According to some statistics, the percentage of AR users is expected to become 17% by 2022 which is almost a fifth of the consumer market. As consumer hardware gets lighter, faster, more power-efficient, and as companies get used to the AR user interface paradigms, this rate of adoption is on track to steadily increase.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, initially had the goal of developing human-like intelligence that allows a machine to learn, plan, reason, process natural language, or perceive things. 

CDAO Financial Services Online Asia will focus on how organisations are uncovering maximum value from their data and analytics assets and embedding their data strategy within day-to-day processes, through live interviews and interactive panel discussions with Chief Data Officers from UOB, Bank of Singapore, Standard Chartered, FWD Insurance, plus many, many more. Specific focus will be given to how the financial services industry is handling the challenges of risk management, compliance, regulation, governance, metadata, and operationalising AI.

Current renewable energy adoption is on the rise in countries all around the world. In 2019, approximately 11% of global energy was produced through renewable technologies. The global renewable energy market was valued at $928 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2025. There is a huge opportunity in setting up services that ride this wave of progress. Currently, renewable energy is hampered by the lack of funding in research and the high cost of materials and technology.

Leaders of colleges, universities, and other types of higher learning institutions may wonder how EarlyBirds can help them. The answer lies in the effectiveness of their ‘Innovation Ecosystem’. They have created such platforms as their Early Birds Platform. This platform is a dedicated ecosystem that can bring together the leaders of higher education facilities with tech innovators, early adopter leaders, and SME consultants. This then facilitates the ongoing collaboration and exchange of actionable innovation between these parties to come up with a ground-breaking growth solution for a higher learning institution.

Picture (from left to right):  Co-founders Jeff Penrose, Kris Poria and CFO James Palmer

Those interested in taking advantage of the services provided by EarlyBirds will find that getting started is easy. They need only register as an Innovator, Early Adopter or be a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Consultant Partner to access and interact in the EarlyBirds Marketplace. Registration for the marketplace is free, and one can then choose a subscription that suits their particular needs. They offer a free trial for anyone who wants to try out the platform before making a commitment.

There are many examples of why the CIO needs to be more proactive and strategic because of the impact of new technologies, such as mobile-first consumer shopping preferences and the use of AI in critical decision making. Technology will now need to drive the business and in this, the CIO has a critical role. The CIO can do this by focusing on three key strategies. First, the role of technology in the organisation must be redefined. Second, the delivery of technology has to be reinvented. This means enhancing IT services by using next-generation capabilities. Third, is to ensure that the organisation is future-proof. This means keeping pace with rapid technological developments by implementing a flexible architecture that is supported by modular platforms, using advanced cybersecurity to protect systems, and enabling data ubiquity.

The mass distribution of the COVID vaccine presents several challenges for both the public and private sectors due to a number of reasons. These include the need for cold chain storage at sub-zero temperatures; record keeping; the presence of a variety of participants and stakeholders; the complexity of supply chains; and the need for proof of immunisation. Some of these difficulties arise from the time the vaccine is manufactured until the vaccine is finally used. One of the major challenges is the need to monitor supplies through the supply chain that is handled by various organisations in different countries, regions and localities. These different organisations will be utilising different software and this may result in challenges with regards to sharing data because of legislation, compliance, and security issues.

Agriculture is one of the industries that is grandfathered in its ways of operations and is slow to respond to modern developments. Its methods are firmly planted in the past as there is constant friction against innovative solutions. As a result, one of the biggest problems in agriculture is the difficulty in gathering exact field data for analysis. In cases where the data is collected, the problem becomes the eventual analysis, visualization, and extraction of useful information from the data so that business leaders can make informed decisions regarding the industry. This is a two-pronged problem that can only be solved with the combined application of existing technologies with the cross-pollination of the knowledge from experts from other digital-first industries.

The worst thing that can happen to any business is for their creativity and innovation to become stagnant. Even the strongest companies cannot afford to rely on established products or services over the long haul unless those products have been transformed or improved. That makes supporting an innovation culture so important for any type of business if they want to grow or continue to sustain a long period of success. The problem is, so many companies simply do not know how to go about nurturing an impactful innovation culture.

The company says that there are many challenges facing the banking and finance sectors in the coming decade. It cites examples such as the rise in cybercrime, analysis of vast quantities of data, the opportunity of using artificial intelligence, and many others. The company says that each opportunity and threat pose unique challenges to overcome. The reason large institutions such as banks and other financial behemoths are slow to respond to market changes is that they are mired in regulation and red tape that slows down momentum when it comes to responding to the changing landscape.

By subscribing to the EarlyBirds platform Innovators become part of a global open ecosystem consisting of three pillars: startup, scaleup and mature Innovators, Early Adopters private and public sector businesses and Subject Matter Expert consultants. When an Innovator joins the EarlyBirds platform they not only have a choice of subscription options, but they also gain visibility to other subscribers and users of the platform.