Monthly Archives: July 2019

Le chiffre d’affaires du moteur de recherche Qwant, autoproclamé rival du géant américain, ne décolle pas et les pertes s’accumulent malgré le soutien sans faille des pouvoirs publics. En coulisses, les doutes s’accroissent.Il se présente comme l’irréductible moteur de recherche français face à Google. Le seul capable de redorer le blason de la tech européenne, tout en défendant la vie privée de millions de citoyens. Pour tenir cette belle promesse, Qwant ne dispose que de 50 millions d’euros et du soutien du gouvernement. Alors que, pour la seule année 2018, Google a dépensé 6 milliards de dollars de recherche et développement et 4,3 milliards l’année précédente. Nombreux sont ceux qui souhaitent l’émergence d’une alternative française ou européenne à Google, qui occupe plus de 95 % du marché français et rafle la quasi-intégralité des recettes publicitaires de la recherche sur Internet.Faut-il parier sur Qwant pour bousculer Google? Les pouvoirs publics, et particulièrement Emmanuel Macron, veulent y croire. Ainsi, début mai, le secrétaire d’État au Numérique, Cédric O, a donné à Qwant un coup de pouce très médiatique, en promettant que le moteur de recherche français serait bientôt installé par défaut sur les postes de 2,5 millions de fonctionnaires.

L’Oréal is entering a new period of transformation it calls ‘marketing 3.0’; something the 110-year-old beauty giant hopes will help it to stay relevant and keep pace in a fast-growing market and create a more trustworthy digital economy for both brands and consumers.“We have pretty much changed everything in terms of the way that we are organised as marketing teams: we call it marketing 3.0,” L’Oréal’s chief digital officer, Lubomira Rochet, told Marketing Week at Cannes Lions.“The deepest part of the digital transformation is de-siloing the organisation and having people come together as a team in a project mode versus a very sequential, ‘this is the innovation, this is the marketing plan, this is the go-to-market strategy and this is the operation and execution plan’. This becomes a very holistic approach to consumer experience versus doing just a product strategy.”L’Oréal tested marketing 3.0 in the UK first, with improvements in a number of areas including upskilling employees, team productivity and consumer satisfaction, prompting the brand to scale it globally.“L’Oréal is a pretty de-centralised company because we believe de-centralisation is an asset in a fast-changing world where new platforms emerge every day from everywhere, so you really need to have your fingers on the pulse and your skin in the game,” Rochet explains. “What we do is test and learn some models; when we see some models are really successful we scale them.”

C’est une première en France : l’hôtel particulier « AnnA », situé à Boulogne-Billancourt dans les Hauts-de-Seine, est devenu le 25 juin dernier le premier immeuble acheté et détenu par une société dont les parts seront entièrement numérisées via une blockchain.Le 25 juin dernier, alors que bon nombre d’entre nous cherchaient désespérément un espace climatisé ou se réfugier -voir un open air où se désaltérer-, une information, loin d’être anodine, s’évanouissait dans le néant médiatique. Hormis quelques publications spécialisés, quasiment aucun média n’ont abordé la nouvelle : l’hôtel particulier AnnA, situé 6 rue Anna Jacquin à Boulogne Billancourt, marquait l’histoire en devenant la première propriété européenne a être vendue entièrement via la blockchain. « Et alors ? », me répondrez-vous. « Entre le congélo qui tombe en panne et les coups de chaleurs successifs dans l’open space, j’ai d’autres glaçons à fondre ». Vous auriez tort. Bien plus qu’un cas isolé, cette opération financière d’un genre nouveau est prête à faire jurisprudence dans un marché de l’immobilier en pleine numérisation. Villa numérique  La propriété luxueuse, estimée à 6,5 millions d’euros, a été vendue à deux promoteurs immobiliers, Valorcim et Sapeb Immobilier. Le procédé impliquait de transférer dans un premier lieu les droits de propriétés de l’immeuble à une société créée tout spécialement pour l’occasion dénommé Sapeb AnnA. Le capital social de cette dernière a ensuite été divisé en 100 tokens qui ont été redistribués aux propriétaires. Chaque token pourra ensuite être fractionnés en 100 000 sous-unités, et vendus le cas échéant à des investisseurs sur le marché secondaire. L’investissement minimum pourrait alors débutér à 6,5 euros… La transaction a été géré par la plateforme d’investissement Equisafe et placé sur la blockchain Ethereum. « La transaction de l’hôtel AnnA fait office d’expérience, les promoteurs n’ont pas encore décidé s’ils revendront des tokens sur le marché secondaire », explique Bilal El Alamy, le cofondateur d’Equisafe. Pourtant, quand on regarde -pas si loin- en arrière, on est loin d’un coup de poker à l’aveugle. L’année dernière, une incroyable propriété new yorkaise de 30 millions d’euros - avait également été tokenisée avec succès, déjà par Ethereum. Et pas plus tard qu'en janvier dernier, Templum, un géant du crowdfunding, avait réussi une levée de fonds à hauteur de 18 millions de dollars en tokens pour le St. Regis Aspen Resort, un hôtel de luxe niché dans la prestigieuse station de sports d’hiver états unienne.. 

The United States government has issued a letter to social media giant Facebook, asking it to put a moratorium on its upcoming cryptocurrency and wallet, Libra and Calibra, respectively. Dated July 2, 2019, the letter from the House Committee on Financial Services to Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg (COO), and David Marcus (Calibra CEO), states in part:It appears that these products may lend themselves to an entirely new global financial system that is based out of Switzerland and intended to rival U.S. monetary policy and the dollar. This raises serious privacy, trading, national security, and monetary policy concerns for … the broader global economy.It looks like U.S. government financial interests have something against competition, and in particular competition from a social media company working on a project in Switzerland. If the whole thing seems a little strange, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Donald Trump is best buddies with Kim Jong Un, Iran is mining bitcoins in mosques, and quantum physicists are telling us this is all a simulation. But sim or not, something remarkable is definitely afoot.Who Is the Libra Association?With Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Uber, Lyft, Spotify and 21 other companies already onboard, the Libra Association is no small beans. Such players being involved constitutes a multi-billion-dollar corporate juggernaut. The seemingly alarmed tone of the letter from Congress raises some questions.Huge entities in the financial world do communicate with one another. Companies like Visa, Mastercard and Paypal are very much embedded in centralized, regulatory banking and political lobbying. It’s all a part of the game for any major business in the field. But things might not be so cut and dried, after all. The release of this ominous House warning hints at an element of decentralized chaos having crept into the system.Switzerland: A Threat to Global Financial Security?Switzerland has arguably been the country that has most helped hold together global financial security over recent centuries. In a world of statist violence and coercion-based economic systems—which does also include the Swiss government—this isn’t saying much, but it’s noteworthy nonetheless.The Libra Association is based in Geneva, and one of the most interesting aspects of the creepy message from Congress is the fact that narrowed focus is given specifically to Switzerland. Focus on yet another specific country as the new enemy to the dollar. Libra is a potential threat to world security and is “intended to rival U.S. monetary policy and the dollar.” It is a threat to “global financial security.”But wait a second. Isn’t the U.S. government the group that has consistently, persistently, and systematically been a threat to the dollar? To itself? Isn’t it the U.S. military machine that has systematically plunged economy after foreign economy into the abyss of wartime destruction?Departure from the gold standard, constantly inflating the currency to finance endless war and creating massive credit bubbles all takes its toll. It seems like the Facebook crew should perhaps be writing a letter to the Feds telling them to look in the mirror and to stop threatening “global financial stability” themselves.

The G20 leaders’ summit, the largest meeting Japan has ever hosted, wrapped up Saturday. During the two-day event, the G20 leaders and the heads of invited guest countries and international organizations met to discuss important issues including the global economy, trade and investment, innovation, digitization, and global finance. At the conclusion of the summit, the G20 leaders jointly issued a declaration which includes statements on crypto assets.“We, the leaders of the G20, met in Osaka, Japan on 28-29 June 2019 to make united efforts to address major global economic challenges,” their declaration begins. “We will work together to foster global economic growth, while harnessing the power of technological innovation, in particular digitalization, and its application for the benefit of all.”

The Declaration of Independence powerfully describes the idea that a representative government could be established by, and be for, those who would be governed:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, …This second paragraph of Thomas Jefferson’s historic document is the heart of America’s representative democracy, and it clearly separates us from the tyrannical monarchy that inspired our fight for independence.There are, of course, several other forms of governments. There are lawful monarchies and aristocracies, and timocracies, and corrupt forms of each, such as tyrannies, oligarchies, and anarchy. But all of these forms (regardless of lawfulness or unlawfulness) share at least three fundamental traits: government control of the military, currency, and information.Is Facebook a Government?When I think about Facebook and the attributes that empower governments, I can’t help but wonder: Is Facebook a government?With a population of 2.3 billion, Facebook is the largest assembly of people in history. Facebook’s users are the willing subjects of Mark Zuckerberg, a benevolent monarch who has complete control of what his subjects see and do on Facebook. As far as I can tell, he is a good king whose stated mission is “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”Zuckerberg became king because he offered his subjects safety, security, and prosperity (in this case, for their digital lives). The people have self-assembled around his mission, and the population of Facebook continues to grow.InformationFacebook clearly controls the flow of information. Even though the vast majority of “control” is performed by AI, the AI was trained to achieve specific goals. In Facebook’s case, the goal is to keep you engaged. The longer you spend on Facebook, the more successful Facebook will be.The MilitaryFacebook does not have a physical military (other than whatever armed security Facebook has for its executives). But information has become increasingly weaponized in the past 10 years or so, and Facebook is high-powered ordnance.According to Facebook, it is doing everything it can to fight for the good guys. However, if Facebook wanted to become a “bad actor,” it is well within its power. (This is the basis of all kinds of global governmental inquiries, and a serious source of pain for Facebook.)CurrencyWhich brings us to currency. Facebook is developing a cryptocurrency called Libra as well as Calibra, a digital wallet to enable its use. Libra and Calibra promote financial inclusion for the unbanked and feature more privacy and decentralization attributes than most critics expected. But this long-term vision should not surprise anyone, because Mr. Zuckerberg’s complete control of the company empowers him to think long-term.At the moment, Libra has a set of significant technical hurdles including speed of transactions, scale, security, and others. But let’s assume that any technical hurdle can be overcome by Facebook’s exceptional engineering capabilities. What happens then?A Monarchy Backed by a PlutocracyFacebook has created the Libra Association. It is a supporting plutocracy with a membership fee of $10 million. Founding members also get an option to become validator node operators, get a vote on the Libra Council, and earn interest on their investment.Libra is designed to be stable. It is backed by deposits of real cash. While the value of these deposits will float by definition (as they are deposits of foreign and domestic fiat currencies), when compared with other cryptocurrencies, Libra will be rock solid.The Country of FacebookIf Libra and Calibra are successful, Facebook will have control of information (Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram), weaponized information (a virtual military), and currency (Libra). I’m pretty sure that makes Facebook the largest government on earth.Clearly, I am not alone in this line of thinking. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, has asked Facebook to “immediately cease implementation plans.” A letter from Rep. Waters and other legislators reads, “Because Facebook is already in the hands of over a quarter of the world’s population, it is imperative that Facebook and its partners immediately cease implementation plans until regulators and Congress have an opportunity to examine these issues and take action.”Congress is right to be concerned, but it is looking at this the wrong way. The letter also says, “It appears that these products may lend themselves to an entirely new global financial system that is based out of Switzerland and intended to rival U.S. monetary policy and the dollar.” The letter goes on to say, “This raises serious privacy, trading, national security, and monetary policy concerns for not only Facebook’s over 2 billion users, but also for investors, consumers, and the broader global economy.”If I were the U.S. government, or any government for that matter, I’d be wondering, is this the birth of a new form of virtual government? A global government that is truly by the people? You can push back and say it’s a monarchy supported by an oligarchy. Technically, you’d be right. But in practice, people are not forced to be citizens of Facebook; they choose to be. It is citizenship by choice. No seeking asylum, no immigration process. You just need a login.Imagine a government where each geographic area governed itself via direct votes from local mobile devices. Imagine a government where people who had similar interests and beliefs could easily connect, communicate, and self-govern. Imagine … oh, wait – I don’t have to imagine anything. This is already how Facebook works. No wonder the representatives elected to our representative democracy are scared out of their wits. They should be.

The global retail market will reach $25.038 trillion in 2019, an increase of 4.5% and a slight acceleration in growth vs. the prior year, per our estimates. At the same time, it represents a marked decline from the five years preceding that, when global retail sales grew at rates between 5.7% and 7.5% each year.“This consumer spending slowdown over the past two years reflects growing economic uncertainty and a dampening economic environment across many corners of the globe,” said Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst and lead analyst of our latest report collection “Global Ecommerce 2019.”“China’s economy, which has been surging over the better part of the past decade, has seen GDP growth level off considerably,” he added.

Dans quelles régions les Français souhaitent-ils travailler ? Quelles sont les plus enclines à une mobilité professionnelle interrégionale ? Quelles sont celles qui attirent le plus les Franciliens ? D'où viennent les candidats intéressés par un poste localisé en Ile-de-France ?  La société HelloWork  - qui édite les plates-formes RegionsJob, ParisJob et Cadreo, l'acteur digital de référence de l'emploi, du recrutement et de la formation en France - a mené son enquête, après avoir constaté que ses offres avaient été consultées par 6,9 millions d'utilisateurs au 1er trimestre 2019. L'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes en tête des régions les plus attractivesLa région rhodanienne arrive en tête des localisations qui attirent le plus de candidats d'autres régions : 12,4% des personnes en quête d'un emploi dans une autre région le font en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ! La région lyonnaise, plus précisément, fait carton plein auprès des actifs d'Île-de-France. Près de 15% des Franciliens  soucieux d'un ailleurs professionnel cible cette destination.   Les métropoles ont la cote puisque Lyon attire 40% de candidats franciliens, quand Lille plaît à 39% des Franciliens attirés par la région Hauts-de-France et Marseille-Aix en Provence à 45% de ceux qui se projettent en région Paca.