FTI Consulting News Bytes – 8th July
Kicking off this week’s newsletter with some tech for good news as drones deliver life-saving drugs to cancer patients on the Isle of Wight in an NHS pilot scheme. In another positive move, Ofcom has been granted new powers to fine tech companies that don’t comply with new child protection legislation… but is it possible to strike the right balance between user privacy and user safety? Meta has reaffirmed its bullish stance on digital assets and will not be delaying plans to roll out access to digital collectibles. On that note, a new report has revealed the volume of crypto funds lost to hacks and scams in Q2 2022 totals $670m… a 52% YoY rise. And finally, the media industry braces itself for looming economic gloom hits as TV shows are cancelled and have their budgets slashed.
This week’s news
Life-saving drugs… delivered by drones
In a new NHS pilot scheme, drones will be used to deliver life-saving chemotherapy drugs from a hospital in Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight, cutting delivery times from four hours to 30 minutes, Sky News reports. According to NHS England, chemotherapy is difficult to transport given some doses have a limited shelf life. Launched in partnership with tech company Apian, the new method offers quicker and fairer access to treatment for cancer patients living on the island, many of whom currently need to travel to the mainland for healthcare. Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said: “The NHS will stop at nothing to ensure people get the treatment they need as promptly as possible – while also cutting costs and carbon emissions.”
Ofcom gains new powers 
Through an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, the Home Office is granting UK regulator Ofcom additional tools to ensure tech firms act to prevent, identify and remove child sexual abuse and exploitation content. Fines of up to £18m or 10% of the company’s global annual turnover – whichever is higher, could be imposed. The news comes amid ongoing discussions around the balance between user privacy and user safety, with experts concerned over how end-to-end encryption messaging might be infiltrated. Professor Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey told the BBC: “The big issue will be that any technology that can be used to look at what is otherwise encrypted could be misused by bad actors to conduct surveillance.”
Meta to push ahead with digital collectibles agenda
Meta announced this week it will not be delaying plans to roll out access to digital collectibles to its 3 billion users despite the well-documented ongoing crash in crypto assets. In an interview with the Financial Times, Meta’s new head of fintech Stephane Kasriel reaffirmed the company’s bullish stance on digital assets, stating that the ambition is to invite influencers to “create virtual and digital goods to be able to sell them through our platform.” The strategy around digital collectibles is seen to be a key part of Meta’s aim to build and monetise the metaverse over the next decade. Kasriel however did express caution around new technologies, citing the challenges in scaling usage of even the most popular blockchains.
Crypto’s crash in numbers
A new report by Immunefi, a leading Web3 bug bounty platform, has revealed the volume of crypto funds lost due to hacks and scams in Q2 this year, calculating the total amount at $670m. This represents a 52% rise in losses compared with the same period last year, with most losses attributed to just four high-profile hacks. An article by TechCrunch details the top losses, with Beanstalk leading the uncoveted league table with enormous losses of $182m this quarter. Market commentators speculate that as we enter the third quarter of the year, the trend for hacks and scams will only accelerate.
The age of austerity TV
In what is being seen as the heralding of the age of austerity TV, Hollywood is cutting back on budgets for planned shows, as well as cancelling shows they have already agreed to make, as a global economic downturn looms large. A piece by Bloomberg reveals broadcast TV budgets have dropped more than 30% this year, citing Netflix’s sudden decline in share price as being symptomatic of a wider production issue. The online streaming service is expected to lose a further two million subscribers in the next three months. The latest developments in TV production are a significant departure from recent years, when media companies produced between over 559 scripted shows last year, up more than 200 since 2013.
Top Tweets of the Week
- Chris Philp, now ex-Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, tweeted his resignation letter, joining more than 50 MPs
- Deliveroo tweeted its funny take on developments in Downing Street
- Elon Musk (now back on Twitter after his record 9 day hiatus) pontificates on the limits (or lack of) humanity’s space frontier
- Ryan Browne, CNBC tech/crypto correspondent, pours doubt on whether new UK stablecoin legislation in August will go ahead as planned
Number of the Week
550,000 – The amount in USD that the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands managed to successfully recover from a ransom paid to hackers in 2019.
What’s happening next week?
- 11 July: Netflix presents series of free walking tours in London, Paris and Madrid
- 13 July: World Economic Forum releases its annual Global Gender Gap Report
- 14 July: Eight million UK households receive £326 cost-of-living payment from today
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