Monthly Archives: January 2021

The government and BJP have consistently undermined Parliament – The Times of India Blog

Posted: January 19, 2021 at 8:57 am

While deprecating the separation of a place from its history, novelist Alan Moore rightly said: A place is much more than the bricks and mortar that go into its construction. I think its more than the accidental topography of the ground it stands on. With the apex court giving its stamp of approval to the Rs 2,000 crore Central Vista project it includes a glittering new Parliament to be built at a cost of Rs 971 crore an analysis of the Narendra Modi governments track record on respecting Parliaments soul and substance is relevant. Has the BJP and the Modi government imbibed the true spirit of our temple of democracy or have they treated it as a necessary evil, to be formally bowed down to while increasingly marginalising it?

During last years budget session, Parliament was allowed to work despite the Covid-19 outbreak because the MP Assembly had to be summoned for the formation of a BJP government against the popular mandate. A full-fledged monsoon session was convened when the virus was at its peak in Delhi because anti-farmer ordinances had to be ratified. Almost all states had their Assembly sessions during the pandemic, exposing the Covid-19 excuse for curtailing Parliament as the fig leaf it was. But when farmers, not allowing the winter to dampen their resolve, sit on roads demanding restoration of MSP for their produce, the winter session of Parliament becomes dispensable. If Parliament is not allowed to become the appropriate forum for the consideration of demands that affect nearly two-thirds of the countrys population, it can hardly qualify as democracys heartbeat, one that was Nehrus priority, the subject of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayees undying respect and, indeed, PM Modis floor-kissing obeisance, when he first entered its hallowed portal.

Perhaps, BJPs social and political agendas take precedence over such democratic pillars. In 2017, the winter session was delayed because of the Gujarat Assembly elections. Since the government is currently investing all its energy in election management in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry, it has no time for Parliament. Political priorities seem to have replaced constitutional propriety. The government is fully aware that people across the country are agitated. Therefore, despite the pendency of many important pieces of legislations the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, Dam Safety Bill, 2019, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill, 2020, Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2019 the winter session has been guillotined.

The BJPs undermining of Parliament has a long legacy in its relatively short life as a ruling party. Its policies and actions have frequently been antithetical to Parliamentary democracy. In Opposition, its disruption of parliamentary proceedings and blockage of legislations was elevated to a fine art remember the vigorous defence of disruption as a legitimate democratic tool by the late Arun Jaitley. During the 2013 budget session, of the 163 hours available, 146 hours were lost due to disruptions by the BJP.

Since 2014, there have been more subtle stratagems to undermine Parliament. Ordinance, as the preferred legislative route, is being misused as a constitutional tool and Parliament is increasingly ceasing to be a place for debates. Important bills are moved and passed on the same day or rushed through, thus depriving members of their parliamentary rights to contribute effectively. During the 2018-19 budget, 100 per cent of the demands for grants were passed without discussion. The Farm Bills passage was the apogee of all brazen violations and subterfuges.

Parliament has an effective committee system and new bills introduced in the House are generally referred to department-related standing committees for detailed scrutiny. Having been privileged to chair such a committee, one of us (Singhvi) can testify to their sterling non-partisan contributions. Invited domain experts also scrutinise the bills. In the 14thand 15th Lok Sabhas, 60 percent and 71 percent bills, respectively, were referred to such committees, whereas in the 16th Lok Sabha, only 25 percent bills were referred. Not a single bill has been referred to committees in 2020.

Accountability and scrutiny have unfortunately been perceived as irritants by the Modi government. Subversion of the constitutional spirit was evident when the Aadhaar Bill was certified as a Money Bill. Having nothing to do with the imposition, abolition or alteration of taxes nor with financial obligations of the government, it was so certified simply to avoid Rajya Sabha scrutiny. That issue is now pending before a larger apex court bench, but judicial delays are inevitably used to bypass Parliament. During the last monsoon session, the Question Hour was suspended to avoid legislative scrutiny. If every other business could be transacted in both the Houses, there was no plausible reason to suspend the Question Hour except avoiding processes designed to hold the government to account.

The Modi governments decision to freeze the entire MPLAD funds scheme was less about economics or welfare and much more about politics. The impact was disproportionately larger on Opposition MPs who, being out of power, will have no say in any development work in his/her area. Despite marginal aberrations and abuses, the MPLAD scheme, to the co-authors (Singhvi) knowledge as a three term MP, has surpassed all expectations at the grassroots.

Meanwhile, there is the unaudited PM Care Fund to take care of the ruling dispensation. Hopefully, the new Central Vista will signify a more meaningful realisation of the true ethos and pulsating spirit of Parliamentary democracy and not merely creation of brick, mortar and concrete structures.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Prime Minister Janez Jana: The more seriously we comply with the current measures, the less need there will be for more drastic ones – Gov.si

Posted: at 8:57 am

Initially, he and the host spoke about the management of the epidemic and statements by immunologist Dr Alojz Ihan who said that he saw no alternative other than the country going into a full lockdown, that there had been enough of coordinating the interests of various groups and that stricter restrictions on movement should be adopted. "I think this is the last resort," was the Prime Ministers assessment of this statement, and he went on to say that when he spoke with his colleagues in other European countries who have been forced to confine people to their residences and restrict them to half an hour of exercise once a day within a range of 50 metres from home, they emphasised that these were drastic measures. "We monitor the epidemic very closely with the help of experts such as epidemiologists, so well know if stricter restrictions are really necessary." It they are, then this is what well do. But we still hope that it wont be necessary," said the Prime Minister.

He also highlighted that the positive effects of rapid testing are already apparent as this option was particularly used during the Christmas and New Years holidays by those who, for example, displayed the symptoms, but were not certain if they should take PCR tests. "Many of those tested positive. Due to this measure, we are counting on overcoming the January or February wave without imposing drastic measures," said Prime Minister Jana, adding that, "We all hate the restriction of freedom, but we should still consider that the more seriously we comply with the current measures, the less need there will be for more drastic ones."

To the question of whether the issuing of quarantine decisions should continue and not be abolished, the Prime Minister replied that everyone who was in contact with an infected person or crossed the border in a certain period received instructions on how to behave. "There was supervision as well, but with regard to the legal restrictions, the Information Commissioner and everything else, the supervision could not be implemented effectively. The number of cases was high, and the Health Inspectorate was unable to handle everything despite being allocated inspectors from other inspectorates," explained the Prime Minister. "In the spring wave of the epidemic, tracking stopped due to limited capacity. This cannot be rectified overnight. Now, the number of daily infections is over 1,500, which is more than twenty times the limit, thereby exceeding functionality," continued Jana. "When the number of infections exceeds a certain threshold, some measures are no longer efficient and need to be replaced with others," stressed the Prime Minister, adding that we are forgetting the fact that there was also a political crisis arising from the Minister of Health resigning during the autumn wave when the situation was at its worst. "We tried to resolve this issue as fast as possible, so I assumed the relevant ministry," said Jana, adding that certain matters from the past year were discovered only recently.

"When speaking about staffing and staffing reserves in health care, a major problem during the cold wave was the large proportion of health professionals falling ill," claimed the Prime Minister and continued that in certain health-care institutions this number was incomprehensibly high. "This was likely in part due to exhaustion and partly to the rules being too loosely interpreted as up to ten per cent of staff members were absent in certain institutions," explained Prime Minister Jana, adding that the situation was now improving. "For this reason, too, health professionals are being vaccinated first. The effects of the vaccine are slowly becoming apparent and we believe that medical staff infected with COVID-19 will no longer pose such a great problem," concluded the Prime Minister.

To the question of the introduction of a vaccination record booklet, Jana responded that such an introduction would likely occur but would be nothing new as a certificate of vaccination was already necessary when travelling to certain countries.

"So, this is nothing new and I think it would benefit everyone. Theres probably not a single person who wouldnt be pleased that they can travel, and they only have to prove that they have been vaccinated," said the Prime Minister.

To the question of why the Government decided to remove Government spokesperson Jelko Kacin, the Prime Minister responded that the replacement did not occur overnight. "After Decembers session of the European Council, it became certain that the vaccine would arrive, and the vaccination procedure would have to be carried out in a way that would ensure everyones prompt protection against the virus. This is an activity for which no country in the world is ready as special preparations are required on a day-to-day basis and for this a top logistics organiser, such as Mr Kacin, is required," said Prime Minister Jana, going on to say that great coordination efforts are also required concerning contacts between Slovenia and the European institutions. "Communication about the measures will not be affected in any way," reassured Jana. He noted that many people would miss Kacins clear messages. There were also some criticisms regarding his communication, but "ten times more commendations." "Mr Kacin and I have belonged to different political sides for several decades and I am personally grateful to him that he decided to help at the most critical time of the epidemic, as there were others whom we asked, but who declined," said Prime Minister Jana.

When speaking about the vote of no confidence, the Prime Minister said that he saw the text of the motion of no-confidence on a website and assessed it as "a concentrated brutal outburst of ideological hatred in which I see no facts." "Its ironic that the deputies of the Minister of Healths party have signed this vote of no confidence in which the main issue in the text is incorrect conduct during the fight against the epidemic," stated the Prime Minister and proposed that the authors of the text take a look in the mirror. "The Minister of Health resigned based on his partys exiting the coalition when the situation was at its most strenuous," he further noted.

The Prime Minister agreed with Minister Poivaleks statements that they would "do a recount" and the situation would somewhat calm down at least for a while as it is difficult to work in the conditions that have prevailed since the vote of no confidence was announced last April. "I still believe that, in spite of the problems and obstructions, the Government will contain the epidemic, successfully preside over the EU Council and successfully complete its term, too," said Jana and pointed out that substantial European funds were ensured for the post-epidemic recovery and "it would be ironic that those who, within their one-and-a-half-year term, were unable to complete a single anti-corona package would then spend EUR 12 billion of European funds for various studies and clientelistic sources of financing, which is the only programme of certain left-wing parties."

Finally, Prime Minister Jana addressed the publication of police wages and the payment system reform. "The idea of the reform is based on the assumption that taxpayers would not be charged more. Its not about the complete abolition of the uniform wage system, but keeping the entire administrative section of the public sector within the uniform wage system with grading levels because no great anomalies exist in this system," said Jana. "When dealing with specific sections of the public sector, such as the police, the armed forces, health care, etc., this uniform wage system disintegrated a long time ago," said the Prime Minister and proposed that a comparison of ratios from 2008, when the wage system was first introduced, and now be implemented. Regarding the reaction to the publication of police officers wages, the Prime Minister responded that the taxpayers have the right to know how much of their money goes to certain public employees, and "whoever denies this is in conflict with the fundamental aspects of democracy."

He further added that the adverse reaction to the publication of wages would not have occurred if the appropriate ratios had been in place. "The police officers work in cold and rain. They risk their lives and receive the same bonuses as someone who is sitting in an office. Of course, people also work hard in the offices, but if these ratios were arranged accordingly, no one would be upset," said Prime Minister Janez Jana, who believes that changes in the wage system are urgent, "Not so much because of the police, but mostly because of the health care sector as we have seen that the staffing problem in health care is to a great extent the result of an unfair wage system in this sector."

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Four ways automation will change the future of Aussie workplaces – DynamicBusiness

Posted: at 8:57 am

Keeping a lid on costs while maintaining productivity has become a key objective for many Australian businesses, but successfully balancing these imperatives requires fundamental change.

The way tasks were handled before COVID-19 must be re-engineered while the short-term fixes rolled out during 2020 have to be examined and refined.

To achieve this, increasing numbers of businesses are sizing up the potential of process automation and artificial intelligence. Theyre keen to understand how the tools and technologies can be put to work and what benefits they might deliver.

There are four key ways in which automation and AI will help Australian businesses in the coming years. They are:

Based on current development trends, within the next five years, it is likely that up to 25 per cent of decisions made in human-centric workflows will be made by AI and Machine Learning (ML) tools. These tools will examine existing processes and past results and develop basic rules for common scenarios.

As an example, AI tools could develop rules for staff leave requests. Such requests currently require manual processing by a person who needs to check entitlements, leave already granted to other staff, and critical events within the business.An AI tool could do all this automatically.

Customer complaint handling could also be changed. Rather than a manager needing to approve a discount or other remediation, an AI tool could automatically review previous similar events and take the appropriate steps.

The tools will also increasingly help improve data governance, security, and compliance. Automation can not only streamline data management, but also flag anomalies and prevent potential breaches.

Its something thats been promised for decades, but may soon actually become a reality for many businesses. Forced to work remotely, many staff have already come to terms with swapping paper documents for electronic equivalents, and the trend is likely to accelerate.

The benefits of going digital are significant. Digital forms can be more user friendly and automate processes. Additional features like barcode scanners, geolocation tags, and attachment uploading make them a natural fit for dispersed workforces.

Also, with health precautions likely to remain top of mind for some time to come, replacing paper with digital alternatives can help reduce the chance of viral spreading.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been evolving rapidly in recent years and are shifting from being novelty items to powerful business tools. The technology is already in use by companies in the manufacturing, medical and aeronautics sectors.

AR and VR can help to streamline processes and automate tasks. Examples include staff onboarding, training, and user support. For example, a personalised digital virtual assistant could walk new staff through preliminary paperwork and processes when they first join a firm.

Accessed through a headset, the assistant could answer simple questions and guide systems and processes. Such capabilities will be particularly beneficial when staff work remotely and need support to complete their tasks.

AR and VR tools could streamline everything from equipment repairs to answering client queries for field workers.

With business conditions changing rapidly, ensuring staff has the skills they require to meet new opportunities can be challenging. Knowing process automation technologies and how they can be applied will become vital and extend how they can add value to organisations.

To help achieve this, the curriculums in use at all levels of Australian education will soon incorporate subjects focused on diverse types of automation and how they can streamline workplaces.

The topics covered will also be designed to ensure that future staff members understand how automation and robotics can add value and why they should not be concerned that their jobs will simply disappear. Rather than teaching students how to build robots, the focus will instead be on finding ways to incorporate them in workflows to boost overall organisational productivity.

Automation has already had a noticeable impact within many firms, but what has been achieved is nothing compared with what will be seen in coming years.

Those Australian firms who invest in the technologies and skill development required now will be best placed to take advantage of new opportunities as they appear in the future.

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AI and Automation in Banking Market to Witness Stunning Growth to Generate Massive Revenue by Top Key Players Automation Anywhere, ComplyAdvantage,…

Posted: at 8:57 am

AI and Automation in Banking Marketreport focused on the comprehensive analysis of current and future prospects of the AI and Automation in Banking industry. This report is a consolidation of primary and secondary research, which provides market size, share, dynamics, and forecast for various segments and sub-segments considering the macro and micro environmental factors. An in-depth analysis of past trends, future trends, demographics, technological advancements, and regulatory requirements for the AI and Automation in Banking market has been done in order to calculate the growth rates for each segment and sub-segments.

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Regions Covered in the Global AI and Automation in Banking Market Report 2021:The Middle East and Africa(GCC Countries and Egypt)North America(the United States, Mexico, and Canada)South America(Brazil etc.)Europe(Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.)Asia-Pacific(Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)

The cost analysis of the Global AI and Automation in Banking Market has been performed while keeping in view manufacturing expenses, labor cost, and raw materials and their market concentration rate, suppliers, and price trend. Other factors such as Supply chain, downstream buyers, and sourcing strategy have been assessed to provide a complete and in-depth view of the market. Buyers of the report will also be exposed to a study on market positioning with factors such as target client, brand strategy, and price strategy taken into consideration.

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Global AI and Automation in Banking Market Research Report 2021 2027

Chapter 1 AI and Automation in Banking Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact on Industry

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Chapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions

Chapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Global Market Analysis by Application

Chapter 8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

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AI and Automation in Banking Market to Witness Stunning Growth to Generate Massive Revenue by Top Key Players Automation Anywhere, ComplyAdvantage,...

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Trump Targeted the Mentally Ill With His Lame Duck Execution Spree – Slate

Posted: at 8:57 am

The Trump Administrations 2020-21 execution spreecame to an end on Friday with the execution of the Dustin Higgs. Higgs was the 13th person put to death since federal executions resumed in July, 2020.

A close look at those executedover the last six months shows that the federal death penalty is not reserved for the worst of the worst as some of its proponents contend. Instead it targets the most disadvantaged and disabled of those charged with capital crimes.

Having an intellectual disability, a mental illness, or a history of childhood abuse and trauma turns out to be a very important, though often unappreciated, factor in explaining both who ends up on death row and who gets executed.

That is just one of the reasons why President-Elect Joe Biden should take decisivesteps to endthe federal death penalty and lead a campaign for nationwide abolition of capital punishment.

Criticism of the death penalty often rightly highlights its discriminatory application or, in the case of the federal governments use of this punishment, its geographic arbitrariness. In addition, the Trump administrations recent rush to execute disregarded the rights of the condemned to adequate legal representation, and in several cases ignored the wishes of victims families.

And it did not let the difficulties and dangers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic derail its plan.

Much has been made of the unprecedented nature of carrying out lame duck executions, especially since the federal government ramped up the death penalty just as its use is declining in states across the country.

Less visible, though no less important, in understanding the injustice and inhumanity of what Trump did and of the death penalty system in general is that the overwhelming majority of those facing execution today suffer from significant intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses, or a disabling history of childhood abuse and trauma.

Last summer, just before the resumption of federal executions, the Death Penalty Information Center found that 85 percent of those on federal death row had at least one serious impairment that significantly reduces their culpability, and 63 percent had two or more of these impairments.

The DPIC also reported that one-half were mentally ill, suffering from diseases such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder or psychosis. Three quarters had been the victims of physical abuse and trauma during their childhoods. As a result, one-third had developmental brain damage or traumatic brain injury.

It is thus not surprising that a similar pattern would appear among those the feds chose to put to death. Nine of the 13 of those individuals had significant intellectual disabilities, severe mental illness, and/or histories of abuse.

Despite the seriousness of the crimes for which they were convicted and sentenced, they look less like societys most dangerous or morally culpable and more like people who were neglected and abandoned by society.

Take Daniel Lewis Lee, the first of those Trump executed. Lee was neglected and severely abused by his stepfather throughout his early life. He had profound learning disabilities which went undiagnosed throughout his childhood and contributed to serious educational deficits. In addition, he suffered from borderline personality disorder.

The man who followed Lee, Wesley Purkey, was similarly disabled. In and out of psychiatric hospitals since he was 14, he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of childhood abuse as well as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. His father paid prostitutes to fondle him when he was a child, and his mother joined in the sexual abuse.

By the time of his July execution, he had Alzheimers and dementia, and was delusional.

Purkey believed that he was going to be put to death not for his crime but because he had filed too many grievances against the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He thought he was the victim of dark, conspiratorial forces. As a psychiatrist who examined him concluded, Purkey lacks a rational understanding for the basis for his execution.

But the Trump administration executed him anyway.

Lisa Montgomery, the first woman executed by the federal government since 1953, was the victim of severe physical abuse as child which resulted in brain damage. As one commentator noted, She was gang-raped repeatedly as an 11-year-old girl by her stepfather and his friends. Her mother trafficked her in exchange for plumbing and electrical work. (H)er stepfather smashed her head against the concrete floor of a room he built to rape her.

Montgomery had also been delusional throughout her life as a result of the mental illnesses she inherited from her parents.

That people like Lee, Purkey, and Montgomery could be put to death may seem surprising since, almost two decades ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Atkins v. Virginia, that executing offenders with intellectual disabilities violates the Constitutions prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.

The court said that people suffering from such disabilities can still know the difference between right and wrong andbe punished. But because of their disabilities in areas of reasoning, judgment, and control of their impulsesthey do not act with the level of moral culpability that characterizes the most serious adult criminal conduct.

Yet the Supreme Court refused to offer a clear definition of what constituted a disqualifying illness, leaving that judgment to judges and juries untrained in and unfamiliar with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and the lifelong consequences of childhood trauma. And it has refused to do so from then until now.

The cases of those put to death by the federal government illustrate the failure of the courts approach.

Judges and juries often cannot comprehended how intellectual disability, mental illness, and childhood abuse could explain why people commit serious offenses. And far from making those who suffer from abuse or illness seem less culpable, they may lead decision makers to conclude that they are more dangerous. Judges and juries can put them, as the Trump administration did, at the head of the line among those who get a death sentence.

Experience has shown that law alone cannot combat such stereotypes and misunderstandings.

As a result, disadvantaged and intellectually disabled people continue, as the Trump administration execution spree shows, to be among the offenders who are most likely to be subject to Americas ultimate punishment.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy captured the injustice and inhumanity of this practice in 2014, when he said that to impose the harshest of punishments on an intellectually disabled person violates his or her inherent dignity as a human being. Imposing the death penalty upon offenders with these kinds of functional impairments, he continued, serves no legitimate penological purpose.

The incoming Biden administration should acknowledge Kennedys wisdom. It should act urgently to stop executions of the impaired, indeed of all who have been convicted of capital crimes, by ending the federal death penalty and lending its weight to abolishing capital punishment throughout the United States.

Readers like you make our work possible. Help us continue to provide the reporting, commentary, and criticism you wont find anywhere else.

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Business rates replaced by VAT hike – proposed pie in the sky – Place North West

Posted: at 8:57 am

Business rates replaced by VAT hike proposed pie in the sky

A Tory MP is calling for business rates to be scrapped and replaced by an increase in VAT in order to save high street businesses.

Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) said increasing VAT from 20% to 23% would fill the 30 billion annual gap created from the abolition of business rates.

He is calling for immediate change as he introduces his Abolition of Business Rates Bill, saying the legislation would replace business rates completely with an increase in VAT Thereby fundamentally levelling the playing field between online and our precious local high street businesses.

This flies in the face of his partys general election manifesto pledge not to increase VAT during this Parliament but Hollinrake claims the scale and the pace of change to businesses today necessitates a new approach.

He went on: Business rates as they are today were designed for a bygone era, a long time ago where business went hand-in-hand with high street premises. Covid has quickly made that time seem even more distant and the trends already in train have been accelerated due to our forced house arrest. Online sales now account for 33% of all retail sales, up from 20% only a year ago.

What Mr Hollinrake hasnt thought through is how the new system and funding work in respect of all occupations, not just retailers or businesses. What about the Police, libraries, hospitals etc? The hike in VAT would have to be huge and essentially passing on the tax burden to every member of the general public regardless of income or circumstances. Imagine having to sell the fact that Tesco is saving hundreds of millions of pounds in business rates each year while their shopping bills, car service and house repairs go through the roof. Furthermore, there would be no certainty for Local Government funding as VAT would flex depending on the economy. In recession VAT would have to be increased still further

Hollinrake mentions a small increase which just wouldnt fill the hole left behind by business rates. To couch the increase in these terms is disingenuous at best.

By all means lets have a serious debate about the reform options, and lets do it quickly, but headline grabbing stunts like this are merely that and act as a distraction not a credible solution. The Bill was introduced without a vote, with a second reading scheduled for today. It has little chance of making further progress in its current form without Government backing which is highly unlikely as we wait for the outcome of the latest business rates review.

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Business rates replaced by VAT hike - proposed pie in the sky - Place North West

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Network Automation Software Market is Expected To Pick Up In Healthy CAGR BY 2021-2026 , Top Keyplayers , SolarWinds, Itential, BlueCat, Entuity,…

Posted: at 8:56 am

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Network Automation Software Market is Expected To Pick Up In Healthy CAGR BY 2021-2026 , Top Keyplayers , SolarWinds, Itential, BlueCat, Entuity,...

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Can we automate our way out of the savings crisis? – The European Sting

Posted: at 8:56 am

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This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration ofThe European Stingwith theWorld Economic Forum.

Author: Martha King, Chief Client Officer, Executive Vice-President and Head of the Infosys Retirement Services Center of Excellence, Infosys Limited & Mohit Joshi, President, Infosys Ltd

The world is facing a pensions crisis by 2050.

AI-assisted technology could both increase pensions access and improve financial outcomes for savers.

Pensions stakeholders must foster trust in such technology.

How can we fix the pensions timebomb? Previous World Economic Forum analysis has predicted at least a $400 trillion savings gap by 2050 and thats only across the eight most populated or developed savings markets. Meanwhile, the UN predicts that, globally, the population of over-60s will double to 2 billion people between 2020 and 2050. Around 80% of these will be in less or least developed countries.

Future generations are faced with the increasingly impossible task of funding the needs of an ageing population, as well as their own future. A challenge that is being compounded by structural issues in retirement funding, shifts in employment stability, and a lack of financial inclusion and literacy.

In 2017, a World Economic Forum paper analyzed the multiple aspects of this challenge. It lists the demographic factors above, but also describes several other obstacles, including long-term low growth for investment returns; lack of easy access to pensions; and the shift to direct contribution (DC) savings models.

This third point is crucial because savings rates are typically 10% to 15% lower under DC. They also require more self-directed investment decisions, and therefore higher financial literacy amongst the populace. While financial literacy is slowly improving, there is still a big gap, and this is worse in younger people, and in less developed economies.

On top of this, individuals find it incredibly difficult to get a holistic view of their finances that is relevant to their long-term savings perspective. A big obstacle is the lack of data-sharing and integration between financial products and providers. The challenge is further compounded by the large number of jobs people tend to have over their lifetime each coming with its own different pension plans.

We believe technology and automation tools that coach positive behaviours and enable easy long-term financial planning are a necessary part of the solution. Indeed, this supports recommendations to policy-makers made in the previous World Economic Forum paper, which included a focus on making savings easy for everyone, supporting financial literacy and standardizing pension data.

In the last decade, innovations at the intersection of technology, regulation and behavioural finance have strengthened DC savings vehicles. In large part, this has been done by making the process of investing more automatic for individuals.

Automatic enrolment sets up employees to contribute to their retirement as a default. Automatic escalation bumps up savings rates slightly each year. Together, these can increase retirement savings readiness by well over 33% and improve savings rates by 56% (see below). Target date funds, used widely in the US, automate the process of investment selection for individuals, leading to more balanced, risk-appropriate choices.

And even more can be done through creating a personalized and holistic view of an individuals finances, combining this with artificial intelligence technology that supports appropriate and responsible day-to-day nudges toward long-term financial thinking.

This nudge thinking has been central to many fintech business models, particularly in retirement savings. For once, the technology is not the barrier. It enables scalable mass automation, meaning individuals can access low-cost but personalized recommendations opening up financial coaching to a much wider audience globally.

The real challenge to optimizing this benefit is in encouraging interoperability between financial providers. The challenge is not technical, but rather one of competitive concerns within the industry. Who wants to let their customers easily compare their financial products side by side with their competitors?

Lessons can be taken from the experience of the UKs Open Banking regulations (based on the EUs Revised Payment Services Directive). This requires banks to release their data in a secure, standardized form so that it can be shared between authorized organizations online. The default method has been for banks to use open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that enable customers to share their data across different banks, often aggregating them in new fintech apps or platforms that help with money management.

While the full success of this approach has yet to be determined, it does show that, with regulatory backing, the financial industry can be made to modernize and reshape the competitive nature of their services.

For all the potential good technology and automation can bring to retirement savings, none of it will come to pass unless the institutions and stakeholders governing the technology can deliver transparency and foster consumer trust as they deliver and develop these new ideas.

On the transparency front, technology must move fast and be packaged up as an attractive and rewarding experience but also remain explainable. Users need to understand financial services clearly enough to trust them. Automation requires consumers to disclose personal information and to be comfortable with an algorithm providing advice.

Individuals, regulators and experts will also need to be able to audit, inspect and monitor the black box that provides advice or direction to individuals, ensuring it is appropriately stress-tested and free of bias.

Stakeholders from government, private enterprise and non-governmental organizations ultimately hold responsibility when retirement savings fall short. Technology and automation, moderated by empathetic human hands, hold the potential to guide more and more workers to grow into savers and make better decisions in each stage of their life journey. Artificial Intelligence

In 2019, the World Economic Forums Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution convened an informal multi-stakeholder group of leaders, known as the Global AI Council (GAIC) a keen interest in creating positive futures with advanced AI systems.

One of the goals of the Council is to provide strategic guidance to the global community on the priorities for AI governance and cooperation as well as the policy implications linked to advances in AI.

The project is taking place over several months and brings together a diverse group of individuals that includes science-fiction authors, economists, policymakers, and AI experts.

The council aims to open up the possibilities for its Positive AI Economic Futures using the creativity and expertise of these participants as well as opening up the process to a much wider range of contributors.

It is also in the process of initiating a second thread of the project, running in parallel with the workshops: a movie competition in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation. Participants will create short movies showcasing their ideas for a future economy in a concrete form that speaks to individual aspirations and fears.

Together, under the aegis of the World Economic Forum, behavioural scientists, financiers, pension advisors, technologists, ethicists, consumer groups and regulators may help create a framework that engenders trust and transparency, which will enable technology to improve retirement outcomes for many individuals and their communities.

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FAA approves American Robotics to fly its automated drone-in-a-box – DroneDJ

Posted: at 8:56 am

In a significant industry first, a US company has received FAA permission to fly its automated drone-in-a-box system. This is a pretty big deal, with ramifications down the road for many other players in this sector.

The concept of a drone-in-a-box has been around for years. The idea is simple: A drone departs from some sort of housing that is capable of charging the UAS and offering safe harbor from weather. The drone carries out its mission. And then it returns to the same station (or, possibly, another identical station), where it recharges. That downtime in the station might also include a data dump and diagnostics checkup. And then, when the time is right, off heads the drone on another mission.

Most importantly? Theres no pilot on-site flying the drone.

You can see the appeal, of course. A drone carrying out a repeated mission can truly be a flying robot, autonomously gathering data over and over again. There are multiple use-case scenarios, including inspection and surveillance, doing volume calculations, precision agriculture, and more. Any recurring job that would normally require a pilot could, theoretically, be automated and monitored remotely.

We seem to recall that one of the first to develop this technology was Israel-based Airobotics, which received permission from the countrys civil aviation authority back in 2017 to carry out flights without a pilot on location. This video might ring a bell with some of you:

Now, American Robotics has received FAA clearance to operate its drones on autonomous flights. Its Scout System has received a partial green light with an FAA Waiver valid until January 31, 2023; you can read the FAA documents here. It delineates specific areas where these flights can be carried out and requires that NOTAMs be issued so that those operating manned aircraft will be aware of the flights.

Still, its a very big step.

Heres how American Robotics describes its offerings on its website:

Everything is automated, from landing to charging to data processing. Once installed, Scout systems will run missions autonomously, collecting, processing, and analyzing data. Never touch a remote control again. Scout drones live in yourfield inside a ScoutBase, a weatherproof charging and data processing station. With the help ofproprietarysoftware and hardware they are able tooperate without the need for ahuman pilot. Interact withone Scout, or a fleet of Scouts, from your office remotely via ScoutView, ourweb and mobile application. Set your Scout Systems to collect dataon a schedule, or initiate missionson demand.

https://www.american-robotics.com

There are many applications where this kind of deployment makes perfect sense. If the mission is a recurring one and even if new missions are uploaded remotely the long-term efficiency of this approach makes sense.

With these approvals, American Robotics is ushering in a new era of widespread automated drone operations. Decades worth of promise and projection are finally coming to fruition. We are proud to be the first company to meet the FAAs comprehensive safety requirements, which had previously restricted the viability of drone use in the commercial sector. We are very grateful for the FAAs willingness to work closely with American Robotics over the past four years on this precedent-setting authorization. With this set of approvals, American Robotics can begin safely operating our automated Scout platform for the benefit of the energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and security market verticals, helping unlock the projected $100 billion commercial drone market.

Reese Mozer, CEO and cofounder of American Robotics

This doesnt mean that the floodgates have opened yet. But its a strong indicator these kinds of autonomous systems are likely to flourish down the road.

The commercial drone industry is growing quickly and providing significant benefits to the American public, but enabling expanded operations beyond visual line of sight is critical for the industry to truly take off. Automated BVLOS operations are particularly important to opening the commercial sectors to the drone economy, including the agriculture and industrial verticals. Key to these operations is the use and FAA acceptance of new and innovative safety technologies, such as detect and avoid (DAA) sensors and software-enabled automation. American Robotics groundbreaking and exciting FAA approval is an important and significant step forward for the commercial drone community as a whole. The commercial drone industry looks forward to building on American Robotics success and continuing to work with the FAA toward safe integration of UAS into our National Airspace System.

Lisa Ellman, executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance

I once worked for a Canadian startup drone company that also was experimenting with charging stations. Its business model is long-range asset monitoring, with its VTOL aircraft nesting in similar stations.

The idea, clearly, makes a lot of sense. Weve also seen, with Skydios AI-enhanced drones, a willingness from the FAA to grant BVLOS waivers when its assured that the missions can be carried out with minimal risk to manned aircraft or people (and property) on the ground.

The future of this industry, or a significant part of it, will belong to those enterprise suppliers that combine AI with end-to-end automation. Why have a pilot or other support on the ground if the process can be automated?

Its not going to happen over night. Were looking at years, rather than weeks or months. But for some tasks this will undoubtedly be the future. Congrats, American Robotics.

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Trump Set To Leave Office With A Higher Approval Rating Than Bush – The Federalist

Posted: at 8:55 am

President Donald Trump is leaving office with a higher approval rating and the Republican Party on better footing than after President George W. Bush exited the office in 2009, when the younger Bush saw historically low ratings.

According to RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls, Trump is moving out of the White House with a nearly 40 percent approval rating overall. Bush enjoyed just under 30 percent of Americans on his side at this same point in his presidency.

One recent poll by the Pew Research Center made headlines this month. It was conducted in the aftermath of the attacks on Capitol Hill and showed Trump on his way out with the same approval rating as his last Republican predecessor, at 29 percent. Yet the poll is an outlier among seven other surveys conducted entirely in the aftermath of the latest Capitol riots, showing Trumps approval well above 30 percent. The most recent poll included in the RealClear average, from Rasmussen and conducted Jan. 11-14, shows Trump with a 48 percent approval rating.

At the same point in Bushs presidency, days before the incoming Democrats inauguration, the outgoing president also saw a poll illustrating public support below the outgoing average at 22 percent, still far lower than the survey results from the Pew Research Center released on Trump Friday.

The ousted one-term Republican has also left his party in better shape than it was in when he took office, transforming the GOP into an increasingly multi-racial, working-class party and with Democrats holding razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate after capturing the White House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will now preside over a 10-vote majority, compared to a 79-vote majority as Bush left office in 2009. In the Senate, Democrats now hold a majority merely because they control the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris will be the tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 Senate where West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin looms large and has a red-state constituency to satisfy.

In 2009, Democrats held a 59-41 majority and the chambers two independent members caucused with the Democrats. Democrats later claimed a 60-40 supermajority once then-Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter switched parties early in the Congress.

For all the negative headlines about Trump, its clear the president remains far more unpopular in the media establishment driven by beltway narratives than in the rest of the country.

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