Demonstrating 15 contact tracing and other tools built to mitigate the impact of COVID-19

Andy Moss Contributor Share on Twitter Andy Moss is currently a Visiting Professor at NYU Tandon teaching entrepreneurship and innovation as well developing the COR Methodology, an active advisor/mentor to startups and business leaders, and is a former Microsoft executive. Connor Spelliscy Contributor Share on Twitter Connor Spelliscy is Director of New Platforms at Hangar, a partner at Connectivity Fund and helps lead COVID-19 Tech Task Force initiatives.

UK’s COVID-19 health data contracts with Google and Palantir finally emerge

Contracts for a number of coronavirus data deals that the UK government inked in haste with US tech giants, including Google and Palantir, plus a UK-based AI firm called Faculty, have been published today by openDemocracy and law firm Foxglove — which had threatened legal action for withholding the information. Concerns had been raised about what is an unprecedented transfer of health data on millions of UK citizens to private tech companies, including those with a commercial interest in acquiring data to train and build AI models.

Slack’s new integration deal with AWS could also be about tweaking Microsoft

Slack and Amazon announced a big integration late yesterday afternoon. As part of the deal, Slack will use Amazon Chime for its call feature, while reiterating its commitment to use AWS as its preferred cloud provider to run its infrastructure. At the same time, AWS has agreed to use Slack for internal communications. Make no mistake, this is a big deal as the SaaS communications tool increases its ties with AWS, but this agreement could also be about slighting Microsoft and its rival Teams product by making a deal with a cloud rival.

The Future of Fintech: AI & Blockchain

Sweeping global regulations, the growing penetration of digital devices, and a slew of investor interest are catapulting the fintech industry to new highs. Of the many emerging technologies poised to transform financial services, two of the most promising and mature are artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. 74% of banking executives believe AI will transform their industry completely, and 46% of global financial services employees expect blockchain to improve transparency and data management.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderSee Also:American Express is beginning to see signs of early recovery from the first wave of the pandemicUK fintechs are aiming to close their compliance skills gap while banks are focusing on upgrading tech capabilitiesReal-time payments are seeing rapid uptake during the pandemic

Trends In Business Intelligence And Data Science For Retail

Succeeding in retail isn’t easy. Shifting customer tastes, shrinkage risks and reduced traffic at physical stores are just some of the challenges retailers may face as they try to operate profitably. Many are relying on data science and business intelligence (BI) tools to get ahead of competitors and stay resilient in a challenging marketplace.  Here are five trends in business intelligence and data science for retail worth knowing: 1.

Carlyle-backed ZoomInfo’s shares soar 90% in U.S. market debut

Shares of ZoomInfo Technologies Inc almost doubled in their U.S. market debut on Thursday, after the business intelligence platform raised about $934.5 million in the largest U.S. technology listing so far this year.

ZoomInfo shares soar 90% in U.S. market debut

Shares of ZoomInfo Technologies Inc jumped 90% in their U.S. market debut on Thursday, after the business intelligence platform raised about $934.5 million in the largest U.S. technology listing so far this year.

Researchers find exposed data on millions of users of quiz app, TVSmiles

TVSmiles, a Berlin-based mobile native advertising app whose users earn digital currency in exchange for engaging with branded content such as quizzes, apps and videos, has suffered a data breach. Security researcher UpGuard disclosed in a report today that it found an unsecured Amazon S3 bucket online last month — containing personal and device data tied to millions of the app’s users.

The Future of Fintech: AI & Blockchain

Sweeping global regulations, the growing penetration of digital devices, and a slew of investor interest are catapulting the fintech industry to new highs. Of the many emerging technologies poised to transform financial services, two of the most promising and mature are artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. 74% of banking executives believe AI will transform their industry completely, and 46% of global financial services employees expect blockchain to improve transparency and data management.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderSee Also:UK Parliament is concerned about potential effects of the pandemic on the UK's cash infrastructureGreater Than has launched a cloud-based loyalty programNew survey highlights Hong Kong banks' approach to fintech

How startups can leverage elastic services for cost optimization

Joey Lei Contributor Share on Twitter Joey Lei is director of service management at Synoptek, a global systems integrator and managed services provider. Prior to joining Synoptek, he was a lead product manager for Dell EMC’s Data Protection Division and was a founding product manager for Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager, Dell EMC’s newest generation data protection and data management solution. Due to COVID-19, business continuity has been put to the test for many companies in the manufacturing, agriculture, transport, hospitality, energy and retail sectors.