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The six things that blew our minds in 2017

dubai - Each of these areas represent incredible opportunities for entrepreneurship

HI-TRAC
The author's shorthand for Happiness Index, Infrastructure, Talent, Regulations, Access and Capital. The six pillars that make UAE a great place for a startup. This week's article covers a number of events in 2017 which include areas which UAE based startups are focussing on.

Dramatic as that may sound, 2017 has been a phenomenal year in the evolution of technology. So much happened in 2017. We seem to have taken it in our stride. This is the new normal. Each of these areas represent incredible opportunities for entrepreneurship.

The trajectory of retail changed forever
Technically, although Amazon Go launched on December 5, 2016, it really was in 2017 that usage began although restricted to Amazon employees. Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world now. The phenomenal new shopping experience that is so intuitive and eliminates all the pain that is usually associated with shopping. According to the company, it uses "computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion, much like you'd find in self-driving cars". They call it "Just Walk Out" technology. Amazon has been beta testing this new retail store concept all through 2017. Could it just be that they will launch with a couple of days to spare for the New Year?

Artificial Intelligence takes a new step in self-learning
AlphaZero, a game-playing AI application developed by DeepMind, a Google sibling, beat the best chess-playing applications after learning to play the game in less than four hours. According to its developers, it learnt the game from zero, similar to the way a human would. On the surface of it, it does not seem that amazing. But what is different is that it started from zero, learnt what each piece on the board did, understood the chessboard itself and the opponents' intentions and moves. Thereafter, it went on to soundly thrash the best computers. The implications are enormous. At an extended level, the application can begin to understand complex, seemingly unconnected patterns of human behaviour and begin to predict what will happen next with pinpoint accuracy.

Space is the final frontier
Voyager 1's 40-year journey into interstellar space is the stuff of sci-fi movies. The difference being that this is for real. The Nasa team ended a 37-year gap and sent signals that took 20 hours, travelling at the speed of light, to reach the spacecraft. The signals fired thrusters on the spacecraft that tested its ability to change trajectory. The last time that the thrusters were used was in 1980 when Voyager 1 did a flypast of Saturn. Opportunities for entrepreneurship open up at many levels as the UAE takes giant strides in this area.

Biometrics is in your face now
This is also the year that Apple has taken face recognition software to the mainstream. As usual, with Apple, it's not the technology itself but the way it interacts with the user that makes it mainstream. Which brings the entire industry back to the whole question of user interface (pun unintended). Apple seems to get it right every time. Entrepreneurs in the fintech domain appear to forget this basic fact. Usually, it's all about trying to shove some new technological feat down the throats of cynical investors and even more jaded customers. A quick look at the raft of failed digital bank interfaces brought out by mainstream as well as some startups, is a direct pointer to this. While others wonder how DBS, Fidor and N26 get it right.

The new rides are electrifying
This year has also been the year of the EV - electric vehicle. And no, it's not just about the Palo Alto-based manufacturer. From micro-mobility scooters that compete with people for pedestrian space in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore to BlueSG, Singapore's first electric car sharing platform, the world has woken up almost overnight to the need to go electric. Visual images of the desperate levels of smog in the capitals of the two biggest countries on the planet are a stark indicator of where the world could be heading to with current modes of transport. Uniti, a really outstanding EV that was featured in this column earlier this year, debuted to the public in Sweden in December to rave reviews. It's definitely a really cool "non-car" to drive. The author takes some credit in spotting a winner quite early in the day.

It's also been the year of Bitcoin
This column has featured three articles in related areas of cryptocurrencies and blockchains including Loyyal and Hazza Network. Many in the mainstream trash the rise of cryptocurrencies as a speculative, unregulated phenomenon. Now you can trade Bitcoin ETFs on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Sure, there will be volatility but these kinds of currencies cannot be wished away. Ethereum and Ripple being other examples that are often quoted.



Please feel free to write in and comment on trends that may have been missed out.

One thing is perfectly clear. 2018 will be much more of a game changer than 2017. Just buckle up and enjoy the ride. It may be driverless apparently but there is human intelligence behind it.

The writer is founding partner at BridgeDFS, a bespoke digital financial services advisory firm (www.bridgeto.us). He's a digital banking and digital financial services evangelist, practitioner, advisor and consultant. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy. He can be contacted at sanjiv@bridgeto.us.