Techonomics — IBM’s Weekly Newsletter
February 23, 2018
Market Activity and Trends
New Employer Healthcare Provider Raises $110 million| Business Insider | February 28, 2018 |
Collective Health, a healthcare provider startup, just raised an additional $110 million. The hot startup plans on using the new funds to “accelerate development” and hire more employees to serve their rapidly growing user base. This brings Collective Health’s total fundraising up to $230 million.
Collective Health is a healthcare provider geared towards employee insurance plans. It allows employers to save costs by picking and choosing what healthcare services they want to provide their employees with. They provides insurance to over 120,000 individual and current clients include Palantir, SpaceX, and eBay. The startup is part of the movement to disrupt current employer healthcare companies by creating cheaper plans geared towards individuals. They are not alone in this — J.P. Morgan, Berkshire Hathaway, and Amazon recently teamed up to provide their own healthcare to their employees.
Singapore and Maharashtra Team up to Create Fintech Market|ZDNet| February 27, 2018 |
Maharashtra, India’s third largest state, announced a partnership with Singapore to develop a shared hub of fintech resources and knowledge. The two countries want to focus on facilitating the use of mobile payments and blockchain technology; however, they will also create insights, needs for government regulation, and educational resources.
For Singapore, the partnership is an opportunity to connect Singaporean entrepreneurs and startups with Mumbai’s growing appetite for fintech knowledge. Mumabi also has established fintech practitioners Singapore can connect with. It also respects a long history of trade between the two states.
New Orleans Revealed To Be Testing Grounds for Palantir’s Predictive Policing| The Verge | February 27, 2018 |
In 2012, the city of New Orleans partnered with Palantir to develop a predictive policing program. Palantir offered to do the work as a philanthropic service, so the partnership escaped national attention until now. The predictive policing program is an algorithm which draws on city census data, demographics, employment information, and social media feeds to proactively identify perpetrators of crime. The software has not been proven, however, to successfully predict violent crime.
Critics argue that Palantir intentionally hid the contract with New Orleans by classifying it as philanthropic. Since the partnership was not debated in the New Orleans budget, it flew under the radar. This means that Louisiana citizens, usually vigilant about their privacy, had their data mined for years without knowledge. Furthermore, minority and low-income communities have been subjected to increased patrolling and education since the rollout of the predictive policing system. However, the New Orleans’ murder rate has been on the decline for the past two years so proponents call it a win.
New Orleans is the first publicized example of a Palantir predictive policing program but New York City and Chicago are debating similar programs.
Tech Mogul Increases Net Worth Six Times Over | Fortune | February 28, 2018 |
The fight between the U.S. and China to lead the world in technology is heating up. Both countries have a bustling fintech economy, but this month China was able to attract a new company. Zhou Hongyi, owner of the cybersecurity company Qihoo 360 Technology Co., moved his company from the New York Stock Exchange to Shanghai.
Hongyi’s official reason for moving was to align with the Chinese government’s agenda for increasing cyber sovereignty. However, investors suspect the high tech valuations in the Chinese stock market was a draw for Hongyi. The switch certainly has paid off. Qihoo 360 Technology stock has soared 550% since Hongyi announced his move to China. Hongyi himself has become China’s 12th richest person with a net worth of 13.6 billion.
Facebook Joins Online Hiring Platform Market | Forbes |February 28, 2018|
Facebook released a job marketplace on their popular social media app. Advertising VP Andrew Bosworth created the tool after noticing that small businesses were already using Facebook to post job openings. Unlike other job platforms like zip recruiter or LinkedIn, Facebook’s job platform is targeted towards blue collar workers and small businesses. It also leverages the vast amount of existing Facebook users: over 2 billion individuals with 70 million active businesses.
The tool is easy to use and integrates with several Facebook features. Job postings pop up in ads, Marketplace, Pages, or the user dashboard. Applications and interviews are conducted over Facebook Messenger, and the applicant will receive updates from the app. Facebook announced, however, that they will be taking further steps to streamline the process. They also want to rollout the marketplace to over 40 countries.
Companies are already seeing success. One company, SkyZone, saw over 200 applications from Facebook in a single week.
