As the new year gets underway, CB Insights has put together a report on some of the top tech trends that will be shaping 2019. In particular, advancements in fintech detailed in the report will be of interest to business people such as Matthew Ledvina, director for a fintech company in London which focuses on asset-backed lending.

Hyper-Personalisation

Personalisation technology has been used for a long time to customise experiences for consumers when shopping online, playing games, streaming music, and all sorts of other activities. In 2019, it is predicted that personalisation will reach hyper levels, with an increase in collaborations across different industries. This prediction has been influenced by the 2018 collaboration between music streaming platform Spotify and Ancestry.com, which means data from DNA can be utilised to create personalised playlists linked to different regions and ethnicities. The beauty industry could also be exploring image recognition technologies to cater products tailored to individual customers. Both Apple and Amazon have received patents for personalising features such as responsive settings for automated vehicles.

Smart-Home Technology for Senior Citizens

As technology becomes ever more pervasive and tech-savvy generations get older, the market for technologies tailored to meet the needs of senior citizens is beginning to open up. While asking older people to actively input data on a regular basis may still be unlikely to catch on, there are a variety of emerging technologies that can assist with healthcare in the home passively, or by transmitting data directly to a carer if programmed to do so.

Sleep Technology

There are already smart products on the market that aim to help us get a better night’s rest by tracking sleep patterns, including smart pillows and mattresses. New wearable technology will be introduced into this category in 2019, such as sensors that monitor heart rate, blood oxygen levels, sleeping position, and other events that may cause sleep disruption, providing users with a sleep score.

Smart Buildings

It is not only our homes that are increasingly becoming equipped with smart technology. In 2019, we can expect to see a rise in smart buildings everywhere. The emphasis is on providing intuitive, comfortable work stations and offices that adapt to the individual needs and preferences of the user. These include technologies such as sensors that can track the number of people in a room, which will then be able to adjust the lighting levels or temperature accordingly. Occupancy metrics such as this not only help maintain a constantly comfortable level of heating or cooling, but also help increase energy efficiency by detecting when the room is empty and switching off accordingly.

Greener Transport and Logistics

The costs of buying and owning an electric vehicle, along with related factors that can cause inconvenience, mean that selling them to individuals is still not an easy task. However, areas where we may see a large increase in the use of electronic vehicles include public transport and logistics. The upfront costs to companies have been shown to pay for themselves over time, while aspects such as predictable routes and infrastructure that is easier to plan for make increased electrification in buses a strong likelihood in 2019. Greener vehicles are beginning to gain more traction in the logistics industry as well, with an increase in hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks.

Increased Opportunities for Tech Apprenticeships

Many tech companies are now beginning to offer their own training courses and apprenticeships to bridge the gap between academia and employability. Students can train to learn the specific skills they need to enter a specific job, while only having to pay tuition fees once they reach a certain pay range.

The CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, Benedikt Sobotka, was one of the keynote speakers at a recent Industry 4.0 summit held in Tokyo on the topic of ‘Preparing for the Energy Transition’. The commodities summit was hosted by a partnership between the Financial Times and Nikkei, and featured a number of world-renowned industry leaders including JOGMEC, Rio Tinto, METI, and Trafigura. The speech from ERG focused on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the key role of metals suppliers in driving this forward.

A Sustainable Vision

Sobotka’s speech discussed the vision of Eurasian Resources Group to source and supply a number of key materials to the global battery sector using sustainable and responsible practices. At present, approximately one quarter of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the artisanal mining sector, which is known to make use of child labour within these smaller-scale mines. Cobalt is widely used within the electric vehicle battery industry.

ERG recognised the importance of continuing to increase production and therefore the availability of electric vehicles, while ensuring that key materials were being sourced and mined without the use of child labour. Sobotka further acknowledged that there are various challenges facing the batteries industry and outlined strategies for adhering to global and regional regulations and environmental and social norms, as well as curbing pollution.

Cobalt is key for the continued production of electric vehicles, said Sobotka, emphasising the need for more companies to follow the lead of ERG in terms of sourcing cobalt sustainably and responsibly. The ERG CEO called for EV manufacturers to commit to responsible sourcing practices, and pointed out that multi-billion dollar investments and long-term planning were essential for maintaining a sustainable industry.

The Clean Cobalt Initiative

Another strategy outlined by the ERG CEO was the ERG Clean Cobalt Framework, which is already being implemented starting from Metalkol RTR, the Group’s Democratic Republic of the Congo operation. Through the Clean Cobalt Framework, ERG is working to guarantee that cobalt is sourced responsibly and sustainably. The DRC operation is a reprocessing facility for historic copper and cobalt tailings from previous mining operations. At full capacity, Metalkol RTR will be able to produce enough material to build over three million electric vehicles per year, producing 24,000 tonnes per year of cobalt and 120,000 tonnes per year of copper.

The Japanese Market

The Japanese market is one of the key growth drivers for ERG, which produces cobalt for a variety of firms and industries in the country. These include battery makers and producers of battery materials, magnet manufacturers, producers of catalyst and other chemicals, speciality steel producers, and electronics firms, many of which supply the automotive industry. ERG also supplies high-carbon ferrochrome and other ferroalloys to some of the largest producers of stainless steel in Japan. ERG’s Chairman of the Board Dr Alexander Machkevitch called Japan an “economic powerhouse” when commenting on ERG’s participation at the Tokyo summit, thanking partners in Japan on behalf of ERG for their input and support.

About Eurasian Resources Group

Eurasian Resources Group is a world leader for the supply of diversified natural resources. The Group has presence on four continents over 15 countries, with more than 85,000 people working for ERG. The integrated operations of ERG include mining, energy, processing, logistics and marketing. In addition to core business, development projects have been implemented by ERG in several African nations, including fluorspar, thermal coal, bauxite, platinum and manganese. The Group is a leader in the Kazakhstan metals and mining industry, it is a leading supplier of high-carbon ferrochrome by chrome content globally, and a large supplier of other materials such as aluminium, iron ore and thermal coal.

For news and updates,  follow Eurasian Resources Group on LinkedIn.