Business

Spectacular opportunities coming in the digital economy says Gartner

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Business, Communication, Hardware, Innovation, Marketing, Software, Technology, Trends, Web, Workplace
Hype cycle

  The latest emerging technologies report from Gartner, announced last week, contains a wealth of analysis and prediction about what technologies will be the drivers of the digital economy during the coming decade. While many of the technologies cited by Gartner will already be familiar – they include artificial intelligence, the connected home, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, augmented reality and virtual reality – the focus is very much on the relationships and inter-connectedness between individual and related technologies, and the business opportunities they present for those who are prepared and able to take advantage of them. In the Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2017, Gartner sees three distinct technology trends that the firm believes will profoundly create new experiences, […]

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For Immediate Release 100: Locked and Loaded

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Artificial Intelligence, Business, Communication, Ethics, For Immediate Release, Marketing, Politics, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Technology, Trends, Web
Using Twitter

In the August episode of The Hobson & Holtz Report, Shel and I talked about these topics: The Society for New Communications Research has launched an initiative to assess options for the communications industry to address fake news. An artificial intelligence bot can detect plagiarism (85% of the time). Supporters of US President Donald Trump are amplifying their tweets through a little-known Twitter feature that lets you create and name a Direct Message group. And let’s talk about that twice-daily folder the president gets filled with only positive coverage about him. Agencies are cropping up that focus exclusively on Generation Z. The Westin hotel in Buffalo, NY, is putting an Amazon Echo in every room. Ask Alexa for a toothbrush […]

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SNCR research initiative sets out to find solutions to address fake news

Neville Hobson 4 Comments Advertising, Business, Communication, Journalism, Marketing, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Society, Technology, Trends, Web
Truth

Hardly a day goes by without the topic of fake news becoming a news headline itself especially when it concerns Donald Trump. For most people, fake news is largely seen as a driver of distrust about what you read, see and hear online as well as a creator of fear, uncertainty and doubt about the sources that publish it. Earlier this year Tim Berners-Lee said that misinformation – or ‘fake news’ which is surprising, shocking, or designed to appeal to our biases – can spread like wildfire. And it does. For the past six months and more, it’s a topic that has been an ongoing primary discussion theme in the Small Data Forum podcast I co-host each month with Thomas […]

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SDF podcast 10: Big Data is never a be-all and end-all

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Business, Communication, Entertainment, Journalism, Marketing, Politics, Public Relations, Small Data Forum, Social Media, Society, Technology, Trends, Web

Amid congressional hearings and FBI investigations in the US about whether and how Russia interfered with the US Presidential Elections, discussions continue about the efficacy and ethics of micro-targeting voters. In our latest and 10th edition of the SmallDataForum podcast, Neville, Sam and Thomas reflect on the outcome of the recent general elections in the UK. This episode’s show notes were written by Thomas Stoeckle. We agree that, unlike last time, Labour did better than the Conservatives digitally at this election. In combining doorstep campaigning with digital targeting in marginal seats (based on the insights from their proprietary software) and generally being on the ball with issues online, Labour managed to connect the dots more successfully than the Conservatives. This […]

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For Immediate Release 96: The crisis that keeps on giving

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Artificial Intelligence, Business, Communication, Employee Communication, For Immediate Release, Marketing, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Social Networks, Technology, Trends, Workplace

In the July installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report, Shel and I talked about these topics: A 15-year-old participating in a work experience program took over the Twitter account of the beleaguered Southern Rail in the UK. The response to #AskEddie was undoubtedly a welcome break for Southern Rail’s social media team, but what did it ultimately accomplish? The online publication Quartz experiments with display-type ads in the text of stories that let users ask an artificial intelligence-based chatbot named Hugo for more information about just the stuff you’re interested in. Will artificial intelligence eventually take over the creative side of content marketing? Takata’s air bag crisis is in its second decade, leading ultimately to the once-mighty company’s bankruptcy. […]

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