Smart Dust

In the third and final part of the 'Smart Dust Investigates' series, we interview Microsoft Hololens' Asia Pacific Director, Lawrence Crumpton and things really heat up as we dive deep on all things from immersive virtual reality and mixed reality to the much talked about metaverse. And Nick and Douglas make their conclusions on whether, maybe, just maybe this life as we know it is a simulation.

In the first of a three-part 'Smart Dust Investigates' series, we will take you on an adventure through the possible truths behind one of techs biggest (and possibly craziest) theories - “Is it possible that we live in a simulation”? Elon Musk believes we are living in a sim – he says “There is a billion to one chance we are living in a true base reality.” While popular physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says it is “very likely” that our universe is a simulation. Tune into part 1 - Introduction to the SIM Theory debate: Interview with Rodney Ascher, Director of Sundance hit doco 'A Glitch in the Matrix'. Be prepared to have your mind stretched.

In the second instalment of the 'Smart Dust Investigates' podcast series, we interview MIT Games Lab founder and author of the new book “The Simulated Multiverse” (and “The Simulation Hypothesis”), Rizwan Virk.    Want to explore the possibilities for XR to create an immersive virtual world? Tune into part 2. 

Exponential advances in technology are changing our world at a rapid pace, and for most of us, predicting what comes next feels a little like gazing into a cloudy crystal ball. Enter this week's very special guest, Amy Webb. A world-renowned futurist, Amy's expertise in the realm of emerging technologies is second to none. She's the CEO and founder of the Future Today Institute, which advises some of the world's biggest companies, and a professor of strategic foresight at New York University's Stern School of Business.  In this episode, we cover crypto, assistive reality, ‘The You of Things', emotional AI and robots-as-a-service  

Kirstin Ferguson knows a thing or two about career diversity. At just 17 she enrolled at the Australian Defence Force Academy, graduating as a Flying Officer and Dux of her class. But not one to rest on her laurels, Kirstin juggled her Royal Australian Air Force service with study, earning a law degree that facilitated a move out of the military and into civilian life. Her career was just getting started. Today, Kirstin sits as a non-executive director on several boards, was Deputy Chair of the ABC for 2 Years, writes a column in the Sydney Morning Herald and advocates for gender equality and diversity in the workplace. In this episode, we chat with Kristen on leadership in the era of COVID-19.  

With lives increasingly lived online, safety in the digital world has never been more important. That’s why we sat down with Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner. Having worked across the not-for-profit, public and private sector – filling key roles at Microsoft, Twitter and Adobe – there’s simply no better person to talk to about online safety in Australia today. In this episode, we discuss her career, online threats and the legislative responses aimed at keeping us safe.

In this episode Douglas and Nick are joined by the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher. In a wide-ranging conversation, we discuss the impact of the ACCC’s proposed code to require the tech giants to pay media companies for the content they use. Potentially a big global precedent and very much being watched by tech companies globally. In fact, Facebook says it may drop all local, national and international news from its Australian platforms if the code becomes law – which would have major implications for the way millions of Australians stay informed. We also cover the future of The NBN, 5G and Cyber abuse. Definitely worth a listen.

2021 is shaping up to be an exciting year, mainly because it’s not 2020. But that’s not all – 2021 also promises to be a massive year for tech. In this episode, we talk six tech trends that could help shape and define the new year, including cyber warfare, synthetics, managing your personal carbon footprint, AI, smart glasses, and trading our bio data for travel.  

What makes a successful disruptor? Is 5G really all it’s cracked up to be? And what other upcoming technologies can we expect to challenge industry standards as we know them? Who would be better placed to tackle these questions than technologist David Thodey: as the Chair of the Commonwealth Science, Industry & Research Organisation (CSIRO), accounting revolutionary Xero, Aussie fintech powerhouse Tyro and a board member at Vodafone the correct answer is not many. That’s why we sat down with David in this episode to give him a penny for his thoughts.

NSW’s journey to be a digital powerhouse is underway and the man at the helm is Victor Dominello, Member for Ryde and Australia’s very first Minister for Customer Service. His role in this new portfolio is to optimise the citizen experience through a range of digital initiatives, with quite a few already underway. In this episode, we talk about the Digital Drivers Licence, Digital Check In functions for COVID-19 contact tracing, cyber security infrastructure and more.

What does a purpose-led global business look like? Nicole Sparshott knows; she’s leading two of them through their biggest transformation yet. CEO of Unilever ANZ and Global CEO of T2, Nicole is spearheading a sustainability revolution in Unilever – one of Australia’s most iconic FMCG brands – and well on her way to making T2 certified sustainable by 2021. In this episode, we talk to Nicole about reconciling commerce with our carbon footprint, overcoming barriers to achieve sustainable outcomes and more.

Having taken on a market considered to be ‘conquered’ by Google and Microsoft, Mark Tanner is living proof that entrepreneurs can still re-write the competitor landscape. Frustrated by PowerPoint and PDF, Mark and co-founder Dylan Baskin created Qwilr – a now global operation offering software for businesses to create elegant web-based forms, proposals and contracts with consistent design principles. Following in the footsteps of Australia’s other design unicorn Canva, Qwilr just raised $10.8 million in a Series A round led by Airtree Ventures and Skip Capital and have their sights set on further expansion in Europe and the US. We chat to Mark in this episode about how he took on the tech giants…and won.

Has innovation taken a back seat during COVID-19? Andy Tsao, Managing Director or Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) joins us from Santa Clara to find out. Andy is leader of SVB’s Global Gateway, which assists emerging market innovation companies as they seek US market entry and US companies looking to expand abroad. SVB is a US-based commercial bank with over 3600 employees across offices in the US, India, Beijing, Ireland, London and Israel. It’s one of the largest banks in the United States and has helped fund more than 30,000 start-ups. SVB was behind an incredible 69%of U.S. venture capital-backed companies with an IPO in 2020 so it’s worth listening to his insider insights.

In this episode we chat about the world of neural implants where recent advances in computing and bioelectronics have enabled true bidirectional interactions between machines and the human brain. No keyboard, no voice interaction required. It is truly inspiring what these advances can do for medicine. Also, we look at how tech is helping individual citizens deal with climate change , also the stunning IPO of Insurance disruptor Lemonade, who have reinvented the dusty old world of insurance. Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay, the content specialists: https://daresay.com.au/  Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works: https://theworksagency.com.au/  And Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/people/120114 

In this episode we chat with the amazing Tim Reed , the President of the Business Council Of Australia, the peak body for business in Australia. The BCA comprises of the CEO’s of more than 100 of the top companies, who employ over 1 million Australian workers, including all 4 of the big banks, the major mining companies and supermarkets and the big tech players such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft. He is also MD of private equity firm Potentia Capital, the only Australian private equity fund focused exclusively on investments in software, tech-enabled services and technology businesses. Potentia has recently raised $350m in a fund focussed on software investments in the $50-$200m enterprise value sector. In this wide-ranging chat, we discuss the what kind of businesses Potentia is investing in and how gut feel plays an important role in the investment decision-making process . We also discuss terrain-based business strategy versus trajectory-based strategy and the challenges that Covid has presented the economy. Finally, Tim’ BCA role means he meets some of Australia’s best leaders, so we discuss what are the traits that he sees as critical to good leadership in 2020.   Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay, the content specialists: https://daresay.com.au/  Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works: https://theworksagency.com.au/  And Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/people/120114 

In this episode Douglas and Nick interview one of Australia’s most respected business leaders, David Gonski. Gonski holds a number of impressive board titles, including Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, President of the Art Gallery of NSW Trust and Chair of ANZ Bank, just to name a few. We discuss the impact of COVID-19 on business and innovation, with Gonski sharing his observations on how the virus will impact the digital transformation agenda for Australian business. We discuss the role of pandemics on the national psyche, and focus on its implications for risk tolerance within the business world.  Nick asks Gonski about the learnings brought forth by the two publications of the highly influential Gonski Report on the education system, whilst Douglas explores how creative thinking and creative intelligence is the core skill for the future. Gonski talks candidly about the dire need for better diversity within the workplace, to ensure a broad range of ideas and perspectives, which shapes the future of any country. We dive head first into the world of banking and how the digital era is reshaping the way the way consumers approach finance, before touching on Gonski’s personal story as a migrant to Australia, what he attributes to being his success, and the single-minded drive to constantly learn and improve oneself, in creating a meaningful life. Finally he shares his secret for giving good career advice to people.  

In this episode of Smart Dust, we explore how COVID19 has sparked diversification with global tech giants like Google, as they move into the healthcare space.   We also discuss how software company Tableau has engineered a COVID-19 Data Hub for collating the latest in the virus outbreak and management. Douglas and Nick chat about the role of social platforms in tracking the spread of the coronavirus, before diving into the stats on streaming services in Australia and the implications for consumers in an increasingly saturated video on demand marketplace.   We wrap up the episode with a crash test of the latest VOD platform to launch, Quibi, and how it is providing a personalised experience to content consumption, built purposefully for mobile.  Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay, the content specialists: https://daresay.com.au/  Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works: https://theworksagency.com.au/  And Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/people/120114 

In this episode of Smart Dust we chat to Ashley Friedlein, the Founder of Econsultancy, an international marketing consultancy agency. Nick questions Ashley on how Covid-19 has impacted his Marketing & Digital Trends 2020-2030 report, before exploring the role of digital platforms in shaping internal corporate communications. Ashley shares his success in developing Guild, a professional’s solution to ensuring conversation privacy, and Guild’s mission for the app to be the preferred alternative to WhatsApp for work communications. Douglas asks Ashley about his success in the subscription economy and how he has navigated the free to use experience with his own paid service model.  The role of Voice and its application in consumer’s lives is briefly discussed, before the group evaluates the future of Unified Communications and the role that collaboration platforms like Slack will play in over forever digitally transforming professional lives.  Finally, we ask Ashley about his work with young entrepreneurs at Cambridge University, discussing the challenges of being an entrepreneur in an increasingly competitive market.  Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay, the content specialists: https://daresay.com.au/  Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works: https://theworksagency.com.au/  And Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/people/120114 

Animal Logic CEO Zareh Nalbandian co-founded the animation company in Crows Nest, Sydney in 1991. Their films include the Academy award-winning Happy Feet, The Lego Movie, and Peter Rabbit. In this episode, Zareh speaks to Douglas and Nick about how animation has developed over past 30 years, how the studio has grown and changed, and where he sees the future of creativity. Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay: https://daresay.com.au/  Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works and Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright,

What German Ramirez's job is to focus on the relevance of blockchain. Whether it's renewable energy companies, cryptocurrency or the property market, he's looking to how to harness his 20+ years in digital innovation to understand this will impact on industries across the world and how to market to them. In this episode, German, who is the CEO is Swiss-based blockchain marketing firm The Relevance House, takes Nick and Douglas through the industries that are ripe for disruption, how a decentralised ledger works, and what we can do to prepare for the future. Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay: https://daresay.com.au/  Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works and Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright.

What are the forthcoming strategic technology trends that will shape and affect businesses, governments, education, and media this year, and for years to come? Each year quantitative futurist Amy Webb, CEO of the Future Today Institute releases a Tech Trends Report. In this episode, The Works' Douglas Nicol and Norton Rose Fulbright's Nick Abrahams discuss the most interesting trends from the report and give their take on how it will be applied to society. They'll cover everything from the how your DNA could change the way we shop to a new version of the Turing Test. And as a bonus, this episode also includes last year's Smart Dust interview with Amy Webb, recorded after the release of her 2019 Tech Trends report. It provides an interesting insight into how the world has changed since the last report. You can download the key takeaways from the 2020 Tech Trends report here: https://bit.ly/2vpKwPJ  Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay, the content specialists: https://daresay.com.au/  Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works: https://theworksagency.com.au/  And Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/people/120114 

Novelist and UTS’s Creative Intelligence & Innovation course director Bem Le Hunte joins The Works’ Douglas Nicol and Norton Rose Fulbright’s Nick Abrahams to discuss what the concept of creative intelligence actually means on a day-to-day basis.   As well as heading up the degree program, Bem’s first novel, The Seduction of Silence, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2001. Her second novel – There, Where The Pepper Grows - was published in 2005.   Bem takes Douglas and Nick through how creativity and innovation can make a better world and use creativity to solve problems across a range of disciplines and how we can use our own creativity to find and solve business problems. Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay, the content specialists: https://daresay.com.au/ Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works (https://theworksagency.com.au/) and Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright (https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/people/120114). Bem Le Hunte’s website: http://www.bemlehunte.com/ UTS Creative Intelligence & Innovation degree: https://www.uts.edu.au/future-students/transdisciplinary-innovation/undergraduate-courses/creative-intelligence-and Subscribe via: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher

Three trends which will help define 2020: Instagram shopping deep fakes and space tourism. The Works' Douglas Nicol and Norton Rose Fulbright's Nick Abrahams discuss how these will shape the world around us in this year's first edition of Smart Dust. With Instagram continuing to shift towards an ecommerce platform, Douglas and Nick show off their knowledge of the fashion and cosmetic industries to demonstrate how influencer partnerships with brands will continue to evolve, but also how brands are using Instagram as a global shop front, including one particularly interesting example from India. With the 2020 US presidential election set to be characterised by more misinformation, deep fakes are set to be one of the biggest battleground in fake news. What are deep fakes? Quite simply, they're videos edited so individuals are on camera saying words they never uttered in real life. And with researchers at Israel's Open University producing a tool that offers deep fakes as a service, how will we know what is real and what is fake? Nick and Douglas discuss the implications. Finally, Virgin Galactic's recent IPO shows that space tourism is set to arrive in this decade. With tickets starting at a quarter of a million dollars, will travelling off this planet become tourism's hottest new ticket? Or with the no plane movement becoming a trend across Europe, will Richard Branson's pet project fail to get off the ground? Smart Dust is produced and edited by Daresay, the content specialists: https://daresay.com.au/ Hosted by Douglas Nicol, Strategy Partner, The Works (https://theworksagency.com.au/) and Nick Abrahams, Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Norton Rose Fulbright (https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/people/120114). Subscribe via: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Stitcher

This episode covers food tech, gaming, and data, although not necessarily all combined. With the human population projected to hit 10 billion by 2050, it's clear we'll have problems feeding everyone. So how can food tech help, and when even fast food restaurants are offering plant based alternatives, how is this shifting how we consume food. The podcast also looks at Fortnite - the gaming phenomenon that's also a smart marketing play, and discusses the implications of privacy and data collection by social media in light of The Great Hack and the political pressure on companies who collect and target us with our own data. Hosted by Douglas Nicol and Nick Abrahams. Produced by Daresay http://daresay.com.au

Fred Schebesta is an iconic Australian entrepreneur, award-winning marketer, and media commentator. His company, Finder.com, is the world’s foremost comparison website. Active in over 80 countries, Fred explains that it operates as a global – rather than Australian – company.  On this episode of Smart Dust, Fred reflects on his company’s incredible but challenging path to success. He explains how Finder.com overcame five Google penalties, and how he is no longer the business’ ‘ghost’.    Fred also delves into the world of cryptocurrencies. He explains his latest business venture, HiveEx. The cryptocurrency brokerage firm predominantly communicates with customers via WhatsApp.

Paul X McCarthy is a technology consultant, speaker and author. His company, Online Gravity Consulting, is a global digital consulting firm. He is also the co-founder of League of Scholars, an enterprise looking at analytics in the research and innovation space.    On this episode, we discuss one of Paul’s greatest passions: the Australian startup sphere. He explains his particular interest in the next generation of computational linguistics, and the emergence of conversational artificial intelligence.    Paul also provides insight into why he believes technology has rewritten the laws of economics, as he has concluded in his book, Online Gravity.

Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist, author and professor at the Stern School of Business at the New York University. She is also the founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute. The Institute is globally respected and recognised for their annual Tech Trends Report, which is now in its twelfth year of publication.   During this episode, Amy explains the importance of strategic forecasting and she provides insight into the four characteristics generally shared by technology trends. We also discuss Amy’s claim that privacy is dead, and she explains the emergence of biometric camouflage.    Amy then provides us with an in-depth explanation of how China utilises artificial intelligence. Her book, The Big Nine, is an investigation into artificial intelligence in nine major companies located across China and the United States.

This month on Smart Dust, we’re talking to two robotics leaders from opposite ends of the globe, who are both pioneering the race to create ‘human-like’ robotics. First up is Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro, the director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University, Japan. Dr. Ishiguro has dedicated his life’s work to create a robot that will be indistinguishablefrom that of a human and will eventually past the ‘Turing Test’. Dr. Ishiguro also created a ‘Geminoid’, a robot that looks exactly like himself – where the Dr. claims to even feel phantom touches when people touch the ‘Geminoid’. We also unpack the future of sociable robotics with Gabriel Skantze, chief scientist and co-founder of Furhat Robotics.  The Stockholm-based technology start-up has led the world is pioneering our interactions with AI by putting a face to the voice. Gabriel was the lead scientist and engineer on Furhat, the world’s most ‘sociable’ robot, who communicates just like us humans by listening, speaking and sharing emotions. This podcast is produced by Daresay, for The Works and Norton-Rose Fulbright.

In this episode we talk to Wally Brill from Google who is a global expert in conversation design. Australia per capita is one of the fastest growing smart speaker markets in the world and this means our relationship with computing is changing. Talking is the new typing and this has profound implications for business and marketing. Wally is a leader in his field and shares insights and best practice for designing conversations with AI.   

This episode, we’re talking to one of China’s most influential executives, Bessie Lee. Bessie Lee is Founder of Withinlink, a China-based startup incubator and early-stage venture fund focused on MarTech. Prior to founding Withinlink, Lee was CEO of WPP China and at SXSW was one of the few speakers who got an ‘encore’ performance. This episode we discuss how the Chinese Government has created a national ‘AI movement’ to nurture technology investments, the rise of TikTok globally, how western companies can target the Chinese market and the normality of their ‘big brother’ government and its effect on data privacy.

We’re talking design and data with Microsoft Garage’s Envisoneer and Design Lead, Mike Pell. Following on from his first book, ‘Envisioning Holograms’, Pell has just released his second book called ‘The Age of Smart Information’ that envisions how AI and XR will fundamentally change the nature of information and our relationship with it. We discuss everything from ditching the over-complicated ’36-step’ human centred design process, forgoing the faceless word of ‘user’, to how information will evolve from dead pixels on a page to a new way to learn, be inspired and informed by data. For more information on Mike Pell’s The Age of Smart Information visit https://theageofsmartinformation.com/

This episode on Smart Dust, we’re delving in the brain of Heather Berlin; cognitive neuroscientist, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She is also a television host across a myriad of science programs on BBC, History Channel, Netflix and even Bill Nye: Science Guy.    We explore the world of neuroscience, from how AI and neural-implants will influence our evolution and ethics, to the impact of technology on future generations. We debunk the myths of the left brain/right brain theory, explore how we dream and learn the secret science behind the creative ‘flow’. Along the way, Heather also shares her neuroscience experiments conducted on her husband, rapper Baba Brinkman

  This month we talk about the technological advancement pinned to change the world – autonomous vehicles. With Director Alex Horwitz and Executive Producer Eddie Alterman from the first documentary on self-driving cars, Autonomy (produced by Malcolm Gladwell), we explore the big questions. From how humans relate to and react to advancements in technology, to the conundrum that comes with the name ‘Autonomy’; is it us who are autonomous or the vehicle itself? We explore the full spectrum of questions this technology left us with.   For more information on Autonomy: https://www.autonomydoc.com/

This month we’re going live from Austin, Texas with a special South by South West feature!   SXSW is a worldwide celebration of what happens when creative ideas and technology merge; and with 75,000 people in attendance and 5,000 speakers from just the interactive section alone, it’s big.   So, we’ve condensed 10-days of innovative ideas into 6 of the biggest trends. From the new buzzwords of Techlash and XR to creating empathy in a world of technology (we even talk to one of the most advanced robots in the world) - it’s all happening this month on Smart Dust.

China goes under the microscope in this week’s episode of Smart Dust. When we talk about innovation we often immediately turn to the US and the UK – overlooking the second largest economy in the world. So, this week we discuss the hottest topics in China’s technology industry - and as the world’s leader in Artificial Intelligence, there is a lot happening. Namely, China’s new social credit system putting a score on its citizens – is it constructive, or just plain scary? Can we digitise morality? We also examine three exciting Chinese start-ups and have a look at how China is putting the fun back in social media.  

This month we go deep inside CES Las Vegas – the home of ground-breaking and often wacky innovations in the consumer electronics space. We have a look at the latest tech trends that dominated, like bendable screens and voice EVERYTHING.    As emerging startups are unveiled, we discuss which may actually go the distance, and ponder a big question – will AR glasses really destroy the future of our beloved smartphones? And of course, we have a gander at the sillier side of a conference that boasts such strange genius as smart diapers and cuddle robots.

This month on Smart Dust, we’re exploring curious world of biohacking, from the 10,000 people in the world who currently have a chip implanted to the Lovetron 9000, which, well you’ll have to listen to find out.  We delve into the extraordinary start-ups currently disrupting Australia, everything from mattresses to a Conor McGregor endorsed teeth whitening kit.  And finally, what does the future of transport look like? Is it going to look like The Jetsons more every day with Uber Elevate planning to launch in 2020, or is it all down to the humble bicycle?  Find out on this months on Smart Dust. 

As usual, no shortage of important things to discuss in the world of tech and innovation:  5G is set to take effect, doubling our download speed and saving our battery life. But what does this mean for automotive, healthcare and of course, the NBN?   But with faster speeds comes more content consumption and never have we had so much content choice. Have we reached peak content?   And finally, what is happening with Elon Musk? And could the conspiracy theory that he is an alien be true?   Find out on this month’s episode of Smart Dust.

The race to be the leader in Quantum Computing is in full-force – something that has been described as the 'space race' of our time. This month on Smart Dust, we explore what is Quantum computing? Who is winning the race? What problems will it solve? And could there be a Lex Luthor effect?    Wielding a double-edged sword, preparing cybersecurity for a quantum world | IBM  https://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/39/en/39017839usen/39017839usen-00_39017839USEN.pdf?ce=ISM0484&ct=SWG&cmp=IBMSocial&cm=h&cr=Security&ccy=US   The future is fuelled by data | AFR  https://www.afr.com/news/special-reports/accelerating-intelligence/the-future-will-be-fuelled-by-data-20170721-gxg5i9   How Quantum Computing will change our world | Forbes  https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/07/10/6-practical-examples-of-how-quantum-computing-will-change-our-world/#624359080c18   The future of pharmaceutical R&D is now | Accenture  https://www.accenture.com/us-en/success-biogen-quantum-computing-advance-drug-discovery  

In this episode of Smart Dust, we question the future of social media as more than $119 billion is wiped off Facebook’s market value in just one day, the deep dark web of 16-year-old ransom hackers and three innovative projects that will shape our future and create more inclusive cities. 

All these movies about robots taking over the planet, might not be as far-fetched as they seem. A technological revolution is on its way, and we’re expecting it to disrupt 55% of jobs in the next 20 years. Is your job safe from the inevitable AI takeover? Will this insurgence create the opportunity that over 40% of unhappy workers need to find a new job, new career? Is Quantum computing the answer to finding our inner creative and push us to ditch the menial tasks that drive us crazy. Or will this new way of working turn our way of thinking on its head? Find out this month on Smart Dust.

In this episode, we talk: - eSports, the global gaming competition projected to be worth $3 billion and an Olympic medal event. Forget golf, get those thumbs working! - MIT found a way to read your thoughts, Orwell was ahead of his time with Thoughtcrime and if that’s not creepy enough, we discuss if Google’s new voice assistant means the demise of voice biometrics. - We lift the lid on the world’s smart cities. From South Korea’s $40 billion white elephant city to the Alphabet’s Sidewalk offering in Toronto and Tencent’s City Brain AI solution in China and Malaysia.

GDPR On 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation becomes effective, including its penalty of up to 4% of global revenue for non-compliance. We talk about how users of personal information will access it under increasingly stricter regimes. We look at Barbara Streisand’s quest to be forgotten. It looks like “memories light the corners” of Barbara’s mind but she would prefer us to forget where her Malibu home is located. Traditional Retailers We discuss Nick’s recent visit to Amazon in downtown Seattle where it accommodates 45,000 employees, 7,000 of their dogs and a human-less supermarket, where it is impossible to shoplift and somewhat magical. We look at which organisations are playing the “innovation dating game” and an app that enables users to place augmented furniture in their homes. Similarly, we hear about Nick placing himself in augmented reality where he can appear at anytime, anywhere, to explain blockchain. Emotion AI and Robot Love Finally, we discuss how technology is being developed to monetise our emotional state and the concept of “robot love” which may one day result in people discarding human companionship in favour of the robot version that always listens and never argues.

At the Smart Dust podcast, we don’t drone on – we talk about them! In this episode, we chat about drones that deliver use cases beyond just pizza delivery, autonomous vehicles, how cryptocurrencies are changing business, and China’s use of facial recognition technology to stop jaywalkers in their tracks.