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Long leases could be WeWork’s undoing
 We take a deep dive through WeWork's financial statements.

When WeWork launched in the UK it ran at a loss, taking in less in rent than it paid out for its leases.

A lot of those losses came from launch costs and fitting out new buildings.

The revenue-profit gap looks small enough that WeWork doesn't have to go far to be profitable.

Whether the company is worth its purported $17 billion valuation remains an open question.

The reception area at WeWork's SoHo-Sheraton House location in London. WeWork

LONDON — WeWork launched in Britain in 2014 and for more than a year ran at a loss, renting out its space for less money in total than it paid to lease the buildings it controlled.

Between October 2014 and the end of 2015, WeWork's finances looked like this, according to copies of its accounts filed with Companies House:

Total revenues: £13.6 million

£13.6 million Leasing costs: £18.3 million

£18.3 million Net loss: £14.4 million

The top and bottom lines suggest that WeWork is renting to its customers for less than what it pays landlords to obtain its offices. But the numbers only show a snapshot in time after WeWork's UK launch, when the company was spending money to get itself set up here, and before some locations were open to paying customers.

The numbers offer a glimpse inside one of the hottest "unicorn" startups on the planet. London is the company's second largest city.

The company was valued at a staggering $17 billion (£13.1 billion) at its last investment round. It is funded as if it were a tech startup even though the core of its business is the provision of physical office space. The curiosity around WeWork's finances are intense: People want to know why a property company is being treated by venture capitalists as if it were a social media app; they want to know if it is possible to make short-term profits on long-term leases; and most of all they wonder whether it can ever meet the sky-high valuation that has been laid upon it.

WeWork begins paying its leases on the day it signs a contract for a new building, yet it cannot accept new "members" as tenants until the building is renovated, a period called the "fit-out." A fit-out typically takes four to six months, and a WeWork location might not reach 90%-plus occupancy until nine months later, multiple sources familiar with WeWork's business, both inside and outside the company, told Business Insider.

On that basis, WeWork's business model shows promise.

The roof area of WeWork in Soho, London. WeWork

Back-of-the-envelope calculations show WeWork's leases could theoretically generate more rent than their costs: In its 14-month launch "year" in Britain, WeWork's revenues were 35% less than the cost of its property leases. Thirty-five percent of 14 months is 5 months — roughly the same time as a typical fit-out. That implies that the rent on a fully occupied WeWork building would break even on its lease before its first full year.

Early loss-making periods are typical for new businesses, as companies hire staff and develop their products before going out to find customers. As such, WeWork's financial numbers look typical for a startup. The company told us it was profitable on its "mature locations" (buildings open for nine months or more). A spokesperson said:

“WeWork is stronger than ever. In 2016, the company doubled its buildings, cities, countries, members and revenue run rate, and tripled gross profit in mature locations."

"In the years 2014 through 2015 (which this filing reflects), WeWork was setting up its business in the UK and investing heavily here. This was a period of intense growth and expansion for the company as we set up our first European locations and operations."

WeWork's London Fields location has a vintage truck for a reception desk. WeWork

Today, WeWork has 2,200 employees, more than 100,000 members, at 140-plus locations in 44 cities worldwide. It has taken $3.69 billion (£2.85 billion) in funding from investors such as Benchmark , Fidelity, Wellington , JP Morgan Chase , Goldman Sachs, and Hony Capital.

The company was last valued at a reported $17 billion.

It is that "$17 billion" unicorn number that has people like Stratechery analyst Ben Thompson asking questions. In 2015, when WeWork was reportedly worth "only" $10 billion (£7.7 billion), Thompson said in an email to his clients:

"It's easy to be skeptical: WeWork is for all intents and purposes engaging in arbitrage. It rents commercial real estate at one price (preferably a low one -- WeWork focuses on new developments where it can be an anchor tenant with its attendant ~10% discount) chops it up, adds a ping pong table and a beer tap, and rents it out at another significantly higher one. Neat trick, except that Regus [a traditional property broker], with 2,500 locations in 110 countries, does pretty much the same thing and has been valued by the public markets as a $3.74 billion company."

WeWork doesn't just make money on renting space, however. It also offers various types of services and "community" benefits. The company gives tenants an app store (in the US), offering more than 100 services such as office software, chat apps like Slack, and car rentals. It is those add-ons plus the underlying rent fees that get WeWork to profitability, the numbers suggest.

Yes, there is ping pong. WeWork

"The reception WeWork has had in the UK has been exceptional and the level of demand in London was apparent immediately, fueling our continued expansion here," a spokesperson told Business Insider.

"In London alone, WeWork has more than doubled the number of locations and members in 2016, and we plan to do so again in 2017. Our UK occupancy is at or above 90% marketwide. We continue to see unprecedented strength and diversity in our global member community, which includes entrepreneurs, SMEs and large corporates. We are proud to have Business Insider as a member company in San Francisco.” (Disclosure: Business Insider is indeed a tenant of WeWork in that city.)

Income Statement

Here is WeWork's income statement, as filed with Companies House, the UK corporate accounting databank:

Companies House

The key numbers are:

Revenue : £11.9 million

: £11.9 million Other operating income : £1.7 million

: £1.7 million Administrative expenses : £3 million

: £3 million Other operating expenses : £25 million

: £25 million Operating loss: £14.3 million

Most of those "operating expenses" are WeWork's leasing costs — £18.3 million — which are broken out elsewhere:

Companies House

The bull case for WeWork is that £13.6 million in total revenue on underlying lease costs of £18.3 million, in just the first 14 months of business, means that WeWork doesn't have to go very far to become profitable and run on its own revenues.

The bear case against WeWork is that its leases are believed to be very long — two sources told us that typical WeWork leases in London are 15 years to 25 years. Payments on such leases tend to increase in increments over time. The obvious question is what happens in a downturn, when demand for office space declines and rental prices go down? Won't WeWork be stuck in a market where the price of rent falls below the level of its leases?

WeWork defenders say that in a recession, larger companies will seek smaller, more flexible working spaces. And laid-off employees will become freelancers and entrepreneurs. They will all need WeWork-type spaces, which rent for the low hundreds of pounds per month. So We Work gets clients on the way up, when demand for office spaces increases, and on the way down, when the demand for smaller, flexible spaces increases.

It is also notable that on top of the £18.3 million in lease costs there were a further £5.5 million in other running costs. Again, high costs are normal for a company launching from scratch. But still — these are the numbers that will have to decline in proportion over time, if WeWork is to live up to its reputation.

Even if you do not believe that WeWork will be immune from the normal boom-bust cycle of capitalism, it is well-funded, via its US parent. Here is a look at the balance sheet of the UK division.

Balance Sheet: Assets

WeWork

Balance Sheet: Liabilities

Companies House

Balance Sheet: Equity

Companies House

The cashflow statement indicates that WeWork is cashflow positive, but mostly because it borrowed £56.4 million from its parent company at launch.

Cashflow statement

Companies House

The company does not break out its cash from operating activities beyond that £15 million top line. But, interestingly, its operating cashflow is greater than the revenue it recognises on its income statement – a healthy sign for a growing business. It usually means the company has the power to delay payments where it owes money and get paid first by its customers. (The income statement is a formal comparison of a company's costs and revenues; the cashflow statement examines the actual movement of money through the company.)

Companies operating in the UK must file their accounts with the government annually, but they have a 12 month grace period to do so — which explains why these numbers are so old. The next set, detailing the 12 months of 2016, are likely to be filed after the end of this year. They will show more like-for-like revenues on locations that have been open long enough to reach 90% occupancy or "maturity."

Of course, as WeWork is still expanding, they will also contain numbers for new buildings where costs are racing ahead of revenues. The key will be to see whether WeWork can improve its profitability as it grows. If it can do so, then there will be fewer doubters for that $17 billion price tag.

Output: The bear case against WeWork is that its leases are believed to be very long — sources have said typical WeWork leases in London are 15 years to 25 years. Payments on such leases tend to increase in increments over time. The obvious question is what happens in a downturn, when demand for office space declines and rental prices go down? Won't WeWork be stuck in a market where the price of rent falls below the level of its leases?


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Twitter launches first subscription ads product for small businesses
 Twitter has launched its first subscription ads product in public beta, helping small businesses and individuals to promote their tweets and attract followers for a monthly fee.

Promote Mode, which Twitter began trialling back in July, costs a flat fee of $99 per month and requires no ad campaign management. Through the mode, businesses or individuals tweet as normal, and their tweets and profile are automatically promoted.

“We know that budding businesses and individuals with personal brands want to grow their presence on Twitter, but this can be hard — especially for those who are new to Twitter,” said Wook Chung, director of product management at Twitter, in a blog post. “Promote Mode fills a need for simplicity and continuous results that many people on Twitter have been seeking.”

The promotion feature is mobile-first and its dashboard can be accessed via the Twitter app by tapping on the ‘Promote Mode’ icon in the menu drawer. Here, users are able to see how many additional people their tweets reached, how many followers they gained, and how many people have visited their profile in that month. The results will vary depending on account type, targeting selection, and frequency of tweets.

The new mode is available in public beta in the US and the UK. Twitter says it will also be rolled out to Japan ‘in the near future’.

Join us at the 2017 Effective Mobile Marketing Awards Ceremony, taking place in London on Thursday 16 November, to mix with the industry's best and brightest, and raise a glass to the year's best campaigns and solutions. To find out more, and to book your place, click here.

Output: Twitter has launched the public beta test of Promote Mode, its first subscription ads product which automatically promotes tweets for businesses. The mobile-first feature costs $99 per month, while the accompanying dashboard offers a breakdown of reach, monthly visits and additional followers data. In a blog post, Wook Chung, director of product management at Twitter, said the tool "filled a need for simplicity and continuous results".


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JPMorgan is backing WeWork because of ‘Coase’s Law’
 One of WeWork's trendy flexible offices in Paddington, London. WeWork

The New York-based firm has attracted over $4.75 billion of funding to date and is worth over $20 billion .

A theory described by Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase explains why WeWork-style offerings hold so much appeal for the start-ups and growing firms.

LONDON — The rise of co-working start-up WeWork has been spectacular.

Founded in 2010, the New York-based firm has attracted billions of pounds worth of funding to date with its millennial-friendly offering of short-term leases, trendy spaces. The company is currently valued at over $20 billion, and there's also widely-rumoured IPO in the pipeline.

Reversing Coase's Law

One of WeWork's most prominent backers is JP Morgan, which led an early $150 million funding round in 2014 which saw the firm valued at $1.5 billion.

Speaking at a panel discussion hosted by commercial property agents CBRE in London on Tuesday, a JP Morgan analyst explained why WeWork-style offerings hold so much appeal for the start-ups and growing firms.

JP Morgan carried out research into the growing propensity for flexible workspace, and settled upon a law of economics called Coase's Law cited by Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, in his book "How Google Works."

Coase's Law, expressed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase, attempts to explain why big firms emerge, and it goes like this: Large firms emerged in the twentieth century because, after taking transaction costs into account, it was often more efficient to get things done within a firm, rather than contracting out on the open market.

"It was expensive to use the external market for transactions, whether it was getting pencils or accounting," the analyst said. "You had to go out and find a vendor, you had to search for reputation and price and negotiate. So you would internalise a lot as many functions as you could until the cost of doing it internally matched the external cost."

That environment meant the twentieth century was dominated by corporations that were big hierarchies or closed networks, which only worked with a tightly-controlled group of partners.

"What you do is you put that behind a big marble and glass lobby that basically says 'F off' to the world," he said. "You're not sharing. And if you look at big corporate office space, that's basically what it looks like."

That changed when the internet arrived.

"Now we've got the interweb. Connectivity is so cheap and you can go out and externalise so many more corporate functions. And there's people competing in each of those spaces, trying to improve and do it at a lower cost, so what firms are now doing is organising themselves for an open network."

That "means a vastly different type of real estate. Big firms are opening up their networks because it's now cheaper to use the market and small firms don't need to grow."

Analysts still have serious questions about WeWork's business model: when it launched in the UK, it ran at a loss, taking less in rent than it paid out for its leases, but its appeal is permanent.

"It's the reverse of Coase's law and I think it's a very powerful model for explaining why perhaps the demand side is permanent," he said.

Output: WeWork is tapping into a reversal of Coase’s Law that means companies today are plugging into open networks instead of keeping functions in-house. "Now we've got the interweb. Connectivity is so cheap and you can go out and externalise so many more corporate functions”, a JPMorgan analyst said. That "means a vastly different type of real estate. Big firms are opening up their networks because it's now cheaper to use the market and small firms don't need to grow."


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AI finds potentially dangerous cracks in nuclear reactors
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Email You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. University Purdue University

A new system that uses artificial intelligence to find cracks captured in videos of nuclear reactors could help reduce accidents as well as maintenance costs, researchers report.

“Regular inspection of nuclear power plant components is important to guarantee safe operations,” says Mohammad R. Jahanshahi, an assistant professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University.

“However, current practice is time-consuming, tedious, and subjective and involves human technicians reviewing inspection videos to identify cracks on reactors,” Jahanshahi says.

The fact that nuclear reactors are submerged in water to maintain cooling complicates the inspection process. Consequently, direct manual inspection of a reactor’s components is not feasible due to high temperatures and radiation hazards. Technicians review remotely recorded videos of the underwater reactor surface, a procedure that is vulnerable to human error.

Checking the tape

Researchers are proposing a “deep learning” framework called a naïve Bayes-convolutional neural network to analyze individual video frames for crack detection. An innovative “data fusion scheme” aggregates the information from each video frame to enhance the overall performance and robustness of the system.

Convolutional neural networks are a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning that have been instrumental in the development of various commercial products capable of facial and speech recognition.

The new system detects cracks in overlapping “patches” in each video frame while the data fusion algorithm scheme is capable of tracking the crack from one frame to the next. The approach achieves a 98.3 percent success rate, which is significantly higher than other state-of-the-art approaches, Jahanshahi says.

Cracks lead to leaks

The United States is the world’s largest supplier of commercial nuclear power, which provides around 20 percent of the nation’s total electric energy. Between 1952 to 2010, there have been 99 major nuclear power incidents worldwide that cost more than $20 billion and led to 4,000 fatalities. Fifty-six incidents occurred in the United States.

The algorithm mimics the ability of human vision to scrutinize cracks from different angles.

“One important factor behind these incidents has been cracking that can lead to leaking,” Jahanshahi says. “Nineteen of the above incidents were related to cracking or leaking, costing $2 billion. Aging degradation is the main cause that leads to function losses and safety impairments caused by cracking, fatigue, embrittlement, wear, erosion, corrosion, and oxidation.”

Although several vision-based crack detection approaches have been developed for concrete, rock, or pavement surfaces, only a few approaches consider crack detection on metallic surfaces. The majority of existing approaches focus on detecting cracks in a single image.

“If a crack is not detected in these single images or a noisy pattern is falsely detected as a crack in the image, no other information is available to correct the detection results,” he says.

Developing the system

To develop and evaluate the proposed system, researchers collected videos of 20 underwater specimens representing internal nuclear power plant components. They scanned samples at 30 frames per second, and the convolutional neural network examined each frame for cracks. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a nonprofit organization that the electric utility industry funds provided the data.

As the data-fusion algorithm observes a crack from one frame to the next it is able to account for changing configurations due to the moving camera, pinpointing the location of the crack. The algorithm mimics the ability of human vision to scrutinize cracks from different angles, which is important because some cracks are obscured by the play of light and shadow, Jahanshahi says.

“Data fusion comes up with more robust decision making than would otherwise be possible,” he says.

The approach also uses powerful graphical processing units to train the neural network how to detect cracks with a dataset that contains around 300,000 crack and non-crack patches, he says.

The researchers have filed a patent application on the crack-detection technology through the Purdue Research Foundation’s Office of Technology Commercialization.

The research team also is using deep learning to detect corrosion in photographs of metal surfaces, a technology that could potentially inspect structures such as light poles and bridges. The researchers reported the details of that work in a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Structural Health Monitoring.

Future research will include work to further improve the technologies.

The researchers detail their work in the journal IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. Computer engineering doctoral student Fu-Chen Chen was Jahanshahi’s coauthor.

Source: Purdue University

Output: Researchers at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University have developed an AI system capable of identifying potentially disastrous cracks in nuclear reactors. Monitoring cracks is paramount to reducing costs and fatalities at nuclear plants, according to Mohammad R. Jahanshahi, assistant professor at Lyles. "Ageing degradation is the main cause that leads to function losses and safety impairments caused by cracking", said Jahanshahi. The researchers have filed a patent application on the crack-detection technology through the Purdue Research Foundation’s Office of Technology Commercialization.


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Rauch develops drone for fertiliser distribution
 We’ve all heard of ‘agricultural’ drones that can monitor your crops. However, Rauch will shortly unveil a unit that can spread fertiliser.

Rauch’s engineers have essentially modified an eight-rotor Agronator ‘Octocopter’, which weighs 80kg and boasts a diameter of 4m.

The modified unit’s on-board fertiliser hopper can carry 30kg of fertiliser.

So far, the drone has been tested spreading anti-slug bait, small seeds and mineral fertiliser. Its spreading system is an electrically-driven, one-disc unit – dubbed DRACO (Drone Application Copter); it is fed from a 50L hopper.

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Not surprisingly, Rauch says that the single biggest advantage is the drone’s ability to spread fertiliser regardless of ground conditions – simply because the unit flies well above the potential quagmire below.

Therefore, says the company, soil compaction or field damage is simply not an issue.

Thanks to its GPS technology, Rauch says that it is possible to “exactly define flight

routes and even individual spreading areas”. It is simply a case of pressing a button; then the so-called CultiCopter automatically follows the predefined flight route.

The DRACO spreading unit automatically adjusts the application rate and working width, as per user requirements. It is also possible to record data from each run.

Two lithium-polymer batteries – or accumulators as Rauch refers to them – apparently provide enough energy for up to 40 minutes of flight-time. It then takes 20 minutes to recharge the unit – before it’s able to embark on its next fertiliser-spreading mission.

The unit will be on display at next week’s massive Agritechnica show in Germany.

World’s largest machinery exhibition: Should you be there?

Output: Engineers at Rauch have developed a drone that is reportedly capable of distributing fertiliser payloads of up to 30kg to crops. According to Rauch, the drone will eliminate issues of soil compaction and field damage that have consistently plagued the fertiliser distribution industry. The drone is capable of 40 minutes of flight-time, with a full unit charge taking 20 minutes. The unit will be available for viewing at the Agritechnica show in Germany, which takes place between 12 and 18 November.


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By Degrees releases app targeting Indian English learners
 “For many years online learning has held a lot of promise, but hasn’t delivered much”, CEO of By Degrees Danny Bielik states in a catchy promo video on the firm’s website.

He explained that By Degrees developed the product after learning of Indian students’ struggle to get through English proficiency tests from agency association AAERI.

“[AAERI] came to me with this problem, [students are having] a difficulty with English, and IELTS especially. A lot of kids are just not getting through the test,” he said.

The Australian company aims to solve the problem of low completion rates in e-learning, and the high numbers of Indians under-30 who are not in education employment or training, with a fully mobile product that will act like a conversation to encourage attainment.

“We’re not delivering long, didactic lectures with exercises at the end,” Bielik told The PIE News.

He explained that the learning experience will be, visually at least, much like a multi-contributor conversation on existing messaging applications.

“It looks like a Whatsapp conversation. And over the years people have established ad hoc learning groups this way anyway,” he said.

“It’s not a great secret that the PTE, especially in India, is booming”

“[University students] establish groups in [messenger services] where they say ‘read this’, ‘what do you reckon about that’, ‘how would you go about this’ and so on and so forth,” Bielik continued.

According to figures discussed at an AAERI meeting in early 2017, 80% of all web traffic in India is via mobile devices.

With that in mind, Burst Learning will initially focus on English and training for the Pearson Test of English. Bielik told The PIE News that this was an obvious choice for the firm’s initial venture.

“It’s not a great secret that the PTE, especially in India, is booming. The numbers are exploding. Canada just accepted the PTE for their visa application, so projected numbers are going through the roof,” he related.

“English test prep is a big industry in India… Almost all agencies have their own training department”

By Degrees thinks the Indian market is ripe for this type of short form, fast-paced, and crucially, mobile style of learning – another form of “nano-learning” which The PIE News covered in 2015.

Ravi Lochan Singh, managing director of Indian education travel agency Global Reach, agrees with Bielick that mobile test preparation could find fertile ground in India, though his positivity is not without reservation.

“English test prep is a big industry in India… Almost all agencies have their own training department or work with an outsourced third party. There is a scope for technology being introduced…if the mobile based delivery is cost effective, it will find a niche,” he said.

But Singh doubts that mobile technology such as Burst Learning will be the death knell for brick and mortar training colleges.

“How much will it replace face to face training[?] I am not sure.”

By Degrees aims to venture across Asia soon after their first year is complete.

“We’re very much an Asia-focused business, but what we’re doing here has global applicability… we’re hoping to expand quite rapidly,” Bielick told The PIE.

Output: Australian edtech company By Degrees has unveiled its Burst Learning product in India, a way of teaching English using a WhatsApp-like conversation thread. The company aims to provide a mobile-only service to help Indian students get through the popular Pearson Test of English (PTE). By Degrees' CEO Danny Bielick explains the targeting of PTE students by saying: "The numbers are exploding. Canada just accepted the PTE for their visa application, so projected numbers are going through the roof."


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MasterCard pushes India towards 'digital payments ecosystem'
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Mastercard DigiRath Takes Off to Fulfill Government’s Digital India Dream

Mastercard DigiRath Takes Off to Fulfill Government’s Digital India Dream

The DigiRath will support the government’s target of powering 2500 crore digital transactions by March 2018 and bring more transparency and efficiency.

Mastercard (File Photo)

New Delhi, November 8: Mastercard India and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Wednesday came together to revolutionise the digital payments ecosystem in India. This move is believed to encourage Indian consumers and merchants to pay and accept digital payments. Mastercard and CAIT on Wednesday marked Demonetisation’s anniversary by flagging of Digital Rath for a cashless India. Under the partnership, CAIT and Mastercard will organise workshops on electronic payments across five cities in India that include Lucknow, Kolkata, Pondicherry, Navi Mumbai & Bhopal.

Highlights Mastercard India and CAIT came together to revolutionise the digital payments ecosystem

It will encourage Indian consumers and merchants to pay and accept digital payment

Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani flagged off the Digital Rath from New Delhi today. The Minister said that debit card transactions have gone up by 103% in the last one year. “Our citizens & merchants have embraced digital transactions proactively; contributing to India’s development. “Small merchants are the backbone of Indian economy & a less-cash society will bring more transparency. This initiative by Mastercard India & CAIT is commendable”, she added.

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#MastercardDigiRath flags off in New Delhi; launches a movement that aims to reach merchants across Lucknow, Kolkata, Pondicherry, Navi Mumbai & Bhopal for a @cashlessbano India. @_digitalIndia @Mastercard @TEAMCAIT pic.twitter.com/VOFxSP0fiB — Mastercard India (@mastercardindia) November 8, 2017

While addressing #CashlessBano India conference, Irani said that in past one-year Mobile Transactions increased by 218% & Debit Card Transactions increased by 103%. Apart from this, UPI transactions surged from 3.8 mn in April’17 To 77 mn in October’17.

What is Mastercard DigiRath?

DigitalRath will motivate trading fraternity transforming from cash-based business formats to technology-led #DigitalPayments. #CashlessBano

The Digital Rath is going to be a PAN India campaign covering 20,000 kms addressing more than 10 lac people.

There will be 30 Digital Rath for #CashlessBano India campaign to promote Digital India.

The DigiRath aims to reach merchants across Lucknow, Kolkata, Pondicherry, Navi Mumbai & Bhopal for a cashless India.

The DigiRath will support the government’s target of powering 2500 crore digital transactions by March 2018 and bring more transparency and efficiency. In October, Masterccard launched its first innovation lab in India in Pune to work on new commerce, payment and technology ideas for the rapidly growing digital economy in the country. As per reports, Mastercard Labs in India is the company’s ninth lab in the world and the second in Asia Pacific (following Singapore). The lab will also support and work with start-ups developing next generation, breakthrough commerce solutions through Mastercard’s Start Path programme.

For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Business News on India.com.

Output: MasterCard is encouraging India towards a 'digital payments ecosystem', partnering with the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to roll out their Digital Rath campaign nationwide. Speaking at the launch, Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani highlighted the 103% increase in digital transactions in the last year. “Small merchants are the backbone of Indian economy & a less-cash society will bring more transparency. This initiative by Mastercard India & CAIT is commendable”, said Irani.


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European sweatshops supply major brands
 AMSTERDAM – Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) has published a report claiming that the garment and apparel industry is host to poverty wages and sweatshops across Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. CCC says the factories are customers of major fashion brands such as Benetton, Espirit, GEOX, Triumph and Vera Moda and that many workers in Ukraine earn EUR89 per month, despite overtime and the ‘living wage’ being five times that.

Output: Clothes factories supplying major brands pay poverty wages and provide dangerous working conditions across Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, according to a report by the Clean Clothes Campaign. The report claims that workers in Ukraine earn €89 ($103) per month including overtime, equivalent to a fifth of the “living wage”, and that approximately 1.7 million workers in the region’s garment sector live in poverty. The research also reveals that forced overtime is widespread, along with exposure to heat and chemicals. Abuse by managers is also common, and skilled female workers are particularly badly paid.


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Russia's Robomed uses blockchain for healthcare network
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Blockchain technologies are slowly seeping into every conceivable market. And if one Russian company succeeds, the health care industry will be the next to be feel the impact of this new technology.

Robomed Network, a Moscow-based startup founded by health care entrepreneur Philipp Mironovich, has launched an initial coin offering using Ethereum to raise $30 million from investors. The company is riding the astonishing wave of ICOs this year that are rewriting the rules for which companies can raise money and where.

Located about as far from Silicon Valley as one can get, Robomed is a pretty good example of how ICOs have opened new fundraising doors. But perhaps more critically, it’s also emblematic of the ways blockchain technologies have moved far beyond their cryptocurrency roots.

For Mironovich, blockchain is potentially a tool to help deliver better and less expensive health care without patients or doctors needing to know the first thing about the technology.

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“It guarantees the patients that the doctor they go to will have the best treatment for them,” Mironovich said. “This will help ensure that people, particularly in developing nations, received good value for their money.”

Mironovich launched into the health care industry in a way that would be difficult to imagine in the United States: He started a chain of hospitals in Russia known as Open Clinics. He opened his first when he was 21 years old and now operates five, using loans and revenue from the hospitals to continue to expand.

Image Credit: Robomed

As he did so, he began thinking about the technical infrastructure and how to reinvent it across his hospitals. He and a team of several developers spent a couple of years and about $1 million creating the Robomed Network system.

The idea is to use blockchain technology to create smart contracts and payment systems between patients and doctors. The system helps set a market-based price between doctor and patient. The smart contract lays out milestones for diagnosis and treatment, with various metrics and checkpoints along the way.

A patient puts money into the Robomed system using cash or a credit card, and it’s held there in a virtual currency wallet. As the doctor proceeds through the contract, some money is released along the way.

On the front end, the system also allows patients to list symptoms, suggest possible medical issues, and then get matched with doctors who have expertise in those areas, Mironovich said.

So far, 23 clinics have signed on to use the Robomed platform, and now the company is looking to accelerate its growth. To do that, it launched the ICO a few weeks ago to raise $30 million that it will use for hiring, opening new offices, and product development.

“We want to scale this business and make it global,” Mironovich said.

Output: A Moscow-based start-up is using blockchain technology to deliver better and less expensive healthcare. Robomed Network founder and healthcare entrepreneur Philipp Mironovich has used Ethereum to launch an initial coin offering to raise $30m. Robomed uses a smart contract and payment system to link doctors and patients, and provide treatments plans, with payments held in a virtual wallet. The system also allows patients to list symptoms, suggest possible medical issues and then get matched with doctors who have expertise in those areas. Robomed hopes to use the $30m for new office purchases, hiring and product development.


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Climate change even hitting areas less prone to disasters
 Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

While Texas, Florida, California, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico were harshly reminded of a changing climate following a historically active season of hurricanes and drought-enabled wildfires, Midwestern states would do well to acknowledge that climate changes are already reaching much further inland. The Midwest’s transportation and electricity systems are particularly at risk of physical damage and disruption to services, leading to far wider economic impacts to both the region and the nation.

For taxpayers and businesses to thrive, there are few things more important than a region’s infrastructure systems. Reliable transportation networks are crucial to ensure the efficient movement of food, energy, and trade. Workers and consumers depend on roads, bridges, and transit systems to access jobs and markets. Energy production not only rests upon the delivery of resources, but also the operability of the transmission lines to homes and businesses. Yet climate change, and the corresponding extreme weather events experienced across the nation, will continue to threaten these systems.

Temperatures in the Midwest have increased by 4.5 degrees since the 1980s. The number of days with “very heavy precipitation” has increased by 27 percent since the 1950s. The Great Lakes only experienced 43 percent ice coverage in the early 2000s, compared to an average ice coverage of 52 percent between 1961 and 2013. And these conditions are only expected to worsen, with temperatures continuing to rise and precipitation patterns changing; through the mid-century, spring rains are anticipated to increase by 9 percent, while summer rains decrease by 8 percent.

Evidence clearly indicates that the climate is changing both in the Midwest and worldwide. Transportation and electricity infrastructure systems will particularly feel these effects. And as these systems serve as the lifeblood of any region, governments, individuals, and businesses will be forced to bear the burden.

Climate change puts the Midwest’s transport and electricity systems at risk, with impacts all across North America.

Increased heat will reduce the lifespan of pavements, add stress to expansion joints for bridges and highways, cause pavements and railways to buckle, and affect aircraft performance. Flooding will weaken structural supports for bridges, deteriorate soil that supports roadways, tunnels, and bridges, and increase sedimentation in waterways. And severe storms that produce high winds, ice, snow, and lightning can damage electricity lines, particularly those in the Midwest where the majority of electricity transmission and distribution is above ground.

The Midwest as a Trading Hub

Beyond these already alarming structural concerns, the disruption of the operations of these systems has the potential to affect the entire nation, as the Midwest serves as the freight hub of North America. Roughly 25 percent of the nation’s freight trains and 50 percent of all intermodal trains pass through Chicago alone. Approximately 35 percent of all trade between the U.S. and Canada comes through Michigan. National and international trade is further supplemented through the Midwest’s interstate highway system, expansive waterways facilitating maritime connections to the Great Lakes, and multiple border crossings with Canada.

To put it into perspective, five of Chicago’s top 10 domestic trading partners are outside the Midwest, including Los Angeles, New York City, Memphis, Atlanta, and Dallas/Fort Worth. Cumulative domestic trade flows in 2012 between the Chicago region and Los Angeles and Atlanta totaled $11 billion and $7.9 billion, respectively. Similarly, Los Angeles and Dallas/Fort Worth are among Indianapolis and Detroit’s top domestic trading partners.

As a result, businesses both near and far will be touched if the Midwest does not adequately prepare for the impact of climate change on its infrastructure. As a prime example, the drought of 2012 disrupted barge traffic due to near record low water levels on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, forcing shipments to switch to alternate modes of transportation. While it is fortunate that viable alternatives were available, this is not an option for all shipments; it causes added economic stress to businesses and leads to unnecessary traffic on already-congested highway and railway corridors.

It is widely known that infrastructure is grossly underfunded to meet the maintenance and growth needs of the nation. The funding gap already stands at more than $2 trillion by 2025, yet how much more will be required to address climate-change-related repairs?

As local, state, and federal governments consider issues ranging from modernizing transportation systems to planning new housing and commercial developments, it is in the taxpayers’ best interest that they also account for today’s climate realities. In terms of infrastructure, policymakers and project planners should incorporate updated design standards to protect these investments and mitigate against future damages and disruptions. This should also include limits on development in areas that have already experienced extreme weather-related damage.

Similarly, a review of existing development regulations should also be considered. Following the flood of 1993, Midwest communities attempted to remedy flood-prone areas by elevating and relocating properties. However, the region faced severe flooding again in 2008. And as reported by the Congressional Research Service, while some communities were better off due to their efforts, significant commercial, industrial, and highway development had occurred in the 500-year flood plain, opening these areas up to risks from the heavy precipitation storms that have become more common. From Houston to New Orleans, communities across the nation have learned time and again it is far cheaper to invest in smart planning and risk management than it is to repair or rebuild after the fact.

Further Action Required

Several Midwestern states have taken positive strides in recent years, including the adoption of greenhouse gas emissions targets, climate action plans, and adaptation plans. However, much more can and should be done.

Only Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota have adopted adaptation plans, which outline a state’s infrastructure vulnerabilities toward climate change and create a plan and implementation process to address those weaknesses. Similarly, the state departments of transportation in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio have pursued asset management programs to identify vulnerabilities and protect the investments taxpayers have already made in infrastructure.

While it is encouraging to hear of the adoption of such policies, it is important to remember that policies and plans are only as good as the leaders who are intent on implementing them. Although climate action plans were pursued in Illinois and Michigan in the late 2000s, neither have been actively pursued under current leadership. Similarly, President Donald Trump has been quick to retreat from international agreements designed to curb worldwide emissions and to rescind many climate-related strategies of the Obama administration.

Climate change has already caused, and will continue to cause for many years to come, unimaginable impacts on the nation’s population, environments, and economy. No one policy or action alone will halt the harmful effects, but we cannot hide from this new climate reality.

As the Midwest and the nation continue to see an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events attributable to climate change, it is imperative that public officials act to protect the tens of billions of dollars of investment in infrastructure systems that serve as the heart of the nation’s economy.

Output: North American states not traditionally impacted by freak weather attacks are becoming increasingly caught in the crosshairs of nature, as climate change in the takes its toll on Midwestern infrastructure. Mary Craighead, Transportation Policy Analyst at Illinois Economic Policy Institute, calls for wide-reaching reviews in to existing development regulation. Midwest temperatures have increased by 4.5 degrees since the 1980s, whilst days with “very heavy precipitation” increased by 27% since the 1950s. Craighead argues that as the "freight hub of North America", economic and trade prosperity depends upon the Midwest's infrastructure being sufficiently prepared for the effects of climate change.


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UK to back total ban on neonicotinoids: Gove
 Two principles guide this government’s approach to the natural world. We want not just to protect but to enhance the environment. And we want our decisions to be informed at all times by rigorous scientific evidence.

Which is why when the science shows that our environment is in increasing danger we have to act. Like many others, I was deeply concerned by a recently published German study into the health of some insect populations. The Guardian covered the report in depth, not least because the statistics were so stark. Data gathered over 25 years appeared to indicate a 75% fall in the numbers of flying insects within those sites.

Environmental change on such a scale is profoundly worrying. Not least because of the critical role played by bees and other pollinators. These particular flying insects are absolutely critical to the health of the natural world. Without a healthy pollinator population we put the whole ecological balance of our world in danger.

Official biodiversity indicators show that the pollinator population has been in a state of overall decline since 1987. Although 29% of bee species increased over that period, 49% declined. Other evidence suggests more than half of solitary bees have declined.

And as is always the case, a deteriorating environment is ultimately bad economic news as well. Pollinators contribute somewhere between £400-680m every year to agricultural productivity, benefitting both the yield and the quality of crops. For example, gala apple growers are already spending £5.7m a year to do the work that natural pollinators should be doing, while for some crops like field beans there is evidence that a deficit in pollinator numbers is already having an adverse effect.

Where there is evidence that human activity is contributing to pollinator decline, we have a duty to act. Among the potential threats to pollinators are neonicotinoids, a type of pesticide. A recent report found that 75% of honey samples collected around the world contained neonicotinoids. However, the impact on bee health of the prevalence of neonicotinoids has been disputed.

In 2013, the European Commission proposed a ban on the use of three types of neonicotinoids on flowering crops. At that time, the UK’s assessment was that there was insufficient evidence of a link between neonicotinoids and pollinator decline, but other member states took a different view and a ban was implemented across the EU.

Since 2013, the evidence base has grown. The European Commission has now proposed the ban is extended to non-flowering crops. I asked the UK’s independent advisory body on pesticides to review the issue again. In their view, there is a growing body of evidence that indicates that the risks posed by neonicotinoids are greater than previously understood. They advise that the evidence now supports the restrictions introduced in 2013; indeed, there may also be a case for going further.

The most recent studies into neonicotinoids have taken the investigation out of a laboratory into the field to gather more meaningful results. These show a number of worrying indicators. First, when neonicotinoids are used on one crop, their residues can be found across the landscape. This contaminates pollinators’ food sources far and wide, not only on the crops where the pesticide was used. Second, wider investigation has shown that neonicotinoids can persist in soils for many years and have been detected in areas where there has been no known recent use. Neonicotinoids are also taken up by flowering weeds or subsequent flowering crops on those soils, causing further exposure to pollinators. Although the effects are subtle, the most recent studies point to a discernible effect on food sources and the productivity of bee colonies, which could have a worrying long-term impact on their populations.

While there is still uncertainty in the science, it is increasingly pointing in one direction. Not to act would be to risk continuing down a course which could have extensive and permanent effects on bee populations. That is not a risk I am prepared to take, so the UK will be supporting further restrictions on neonicotinoids. Unless the evidence base changes again, the government will keep these restrictions in place after we have left the EU.

The current process of emergency authorisations – used not just in the UK but across the EU – will remain in place, allowing the short-term, limited and controlled use of neonicotinoids in exceptional situations to control a threat that cannot be contained by any other reasonable means. Farmers will be able to apply to Defra who will take advice from the advisory body on pesticides and Defra’s chief scientist, with authorisations granted where the evidence is clear that neonicotinoid use is essential.

I understand the importance of pesticides for farmers. They have to protect their crops from dangerous threats throughout the growing season, and in that respect neonicotinoids have been useful. Farmers work hard round the clock to produce the high quality food and drink we all enjoy. Decisions which can, certainly in the short term, make their lives more difficult are not easy to take.

But ultimately we must ensure that we think about the long term health of our environment, because unless we take steps now to arrest environmental damage we will all be the losers. We only have one earth and it is our responsibility to hand it on to the next generation in a better state.

Michael Gove is the UK environment secretary

Output: The UK will back a complete ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, which are the most widely used insecticides in the world, according to the country’s environment secretary Michael Gove. The decision is based on new evidence demonstrating the environmental contamination and damage to bee colonies caused by the insecticides. Neonicotinoids were banned for use on flowering crops by the European Union (EU) in 2013, although the UK opposed the ban. The EU will vote on a total ban on the pesticides outside of greenhouses in December. The changed UK position makes it more likely that the ban will be introduced.


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UK to back total ban on neonicotinoids: Gove
 The UK will back a total ban on insect-harming pesticides in fields across Europe, the environment secretary, Michael Gove, has revealed.

The decision reverses the government’s previous position and is justified by recent new evidence showing neonicotinoids have contaminated the whole landscape and cause damage to colonies of bees. It also follows the revelation that 75% of all flying insects have disappeared in Germany and probably much further afield, a discovery Gove said had shocked him.

Neonicotinoids are the world’s most widely used insecticide but in 2013 the European Union banned their use on flowering crops, although the UK was among the nations opposing the ban. The European commission now wants a total ban on their use outside of greenhouses, with a vote expected in December, and the UK’s new position makes it very likely to pass.

“The weight of evidence now shows the risks neonicotinoids pose to our environment, particularly to the bees and other pollinators which play such a key part in our £100bn food industry, is greater than previously understood,” said Gove. “I believe this justifies further restrictions on their use. We cannot afford to put our pollinator populations at risk.”

In an article for the Guardian, Gove said: “As is always the case, a deteriorating environment is ultimately bad economic news as well.” He said pollinators boost the yield and quality of UK crops by £400m-£680m every year and said, for example, gala apple growers are now having to spend £5.7m a year to do replace the work of lost natural pollinators.

Gove said the evidence of neonicotinoids’ harm to pollinators has grown stronger since 2013, including a landmark field trial published in July that showed neonicotinoids damage bee populations, not just individual insects, and a global analysis of honey revealing worldwide contamination by the insecticides.

This and other research was examined by the UK’s Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP), which published its updated advice on Thursday. “Exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides under field conditions can have an unacceptable effect on honeybee health” they concluded. “Such unacceptable effects are occurring at a landscape level and between seasons.”

Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific advisor at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “The important question is whether neonicotinoids’ use results in harmful effects on populations of bees and other pollinators as a whole. The available evidence [now] justifies taking further steps to restrict the use of neonicotinoids.”

Boyd warned in September that the assumption by regulators around the world that it is safe to use pesticides at industrial scales across landscapes is false. This followed other highly critical reports on pesticides, including research showing most farmers could slash their pesticide use without losses and a UN report that denounced the “myth” that pesticides are necessary to feed the world.

Tractors sow seeds treated with neonicotinoids. Photograph: Paul Weston/Alamy Stock Photo

Gove’s decision has delighted campaigners and scientists who have long argued that heavy pesticide use, along with the destruction of habitat and disease, are having a devastating impact on insects.

“Michael Gove is to be congratulated for listening to the experts on this issue and backing tougher restrictions,” said Friends of the Earth’s chief executive Craig Bennett. “But lessons also need to be learned – we now need to move away from chemical-intensive farming and instead boost support for less damaging ways of tackling persistent weeds and pests.

“We warmly welcome the UK’s change of position,” said Matt Shardlow, at insect conservation group Buglife. “Brexit will give the UK more control over the health of our ecosystems and it is essential in doing so that we apply the highest standards of care.”

He said the EU had been stuck on the issue of a full neonicotinoid ban, unable until now to get sufficient votes from member states: “In taking this ‘unfrozen moment’ in British politics to put bees and science at the centre of our priorities for sustainable agriculture, Michael Gove may also unfreeze the EU and secure an EU-wide ban that will benefit insects across the continent.”

Chris Hartfield, the National Farmers Union’s acting chief science adviser, said: “Farmers are acutely aware that bees play a crucial role in food production and have done an enormous amount to help them.” But he said the committee’s finding of “unacceptable effects” came despite their acknowledgement of a gap in understanding in whether neonicotinoids damage overall ecosystem services: “In our view, the ECP has leapt beyond its brief.”

But Gove said: “While there is still uncertainty in the science, it is increasingly pointing in one direction.” He said a post-Brexit farming subsidy system would channel more money into environmentally sustainable ways of farming.

Output: The UK will back a complete ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, which are the most widely used insecticides in the world, according to the country’s environment secretary Michael Gove. The decision is based on new evidence demonstrating the environmental contamination and damage to bee colonies caused by the insecticides. Neonicotinoids were banned for use on flowering crops by the European Union (EU) in 2013, although the UK opposed the ban. The EU will vote on a total ban on the pesticides outside of greenhouses in December. The changed UK position makes it more likely that the ban will be introduced.


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News app Toutiao looks to buy its way into China insurance market

Chinese news app Toutiao appears to be the latest Chinese media platform looking to get into financial technology. According to local news reports, the five-year-old company with a valuation estimated at US$20 billion is looking to acquire an insurance broker in China to break into the insurance business, but without having go through the time consuming process of obtaining an insurance license.

The company did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation by China Money Network.

Toutiao ranks as the fifth highest valued private company on China Money Network’s Unicorn Ranking with valuation of US$20 billion. The company, which uses artificial intelligence to provide customized news for its users, claims to have over 700 million users and 150 million monthly active users. With its broad customer base and precision advertising, selling insurance online could become a significant new revenue source for the company. It is estimated that Toutiao has made RMB6 billion (US$904 million) in advertising revenues in 2016.

Toutiao is reported to have made several inquiries to regulators about obtaining an insurance license, according to the local media reports. But judging from the prior cases, it takes China’s Insurance Regulatory Commission about one year to process license applications. Toutiao therefore is seeking to acquire a broker that already holds a license.

The news comes amid a rush of Chinese tech companies competing to get into the insurance business. China’s big-three tech companies, Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba, collectively known as the BAT, have each obtained insurance licenses recently. In October, WeSure Insurance, a company controlled by Tencent Holdings, obtained a license. Baidu’s subsidiary Baidu Penghuan Asset Management acquired an insurance broker with an insurance license in September. Ant Financial’s subsidiary Hangzhou Baojin Insurance also got its license in September.

Also, Zhongan Insurance, backed by Alibaba, Tencent and Ping An Insurance, raised US$1.5 billion in its initial public offering in September.

The rush to get into online insurance is backed by expectations that the Chinese online insurance market will grow significantly over the next five years. The amount of life and non-life insurance products sold online or via mobile devices reached over US$45 billion in 2016, and the figure is expected to hit US$145 billion by 2021, according to Oliver Wyman.

Output: China's Toutiao plans to acquire a local insurance broker, making it the latest media platform to seek entry into the country's mushrooming insurance market. The five-year-old app-based service, which uses artificial intelligence to provide customised news, is valued at about $20bn. It wants to enter the insurance sector through acquisition in order to sidestep the long process of getting a license. Tech firms like Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba are clamouring to enter China's online insurance market on bets the sector will surge over the next five years.


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Insurer AmTrust signs agriculture data deal with Farmobile
 AmTrust Agriculture Insurance, a subsidiary of multiline P&C insurer AmTrust Financial, has signed on with insurtech Farmobile to leverage the latter's data collection platform for its crop insurance clients.

Farmobile’s hardware device, the passive uplink connection, transmits data to a central repository every second over cellular networks. If a connection is lost, the device stores data locally until connectivity is restored. This information is used to calculate crop insurance premium.

Soybeans are harvested with a Case IH Agricultural Equipment Inc. combine harvester in this aerial photograph taken above Princeton, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. Soybean futures for November delivery rose 0.1% a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade after falling as much as 0.5%, the lowest since September 13. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

“Today crop insurance reporting is not a standardized process,” said Jeffrey Fenster, SVP at AmTrust. “The capabilities of Farmobile’s data collection system will allow AmTrust to innovate and provide additional time and cost savings to our crop insurance agents and farmers. They also standardize the data, make it portable and have an incredibly transparent sharing and accessibility model."

As part of the agreement, AmTrust also will take an equity stake in Farmobile.

“AmTrust is taking a leadership position in using digital agricultural advancements to aid in crop insurance reporting. We’re inspired by their vision to leverage technology to recruit agents and help farmers,” said Jason Tatge, CEO of Farmobile. “Together with AmTrust, we’ll be able to deliver a faster, cheaper and smarter workflow for crop insurance reporting through better data management. In short, we help farmers and agents create shared value through efficient reporting.”

Output: US agriculture insurer AmTrust Ag has entered into an agreement with agricultural data provider Farmobile. The data company uses hardware to pick up statistics on factors such as fertiliser distribution and plant populations, which is used to determine crop insurance premiums. AmTrust is also taking an equity stake in Farmobile as part of the partnership.


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Uber partners with NASA on flying taxi project UberAir
 Uber continues to aim for the sky.

The tech company has partnered with NASA to help it develop air traffic management systems for its flying taxi initiatives, chief product officer Jeff Holden said on Wednesday. Holden made the announcement at Web Summit, a technology conference in Lisbon.

In April, Uber unveiled its plans to introduce flying taxi fleets, known as uberAIR.

The four-person ridesharing flights won't become a reality anytime soon but Holden said there are plans for demos coming to Los Angeles in 2020. Uber previously announced cities Dallas, Texas and Dubai as other partner cities.

The tech firm has agreements to work with other aviation companies, but this is the first time it has formally partnered with a federal U.S. agency. Uber's partnership is part of NASA's Space Act Agreement, a consortium of industry players working to ensure "safe and efficient operations" of its taxis and other small unmanned aerial systems flying at low altitudes.

"These are exactly the kind of partners we need to make uberAIR a reality," Holden said of NASA.

A NASA spokesman said Wednesday the agency will help create a framework for the air traffic management of drones. This will help pave the way for air vehicles carrying passengers, such as uberAIR.

In 2019, the recommendations developed by NASA and its partners will be shared with the Federal Aviation Administration, which will determine how they should be integrated into existing air traffic systems.

Known for its unmanageable traffic, Los Angeles will make for an interesting test bed for the flying vehicles.

Related: Tesla Roadster might fly

To get a sense, Uber projects that trips from the Los Angeles airport to the Staples Center during rush hour will take less than 30 minutes -- down from 1 hour 20 minutes by car. It expects to offer rides in the flying taxis for prices comparable to its UberX service.

The goal is to make transportation fast, and inexpensive -- and it hopes the service will be ready for commercial operations "several years ahead" of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Updated: This story was updated to add more details about NASA's involvement in the project.

Output: Following the unveiling of plans in April to introduce flying taxis, Uber has partnered with NASA on the project, known as UberAir. NASA said it is seeking to create a framework with industry players for the air traffic management of drones to enable deployment of air vehicles that carry passengers. In 2019, the recommendations developed by NASA and other partners such as Uber will be shared with the Federal Aviation Administration, which will study how to integrate passenger drones into existing air traffic systems. Uber is hoping to demonstrate its air taxis in 2020.


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FANG investing encourages bad habits: Bogle
 Vanguard founder and former CEO Jack Bogle is not a believer in trading 'FANG' stocks.

When asked about Intercontinental Exchange launching a FANG+ index futures contract for traders on Wednesday, Bogle blasted the idea.

The product enables investors to trade an index that tracks the performance of Facebook , Apple , Amazon , Netflix , and Google-parent Alphabet , along with Alibaba , Baidu , Nvidia , Tesla and Twitter .

"If you want to do such a crazy thing, it certainly makes it easy to do. ... I have no doubt it's a liability," Bogle said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" Tuesday. "I think the odds are very bad. It appeals to the trading instincts in investors. ... If you like gambling, if you like casinos, these things are really, really, really good."

Instead he recommended investors focus on the long term with a multidecade time horizon by buying index funds that minimize trading transaction costs.

"Anything that gets investors into trading is a negative," he said. "Trading is a loser's game. Trading is short term speculation."

Bogle founded Vanguard Group in 1975. The firm is widely regarded as the leader of passive index investing. It has approximately $4.7 trillion in assets under management, according to its president.

Output: Investing in "FANG" technology stocks encourages investors to engage in unnecessary trading, said Jack Bogle, founder and former CEO of Vanguard Group. Bogle's comments come amid ICE launching futures contracts linked to the major tech companies - Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet - which account for the acronym. "If you like gambling, if you like casinos, these things are really, really, really good," said Bogle.


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Taiwan becomes fifth Asian nation to adopt fintech sandbox
 Taiwan is expected to be the fifth region to approve a fintech sandbox initiative, after Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand, according to local media reports.

The supervisory sandbox will permit applicants to develop and test fintech solutions without full compliance. The initiative aims to provide an optimum regulatory environment for startups developing prototype financial technology.

A bill has passed the first review and is heading to final approval. In the review, legislators have extended the experiment period to a maximum of 36 months from 18 months in a preliminary plan submitted by the government’s executive arm, reports said. If approved, Taiwan will have the longest experimental period among the existing sandboxes. Singapore, for example, allows nine months and the UK six months.

The framework is expected to receive final approval in December. The sandbox will be supervised by Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

Fintech regulation docket

In other fintech regulatory moves, local media reported that the FSC in July permitted the use of robo-advisers. In August, regulators added that they would allow robo-advisors to re-balance an investor’s portfolio if the return on a specific asset or on the portfolio deviates from the chosen benchmark. Before deploying the automatic adjustment, investors must give prior consent and be informed instantly after any re-balancing.

Last month, the Taiwan Fintech Industry Development Association (FIDA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Fintech Association of Hong Kong and corresponding associations in Singapore and Switzerland. The purpose was to improve the fintech ecosystem across Asia and Europe, as cross-border collaboration on fintech gains momentum.

Industry organisation ICI Global believes fintech disruption is likely to come from China, FSA reported earlier. China accounts for 88% of the world’s fintech investment and significant innovation is occurring, driven by firms with an immense user base such as Alibaba and Tencent, according to a PWC report.

Output: Taiwan has become the latest Asian economy to adopt the concept of "sandboxing" for technology-focused companies. Sandboxing allows companies to test their concept - often a technology-driven financial service - without fear of running afoul of regulations. A bill suggesting the establishment of this framework is now awaiting final review having passed the first legislative hurdle. Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand also allow fintech firms to test their concepts using regulatory sandboxes.


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Investment in US fintechs increases two-fold
 Investments in U.S. fintech companies nearly doubled during the third quarter to $5 billion, up from $2.6 billion in the second quarter, according to KPMG’s recent Pulse of Fintech report. There were a total of 142 deals during the quarter, up from 125 deals in the prior year quarter and 147 deals last quarter. KPMG attributes the jump to robust venture capital funding, an increase in deal value and strong performance by the private equity sector. The automated advice platform technology was a big bet during the quarter, with hybrid models—those using a combination of humans and technology—gaining more traction over pure robo advisors, the report said. “We see a lot of optimism in the U.S. Fintech market – from the maturation and adoption of early stage technologies like Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and IoT to the rapid acceleration of others, such as Insurtech, Robo-advisory, Blockchain and Regtech,” said Anthony Rjeily, leader for Financial Services’ Digital and Fintech practice in the U.S. at KPMG.

The Trump Stock Market

One year after President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become President of the United States, the stock market has risen 21.2 percent. That’s the third-best rise in the S&P 500 of any first-term president since 1952, according to CNBC. Trump trails President John F. Kennedy’s 26.5 percent rise in the markets following his election and President George H.W. Bush’s 22.7 percent hike. Measuring every election since 1952, the Trump rally is bumped down to fifth place, following President Bill Clinton’s 28.1 percent hike after his election for a second term, then Kennedy, followed by President Barack Obama’s 23.8 percent rise after his election for a second term and then Bush. The worst stock market performance came after President Jimmy Carter was elected, when stocks fell 10.2 percent during his first year in office.

InvestCloud, Willis Towers Watson Partner

HStocks/iStocks/Thinkstock

InvestCloud and Willis Towers Watson are partnering. The cloud-based financial services platform was selected to build a bespoke solution for the WTW Asset Management Exchange that will enable clients to better access and monitor roughly $2 billion, according to a statement. The exchange provides asset managers easy access to significant capital on a global basis and seeks to plug “value leakage” caused by inefficiencies in the investment supply. InvestCloud will look to enhance the user experience for both the asset owners and the managers.

Output: Investments in US fintech firms totalled $5bn in Q3 2017, according to a report from KPMG. The figure is double that reported in Q2, with financiers putting to work $2.6bn during the preceding period. Advice platforms in particular garnered attention during the period, the report noted. More in-demand than pure robo-advisory platforms, however, were those making use of both human advisers and algorithm-powered advice.


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Robinhood adds social network to everyman investment app
 Robinhood is bringing investing under the social finance umbrella. The company behind the popular trading app is launching a web platform to help to deliver the second part of its mission to make stock trading accessible to everyday people: help them make more informed decisions. It’s adding tools, features and information on other users’ activity that makes the experience feel more like a social network. Robinhood, which launched in 2013, says it has crossed 3 million users as of Wednesday and more than $100 billion in transaction volume with about 100 employees, according to co-CEO Baiju Bhatt. By comparison, the 42-year-old TD Ameritrade has 11 million funded accounts and more than 10,000 employees as of this September; E-Trade, 35 years old, reported 3.5 million accounts by the end of last year with some 3,600 employees. Robinhood users have saved more than $1 billion in commission fees (typically $7 per transaction) using the fee-free app, Bhatt said. Robinhood will show users on each stock detail page how many other people own shares of that same company, the average price paid by other users for those shares, the distribution of all the different prices people have paid for shares in that company in the past year. The point is to start giving people more reference prices, Bhatt explained. Humans fundamentally aren't very good at thinking of numbers in terms of absolute value and it can be hard for early or first-time investors to understand that Apple shares, for example, have reached the $160 mark. “They’d say, ‘Sure? I don’t know if that’s high or low.’ We’re starting to think about reference prices people will immediately be familiar with and be able to dissect,” Bhatt said.Robinhood wants to juxtapose data generated by its own users with opinion from Wall Street analysts so users can see what “experts” are saying about a particular stock. So it’s going to begin pulling those reviews and opinions from Morningstar into a new Analyst Reviews section. “It’s a riff on theme of comparison shopping,” Bhatt said. “Really well-worn routes for buying stuff online is doing e-commerce. You can see the expert rating on a stock — [which could say that] 77 percent say ‘buy’ based on 10 analyst reviews from Morningstar — and the number of people that own it.” It will also show other stocks purchased by people that bought shares of a particular company and display a For You section that will suggest stocks to investors by using their buying and browsing data, as well as “playlists,” as Bhatt likes to call them (for now; others in the company call them collections, engineers just call them tags): collections of stocks based on common themes, like Virtual Reality Companies, 2017 IPOs or 100 Most Popular.“From a discovery standpoint the playlists are pretty similar to music. There are tens of thousands of stocks; there are tens of thousands of songs or albums you wanna listen to and there’s always this problem where you can't quite think of the one that you want but it’s kind of on the tip of your tongue and you just need to do some bookmarking to remember it. It’s the really large inventory problem.” Beyond buying and selling, the mobile app currently lets users browse different stocks, track the price movement and features a news feed, which will also be incorporated to the web platform. The website will launch in early 2018. Later in the year the company plans to bring the same features to the mobile app.Bhatt said the company has no plans to introduce advertising to its platforms. With each user averaging 10 to 15 sessions each day, Robinhood has greater engagement than all of its direct competitors added up, he said, touting “the best organic growth of any financial product since Venmo.” Robinhood’s premium product, Robinhood Gold, starts at $10 a month and allows users to trade after hours. It also has a well-performing referral program in which users get a free stock for each new user they refer, who also gets a free stock upon joining. Bhatt said he and co-CEO Vlad Tenev have always been curious to get people connected with each other Robnihood because most people have found their way to investing through social conversations. “The stock market is inherently social,” he said. “From the days of open outcry in the pit it’s always been about humans interacting and transacting. What we’ve got in our product right now is the beginning of a much longer product focused on social.” Venmo has shown legacy financial firms the value of making financial transactions between friends and peers as easy as having a conversation with them. Through an agreement with PayPal, Facebook is also trying to make payments activity a natural extension of the conversation its users are already having in an app where they already spend most of their time. SoFi has been trying to prove people, millennials specifically, want to do business with financial companies based on community and the likemindedness of people with similar financial goals and plans. Offline, there are at least three behaviors or conversations taking place that the founders want to amplify on the screen, Bhatt explained. First, most young people have at least one person friend or family figure who’s a generation older that they talk to about stocks and finance; second, many young people have an informal social network among colleagues or friends where they're kind of competitive about their investing conversations; and there’s usually someone in people’s social networks that isn't a close friend but probably could be based on continued conversations around investing. Opting to connect with Facebook friends and you can post to all of them is probably not effective, Bhatt asserted. Neither is a broadcast-based system where users publish their trades to followers. “That kind of product is going to be one that has very high engagement with a certain kind of active user that wants to show off that they know what they're doing and is not going to be interesting at all for other people,” Bhatt said. “Trying to thread the needle between these different conversations that are actually happening is where my head is right now.”

Output: Investing app Robinhood is launching a web-based network that aims to better educate its users on finance and investing. The trading app, which has amassed three million users since its launch in 2013, will now allow customers to see how many of their peers also own a particular stock along with trading data for securities. The network will also suggest stocks for investors to buy based on their previous trading activity.


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Chicago O’Hare airport promotes renewable jet fuel
 US advanced biofuels company Gevo announced that its alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) derived from renewable isobutanol is being used today by eight commercial airlines for Fly Green Day, sponsored by the O'Hare Fuel Committee, at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

This event is the first time renewable jet fuel has been supplied at Chicago O'Hare using the existing airport fueling infrastructure, such as pipelines, terminals and tankage.

To date, airlines and airports have generally relied on alternative means of supplying renewable jet fuel to the wing, usually trucking jet fuel on site for blending and fueling. For today's Fly Green Day, Air BP blended Gevo's ATJ with regular fossil-based Jet A fuel, certified its quality and then supplied its customers through the airport's main fuel hydrant system.

Commercial airlines participating in today's event are:

Lufthansa

United Airlines

Etihad

Cathay Pacific Airways

Emirates

Japan Airlines

Korean Air

Atlas Air

"This is the first time we have supplied our customers with biojet produced from alcohol and demonstrates how we are working with multiple suppliers to build a leadership position in this area," said Air BP's CEO Jon Platt. "We anticipate that through this promotion we will inspire more of our customers to use lower carbon fuels."

‘The next stage’

"We are excited to be a part of this project. This is the next stage in development of our goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move forward with the full commercial deployment of renewable jet fuel," said Thorsten Luft, VP Corporate Fuel for Lufthansa.

Gevo’s CEO, Patrick Gruber, said: "This is a significant milestone as we continue to develop our ATJ platform. We fundamentally believe that our ATJ is one of the most cost competitive bio-based jet alternatives in the market place. Leveraging existing supply infrastructure should lower the full cost to serve our end customers. Jet fuel is one of Gevo's core market segments and this represents the next step in building a profitable business from this market vertical.”

Output: Eight commercial airlines including United and Emirates have taken part in a promotional event for renewable fuels at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. For the first time, the airport supplied aircraft with renewable alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel through its existing fuelling infrastructure, rather than relying on separate trucks. The ATJ fuel from biofuels supplier Gevo is derived from renewable fuel source isobutanol, and was blended with fossil-based jet fuel by Air BP before being supplied to the aircraft. The Fly Green Day was intended to encourage airlines to switch to lower carbon fuels in future.


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US and China sign $250bn in commercial deals during Trump visit
 US President Donald Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping he believes, like Mr Xi, a solution can be found to the North Korean nuclear issue, a day after warning Pyongyang of the grave danger of developing nuclear weapons.

Speaking alongside Mr Xi in the Chinese capital, Mr Trump also said on Thursday it was disappointing his predecessors had let the bilateral trade balance get out of kilter.

"But we will make it fair and it will be tremendous for both of us," Mr Trump said, expressing respect for Mr Xi.

Mr Trump is pressing China to tighten the screws further on North Korea and its development of nuclear weapons.

At least modest progress is hoped for, although there are no immediate signs of a major breakthrough, a US official said earlier on Thursday.

Referring to Mr Xi, Mr Trump said: "I do believe there's a solution to that, as do you."

In a show of the importance China puts on Mr Trump's first official visit, Thursday's welcoming ceremony outside Beijing's Great Hall of the People overlooking Tiananmen Square was broadcast live on state television - unprecedented treatment for a visiting leader.

Mr Xi said he had a deep exchange of views with Mr Trump and reached consensus on numerous issues of mutual concern.

"For China, cooperation is the only real choice, only win-win can lead to an even better future," Mr Xi said.

Mr Xi said China and the United States strengthened high-level dialogue on all fronts over the past year and increased coordination on major international issues, such as the Korean peninsula and Afghanistan.

"Relations between China and the United States are now on a new historical starting point," Mr Xi said

Mr Trump and Mr Xi hit it off at their first meeting in April at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and continued their "bromance" on Wednesday with an afternoon of sightseeing together with their wives, followed by dinner.

However, deep divisions persist over trade and North Korea.

And while Mr Xi is riding high after consolidating power at a twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress last month, Mr Trump comes to China saddled with low public approval ratings and dogged by investigations into Russian links to his election campaign.

'Unfair' trade agreement

President Xi beamed as Mr Trump praised the leader for looking out for China's economic prosperity saying he didn't blame him for the United States' disadvantage in existing trade agreements.

"Right now, unfortunately, it is a very one-sided and unfair one. But, but, I don't blame China. After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit. But in actuality, I do blame past administrations for allowing this out-of-control trade deficit to take place and to grow."

The Chinese President responded with a promise of sorts.

"The business environment for investment of foreign companies, including U.S. companies, will become increasingly open, transparent and standardised," he told media.

Ahead of the visit, Mr Trump had ratcheted up his criticism of China's massive trade surplus with the United States - calling it "embarrassing" and "horrible" last week - and has accused Beijing of unfair trade practices, fuelling worries of increased tension between the world's two largest trading countries.

For its part, China says US restrictions on Chinese investments in the United States and on high-tech exports need to be addressed.

More than $250 billion in commercial deals between US and Chinese firms were signed during the visit, China's commerce minister said.

Several corporate CEOs are in Beijing as part of a delegation led by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Some in the US business community have expressed worry that contract wins could come at the expense of resolving long-standing complaints over market access restrictions in China.

"This shows that we have a strong, vibrant bilateral economic relationship, and yet we still need to focus on levelling the playing field because U.S. companies continue to be disadvantaged doing business in China," William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said.

Mr Trump railed against China's trade practices during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and threatened to take action once in office.

But he has since held back on any major trade penalties, making clear he was doing so to give Beijing time to make progress reining in North Korea.

'In sync'

A US official said both sides are "in sync" about wanting to minimise friction during the visit and recreate the positive tone of the Mar-a-Lago summit.

Mr Trump was not expected to put much emphasis in his talks with Xi on thorny issues like the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its own, although the two presidents' aides may deal with those matters privately, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

China has repeatedly pushed back at suggestions it should be doing more to rein in North Korea, which does about 90 per cent of its trade with China, saying it is fully enforcing UN sanctions and that everyone has a responsibility to lower tensions and get talks back on track.

Mr Trump used some of his toughest language yet against North Korea in a wide-ranging address in Seoul on Wednesday that lodged specific accusations of chilling human rights abuses, although he offered no evidence to support the accusations.

He also called on countries around the world to isolate Pyongyang by denying it "any form of support, supply or acceptance".

Chinese state media praised the tone of the initial get-together on Thursday, part of what China has promised will be a "state visit plus" for Mr Trump.

Output: During President Trump's visit to China, the two nations have signed over $250bn in commercial deals, according to China's commerce minister, with Trump saying he doesn't blame China "for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens" with regard to international trade agreements. However, some US businesses are concerned that despite the new deals they will not gain any additional access to Chinese markets. Also, the two leaders did not make any significant progress on curbing North Korea, and divisions over trade remained, with President Xi seeking more access to US markets.


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US and China sign $250bn in commercial deals during Trump visit
 BEIJING — [Read more on Joe Biden selecting Antony Blinken as Secretary of State.]

Amid the pomp that President Xi Jinping of China is bestowing upon his visiting American counterpart, President Trump, it’s hard not to see two leaders — and two countries — heading in very different directions.

Mr. Xi emerged from last month’s Communist Party Congress the undisputed master of the Middle Kingdom. “Xi Jinping Thought” was enshrined in the party constitution — an honor previously granted only to Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Breaking with precedent, Mr. Xi neglected to anoint a successor — a big hint that he feels emboldened to extend his rule beyond the second five-year term he has just begun. The Economist heralded Mr. Xi with an honorific usually reserved for America’s president: the world’s most powerful man.

Mr. Trump stepped off Air Force One in Beijing on Wednesday with historically low job-approval ratings, just hours after suffering a shellacking in off-year elections. His credibility is cratering abroad — polls have shown a drop in confidence in American leadership.

As the personal trajectories of Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi diverge, so too does the focus of their leadership. While Mr. Trump is obsessed with building walls, Mr. Xi is busy building bridges.

Output: During President Trump's visit to China, the two nations have signed over $250bn in commercial deals, according to China's commerce minister, with Trump saying he doesn't blame China "for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens" with regard to international trade agreements. However, some US businesses are concerned that despite the new deals they will not gain any additional access to Chinese markets. Also, the two leaders did not make any significant progress on curbing North Korea, and divisions over trade remained, with President Xi seeking more access to US markets.


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Corporate Equality Index finds 18% rise in top-scoring companies
 A record number of the nation’s major companies and law firms are advancing vital policies and practices to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workers around the world, according to the 2018 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) released today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.

This year, a record-breaking 609 businesses earned the CEI’s top score of 100, up from 517 last year -- a single-year increase of 18 percent. This record sets a new high water mark for corporate leadership over the 16-year history of the CEI.

The CEI underscores the historic support for LGBTQ equality among the nation’s top employers as sustained attacks by the Trump-Pence Administration on LGBTQ people continue. Over the last ten months, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have engaged in a systematic dismantling of Obama-era protections for LGBTQ people and undertaken new lines of attacks, including their effort to ban transgender troops and a “license to discriminate” order that enables the government to discriminate against LGBTQ citizens in myriad ways. LGBTQ workers have also been under seige by the Trump-Pence Administration: just last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the administration will not enforce nondiscrimination protections for transgender workers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“At a time when the rights of LGBTQ people are under attack by the Trump-Pence Administration and state legislatures across the country, hundreds of top American companies are driving progress toward equality in the workplace,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “The top-scoring companies on this year’s CEI are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the United States, they are applying these policies to their operations around the globe and impacting millions of people beyond our shores. In addition, many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality in the public square, including the dozens that have signed on to amicus briefs in vital Supreme Court cases and the 106 corporate supporters of the Equality Act. We are proud to have developed so many strong partnerships with corporate allies who see LGBTQ equality as a crucial issue for our country and for their businesses.”

The LGBTQ community is not explicitly protected by federal non-discrimination law -- but these companies are bridging that gap for their employees and beyond. The global number of employees with a corporate non-discrimination policy protecting against sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination is 14.5 million. 106 top businesses are corporate supporters on the Equality Act -- landmark federal legislation that would provide the same basic nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people as other protected groups under federal law.

The CEI, launched in 2002 to assess LGBTQ-inclusive policies and practices at Fortune 500 companies, also highlights how corporate leaders are increasingly stepping up to play a leading role in opposing anti-equality legislation -- from statehouses to the U.S. Capitol. Through their actions, taken as LGBTQ workers and customers have been facing a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures across the country and attacks from our nation’s highest offices, business leaders are building on their longstanding commitment to expanding workplace equality for LGBTQ people. In Texas, 70 businesses, along with several Texas Chambers of Commerce, signed a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker of the House Joe Straus and other lawmakers, voicing their opposition to Texas’ SB 6, an anti-transgender bill similar to North Carolina’s HB2 law. The bill did not pass.

Over the last several years, CEI-rated companies have dramatically expanded their support for transgender workers. When the CEI launched, just three percent of Fortune 500 companies had non-discrimination protections that included gender identity. Today, that number is 83 percent. And even as the Affordable Care Act has come under attack by lawmakers, trans-inclusive health care coverage has become a business norm. 79 percent of companies participating in this year’s CEI now offer transgender workers at least one health care plan that has transgender-inclusive coverage. HRC's work through the CEI ,often through one-on-one consultation with individual companies, has helped employers move toward full inclusion for their transgender employees.

Key national findings revealed in the 2018 CEI:

609 companies earned a perfect 100 points, up from 517 in the 2017 report;

Gender identity is now part of non-discrimination policies at 83 percent of Fortune 500 companies, up from just 3 percent in 2002;

459 major employers have adopted supportive inclusion guidelines for transgender workers who are transitioning;

137 Fortune 500 companies were given unofficial scores based on publicly available information.

The CEI rates companies and top law firms on detailed criteria falling under five broad categories:

Non-discrimination policies

Employment benefits

Demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBTQ diversity and inclusion

Public commitment to LGBTQ equality

Responsible citizenship

The full report, including a searchable employer database is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.

Output: A record 609 US businesses earned a top score of 100 in the 2018 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), up 18% from 517 in the previous year. The Index, released by US advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, measures policies and practices to protect LGBTQ workers around the world. The report found that 83% of Fortune 500 companies now include gender identity in non-discrimination policies, up from 3% in 2002, and that 459 leading employers now have supportive inclusion guidelines for workers who are transitioning.