Tech

Global R&D spend surpasses $700 billion, Amazon leader in the world

The world’s 1,000 most innovative companies increased their R&D spending by 3.2 percent in 2017, pushing it to an all-time high of $702 billion (€597 billion), according to the Global Innovation 1000 survey published by consultancy PwC on Tuesday.
The figure marked a resumption of meaningful growth in innovation spending following flat results in 2016, and means the global private-sector spending is now 2.7 times as high as it was in 1999 – the first year for which PwC assembled data.
The rise in R&D spending came despite a 2.5 percent decline in revenue for those 1,000 companies surveyed by PwC. As a result, the combination of overall spending growth and lower revenues led to a record-high R&D intensity rate of 4.5 percent.

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Tesla fired hundred of employers after bad results

Tesla fired hundreds of employees following what the company said is an annual performance review process, the company told TechCrunch. The news was first reported by The Mercury News.

“Like all companies, Tesla conducts an annual performance review during which a manager and employee discuss the results that were achieved, as well as how those results were achieved, during the performance period,” a Tesla spokesperson said. “This includes both constructive feedback and recognition of top performers with additional compensation and equity awards, as well as promotions in many cases. As with any company, especially one of over 33,000 employees, performance reviews also occasionally result in employee departures. Tesla is continuing to grow and hire new employees around the world.”

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If Artificial Intelligence and robots threaten jobs in the next Future

Robots may soon be employed in your business: a study from Redwood Software and Sapio Research released October 4th revealed that IT leaders believe automation could impact 60% of businesses by 2022 and threaten jobs in the process. Further, 70% of these professionals say that robotics have become more of a priority in the last year.

Automation can offer companies benefits including speed of process and reduction of manual effort, the survey of 500 IT decision makers across the US and UK found. Security and cost represent the top risks, tech leaders said.

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Switzerland among e-commerce leader, UN says

For the third straight year, Luxembourg has held on to its position atop UNCTAD’s ranking of 143 countries’ capacity to support online shopping and other business-to-consumer e-commerce. Among the top 10 economies in the 2017 UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index, seven are European while three are from the Asia-Pacific region.

The index, first published in 2015, draws on data on Internet use, secure servers, use of financial accounts (including mobile money accounts) and the reliability of postal deliveries, and shows that e-commerce readiness varies by region.

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Netflix stocks jump after subscription price increase

Netflix shares reached a record high on Thursday, following the company’s decision to raise its prices for US subscribers. Netflix stock closed at $194.39 per share on Thursday, up 5.4% for the day.

Netflix raised the price of its most popular "standard plan" service to $10.99 a month from $9.99. Its highest-tier plan, which supports 4K video resolution and four simultaneous streams, will increase to $13.99 a month from $11.99.

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Sweden where you can use microchip in the hand instead of paper tickets

Swedish rail company SJ Railways is now accepting tickets via microchips implanted into the hands of its commuters. The microchip and app exchange information using near-field communication (NFC) – the same wireless data transfer technology used by Apple Pay, Android Pay and Amiibo.

Each SJ Railway customer’s microchip is given a membership number, which can be updated through the SJ Railways app on a smartphone. Once a microchipped rider gets onto the train, he or she can simply put his or her hand out to be scanned by the conductor.

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Technology meets Finance. Introducing the new OpenFunds App

OpenFunds launches its new App in the Apple and Google stores.
The OpenFunds App is a very user-friendly tool, on mobile access. You can find all the information regarding the funds such as legal documents, monthly factsheets with performance updates, publications, newsletters, events, live surveys and an overview of the fund managers’ meetings. All this ready to be downloaded, printed or shared directly with your mobile device.

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