FTI Consulting News Bytes – 5th August

This week’s news

Instagram ‘unlikes’ new strategy

Instagram will be returning to a more familiar format, rolling back its recent interface overhaul. The Meta-owned company had begun adopting a new, ‘TikTok-style’ format, with photos and videos appearing in full-screen ‘reels’, and higher instances of recommended content in people’s feeds. But after major backlash, the Company reversed its decision, BBC News reports. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri acknowledged the Company’s misstep but insisted: “I’m glad we took a risk – if we’re not failing every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough.” As recommended content becomes social media’s bread and butter, the decision highlights the continued demand for ‘friend content’. Instagram’s next bid to compete with TikTok will be its relocation to London later this year, as Mosseri makes a move to the UK capital (with Nick Clegg, now Meta’s President of Global Affairs, not far behind).

Virtual reality used for conjoined twin separation

The importance of technology in healthcare was proven in spectacular fashion this week, as virtual reality was employed by surgeons at a Rio de Janeiro hospital in an operation to separate twins conjoined at the head. Surgeons from Great Ormond Street in London helped a team in Rio practice the procedure in virtual reality, where CT and MRI scans had been used to reconstruct the anatomy of the twins. This meant doctors were able to get accustomed to the procedure without putting the patients under any risk, The Times reports. The procedure itself lasted over 27 hours and involved around 100 medical staff. The surgeon, Dr Noor ul Owase Jeelani said “It’s just wonderful. It’s great to see the anatomy and do the surgery before you actually put the children at any risk. You can imagine how reassuring that is for the surgeons. In some ways, these operations are considered the hardest of our time, and to do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff.”

Tory Party election tech scare

A hacking alert from GCHQ has delayed the Conservative Party leadership election, The Telegraph reports. The Conservative Party had originally planned to allow voters to vote by post and then change their vote later online, but had to abandon its plans. The decision was made based on advice from the National Cyber Security Centre, part of the UK’s GCHQ listening post. The concern was that thousands of votes could be changed online last minute by hackers. A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said: “Defending UK democratic and electoral processes is a priority for the NCSC, and we work closely with all parliamentary political parties, local authorities and MPs to provide cyber security guidance and support.”

BT and Openreach strike continues

Strike action was again taken by BT and Openreach workers on Monday in a dispute over pay, The Guardian reports. This follows a strike last Friday and others staged earlier last month. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) is protesting a proposed pay rise of £1,500 awarded to BT and Openreach workers, which they argue does not adequately account for rising inflation. The rise was awarded after lengthy talks between BT and the CWU, in which no agreement was made. This marks the first strike action taken in national British Telecoms since 1987. The shadow Levelling Up Secretary, Lisa Nandy, caused controversy on Monday as she joined the picket line, defying explicit orders from Kier Starmer.

Airbnb bookings hit record high

Airbnb remains confident in the face of an economic slowdown, reporting a record 104 million bookings in the April through June period, BBC News reports. The fastest growing area for the platform was long-term stays, which the Company attributes to the rising popularity of remote work, but growth was also seen in international and city travel. Chief Executive Brian Chesky was optimistic in a call with analysts, noting that “Airbnb was founded during the recession,” and that in the event of another, “we think a lot of people may turn to hosting once again, so this is a big opportunity for us.” The news comes after Airbnb pulled out of China, due to continued Coronavirus restrictions. However, Airbnb’s revenue has been bolstered by increased prices, which bought in $379m of profit this year, compared to a loss of $68m last year. Following the good news, the Company will be buying back $2bn of its shares.

Top Tweets of the Week

• Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce tweets: “U.S. technology companies founded by 1st and 2nd generation immigrants: Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Oracle, IBM, Uber, Airbnb, Yahoo, Intel, EMC, eBay, SpaceX, VMWare, AT&T, Tesla, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Paypal, ADP, Reddit, Slack, WeWork, Stripe, Cognizant, Intuit, 3M, Zoom. 43% of Fortune 500 companies.”
• Leo Kelion, former BBC tech editor tweets: “Went to Apple Store for AirTags. Sold out. Sales rep. said there’s new stock daily. But all go within 30mins of being on shelves. Sales rocketing because of airports/airlines losing luggage. This helps lock users into iPhones + may drive upgrades for Precision Finding.”
• Ted Talks: “Here’s why computers still have a lot to learn from *human* intelligence — and how machine learning could help us with our very human problems.”

Number of the Week

17.4m – The number of viewers who tuned in to watch England’s historic win over Germany in the Euro 2022 final, making it the biggest UK television event of the year so far.

What’s coming up?

• 6 – 11 August: Black Hat USA event for computer security professionals
• 9 August: 15th anniversary of the start of the financial crisis
• 9 & 11 August: Tory leadership hustings for Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss

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