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Bloomberg launches ad-supported news network TicToc on Twitter
 by Sara Guaglione , December 18, 2017

Bloomberg Media has launched what it is calling the first 24/7 news network built for a social-media platform.

Called TicToc, the network lives exclusively on Twitter and targets “on-the-go, mobile-first news consumers” with global, general-interest news.

The network is ad-supported, with a focus on branded native segments and other video ad formats. TicToc currently has seven founding sponsors, including AT&T Business, CA Technologies, CME Group, Goldman Sachs, INFINITI, SAS and TD Ameritrade.

The social-video network aims to combine the reporting of Bloomberg’s 2,700 journalists and analysts around the world with the digital reach and speed of Twitter.

Other publishers trying to reach a younger audience have launched daily shows on Snapchat, but this appears to be the first round-the-clock online video network on Twitter.

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“The news experience is designed to be interactive, rich with Twitter content and consumable on any device,” according to a statement from Bloomberg Media Group.

TicToc features two types of content: breaking news and global news updates. Breaking news is curated and verified by Bloomberg editors in real-time conversations on Twitter and covers major events happening worldwide.

The global news updates are hourly, short-form clips. Longer clips will also be posted to give context and deeper analysis to top news stories. Currently, updates occur from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. EST. In early 2018, they will expand to 24/7. Bloomberg is building a dedicated team of editors, producers, social-media analysts, product developers, engineers, designers and marketers to support TicToc.

“We're seeing a shift in the media landscape today. More content companies are partnering with platforms to create hybrid businesses that better serve consumers and society,” stated Bloomberg Media CEO Justin B. Smith.

Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait added this iteration of TicToc is still in its “early days." It seems to be a rolling feed of different video programs on a variety of breaking news topics, as well as segments from reporters on the ground.

Bloomberg live streams three of its daily Bloomberg TV programs on Twitter.

TicToc was first teased by Bloomberg in May, at its Digital Content NewFronts.

Output: Bloomberg has launched Tic Toc, the first 24-hour video news network on Twitter. The ad-supported site will cover breaking news and global updates, while ads will include branded native segments. Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said the channel was in its "early days". Tic Toc is currently updated between 6.00 am and 10.00 am Eastern Standard Time, but will expand to be 24/7 in 2018.


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Flurosat raises seed funds for drone, satellite crop surveillance
 FluroSat, an Australian crop health software startup, has raised an A$1 million ($770k) seed round for its decision support platform for cotton and grain growers.

FluroSat uses various remote sensing methods, including satellites, drones, and some aerial imagery, to capture and analyze hyperspectral images of cotton and grain fields to predict disease and help growers make decisions related to crop health.

Investors in the round include Main Sequence Ventures, manager of the Australian government’s $100 million CSIRO Innovation Fund, Airtree Ventures and Australia’s Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC).

Multispectral cameras can measure generic characteristics such as if a plant is healthy or not, but hyperspectral images can go one step further, and diagnose the exact reason for that state, according to FluroSat. That’s because the extra bands of light they can detect can be associated with specific physiological traits within the plant. Constant imaging available from a variety of platforms allows FluroSat clients to track the health of their fields over time.

“You can pick any point on the paddock and the analytics will show you the trend so you can find which areas of the farm are underperforming and make financial decisions,” said founder and CEO Anastasia Volkova.

FluroSat customers pay a fee per hectare, which includes drone and satellite imagery. If aerial imagery is necessary, there may be an additional charge. Growers using the platform, called FluroViewer, can also become more efficient in their fertilizer applications, reducing fertilizer use by 30%.

The platform shows nitrogen maps and suggests exact locations for agronomists to take tissue samples. They then enter the results into the platform to further calibrate fertilizer recommendations. The fertilizer prescription maps that result can be integrated with other farm management software platforms in order to incorporate historical data.

Volkova told AgFunderNews her platform can also predict disease five to seven days before the human eye can see it.

“We really want to be tapping into the cutting edge of remote sensing and hyperspectral sensing and looking into the signatures that can hint where the early stress is happening. That’s the key,” said Volkova. “Ultimately, FluroViewer will be the only tool of its kind to proactively suggest management strategies and allow the users to evaluate the effect and the return of the on-farm experiments at a sub-paddock level.”

In its first year, FluroSat has generated A$200k ($153k) in revenue monitoring 80 farms. Clients include Landmark, an Australian ag retailer owned by Canada-based major ag retailer Agrium.

FluroSat will use the new funds to expand its customer base on in Australia and expand commercial operations to the US. After one successful trial in California this year, more trials will begin with US cotton growers in May.

Also using hyperspectral images from multiple remote sensing sources is Switzerland’s Gamaya, which focuses on corn, soybean, and sugarcane.

Output: New South Wales start-up FluroSat aims to help cotton and grain farmers spot plant stress and signs of disease up to a week before the human eye can detect them using hyperspectral imagery. The company, which recently raised AUD1m ($770,000) from backers including Main Sequence Ventures, uses satellites and drones to take images of crops. The firm's FluroViewer platform also enables farmers to monitor and use fertilisers more efficiently, potentially reducing their use by 30%. FluroSat aims to expand its domestic customer base and its presence in the US following a successful trial in California.


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UK public register lists fat cat-pay companies
 Several of Britain’s best-known companies, including Burberry, Sky and Sports Direct, are included on a list ordered by the prime minister of firms rewarding bosses with “fat cat pay” and representing the “unacceptable face of capitalism”.

More than a fifth of Britain’s FTSE listed-firms are included on the “name and shame” register of companies that Theresa May said risk damaging “the social fabric of our country” by paying bosses too much money.

May ordered the creation of the world’s first public register of companies that ignored shareholder concerns and awarded “pay rises to bosses that far outstrip the company’s performance” in August. She said calling out the firms would help tackle the “abuses and excess in the boardroom” and restore public confidence in big business.

The public register was published on Tuesday by the Investment Association, a trade body of investment firms that manage the pensions of million of Britons.

The register lists every company in the FTSE All-Share Index which has suffered at least a 20% shareholder rebellion against proposals for executives pay, re-election of directors or other resolution at their shareholder meetings.

Companies on the register include fashion label Burberry, broadcaster Sky, retailer Sports Direct and Sir Martin Sorrell’s advertising company WPP.

Others on the list include banking giant HSBC, supermarket Morrisons, BT, estate agent Foxtons, the AA and Mothercare.

Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said the register “reveals the true scale of investor concern” and shows how many shareholders are “flexing their muscles by exercising their votes”.

Cummings said the fact that 22% of companies in the FTSE All-Share are included on the list shows that “a significant number of companies need to seriously start listening to shareholders views and acting on them”.

Greg Clark, the business secretary, said he hoped the public register would increase pressure on the “minority of firms that threaten the world-leading reputation of our business community”.

“It is right that we review and refresh our standards to ensure we continue to have the highest reputation,” he said. “This world-first public register, does exactly that, shining a spotlight on how companies respond to shareholders’ concerns over important decisions, including executive pay packages.

“This will help to strengthen transparency and corporate accountability and build on our reputation as a world-leading business environment – a key foundation of our industrial strategy.”

The public register, which will be continuously updated, also includes companies that withdrew or amended pay packages in the wake of shareholder discontent in the run up to votes. It also includes companies’ statements on how they intend to address investors concerns.

When she announced plans for the register, May said: “Too often in recent years, we have also seen another, unacceptable, face of capitalism. A minority of firms are falling short of the high standards we expect of them. Some have deliberately broken rules that are designed to protect their workers.

“Others have ignored the concerns of their shareholders by awarding pay rises to bosses that far outstrip the company’s performance.

“When big businesses are brought into disrepute, public trust in an open, free-enterprise economy is weakened. It is bad for individual workers and companies, but also damages the social fabric of our country. It emboldens those on the far left who hate to see business succeed.”

May originally raised the prospect of a crackdown on executive pay in her Conservative party leadership bid in July 2016 in a speech that included proposals to allow employee and consumer representatives to sit on company boards, and make shareholder votes on executive pay legally binding.

However, when a green paper was published in November last year the prime minister faced criticism from unions for backtracking on installing workers’ representatives on boards, while opposition MPs questioned whether enough safeguards were being put in place to avoid a rerun of the debacle at the collapsed department store chain BHS.

Companies on the register include:

Morrisons

A 48% vote against plans – rising to 51% with abstentions – to increase the maximum long-term bonus for chief executive, David Potts, from 240% of his basic salary of £850,000 to up to 300%.

Burberry

A 32% vote against payouts to Christopher Bailey, who was giving up his role as chief executive to focus on creative work, over a rise in pay from £1.9m to £3.5m and receipt of £10.5m shares. Julie Brown, new chief operating offer, tried to head off a row by handing back £800,000 of shares and a further £1.6m of additional share awards.

WPP

A 21% vote against £48m for chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell even though the total package was more than 30% lower than the £70.4m he received in 2015.

Sports Direct

More than 70% of independent shareholders voted against a proposed £11m payout to founder Mike Ashley’s brother, John. The payment was blocked and the company said it now “considers all these matters to be closed”.

Sky

A 29% vote against £16m pay deal for chief executive Jeremy Darroch, largely because of a payout of nearly £12m under a long-term incentive plan. Only 51.6% of shareholders backed James Murdoch as chairman.

Output: The world’s first public register of companies that have ignored shareholder objections in relation to executive pay was published by the UK's Investment Association on 19 December.  Of the firms listed on the country’s FTSE All-Share Index, 22% feature on the register, which was launched by the prime minister, Theresa May, in August. The register lists all firms on the Index that saw a minimum 20% shareholder rebellion against resolutions including those relating to remuneration packages and the re-election of directors. Companies named include the AA, BT, Burberry, Foxtons, HSBC, Morrisons, Mothercare, Sky, Sports Direct and WPP.


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Self-driving cars to be tested on public roads in China
 China will allow self-driving car tests on public roads Companies can apply to test their technology on an approved set of roads.

China is opening up its roads to self-driving cars. The Beijing Municipal Transport Commission released a statement today saying that on certain roads and under certain conditions, companies registered in China will be able to test their autonomous vehicles.

Last year, Chinese authorities banned self-driving vehicles from the country's highways until new regulations could be created and approved. But those have been slow to arrive, which is why Chinese company Baidu and its CEO Robin Li came under fire this summer for conducting an apparently illegal demonstration of its driverless technology.

The new regulations will allow companies to apply for temporary permission to test their autonomous vehicles on a yet-to-be-determined group of approved roads. The cars will have to have traffic accident liability insurance and a human behind the wheel to take over if anything goes wrong.

With this development, China now joins a number of other countries allowing self-driving technology developers to test their products in real-life scenarios.

Output: Transport authorities in China are to allow the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads, it has been announced. The Beijing Municipal Transport Commission will license companies based in China to conduct tests of self-driving cars on some roads under certain conditions, set out in new regulations. These include a requirement for traffic accident insurance and for a human back-up driver to be behind the wheel to take over if necessary.


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Comedy video network Laugh Out Loud aims for paid subscriptions
 Laugh Out Loud, a comedy video network from comedian Kevin Hart and Lionsgate, plans to make paid subscriptions a key part of its business in 2018.

The comedy video network offers original web series, short-form social videos, TV shows, movies and stand-up comedy specials on its platform and social distribution partners such as YouTube and Facebook. It’s been building out a $2.99-a-month ad-free subscription offering since it launched in August. Since the company was primarily focused on building awareness as a new network, it didn’t heavily market subscriptions, said Thai Randolph, svp of marketing and monetization for Laugh Out Loud Network.

“At launch, we deliberately tried to foster a community focused on great content and creators,” Randolph said. “That said, we want to make sure that we can provide a premium experience for those who want to opt in further.”

While Randolph wouldn’t say how many subscribers are already paying for the ad-free version of LOL, the company said its app was downloaded 500,000 times within the first 30 days of its August launch. Randolph said since then, additional LOL downloads have been in the “six figures.”

The next move for LOL is to give users a reason to pay, which will likely include a variety of exclusive programming as well as early access to other shows, movies and stand-up specials on LOL. The company’s membership model will also include live events and other experiential events products, which other streaming services such as Crunchyroll, DramaFever and Rooster Teeth have used to build subscriber bases.

While it’s primarily a comedy video network, LOL is also building up a studio business within the company that can make and sell TV shows and stand-up specials to digital and linear TV distributors, as well as create daily social videos and original digital series for both on- and off-network distribution.

LOL’s content takes the form of daily, short social videos for Facebook and other platforms; mid-form video series (with episodes in what Randolph calls the eight- to 10-minute “sweet spot”) for LOL’s site and apps; and TV-sized shows for external distribution partners.

Randolph said LOL is setting up a digital content studio operation to boost the amount of content it produces. This includes creating roughly one to two digital mid-form series per month and four to six bigger projects for external partners.

So far, LOL has released eight original digital series, including sketch show “Mo Funny Mo Laughs,” college comedy “Campus Law” and the branded series “Kevin Hart: Lyft Legend.” LOL has also sold “What the Fit?” an unscripted TV show starring Kevin Hart, to YouTube, which will premiere it as an ad-supported original TV show in early 2018. In addition to revenue from brand and product integrations, LOL owns the rights to these programs, which means it can find additional revenue streams in other markets or in later viewing windows on other platforms.

Beyond video, LOL is working with Sirius XM to launch a new comedy radio channel next year, which will include original shows — including a weekly interview series hosted by Hart — as well as syndicated programming such as stand-up specials that LOL already has in its library.

“We’re trying to remain open and fluid [to new business models] because we know the ecosystem can change,” Randolph said. “As long as we have a relevant brand and interesting stable of creators, there are a lot of ways that we can provide value to members and ultimately monetize our audience and IP.”

LOL sits within Lionsgate’s digital ventures group, which is focused on investments in over-the-top and streaming video businesses. That said, Hart, the face of the company, is also involved in the company, meeting with department heads on programming, discussing the subscription strategy and choosing talent, Randolph said.

“He’s not just asking for an update,” Randolph said. “He’s involved in the vision for the platform, not just from a comedy perspective, but also a business perspective.”

Output: US entertainment company Lionsgate is aiming to increase the number of paid subscribers to its comedy video network, Laugh Out Loud. The service was launched with the backing of comedian Kevin Hart in August, and its app was downloaded 500,000 times within its first 30 days, according to its marketing vice-president Thai Randolph. It currently produces short social videos for platforms such as Facebook, as well as long-form programming for external partners. The $2.99-per-month subscription service offers members an ad-free version, and the company aims to offer further premium services in future.


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Half the world's EVs will be in China by 2020

 The future of electric cars depends on China, and the situation will be impressive before the end of this decade - half of the world's electric vehicles are expected to move on the China road network by 2020.

This is the result of a study conducted by the American consulting company AlixPartners, quoted by Automedia.bg.

It is also expected, around 2020, that almost half of the plug-in hybrids planned for production will be produced by Chinese companies. There is some conditionality here as it is about companies that are already producing hybrids or at least have a meaningful business plan or have secured investments. In particular, 49 out of 103 verified hybrid manufacturers are or will be Chinese companies.

And third, China will dominate the production of lithium-ion batteries by 2021, accounting for two-thirds of this production, which is extremely important for the development of electric vehicles. At present, 96% of plug-in hybrids that are sold in China are produced there, which is no surprise given that foreign environmental vehicles simply do not receive state subsidies and discounts.

According to the results of the AlixPartners study, it is to be expected that in 2025 on the world market there will be parity between electric cars and those with internal combustion engines.

Serious consolidation of Chinese hybrid and electric vehicle manufacturers is also expected, as it is hard to expect that over 50 such companies will survive in a single market. And the state power in China has already begun to suggest that just consolidating the market will be the next step, but before that certain quota of electric vehicles and hybrids to be present on the local market must be achieved.

Output: Half the world's electric vehicles will be in China by 2020, according to a study by American consulting company AlixPartners. The research forecast that China will account for 60% of lithium-ion battery production by 2021. The report also predicted consolidation among China's hybrid and electric vehicle manufacturers, which currently number about 50.


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Online retail leasing platforms gain traction in Australia
 Digital disruption is gaining traction in retail leasing with two online marketplaces aiming to connect retailers with vacant space in malls and shopping strips.

The new start-ups – storematch.com.au and Lease Me – have already signed up large retail landlords including ISPT, AMP Capital, Scentre Group and GPT and their services could prove increasingly popular in years to come as Amazon and food delivery businesses like Uber Eats reduce retail foot traffic.

Storematch was co-founded by four Melburnians including former Stockland leasing general manager Vaughn McGuinness and Jon Sully, co-owner of the Michel's Patisserie franchise before it was sold to the Retail Food Group. The pair are also directors at retail leasing consultants BDC.

Justin Levy founded Lease Me to help fashion brands find retail space.

Marketing itself as the "Tinder of retail leasing", Storematch claims to have matched 12,000 bricks and mortar retailers with "dream retail space" in less than a year. Landlords pay to list their vacant spaces on Storematch.

Retailers confidentially enter their shop requirements – location, size of store and usage – while landlords enter their vacant sites. If there's a match the two parties are put into contact to negotiate a deal.

Output: Australian retailers looking for spaces to hire are getting a helping hand from online start-ups storematch.com and Lease Me. Both companies connect commercial property landlords with businesses in need of bricks and mortar. Storematch claims to have made 12,000 such matches via its platform in the past year, while Lease Me focuses on helping fashion brands, and numbers Westfield and GPT Group among its landlords.


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Rigetti uses quantum computing to improve AI
 A California-based startup, Rigetti, is trying to take quantum computing to the next level. The company wants to quantum computers can be game changer and be used to perform a common form of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Rigetti Computing is a full-stack quantum computing company. The company builds hardware and software with fundamentally new integrated circuits that store and process quantum information.

The company has successfully used one of its prototype quantum chips—a superconducting device housed within an elaborate super-chilled setup—to run what’s known as a clustering algorithm. Clustering is a machine-learning technique used to organize data into similar groups. Rigetti is also making the new quantum computer—which can handle 19 quantum bits, or qubits—available through its cloud computing platform, called Forest, today. According to MIT, “the demonstration does not, however, mean quantum computers are poised to revolutionize AI. Quantum computers are so exotic that no one quite knows what the killer apps might be. Rigetti’s algorithm, for instance, isn’t of any practical use, and it isn’t entirely clear how useful it would be to perform clustering tasks on a quantum machine.”

A lot of people may not be familiar with the concept of quantum computing. There is a popular saying that, if it doesn’t break, then don’t fix it. So, if the classic silicon-based computer has served us so well, then why do we need why do we need quantum computers? The answer may surprise you. The problem is, as powerful as conventional computers get, they can’t solve all the problems we need to solve. This may not be as apparent to you and me. Today researchers face problem with a growing complexity of calculations that their computers can’t keep up with. In order to make conventional silicon-based computers more powerful, there must be a constant increase in their memory to store more information and of the number of transistors to boost their processing power. The current miniaturization road is about to reach its limit and cannot continue forever. Otherwise, we may not be to achieve the Moore’s Law.

This is the problem quantum computing is trying to solve. In today’s computers, all the information that your computer processes is coded in a binary system made up of 0s and 1s, or what we call bits. They work like a Turing machine, work by manipulating bits that exist in one of two states: a 0 or a 1. Even this webpage you are reading now is stored in bits converted by your computer’s processor into text and images. Quantum computers aren’t limited to two states; they encode information as quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in superposition. Qubits represent atoms, ions, photons or electrons and their respective control devices that are working together to act as computer memory and a processor. Because a quantum computer can contain these multiple states simultaneously, it has the potential to be millions of times more powerful than today’s most powerful supercomputers.

Rigetti was founded in 2013 by Chad Rigetti. The startup is currently in early stage funding. Besides hardware, the company also develops new algorithms for quantum computing, with a focus on near-term applications in computational chemistry and machine learning. Their product, Forest, is the world’s first full-stack programming and execution environment for quantum/classical computing. The company has offices in Berkeley, California. and Fremont, California.

Output: Californian start-up Rigetti is attempting to prove quantum computers can be used to improve machine learning and artificial intelligence, after successfully using one of its prototype quantum chips to run a clustering algorithm. However, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Rigetti's algorithm "wasn’t of any practical use, and wasn't entirely clear how useful it would be to perform clustering tasks on a quantum machine". Rigetti, currently in early-stage funding, has also used its cloud computing platform Forest to develop a 19-qubit quantum computer.


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Financial advisers open to performance-based fee structures
 Despite the increasing popularity of passive funds, 77 percent of advisors say they would be open to putting their clients in an actively managed mutual fund that charges passive-like fees, with higher fees when the fund outperforms its benchmark index, according to a new survey by AllianceBernstein. Nearly 80 percent of advisors believe the market is headed for a correction, and 62 percent expect passive strategies to underperform active counterparts in a down market. AB surveyed about 210 advisors at Schwab’s IMPACT Conference in November.

Wealth Managers Have Nothing to Fear from AI

There’s been plenty of hand-wringing about artificial intelligence and the future of wealth management, but the head of research at Clearview Financial Media finds those fears overblown. In a recent report, the firm finds wealth managers fearing artificial intelligence as a potential threat to their jobs, perhaps exacerbated by the fact that most of their firms have taken an interest in the technology. But at the end of the day, the researchers say artificial intelligence will be great at gathering and regurgitating data, but never in replacing the element of trust that comes with financial relationships. “The old adage that ‘people buy from people’ seems to remain true, and not just due to trust issues. Rather, it is that the human element of wealth management is where much of its value resides,” the report finds.

Bloomberg Adds Cryptos to the Terminal

Come one, come all -- @TheTerminal has officially added ether, litecoin and ripple pricing pic.twitter.com/RDGchH5QEP — Lily Katz (@LilyKatz) December 14, 2017

Bloomberg has added more digital currency prices to its terminal service. In addition to bitcoin, the firm has added the prices for Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin, serving as a validation of sorts for digital currencies, according to Fortune. These “alt-currencies” have been gaining popularity with the price jump in bitcoin. Ethereum saw its price soar from under $10 to $200 in a few months, and is now trading near $700. Litecoin and Ripple have also experienced recent price surges. The prices for the cryptocurrencies on the terminal are drawn from Bitstamp, a Luxemboug-based digital currency exchange.

Output: A significant percentage of US financial advisers would consider placing their clients in actively managed funds, adjusting their fee structure depending on how they perform, according to a survey conducted by AllianceBernstein. The survey found that 77% of advisers would consider such a fee structure. Additionally, 80% of advisers believe a market correction is on the horizon, with almost two-thirds of respondents believing passive fund products will be outperformed by their active counterparts in such an environment.


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Beijing begins opening up roads for autonomous vehicles
 Drivers in Beijing, beware: soon, you’ll be driving alongside autonomous vehicles.

On Monday, Beijing’s Municipal Commission of Transport announced (Chinese) provisional regulations for testing self-driving cars on city roads. Companies that are registered in China and have tested self-driving cars in enclosed spaces can now apply for permission to test their vehicles on Beijing’s bustling roads.

It certainly won't be the first city in Asia—or the rest of the world—to embrace autonomous vehicles: self-driving startup nuTonomy already operates in Singapore, and several U.S. cities are home to the cars of Uber, Waymo, and others. But the news is the latest sign of China’s commitment to making autonomous vehicles a reality, in hopes of alleviating congestion on city streets and becoming a leading technology power.

In addition to purchasing insurance for every vehicle, the regulation requires that firms place a human safety driver behind the wheel who can take control in unexpected situations. A committee made up of experts in transportation, telecommunications, automobiles, computer science, and law will evaluate the road-testing work.

China’s tech companies and carmakers have been waiting for this to happen. During an annual conference held by Baidu in November, the company’s CEO Robin Li said mass production of autonomous vehicles built using its Apollo platform will begin in 2018 (see "The Self-Driving Project That Could Help China Leapfrog the West.") Now it can test them where it matters.

Output: Manufacturers of self-driving cars will be able to test their vehicles on Beijing's streets following an announcement by the city's Municipal Commission of Transport. It said China-registered companies that had already tested their vehicles could apply for permission to take them out on Beijing's roads. The regulator stipulated a human driver must be in the vehicle at all times. Every car requires insurance, and a committee of experts will oversee the testing. Baidu CEO Robin Li recently said mass-production of autonomous cars using its Apollo platform will begin next year.


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UK house swappers seen as possible future of property deals
 PA The West's and the Davies swapped homes in what is believed a UK property first

David West and his wife Margaret, who were thinking of downsizing, ended up switching homes with a couple looking for a bigger house. Now it is claimed the “swap principle” could become increasingly popular as owners advertise for another home – and possibly save a small fortune on legal fees. Mr West, a duty manager at a student residence, listed his three-bedroom, detached family home in Kinross, near Perth in Scotland, on estate agents HouseSimple’s website in May. It was spotted by John Davie who immediately put in a request to visit the property.

PA David and Margaret West wanted to downsize, but swapped instead

The house swap made perfect sense as both our properties had what the other wanted John Davie

He was looking for a larger house for his wife Kelly and their two-year-old daughter Lucy. Mr Davie went to see the Wests for a viewing. While he was looking round the house, Mr West mentioned he and his wife were thinking of downsizing because his two grown up daughters were “leaving the nest”. When data analyst Mr Davie then mentioned he had a two-bedroomed, semi-detached house he had yet to put on the market, Mr West suggested the idea of a home swap. He and his wife then viewed Mr Davie’s house – also in Kinross – and each couple put in offers on each other’s properties.

PA John Davie Spotted the West's home up for sale and immediately requested to visit

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The move is said to be a British property first. Mr Davie said: “The house swap made perfect sense as both our properties had what the other wanted. “The process of finding David’s house online made it really convenient to find the property we wanted.” Mr West added: “The house swap allowed us flexibility on the move date.

PA The West's new home, formerly owned by the Davies

Output: Two UK families have swapped houses in what estate agent HouseSimple has suggested could be "the future of home-buying". John Davie saw David and Margaret West's home in Kinross, Scotland, on HouseSimple's website, and during a viewing, discovered the Wests were looking to downsize. The couple arranged to visit Davie's home, before agreeing to the unique swap. HouseSimple co-founder Sophie Gosling said the deal made UK property history.


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Ikea ventures into VR to create games for new store openings
 Having already entered augmented reality, Ikea is now exploring a way for shoppers to learn more about its products in virtual reality.

Working with the recently merged MEC-Maxus agency Wavemaker, Ikea worked with incorporated a virtual reality experience for one of its store openings in a Dallas suburb, immersing visitors in an Ikea world where they could play a “pillow toss” game with a coffee table or hang out with a panda inside a bamboo lamp. Nearly 300 people tried out the popular Swedish brand’s VR for the first time, spending between three and five minutes playing games, examining furniture or learning about sustainability and design.

The marketing play is Ikea’s latest move into the world of digitally showcasing products as it seeks to help shoppers learn more about its furniture in a more experiential way.

Output: Furniture retailer Ikea has partnered with software firm Wavemaker to develop a virtual reality game allowing shoppers to learn more about the store's products, as well as sustainability and design. The system, which uses a HTC Vive headset, allows customers to play a pillow toss game or spend time with a panda. Although neither firm released details of how much the VR game cost, Noah Mallin, Wavemaker’s head of experience, content and sponsorship said the technology could enable the creation of personalised catalogues or include product placement.


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GoCompare acquires MyVoucherCodes in £36.5m deal
 Price comparison website group GoCompare.com is buying the parent company of discount site MyVoucherCodes in a £36.5million deal.

GoCompare said that the tie-up with The Global Voucher Group would boost its mission to 'help people everywhere save time and money', while upping its cross-selling opportunities.

MyVoucherCodes is one of the country's biggest online voucher code websites with eight million email subscribers and around 45 million visits a year.

Deal: Price comparison website group GoCompare.com is buying the parent company of discount site MyVoucherCodes

GoCompare, which has seen its share price rise over 5 per cent to 104.63p this morning, will also acquire the company's subsidiaries, which include food discovery app Happiour and email marketing firm Revivve.

Matthew Crummack, chief executive of GoCompare, said: 'We are making strong progress towards our ambition to become the 'go-to' place for savvy savers to find great deals, and for service providers to reach and acquire customers.'

Existing management at MyVoucherCodes are set to remain in their posts after the acquisition. The deal is expected to boost GoCompare's 2018 earnings.

Last month, Newport-based GoCompare, which is well known for its advertisements, fought off a takeover move from ZPG, which is the company behind uSwitch and Zoopla.

Rejecting an offer of 110p per share, GoCompare said ZPG had undervalued its business. In November, ZPG confirmed it was thwarting its attempt to buy CoCompare for good.

GoCompare, which was spun out from esure and listed on the London Stock Exchange in November last year, said today's acquisition will allow it to offer deals and incentives to people who use both comparison and voucher websites.

In a trading update alongside the deal announcement, GoCompare said it expects its underlying earnings for this year to be above expectations, with revenues around 5 per cent higher near the £149million mark.

For this year, MyVoucherCodes is expected to generate a pre-tax profit of £4million, with revenues of around £11.8million.

The majority of its revenues are derived from the UK, but it also operates in Australia, Ireland, Germany and France.

In its final report following an investigation into price comparison websites, the UK's competition watchdog said all such sites need to make it clearer how they make their money and to take steps to protect people's personal data.

As part of a further investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority said it is 'opening a competition law investigation into how one site has set up its contracts with insurers, because it suspects this may result in higher home insurance prices.' The site in question has not been named.

Output: Insurance comparison website GoCompare has acquired voucher code website MyVoucherCode in a deal worth £36.5m ($48.8m). The firm said the acquisition is part of a strategy of appealing to consumers looking to save on a variety of products. MyVoucherCode has 45 million visitors to its website each year. MyVoucherCode's existing management is understood to be remaining in place.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
WhatsApp ordered to cease data sharing with Facebook in France
 France’s ultra-strict privacy watchdog CNIL has ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing user data with parent company Facebook. The app has a month to comply with the order, according to a public notice posted to the French website.

The query began after WhatsApp added to its terms of service last year that it shares data with Facebook to develop targeted advertising, security measures, and to gather business intelligence.

Upon investigating these claims, the CNIL ruled that while WhatsApp’s intention of improving security measures was valid, the app’s business intelligence reason wasn’t as acceptable. After all, WhatsApp never told its users it was collecting data for business intelligence and there’s no way to opt out without uninstalling the app. That violates “the fundamental freedoms of users,” said the CNIL.

European regulators have attempted to police Facebook in the past, especially when it comes to data-sharing. Germany ordered Facebook to stop collecting data from WhatsApp users in September of last year, and in the UK, Facebook agreed to stop collecting WhatsApp user data in November of last year.

Output: France has become the latest country to demand WhatsApp stops sharing user data with Facebook, according to a notice posted on the CNIL website. The French regulator deemed WhatsApp's collection of business intelligence a violation of "the fundamental freedoms of users", as they couldn't opt out without uninstalling the app. In 2016, Germany and the UK made the same request. WhatsApp parent company Facebook was fined $122m earlier this year by the European Union over "misleading information" regarding the social media giant's acquisition of WhatsApp.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Insurtech InsurePal launches ICO alongside product plans
 Peer-to-peer insurer aims to raise £15m in funding through an Initial Coin Offering.

Start-up InsurePal has launched an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) with the aim of raising $18m (£15m) to fund its UK motor launch in 2018.

The peer-to-peer insurer, which uses the Ethereum blockchain platform as a technology base for transactions, stated that it will offer lower premiums for those able to gain ‘social proof’ guarantees from friends and family.

Key advisers to the company include former Direct Line chief operating officer Damian Arnold and Lloyds of London veteran Tom Manson.

An

Output: UK-based insurtech InsurePal is seeking to raise £15m ($18m) via an initial coin offering. The fundraising comes ahead of the company's planned launch of a motor insurance offering in 2018. InsurePal will reportedly make use of the ethereum blockchain platform, allowing customers to establish "social proof" of their character via testimonies from friends and family, and receive premium discounts for doing so. The firm will only take on risk which has been "endorsed" by a third-party testimony. Endorsers are rewarded by being given tokens, which can be used towards their own discounts, traded or invested.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
TalkTalk A+E Networks UK and TalkTalk renew deal for pay channel brands
 A+E Networks® UK and TalkTalk have renewed their partnership in a long-term carriage deal, securing the continued distribution of A+E's UK pay channel brands on TalkTalk's TV platform.

As part of the deal, HISTORY® and Crime + Investigation® are available in the Entertainment Boost, alongside H2 ® and Lifetime®.

TalkTalk TV subscribers can choose from a wide range of UK premieres of quality factual and scripted entertainment across A+E's brands this winter. Highlights on HISTORY include: brand new episodes of critically-acclaimed drama Vikings; the return of global hit reality quest Curse of Oak Island; and a new series of Hunting Hitler, in which a team of experts attempts to solve the greatest cold case in history.

On Crime + Investigation, a one-off special documentary Britain's Forgotten Serial Killer: Trevor Hardy, looks at the case of the 'Beast of Manchester', who committed three horrific murders in the 1970s. The RTS award-winning Robbie Coltrane's Critical Evidence also returns for a second series.

Dean Possenniskie, Managing Director, EMEA, A+E Networks, said: 'We're very pleased to build on our relationship with TalkTalk, with our key channel brands moving into new, higher profile packages. TalkTalk's UK subscribers can continue to enjoy A+E's fascinating and entertaining line up of quality content across our pay channel brands.'

Will Ennett, Acting Managing Director, TalkTalk TV, said: 'We're delighted to have extended our relationship with A+E Networks UK. With access to more even more great content, the new agreement is another step in our firm ambition to grow our TV offering. We're committed to making TalkTalk TV better than ever with a new suite of improvements that will continue to deliver what really matters to our customers - affordable entertainment the way they want it.'

TalkTalk recently announced plans to transform its TV platform and revolutionise its multi-screen TV offering. Launching in early 2018, the new update to TalkTalkTV will see the integration of set top box viewing, the TalkTalk TV Store and TalkTalk TV's suite of mobile apps into a new unified platform - TalkTalk TV. The improvements to the TalkTalk TV viewing experience will make it even easier for customers to watch the entertainment they love whether at home or on the go.

HISTORY is available on TalkTalk 327; Crime + Investigation on TalkTalk 328; Lifetime on TalkTalk 329; and H2 on TalkTalk 491.

ENDS

For further information:

Maxine Sackey

Consumer PR Manager

Maxine.sackey@talktalkplc.com

Tel: 02038029081

Output: TalkTalk has renewed a deal with A+E Networks for continued distribution of pay channels such as History and Crime + Investigation on its TV platform. A+E brands including H2 and Lifetime will continue to be part of TalkTalk's Entertainment Boost package, thanks to the long-term carriage deal. Will Ennett, acting managing director at TalkTalk TV, said the partnership meant customers would have access to more content.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Redrow Approval granted for 99-home Formby development

Controversial amended plans to build nearly 100 homes in Formby has now been approved with conditions. Sefton Council decided on the proposal on 5th December - which will see 99 homes built on the land to the rear of Andrews Lane.

Approval has been granted for the development, which is the size of eight football pitches, providing it is carried out in accordance with the application and plans submitted. The approval is subject to the conditions. Construction of 99 dwellings comprising a mix of houses and apartments together with the construction of access road and the laying out of open space (to include the installation of an attenuation pond).

During the site preparation and construction activities there shall be no machinery, plant or power tools used outside of the hours of 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays and there shall be no construction activities to be carried out on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

Formby Parish Council criticised the decision in August saying that from Formby residents point of view, it is an unpopular and controversial decision. Following submissions made by the residents’ action group and Formby Parish Council, a number of concessions were made.

Residents in their submissions demonstrated that the standards of access to the development site fell well below Sefton Council's own guidance for adoptable highway standards and defied safety standards set out in the Department for Transport Manual for Streets, even though the new access point is on a busy school bus, walking and cycling route. It also contradicted supplementary planning guidance on residential amenity.

You can view the conditions HERE

Original story:

An original application for 95 homes was rejected in December 2016 for reasons including inappropriate use of green land, concerns over flooding and the detrimental impact on the existing properties. Redrow, the company behind the proposal, has appealed that ruling as well as submitting the new plans, which originally involved 97 homes but has since been revised to 99.

The development will feature a block of 12 apartments and a mixture of terraced, semi-detached and detached houses featuring either two, three or four bedrooms each. Thirty-one of the properties would be classed as affordable housing, despite the use of green land being given as a reason for refusal, the site has since been allocated for development in Sefton’s Local Plan, which outlines where 11,000 homes will be built in the borough.

Two petitions had been given to the council against the proposal, but the plans were set to be given the go ahead anyway.

Redrow states that it has factored the reasons for the refusal into the new proposal and this has been backed up in the planning officer’s report. The report states: “The principle of development is now established given that the site has been allocated for housing in the recently adopted Local Plan. The proposal will provide 99 homes in Formby, where there is a shortfall of development and include 31 affordable homes. “This in turn will assist in reducing the deficit in the Council’s housing land supply."

“The other reasons for refusal of the outline application in December 2016 have been addressed. The access is considered to be acceptable and the off-site highways works will ensure that the proposal is also acceptable in highways terms. The introduction of an acoustic barrier for existing and proposed residents, along with the Construction Management Plan and working hours’ restrictions will provide some protection in relation to the living conditions of neighbours.”

Residents, for whom there has been no public consultation , were left speechless at the Sefton Borough Planning meeting as the committee conditionally approved the go ahead for the development of the estate of 99 houses by Redrow. Despite standards of access to the development site falling well below Sefton Council's own guidance for adoptable highway standards and defying safety standards set out in the Department for Transport Manual for Streets, and even though the new access point is on a busy school bus, walking and cycling routes residents representations appeared to be ignored. Access is on a busy junction used by children from Range High School and St Luke's, St Jerome's and Woodlands Primary Schools to cycle and walk to school. In a 6 month period from Sefton's own figures the access foot/cycle path was used by circa 28,000 cyclists alone - yet Sefton did not classify this as being high usage!

Sefton also ignored the fact that the proposals contradicted supplementary planning guidance on residential amenity. Sefton Highways attended the site to measure the width of the access path just 3 hours before the planning meeting started! The residents commissioned a drainage report. This area has a very high water table and regularly floods yet there were no proper plans concerning drainage and sewerage submitted. The residents cannot see how Sefton are acting to safeguard them. To quote one resident " We are just going to end up wading in foul sewage constantly - this already happens and it will be worse. It will happen on the Range estate now too as they plan to put more sewage into the pipe coming from there to the sewage works - but not pump it so it will just back up"

Residents also queried why Redrow were measuring Andrews Lane with a GPS theodolite BEFORE the application was passed - with a view to doing work specified in the Officer's Report that had not yet been passed by Councillors. A local resident was told aggressively that they "did not like " the contractors because they "worked for Redrow"

Sefton Planning Department ignored Local Plan Policy IN2 and dropped requirements for Redrow to conduct an expensive and comprehensive Transport Assessment on Hoggs Hill Lane Level Crossing. Residents are amazed that Sefton can agree a local plan and ignore it

When Redrow suddenly put up to £500,000 on the table hours before the meeting there were cries of "bribe" and "bung" - another resident stated that the system lacked transparency and appeared to be biased towards the developer. The fact that many of the planning committee appeared not to have read the documents and not a single one of them addressed a question to Redrow left residents with no faith whatsoever in Sefton Council.

The money promised by the developer is to contribute to installing a light controlled crossing at Hoggs Hill, residents had pointed out that the Network Rail Risk Assessment on which these plans for safety rely on come from out of date figures from a census taken in January 2015 - on a dark unlit path, before the Bellway estate was built and use of the path was significantly less. The residents also pointed out to Sefton that Network Rail actually recommend a footbridge!!

Another resident, who did not wish to be named stated "Sefton are only interested in money from council tax - they do not care about the safety of our children, this will be another Fisherman's Path"

Cllr Maria Bennett from Ravenmeols Ward said: "The ink is barely dry on Sefton’s local plan and Officer’s and Planning Committee Members are already ignoring its content. Residents made excellent submissions and worked hard to develop a solid planning case against this development. Their arguments were not based on sentiment but solid safety reasons why this development should not go ahead. The proposed junction at Andrews Lane contravenes the Council’s own guidelines, is well below recommended adoptable standards and relies completely on cars sticking to 20mph! Sefton Council has failed to enforce its own policy of making developers provide a transport assessment for a level crossing if a development is likely to have a significant effect on upon it."

"The proposed mitigation for Hoggs Hill Lane level crossing is the absolute bare minimum according the Network Rail’s Safety body the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) who say “a simple renewal and retention of existing crossings should be seen as a last resort”. This itself was based on a report from Network Rail which drew upon outdated information, and then extrapolated upon it to provide a new risk assessment for the crossing. This is just the kind of practice that has been called into question since the tragic events at Grenfell Tower earlier this month."

"What is the point of having a local plan, with polices that have been agreed by an inspector via a 6 week public inquiry to then ignore them, this could possible give rise to a high court hearing or judicial review of this decision which, in my opinion, is flawed. We should be making safety our number one priority and ensure that all developers carry out the relevant risk assessments needed in order for their development to get passed. We have already had several tragedies at Fishermans Path Crossing are we now going to wait until there is an incident at Hoggs Hill before anyone will accept responsibility for what they are doing. This should not be about money it should be about doing the right thing and the safety of our residents, especially children who use this crossing."

Cllr Bennett went on to say: "It is no wonder residents have no faith in the Planning System, when the Council don’t follow their own rules, and the people who are meant to hold them to account do nothing! This is why, more than ever, ordinary members of the public should consider standing at local council elections. This is the only affordable way to challenge the decisions of planning section."

The site has also got flooding issues as part of the site is in Flood Zone 3 having a 1 in 100 or greater annual probability of river flooding, however as we have seen, after the winter floods of 2015 it was widely acknowledged the concepts of probability of annual flood will have to be revisited.

Redrow have, according to their planning application, added an attenuation pond to the area just outside the housing area. An attenuation pond is a pond which is designed to slow the passage of water from surface run-off to the ground/drainage system e.g. stormwater sewers. It does this by storing the run-off during times of peak flow i.e. heavy rainfall, and slowly releasing it at a controlled rate after the peak flow has passed. Although, according to Fragoff, the proposed attenuation pond is unlikely to provide sufficient storage to cope with additional runoff as it is situated in an area of the site that is saturated with high ground water levels throughout the winter.

There is also issues regarding the traffic congestion towards the level crossing. Traffic at the railway crossing is already really bad, especially during peak times so the addition of a further 99 homes will undoubtedly add to this congestion considerably.

We spoke to @FrapFormby and they gave us this statement: "Amidst the numerous smaller issues involved in this new application, there are three major concerns -

1) Drainage and Sewage: houses on Andrews Close only have soak-away drains. The new houses are raised to ensure that water run-off adds to the flooding risk for these and other local properties. Sewage already backs up in heavy weather raising manhole covers and making toilets unusable. Does anyone really believe that adding a culvert and pond to the plan will solve these problems?

2) Residents cannot afford to employ London firms to tell planners that it's OK to build a nice expensive estate on what is officially Green Belt land. This application started as 87 houses: the new application mentions 'up to 90' and 'up to 100' new houses, impacting on the environment, wildlife and quality of life for everyone.

3) The transport section of the application emphasises traffic on Elson Road and by the railway crossing. It ignores the creation of a blind junction on the corner of Barton Heys Road and Andrews Lane used by hundreds of children and their parents every weekday. This constitutes a genuine risk to children's' safety for all those who cycle to and from Range High School and those using the very popular cycle track. How long will it be before we are calling ambulances to this new junction?

Output: UK housebuilder Redrow has been granted conditional planning permission to build 99 homes and construct an access road at the Andrews Lane site in Formby, Merseyside. The decision by Sefton Council has proven unpopular with local residents, who had lobbied for changes to the original plans, and called into question the standards of access to the development site.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Luna DNA looks to monetise genomic data through blockchain
 This site is part of the Informa Connect Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

Output: San Diego blockchain start-up Luna DNA has raised $2m in seed funding from backers including Bob Kain, the former chief engineering officer of Illumina and the current Luna DNA CEO. The company aims to encourage people to share their genomic information on its open-source blockchain database for use in scientific research by offering tokens called luna coins, which have a real-world value.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Luna DNA looks to monetise genomic data through blockchain
 Strands of human DNA. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Veterans of San Diego-based Illumina are backing an open-source genomics database that uses the same technology employed by Bitcoin.

Luna DNA, a genomics and medical research database using blockchain technology, announced receiving $2 million in seed funding Monday from individual investors and former Illumina executives.

The San Diego-based startup is a public benefit corporation empowering people to own and share their genomic information for medical research. Individuals will be given “Luna Coins” for contributing data. The coins are part of a blockchain and will have real monetary value while preserving privacy.

“While personal DNA testing continues to rise in popularity, currently these data are siloed, hindering genomic discovery,” said Dr. David Barker, former chief scientific officer at Illumina and an advisor to the new company. “What makes Luna DNA unique is its consumer empowerment through offering reward and ownership for providing genomic data, which will be used to back scientific research.”

The Illumina veterans involved also include Bob Kain, former chief engineering officer, and Scott Kahn, former chief information officer. Kain serves as CEO of the new company.

A blockchain is a continuously increasing list of data records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography to ensure accuracy. Bitcoin uses blockchain technology to record transactions.

Output: San Diego blockchain start-up Luna DNA has raised $2m in seed funding from backers including Bob Kain, the former chief engineering officer of Illumina and the current Luna DNA CEO. The company aims to encourage people to share their genomic information on its open-source blockchain database for use in scientific research by offering tokens called luna coins, which have a real-world value.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
B3i blockchain initiative said to improve insurer efficiency 12%
 As B3i, the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, prepares to launch as a legal entity in early 2018, independent research shows a strong business model with adoption potential for re/insurers across all lines of business with an estimated average 12% efficiency improvement of cost in scope across the value chain.

Market analysis commissioned by B3i and conducted by Stern Stewart & Co throughout November 2017 with 15 B3i members and 23 Market Testers estimate a $210 million p.a. administrative cost savings from efficiency improvements.

78% of insurers & brokers and 91% of reinsurers surveyed rated the platform as having a specific relevance to being highly relevant to their business.

Based on stated volumes and market size, premiums that will be ceded to the B3i platform are estimated to be in the range of $80 billion – $140 billion.

B3i is following a two-fold strategy of developing the first blockchain prototype into a market-ready product while building on the current membership size to fully penetrate the market.

The report said that the consortium’s fund and activity within the insurance market will likely accelerate as prototypes mature into more compelling minimum viable products and as platforms continue to develop.

With a current membership of 38 insurers, brokers and reinsurers, B3i forms the largest unaffiliated insurance market consortium so far in terms of global market share – measured by gross written premiums.

23 new entrants joined B3is Market Testing program,following the launch of a working market testing prototype at the meeting of the reinsurance industry in Monte-Carlo.

The testing phase began in October, 2017, and included the creation and management of property catastrophe insurance and reinsurance contracts in order to assess post-placement processes.

The consortium’s latest members include: AIA, AIG, Aon, Chubb, Covéa, Everest Re, Gen Re, Guy Carpenter & Marsh, JLT Re, Leadway Assurance, LocalTapiola, Mapfre Re, Navigators, PartnerRe, QBE Re, SAHAM Assurance, Sava Re, Takaful Emarat, TigerRisk, Trust Re, UnipolSai and Willis Re.

IBM’s Insurance Industry Global Managing Director, Sandip Patel, previously told reinsurance news that the InsurTech wave will take off very quickly as “blockchain is going to do for transactions what the internet did for information and I do believe that in the insurance and reinsurance industry.”

Output: Blockchain initiative B3i is expected to improve efficiency for insurers and reinsurers using the platform by an estimated average of 12%, according to analysis commissioned by the consortium. The survey, carried out in November, revealed estimated administration cost savings of $210m, while more than three-quarters of insurers and brokers, and 91% of reinsurers said the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, set to launch next year, was relevant to their business. B3i, which is developing its blockchain prototype into a market-ready product, currently has 38 insurer, reinsurer and broker members, drawn from around the world.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
AIA pushes for establishment of US regulatory sandbox
 In December, the American Insurance Association presented a model law to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that would allow for the creation of a regulatory “sandbox” in which insurers could test digital innovations without fear of running afoul of regulations. Michael O’Malley, SVP for public policy at the AIA, discussed why both insurers and policyholders would benefit from such a law in a Digital Insurance Q&A:

Digital Insurance: What were you hearing from the industry that led you to develop this model law?

Michael O’Malley: There’s a lot of interaction between innovation and regulation. Folks are coming up with innovative ways to approach insurance, but they’re coming up against a rules-based regulatory system. New solutions may meet consumer demands in some ways, but it’s a gray area against some of those rules. The NAIC seeks uniformity throughout the country, and its innovation and technology task force had on its list of ideas to review the regulatory sandbox concept.

DI: How does the sandbox work?

O’Malley: We presented a legislative proposal that would create authority that would needed for an effective sandbox, which has been used in Europe. It would allow an insurance commissioner to receive an application from an insurer or other licensee that says, ‘We can meet the consumer protection need of that law in another way,’ but still in a supervised environment.

DI: What are some of the ideas that don’t fit nicely into existing regulations?

O’Malley: Take an example of on-demand insurance. Say you have an expensive camera that you want to only insure when you go on an adventure. You have, on your smartphone, an app from an insurance company and you want to buy insurance for a few days. But there’s a lot of laws in the US that anticipate that a policy is a 12 month policy, and if you’re going to stop the coverage for something, you need to give 60 days’ notice. How does that work when the insured is stopping and starting coverage? You have consumers who are willing to insure things that way. So here you can test it and find a way to make it so that consumers are protected.

DI: What’s the timeline for something like this going live? Do you think regulators are more receptive now?

O’Malley: We’re engaging in conversations with various regulators now to insure them to have more urgency, otherwise they’re going to fall behind other countries that are encouraging innovation. It doesn’t move fast, but I am encouraged that it has moved with tech in the past. Uber’s a great example of a technology that moved very fast. It left their drivers with a gap under the assumption that a personal auto policy would apply, and it took a model law to fix it. Uber worked hard with the industry to figure that out. But think about how much more effective that would’ve been if you were able to first pilot test when Uber was coming out. Wouldn’t it have been better if you had a product before that first accident? That’s what we’re trying to say.

Output: The American Insurance Association (AIA) has called for the creation of a US regulatory sandbox, where insurers can test digital innovation. Michael O'Malley, SVP for public policy at the AIA, said many companies are coming up with innovative ideas on approaching insurance, but can be hindered by the regulatory system. The AIA has put forward a legislative proposal to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that would allow for the creation of an effective sandbox for insurers to test concepts in a supervised environment and without the risk of flouting regulations.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
UK applications for Irish passports rise 75% since Brexit
 Overall 752,296 new Irish passports have been issued up to December this year. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien / The Irish Times

Nearly twice as many people in the United Kingdom are applying for Irish passports this year, than before the British voted to leave the European Union.

To date this year 81,287 passport applications have been made from Britain, and another 80,964 from Northern Ireland alone. In total 162,251 individuals have applied for Irish passports from the UK, nearly double the 91,924 applications made in 2014.

Overall 752,296 new Irish passports have been issued up to the start of December this year, more than the 733,060 issued in 2016, and the 672,760 in 2015. Another 29,600 passports are currently being processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

In June 2016 the UK voted to leave the European Union, and since then the number of passport applications from people in Britain and Northern Ireland has dramatically increased. Following the triggering of “Article 50” this March, the UK is set to officially leave the EU by March 2019.

READ MORE

In Northern Ireland, 53,715 people applied for Irish passports the year prior to the Brexit vote, increasing to 67,582 in 2016, and 80,964 so far this year. In 2013 the department received 42,441 applications for Irish passports from Britain, which increased to 81,287 this year.

The data on passport applications was obtained following a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O'Brien.

Diplomatic Costs

The department has spent €10,945 transporting postal passport applications from the London embassy to Dublin between January and August this year.

In April alone the department spent €1,872 sending passport applications from London to Dublin via diplomatic courier. The cost of transporting passport applications to Dublin was released under the Freedom of Information Act.

A spokeswoman for the department said the London embassy and the Passport Service are currently reviewing internal procedures to try and reduce the costs of transferring passport applications to Dublin, in light of the increase in applications following the Brexit vote.

Any person born in Northern Ireland can apply for an Irish passport, and anyone born in England, Scotland or Wales who has an Irish parent can also apply for citizenship and a passport. The Irish passport will give someone living in Britain free movement between Europe after Britain leaves the EU.

An online passport application service was launched in March this year, cutting down on processing times. The department spokeswoman said 11,000 online applications have been made from Britain between March and the end of August this year. The department’s current estimated processing time for normal first time passport applicants from Britain is a minimum of seven weeks.

Output: Ireland has experienced a 75% increase in demand for passports from UK citizens since it was announced that the UK would hold a referendum on EU membership. In total 162,251 individuals from Britain and Northern Ireland have applied, compared with the 91,924 applications made in 2014. A Freedom of Information request revealed that €10,945 ($12,937) had been spent transporting postal applications from the London Embassy to Dublin between January and August 2017, leading to a review of internal processes to reduce cost.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Austria swears in far-right Freedom Party in coalition government
 BERLIN — A new coalition government was sworn in on Monday in Austria, and for the first time in more than 10 years it includes the far-right Freedom Party, a watershed for the populist movements that unsettled European politics this year.

The return to power of the Freedom Party, which was founded by neo-Nazis after World War II, was concerning enough that Austria’s president, Alexander Van der Bellen, took the exceptional step of eliciting several promises from the new government before he would administer the oath of office.

Those included acknowledging Austria’s commitment to European Union and its responsibility to a Nazi past that tore apart the Continent last century.

Mr. Van de Bellen also reminded the new government leaders that they represent everyone in Austria, a rejoinder to a campaign characterized in large part by an antipathy toward immigrants.

Output: Austria has sworn in a new coalition government that includes the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) for the first time in over a decade. Sebastian Kurz, 31 and now Europe's youngest leader, was sworn in as chancellor after his centre-right People's Party won October's snap election. His party formed a coalition with the FPÖ, whose leader Heinz-Christian Strache became vice chancellor. Swearing in the new government, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen took the unusual steps of making the leaders acknowledge the country's commitment to the European Union and reminding them they represent everyone.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
UK will treat trade in goods and services as inseparable: Davis
 Brexit secretary David Davis will warn the European commission that it cannot “cherrypick some sectors” when negotiating a trade deal, according to a senior government official, who said the UK planned to treat goods and services as inseparable.

Responding to EU figures setting out their stall, the Whitehall source insisted that while trade talks would be complex, “they either want to have a broad economic relationship with the UK, or they don’t”.

The source dismissed the idea that Britain would have to choose between a simple free trade agreement, which would focus largely on goods but not on the services that make up almost 80% of the UK economy, or a more comprehensive arrangement inside the single market and customs union.

They also suggested that ministers across government had held meetings with a “full sweep of EU member states” and were confident some would be pressing internally for the commission to secure a bespoke and strong deal with the UK.

“We are regularly approached by foreign governments and businesses who tell us that they want a fully functioning economic relationship with Britain which goes beyond the more rigid and unambitious suggestions from the commission,” they said.

Ministers including Davis are thought to believe that countries such as Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands see trade with the UK as particularly important to their economies. As such, they would be nervous of any moves that resulted in Britain crashing out of the EU on to World Trade Organisation rules.

The suggestion comes after Theresa May chaired a critical discussion of her “Brexit inner cabinet”, in which she and nine leading ministers discussed – for the first time – what “end state” Britain should be pushing for in the negotiations.

The prime minister told colleagues that the government must aim high in the next phase of EU negotiations. But she is likely to face some division within her top team, which includes former remainers such as Philip Hammond and Amber Rudd and the key Brexiters, Michael Gove and Boris Johnson.

Although the cabinet is united in swinging behind Davis’s suggestion that the UK will seek a “Canada plus plus plus” deal – adding services to the free trade agreement that exists – there are disagreements on how achievable that is.

Sources said Hammond and Rudd argued for close alignment with European-style regulation at the meeting, with Rudd, the home secretary, suggesting that jobs in Britain could be better protected by a close economic relationship with the EU.

However, Gove and Johnson were backed by the international trade secretary, Liam Fox, and the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, over their desire to ensure the UK can diverge in the future.

May’s position is less well known, although she told the group – in a boost for the Brexiters – that the UK ought to be thinking less about conforming to European standards and more about conforming to international ones.

A key sticking point is likely to be whether the EU will allow Britain to have a deal unlike any other, which would include services to a high degree outside of the single market.

Senior British negotiators are likely to draw on statistics that highlight countries that trade services with the UK in order to press their case.

Internal government figures show that 10% of Polish exports in the professional and business services sector went to the UK in 2015, while in Italy, bilateral trade with Britain accounts for 15% of total trade in the accountancy and audit services sector. Meanwhile, 18% of Germany’s telecommunications exports were to the UK.

The challenge for the prime minister is the pressure she is facing from MPs across parliament with differing views on what Britain’s future relationship should look like.

During a Commons statement on the latest Brexit negotiations, May faced a string of interventions from Brexiters on her own backbenches who warned her against any move that could delay the date of Britain’s EU departure.

Jacob Rees-Mogg hit out at the EU, claiming its negotiating guidelines undermined the “principle of nothing being agreed until everything is agreed” and would leave Britain as a “no more than a vassal state, a colony, a serf of the European Union” during transition.

“I urge [the prime minister] to model herself on her predecessor, the late noble Baroness Thatcher, and show real mettle and steel in rejecting these hostile negotiating terms from the European Union,” he said.

Others asked about plans to maintain the status quo during an implementation period, leading May to confirm that she would back a position taken by Gove to leave the common fisheries policy and common agricultural policy in March 2019.

However, it is unclear how the UK would then honour its promise to abide by EU laws and regulations during transition.

On the other side, May was hit by question after question from Labour MPs who fear that the Conservatives will row back on workers’ rights after Brexit – in particular in relation to the working time directive. The prime minister said rights would be protected, but would not make a specific promise on that regulation in the future.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hit back, saying: “These rights help prevent workers from being used and abused by their bosses. The Tories cannot be trusted to keep them. As we leave the EU, only Labour will protect jobs and our economy.”

May also responded to the EU warnings by saying that a member of EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier’s team – Stefaan De Rynk – had said the UK’s deal would be a “bespoke agreement in terms of trade”.

The key commission adviser told an event in London that every trade deal was bespoke, but also made clear that the advantages of the single market could only be secured by accepting the obligations.

De Rynk argued that the UK would have to accept the rules during transition, while losing a place at the table, and claimed that Brexit could not be a success because it was a “mutual weakening” in economic terms.

An academic, Dr Peter Holmes of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at Sussex University, said that ultimately the UK would have to accept what the EU offered, but added that Canada was not the only template.

“EU-Korea looks a bit more attractive than EU-Canada. It includes some services provisions and mutual recognition but offers less good market access than the European Economic Area,” he said.

“But none of these models would allow an open Irish border as most people seem to understand last week’s agreement to require.”

Output: UK Brexit Secretary David Davis will warn the EU that it cannot cherrypick a trade deal. Speaking after EU figures outlined their stance for post-Brexit trade talks, a top Whitehall official said the UK plans to treat goods and services as inseparable. The official also dismissed the idea that Britain will have to pick between a simple trade agreement, focused on goods, or a more extensive agreement within the single market and customs union. Instead, many foreign governments want a "fully functioning" economic relationship with Britain, beyond the more rigid suggestions put forward by the European Commission, the official added.


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Iraq to rely on drones to defend oil pipelines from sabotage
 Iraq plans to use drones to monitor and protect its oil export and production pipelines from the first quarter of 2018, an oil ministry spokesman said on Dec. 18.

Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi has asked the ministry to seek out professional security companies that can supply Iraq with drones and sophisticated camera systems to protect its pipelines, spokesman Asim Jihad said.

Luaibi last week announced plans to build a network of pipelines which will carry crude oil and refined products across all its territory, as an alternative to expensive and hazardous transport by tanker trucks.

The use of drones to monitor pipelines is common in advanced energy producing countries but a new step for Iraq which has seen attacks from insurgents on pipelines since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.

"We will use drones and advanced surveillance systems to protect oil pipelines from any attacks or deliberate sabotage acts. The minister ordered the use of the drone system as of the first quarter of the coming year," Jihad told reporters.

The only international crude pipeline now in operation in Iraq links the northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region to Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

The country had more pipelines in the past—to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia—but they were shut down or destroyed as a result of wars and conflicts.

OPEC's second-largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia, Iraq depends on oil sales for about 95 percent of its government income. The country exported about 3.5 million barrels per day on average in November.

Luaibi will be visiting Algeria in mid-January and meeting with his counterpart and state-run Algerian energy company Sonatrach, which has expressed interest in investing in Iraq, Jihad also said.

Output: Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi has requested that his department find companies able to supply the country with drones to monitor and protect the country's pipelines from early next year, according to spokesman Asim Jihad. He said: "We will use drones and advanced surveillance systems to protect oil pipelines from any attacks or deliberate sabotage acts." Iraq recently revealed plans to construct a network of oil pipelines across the country, having already lost networks leading to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia as a result of wars and conflicts. About 95% of Iraqi government income derives from oil.


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US stores adopt Alipay, WePay apps to attract Chinese tourists
 NEW YORK -- In China, Zhang Youtian does not carry cash or credit cards. Instead, he pays for everything using the Alipay and WeChat Pay apps on his smartphone. When he heard that merchants in New York, where he has lived for seven years, were adopting those forms of payment, the recent college graduate was excited.

"If I saw that they had it in a store, I'd definitely try it," Zhang said. "It's convenient. You don't have to sign. Just scan and finish the transaction."

Output: US retailers are cashing in on the opportunity to offer Chinese tourists the ability to pay using Alipay and WeChat Pay apps, which were rolled out across North America earlier this year. Stores such as New York's VR World and food outlet Mr Bing have reported an increase in footfall since adopting the Chinese payment apps, which control more than 92% of their domestic market.


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Thales Alenia to share expertise with Boeing for NASA programme
 WASHINGTON — Thales Alenia Space is partnering with three U.S. companies that are working on NASA studies of concepts for the proposed Deep Space Gateway, leveraging its expertise in space station and cargo module development.

Thales announced Dec. 14 that Boeing was the latest company it was working with as part of NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) 2 effort. Thales has previously also been working with Lockheed Martin and Orbital ATK. Thales did not disclose the value of the individual contracts with the three companies.

For all three companies, Thales is providing expertise in areas such as structures, environmental controls and thermal controls, said Walter Cugno, vice president of Thales Alenia Space’s exploration and sciences domain, in a call with reporters. The company’s contributions are currently limited to studies, he said, and does not include hardware at this time.

Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Orbital ATK are three of the six companies that received NextSTEP-2 awards from NASA in 2016. The other awardees are Bigelow Aerospace, NanoRacks and Sierra Nevada Corporation. The awards are structured as public private partnerships, with companies contributing their own funds in addition to NASA funding, which has a combined value of $65 million.

Most of the companies with NextSTEP-2 awards are working on concepts for habitation modules that could be used on missions beyond Earth orbit, such as the agency’s proposed Deep Space Gateway in cislunar space. The awards cover technology development as well as construction of groundbased prototypes.

The NanoRacks award, part of a consortium that includes Space Systems Loral and United Launch Alliance, was focused on a short-term study examining the feasibility of converting an Atlas 5 upper stage into a habitation module that could be attached to the International Space Station or commercial station. The company said that study, recently completed, confirmed that approach was viable.

Thales Alenia Space is taking different approaches with the three NextSTEP-2 companies it is working with. The work with Orbital ATK, Cugno said, is focused on adapting the Cygnus spacecraft for deep space applications. Thales Alenia provides the pressurized cargo module for Cygnus cargo missions to the space station.

The work with Boeing and Lockheed Martin, he said, is based on those companies’ own, separate concepts for habitation modules. “We use our knowledge on thermal, mechanical and environmental designs and system architecture, but implementing that in slightly different applications,” he said.

That work, he added, is informed by the experience Thales has from developing modules for the ISS. “We try to fit that into a very different environment,” he said. The work is expected to take place through 2018 and into 2019.

Output: Thales Alenia Space has added Boeing to the companies it is working with as NASA partners on the space agency's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) 2 effort. Thales is providing expertise in areas such as environmental controls, thermal controls and structures for Boeing, as well as Lockheed Martin and Orbital ATK. Its contribution is limited to research and currently does not include hardware. The three companies are among six that received NextSTEP-2 awards from NASA last year, most of which are working on concepts for habitation modules for missions beyond Earth orbit.


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Ariane Group plans to launch 3D-printed rockets for ESA by 2030
 The Ariane Group has signed a new contract with the European Space Agency for a next generation rocket engine.

The contract, signed on December 14th, will see the development of the Prometheus engine, described as “a very low cost engine” and intended for launches from 2030.

The economics of space are changing with enterprises such as Rocket Labs, Space X and Aerojet Rocketdyne aiming to produce launch vehicles that lower the cost of missions. Other companies such as Relativity Space are also using additive manufacturing as part of a vision of “scaling and sustaining an interplanetary society”.

The Prometheus engine will run on liquid oxygen and methane, and is expected to cost approximately 1 million euros. This is 10 times less than current rocket engines such as the Vulcain®2.

To achieve such a cost-saving Ariane Group will use, “an entirely new approach [including] the use of innovative design and production methods and tools.” Specific details of the production techniques are still under wraps, however the company has confirmed that 3D printing will be used – with the gas generator named as one of the 3D printed components.

Testing scheduled for 2020 at DLR

The contract was signed by Daniel Neuenschwander, Director of Space Transportation at the European Space Agency (ESA), and Alain Charmeau, CEO of ArianeGroup. It covers the design, manufacturing and testing of the first two examples of the Prometheus demonstrator.

Once construction is complete the Prometheus is scheduled for testing in 2020, using the P5 test bed of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Lampoldshausen, Germany.

The Prometheus engine marks a switch from previous propellants used by Ariane. The current liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen combination will be replaced by a mix of liquid oxygen and methane. Other changes will include the “digitalization of engine control and diagnostics, and manufacturing using 3D printing in a connected factory environment.”

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Output: Ariane Group is to work with the European Space Agency (ESA) on a partly 3D-printed rocket. The low-cost Prometheus engine will run on liquid oxygen and methane, and is intended for launches from 2030. It is predicted to cost about €1m ($1.2m), a tenth of the cost of vehicles such as the Vulcain 2. While Ariane has not disclosed its full range of design and production methods, it will 3D-print some components, including the gas generator.


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National Australia Bank ceases lending to new coal projects
 National Australia Bank says it will halt all lending for new thermal coal mining projects, becoming the first major Australian bank to phase out support of thermal coal mining.

While the bank will continue providing finance for coal projects already on its books, NAB said an orderly transition to a low-carbon Australia was critical for the economy and for continued access to secure and affordable energy.

“While we will continue to support our existing customers across the mining and energy sectors, including those with existing coal assets, NAB will no longer finance new thermal coal mining projects,” the bank said in a statement on Thursday.

The news was welcomed by environmental groups.

“This is a market-leading position for an Australian bank and is even stronger than the position taken by Commonwealth Bank last month because it is formal policy,” Greenpeace campaigner Jonathan Moylan said.

The Commonwealth Bank indicated to shareholders in November that it would not fund new, large coal projects, saying its support for coal would continue to decline as it helps finance the transition to a low-carbon economy.

ING has promised to phase out coal within a decade and has committed to stop funding any utility company which relies on coal for more than 5% of its energy.

ANZ and Westpac both have policies that limit lending to new coal projects under certain conditions.

“NAB has lifted the bar above its competitors by becoming the first major bank to end lending to all new thermal coal mining,” said Julien Vincent, executive director of environmental finance advocates Market Forces.

“This policy means NAB joins the ranks of dozens of banks and insurance companies globally that are withdrawing from this most climate-polluting of industries.”

The World Bank has also announced it will “no longer finance upstream oil and gas, after 2019” in an effort to be consistent with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5C.

“It’s time for ANZ and Westpac to do the same and rule out investing in new coal projects,” Moylan said.

Last month, Australia’s financial regulator warned banks, lenders and insurers that they had to do more to reduce risk relating to climate change, and flagged the possibility of “regulatory action” if they didn’t act.

Output: National Australia Bank has announced plans to end all lending to new thermal coal mining projects. In a statement, the bank said that a transition to a low-carbon Australia was required for the good of the economy. The bank is the first in Australia to begin phasing out funding for thermal coal mining, though it will continue to find existing projects.


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UK companies, fearing ransomware attacks, hoard bitcoin
 Dive Brief:

Cybercrime is expected to incur annual global costs above $6 trillion by 2021, rising in conjunction with cybersecurity costs, according to a Cybersecurity Ventures report. Cumulative cybersecurity spending is expected to top $1 trillion over the next five years. By next year, spending is expected to rise from 2017's $86.4 billion to $93 billion.

Cybercrimes are the fastest-growing crime as size, sophistication and cost rise, reports CNBC. Data breaches increased in size 1.8% in 2017, which amounts to an average of more than 24,000 records per breach.

As ransomware attacks are expected to hit an organization every 14 seconds by 2019, a severe shortage in cybersecurity labor — expected to reach 3.5 million unfilled positions by 2021, compared to 2014's $1 million — may be the greatest threat to cybersecurity, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. But 2018 may be the "Year of Security Awareness Training" as cybersecurity programs for employees rises to $10 billion over the next decade.

Dive Insight:

Between learning just how bad years-old data breaches were and combing through endless reports on new ones, 2017 was not the most optimistic year for cybersecurity. And reports like this paint a bleak picture of the future.

Millennials and women, two underrepresented groups in the cybersecurity workforce, will be key in combating the shortage of security professionals. But adequate, let alone great, cybersecurity requires equal measures of quantity and quality.

Human error, from an overlooked patch to clicking on a seemingly innocuous email, can cause devastating effects for a company, economy and nation. Improving baseline cybersecurity practices through routine employee training and retraining is critical for companies moving forward.

Costs in the trillions of dollars and record losses in the tens of thousands are hard foes to stand up against alone. CIOs, CSOs and other decision makers should also focus on a comprehensive protocol and a comprehensive plan of action to assess the situation, fortify exploited weaknesses and disclose to the appropriate authorities.

After all, a botched handling of a breach can hit the recovery and company reputation just as hard.

Output: UK firms are opening bitcoin wallets and purchasing bitcoin in the expectation of a ransomware attack. The currency would be used to pay off the hackers, who usually demand bitcoin as a means of payment. According to Paul Taylor, former Ministry of Defence cyber chief, the trend is a response to the expense and difficulty of reporting attacks to the authorities, combined with the global rise in cyber attacks and the inflating value of bitcoin. The annual cost of cybersecurity is expected to reach $6tn globally by 2021.