Tag Archives: In Conversation With

Published: Monday July 31 2017British code-breakers gave the UK and US a vital advantage in the second world war by deciphering the  enemy’s secret communications with techniques that were the precursors of modern computer technologies.Bletchley, an unremarkable town north of London, was known until the 1970s mainly as a railway junction. But a book published in 1974 revealed that it had played an essential role in the second world war by intercepting and decoding secret communications...

Published: Monday July 24 2017Most people say they want to keep their personal information private, according to Professor Leslie John of Harvard Business School, but in practice they will reveal it for often trivial reasons or to win the approval of others.Privacy is an issue of great sensitivity in a digital age. Many people go to considerable lengths to protect their personal information from online access by strangers, commercial enterprises and public bodies. And users of most social...

Published: Friday July 21 2017In the battle to protect the security of digital information, a Swiss company has used quantum mechanics to develop a new form of cryptography which makes decoding data impossible – even as computers become much faster.The increasing processing power of computers is making it easier for hackers to decipher encrypted information by finding the keys at the heart of traditional coding techniques. That task will become much easier when quantum computers arrive,...

Published: Monday July 17 2017Israeli entrepreneur Oren Yakobovich has created Videre est Credere, a human rights organisation which helps communities to film and document the violence and corruption they experience, and distributes the material to create change.From his childhood, Oren Yakobovich had always wanted to join the Israeli defence forces. His parents had immigrated to Israel in 1967, giving birth to him a few years later and bringing him up in a very patriotic house which...

Published: Monday July 10 2017Increasing concerns about potential cyber attacks on satellites, energy installations and defence systems call for more creative threat responses, according to an expert in international security at a leading UK think-tank.The enormous growth in the processing power of computers has put great connectivity in the hands of users, but it has also offered great opportunities for cyber criminals to exploit their vulnerabilities. This has raised concerns over the...

Published: Monday July 03 2017Stocks in businesses that provide security solutions in a wide variety of market sectors are proving to be an attractive investment theme with growth fuelled by innovation, urbanisation and regulation.When Pictet Asset Management launched the Security Fund ten years ago, the security market was not seen as a strong or growing one. But today the security industry is growing very fast, and expanding to cover many different market sectors.Security permeates our...

Published: Monday June 26 2017Terrorist organisations intent on destroying their enemies are using increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks to damage critical infrastructure and kill large numbers of people, according to a former Israeli security chief.Governments and large organisations trying to protect themselves from large-scale cyber attacks face two primary challenges in the modern era, according to Doron Bergerbest-Eilon, the former Head of the Protection and Security Division of the...

Published: Tuesday May 16 2017Youthful entrepreneur Boyan Slat is pioneering a technology to remove the millions of tons of unsightly plastic trash floating on the surface of the world’s oceans, which endangers marine species and pollutes the human food chain.The five plastic garbage patches circulating in the world’s largest oceans have long been seen as a threat to marine life which is poisoned by this persistent material or becomes entangled in it. It also introduces organic pollutants...

Published: Monday January 16 2017Klaus Hommels, founder of a leading European venture fund, explains his approach to investing in tech start-ups, the qualities he looks for in entrepreneurs and how he identifies new opportunities.As one of Europe’s leading business angels, Klaus Hommels has established a remarkable success record with investments in some of the largest European and worldwide internet start-ups. They include Skype, Facebook, Airbnb, King, QXL/Tradus, Xing and Spotify (where...

Published: Thursday January 12 2017As technological advances and new business models drive strong growth in robotics, artificial intelligence and industrial automation, these sectors are becoming increasingly attractive to investors.Since its early days in the 1960s, robotics has marched steadily into the mainstream, and is now launching disruptive innovations which are permeating the business world and people’s daily lives. The development of artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, is...