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Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically.No one controls it.Bitcoins aren't printed, like dollars or euros-they are produced by people, and increasingly businesses, running computers all around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems. It's the first example of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency. Why bother using it? True to its origins as an open, decentralized currency, bitcoin is meant to be a quicker,cheaper and more reliable form of payment than money tied to individual countries.In addition, it's the only form of money users can theoretically ''mine themselves, if they (and their computers) have the ability. But even for those who don't  discover using their own high-powered computers,anyone can buy and sell bitcoins, typically through online exchanges like Coinbase and LocalBitcoins. A 2015 survey showed bitcoin users tend to be overwhelmingly white and male, but of var...

If you haven't heard about the smart city phenomenon yet, you will soon, if IHS Technology's report  about potential smart city growth proves accurate.The smart city trend is evolving quickly from one off-projects impacting single-function applications, such as street lighting or traffic flow, to large-scale, municipal capital investments integrating multiple city services and departments. IHS expect the number of  smart cities worldwide to quadruple within a 12-year period spanning from 2013 to 2025.Under IHS' definition, there will be at least 88 smart cities globally by 2025, up from 21 in 2013.Annual investment on smart city projects, which reached slightly more than one billion Dollar in 2013, is predicted to surpass twelve billion Dollar in 2025. Smart city definition vary, but IHS thinks of smart cities as those that have deployed-or are piloting-the integration of information, communications and technology (ICT) solutions across three or more different funct...

As computers began to appear in offices and robots on factory floors,President Jhon F. Kennedy declared that the major domestic challenge of the 1960s was to ''maintain full employment at a time when automation...is re placing men.'' In a column in the Guardian, stephen Hawking wrote ''that the automation of factories has already decimated jobs in traditional manufacturing, and the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to extend this job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative or supervisory roles remaining''. He adds his voice to a growing chorus of experts concerned about the effects that technology will have on workforce in the coming years an decades.The fear is that while artificial intelligence will bring radical increases in efficiency in industry, for ordinary people this will translate into unemployment and uncertainty, as their human jobs are replaced by machines. A report put out in February...

Without water, neither small businesses nor major global industries can function.Not family farms or major agrinusinesses.Not energy production facilities or computer manufacturer or steel companies.Similarly, poor water quality, or limited or unreliable access to water means higher costs for all businesses - and all consumers. Water scarcity means greater risks for community's long-term viability and a negative impact on their competitiveness.It also means that a comunity's ability to grow and create jobs is at risk.Regardless of whether water has become the new oil, one thing is certain: water is ironically both  taken for granted and serves as the engine of our economy.If not proparly managed, water scarcity will directly affect the local ability to grow and create jobs. Here are five consequences, of water scarcity: Increased global conflict Fresh water resources   are often   shared by   two or more countries which may lead to more international confli...

Temperature rise due to climate change may radically damage the global economy and slow growth in the coming decades if nothing is done to slow the pace of warming, according to new research. The researchers behind the study, published in the journal Nature, found that temperature change due to unmitigated global warming will leave global GDP per capita 23% lower in 2100 than it would be without any warming. '' We are basically throwing away money by not addressing the issue,'' said Marshall Burke, an assistant professor at Stanford University. '' We see our study as providing an estimate of the benefits of reducing emissions.'' Their conclusions delivers two blockbusters.First, in contrast to past studies, they argue that 21st century warming could lead to huge global-scale macroeconomic impacts. The best estimate from Burke and colleagues is that business as usual emission throughout the 21st century will decrease GDP per capita by 23% below w...

With the arrival and use of increasingly massive social networks by 15-40years Saharan Africa, it is essential to ask the question, if the digital communication is adapted to the African market. Who said digital communication, said Internet as their primary means of communication. The penetration rate of internet sub-Saharan Africa is it high enough so that the growing craze observed, communication and marketing agencies for digital communication? According to studies conducted in the field, only 9.4% of households in sub-Saharan Africa have access to the Internet in May 2015. The share of consumers in sub-Saharan Africa with access to internet remains low. It can not be an efficient digital communication without a minimum rate of Internet penetration of around 35-40% of the target population. So we would be tempted to think that the majority of advertising agencies and marketing sub-Saharan Africa using digital as their new playground, are in the followership. Do no...

Avec l’arrivée et l’utilisation de plus en plus massive des réseaux sociaux par les 15-40ans en Afrique subsaharienne, il est capital de se poser la question de savoir, si la communication digitale est adaptée au marché Africain. Qui dit communication digitale, dit internet comme principal moyen de communication. Le taux de pénétration d’internet en Afrique subsaharienne est-il suffisamment élevé, pour que l’on observe un engouement  grandissant,  des agences de communication et de marketing  pour la communication digitale ? Selon des études menées sur le terrain, seulement 9,4% des ménages en Afrique subsaharienne ont accès à internet en mai 2015.  La part des consommateurs en Afrique subsaharienne ayant accès à internet reste très faible. Il ne saurait y avoir une communication digitale efficiente,  sans un taux minimum  de pénétration internet avoisinant les 35-40% de la population visée. Nous serions donc, tentés de penser...