Musiccosmos

When Adrian Patten, co-founder of FX blockchain project Cobalt, pitches to banks these days, he chooses his words carefully. In a move that may do much to validate Gartner’s finding this week that blockchain hype cycle is entering the so-called “ trough of disillusionment ,” Patten admitted he rarely brings up the technology, choosing instead to focus on the cost savings Cobalt can bring without the benefit of some of the most popular buzzwords of the last few years. “We try not to mention blockchain or DLT too much in case it complicates matters,” he said. In Patten’s view, many financial firms have taken a “me too” approach with blockchain, exemplified by things like the herd of banks joining the R3 consortium. In addition, most are probably invested in too many proofs-of-concept, he said. “They tend to think, if everybody else is in it, they ought to be in it, just in case a board member asks them what they are doing in blockchain,” he continued. The result is that people hav...

Companies could be risking losing out to competitors during the recruitment process due to workers’ expectations about IT equipment and technology. According to a survey of 1,004 UK workers in full or part-time employment carried out by Probrand, as many as 51% would reconsider accepting a job offer if they discovered the technology they would be working with was not up to their standards. A further 27% claim that they have had to raise the issue of the software or hardware they have been using as an issue with a previous line manager. Of those who said this would put them off accepting a job, older devices  (which can sometimes operate slowly) were identified as the biggest issue, with 71% claiming this as a sticking point. More than 1 in 2 (53%) said out of date or archaic software would be an issue. For 39%, slow internet speeds would be a problem worthy of reconsidering their choice of employment, while 27% felt having to use an operating system they were not famili...