Author:Jason Taken
Trump’s Holiday Gift for E-Commerce
Just in time for holiday shopping, and at the beginning of Q4, President Trump delivered some news for holiday shoppers. In what shocked some, but others found as expected and inevitable, President Trump continued his message to the world that the US will not be “handing out donations” much longer. His latest re-negotiation to bring dollars back to the US has left overseas ecommerce providers wondering what the latest move in this Administration’s financial overturn is going to do for their business. It’s not the big players like Amazon that’ll feel the brunt of this, but the smaller players in the eCommerce space that outsource their products overseas may feel a hit in their margins as this move by Trump takes its toll.
The Madness Surrounding Bitcoin, et. al.
Earlier this year, Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies writ large, occupied many financial headlines as onlookers began to divert their attention to the “unexplained” rise, and subsequent fall in the price of one the more popular (and maiden) cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin. Naturally, because many of the onlookers didn’t realize what Bitcoin was (or is), the media took lead on the story. Earlier this month, Bitcoin began to make its appearance in headlines, once again.
Artificial Intelligence and Compliance
With the rise of the machine at our doorsteps, companies (those with foresight, anyhow) will be finding more innovative ways to gain the edge while using those machines. One of the ways companies will seek this edge is through the use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”). AI is one of the hottest, and arguably controversial, topics confronting mainstream business today. Many are skeptical of it, but also hopeful, despite the controversy surrounding the field. While both sides of the controversy have their reasons, some on each side are generally clueless as to how AI is manifesting itself today, and how it will in the future. How will it be applied? What is it useful for? What follows is a primer on current applications of AI and how they may be applied to the compliance world.
Delivering the Nuclear Promise . . . Revisited
I authored a post last year regarding the nuclear energy industry’s current initiative to reduce operational costs to compete with the ever-dropping cost of energy production. Coined “Delivering the Nuclear Promise,” the initiative aims to enlist cost-cutting initiatives such as reducing staffing and removing superfluous requirements that maintain large margin to regulatory thresholds. Companies have set hefty goals to bring the cost of nuclear energy production down to values that would make nuclear energy competitive against less expensive, highly backed, and not-as-clean, forms of energy. This all needs to be done without sacrificing safety.
In order to achieve these drastic measures, I will set forth the case for on-the-rise technologies, that while the nuclear energy industry does not currently have the infrastructure to support, will aide in this transition, and as I argue, ultimately be required in order to sustain this clean and necessary form of energy.
Compliance in the age of flying…cars?
Flying home from a baseball game is much more of a reality than we think. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Uber released a white paper detailing a roadmap of their proposed adventure into the air taxi business—the autonomous air taxi business and in doing so, they headlined conceptual aircraft ideas using vertical takeoff and landing (“VTOL”) technology. The paper outlines Uber’s plans for the next 10 years, including the compliance milestones and hurdles involved in achieving what seems like science fiction. Living like the Jetsons requires a deep dive into the various compliance issues that surround such a life.
Drone Use and Technological Advances in Aviation
Technological advances in aviation have turned what was once a matter of science fiction into reality. With that increase in technology comes a need for regulation of those technologies and their integration into daily lives. In 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) finalized its first iteration of the rules that would begin to mold how drones are used.
Viewing Aviation Regulations Through a Lens of Safety
A basic understanding of aviation regulations helps to understand some of the most basic requests airlines make of their passengers. Air travel is hailed as one of the safest modes of transportation not only because of the advancements in technology and the training that the aviators go through before they get a seat in the cockpit, but also because of the many regulations that bind it. Understanding the basis of a particular regulation is necessary to elucidate why the requirements exist, although the pressures of travel on passengers may make them seem arbitrary or unwarranted.
Is Nuclear Energy Here to Stay?
Nuclear power last made front-page news approximately six years ago. Unfortunately for nuclear power, headlines on the subject more often than not represent times of trouble. In regaining the spotlight in the wake of the recent announcement to discontinue construction of the new AP 1000 reactors, clean energy advocates and companies with predominantly clean energy portfolios are making headlines again. The issue, this time, is money.