: in Scotland and Wales, exchanges were up 30% year on year, but in the south-west were down 6%.
Today’s report finds the shift towards online agents continuing, with a 19% increase in market share meaning it now has 5.4% of the market, measured in terms of exchanges.
Colin Bradshaw, chief customer officer at TwentyCI, said: “The growth in online estate agents is testament to the power of advertising.
“We’ve seen the big players spending huge sums on TV and radio promotion.
“As the concept of online estate agents matures and consumers see more of their boards on display, it is likely that more people will see them as a credible alternative.
“That said, the online-only market is still a very small proportion of the overall market, so I doubt established agents are quaking in the boots yet – but now should not be the time for complacency either.”
Overall in the quarter, it says that in round figures, 261,000 exchanges took place.
Of this number, 246,667 were exchanges through high street agents, and 14,003 were exchanges through online firms.
A total of 64,000 deals fell through; 198,000 homes were withdrawn; and 271,000 were sold subject to contract.
A total of 308,104 properties, both sales and rentals, were new listings. |
World's tallest dam fails to attract foreign investment | The Rogun Hydropower Plant (HPP) in Tajikistan has failed to attract foreign investment, delaying the potential solution to the country’s energy crisis. Once complete, the plant could generate approximately 13 billion kWh of electricity per year, which would resolve energy shortages and provide a potential commodity for export. The project requires around $4bn to complete, with $277.2m allocated from the government. Criticism of the plant’s placement and its potential impact on neighbouring nations has caused interest to stall. | https://www.azernews.az/region/119832.html | 2017-10-06 14:49:59.477000 | 3 October 2017 09:47 (UTC+04:00)
By Kamila Aliyeva
Attraction of foreign investment for the construction of the Rogun Hydropower Plant (HPP), the world's tallest dam, remains the key issue that hinders and pulls back the project’s implementation.
The government of Tajikistan, which has suffered from electricity shortages for years, makes all possible efforts to complete the construction of dam that will solve the country’s energy problem.
By implementing the project, Tajikistan will be able to generate about 13 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. This will not only help the country to meet its domestic needs but also turn Tajikistan into a major exporter of electricity.
Approximately $4 billion is needed to complete the major energy project. About 2 billion somoni ($227,2 million) have been allocated from the state budget for the completion of the hydroelectric power station this year.
Therefore, the Tajik authorities decided to issue securities worth $1 billion for the completion of the Rogun HPP. At the first stage, bonds worth $500 million were put up for sale on the world markets.
Selling bonds internationally worth $500 million is an economic activity not sufficient enough to construct a giant dam like Rogun, Dr. Aftab Kazi, Senior Fellow at Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program in SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, told Azernews newspaper.
“Before Rogun could be constructed, all five Central Asian nations need to sit down together to reach a consensus about the distribution of water ratios between themselves. Ex-President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov was totally against it but Shavkat Mirziyoyev is more interested in Central Asian regional integration,” he said.
The dam should form a large Rogun reservoir with a total volume of 13.3 cubic meters. The project is criticized because of the location in the zone of high seismicity, landslide and mudflow processes, and the presence of a tectonic fault filled with rock salt under the base of the dam.
Uzbekistan has previously openly opposed the project. The Rogun HPP will dam the Vakhsh river, which is a major tributary to the Amu Darya river, one of the region's two major water courses. The neighboring countries cautioned water could be diverted from their cotton and wheat fields. Uzbekistan claimed that water flows would be seriously decreased in case the dam is built. But a World Bank assessment gave the go-ahead to the major project.
Currently, Uzbekistan’s position has also changed and become more tolerant. Thus, atmosphere for a water distribution accord appear is suitable now, according to the expert.
“Tajikistan could construct that dam from its quota, but that could also take years. Rogun is a part of CASA 1000 proposed by the U.S. around 2005/6 or so together with a dam on Darin River in Kyrgyzstan. Water levels in Darin fluctuate. Since 2007, water levels were so low that even Bishkek had to face electricity load shedding,” he said.
CASA1000 has lost its importance and that now remains only on paper, as Afghanistan is no more interested in the electricity project and has withdrawn, Kazi noted.
“As long as the Afghanistan stalemate continues, I doubt if Tajikistan could attract international investments other than from China,” he added.
CASA-1000 is an interregional electricity transmission project in Central and South Asia to connect four countries - Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It is presupposed that the project will create opportunities for the export of electricity surplus in summer period from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Groundbreaking for the project took place on May 12, 2016 in Tajikistan in a ceremony attended by the Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Pakistani Prime Ministers, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.
The project initially also included transfer of electricity to Afghanistan, however the country abandoned its share of electricity due to dearth of demand, hence Pakistan will receive 1,300 megawatts of electricity.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz |
Regus Regus looks to open in $3.5m mall redevelopment in New Zealand | Office space provider Regus plans to open a “rustic-industrial” premises in a NZD$5m ($3.5m) development in Dunedin, New Zealand in mid-January 2018. Over $3m is being spent on the 1,100 sq metre Mall 218 development on George Street, with Regus contributing $2m to interior fit-outs. The office space available ranges from open-plan areas to enclosed offices, and the site includes a reception area and café. The base membership for the space will begin at $149 per month, going up to $540 a month per person, with all associated costs included. When finished, the site will be able to accommodate 180 people.
| https://www.odt.co.nz/business/highly-flexible-office-space-options-welcome | 2017-10-06 14:36:35.170000 | A more than $5million mall redevelopment in George St is well under way, with global shared business space company Regus targeting its opening in mid-January.
More than $3million is being spent on construction at Mall 218, formerly the Harvest Court Mall, and a further $2million by Regus on the soft and hard fit-out of the office spaces.
Regus country manager for New Zealand Pierre Ferrandon said Regus offered "service agreements" for business people with flexible space options ranging from open-plan space to booths, enclosed offices or boardrooms, including reception and in-house cafe.
The completed 1100sq m space, formerly leased by Silver Fern Farms, will be designed around a "rustic-industrial" theme; exposing some of the building’s original structural timbers and brickwork, with total seating for up to 180 people.
A boardroom in one of the more than 3000 existing Regus shared space locations around the world. Photos: supplied
"The service agreement can be 30 minutes to three years. They can use whatever space they want and adapt it at any time," Mr Ferrandon said.
Building owner Carl Angus has over the past decade invested about $10million into redeveloping Mall 218, and yesterday said the Regus project was the "final piece" of redevelopment.
He said he was excited to be creating some "fresh options" for the city and its resident business community, plus attracting new businesses. Dunedin was short of quality office space and businesses increasingly valued flexibility, agility, and the ability to diversify to changes in the business environment, he said.
A community cafe in one of the more than 3000 existing Regus shared space locations around the world.
"This is an A-grade space smack in the middle of town," Mr Angus said.
While there were multiple space options, Mr Ferrandon said in Dunedin base membership would cost $149 per month, then range up to $540 per person for full-time occupation; which covered furniture, rent, IT, cleaning and electricity costs.
Auckland and Wellington have respectively five and three Regus spaces, with another two each planned for Christchurch and Auckland.
Regus was targeting eventually 60 spaces dotted around the country; the smallest being in townships of about 30,000, with about 5000 businesses so far on board, since arriving here in 2007, he said.
"Our goal is to build a national network of flexible workspaces to enable people to work wherever, whenever and however they want," Mr Ferrandon said.
The connectivity within Dunedin’s Gigatown status was also an attraction for overseas participating businesses, he said.
Founded in Brussels in 1989, Regus parent company IWG is listed on the UK’s FTSE stock exchange, with annual turnover of £2billion ($NZ3.7billion) from operations in 120 countries, 900 cities and more than 3000 locations.
Mr Ferrandon said many business people were not wanting to sign up to long-term leasing, noting business cycles were becoming shorter.
Another issue for businesses was pending regulatory changes to accounting standards next year with leases becoming booked ahead as a liability, and asset, on the books.
The Dunedin space would have two staff, plus an area manager for Otago and Southland, Aaron Kemp, with all IT and billing services centralised at one of three offshore locations, Mr Ferrandon said.
"Typically, it’s expensive in New Zealand with costs of $1200 to $1700 per square metre to develop office space ... that could mean a lease commitment for at least five or six years," Mr Ferrandon said.
"It’s ideal for business people who like not having a long-term [leasing] commitment; they can put that into other activities such as marketing," he said.
Associate director of Colliers International in Dunedin Dean Collins said the Regus’ openingwas "a vote of confidence for the city’s future".
"The city definitely needs the variety of flexible solutions Regus provides, especially for those businesses working in sectors such as creative industries, digital development, knowledge management and professional service," Mr Collins said.
Regus would provide much-needed A-grade office space, which was in short supply, and would assist in attracting outside investment to Dunedin, Mr Collins said.
[email protected] |
New Energy Solar to buy 130 MW portfolio of US PV plants | New Energy Solar (NES) will acquire 14 utility-scale solar plants from Cypress Creek Renewables (CCR) with capacity of 130 MW once completed in 2018. NES will take a $108m stake in CCR by the time the plants are commissioned. Ten of them will be based in North Carolina and four in Oregon. The facilities are due to sell energy according to 13- to 15-year fixed-price and escalating power purchase agreements (PPA). | http://reneweconomy.com.au/new-energy-solar-acquire-130mw-portfolio-pv-plants-cypress-creek-renewables-12060/ | 2017-10-06 13:41:16.087000 | SYDNEY, Australia and Austin, Texas – 6 October 2017 — New Energy Solar (NES) and Cypress Creek Renewables (CCR) today announced that New Energy Solar has entered into a binding agreement to acquire fourteen utility- scale solar plants, totaling 130 megawatts DC (MW), to be constructed by CCR and anticipated to be commercially operational in 2018.
On completion of the plants (the CCR Portfolio), New Energy Solar’s investment in the CCR Portfolio will be approximately US$108 million, paid progressively against specified development and construction milestones. The projects have been developed and designed by CCR and will serve utilities in North Carolina and Oregon.
Ten of the plants, totaling 71MW, will be constructed in North Carolina and, once constructed, will connect to the electrical systems of Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas (together, Duke), both subsidiaries of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK), the largest electric power holding company in the United States.
The other four plants, totaling 59MW, will be constructed in Oregon and have approval to connect to the electrical system of PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy (NYSE: BRK.A). Both Duke and Pacificorp are vertically-integrated, regulated utilities.
The CCR Portfolio plants are expected to sell power under 13 to 15-year fixed price and escalating power purchase agreements (PPA) to large utility offtakers, including Duke and PacifiCorp. Following expiry of the PPA terms, the plants can re-contract with those parties or enter into new contracts with other buyers.
North Carolina has a well-established solar development, construction, and asset management market. In addition, the state’s strong economic growth is forecast to continue, with a resulting positive outlook for electricity demand and pricing. Oregon is a growth state for solar development, and one of the fastest growing US states in GDP terms, resulting in a similarly positive outlook for electricity demand and pricing.
John Martin, New Energy Solar CEO said, “These high-quality projects and the proposed PPAs with creditworthy off-takers greatly increase our scale as an investor in solar and also enhance the diversity of our portfolio. In addition, the opportunity to work with Cypress as a long-term partner on these projects is very exciting.
They are one of the leading developers, constructors and operators of utility-scale solar power in the United States, with over 1GW of CCR-developed solar power plants in operation. Their expertise and excellent standing in the US renewables market is well-established and we look forward to the successful completion of these projects, as well as future opportunities to work together”. |
UK to ban sale of ivory | The UK, the largest exporter of legal ivory in the world, will ban the sale of the material, regardless of its age, according to the country’s environment secretary Michael Gove. The move is intended to prevent the laundering of illegal ivory; although the international ivory trade has been illegal since 1990, UK law currently allows for the trade of “antiques” carved before 1947 or items worked prior to 1990 that have government certificates. The ban will outlaw the sale of pre-1947 ivory, with exceptions for antiques including musical instruments and items of cultural value.
| https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/06/uk-ivory-trade-ban-help-end-shame-of-elephant-poaching | 2017-10-06 13:11:46.143000 | The UK government has bowed to campaigners and will ban the sale of ivory regardless of age, according to a new consultation.
The UK is the biggest exporter of legal ivory in the world and shutting down the trade will help prevent illegal ivory being laundered by criminals. More than 50 elephants are killed by poachers every day on average and the population of African elephants plunged by a third between 2007-14 alone, leading to warnings that the entire species could go extinct.
The international trade in ivory has been illegal since 1990 but currently the UK law allows trade in “antiques” carved before 1947, or items worked before 1990 that have government certificates. In September 2016, the then environment secretary Andrea Leadsom pledged to ban the sale of items carved before 1990, but not before 1947, although no progress was made on implementation.
The new ban, put forward on Friday by Leadsom’s successor, Michael Gove, will prohibit the sale of pre-1947 ivory. This represents a U-turn and comes as a surprise – the Conservatives removed a pledge on ivory from their 2017 general election manifesto in June that had been in the 2015 manifesto.
Gove said: “The decline in the elephant population fuelled by poaching for ivory shames our generation. The need for radical and robust action to protect one of the world’s most iconic and treasured species is beyond dispute. These plans will put the UK front and centre of global efforts to end the insidious trade in ivory.”
The government was put under pressure by a wide range of campaign groups and prominent individuals including the former Conservative leader William Hague, the primatologist Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking and Ricky Gervais. Within the Tory party, the foreign secretary Boris Johnson and the former environment secretary Owen Paterson have pressed for a complete ban.
The proposed ban does suggest a number of exceptions for antique ivory items, including musical instruments, items of significant cultural value and those containing only a small amount of ivory, which the government says do not contribute to the poaching of elephants.
The government’s move was welcomed by John Stephenson at the Stop Ivory group. “The unprecedented crisis we face – with Africa’s natural heritage being destroyed and communities put at risk due to poaching by illegal armed gangs – will only stop when people stop buying ivory,” he said. “Along with our partners, we congratulate the government on this important step and look forward to working with it to ensure the ban is implemented robustly and without delay.”
WWF said the ban must be implemented within a year, if the UK is to maintain its leading role. But Tanya Steele, WWF’s CEO, said: “This illegal trade involving organised criminals is a global problem requiring global solutions: to end it anywhere means ending it everywhere. This is about a lot more than banning ivory sales in one country. It means working with global leaders and communities around the world, particularly in China and south-east Asia, to implement bans and stop the illegal trade.”
There has been significant progress in the last year to reduce demand for elephant ivory. In December 2016, China, home of the world’s largest legal and illegal ivory markets, announced it will ban the domestic trade by the end of 2017. In June, Hong Kong – the largest city market for ivory – published a bill to ban the ivory trade by 2021.
In October 2018, the UK will host a major international conference on the illegal wildlife trade, bringing global leaders to London to tackle the strategic challenges of the trade. The government’s ivory ban consultation will run for 12 weeks, closing on 29 December. |
Shell to begin retail electricity sales in Turkey | Shell Energy is expected to being selling retail electricity in Turkey, according to Turkish newspaper, Dünya Daily. The company is intent on expanding its natural gas, renewable and electricity operations in the country. "The Turkish energy sector has achieved quick growth as the country's energy demands increase", said the head of Shell Energy Europe, David Wells. | https://www.dailysabah.com/energy/2017/10/06/shell-to-enter-turkeys-retail-electricity-market | 2017-10-06 12:43:42.813000 | Operating in the wholesale electricity market since 2014, Shell Energy A.Ş. is poised to begin retail electricity trade in Turkey, particularly in the industrial sector, a report by the Dünya daily has claimed.
The global energy giant has operated in Turkey since the foundation of the Republic in 1923. Now, it is planning to expand its operations in natural gas, electricity and non-carbon energy. For electricity generation, the company is looking to benefit from renewable energy sources.
Shell runs its natural gas and electricity supply operations under Shell Energy, which is currently expanding its businesses in Europe and Turkey.
Highlighting that Shell has been involved in electricity wholesale business since 2014, the head of Shell Energy Europe, David Wells, elaborated on the company's plans for 2018.
After having started electricity retailing to industrial customers in the U.K., Germany, and Italy, Shell is looking to launch sales in Turkey next, Wells told Dünya.
He drew attention to the importance of supply and emphasized Turkey's developed wholesale electricity market could be the company's source.
Further elaborating on Turkey's significance in the European energy market, Wells said: "The Turkish energy sector has achieved quick growth as the country's energy demands increase."
He also said that Shell has been operating in the Turkish natural gas market for ten years and it was the first private sector exporter.
However, he also said that unlike the electricity market, there is a lack of liberalization in Turkey's natural gas market, where approximately 80 percent is controlled by the state-run Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ). |
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