Tech Featured

The world of banking is poised for a step-change as many central banks ponder the introduction of a digital currency, and among those leading discussions is the Bank of England.

“We’re in the middle of quite a period of rapid change in money and payments,” says Simon Scorer, senior fintech specialist at the Bank of England, speaking at a talk hosted by the OMFIF Digital Monetary Institute.

“Technology advancements are creating new ways to save and to pay, and new forms of private money are on the...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/virtual-sterling-bank-of-england-ponders-digital-currency/

Robert McNutt is the CTO of Forescout, a cybersecurity company that specialises in protecting the ‘enterprise of things’.

Founded in 2000, the San Jose, California headquartered company provides ‘agentless’ security software that automatically monitors security threats across PCs, mobile, tablet and other internet of things (IoT) devices. As CTO, McNutt works closely with customers to turn customer feedback into the latest product roadmap.

In this Q&A, the 33rd in our weekly series, McNutt...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/cto-talk-qa-with-forescouts-robert-mcnutt/

The news that the UK is experiencing the most severe recession since records began as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted calls to focus on digital industries to fuel recovery.

According to figures published today by the Office for National Statistics, the UK experienced a 20.4% decline in GDP in Q2 of 2020. This follows a drop of 2.2% in Q1, meeting the requirement of two successive periods of decline that are needed for a recession to be officially determined.

The UK has also...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/worst-uk-recession-in-recorded-history-sparks-calls-for-digital-recovery/

Mathias Golombek is the CTO of Exasol, an analytics database management software company headquartered in Germany.

Founded in 2000, Exasol’s main product, which takes the same name, runs in-memory and is used in sectors such as retail, finance and sports analytics. The firm has more than 200 customers spanning across more than 20 countries.

Golombek joined Exasol in 2004 as a software developer, later becoming the head of the R&D team before joining the executive board in 2013 as Exasol’s CTO.

In...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/cto-talk-qa-with-exasols-mathias-golombek/

When you’re acquired by one of the biggest names in tech, you don’t typically announce a $60m Series B funding round four years later, but that’s exactly what healthtech pioneer Withings has done.

Announced today, the funding round is led by Gilde Healthcare and long-term investors Idinvest Partners and Bpifrance, with additional funding coming from BNP Paribas Développement, ODDO BHF Private Equity and Adelie Capital.

For those that haven’t been following Withings closely, this will come as...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/withings-from-nokia-acquisition-to-60m-funding-round/

Transcribing recordings is the bane of journalists, meeting note-takers and students everywhere. Enter Otter.ai, a speech-to-text transcription tool that works online or via a phone app using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to carry out transcription, live or by uploading a speech file after the event.

Otter Live Notes for Zoom has proven particular popular during lockdown, enabling meeting participants to open a live transcript directly from Zoom then view, highlight,...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/otterly-indispensable-how-otter-ai-has-transformed-transcription/

Kalyan Kumar is the chief technology officer (CTO) and CVP of HCL Technologies, an Indian multinational IT services and consultancy company.

The Uttar Pradesh headquartered firm counts 250 of the Fortune 500 and 650 of the Global 2000 among its clients. Founded in 1976, HCL Technologies now operates in 49 countries and reported revenues of US$9.93bn for 12 months ended 30 June.

Kumar, also known as ‘KK’, has been at HCL Technologies since 2000 and has worked his way up to the CTO role.

In this...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/cto-talk-qa-with-hcl-technologies-kalyan-kumar/

The cybersecurity community has reacted with criticism and concern to the Russia report, which was finally published today after a nine-month delay.

The heavily redacted report highlighted that the UK was a target for disinformation by Russia, and that “Russian influence in the UK in the new normal”. It also drew attention to failures to tackle the issue, with no one governmental organisation taking responsibility.

For some, the report has prompted considerable concern due to its level of...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/confusing-and-reeks-of-politics-cybersecurity-community-reacts-to-russia-report/

With the closure of numerous bank branches around the UK as a result of lockdown measures, as well as a rapid shift online as remote working becomes the norm for many, it would be easy to assume that digital banking has fared well during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, like virtually every industry, the UK’s world-renowned fintech sector has encountered its fair share of ups and down over the past few months.

According to research by software company Qadre, 68% of fintech founders reported...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/can-the-challenger-bank-from-natwest-prove-its-mettle/

Dr Richard Price is the chief technology officer (CTO) of PragmatIC, a provider of ultra-low-cost flexible electronics.

The UK firm’s flexible integrated circuits are thinner than a human hair, which means they can be easily embedded into everyday objects. According to PragmatIC, this technology can make it possible for “trillions” of smart objects to engage with consumers and their environments.

Price has over 20 years’ experience in the development and commercialisation of a wide range of new...

https://www.ship-technology.com/tech/cto-talk-qa-with-pragmatics-richard-price/