The New Order-Fintech

fin2The global financial sector has received its fair share of media coverage over the last decade, mostly unflattering. Now a new story is emerging, one that shows the evolution of consumer based banking services. Going by the portmanteau, Fintech, this expanding sector represents a raft of new technology companies entering the financial sector and in some cases disrupting consumer/banking relationships and overhauling how we interact with both banks and personal finance.

In a recently published White Paper by Transferwise, entitled The Future of Finance, CEO and co-founder, Taavet Hinrikus, wrote “In 2015, 68% of people had never used a technology provider for financial services. In five years’ time, half (48%) expect to use a technology provider for at least one financial service and a third (32%) expect to use a technology provider for 50% or more of their financial needs. In ten years’ time, 20% of consumers anticipate they will trust technology providers for all financial services from credit cards to mortgages ”.

Surprisingly Fintech in essence can be traced back to the 1950s. Technology has always been a key factor in the growth and development of our financial systems. The 50s and 60s saw a dramatic departure from the solely in-store banking where customers carried out all transactions face to face on the bank’s premises. First came the credit cards swiftly followed by cash machines in the 60s, allowing customers to carry out basic payments, withdrawals and statements at many locations. The 80s saw the development of more sophisticated bank mainframe computers, data and record-keeping systems. In the 90s banks quickly understood the power of the Internet and related e-commerce opportunities and here new web related business models flourished. Whilst mobile consumer banking had yet to be developed, online stock brokerage websites aimed at retail investors transformed stock brokering from a purely phone based activity. The remaining period has seen banks continue to develop more sophisticated tools and interfaces, allowing customers to manipulate funds regardless of time or location.

Read More

Industry 4.0 – Germany’s Smart production

NRW

It is probably one of the most dynamic economic trends in the global manufacturing industry: The “fourth industrial revolution” is expected to turn production processes upside down. For years, decision-makers and experts considered it a myth. Today Germany’s industrial heartland, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), is pushing its development forward. This opens up new opportunities for German and international investors.

This evolutionary change involves modern ICT being incorporated into highly automated and networked production processes that are blurring the boundary between the real and the virtual worlds. The factories of the future are interoperable, modular, self-adapting, decentralized and work in real time – in short, they are smart factories. The workers control production processes via cyber-physical systems while the machines monitor themselves and communicate with each other to optimize production processes, the use of resources, logistics and maintenance work. Factories will no longer have boundaries: plants at different locations are connected in peer-to-peer networks. Suppliers, manufacturers and customers are brought closer together than ever before. The products are more individualized and linked with high-quality services to create innovative hybrid products.

Read More

The Cape Town International Convention Centre – Flexibility Without Compromise

CANAL

Located on Cape Town’s northern foreshore, beneath Table Mountain and only a 20-minute drive from Cape Town International Airport, the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) provides flexibility without compromise, as well as the most modern amenities and technology as mandatory components.

The centre is built to meet and fulfil the unique and varied needs of its delegates and visitors. Its sub-divisible multipurpose facilities and dedicated exhibition space creates an environment conducive for a variety of functions to occur simultaneously. When the CTICC opened its doors in 2003, the media spoke of how this institution would welcome visitors from around the world to this great new venue in Cape Town.

Read More

Iceland: Pure Energy

Svartsengi-haust
With 85 percent of the country‘s primary energy needs met by renewable hydro and geothermal resources, Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of the electricity produced for the national grid is from renewables.

The cost competitiveness of this energy, long term contracts and reliable delivery has attracted foreign investment and now the interest is more diverse than ever before with data centres and multiple use of geothermal energy and chemical streams at the forefront. Iceland is the place where things come together. Geographically half of Iceland is on the NorthAmerican Tectonic plate and half on the Eurasian plate. These boundaries between the continents  explain Iceland‘s abundant source of geothermal energy. The location in the Atlantic is also the reasons for the powerful glacial rivers, harnessed for pure energy. And Iceland is at the crossroads of cold and warm oceanic currents, creating ideal conditions for rich marine life that forms the basis for one of the world‘s most advanced seafood industry, exporting pure products.

Read More

How we have Supercharged Commercial Success in the Life Sciences

BIO

We Scots have a long history of being entrepreneurial. We’re responsible for so many of the everyday things that we take for granted, like our telephones, televisions, refrigerators and toasters. We have made astounding discoveries in science, medicine and engineering: radar, MRI, ultrasound, penicillin, cloning, electromagnetics, insulin, anaesthetics, beta blockers, noble gases, steam engines and the Higgs Boson to name but a few. I haven’t even mentioned our impact on publishing, sport, and architecture. The list goes on and on.

Read More

Glasgow’s Innovation Leads the Way

 TIC2_HiRes_Courtesy-of-Strathclyde.jpg March 16, 2016 179 kB 1080 × 718 Edit Image Delete Permanently URLTitleCaption

The Scottish city’s life science sector is flourishing – offering the perfect environment for investment and location. Glasgow is one of Europe’s great cities. It offers residents, visitors and businesses an extraordinary quality of urban life. It is a city where business, trade and investment flourish.

Scotland’s largest city and only metropolitan region, Glasgow generates a whopping £19.25 billion GVA for the national economy per annum – the largest of any Scottish city. Glasgow has a modern mixed economy with strengths in a variety of sectors and sub-sectors from financial and business services to low carbon and renewables, and life sciences.

Read More

Saxony-Anhalt: the investment partner you’ve been looking for

Positioned at the very heart both of Western Europe and Germany, Saxony-Anhalt – the eighth largest of Germany’s 16 federal states – boasts an enviable strategic location. There’s a lot more to do Saxony-Anhalt’s appeal than just location, however – a fact that’s being increasingly recognised by investors from every corner of the world.

Saxony-Anhalt – discreetly popular
While not perhaps a household name outside Germany, the landlocked federal state of Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany is held in high regard among those with an eye on Europe’s leading investment location

Read More

The Master of Events

alt

An interview with Fuchs Events + Incentives

Founded in 1993 by Christiane Fuchs, Fuchs organises top-class corporate events that are individually and exclusively designed, planned and realised. Based in Dresden, the agency aims to create interactive stagings that combine destination and emotion and live in the memory.

Read More