IBM recently announced a blockchain initiative with Dubai Customs, Dubai Trade, advancing Dubai's government blockchain strategy. As part of the initiative, IBM is also working with leading businesses including Emirates NBD, du, Aramex, and Banco Santander.

IBM is collaborating with Dubai Customs, Dubai Trade and its IT provider DUTECH, to explore the use of blockchain for a trade finance and logistics solution for the import and re-export process of goods in and out of Dubai. Using Hyperledger Fabric and IBM Cloud, the blockchain solution transmits shipment data allowing key stakeholders to receive real-time information about the state of goods and the status of the shipment. Taking the example of a shipment of fruit, stakeholders involved in the process will receive timely updates as the fruit is exported from India to Dubai by sea, and then manufactured into juice in Dubai, and then exported as juice from Dubai to Spain by air.

Additionally, as part of the solution, IBM is also working with du, a UAE-based telecommunications service provider that is conveying data from internet of things (IoT); Emirates NBD Bank, the letter of credit issuing bank; Banco Santander, the letter of credit responding bank; Aramex, the freight forwarder; and a leading Airline, as the airway carrier.

This trade finance and logistics blockchain-based solution aims to replace paper-based contracts with smart contracts; leverages Watson IoT for device-reported data to update or validate smart contracts; and integrates all the key trade process stakeholders from the ordering stage, in which the importer obtains a letter of credit from their bank, through the intermediary stages of freight and shipping, and ending with customs and payment.

In February 2016, the Dubai government declared its interest to position itself as a blockchain hub and embrace the technology. As part of this declaration, the Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation established the 'Global Blockchain Council' in which IBM is a member. Further, Dubai plans to execute all its transactions on a blockchain by 2020, as a part of its "Dubai Blockchain Strategy."

"The bank has always had a culture of innovation and several of the bank's most successful products and features can be attributed to this forward-thinking mindset," said Ali Sajwani, Group Chief Information Officer, Emirates NBD Group. "We are excited to participate in the ecosystem on streamlining the trade finance process using the futuristic Blockchain technology, which has the potential of transforming the way we conduct business between heterogeneous entities."

"IBM believes that blockchain will do for transactions what the internet did for information. Dubai is at the forefront of adopting this transformative technology as government agencies and businesses realize the need to have a shared secured ledger that establishes accountability and transparency while streamlining business processes," said Amr Refaat, General Manager, IBM Middle East and Pakistan. "Our collaboration today with leading Dubai organizations across different sectors in trade finance and transportation will showcase how blockchain will revolutionize the way businesses interact with one another and with their customers and suppliers."

A recent blockchain study, Building Trust in Governments, by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), found that several governmental organizations are embracing blockchain technology to promote more extensive collaboration. Nine out of 10 governmental organizations plan to invest in blockchain for use in financial transaction management, asset management, contract management and regulatory compliance by 2018. And seven out of 10 government executives predict blockchain will significantly disrupt the area of contract management, which is often at the intersection of the public and private sector.

In the Middle East and Africa, nine out of 10 government executives surveyed see contract management as the greatest potential new business model.  By using blockchains for contract management, issues such as the failure of any party to meet a deadline or complete a task, for example, could be more immediately visible. Transparency derived from contract management on blockchains could improve performance management. Governments will be able to use blockchains to explore new business models for providing services to citizens beyond the limits of current technology. These models can be used to improve the efficiencies of current services, while expanding the ability to provide new services.

IBM is rapidly expanding its blockchain capabilities and actively working with companies to understand what it takes to make blockchain ready for business. Financial services, supply chains, IoT, risk management, digital rights management and healthcare are some of the areas that are poised for dramatic change using blockchain networks.

(Source: IBM)

Currency devaluations and stretched information technology (IT) budgets have led Latin American companies to respond by prioritizing cost containment and measures to improve productivity and operational efficiencies. Meanwhile, key contact centre companies in the market have made their move towards increasing their portfolio and adding cloud contact centre solutions.

"On-premise system suppliers will strive to introduce cloud and hybrid-based options to keep pace in an increasingly competitive market," said Customer Contact Senior Industry Analyst Maiara Munhoz.

"For instance, Genesys's purchase of Interactive Intelligence's cloud portfolio and enterprise communications components highlights portfolio expansion and provides the former a competitive edge over Avaya."

Latin American Contact Centre Systems Market, Forecast to 2021, new analysis from Frost & Sullivan's Customer Contact Growth Partnership Service program, examines the scope of business transformation across different industry verticals and analyses how innovative solutions will take over the market. The subscription also explores growth opportunity areas such as social media tools, cloud solutions, omni-channel customer experience, automation via artificial intelligence and virtual agents/advisors.

Key regional insights include:

• The Latin American contact centre systems market attained $240.0 million in revenues in 2015 and is expected to reach $275.5 million in 2021.
• In 2015, Brazil represented almost 50% of the total contact centre systems market.
• Chile, Peru and Colombia will experience higher growth rates over the forecast period.
• By 2021, cloud will comprise more than 30 per cent of the total Latin American contact centre market.

"Omnichannel solutions must aim to provide proactive customer service that is 'informed' by real-time data and predict customer behaviour in order to change offers and provide service in real time," noted Munhoz. "They must also incorporate other data sources for better clarity about the customer, provide real-time guidance capabilities for agents in complex customer support scenarios, and improve agent performance."

Latin American telcos are looking forward to augmenting efficiency and reduce costs. In this context, use of artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) technology will see increasing adoption through a range of applications such as speech recognition, speech analytics, biometrics and robotic process automation.

(Source: Frost & Sullivan)

I read an interesting article recently that outlined the way in which cloud adoption has changed the business landscape, causing a seismic shift in how organisations operate. Depending on your source, UK cloud adoption rates are currently anywhere between 78% and 84%, and whilst cloud is no longer a new phenomenon, its importance to not only the CIO but also the full c-suite of decision makers such as CEOs, CMOs and CFOs, is paramount as they jostle to gain a competitive advantage over competitors.

It has been argued that cloud adoption heralds the largest disruption in enterprise computing since the advent of the PC, with many industries embracing cloud-based platforms to not only cut costs but also drive efficiency. Despite this, there has been a certain amount of trepidation from the financial services sector to make the transition and fully embrace cloud and its many advantages.

At the mere utterance of the word ‘cloud’ we used to hear a plethora of reasons why financial services organisations could not make the leap. There were concerns over regulatory compliance as well as the complexity of functional replacement, security and control. And, in an era where financial institutions are more highly regulated than ever before, one could forgive these organisations for a tentative approach to change – especially when it came to new technologies that cloud put compliance at risk. To further validate this hesitance, financial services firms are reportedly hit with security incidents 300 percent more frequently than other industries.

However, over the past year, the UK financial services sector has taken a more confident and proactive approach to cloud computing. In mid-2016, following the publishing of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) final guidance for UK regulated firms outsourcing to the cloud, it was made clear that there is no fundamental reason why financial services firms cannot use public cloud services, so long as they comply with the FCA’s rules.  This statement and the guidance provided will certainly be welcomed by those UK financial institutions that have been hesitant to embrace cloud due to the lack of regulatory certainty over its use. This also serves as good news for the cloud sector too, providing a boost in the uptake of cloud services in the sector. Certainly, there are many examples of financial services firms using cloud while remaining in compliance with FCA regulations.

Regulatory compliance and managing cyber risk do not need to be the enemy of innovation. In fact, taking a risk-avoidant approach to experimenting with new business models, technologies or user experiences will be a fast path to obscurity in today’s business landscape, where innovation and competition can come from anywhere. Banks, hedge funds, asset managers, insurance firms and other players in the financial services ecosystem should seek out technologies that meet compliance and security needs but also enable agility and flexibility.

Here are three quick benefits that cloud can provide for the financial services sector:

1. Enhanced Security – Contrary to popular belief, businesses who take advantage of cloud computing may actually enjoy stronger security than those who try to go it alone or rely on their on-premise security technologies. The cloud is certainly more secure than many legacy platforms, so if financial organisations choose the right cloud service provider, they can actually experience a higher level of security than they would via legacy solutions.
2. Reduced Infrastructure – As your financial services firm grows, so does its information technology hardware and software needs. By migrating to the cloud, your company can reduce the amount of infrastructure stored onsite, share liability with qualified technology partners, eliminate much of the hassle associated with procuring hardware and software, and reduce costs in the process by moving IT CAPEX to OPEX. There is no longer a need to purchase multiple servers and supporting equipment, store it on-site and pay for the space and utilities to support the operation of that infrastructure.
3. Increased Business Agility - Cloud computing brings with it a number of benefits related to agility. First and foremost, cloud computing is all about scalability and flexibility on demand and financial services firms benefit from being able to roll out new applications very quickly or use the cloud for dev/test to drive innovation. Additionally, cloud computing is built with mobile productivity in mind. Employees need no longer be tethered to their desks. Applications and information can be accessed from virtually any device with Internet connectivity, allowing your staff the access needed to be effective, without being tied to the office.

By embracing cloud computing services, companies in the financial sector are able to add vast efficiency to their operations. As long as the risks can be managed, and with the right cloud service provider they can, there are many benefits. Cloud services – ranging from Production to Dev/Test to Disaster Recovery and backup - can help financial firms reduce setup and operating costs related to installing new IT infrastructure and negate the need to invest in more data centre space by making the necessary infrastructure resources available on demand. Perhaps most importantly for such a regulated industry, cloud services can help financial services firms gain IT innovation while protecting them against cyber-attacks, ransomware as well as maintaining compliance.

If your financial services firm has been hesitant about a migration to cloud computing, it may be time to reconsider. Enjoy stronger security, lower your maintenance costs and unleash the productivity potential of employees by migrating to the cloud.

Authored by Monica Brink, Director of Marketing, iland.