Toyota Becomes Presenting Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay

November 29, 2018, 5:34 pm

≫ Next: Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Launches two MSCI Smart Beta ETFs listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

≪ Previous: Changfeng Energy Announces Results for Nine Months ended September 30, 2018

TOKYO, Nov 30, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota today announced that it has partnered with The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee) to become the Presenting Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay.

Through the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay partnership, the company aims to bolster excitement for the Games and also empower people across Japan including disaster-affected areas by expressing gratitude towards its stakeholders and deepen relationship with local partners through activities such as a campaign to recruit torchbearers, the torch relay itself, and related events. As official mobility partner, Toyota will also take part in the Olympic Torch Relay with vehicles providing the lead car and showcasing exciting new mobility technologies.

Toyota's current Executive Vice President Mitsuru Kawai was appointed as a torchbearer at the Olympic Winter Games Nagano 1998 as one of the representatives of the company. Reflecting on the significance of the Olympic Torch, Kawai said: "The Torch represents the spirit of Olympism. I remember feeling the weight of the Torch from the responsibility and history it represents, when I carried it at Nagano 1998. Toyota wants to help create an inclusive society where anyone can challenge their impossible and I can tell you that all Toyota members are eager to join forces as a company to support the organising committee's Torch Relay concept 'Hope Lights Our Way'."

Toyota has recently supported the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Torch tour providing Hilux and Prius. Also Toyota vehicles were used in all past Japan-hosted Olympic Games Tokyo 1964, Sapporo 1972 and Nagano 1998.

Toyota became the official worldwide mobility partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2015, and aims to contribute to the smooth operation of the Tokyo 2020 Games through providing latest mobility, know-how and technologies. Toyota is also helping to build up anticipation for the Games through sports and grassroots community activities.

About Toyota's Top Olympic Partnership and Worldwide Paralympic Partnership

Toyota became the official worldwide mobility partner of the IOC and IPC in 2015 for the 2017-2024 period, covering the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 (Korea) and Beijing 2022 (China) and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Japan) and Paris 2024 (France). As a partner, Toyota aims to encourage creating a peaceful society without discrimination through sports and a commitment to creating a sustainable society through mobility. Toyota's values of continuous improvement and respect for people are shared by The Olympic and Paralympic Games, which brings together the entire world in friendship and solidarity to celebrate the highest realization of human potential. Toyota believes that mobility goes beyond cars; it is about overcoming challenges and making dreams come true, which is encapsulated in the company's "Start Your Impossible" corporate initiative and is the basis for its transformation from a car company to a mobility company. When you are free to move, anything is possible.

About Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is the global mobility company that introduced the Prius hybrid-electric car in 1997 and the first mass-produced fuel cell sedan, Mirai, in 2014. Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota has been making cars since 1937. Today, Toyota proudly employs 370,000 employees in communities around the world. Together, they build around 10 million vehicles per year in 29 countries, from mainstream cars and premium vehicles to mini-vehicles and commercial trucks, and sell them in more than 170 countries under the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.

Contact:
Public Affairs Division
Global Communications Department
Toyota Motor Corporation
Tel: +81-3-3817-9926

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Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Launches two MSCI Smart Beta ETFs listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

November 29, 2018, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: The Executive Talk: SVI PCL (SET:SVI) Becoming a global EMS player

≪ Previous: Toyota Becomes Presenting Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay

HONG KONG, Nov 30, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. ("Ping An Asset Management (HK)"), one of the leading asset managers in the region, is pleased to launch two exchanged-traded funds (ETF) - Ping An MSCI China Quality Factor ETF (Stock Code: 3166) and Ping An MSCI China Multi-Factor ETF (Stock Code: 3163) listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today.

Leveraging on Systematic, Quantitative and Scientific investment methodologies, Ping An ETFs are meant to offer investors a vehicle with inherent transparency, consistency, low fees and passive management. Ping An MSCI China Quality Factor ETF and Ping An MSCI China Multi-Factor ETF are investment tools to gain Smart Beta exposure to China equities.

Ping An MSCI China Quality Factor ETF tracks the MSCI China Quality Index, which comprises large and mid-cap stocks of China equities, including H-shares, Red chips and P chips listed on the SEHK, A-shares and B-shares listed on the SSE and SZSE and foreign listed Chinese companies .

Ping An MSCI China Multi-Factor ETF tracks the MSCI China Diversified Multiple-Factor Index, which comprises of large and mid-cap stocks of Chinese enterprises with desired characteristics - value, momentum, quality and low size. The index has historically demonstrated long-term risk-adjusted outperformance.

"There are multiple factors driving risk and return of a portfolio," said Chi Kit Chai, Head of Capital Markets and CIO at Ping An. "Factor based investing can provide investors with relatively transparent and cost-efficient way to construct a return and risk optimized portfolio in a systematic fashion, allowing investors to achieve diversification benefits and better risk-adjusted returns than traditional market cap-weighted indexes."

The new ETF brings the number of Ping An ETFs to four, which helps investors to perform asset allocation in a more efficient manner. "The increasing adoption of ETFs by asset managers in recent years has resulted in an over 50% contribution in terms of global funds allocation and is increasingly gaining traction in Asia. Fundamentally, smart beta seeks to improve returns, reduce risk and increase diversification while delivering greater exposure to the market." said Mona Chung, Head of ETF and Cross Asset Investment at Ping An.

"Following the inclusion of China A-shares into the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, investors' interest in China has significantly increased. We are happy to be working with Ping An to respond to the growing demand for ETFs accessing this market- their efforts align with trends we are seeing more broadly from investors who want to invest in China." said Theodore Niggli, Managing Director and APAC Head of MSCI Index Business.

Table 1: Key fund facts
ETF Name Ping An MSCI China Quality Factor ETF Ping An MSCI China Multi-Factor ETF
Stock Code 3166 (HKD) 3163 (HKD)
Underlying Index MSCI China Quality Index MSCI China Diversified Multiple-Factor Index
Management Fee 0.55% (per annum) 0.55% (per annum)
Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong

About Ping An
Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. ("Ping An Asset Management (HK)") was established in May 2006, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ping An Group (2318.HK). Ping An Asset Management (HK) is licensed under the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management) regulated activities.

Ping An Asset Management (HK) accepts investment mandates from a diverse group of private and institutional clients, including other subsidiaries of the Ping An Group as well as external clients. Ping An Asset Management (HK) manages exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and unit trust for the retail market. Ping An Asset Management (HK) also provides Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII) and Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII)/ Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) advisory services to institutions.

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The Executive Talk: SVI PCL (SET:SVI) Becoming a global EMS player

November 29, 2018, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Mazda Production and Sales Results for October 2018

≪ Previous: Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Launches two MSCI Smart Beta ETFs listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

BANGKOK, Nov 30, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - SVI PCL (SET:SVI) Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Pongsak Lothongkam discusses the company's strategy and outlook in The Executive Talk (TET) by ShareInvestor.com.

TET: How has the company evolved in terms of the types of products/services that it manufactures for customers in the past 5 to 10 years?

SVI has grown tremendously in the past decade with several key changes occurring in the past few years. In 2016 we acquired Siedel Group that gave us a premier presence in Europe with factories in Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. We have acquired 44 rai of land in Cambodia, Phomn Penh, and during the third quarter of 2018 opened our first facility of 10,000 sqm. These two developments combined with the four buildings of 50,000 sqm in Thailand, sales and purchasing offices in China and Denmark demonstrates that SVI has the full services, footprint and capabilities necessary to be a global EMS organisation.

TET: How has the M&A with Siedel benefited SVI?

The acquisition of Siedel has been tremendously beneficial for SVI because it gives current and future customers a sense of security with our multiple factory locations, it turns SVI into a global player and we are able to attract larger customers. In addition to this the financial performance of Siedel has improved, in the first year their revenues were 65 million euros and lost nearly 1 million euros, now it has achieved 90 million euros in revenue and a profit of nearly 1 million euros per quarter.

TET: SVI's financial performance appears to have recovered strongly recently, what is/are the reason(s) for this?

This is driven by a combination of factors, firstly the acquisition of Siedel naturally increased our business from their existing customer base, but as mentioned it's now the ability to continual attract new and larger customers that has been able to drive our growth. This has coincided with the materials shortage issue during the second half of 2017 abating.

In terms of top line growth, we foresee that revenues coming from our European operations will reach EUR 90 million or USD 100 million in 2018 and USD 120 million in 2019 mainly coming from strong existing customer growth. Additionally, we have a strong concrete pipeline of new customers of roughly USD 100 million in 2019 through our operations in Thailand.

Going forward we have announced that our revenues should reach USD 480 million, an improvement from USD 240 million in 2015, representing about USD 120 million per quarter which is very achievable. Based on the existing customers growth and new customers that I've mentioned, we target to achieve revenues of USD 600 to 640 million in 2019.

TET: What do you think investors misunderstand about the business?

The misunderstanding comes from the changes in the industry dynamics. In the past a firm would design their products and manufacture themselves, distribute and so forth. This then evolved to firms designing their products and manufacturing firms specialising in manufacturing one, two, or three items at the most.

Today, SVI is positioned as an EMS that can produce 350 different products per month with a strong specialisation in AC-DC drives, medical devices and cameras. This allows us to attract firms that have great ideas with strong capital support. Perhaps out of 26 products there are only 3 winners, but this then puts us in a position of strength ahead of the other manufacturers in the market because we have established the relationship and proven our ability to manufacture their products. We have proven this in the past with SVI's growth and expect in the future that our growth is driven by the specialised products.

TET: What impact would or have trade wars had upon your industry and business?

The actions from the US government does deter us from investing or acquiring directly in the US. Their strategy is unfortunately for them, short-term oriented, and thus we will look at other markets as mentioned earlier for acquisition and expansion opportunities.

What we see occurring as well is that our new customers are moving or closing their facilities in the US and China and coming to Thailand. This could be as a result of fears of tariffs, costs, or China not focused upon the export market and instead focused on internal consumption.

TET: SVI has a significant amount of cash on its balance sheet. What are the plans to allocate this capital effectively?

With Siedel, SVI now has Europe and Asia, there are effectively two markets left for us to expand into, America and Japan. Our plan is also to expand via acquisitions and our own manufacturing operations throughout the globe and later this year we will have another location in Eastern Europe. For the coming years we plan to open a new factory every year.

In addition to this we are internally undergoing multiple projects to strengthen our internal process. For example, we have invested in SAP's IT System, we have EY Consulting working on developing a digital purchasing system, and brought in teams from Taiwan to work on automation. In the future we see the possibility of Europe being fully automated, Thailand partially automated, Cambodia doing back office operations and India being a global support centre.

TET: Where do you see SVI in five years from now?

SVI now has the foundations to become a global EMS player, with our internal operational improvements and our plans to continually expand throughout the world. I am firmly of the viewpoint that focusing on the long-term sustainability of the business is important and that as we create the value and the market will pay for it.

About The Executive Q&A Series

The Executive Q&A Series is presented by ShareInvestor, Asia's leading financial internet media and technology company and the largest investor relations network in the region. The interview was conducted by Pon Van Compernolle. For more information, email admin.th@shareinvestor.com. Website: www.ShareInvestorThailand.com

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Mazda Production and Sales Results for October 2018

November 29, 2018, 6:08 pm

≫ Next: DesignInspire Brings Together Global Creative Elites

≪ Previous: The Executive Talk: SVI PCL (SET:SVI) Becoming a global EMS player

TOKYO, Nov 30, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Mazda Motor Corporation's production and sales results for October 2018 are summarized below.

I. Production

1. Domestic Production

Mazda's domestic production volume in October 2018 increased 12.0% year on year due to increased production of passenger and commercial vehicles.

[Domestic production of key models in October 2018]
CX-5: 44,207 units (up 31.3% year on year)
CX-3: 15,210 units (up 17.7%)
Mazda3 (Axela): 10,962 units (down 30.8%)

2. Overseas Production

Mazda's overseas production volume in October 2018 decreased 7.6% year on year due to decreased production of passenger vehicles.

[Overseas production of key models in October 2018]
Mazda3: 17,892 units (down 23.3% year on year)
Mazda2: 8,738 units (up 4.3%)
Mazda6: 6,690 units (up 15.4%)

II. Domestic sales

Mazda's domestic sales volume in October 2018 increased 1.6% year on year due to increased sales of passenger and commercial vehicles. Mazda's registered vehicle market share was 4.3% (down 0.6 points year on year), with a 1.9% share of the micro-mini segment (down 0.1 points) and a 3.4% total market share (down 0.4 points).

[Domestic sales of key models in October 2018]
Mazda2 (Demio): 3,481 units (up 36.6% year on year)
CX-3: 1,556 units (up 41.1%)
CX-8: 1,395 units

III. Exports

Mazda's export volume in October 2018 increased 20.2% year on year due to increased shipments to North America, Europe, Oceania and other regions.

[Exports of key models in October 2018]
CX-5: 38,809 units (up 37.1% year on year)
CX-3: 13,457 units (up 39.0%)
Mazda3: 9,870 units (down 22.8%)

About Mazda

Mazda Motor Corporation (TSE: 7261) started manufacturing tools in 1929 and soon branched out into production of trucks for commercial use. In the early 1960s, Mazda launched its first passenger car models and began developing rotary engines. Still headquartered in Hiroshima in western Japan, Mazda today ranks as one of Japan's leading automakers, and exports cars to the United States and Europe for over 30 years. For more information, please visit www.mazda.com

Contact:
Corporate Communications Division
Mazda Motor Corporation, Japan
+81-3-3508-5056 [Tokyo]
+81-82-282-5253 [Hiroshima]
mailto: media@mazda.co.jp

↧

DesignInspire Brings Together Global Creative Elites

November 29, 2018, 8:30 pm

≫ Next: AIR Worldwide Estimates Insured Losses from Woolsey Wildfire Will Be At Least USD 2.5 Billion

≪ Previous: Mazda Production and Sales Results for October 2018

This year's DesignInspire partner city, Melbourne, will showcase a pavilion titled "Shared Values", presenting designs and innovations from more than 100 designers and five universities

The second edition of DesignInspire will run from 6-8 Dec at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, bringing together more than 230 exhibitors from nine countries and regions

18 InnoTalks and events and 22 workshops will be held concurrently with DesignInspire to discuss the latest global design trends and share practical knowledge based on traditional craftmanship

Event Showcases How Design Can Enhance Quality of Life

HONG KONG, Nov 30, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the second edition of DesignInspire will be held from 6-8 Dec at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The event is an international exhibition that serves as an exchange platform for global creative elites, design brands, design associations and institutes, acting as a showcase for their creativity.

As the partner city of DesignInspire this year, Melbourne will host a pavilion - titled "Shared Values" - that will feature designs and innovations from more than 100 designers and five universities. The pavilion is curated by the National Gallery of Victoria under the theme "Think, Collaborate, Create".

Melbourne Presents Creative New Ideas

Famed for its vibrant street art and cultural diversity, Melbourne has frequently been named as one of the world's most liveable cities. The Melbourne Pavilion features works that demonstrate how design can enhance people's quality of life through health innovation, architecture and product design. The pavilion is curated by Ewan McEoin, Senior Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture of the National Gallery of Victoria, and curator Phip Murray.

Under the theme "Think, Collaborate, Create", the designers featured in the pavilion show how their innovations and designs interact with different aspects of daily life, including Play, Making, Wellbeing, Identity, Invention and Learning. One example of their ingenuity and creativity is a five-metre-long animatronic baby T-Rex that will walk around the pavilion to interact with visitors. Melbourne's designers have also reshaped the future by creating unique ornaments through a combination of computer designs, robotics and 3D-printers.

International Pavilions Inspire Future Generations

DesignInspire has brought together creative elites from nine countries and regions this year, including Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, Poland and the United Kingdom. The pavilions actively explore the possibilities presented by different materials and designs. The Korea Pavilion, for example, explores the potential of paper as an everyday material by presenting a series of innovative yet practical paper-based solutions, including promotional items and educational tools. The Japan Pavilion, meanwhile, gathers a group of companies recognised by the Japan Building Materials Association with displays that showcase their exceptional quality, craftsmanship and design. In the Wuhan Pavilion, forward-looking creativity that fuses advanced technology with sophisticated design is being showcased, including the futuristic NAPHUBS sleeping pods and mini drones produced by Wuhan company D+M.

Design without Boundaries

Hong Kong has long served as a regional design centre, providing a wealth of innovative products and a deep pool of design talents. Located at the crossroads of Asia, the city has a well-established design community that offers a window into Asia's design trends. The design industry in Hong Kong covers a wide variety of disciplines, including product design, interior and furniture design, fashion and jewellery design, and visual/graphic design. Furthermore, the city's strategic location adjacent to the Pearl River Delta manufacturing hub has attracted international designers to establish their brands and develop their design business in the city.

At a seminar held as part of DesignInspire on 6 Dec, renowned international designers based in Hong Kong will share their creative journey in the city, and discuss how the city's dynamic environment has helped to cultivate their inspiration. Speakers include Philippe Grasset, founder & Director of GIDA Ltd; Evelyn Ting, Managing Principal of New Office Works; Andrew Kane, Managing Director of Sedgwick Richardson; Ian Hau, Founding Director of XLMS; and Dilara Kan, Creative Director of Yellowdot Design.

During the expo, more than 18 InnoTalks and events will be held, along with 22 workshops, to discuss the latest global design trends, with experts from the creative industries sharing their ideas and experience. DesignInspire is open to the public with free admission over all three days of the event.

DesignInspire Event Details
6-8 Dec 2018 (Thursday to Saturday)
Opening Hours: 6-7 Dec: 9:30am-7pm; 8 Dec: 9:30am-6:30pm
Venue: Halls 3DE, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Website: www.designinspire.com.hk
Free admission

Photo Download: https://bit.ly/2DUru5Y

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With 50 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter@hktdc, LinkedIn.

Contact:
Banbi Chen, Tel: +852 2584 4525, Email: banbi.yc.chen@hktdc.org

↧

AIR Worldwide Estimates Insured Losses from Woolsey Wildfire Will Be At Least USD 2.5 Billion

November 30, 2018, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Inaugural Meeting of Singapore's Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data

≪ Previous: DesignInspire Brings Together Global Creative Elites

BOSTON, Dec 1, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that industry insured losses from the Woolsey Fire in Southern California will be at least USD 2.5 billion. Note that AIR's estimate of insured losses is based on the assumption of nearly 100% take-up rates. The fact that damage from fire, including wildfire, is included in standard homeowners' policies in California informs that assumption. AIR Worldwide is a Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.

This vegetation fire ignited on November 8 south of Simi Valley in the southeastern corner of Ventura County and spread quickly due to Santa Ana winds and low humidity, as well as challenging suppression factors including steep terrain, limited access, and extreme fire behavior. Full containment was achieved on November 22. The cause of the Woolsey Fire is still under investigation, according to the final update issued by Los Angeles County Fire Department on November 25. In total, the Woolsey Fire burned through 96,949 acres and 1,643 structures; another 364 structures were damaged.

Total economic losses are expected to be higher than the industry insured loss estimate. Industry insured losses from the Woolsey Fire could be higher than USD 2.5 billion due to uncertainty in the payment of additional living expenses resulting from mandatory evacuations, loss of some individual structures outside of the most affected neighborhoods, as well as widespread but lower levels of loss due to smoke, loss of electricity, and damage from suppression efforts.

AIR's modeled insured loss estimates includes:

- Insured physical damage to property (residential, mobile home, and commercial), both structures and their contents, and auto
- Direct business interruption losses

AIR's modeled insured loss estimates does not include:

- Losses to uninsured properties
- Losses to land
- Losses to infrastructure
- Losses from indirect and contingent business interruption
- Loss adjustment expenses
- Demand surge-the increase in costs of materials, services, and labor due to increased demand following a catastrophic event

About AIR Worldwide

AIR Worldwide (AIR) provides risk modeling solutions that make individuals, businesses, and society more resilient to extreme events. In 1987, AIR Worldwide founded the catastrophe modeling industry and today models the risk from natural catastrophes, terrorism, pandemics, casualty catastrophes, and cyber incidents. Insurance, reinsurance, financial, corporate, and government clients rely on AIR's advanced science, software, and consulting services for catastrophe risk management, insurance-linked securities, longevity modeling, site-specific engineering analyses, and agricultural risk management. AIR Worldwide, a Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) business, is headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com.

For more information, contact:
Kevin Long
AIR Worldwide
617-267-6645
klong@air-worldwide.com

###

This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: AIR Worldwide via Globenewswire

↧

Inaugural Meeting of Singapore's Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data

December 3, 2018, 12:00 am

≫ Next: Showa Denko Announces Changes in Corporate Management

≪ Previous: AIR Worldwide Estimates Insured Losses from Woolsey Wildfire Will Be At Least USD 2.5 Billion

Inaugural Meeting of the Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence and Data, held Friday, Nov 30, 2018.

SINGAPORE, Dec 3, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Singapore's Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data convened for their inaugural meeting on Friday, Nov 30.

The Advisory Council[1] brings together transnational thought leaders and industry captains from diverse backgrounds spanning the spectrum of large tech providers, users, the academia and government. Members comprise international leaders in AI such as Google, Microsoft and Alibaba; advocates of social and consumer interests; and leaders of local companies who are keen users of AI.

Council members had a robust discussion on the ethical use of AI and data. This included discussion on the paper released by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) in June 2018 on the responsible development and adoption of AI. There were many suggestions given on how to improve the draft model framework. The Advisory Council called for broader engagement and consultation of the draft model framework.

The meeting is a timely reminder of how a private-public relationship is necessary to enable the Digital Economy. A trusted AI ecosystem is critical for industries to effectively adopt innovative emerging technologies and business models, while ensuring strong consumer confidence, protection and participation. In the area of data and data-driven technologies like AI, the development of responsible practices must be informed by diverse views and a global perspective. Singapore aims to contribute to the global discourse by proposing a pragmatic governance framework that translates ethical principles into practice. An updated draft will be made available soon.

Senior Minister of State Dr Janil Puthucheary said, "I am especially thankful for the attendance of a strong and diverse transnational mix of members, including tech giants, companies large and small, users, academia and government. Building a future Digital Economy with a trusted AI ecosystem is critical."

The Advisory Council is one of three structured, interlinked initiatives[2] to support the engagement of stakeholders to collaboratively develop a trusted and vibrant AI ecosystem and position Singapore as a leading hub for AI. The list of members can be found below.

AI as an enabler in the Digital Economy Framework for Action -

IMDA, in collaboration with AI Singapore, has announced initiatives in support of our AI strategy to:
1. Drive industry adoption of AI, and promote understanding of the benefits from implementing AI;
2. Build a vibrant ecosystem of AI developers and companies, users and suppliers, and talented researchers and engineers;
3. Identify specific AI leadership areas to grow industry and R&D capabilities; and
4. Provide clarity and review relevant regulations for an AI-conducive business environment.

[1] For further detail, please refer to the Artificial Intelligence Governance and Ethics Initiatives fact sheet by IMDA, 05 June, 2018, https://bit.ly/2RtRCsb.
[2] The other two initiatives announced were (a) A discussion paper released by PDPC on responsible development and adoption of AI, which will be used by the Advisory Council to frame its deliberations; and (b) A Research Programme on the Governance of AI and Data Use to advance and inform scholarly research on AI governance issues which will be run by the Singapore Management University. For more details, please refer to the Artificial Intelligence Governance and Ethics Initiatives fact sheet by IMDA, 05 June, 2018, https://bit.ly/2RtRCsb.

Photograph: Council Members, Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data
- Front row (L to R): Dr. Chen Wei, Ms. Jenni Aldrich, Ms. Hamidah Aidillah Mustafa, Ms. Sara Yu Siying, Prof. Chan Heng Chee
- Back row (L to R): Mr. Andreas Ebert, Mr. Piyush Gupta, Mr. V K Rajah SC, Mr. Peter Ho, Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary, Mr. Chia Song Hwee, Mr. Amit Anand

About Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA)
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore's digital transformation with infocomm media. To do this, IMDA will develop a dynamic digital economy and a cohesive digital society, driven by an exceptional infocomm media (ICM) ecosystem - by developing talent, strengthening business capabilities, and enhancing Singapore's ICM infrastructure. IMDA also regulates the telecommunications and media sectors to safeguard consumer interests while fostering a pro-business environment, and enhances Singapore's data protection regime through the Personal Data Protection Commission.

For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on Facebook IMDAsg and Twitter @IMDAsg.

For media clarifications, please contact:
Mr. Eugene NEUBRONNER
Manager, Communications and Marketing, IMDA
DID: +65 6211 1182
Email: Eugene_Neubronner@imda.gov.sg

Mr. Hian Hou CHUA
Deputy Director, Communications and Marketing, IMDA
DID: +65 6202 4956
Email: Chua_Hian_Hou@imda.gov.sg

- The Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data (alphabetical order):

1] Mr V.K. Rajah SC (Chairman) - Essex Court Chambers Duxton (Singapore Group Practice)
2] Ms Jenni Aldrich - Asia Pacific Vice President of Legal, Google
3] Mr Amit Anand - Co-founder and Managing Partner, Jungle Ventures
4] Professor Chan Heng Chee - Chairman, Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design
5] Dr Chen Wei - Chief Operating Officer, Social Credits
6] Mr Chia Song Hwee - President & Chief Operating Officer, Temasek International
7] Mr Andreas Ebert - Worldwide National Technology Officer, Office of the CTO, Industries, Microsoft Corporation
8] Mr Piyush Gupta - Chief Executive Officer, DBS Group
9] Ms Hamidah Aidillah Mustafa - Founder, Parrot Social Pte Ltd
10] Mr Peter Ho - Chairman, National Supercomputing Centre Steering Committee
11] Ms Sara Yu Siying - Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Partner, Alibaba Group

Release available at the SG Press Centre: https://bit.ly/2DVNnSg.

↧

Showa Denko Announces Changes in Corporate Management

December 2, 2018, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Telenor: 7 tech trends that will shape 2019

≪ Previous: Inaugural Meeting of Singapore's Advisory Council on the Ethical Use of AI and Data

TOKYO, Dec 3, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Showa Denko (SDK; TSE:4004) decided at its Board of Directors meeting today on changes in corporate management.

Toshiharu Kato will resign as Director at the General Meeting of Shareholders in late March 2019. He will resign as Chief Financial Officer, and Corporate Officer in charge of Finance & Accounting Department and Information Systems Department, on January 3, 2019 and become Assistant to President on January 4. He will be elected Audit & Supervisory Board Member at the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Tomofumi Akiyama will resign as Outside Director at the same General Meeting of Shareholders.

Meanwhile, Motohiro Takeuchi (Corporate Officer; General Manager, Corporate Strategy Department) will be elected Director at the General Meeting of Shareholders in late March 2019. Takeuchi will become Chief Financial Officer, and Corporate Officer in charge of Finance & Accounting Department and Information Systems Department, on January 4, 2019. Kozo Isshiki (Outside Director, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Company, and MEDICAL SYSTEM NETWORK Co.,Ltd.) will also be elected Director.

Saburo Muto will resign as Audit & Supervisory Board Member at the General Meeting of Shareholders in late March 2019. Mitsuo Ohashi will assume the post of Honorary Advisor in late March 2019.

Hiroshi Daio (General Manager, Ceramics Division; Alumina Project Manager; officer in charge of Yokohama and Shiojiri plants) and Takuji Yamamoto (Assistant to President, in charge of AI Strategy Planning) will resign as Corporate Officer on January 3, 2019.

Eishi Wakutsu (Petrochemicals Division) will be newly appointed Corporate Officer on January 4, 2019. He will become General Manager of Corporate Strategy Department.

Hiroshi Sakai (General Manager, Technology Development Control Department, HD Division) will resign as Senior Corporate Fellow on January 3, 2019. Yoshiaki Yoshida (Plant Manager, Omachi Plant, Carbon Division) and Kazunari Yamada (General Representative in China; General Manager, China Office, Corporate Strategy Department; and CEO, Showa Denko (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.) will resign as Corporate Fellow on the same date. Yoshida will exclusively serve as President of Shinshu Showa K.K., while Yamada will become President of SunAllomer Ltd., effective January 4.

There will be the following changes in corporate officers' responsibilities as from January 4, 2019:

Jiro Ishikawa (Senior Managing Corporate Officer, General Manager, HD Division; officer in charge of Electronics Materials and Advanced Battery Materials divisions, and Power Semiconductor Project) will become General Manager of Device Solutions Division and officer in charge of Electronics Materials Division.

Jun Tanaka (Managing Corporate Officer; Chief Technology Officer; officer in charge of Electronic Chemicals and Functional Chemicals divisions, Business Development Center, Higashinagahara, Isesaki and Tatsuo plants, as well as Corporate R&D and Intellectual Property departments) will be in charge of Advanced Battery Materials Division, Institute for Integrated Product Development, Advanced Technology Laboratory, as well as Corporate R&D and Intellectual Property departments.

Hidehito Takahashi (Managing Corporate Officer; General Manager, Carbon Division; officer in charge of Ceramics Division and Corporate Strategy Department) will be in charge of Ceramics Division, Yokohama and Shiojiri plants, and Corporate Strategy Department.

Masamichi Yagishita (Corporate Officer; General Manager, Electronic Chemicals Division; officer in charge of Tokuyama Plant) will be promoted to Managing Corporate Officer. He will be additionally in charge of Functional Chemicals Division as well as Higashinagahara, Isesaki and Tatsuno plants.

Keiichi Kamiguchi (Corporate Officer; Chief Risk Management Officer; officer in charge of Internal Audit, Legal, General Affairs & Human Resources, and Purchasing & SCM departments; Chairman, Security Export Control Committee) will be in charge of Internal Audit, Legal, CSR & General Affairs, Human Resources, and Purchasing & SCM departments.

Youichi Takeuchi (Corporate Officer; Oita Complex Representative) will become Plant Manager, Kawasaki Plant.

Takayuki Sato (Corporate Officer; General Manager of Electronics Materials Division and its Marketing Department; Manager of Power Semiconductor Project; officer in charge of Chichibu Plant) will additionally serve as Deputy General Manager, Device Solutions Division. However, he will discontinue his responsibility as Manager of Power Semiconductor Project.

Taichi Nagai (Corporate Officer; General Manager, Production Technology Department; officer in charge of Energy & Electricity, SPS Innovation, and CSR departments; Chairman, Safety Measures Committee) will become Oita Complex Representative.

Masunori Kaiho (Corporate Officer; Plant Manager, Kawasaki Plant) will become General Manager of Production Technology Department and officer in charge of Energy & Electricity, SPS Innovation, and Responsible Care departments as well as Chairman of Safety Measures Committee.

Masao Shibuya (Corporate Officer; General Manager, Advanced Battery Materials Division) will become General Representative in China; General Manager, China Office, Corporate Strategy Department; and CEO, Showa Denko (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Tetsuo Wada (Corporate Officer; General Manager, Business Development Center, and Institute for Integrated Product Development) will serve as General Manager of Institute for Integrated Product Development.

In 2008, SDK introduced a Corporate Fellow system for employees with outstanding specialist capabilities and accomplishments. This time, SDK decided to revise the system and establish a "Senior General Manager" system, placing emphasis on management ability in addition to specialist capabilities. This will help the company to recruit more human resources from outside.

Effective January 4, 2019, the following will be appointed Senior General Managers, with assignments as stated in parentheses:

Hiroshi Daio (President, Showa Denko Ceramics Co., Ltd.); Takuji Yamamoto (Assistant to President, in charge of AI Strategy Planning); Hiroshi Sakai (General Manager, Technology Development Control Department, Device Solutions Division); Masami Tobito (Carbon Division); Hitoshi Iwade (Plant Manager, Chichibu Plant); Toru Kuroe (Production & Technology Control Department, Device Solutions Division); Nobuhiro Kato (General Manager, IR Office, Finance & Accounting Department); Takanori Hieda (General Manager, Responsible Care Department); Takayuki Tohaya (General Manager, Energy & Electricity Department); Tamami Koyama (General Manager, Advanced Technology Laboratory); Nobuhide Ueyama (General Manager, Process Solutions Center, Production Technology Department); Akiyoshi Kano (General Manager, Legal Department); Toshi Tsuzuki (General Manager, Intellectual Property Department); Iwao Hashimoto (Plant Manager, Kitakata Plant); Kenjiro Yamamasu (General Manager, Aluminum Specialty Components Division); Tatsuya Inada (Plant Manager, Omachi Plant, Carbon Division); Hiroyuki Eda (General Manager, Aluminum Rolled Products Division); Kazuo Hirakura (Deputy General Manager, Industrial Gases Division); Makoto Takeda (Deputy General Manager, Carbon Division; General Manager, Global Control Department, Carbon Division); Yoshishige Okuno (General Manager, Computational Science and Technology Information Center, Institute for Integrated Product Development); and Mitsuhiro Yada (General Manager, Functional Chemicals Division).

As of late March next year, the Board of Directors will consist of Hideo Ichikawa (Representative Director; Chairman of the Board), Kohei Morikawa (Representative Director; President and CEO); Jun Tanaka, Hidehito Takahashi, Keiichi Kamiguchi, and Motohiro Takeuchi (Directors); as well as Masaharu Oshima, Kiyoshi Nishioka, and Kozo Isshiki (Outside Directors). In addition, Tetsu Moriki and Toshiharu Kato will serve as Audit & Supervisory Board Members, and Hiroyuki Tezuka, Kiyomi Saito, and Setsu Onishi as Outside Members of the Audit & Supervisory Board.

About Showa Denko K.K.

Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; TSE:4004, ADR:SHWDY), a major manufacturer of chemical products, serves a wide range of fields from heavy industry to electronics and computer industries. The Petrochemicals Sector provides cracker products such as ethylene and propylene, the Chemicals Sector provides industrial, high-performance and high-purity gases and chemicals for semicon and other industries, and the Inorganics Sector provides ceramic products, such as alumina, abrasives, refractory and graphite electrodes and fine carbon products. The Aluminum Sector provides aluminum materials and high-value-added fabricated aluminum, the Electronics Sector provides HD media, compound semiconductors such as ultra high-bright LEDs and rare earth magnetic alloys, and the Advanced Battery Materials Department (ABM) provides lithium-ion battery components. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp/english/.

Contact:
Public Relations Office
Phone: 81-3-5470-3235

↧

Telenor: 7 tech trends that will shape 2019

December 2, 2018, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Why continuing growth in the global app market could be a recipe for success for Mobvista

≪ Previous: Showa Denko Announces Changes in Corporate Management

FORNEBU, NORWAY / SINGAPORE, Dec 3, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Seven technology trends stand to reshape how we consume, how we connect and even how we perceive the world around us in 2019, says Telenor Research.

After a breakneck year of tech world advancements, setbacks and successes, Telenor Group's research arm, Telenor Research, identifies seven tech trends to study up on for 2019. While there is no shortage of staggering high-tech feats identified for the coming year, the notion of "responsibility" resonates through many of 2019's trends.

"The world of technology is constantly on the go. With exciting innovation - which we point to for next year in greater scale than ever - comes the need for reflection, pragmatism and perspective. We think that the tech pendulum is swinging in that direction in 2019. People are taking a step back and assessing 'what do these deeper developments in technology and connectivity mean to me, to my family, my community?'" reflects Bjorn Taale Sandberg, Head of Telenor Research.

"In the end, we all want the assurance that technology - no matter how many steps ahead of us it might seem - can fit into our lives safely, sensibly and positively," he added.

Here are the seven tech trends we see making a big impact in 2019:

DEEPFAKE: TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
Masks, shades and filters have been all the rage on social media and messaging apps. The iPhone X took the idea further with facial recognition, but as the technology makes even more advances, why stop there? Remember Tom Cruise's masks in Mission Impossible? Well, doing this in cyberspace is no longer "mission impossible". It's made very much possible by something the tech world has coined "deepfake". It's when Deep Learning meets Fake News (or doctored photos and videos, for that matter).

2019 will bring us more deepfake content because a large amount of work is going into algorithms called generative adversarial networks (GANs*). A plethora of variants is emerging, and the systems as a whole are learning a lot faster. It is these algorithms that will enable the creation of deepfake content so advanced that we could have a difficult time differentiating between what's real and what's fake in the digital world. If people had trouble telling fake news posts apart from real news on social media between 2016 and 2018, it's very possible that the boundaries will be blurred even more in 2019.

The world's largest democracy, India, will hold general elections in 2019, while the world's second largest democracy, the US, will begin the lead up to its 2020 presidential campaign. These elections are likely to trigger the production of sophisticated deepfake content made to manipulate and misinform the public. The good news is that they could also trigger intensified development of media forensic tools and techniques to safeguard democratic processes. 2019 will see internet service providers, operators and regulators look seriously into mitigating deepfake content, and widespread public awareness campaigns against deepfake.

AN EYE ON AI
In 2017, we predicted that AI ethics would one day be up for discussion. That time has come. The fact that AI will impact nearly every industry and society at large is no longer questionable. As people increasingly tune in to how technology affects their lives, AI is one of those technologies that will receive more public scrutiny in 2019. In the coming year, we will see public and private bodies setting AI governance frameworks and adopting new codes of conduct to ensure that they operate with high ethical standards. This will be done in order to ensure that AI systems are non-discriminatory, transparent, traceable and secure, and that there are always humans in the loop who are accountable for its design, development and adoption. Enabling this, we will also see new venues for AI dialogues happening at all levels of politics, new platforms for education and training in AI, as well as investments in tools and systems that enable ethical AI development**.

"High ethical scrutiny may inhibit innovation," some might say, and in the absence of such oversight, most thriving AI ecosystems in the US and China might be able to grow and innovate faster than more regulated regions, such as Europe. Yet, we see AI governance as vital to sustainable innovation and uptake and acceleration of AI in business. In the end, these autonomous systems need to solve problems for people in a secure, robust and reliable way; proactive monitoring and governance structures for ethical use of AI will aim to ensure that.

5G ISLANDS EMERGE
In 2017, it was all about 5G testing: could a computer a few metres away connect to a signal station running a 5G frequency. In 2018, we saw pioneering uses of 5G - like the 5G drone coverage of the Winter Olympics in South Korea. And coming in 2019, we'll see "5G islands" emerge across the world as large-scale pilots and trials - from Europe to North America and northeast Asia - connect selected communities and business networks. Digitising societies has been a buzzword among operators, industry bodies and governments over the past few years, but 2019 will be the first year when communities will experience what this actually means, taking towns like Norway's Kongsberg, a 5G pilot town, as a first example.

Though 2020 is the year that 5G's global standard will release, 2019 will see commercial advances in 5G, which we see in the United States and areas of Asia already. We'll also see some of the first marketing campaigns based on 5G. From the first self-driving, 5G-steered buses to automated fisheries, from 5G-driven TV and fixed broadband to potential applications of 5G-powered remote surgery - the 5G floodgates will open in 2019, paving the way for commercial services to hit the market in 2020.

IOT USHERS IN INDUSTRIAL AGE 2.0?
We think 2019 will be the year when industrial IoT customers crack the transition from proof-of-concepts, which we've seen in recent years and months, to large scale commercial deployments in low-power wide-area (LPWA)*** ecosystems. We expect the LPWA ecosystem to blossom this year in particular, enabling larger industrial applications which to date haven't matured quickly. As the LPWA ecosystem matures and as developers have vetted much of its tech stack, we can expect to see industries roll out large scale IoT, particularly within the arenas of smart cities, industrial manufacturing and process industries, such as shipping, traffic and transport monitoring and fisheries. In short, IoT is going industrial in 2019.

On the backend, it is becoming clearer how different connectivity technologies serve different use cases. Examples include LTE networks for CCTV and automotive, which are already widespread; LTE-M for logistics; NB-IoT for metering - and many more use cases for each. Though the question on which IoT technologies will scale furthest and fastest remains, one thing is clear - LPWA IoT networks will get more than their share of the spotlight in 2019 and beyond.

CHATBOTS JOIN THE FAMILY
The sobering reality of how hard it's been to work with text-based chatbots has killed a lot of large-scale attempts. We see voice-activated chatbots doing better in 2019 - mainly in household devices. They aren't the most clever systems yet, but as they advance, we can expect more chatbots helping us in our homes than we have before. We think 2019 will see huge growth of voice-controlled chatbots, leading to smarter voice-recognition applications, since they will be limited to a narrow skill-set in which they will perform well." It's possible that by this time next year, domestic chatbots will be at the top of 2019's holiday wish lists in many markets around the world.

SCREENING SCREEN TIME, FLIPPING TO FLIP PHONES
Awareness of screen time and its effects on us is becoming widespread. Following some early movers, people will increasingly use screen time tracking apps, night-time and do-not-disturb modes on phones, as developers tune the smartphone experience to enable us to manage our use of these devices. Developments in the marketplace as a result of increased screen time awareness and discipline will snowball in 2019.

Beyond new apps and software, we could see more stringent limits on screen time in various social and professional settings. Mobile-free meals with family and friends, and mobile-free meetings are certainly becoming more common. Whatever the case, this latest burst of screen time products and campaigns by private industry go a long way to raise awareness.

Moreover, people concerned with their own personal screen time but don't want to disconnect altogether could opt for simpler connectivity. We could see this in the form of wearables, other small connected devices and even flip phones.

GREENTECH CATCHES FIRE
A virtuous cycle in green consumption, awareness and green tech development will take shape in 2019, given a boost in large part by mobile technology. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's late 2018 report came as a wake-up call to those not already paying attention. As climate change worries and awareness of consumption both skyrocket in society, a wave of mobile-driven green technology will help people live and consume more smartly than ever. In 2019, this wave will reach its much needed crest.

Oslo is becoming a bellwether of greentech's ability to reach scale. The increasing popularity of products and services like Too Good To Go, which cuts down on food waste, car-sharing platforms, bicycle-only food delivery services, Tesla and electric cars (close to 30 percent of new cars in Norway are electric in 2018) prove that consumers are highly receptive to greentech, if not outright demanding it. And aggressive disincentives - taxes and tolls on environmentally unfriendly transport and consumption provide the knock-out punch to environmental apathy in Norway. On a holistic level, credit goes to government policies, developer enthusiasm for greentech, consumer receptivity and social pressure; four effective cogs churning out greener tech and greener habits - in Norway and beyond in 2019.

* Generative adversarial networks are a class of artificial intelligence algorithms used in unsupervised learning.
** The European Commission plans to release ethical guidelines of AI in mid-2019, with the ambition to create a global standard for ethical AI. We expect to see recommendations on implementation of Trusted AI in business and on red lines of AI that are subject to strict ethical rules about what should not happen on the European territory (including but not limited to lethal autonomous weapon systems, normative credit scoring, artificial moral agents and similar).
*** Low-power wide-area (LPWA) technology allows connected devices such as sensors, meters or even things like shipping containers to communicate over large geographical areas at a low bit rate.

Media Contact
Jonathan Higgins, Telenor Group Communications
+47 9011 0606
Jonathan.Higgins@telenor.com

↧

Why continuing growth in the global app market could be a recipe for success for Mobvista

December 2, 2018, 6:30 pm

≫ Next: Verisk to Acquire Rulebook

≪ Previous: Telenor: 7 tech trends that will shape 2019

HONG KONG, Dec 3, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - This week Mobvista became just the latest Chinese tech company with global ambitions to announce its plans to go public, by announcing the listing of its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (1860.HK).

In a year which has seen the biggest number of Chinese tech companies make their stock market debut on the HKEX since 1995, Mobvista is just the latest to seek to raise funding as part of its vision for global growth and success.

From start-up to a global company

Founded in 2013, Mobvista is a technology platform that provides mobile advertising and mobile analytics services to the global ecosystem of mobile app developers. Through its advertising, monetization and mobile analytics technologies, Mobvista helps app creators across the entire lifecycle of launching, promoting and understanding the performance of their apps.

The marketing and monetization of mobile apps are big business. According to iResearch, 192 billion apps were downloaded in 2017 - and that number is set to almost double by 2022. Mobile advertising is the biggest revenue driver of the mobile app ecosystem. Global revenues from mobile ads grew to US$142.5 billion in 2017, and are estimated to reach almost US$316.5 billion by the end of 2022.

Established only five years ago, Mobvista has quickly grown to become the only Chinese company among the world?s top ten third-party mobile advertising platforms. As a key player in a booming industry, Google, Facebook and Mobvista are the three most popular advertising networks with Chinese app companies targeting the global market. According to iResearch, during the five months ended June 30, 2018, 33 of the top 50 Chinese global apps use Mobvista's monetization SDK for monetization services, and 45 of the top 50 Chinese global apps use Mobvista's user acquisition services.

Looking to the future of the mobile advertising industry

With plenty of success already, the company doesn't plan to slow down any time soon. Led by the CEO and Co-Founder, Mr Duan Wei, Mobvista is making strategic plans for both its own future and the future of the global app industry.

Firstly, the company plans to increase R&D investment as a means to consolidate the company's leadership in the market and continue to grow its revenues, which reached US$312 million by the end of 2017. Mobvista has already made significant investments into its own AI and Big Data technologies, and almost 50% of the global employees are involved in research and development. Close to 7% of the company's revenues are spent on R&D.

Secondly, the company will continue to seek high-quality investment and M&A targets that will help it to achieve its strategic goals. In 2016 Mobvista successively acquired the US-based mobile marketing company NativeX, and shortly afterwards acquired GameAnalytics, a well-known SaaS game data analysis platform in Europe. Both businesses have become an important part of Mobvista's end-to-end approach.

Programmatic advertising, Big Data and AI

Two of the key technologies driving the growth of the mobile advertising industry are Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). By using AI to better understand the interests and preferences of consumers, Mobvista is able to better match the right advertising to the right consumer, improving both the performance of marketing campaigns and the revenues of its customers.

Mobvista's Big Data platform captures ad interaction data from 900 million unique mobile devices every day, with a further 330 million consumers a day interacting with the Mobvista via its monetization SDK. In addition, some 49,000 mobile games are using the GameAnalytics SDK, which captures data on up to 88 million Daily Active Users (DAU).

All of this data is used by Mobvista to create a detailed understanding of consumer behaviours which can then be modelled in real time to accurately deliver programmatic ad placements according to those behaviours.

Mobile advertising - a growing global industry

It is programmatic advertising technology which is the key driver of the global advertising industry. Having already become the dominant form of advertising on the web, mobile programmatic advertising is expected to increase from US$27.3 billion in 2017 to US$69 billion in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.4%. This means that Mobvista is well placed to benefit from this significant market growth.

Another factor in Mobvista's success is the rising cost to app companies of acquiring new users. According to iResearch, User Acquisition costs (UA) now average US$2.64 for every successful install, and will rise by 16% per year from now until 2022. With app companies looking to minimise costs and maximise reach, it is programmatic advertising technology that can match advertisers and media with the greatest speed and efficiency. In every market around the world, developers and publishers are constantly looking for the most cost-effective, accurate solutions for marketing and monetizing their apps.

Today, Mobvista works with advertisers in more than 60 countries across a mix of games, utilities, e-commerce and social media content. In key international and regional markets such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, Mobvista repeatedly ranks as one of the top 3 advertising platforms used by the top 20 most downloaded apps in those places.

Global growth, local expertise

Whilst Mobvista has set its sights on becoming a truly global business, it also understands the importance of local expertise.

The most popular mobile app companies have become successful through understanding the local needs of their users and tailoring their apps accordingly. This is the same approach taken by Mobvista, which calls this its 'Glocal' strategy, enhancing its local service capabilities at the same time as expanding its global business network.

As more and more app companies look to go global, they need to work with partners that understand the different requirements of local markets and how to successfully navigate them. With offices in key markets around the world, supported by world-class technologies, Mobvista has the knowledge and scale to be the ideal partner.

And with the Chinese app market now being one of the biggest, there is a huge opportunity for Mobvista to help companies in established and emerging markets launch in China. At the same time, many Chinese companies are looking for help to go global and reach new markets outside of China. So as a company with a foot in both markets, Mobvista would seem to have a unique opportunity to help app businesses on both sides.

↧

Verisk to Acquire Rulebook

December 3, 2018, 12:30 am

≫ Next: Hitachi Launches "TWX-21 Source to Contract Service" a product of JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite and Hitachi's Installation Expertise

≪ Previous: Why continuing growth in the global app market could be a recipe for success for Mobvista

Combined power of Rulebook acquisition and Sequel enhances Verisk's position as a leading provider of insurance software solutions to the global specialty market

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Dec 3, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK), a leading data analytics provider, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rulebook, an industry-leading provider of business intelligence and software solutions for the London Insurance Market.

Rulebook's proprietary, uniquely distinctive pricing engine can be used for internal pricing and underwriting as well as external distribution for the specialty insurance market through its Rulebook Hub platform. Rulebook also has a data analytics offering that develops business intelligence solutions for clients to enable historical, current, and predictive views of business operations.

Rulebook's pricing engine is used by some of the leading carriers in the London specialty insurance market to build underwriting rules for complex specialty insurance products through a simple, easy-to-use web-based platform. Through its platform, Rulebook provides clients with greater accuracy and better control over the pricing and distribution process, thus facilitating consistency and improving regulatory reporting and compliance.

"The acquisition will expand Verisk's existing offerings to the specialty insurance market by adding Rulebook's proprietary pricing and management information engines to Sequel's specialized software suite," said Ian Summers, CEO of Sequel. "These enhanced offerings will provide our customers with more efficient methods of distribution and significantly improved data analytics capabilities. The complementary applications give us a unique opportunity in our sector to complete the value chain, driving data through the process from broker to underwriter and quote through to claims settlement."

"We're very excited to join Verisk, as this will accelerate our growing business by providing greater access to global markets and Verisk's existing international customers," said Andy Galli, managing director of Rulebook. "We offer a unique value proposition that will be further enhanced by leveraging synergies and collaborating with other Verisk businesses and their data analytics."

Mark Anquillare, chief operating officer of Verisk, added, "Rulebook is a Verisk-like business that furthers our goal of providing leading solutions to the global insurance market, including a comprehensive chain of solutions to specialty insurers for mitigating risk and optimizing total cost of operations."

The purchase price is $87 million in cash, funded through cash on hand and existing bank facilities, subject to typical closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to be accretive to 2019 adjusted EPS. In addition, Verisk expects the acquisition to generate an attractive return in excess of Verisk's cost of capital. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018, subject to the completion of customary closing conditions.

Verisk will discuss the transaction and Rulebook's solutions and business in greater detail at its upcoming Investor Day on December 6, 2018.

About Rulebook

The Rulebook suite of products is the combination of a powerful rules engine and an insurance underwriting and broking desktop, together with a comprehensive analytics capability that enables clients to transact with and learn from their data for even the most complex lines of specialty insurance business. Rulebook supports companies primarily in the London Insurance Market but increasingly internationally. Founded in 2002, Rulebook is headquartered in London. For more information, visit www.rulebook.com.

About Verisk

Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) is a leading data analytics provider serving customers in insurance, energy and specialized markets, and financial services. Using advanced technologies to collect and analyze billions of records, Verisk draws on unique data assets and deep domain expertise to provide first-to-market innovations that are integrated into customer workflows. Verisk offers predictive analytics and decision support solutions to customers in rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather risk, global risk analytics, natural resources intelligence, economic forecasting, and many other fields. Around the world, Verisk helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets.

Headquartered in Jersey City, N.J., Verisk operates in 30 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor's S&P 500(R) Index. In 2018, Forbes magazine named Verisk to its World's Best Employers list. For more information, please visit www.verisk.com.

Contact:
Investor Relations
Stacey Brodbar
Head of Investor Relations
Verisk
201-469-4327
stacey.brodbar@verisk.com

Media
Frank Lentini
Edelman (for Verisk)
212-704-4425
frank.lentini@edelman.com

###

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Verisk Analytics Inc. via Globenewswire

↧

Hitachi Launches "TWX-21 Source to Contract Service" a product of JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite and Hitachi's Installation Expertise

December 4, 2018, 3:04 am

≫ Next: Are Financial Institutions Taking Action?

≪ Previous: Verisk to Acquire Rulebook

Procurement process and range of TWX-21 Source to Contract service

Hitachi promotes advanced procurement processes with installation of JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite

TOKYO, Dec 4, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi, Ltd. and JAGGAER announced that they signed a distribution agreement for JAGGAER's Source to Contract "S2C" Application Suite. JAGGAER is a leading U.S. company in the strategic sourcing application market(1), supporting digitalization of the S2C process from supplier survey through estimation, negotiation and contracting.

Prior to this agreement, Hitachi installed and utilized JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite in its actual operations as part of the procurement process reforms within the Hitachi Group on November 6, 2018, leading to a promotion of advanced procurement processes by visualizing the business processes via integrated management of the S2C process within the entire Hitachi Group, and by sharing knowledge, such as supplier assessment and contract negotiation, among personnel in charge.

Today, Hitachi launches the TWX-21 Source to Contract service by combining the JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite with an installation support service utilizing Hitachi's expertise. Hitachi provides the JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite which has suppliers management functions such as assessment and development of suppliers, and sourcing management functions such as creating estimation and contracts. Hitachi supports strategic procurement activities to establish more highly-competitive value chains, by unifying procurement processes of the S2C, which has been individually optimized, and sharing knowledge throughout the company.

To survive in a highly competitive global market, procurement departments need to promote strategic activities from aspects such as stable supplies and risk assessment, in addition to reducing fundamental procurement costs. While the digitalized P2P range of the procurement processes is in widespread use, the S2C range has not advanced as rapidly. In most cases, the S2C range is independently optimized within the procurement departments of each country and region or even by individuals, and it is a challenge related to accumulating process knowledge within the overall global company groups, establishing more highly-competitive value chains. Over many years, Hitachi has implemented procurement process reforms, establishing and applying standards for its procurement department business processes, as well as the globally unified system within the Hitachi Group. TWX-21 was developed with this accumulated experience, and primarily offered as a cloud service to assist P2P process reforms, supporting trading conducted by about 66,000 customer companies(2) as well as the Hitachi Group. In order to accommodate the need to digitalize such a S2C process, TWX-21 Source to Contract service has been added to the TWX-21 service menu.

Based on the knowledge gained through the adoption of the JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite within the Hitachi Group for expanding its global business, the TWX-21 Source to Contract service offers a complete suite, from installation through application, maintenance and operation, in combination with the JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite. These services include providing activity consultation for the improvement and standardization of the S2C process; designing workflows, such as setting KPIs(3) and templates; providing SE support, user's manuals and help desks. Through these services, Hitachi supports the visualization and digitalization of the S2C process. The JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite offers sourcing management functions, such as for creating RFx(4), which is a request for suppliers, asking for a response, creating contracts, negotiations and signatures, in addition to supplier management functions, including scoring from a variety of information related to suppliers. Specifically, by creating and updating scorecards for respective suppliers based on various pieces of information, including compliance, handling of sourcing tasks, on-time delivery rate calculated based on actual trading, defective rate and qualification examination as well as risk assessment results, the JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite allows the continual and multilateral assessment of suppliers. In addition, using the system users can establish programs for collaborative creation with suppliers or the human resource development. Through these activities, they can jointly improve suppliers' performance and reduce risks, building a strategic partnership. Moreover, in combination with the TWX-21 P2P service(5), this system offers an integrated management system environment throughout the entire procurement processes, which will support the strategic procurement processes of customers in global businesses.

Hitachi continues to expand and strengthen the TWX-21 service and support customers' strategic global management with its advanced procurement processes by meeting customers' needs and business process challenges.

Robert Bonavito, CEO, JAGGAER
"We expect that customers in the Asia region, including Japan, will be able to accelerate digital transformation, and improve procurement processes through adopting the "TWX - 21 Source to Contract service" in combination with Hitachi's Installation expertise and "JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite."

(1) Awarded as a leader in the strategic sourcing application market with the highest score for "Ability to Execute" in Gartner's 2018 "Magic Quadrant for Strategic Sourcing Application Suites"
(2) As of November 2018.
(3) KPI: Key Performance Indicator (Indicator to measure and assess the intermediate process for achieving the final goal set within organizations or teams)
(4) Collective term for RFI (Request for Information), RFP (Request for Proposal) and RFQ (Request for Quote)
(5) EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) service, Web-EDI Global service, cloud type purchase service, e-sourcing/MRO centralized purchasing service and others.

About JAGGAER

JAGGAER is the world's largest independent spend management company, with nearly 2000 customers connected to a network of 3.7 million suppliers in 70 countries, served by offices located in North America, Latin America, throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. JAGGAER offers complete SaaS-based Source to Pay eProcurement solutions with advanced Spend Analytics, Sourcing, Supplier Management, Contract Lifecycle Management, Savings Tracking, and intelligent workflow capabilities. JAGGAER has pioneered spend solutions for over two decades and continues to lead the innovation curve by listening to customers and analysing the market. Our solution suites are trusted by the world's largest manufacturing, education, health care, retail, consumer package goods, logistics, construction, utilities companies and public service organizations. Additionally, JAGGAER holds 38 patents-more than any other spend management company.www.JAGGAER.com

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society's challenges, combining its operational technology, information technology, and products/systems. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2018) totaled 9,368.6 billion yen ($88.4 billion). The Hitachi Group is an innovation partner for the IoT era, and it has approximately 307,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation with customers, Hitachi is deploying Social Innovation Business using digital technologies in a broad range of sectors, including Power/Energy, Industry/Distribution/Water, Urban Development, and Finance/Social Infrastructure/Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

Contact:
Hitachi Ltd
Corporate Communications
Tel: +81-3-3258-1111

↧

Are Financial Institutions Taking Action?

December 3, 2018, 7:30 pm

≫ Next: WARC Awards 2019 full juries announced

≪ Previous: Hitachi Launches "TWX-21 Source to Contract Service" a product of JAGGAER's S2C Application Suite and Hitachi's Installation Expertise

The Trend Towards Financial Institutions Entering the Crypto Space

Dec 4, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The major overarching trend seen in the cryptocurrency industry recently is the movement of financial institutions as players entering this space. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have become a new institutional investment asset, drawing an ever-expanding list of financial technology (Fintech), banking and investment institutions, among others.

Along with this innovation and the global expansion of the crypto world, crypto exchanges are creating systems to ensure the blockchain ecosystem remains stable. These exchanges can bridge the traditional business world to the new digital cryptocurrency world. However, this bridge requires incorporation of fiat currencies, such as the HKD (Hong Kong Dollar), into these digital exchange platforms. With the HKD joining a crypto exchange, more people will have the opportunity to trade cryptocurrencies and thus furthering the mainstream adoption of the digital crypto world.

Actions and Initiatives of the Main Regulators: United States, European Union, and Asia

The United States, the European Union, and Asia serve as strong case-studies for the similarities and differences of blockchain adoption within the financial sector. On October 18, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the launch of the Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub) to engage industries, investors and the public on developments in Fintech. As Ricardo Esteves of News BTC reported, FinHub consolidated several working groups which previously existed under the SEC, showing that the U.S. is taking active measures to understand the rapidly growing financial innovation pathways, as well as dedicating a forum to analyze blockchain and digital assets. Similarly, the European Union is creating a Blockchain Forum to also investigate pathways to the creation of secure blockchain infrastructures. The EU has reached out to five major banks for this forum, including BBVA and Santander Bank.

Dubbed "blockchain friendly" countries, places like Malta, Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong have become places of immense innovation and adoption of cryptocurrencies due to favorable governance. Nations which prioritize innovation tend to be the quickest to adopt new and emerging technologies. Cryptocurrency exchanges are finding their home in such "blockchain friendly" countries which makes sense for global markets of consumers as regulations steer which regions of the world are the quickest to innovate and work towards mainstream adoption.

Hong Kong views Bitcoin as a virtual commodity instead of a currency since Bitcoin was first reviewed by Hong Kong regulators in late 2013. Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission, Ashley Alder, stated at Fintech Week that all cryptocurrencies, security tokens, and utility tokens are "virtual assets or crypto-assets." As Steven Hay of 99Bitcoins explains, Bitcoin is exempt from "both VAT and capital gains taxes in Hong Kong. However, income tax will still apply whether a business is receiving HKD or BTC." As an exchange of virtual commodities, Coinsuper is in an opportune place to build the first truly regulated and compliant cryptocurrency exchange for the region.

With the Addition of a Second Fiat Currency, Traders See Another Means to Buy & Sell Cryptocurrencies

Coinsuper, the cryptocurrency exchange based in Hong-Kong, announced this week that the platform is expanding to support the launch of HKD deposit and withdrawal services. The exchange previously allowed for USD trading on the platform and this expansion brings another major fiat currency onto the cryptocurrency platform.

The news was released on Coinsuper's Medium Page, Twitter Account and Telegram Channels on November 28, 2018. The exchange noted that HKD deposit will launch on the platform for Coinsuper traders on December 7th, 2018. Following proper completion of the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) verification process, users will find an efficient means to bind HKD or multi-currency bank accounts to then allow for HKD deposit and trading.

The company firmly believes in the potential of blockchain and is set on bringing financial institutions into the cryptocurrency world with regulation and compliance. As stated in Coinsuper's release of their upcoming HKD deposit and withdrawal services:

"Rooted in the world's financial hub, Coinsuper puts a strong emphasis on providing customers with convenient and secure trading channels. Adding on to the consistent support of USD trading, the HKD deposit service taps into the demand of local customers for easier fiat deposit and withdrawal."

Coinsuper recognizes the need for an exchange to match innovation with much needed regulatory compliance to ensure the longevity of the crypto space. Lead by Chairwoman Karen Chen, the former President of UBS China yields over 20 years of international financial management experience. Ms. Chen has assembled a team of reputable and respected professionals to drive the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. Coinsuper's crypto exchange includes diversified fiat deposit channels including HKD and USD, as well as a large selection of investors and venture capital partners who joined the exchange.

One of Coinsuper's core structures is their Coinsuper Ecosystem Network. As stated on the platform, the mission is: "to build an exchange of better capacity, compliance and security that provides the members with continuous service upgrades and push forward the building of a secure, compliant, trustable, and flourishing ecosystem for crypto asset trading." Through fiat expansion, the exchange will allow more cryptocurrency traders to conduct business transactions across crypto channels.

↧

WARC Awards 2019 full juries announced

December 3, 2018, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: 360 Global Business Leaders Attend Hong Kong Forum

≪ Previous: Are Financial Institutions Taking Action?

LONDON, Dec 4, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Top agency strategists and planners alongside senior executives from brands including Uber, McDonald's and Mars Petcare are among the judges for the WARC Awards 2019, a global search for next-generation marketing effectiveness.

The WARC Awards, an international case-study competition in search of the smartest campaigns that best use emerging marketing disciplines will be judged by a team of 54, split into four categories each with its own jury chair:

The four categories and their juries are:

Effective Content Strategy, rewarding branded content strategies that can demonstrate a business outcome:

- Namita Mediratta - Global CMI Director, Content Centre of Excellence, Unilever - jury chair
- Cecile Angrand - Global Brand Director, Whiskas (Mars Petcare)
- Navonil Chatterjee - Joint President & Chief Strategy Officer, Rediffusion India
- Alex Drozdovsky - Cross-Disciplinary Strategist
- Ryan Foley - Head of Content Marketing, We Are ROAST
- David Frymann - Strategy Partner, Frontier
- Tara Marsh - Global Head of Content, Wunderman
- Haruna McWilliams - Senior Vice President, Strategy, APAC, Essence
- Thas Naseemuddeen - Partner, Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Director, Omelet
- Brent Nelsen - Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett North America
- David Proudlock - Head of Strategy, CPB London
- Iuren Ramiro - Planning Manager, Santa Clara
- Lars Samuelsen - Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Digital, Grey Nordic
- Eleanor Thornton-Firkin - Head of Content and Creative Development, Ipsos Connect
- Fleur Willemijn van Beinum - Global Content Director, JDE

Effective Social Strategy, a search for the most effective campaigns that link social strategy to business success:

- Christine Xu - Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's China - jury chair
- Thomas Gregorski - Global Vice President Digital Strategy & Customer Engagement, Epsilon
- Catherine Heath - Founder and Global Chief Strategy Officer, Once Upon a Time Brands
- Jakub Hodbod - Strategy Director, Ogilvy New York
- Andre van Loon - Research & Insight Director, We Are Social London
- Hans Lopez-Vito - Chief Operating Officer, Greater China, BBDO
- Callum McCahon - Strategy Director, Born Social
- Jai Kotecha - Managing Partner & Global WPP Lead, Ogilvy
- Kim Hoeu - Head of Paid Social, APAC, Essence
- Martin Smith - Strategy Director, Twelve
- Alex Steer - Chief Product Officer, Wavemaker
- Mike Teasdale - Founder and Planning Director, Harvest Digital

Effective Use of Brand Purpose is for marketing initiatives that have successfully embraced a brand purpose and achieved commercial success as well as a benefit for a wider community.

- Fernando Machado - Global CMO, Burger King - jury chair
- Jane Asscher - CEO and Founding Partner, 23red
- Damian Bazadona - President and Founder, Situation
- John Clark - Planning Director, Coley Porter Bell
- Nazia du Bois - Founder, Ricebowl Strategy
- Matthias Eylers - Strategy Director 7 Partner, +KNAUSS
- Katya Farrin Brocks - Marketing and Communications Strategist
- Carol Garbutt - Client Director, OxfordSM
- James Hidden - Managing Director, Ogilvy & Mather Chicago
- Dan Izbicki - Founder, Ethos
- Vijay Raj - Vice President, CMI, Unilever Asia, Research Innovation
- Ric Navarro - Director, Marketing and Communications, Norman Disney & Young
- Leslie Pascaud - Executive VP Purpose Branding and Innovation, Kantar Added Value
- Andrew Wilson - Executive Director, Purpose at Edelman

Effective Innovation recognises innovative thinking that has transformed a business or disrupted category conventions to deliver tangible results:

- Dan Burdett - Chief Marketing Innovation Officer EMEA, eBay - jury chair
- Federica Bowman - Managing Director, Digital, FirmDecisions
- Victoria Buchanan - Executive Creative Director, Tribal Worldwide London
- Ben Callis - Global Creative Director, Imagination
- Jem Fawcus - Group CEO & Owner, Firefish
- Sanjay Gupta - Head of Marketing, Uber India
- David Heaney - Global Content Lead, Baileys (Diageo)
- Matt Lawson - Principal Chief Creative Officer, Deloitte Digital APAC
- Hannah Mirza - Manager, Apple
- Justin Reilly - Entrepreneur, Innovator, Strategist and Thought Leader
- Darren Savage - Chief Strategy Officer, Tribal Worldwide London
- Jon Sharpe - CEO Europe, VMLY&R
- Lorenzo Wood - Chief Innovation Officer, Publicis.Sapient

Lucy Aitken, Managing Editor, Case Studies, WARC, comments: "We have a remarkable line-up of top international talent, from both agencies and brands alike, in pursuit of case studies that best showcase innovative marketing techniques that deliver business results for clients."

Organised by WARC, the global authority on advertising and media effectiveness, the WARC Awards are free to enter and are open to submissions from any country and communications discipline. There is a $40,000 prize fund for the top winning papers, spread across the four categories.

Full details of all the judges can be seen on the WARC Awards site (https://www.warc.com/WARCAwards.prize) together with information on how to enter. The closing date for entries is 19 February 2019.

About WARC

- Your global authority on advertising and media effectiveness

warc.com is an online service offering advertising best practice, evidence, insights and data from the world's leading brands. WARC helps clients grow their businesses by using proven approaches to maximise advertising effectiveness. WARC's clients include the world's largest advertising and media agencies, research companies, advertisers, market analysts and academics.

WARC runs two global and two regional case study competitions: WARC Awards, WARC Media Awards, WARC Prize for Asian Strategy and WARC Prize for MENA Strategy.

WARC publishes three global rankings of advertising excellence: Gunn 100 (creativity), WARC 100 (effectiveness), Gunn Media 100 (media innovation) and publishes leading journals including Admap, Market Leader, the Journal of Advertising Research and the International Journal of the Market Research Society. In addition to its own content, WARC features advertising case studies and best practices from more than 50 respected industry sources, including ARF, Effies, Cannes Lions, ESOMAR and IPA.

Founded in 1985, WARC has offices in the UK, U.S. and Singapore. In June 2018 WARC was acquired by Ascential plc, the global specialist information company.

↧

360 Global Business Leaders Attend Hong Kong Forum

December 3, 2018, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Mitsubishi Corporation Named Preferred Bidder for Offshore Transmission Asset in the UK

≪ Previous: WARC Awards 2019 full juries announced

Margaret Fong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, speaks at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Forum, explaining how the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development and the free trade agreement between Hong Kong and ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) will further promote investment and trade across the region.

Dennis Lo, Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Science and Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, joins Miles Wen, CEO of Fano Labs, and serial entrepreneur Danny Yeung, CEO of Prenetics, to discuss how Hong Kong can develop into a technology hub.

Annual Gathering Focuses on Start-ups, Innovation and Fintech

HONG KONG, Dec 4, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The latest business opportunities in Asia come into sharp focus at the 19th Hong Kong Forum, which opened today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and runs until tomorrow. Co-organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide (FHKBAW), the event has attracted more than 360 business leaders from 30 countries and regions. Key topics at the 2018 forum include innovation and technology (I&T), the role of start-ups, and the development of fintech.

This year's forum is attended by representatives from Mainland China as well as Cambodia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. As a newly joined member of the FHKBAW, the Hong Kong-Korea Business Association is taking part in the forum for the first time.

Hong Kong Boosted by New Technologies and Regional Cooperation

Delivering the opening remarks at the forum this morning, HKTDC Executive Director Margaret Fong said that this year's event takes place at a challenging time amid the Sino-US trade conflict and with rising concern over the stability of the global economy. "At a time of such uncertainty, it is crucial for companies to look further afield for new opportunities," she said.

Ms Fong noted that the importance of innovation and the huge potential presented by new technologies are currently hot topics in Hong Kong, with I&T made the key focus in the latest Policy Address by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

This year's Hong Kong forum therefore focuses on I&T, examining cutting-edge technologies in the areas of biotech, artificial intelligence (AI), digital healthcare and fintech. Speakers will discuss how Hong Kong can leverage its advantages to develop into a technology hub, while the creative forces behind some of Hong Kong's hottest start-ups will share their disruptive ideas that are poised to transform various industries.

Ms Fong also highlighted the business opportunities presented by greater cooperation within the region. "The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development is set to build a highly competitive, internationally recognised city cluster and provide abundant new opportunities for local and international businesses alike, especially in the areas of technology and innovation," she said, adding that the free trade agreement and related investment agreement signed between Hong Kong and ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which will start to take effect next month, will further promote investment and trade between the two sides and enhance the city's role as a two-way investment and business hub.

Hong Kong: Cutting-edge Technology Hub

Recent years have seen the rapid development of cutting-edge technologies, many of which are now helping to transform various industries. In the first session of the forum, "The Future of Technology: A Look at Hong Kong's Emerging Technologies", Dennis Lo, Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Science and Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, joined Miles Wen, CEO of Fano Labs, and serial entrepreneur Danny Yeung, CEO of Prenetics, to discuss how Hong Kong can ride on its competitive edge to develop into a technology hub.

Professor Lo noted that the HKSAR Government has in recent years given strong support to the development of cutting-edge technologies, investing HK$10 billion in the medical sciences through innovative platforms such as Hong Kong Science Park. He added that Hong Kong is equipped with world-class biotechnology capabilities that have great potential for further development, and he hoped that DNA technology could be made more widely and freely available in Mainland China under the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development, helping to advance medical technology and benefit more people.

Start-ups Drive Innovation in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's start-up ecosystem is currently booming. In a session titled "Transformation Underway: Innovative Talents in Hong Kong", three local start-up entrepreneurs - Eric Gnock Fah, COO and co-founder of Klook, Alan Lam, founder of Concept Infinity Limited, and Norman Cheung, founder of Boxful Technology - shared their game-changing ideas which are helping to disrupt and transform various industries in the city.

Mr Gnock Fah said that with the popularisation of smartphones, the company has launched a mobile app to make it easier for users to access Klook's services. The company promotes travel innovation and provides quality services for its users by adopting digital technologies and establishing partnerships with different organisations around the world.

Technology Changes the Financial Landscape

Technology is sweeping its way through the world's financial landscape, including in Hong Kong. Executives from leading corporations, including Ken Lo, CEO of Branding China Group Ltd, Simon Loong, founder and CEO of WeLab, and Jennifer Tan, CEO of Alipay Payment Services (HK) Limited, discussed the disruptive changes that are happening in the industry and the opportunities being brought about by new finance-related technologies.

Guest Speakers Share Valuable Insights

Each year, heavyweight speakers are invited to the forum's luncheons to share their views and insights. Today's "Luncheon Dialogue - Journey of a Pianist" featured renowned Chinese pianist Zhang Shengliang (Niu Niu), who as well as giving a piano performance shared his musical journey and detailed his road to success via the Hong Kong platform.

The speaker at the keynote luncheon tomorrow (5 Dec) will be Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR. He will introduce Hong Kong's latest developments and business policies to participants from around the world. He will also explain how Hong Kong is working to establish closer cooperative relationships with regional partners to capture the opportunities presented by the new global economic order.

Zhuhai and Zhongshan: New Bridge Connects Fast-growing Cities

As a side programme of the forum, Iris Wong, the HKTDC's Director of Belt and Road and External Relations, will lead a business delegation to Zhuhai and Zhongshan on 6-8 Dec, travelling from Hong Kong on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) to survey the investment environment and development prospects in the two cities. The recently opened bridge has established a new transport link between the east and west banks of the Pearl River, helping to meet the demand for passenger and freight land transport and enhancing the economic and sustainable development of Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau.

The delegation will include more than 60 representatives from chambers of commerce from Belt and Road countries, as well as Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States. The group will meet senior Zhuhai and Zhongshan officials and pay visits to the Guangdong Free Trade Zone (Hengqin), Gree Electric Appliances Inc., Ming Yang Smart Energy Group, and One Point. They will also meet with Hong Kong entrepreneurs with operations in Zhuhai and Zhongshan to explore cooperation opportunities.

The Hong Kong Forum is the annual flagship event of the FHKBAW. Set up in 2000, the Federation has a membership of more than 13,000 businesspeople, with 43 association members from 32 countries and regions.

The HKTDC is holding five events at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this week - the Asian E-tailing Summit (5 Dec), the HKTDC SmartBiz Expo (5-7 Dec), the HKTDC Hong Kong International Franchising Show (5-7 Dec), the Business of IP Asia Forum (6-7 Dec) and DesignInspire (6-8 Dec). These events focus on new technology and cover various stages of the supply chain, including research and development, design, production, sales and marketing. They aim to help small and medium-sized enterprises enhance their competitiveness and cost-effectiveness and develop new business areas and markets to adapt to the ever-changing economic landscape.

Fair Website: https://www.hkfederation.org.hk/hkforum
Photo download: https://bit.ly/2PkBtDo

About the Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide

With the help of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide was established in 2000. It is a unique network of 42 Hong Kong Business Associations in 31 countries and regions with over 13,000 individual associates. They are Hong Kong's closest allies and partners in the world market. The Chief Executives is the Federation's honorary patron and HKTDC serves as its secretariat. For details, please see http://www.hkfederation.org.hk

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With 50 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter@hktdc, LinkedIn.

Contact:
Coco Yuen, Tel: +852 2584 4145, Email: coco.hc.yuen@hktdc.org

↧

Mitsubishi Corporation Named Preferred Bidder for Offshore Transmission Asset in the UK

December 5, 2018, 4:49 am

≫ Next: Capillary Technologies hosts #ready18' summit in Singapore, empowering brands and businesses to get Consumer ready

≪ Previous: 360 Global Business Leaders Attend Hong Kong Forum

TOKYO, Dec 5, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Diamond Transmission Corporation (DTC), has been selected as the preferred bidder for a new, offshore electricity transmission link in the UK. This marks the seventh electricity transmission project for MC in the UK. The new offshore electricity transmission asset connects the Galloper Offshore Windfarm (generation capacity of 353MW), situated approximately 30 km off the country's eastern coast, with the Sizewell substation. The transmission line is composed of subsea and land cables and offshore and onshore substations, and is valued at GBP 329.1 million.

MC will execute this electricity transmission business for a 20-year period starting around the second quarter of 2019, following successful acquisition of the asset and the granting of an Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) license by the UK's Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem).

With the acquisition of the Galloper Offshore Windfarm transmission link, DTC will now be operating seven offshore transmission assets in the UK, which is the largest share considering that there is a total of 19 assets across the country. Combined with four others held in Germany, the number of power transmission assets held by DTC in Europe will add up to eleven, for a gross transmission length of approximately 1,000 km and an electricity transmission capacity of around 5.3 GW.

DTC is seeking to expand its independent management functions and deepen its commitments in the offshore transmission business by leveraging the skills of its highly qualified in-house team of technical and accounting specialists.

A European Commission roadmap suggests the EU is aiming to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. In line with that target, the EU expects to generate some 50 GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2030. The availability of stably operated undersea cable transmission systems that connect offshore wind power generation plants to onland power grids is increasingly critical in that context. For its part, MC sees its participation in offshore transmission and other businesses that contribute to reducing greenhouse emissions as an opportunity to realize its vision of simultaneously generating economic, societal and environmental value through its businesses.

About Mitsubishi Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates business across virtually every industry including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, foods, and environmental business. Mitsubishi Corporation's current activities are expanding far beyond its traditional trading operations as its diverse business ranges from natural resources development to investment in retail business, infrastructure, financial products and manufacturing of industrial goods. For more information on Mitsubishi Corporation, please visit the company's website at https://www.mitsubishicorp.com/jp/en/.

Contact:
Mitsubishi Corporation
Telephone: +81-3-3210-2171
Facsimile: +81-3-5252-7705

↧

Capillary Technologies hosts #ready18' summit in Singapore, empowering brands and businesses to get Consumer ready

December 4, 2018, 6:30 pm

≫ Next: Award winners announced for the 2018 IR Magazine Forum & Awards - Greater China

≪ Previous: Mitsubishi Corporation Named Preferred Bidder for Offshore Transmission Asset in the UK

SINGAPORE, Dec 5, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Capillary Technologies, one of Asia's leading Omnichannel CRM and E-commerce Solutions Provider, hosted its technology-focused conference in Singapore. Dubbed #ready2018, the event aimed to empower business leaders with the latest business strategies to be consumer-ready and uncover how technology is fundamentally transforming the e-commerce, startup and retail ecosystem in Southeast Asia (SEA). Over 200 business owners, CXOs and startups graced the event with Capillary Technologies leading the way by enabling the digital transformation of businesses - showing them how the internet could make life quicker, more comfortable and better.

SEA's 300+ million-strong internet users are set to grow to over 400 million by 2020, and its internet economy is projected to be worth US$200 billion by 2025. With more than 70 million new internet users since 2015, the region is now poised with greater digital disruption, SEA's internet users are the epitome of the omnichannel consumer, buoyed by ever-evolving mobile technology consumption and offline to online transactions, there is no dearth of opportunities for them and the businesses that depend on them.

Hot on the heels of this digital gold-rush, #ready18's conference discussed the various aspects that would enhance the consumer and digital readiness of brands. Through various insightful sessions by leaders from companies like Nielsen, Twitter and Google, the event captured the need for the brands to re-engineer their consumer strategy and ways in which they can create a growth mindset within the company. The sessions also recognised that technology has been a big disrupter in many sectors and how business can use technology to their aid.

The rising internet penetration has led to an unprecedented growth of the digital economy in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Nielsen research the APAC consumers spend approximately 6.5 hours online every day and 98% of them have made online purchase, with fashion and travel claiming the highest share of wallet. The millennial consumers have a very unique perspective on things and brands need to understand them better in order to tap in to the immense business potential that they bring. They are hyper-connected and their consumption and recall of the content is faster. It is imperative for brands to identify the most suitable channels to reach out to this audience and align their strategy to what resonates with them.

"It was great to see our attendees so keen and enthusiastic in the exploring the opportunities that digital technology has to offer," said Aneesh Reddy, Co-Founder and CEO of Capillary Technologies. "#ready18 brought together business leaders who are at the forefront of the changes affecting the future of commerce and the conference provided a valuable backdrop for us to discuss critical issues, such as the importance of digital for enhancing consumer loyalty and the challenge of eliminating the cost and complexities of digital transformation. The insights and discussions garnered at over the course of one day reflected the defining developments we see emerging from the continually evolving digital landscape."

Attendees were able to brush up on their knowledge of the best omnichannel solutions in the market via interactive exhibits curated by Amazon Web Services, Mindtree and Cloudcherry. Learners were also joined by Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, COO of Capillary Technologies who was on hand to present an exclusive masterclass on loyalty and CRM excellence.

Aneesh added: "We wanted to showcase that digital transformation is seamless and easy for adoption and more importantly, how it could change their businesses for the better. It was great to have our speakers help us spread the message and we thank them for the immense show of support. I'm personally looking forward to new advances in digital technology and can't wait to showcase them next year at #ready19!"

#Ready2018 https://www.readyevent.co/

About Capillary Technologies

Capillary's technology solutions help businesses get ahead of the digital evolution and stay 'Always Consumer Ready'. Over 400 marquee brands across 30+ countries, including Pizza Hut, VF Brands, Walmart, Al-Futtaim, KFC, Starbucks, Madura Garments, Courts and Samsung, trust Capillary to enable easy and seamless consumer experiences. With over 300 million consumers and 35,000 stores on the platform, Capillary is Asia's leading SaaS product company. Over 800 Capillary associates across 14 global offices are continually innovating to find new ways for brands to make their consumers' lives easier, and experiences memorable. Explore more at https://www.capillarytech.com/

Press release (PDF): http://www.acnnewswire.com/clientreports/598/capillary_181205.pdf

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Award winners announced for the 2018 IR Magazine Forum & Awards - Greater China

December 4, 2018, 9:50 pm

≫ Next: Asian E-tailing Summit Held Today

≪ Previous: Capillary Technologies hosts #ready18' summit in Singapore, empowering brands and businesses to get Consumer ready

HONG KONG, Dec 5, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - A grand total of 30 awards were presented at the IR Magazine Awards - Greater China ( http://events.irmagazine.com/greaterchina/), held in Hong Kong last Friday, which honored the industry's finest IR practitioners and celebrated the incredible range of remarkable talent and innovation of the Greater China IR community. IR Magazine wishes to congratulate all of this year's winners and nominees.

Telecommunications company China Unicom (Hong Kong) took away three gongs, winning the big-hitting best overall investor relations for a large cap, the communications sector award and the best IR in Hong Kong award. There were also several double award winners, among them China Resources Beer, which won for best corporate governance & disclosure and best IR in the consumer staples sector, and Anta Sports Products, which won awards for most progress in IR and best IR in the consumer discretionary sector. The full list of winners can be found here:
http://events.irmagazine.com/greaterchina/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2018/11/GRC18-List-of-nominees-with-winners.pdf

To find out more information about the methodology behind the awards and how the winners are chosen, please click http://events.irmagazine.com/greaterchina/#/home/researched-awards/ for the researched awards
and http://events.irmagazine.com/greaterchina/#/home/awards-categories-self-nomination/ for the awards-by-nomination.

About the IR Magazine Forum & Awards - Greater China 2018
The IR Magazine Forum & Awards - Greater China 2018 is among the most anticipated events of the year for the IR industry in Asia. IROs from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan get the unique opportunity to gather and discuss pressing issues, hear real-life examples and best practices from senior IR professionals, and celebrate their achievements at the awards ceremony.

The event is sponsored by Citi, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, Deutsche Bank, EQS, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, ICA, Ipreo by IHS Markit, Nasdaq, SPRG and West. Strategic Public Relations Group is proud to be the Official Public Relations Partner for the IR Magazine Forum & Awards - Greater China 2018. For more information, please visit www.irmagazine.com/greaterchina

About IR Magazine
Launched in 1988, IR Magazine is the only global publication that focuses on the interactions between companies and their investors. IR Magazine helps investor relations professionals achieve more in their IR programs, benchmark their efforts and connect to the global IR community. In addition to producing articles, research reports and investor perception studies, IR Magazine also hosts events such as awards, think tanks and forums around the world and online webinars. To learn more, please visit www.irmagazine.com or connect with IR Magazine via Twitter @IRMagazine and the LinkedIn group: IR Magazine.

Media enquiries
Strategic Public Relations Group
Cindy Lung / Jessica Siu / Crystal Yuen
Tel: +852 2864 4867 / 2114 2820 / 2114 4903
Email: cindy.lung@sprg.com.hk / jessica.siu@sprg.com.hk / crystal.yuen@sprg.com.hk
Website: www.sprg.asia

↧

Asian E-tailing Summit Held Today

December 5, 2018, 1:00 am

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The Asian E-tailing Summit was held today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the one-day event offers a one-stop platform for business professionals and online retail experts to discuss success cases and business solutions.

Industry Experts Explore Latest Online Retail Opportunities

HONG KONG, Dec 5, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The second Asian E-tailing Summit took place today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the one-day event offered a one-stop platform for business professionals and online retail experts to discuss success cases and business solutions, explore opportunities in Mainland China and across Asia, and build useful business connections.

The summit ran concurrently with the first day of the HKTDC SmartBiz Expo, which continues on 6-7 Dec. A joint opening ceremony for the two events was held this morning and was officiated by Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

Welcoming participants at this morning's opening ceremony, HKTDC Executive Director Margaret Fong said: "We launched the SmartBiz Expo and Asian E-tailing Summit last year with the intention of equipping businesses - SMEs in particular - with the knowledge, insights, inspiration and connections needed to thrive in the digital era." Ms Fong explained that this year's Asian E-tailing Summit featured leaders from e-tailing giants, online marketplaces and think tanks to explore what the future holds, "from advances in the online retailing ecosystem to the opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative".

According to Euromonitor International, the value of global internet retailing exceeded US$1.4 trillion in 2017. Mainland China was the biggest market, accounting for a third of the global total at US$490 billion, followed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and India. Online retail sales in six key ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries - Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines - exceeded US$9.5 billion, making up just 0.7% of the global total. The industry expects growth in online sales in the mainland and the six ASEAN countries to continue at more than 20% annually.

Plenary Session 1 - Exploring Online Retailing Platform Developments

Two plenary sessions were held this morning. The first, "Advances in Online Retailing Ecosystem: Everything, Everywhere, All the Time", revealed how the vibrant e-tailing ecosystem fuels business growth and brand-building, helping the industry to take the initiative. Speakers included Clay Liao, Mobile Technical Solutions Consultant, Google; Jenny Cheung, Head of Corporate Marketing, Microsoft Hong Kong; Cassandra Girard, Global Vice President and Head of Consumer and Travel Industries, SAP Customer Experience; Josephine Chow, co-founder and Head of Expansion, ShopBack; and Sherry Zehr, Fashion and Toys Regional Lead, Regional Brand Partnerships, Shopee. The session was chaired by Yew Hong Koh, Managing Director - Retail Lead for Greater China, Accenture.

Plenary Session 2 - How the Belt and Road Drives Cross-border E-commerce

The second plenary session, "The Belt and Road Initiative: New Digital Horizons", discussed how this landmark infrastructure initiative that is driving economic ties and growth in Asia and beyond can help to foster the cross-border development of e-commerce. Speakers included Wootinun Sungong, CEO and founder, CloudCommerce; Kevin So, CEO, E-GoGo Limited; and Rishabh Shukla, Vice President, Business Development, iPrice Group. The session was chaired by Andrew Lee, Senior Director, Advisory Services, Ernst & Young.

Two concurrent breakout sessions were held in the afternoon, namely "Technology: Machine Manpower" and "Big Data: Know Your Customer". The former explored how artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping to create e-tailing innovation, with speakers including Omer Artun, CEO and founder, AgilOne, Inc; Jaelyn Kwan, Partner, PwC Experience Centre; Emad Suhail Rahim, co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Robomart, Inc; and Lin Fon Chen, CEO, Robotelf Technologies. The session was chaired by Loo Wee Teck, Global Head of Consumer Electronics Research, Euromonitor International.

The big data breakout session analysed how data stimulates social commerce and improves customer engagement and loyalty, with speakers including Wang-Tun Chou, Senior Vice President, International Business Development, 91APP Inc; Frankie Ho, General Manager, Baidu International; Patrick Steinbrenner, APAC Partner and Managing Director, Insider; Cris Tran, Director, QRC Group; and Cassandra Girard, Global Vice President and Head of Consumer and Travel Industries, SAP Customer Experience. Chairing the session was Anson Bailey, Head of Technology, Hong Kong, Head of Consumer & Retail, ASPAC, KPMG.

Workshops, Networking and the First "Asia's Best E-tailing Awards"

Three concurrent workshop sessions were held during the summit, covering topics such as mobile checkout systems and payment security, omni-channel retailing, and e-tailing best practices. Networking receptions were organised to help visitors and companies explore potential partnerships. Representatives from e-commerce associations from Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, along with representatives from Hong Kong Electronic Commerce Association and famous Asia-Pacific e-tailers ZALORA and YOOX, held an inaugural roundtable conference to discuss the prospects of e-tailing in Asia. The results of the first "Asia's Best E-tailing Awards", with HKTDC as a strategic partner, were also announced today.

Other Technology-focused Events Create Synergy

The HKTDC is holding a total five events at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this week - today's e Asian E-tailing Summit, the HKTDC SmartBiz Expo (5-7 Dec), HKTDC Hong Kong International Franchising Show (5-7 Dec), Business of IP Asia Forum (6-7 Dec) and DesignInspire (6-8 Dec). These events focus on new technology and cover various stages of the supply chain, including research and development, design, production, sales and marketing. They aim to help small and medium-sized enterprises enhance their competitiveness and cost-effectiveness and develop new business areas and markets to adapt to the ever-changing economic landscape.

Fair websites:
SmartBiz Expo: http://www.hktdc.com/smartbizexpo
Asian E-tailing Summit: http://www.asianetailingsummit.com
Business of IP Asia Forum: http://www.bipasiaforum.com
Hong Kong International Franchising Show: http://www.hktdc.com/hkifs
DesignInspire: http://www.hktdc.com/ncs/designinspire2018/en/main/index.html
Photo download: https://bit.ly/2UatEUF

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With 50 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter@hktdc, LinkedIn.

Contact:
Sunny Ng, Tel: +852 2584 4357, Email: sunny.sl.ng@hktdc.org

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DesignInspire Opens Tomorrow in Hong Kong

December 5, 2018, 1:00 am

≫ Next: SmartBiz Expo and Franchising Show Open Today

≪ Previous: Asian E-tailing Summit Held Today

The Japan Building Materials Association (JBMA) showcases the beauty of Japan traditions alongside modern architectural methods and technologies (Booth 3E-A03)

Under the theme "Think, Collaborate, Create", the Melbourne Pavilion (Booth 3E-B07) presents a series of eye-catching designs and innovations, including a five-metre-long animatronic baby T-Rex

The "Urbanovation" Pavilion (Booth 3E-C01) gathers 21 new innovations, creative projects, concepts and solutions, focusing on future robotics applications, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education and solutions promoting smart living

On display at the Hong Kong Creative Force Pavilion (Booth 3D-A01) are local design projects under the theme "RetroInnovations", as well as miniatures of Hong Kong city scenes

Exhibits Show How Global Creativity is Helping to Build Happier Cities

HONG KONG, Dec 5, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The second edition of DesignInspire, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), opens tomorrow and runs until 8 Dec at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

A press preview was held today to offer a first-hand look at some of the highlighted zones and products at the expo, including the Melbourne Pavilion, the "Urbanovation" Pavilion, and the Hong Kong Creative Force Pavilion.

Under the theme "Co-create a Happy City", over 230 exhibitors from nine countries and regions will take part in DesignInspire, featuring more than 635 designs and projects to showcase the latest design concepts and innovations from around the world.

Other exciting interactive events at the fairground include design master talks, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) and design workshops, and the Robot Boxing League competition.

Photo Download: https://bit.ly/2RyJfLR

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With 50 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter@hktdc, LinkedIn.

Contact:
Banbi Chen, Tel: +852 2584 4525, Email: banbi.yc.chen@hktdc.org

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