WARC (April 13)
“Search marketing is on the cusp of its most consequential transformation since Google first introduced its sponsored keyword search auction over 20 years ago, and the more recent introduction of the use of data and algorithms to provide greater personalisation in search results.” As we move into the Search 3.0 era, it will be “defined as much by image or video as text, and by artificial intelligence and natural language processing, in which marketers shift from targeting keywords to targeting intent and context.”
Tags: AI, Algorithms, Auction, Consequential, Data, Google, Image, Intent, Keywords, Marketing, Natural language processing, Personalisation, Search 3.0, Transformation, Video
Reuters (May 12)
“South Korea was the first country to launch a fifth-generation mobile network in 2019, heralding a warp-speed technological transformation to self-driving cars and smart cities. Three years on, the giddy promises are unfulfilled.” It has achieved one of the highest rates of adoption, around 45% with speed about five times faster. Until demand catches up, however, telecoms will remain unwilling “to invest in the fancier technology that would ramp speeds by 20 times over 4G technology…. To make the quantum leap to the highest-speed 5G will require the roll-out of essential services that need such fast connections.”
Tags: 5G, Adoption, Demand, Invest, Mobile network, Promises, Roll-out, Self-driving cars, Smart cities, South Korea, Speed, Technology Quantum leap, Telecoms, Transformation, Unfulfilled, Warp-speed
New York Times (April 17)
A new front is opening “in the war over how cryptocurrency will — or will not — be regulated.” Although “Cryptocurrencies are still mostly held as speculative assets,” they could “become fundamental parts of the financial system. To many, Coinbase’s successful debut, which valued the company at $86 billion, far more than operators of stock and bond exchanges, is a signal that this transformation is already well underway.” The success of that IPO could “invite more attention from regulators.”
Tags: Bond, Coinbase, Cryptocurrency, Exchanges, Financial system, IPO, Regulated, Signal, Speculative assets, Stock, Successful, Transformation, War
The Economist (September 14)
The internet of things (IoT) “is a slow revolution that has been gathering pace for years, as computers have found their way into cars, telephones and televisions. But the transformation is about to go into overdrive. One forecast is that by 2035 the world will have a trillion connected computers, built into everything from food packaging to bridges and clothes.”
Tags: Bridges, Cars, Clothes, Computers, Food packaging, IoT, Overdrive, Revolution, Telephones, Televisions, Transformation
Institutional Investor (January 21)
“For more than half a decade, a seemingly irresistible momentum has been building around the idea that finance and technology are converging at a historical inflection point, a combination of business transformation and competitive disruption that has come to be labeled fintech.” Fintech “has legs,” making a “2000-style crash” unlikely. Still, fintech is not immune to cyclical decline, may be approaching frothy levels, and carries other risks as well.
Tags: Cyclical decline, Disruption, Finance, Fintech, Froth, Inflection point, Momentum, Risks, Technology, Transformation
The Economist (June 6)
“At last Japan has introduced corporate-governance reforms that will make a difference.” It will be neither a sudden or complete transformation. “Japan’s corporate-governance revolution has had many false dawns.” Nevertheless, there are finally “reasons to think that real change is under way.”
Tags: False dawns, Governance, Japan, Real change, Reforms, Transformation
The Economist (March 2)
Africa has achieved a dramatic transformation. “Never in the half-century since it won independence from the colonial powers has Africa been in such good shape.” The credit belongs to the Africans themselves. “The continent’s main saviours are its own people. They are embracing modern technology, voting in ever more elections and pressing their leaders to do better. A sense of hope abounds.” The transformation is laudable, but “still incomplete. The danger is that Africa settles for today’s pace of change. Only if Africans raise their ambitions still further will they reach their full potential. If aspiring Africa wants a new dream, it should be creating a common market from the Med to the Cape. That would be a boon to trade, enterprise and manufacturing: it would also get rid of much of the petty corruption and save lives.”
Tags: Africa, Common market, Corruption, Elections, Leaders, Manufacturing, Technology, Trade, Transformation