Rwanda&#8217;s airline will start three weekly flights to London&#8217;s Gatwick airport on May 26 and it expects to exceed one million passengers on all its routes in the next three to four years, Chief Executive John Mirenge said on Monday.
The London route, which will be served by two newly acquired Airbus A330s, will be East African airline RwandAir’s 22nd destination.
&#8220;We see this as another way to increase tourism from Europe and UK in particular which is one of the key contributors of tourists to Rwanda,&#8221; Mirenge told Reuters.
Mirenge also said the airline planned to start flights to New York, Bamako in Mali, Conakry in Guinea and Lilongwe in Malawi. It would also soon start flights to Mumbai and Guangzhou in China.
&#8220;Africa is still underserved in terms of aviation services so that&#8217;s why we cannot stop from growing especially on the continent,&#8221; Mirenge said.
For the year ending July 2017, Mirenge said RwandAir was targeting a total of 750,000 passengers, up from 600,000 in the previous period.
RwandAir has 11 aircraft and expects delivery of a 12th, a Boeing 737-800, in May.
Rwanda&#8217;s government signed a deal with Portuguese construction firm Mota-Engil this year to build and operate a bigger airport in Bugesera, south of the capital. It is due to be completed in 2019.
(Reporting by Clement Uwiringiyimana, Editing by Susan Thomas)

Rwanda’s airline to start flights to London

Some of the world&#8217;s biggest economies won&#8217;t attend high-level negotiations aimed at banning nuclear weapons — an indicator that global denuclearization remains a distant dream.
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The United Nations (UN) kicks off a five-day conference in New York on Monday to discuss such a ban in what many political commentators have called a milestone event. But visibly absent will be Security Council members <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/united-states/" target="_self">U.S</a>., <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/united-kingdom/" target="_self">U.K.</a>, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/canada/" target="_self">Canada</a>, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/france/" target="_self">France</a>, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/russia/" target="_self">Russia</a>, and <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/china/" target="_self">China</a>, who don&#8217;t believe in the prohibition of weapons. <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/australia/" target="_self">Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/germany/" target="_self">Germany</a>, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/japan/" target="_self">Japan</a>, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/norway/" target="_self">Norway</a>, and <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/south-korea/" target="_self">South Korea</a> also don&#8217;t support the measure. <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/north-korea/" target="_self">North Korea</a>, which recently defended its right to nuclear arms following a series of <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/21/reports-of-north-korea-launched-missile.html" target="_self">recent ballistic missile launches</a>, will also be absconding from this week&#8217;s discussions.
Excluding Pyongyang, the decision to shun talks drew international criticism as it clashed with each government&#8217;s obligations to a non-proliferation treaty that&#8217;s been in force since 1970. Known as the NPT, the agreement is focused on curbing the spread of nukes with complete disarmament as its end goal.
<blockquote>&#8220;Given the dangers arising from a lack of cooperation on nuclear security issues and the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/23/trump-to-putin-lets-have-a-nuclear-arms-race.html" target="_self">potential emergence of a new arms race</a> between the nuclear powers, principled and engaged leadership from nuclear-weapon states is sorely needed,&#8221; said UNA-UK, a London based nonprofit that conducts independent analysis on the UN, in a recent statement.</blockquote>
Washington believes an outright weapons ban would be &#8220;fundamentally at odds with NATO&#8217;s basic policies on nuclear deterrence,&#8221; as it outlined in an October letter to NATO members. Deterrence, or the threat of nuclear retaliation to avert enemy attack, has been a staple of international security policy since the Cold War.
Instead, a gradual reduction of nuclear forces remains the only path to eventual disarmament, the U.S. stipulates.
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<h4 class="subtitle">Underlying reasons</h4>
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Global hesitation to ban nukes stems from a multitude of factors.
Historically, Western countries have been at the forefront of the nuclear disarmament initiative but currently, many governments prefer to enjoy the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella, John Park, director of the Korea Working Group at the Belfer Center, Harvard University, told CNBC on Monday.
Washington, whose <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/07/why-modernizing-us-nuclear-arsenal-may-find-more-bipartisan-support.html" target="_self">nuclear arsenal of 6800 warheads</a> is second to Russia&#8217;s 7000, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), has long guaranteed to defend its non-nuclear allies, which include Japan and South Korea.
While this runs directly counter to denuclearization efforts, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/11/us-says-might-not-shoot-down-north-korean-icbm-eying-intel.html" target="_self">expectations for Pyongyang to launch an inter-continental ballistic missile</a> has made the world increasingly reliant on the American umbrella, Park explained.
As a result, Park believes denuclearization is an increasingly remote option, warning that global priority will shift to non-proliferation by default.
Internal bickering among NPT signatories is another issue.
&#8220;The broad decision of nuclear-weapon states not to engage with this disarmament movement is a symptom of deteriorating relations between the nuclear haves and have nots,&#8221; said UNA-UK.
According to the NPT, non-nuclear signatories are prohibited from developing nuclear weapons while nuclear-armed countries committed to a process of disarmament.
&#8220;But with little visible appetite for disarmament from nuclear-weapon states, this bargain is increasingly called into question,&#8221; warned UNA-UK. Dissatisfaction with the slow pace of disarmament have thus resulted in tension between states, it added.
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Denuclearization a pipe dream? UN holds talks to ban nukes, but major powers don’t show up

<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/karen-gilchrist/">Karen Gilchrist</a>
<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/" target="_self">Elon Musk</a> has hit back at claims that President <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/donald-trump/" target="_self">Donald Trump&#8217;s</a> new NASA bill will be good for his space exploration business, saying it does nothing to get SpaceX&#8217;s mission to Mars off the ground.
The serial entrepreneur took to Twitter Tuesday to respond to Kara Swisher, co-founder of technology news website Recode, who said the president&#8217;s decision to grant NASA $19.5 billion in funding would leave Musk &#8220;smiling.&#8221;
&#8220;I am not,&#8221; wrote Musk, chief executive of SpaceX. &#8220;This bill changes almost nothing about what NASA is doing. Existing programs stay in place and there is no added funding for Mars.
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I am not. This bill changes almost nothing about what NASA is doing. Existing programs stay in place and there is no added funding for Mars.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/844360665900838912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Perhaps there will be some future bill that makes a difference for Mars, but this is not it,&#8221; Musk added in a later Tweet.
The S.442 funding bill, signed by President Trump Tuesday, is the first of its kind to pass through Congress in six years and will help facilitate NASA&#8217;s deep space exploration projects and promote private-public partnerships and job creation, the White House said.
This includes &#8220;achieving human exploration of Mars and beyond,&#8221; the bill noted.
However, Musk claims the new funding will not provide a boost to his aims of making commercial travel to Mars a reality for the public.
His space transportation company SpaceX is currently working in collaboration with NASA under a $1.6 billion contract, which has so far flown 10 cargo missions to the International Space Station.
Its ultimate goal is to enable space travel to, and colonization of, Mars.
Musk met with President Trump in December alongside a host of technology leaders, including Apple&#8217;s <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/tim-cook/" target="_self">Tim Cook</a> and Amazon&#8217;s <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/jeff-bezos/" target="_self">Jeff Bezos</a>, to discuss the technology industry under his then upcoming presidency.

Elon Musk slams Donald Trump’s NASA bill saying it does nothing to help mission to Mars

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya will start selling a mobile-phone based government bond this week, the Treasury said on Tuesday, the culmination of a lengthy plan to tap a new pool of investors into government securities.
The Treasury said the bond will go on sale on Thursday, without offering more information. Kenya pioneered the use of mobile money in 2007 with M-Pesa, a money transfer service, by telecoms operator Safaricom.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/east-africa/2017/01/04/mpesa-economic-impact-on-kenya/">M-Pesa has completely transformed Kenya&#8217;s economy</a> 
Known as M-Akiba, the new bond will be offered on M-Pesa and similar mobile phone financial services by other firms, a source in the telecoms industry said. Investors will be able to buy the bond through their phones, where a record of their holdings will be stored. Coupon payments will also be made through the phone.
M-Pesa allows users to transfer cash and make payments on even the most basic mobile phone. In partnership with local banks, Safaricom has since expanded the service to offer savings, lending and insurance products.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri, editing by Larry King)

You can now buy Kenyan government bonds on your phone

Apple on Tuesday announced a new version of its 9.7-inch iPad, and a special edition of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The new red aluminum iPhone is part of Apple&#8217;s decade-long (RED) campaign, which contributes to the Global Fund to fight AIDS. The new phone starts at $749 and will hit stores Friday.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/technology/2017/03/08/apple-iphone8/">What to expect from the iPhone 8</a>
Apple said it&#8217;s the world&#8217;s largest corporate donor to the Global Fund, contributing more than $130 million.
The $329 updated iPad comes with a brighter display, Touch ID, worldwide LTE support, the A9 chip and iOS 10. A year ago, Apple released the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, priced from $599, which featured Apple Pencil compatibility and an improved display.
The company on Tuesday also announced a free new app, Clips, that helps users combine video clips, photos and music to be shared through messages and social media. Clips, which will be available in April on iOS 10.3, has &#8220;artistic filters&#8221; shapes and emojis.
The app automatically recognizes people in the video and suggests them as recipients of the messages, Apple said. The app pulls in elements that are popular in Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, Google Photos and Musical.ly.
On top of the new products, Apple also announced new silicon and leather case colors for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and expanded storage capacity for the iPhone SE.
It also added new watch bands for spring, with colors like berry, pollen, sapphire, azure, orange and red. Nike watch bands can now be sold separately, and new luxury Hermes bands were released in &#8220;bleu,&#8221; lime and other styles.
The company is also doubling down on its learn-to-code app, Swift Playgrounds, which it released in simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, German and Latin American Spanish. Apple is investing heavily in recruiting new developers, aiming to double its software and services revenue by the end of 2020. Mainland China was one of the fastest-growing areas for the iPad last quarter.
And while Apple also added more capacity to the iPad Mini 4, it not longer promotes the iPad Mini 2 on its iPad landing page.
Apple shares closed at an all-time high of $141.46 a share on Monday, and inched higher in morning trading.

Apple unveils new products

Entry of the mobile technology ride-sharing service, <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/how-does-uber-work-3862752">Uber</a>, into passenger transport markets across the world has brought <a href="http://www.competition.org.za/review/2015/11/22/uber-a-game-changer-in-passenger-transport-in-south-africa">disruptive</a> competition with substantial benefits to consumers. Africa is no exception. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/74262/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> 
Uber is currently the <a href="http://www.htxt.co.za/2016/08/25/uber-most-used-taxi-app/">dominant</a> ride-sharing app used in Africa. It has rapidly grown its <a href="http://venturesafrica.com/uber-signs-its-first-sou-in-africa-with-ghana/">African</a> footprint and now has operations in eight countries; Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania.
Disruptive competition through technology can bring substantial benefits to consumers, but it also raises competition and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-uber-opens-cities-only-to-close-them-59067">socio-economic issues</a>. These result mainly from the displacement of traditional service providers. These issues cannot be ignored in a developing country. Regulation needs to at least ensure that conditions for competition are consistent and not only free but fair across competing services where possible.
There are also concerns that Uber, with its first mover advantage within the ride-sharing market, is growing into a monopoly despite the <a href="http://www.competition.org.za/review/2015/11/22/uber-a-game-changer-in-passenger-transport-in-south-africa">benefits</a> to consumers.
These concerns have been raised by incumbent taxi operators in Kenya and South Africa. As is the case across the globe traditional metered taxis are <a href="http://www.competition.org.za/review/2015/11/22/uber-a-game-changer-in-passenger-transport-in-south-africa">seeing red</a>. In South Africa, traditional metered taxi operators have protested and also tried, so far unsuccessfully, to get the competition authority to <a href="http://www.ujuh.co.za/uber-escapes-competition-robe-in-south-africa-as-metred-taxis-despair/">prosecute</a> Uber for what they see as anti-competitive behaviour. In Kenya, there have <a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Six-man-gang-behind-Uber-taxi-attacks-arrested/1056-3134898-r3m5cfz/index.html">been attacks</a> on Uber drivers by business rivals.
But there are also signs of a rising challenge to Uber by new rivals. The Kenyan and South African experiences are worth noting. The different trajectories developing in these two markets make for an interesting comparison.
<h2>Uber firmly in the driving seat in South Africa</h2>
In South Africa new entrants into the ride-sharing app market have made little progress in attracting substantial demand. These include:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://taxify.eu/en-za/cities-2/johannesburg/">Taxify</a> which entered the market in 2015. It struggled and had to <a href="https://mybroadband.co.za/news/motoring/162994-taxify-relaunched-in-south-africa-to-take-on-uber-and-metered-taxis.html">re-launch </a>its brand with a new business model in 2016 to access a wider market, in which it now holds around a 10% share. Its strategy is based on 15% lower prices and higher proportional pay out to drivers.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/companies-and-deals/transaction-capital-plans-dominate-sas-metred-taxi-industry/">Zebra Cabs</a>, an incumbent metered taxi company, adopted the electronic taxi hailing technology to launch the Zebra Cabs app in 2016, a direct rival to Uber.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.702.co.za/articles/237998/uber-has-new-south-african-rival">Jozibear</a> entered the market late in 2016 and currently operates in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.</li>
</ul>
But Uber has built a strong brand among local customers since entry in 2013, in a market with important first mover advantages.
Even though competitors may offer better quality or cheaper services, customers will be attracted to Uber’s because it has established a stronger brand and larger driver network. To compete, entrants have to develop rival platforms which are frictionless and able to attract both drivers and passengers.
<a href="https://mybroadband.co.za/news/motoring/162994-taxify-relaunched-in-south-africa-to-take-on-uber-and-metered-taxis.html">Changes in regulation</a> to encompass ride-sharing have formalised aspects of the industry in South Africa. These include licensing and permit conditions. But these changes have not necessarily led to a stronger competitive position for rivals, including metered taxis.
<h2>Why Little Cab in Kenya may be different</h2>
The picture is very different in Kenya. There Safaricom, the largest telecommunications operator, <a href="http://pulse.ng/tech/little-cab-safaricom-launches-its-weapon-of-choice-on-the-on-demand-taxi-market-in-kenya-id5232889.html">launched</a> an app-based ride-sharing service called <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-safaricom-idUSKCN0ZL1I8">Little Cab</a> in July 2016 in partnership with Craft Silicon, a local software firm.
Little Cab introduced free Wi-Fi to passengers in addition to the option to process payments using <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/east-africa/2017/01/04/mpesa-economic-impact-on-kenya/">M-Pesa</a>, the mobile-phone based financial service. M-Pesa is the most widely used mobile money service developed by Safaricom with <a href="http://www.ca.go.ke/index.php/statistics">66% market share</a> in Kenya.
Little Cab promises to be an effective competitor to Uber in Kenya’s ride sharing economy particularly due to its link to the mobile money platform.
It’s still not clear whether Uber can integrate the M-Pesa payment solution to its service in Kenya. A failure to address this challenge may limit the company’s ability to retain its position in the market. This is partly because most Kenyan’s don’t have credit cards, a fact that led Uber to introduce <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201604150744.html">cash payments</a> three months after entering the Kenyan market in January 2015. This adjustment has been pivotal to its growth in the country.
Little Cab appears to be performing well given its plans to <a href="https://qz.com/846609/safaricoms-little-cab-a-rival-uber-in-kenya-is-launching-in-nigeria-and-uganda/">expand</a> into Uganda and Nigeria in 2017, its first operations outside Kenya. These are not entirely new markets for Safaricom given that its largest regional operations are based in Nigeria under Craft Silicon.
Similarly, Safaricom has operations in <a href="https://qz.com/846609/safaricoms-little-cab-a-rival-uber-in-kenya-is-launching-in-nigeria-and-uganda/">Uganda</a>, and plans to use its existing knowledge of these markets to gain entry and compete with other ride-sharing services.
<h2>Too early to call?</h2>
There’s a fascinating competitive clash emerging in Kenya which may play itself out throughout the east African region. M-Pesa’s attractiveness to both markets (ride-sharing and mobile money users) gives Safaricom and Little Cabs a competitive advantage.
Safaricom is able to leverage its large mobile money subscriber base and technology to compete with Uber in a market where mobile money payments are ubiquitous. On the other hand, the rival has first mover advantages in terms of branding and convenience in the ride-sharing sharing economy.
Have you read:
<h3 class="r _U6c"><a class="l _HId" href="http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/03/17/uber-kenya-hikes-fare-20-percent-strikes/">Uber Kenya hikes fare by 20 percent after strikes</a></h3>
<h3 class="r _U6c"><a class="l _HId" href="http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/03/10/south-africas-taxis-block-roads-main-airport-uber-protest/">South Africa&#8217;s taxis block roads to main airport in Uber protest</a></h3>
<h3 class="r _U6c"><a class="l _HId" href="http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/01/06/an-uber-drive-with-the-ambition-to-top-the-music-charts/">An Uber driver with the ambition to top the music charts</a></h3>
However, Safaricom appears to have overcome the seemingly insurmountable first mover position enjoyed by Uber, and brand-related entry barriers by simply leveraging its own strengths in Kenya.
Who will win the market in the region is now anyone’s guess.
Uber’s position in South Africa looks more assured. But it does face challenges. Ongoing protests, the <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2017-03-10-metered-taxi-drivers-bring-airport-traffic-to-a-halt-in-uber-protest/">most recent</a> of which led to gridlock near the country’s largest international airport, could lead to continued scrutiny of its operations.
And the company has had to adjust its model to suit local conditions. Uber grew rapidly when it first launched using its standard transacting mechanisms due in part to the fact that 
in 2015 <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/products/data-books/little-data-book-on-financial-inclusion">54.9%</a> of South Africans had credit cards. But it has had to reconsider its banking card only payment mechanism and now allows cash payments.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/thando-vilakazi-229911">Thando Vilakazi</a>, Senior Researcher, Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shingie-chisoro-dube-345019">Shingie Chisoro Dube</a>, Economist Researcher/PhD Candidate, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="http://theconversation.com/two-very-different-responses-to-uber-kenya-and-south-africa-74262">original article</a>.

As anger grows against Uber in Africa this is how S.A and Kenya are responding to it

Jeff Jones, the president of Uber, is quitting the car-hailing company after less than a year. The move by the No. 2 exec, said sources, is directly related to the multiple controversies there, including explosive charges of sexism and sexual harassment.
Uber confirmed the departure and will be sending a statement.
Jones also confirmed the departure with a blistering assessment of the company. &#8220;It is now clear, however, that the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no longer continue as president of the ride sharing business,&#8221; he said in a statement to Recode.
Jones, said sources, determined that this was not the situation he signed on for, especially after Uber CEO Travis Kalanick announced a search for a new COO to help him right the very troubled ship.
That was not the reason for Jones&#8217; departure, sources said, even though it meant that Kalanick was bringing in a new exec who could outrank him. Instead, these sources said, Jones determined that the situation at the company was more problematic than he realized.
Jones was certainly touted by Kalanick as a big hire when he arrived at Uber last fall from Target, where he was its well-regarded CMO. His job, among others, was to remake the company&#8217;s tainted image. He also was president of its main ride-sharing business.
Kalanick and Jones met just a year ago at the TED conference in Vancouver and there was much excitement that the company was attracting top-level corporate execs.
Jones replaced board member Ryan Graves, who started at the company as CEO but relinquished that role to Travis Kalanick in 2010, as president. Graves now heads up the company&#8217;s delivery business, UberEverything. The transition was pitched as a necessary move as the ride-hail company continued to scale.
&#8220;Over the last six months, Ryan and I have become increasingly convinced that our rapidly growing marketing efforts needed to be far more integrated with our city operations,&#8221; Kalanick <a class="inline_asset" href="https://newsroom.uber.com/jeff-jones/" target="_self">wrote</a> in a post announcing Jones&#8217; hire.
Jones spent much of the beginning of his tenure as the president of ride-sharing driving for Uber and meeting with drivers, after which he sent drivers an email about what he learned and what the company intends to do.
&#8220;It&#8217;s clear that there&#8217;s much we can be doing better. Listening is where we get our best ideas, because they come from you, the people using Uber every day &#8221; he wrote.
But in February, Jones&#8217; second public attempt to reach drivers went awry when drivers began flooding Jones&#8217; Facebook page with angry comments and complaints during a question and answer session.
Jones&#8217; decision to leave Uber likely won&#8217;t surprise people who worked with him at Target. &#8220;Jeff does not like conflict,&#8221; a source previously told Recode.
The situation at the company has deteriorated since then, obviously, after a blog post by a former female engineer chronicled a deeply dysfunctional management led by Kalanick that favored what board member Arianna Huffington called &#8220;brilliant jerks.&#8221;
Jerks indeed, as what has happened since then has made clear. Since the post, the company has fired its engineering head after revelations of a serious sexual harassment investigation at his previous employer, saw its head of product leave after questionable sexual behavior was uncovered at a company event and has initiated an investigation into the entire situation with a former Attorney General of the United States at the lead.
In addition, the now persistently apologetic Kalanick announced the search for a COO to help him do a better job.
—By Kara Swisher and Johana Bhuiyan, <a class="inline_asset" href="http://recode.net/" target="_self" data-nodeid="101305756">Recode.net</a>.
CNBC&#8217;s parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Recode&#8217;s parent Vox, and the companies have a content-sharing arrangement.

Uber president Jeff Jones is quitting as management turmoil at the ride-hailing company deepens

<div class="inline-player"></div>
<div class="group">
<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/geoff-cutmore/" rel="author">Geoff Cutmore</a><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/FB" target="_self" data-gdsid="139619" data-inline-quote-symbol="FB"> | </a><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/saheli-roy-choudhury/" rel="author">Saheli Roy Choudhury</a>
<a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/FB" target="_self" data-gdsid="139619" data-inline-quote-symbol="FB">Facebook</a> and <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOGL" target="_self" data-gdsid="19004" data-inline-quote-symbol="GOOGL">Google</a>&#8216;s runaway success in capturing large stakes in the digital advertising market comes with responsibilities and they need to do more when curating how advertisements are placed on their platforms, according to <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/WPP-GB" target="_self" data-gdsid="36873" data-inline-quote-symbol="WPP-GB">WPP Group</a> CEO Martin Sorrell.
Sorrell, whose company owns ad agencies such as the Grey Group and Ogilvy &amp; Mather, was speaking to CNBC at the sidelines of the China Development Forum, where he said the two tech giants have to exert more control over ad placements on behalf of brands, and take more responsibility for it.
&#8220;They&#8217;ve always maintained they were sort of digital engineers standing there with their digital spanners, trying to tighten the nuts on their digital pipes and not being responsible for the content that was going through the pipes,&#8221; said Sorrell.
A key criticism leveled against both Facebook and Google is that the companies are not doing enough to arrest fake news on their platforms.
</div>
&#8220;They can&#8217;t just say look we&#8217;re a technology company, we have nothing to do with the content that is appearing on our digital pages,&#8221; Sorrell said. He added that, as far as placing advertisements was concerned, they have to be held to the same standards as traditional media organizations.
Another concern is that sometimes advertisements are automatically placed alongside objectionable and inappropriate content within those platforms that brands do not have control over.
&#8220;The big issue for Google and Facebook is whether they are going to have human editing at this point &#8230; of course they have the profitability. They have the margins to enable them to do it. And this is going to be the big issue — how far are they prepared to go?&#8221; Sorrell said, adding they needed to go &#8220;significantly far&#8221; to arrest these concerns.
A failure to address such issues could see Facebook and Google potentially take hits on ad revenue if brands stop advertising on their platforms. For example, French advertising firm <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/HAV-FR" target="_self" data-gdsid="16865" data-inline-quote-symbol="HAV-FR">Havas</a> recently pulled all its ad spend from Google and its video platform, YouTube.
The Guardian <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/17/google-pledges-more-control-for-brands-over-ad-placement" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/17/google-pledges-more-control-for-brands-over-ad-placement" target="_self">reported</a> that Havas took the step after talks with Google broke down because the tech giant couldn&#8217;t provide specific reassurances, policy and guarantees over the filtering and classification of video or display content.
Havas&#8217; decision came after the UK government joined organizations including the Guardian, BBC and Transport for London in pulling advertising from Google and YouTube, the Guardian report said.
Sorrell said blanket withdrawals from advertisers across these digital platforms will not solve the problem. Instead, he urged for greater cooperation with the tech giants.
&#8220;I think the most constructive way of doing it is getting Google and Facebook to understand the problem, which I think they do, and to get them to step up to control it just like any other media right now would in a traditional sense,&#8221; he said.

Facebook, Google need to ‘step up’ control of their platforms, says WPP’s Martin Sorrell

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<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/arjun-kharpal/" rel="author">Arjun Kharpal</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/ArjunKharpal">@ArjunKharpal</a>
Just under $2 billion has been wiped off the value of <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC%3D-USS" target="_self" data-gdsid="76662810" data-inline-quote-symbol="BTC=-USS" rel="noopener">bitcoin</a> in under three days as a fight over the future of the technology underpinning the cryptocurrency wages on.
Bitcoin was trading at around $1,142.60 at time of publication, giving it a market cap of $18.53 billion, according to CoinDesk data. This is down from highs of $1,255.32 on Tuesday, which valued the total bitcoin pile at $20.36 billion.
Meanwhile, rival cryptocurrency ether is up over 84 percent from highs of $29.87 on Tuesday to trading at all-time highs of around $55 on Friday, according to Coinmarketcap.com. The market captilization shot from $2.68 billion to $4.95 billion. It is the only other cryptocurrency to be valued at over $1 billion.
<div id="inline_movable_ad"> Much of the inverse price movement stems from traders&#8217; worries over the future of bitcoin and the underpinning blockchain technology.</div>
What&#8217;s happened?
To understand the issue, it&#8217;s key to look at how bitcoin transactions are processed. Transactions by users are gathered into &#8220;blocks&#8221; which is turned into a complex math solution. So-called miners, using high-powered computers work these solutions out to determine if the transaction is possible. Once other miners also check the puzzle is correct, the transactions are approved and the miners are rewarded in bitcoin.
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But there&#8217;s a massive backlog of transactions in bitcoin that are waiting to happen. The number of outstanding transactions is up more than four times from just six months ago, according to data from bitcoin wallet Blockchain. This is bad for a system that has promised fast and cheaper transactions than the traditional financial system.
Because of this, a group called Bitcoin Unlimited has emerged. This faction is suggesting increasing the size of the block which would allow more transactions to be bunched together and processed. Major bitcoin industry players including Roger Ver have backed the plan. But some developers in the community suggest that increasing the block size could be unsafe.
What&#8217;s this about a fork?
The real concern is if Bitcoin Unlimited gains major support, it could have an impact on the underlying blockchain technology that supports bitcoin. Bitcoin Unlimited has about an 11 percent market share of all the &#8220;nodes&#8221; in existence. Nodes are the backbone of bitcoin&#8217;s infrastructure and refer to those mining the transactions as well as those tracking the movement of bitcoin to make sure it is all working correctly.
Nodes can run Blockchain Unlimited software which would signal their support for increasing the block size. If 50 percent of bitcoin miners adopted Bitcoin Unlimited, there would then be two major blockchains and a &#8220;fork&#8221; would be created made of Bitcoin Core, the current main software behind the infrastructure, and Bitcoin Unlimited.
Both blockchains would continue to run as long as there are nodes running them. But there would then be essentially two different coins – Bitcoin and Bitcoin Unlimited.
So why has the price fallen?
And this is why bitcoin has seen sharp declines in price, while other cryptocurrencies like ether have gained support.
&#8220;Bitcoin traders may have wanted to offset some of their exposure should a fork occur or the scaling deadlock continue, and ether seems to be the most promising alternative. Bitcoin-ether volumes have surged since and are currently rivaling bitcoin-fiat currency trading liquidity,&#8221; Aurélien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, a regulated blockchain assets exchange based in Hong Kong, told CNBC by email on Friday.
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Nearly $2 billion has been wiped off bitcoin’s value in three days all because of a fork

The Kenyan unit of U.S. ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc has increased its fare by 20 percent, a move that follows protests and strikes by Uber drivers who said a lower fare made their service uneconomical.
Uber, which operates in several African countries, cut its fare in Kenya to 35 shillings ($0.3400) per kilometre last year, after local rival Little &#8211; backed by Kenyan telecoms operator Safaricom Ltd &#8211; introduced a service with a lower price.
Uber drivers have staged regular strikes and protests in Nairobi in recent weeks over the low fare, local media reported.
Lawmakers and ministry of transport officials also supported a higher price.
The company has now raised its fare to 42 shillings per km.
&#8220;We believe driver-partners will earn more as a result of these changes,&#8221; Uber Kenya said in a statement on Thursday.
As in other markets, Uber drivers in Kenya initially faced opposition and sometimes hostility from other taxi drivers. In March last year, six men were charged with attempted murder and malicious damage to property over an attack on an Uber driver.
($1 = 102.9500 Kenyan shillings)
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Uber Kenya hikes fare by 20 percent after strikes

<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/karen-gilchrist/" rel="author">Karen Gilchrist</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/_karengilchrist">@_karengilchrist</a>
Wearable technology is set for its most literal incarnation with a new partnership between Google and clothing line Levi&#8217;s.
From this fall, technology lovers will quite literally be able to wear their hearts on their sleeves, donning a new smart jacket which allows them to control their mobile device at the swipe of a cuff.
Users will be able to skip songs, use Google maps and make phone calls by brushing their sleeve.
The denim jacket, which will retail at $350, is the first of its kind and makes use of &#8216;Project Jacquard&#8217; technology, which has been under development by Google since 2015.
The technology combines thin, metallic alloys with natural and synthetic yarns to create touch-sensitive interactive fabrics.
<div id="attachment_106044" style="width: 540px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-106044" class="size-full wp-image-106044" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/104342804-Commuter_with_Jacquard.530x298.jpg" alt="Google | Model shows touch sensor on Levi's Google jacket" width="530" height="298" />Google | Model shows touch sensor on Levi&#8217;s Google jacket</div>
These conductive yarns can then be connected to a tiny circuit, no larger than a button, creating data which can be wirelessly transmitted to mobile phones and other electronic devices.
The smart fibres are washable and the button circuit has a two-day battery life.
According to the Project Jacquard website, the technology can be incorporated into a variety of fabrics, suggesting further wearable technologies could be on the horizon should the smart jacket be well-received by consumers.
&#8220;Jacquard is a blank canvas for the fashion industry. Designers can use it as they would any fabric, adding new layers of functionality to their designs, without having to learn about electronics.
&#8220;Developers will be able to connect existing apps and services to Jacquard-enabled clothes and create new features specifically for the platform.&#8221;

Google and Levi’s $350 smart jacket lets you control your phone with your sleeve

South African taxi drivers on Friday blocked roads to Johannesburg&#8217;s airport, holding up thousands of travellers in the latest protest against ride-hailing app Uber.
Uber Technologies Inc&#8217;s service has triggered protests by taxi drivers from London to Hungary and New Delhi as it upends traditional business models that require professional drivers to pay steep licensing fees to drive cabs.
Hundreds of drivers blocked the main highway to Africa&#8217;s busiest airport, O.R. Tambo International, causing long traffic jams on Friday.
&#8220;Uber is illegal,&#8221; Reuben Mzayiya, a spokesman for the metered taxi business in Gauteng province, told broadcaster 702 Talk Radio.
&#8220;If you want to operate, you must register with the department of transport and fulfil all the requirements. Uber doesn&#8217;t do all those things.&#8221;
He added, &#8220;It just operates a parallel structure with a fraction of what we are charging.&#8221;
The protests have prompted the South African imports operator, ACSA, to begin talks with airlines about possiblee flight delays, spokeswoman Refentse Shinners said.
&#8220;We are currently negotiating with our airline partners to see how we can accommodate them,&#8221; Shinners said. &#8220;We cannot as yet make any guarantees in terms of those arrangements.&#8221;
Uber has attracted more than 500,000 users and 4,000 drivers across South Africa since its 2013 launch.
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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South Africa’s taxis block roads to main airport in Uber protest

Elon Musk&#8217;s vision of hyperloop, a super-fast transport system, has taken a step closer to reality and now we know what it might look like.
Hyperloop One, one of the companies developing the system, has released pictures of a test track to begin trialing the technology.
A hyperloop system would involve propelling pods through a large tube at up to 750 mph using magnets. It is seen as a way to cut long-distance travel times as well as a way to alleviate congestion in many cities.
Hyperloop One&#8217;s &#8220;DevLoop&#8221; is a 500-meter full-scale test structure that weights over a thousand tons. One tube measures 3.3 meters in diameter and the test track has been put together in the Nevada desert.
Hyperloop One is expected to perform a public trial with the new DevLoop in the first half of this year. The company has signed deals with a number of countries to explore the feasibility of setting up the transport system. One of those agreements is with the government in Dubai with the idea of connecting the city to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 12 minutes. This journey would take over 2 hours in a car.
At the Middle East Rail trade show in Dubai this week, Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd, shared his vision for connecting a number of major cities in the Gulf region.
&#8220;Tying together the Middle East region would produce greater virtual density, without congestion and pollution, spurring innovation, productivity, job growth and more powerful sharing of knowledge, labor and investment,&#8221; Lloyd told an audience, according to a statement from the company.
Hyperloop One estimates that around 4,000 vehicles travel every day between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with traffic congestion costing the economy $800 million in lost working ours, something it says a hyperloop could fix.
Last year, Hyperloop One carried out a propulsion test in the Nevada desert in which a sled accelerated to 116 miles per hour in 1.1 seconds. It was a proof of concept test of the underlying technology of a hyperloop and the company will be hoping with a full-scale build of the tubes, it can carry out further trials.
Hyperloop One is not the only company developing the vision Musk laid out in a white paper in 2013. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), a rival company, is also looking into the feasibility of building a track in countries from Indonesia to the Czech Republic. The firm recently announced plans to set up a research and development center in Toulouse, France, where it hopes to build its own test track.

Elon Musk’s hyperloop vision takes a step closer to reality

Apple has been awarded a patent for advanced facial recognition technology boosting rumors about features in the upcoming iPhone 8 and hinting at future areas such as augmented reality (AR) and driverless cars.
A number of reports have suggested bolstered recognition technology. Top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a note last month that the iPhone 8 would feature a camera and infrared module that can detect faces and even lead to 3D selfies which could then be used to replace a character&#8217;s face in a game, for example.
JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall published a report claiming that the iPhone 8 might forgo a fingerprint sensor and home button in favor of a 3-D scanner which could carry out biometric facial scanning. This could be used to unlock the phone as well as authenticate a user for the App Store or Apple Pay.
Apple&#8217;s patent filing is for an &#8220;enhanced face detection using depth information&#8221;. The Cupertino, CA-based firm has not mentioned the iPhone 8 in the document, but much of the technology outlined appears to mirror what the analysts have said.
The technology would work by scanning a scene via the camera, with the software able to detect human faces.
Apple outlined how its technology would be able to detect faces depending on where people were standing in a shot. For example, if there were two people in the shot and one person was closer to the camera than another, it would still be able to identify both faces accurately.
The technology is not just to detect faces, but can be used to analyze other objects too, Apple said.
Such innovation outlined in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filing, could lay the groundwork for a number of technologies.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has talked up augmented reality (AR), which refers to digital images being overlaid on the real world. The impact of AR could be as large as the iPhone, Cook said. &#8220;I think AR is that big,&#8221; the Apple boss said in an interview with The Independent newspaper in February. A camera with 3-D sensing technology is key for advanced augmented reality.
&#8220;For example, the methods described herein may be applied in detecting the locations of the hands in an image of a user of a gesture-controlled computerized system, so that the posture and motions of the hand can be recognized quickly and reliably. As another example, these methods may be used in a vehicle-mounted system for automatic detection and reading of traffic signs,&#8221; Apple said.
So 3-D recognition technology could also give hints as to what Apple is thinking about the way we will interact with future devices. For example, a TV could be controlled via gestures. And the patent also mentioned this camera technology on cars. Rumors have been swirling around since 2015 that Apple is building a car. If the patented technology can read traffic signs, then it could be a key component of autonomous vehicles for Apple.
The patent was acquired by Apple in 2013 when it bought Israeli computer vision company PrimeSense. Even though Apple has been awarded the patent, it does not necessarily mean this technology will see the light of day in its products.

What to expect from the Apple iPhone 8

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Walk around any phone store or browse online, and you&#8217;ll find rows of similar looking rectangular shaped smartphones. Compared to some of the crazy designs pioneered by <a href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/NOKIA-FI" target="_self" class="inline_quotes" data-gdsid="26737" data-inline-quote-symbol="NOKIA-FI">Nokia</a>, <a href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/ERIC.B-SE" target="_self" class="inline_quotes" data-gdsid="16644" data-inline-quote-symbol="ERIC.B-SE">Ericsson</a> and the rest in the early days of mobiles, things look pretty tame now.
It&#8217;s also an age when sub-$200 smartphones are powerful enough for most people and even flagship phones from the likes of <a href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AAPL" target="_self" class="inline_quotes" data-gdsid="8016" data-inline-quote-symbol="AAPL">Apple</a> and <a href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/593-KR" target="_self" class="inline_quotes" data-gdsid="10007514" data-inline-quote-symbol="593-KR">Samsung</a> don&#8217;t look radically different from their predecessors.
My musings come ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona which kicks off this week. It&#8217;s usually the place for the latest cutting edge smartphones, but this year looks flat. Samsung has delayed their next device – the Galaxy S8 – after the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/30/samsung-tries-to-shake-off-note-7-debacle-as-it-looks-to-galaxy-s8-to-boost-confidence.html" target="_self">exploding Note 7 saga</a>, and rumors and leaks so far have not suggested anything surprising. Though the Nokia 3310 <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/14/new-nokia-devices-to-be-announced-at-upcoming-conference-report-says.html" target="_self">could be making a return</a>. Has the mobile phone world run out of ideas?
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It&#8217;s easy to dismiss smartphone innovation as dead. In fact, one in two people think the smartphone itself will be obsolete within five years, according to an <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/09/people-think-the-smartphone-will-be-dead-in-5-years-ericsson.html" target="_self">Ericsson survey</a> of 100,000 people globally, released at the end of 2015.
Yes, smartphones will be dead in five years but not in the sense of being wiped out. Instead, innovation will come from new areas, not hardware, and the way we interact with devices will change. Smartphones as we know them today will be dead.
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<div class="attribution">Right now, we use the phones to send messages, make calls, browse the web and watch things. That&#8217;s still going to be the case but the real innovation in the future is going to come from software and a large part of that is about making our devices smarter and more personal. The move is underway and artificial intelligence (AI) assistants such as Apple&#8217;s Siri, Amazon&#8217;s Alexa and Google Assistant will be at the heart of that.</div>
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More than one in four people (21.6 percent) use voice search on their devices at least once a day, while 26.7 percent use it at least once a week, according to a survey of 2,000 U.S. mobile phone users done in January by website consultancy firm HigherVisibility. Nearly 29 percent never use a voice assistant. But the potential here could be huge.
The biggest advantage is that it&#8217;s easier to use voice than type. But for technology giants like Amazon, Google and Apple, it&#8217;s also a chance to learn more about the user, and offer intelligent, smart recommendations and results.
Voice is also the best way for us to interact with the billions of internet connected items that are forecast to come online in the next few years, from fridges to new wearables. Google, Apple and Amazon, could potentially be on these devices in the form of voice assistants. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/06/ces-2017-amazon-alexa-stole-the-show-a-bid-to-become-the-iot-operating-system.html" target="_self">Amazon stole the show</a>, with its voice assistant Alexa, which was integrated with many devices.
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<div class="headline">We might find a rise of devices like the Amazon Echo speaker or Google Home as well as new wearables, home robots and nearly every other device in cities and houses connected to the internet. But this does not make the smartphone obsolete like many have predicted. The smartphone will still be at the center of people&#8217;s lives, it may just have a new role.</div>
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Innovation in smartphones will come in areas where it can play a role in the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), and that&#8217;s still very much in the center. Don&#8217;t be surprised if in five years if your smartphones look the same, but all of a sudden you&#8217;re talking to them a lot more, and they are able to control more of your internet-connected lives.
(Reporting by <a rel="author" href="http://www.cnbc.com/arjun-kharpal/">Arjun Kharpal</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/ArjunKharpal">@ArjunKharpal</a>﻿﻿)
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Smartphones as we know them will be dead in five years

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Billionaire <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/" target="_self">Elon Musk</a> is known for his futuristic ideas and his latest suggestion might just save us from being irrelevant as artificial intelligence (AI) grows more prominent.
The <a href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/TSLA" target="_self" class="inline_quotes" data-gdsid="74213" data-inline-quote-symbol="TSLA">Tesla</a> and SpaceX CEO said on Monday that humans need to merge with machines to become a sort of cyborg.
&#8220;Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence,&#8221; Musk told an audience at the World Government Summit in Dubai, where he also launched Tesla in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
<div>&#8220;It&#8217;s mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output.&#8221;</div>
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In an age when AI threatens to become widespread, humans would be useless, so there&#8217;s a need to merge with machines, according to Musk.
&#8220;Some high bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence and maybe solves the control problem and the usefulness problem,&#8221; Musk explained.
The technologists proposal would see a new layer of a brain able to access information quickly and tap into artificial intelligence. It&#8217;s not the first time Musk has spoken about the need for humans to evolve, but it&#8217;s a constant theme of his talks on how society can deal with the disruptive threat of AI.
&#8216;Very quick&#8217; disruption
During his talk, Musk touched upon his fear of &#8220;deep AI&#8221; which goes beyond driverless cars to what he called &#8220;artificial general intelligence&#8221;. This he described as AI that is &#8220;smarter than the smartest human on earth&#8221; and called it a &#8220;dangerous situation&#8221;.
While this might be some way off, the Tesla boss said the more immediate threat is how AI, particularly autonomous cars, which his own firm is developing, will displace jobs. He said the disruption to people whose job it is to drive will take place over the next 20 years, after which 12 to 15 percent of the global workforce will be unemployed.
&#8220;The most near term impact from a technology standpoint is autonomous cars … That is going to happen much faster than people realize and it&#8217;s going to be a great convenience,&#8221; Musk said.
&#8220;But there are many people whose jobs are to drive. In fact I think it might be the single largest employer of people &#8230; Driving in various forms. So we need to figure out new roles for what do those people do, but it will be very disruptive and very quick.&#8221;﻿
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&#8211; Reporting by <a rel="author" href="http://www.cnbc.com/arjun-kharpal/">Arjun Kharpal</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/ArjunKharpal">@ArjunKharpal</a>﻿

Elon Musk: Humans must merge with machines or become irrelevant in AI age

Artificial intelligence (AI)—including robotics and cognitive computing—has been one of the top discussions on the minds of business leaders, organisations and consumers in the past few months. Mark Zuckerberg once said his personal challenge is to build an assistant powered by AI to help him at home and at work, while <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-toyota-ai-idUSKCN0Z60BE">Toyota</a> is developing a billion-dollar driver assistance system that integrates AI to improve vehicle safety.
For several decades robots have captured the hearts and imagination of consumers – from Rosie, the Jetsons’ robot maid in the 1960s, to the little BB-8 droid in the recent blockbuster “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”  Today the innovations that were once considered science fiction, are truly becoming a reality. One of the most talked about items at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show was <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/4-robots-ces-you-might-want-your-own-powered-pet-175427">Kuri</a>, a 20-inch-tall rolling bot that has more mobility than most robots being showcased this year.
READ: <a href="/news/special-report/2015/11/06/your-next-co-worker-could-be-a-robot/">Your next co-worker could be a robot &#8211; CNBC Africa﻿</a> 
In the workplace, the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence to augment employee tasks, provide real time feedback and improve the performance of the workforce are limitless and organisations are just beginning to scratch the surface.  Mix that with the rapid rise of Millennials in the workforce, and we are likely to see more openness to new technology, as these digital natives reinforce enthusiasm for the emerging world of AI, with its robots and <a href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-iq-plus-eq.aspx">wearables</a>.
One of the most talked about business challenges is how organisations work with cognitive computing, robots and other AI applications that collect and analyse data, and make informed decisions or recommendations.
Already, cognitive computing is being used today in a variety of industries and functions. For example, the <a href="https://automatedinsights.com/ap">Associated Press</a> is using technology to create earnings reports and box scores for sporting events, and it signed a pact with the <a href="http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/344335/resistance-is-futile-ap-to-use-computers-to-cover-baseball-games/">NCAA</a> to use intelligent machines to cover college sports beyond big-time football and basketball, including those at the Division II and III levels that traditionally don’t receive coverage.
So, what does this mean for the <a href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/workforce-of-the-future-index">workforce of the future</a>?
R<a href="http://www.accenture.com/CognitiveComputinginManagement">esearch</a> from Accenture Strategy found mixed feelings among management when it comes to artificial intelligence on the job.  The research, which polled more than 1,700 managers across 14 countries about their attitudes toward and expectations of intelligent machines, found:
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<li>Some hesitation: Overall, managers are excited at the possibility of AI in the workforce, but there is still a fair amount of uncertainty. The majority of managers believe that intelligent machines will make them more effective and their work more interesting, yet more than one third (35 percent) fear intelligent machines will threaten their jobs.</li>
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<li>Differences among the ranks: There is more resistance among lower level management in trusting the insights provided from intelligent machines. When asked if they would trust the advice of intelligent machines in making business decisions in the future, only 14 percent of first-line managers and 24 percent of mid-level managers said they strongly agree, compared to 46 percent of executive-level managers.</li>
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<li>An emerging skills gap: There is a new kind of skills gap developing between “hard” and “interpersonal” skills. While managers recognise the need for digital skills, creative thinking and strategy development, most are overlooking the importance of the interpersonal skills that will set them apart from machines. And overall, more than half (57 percent) of the managers surveyed are uncertain whether they have the skills needed to succeed in their role in the next five years.</li>
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How leaders can prepare for robots in the workplace
Employees may be apprehensive about how intelligent machines will change their roles and duties in the next five years, but no one really knows what is to come. Will AI assistants be all the rave in the workplace in five years or using wearables to improve emotional intelligence? One thing is certain, that CEOs and leadership teams need to ensure their managers are prepared to take full advantage of the changes that lie ahead. To help facilitate the shift leaders must:
1.         Sharpen the Human Edge.To achieve the right skill levels and capabilities, leaders will need to rethink their organisations’ talent development and coaching programs, as well as individual performance criteria. Managers need skills that will drive organisational performance and interpersonal skills to build teams, foster innovation and encourage new ways of working.
2.         Rally the Troops.Leaders must present themselves as advocates of change. Managers will be more likely to commit emotionally to the introduction of cognitive computing if they trust the leaders at the helm. Building trust will require clear and honest communications and calls for leaders to involve managers in the change.
3.         Chart a Course of Discovery.CEOs and leadership teams should strive to create a union of managers and machines that does more than just automate tasks or augment managers’ performance. The most successful long-term unions will multiply the value that managers or machines are able to deliver on their own.
4.         Embrace the Unknown.Leaders and their managers must be willing to experiment to identify machine uses that make the most sense for their organisations and their teams. A “fail fast” approach will help them zero in on the higher-value opportunities.
In the next five years, <a href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-intelligent-machines-workforce-of-the-future.aspx">management and machines can unite</a>! There is significant potential for intelligent machines to improve enterprise performance at the management level, but leaders must ensure that their organisations have the capacity to change. Those that get it right will create a culture of experimentation and trust among leaders at all levels, unlocking the full potential of the workforce of the future.

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