In early 2000, my son was accepted to study at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the US. Being my wife’s boy, she wanted to talk to him regularly on the phone. We would call the local telephone operator and she got him connected to us. Then the magic word, do you accept reverse call? My wife’s conversation was short as it was expensive to have long distance call conversation. Telephone companies were making huge profits from long-distance calls.
Later, with the internet, making long distance call was a bit less expensive. However, we needed to go to a telecommunication shop called “wartel” to use internet telephony to make long-distance calls. The “wartel” was always full with Indonesians, Filipinos, Bangladeshis and locals who would talk to their friends for hours for a fixed hourly charge. Gradually, the “wartel” closed down for lack of business due to the introduction of Skype. People could make long distance call on their computers and notebooks for free.
My wife was one of the happiest mothers as she could talk regularly and freely with our daughter, who was studying at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.
Thank You Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis for Skype
Niklas Zennstrom
Janus Friis-Co-Founder
Swedish Niklas Zenntrom and co-founder Dane Janus Friis are now billionaires who sold Skype to eBay Inc. for US$2.6 billion in 2005. Skype is a telecommunications application software product that specializes in providing video chat and voice calls between computers, tablets, mobile devices and others via the internet. Skype implements a freemium business model. Much of the service is free. Now Skype, part of Microsoft Corporation, has millions of users. Skype was first released in August 2003.
Quotes by Niklas Zennstrom:
“The telephone is a 100-year-old technology. It’s time for a change. Charging for phone calls is something you did last century
If you could utilize the resources of the end users’ computers, you could do things much more efficiently.”
In an interview with The Times of London on September 30th, 2018, Niklas Zennstrom outlined his current activities. Skype was considered as one of the most successful technology businesses that emerged from Europe. Since starting Skype in 2003, Niklas Zennstrom has been in a mission to prove world –beating technologies can be started in Europe.
In 2017, his venture fund, Atomico (atomico.com), raised a US$765 million technology fund. The technology fund’s successful investments include Rovio, the creator of the Angry Birds games franchise from Finland, Clash of Clans Supercell and The Climate Corporation.
We hope Niklas Zennstrom will invest in new technologies that would have similar benefits and simplify the lives of parents like Skype did for us.
Our consulting company, bison consulting, are entering into a partnership with Blockon Group, blockon.biz, a global Blockchain services company, to offer:
Advisory, consulting and compliance for blockchain
Initial coin offerings (ICOs)
Cryptocurrencies
Blockchain
Token
Training in DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and its applications in organizations
Certification in DLT (MBA focusing in DLT) with Asia e University
Please call us at 6016 3220 952 or mail us at datodranuar@gmail.com if you are interested for a briefing on applications of DLT in your organization.
Book your place in our DLT class in November 2018, to be held at Asia e University, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Previously, we wrote an article on the development of cochlear implant. This article will cover the business of cochlear implantation.
Market research company, Grand View Research, estimated that the cochlear implantation market was worth US$1.1 billion in 2015. As a medical device, with cochlear implant, a person can achieve better sentence understanding as compared to hearing aids. At present, cochlear implants are the only effective means of allowing the social interactions of individuals suffering from hearing loss. The first cochlear implant was approved by FDA of the US in 1984, which was made by 3M Corporation, the then market leader.
Increasing incidence of neonates (new born child) born with hearing defects is driving the market for cochlear implant systems. According to World Health Organization (WHO) hearing loss statistics, each year, approximately, 134 million children are born, out of which approximately 1 to 3 newly- born per 1,000 are with learning loss, which is treatable only with cochlear implant. Thus, there is a need for a minimum of 134,000 cochlear implants annually. The number of cochlear implants is likely to increase to approximately 160,000 per year if the hearing loss is considered for both ears.
Apart from the rising number of patients suffering from hearing loss, technological advancements, strategic initiatives by industry players, and favourable government regulations are driving the growth of the global cochlear implant systems market in 2016. For instance, in 1979, the University of Melbourne and Nucleus Limited got approval from the Australian Department of Productivity to manufacture and market 22 cochlear implants. In another event, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the US, funded the first consensus conference to speed up the acceptance of multi-electrode cochlear implants. Market players are focused on the development of devices with reduced noise, quickly chargeable, long battery life, and waterproof. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the current production of hearing loss aids is only 10 per cent of the actual need. Thus, there is a lucrative opportunity for new companies to enter the global cochlear implant systems market.
The global cochlear implant systems market has been segmented based on type of fitting, end-user, and region. Based on type of fitting, the market is segmented into unilateral implantation and bilateral implantation. The unilateral implantation segment dominates the global cochlear implant systems market owing to low cost. Unilateral implantation is common in adults. The bilateral implantation segment is expected to expand at a fast growth in future owing to rising demand for cochlear implants by pediatric patients suffering from hearing loss. Moreover, several countries are offering reimbursement only for bilateral implantation contributing to the growth of the segment. In terms of end-user, the market is segmented into hospitals, ENT clinics, and other end-users. The ENT clinics segment dominates the global cochlear implant systems market in 2016, owing to increasing patient population suffering from hearing loss, and growing patient preference towards treatment in ENT clinics in emerging countries. According to WHO estimates in 2012, out of the total worldwide population with hearing impairment, 91 per cent were adults and 9 per cent were children.
Geographically, the global cochlear implant systems market is distributed over North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific region is expected to dominate the global cochlear implant systems market owing to the high prevalence of hearing defects in the region. Middle East and Africa region is expected to account for the second largest share in 2016. This is attributable to the highest incidence of otitis media, ear infections owing to lack of proper hygiene practices, and increasing pregnancy and genetic complications leading to hearing loss in neonates. Europe is the next largest market for cochlear implants owing to increasing geriatric population.
Competitive Market Share
Cochlear implant systems industry is consolidated with presence of few players such as Cochlear Limited (Nucleus), Sonova, William Demant and MED-EL. According to market research company, Global Market Insights, Inc., the manufacturers are engaged in rigorous research and development activities aimed at improving hearing outcomes and expanding indications for these solutions. The industry participants employ strategies such as collaboration, acquisition, new product development and expansion of manufacturing capacity for increasing their market presence.
Cochlear Limited, the market leader
Early pioneer in implantsA key participant in cochlear implants
Business Performance of Key Participants
We have analysed the annual report of Cochlear Limited, which is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions with products including cochlear implant, bone conduction implants and acoustic implants. Cochlear Limited commenced its operation in 1981 as the Nucleus Group and in 1995 listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). It is based on the campus of Macquarie University in Melbourne, Australia. The company estimates that more than 450,000 recipients have been implanted with one of its implants.
The company invested more than A$150 million each year in research and development activities and currently participated in more than 100 collaborative research activities. Its 2017 financial performance is highlighted below:
Cochlear implants
32,552
Sales revenue
A$ million
Cochlear implants
767.781
Services (sound processor, upgrades and accessories)
This article is courtesy of Jagdish Pandya and Shahin Noble Pilli, which was published in Forbes India Marquee, March 2018.
Summary
The world held its breadth and witnessed in wonder , the most prominent among news-worthy stories, the rise of a Fintech innovation called ICO in 2017. In laymen’s language-Initial Coin Offering. ICO implies crowdfunding a new cryptocurrency and an innovative idea that can be implemented on the blockchain technology. As of now, ICO mostly is raised for this reason. But what is interesting is the way it has changed the whole ecosystem of fundraising.
Introduction
Until now, entrepreneurs with groundbreaking ideas found raising money for their projects an immensely cumbersome process. However, with the introduction of ICO the speed of fundraising has witnessed an unprecedented acceleration with astonishing ease. Let’s take a closer look to decipher this phenomenon called ICO
What is an ICO (Past, Present and Future)
In the past, fundraising for even the most brilliant idea would take ages for the founders. Without a strong network connection accompanied with an aggressive media presence it would take several rounds of meetings to close a single round of funding. Time, which the founders could have spent making their offering/idea better, was wasted in these endless meetings on fundraising 1.0.
With the introduction of online collectives such as Kickstarter and IndieGoGo the funding process started to improve. However, though these online crowdfunding platforms believed in meritocracy and helped raise fund quickly and easily earlier, there were still some disadvantages for the entrepreneurs. One of the most important one was that these platforms charge 5-10% of the total funding and many start-ups didn’t have a large social media backing or PR presence. But it was nevertheless Fundraising 2.0, which was better than the previous, and thus people went ahead with it,
Meanwhile, there were developments taking place at a phenomenal speed in the realm of financial technologies and soon we saw Fundraising 3.0 in the avatar ICO. What the world witnessed in wonder in 2017, is a result of some earlier developments attributed to some visionaries. It was J. R Willet, the pioneer, who studied Computer Science at Seattle Pacific University, and invented the initial coin offering (ICO) finding model in 2012. On July 31st, 2013, he launched the first ICO, Mastercoin (now called Omni), and raised about US$500,000 for his project and since then the ICO has seen rapid and aggressive growth in collection of funds and number of ICOs.
Willet sated that, “Everything I was doing with Mastercoin (now called Omni) was new and untried. I was really excited about creating a decentralized exchange, and I thought that price-stabilized assets would be a really big deal someday.” Since the first ICO in 2013, there has been a flood of ICOs with new ICO launching every other day. In 2016 alone, 54 major ICOs raised close to US$103 million. 2017 has been phenomenal for ICOs, raining around US$4.80 plus billion in 90 plus ICOs. Cryptocurrency market capitalization increased from US$7 billion in January of 2016 to over US$550 billion as of December 31st 2017, and the wealth generation for early investors was extremely exuberant and having profits in multi millions.
This triggered a positive cyclic motion for ICO and various types of cruptocurrencies. Today, ICos are revolutionizing the way start-ups, entrepreneurs and corporations raise funds efficiently and directly to investors, compared to time taken via the VC route and IPO or private placement. However, this has not resulted in the annihilation of the traditional ways of fund raising. On the contrary, the VCs and Private Investors had tried to move with the changing time and actually co-exist and contribute to this new phenomenon. The top VC firms like Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz participated in the recently held Filecoin ICO, signalling a positive reaction from their side or maybe as an act of testing the waters before going full throttle.
The tremendous rise of ICOs is a result of more than one reason. Apart from its ability to unleash funds for the founders, it has revolutionized the overall Fintech sector by triggering massive convergence of various ideologies and technologies that further shape the way we do business transactions, raise capital for an idea that kept us awake, or untie ourselves from the existing methods and means of monetary straightjackets.
Interestingly, the vast majority of ICOs thus far have been used to raise funding for a technology project related to crytocurrency, blockchain, or some other form of decentralization. But in the future, the same can be applied for other types of business as well.
Maths, Myths and Metaphors about ICOS
Tokens are compared to Kickstarter-style crowdfunding in traditional IPO sales. As tokens provide utility and are redeemed by the issuer, they provide token holders with unique equity insight to a functional project/product/service and opportunity to redeem in the future. Additionally, it also provides expected potential appreciation on the possible progress and success of the project/product/service of the issuing company. An ICO’s functioning is simple: a team with an ide, but short of fund, uses blockchain technology to issue a certain amount of digital tokens (aka “coins”) sold in an auction to people paying in either, Bitcoinor Ether, regular money like US dollars or British pounds. “Token” might sound like Monopoly money, but their impact on the real world is growing by tne day.
Bitcoin-The most popular cryptocurrency
The mechanics of an ICO involves setting up a crowdfunding website and whitepaper with information about the business model and founding team. Details of the whitepaper will include the problem that the platform is trying to solve, management structure, plans for development and allocation of resources.
Buyers then deposit an established crytocurrency such as Ethereum or Bitcoin to receive a primary key (in the form of a cryptographic algorithm for new tokens.
ICO Essentials
The business idea: Ideally, the coin/token should have some value inside your business idea but technically it is a choice.
The team: A strong leadership means that the credibility quotient will go high.
The technology: In the ever-changing world of cryptocurrency, the faster and better ones will take it all.
The White Paper: It is like your Pitch deck in the form of a webpage putting out your details like your daily active users , revenue, user acquisition strategy, what do you intend to do with the money etc. in front of everyone who is interested in participating your ICO. And then you need to prove your credibility to the world that you can deliver on what you are saying in your White Paper.
Coin economics: This is part where the reality kinks in. You and your ICO participants should know exactly what is going to be with the coins in pre-ICO, ICO and post ICO stages and what will be the distribution, usage and returns in the long-run.
Post IPO: The goal is generally to get the token listed on as many reputed exchanges where others who missed out in the ICO can buy it later. The more the demand, the higher the price and valuation of your company.
According to Tokendata, a total of US$5.6 billion was raised from ICOs in 2017, based on 442 ICOs, with the median of US$ 4.5 million raised, another historic milestone eclipsing the US$265 million raised from 2014 to 2016 combined. But in spite these facts, there are so many who think that Bitcoin, Ethereum and Blockchain generally are Fintech or cryptocurrencies. It’s like missing the big picture and fundamentally misinterpreting the power of innovation that has already started changing the world.
The main advantage of investing in ICO and tokens is that it is listed and liquid, unlike seed stage /start-up stage, as the investments are locked and not listed, so no liquidity. In the crypto exchange, these ICO/Tokens get listed, and immediately the investors can sell their tokens in the exchange, much like a public stock exchange. But on the flipside, the investors have no control over the board on the decisions, for the fund deployment, project decisions etc. Investors should do their due diligence on the promoters and feasibility and viability of the project.
What Next
As the market steadily matures, more sophisticated investors and large VCs and other asset investors will invest in ICOs and token in start-ups and existing companies will take the ICO route to raise funds faster and efficiently. ICOs and tokens on blockchain are a very powerful economic strategy for investors and fundraisers, leading to more innovations and technologically transforming the entire global fundraising industry, a major disrupter and game changer.
Top ICOs in 2017 and Current Market Capitalization (in US$ million)
No.
Name of ICO
Amount raised
Current market capitalization
1
Tezos
208.0
912.7
2
EOS.IO
200.0
4,731.1
3
Bancor
153.0
72.9
4
Status
95.0
117.0
5
TenX
80.0
74.2
6
Mobile GO
53.3
12.5
7
SONM
42.0
18.2
8
Basic Attention Token
35.0
158.3
9
Civic
33.0
38.7
10
Storj
30.0
83.9
11
Polybius
28.9
6.4
12
Aragon
24.8
22.1
13
Aeternity
22.4
216.9
14
OpenANX
18.8
4.7
15
Cosmos Network
16.8
22.6
16
Qtum
15.6
297.5
17
Giga Watt
14.6
2.2
18
Mysterium Network
14.1
3.1
19
Nimiq
13.6
2.8
20
Tokencard
12.7
9.4
21
Dao Casino
12.3
3.7
22
Gnosis
12.3
28.6
23
iEx.ec
12.1
31.6
24
ATB Coin
11.8
0.7
25
Blockchain Capital Fund III
10.0
Not available
Source: Autonomous NEXT Analysis and Bison Consulting Research
Today, we have an opportunity to discuss with Professor Sayed Azam Ali, CEO, Centre of Crops for the Future, located at University of Nottingham Malaysia. Among the topics of discussion were the impact of climate change on major crops in Malaysia, such as oil palm and rice. A higher variation of temperatures observed over a period of years would impact on the productivity of crops such as rice. In addition, the world’s agriculture is mainly focused on four major crops such as rice, wheat, maize and soybean. He said the temperature in Britain has become warmer while the temperature has become hotter.
The R&D Centre of Crops of the Future
Professor Sayed noted that efforts should be directed towards reviving forgotten crops. He highlighted that moringa tree is one, which leaves contain several bio-actives for general good health. The moringa tree originated from India and then brought into Malaya (Malaysia before 1957) by Indian immigrants. The moringa tree, over time, had adopted well in Malaysia.
Moringa Trees Plantation
The leaves of Moringa are packed with a full spectrum of nutrients. They are consumed in powder form by pounding fresh dried leaves.
Centre of Crops for the Future had undertaken expensive research efforts on the planting of moringa tree and product developments. We have agreed to promote intensive cultivation of moringa trees under plantation method. We can also assist smallholders to plant moringa trees. The leaves are suitable as feed for small animals such as goats and rabbits. The leaves of moringa trees can be harvested after six months.
We are offering locally-grown moringa leaves and power in our eStore.
Please contact Dato’ Dr Anuar Md Nor at 016 3220 952 or email at datodranuar@gmail.com.
An article in the London Times on August 28th, 2018, described a miracle moment of baby Max when a cochlear implant was switched on in May 2018, just after his first birthday, and Max turned to his mother, Rebecca, in wide-eyed, open-mouthed astonishment.
The cochlear implants, which cost about US$10,00 for each ear, are electronic devices that perform the same action as the inner ear, or cochlea, which is often damaged in people who are deaf.
A sound processor worn outside the ear captures sounds and turns them into digital signals that are picked up by an implant placed inside the head via surgery. It converts the signals into electrical impulses that it sends through the ear to stimulate the hearing nerve. This sends signals to the brain that are interpreted as sound.
The research efforts on cochlear implant had been long that started in the 1950s, thanks to the pioneering efforts of scientists such as Mr Djourno and Mr. Eyries in France, Dr James Doyle in USA, Dr Simmons in USA, and Dr Graem Clark in Australia.
An excellent 1993 paper by Andrew H. Van de Van and Raghu Garud, Innovation and Industry Development: The Case of Cochlear Implant, examined how the cochlear implant industry had emerged from 1960s to 1990s. They noted the existence of an industrial infrastructure that includes institutional arrangements, resource endowments, and technical economic activities.
It is found that this infrastructure of cochlear implants industry emerged through an accretion of numerous technical and institutional events involving many public and private sector actors over an extended period of time.
Moreover, this institutional arrangements and resource endowments that emerged to facilitate and provide momentum of the cochlear implant industry became the inertial forces that hindered subsequent technological developments by private firms. The findings emphasize that the management of innovation must be concerned not only with micro-developments of a proprietary technical device but also with the creation of an industrial system that embodies the social, economic, and political infrastructure that any technological community need to sustain its members.
Reference:
Andrew H. Van de Ven and Raghu Garud (1993). Innovation and Industry Development: The Case of Cochlear in Research on Technological Innovation, Management and Policy, Volume 5, page 1-46.
Dato’ Dr Anuar Md Nor is a specialist in the area of innovation management, venture capital and business networks as strategic resources. He teaches these subjects at Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He is also Adjunct Professor at the the School of Management, Asia e University, Malaysia.
He founded Bison Consulting, a consulting firm that offers services such as intellectual property valuation, firm valuation, grant application and “halal” certification application.He has authored three books, Securing Private Equity in Malaysia, The Palm Oil Multinationals from Malaysia, and The Role of Networks in Internationalization Process.
He has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Birmingham, England, an MBA from School of Management, University of Bradford, England, an MSc. in Management of Technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA. He completed his PhD in Business Management from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Malaysia.
Before establishing Bison Consulting, he was CEO of PNB Equity Resources Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad, the largest investment company in Malaysia and CEO of Malaysian Technology Development Corporation Sdn Bhd, the venture capital company owned by Malaysian government. During his tenure, he had invested in high technology companies in Silicon Valley, USA.
Dato’ Dr Anuar Md Nor lives with his wife, Datin Azimah, in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. It is a commuter town about one hour drive to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. He tends his garden plot planting several fruit trees, while his wife tends her orchid plants. Our four children work in Kuala Lumpur. Our second son is a famous artist with sculptures installed in London and Singapore, having graduated from Rhode Island School of Design, USA, and Central Saint Martins, London, UK. Our daughter graduated from the Australian National University, Canberra. Our eldest son manages his own design company while our youngest son works as a securities trader in a Malaysian Investment Bank.
We share our home with seven cats, namely, Junior, Baby, Yen, Charlie, Malaya, Tuya and Momo, and they like to be fed with boiled sardines.
This blog has been established for a while now. We are now incorporating an eCommerce feature in the blog to help readers and general internet users to purchase downloads as well as a range of foods containing bioactives based on our research and works.
The downloads include:
eBook covering topics in innovation and management
eThesis covering PhD thesis conducted at Malaysian universities
eReport covering topics in intellectual property valuation and valuation of firm
eAccess sign-ins to on-line databases
Use various devices for on-line learning
We plan to offer a eAccess sign-in to extensive databases in partnership with Asia e University. Members will be able to use the on-demand learning platform for pure learning and register an on-line Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees with Asia e University. We will announce when this eAccess sign-in will be operational.
Like it or not, robots are steadily marching forward replacing humans in their stride.
Many human jobs are being replaced by robots or robots are collaborating with humans, which were reported as follows:
Working robots: collaborative robots or “cobots” are being installed in factories to work alongside with humans. In Britain, cobots are being used to address the shortage of workers due to Brexit. A study from Massachusetts of Technology (MIT) indicates that cooperation between humans and robots is more productive than using either humans or robots alone and reduce human idle time by 85 per cent.
A cobot produced by Kuka
In addition, cobots are being utilized in restaurants. At Mofongo’s distillery and cocktail bar in the Dutch city of Groningen, a cobot climbs a 26-ft high bar to tap bottle of spirits. In a restaurant in Tokyo a cobot boxes takeaway dumplings. Trials are underway for machines to go through medical records using artificial intelligence to ensure that they get the right medical record.
(Source: Mark Bridge. Robots in restaurant to solve staff shortage. The Times, June 16, 2018)
Soft fruits robots: there goes students’ summer jobs of picking strawberries! We spent a summer during our college days in a strawberry farm in Northern England. The pays enabled us to buy a nice bicycle. A company, Fieldwork Robotics Ltd in the UK is developing a prototype robot capable of picking raspberries. The robotic system could be adapted to pick other fruits and vegetables. Running on wheels and guided by cameras, they will have multiple arms, equipped with sensors to detect and pick ripe berries.
Soon, rambutan could be picked -up by robots without having a stiff neck
(Source: Miles Costello. March of the robots was never so sweet. The Times, August 6, 2018.
A robot stuntman: The Walt Disney Company’s researchers initially had developed a robot stuntman by devising a lump of metal that could be flung across a space into a net. It had sensors and its centre of mass could be shifted, allowing its flight to be controlled and a precise landing would be made. It was followed by a headless, limbless automation made up of three connected shafts, and then a full humanoid robot. It was noted that robots have started to become mobile and autonomous and can begin to imitate sophisticated stuntmen or stuntwomen.
Robotic actors “employed” to do stunts in movies
(Source: Will Pavia. Disney’s next trick: a robot stuntman. The Times, August 7, 2018.
More bad news for human employees: It was reported that Citigroup, the US banking giant, had announced that it would reduce up to half of its technology and operations staff in the next five years and replace them with machines. Another large bank, Credit Suisse, was planning to automate a large number of compliance jobs.
(Source: Miles Costello and Dominic Walsh. 10,000 workers @may be replaced by machines”. The Times, June 12, 2018.
In Malaysia, there is an urgent need to replace foreign workers in large oil palm plantations to harvest fruits and transport them to palm oil mills quickly. Foreign workers in oil palm plantations represent a major portion of immigrants in Malaysia.
