PKF welcomes the Blockchain Summit

PKF has progressed in its IT initiative called Bit-Pod and is participating as a start-up in Malta AI & Blockchain Summit later on this month. The Summit is now in its second year and – as in the past – it aims to attract a truly global crowd of exhibitor

Some may question whether we are racing ahead in this challenging sector where other more advanced countries are sparing no money to invest heavily in research and development. The sector has caught the eye of a number of international players and we now need to continue in a drive to sustain our momentum following the promulgation of laws on the subject and the issue of licenses to VFA agents and IT system auditors.

The media recently reported that a group of pioneer researchers in Malta are working on a new artificial intelligence and machine learning-based system that will learn to fly like human pilots. When ready and fully tested, such a system is intended to carry out high-level tasks such as interpretation of weather information and the calculation of weather-avoidance manoeuvres, which are currently not automated on planes.

The University of Malta, which is hosting this research, is hopeful that this innovation will act as an ‘artificial pilot’ that is expected to improve security and

reduce the cost of flying. In another sector of manufacturing, one finds studies to design monitoring systems which will help reduce the cost of maintenance of production line machinery and equipment. This also acts as a cost saver and makes products more competitive, because applying predictive maintenance – as opposed to preventive maintenance – eliminates downtime.

This branch of applied AI helps install predictive maintenance by responding to alerts and resolving machine issues. Although Malta is a minnow compared with the giants of countries such as the USA and China, we cannot underestimate the benefit of starting our own research-minded dogma.

It is true that we can never catch up with the giants, but the idea of regulating Blockchain and similar technologies is a good start. You have to admire China, which has made tremendous strides in many fields, particularly in AI. It is a driving force that has guided businesses and government agencies to collaborate in a sweeping plan to make China the world’s primary AI innovation centre by 2030, and it is already making serious progress toward that goal.

US Air Force General VeraLinn Jamieson says: “We estimate that the total spending on artificial intelligence systems in China in 2017 was $12billion. It is estimated that it will grow to at least $70 billion by 2020. One is reminded of the three of China’s biggest companies – Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent: superpowers. Collectively, known as the BAT, these command a formidable force in the sphere of AI and digital commerce.

It is easy to notice how BAT could soon command what is perhaps our most valuable resource – human data. A clever use of smart algorithms can harness the power of AI, lifting it to a higher level. It will soon wield tremendous influence in global digital commerce, autonomous vehicles and a renewed race to outer space. By comparison, one notices that whereas American users’ payment and transportation data is fragmented across various platforms, Chinese AI giants such as Tencent have created unified online ecosystems that concentrate all citizen data in one place. China’s computer vision start-up ‘SenseTime’ has become the most valuable AI start-up in the world. Capable of identifying your face, gauging your age and even your potential purchasing habits, ‘SenseTime’ is now a worldleader in facial recognition technology.

Users are applying their AI prowess to everything – from traffic surveillance to employee authorisation. Regardless of how AI is defined, there is little doubt that this resource can be of great value, especially in large data applications.

Undoubtedly, AI is fast becoming a major technological tool for prescriptive analytics, the step beyond predictive analytics that helps us determine how to implement and/or optimise optimal decisions. In business applications it can assess future risks, quantify probabilities and, in so doing, give us insights into how to improve market penetration, customer satisfaction, security analysis, trade execution, fraud detection and prevention, while proving indispensable in land and air traffic control, national security and defence.

That is not to mention, a host of healthcare applications such as patient-specific treatments for diseases and illnesses. It is an undisputed fact that China wants to become a leader in this sector and is investing billions in it. Equally, there is a group of venture capitalists in the US who are constantly poised to look out for talented people in their ongoing recruitment programme.

It is not uncommon for research firms to seek top-notch university graduates who show early leadership potential. One has to mention Mr Son, who created Softbank, a mega IT research fund with its headquarters in Japan. SoftBank is synonymous with its charismatic founder and is reshaping global tech with its colossal treasure box. It is shaking up the cosy world of Silicon Valley venture capital.

The gargantuan fund lures start-ups to cash out from the clutches of Google, Facebook and Amazon. With its massive war chest, it gives entrepreneurs a better shot at competing with the titans. The fund wants to perform a similar function in China, where nearly half of all unicorns are by now backed by one of the country’s three BAT giants.

Readers will appreciate that this disruptive technology has a benign purpose and is helping to link various civilisations, improve crop yields and speed up the progress in complex human Genome classification. In the near future, delivery drones, both wheeled and airborne, may compete with couriers while supermarket robots silently stack food items on shelves and move merchandise in warehouses.

Ending on this positive note, innovation can help humanity develop machines able to code complex algorithms that ‘learn’ from past examples. Needless to say, in Malta we encourage businesses to join the bandwagon. Those who do so can use machine and deep learning techniques to mine, refine and make products from data culled from all areas of operation – from customer service to employee productivity. The brave will command a bigger share in market dominance. Perhaps we can all agree to converge at the next Malta Blockchain Summit and network with the crowd of innovators. George Mangion is a senior partner of an audit and consultancy firm, and has over twenty-five years’ experience in accounting, taxation, financial and consultancy services. His efforts have seen that PKF has been instrumental in establishing many companies in Malta and placed PKF in the forefront as professional financial service providers on the Island. George can be contacted at gmm@pkfmalta.com or on +356 2148 4373