Facebook looking for digital coin head; IT firms shrug blame for aircraft malfunction: Reports

Facebook is on a hunt to find an expert to run the Libra project, its newly launched digital blockchain currency, according to California-based media house The Information. For the role, the social media giant is preferring a person with adequate knowledge of government functions and how the central banking system works.

"We need someone who knows how economies tend to work, who understands how to operate in a very complex, decentralised governance type of environment," David Marcus, Facebook's vice-president of messaging products, told The Information.

Facebook had recently announced that they would launch a blockchain-based digital coin next year in a bid to tap into the multi-billion dollar opportunity in the cross-border payments system of the US.

Facebook has reportedly tied up with 27 organisations worldwide to take Libra forward and plans to launch its digital wallet on Facebook messenger and WhatsApp platforms.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg also said that many other digital currency companies would build their own services using Libra, including Mastercard, PayPal, PayU and Visa.

Boeing aircraft 

After Bloomberg reported that software from HCL Technologies and Cyient was responsible for Boeing aircraft’s ongoing crisis, which led to two major crashes killing 346 people, the country’s information technology (IT) fraternity said they are being targeted unfairly, according to The Economic Times.

Responding to the allegations, HCL Technologies and Cyient stated that they did not take part in the designing of the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System, which was the main malfunctioning unit responsible for the crash.

Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president of Nasscom, tweeted, “These claims are vicious and lack any veracity. Indian tech is the favourite whipping boy for any issue that goes wrong, otherwise it is projected as still being in a labour arbitrage model with no value add.” 

 “As a company, we place great emphasis on domain and industry knowledge and hire from the best talent pool available in the local markets,” Cyient told The Economic Times.

HCL Technologies said in a statement that it “is not associated with any ongoing issues with” the aircraft.

5G 

The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA)’s study has said that superfast 5G (fifth-generation) mobile internet will contribute close to $900 billion (around Rs 62 trillion at current exchange rate) to Asia's economy over the next 15 years. The study also said that mobile operators would invest close to $370 billion in 5G networks between 2018 and 2025. 

"Although 4G (fourth-generation mobile internet) still has plenty of headroom for growth across Asia, operators in the region are now investing billions of dollars in building advanced 5G networks that are providing an array of new services to consumers, improving industry and manufacturing, and driving economic growth," said Mats Granryd, director-general, GSMA.

The study also predicted that 18% of mobile connections will run on 5G networks while 4G will still account for more than two-thirds of Asian connections in 2025.

GSMA currently has a membership of close to 750 mobile operators worldwide.

Security demands on Indian IT

Owing to the increase in cyberattacks on Indian IT companies, clients now seek more security audits and are looking into whether the companies are investing enough to keep their data safe, according to The Economic Times.

Peter Bendor-Samuel, chief executive of Everest Research, told The Economic Times that it was apparent that the industry was not giving enough attention to security including the vendors’ networks.

“Clients are moving to increase the level of commitment, introduce more audits to inspect the level of compliance and work with their vendors to ensure the appropriate investments in security are made and maintained,” he said.

He added that IT companies provide security services to their clients but they might not have done enough to protect their own systems.

“We can expect to see more attention being paid to this, more demanding contracts, more aggressive audits and substantially more money being spent,” he said.