Lifeboat Foundation

From digital currency to machine learning, the financial industry is being rocked by exponential technologies. Blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, quantum computing, crowdfunding, and computing systems are allowing startups to solve consumer needs in new ways.

The downfall of the world’s largest institutions may not be imminent, but these new technologies are breaking up the previously rock solid foundation of finance, and allowing the fintech world to spring through the cracks. What’s happening now will rewrite the future of finance for years to come. By recognizing this reality and planning for it now, financial professionals can learn to thrive in an increasingly uncertain global economy.

Continue reading “Financial Leaders: Make Your Mark on the Future at Exponential Finance” »

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Our society has never aged more rapidly – one of the most visible symptoms of the changing demographics is the exponential increase in the incidence of age-related diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases and osteoarthritis. Not only does aging have a negative effect on the quality of life among the elderly but it also causes a significant financial strain on both private and public sectors. As the proportion of older people is increasing so is health care spending. According to a WHO analysis, the annual number of new cancer cases is projected to rise to 17 million by 2020, and reach 27 million by 2030. Similar trends are clearly visible in other age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Few effective treatments addressing these challenges are currently available and most of them focus on a single disease rather than adopting a more holistic approach to aging.

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Of course it will; and already been tested in some institutions.

Could quantum computing change the way we look at Financial Services? Frederik Kerling, Business Consultant at Atos, considers its impact in this piece of speculative fiction.

Over the past week, the White House appointed five new senior National Security Council staff officials. Two in particular signify the emerging and disruptive influence Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel could have on U.S. national security and how he might bring his venture capital perspective — visionary but unconventional leaders, big bets on disrupting established industries — to national security.

Kevin Harrington, a Thiel acolyte, has been named Deputy Assistant to the President for strategic planning. Since early December, Harrington served on the Trump “landing team” at the Commerce Department, where his job was to help hire people for open positions and identify policy priorities. Before that, he worked at hedge funds started by Thiel. Michael Anton, a former executive at an investment management firm and speechwriter, was named Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Communications, virtually the same job that Obama advisor Ben Rhodes held. POLITICO reports that he received the position “thanks to an entree from Thiel.”

The Harrington appointment is unusual for a couple of reasons. First, the elevation of this position to “Deputy Assistant to the President,” the second highest rank within the White House, suggests that Harrington will have a larger role than his predecessors. Although the strategic planning office is one of the most important at the NSC, it is typically staffed by a lean team of forward thinkers and the head of the office is ranked accordingly.

Continue reading “Disrupting the White House: Peter Thiel’s Influence is Shaping the National Security Council” »

Quantum Tech and Bank security.

BT’s research arm showcased the future of banking technology, including quantum key distribution and biometrics.

The bottom-line why folks are investing so much in QC is frankly because it means you will be behind everyone else who has adopted a superior infrastructure. As a consumer, if I can use my private information to secure a loan or access my medical information without fear of exposure of my information as well as performance of my online media and other online services are 100 times faster than any known network service to date; it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know what I will do,

And, banks, trading houses, etc. know this.

Thanks to the collaborative effort of an international team of scientists led by Professor Winfried Hensinger of the University of Sussex in UK, the world may have gotten one step closer to building the most powerful computer ever — a large-scale quantum computer capable of solving ultra-complex problems that will take a regular computer billions of years to solve.

Continue reading “Scientists Chasing the Dream of Quantum Computing” »

Nice write up. What is interesting is that most folks still have not fully understood the magnitude of quantum and how as well as why we will see it as the fundamental ingredient to all things and will be key in our efforts around singularity.

When it comes to studying transportation systems, stock markets and the weather, quantum mechanics is probably the last thing to come to mind. However, scientists at Australia’s Griffith University and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University have just performed a ‘proof of principle’ experiment showing that when it comes to simulating such complex processes in the macroscopic world quantum mechanics can provide an unexpected advantage.

Griffith’s Professor Geoff Pryde, who led the project, says that such processes could be simulated using a “quantum hard drive”, much smaller than the memory required for conventional simulations.

Continue reading “Quantum RAM: Modelling the big questions with the very small” »

When it comes to obtaining new energy, solar energy now costs less than fossil fuels, according to a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) also show decreased prices, with the mean price of solar power in about 60 countries dropping to $1.65 million per megawatt, closely followed by wind at $1.66 million per megawatt.

Michael Drexler, Head of Long Term Investing, Infrastructure and Development at the World Economic Forum, found the downturn in prices to be an encouraging sign.

“Renewable energy has reached a tipping point—it now constitutes the best chance to reverse global warming. Solar and wind have just become very competitive, and costs continue to fall. It is not only a commercially viable option, but an outright compelling investment opportunity with long-term, stable, inflation-protected returns.”

Continue reading “Solar Power Has Officially Become the Cheapest Source for New Energy” »

KOCHI: HDFC Bank has deployed an interactive humanoid at its Kamala Mills branch in Mumbai. Intelligent Robotic Assistant (IRA) was developed in partnership with Kochi-based startup Asimov Robotics. IRA will be used for customer service.

With the launch of IRA, HDFC has become the first bank in the country to deploy humanoid for customer service. “Our first humanoid is unique and will serve as a technology demonstrator in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics,” said HDFC Bank digital banking country head Nitin Chugh.

Developed using robotics and artificial intelligence technology, IRA will be initially positioned near the bank’s welcome desk where it will display the services, greet customers and guide them to the counters — cash deposit, foreign exchange, loans etc.

Continue reading “HDFC Bank deploys humanoid built by Kochi firm in Mumbai” »