With companies and governments pledging billions of dollars per annum to be the kings of the new tech empire, we explore what this new era of innovation means for consumers, and the way we do business.
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00:00 Technology is everywhere from our phones and TVs to our buses and cars.
00:07 Even cooking utensils can now be digitally connected.
00:11 Companies can reach into our lives and connect with consumers more than we ever imagined.
00:17 Welcome to The Exchange. I'm Guy Shone, bringing you the biggest news and interviews from all around the business world.
00:27 Now, in a rapidly changing world, there's no industry that's evolving quicker than tech.
00:33 The tech sector is at the forefront of the innovation of new ideas, different means about how we go about our day-to-day business,
00:41 and new ways in which governments coordinate world affairs.
00:45 Well, the growth in this sector is staggering, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.
00:50 The tech industry is a vast category, currently growing at 5 to 6 percent per annum.
00:55 And this is only expected to rise as AI is rolled out to the masses in the coming years.
01:01 Revolutionary technology is advancing on a daily basis, and the cost of that advancement is also rising.
01:07 A total of $3.45 trillion being spent in the sector in 2022.
01:13 And as technology advances, we also buy and consume products differently.
01:18 Last year, $300 billion was spent on mobile advertising.
01:23 Companies are now influencing the way we consume and interact more than ever before.
01:28 TikTok is one of the biggest names in the world of social media, and a brand at the forefront of these changes.
01:35 Well, earlier, I caught up with Chris Bodger, UK general manager of TikTok,
01:40 and he told me just how much technology is changing advertising and consumer habits.
01:47 We think that there's been a major shift in the entertainment and the marketing industry towards longer form storytelling that puts creativity at its heart.
01:57 On TikTok, you can play videos that are sound on and full screen.
02:01 And we've seen that with the likes of the creators on our platform who are the lifeblood of our community,
02:07 they enable brands to be authentic and to tell stories in ways that wasn't necessarily possible before.
02:14 We've seen that also this new form of entertainment drives action offline, too.
02:20 And probably the best example of this is what we call community commerce, which is the meeting point of shopping,
02:27 people being in a shopping mindset, but also the entertaining content that's on TikTok and also our community, too.
02:34 And we've seen hashtags like TikTok Made Me Buy It have 57 billion hashtag views.
02:41 And all of these videos that are on TikTok are people discovering products, they're reviewing them,
02:47 they're engaging with these different products and then having real world impacts.
02:54 Interesting stuff from TikTok showing us just how much social media is impacting the way we consume tech.
03:01 But it's not just consumption which is changing due to technological advancements.
03:06 The way we do business is also going through a major reshuffle.
03:11 To find out more, we sent our reporter Ryan Caprold to the launch of Google's new cloud service in Qatar.
03:17 Yes, Guy, I am here today at the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha,
03:24 where top Google bosses are meeting to discuss the launch of a new cloud service in the region.
03:30 So how do big businesses like this use your data?
03:34 So Tarek, thank you so much for joining us today on The Exchange.
03:37 Could you please outline for us why Qatar for Google's new free zone?
03:41 Thank you, Ryan, for the question.
03:43 So we're here today in Qatar launching our first region in the Middle East.
03:47 That's part of our expansion plan globally.
03:49 So demand coming from our customers and partners in the region has been growing.
03:55 And usually investing in countries where demand growth is there.
03:59 Demand is to stay close to our customers to help them solve and reach their customers in a better way.
04:06 Is this part of a wider project for Google in the Middle East?
04:09 Part of our investment in Qatar is the infrastructure, the region that we've seen today launching the services for.
04:15 Second is our people and our workforce in the market with our ecosystem.
04:20 So we're bringing a huge ecosystem to the country in order to help our clients,
04:26 our customers and prospects evolve and grow on achieving their goals.
04:32 That all sounds very interesting.
04:33 But can you outline to us how that actually helps businesses in regards to their data?
04:37 We all know it's a data era, right?
04:39 And it has always been the case.
04:41 And data is growing fast and fast and fast.
04:44 So that's the angle I think every organization, every business has to address in a very efficient way.
04:51 Eventually they have to make faster decisions.
04:53 They have to reach to precise decisions, leveraging the power of tech as an enabler to get to these insights.
05:01 So how we're helping them is by providing our unique unified data platform supported
05:07 or actually being integrated now with AI capabilities into that platform just to make the process much more efficient,
05:14 to be able to reach the data insights in a faster way.
05:19 A promising era for the region then, entering new realms of interconnectivity.
05:24 But what about the future of the sector overall?
05:27 Well, I caught up with Mario Aquino, who is the CEO of Future Labs Ventures in Singapore,
05:33 a firm which invests in technological advancements.
05:36 He gave me his thoughts on where the sector is headed.
05:39 Every few minutes, hours, days, there is new discoveries.
05:47 We live in an unprecedented era of technology-enabled innovation.
05:51 And we focus mostly on addressing scalable market pain points that benefits, of course, economies,
06:01 but mostly also people and societies.
06:04 A revolutionary era of innovation awaits the sector.
06:09 Now it's time for our regular feature, Business in 60 Seconds. Start the clock.
06:14 While Disney is set to post their quarterly results this month,
06:17 the mega movie, media and amusement park company has had a mixed year after falling profits in their theme parks.
06:24 After the Covid pandemic, the firm is readjusting aspects of the brand to try and get back on track.
06:30 It's also results time for Uber.
06:32 The company has been performing well this year and is looking to break into new markets.
06:36 In the UK, Uber is now dealing with the platform Hopper,
06:40 enabling Uber users to book flights for discounted prices on the app.
06:44 Hopefully for shareholders, good results will be landing on their desk.
06:48 And speaking of landings, the quarterly results for Japan Airlines will be descending into the inbox of shareholders this month.
06:55 The flagship carrier of Japan has been eyeing up a new deal with aircraft manufacturers Boeing this year
07:01 and recently celebrated being named by Skytrax as one of the top 10 air carriers in the world for their business class service.
07:11 TikTok and Google then tell us that the opportunities for business extend far beyond making entertaining videos.
07:18 Despite obvious concerns about data security,
07:22 it appears that consumers by and large have welcomed tech giants into almost every part of our lives.
07:29 So traditional lines are blurring.
07:32 CEOs, citizens and governments, though, are still trying to predict both the potential
07:39 and the pitfalls of this very new and very intimate relationship.
07:44 Well, that's all we have time for of this edition of the show. Thanks for watching.
07:48 Please do check out Euronews.com for all your latest business news and join us again next time on The Exchange.
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