70% of western europe's mobile subscriptions are from smartphones

predicting mobile traffic in European union by 2020 from Sumit Roy

these 10 places across the world was most travelled in 2016

Top Cities of the world which saw the highest number of international travelers in the year 2016

Mastercard has released its Global Destination Cities Index, which provides a ranking of the 132 most visited cities around the world. Measured by the number of international travelers. The study, now in its seventh year shows that Bangkok was globally the most visited "destination this year in 2016 with approximately 22 million visiting the capital of Thailand, ( which comes to around 55,000 international travelers per day) followed by London which ranked no 2 and saw 19.88 million international visitors coming to UK in 2016.

Paris ranks no 3 with  18.03 million international visitors coming to France in 2016.

Number 4 in the list is Dubai, United Arab Emirates with 15.27 million international visitors coming coming to the emirate kingdom this year.

New York ranks no 5, with 12.75 million international visitors in 2016.

No 6 is Singapore with 12.11 million international visitors in 2016.

No 7 among the most travelled places in 2016  is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 12.02 million international visitors.

With 11.95 million international travelers coming to Turkey, Istanbul ranks number 8 followed by Tokyo and Seoul ranking 9th and 10th with 11.7 million and 10.2 million visitors travelling to Japan and South Korea in 2016.

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audi becomes the first car company to integrate predictive traffic monitoring

Audi becomes the first auto company to launches first Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) technology as it launches its Traffic Predictive Technology in Las Vegas and nevada

 

In what could profoundly impact the way you drive and in what is the first instance of vehicle-to-infrastructure technology in production cars ,Audi recently became the first automaker to offer Traffic Light Information as a fully integrated feature available on selected new vehicles including Audi A4, Q7, and A4 Allroad models. Other automakers (notably BMW) work with smartphone apps that provide similar information, but Audi’s solution does not depend on a paired phone running an app. It’s native to the car’s driver information system.Light Information, an Audi connect PRIME feature, enables the car to communicate with the infrastructure in select cities and metropolitan areas across the U.S.

This is how it works. "The municipality where you’re driving shares its data with Audi, and Audi broadcasts the information to your car, where the data is compared with your car’s GPS data to determine which light you’re approaching. Then the car puts an icon and a counter up on the gauge pod driver information display, and into the head-up display projected onto the driver’s side of the windshield. The information displayed is simple: it shows a picture of a stoplight in its current state, red or green, plus a counter giving the system’s best prediction of when the light is likely to change." 

The  new feature, called Traffic Light Information (TLI), will be available in select 2017 Audi A4, Q7 and all-road models that were made after June 1, 2016 and equipped with an Audi connect Prime subscription. This  feature  will be launching in January,2017 beginning with Las Vegas and Nevada.
Nevada issued autonomous vehicle licenses for Audi to drive from California to Las Vegas three years ago in 2013  and now Las Vegas becomes the first city to go live with V2I integration. 

Audi is said to be working on continued expansion to additional cities across the U.S. is ongoing as we work with municipalities to prepare their infrastructure for V2I connectivity.( vehicle-to-infrastructure technology ) Audi has partnered with Traffic Technology Services (TTS) to facilitate the transfer of traffic light data to Audi vehicles. The car receives real-time signal information from the advanced traffic management system that monitors traffic lights via the on-board 4G LTE data connection.

The "time to green" feature might just be the beginning of something that will change the way you drive .Eventually, it may be possible to take information from advanced traffic management systems and integrate them into other functions in the vehicles such as improving a route, stopping and starting the vehicle to save on fuel, and predictive services that can recommend a speed maximize the number of green lights one can make in sequence. 

toyota ,volkswagen and ford share the honors for the most sold cars in 2016

Globally New passenger vehicle registrations increased in China, Europe, the USA, Japan, India and Russia but car sales were down in Brazil. For the first 6 months of the year Toyota seems to be moving to the top spot with over 634,298  cars sold in the first six months according to report compiled by Focus2move which tracked over 2,700 models sold in over 140 countries.

 As of January to November data in Europe 2016, new vehicle registrations in Europe were up by 7% to nearly 14 million cars – only around 300,000 shy of the total for the full year 2015..During the first eleven months of 2016, new passenger vehicle registrations in China increased by 18.6% to 21,058,400 cars – just over a million more than were sold during all of 2015.

Meanwhile in US New light vehicle sales in the USA increased by 3.7% in November 2016 after three consecutive months of contracting. The US market was helped by two extra sales days and strong incentives offered in Black Friday and Thanksgiving campaigns. The trend away from cars in favor of SUVs continued in the US in November 2016. Car sales were down 4% to 509,000 cars while light truck and SUV sales increased by 9% to 863,400 light vehicles.

Volkswagen Golf takes the 2nd position by selling 500,630 sales, a 1.8 percent increase, in 2016 which may or may not be blamed on the cheating emissions scandal that shook the automaker, while the 3rd place goes to Ford F-Series, with 478,394 deliveries, up 12.6%. The Ford also secured the fourth place too, with its Ford Focus compact delivering 367,479 units, down 16.4%, followed closely by the Hyundai Elantra which ranked as the fifth most sold  car in 2016, with 363,490 deliveries. The biggest move the chart has seen this year belongs to the latest Hyundai Tucson, which climbed 949 spots to the 16th place with its 285,060 sales, a massive 202.4 percent increase in popularity, compared to 94,267 units chosen by customers in the first half of 2015. 

Globally only three cars have been widely acknowledged as the "bestselling automobile in the world" since Ford built its millionth Model T on December 10, 1915. The Model T itself remained the highest seller until forty five years after production ceased in 1927. On February 17, 1972 Volkswagen claimed that the Ford had been superseded by the Beetle, when the 15,007,034th was manufactured.Although The Model T has subsequently been credited with 16.5 million units sold, this anomaly is moot in light of the Beetle reaching 21 million.The Beetle remained the bestselling vehicle until the late 1990s, when it was itself overtaken by the Toyota Corolla, which continues to be the number best selling card today even in 2016.

these 5 movies made the most money in the year 2016

Finding Dory,Captain America ,Secret Life of Pets and Jungle Book were among the highest grossing movies in 2016. With gross billings of more than 486 million , Finding Dory takes the first rank among the highest grossing movies in 2016.In the process Walt Disney Studios became the fastest studio ever to reach $1 billion at the U.S. box office when it reached this goal on the 128th day of 2016, beating Universal Studios' record of reaching the goal at the 165th day of 2015.
The Secret Life of Pets grossed $104.4 million domestically in its opening weekend, breaking Inside Out's record ($90.4 million) for the highest domestic opening weekend for an original film of any kind.

Meanwhile Deadpool became the second highest-grossing R-rated domestic film of all time with $363.1 million, after The Passion of the Christ ($370.8 million in 2004).The Mermaid became the highest-grossing film ever in China and the first film ever to earn over $500 million without a wide North American release. 

However Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice became the biggest worldwide opening weekend ever for a superhero film with $422.5 million, surpassing The Avengers ($392.5 million in 2012).

this winter holidays top 10 gift requests

 

These are the top 10 Winter Holidays 2016 gift requests as published by National Retail Federation (nrf.com) NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Gift Cards, followed by Apparel and clothing were among the top 2 most wanted gifts, followed by Books, DVD's and Blue Rays .Among books the top selling books at Amazon were " Zero Sugar Diet" by David Zinczenko"  "The Princess Diarist" by Carrie Fisher and "Lose your Belly", by Travis Stork

china based Ofo to launch bike hailing rental service in US and UK

Mobike locates its vehicles via an integrated GPS. Ofo -- so-named because the word looks like a bicycle -- does so by tracking the smartphones of its riders and sending a code to unlock the bike.

If Chinese entrepreneur Dai Wei has his way, Silicon Valley engineers and London college students will soon be able to ride bicycles made by one of the oldest makers in China, with the swipe on their smartphones.The 25-Year-Old chinese who owns $500 Million Startup Ofo is all set to Fuel China Bike-Share Battle and is set to take this overseas.However instead of selling the bicycles, the 25-year-old Dai wants to persuade cyclists to share them through his startup’s “Uber for Bicycles” business model. Dai’s Beijing Bikelock Technology, also known as Ofo, is poised to ship 20,000 China-made bicycles to the United States and Britain after the Christmas holidays to begin the bike riding service.
The cycle-sharing startup, known as Ofo, won about $100 million backing in September from investors including the venture fund backed by Xiaomi Corp. founder Lei Jun and Didi Chuxing, the ride-hailing giant that just beat Uber Technologies Inc. out of China.However Ofo is setting its sights outside China to survive competition with 17 bicycle-sharing apps on the mainland. However the idea of bike sharing is not a new concept.Bicycle-sharing is hardly new. From London’s Boris Bikes to Taipei’s plan to encourage commuters to ditch their motor vehicles, there are about 640 bicycle-sharing systems operating around the world, with more than 640,000 of the two-wheelers in use. It’s a market that may expand by 20 per cent annually to generate as much as US$5.8 billion in sales by 2020, according to a forecast by Roland Berger, a consultancy. 

What makes startups like Ofo and Mobikes stand out is it allows users to hail a bicycle via their smartphones, and return them wherever they want, instead to set locations. The company goes around after peak hours to collect the bicycles, returning them to pickup points for which it used big data analysis as in-demand areas.The company collects 1 yuan per hour for using its bicycles, and is on the verge of breaking even, Dai said. Ofo plans to charge US$1 per hour for the US market.The  business today has spread to 100 campuses all around China, with 32,918 and counting Ofo bicycles in use, and funding to the tune of 9 million yuan. Starting as a campus project for university students, Ofo is now available in 22 Chinese cities with 5 million registered users.

Ofo was established in September 2015 by three Peking University Cycling Association members who just wanted people to ride bicycles anytime and anywhere. Each bike has its own unique license plate number and QR code, as well as a keypad lock. All you have to do is scan the QR code on the bike, then register on the Ofo bicycle WeChat public account (ID: ofobike). From there select the "use bike" option, Input your phone number, wait for the authentication code text message and then enter the bike license plate number. The keypad lock code is given after that, and then you're ready to ride.To better serve overseas users, Ofo said it will soon launch an English-language app. Shanghai Phoenix Bicycle Co., the oldest producer of two-wheelers since 1897 and an Ofo vendor, will also make larger bicycles more suited to Western physique.

china is now the worlds 3rd largest insurance market

 

China's insurance market became the third largest in the world last year, driven by five years of growth, the country's main insurance regulator has reported.Total insurance assets in China grew from five trillion yuan ($767 billion) in 2010 to 12 trillion yuan ($1.83 trillion) in 2015, according to figures from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) which were reported by state-owned news agency Xinhua.

However The Bigger Opportunity is yet to on fold The Chinese insurance market has grown at a furious pace in recent years. Between 2000 and 2014, the industry grew about 1,200% in size as measured by written premiums.It is estimated that China’s urbanization rate will increase from 47 percent in 2010 to 59 percent by 2020, meaning 208 million people are expected to move into cities over the period.Among this demographic many would consider purchasing their first insurance products as they move into cities,Another big opportunity is the lack of adequte sum assured among Chinese consumers.Chinese consumers do not have adequate life insurance coverage; China’s sum assured per GDP, which is a measure of insurance coverage, was 33 percent in 2010, only slightly higher than Indonesia’s 28 percent and significantly below India’s 58 percent, not to mention 100 percent and above in many mature markets opening a new customer segment for insurers.

In 2016, the chinese market for insurance is growing by the fastest it has since 2008, with a 43.6% year-over-year rise in gross written premiums at the end of Q3 and a 54.2% growth in monetary value (source: China Insurance Regulatory Commission ("CIRC")). The insurance markets in China’s coastal regions rose the fastest over the past three decades. The top 10 provinces and municipalities in China by P&C insurance premium volume are located mostly in coastal regions such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, and Zhejiang 

For the life insurance business, overall accounted for 80% of total premium income in the life market in recent two years  .In the non-life sector, motor insurance has dominated the Chinese non-life market with premium income accounting for more than 70% total premium income. Commercial property insurance, agriculture insurance and liability insurance are the next three most significant product lines . 

internet of things in western europe : top 5 trends and predictions

Western Europe is expected to become the second largest market globally for the Internet of Things (IoT)

 

Around 25% of all IoT connections globally come from WesternEurope and this proportion is expected to grow in the region, with a CAGR of around 25 percent between 2016 and 2022. According to a recent report from Ericsson mobility Cellular will make up a smaller proportion of overall IoT connections, but will enjoy stronger growth between 2016 and 2022, with a CAGR of around 30 percent. The growth in both cellular and non-cellular IoT will be driven in three ways: government and European regulations, industry development .

Close to 200 million smart meters will be rolled out for electricity and 45 million for gas in the European Union by 2020.7 In the automotive industry, the regulatory push can be seen in the requirement for all new cars to be equipped with eCall from April 2018, which automatically dials Europe’s single emergency number in the event of a serious accident.

Finally, from a consumer perspective, IoT is beginning to move beyond entertainment and communications devices in western europe. Phones, laptops, TVs and games consoles are being connected to wearable devices. For example, 8 percent of Western Europeans own a smart watch, and a further 8% intend to buy one in the next 12 months.However interest is also high in connecting other house hold devices and appliances, to IOT as seen in the graph aboveThis interest directly links with the developments in the utility industry around smart meters and the control of energy consumption by customers.

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who are the ceo's that served for the shortest duration in history

 

In these days of competitive and disruptive environment a CEO's job is perhaps the not most envied jobs.. With global economy tottering, along with geo political realities, companies are under pressure to perform and increase shareholder value,as CEO's cope with ever increasing demands and occasional hostile environment of boardrooms.The average tenure of a Fortune 500 CEO is reported at  4.6 years – about the length of a presidential term. And, the average tenure of all CEOs according to published reports is 8.1 years.In this post we look at the CEO's which has been there in the coveted post  for the smallest amount of time, with the shortest duration.Here's a trivia :Bill Johnson, Energy CEO who got paid 44 million dollars for 20 minutes of work  was the most paid CEO in the shortest amount of time.Here are the top CEO's of global companies that served for the shortest duration. 

Alan Fishman, Washington Mutual : 17 days:Alan took over Washington Mutual from Kerry K. Killinger, who led the company for 18 years, once the firm was collapsing amidst the financial crisis. including that of Lehman Brothers, the government arranged for JPMorgan to take over the company replacing Mr Fishman. 

Robert Willumstad, A.I.G. :3 months:Willumstad, a former Citigroup executive, saw A.I.G.'s shares drop 97% during his tenure. He was forced out of the giant insurance company once the federal government took control of the company -- which eventually accepted $182 billion in bailout funds -- and was largely blamed for the financial crisis of 2008.

Jack Griffin, Time Inc., Magazine : 5 months:Griffin rubbed feathers the wrong way,by  making too many references to his being Roman Catholic (including comparing the company to the Vatican) including  off-color or sexist comments. Jack was accused of spending too much and bringing his favorite  consultants to help in a restructuring effort, and insisting his name appear prominently atop Time Inc. magazines' mastheads. Griffin  was given an unceremonious exit and reportedly asked to pack off within less that 24 hours.

 Ed Whitacre, Jr., General Motors : 9 month.Whitacre was known as the "GM Reaper" for killing off brands post-bankruptcy. He pulled up the  the auto brand " GM"'s financials, and prepared the company for its IPO. But once that time came, prospective investors wanted a long-term CEO who could steer the company in a new direction. However the board did not think Whitacre was the guy in the scheme of things for the future .

Fritz Henderson, General Motors: 9 months Henderson took over as GM CEO after President Obama called for Rick Wagoner to step down during the auto bailout crisis. But Henderson didn't prove a very good choice. He wasn't flexible in working with the GM board and failed to built a partnership  and was shown the door early.Henderson will be remembered as being as smart and experienced as any GM CEO, but he appeared tone-deaf when it came to listening to Whitacre and the rest of his board of directors. Since he had no role in picking them and they owed him nothing, that proved to be a fatal mistake.Henderson also had the bad luck to have several deals blow up in his face. Entrepreneur Roger Penske walked away from an agreement to buy Saturn because he couldn't find anyone to supply him with cars, forcing GM to close the division. 

 Owen Van Natta, Myspace : 10 months:Owen Van Natta was the COO of Facebook before leading online music startup Project Playlist.Prior to his role as MySpace COO, Mr. Jones founded and operated several online businesses, including Userplane, a leading provider of tools for online communities such as MySpace. Userplane was acquired in 2006 by AOL, where Jones subsequently served as a senior vice president and focused on social media monetization.

after solar cycle track, france opens the first solar powered roads for heavy vehicles

The First  Solar Powered  Road for heavy vechicles is being built across Route in Tourouvre-au-Perche in Normandy France at the  cost €5m to nd will be used by about 2,000 motorists a day during two-year test period

 You have heard about Solar Power and Solar Roof. Did you hear about solar Road ?France has opened what it claims to be the world’s first solar panel road, in a Normandy village. A 1km (0.6-mile) route in the small village of Tourouvre-au-Perche covered with 2,800 sq m of electricity-generating panels, was inaugurated on Thursday by the ecology minister, Ségolène Royal could generate enough electricity ti power street lights.

However that might not sound very impressive for 30,000 square feet of solar panels — and it kind of isn’t, especially for its $5.2 million price tag. The panels have been covered in a silicon-based resin that allows them to withstand the weight of passing big rigs, and if the road performs as expected,  solar panels are expected to be  installed across 1,000 kilometers of French highway.The Road is expected to be used by about 2,000 motorists a day during a two-year test period to establish if it can generate enough energy to power street lighting in the village of 3,400 residents. 

In 2014, a solar-powered cycle path opened in Krommenie in the Netherlands and, despite teething problems, has generated 3,000kWh of energy – enough to power an average family home for a year. The cost of building the cycle path, however, could have paid for 520,000kWh.Before the solar-powered road – called Wattway – was opened on the RD5 road, the panels were tested at four car parks across France. The constructor was Colas, part of giant telecoms group Bouygues, and financed by the state. Normandy is not known for its surfeit of sunshine: Caen, the region’s political capital, enjoys just 44 days of strong sunshine a year compared with 170 in Marseilles

.Meanwhile the concept of solar roads is being accepted and adopted across Europe.German company Solmove aims to bring solar panels to German roads, and Idaho-based Solar Roadways has received three rounds of U.S. government funding (plus $2 million in venture capital) to test its technology. So far, the Netherlands’ solar path is popular. In its first year, 300,000 bikes and mopeds rode the initial 70-meter (230-foot) stretch connecting two Amsterdam suburbs.This has produced more energy last year than expected—enough to power three households. It’s made of crystalline silicon solar cells, encased in concrete and covered with a translucent layer of tempered glass.

In the U.S., Solar Roadways has received more than $1.5 million from the Department of Transportation over the last six years to develop and test its hexagonal-shaped panels. 

tesla releases video of its self driven enhanced autopilot car

 

Elon Musk is promising to give a fantastic holiday gift to those  who have the patience to wait. Tesla's CEO tweeted Thursday night that it "Looks like we might be ready to rollout most of Autopilot functionality for HW2 towards the end of next week." Musk is referring to new self driven car models built from October on that contain the hardware capable of full-on autonomous driving as part of its Enhanced Autopilot driver assist feature. None of the systems were to enabled, however, until a yet to be announced December date, which now looks to be during the week between Christmas and New Years'.The rollout is expected to be incremental, first enabling safety systems like adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking. This brings Tesla's new Model X and Model S vehicles in line with the older Teslas currently on the road. 

If you want to see what it's all about, here's a video from Tesla  shown above which showcasses Tesla's Autopilot's ability to drive itself around town, responding to stop signs and other traffic, making turns and cruising around town.All new Tesla vehicles come with the hardware to support full-on, hands-off autonomous driving, even though it's not yet enabled. But a new video from Tesla now shows us exactly what it will it look like once it's enabled. The automaker released a video showcasing Autopilot's ability to drive itself around town, responding to stop signs and other traffic, making turns and cruising down the road. The original video was sped up,

London's costliest and the most elitist neighborhood compared

 Here are the list of London's most costliest and elitist neighborhood streets compared by their net worth in terms of prices of property.If you ever wanted to live in these london neighborhood, you have to shell out in excess of more than 5 million pounds a year. From Highest to lowest here are what the most expensive streets across London neighborhood  they are worth.Meanwhile asking prices for properties in the UK will rise by 2% in 2017, although sellers in inner London will be asking less as the bubble “continues to deflate”, according property website Rightmove.Sellers entering the market over the past month have priced properties 2.1% lower than those putting homes up for sale the previous month, at an average of £299,159, but Rightmove said it expected next year to be a seventh consecutive year of rising prices.
Separate figures from estate agency Countrywide show that rents in London fell by 0.7% in the 12 months to November, the biggest annual fall since October 2010. Although rents in Greater London are still much higher than in the rest of Britain, averaging £1,298 a month against £809, Countrywide said the gap had reduced since 2015, from 62% to 60%. 

Top 20 most expensive neighborhood  streets across London 

1. Eaton Square, Westminster, London - £16.94m 
2. Grosvenor Crescent, Westminster, London - £16,91m
3.  Ilchester Place, Kensington, London - £16.02m 
4. Lansdowne Road, Kensington - £12.8m 
5. Chester Square, Westminster, London - £12.5m 
6. Lansdowne Crescent, Kensington, London - £10.8m 
7. Kensington Road, Kensington, London - £10.1m
8.  Camp End Road, Weybridge, South East - £5.1m 
9. Cavendish Road, Weybridge, South East - £4.7m 
10. Panorama Road, Poole, South West - £4.6m 
11. East Road, Weybridge, South East - £4.5m 
12. Queens Drive, Leatherhead, South East - £4.4m 
13. Coombe Park, Kingston Upon Thames, London - £4.39m 
14. West Road, Weybridge, South East - £4.37m 
15. Crick Road, Oxford, South East - £4m
16.  Leys Road, Oxshott, South East - £3.68m 
17. The Green, Richmond upon Thames, London - £3.65m 
18. Ham Common, Richmond upon Thames, London - £3.60m 
19. Spicers Field, Oxshott, South East - £3.52m 
20. Princes Drive, Oxshott, South East - £3.5m 

10 cities in britain with the highest rental property prices

List of Cities in Britain that are most expensive when it comes to rental properties

 

Britain's most expensive address with highest rental prices

• London: Eaton Square, Westminster - £16,944,000 
• South East: Camp End Road, Weybridge - £5,164,000 
• South West: Panorama Road, Poole - £4,618,000 
• North West: Park Lane, Altrincham - £2,059,000 
• East: Storeys Way, Cambridge - £1,914,000 
• West Midlands: Farquhar Road, Birmingham - £1,434,000 
• Yorkshire and the Humber: Ling Lane, Leeds - £1,319,000 
• East Midlands: Warren Hill, Leicester - £1,288,000 
• North East: Runnymede Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne - £1,103,000 
• Scotland: The Scores, St Andrews - £2,179,000 
• Wales: Llys Helyg Drive, Llandudno - £1,064,000.
  Forecasters at the Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors are predicting a 3% typical price rise for houses next year, in spite of Brexit uncertainties. The Nationwide Building Society is more cautious, estimating prices will grow at 2%, fuelled by continuing low interest rates.

britain's most expensive streets with highest real estate prices

London's Eaton Square has been named the most expensive place to buy property in Britain, with a average real estate price of a home costing an average of nearly £17m. The Belgravia address tops a list that shows every English region now contains "million pound" streets.Eaton Square,in London's  is the most expensive street in England and Wales, with the highest real estate price, with average price of £16,944,000, according to the annual survey by Lloyds Bank.Eaton Square made it to the top of the property stack based on recorded land registry prices. Built in the 19th Century around a private garden, it features stucco white facades and is handy for Knightsbridge and Chelsea. 

The Eaton square has been home to famous faces such as prime minister Margaret Thatcher,, and James Bond actors Sean Connery and Roger Moore lending a touch of 007 glamour.Built by the Grosvenor family in the 19th century, Eaton Square features grand homes and apartments featuring Grade II-listed white stucco facades.A £55m seven bedroom terrace, complete with a winter garden and retractable glass ceiling, on Eaton Square was the most-viewed home for online property website Rightmove in 2016.It overlooks 2.5 hectares of private garden square - with many properties selling for far more than the £16,944,000 average. 

Outside of London, the most expensive streets include Panorama Road, in the Sandbanks area of Poole, with an average price of £4,618,000 and Crick Road, in Central North Oxford, at £4,049,000. Research by Lloyds Bank also shows the most expensive street in Wales is Llandudno's Llys Helyg Drive, with an average property price of £1.064m.The Scores, St Andrews, tops Scotland's list with an average of almost £2.2m.

The biggest tech company IPO to be debuted in 2017 :

 The list below features the biggest technology company IPO's which are likely to be debuted in 2017.However these list of companies are shown as provided by CBI Insights.As always, it is important to remember that this is just a tentative list.That not all (and perhaps few) of these 369 companies will debut their IPO next year in 2017. 

Many have just crossed the $100M valuation threshold and many all already an Unicorn. Others continue to tap into creative sources of capital in the private markets. And some will get out-executed and may never see a liquidity event. 2016 did not turn out to see a flurry of tech IPOs as companies continue to access funding privately. But as companies in the pipeline continue to mature, increasing calls by investors for companies to go public, and a slowing down of deep pocketed investors like mutual funds and hedge funds financing late-stage startups, the drumbeat for a busier 2017 is getting louder.
Internet companies makes up 73% of the 2017 Tech IPO Pipeline, up from 64% last year. Mobile & Telecom comes in a distant second with 39 companies.Computer hardware and electronics companies combined to make up nearly 6% of 2017 pipeline companies .Within the Internet sector, BI, analytics, and performance management maintains the highest number of pipeline companies for the 3rd consecutive year. Cybersecurity ranked second among represented companies in the pipeline, up from fifth last year

Tech Ipo Pipeline 2017 Report by sumitkroy on Scribd

wells fargo among the biggest banking brands in 2016

 

Wells Fargo is the world’s most valuable banking brand once more. Wells Fargo has held onto the top spot for the fourth year in succession, led by an impressive 26% rise in brand value to US$44.2 billion.The recent report on biggest banking brands of 2016 published by BrandFinance shows that for the first time, more bank brands in the global top five are from China than from the US. ICBC is second, China Construction Bank third and Agricultural Bank of China is fourth. The total value of Chinese banks in the table grew 41.4% to US$206.9 billion.

2016 top 10 biggest Banking Brands from Sumit Roy

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Top 10 IT Certifications of 2017

With 2017 fast approaching we've listed our Top 10 certifications that we believe will best equip you in the new year. We've included certifications that range across various technologies and develop different skills such as security, networking, project management and cloud. Let us know in the comments what you think of our list. 

1. (ISC)2 CISSP

A recent report from recruitment firm Robert Half found that 77% of UK Chief Information Officers (CIO) believe that “they will face more security threats in the next five years because of a shortage of IT security talent”.

(ISC)2’s CISSP certification is a gold standard for IT professionals in high managerial and technical security roles. This certification proves deep competence, skills, experience and credibility to design, engineer, implement and manage their overall information security program.

The Information Commissioner’s Office recently identified that cyber security breaches increased 88% since the beginning of 2015. So, it’s unsurprising businesses are looking to bolster their security policies and defence by employing those certified at the highest level. As a result, we’re positive that CISSP will continue to be an excellent route to reach the top security roles in this industry.

2. EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker certification prepares you to identify weaknesses or vulnerabilities within a business’ network. The difference is that rather than exploit these security gaps, you use these skills to protect a business and patch any potential exposures.

EC-Council have dedicated thousands of man hours into researching the latest trends and uncovering the covert techniques used by the underground community to come up with the latest Version 9 exam and curriculum.

It’s no doubt this certification will continue to gain popularity in the IT industry, and recent large scale hacks with the likes of Yahoo, Tesco, Netflix, Reddit and TalkTalk proves the need for increased cyber security skills.

3. Cisco CCNA (Routing and Switching)

Cisco’s CCNA (Routing and Switching) certification teaches you the skills for network support positions and is the starting point for many successful careers in networking.

The skills shortage the UK are currently in the midst of means that demand for professionals with a certification in networking will continue to grow. A Cisco report found that in 2015 there was shortage of 1.2 million professionals skilled in IP networking – with the number expected to grow in the coming years.

This certification acts as a solid foundation to any networking career, so it’s certainly one to target in 2017!

4. The Open Group TOGAF 9.1 Certification

Thousands of companies now use The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) and as a result the demand for those certified and familiar with the TOGAF framework has continued to grow throughout 2016.

This certification dives into four Enterprise Architecture areas:

• Business – processes, design and optimisation
• Applications - creating strategic architectures
• Infrastructure - networks, hardware, security, server locations, operating systems and capacity
• Data – placement, requirements, maintenance and reporting

The trend of more businesses adopting Enterprise Architecture skills like those in TOGAF mean this certification can propel almost any career in the IT industry. Skills and knowledge in the Architecture Development Method (ADM), The Enterprise Continuum and the TOGAF Resource Base can help you get a better return from your IT operations, helping things run faster, cheaper and reducing risk. 

5. Microsoft MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure

One of Microsoft’s latest certification additions is this MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, which develops your expertise in Microsoft’s cloud-related technologies and managing a modern data centre.

With a wide range of electives to choose from to get this certification, it’s one that will unquestionably be held by a knowledgeable, expert group of professionals.

Microsoft’s recent drive in Azure computing, with an investment of $3 billion in Europe data centres, means the Azure route will likely be one that experiences high levels of interest. Similarly, the need to offer greater security to business networks means the Securing Windows Server route may be equally popular in 2017.

Microsoft recently streamlined their technical certifications, so if you aren’t already familiar with the changes, check them out here. 

6. EC-Council's Certified Network Defender

Launched this year, the Certified Network Defender certification is expected to follow the CEH in becoming one of EC-Council’s most demanded products.

Developing skills in network security controls, protocols and devices, risk and vulnerability assessments and choosing appropriate firewall solutions, you’ll act as the first responder to any network security incidents.

As business environments increasingly adopt Cloud technologies and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) becomes commonplace, businesses need to improve their network security. First responders are crucial in this respect and have the potential to significantly mitigate damages following a security breach.

This certification comfortably makes the Top 10 list and should definitely be a cert you keep your eyes on!  

7. Microsoft MCSA: Windows Server 2016

Another one of Microsoft’s new certifications is the MCSA: Windows Server 2016, which develops the fundamental skills needed to develop and manage your Windows Server environment.

Windows Server is a robust technology that consistently experiences steady demand and is highly valued within the IT industry.  

This certification is an excellent place to learn the skills to install, upgrade and migrate servers, configure Nano Servers and manage advanced AD DS infrastructure.

This certification is also a stepping stone to the MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, which this certification acts as a prerequisite for. 

8. AXELOS PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner 

The PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner certification is one that covers the basic methodology and terminology of PRINCE2. 2016 saw an increased demand in project managers due to the growing scale and complexity of projects being undertaken today. Demand is so large that it’s expected 15.7 million new project managers will be needed across the globe by 2020.

The skills you’ll learn ensure projects have a common and consistent approach, regular reviews or progress against plans and the assurance that projects must have a business justification.  

This certification is also increasingly demanded because of its relevance across industries. Unlike many technical certifications it can be applied across the board, and therefore makes those who hold it, that much more employable.

Firebrand is the only provider to offer both the foundation and practitioner course in just three days and we’ve currently certified over 1,500 students. 

9. Microsoft MCSD: App Builder

Learn to create and implement modern web applications as well as develop the skills to build a modern mobile and web applications service with the new MCSD: App Builder certification.

A study by Gartner found that the market demand for mobile app development will grow at least five times faster than internal IT organisations’ capacity to deliver them.

The MCSD: App Builder is the top certification in developing the skills to design and implement application architecture, security and user experience, and we’re confident it will skyrocket in 2017. 

10. CompTIA Security+

CompTIA’s Security+ certification develops the skills to troubleshoot security events and incidents and operate within applicable policies, laws and regulations.

This certification is vendor-neutral and is developed with the input from industry, government, academia and front-line practitioners. This means you can be sure it’s content reflects the current needs of the industry and it's also largely why this certification will almost certainly continue to perform outstandingly in 2017.

Some of the key topics covered include network security, threats and vulnerabilities and application, data and host security.

Firebrand is a CompTIA platinum partner so you’ll benefit from the highest level instructors and the most up-to-date curriculum.