The use of paperless means of payment is
spreading, thanks to mobile.The Amadeus software provider has launched avirtual walletfor payments
to B2B travel agencies.
20% of them report using virtual cards and 61% are not yet familiar with
this method of payment.
The B2B solution Prepaid Wallet aims to reduce the risk of fraud, but
also to generate additional income every time the agencies use their card.
B2B Wallet Prepaid is a solution containing 2 virtual cards backed
a prepaid account, powered by the agency. The first generates maps
MasterCard, allowing the agency to receive income every time they use the
card. This income is a percentage of the amount spent. The second
generates Visa debit cards, offering the agency to greatly reduce or
eliminate the fees charged by some airlines to payments by credit
card. These fees can amount to € 10, or € 15 per ticket .
B2B Wallet Prepaid potentially targets all market agencies, provided they
are willing to supply a prepaid account . It is at this
condition that Amadeus will grant them compensation.
Besides the fact that the
combination of the two cards is a real added value to the agency, the
generation of the two cards is very easy , by their integration in
Amadeus tools. Shortcuts thus enable agencies with a single click,
generate maps and integrate them at the time of payment, regardless of the
chosen card. The payment process is fundamentally shortcut in order
to gain time to agencies. at the other end of the chain,
reconciliation is thereby also simplified.
Some agencies admitted
they divided by 4 the time required for this accounting
reconciliation. many agencies still have 5, 10 or even 20 credit
cards for certain, and that, for ceiling reasons. B2B Prepaid
Wallet aims to replace all the cards.
What are the benefits of virtual payment cards?
Besides the advantages mentioned above, namely additional income, and
saving time, both in the generation of process maps in the accounting
reconciliation B2B Prepaid Wallet makes a real comfort against fraud. for
example, through limiting mechanisms, the amounts used by card can be capped.
B2B Wallet Prepaid was launched in
pilot phase at the end of last year, travel agencies' interest in this solution,
both secured and sources of income, is real.
Innovative answer to tech-savvy business and event individuals looking for enhanced experience !
What is it ?
To use a wearable technology, first of all, you need a wearable mobile device, such as glasses, lences, a watch...
A wearable device is an electronic device that can be worn and that is capable to connect to the internet. Thus, the device can be connected to networks and interact thanks to data exchanges between the environment and the user.
Wearable technologies are different as they offer the user to make a really personnal use of hardware sensors and software apps.
Wearable technology get developed fastly thanks to the fast expansion and growing popularity of mobile networks, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi hot spots, applications, and hyper connectivity of users.
All these factors drove the creation of smart watches, web-enabled glasses, intelligent clothes, enhanced-contact lenses..
But, the Google Glasses or the iWatch are already outdated ! Among all the wearable device, one is more interesting than the others.. Your skin ! Yes, in few years, you skin will be your new touchscreen with the Cicret Bracelet !
(Nota: projected images seen are mocked up)
What does it mean for the industry?
In our paper-free system, the Cicret bracelet does not aim to control your heartbeat or your sleeping time but to thrown your smartphone on your forearm.
A French company to change from American big innovators on the market !
At the end of December 2014, this project needed €850.000 to a million to create a prototype to show beginning 2016, for a price varying between €199 and €399.
-First of all, it means that the event industry is among the major industries that will encourage innovations in technology. Service related businesses are willing to introduce advanced technology in order to enhance the journey of visitors. But, it also means that our industry has to be proactive more than reactive in front of these evolutions. We think that wearable technologies are meaninfull for event organizers but they have to really understand how it works to make an efficient use of these “magic” tools. Moreover, the idea is not for event organizers to wait for the technology to be developped but instead, to express their needs and make propositions to technologic corporations in order to develop the technological tools that will help them work more efficiently and provide a better experience to their clients.
As waterproof as your skin can be, it will represent opportunity to be connected at all time (when you wear the device, of course). Under the shower, during your thinking time, you will now be able to use this time efficiently to plan your future event, your future attendance to a venue, manage your guest list etc.
For the event industry, this new interface is seen as a useful tool to enhance the visitor’s stay. It also improves the capability of event agencies and corporations to gather information about visitors, thus helping them connecting to the visitors and sending them direct and real-time relevant information about their stands, the coming conferences..
Wearable technologies are « hands free » technologies. This conveniency they provide to the user is a huge and powerfull argument. Visitors of a trade show or conference organisers need dematerialized information available easily and fastly, everywhere.
The device is also no longer a hinder of operations and natural social interactions. The conference organiser can follow the GPS on his arm and reach fastly and more easily the stand that called him because they did not received their flyers. The visitor can check information about the company he is visiting the stand, or receive push notifications to remind him his planned meetings with exibitors.
Wearable technology, hype or opportunity ?
Wearable technologies are not able to offer the same wide range of services as smart phones or tablets. If the visitors already carry one of these two mobile devices, will he be willing to wearanother third one ? Not sure
Hairs, sleeve tatoos, sleeve in clothes... How the device will handle the natural or added skin options ?
Light bulb will have to be strong as hell to project under the sunlight but then skinburnt and cancer would have to be handled correctly
How they will handle shadows ? When moving your fingers will avoid see the rest of the screen as the light is projected from one direction
Can’t project black light
Brace yourself, skin irritation is coming...
People fear the company is using the donation to develop only the Cicret application (a safer Whatsapp), an independent app supposed to work with the bracelet but depend on the same donation funding.
One person only to develop the product, one year to develop it whereas Google and Apple need several people and many years to work on it. The team is composed by a father and a son, Misters Pommier and Fabien Noblet, the supposed developer who has a music diploma
Scam: with very little percentage of commitment in donation (you can only donate on the official website and not the usual crowdfunding platforms) and can’t stop saying it’s only a prototype lowering the trust of potential consumers
In overall, this Cicret is a very blurred project: financial aspect (donation), “it will comes out soon”, the very small team, the Musician developper, announced suppliers who claim not being part of the project... Let's see what the future holds !
Beside the fact that Australians are already able to travel around the world to some select destinations via biometric passports that store personal information, allowing them to travel effortlessly and quickly through a SmartGate, virtual technology and cloud-stored data technology are enabling the development of a cloud passport system that would make Australians' travel even easier and safer.
A cloud passport could be compared with a e-passport that contains personal information such as biometric data, a digital photo, and other identification. It will eliminate travellers' need of carrying real passports with them, at the mean time reduce the risk of missing or stolen passports. Statistics from the DFAT show that 38,718 passports were reported lost or stolen in 2014-15 in Australia. (http://www.gq.com.au)
Below are few points travellers may want to know about cloud passports.
1. What does it mean?
The implementation of cloud passport system will be limited for the travel between Australia and New Zealand at the beginning, Australians will be able to have passport-less travel when flying to New Zealand. It does have the potential to go globally in the future.
2. How does it work?
The system will save your information in a cloud. Your biometric and identity information will be stored online, the so called cloud passport will replace the physical passport you normally carry with you.
3. The security of passport details.
Being expected as a really safe and convenient system for travellers, the safety of cloud passport system itself is important. Appropriate security requirements are to be put in place before the implementation of the system.
4. Where does the idea come from?
To solve the problem of missing and stolen passports, which counts for 38,718 in 2014-15, the Australia government wants to move from hard copy passports to digital ones. The idea came out in the InnovationXchange project designed by Ms Bishop as a way to 'support innovation across the Australian aid program'.
Since the first space flights from the Cold War, the space industry was
dominated by international agencies such as NASA for professional astronauts.
However, since the 21th century, the development of rockets brought
interests for private companies and Tourism Industry.
The space tourism site “Spaceport America” has investigated for flight
tours targeting very rich people in order to innovate and exploit the “New
Space Industry”.
Virgin Galactic, a spin off from Richard Branson’s Virgin group, is
building a new copy of the Space Ship Two (SS2) and invested in the last
technology to ensure safety and best experience for passengers.
Regarding the space travel, SS2 will light its hybrid rocket engine and
zoom to an altitude of more than 100 kilometres, where passengers will
experience “Several minutes” of weightlessness before strapping back into their
seats for the ride back to Earth.
For the moment, trips will be limited to people who are both wealthy and
healthy, but as Space Tourism grows the experience will be affordable by the
broad middle class. In 50 years, thanks to the advanced technology of
spaceships, travelling in the space will look like visiting neighbours areas.
Human space flights is no longer hold by the only governments and private
sectors are already sharing the cake. Investments brings by the private sectors
surely bump the human spaceflights industry however risk management will
definitely be impacted by all the money which have been invested in those
projects. "Private individuals are willing to take risks that government
[agencies] can't take," explained Howard McCurdy, a space historian and
professor of public affairs at American University in Washington, D.C (T.Malik,
2004).
The real question that people should ask themselves is how much they are
ready to pay for a joy space ride?
An artist's
concept of Spaceport America, a suborbital spaceport under construction in New
Mexico.
Credit: Spaceport America Conceptual Images URS/Foster + Partners
As
the electronic device constantly emerges out of the old at an amazing pace of
development, the smart watch is becoming one of the most popular smart products
at present known as its portability, concise but beautiful design,
exquisiteness and intelligence. With the release of Apple Watch last April
followed by much updated system allowing technicians to design apps dedicated
to the smart watch, event marketers are thinking of the app integration on-site
at events.
How smart watch being applied in events?
CEMA’s
event app synced to an Apple Watch app, which gave attendees access to their
personal schedules as well as push notifications. With a glance view of watch,
delegates could see the important information to them instantly with the
schedule for the next event. The view will shift alongside the day progress.
Attendees will see all of their chosen tracks in different color code by
shifting the view. And delegates can also edit their schedules when the view of
watch updated in real-time.
How will the wrist-based devices impact the events?
1. Good way for
network
It’s
deemed to be impolite and rude when talking with someone by watching your watch
from time to time. However with the second screen, you can share the
information, register the valuable information even can connect someone by
shaking hand or a quick flick of the wrist when applying some mode of matching
people by using some incredible apps. The biggest advantage will be looking at
time will no longer be considered a social faux pas.
2. Doing more
and Tracking more
With
the latest update system IOS 9 in last September, Apple rolled out the new
serie Apple Watch SDK which allows developers to design the specific apps for
the watch. This makes event marketers consider how involve the event delegates
in the event via an event app on the smart watch. Marketers used to fail to
tell the use of schedule was from the smart watch or the smart phone when
attendees used the scheduling functions on an event app.
3. Integration with other
technologies
When it comes to the integration of
smart watch in the event space, it’s no doubtful an innovative way of
experience. Keep paperless idea in mind and expect more combination and
application experience with QR code, bar code, check-in & check-out and
lead retrieval from the device. According to some reports, Apple watch will
have a better battery life which is longer than that of Iphone.
4. Customization
will be everywhere
The
rise of the smart watch means the spring up of creating the personalized
digital event experience. With the release of event apps, delegates could dig
inside and start to personalize their experience before their arrival. They can
choose all different kinds of mode, background and functions to realize the
personalization.
5. Simplification
and gamification
Subject
to the limited screen size, it forces the event apps more concise with much
icons and less words. It will be also a new visual experience and user
experience. And gamification will be widely used in the event apps. During the
conference and meetings, delegates are easy to get tired. Therefore,
gamification not only can help attendees to get rid of the fatigue but also can
reach the certain using effects.
EventPro Software has implemented its software EventPro16. This
program is a real important tool for event companies to schedule and to
organize its events.
First, The goal of this program is to give its clients a major tool
in order to manage its event from the requests for proposal to the satisfaction
mark. It takes into consideration every actor invested in an event: exhibitors,
caterers, speakers, attendees… and takes in charge the archive of all the
previous events done wit the suppliers. It is a real revolution in the event
industry because it also organise the staff schedule, the retro planning and so
on. As well, it includes a booking process entirely adaptable to each
client.
In a second time, this solution offers its clients the possibility
to gather in one software, every element composing one event. This allows the
users to have a global overview of the progress and not only for the managers
but also for all the members of the staff. This affords the good follow-up of
the event planning without the managers having to affect tasks on every step of
the planning. Thanks to EventPro16 everyone knows what to do and when. The
device provides updated reports to the staff that allows giving concreted and
updated feedbacks during the organization progress.
The main advantage of this implementation pis to provide the client
a totally personalized for an industry that needs to answer to very specific
demands.
