Tag Archives: Pictet Report

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: 21st June 2017Download issue:English /FrançaisWe live in a digital world where security threats are proliferating and becoming more sophisticated. The Summer 2017 issue of Pictet Report, examines the nature of these threats and various aspects of online security.On a personal level, people find hackers trying to access their personal information online for criminal purposes. Commercial organisations and public bodies face similar attacks, while terrorists and hostile governments...

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...

Published: Monday January 09 2017The development of deep learning AI programmes allows robots to emulate back-up staff in financial institutions, says leading computer scientist Qiang Yang – but they will not completely replace human decision-making.In many financial institutions, expert advisors rely on trading data, company reports and news stories to detect minute market signals and provide clients with investment recommendations. Their work is often supported by teams of interns who...

Published: Friday January 06 2017Antoine Blondeau, co-founder of a pioneering artificial intelligence company, believes that there are no limits on what can be achieved by scaling up and distributing AI on a truly vast scale.When Antoine Blondeau and three collaborators co-founded Sentient Technology in 2007, they had an ambitious vision. They wanted to help solve some of the world’s most complex problems by harnessing the world’s computer capacity to develop artificial intelligence on a...

Published: Tuesday January 03 2017Edgar van Tuyll van  Serooskerken, head of Quantitative Strategies at Pictet Wealth Management, explains how Pictet uses machine learning for two purposes: first, to hunt for profitable investment opportunities; and second, to search for patterns in big data that are similar to those of past periods.For the first use, machine learning can sift through the mass of data we now have on the past prices of assets in various classes, on company performance and on...

Published: Saturday December 31 2016Robots used to be separated from people because of safety concerns, but Professor Antonio Bicchi of the Italian Institute of Technology and Pisa University believes that a new generation of lightweight, soft robots will safely interact with humans in everyday life.The robots that play an essential role in many industries today are rigid and heavy, their mechanical and electronic components programmed by humans to be very accurate in what they do. But as...

Published: Thursday December 29 2016The MIT scientist, co-author of the bestselling book on The Second Machine Age, discusses the impact of digital technologies on work, the economy and society, and how human beings should adapt as the pace of change accelerates.What led you to set up the Initiative on the Digital Economy at MIT’s business school?My colleague Erik Brynjolfsson and I co-founded the Initiative because we felt that there was a need to study how technological progress was...