Q4 2022 THE RISE OF AN EMPIRE: HOW CRITICAL ROLE HELPED SHAPE AN INDUSTRY As so many things do, Critical Role, the now multi-million-dollar company, started small. What began as a tabletop roleplay group in 2012 is now one of the highest-earning entities on the platform it broadcasts from on Thursday nights, and a full-blown international phenomenon. Alan Vey, leading tech entrepreneur and blockchain expert
As we find ourselves in the final quarter of 2022, our innovative tech businesses are ending the year with a bang. From hitting the impressive milestone of 4,000 robots built, to a fully digitalized insurance platform, to ground-breaking protection for personal information. We also feature tips on how not to fall victim to cybercrime this Christmas, thanks to AI cybersecurity solutions provider, ThreatHunter.ai. We are excited to be closing the year by celebrating these businesses who are truly setting shining examples for their industries, consistently delivering outstanding products and with the greatest commitment and passion. Now, they rightfully deserve to be winding down for the festive period, although this time isn’t only about resting and recharging, but also reflecting on the successes that have got them to where they are now – Going where no other company or individual has gone before in the world of cutting-edge technology. We at Innovation in Business wish you a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous new year, and we look forward to welcoming you back for the Q1 2023 issue. Rebecca Scotland, Editor www.innovationinbusiness.com Welcome to our Q4 issue of Innovation in Business Magazine. Innovation in Business is devoted to offering insight and features from across the global business landscape. This quarterly magazine is committed to bringing you updates on the digital world and all that it encompasses in this age of sophisticated technology. Editors Sofi Bajor, Senior Editor | Rebecca Scotland, Editor Designers Daniela Levinte, Graphic Designer | Lauren Baldwin, Graphic Designer AI Global Media, Ltd. (AI) takes reasonable measures to ensure the quality of the information on this web site. However, AI will not assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any information that is available through this web site. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them. The information available through the website and our partner publications is for your general information and use and is not intended to address any particular finance or investment requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us or any of our partner publications and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making or refraining from making any investment or financial decisions. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Any arrangement made between you and any third party named in the site is at your sole risk and responsibility.
4. News - Exotec builds 4,000th robot as UK and global expansion accelerates - Lumera selected by HAYAH to deliver fully digitalized insurance platform 6. ThreatHunter.ai Offers Tips to Prevent Christmas Being Ruined by Cyber Criminals 7. Web3 Accelerator ScalingX Launches Incubation Program to Boost Zero-knowledge Technology Adoption 8. The guardians of data under the spotlight: Driving trust in the protection of our personal information. 9. Taking Automotive Central Computers to the Next Level 10. The Rise of an Empire: How Critical Role Helped Shape an Industry 12. Alan Vey, leading tech entrepreneur and blockchain expert 14. KINAXIA SELECTS NULOGY TO DIGITALISE AND OPTIMISE CONTRACT PACKING SERVICES 17. thorndyke: Best Independent 3rd Party DOOH Verification Company 2022 Contents
NEWS The completion of the 4,000th robot comes just six months after Exotec manufactured its 3,000th Skypod robot, highlighting a strong demand for the organisation’s signature solution. The company now has 550 employees, of which 300 have been recruited this year, including 150 in Europe. The Skypod robots continue to be produced entirely by Exotec at its headquarters in Croix, France, and exported globally. Exotec’s recent success and international expansion has also been reflected in the company’s financial performance. In the last three years alone, Exotec tripled its annual Exotec builds 4,000th robot as UK and global expansion accelerates Latest milestone comes just six months after the company manufactured its 3,000th robot Exotec, a global warehouse robotics provider, has completed production of its 4,000th robot. This will help further accelerate the industrial unicorn’s growth in the UK, Europe and internationally, and provides a powerful endorsement of the company’s successes in 2022. This year, Exotec signed its first major UK customer – multichannel fulfilment and returns expert iForce – and continues to build on the momentum to further expand its presence in the UK market in the coming years. revenue, with most of the growth coming from rapid international expansion. Exotec was also ranked eighth in the Financial Times FT1000 list of fastest-growing European businesses in 2022. “We’re extremely proud to have completed production of our 4,000th robot, with many more to come in the near future. Reaching this point so soon after our 3,000th robot milestone is a highlight of our manufacturing capabilities and a testament to the growing demand for our products globally.” says Exotec CEO and Co-founder, Romain Moulin. “This success owes everything to the hard work and unwavering commitment of our teams, all of whom have played their part in putting Exotec on the map and setting us on a path to sustained growth. “We have no plans to rest on our laurels in terms of further refining our technology. We will continue to recruit new people not just in manufacturing, but also in R&D. After all, efficiency in warehousing and logistics has never been more important, so we want to make sure our customers have everything they need to face the future with confidence.”
Digital insurance pioneer HAYAH partners with Lumera to co-create their next-generation platform, including AI-powered policy administration. Lumera, a leading insurtech company dedicated to the digital transformation of the international Life and Pensions industry, has entered an agreement with HAYAH Insurance Company to deliver a next-generation, AI-powered insurance solution. Based in the United Arab Emirates, HAYAH is the Middle East region’s first fully digitalized insurer, specializing in life, medical and savings. HAYAH is adopting a range of Lumera technologies to build a comprehensive insurance platform which will underpin the company’s entire offering, with digital engagement and a seamless user journey that enables clients to purchase policies with one single click. This end-to-end solution will extend from the online client experience to supporting HAYAH’s daily operations with advanced policy administration functions, including claims, compliance and reinsurance. “We are proud to partner with Lumera to become the world’s first AI-powered life insurer. Our mission is to be a true disrupter in our industry, by providing a fully digital insurance experience that is simple and secure. Lumera combines the leadingedge technology we need for a competitive edge with the insurance expertise required to make it work for us,” says Mohamed Seghir, CEO, HAYAH Insurance Company. HAYAH will leverage its new insurance platform and provide an all-online offering, including an automated Smart Saver product with external advice service, Employee Secure Saver for group pension schemes with member and employer portals, life insurance for individuals as well as business with simplified onboarding and servicing. Insurance applications are characterized by large volumes of data and complex business rules, which presents highly promising use cases for state-of-the-art AI. Lumera has therefore set out to introduce the world’s first AI-powered policy administration system, with a roadmap which closely matches HAYAH’s business strategy. “HAYAH acts as an industry pioneer by adopting key digitalization concepts for insurance, including AI for complex decision support and data warehousing. We look forward to continued close collaboration with HAYAH to further their digital insurance leadership,” says Andrew Hubbard, Chief Business Development Officer, Lumera UK&I. Lumera selected by HAYAH to deliver fully digitalized insurance platform
May21135 ThreatHunter.ai Offers Tips to Prevent Christmas Being Ruined by Cyber Criminals According to the company, the Christmas holiday season has seen an increase in attacks against people as criminals take advantage of the season to intensify their phishing, fishing, and ransomware attacks. To help keep people safe from these attacks, ThreatHunter.ai recommends the following: • Be cautious when opening emails or clicking on links from unknown sources. Cyber criminals often use phishing and fishing attacks to trick people into revealing sensitive information or downloading malware. • Use strong and unique passwords for all of your online accounts. Cyber criminals often use stolen or weak passwords to gain access to people’s accounts, so it’s important to use passwords that are difficult to guess or crack. • Install and regularly update security software on your devices. Security software can help protect against malware and other threats, so it’s important to make sure you have the latest version installed and keep it up to date. • Be careful when shopping online. Cyber criminals often use fake websites or fraudulent emails to trick people into giving away their personal and financial information. To avoid falling victim to these scams, only shop on reputable websites and be cautious when entering your personal and financial information online. ThreatHunter.ai, the leading provider of AI-powered cybersecurity solutions, today offered tips to help prevent Christmas being ruined by cyber criminals. • Stay vigilant. Cyber criminals are constantly looking for new ways to trick people, so it’s important to stay alert and be cautious when online. If you receive an email or message that seems suspicious, do not click on any links or download any attachments, and delete the message immediately. “The holiday season is a time for joy and celebration, but unfortunately it is also a time when cyber criminals are particularly active,” said James McMurry, CEO of ThreatHunter.ai. “By following these tips, people can help protect themselves and their families from the latest cyber threats and enjoy a safe and happy holiday season.” About ThreatHunter.ai ThreatHunter.ai is a leading provider of Human backed, AI-powered cybersecurity solutions that help businesses protect their networks from threats. The company’s technology uses advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify and stop attacks in real-time, without the need for manual intervention. Founded in 2007, ThreatHunter.ai has customers in a variety of industries and has been recognized as one of the top cybersecurity companies in the world. ThreatHunter.ai
Apr21843 Web3 Accelerator ScalingX Launches Incubation Program to Boost Zero-knowledge Technology Adoption ScalingX, a global developer community, and accelerator dedicated to advancing Web3 and blockchain technologies, with a focus on scaling technologies like Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP), announced today an incubation program to help relevant startups gain initial traction. The 12-week-long incubation program called zkTech Camp aims to facilitate more extensive adoption of zero-knowledge technology in the Web3 and blockchain space. One of the eligibility criteria is for startups to make use of a variation of the ZKP technology. Eligible startups will not only get $100500k funding per project but also be offered a range of support and consultation on every aspect of starting a project including branding and strategy, token economics, market making, and talent recruiting. Timeline and more details of the zkTech Camp will be announced on ScalingX’s official channels following the announcement. A zero-knowledge proof allows for proving the validity of a statement without revealing the statement itself. The technology is critical to the vision of a more secure and private and decentralized modern web, or Web3, for its use cases in user-permissioned privacy and scalability. In fact, many believe ZKP to be one of the major innovations that will drive the continued evolution of the blockchain. However, the adoption of the ZKP technology has yet to take up speed. It is evidenced by the relatively small number of repositories and developer commits on Github: 1,317 repositories and 322,000 commits, as opposed to 57,207 and over a million when searching Ethereum-related developer activities. Lack of knowledge is a top hindering factor among others. Founded by an individual investor and Forbes 30-under-30 entrepreneur Chichi Hong and seasoned venture capitalist and entrepreneur Jayden Wei, ScalingX works to lower the entrance barrier of this technology for the world’s most talented developers and entrepreneurs. “Leveraging industry expertise and connections, ScalingX offers full-cycle incubation services to connect the dots for entrepreneurs. We are excited to announce the zkTech Camp to make our first step towards bringing the ‘X’ factor into the frontier of Web3 development”, Hong commented. Hong is a passionate blockchain investor who has led investments in a lot of notable Web3 projects including Dfinity (seed round), Circle, CertiK (seed round) and Partisia. And Wei, an early adopter of Bitcoin and Ethereum, was previously the executive director of the renowned blockchain venture capital Collinstar Captial. Both also recognized from their experience a severe disconnect between the Western and Eastern ecosystems of the crypto world. The US-led Western countries are currently leading in technological innovation and the creation of startups while Asian countries boast a larger population of crypto enthusiasts and highly educated investors. Therefore, another overarching mission of ScalingX is to help forge closer links between the two ecosystems to ensure promising projects secure support from top venture capitals and get access to a truly global community. In merely a month since its inception, ScalingX has already held several online workshops and Twitter Spaces talks and panels featuring tech-savvy speakers and executives from top blockchain projects. Down the line, ScalingX also plans to run hackathons, matchmaking roadshows, conferences, and other online and offline events to grow its community and ultimately facilitate truly empowering applications of cutting-edge blockchain technologies.
May21135 Conference organiser Alan Goode, CEO & Chief Analyst, Goode Intelligence, added: “Digital trust means the secure way that businesses and customers carry out transactions and if you think of data as being the lifeblood of the digital economy, then digital trust is its heart. While the concept of trust has developed over thousands of years of human civilisation, the digital world has only been around for a matter of decades and needs to catch up. This exciting event, which brings together leading technology providers with business decisionmakers, investors, technology integrators, and solution providers such as JT, will examine what the future may hold and how these challenges are being met.” Taking place on Monday 21st November 2022 in London, Digital Trust World 2022 covers the following interconnected themes and technologies: • Digital Onboarding (Identity Verification) • Digital Identity • Authentication & Privacy • Fraud Management About JT JT is a government-owned full-service global connectivity and business enterprise provider offering the full range of communications services and solutions required to connect people together and deliver excellence in customer experience. Headquartered in the British Channel Islands, JT has a thriving international business providing services such as SIM swap prevention, mobile number portability, enterprise messaging and sponsored roaming. JT has a history of developing innovative products, its IoT division, created in 2014 was sold for a record sum in 2021 and the company continues to invest in emerging technologies. In 2018 JT became the first telecoms provider globally to complete a socially inclusive project to connect fibre-optic broadband directly to the homes and businesses of every customer in Jersey, pushing the island to the top of world-wide internet charts for broadband speeds in 2021. JT’s Sustainability Strategy sets out clear targets to reduce its impact on the planet, whilst promoting key social priorities that bring communities together. For more information on JT, please visit www.jtglobal.com/International The guardians of data under the spotlight: Driving trust in the protection of our personal information. As the rapid adoption of a digital-first approach continues across every part of the economy, levels of fraud have soared. An increasingly sophisticated ecosystem of organised cybercriminals has led to mounting financial losses and greatly damaged customers’ experience, and more importantly their trust in how data processors and controllers safeguard their personal information. Leading expert, Clare Messenger, Head of Fraud Protection Services at JT has been invited to lead a discussion panel on fraud prevention and management at this month’s Digital Trust World conference, examining the measures and solutions being taken to protect consumers online. Together with experts from UK Finance, Remote Payment Channels, Vodafone Identity Hub, and FICO they will explore what digital trust means and what measurable steps can be taken to improve the trustworthiness of digital technologies through security and responsible technology use. JT is an industry leader when it comes to customer security. Located in Jersey, Channel Islands one of the world’s premier financial jurisdictions, with years of experience in delivering stability and security for their business partners. JT’s innovative services are empowering clients to align with industry regulations and protect their consumers. Clare said: “Businesses need to simultaneously combat fraud and provide customers with a seamless digital experience, if not, their trust in us is at stake. More than ever, the global economy is reliant on connectivity, the use of data, and innovative digital technologies. But the risks are growing every day as criminals find increasingly creative ways to commit fraud to steal people’s identity, and money. Simple tasks, such as being able to prove you are who you say you are need to take place in milliseconds to ensure seamless customer experience – as solution providers and custodians of data we must create a secure digital world. It is the basis of building customer confidence in how a company protects their data and personal details.”
May21135 choose operating systems as well for real-time processors. For example, they could combine different AUTOSAR stacks. They can use open source solutions like free RTOS for non-safety critical parts or they can use bare metal virtual machines for optimal performance. “The combination of OpenSynergy’s COQOS Hypervisors with Renesas R-Car S4 enables customers to implement new use cases around centrally connected gateways, high-performance computers for cars, and high-end zonal controllers,” said Yusuke Kawasaki, Director of Automotive Digital Products Marketing Division at Renesas Electronics Corporation. “This enriches the comprehensive solutions offered by our partners in the R-Car Consortium and allows faster time to market for our customers.” Taking Automotive Central Computers to the Next Level OpenSynergy announces its latest cooperation with Renesas to run its VIRTIO-based virtualization platform on the new, powerful Renesas R-Car S4 system-on-chip (SoC). The integration of OpenSynergy’s automotive platforms onto the Renesas R-Car S4 allows customers to accelerate the convergence of a wide range of functions within the vehicle and invent new use cases for high-end central car computers. The automotive industry is moving away from an E/E architecture consisting of many ECUs to an architecture with a central, High-Performance Computer (HPC) that is connected to local zonal computers. This architecture provides a significant reduction of in-vehicle cabling and allows manufacturers to add features easily as software functions, even to vehicles in the field. The usage of heterogeneous, i.e. application and real-time, processors characterizes both HPCs and zonal computers. While the zonal computers are used to consolidate the traditional real-time microcontroller-based ECUs, the HPCs are used to consolidate several domain controllers. The new Renesas R-Car S4 combines both types of processors, application and real-time processors in order to support different kinds of workloads. Both the application processors as well as the real-time processors support hardware virtualization. This way the new chip allows customers to reduce costs by consolidating functionalities and integrating mixed-criticality applications up to ASIL D. Moreover, it increases the security against malicious attacks from outside by controlling the access to the system’s devices. OpenSynergy provides virtual technologies for both types of processors to run the hypervisor on the application as well as the real-time processors. Its COQOS Hypervisor SDK is an open-standards-driven virtualization platform. When deployed on a powerful SoC such as the Renesas R-Car S4, the hypervisor isolates software functions from each other as well as the underlying hardware, ensuring freedom of interference between the individual functions and hardware. “We have already realized several series projects with Renesas in which COQOS Hypervisor SDK runs on the Renesas R-Car H3. In total, there are hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road with our joint technology,” emphasized Isaac Trefz, Product Manager, COQOS Hypervisor SDK at OpenSynergy. “We are now extending this success story to the SoC R-Car S4. OpenSynergy’s COQOS solution is particularly well suited to support automotive functions realized in software on top of such powerful HPC hardware. Our hypervisor variants fully leverage the tremendous performance of this new chip.” Only one of the countless configurations could be gateway, telematics, and ADAS functions running side by side on the application cores. The diversity of processor cores allows additionally deploying several realtime applications with very different safety requirements on the same SoC, such as body controller and power train functionalities. The freedom from interference between the functionalities ensured by the hypervisor enables development, integration, update, and upgrade of each function separately. Therefore OEMs have more flexibility to “The new Renesas R-Car S4 combines both types of processors, application and real-time processors in order to support different kinds of workloads. Both the application processors as well as the real-time processors support hardware virtualization.
May21135 The Rise of an Empire: How Critical Role Helped Shape an Industry As so many things do, Critical Role, the now multi-million-dollar company, started small. What began as a tabletop roleplay group in 2012 is now one of the highest-earning entities on the platform it broadcasts from on Thursday nights, and a full-blown international phenomenon. Of course, with such incredible growth over a short period of time, there have been wider implications for tabletop roleplay in the macro scale; not only has this propelled the hobby into mainstream prominence, but it has given wings to the rise of TTRPG broadcasting as an industry, with all the opportunities and challenges such a paradigm shift entails. -From defeating imaginary dragons in living rooms to doing the same before a camera and a multitude of viewers, Critical Role has experienced incredible growth as a brand and as a community. Indeed, since it broke away from its original host channel Geek and Sundry to become Critical Role LLC, it has achieved a great number of truly astounding landmarks; from Kickstarting huge multimedia content projects in a matter of hours to gathering huge sums for charity, all its cumulative efforts have earned it a firm place in the hearts and minds of the international tabletop roleplaying game community. As a result, the community itself has undergone somewhat of a renaissance. Although the hobby has been around for decades, and there has always been a business side to it thanks to the publishers of the various games selling their wares, tabletop roleplaying games as broadcasted entertainment is relatively new. Ostensibly, this has made for the advent of a new form of creative media broadcast. Sometimes live streamed, and sometimes pre-recorded for later editing and release, such shows use the medium of TTRPG games to frame their narratives, allowing creators to play within the sandbox of a world that comes with an in-built market of people who love them. Critical Role is the single biggest phenomenon of this kind, and it has shaped much of what the resulting industry of TTRPGs as broadcasted creative performances has become. This is not to say that it is the only changemaker in this sphere; indeed, channels such as Dimension 20 and even publisher specific channels such as World of Darkness are incredibly influential in their own rights, but there is no enterprise within this ever-growing, ever-changing bold new world of creative talent quite as expansive and wellknown as Critical Role. This company, in many ways, has been a true boon as an industry leader. With its focus on altruism, led by President of the Critical Role foundation and original cast member Ashley Johnson, it has been able to fund a variety of different non-profits from those that help disadvantaged children access storytelling through tabletop to those that provide emergency relief in times of strife. It has brought TTRPGs more into the mainstream consciousness, making them more accessible to a wider market and providing a gateway into the more obscure reaches of the hobby. It has also been an interesting market indicator for tabletop streaming and show production, as Critical Role as a business and as a show has very much evolved in tandem. The show itself began with them taking their home game to the screen, as so many others did before and after them. However, as they began to take off, this came with teething problems that would become emblematic of the industry. Again, this is a net positive. Critical Role have been, overly the years, extremely dedicated to sharing their progress and their journey with the community that watches their content, happily collaborating with and chatting to smaller creators in order to do its part in giving its burgeoning industry a leg up. However, being such a new industry, and with even the heaviest hitters learning on the job, it’s no wonder the field has head its ups and downs. From cast issues wherein one member of the original group had to step away to production problems such as audio issues learning the dos and don’ts of livestreaming, many of the issues that Critical Role went through on their journey has helped to give budding TTRPG production professionals a perfect place to start leaning from the veterans. Many of the defining elements of TTRPG broadcasting as in industry can be double edged swords, after all, such as living and dying by one’s community. Critical Role has faced backlash and drama over the years – none of which has been able to damage its reputation irreparably – but enough that several the cast have commented on receiving hurtful comments or harsh criticism either professionally or through personal posts. It also suffers the issue of being the most popular expression of the industry, and therefore the most targeted when trite commentary about the nature or effectiveness of the medium is made. This is something that is reflected in all parts of the TTRPG community, although sometimes it is used to affect important change in outing abusive, manipulative, or unprofessional people in the industry. Another issue that can be faced by professionals in tabletop – again, as demonstrated by Critical Role – is the pitfalls of being part of an industry that hasn’t been around long enough to have set standards of good practice in place yet. With contractdriven employment, payment for performers, treatment of cast, and so much more still in constant flux, shaped by the community behind it, even big budget companies such as Critical Role can be hit hard by issues brought on by such ambiguity, such as in a recent debacle that posed the question of how IP protection and copyright law apply to broadcasted tabletop games when a character was claimed to have been ‘stolen’ by the company from a TikTok creator. This issue, among others, isn’t unique to the company or characters in question, but they important conundrums that the whole industry must answer in order to learn, grow, and move forward. Indeed, it is clear from such teething problems that despite the leaps and bounds the entire field has come in terms of payment, copyright, production, and more, there is much more work to do. But with such enthusiastic and inspiring people as those behind Critical Role leading it from the front, bearing the torch for the nerdy little hobby so many grew up loving, such work is ongoing so that today’s professionals can leave the industry ‘better than we found it’. Company: Critical Role LLC Website: https://critrole.com/
The Rise of an Empire: How Critical Role Helped Shape an Industry
Apr21077 Alan Vey, leading tech entrepreneur and blockchain expert To avoid the term ‘Web3’ being thrown around as a meaningless buzzword, it is important to start by defining it. And to do that, we have to take a look back into what has come before, tracking the evolution of the various Web iterations. Web1 was ‘READ’, access data that was hosted on the network. The second phase, Web2, added ‘WRITE’, which enabled user-generated content to be shared via apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The third iteration, Web3, added ‘OWN’, offering users the ability to truly own in a digital context and not just have a digital representation of physical ownership. The hyperbole of the metaverse and why DAOs are the real MVP With the defining aspects now established, we can start to see how the exciting technologies being developed within the paradigm of Web3 have the potential to bring a wealth of opportunities for businesses. Currently, it would seem that for many businesses, the metaverse is the biggest talking point regarding Web3’s potential. Such is the hype surrounding metaverse, which can vaguely be described as virtual reality environments where users can interact much like in Speilberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ adaptation, that Facebook not-so-coincidentally rebranded itself as Meta. The social network giant has already invested $10bn into metaverse projects though we have yet to experience the disruptive transformation it has been touted to deliver. So rather than add further hype and speculation to the metaverse, it is better to look at a Web3 case study that has proven immensely successful – Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs). Often referred to by their popular acronym, DAOs encompass what a Web3 business would look like. What separates DAOs from traditional corporate structures is that, as its name suggests, they are decentralised and completely autonomous. Rules and protocols of any given DAO are encoded as algorithms, represented by Smart Contracts (i.e., computer programs that run on the blockchain), and set by members of the DAOs. This novel way of running an organisation has proven to work well. Take, for example, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). Massively popular among crypto aficionados, BAYC is a set of 10,000 limited NFTs that resemble images of commercial apes, each with different traits. BAYC has achieved success both in the crypto and in the mainstream, generating a total trading volume of $1.6B so far. Yuga Labs, the company behind BAYC, is valued at $4bn. Most businesses rely on the infrastructure of the Web to scale their operations and innovate. As the next iteration of the Web, known as Web3, steps into the spotlight, businesses cannot afford to overlook its potential in creating new revenue opportunities and enhancing their operational efficiencies. Forwardlooking CEOs are already preparing to incorporate Web3 applications into their operations. For example, 53% of C-level officers identified blockchain as a crucial part of their organisational infrastructure in 2020 while 60% of CIOs expect to adopt blockchain technologies in the next three years. Alan Vey Even as the crypto market faces one of its most challenging periods, BAYC NFTs have impressively held their value. The large-scale NFT DAO project continues to attract talent away from smaller blue chip projects and retain its user base, demonstrating the robustness of its community-led organisation. Traditional companies can learn a lot from BAYC’s success. Although DAOs are set up in a way to remove complete control from a few select people in an organisation, this act is immensely empowering to those who contribute to the DAO as it gives them a firm stake in the organisation, fostering true loyalty within an engaged community. This concept can be taken even further in the future where one may consider Network States amassing sufficient resources and individuals to enter into negotiations with Nation States to achieve high-level objectives around legislation, etc. NFTs are still an exciting way for brands to engage with their audience We mentioned NFTs in the previous section in regard to BAYC but what exactly are NFTs and why have they become the ‘killer application’ for blockchain technology? An exciting byproduct of blockchain technology, NFTs enable brands to create value through scarcity and reward loyal customers. The reason why BAYC NFTS are so sought after is precisely due to their deliberate paucity. If blockchain meant nothing to the average pedestrian before, it can be argued that it was NFTs that finally propelled the technology into the imagination of consumers. It did not take long before dozens of celebrities, from Snoop Dogg to Bella Hadid, launched their own NFT projects. Big brands like Nike discovered much success with NFTs with the sports conglomerate having made $185 from the sales of its NFT collectibles from the additional royalties. If the potential value of blockchain technology was not clear before to businesses and consumers, then NFTs not only made it clearer, but it was an effective showcase of how blockchain technology can be used to create a strong sense of community between brands and their followers. NFTs are truly unique because they are built on a blockchain ledger, the exclusivity and scarcity are inherent, attaching value to them. While the hype around NFTs has since lessened, there most certainly here to stay
and businesses will find new ways to utilise them to encourage further interactions and investment from their consumers. Decentralisation can be a powerful business transformation NFTs have been an amazing showcase for blockchain and Web3’s potential for businesses but it should not overshadow the many other ways that Web3 technologies can be applied. Blockchain technology is a generalpurpose tool with many functionalities and a strong facilitator of creating digital scarcity or providing secure value exchange. The distributed ledger technology, which is the core component of a blockchain and enables items that live in the ledger to be truly immutable, can solve a multitude of pain points. Anything from improving audit traits for things like cargo tracking for the aviation industry to securing ticketing in the events industry, blockchain enables organisations to become decentralised. But how would businesses benefit from decentralisation? While not every business will be naturally suited to adopting a decentralised model, for those that can implement it, it will allow them to share the functionality of the business across multiple points. For example, rather than having single data storage in one place, they can invest in multiple data storage points, reducing overreliance on a single data centre, and thereby improving efficiency. Alan Vey, leading tech entrepreneur and blockchain expert Yet it does not have to be all or nothing when it comes to adopting blockchain. Businesses can adopt ‘permissioned’ instances of networks – meaning they benefit from the speed, security and interoperability of a blockchain while maintaining full control over all transaction activity, and actually enhancing its anti-money laundering capabilities for example. The era of Web3 is upon us and businesses need to be investing in it now The Web3 technology is developing at pace: NFTs are one of the strongestholding assets in the current challenging economic landscape, countries are turning to CDBCs among global political turmoil and even the sustainability concerns around blockchain technology are eroding as major blockchains like Ethereum make significant reductions to their environmental impact. It is only a matter of time before businesses will be able to purchase ‘blockspace’ where businesses can rent flexible, interoperable and secure space on the blockchain that is specifically tailored to their shifting needs for security, availability, and latency. Businesses that don’t want to be left behind when the era of Web3 fully comes into its own, should already be exploring how blockchain technology could improve their operations. A smart business invests in its future and the future is most definitely Web3. Alan Vey is a Forbes 30 Under 30 winner for his work building businesses in the blockchain industry. After completing his Master’s in Artificial Intelligence at Imperial College London in 2016, Alan went on to found Aventus, an enterprise-grade blockchain company that helps bring blockchain to businesses. In addition to his current role as Founder & CEO at Aventus, he also runs and consults on several other businesses in the blockchain space. Find out more about Alan at: www.alanvey.com.
May21135 Established in 2012, Kinaxia has since become a leading logistics provider in the UK, expanding its strategic acquisitions not just in the haulage and warehouse sector, but also in contract packing. Joining forces with AKW in 2018, after a £7.5 million investment, the group has since provided unrivalled package customisation as well as haulage and warehousing services for many global brands. Capable of processing thirty million seasonal gift packs in its 100,000 sq. ft facility, the Manchester based Kinaxia Logistics & Fulfilment sought to future-proof its operations in times of increased complexity, demand volatility and channel evolution. Nulogy’s Shop Floor solution, tailored specifically for contract packing operations, has been selected by the business to digitally enable the end-to-end contract packing workflow to improve planning, line efficiency, materials and inventory management, quality control and traceability. Replacing a previous legacy on-premises solution, the Nulogy cloudbased platform will streamline the company’s co-packing operations to drive efficiency, profitability, and service levels. The solution will be integrated with Kinaxia’s Warehouse Management System and will enable improved levels of visibility and operational control. By leveraging Nulogy to capture shop floor data in real time, the solution will allow Kinaxia to access critical performance data at the point of truth, manage its processes more efficiently and accurately, and ultimately deliver more responsive and agile service to brand customers. Anita Donohoe, Group MD Logistics & Fulfilment at Kinaxia, said; “Driving the quality of service for our customers is at the core of everything we do, so digital transformation is crucial to ensuring we scale effectively and continue to meet and exceed the high standards our customers expect. “The value of data in contract packing cannot be overestimated, and so it was clear the immense potential that Nulogy’s cloud-based software could bring to enhance our operations for our customers. We look forward to working together with Nulogy to further improve our co-packing value-added services, through increased speed, accuracy, and efficiency.” Josephine Coombe, Managing Director for Nulogy in Europe, said; “Nulogy is delighted to be Kinaxia’s chosen provider for contract packing software. Innovative leaders such as Kinaxia understand the benefits of embracing digitalisation to manage high growth and take their organisation to the next level. “As the need for resilient and agile supply chains grows, Nulogy customers are future-proofed through their digitalisation investment, delivering tangible results in efficiency, quality, sustainability, and profitability.” KINAXIA SELECTS NULOGY TO DIGITALISE AND OPTIMISE CONTRACT PACKING SERVICES Nulogy, a leading provider of cloud-based supply chain software solutions, has been chosen by the Kinaxia Logistics group, to enhance the efficiency and scalability of its co-packing business, Kinaxia Logistics & Fulfilment, formerly AKW Global Warehousing.
Company: Kinaxia Logistics group
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Apr21843 Best Independent 3rd Party DOOH Verification Company 2022 OOH advertising is incredibly important, but it is also an industry which is constantly evolving. The digitalisation of screens meant there was a requirement for advertisers to understand whether what they had booked had actually happened. The team from thorndyke take on this role, using their knowledge of the industry to ensure trust and transparency. Following success in the Technology Innovator Awards from Innovation in Business, we caught up with Jason Cooper to uncover more. Founded by a group of AdTech innovators, all of whom met at what was the world’s biggest ad verification company, thorndyke stands at the forefront of a rapidly growing industry. For many, advertising is a dark art, but it is actually where campaign performance and delivery can, and should, be as transparent as possible. No matter how sophisticated the technology gets, the thorndyke team are ideally equipped to ensure that this is the case. As an independent verifier, the team are in constant demand for monitoring services. Thorndyke has worked hard to become preferred vendor for Dentsu and Publicis, two of the “big six” advertising agency holding groups, as well as a deal with Cartology who are part of Woolworths. Big brands and major OOH advertisers such as Polestar, PayPal and Rickett Benckiser trust the team to ensure that what they pay for is precisely what they get. This trust has been earned over many years, and the team are constantly investing in new products to help advertisers to understand the impact of their investment into OOH. The independent performance data that the thorndyke team collate is an invaluable part of making an accurate determination. With over $1billion invested into DOOH in Australia alone, it’s important that this investment can be tracked and verified so that this immense sum of money is held accountable. Since opening their doors, thorndyke has seen their data become more and more important. It is considered the statement of record by many, and used as the basis for reconciling any discrepancies that might arise. As such, innovation is essential to keep this information accurate. The thorndyke team’s systems and technologies are held to the highest standards and used for benchmarking. The COVID-19 pandemic made life difficult for everyone within the OOH industry, with lockdowns causing advertising in the outdoor sections to essentially stop. With confidence that things would eventually return to normal, the thorndyke team refocused their efforts on building, experimenting and innovating their technology. This continued development of ideas is essential to the success of any business in this sector, with new approaches demanding a sophisticated response. Up ahead, it’s clear that automated OOH trading, known as Programmatic Trading, is going to become an enormous part of the work that the thorndyke team undertake. This will open up the potential for inventory and screens from a centralised trading desk, accelerating investment in media dollars through this channel. Companies such as thorndyke will play a major role in this, as independent verification will be needed to ensure the investment is thoroughly understood. Looking ahead, it’s clear that thorndyke offers clear value to clients, with their long experience and expertise making them a leader in the DOOH measurement market. For them, they see the opportunity not purely to deliver verification, however, but a holistic measurement solution for the DOOH industry. Every campaign deserves to have independent measurement and tracking, and thorndyke is determined to deliver. Their growth over the years, and plans to expand into the USA and the UK prove the viability of the team’s incredible vision. We can’t wait to see what they do next! Company: thorndyke Name: Jason Cooper Email: [email protected] Web Address: https://www.thorndyke.ai/ Oct22490
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