00:00 Technology is everywhere from our phones and TVs to our buses and cars.
00:07 Even cooking utensils can now be digitally connected.
00:11 Companies can reach into our lives and connect with consumers more than we ever imagined.
00:17 Welcome to The Exchange. I'm Guy Shone, bringing you the biggest news and interviews from all around the business world.
00:27 Now, in a rapidly changing world, there's no industry that's evolving quicker than tech.
00:33 The tech sector is at the forefront of the innovation of new ideas, different means about how we go about our day-to-day business,
00:41 and new ways in which governments coordinate world affairs.
00:45 Well, the growth in this sector is staggering, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.
00:50 The tech industry is a vast category, currently growing at 5 to 6 percent per annum.
00:55 And this is only expected to rise as AI is rolled out to the masses in the coming years.
01:01 Revolutionary technology is advancing on a daily basis, and the cost of that advancement is also rising.
01:07 A total of $3.45 trillion being spent in the sector in 2022.
01:13 And as technology advances, we also buy and consume products differently.
01:18 Last year, $300 billion was spent on mobile advertising.
01:23 Companies are now influencing the way we consume and interact more than ever before.
01:28 TikTok is one of the biggest names in the world of social media, and a brand at the forefront of these changes.
01:35 Well, earlier, I caught up with Chris Bodger, UK general manager of TikTok,
01:40 and he told me just how much technology is changing advertising and consumer habits.
01:47 We think that there's been a major shift in the entertainment and the marketing industry towards longer form storytelling that puts creativity at its heart.
01:57 On TikTok, you can play videos that are sound on and full screen.
02:01 And we've seen that with the likes of the creators on our platform who are the lifeblood of our community,
02:07 they enable brands to be authentic and to tell stories in ways that wasn't necessarily possible before.
02:14 We've seen that also this new form of entertainment drives action offline, too.
02:20 And probably the best example of this is what we call community commerce, which is the meeting point of shopping,
02:27 people being in a shopping mindset, but also the entertaining content that's on TikTok and also our community, too.
02:34 And we've seen hashtags like TikTok Made Me Buy It have 57 billion hashtag views.
02:41 And all of these videos that are on TikTok are people discovering products, they're reviewing them,
02:47 they're engaging with these different products and then having real world impacts.
02:54 Interesting stuff from TikTok showing us just how much social media is impacting the way we consume tech.
03:01 But it's not just consumption which is changing due to technological advancements.
03:06 The way we do business is also going through a major reshuffle.
03:11 To find out more, we sent our reporter Ryan Caprold to the launch of Google's new cloud service in Qatar.
03:17 Yes, Guy, I am here today at the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha,
03:24 where top Google bosses are meeting to discuss the launch of a new cloud service in the region.
03:30 So how do big businesses like this use your data?
03:34 So Tarek, thank you so much for joining us today on The Exchange.
03:37 Could you please outline for us why Qatar for Google's new free zone?
03:41 Thank you, Ryan, for the question.
03:43 So we're here today in Qatar launching our first region in the Middle East.
03:47 That's part of our expansion plan globally.
03:49 So demand coming from our customers and partners in the region has been growing.
03:55 And usually investing in countries where demand growth is there.
03:59 Demand is to stay close to our customers to help them solve and reach their customers in a better way.
04:06 Is this part of a wider project for Google in the Middle East?
04:09 Part of our investment in Qatar is the infrastructure, the region that we've seen today launching the services for.
04:15 Second is our people and our workforce in the market with our ecosystem.
04:20 So we're bringing a huge ecosystem to the country in order to help our clients,
04:26 our customers and prospects evolve and grow on achieving their goals.
04:32 That all sounds very interesting.
04:33 But can you outline to us how that actually helps businesses in regards to their data?
04:37 We all know it's a data era, right?
04:39 And it has always been the case.
04:41 And data is growing fast and fast and fast.
04:44 So that's the angle I think every organization, every business has to address in a very efficient way.
04:51 Eventually they have to make faster decisions.
04:53 They have to reach to precise decisions, leveraging the power of tech as an enabler to get to these insights.
05:01 So how we're helping them is by providing our unique unified data platform supported
05:07 or actually being integrated now with AI capabilities into that platform just to make the process much more efficient,
05:14 to be able to reach the data insights in a faster way.
05:19 A promising era for the region then, entering new realms of interconnectivity.
05:24 But what about the future of the sector overall?
05:27 Well, I caught up with Mario Aquino, who is the CEO of Future Labs Ventures in Singapore,
05:33 a firm which invests in technological advancements.
05:36 He gave me his thoughts on where the sector is headed.
05:39 Every few minutes, hours, days, there is new discoveries.
05:47 We live in an unprecedented era of technology-enabled innovation.
05:51 And we focus mostly on addressing scalable market pain points that benefits, of course, economies,
06:01 but mostly also people and societies.
06:04 A revolutionary era of innovation awaits the sector.
06:09 Now it's time for our regular feature, Business in 60 Seconds. Start the clock.
06:14 While Disney is set to post their quarterly results this month,
06:17 the mega movie, media and amusement park company has had a mixed year after falling profits in their theme parks.
06:24 After the Covid pandemic, the firm is readjusting aspects of the brand to try and get back on track.
06:30 It's also results time for Uber.
06:32 The company has been performing well this year and is looking to break into new markets.
06:36 In the UK, Uber is now dealing with the platform Hopper,
06:40 enabling Uber users to book flights for discounted prices on the app.
06:44 Hopefully for shareholders, good results will be landing on their desk.
06:48 And speaking of landings, the quarterly results for Japan Airlines will be descending into the inbox of shareholders this month.
06:55 The flagship carrier of Japan has been eyeing up a new deal with aircraft manufacturers Boeing this year
07:01 and recently celebrated being named by Skytrax as one of the top 10 air carriers in the world for their business class service.
07:11 TikTok and Google then tell us that the opportunities for business extend far beyond making entertaining videos.
07:18 Despite obvious concerns about data security,
07:22 it appears that consumers by and large have welcomed tech giants into almost every part of our lives.
07:29 So traditional lines are blurring.
07:32 CEOs, citizens and governments, though, are still trying to predict both the potential
07:39 and the pitfalls of this very new and very intimate relationship.
07:44 Well, that's all we have time for of this edition of the show. Thanks for watching.
07:48 Please do check out Euronews.com for all your latest business news and join us again next time on The Exchange.
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