A Greek maritime environmental engineering company has merged with a well known local shipping IT firm with the pair vowing to develop green digital solutions for the industry. Erma First, best known for its ballast water treatment systems, has bought out METIS Cyberspace Technology from the Germanos–led Olympia Group. Established in 2016, METIS is specialised in electronic engineering, IoT, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, offering a platform that enables shipping companies to acquire and analyse data to improve performance over a wide range of operational aspects. "With technology playing an increasingly critical role in every aspect of the industry, both companies recognize that they need to accelerate the development of green digital solutions to ensure they remain in the competitive vanguard," the companies said in a statement. Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world's oldest newspaper, Lloyd's List.

A Greek maritime environmental engineering company has merged with a well known local shipping IT firm with the pair vowing to develop green digital solutions for the industry. Erma First, best known for its ballast water treatment systems, has bought out METIS Cyberspace Technology from the Germanos–led Olympia Group. Established in 2016, METIS is specialised in electronic engineering, IoT, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, offering a platform that enables shipping companies to acquire and analyse data to improve performance over a wide range of operational aspects. "With technology playing an increasingly critical role in every aspect of the industry, both companies recognize that they need to accelerate the development of green digital solutions to ensure they remain in the competitive vanguard," the companies said in a statement. Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world's oldest newspaper, Lloyd's List.

Cognex CGNX recently announced the acquisition of Seoul-based SUALAB, a developer of deep learning-based vision software. Although the financial terms of the acquisition have been kept under wraps, per a Pulse article the transaction price is estimated to be $168.6 million. Deep learning allows Cognex to solve the most complex vision application operations in factories faster, easier and in a cost-effective manner. The addition of SUALAB's Intellectual property and highly skillful engineering team, which specializes in deep learning, is expected to strengthen the company's product portfolio. The latest acquisition will help Cognex to reap benefits from strong prospects of the global deep learning system software market.

Oct 18: AI and the Evolution of Cloud Computing: Evaluating How Financial Data is Stored, Protected, and Maintained by Cloud Providers Congressional Hearing Friday, Oct 18, 9:30am EDT. Financial Services Committee Hearing -- Task Force on Artificial Intelligence: AI and the Evolution of Cloud Computing: Evaluating How Financial Data is Stored, Protected, and Maintained by Cloud Providers. Oct 17: US Stocks were UP Thursday, driven by solid Q3 earnings reports from Netflix, Morgan Stanley and others, as well as reports of a UK-EU Brexit deal. More than one-tenth of all the companies in the S&P 500 have reported Q3 earnings results so far, and most are coming in above analysts' expectations. Oct 16: US stocks end slightly lower after weak U.S. retail sales and tension with China offsets good corporate earnings, e.g., IBM (pdf): IBM reports solid earnings, but Q3 sales mixed, other info here; Netflix Q3 results (pdf) and other info here. Netflix $NFLX rises after earnings show subscriber ...

Umbo Computer Vision, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup that offers autonomous video security systems to businesses, has raised $8 million in what it's calling a "post-A" round of funding. The round was co-led by Translink Capital and Susquehanna International Group, with participation from Shin-Kong Capital and Shin-Kong Security, among other existing investors. Founded in 2014, Taiwan- and San Francisco-based Umbo develops software, hardware, and AI smarts that can detect and identify human behaviors related to security, such as intrusion, tailgating (when an unauthorized individual follows someone into private premises), and wall-scaling. In addition to its hubs in Taipei, Taiwan and San Francisco, Umbo recently opened its first European office in the U.K., a country renowned for its love affair with security cameras. Umbo's offering incorporates three components.

The evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most important trends to watch for tech investors. More companies are jumping into the space every day, and while stock pickers still have to exercise caution and shouldn't embrace a business just because it touts an AI connection, the players that cement leading roles in this computing shift could enjoy forefront positions in the overall technology space for decades to come. Pure sales and earnings contributions aren't always front and center in earnings reports, but AI is already a big part of the growth story at many top technology companies. Investors looking to get a jump on big news in the artificial intelligence space this month might want to pay attention to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX), and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) -- three AI leaders that are expected to report earnings before October draws to a close. Microsoft has been one of the market's biggest large-cap winners in recent years, climbing roughly 200% over the last half-decade and quadrupling the S&P 500 index's rise over the stretch.

Between fiddling our fingers on the tiny buttons of our TV remote and scrolling through endless menus to find something worth watching and talking to a smart assistant via your remote or your smart TV to find a movie based on your interests, which one of them sounds more absurd? The concept of machine-human intelligence coined during the mid-twentieth century and increasingly popular in the sci-fi movies during the early days, has long become a reality and is unfolding more and more potential areas of its application with each passing day. Instead of having incertitude regarding the notion of pursuing AI, most of the companies are now asking themselves the question of how should they pursue AI as they try to unlock the hidden potentials it can provide, and the creative and informatics industries are no exception to the trend. The highly packed and ambitious media industry is always on the hunt for new ways to compete with the firms adopting newer technologies to stay in pace with rising technological transformation. Leading this rapid transformation are the horses of efficient workflow support, content distribution management and revenue growth support.

Sharing a similar viewpoint with these legends, Kevin Kimber, a well-known financial expert in business circles, also believes that AI can specifically power financial applications to streamline processes, connect data between finance and back-office operations with the front office and commercial function and in doing so increase a company's revenue. Case in point--Rimilia, a Fintech solutions provider with Kevin as its CEO, is a perfect example for intelligent cash application, credit management, and collections in the finance industry. Today, the modern corporation has unique opportunities to automate in many areas that previously weren't possible and with the maturity of a small number of super-intelligent applications and their development within the finance industry, now is the time for companies to take advantage and drive change. Current day finance technology providers need to not only understand the complexities that run across the financial estate but also assist companies in carefully navigating forward. With an in-depth knowledge of these complexities and professional expertise to successfully get around them, Kevin Kimber, CEO of Rimilia, knows the opportunities companies have.

Most stocks, no matter how well they perform, eventually hit a rough patch that can serve as an excellent entry point for opportunistic investors. That may be the situation Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) currently finds itself in. Between the U.S.-China trade war and a decelerating economy, the internet tech giant has been feeling the pressure from multiple angles. As a result, Baidu's shares are down by about 50.7% from a year ago. Further, Baidu's valuation is down as well, trading at just 7.90 times past and 15.57

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced the funding of another set of quantum science-driven research proposals, including that of Sau Lan Wu, Enrico Fermi professor of physics and Vilas Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. With the funding, Wu and her collaborators seek to tap into the power of quantum computing to analyze the wealth of data generated by high energy physics experiments. The title of Wu's DOE approved project is: "Application of Quantum Machine Learning to High Energy Physics Analysis at LHC using IBM Quantum Computer Simulators and IBM Quantum Computer Hardware". Wu, a member of the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) and Wisconsin Quantum Institute at UW–Madison who conducts her research at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, was one of only six university-based investigators – those outside of National Labs – to be awarded the DOE quantum funds for particle physicists. "The ambitious HL-LHC program will require enormous computing resources in the next two decades," says Wu. "A burning question is whether quantum computers can solve the ever-growing demand for computing resources, and our goal here is to explore and to demonstrate that quantum computing can be the new paradigm."