A smart new system from Swedish company Anticimex is now using smart technology to bring pest control into the 21st century by tracing rats and revealing vital information about where they converge or nest.

Used To Be Manual

Like many companies in that industry sector, pest control for the main industrial clients of Anticimex used to involve the manual process of the setting up of traps, and stopping by once a week or once a month to check if the trap had caught a rat.

The Inspiration

Anticimex CIO Daniel Spahr is reported as saying that the inspiration for the change from manual checking to smart innovation came from when, as a regional manager in central Europe, he read about rat infestations in Copenhagen and the invention of a motion detector-based rat trap to be used in the sewer system.

Catching Rats The Smart Way

When smart traps first came into being, the system has some basic reporting features. These were improved upon over time, and this process was helped by Anticimex engaging software company IFS to further develop the new platform for smart traps. This led to a trial of the new Anticimex in Finland this April.

As well as tracing rats and giving information about where they converge or nest, the smart traps work by sending real-time data and reporting if motion is detected, or if a trap has been activated. The information collected by the units can be used to improve the sales and marketing of the product, and give customers a detailed idea of the pest control efforts happening in their properties.

Battery Powered

The traps themselves are powered by various sizes of rechargeable batteries. Equipped with SIM cards, the units send text messages via SMS through 2G and 3G networks, alerting Anticimex of any activity with its traps 24 hours a day. The units send out warnings if the batteries need to be recharged / batteries that need to be replaced, etc. This information can help Anticimex plan their resources for its smart traps.

Hard To Hack

Despite worries about how smart devices of all kinds can be vulnerable to attacks by cyber criminals, Anticimex are reported to be confident that the devices and their communications are highly secure and difficult to hack.

Financial Rewards

The move by Anticimex into innovative smart technology appears to be paying off as the pest control company is now achieving revenues of US$474 million.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This is another example of how some very old problems are now being solved using the latest smart technology. In the case of Anticimex, vision and inspiration, plus a strategic alliance with a technology company has delivered an important technical and competitive advantage, and could revolutionise a whole industry.

If this can be achieved with a pest control business, other businesses should be asking themselves how / if technology could play a part in solving some of the challenges for businesses and their customers in a cost-effective way, and whether the fresh perspectives and ideas offered by alliances e.g. with technology companies could help move things more quickly forward in new, exciting, and lucrative directions.

After security inspections of Kuwait Airways by US officials and the implementation of new security measures for US-bound flights by Royal Jordanian, the two carriers were allowed to lift the ban on laptops.

What Ban?

Back in March, the UK and US governments introduced a ban on taking laptops and tablets on planes as cabin baggage on flights from selected Middle East and North African Countries. The stated aim was to reduce the risk of concealed bombs being taken on board passenger aircraft.

For the UK, the ban was set to cover all flights from 6 countries: Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Lebanon. This means that 14 airlines, including British Airways and Easyjet, have been affected by the ban.

For the US, the ban has covered all flights from 8 countries: Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and the ban (up until now) has affected 9 airlines.

Kuwait Airways & Royal Jordanian

The ban has been lifted for Kuwait Airways and Royal Jordanian after both carriers reportedly worked with US officials in tightening their security measures for flights from Kuwait and Jordan. Kuwait Airways flies from Kuwait to New York via Ireland, while Royal Jordanian flies to three US cities from Amman, Jordan.

More Airlines Last Week

Last week, Etihad, Turkish Airlines, Emirates, and Qatar Airways became exempt from the ban. Meanwhile, airlines in Morocco, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia have not yet announced the lifting of the ban.

Saudia

Saudia, the flagship carrier of Saudi Arabia, has announced that, as from 9th July, passengers will be able to take personal electronic devices on flights bound for the US.

Royal Air Maroc, the flagship carrier of Morocco, is reported to be confident that they too will be able to have the ban lifted on their flights out of Casablanca by the same date.

Tighter Security Announced Last Month

Last month it was reported that the US Department of Homeland Security had announced plans for stricter passenger screening and other tougher security measures for all commercial flights entering the United States. The new rules look likely to affect around 2,000 flights a day from 280 airports in 105 countries. The rules have, however, fallen short of banning laptop computers and e-readers in carry-on luggage for all.

It is believed that as well as screening laptops and other personal electronic devices, the new measures may include more vetting of travellers, more explosive-sniffing dogs, greater exchanging of terrorist watch lists, and putting more systems in place to prevent insider attacks (by airline employees).

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Although some airlines have enjoyed a relaxing of the rules, many are still being affected by the ban. For airline businesses, the continuation of the ban and the tightening of rules for the majority could hit profits by affecting passenger numbers, could increase baggage scanning and security costs (particularly at smaller airports), and could negatively affect customer satisfaction levels.

For business travellers, the ban can mean lost time where work could be done e.g. on the laptop during flights. The ban can also mean the hassle of having to find other means of entertainment on long flights, and perhaps having to suffer more distractions from other passengers who cannot use their electronic devices e.g. children.

For many travellers, the ban can mean greater disruption as a result of increased waiting times at security, and some commentators have also pointed out that there is the potential for electronic devices stored in the baggage hold to be damaged or lost, and this could have insurance implications. Other critics have also pointed out that forcing people to put laptops in cargo holds could pose other dangers because the lithium batteries could start fires.

The recent general tightening of the rules for flights entering the US (at a particularly busy time of year) have been criticised too for not having a great enough degree of collaboration and coordination to avoid the operational disruptions and frustrating consequences that could result from them.

The latest Transport for London (TfL) figures show that 40% of public transport customers in London are paying for their journeys with contactless payment cards.

This represents a 25% increase in contactless use for all journeys since last year and the convenience and speed of using contactless has seen people moving away from pay-as-you-go Oyster Cards.

1 Billion ‘Contactless’ Journeys

Since the introduction of contactless payment cards in 2012 on buses and in 2014 on the tube and London Overground, the use of contactless payment cards recorded a billion journeys.

Contactless technology enables users to ‘tap and pay’ without entering a PIN for items or services up to £30 at a time, and the TFL figures show that payment using contactless now averages two million journeys every day, and one in ten journeys is paid for using contactless payment technology on mobile devices.

World Leader

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been reported as saying that the figures show the global lead that London now has in the use of contactless, and how the revenue generated from selling TfL’s technology to other major global cities will be used to further improve London’s own transport network.

Boost For Tourism & Leisure Too

It is not just London’s daily workers who are finding the contactless system easy and convenient. Tourism and leisure in London is also thought to be benefiting from this system of payment as it simplifies travel for all.

More Capacity – More Contactless

It has been reported that TfL will be introducing contactless payment options for the Elizabeth Line when it is fully opened in East London by December 2019. The Elizabeth line will increase central London’s rail capacity by 10% and will carry over half a million passengers each day, many of whom look likely to be using contactless for their journeys. The line is also designed to help deal with the increase in demand for public transport as London’s growing population is set to rise from 8.6m to around 10m by 2030.

Digital Rather Than Contactless Cards In Future

Some tech commentators have pointed out that digital payments using mobile devices will soon be taking over from contactless cards. Boston Consulting Group figures show that 20% of all consumer payments will be digital by 2021 (four times more than today), and just over half of that will be touch-and-go payments.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This story is an example of how the ease and convenience of contactless technology is benefitting businesses and their customers, and how cash, traditional debit card transactions, and pre-paid card systems are likely to decline as a result. Projected figures from payments industry trade body ‘Payments UK’ for example, have shown that as soon as next year, more payments will be made using debit cards than using cash, and this is being fuelled by contactless technology.

For businesses, contactless payments can mean increased average transaction values (ATV), more footfall, a reduction in the costs and hassle of handling cash, and reduced business risks due to having a clear audit trail and assured payment.

As Three becomes the first network provider in the UK to launch a tariff that lets its customers use unlimited streaming services without it affecting their monthly data allowance, some media commentators are concerned that more streaming services of this kind could lead to more piracy.

Streaming & Stream Ripping

Streaming is the real-time transmission of data (e.g. audio and video) over the internet to computers and mobile devices. Stream ripping is the process of using software to turn that streamed data (music and video) into files so that they can be watched / listened to offline on computers and phones. Stream ripping is possible because music and video streaming services have urls, and there are now many freely available programs to download that can stream-rip content.

What’s The Problem?

The problem is that films, video and recorded music are covered by copyright and intellectual property laws. Although many people are happy to pay to use legal streaming services in the form they are delivered such as Netflix and Spotify, stream ripping and the storage and distribution of the ripped files infringes those laws and is technically piracy.

According to research by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and PRS for Music, usage of stream-ripping sites increased by 141.3% between 2014 and 2016, thereby making them more popular than all other illegal music services. The same research showed that in September 2016, these sites were used 498,681 times to pirate music in the UK

Who?

According to the IPO and PRS, research 15% of UK adults are now using these illegal services, with 33% of them being in the 16-24 age bracket.

Why?

According to the research, the most popular reasons given for using stream-ripping include a belief that music was already owned by users in another format (31%), simply wanting to listen to music offline (26%) and on the move (25%), not being able to afford to buy the tracks legally (21%), and believing that music is overpriced (20%).

The Three Deal

There is no suggestion that the new Three ‘Go Binge’ service is causing or contributing to piracy. The fact is, however, that it is an unlimited streaming deal for data-heavy users averaging 6GB a month. It is conceivable that without Three imposing their own security measures, Go Binge could be used for stream ripping.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This story illustrates how difficult it can be in an online world to prevent publicly available content being shared for free, and how creative industries continue to suffer from not being able to find effective ways to get monetary rewards for recorded output or to make consumers comply with the law. In a share-everything-online world where users are used to content being free, copyright and intellectual laws are often either not widely known about or are ignored and circumvented in a kind of mass diffusion of responsibility due to the large numbers of people who are doing it without penalties.

The increased take-up of legal streaming services in recent years is, however, more promising but it is clear that more measures need to be taken, perhaps by companies offering streaming deals, to make sure that stream ripping is not taking place.

Google’s has awarded €706,000 ($800,000) to the UK’s Press Association (PA) so they can develop robot reporters or news-bots that can generate 30,000 articles a month

Digital News Initiative

The funding is part of Google’s €150m Digital News Initiative, a three-year program in support of European journalism using technology. The initiative is in its third and final year, and lis looking to provide funding for 7 projects in 27 countries.

Codenamed RADAR, or Reporters and Data and Robots, the Press Association project is a joint effort with Urbs Media, a UK startup specialising in automated data journalism.

Why?

On the one hand, this is an effective and less labour-intensive way to satisfy the demand for more news. Some sceptics, however, have noted that the initiative could be a handy way for tech and advertising giant Google to help websites to get more readers and thereby gain more advertising business and revenue for itself.

On its website, the PA has issued a statement about RADAR’s role in meeting the growing demand “for consistent, fact-based insights into local communities, for the benefit of established regional media outlets, as well as the growing sector of independent publishers, hyperlocal outlets and bloggers.”

Natural Language Processing Software

For the news bots to generate information and stories, natural language processing software will be used on a grand scale. The PA and Urbs Media will reportedly select a team of five journalists to identify, template, and edit data-driven stories. These journalists will apply the code to publicly available government databases to churn out stories.

Hope For The Local Press

This comes at a most opportune time where Britain’s hard-pressed and diminishing local press need to meet the demands for more and more page views, as well as filling spaces in print. PA Editor-in-Chief Pete Clifton has reportedly acknowledged the usefulness of RADAR in terms of cost-effectiveness in providing incisive local stories, and the fact that, although skilled human journalists are still vital in the process, local media would find it very difficult to produce articles in the numbers necessary with the limited number of journalists that they have.

Not Just The Press Association
Although the PA received the largest grant of UK recipients, Google also gave funding to other organisations as part of the initiative. These include Wikipedia (€385,000), City University (known for its popular journalism school (€335,113), fact-checking body ‘Full Fact’ (€300,000), owner of various computing titles ‘Dennis Publishing’ (€160,000), and Al Jazeera (€50,000).

News Bots Already Used In Some Countries

News bots are already being used by some media companies. In China, for example, Xiaomingbot generated hundreds of stories for last year’s Rio Olympics, and The Los Angeles Times’ own news bot, Quakebot, recently made headlines when it generated news of an earthquake off the coast of Santa Barbara, California.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This kind of initiative is another example of how many businesses are finding ways to promote and harness the power of technologies such as AI to help meet demand, particularly where services e.g. customer service, are concerned, in a cost effective, value adding way. It is also an example of how automation is beginning to be used to replace human jobs.

Research firm Gartner, for example, estimates that up to 85% of customer service centres will become virtual by 2020 e.g. by using more bots, and Facebook announced last April F8 that anyone can now make their own bot using Facebook’s application programming interface (API) known as ‘Messenger Platform’.

Also, in March this year, a report by PwC claimed that over 30% of UK jobs could be lost to automation by the year 2030. How much automation and what kind of automation individual businesses adopt will, of course, depend upon a cost / benefit analysis compared to human workers, and whether automation is appropriate and is acceptable to their customers.