Mastering the art of data: the skills that will get you noticed

It’s almost a decade since a much-shared Harvard Business Review article declared data scientist the sexiest job of the 21st century. But is working with data still as novel or as exciting as it was then?

The rise of digital currencies in the emerging world

As of September 7, 2021, El Salvador will officially recognise Bitcoin as legal currency. This is a remarkable move, and one that will likely stimulate a huge amount of economic growth as Salvadoreans leapfrog from a largely cash-based society straight to a system characterised by the frictionless, finger-snap efficiency of digital currency.

Trump’s plans to ban Chinese app WeChat blocked

A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban WeChat over concerns the ban would threaten users’ first amendment rights

Oracle returns to growth

The software maker’s quarterly revenue exceeded analysts’ expectations, as remote working drove greater demand for its cloud-computing services

Tech firms shut down Chinese offices as coronavirus spreads

With more than 7,700 cases of the virus now confirmed in China, technology companies and manufacturing plants are temporarily closing their East Asian offices

People in Hong Kong queue to purchase protective masks. The coronavirus has spread from China to multiple other countries, leading several tech firms to temporarily close their offices

Google has made the decision to temporarily close its offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as a result of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Although Google’s search engine is not available in China, the company has four offices on the mainland that focus on sales and engineering for its advertising business.

Amazon and Microsoft have recently taken similar precautions to protect staff from the virus by asking employees to either work from home or extend their Lunar New Year holiday.

The automotive industry has been badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with Wuhan being a major manufacturing hub

The coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China, but has now spread to every region in the country and been identified in at least 15 other countries across the world. China itself has 7,711 confirmed cases of the infection, and a death toll of 170 as of January 30. The virus’ global spread has resulted in at least another 71 recorded cases outside of China.

Subsequently, the city of Wuhan has been placed on on lockdown, while non-Chinese authorities – including those of the US and UK – have begun attempting to evacuate their citizens from the area.

Earlier this week, Facebook became the first major US firm to tell staff to avoid travelling to China and told employees who had travelled there to work from home. Apple also raised concerns about the virus due to the company’s reliance on Chinese factories for the manufacture of many of its products.

The automotive industry has also been badly affected by the outbreak, with Wuhan being a major manufacturing hub. General Motors is the most recent major car firm to announce plans to extend its Lunar New Year holiday plant closures until February 9, following a similar decision by Toyota. Meanwhile, the French carmaking group PSA – owner of Peugeot and Citroen – has announced it is planning to evacuate its French staff and their families from China.