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Sen. Kamala Harris plans to back Medicare-for-all legislation
 ‘May you die in pain’: California GOP congressman gets an earful at town hall

Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) kicks off his Monday morning town hall in Chico. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times)

“May you die in pain.”

That was the nastiest moment of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s early morning town hall in the Northern California town of Chico on Monday.

The wish was uttered by an older man who criticized LaMalfa for voting for the House GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. He was also holding a pink sign that read “Lackey for the Rich!”

ALSO: LaMalfa says the Russia investigation is ‘a bunch of crap’

The open hostility and intransigence inside the Chico Elks Lodge came as the political divide in the country has grown more inflamed, with Trump’s election unleashing a wave of both liberal activism and conservative empowerment.

As a result, Washington’s deeply partisan fights over issues such as health care, immigration and environmental protections have followed members of Congress home, turning once sedate town halls into in-your-face venting sessions that in left-leaning California have Republican House members on the defensive.

LaMalfa stood his ground on stage as person after person ripped into him for his votes and positions on healthcare and climate change, as well as for his unyielding support for President Trump.

A few speakers asked LaMalfa to resign, including one dressed up as the “Wicked Witch of the West Coast.”

Heather Calun dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West Coast in protest. She wants LaMalfa to resign over his vote to repeal Obamacare. pic.twitter.com/rBZXAnjd2l — Phil Willon (@philwillon) August 7, 2017

Most comments and questions during the hour-long town hall were fairly cordial, although they were laced with plenty of boos and catcalls.

Norma Wilcox, a retired nurse who lives in Chico, also questioned LaMalfa’s healthcare vote. Wilcox told LaMalfa the House plan would take away healthcare for millions of Americans while providing tax breaks to the rich.

“I am open to new ideas,” LaMalfa told her, describing the House GOP bill as a placeholder that everyone expected to be improved during negotiations with the Senate. (The Senate’s healthcare efforts now appear dead.)

But the Richvale congressman, who represents California’s massive 1st Congressional District in the northeast corner of the state, said he will support only a new healthcare program that provides affordable coverage to middle-class Americans.

LaMalfa said Obamacare is quickly become unaffordable and unsustainable, with premium costs rising and the number of insurance companies offering coverage declining.

“People across the board are being hurt by this,” LaMalfa said.

When shouts and boos rained down on him, he chastised the crowd saying, “I have the mic folks. Yep, boo away.”

Ann Sisney of Chico told LaMalfa that her son, William, died of an opioid overdose two years ago. She held up a picture of the 19-year-old, asked the congressman to take it, and told him more people will die if GOP leadership in Congress gets its way on healthcare.

“These are life-and-death decisions that you are making,” Sisney told him.

LaMalfa assured her that Congress was working to find funds to address the nationwide opioid epidemic.

The Republican congressman also raised the ire of the crowd when he was asked about climate change and the degraded air quality in this stretch of Northern California.

“I don’t buy the idea that man-made activity is responsible,” LaMalfa said bluntly.

The crowd of several hundred did include some LaMalfa supporters, though most stayed silent.

Ron Jones, 67, of Paradise said he’s been to a few of LaMalfa’s town halls and all have been dominated by his critics.

“Most of the time people want to ... complain,” said Jones, a self-described conservative, after the event ended. “The people who support him are quietly in the background.”

LaMalfa does indeed have a lot of support in the district that also overwhelmingly voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton in last year’s presidential election. LaMalfa won his last election by almost 15%, and though he has attracted a few Democratic challengers, the district is not considered a battleground for 2018.

Unlike many California Republican members of Congress, LaMalfa hasn’t shied away from holding town halls, though it’s rarely a pleasant experience for him. He held one in Nevada City in March and another in April in Oroville. No other California Republicans are scheduled to hold town halls during their August recess.

Near the end of Monday’s town hall, a woman criticized LaMalfa for inviting only Christian pastors to provide invocations at his town halls and other events, and urged him to include religious leaders of all faiths.

“If you want to have your own town hall, you can invite whoever you like,” LaMalfa told her.

Output: Sen. Kamala Harris will co-sponsor a Medicare-for-all plan proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), she told Californians at a town hall in Oakland on Wednesday.


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Study Investigates a Caregiver's Role in Older Patients Approaching End of Life
 Caregivers fill an important role for older individuals who are suffering from disabilities or severe diseases and especially for those at the end of life. Caregivers are responsible for many challenging tasks during the end of life for a patient; however, often go unpaid.

A study published in Health Affairs, used data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) to form a random sample of people at least 65 years old. A total of 8245 people participated in in-person interviews and were asked about their self-care, household, mobility, and medical activities. Those who received assistance for their health were asked about their relationship to the people who assisted them.

A total of 264 of 2423 community-dwelling older adults who received help for health or functioning died within 1 year of the study enrollment and represented an estimated 905,000 people in the United States during 2011. Although an estimated 2.3 million caregivers nationwide had assisted older adults, the majority were unpaid—with only 260,000 paid caregivers assisting with end-of-life care.

“This work expands knowledge about the scope of end-of-life caregiving and its related challenges by examining all caregivers—both paid and unpaid—who are involved in the care of older adults,” the researchers wrote. “While our work confirms the vital role of family and other unpaid caregivers before and during the end-of-life period, we found that paid caregiving support was significantly higher in that final period.”

Of the paid caregivers, 33% were helping a patient with heart disease, 22% with cancer, and 25% for dementia. In addition, 47% of the unpaid caregivers lived in the same household as the older adult, with 14% being spouses. End-of-life caregivers also spent significantly more time helping with mobility, personal care, making the home safer, and obtaining mobility devices.

End-of-life caregivers also reported physical difficulty related to their caregiving (35% versus 21%) and no time for themselves (51% versus 40%) when compared with other caregivers; however there were no significant differences in depression, anxiety, or financial difficulty based on survival rates among the groups of caregivers.

“Results from this study confirm the significant and enduring involvement of caregivers in meeting the needs of older adults at the end of life,” the authors concluded. “Supporting the growing population of family and other unpaid caregivers in an urgent public health issue. Our findings indicate that the need for adequate support is especially pressing when older patients and the loved ones who assist them are at their most vulnerable, at the end of life.”

Output: Caregivers fill an important role for older individuals who are suffering from disabilities or severe diseases and especially for those at the end of life. Caregivers are responsible for many challenging tasks during the end of life for a patient; however, often go unpaid.


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Harvey likely to encourage renewal of US flood insurance scheme
 A key Republican said Hurricane Harvey will spur Congress to reach a deal to fund the nation’s flood insurance program before it expires next month, even though divisions persist over how much the federal government should be on the hook for future disasters.

“I’m just hopeful this will provide the urgency and onus to get this bill on the floor,” Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Financial Services said in a phone interview Monday. “We need to make sure we don’t compound a physical tragedy today with a fiscal tragedy tomorrow.”

The devastating storm in Texas has put a spotlight on the National Flood Insurance Program, which requires the government to foot the bill for most of the water damage done to residential properties. It’s already running a deficit of more than $25 billion and Harvey’s costs are expected to exceed tens of billions of dollars. While Congress has until Sept. 30 to reauthorize the program, lawmakers have been at loggerheads over how to make the program economically sustainable without increasing costs for homeowners.

Hensarling’s committee has approved measures that call on private insurers to play a bigger role in the market, which critics have argued will make coverage more expensive and less available. The Texas lawmaker said that most disagreements have been worked out and that he is not in favor of Congress passing a temporary extension of the current flood insurance program because doing so would hurt taxpayers.

Bad Plan

“I just don’t think a short-term re-authorization bill gets the job done,” he said.

In the Senate, several lawmakers from coastal states are teaming up to craft a bipartisan bill. Senators John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, and Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, have proposed a measure that would reauthorize federal flood insurance for six years, while freezing interest payments on accrued debt from the program that’s owed to the U.S. Treasury. Freezing the interest payments would free up funds to help mitigate costs from future disasters, according to the senators.

The Senate Banking Committee, which oversees funding for the flood insurance program, hasn’t taken up its own bill on the issue. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the panel, said a short-term extension is likely if a deal can’t be reached.

“It is too early to determine how hurricane Harvey will impact the timeline,” Brown said in an emailed statement. “But it is likely that Congress will pass a short-term extension to ensure the program doesn’t lapse.”

‘Whacking People’

In the near term, Brown’s prediction is the most likely outcome because disagreements on how to proceed on a broader bill are probably too severe to be resolved quickly, said R.J. Lehmann, a senior fellow at the conservative R Street Institute.

“Harvey should make it clearer that the way we’ve been doing things has not been sustainable and changes need to be made,” Lehmann said. “But lawmakers are not going to want to whack people who are already suffering from the hurricane with more costs.”

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Output: Hurricane Harvey is likely to encourage the US Congress to renew the National Flood Insurance Programme. The scheme, which expires at the end of this month, gives the government responsibility for covering the cost of flooding caused by severe weather events. While there are divisions among ruling Republican Congress members on the the issue, Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Financial Services, said he was hopeful Harvey would "provide the urgency and onus to get this bill on the floor".


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Rise in mobile ad spend by FMCG, consumer brands to taper in 2018
 Despite the likes of Unilever and Procter & Gamble slashing advertising budgets, FMCG brands are expected to invest 28% more in mobile advertising this year in the UK than they did in 2016.

Overall, FMCG and consumer brands will spend 11% more on digital ads in 2017 than they did last year, according to eMarketer’s inaugural cross-industry UK ad spend report. Total mobile spend for this category is forecast to hit just shy of £1bn.

The study follows on from Unilever – which owns the likes of Dove and Lynx – deciding to run 30% fewer ads as part of a wider cost-cutting exercise to improve efficiency. The brand has said it also intends to reduce the number of agencies it has (around 3,000) in half.

Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble has clamped down on ad spend to the tune of an estimated $140m per-quarter as it looks to tackle "ineffective" digital buys. Earlier this year, the Ariel-owner’s top marketer Marc Pritchard expressed his desire to bring transparency to the “murky at best, fraudulent at worst” media supply chain if it was to continue investing.

But, even in the face of more economical digital investment, it appears mobile will continue to take an increasingly larger share of FMCG ad budgets through to the end of the year.

By 2018, however, the year-on-year increase to mobile ad spend from the FMCG sector will slow from the estimated 28% to around 23.8%.

A recent study from the IAB found that digital ad spend in the UK increased by 17% in 2016 to reach £10.3bn, fueled by the growth of mobile. However, in terms of overall digital ad spend growth, eMarketer has forecast that between 2017 and 2018 there will be a 1.5% fall across industries; down from a projected 11% this year to 9.5% in 2018.

Despite some investment by FMCG-giants, driving much of the growth in the coming months will come from the retail sector. This year alone retail will account for 14.2% of all digital ad spend in the UK, thanks to the rise of e-commerce - especially in the food and grocery sector where pure-play giants like Amazon are muscling in.

Marketing investment in retail will rise by 13.4% to £1.5bn before the year is out, according to the report. Again, mobile is driving the retail industry's ad growth; investment in the medium is poised to balloon by 31% to reach just over £1bn this year.

Other core industries in the UK tracked by eMarketer, will also increase their digital ad spend in 2017, albeit by slightly more modest levels, with with increases ranging from 27% for travel to 30% for automotive.

Output: FMCG brands in the UK are expected to invest 28% more on mobile advertising in 2017 than in 2016, according to eMarketer. Overall, consumer and FMCG brands will spend 11% more on digital advertising, with total mobile spend from this category predicted to be just under £1bn. However, major firms like Unilever and Procter & Gamble have committed to reducing ad spending in a bid to improve efficiency and transparency, and in 2018, mobile ad spend in the FMCG sector is predicted to fall back from this year, with an estimated increase of around 24%.


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Microsoft and Amazon unveil tie-up between Cortana and Alexa
 Microsoft has announced a “first-of-its-kind collaboration” with Amazon between its voice-enabled virtual assistant Cortana and Amazon’s AI assistant Alexa.

The collaboration means that Cortana will have be able to access Alexa, while also allowing Alexa to access Cortana.

“Available later this year, this collaboration will allow you to access Alexa via Cortana on Windows 10 PCs, followed by Android and iOS in the future. Conversely, you’ll be able to access Cortana on Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show,” Microsoft’s Andrew Shuman said in an official blog post.

“Cortana users will be able to have Alexa shop on Amazon.com and manage their Amazon orders and access many of Alexa’s third-party skills by asking Cortana to open Alexa, just as Alexa users will have access to Cortana’s world knowledge and helpful productivity features such as calendar management, day at a glance and location-based reminders simply by asking Alexa to open Cortana,” added Shuman.

The announcement comes amid fierce competition among tech giants to gain market dominance in the new and emerging market of AI-powered voice assistant technology.

Microsoft partnering up with Amazon suggests that AI powered agents such as Alexa and Cortana could be better off working together instead of directly competing.

“The world is big and so multifaceted. There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas,” said Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, in a statement today.

Output: Microsoft and Amazon have announced a groundbreaking collaboration between their respective voice-enabled virtual assistants. As of later this year users of Microsoft's voice-enabled virtual assistant, Cortana, and Amazon’s AI assistant, Alexa, will be able to access both devices' features. Microsoft's Andrew Shuman said the crossover would be available from later this year, initially on Windows 10 PCs, before being rolled out to iOS and Android. The move would be the first consolidation between tech giants in the voice-activated market as competition to gain dominance increases.


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Sony introduces LF-S50G smart speaker as rival to Amazon Echo
 Sony takes aim at the Amazon Echo - and Apple's forthcoming HomePod - with its new LF-S50G smart speaker

Sony has unveiled its answer to the Amazon Echo - a new voice-controlled smart speaker that claims to combine easy access to online information with high-quality sound.

Catchily named the LF-S50G, the speaker connects to the internet over WiFi, and has a 360-degree speaker system, meaning you get the same sound quality wherever you are in the room.

As well as a full range speaker and a dedicated subwoofer, the speaker also features a "damped bass reflex duct" for extra bass, and an "omnidirectional two stage diffuser" to help spread the sound in all directions.

Sony's speaker come pre-installed with Google Assistant - the same virtual person assistant that runs on the Google Home smart speaker . This allows users to access online information without having to pick up and touch their phone.

Image: PA) PA)

You can bring the speaker to life by saying "Ok Google", and then ask questions like what the traffic will be like on your route to work, set an alarm to wake you up in the morning or retrieve the flight booking details for your next trip.

You can also check and update your calendar to manage your upcoming appointments, add to your to-do lists, and get general information about the news and weather forecast.

The speaker will connect to any other Chromecast-enabled smart speakers in the home for a multi room set-up, and can play music, podcasts or radio from services like Spotify, Google Play Music, Pandora, TuneIn and iHeartRadio.

Image: Apple) Apple)

It can also be used to control a range of smart home devices with Chromecast built-in, such as Nest, Philips Hue and IFTTT, letting you adjust the temperature and lighting with just a word.

Bearing a striking resemblance to Apple's recently unveiled HomePod speaker , the S50G comes in either back or white, and has a water repellent coating, so you don't have to worry about placing it on the kitchen worktop. It also has a digital clock display on the front.

It will be available in the UK from November 2017, priced at approximately £200.

Output: Sony has unveiled the LF-S50G, a voice-controlled smart speaker it believes can take on Amazon's Alexa. Available in the UK from November at around £200 ($257), the LF-S50G has Google Assistant pre-installed, links to the internet via Wi-Fi, can connect with other Chromecast-enabled smart speakers in a user's home, and has a 360-degree speaker system. Apple is expected to launch its HomePod speaker before the end of the year.


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UK’s first commercial lentil crop harvested
 The UK’s first commercial crops of lentils, grown on farms in Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Suffolk, Sussex and Wiltshire are being harvested this week before going on sale in the autumn.

Blazing the trail is Hodmedod, a Suffolk-based pioneer of British-grown pulses and grains founded five years ago, which has worked with UK farmers since 2015 on a series of trial crops leading to 24 acres of organic lentils being picked and packed this season.

The company is on a mission to reintroduce British-grown beans, peas and pulses and has already won the high-profile backing of chefs and restaurateurs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Yotem Ottolenghi, Jamie Oliver and Mark Hix.

Most lentils on sale in the UK are imported from India – the primary producer – or Canada, but mass production means they tend to have a bland taste with no trace of the earthy, peppery flavour they should have.

Lentils are a notoriously difficult crop and have never been grown on a large or commercial scale in the UK. Low-growing and typically yielding no more than two lentils in each short pod, they need a warm, dry autumn to ripen for harvest. Yet they are thought to have been one of the earliest cultivated ‘legumes’ in the UK, with traces found on prehistoric sites.

“We’d always wanted to grow lentils but were repeatedly told it just wasn’t possible,” said Hodmedod co-founder Josiah Meldrum. “Then we met some inspiring German lentil farmers who told us to just plant them and see what happened. We did and it turns out lentils grow well here, the trick is keeping them weed-free and harvesting them – skills we’ve been learning over the last few years.”

Lentils come in a variety of different colours and sizes, including red lentils and speciality varieties such as Puy lentils (grown in the Le Puy region of France). Hodmedod’s lentils are a mixture of varieties including Rosanna and Flora and the variety grown in Puy.

The new lentils will be showcased in a pop-up restaurant at London’s Borough Market for the whole of September and at other UK food and drink festivals, including Abergavenny and Aldeburgh. They will also go on sale online and via independent retailers and wholefood shops.

Output: The first commercial crops of lentils to be grown on UK farms will be harvested this week prior to sale in the autumn. Suffolk-based company Hodmedod has worked with farmers since 2015 on a range of pilot crops as part of an attempt to reintroduce UK-grown beans, peas and pulses. The company, whose lentils are organic, has been praised by chefs and restaurateurs including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Mark Hix, Jamie Oliver and Yotem Ottolenghi. Most lentils sold in the UK are imported from India and tend to have a bland taste due to mass production.


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XL Catlin appoints client distribution head for southeast US
 XL Catlin brought on a new client distribution leader for its Southeast broker and client management operation. W.R. Berkley’s W.R. Berkley Corp.’s Berkley Program Specialists hired a business development executive.

***

Arden Young is the new client distribution leader for XL Catlin’s Broker & Client Management arm in the Southeast.

In his new role, Young will work with XL Catlin brokers and clients in the region, helping them access XL Catlin’s multi-line property, casualty and specialty insurance coverages claims expertise and risk management services. He’ll report to Kimberly Reed, XL Catlin’s Southeast regional leader.

Previously, Young was with Gallagher Bassett Services, where he most recently served as vice president for business development. Before that, he held various industry risk management positions including as a senior manager in risk management for Georgia Pacific.

***

W.R. Berkley Corp.’s Berkley Program Specialists appointed Michael Greville as vice president and Business Development Officer, effective Aug. 21.

Greville will oversee the new business strategy for the organization, which focuses exclusively on program businesses. He’ll manage prospective program administrator relationships nationally and also interact with key industry groups and also lead the business development team in spotting program opportunities, and in increasing the company’s profile.

Greville is a 27-year insurance industry veteran with experience in areas including sales/distribution management, program management, MGA management, consulting and underwriting.

Sources: XL Catlin, W.R. Berkley Corp.

Output: Arden Young has been named as the new client distribution leader for XL Catlin’s broker and client management arm in the southeastern US. Young, the former VP for business development at Gallagher Bassett Services, will report to Kimberly Reed, XL Catlin’s southeast regional leader, and work with XL Catlin brokers and clients in the region, helping them access the firm's property, casualty and specialist insurance claims expertise, as well as risk management services.


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Insurer uses drone fleet to speed up Hurricane Harvey claims
 USAA has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles and hundreds of adjusters to expedite claims in areas ravaged by Hurricane Harvey.

About a dozen of the insurer’s drones are currently flying over Corpus Christi, Texas, where the storm caused the greatest damage over the weekend, a spokesperson said. A recent but publicly undisclosed partnership has given USAA access to a network of pilots and UAVs, Strategic Innovation Director Kristina Tomasetti told Digital Insurance in May.

USAA has also set up a catastrophe response unit in Corpus Chirsti. Similar to Allstate’s mobile claims center, adjusters equipped with laptops are onsite to assess damage, file claims online, charge electronics for customers and cut checks on the spot.

USAA says it has received more than 15,000 claims so far from its military customers, primarily via its mobile app and website.

Rescue personnel drive past an abandoned pickup truck in floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. Estimates for damages caused by Hurricane Harvey are climbing with the storm poised to regain strength in the Gulf of Mexico before crashing back on land. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

“Members are utilizing digital channels to file their claims, as expected,” a company spokesperson said. “Adjusters are triaging based on member need.”

The San Antonio-based company recommends that policyholders begin the claims filing process through its digital channels and not wait for adjusters reach them, as many areas are still inaccessible.

With Hurricane Harvey continuing to move east along the Gulf Coast as a downgraded tropical storm, USAA is also asking members in Harvey’s path to heed local authorities and take necessary precautions.

“At this time, we are heavily focused on the members who have already been affected,” the spokesperson said.

Output: American insurance company USAA is using drones to assess claims in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The company has deployed about a dozen unmanned aerial vehicles over Corpus Christi in Texas, where the storm caused the most damage, after reportedly entering into a partnership to gain access to a network of pilots and vehicles. The insurer has set up a unit on site to deal with claims, staffed by a team of adjusters with laptops. Thousands of claims have already been submitted, primarily via its mobile app and website.


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Qihan launches the Sanbot Nano home robot with Alexa built-in
 An Amazon Alexa-powered humanoid robot could be wheeling its way to a home near you.

Chinese technology firm Qihan launched the Sanbot Nano on Thursday equipped with Amazon's voice assistant that is featured in its Echo speaker.

The 2.7 foot robot will go on sale in October for $2,800, and will be available in English and German. Those are the languages that Alexa currently understands.

Qihan's Sanbot Nano is equipped with 50 sensors that helps it avoid obstacles, hear voices, and recognize when someone enters the room.

Users can access all the features that Alexa enables such as controlling lights in the home or ordering pizza.

Amazon first introduced Alexa on its Echo smart speaker in 2014. But the e-commerce giant's strategy has been to license Alexa out to other vendors to get the voice assistant across several devices and even home appliances.

This is Qihan's first robot designed for the home. The company's previous humanoid models have been put to use in businesses. For example, the Sanbot Elf was used by the Dubai Police to interview potential candidates.

"Sanbot Nano's customized capabilities will make every family feel like they have a personal assistant," Ryan Yu, chief marketing officer at Qihan, said in a press release on Thursday.

Qihan is playing in an increasingly competitive but young market of humanoid robots that could grow quickly. The global personal robots market is expected to see average yearly growth of 37.8 percent between 2017 and 2022, reaching $34.1 billion in size, according to Research and Markets data.

Robots are slowly being trialed in sectors such as hospitality and policing, but are yet to take off in the home. Other competitors like SoftBank with its Pepper robot are also trying to crack the market.

Output: Chinese technology firm Quihan has launched a humanoid robot for use in the home, incorporating Amazon's voice-controlled personal assistant, Alexa. The Sanbot Nano robot is 2.7 foot high and will retail for $2,800. It is equipped with 50 sensors to help it avoid obstacles, process voice commands and detect when someone enters a room. Quihan has previously developed humanoid robots for use in the workplace, such as the Sanbot Elf, which was used by police in Dubai to interview potential recruits. The global market for personal robots is expected to grow to $34.1bn by 2022.


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Future Apple watches may build features into watch fabric
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Article Hero Image

Apple is actively investigating methods of embedding electronic components into woven fabric materials, technology that might be applied to Apple Watch strap designs to offload user interfaces into physical space and expand device functionality.

As noted in a trio of Apple patent applications published on Thursday, the company is continuing exploration into advanced fabric manufacturing technology. Specifically, the documents published today detail methods by which electrical components like buttons, switches and other functional equipment.

As published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple's patent application for "Three-Dimensional Fabric With Embedded Input-Output Devices" explores the possibility of utilizing three-dimensional braiding apparatus to create fabric structures with pockets into which electrical parts are disposed. More accurately, these components are installed into small pockets formed into the fabric material during production.

The invention supports a variety of hardware solutions, including switches, buttons, touch pads, microphones, speakers, vibrators, cameras, status indicators and a bevy of sensors.

Apple details a button or switch solution that incorporates layers of fabric and permanent magnets. In one embodiment, two magnets are covered in metal and aligned opposite each other in a fabric pocket. Conductive leads are woven into the fabric and connect the switch to a control module.

To keep the switch open, the magnets are aligned to repel each other and are placed in a biasing structure formed from springs or foam. Only when the two conductive components are brought together by manual force is the switch circuit closed.

Apple specifies the woven fabric component tech can be applied to a removable device case.

A separate filing for "Fabric With Embedded Electrical Components" details a method of integrating a variety of components directly into woven materials. Using a customized weaving process and specially designed packages, the invention provides a technique by which parts are locked between weft and warp fibers.

In some embodiments, a component package containing sensors, LEDs, transducers or other microelectromechanical device is encapsulated in a housing that incorporates fiber guiding structures. For example, grooves or guide posts can be employed to prevent woven fibers from slipping off the package.

Electrical contacts disposed within the grooves, or elsewhere on the package body, act as terminals and interface with conductive fibers interlaced throughout the woven material substrate.

Perhaps more interesting is Apple's third fabric-centric invention that describes a "Fabric sensing device." Combining theories illustrated in the two applications above, this third property details a touch-sensitive textile device capable of detecting changes in capacitive coupling within the woven material.

In other words, the fabric senses user touch and, in some configurations, force.

In some embodiments, the fabric may incorporate a capacitive touch sensor configured to detect a user's finger near or at the surface of the textile. Such implementations call for at least two sets of conductive thread to be oriented transverse of each other in the larger material body. This same orientation can be used in resistive sensor stacks that detect touch by monitoring changes in impedance.

As for force sensing, the IP describes a two-layer touch sensor separated by a non-conductive spacer like monofilament yarn. When a force is applied to one side of the fabric, the conductive layers are pushed together, resulting in a change in capacitance that can be evaluated by a connected sensing circuit.

Apple notes the fabric sensing device can be deployed as part of a traditional garment, such as the sleeve of a jacket, but might also be woven into a bracelet or arm band.

Whether Apple intends to build its embedded fabric patents into a shipping product is unclear, but the company is expected to announce a next-generation Apple Watch device at an event next month. Not much is known about the so-called "Series 3" wearable, though rumors claim LTE connectivity will be the hardware's headline feature.

More recent reports say the device will retain the same form factor Apple debuted with the original Watch in 2015, meaning the wearable will likely include a diagnostics port under its strap connector. The interface could potentially give rise to a number of accessories, including aftermarket straps based on today's patent applications, as it supports both power and real-time data transfer.

Output: Apple has filed applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office for ways of weaving technology into fabrics for use in garments or wristbands, according to recently published papers. Originally filed in March, the documents explore fabric which has sensors or components embedded into it at the production stage, a customised weaving process used alongside specially designed packages and a touch-sensitive textile which could also detect levels of force. Apple is set to announce a new version of its smartwatch next month.


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Medicare Shared Savings ACOs Save Money, Improve Quality
 With Medicare spending projected to grow to $1.4 trillion by 2027, the federal government is looking for alternative payment models to slow spending growth, and a new report suggests those efforts are delivering.

Accountable care organizations in Medicare’s Shared Savings Program reduced net spending by nearly $1 billion and improved quality metrics over the first three years of the program, a federal audit shows.

“While policy changes may be warranted, ACOs show promise in reducing spending and improving quality,” the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services said in its review issued this week. “However, additional information about high-performing ACOs would inform the future direction of the Shared Savings Program as well as other alternative payment models.”

Medicare spending is projected to hit $1.4 trillion in 2027, which is more than double the $689 billion spent on the program in 2016. The Shared Savings Program is one of the largest alternative payment models, accounting for $168 billion in Medicare expenditures over its first three years, from 2013-2015.

OIG analyzed beneficiary and provider quality, spending and utilization data over the first three years of the program, which involved 428 ACOs and 9.7 million beneficiaries.

“During that time, most of these ACOs reduced Medicare spending compared to their benchmarks, achieving a net spending reduction of nearly $1 billion,” OIG said. “At the same time, ACOs generally improved the quality of care they provided, based on CMS data on quality measures.”

ACOs improved their performance on 82% of the individual quality measures, and outperformed fee-for-service providers on 81% of the quality measures. In addition, a subset of high-performing ACOs reduced spending by an average of $673 per beneficiary for key Medicare services during the review period.

That contrasts other Shared Savings Program ACOs and the national average for fee-for-service providers showed an increase in per beneficiary spending for key Medicare services.

The OIG report also found that:

Output: With Medicare spending projected to grow to $1.4 trillion by 2027, the federal government is looking for alternative payment models to slow spending growth, and a new report suggests those efforts are delivering.


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Health Plans Keep Focus on Value as HHS Backs Off Bundling, Payment Reform
 Value-based reimbursement is now less of a focus for Medicare and Medicaid, but health plans will continue to carry the torch. The impact of their efforts may be diminished, however.

Health plans are committed to moving toward more of a value-based strategy even though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is backing away from some key programs intended to encourage that approach, says an industry insider.

The government's retreat from those programs will make it more difficult for health plans to have significant impact on how care is delivered in the country, says Michael Thompson, president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (formerly the National Business Coalition on Health), a DC-based nonprofit that represents more than 12,000 purchasers employers and 41 million Americans.

CMS announced recently that it will abandon two bundled-payment models and cut down the number of providers required to participate in a third, saying providers wanted more input in the models' designs. Bundled-payment models are meant to incentivize quality care by paying hospitals essentially a lump sum for a particular type or episode of care, with the hospital taking the financial hit for cost overruns due to poor outcomes, readmissions, and errors.

CMS plans to cancel the Episode Payment Models and the Cardiac Rehabilitation incentive payment model, which were scheduled to begin on Jan. 1, 2018. In addition, the geographic mandatory participation areas for the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement, or CJR, model will be cut from 67 to 34 under the proposed rule.

In the remaining mandatory participation areas, hospitals with fewer than 20 joint replacements over three years will be excluded starting in February 2018, but they can voluntarily participate in the model if they so choose. Up to 470 hospitals are expected to continue to operate under the model, down from 800 if no changes were made.

"Medicare backing away from some of that is a step backwards, and hopefully a temporary one," Thompson says. "HHS, through Medicare and Medicaid, is one of the largest players in the system, accounting for more than half of all payments, and when they adopt this value-based approach it quickly sets a tone for the entire industry. With them backing away, we're back to where we were with many health plans trying to adopt a value-based approach but not having as much impact."

Each health plan can only impact a relatively small population of providers when compared to the influence of Medicare, Thompson notes.

"Health plans are moving away from the old silos of disease management to more of a total health approach that understands the multiple factors affecting an individual's health and guiding them in the right direction. Medicare's payment reform supported that and gave providers the right incentives, so now it will be up to health plans to carry that effort forward," Thompson says.

"I don't expect health plans to back down at all. Health plans will continue down that path but they won't have the same impact on changing the industry as we would see if everyone, including the biggest player in the market, was doing the same thing."

The loss of HHS dedication to value-based reimbursement will lead health plans to put even more emphasis on engaging consumers in optimal use of resources and achieving better outcomes, Thompson says.

"We're finding that some of the traditional approaches, those that were more passive in making resources and tools available and letting the consumer use them if they wanted to, are being replaced with more proactive services that engage consumers at the point of service," Thompson says.

"Some of those are being integrated into their call center activities because the plans are realizing that when people engage with their health plan they can be more effective if they understand these resources better, and then the health plan can guide them more effectively."

Output: Value-based reimbursement is now less of a focus for Medicare and Medicaid, but health plans will continue to carry the torch. The impact of their efforts may be diminished, however.


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Thiel’s Valar in $10m seed round for point-of-need insurtech Coya
 Coya AG, a Berlin-based insurtech startup, raised over $10m in seed funding.

Backers included Valar Ventures, e.ventures, La Famiglia, as well as angel investors Mato Peric (EPIC Companies, Rocket Internet), Rolf Schrömgens (Trivago), Elvir Omerbegovic (Universal Music, Selfmade Records), Marco Knauf (true fruits), Sebastian Diemer (Kreditech, finiata) and Alexander Graubner-Müller (Kreditech).

The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations hiring new people to build the platform.

Co-founded by Andrew Shaw, Dr. Peter Hagen, and Sebastian Villarroel, Coya aims to provide digital insurance products at the point of need with an AI risk guardian and transparent and personalized cover.

The company, which has filed a license application with Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) to become a licensed and regulated insurance carrier, plans to launch its services in 2018, following the approval.

It currently comprises a team of more than 30 employees with insurance, technology and data science backgrounds, gained at global leaders such as AXA, Citi, HUK-Coburg, Oliver Wyman, Rocket Internet, Wimdu and Zurich.

FinSMEs

30/08/2017

Output: Insurtech start-up Coya has raised $10m seed capital from investors including La Famiglia, Peter Thiel-backed Valar Ventures, and e.ventures. The Berlin-based firm is looking to provide point-of-need, transparent and personalised digital insurance products, complete with an artificial intelligence risk guardian. The funds will be used for hiring to build out the platform.


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Garmin embraces contactless payments
 Missed the GamesBeat Summit excitement? Don't worry! Tune in now to catch all of the live and virtual sessions here.

Garmin has become the latest tech giant to embrace mobile payments, as the GPS navigation and wearables company today announced the launch of Garmin Pay.

The contactless payments service arrives first on the company’s new $300 Vívoactive 3 smartwatch. Powered by FitPay, a white-label contactless payments platform aimed at the burgeoning wearables and IoT realms, Garmin Pay supports both Mastercard and Visa cards from “major issuing banks.” After manually adding your card to the Garmin Pay wallet, you can pay for goods in stores by scanning your wrist at checkout.

By building both GPS and contactless payments into the device, Garmin is looking to solve a problem familiar to millions of fitness enthusiasts around the world. Why carry your phone and wallet with you on a long run when you can pack your every need into a wrist-worn contraption?

“Anyone who is out and about being active can relate to the struggle of where to stash a credit card or cash, and has had to forgo a post-workout snack or coffee as a result,” explained Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales, Dan Bartel, in a press release. “We’re solving that dilemma with Garmin Pay, an exciting feature on the new Vívoactive 3. Use it pretty much wherever contactless payments are accepted, and give yourself one less thing to remember when you’re leaving the house.”

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One point worth noting here is that the Vívoactive 3 doesn’t have music capabilities built in, so if you do like to listen to tunes while pounding the pavement (or the trails), you will still have to carry a secondary device with you. With that in mind, Garmin’s latest watch is capable of controlling music on your smartphone, but it is a shame you’re not able to pack some tracks onto the watch itself.

Today’s news comes just a few days after Fitbit announced its first-ever smartwatch, the $300 Ionic, which promises water resistance, GPS, heart rate monitoring… and a brand new contactless payments service called Fitbit Pay. To say that the mobile payments space is heating up is something of an understatement, with Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and Apple Pay already vying for consumers’ attentions.

The wearables market grew 18 percent in Q1 2017, according to a recent IDC report, with Xiaomi and Apple nudging Fitbit into third place in terms of market share. Garmin remains one of the top five wearables companies in the world, however, sitting behind the three aforementioned companies and Samsung.

The Vívoactive 3 is available in three colors — black/stainless and white/stainless, which cost $300; and black/slate, which has a suggested retail price of $330. Garmin also announced today the Vívomove HR, which the company calls its first touchscreen hybrid smartwatch.

Output: Kansas-based wearables firm Garmin has launched Garmin Pay, a contactless payment method which supports Mastercard and Visa issued by popular banks. The technology will first be implemented on the company’s new $300 Vívoactive 3 smartwatch, which can be quickly scanned to make payments once card details have been added to the Garmin payment wallet. The announcement comes hot on the heels of a similar product from Fitbit, which sits behind Xiaomi and Apple in terms of market share.


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RTL Group takes remaining stake in ad server SpotX for $145m
 German broadcaster RTL Group, which acquired a 65% stake in the video ad server and supply-side platform SpotX in 2014, said Wednesday that it has purchased the remainder of the company for $145 million.

RTL, which houses SpotX with other technology and content assets under a division called the RTL Digital Hub, also plans further ad tech investments.

SpotX and SmartClip, the video distribution platform RTL acquired in March, will collaborate on video ad solutions and identify opportunities for acquisition and partnership to benefit RTL’s larger business.

In recent months, SpotX has pushed its integrated SSP and ad server businesses, espousing the benefits of a combined system. That’s why, as of the first six months of 2017, 50% of its revenue came from programmatic services, growing 35% YoY. Ad server revenue grew 71% YoY.

SpotX’s revenue grew 2.3% YoY during the first half of the year, based on International Financial Reporting Standards. But, its revenue grew 20% YoY if basing that figure on US GAAP measures.

RTL didn’t break out a specific revenue amount for SpotX, but RTL’s digital businesses totaled 389 million euros, or about $462 million, for the half year.

Meanwhile, SpotX’s managed services declined 48% YoY and accounts for just 23% of total SpotX revenue. Private marketplace deals now make up 49% of SpotX’s video transactions.

“I think you’ve always got to be innovating and planning for the long game,” Mike Shehan, founder and CEO of SpotX, told AdExchanger. “When I first signed the deal with RTL, our SaaS-based and ad-serving fees were a blip on the radar. Now, we’re making over 25% of our revenue off of fees, not just percentage of gross media.”

Shehan doesn’t expect RTL’s full ownership of SpotX to change its day-to-day operations. But SpotX hadn’t been aggressively expanding, since the financial terms of its original RTL deal were tied to performance.

“That hampered some of our efforts to do more aggressive things on the corporate development, M&A or partnership front, so if anything, [this deal] has cleared the decks for us to be more aggressive in pursuit of our vision,” he added. “Nothing should really change in terms of who SpotX is or our mission.”

RTL has helped SpotX expand its global footprint considerably.

When it acquired a majority stake in the company in 2014, SpotX had eight people in its London office. Now, it has more than 80, as well as new offices across Europe and joint ventures with RTL subsidiaries IP Deutschland and RTL Netherlands.

“I’ve learned much more about broadcast, as well as the nuances of each market throughout Europe,” Shehan said. On the flip side, “RTL got more access to ad tech, but also exposure to the US market as well. We’ve achieved a lot of goals we originally set out with.”

Output: Luxembourg-based German broadcast company RTL Group has fully acquired video ad server and supply-side platform SpotX in a deal worth $145m. RTL already bought a 65% share in 2014 and will house SpotX alongside another acquisition, video distribution platform SmartClip, with the two companies collaborating on video ads and spotting investment opportunities for RTL. During H1 2017, 50% of SpotX's revenue came from programmatic services, and SpotX CEO Mike Shehan said the deal will enable the company to be "more aggressive in pursuit of our vision".


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Novae shareholders approve its $611.5m takeover by AXIS
 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd.’s planned $611.5 million acquisition of Novae Group plc will be going through.

AXIS, a Bermuda-based specialty insurer, disclosed that Novae’s shareholders on Aug. 29 cast votes 99.97 percent in favor of the acquisition. Novae is a Lloyd’s of London specialty insurer and reinsurer.

The $611.5 million purchase price reflects a sweetened, final offer that AXIS made about a week ago.

When the acquisition closes in the 2017 fourth quarter, the combined company will be a global specialty insurer and reinsurer with more than $6 billion in gross written premiums.

Albert Benchimol, AXIS president and CEO, said that the combined company will be a $2 billion in insurer and helps move the company forward in a big way.

“The acquisition of Novae accelerates the growth strategy of our international insurance business,” Benchimol noted in prepared remarks. “We are excited by the possibilities this presents and look forward to welcoming the Novae team as we work together to achieve our shared ambitions.”

Matthew Fosh, Novae’s CEO, added in prepared remarks that he sees the combined company as “superbly positioned to compete in the international specialty insurance marketplace.”

This is the first big acquisition for AXIS since its failed attempt to buy PartnerRe in 2015. After months of back-and-forth, PartnerRe agreed to an unsolicited $6.9 billion bid from Italian Investment firm EXOR. PartnerRe paid a $315 million break-up free to AXIS.

Source: AXIS

Output: Bermuda-based specialty insurer AXIS's planned $611.5m acquisition of Novae Group will go ahead, following near-unanimous agreement by the latter's shareholders. Novae, a Lloyd’s of London specialty insurer and reinsurer, agreed to the acquisition following a sweetened offer made by AXIS. The deal is set to complete during Q4 2017, and will result in a global specialty insurer and reinsurer boasting more than $6bn in gross written premiums.


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Facebook adds popular Latino YouTube shows to Watch video tab
 Facebook is steadily adding shows to its recently launched Watch video tab for mobile, desktop, and TV. Last week, it nabbed a docuseries based on viral blog Humans of New York, which already boasts a massive following on the social network. The same goes for its latest additions -- two new latino shows that have found considerable success on rival video service YouTube. The weekly programmes come courtesy of digital video network Mitú, and include Mom's Movie Reviews, and What's Good in Your Hood.

In case you're not familiar with Mitú, the online media company claims it attracts around 600 million monthly content views. Its output can be found on YouTube, Comcast's Watchable streaming service, and Snapchat Discover. It's also been busy amassing millions of followers across social media, including Instagram, Twitter, and (its biggest platform) Facebook. That success has brought with it the attention of some notable backers -- the likes of Verizon, YouTube network Awesomeness TV, and ad agency WPP have poured $43 million into the company.

Mitú's shows tend to be aimed at Latino millennials, and its Watch on Facebook programmes are no different. Mom's Movie Reviews is cast from the YouTube mold, offering weekly reviews of new movie releases by a (you guessed it) Latina mom and her son. The unscripted comedy series will be available to view on Facebook's Watch every Friday.

The second show from Mitú is also an extension of an existing programme, dubbed What's Good In Your Hood. The Watch on Facebook series sees comedian Andrew Santiago visit local American neighbourhoods to sample their cuisine, and highlight the work being done by community members. The focus on food should go down well on Facebook, where clips about grub reign supreme. What's Good In Your Hood also debuts today, with new episodes landing every Wednesday.

—

Verizon owns Engadget's parent company, Oath (formerly AOL). Rest assured, Verizon has no control over our coverage. Engadget remains editorially independent.

Output: Facebook has added hit Latino shows Mom's Movie Reviews and What's Good in Your Hood to its Watch video service. The programmes are part of Verizon and WPP-backed online media company Mitú's stable. Mitú claims it achieves 600 million monthly content views on platforms including YouTube, Comcast's Watchable and Snapchat Discover. Facebook recently revealed it had picked up Humans of New York, a documentary series based on the viral blog.


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IoT appliances recognised as evidence in forensic crime cases
 The heist was relatively straightforward: Masked men broke into a woman's house and made off with a diamond ring. What they didn't know was that their victim's doorbell doubled as a camera and recorded the men going inside. There was also evidence that the woman's connected light bulbs had turned on while she was at work.

But all was not lost. The ring was insured for $50,000 US, and using the records from her smart home devices, the woman filed a claim.

However, an independent forensic analysis of the devices in her house told a very different story. The house's smart door lock was found to have been unlocked with the woman's phone. And the Wi-Fi alarm system in her home hadn't been tampered with, but rather, deactivated with the woman's code.

Sensing a shift in where digital evidence can hide, forensics examiners have started looking beyond smartphones and laptops to a new crop of internet-connected sensors — and developers of forensics software have been happy to oblige. A handful of companies now advertise support for data generated by activity trackers, GPS navigation systems, drones and even connected cars.

And while experts caution that these devices — often referred to under the umbrella of the Internet of Things (IoT) — don't always store or even generate the rich troves of behavioural data that people might expect, they've nonetheless given investigators in a range of criminal and civil cases a new and sometimes bountiful source for leads.

"There are few significant investigations that don't involve electronic information," said David Fraser, a privacy and technology lawyer at the Halifax law firm McInnes Cooper. "And that electronic information is in a bunch more places than it used to be."

A smartphone supplement

In the case of the diamond ring, it was eventually determined that the break-in had been staged. The masked men were actually the woman's cousins. The insurance company denied her claim and, with the help of the results from the independent forensic analysis, charged her for fraud.

The smart home devices that she thought would support her claim were actually used against her.

Erik Laykin, a managing director at financial services firm Duff & Phelps, described the diamond ring scenario during a talk at the RSA Conference in San Francisco earlier this year. He told CBC News it was a real case, but declined to provide further details, citing confidentiality agreements.

Collecting data from connected devices such as the smart speaker Google Home is still new ground for many forensic investigators. (Stephen Lam/Reuters)

The ability to perform digital forensics on data generated by connected devices has proven valuable in a handful of other cases too. FitBit data has been used to contradict testimony during multiple criminal investigations, for example, and prosecutors used data obtained from an Amazon Echo speaker and a smart water meter in a recent murder case.

But forensics experts are generally careful not to overstate the amount of information the devices themselves can provide.

"I think smartphones are still going to be one of your key sources of evidence for most investigations," said Jamie McQuaid, a forensics consultant at the Waterloo, Ont.-based software developer Magnet Forensics, while IoT devices are "really a supplement to that."

Most have little onboard storage, meaning that the real trove of data — the historical usage patterns — is in the smartphone apps they communicate with, or in the cloud.

On the device itself, basic settings and account information are the best you're likely to get.

From automobiles to assistants

To augment the data that investigators can already obtain from smartphones and laptops, a handful of companies have started to include support for a range of emerging devices.

Magnet Forensics added support for a handful of connected devices to its smartphone forensics software last fall — including the Nest thermostat, Amazon Echo, FitBit wearables and OnStar. But rather than interacting with the devices themselves, Magnet's software examines the bits of information that their apps collect and leave behind.

Paraben's E3 software works in a similar way, pulling a range of data from apps that are used to communicate with DJI Drones, wearables such as FitBit, and Amazon's Echo.

And there are signs that Cellebrite — a popular Isareli forensics software developer whose clients include both the RCMP and the FBI — is moving to support connected devices, too. A job posting shows that the company is looking for a senior forensic researcher to work on "a product that compiles forensic evidence from all mobile devices, PC and IoT devices and help put the bad guys away."

Jad Saliba, right, and Adam Belsher both left their jobs in 2011 to start the Waterloo, Ont.-based digital forensics company Magnet Forensics. (Matthew Kang/CBC)

It's not clear whether this is an existing or future product, and Cellebrite didn't respond to a request for comment.

And the list goes on. A company called Berla offers one software suite called iVe, which does "analysis of a vehicle's infotainment and telematics systems" for a range of popular car models. They also offer another product called Blackthorn, designed to extract data from navigation devices like portable GPS watches, as well as navigation devices used in boats and planes.

Beyond the bread and butter

At Duff & Phelps, Laykin said he's working on another case, currently in pre-litigation — a dispute with a builder over a custom-built home with IoT and intelligence throughout.

"When the owners took delivery, systems didn't function, there were breakdowns, and claims that the builder of the home could eavesdrop and spy," Laykin said.

Much like the case with the diamond ring, he said that confidentiality agreements limit how much more he can say.

On the one hand, digital forensics companies, such as Magnet and Paraben, acknowledge that they're partly looking ahead to where the market is heading, with the hope that interest in IoT forensics will only continue to grow another line of business to supplement their bread and butter of laptops and phones.

But on the other hand — and as people like Laykin and recent cases have shown — there are people who are already interested in these capabilities today.

At Paraben, CEO Amber Schroader said her product's early embrace of IoT analysis has been met with skepticism by some — until they realize that the reality isn't as far away as they might think.

"And then when it becomes real," she said, "they're like 'Woah, you totally knew that was real.'"

Output: Evidence from internet-connected devices is increasingly being used in forensic investigation of criminal cases. Devices collectively known as the Internet of Things (IoT) are giving investigators new sources that can be used to detect crime and prosecute criminals, with data from FitBits, an Amazon Echo speaker and a smart water meter having been used in recent cases. Forensic experts have warned that the small amount of storage in such devices limits their usefulness, with the most useful data being that stored on smartphones.


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Marketers turn to less mature markets for short-term margin boost
 Some of the real winners in advertising’s pullback on digital ads are immature markets, which are less transparent than mature markets but offer better returns at far lower costs for advertisers.

It’s a decision many marketers are making as they attempt to shed any media in markets such as Europe and North America that aren’t growing their businesses in the short term, according to media executives. While digital’s inefficiencies are global, the cost of them to marketers are significantly less in immature regions compared to their mature counterparts.

As a result, marketers are increasingly moving parts of their budgets into immature markets in Asia and Africa to prop up their margins, while they attempt to deal with growing pressures on transparency in online advertising. Consequently, the considerations for many marketers now as budgets become more geo-transferable via programmatic is what regions will deliver the best return on investment in the short term.

Increasingly, those places are in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, where fraud and risks of poor measurement abound in some parts. Yet the audiences are larger in those markets, and the prospect of driving sales from advertising is potentially bigger and cheaper, revealed one media consultant, who spoke to Digiday under the condition of anonymity.

“A lot of clients are realizing that moving the dial [with their advertising] in the U.S. and Europe is difficult and expensive and instead are shifting that spend to Southeast Asia, where it might not be really measurable, but they can move the dial quite quickly and at a lower cost,” the consultant said. “I see a lot of budgets moving into Asia.”

Digital ad spending across Southeast Asia’s six key markets — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — is set to grow 20.4 percent to $2.07 billion in 2017, according to the IAB Singapore and eMarketer. The danger of pumping budgets into markets without robust measurement industries like Southeast Asia is that it could worsen the industry’s transparency woes rather than improve them.

However, Steve Hyde, one of the founders of Zenith Media and the founder of recruitment firm 360xec, argued that any marketer moving budgets into immature markets would do so with a closer eye on which investments are working and which aren’t. He said the more short-term-minded advertisers are weighing whether “they can almost hedge [investments] territory by territory,” which all comes down to “confidence and results” from making small, short-term adjustments in each market, not full-scale strategic redeployments.

“Virtually no one [among advertisers] is looking beyond six months, and within that period, anything can happen,” he said. “There’s a lot more tweaking [of media strategies] that’s going on because there isn’t the long-term commitment.”

The latest weak growth forecasts from WPP and Havas demonstrate how advertisers’ shifting spending habits are affecting the wider market. WPP, the largest advertising holding group by sales, revised its growth forecasts earlier this month for the third time this year in part due to “uncertainty and short-termism reducing investment among clients,” WPP CEO Martin Sorrell said. Two days later, Havas scrapped its own growth forecasts for the year.

The real worry for agencies isn’t that budgets are declining. Pivotal Research predicts big brands will hold the line on ad spend for the remainder of the year. The concern is that budgets are being moved around. The more advertisers move online budgets between markets, the less agencies know what is being spent, meaning they have less confidence in their own forecasts and subsequent investments. It worsens the already precarious situation regarding how big media buying shops spend clients’ money.

Output: Advertisers are turning to less developed markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East for fresh sources of revenue, despite increased risks of ad fraud, as they look to boost margins. With growing pressures around online ad transparency in the US and Europe, marketers are being drawn to other regions with bigger audiences to drive short-term gains; digital ad spend across southeast Asia's key markets is predicted to rise 20.4% to $2.07bn this year. Steve Hyde, a co-founder of recruitment firm 360xec, suggests these strategies are short term and that "virtually no one is looking beyond six months".


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Scientists develop efficient selective solar absorber
 New York, NY—August 28, 2017—Researchers led by Yuan Yang , assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Columbia Engineering , along with colleagues at the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University, and Stanford University have developed a new, scalable, and low-cost “dip and dry” method for fabricating a highly efficient selective solar absorber (SSA) that can harness and convert sunlight to heat for use in a wide range of energy-related applications, from heating water and generating steam to residential heating.

The team’s method is outlined in a new paper, “Scalable, ‘Dip-and-dry’ Fabrication of a Wide-Angle Plasmonic Selective Absorber for High-efficiency Solar-thermal Energy Conversion,” published in Advanced Materials on August 28. The authors determined that the plasmonic-nanoparticle-coated foils created by their method perform as well or better than existing SSAs and maintain high efficiency throughout the day, regardless of the angle of the sun, due to the wide-angle design. They propose that the simple, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly process provides an appealing alternative to current SSA fabrication methods. “We saw an unmet need for a facile, inexpensive, and sustainable method for fabricating high-performance SSAs,” said Yuan Yang. “We were pleased that our relatively simple process produced SSAs that performed on par with commercial SSAs and designs reported in other research. To our knowledge, this is the first time a plasmonic SSA has been made using such a process, and the scalability and cost of this approach brings us closer to making solar energy a practical reality for more people.”

Harvesting sunlight for renewable energy remains a primary objective for scientists. Solar-thermal converters, which can absorb light across the entire solar spectrum and convert it to heat at remarkably high efficiencies, offer a highly promising pathway for solar-energy harvesting. However, attaining high-efficiency solar-thermal conversion at low cost remains a challenge. As a surface component of solar-thermal converters, SSAs are ideal because they have contrasting optical properties for solar and thermal radiation. They are very black across all colors of sunlight (from UV to visible to near infrared light) and can therefore absorb almost all the light and become very hot. However, unlike common black surfaces, they are metallic, i.e. non-emissive, when it comes to thermal radiation (mid- to far-infrared light). Heat is therefore not lost as radiation and can be used, for example, to heat water or generate steam. Most SSAs are made using more sophisticated, energy-expensive, or hazardous manufacturing processes such as vacuum deposition or electroplating. This increases both the environmental footprint and cost while limiting their accessibility. As a basis for manufacturing SSAs, the dip-and-dry process is an attractive option, as it yields SSAs that are highly efficient, while bypassing the costs and environmental hazards associated with other approaches.

Output: US Scientists have developed a new technique for fabricating a highly efficient selective solar absorber (SSA) at a lower cost than existing methods. The research team created the 'dip-and-dry' process, which creates solar-absorbing nanoparticles of copper by dipping strips of zinc into a solution containing copper ions. This is less expensive and hazardous than existing manufacturing methods, such as vacuum deposition or electroplating, and has the potential to be scalable. The SSAs created also showed significantly higher absorption rates at all angles than existing designs, making them better at capturing sunlight throughout the day.


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Aviva Investors joins managers targeting insurance investments
 Aviva Investors has appointed Iain Forrester to head insurance investment strategy – a move reflecting growing interest by asset managers in providing services to insurance firms.

Forrester takes up a newly created role as Aviva Investors’ head of insurance investment strategy and joins from Standard Life Investments (SLI), a firm which itself recently embarked on a plan to increase its insurance business globally.

Based in London, Forrester reports to John Dewey, head of investment strategy within Aviva Investors global investment solutions division, and he will focus on building outcome-oriented investment strategies for global insurance companies, Aviva Investors said.

At SLI, Forrester was an investment director in the insurance solutions team, and previously worked within SLI’s parent company, the insurer Standard Life, with responsibility for the investment strategy of the company’s balance sheet assets.

Earlier this year, Axa Investment Managers and Legal & General Investment Management both signalled their intentions to increase their insurance coverage as insurance firms continue to comply with Solvency II, an EU regulation for insurance firms that is expected to lead to an increase in asset management outsourcing.

©2017 funds europe

Output: Aviva Investors has created a new senior insurance investment role with the appointment of Iain Forrester to head insurance investment strategy as it joins other firms' expansion into insurance asset management. He moves to the company from Standard Life Investments, which has also built up its insurance asset management business. Low yields and the Solvency II Directive are among factors that have encouraged insurance giants to outsource their investments to asset managers, often companies with an insurer parent. Axa Investment Managers and Legal & General Investment Management have also indicated intentions to increase insurance coverage.


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Publishers seek advertisers for sponsored shows on Facebook Watch
 Facebook Watch is barely out of the gate, but publishers are already trying to sell advertisers on sponsored shows on the fledgling video-viewing platform.

Business Insider’s lifestyle brand Insider, for instance, has already premiered two shows for Watch, including “The Great Cheese Hunt” and “It’s Cool, But Does It Really Work?” Insider is now talking to advertising clients about developing shows that advertisers pay for and distribute inside the Watch environment. Other publishers that Facebook is paying to make shows for Watch also said branded shows are part of their game plans for Watch. This includes news and issues publisher Attn, which has two shows so far on Watch; and food video giant Tastemade, which is creating six shows for the platform.

“We’re excited to do this type of work for clients and use all of the same data that we used to come up with our Facebook series,” said Insider’s editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson. “We’re already out in the market talking to clients about great series ideas that they want to bring to life.”

One agency executive said he’s had “more serious” conversations with about 10 Watch content partners about doing branded shows. Several clients, too, have expressed interest in doing branded shows for Watch, he added.

For its part, Facebook confirmed that it doesn’t plan on restricting publishing partners from putting branded shows on Watch — especially since Facebook’s long-term plans for Watch aren’t to underwrite every show that’s distributed through the platform. A Facebook spokesperson said Watch creators will have the option of distributing sponsored shows by using Facebook’s branded-content tag. Right now, branded content on Facebook can’t feature ad breaks, which Facebook is testing with a limited number of media partners.

No deals are in place yet, but with Facebook expected to roll out Watch more widely in the U.S. beginning this weekend, it’s unsurprising that publishers would want to involve advertisers. Facebook plans to run mid-roll ads inside Watch, which content partners won’t see revenue from until Facebook has recouped the production costs for the shows. Branded shows paid for by advertisers offer another revenue stream in this environment.

“We have extensive, ongoing interest from partners wanting to work with us on Facebook, period,” said Matthew Segal, co-founder of Attn, which has worked with advertisers such as Ford and HBO. “I don’t see why that would preclude Watch.”

One publishing executive, requesting anonymity, said he’s also considering sponsorship and product-integration opportunities within future installments of shows Facebook currently funds. It’s not clear if Facebook would fund future episodes of every Watch show it’s already paid for, which means this exec wants to leave the option open for an advertiser to come in and underwrite the costs of additional episodes.

“What Facebook has been explicit about is that in the second run we can sell [the shows] to whomever we please and even do brand integrations,” Segal said. “That’s something our sales team is actively in the market on.”

Facebook has exclusive “first run” rights — two weeks of exclusivity, sources said — to the shows it’s already paid for, after which the publishers can distribute the content on other platforms. (This is different from Facebook’s TV shows coming out later this year, which Facebook would fully own the rights to.)

But with Facebook’s audience size and the fact that Watch offers an environment in which advertisers can be alongside professionally-produced content, advertisers are considering doing branded shows.

“We’ve already talked to Facebook, clients and some [Watch] partners about the possibilities [in branded shows],” said Noah Mallin, head of social at MEC North America. “It’s compelling, and most of that comes down to Facebook’s scale. If they truly want to make something like [Watch] happen on their platform — and it’s clear that they are taking this pretty seriously — there’s no reason marketers shouldn’t take it seriously. It’s just a question of integrating it in a way where the content is discoverable.”

Output: Publishers are talking to advertisers about creating sponsored shows on Facebook's Watch feature. "We have extensive, ongoing interest from partners wanting to work with us on Facebook," said Matthew Segal, co-founder of Attn, which has two shows on Watch. Segal expects that interest will include Watch. Facebook, which has two weeks of exclusivity before publishers can air their content on other platforms, is also testing ad breaks on the channel, while revenue from mid-roll ads will go to brands only when Facebook has recouped its production costs. Watch will be rolled out more widely in the US this month.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Israeli Securities Authority to determine status of ICOs
 The Israeli government has recently announced, through the Israeli Securities Authority panel, that it will begin scrutinizing ICOs more carefully and may potentially regulate them.

The Securities Authority head, Prof. Shmuel Hauser, has announced the formation of a committee to evaluate whether ICOs fall within the definition of a security as established by the Israeli government.

Further, the committee has been tasked with making an analysis of cryptocurrency regulations in other countries in order to evaluate the legitimacy of Bitcoin. The committee’s mandate is to create new regulatory policies which encourage alternative funding channels and technological innovation while at the same time protecting investors from unsupervised investments.

Udi Wertheimer, a digital wallet employee, pointed out the substantial policy shift via Twitter:

Looks like @coindesk and others missed this: Israel today announced it'll investigate whether ICO tokens are securities. This is *big*: 1/n pic.twitter.com/d7KzcY9D7K — Udi Wertheimer (@udiWertheimer) August 30, 2017

The Israeli announcement brings additional threats of government control in Israel, where many ICOs have been started. The announcement comes after similar scrutiny was announced by the SEC in response to the DAO token sale.

Output: The Israeli Securities Authority panel has confirmed that ICOs will be carefully examined, with regulation a possibility. A committee has been formed to determine if ICOs fall within the remit of a security, as defined by the Israeli government. The group will also analyse cryptocurrency regulation across other nations to evaluate whether Bitcoin is a legitimate currency, creating regulatory policies to encourage innovation whilst protecting investors.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Chinese construction firm wins $6bn Nigerian hydropower project
 Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) has been awarded awarded a $5.8 billion hydroelectric power plant. Minister of Power, Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Fashola disclosed that the Chinese Export Import Bank will provide 85% of the funding, and the Federal Government will contribute the rest. The project has an expected completion period of 6 years and is located in the Gembu area of Taraba state.

Why it is a big deal

On completion, Nigeria will have 3,050 MW added to its generation capacity. Poor power supply in the country has resulted in businesses and households generating their own power. This adds to operating costs for businesses, and makes goods produced here less competitive compared to countries with less power. Diesel and petrol used to generate power are imported leaving users vulnerable to price increases and currency devaluations.

A sharp devaluation of the Naira last year lead to petrol prices increasing from N97 to N145 last year. The drop in oil revenues has left government struggling to fund essential projects, so the deal is a win- win situation for the country. The project had been in the pipeline since 1972, but was not implemented due to a lack of funds.

Concerns exist

Environmental activists have raised queries about the environmental impact of the project. Similar projects that were carried out, often lead to the displacement of entire communities, often with no compensation.

CECCC was established in 1979 by the Chinese government, and operates in several areas including international contracting for railway construction to civil engineering design & consultancy, real estate development, trading, industrial investment and hotel management as well. The company is currently handling several major projects Including the Lagos-Calabar rail project .

Output: The Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company has won a $5.8bn contract to build a hydroelectric power plant in Nigeria. The Chinese Export Import Bank will provide 85% of the funds, with Nigeria's federal government contributing the rest. The project, in the Gembu area, is expected to be completed in six years and will add 3,050 MW to the country's electricity generation capacity. The current poor state of power supply in Nigeria forces many households and businesses to generate their own power, adding to operating costs and leaving them reliant on imported fuel.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
InteliLIGHT's LTE connection to improve smart streetlights
 Smart street lighting system gets LTE connection Technology News | August 31, 2017 By eeNews Europe

With hundreds of existing projects deployed worldwide, InteliLIGHT is a proven concept employing a range of communication protocols. Having identified NB‑IoT as strategically important, Flashnet chose to partner with u‑blox on the development of its FRE‑220‑NB range of NB‑IoT compatible luminaire controllers.

The new family of controllers can be embedded into most luminaire designs and enables the individual remote control (on/off, dimming) of LED street lights with electronic ballasts up to 400W. The smart control offered extends to monitoring a wide range of electrical parameters, the ability for Over The Air (OTA) updates and support for autonomous operation.

The NB‑IoT protocol targets IoT applications that have low bandwidth requirements, as such it is ideal for smart lighting. As part of the LTE family of standards, NB‑IoT can be supported within existing LTE infrastructure, offering carrier-grade reliability and security, as well as excellent penetration and stability.

“The connected street lighting industry already uses a wide range of communication protocols,” commented Lorand Mozes, CEO at Flashnet. “We believe the industry is ready to adopt NB‑IoT and thanks to our work with u-blox we are the first supplier able to offer a robust and fully featured product line-up. By selecting the SARA‑N2 modules from u‑blox we have been able to bring our FRE‑220NB range of NB‑IoT connected luminaires to market in a very short period of time, to complement our existing range and offer our customers even greater choice.”

Current Flashnet pilot projects are underway worldwide to prove the reliability of NB-IoT technology with plans to turn them into large scale street lighting control implementations. Considering the market potential and the evolution of connected street lighting, Flashnet is expecting to sell a few hundred thousand controllers within 3-5 years.

More info about Intelilight – https://intelilight.eu

Flashnet – www.flashnet.ro

u-blox – www.u-blox.com

Share:

Output: Intelligent energy management systems provider Flashnet has developed the world’s first Narrowband IoT (NB‑IoT) connected smart street lighting control system. By integrating u‑blox' SARA-N2 series of NB‑IoT modules with its existing inteliLIGHT remote management solution, the Romanian start-up was able to create a new suite of controllers. The controllers are capable of remotely dimming LED lights and, as part of the LTE family of standards, offer carrier-grade reliability and security, according to the company.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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State-backed Russian bank signs with Ethereum Foundation
 Vnesheconombank, a Russian state corporation, has signed a partnership agreement with Ethereum Foundation for the implementation of Ethereum platform and advance distributed ledger technology-related educational programs.

According to the official release, the agreement was signed by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Vnesheconombank Chairman Sergey Gorkov.

The partnership will work towards DLT-related initiatives at Vnesheconombank's Competence Center. The center will particularly focus on implementation of Ethereum blockchain, formation of an expert community on the Ethereum platform, and training specialists in DLT-related fields.

“The main tasks of the Center are to accumulate competences and knowledge about innovative technologies, develop platforms for their use in state organizations, training and popularization. This is the first center of such competencies in Russia, the main consumers of its services should be domestic state-owned companies and government bodies,” the release said (loosely translated).

The center will be located in Moscow and scheduled to open next month. Gorkov revealed the plan to establish the blockchain research center recently while announcing that it would work with the Russian Ministry of Health to deliver pilot projects using blockchain technology.

"We unite the efforts of all interested parties and create the first Competence Center in Russia for state companies and government bodies, forming an ecosystem of innovations. Their skills and achievements here will bring both Russian developers and world leaders in innovative breakthrough industries. We are pleased to supplement VEB's experience and expertise with the competence of Ethereum, the leading developer of block-based platforms," said Gorkov.

FxWirePro launches Absolute Return Managed Program. For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/invest

Output: Vnesheconombank, the Russian government-owned development bank, will work with Ethereum Foundation on projects related to distributed ledger technology and the implementation of the Ethereum platform. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Vnesheconombank Chairman Sergey Gorkov signed an agreement, according to the official release. The companies will use Vnesheconombank's Competence Centre, set to open next month in Moscow, "to accumulate competences and knowledge about innovative technologies, develop platforms for their use in state organisations, training and popularisation", according to a statement.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Speedy Hire Analysts suggest Speedy Hire merger after weak results from HSS
 Shares in stricken construction hire firm HSS fell yesterday as investors bailed out after another profits warning.

It now expects profits of between £8million and £11million in the second half of the year which puts HSS on course for profits of as little as £700,000 for the full year after it made losses of £7.3million in the first half.

The City was hoping for a haul of up to £18million this year and the warning sent shares down 11.7 per cent, or 6.5p, to 49p.

HSS expects profits of between £8million and £11million in the second half of the year which puts HSS on course for profits of as little as £700,000 for the full year

HSS is now worth just £83.4million having seen its value fall 77 per cent since shares listed on the stock market at 210p each in 2015.

Analysts suggested the company – which hires tools and building equipment to tradesmen and DIY enthusiasts – may benefit from a merger with arch-rival Speedy Hire.

Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: 'Losses are growing too quickly.

'The conditions are challenging and investors are losing patience. So is it time to consider reviving talks for a merger with Speedy Hire?

'An opportunistic bid could work, particularly with the market cap of HSS temptingly low.'

Poor first half results: HSS's turnaround plan still hasn't borne fruit

HSS bosses insisted their turnaround effort was working.

The listing of HSS in February 2015 netted executives a £10.5million bonanza when they sold shares.

But the share price slump is likely to raise questions over the wisdom of its stock market float,.

Since going public, HSS has issued three profit warnings and lost two chief executives while market expectations have been repeatedly revised downwards.

HSS blamed the latest figures on brutal cost cuts – it has axed 68 underperforming branches in the last year, aiming to make annual savings of £13million.

It is battling to pay off its debts, at £230.6million despite an £8.2million fall in the previous year.

Output: Shares in HSS have fallen by 11.7% after investors abandoned the beleaguered tool hire firm following yet another profit warning. HSS is worth just £83.4m ($107m), 77% down since its shares were first listed in 2015. The company’s poor performance has led analysts to suggest a merger with rival firm Speedy Hire. “Losses are growing too quickly. The conditions are challenging and investors are losing patience”, said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Nearly half a million people's pacemakers at risk from hacking
 Patching has long been one of the most tedious chores for those who want to keep their electronic devices secure or up to date. Sometimes, patches require a restart, disrupting your workflow. Sometimes, patches screw up the software, making it unusable. These are just some of the reasons why users normally dread patching.

Now, imagine if you had to patch the thing that keeps you alive.

That's the situation almost 500,000 people who rely on buggy pacemakers face right now. On Tuesday, the US Food and Drug Administration announced a recall of several vulnerable models of pacemakers made by Abbott, a global health company that used to be known as St. Jude Medical. The recall has the goal of reducing the risk of hackers taking control of the pacemakers, potentially, harming the patients.

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Patients who have one of these devices will have to visit their doctors and update the pacemakers' firmware while the devices are in backup mode, according to an open letter sent by Abbott to doctors. The FDA estimates that around 465,000 patients have a vulnerable pacemaker that needs to be patched, according to the agency's advisory.

Last year, a hedge fund called Muddy Waters warned that the devices could be hacked from up to 50 feet away, an accusation that the fund used to put pressure on the company's stock. While there are no reports that anyone has ever been harmed because of the vulnerabilities that this patch fixes, this is a good reminder that connected medical devices can pose unprecedented risks to patients. In the case of Abbott's pacemakers, it was possible for a hacker to take control of the pacemaker from a relatively short distance to drawn down the batter or accelerate the pace.

"The FDA reminds patients, patient caregivers, and health care providers that any medical device connected to a communications network (e.g. Wi-Fi, public or home Internet) may have cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could be exploited by unauthorized users," the FDA notice reads. "However, the increased use of wireless technology and software in medical devices can also often offer safer, more efficient, convenient, and timely health care delivery."

Got a tip? You can contact this reporter securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, OTR chat at lorenzo@jabber.ccc.de, or email lorenzo@motherboard.tv

Output: Nearly half a million people urgently need to update their pacemakers' software, warns the US Food and Drug Administration, which is recalling several models made by Abbott - a global health company that used to be known as St. Jude Medical - as they are vulnerable to hacker attacks. Last year, hedge fund Muddy Waters warned that these pacemaker devices could be hacked from up to 50ft away.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Major tech companies biggest threat to banking sector: WEF
 Reports

For years Fintech has been the hottest topic of discussion in financial services, with incumbents, regulators, and consumers all asking the same question: “Will small technology-enabled ‘fintech’ start-ups redefine the way that banks and insurers operate, and upend the competitive landscape of the industry?”

Building on the findings of the 2015 World Economic Forum report “The Future of Financial Services,” this document considers the evolution and impact of fintech firms on financial services to date and presents a series of contrasting outlooks for the future of the industry.

Our findings suggest that fintechs have materially changed the basis of competition in financial services, but have not yet materially changed the competitive landscape. They play a critical role in defining the pace and direction of innovation across the sector but have struggled to overcome the scale advantages of large financial institutions.

Other key findings of the report include:

• Platforms Rising: Platforms that offer the ability to engage with different financial institutions from a single channel will become the dominant model for the delivery of financial services.

• Financial Regionalization: Differing regulatory priorities, technological capabilities, and customer needs are challenging the narrative of increasing financial globalization and making way for regional models of financial services suited to local conditions.

• Systemically Important Techs: Efforts by incumbent financial institutions to emulate the core capabilities of large technology firms will lead to an increasing reliance on those same large technology firms.

This report represents the culmination of three years of research into the transformation of financial services prepared by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Deloitte.

Output: Technology businesses like Amazon, Google and Facebook are the biggest competitive threat to the banking industry, as they dominate the market for cloud, artificial intelligence and big data services, according to a World Economic Forum report. In contrast, fintech firms have driven innovation but only account for a small share of the financial services market. Major financial companies already rely on Amazon Web Services, for example, and some banks have apps that let customers perform routine transactions on Facebook. Tech giants could exploit the financial sector's reliance on them and leverage their own huge data sets, the report noted.