Introduction

UK Government research published in December 2017 showed that there are around 5.7 million Small and Medium Sized enterprises, employing less than 250 people. 5.5 million of these businesses employ less than 10.

UK SME’s turned over £19 trillion in 2017, 51% of all private sector turnover. The sector is dynamic, innovative and growing, and vital to the health of the economy.

Businesses across all verticals are dealing with the fallout from shadow IT, whether they realise it or not. Shadow IT refers to technology which is brought into an organisation by individual employees and business units without the knowledge or consent of corporate IT teams. Fuelled in part by its ease of purchase and deployment, SaaS applications are largely to blame for the impressive growth of Shadow IT. According to a recent survey from the Cloud Security Alliance, 72 percent of executives are unaware of how many shadow applications are in use within their organisation.

AiX, the artificial intelligence broker, announces today that it has completed the first ever trade brokered by an AI powered chatbot.

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that B+S Logistik (B+S GmbH Logistik und Dienstleistungen), a leading German logistics service provider (LSP), has expanded its contract logistics business with new business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce operations using the Descartes pixi* warehouse management solution (WMS) to support order fulfillment in fashion, food distribution and other segments.

Atos, a global leader in digital transformation has been awarded two major outsourcing contracts by Siemens, a global engineering leader, to drive Siemens’ digital transformation program. The first contract will cover multiple activities spanning Application Management services and Technical Production Support in SAP, Microsoft and Business Intelligence for multiple divisions of Siemens, while the second contract will cover Application Management services for Siemens regions in Europe, APAC and Latin America.

From Money20/20 Europe, Helen Yu, chief growth officer of Clinc, the leading conversational artificial intelligence platform for financial institutions, joined the stage with İşbank’s Ceren Sayar and Eren Hukumdar to discuss their collective vision for the future of AI and customer experiences, and to announce their expanded partnership and upcoming launch of İşbank’s new call center initiatives powered by Clinc’s world-class conversational AI.

Saxo Bank, the leading Fintech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment, and Nasdaq, the leading global provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company services, today announced a cooperation to launch a new digital investment portfolio in the SaxoSelect universe based on Nasdaq Dorsey Wright research.

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a global fintech leader, has further expanded its global market intelligence business with the acquisition of MackayWilliams, a specialist European fund market and research firm.

Currencycloud, the leading international payment platform, today announced the launch of South Korea’s first remittance service by a non-bank, following its strategic partnership with the country’s leading credit card company, Hyundai Card.

Liquidnet report reveals how MiFID II has impacted trading behavior in Europe to date and reviews the potential for further change given the rise in periodic auctions and SI volumes, contrary to the regulatory intention of increasing liquidity on lit markets.