At IBEFORUM Solutions, our executive boardrooms redefine the landscape of corporate meetings. Step into a realm of sophistication and effectiveness within our exclusive private executive boardrooms. Here, companies cultivate meaningful connections with their intended audience in a luxurious ...

IBEForuM: Empowering Global Leaders with Innovative Cross-Domain ...

IBEForuM | 5,426 followers on LinkedIn. International Business and Economic Forum | International Business and Economic Forum - “Elevating Leaders to be Global Players” A country without a good leader is like a boat without a helm. We want to empower leaders to build a trustful, efficient ...

IBEForuM | LinkedIn

It&#x27;s our business to grow yours! Own your market with leading B2B contact data combined with sales intelligence, engagement software, and workflow tools.

IBEForuM - Overview, News & Competitors

Member of The CPD Certification Service, Ibeforo Private Limited (IBE Forum) provide accredited training, workshops and events suitable for Continuing Professional Development.

Ibeforo Private Limited (IBE Forum) - Providers | The CPD ...

IBEForum: We conduct business intellectual meet across the globe in the form of training and conferences. View company info, jobs, team members, culture, funding and more.

IBEForum | AngelList Talent

Apply to jobs at IBEForuM today. Learn about careers at IBEForuM in software, marketing, sales and operations. Let IBEForuM and other companies compete to hire you!

IBEForuM Careers | Jobs at IBEForuM - Instahyre

See what employees say it&#x27;s like to work at International Business and Economic Forum. Salaries, reviews, and more - all posted by employees working at International Business and Economic Forum.

Working at International Business and Economic Forum | Glassdoor

Request a Free demo to see how SignalHire works. Start using the platform and always be one step ahead in talent acquisition.

IBEForuM Overview | SignalHire Company Profile

Company information, business information, directors/partners details and director/partners contact information of IBEFORO PRIVATE LIMITED

IBEFORO PRIVATE LIMITED - Company, directors and contact details ...

The latest tweets from IBEForuM (@IBEForuM_IBE)

IBEForuM (@IBEForuM_IBE) · X

View Hrishikesh Hatti&#x27;s email address (hri*************@ibeforum.com) and phone number profile as Project Manager at IBEForuM, located in null. Find contact&#x27;s mobile number, email address, work history, and more.

Hrishikesh Hatti email address & phone number - Project Manager ...

The International Business and Economic Forum (IBEFORUM) is inviting you to register for their virtual training session for PECB Certified ISO/IEC 27005 Risk Manager. The course is scheduled to be...

Canto - The International Business and Economic Forum (IBEFORUM) ...

Offering a comprehensive range of services for global trade and industrial development.

International Business Enterprises: IBE

1 billion members | Manage your professional identity. Build and engage with your professional network. Access knowledge, insights and opportunities.

IBE Corporate Distributors | LinkedIn

International Business Enterprises - LinkedIn

MS Business Learn business by doing business! The MS Business program is 11 months long and is designed for students with less than 12 months of work experience after completing their undergraduate degree. Students coming directly from their undergraduate degree program can earn their Master ...

IBE Companies - Mays Business School - Texas A&M University

Yes please contact us to explore reseller or implementation partner options. We do not have a formal program in place however we have several informal partners on revenue-share agreements which we would be glad to share with you and find a win/win situation · You can cancel your contract with ...

iBE.net the easiest business management software for IT consultants ...

(IBE™) International Barter Exchange™. Build. Grow. Barter.™. The IBE™ Barter Exchange can help you grow your business.

IBE Barter Exchange

iBE is easy to use, easy to deploy and easy to support · Flexibly meeting our clients’ needs. We always innovate

Company

IBEForum - Overview, News & Competitors | ZoomInfo.com

Trainings\n“Trainings to create a unique portfolio”\n\nWe offer a wide range of professional training courses designed to give you the skills and strategic edge your industry demands

IBEForum

10 Ukrainian Founders' Stories on Leading Web3 Businesses During the War and Bear Market

10 historias de fundadores ucranianos sobre empresas líderes de Web3 durante la guerra y el mercado bajista

10 histoires de fondateurs ukrainiens sur les principales entreprises Web3 pendant la guerre et le marché baissier

युद्ध और भालू बाजार के दौरान अग्रणी वेब3 व्यवसायों पर 10 यूक्रेनी संस्थापकों की कहानियां

10 ウクライナの創業者による、戦争と弱気市場における主要な Web3 ビジネスに関するストーリー

10 histórias de fundadores ucranianos sobre as principais empresas da Web3 durante a guerra e o mercado de baixa

10 câu chuyện của các nhà sáng lập Ukraina về các doanh nghiệp Web3 hàng đầu trong thời kỳ chiến tranh và thị trường gấu

10 位乌克兰创始人关于战争和熊市期间领先 Web3 企业的故事

Top Augmented and Virtual Reality Companies

Every great innovation comes with some unique challenges. Automation can simplify your marketing processes, save time, and give insight you may otherwise miss. As helpful — even necessary — as automating content is, it carries some cybersecurity risks you should know about. That doesn’t mean these tools are strictly unsafe, but it does warrant attention. You need to ensure you’re using AI safely if you hope to experience its benefits to the fullest. You can do so by following these five content automation cybersecurity steps. 1. Determine Your Risk Level The first step to more secure content automation is deciding exactly what and how serious your cyber risks are. A more detailed picture of your risk landscape will make it easier to determine what kind of protections are necessary. Some generative AI models may require legal permission to use customers’ data. Other marketing automation tools don’t store any customer information, so breaches won’t be quite so severe. Review your tools and the data they access to see what type of risk you’re dealing with. In general, the more sensitive information you use in content automation, the more advanced security measures you’ll need. Your specific market may influence these decisions, too. At least 14 states have data privacy laws that may introduce unique requirements. Consider all these factors when determining your risk level and err on the side of going further than required to be safe. 2. Encrypt Everything Regardless of your risk level, you’ll want to encrypt all your content automation data. Encryption scrambles information so it doesn’t reveal any actual details even if a hacker accesses it. That should apply to everything from customer information to social media logins to AI training data. You may already encrypt data at rest, but it’s important to encrypt it in transit, too. You might even be able to encrypt it during use. That wasn’t always possible, but new standards like homomorphic encryption let you analyze data with AI without decrypting it. Refer to any applicable laws or industry standards to see if there’s a specific level of encryption you must use. The government has recently recognized quantum-proof encryption methods you could use if you want to go the extra mile. 3. Restrict Access Access controls are another big part of content automation cybersecurity. When fewer people or programs can access your content tools, scheduling software, and social media accounts, hackers have fewer options to break into. Zero-trust architecture takes access restrictions and user authentication to extremes, so it’s the safest way forward. While this approach takes a while to set up, it increases visibility and reduces downtime by double-checking everything before trusting it. Even if you don’t opt for the zero-trust model, you should restrict content automation tools so only the employees who need it for their daily work can access it. Strict access controls only work when you can reliably tell who’s who. Simple username-password combinations are too simple and easy to break past. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) — ideally through SMS or cryptographic keys and not email — instead. 4. Choose Your Tools Carefully Next, you’ll want to take a closer look at the software you use to automate your content strategy. These tools could potentially have access to some sensitive information — including customer data and your social media accounts — so you should ensure they’re safe before trusting them. The first step in reducing these third-party risks is to consolidate your content automation tools as much as possible. Businesses use more than a hundred apps on average, and any one of these could have security flaws that jeopardize your data. Opting for a single provider to cover more services makes it easier to ensure you’re using a reliable, safe solution. You should also have a formal process for determining if a software provider meets your security needs. The Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency outlines software supply chain security steps you can follow to create such a system. 5. Train Everyone Make sure everyone on your content team understands security best practices. These include aspects like strong password management, why to use MFA, and how to spot phishing attempts. As many as 95% of cybersecurity issues stem in part from human error. Consequently, if you train everyone on your team to practice safer, more mindful practices, you’ll prevent a lot of damage. Of course, even well-trained employees can still make mistakes, but the more prepared your workforce is for these risks, the less likely those errors will become. Because people tend to forget things, periodic refresher training is a good idea. Retrain everyone in security best practices at least once annually to keep safety at the top of everybody’s mind. Cybersecurity Is Crucial for Content Automation Without reliable cybersecurity, your content automation tools could become a huge risk before you realize it. By contrast, you can use this technology to its fullest extent if you protect it first. These five steps will help you create a cybersecurity plan that works for your content automation strategy. Be sure to review your system regularly to ensure you’re on top of any developing security trends or new risks. Sources: https://hackernoon.com/what-are-the-top-challenges-facing-cybersecurity-automation-adoption https://iapp.org/resources/article/us-state-privacy-legislation-tracker/ https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/07/nist-announces-first-four-quantum-resistant-cryptographic-algorithms https://morefield.com/blog/implementing-zero-trust-architecture/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233538/average-number-saas-apps-yearly/ https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/defending_against_software_supply_chain_attacks_508_1.pdf https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf Every great innovation comes with some unique challenges. Automation can simplify your marketing processes, save time, and give insight you may otherwise miss. As helpful — even necessary — as automating content is, it carries some cybersecurity risks you should know about . That doesn’t mean these tools are strictly unsafe, but it does warrant attention. you should know about You need to ensure you’re using AI safely if you hope to experience its benefits to the fullest. You can do so by following these five content automation cybersecurity steps. 1. Determine Your Risk Level The first step to more secure content automation is deciding exactly what and how serious your cyber risks are. A more detailed picture of your risk landscape will make it easier to determine what kind of protections are necessary. Some generative AI models may require legal permission to use customers’ data. Other marketing automation tools don’t store any customer information, so breaches won’t be quite so severe. Review your tools and the data they access to see what type of risk you’re dealing with. In general, the more sensitive information you use in content automation, the more advanced security measures you’ll need. Your specific market may influence these decisions, too. At least 14 states have data privacy laws that may introduce unique requirements. Consider all these factors when determining your risk level and err on the side of going further than required to be safe. 14 states have data privacy laws 2. Encrypt Everything Regardless of your risk level, you’ll want to encrypt all your content automation data. Encryption scrambles information so it doesn’t reveal any actual details even if a hacker accesses it. That should apply to everything from customer information to social media logins to AI training data. You may already encrypt data at rest, but it’s important to encrypt it in transit, too. You might even be able to encrypt it during use. That wasn’t always possible, but new standards like homomorphic encryption let you analyze data with AI without decrypting it. Refer to any applicable laws or industry standards to see if there’s a specific level of encryption you must use. The government has recently recognized quantum-proof encryption methods you could use if you want to go the extra mile. recognized quantum-proof encryption methods 3. Restrict Access Access controls are another big part of content automation cybersecurity. When fewer people or programs can access your content tools, scheduling software, and social media accounts, hackers have fewer options to break into. Zero-trust architecture takes access restrictions and user authentication to extremes, so it’s the safest way forward. While this approach takes a while to set up, it increases visibility and reduces downtime by double-checking everything before trusting it. Even if you don’t opt for the zero-trust model, you should restrict content automation tools so only the employees who need it for their daily work can access it. it increases visibility and reduces downtime Strict access controls only work when you can reliably tell who’s who. Simple username-password combinations are too simple and easy to break past. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) — ideally through SMS or cryptographic keys and not email — instead. 4. Choose Your Tools Carefully Next, you’ll want to take a closer look at the software you use to automate your content strategy. These tools could potentially have access to some sensitive information — including customer data and your social media accounts — so you should ensure they’re safe before trusting them. The first step in reducing these third-party risks is to consolidate your content automation tools as much as possible. Businesses use more than a hundred apps on average, and any one of these could have security flaws that jeopardize your data. Opting for a single provider to cover more services makes it easier to ensure you’re using a reliable, safe solution. more than a hundred apps You should also have a formal process for determining if a software provider meets your security needs. The Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency outlines software supply chain security steps you can follow to create such a system. outlines software supply chain security steps 5. Train Everyone Make sure everyone on your content team understands security best practices. These include aspects like strong password management, why to use MFA, and how to spot phishing attempts. As many as 95% of cybersecurity issues stem in part from human error. Consequently, if you train everyone on your team to practice safer, more mindful practices, you’ll prevent a lot of damage. Of course, even well-trained employees can still make mistakes, but the more prepared your workforce is for these risks, the less likely those errors will become. 95% of cybersecurity issues Because people tend to forget things, periodic refresher training is a good idea. Retrain everyone in security best practices at least once annually to keep safety at the top of everybody’s mind. Cybersecurity Is Crucial for Content Automation Without reliable cybersecurity, your content automation tools could become a huge risk before you realize it. By contrast, you can use this technology to its fullest extent if you protect it first. These five steps will help you create a cybersecurity plan that works for your content automation strategy. Be sure to review your system regularly to ensure you’re on top of any developing security trends or new risks. Sources: Sources: https://hackernoon.com/what-are-the-top-challenges-facing-cybersecurity-automation-adoption https://hackernoon.com/what-are-the-top-challenges-facing-cybersecurity-automation-adoption https://iapp.org/resources/article/us-state-privacy-legislation-tracker/ https://iapp.org/resources/article/us-state-privacy-legislation-tracker/ https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/07/nist-announces-first-four-quantum-resistant-cryptographic-algorithms https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/07/nist-announces-first-four-quantum-resistant-cryptographic-algorithms https://morefield.com/blog/implementing-zero-trust-architecture/ https://morefield.com/blog/implementing-zero-trust-architecture/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233538/average-number-saas-apps-yearly/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233538/average-number-saas-apps-yearly/ https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/defending_against_software_supply_chain_attacks_508_1.pdf https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/defending_against_software_supply_chain_attacks_508_1.pdf https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf

How Can You Integrate Cybersecurity Into Your Content Automation Process?

126 Stories To Learn About Online Education

106 Stories To Learn About Education Technology

If you thought freedom of speech was worth preserving, next comes freedom of thought: perspective Thanks to AI and the Internet of Bodies (IoB) ecosystem, decoding the human brain is already well underway, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) presentation. Five years after historian Yuval Noah Harari told the WEF that humans were hackable and that , Harari’s insights have been fully realized. organisms were algorithms Thursday’s WEF Annual Meeting 2023 session on “ ?” opened with a short video showing a dystopian scenario where employees’ brainwaves were not only decoded to determine their performance in the workplace, but also to determine whether they participated in illegal activity. Ready for Brain Transparency While the scenario in the video below is fictional, the technological framework is already in place. “We can pick up and decode faces that you’re seeing in your mind — simple shapes, numbers, your PIN number to your bank account” — Nita Farahany, World Economic Forum, 2023 https://twitter.com/TimHinchliffe/status/1616107080259100672?embedable=true “Artificial intelligence has enabled advances in decoding brain activity in ways we never before thought possible” — Nita Farahany, World Economic Forum, 2023 The above video illustrates just one of the many dystopian scenarios that can occur when the human brain is no longer autonomous. In her presentation at Davos on Thursday, Nita Farahany from Duke University explained that the technology to decode brainwaves already existed and was currently being rolled out in some use cases. “What you think, what you feel — it’s all just data — data that in large patterns can be decoded using artificial intelligence” — Nita Farahany, World Economic Forum, 2023 “Artificial intelligence has enabled advances in decoding brain activity in ways we never before thought possible,” said Farahany. “What you think, what you feel — it’s all just data — data that in large patterns can be decoded using artificial intelligence,” she added. And the devices to decode the human brain don’t have to be as invasive as a brain implant. The devices can be as non-invasive as a “Fitbit for your brain.” “We’re not talking about implanted devices of the future; I’m talking about wearable devices that are like Fitbits for your brain” — Nita Farahany, World Economic Forum, 2023 https://twitter.com/TimHinchliffe/status/1616114732536303619?embedable=true “We can pick up emotional states — like are you happy or sad or angry” — Nita Farahany, World Economic Forum, 2023 “We’re not talking about implanted devices of the future; I’m talking about wearable devices that are like Fitbits for your brain,” said Farahany. “These are headbands, hats that have sensors that can pick up your brainwave activity, ear buds, headphones, tiny tattoos that you can wear behind your ear — we can pick up emotional states — like are you happy or sad or angry. “We can pick up and decode faces that you’re seeing in your mind — simple shapes, numbers, your PIN number to your bank account.” “Surveillance of the human brain […] has a dystopian possibility of being used to exploit and bring to the surface our most secret self” — Nita Farahany, World Economic Forum, 2023 https://twitter.com/TimHinchliffe/status/1616157819207548951?embedable=true Farahany would go on to say that while decoding the human brain had its benefits, it could also be used for very nefarious purposes. “ can be powerful, helpful, useful, transform the workplace, and make our lives better,” she said, adding, “ . Surveillance of the human brain It also has a dystopian possibility of being used to exploit and bring to the surface our most secret self “ . It threatens fundamentally what our own self-identity is in some ways, and threatens to become a tool of oppression https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023/sessions/ready-for-brain-transparency/?embedable=true “We are no longer mysterious souls; we are now hackable animals” — Yuval Harari, World Economic Forum, 2020 Farahany’s 2023 presentation falls right in-line with what Yuval Harari had been saying for years at Davos — that “ .” We are no longer mysterious souls; we are now hackable animals According to Harari, “To hack human beings you need a lot of biological knowledge, a lot of computing power, and especially a lot of data. “If you have enough data about me and enough computing power and biological knowledge, you can hack my body, my brain, my life. .” You can reach a point where you know me better than I know myself “Just imagine North Korea in 20 years where everybody has to wear a biometric bracelet, which constantly monitors your brain activity 24 hours a day. “You listen to a speech on the radio by the ‘Great Leader,’ and they know what you actually feel — you can clap your hands and smile, but if you’re angry, they know you’ll be in the gulag tomorrow morning.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOsKFOrW5h8&embedable=true “Just imagine North Korea in 20 years where everybody has to wear a biometric bracelet, which constantly monitors your blood pressure, your heart rate, your brain activity 24 hours a day,” said Harari in his “How to Survive the 21st Century” speech at the 2020 WEF meeting. “You listen to a speech on the radio by the ‘Great Leader,’ and they know what you actually feel — you can clap your hands and smile, but if you’re angry, they know you’ll be in the gulag tomorrow morning. “And if we allow the emergence of such total surveillance regimes, don’t think that the rich and powerful in places like Davos will be safe,” he added. “ iological knowledge multiplied by omputing power multiplied by ata equals the bility to ack umans” — Yuval Harari, World Economic Forum, 2020 B C D A H H https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3czZpAHS-tk&embedable=true The historian even came up with a “danger formula” for hacking human beings, which he believes “might be the defining equation of life in the 21st Century.” That equation is — which means iological knowledge multiplied by omputing power multiplied by ata equals the bility to ack umans. B x C x D = AHH B C D A H H “The power to hack human beings can of course be used for good purposes like provided much better healthcare,” said Harari in 2020, adding, “but if this power falls into the hands of a 21st Century Stalin, the result will be the worst totalitarian regime in human history, and we already have a number of applicants for the job of 21st Century Stalin.” The Internet of Bodies “might trigger breakthroughs in medical knowledge […] Or it might enable a surveillance state of unprecedented intrusion and consequence” — RAND Corporation, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0bXUxRqy8g&embedable=true Aiding the process of collecting the massive amounts of data needed to hack human beings is the Internet of Bodies (IoB). The IoB is an ecosystem of wearable, attachable, implantable, or consumable devices that connect the human body to the internet, much like the Internet of Things (IoT), but for people. According to , the IoB “ […] .” a RAND Corporation report from 2020 might trigger breakthroughs in medical knowledge Or it might enable a surveillance state of unprecedented intrusion and consequence Additionally, “Increased IoB adoption might also increase global geopolitical risks, because .” surveillance states can use IoB data to enforce authoritarian regimes The IoB is emerging from the so-called fourth industrial revolution, which WEF founder Klaus Schwab says will lead to the fusion of our physical, biological, and digital identities — transhumanism. The WEF is fully behind widespread adoption of the IoB despite recognizing the enormous ethical concerns that come with having “an unprecedented number of sensors attached to, implanted within, or ingested into human bodies .” to monitor, analyze, and even modify human bodies and behavior “After the Internet of Things, which transformed the way we live, travel and work by connecting everyday objects to the Internet, ,” , Fellow at the WEF’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. it’s now time for the Internet of Bodies wrote Xiao Liu “ .” This means collecting our physical data via devices that can be implanted, swallowed or simply worn, generating huge amounts of health-related information “Surveillance of the human brain […] threatens fundamentally what our own self-identity is in some ways, and threatens to become a tool of oppression” — Nita Farahany, World Economic Forum, 2023 With the ability to decode brainwaves, humanity is on the cusp of what could be the worst totalitarian surveillance regime in human history. What would you do if you woke up one day and your thoughts were no longer yours alone? If you thought freedom of speech was worth preserving, just wait until they come for your thoughts, your feelings, your dreams. In this nightmare scenario, anything you think can and will be used against you by the pre-crime thought police. This article was originally published by Tim Hinchliffe on . The Sociable The lead image for this article was generated by HackerNoon's AI Image Generator via the prompt "human mind control device".

Hacking Humanity: Can We Record and Decode Human Brainwaves?

হ্যাকিং মানবতা: আমরা কি মানব মস্তিষ্কের তরঙ্গ রেকর্ড এবং ডিকোড করতে পারি?

Hacking Humanity: Können wir menschliche Gehirnwellen aufzeichnen und entschlüsseln?

Hackear a la humanidad: ¿podemos registrar y decodificar las ondas cerebrales humanas?

Hacking Humanity : peut-on enregistrer et décoder les ondes cérébrales humaines ?

हैकिंग मानवता: क्या हम मानव मस्तिष्क तरंगों को रिकॉर्ड और डिकोड कर सकते हैं?

人類のハッキング: 人間の脳波を記録して解読できるか?

인류 해킹: 인간의 뇌파를 기록하고 해독할 수 있을까?

Hackeando a Humanidade: Podemos Gravar e Decodificar Ondas Cerebrais Humanas?

İnsanlığı Hacklemek: İnsan Beyin Dalgalarını Kaydedebilir ve Çözebilir miyiz?

Hacking Humanity: Chúng ta có thể ghi lại và giải mã sóng não của con người không?

黑客人类：我们可以记录和解码人类脑电波吗？

CBDCs could be the next big thing for governments and financial institutions. However, a lot of users fear that it would give governments too much control. , over 100 countries are exploring CBDCs, with Australia’s central bank trialing a digital currency to explore “innovative ways” for homes and businesses to make payments and transfer funds. With countries aiming to become the crypto capital of the world, there are various initiatives taken by governments to jump on this trend and become pioneers in this field. This led to quite a few experiments being conducted by several governments that can tune our expectations with regard to implementing decentralized technology in the centralized sector. Let’s explore the CBDC movement and discover whether centralized bank digital currencies are the first step in crypto’s mainstream adoption, or the gateway to a dystopian future. According to Weforum.org What is a CBDC and why do we need it? Photo by __[Kenny Eliaso](https://unsplash.com/@neonbrand)__ CBDC is short for central bank digital currency, and is a digital token, similar to cryptocurrency, issued by a central bank. They are pegged to the value of that country's fiat currency. There has been a rather large discussion with regard to CBDCs, as many countries are developing them, but the question on everyone’s minds is “why on earth do we need CBDCs if we already have a fully-established financial system?” Rolling out a CBDC doesn’t mean releasing a new cryptocurrency. There is a report by the Tony Blair Institute For Global Change highlighting that . The institute estimated that around 1.7 billion adults are excluded from the formal financial system. Populations within advanced economies aren’t excluded from this statistic, as 8% of adults residing in advanced economies have been excluded from the formal financial system, which includes savings accounts, credit, loans, and insurance. These individuals are stuck with cash only as a medium for transactions. The second thing CBDCs can bring is big savings for banks, which can equal savings passed over to the consumer. This is the most enticing thing about the technology’s adoption, as banks handle the majority of payments around the world. If they’re paying less for storing, handling, and moving cash, goods and services are bound to get cheaper for the end user. Central Bank Digital Currencies Can Increase Financial Inclusion So as an example, we can take a look at the report titled “ ”. It found that blockchain can bring savings for banks’ core middle- and back-office processes in areas such as: Banking on Blockchain: A Value Analysis for Investment Banks Finance reporting where costs could shrink by 70% as a result of the optimized data quality, transparency and internal controls; Compliance with a drop by 30% to 50% at the product level due to the improved transparency and auditability of transactions; Centralized operations supporting functions such as Know-Your-Customer and client onboarding could see costs reduced by 50% by the establishment of more efficient processes; Business operations such as trade support, middle office, clearance, settlement and investigations could see their operating costs being lowered by 50% The events leading to an interest in CBDC Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Evolution-of-search-interest-in-CDBC-and-Central-Bank-Digital-Currency-CBDC-worldwide_fig2_352790837 If we look at the technology, we’ll notice that it’s being actively considered by over 100 countries today. However, the idea wasn’t created in the past year. can be considered the world's first CBDC that has gone into production. However, over the last decade, there were a series of events that led to the revival of interest in CBDCs. During the period of 2010-2021, there was a deterioration of US Treasures as a reserve asset. In 2020, COVID presented the US with the need for “helicopter money” for stimulus checks, resulting in a for everyone. In 2021 we saw Bitcoin becoming legal tender in El Salvador, and in 2022 we witnessed the Dollar weaponization with regard to the Russo-Ukrainian war. All of these factors may have played a cumulative role, resulting in governments exploring alternatives to the United States Dollar, which is partly due to the trigger-happy sanctions enforced by the United States. The Avant smart card system created by the Bank of Finland in the 1990's cantillon effect As an example, we can take a look at China’s ownership of US Treasuries. In 2010, the Chinese government was holding on to 14% of US Treasuries. That number kept declining until today, where they’re only holding on to 4%. This trend coincides with bad US financial policy coupled with the existence of an alternative, that being the introduction of decentralization to our traditional financial infrastructure. The Common concern: More control over you Photo by __[Fabian Blank](https://unsplash.com/@blankerwahnsinn)__ With the emergence of this concept, some users have become concerned, as this technology could provide governments with stronger control over your purchasing power and what you can do with your money. Additionally, the primary concern seems to be that CBDCs are programmable money that can be told to self-burn after a specific date, resulting in you having to spend your money, otherwise you may lose it completely. These all seem far-stretched, although we need to address these concerns in order to have a constructive discussion revolving around the net value the technology brings. Centralization The discussion around CBDCs have transformed into fears that they would lead to the disappearance of Decentralized Finance, but is there any merit to this fear? DeFi will still flourish to expand its list of services and lead innovation initiatives, so its applications will always have an active audience. Moreover, centralization only promotes mass adoption in decentralization, since decentralization erases the world boundaries between Internet users. And CBDC comes to solve a specific problem in a specific sector of the economy. CBDC isn't going to cancel decentralization, as its primary task is to improve a specific sector, that being the traditional banking system. This means that there shouldn’t be concerns with regard to the development of CBDCs, as they should not affect DeFi in any way, shape, or form. Many users also believe that since CBDCs are centralized and have nothing to do with cryptocurrencies. That isn’t entirely correct, however, because their development came as a result of the conception of decentralized technologies. centralization in and of itself is not evil. The moderate use of centralized services increases efficiency. Problems arise when this resource begins to be abused and is used for nefarious purposes. Centralized bank digital currencies will be an instrument that will allow the further development of new services aimed at making our experience with traditional finance more convenient. The purpose of Central Banks is to be the lender of last resort while ensuring financial stability and consistent price level in the economy. While preserving the free market and allowing users to gain economic efficiency that facilitates digital payments in the most free and private way, central banks may allow national economies to flourish by boosting international trade and financial inclusion. This way, the central bank will continue playing its key role in maintaining infrastructure with minimal intervention, enabling competition among banks in a seemingly centralized but distributed protocol. Additionally, the industry as it stands today has already seen centralized platforms. For example, , , & are 3 of the most trusted platforms and they’re all centralized. While this doesn’t mean full centralization of all crypto is inevitable, it has already become an accepted part of the industry, provided that its implementation is done in a balanced and moderate manner, CBDCs can be a good thing for both crypto & the financial sector. Binance Huobi Coinbase Making Money Moves Photo by __[Alexander Grey](https://unsplash.com/@sharonmccutcheon)__ When we talk about CBDC, it’s important to understand that it’s not just a theory anymore. There are big players in the industry playing roles to make this concept part of the financial norm. China has its own digital yuan already in circulation. Since October of last year, (~9 billion USD). approximately 140 million people opened up e-CNY (the PBOC’s digital currency) wallets, carrying out transactions worth 63 billion yuan The last two years was a successful CBDC experiment for China, with merchants accepting e-CNY payments to speed up adoption. China’s central bank is also including Guangdong (its most populous province), Hebei Jiangsu, and Sichuan and participate in BIS project mBridge for expanding e-CNY role as a mean for cross-border settlement. planning on extending the trial of its e-CNY to 4 major provinces While China has the most advanced plans for CBDC, they’re far from the only financially influential government testing this technology. South Korea & Sweden are also 2 countries holding their own CBDC experiments. The US has ongoing prototype development while representatives, regulators, and the FED continue discussing the potential consequences of CBDC development. Smaller states have lower entry costs with regard to CBDC as disrupting technology. Nigeria brought in eNaira, Ghana started the eCedi project, and the Bahamas introduced the which should have increased financial inclusion and made it easier for people to make transactions. They expect to save approximately $7 million a year on replacing, storing and handling cash, according to the . If the adoption rate is scaled up to include other governments too, the financial value of integrating CBDC may be significant due to the additional economic effect from efficient cross-border settlement. Sand Dollar Atlantic Council’s CBDC tracker tool Do cryptocurrency prices affect the technology’s development? Photo by __[Jason Briscoe](https://unsplash.com/@jsnbrsc)__ With current cryptocurrency prices dropping, the question on a lot of people’s minds is will CBDCs still capture international interest? The short answer is yes. Crypto’s price does not affect the general interest in the technology, as governments are exploring the underlying technology behind the concept. CBDC will not have any price issues, as it would act like a government-regulated crypto, which has its value pegged to the government’s national currency used in its TradFi (traditional finance) infrastructure. While this may be a gateway for crypto’s regulation, it would truly incentivize mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by a large portion of the population. However, there are factors we need to consider for a CBDC blockchain. First one being the chosen blockchain’s scalability, as it has to be of utmost priority when discussing central bank digital currencies. These are going to be used by the majority of the population, so if the blockchain they’re based on cannot handle the network load, it’ll spell trouble for the system as a whole. The second factor is transaction fees. They must be almost non-existent, otherwise, the price for goods and services will only become higher as the technology is widely adopted, making it a worse alternative to cash and debit cards. Basically, the blockchain has to be fast, secure, scalable, and cheap. This rules out Ethereum as an option since the network’s gas fees have historically been notoriously expensive. Instead, we can focus on other blockchains. Just to paint a picture of what parameters to look for, we’ll use the blockchain Everscale as an example. The network fee is 0.0004 USD, the average block time is 0.2 seconds, it has a TPS of 64,000 (with the potential to hit 1 million TPS), and has the SMFT PoS consensus algorithm, which surpasses the security level of all other PoS algorithms. To put it into perspective, banking systems can process 24,000 transactions per second or less, meaning that moving to a CBDC-based system will increase efficiency and transaction speeds. There was a time when the common opinion stated that crypto has a low throughput, which meant that if they were to succeed, they had to at least match the speed offered by Visa (24,000 TPS). That time is over and governments are taking note, which explains the sudden rise in interest with regard to utilizing crypto in the centralized sector. With these 3 factors in mind, it’s no surprise that multiple governments have shown interest in this exact blockchain for their own CBDC experiments. DA5, along with Everscale & have . They’ve also held talks with the Emirates regarding launching their very own stablecoins, so it’s fair to say that they’re leading the scene. While this doesn’t mean that CBDCs should be built on Everscale, it does help us understand what we should consider for a widely-used cryptocurrency. Other examples that could work would be Polkadot, Polygon, & Cardano, though it’s worth noting that Everscale provides higher scalability and cheaper transactions, which is why we used it as the primary example. As long as the blockchain focuses on what CBDCs need, it’ll be sufficient. But that at the end of the day, this is a race, and whichever project moves their chess pieces first, will grab a larger piece of the pie. Broxus successfully launched the Philippines’ very own remittance service do keep in mind CBDC: The Verdict. Photo by __[Bethany Legg](https://unsplash.com/@bkotynski)__ Just like every emerging technology, there will always be theories on how digital money can be used for evil. However, reality may prove these fears wrong. Its utility has become evident over the past 2 years, as plenty of governments have launched their own experiments that have showcased a positive impact on traditional financial organizations. Whether it’s regarding banks saving money, financial inclusion for unbanked users, or savings being passed over to the consumer, CBDC’s utility has become clear. Holding onto physical assets still remains significant, but no one can deny that CBDCs have the potential to increase the convenience factor by many folds while allowing easier, faster, and cheaper cross-border transactions while, at the same time, seamlessly integrating more users with the traditional banking system. That is why we recommend that you look into blockchains that have been leading the CBDC scene, as this will be the next movement that will help with cryptocurrency’s leap into the mainstream while bringing us consumers better financial services.

CBDC: Are We on the Brink of Financial Lockdown?

One of the qualities that is so alluring about the African continent is the amount of arable land on a cross-continental level. How much arable land is on the African continent? . This is a good thing, especially as the world’s population is reaching and might one day surpass . As a result of the increase of population land area will become more expensive overall. This means food will become more expensive and in constant high demand. 60-65% of the world’s total arable land is here 8 Billion 12 Billion This is a golden opportunity for Africa and Africans. Even though this is true, there are critical problems that need to be recognized and addressed as they are currently impeding farmers from being as successful as they can be. This is not ideal. The most prevalent problems impeding total agricultural evolution and food scalability on the continent are: Lack of industrialized farm processes for small scale farmers Lack of financial aid and storage Monopolization of market by trans-national corporations -Lack of industrialized farm processes for small scale farmers: The average African farmer, on a transcontinental level, are subsistence farmers. This means that most farmers on the continent farm for their dietary needs and sell the excess. The problem with this is sometimes farmers are in short supply of produce to sell. One of the main causes for this is that they use their hands for all their processes and little to no methods through tech or machinery. African farmer with nuts de-shells the nuts by hand in a manual fashion to get the nuts to sell. This usage of the hands from the growing to the distribution limit the amount of produce one can sell because it is too slow. If they had industralised machinery they could add more produce to be grown more produce to be processed by deshelling/cleaning/sorting and even more produce to be distributed more efficiently. example: Alternatively a European farmer has a warehouse where he processes all produce through an automated ( ). Through the they keep track of all processes from cleaning produce, processing it to sorting it then finally readying it for exporting. A lot of modern farming includes mass automation through robotics. Some do all this and even further maximize their output by adopting to further increase their yield. Some of the more technologically progressive farmers have greenhouses where through the they can influence an AI that regulates different areas of the greenhouse for specific crops and controls the sprinkler systems and all food influencing processes for further crop output. This is a far cry from the current day average African farmer. Warehouse Management System WMS WMS vertical farming green house management system -Lack of financial burseries/loans to small scale farmers: Small-scale subsistence farmers can hardly ever afford new equipment, more land to progress their farming output or expand their produce diversity. They also do not have access to banking systems (ATMs/ banking outposts). To add to this most would not put the money they earn in the bank out of distrust for national systems. small scale farmers need an alternative to African banks and their loans. I in and in the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and most other African countries the interest rate is As you might guess, interests rates this high are hardly industry conducive. So most farmers stick with the old, dated and overly used equipment and land they are accustomed to. If a technology solution presents itself as an alternative to banking they refuse to adopt it. It does not even matter if the tech solution is rooted in banking, that is just the most common one. n Malawi bank interest rate is , 14% Zimbabwe they have an interest rate of 200% 7-10%. There are other money management solutions in tech besides traditional banking such as decentralization/Web3 and mobile banking. They also refuse to use these because of financial constraints and technology mistrust. As of including mobile money accounts says .Considering the fact that most Africans are in the agricultural industry and agriculture gives the African continent at least of its this is a amount of people. Albeit this by-and-large is changing. march 2022, 57 per cent of Africans don’t hold any type bank account africanbusinesscommunities.com 40% GDP huge We see the change in areas like mobile banking. It has grown over the recent years due to the web3 rise in Africa and fintech acceleration across the continent, has spurred a change in farmers and average citizens to dare to adopt these new solutions to money spending and money storage issues. Good examples of this are Kenya and Zimbabwe. As of , says . In Zimbabwe says Although change is seemingly coming it is not happening fast enough. February 2022 60% of Kenyans prefer doing transactions through mobile money africanbussinessdaily.com 15.3 million people now use mobile money systems finmark.org.za. -Monopolisation of markets by trans-national corporations: As of , reports . This shows a great need for food security for the people. Countries from the western world such as, France, USA, Belgium, UK, Netherlands, Ukraine etc have trans-national corporations which are seizing this opportunity. Even corporations from Asian countries such as India and China are making their mark here. Most African small-scale farmers or small-scale farming companies do not have the necessary funds to compete with their global competitors in their own countries. Let’s not even think of competing cross-continentally or even internationally. For most that is certainly improbable at the moment. august 2022 20% of the African continents people, 278 million people to be exact, are currently suffering from chronic hunger weforum.org As of September 2021 the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( ) said that from outside the continent amounting to and . Agricultural processes need a catalyst to spur their evolution. UNCTD Africa imported 85% of its food, from , 2016-2018 $35 billion is expected to reach $110 billion by 2025 and as of 2022 has reached $85Bn What is Releaf? Releaf is an African Agricultural tech ( ) company based in Nigeria. . Their goal is to help small scale share holder farmers increase produce input into their value chain by innovating the agricultural processes. They get products to fast-moving consumer goods ( )companies as quick as possible to reduce prices for all.   In recent years on the African continent we have seen a huge surge in startups. In fact in USD says the . Agritech They are a supply chain technology company FMCSG’s 2021, 604 African startups raised a total of 5.4 billion economist.com What is most interesting is the vast majority of these African startups are fintech or fintech and Web3 based. The reason for this is that most African countries have failing financial institutions so the rise in Fintech companies makes sense. Web3 based companies have entered due to the popularization of web3 technologies in 2020 globally. We do not see many startups receive funding outside of the financial market space or the social space or the industrial space. So the fact that Releaf is an African agritech supply chain company that recently raised another USD even after its initial launch in 2017 is not something to dismiss and is a testament to the company’s potential. 4.2 million They have been recognized in Nigeria for starting an agricultural evolution in the country and the west and central African region as a whole.  This is not a huff, puff and smoke statement at all. In Releaf won USD in initial funding as one of the only African and successful companies in the program. In the company and CEO Ikenna Nzewi came in for the “ ” award. They beat more than other famed and great African businesses and startups from across the continent to achieve this award. Businesses and startups ranging all the way from agritech, fintech, educational technology and even medical technology. This was because of their non-stop efforts to ease business for small scale share holder farmers across their nation and region. Their efforts were even recognised by . Dr. Adesina is the former Nigerian minister for agriculture and rural land development. He is also the current head of the African Development Bank. He praised Releaf and the CEO Ikenna Nzewi for their work in agricultural business transformation. The investment poured on them by and the encouragement through Dr. Adesina’s and the awards earned by them could be a very strong indicators of their future growth. 2017 120 thousand Y-COMBINATOR startup accelerator 2021 second place African business heroes 50 Dr. Akinwumi A.Adesina Y-COMBINATOR How do they make a difference? At Releaf their main goal and mission is not just solving a problem. They are solving problems through innovative inventions. They invent and make both software and mechanical technology. after all. They make new mechanical machines and operate them for and with small shareholder farmers to reduce post harvest loss of produce in the food processing processes. African problems require African solutions By inventing machines which help small scale farmers/small shareholder farmers more efficiently process their produce, they are literally saving huge amounts of potential post harvest loss. This is very crucial as most farmers of this type need every penny from the harvest and cannot afford to lose out due to any inadequacies or failures on any level of their work system. To reiterate the problems listed earlier that impede a re-revolution of African agriculture are: Lack of industrialized farm processes for small scale farmers Lack of financial aid and storage Monopolization of market by trans-national corporations We already delved into these problems earlier on here. Now let us concisely see how Releaf tackles each and everyone of these problems in order to solve them: -Lack of industralised farm processes for small scale farmers: Releaf have already started on this and are making progress on it. To be very specific the first machine they have built which has indutralised the agricultural processes for a lot of the small scale farmers is dubbed “The Kraken”. This device is west Africa’s most advanced palm nut de-shelling machine. It de-shells palm nuts as fast and efficiently as possible whilst increasing general output. This invention is specific to palm nuts because they made it for the people in African countries who export and grow the most palm nuts, i.e: Nigeria and Cameroon. The “kraken” is 85% more efficient than it’s counter parts with 25% faster than local cracking equipment and x240 times faster than de-shelling by hand. -Lack of financial aid and storage: Releaf actively works to counter this issue through the only real solution there is. The solution is to simply fund these small scale farmers so that they may buy the necessary equipment, seeds etc to upgrade their overall production output to contribute more to the industry value chain they are apart of, also known as investment ( ). Releaf does this. They fund farmers and unlike banks or a traditional monetary funders they tailor their funding specific to your business. Business-to-Business B2B -Monopolisation of market by trans-national corporations and : By working with small scale farmers they are actively pushing against corporations. This is because as Releaf works with the farmers and sponsors them monetarily or gives them machinery to boost operations or all of the above, the farmers will eventually be able to micro-compete with their corporate competitors. Will Releaf be our Relief? (lol) Releaf really might Africa of it’s food insecurity issues. Will it be instant? no. Will there be mass failures and at times stagnation’s? that is more than likely as they are an agritech and supply chain company and startups always have ups and downs. Releaf is an anomaly as they are working with mechanical innovations, lite mobile banking, acts as a small venture capital firm for agribusinesses in Africa and at the same time they also work with geo-spatial innovations for better farming evaluations. They are tackling all this at once. It is even more strange because they are actually succeeding in all these endeavors at once. RELEAF-VE All of this adds up to their goal of revolutionizing the way small share holder farmers contribute in the value chain in Africa. It would not even be surprising to see them get into Web3 technologies and decentralization as a whole. No matter what you may think of them, if they are doing to much or in the wrong industry etc. They are successfully pioneering home grown agricultural solutions to the people of the continent and one day maybe even beyond.

IBEFORUM

ibeforum.com

-- employees

Since n.d.

COMPANY RANKING

IBEFORUM

EVERGREEN INDEX #5573

Representing this company? Click here to claim and customize this page!

IBEForum WIKI

Apply to get your Tech Company News Page live on HackerNoon.com today!

IBEFORUM

ibeforum.com

-- employees

Since n.d.

COMPANY RANKING

IBEFORUM

EVERGREEN INDEX #5573

RELATED COMPANIESRANK

STORIES ABOUT IBEFORUM

Representing this company? Click here to claim and customize this page!

IBEForum WIKI

Apply to get your Tech Company News Page live on HackerNoon.com today!