With useful data and information piling up in the financial realm, firms can use all the help they can get to more efficiently compile and employ it. Automation, which manifests itself in many forms, is a must for financial institutions. Natural language processing translates words into useful tools and applications that enable financial companies to be more compliant, profitable and sustainable and is experiencing increasing adoption in the financial industry.

Few of us don’t enjoy a good game, and the more competitive, the better, which is why numerous firms are enlisting the gamification strategy to draw users in. But is the practice always justified, let alone ethical, especially in activities such as trading through which finances can be compromised? The controversial method has pros and cons, but it is sure to be more readily adopted as consumers increasingly embrace it.

Silicon Valley, London and Beijing come to mind in response to the phrase tech hub, but around the world, promising and trailblazing tech hubs are springing up in a number of locales, especially in Asia and Africa. This article examines three emerging, highly competitive tech hotspots—Singapore, Bengaluru and Kenya—that are drawing start-ups and talent and giving the leading tech mega-centres a run for the money, including venture-capital investment.

Like artists, brilliant innovations are not always appreciated immediately. Such is the case of the QR Code, invented in Japan in the early 1990s to boost manufacturing and retail efficiency. In the socially distanced COVID-19 environment, this invention is proving indispensable in a variety of transactions and activities, from making payments to reading menus. Partnering with smartphones, the QR Code is proving itself a boon to both commerce and health.