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The global payments landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. As Mark McNulty, Payments and Receivables Head for EMEA at Citi, observes: &ldquo;Sometimes transformation is used as a bit of a buzzword &ndash; but you can&rsquo;t look at the payments landscape at the moment and not articulate what&rsquo;s happening as a transformation.&rdquo;
This transformation is multi-faceted. One is the shift towards real-time payments. As consumer expectations have evolved, people increasingly expect 24/7 availability and the ability to execute transactions in real-time, which is being matched by the proliferation of instant payment schemes around the world.
With the growth in ecommerce, meanwhile, more companies are moving to direct-to-consumer models which require them to accept multiple forms of payment. At the same time, developments such as the continuing adoption of digital wallets and the rise of QR codes and APIs are presenting new opportunities to move money quickly and conveniently, while transmitting data that supports rapid reconciliation.
A further aspect of this transformation is the development of the competitive landscape, as fintechs create products that are changing how payments are viewed by the entire ecosystem. &ldquo;We used to be asked a lot about whether fintechs were a competitive threat to banks &ndash; less so now,&rdquo; says Sanjeev Jain, Payments and Receivables Head for APAC at Citi. &ldquo;But in the last few years, the growth of fintechs has been very positive: many fintechs specialise in niche areas, and in user experience, which is a net positive for the financial services industry. I think partnership has become a bigger theme than competition.&rdquo;
Drivers of change
The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 was an important catalyst for the adoption of many of these developments. &ldquo;Some of our clients, in markets where cheques are common, had cheques sitting in their offices with nobody able to deposit them,&rdquo; recalls Anupam Sinha, Citi&rsquo;s Payments and Receivables Head for NAM. &ldquo;And they quickly realised that if they did not act, it would create massive working capital challenges for them.&rdquo;
McNulty believes that, three major trends are driving the evolution of payments. &ldquo;The first is technology, which is clearly driving the transformation &ndash; whether that is what is now made possible by more dynamic connectivity models such as APIs, cloud computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Other developments include how our customers&rsquo; business models are evolving with more decentralised infrastructures, as well as the evolution of virtual reality.&rdquo;
The second driver, in McNulty&rsquo;s view, is the evolution of clients&rsquo; needs, including the adoption of new business models in which companies are looking to directly sell to, and service, consumers and counterparties that have much more sophisticated expectations of user interfaces and client experiences.
&ldquo;Lastly, regulation in the payment space is driving a huge amount of change,&rdquo; surmises McNulty. &ldquo;Governments are looking to digitise their economies and create efficiencies, and often that can only be achieved at scale by upgrading the payment infrastructure. Financial inclusion is also a significant driver of regulatory change, especially across Africa, where we see more of a move towards interoperability between local closed loop ecosystems and the wider banking infrastructure.&rdquo; In Latin America and APAC, likewise, financial inclusion has proved to be a significant driver of change.
Developments like digital wallets can play a role in providing unbanked people with other payment options. &ldquo;China for instance is dominated by Alipay and WeChat Pay,&rdquo; says Jain. &ldquo;But even in most of the emerging markets in APAC, wallet penetration has increased significantly over the years, whereas card penetration in many markets is still in single digits.&rdquo;
Implications for corporate treasurers
So, what do these changes mean for corporate treasury teams? And how can businesses harness the latest innovations? &ldquo;This change has huge implications for corporate treasurers &ndash; and for banks, who are supporting those treasurers,&rdquo; comments Kirestian. &ldquo;Treasury has evolved from a corporate function to an area that is supporting the core business of the company on a real-time basis.&rdquo;
As such, he says, treasurers have had to shift from the old model, in which vendor payments might be sent on a weekly or monthly basis for processing &ndash; &ldquo;and if something went wrong, it just meant a vendor was paid one day late.&rdquo; Today, in contrast, &ldquo;when there is a Request to Pay transaction in a coffee shop, because someone is buying a coffee, that person cannot wait two minutes to complete the transaction. It must go through within seconds &ndash; and the whole reconciled process around that payment also needs to be completed in a matter of seconds.&rdquo;
Where instant payments are concerned, McNulty believes, &ldquo;some treasurers continue to deliberate whether instant payments offers a value added solution for their business model if they do not have a direct consumer nexus.&rdquo; But while the consumer nexus point is obviously a powerful use case, McNulty argues that B2B use cases are more and more prevalent. At the same time, he notes that instant payments come with the ability to drive more efficient reconciliation, as companies can access instant data in a way that was not previously possible.
Adapting to ecommerce: bring treasury in early
Where the rise of ecommerce and direct-to-consumer models is concerned, treasurers have a role to play in adapting their processes to accommodate high velocity, high volume instant payments. In practice, this means that treasurers may need to set up appropriate cash management structures and achieve greater control and reconciliation over the resulting flows.
&ldquo;For example, our Spring by Citi business is designed to capture the opportunity for our clients and offer a digital collection proposition,&rdquo; says McNulty. &ldquo;This proposition will differentiate through its geographical scope, feature functionality and range of payment types, including leveraging instant payments, alternative payment methods and open banking to enable account-to-account collections.&rdquo;
But as Sinha notes, in many cases treasury may not be included early enough in the process, resulting in a sub-optimal infrastructure. As ecommerce scales up, treasury teams are then brought in and may need to enhance existing processes to ensure they meet the risk management framework and other treasury standards required by large organisations.
&ldquo;So, one of the things we advise our clients is to get treasury involved in the process early on &ndash; have a treasury champion who understands the ecommerce evolution and can add value to the commercial team,&rdquo; Sinha explains. &ldquo;Treasury should show value to their business counterparts early on in the process and be a critical part of the overall business growth as their organisation embraces ecommerce.&rdquo;
Where next?
While the payments transformation is progressing at different rates around the world, there are many common themes across the different regions. One key topic is the question of how best to facilitate cross-border instant payments, notes Jain.
&ldquo;When a payment moves from cross-border to domestic rails, it&rsquo;s important to consider how the information flows, and what the regulators expect from screening and from the information you pass on,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;In some markets, for example, regulators want to make sure the bank that&rsquo;s receiving the money can figure out that it started as a cross-border payment. So, it&rsquo;s a conversation at a country-by-country level.&rdquo;
As progress continues, interoperability will be important as a means of avoiding fragmentation, in McNulty&rsquo;s opinion. &ldquo;In Africa, for example, there is a big focus on interoperable switches, where you connect to ACH systems, instant payment systems and wallets, all through the same clearing switch. This simplifies the overall proposition and provides a better underlying client experience.&rdquo;
Moving forward, Sinha says technology will continue to be a major enabler of change. &ldquo;Technology will remain significant in driving the evolution of the payments landscape,&rdquo; he says. At the same time, &ldquo;the shift from payments being an &lsquo;experience&rsquo; to payments being embedded in our clients&rsquo; ecosystems will go a long way towards ensuring the world of tomorrow looks very different from what we&rsquo;ve seen in the past.&rdquo;
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Payments in EMEA
Mark McNulty &ndash; Payments and Receivables Head for EMEA
How is the payments landscape in EMEA evolving?
The march towards instant payments and 24/7 continues. In Europe, while the SEPA Instant scheme has been operational since 2017, adoption has been limited across Payment Service Providers. To counteract this draft legislation is now looking to make adoption mandatory for all participants in the Eurozone, which will only increase the scale and usage of instant payments in Europe. Elsewhere in the region, countries like Egypt, Bulgaria and Tanzania are looking to roll out mandatory instant payment schemes.
Where mega trends are concerned, the rollout of ISO 20022 is a very significant transformation, particularly in Europe and Africa. For years, we have been on a legacy format that limits the messaging and information we can provide to our clients, so this upgrade is very important.
Openness is another trend &ndash; we are seeing more frameworks emerging around openness and open banking in countries across the region. UK and Europe have been there for some time even if adoption needs to scale, but we are now seeing open banking frameworks appearing in more countries, including in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Other developments include the arrival of intra-regional cross-border schemes, such as BUNA and AFAQ in the Middle East and Africa, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, and P27 in the Nordics. We are also seeing market infrastructures become more sophisticated in terms of the capabilities they are adding. At the same time, we are seeing digital native platform companies looking to expand their offerings and services into the financial services space.
What sort of developments do you expect to see in the coming year?
I think the drive to increase the scale and resilience of the overarching infrastructure continues to be a huge trend, alongside the growth of ecommerce. Digitisation and the reduction of cash continues as a trend, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, where cash continues to be widespread. It is not going to disappear tomorrow &ndash; but the evolution of digital wallets and instant payments will continue to drive the reduction of cash.
I also think we are going to see an increase in the use of APIs by our corporate clients. That dynamic connectivity enables different use cases that companies can take advantage of, from pre-validation to real-time reporting.
Open banking will continue to mature, especially in Europe, while we are likely to see continued exploration and use cases around digital assets and the underlying technologies. And following the move to ISO 20022, structured data is going to be an important topic.
&nbsp;
Payments in APAC
Sanjeev Jain &ndash; Payments and Receivables Head for APAC
How is the payments landscape in APAC evolving?
Asia is front and centre of the global transformation taking place within the payments landscape. The region has leapfrogged from cash and paper-based payments to more digital forms of payments in many areas. On the ecommerce front, the banking system was previously lagging somewhat in terms of what end consumers were looking for, and this has given rise to a lot of alternative payment schemes to come into play to fill that void.
Over the last five years, most countries in the region have gone live with 24/7 low-value instant payments. At the same time, batch payments are starting to shift more and more towards real-time. Now that the foundational layer of true real-time banking is in place, value-added features are being added. In many cases, regulators are enabling this &ndash; but it&rsquo;s a two-way street, also driven by expectations from corporate clients and consumers. Banks, likewise, are advocating for this shift.
In many markets, QR codes have also become a big enabler, as they allow information to flow alongside payments. QR codes can be used to embed payments within an application &ndash; for example, if you make an insurance premium payment by scanning a QR code, the insurance company not only receives the payment, but also the full, rich information on what the payment was for and which policy it relates to. So, reconciliation can be completed right away.
Meanwhile, regulators are also looking at what&rsquo;s next. If you have moved low-value payments to 24/7, you could also do the same for ACH payments, which some markets have already done &ndash; India, for example, has already moved all forms of payment to 24/7. Other countries are also asking if they really need so many types of payments, such as Hong Kong which has decided to decommission ACH and move to instant payments.
What are the most important drivers and enablers of development?
Regulation is certainly one, and many countries in the region are learning from each other as they decide on next steps and further simplification. Other considerations are geopolitics, as well as concerns around data privacy &ndash; there has been a lot of focus on onshoring of data and platforms, which comes at a huge cost and effort from a bank&rsquo;s perspective.
At an industry level, the ISO 20022 migration is going to be very beneficial. The quality, consistency and standardisation of information flowing across banks will enable clients to see rich data and reconcile their payments. For regulators, this shift will also help to enforce anti-money laundering and sanctions around the world.
&nbsp;
Payments in North America
Anupam Sinha &ndash; Payments and Receivables Head for NAM
How would you describe the payments landscape in North America?
The landscape has historically been very paper-driven, but is rapidly moving towards more electronic payment methods, driven by initiatives like real-time payments. While North America has long relied on cheques, we are now seeing a significant change, with a year-over-year decline in the market. Cards, likewise, continue to be a predominant payment type here, but a rapid change is happening with things like real-time payments coming in, and the other peer-to-peer payment services. A lot of private sector initiatives are driving consumer flows and commerce.
From an ACH perspective, payment volumes continue to grow &ndash; but they are now growing at a slower pace than in the past. Some of that is driven by payroll flows moving away from ACH and going into real-time payments.
What do you see as the most significant developments and initiatives?
One of the most significant developments has been the launch and adoption of instant payments. But whereas many markets have mandated the adoption of instant payments, that kind of regulatory mandate does not exist in the US &ndash; which means not all banks are reachable. This has somewhat slowed down the adoption of instant payments, but we are seeing good progress.
What sort of developments do you expect to see in the coming year?
As our clients&rsquo; business models evolve, I think we will see a significant shift of flows from the traditional B2B to B2C/C2B, which will drive flows towards real-time payment schemes. Another big change is that along with the existing TCH Real Time Payments scheme, the FedNow scheme is due to be launched later in the year, which will drive adoption and increase reachability. In Canada, meanwhile, the existing infrastructure is being replaced by real-time rails (RTR).
&nbsp;
Payments in Latin America
Gabriel Kirestian &ndash; Payments and Receivables Head for LATAM
How would you describe the payments landscape in Latin America?
Latin America is one of the regions leading the implementation of new payment schemes, not least because of the region&rsquo;s progressive regulations regarding payments.
We already have 12 markets with instant payments schemes, which has been driven by regulators, and three others are due to be implemented this year. Among them we have success stories like the Pix instant payment scheme in Brazil, which was launched two years ago and is already processing close to 2.6 billion transactions per day. Argentina and Mexico are likewise big volume markets which have already implemented successful payment schemes.
But it&rsquo;s not just about instant payments. The big markets like Mexico, Brazil and Argentina not only have the basic component of an instant payments scheme, but also QR codes on top of that rail, and Request to Pay schemes that enable consumers to pay online or offline at any time of the day. Interoperability is also very important, and Argentina in particular offers the ability to do payments between virtual wallets and bank accounts in the same clearing system in a transparent way.
What sort of developments do you expect to see in the coming year?
One of the main drivers behind this transformation is the regulators trying to create more financial inclusion, particularly by improving interoperability. In Latin America, a high percentage of employment is in the informal economy, and a lot of people either don&rsquo;t want to open a bank account, or don&rsquo;t qualify to do so. Having these types of virtual accounts that can be regulated in a different way is a really critical role of governments and regulators.
Some countries are already discussing the implementation of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which could further increase financial inclusion by adding the unbanked population into the system and replacing cash, which is the instrument used by that portion of the population. Beyond that, I expect to see the integration of instant payment schemes into a cross-border payment structure or system that could take advantage of local schemes that are already there.
As the evolution of payments continues, consumer adoption will be key &ndash; and that requires trust from the end consumer. Regulators and governments in Latin America will need to play a role in addressing this in order to help drive adoption.

The world of payments is evolving rapidly, with different regions progressing at different rates. Citi’s Payments and Receivables Heads from around the globe share their views on how the payments transformation is being realised, how companies can benefit, and what this evolution means for treasurers.

Treasury Today: Global Payments Transformation: Where Next?

In today's episode we speak with Shayna Teh, co-founder of Food Market Hub.&nbsp; Shayna is a female entrepreneur who stems from a family of entrepreneurs, BUT that doesn't mean her journey has been smooth sailing.&nbsp;
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<a title="VIEW ALL INSIGHTS" href="https://icg.citi.com/icghome/what-we-do/commercial-bank/insights?pk_campaign=view_all_insights" data-link-source="tiny"><img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/63f661c2bcbcdf129897ab7b" alt="VIEW" /></a>

MONEY FM Podcast, presented by Citi Commercial Bank. INSPIRING ENTREPRENEURS: Is being an entrepreneur a result of nurture or nature?

Questions of identity lie at the heart of almost every interaction in the digital age. Is the person or company you&rsquo;re dealing with really who or what they say they are?
How can they prove it? How can you trust them? These are fundamental questions of our time. And they&rsquo;re difficult but vital to answer.
It&rsquo;s not an overstatement to say that getting a handle on the answers to these&nbsp;questions is the key to unlocking the full potential of digital societies and economies.
<img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/6447f83723168926bb8637e4" alt="Picture1.png/" width="743" height="450" />
Source: World Economic Forum 
The new report, the latest in a series of content on digital identity from Citi Global Insights, updates some of the latest thinking around digital identity.
The report looks at national identity schemes. Such schemes hit the headlines recently when former U.K. Prime Minister and former foreign secretary William Hague (who is interviewed as part of the CGI report), included digital identity for every citizen as part of their radical call to overhaul of U.K.&rsquo;s approach to technology- amounting to a fundamental reshaping of the state around technology.
The Citi report also looks at how a smart approach to digital identity can help corporates combat the growing scourge of cybercrime.&nbsp; And it also examines how companies can deal with electronic verification of corporate identities or legal entities.
In supply chains, digital ID is increasingly important at every point of global trade to document, track and monitor trade flows effectively and efficiently.
Another big thing for companies, looking more inwards, and particularly at the IoT proliferates, is machine identity. This is a big identity challenge because CIOs predict that the average number of machine identities used by the organizations will explode in the coming years. Many already don&rsquo;t know how many machines they have, or where they are.
For SMEs, access to financial services can be enhanced by corporate digital ID since a corporate digital ID system can address information asymmetries.
According to the BIS these are often more severe for SMEs than for large corporates, which typically have detailed accounting records and a long operating history.
As such, financial institutions tend to prioritise larger corporates, often at the expense of SMEs, even though the latter also contribute significantly to the global economy.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises account for around 70% of employment globally, the BIS says. approximately a quarter of GDP in low-middle income countries, and over 50% of GDP in OECD countries.
Individual digital ID is now seen as a core tool for enhancing financial inclusion, with the lessons increasingly also being directed towards the challenges facing SMEs.
And the full report goes on to delve into artificial intelligence and the concept of zero trust networks.
As digital IDs proliferate, the constant threat of data breaches is causing mounting concern. Now, thanks to artificial intelligence, a new way of protecting networks is becoming possible.
Until now, most network security has relied on a firewall that separates outsiders from insiders. This perimeter-based architecture works like a fence.
Now a huge shift is happening. In short it involves never assuming trust- even for insiders- but rather verifying their identities all the time. The full report looks at some of the implications of this new approach.
&nbsp;
The report also contains short write ups of several conversations with leading experts on digital identity conducted over recent months, bringing you insights directly from those at the cutting edge of thought on digital identity. These include interviews with <a href="https://icg.citi.com/icghome/what-we-think/global-insights/insights/digital-identity-the-lowdown-on-national-id-schemes" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">Citi&rsquo;s EMEA head of public sector David Walker</a>, <a href="https://icg.citi.com/icghome/what-we-think/global-insights/insights/digital-identity-with-iproov" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">Andrew Bud, CEO and Founder of identity solutions firm iProov</a>, and <a href="https://icg.citi.com/icghome/universal-search?searchText=digital%20identity%20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">several others</a>.&nbsp;
To access the full report, if you are a Velocity subscriber, please <a href="https://www.citivelocity.com/t/r/eppublic/2ftsx" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">see here. (29 March &rsquo;23)</a>
And please also see this <a href="https://icg.citi.com/icghome/what-we-think/global-insights/insights/digital-identity-" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">recent interview with Ryan Rugg, head of digital assets at Citi TTS</a> in which she speaks about some of the real life applications of digital identity, including with vaccine passes during the pandemic.
Citi Global Insights (CGI) is Citi&rsquo;s premier non-independent thought leadership curation. It is not investment research; however, it may contain thematic content previously expressed in an Independent Research report. For the full CGI disclosure, click <a href="https://ir.citi.com/6A3IURUaezPxFLppsgdBkqidjLaLn558JwHISYaDZcTfE9XMRB1isDDDVorqrxpR%2fTnEi4RUCl8%3d" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">here</a>.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

A new report from Citi Global Insights delves into the latest thinking around digital identity- including national ID schemes, corporate digital ID, how AI can help, and the concept of zero trust networks. 

Digital Identity: Verification is the Name of the Game 

Supporting women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses is not just the right thing to do socially, it is one of the smartest things that governments, corporations and the finance community could do economically. Yet, around the world, women entrepreneurs still face barriers to starting and growing their businesses. 
&nbsp;
In 2022, we published a Citi GPS report, <a style="text-decoration: underline;" href="https://ir.citi.com/gps/BEmj0x3B9xI9lV1askcQ4i82kPQxePoOBbUjMQcA4UMMKvopj0lLpx5N9SKEpOiBewaKKUK7F7I%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">Women Entrepreneurs: Catalyzing Growth, Innovation, and Equality</a>, which found that closing the gender gap in business growth globally could add up to $2.3 trillion to global GDP (or a 3% increase), create up to 433 million jobs, and unleash an untapped pool of talent and innovation to address global challenges. 
&nbsp;
In this curated series of conversations, we highlight some of the women building successful businesses across sectors and in different regions to learn from their experiences. Our experts will explore the challenges women entrepreneurs still face, what is needed to better support them, and the significant economic opportunity that empowered women entrepreneurs present. 
&nbsp;

Halima Iqbal, Founder of Oraan in conversation with Ronit Ghose, Head of Future of Finance & Digital, Citi Global Insights. 

Backing Women-Led Businesses: In Conversation with Oraan

Supporting women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses is not just the right thing to do socially, it is one of the smartest things that governments, corporations and the finance community could do economically. Yet, around the world, women entrepreneurs still face barriers to starting and growing their businesses.

Women Entrepreneurs Series

In this episode, co-founder and CEO of Luxury Escapes, Adam Schwab, tells us how a small start-up in Australia was able to scale to almost a billion Australian dollars in turnover without raising any external capital. 
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<a title="VIEW ALL INSIGHTS" href="https://icg.citi.com/icghome/what-we-do/commercial-bank/insights?pk_campaign=view_all_insights" data-link-source="tiny"><img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/63f661c2bcbcdf129897ab7b" alt="VIEW" /></a>

Meet the Makers: Scaling Up

Citi Global Insights A new report by Citi Research’s Jason Gursky, looks at the outlook for the space industry, building on Citi’s GPS report from last year that forecasts space to become a $1 trillion dollar industry by 2040. 

Space: High Power 

Is automation spending &ndash; often considered discretionary &ndash; in something more akin to a resilient upcycle? That and other questions were put to 200 manufacturing decision makers in a recent survey by Citi Research.
The backdrop to this survey is that Citi Research analysts reckon spending on automation has accelerated in the post-COVID era as companies try to better manage supply chain dynamics, and buttress manufacturing efficiency and productivity in a tighter labor market. They also say accelerated investment in domestic manufacturing is a still-emerging trend that could support growth in automation end markets.
The top priorities when adopting automation are productivity, revenue growth, and improvement in quality. The continuation of labor shortage/workforce scarcity and growing competitive dynamics continue to make the case for automation or robotics stronger.
And with the US regulatory backdrop &ndash; particularly the IRA and CHIPs Act putting an emphasis on domestic manufacturing &ndash; companies could see increased incentives to adopt automation and drive competitiveness.
Here are a few charts that detail some of the survey&rsquo;s key takeaways:
<img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/645e433598483c7da580cfcd" alt="Robots1.png/" />
&copy; 2023 Citigroup Inc. No redistribution without Citigroup&rsquo;s written permission. Source: Citi Research, Survey of Manufacturers (n=200)
&nbsp;
<img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/645e438dd1c0f72134b3946d" alt="Robots2.png/" />
&copy; 2023 Citigroup Inc. No redistribution without Citigroup&rsquo;s written permission Source: Citi Research, Survey of Manufacturers (n=200)
<img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/645e44462af4926ee17290a8" />
&copy; 2023 Citigroup Inc. No redistribution without Citigroup&rsquo;s written permission Source: Citi Research, Survey of Manufacturers (n=200)
There are several more interesting takeaways from the survey in the full Citi Research report, published on 24 April 2023. These include a breakdown of the top priorities behind automation, barriers to greater uptake, and how geopolitics could actually make automation more attractive. Find it here: <a href="https://www.citivelocity.com/t/r/eppublic/2gZKV" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">US Industrial Conglomerates - Automation Survey Points To Ongoing Tailwinds</a>
Citi Global Insights (CGI) is Citi&rsquo;s premier non-independent thought leadership curation. It is not investment research; however, it may contain thematic content previously expressed in an Independent Research report. For the full CGI disclosure, click <a href="https://ir.citi.com/6A3IURUaezPxFLppsgdBkqidjLaLn558JwHISYaDZcTfE9XMRB1isDDDVorqrxpR%2fTnEi4RUCl8%3d" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">here</a>.

A recent report from Citi Research’s Andrew Kaplowitz looks at the continuing tailwinds to automation in the US industrial complex. 

Robots Rise: The Tailwinds of Automation in Three Charts 

DOWNLOAD

The Strategy sets out the next steps on transition planning and the UK Green Taxonomy, to ensure that green finance markets are robust. The Strategy also sets out how the UK Government is working with a range of public financing bodies to commercialise and finance green technologies.
&nbsp;
The Strategy also incorporates both nature and climate adaptation into the UK&rsquo;s green finance framework. It highlights the fact that a new nature markets framework has also been published, which explains how the UK aims to develop high-integrity markets, enabling farmers and land managers to attract investment into natural capital.
&nbsp;
Finally, the Strategy sets out how the UK Government aims to accelerate the shift to a green global financial system and catalyse green financing globally.

Published on 30 March 2023, the 2023 Green Finance Strategy (the Strategy) represents the latest policy document developed by HM Treasury, the new Department for Energy and Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Mobilising Green Investment - the UK Government’s 2023 Green Finance Strategy

How do you measure innovation? Perhaps the simplest answer to this is: Not easily.
Citi&rsquo;s Mapping Innovations report seeks to benchmark over 100 areas of innovation.
It does this by viewing them through 3 different lenses:
(1) patent applications, (2) private market investment, and (3) opportunities for growth.
Each of these tells its own story. Taken together, they act as a framework for better understanding innovations as they move from invention to commercialization and beyond.
For patents, for example, the Citi Global Data Insights (CGDI) team, took 33 innovations and leveraged their proprietary data platform called the &ldquo;Thematic Basket Incubator&rdquo; to identify trends in the technological patent space.
&nbsp;
Patent Filings Over Time for 33 Chosen Technological Innovations
<img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/646c7d1edcabfd500ae77921" />
Source: Citi Global Data Insights, Quant-IP
&nbsp;
Here are a few quick takeaways:
&nbsp;
Patent Applications:
Looking at patent applications offers an understanding into one of the earliest stages of the innovation lifecycle &ndash; arguably near the point of invention, and often before they have received any significant investment.
The ease with which a chosen area of innovation can be patented is nuanced. Some are inherently more difficult to patent, and some not patentable at all.
The analysis showed patent filings saw their first decline in over 20 years in 2022, down 6% YoY. Despite this, growth in the 30+ technology-related innovations remained strong, up 4% YoY.
For 30+ chosen technological innovations, China was by far the most active country in the last 5 years, filing more than twice the number of patents as the U.S.. Patents linked to Data Storage, Auto Electronics and Wearables were amongst the most popular globally during this period.
&nbsp;
Private Market Investment:
One of the first steps in the process of an innovation moving towards commercialization is to build a company around the innovation in question. Venture Capitalists specialize in funding these inherently high-risk endeavors, often attempting to identify pre-revenue companies that can bring emerging &amp; disruptive innovations to market. But recent market and banking stresses have raised concerns over funding in the VC ecosystem.
Investment into the private markets by VC funds saw a 30% YoY decline in 2022 to $500bn. However, this varied considerably between sectors, ranging from Material &amp; Resources being down only 11% to Financial Services being down 40%.
Investment by VC funds increased 10x from 2010 to 2022, with this period being split into three distinct eras of investment (low growth, moderate growth, and fast growth and decline). The most recent era saw a significant shift to predominantly funding the IT sector.
&nbsp;
Opportunities for Growth:
One of the typical characteristics of interest for any area of innovation is the opportunity for growth. The actions of all market participants, including corporates and nation states will at least partly depend on the size of the opportunity.
Th team looks at a variety of third party market forecasts and found that Total Addressable Market (TAM) size estimates of the largest innovations are 30,000x the size of the smallest ones, with forecast growth rates for the period 2021-2026 ranging from 3% to 63%.
There was less correlation than might be expected between the TAM size estimates and forecast growth rates. Rather, the innovation type seems to be the biggest indicator of anticipated future opportunities, with technology-related innovations forecast to grow faster.
100 Different Areas of Innovation
<img src="https://icg.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/icgPublic/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/646c80fbdcabfd500ae77933" />
Source Code: GTM = Global Theme Machine, DI = Disruptive Innovations GPS Series reports, GPS = Other GPS Series reports, Add = Additions Chosen by GGI
&copy; 2023 Citigroup Inc. No redistribution without Citigroup&rsquo;s written permission.
Source: Various 3rd-Party Sources (See Appendix), Citi Global Insights
&nbsp;
Mind the gap
The full report goes on to look at some of the issues around bridging the gap from invention to commercialization.
With increasing levels of private investment into emerging and disruptive innovations in recent years, there have been concerns from some quarters about how such technologies are playing an increasingly significant role in our lives.
Some market participants will naturally be motivated by advances in more short-term commercial applications. This makes it even more important that long-term support provided by nation states, particularly for the early development activities that are necessary to keep an industry competitive. While we often think of the technological innovations that we take for granted now as simply being the by-product of competition between technology giants, in many instances, they would not have had the opportunity to flourish without initial government support.
Policy makers are increasingly becoming involved in supporting the early-stage start-ups through various incentive schemes. France is a good example of a country heavily investing in R&amp;D. In the wake of the 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis, digital investment by the French government significantly and dramatically increased &ndash; more than doubling between 2007 and 2009. By 2020, France was outpacing nearly all its peers when compared across measures such as Business Enterprise R&amp;D (BERD) intensity as a percentage of GDP and total (direct and tax) government support for business R&amp;D as a percentage of GDP.
&nbsp;
For the full report, if you are a Velocity subscriber, please <a href="https://www.citivelocity.com/cv2/go/MarketBuzz/X19GUl9fqntvl02g8ken" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">login here</a>
&nbsp;
Citi Global Insights (CGI) is Citi&rsquo;s premier non-independent thought leadership curation. It is not investment research; however, it may contain thematic content previously expressed in an Independent Research report. For the full CGI disclosure, click <a href="https://ir.citi.com/6A3IURUaezPxFLppsgdBkqidjLaLn558JwHISYaDZcTfE9XMRB1isDDDVorqrxpR%2fTnEi4RUCl8%3d" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">here</a>.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

A recent report from Citi Global Insights helps to make sense of innovation in areas from Ag tech to cloud computing, digital ID to psychedelic drugs, 4D printing to 5G networks and beyond.  

Mapping the Innovation Landscape 

TRANSCRIPT

Veterans often face numerous challenges upon returning home, including inadequate support in terms of services, treatment, equipment, and tools to navigate their new realities. Citi is joined by Brian Rathjen of Roberts &amp; Ryan, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Broker Dealer, whose mission is to utilize financial resources to support veterans and their families by supporting organizations such as Boulder Crest Retreat, which provides programs and resources for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress (PTS). The collaboration between Roberts &amp; Ryan and Citi is a symbiotic relationship that benefits both organizations, as well as the communities they serve.
In this space, technology and fintech innovation work together to drive change and create opportunities that positively impact the world. Tune in to learn about the importance of collaboration in the banking industry and how it can lead to stability and economic growth for years to come.
&nbsp;
Citibank N.A. (&ldquo;Citi&rdquo;), and Roberts and Ryan Investments Inc. are not affiliated and are independent companies, though Citi has a nominal equity investment in Roberts and Ryan Investments Inc. The speakers&rsquo; views are their own and may not necessarily reflect the views of Citi or any of its affiliates.
All opinions are subject to change&nbsp;without notice. Neither the information&nbsp;provided&nbsp;nor any opinion expressed constitutes&nbsp;a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. The expressions of opinion&nbsp;are not&nbsp;intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results.

Nicholas Koukoumelidis, Chief Financial Officer, Institutional Clients Group, Citi Nicholas Koukoumelidis was appointed Chief Financial Officer for Citi&rsquo;s Institutional Clients Group sector in early 2022. In his current role, Nicholas brings together the Finance function across all disciplines and works with the CEO, Business Heads, Product and Regional Leadership to assess financial performance, manage capital and balance sheet deployment and develop and execute business strategy.Most recently Nicholas served as the Lead Finance Officer for Global Markets &amp; Securities Services where he oversaw the franchise&rsquo;s financial performance and&nbsp; strategy. In that role Nicholas led the development of a full-scale strategic refresh to transform the business to be a technology-led organization with best-in-classexecution, and optimal resource utilization.
Prior to that appointment, Nicholas served as the Japan Country Chief Financial Officer. In that role, Nicholas was responsible for the Finance function across the Japan franchise and also served as the Chief Financial Officer of the legal entities Citigroup Japan Holdings G.K., Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc. and Citibank, N.A., Tokyo Branch. Furthermore, he oversaw the divestitures of the Retail Bank and Branded Cards and also led the formation of Japan&rsquo;s long-range ICG product and client strategy in alignment with the broader firm-wide objectives. From 2015 to 2017, Nicholas served as the Head of Financial Planning &amp; Analysis and Strategy for the Global Institutional Clients Group. In that role he oversaw and directed all aspects of Strategy, Earnings and Forward-Looking Analytics for the Sector in&nbsp; partnership with the CFO and broader finance leadership team.
From 2013 to 2015, Nicholas served as the Lead Finance Officer for the U. S. Consumer and Commercial Bank, overseeing all aspects of the franchise strategy, financial analytics, accounting, treasury, and risk management and led the transformational effort on the Bank&rsquo;s branch network. From 2001 to 2013, Nicholas has held several senior finance roles in Corporate Financial Planning &amp; Analysis, Global Wealth Management (Citi Private Bank / Smith Barney), including CFO for the North America Private Bank, and Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Smith Barney. Prior to Citi, Nicholas was a Senior Business Analyst for Spar Group Inc. and a Senior Fixed Income Analyst in the Analytics Division for Reuters America, Inc.
Nicholas is a graduate of Harvard&rsquo;s Business School Strategic IQ program, holds an MBA in Financial Engineering from Fordham University and a B.S. in Finance with minors in Advanced Statistics and Linear Models from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is married to Mary and has three children:Petra, Sofia and Stefanos ages 13, 10 and 8 respectively.

Nicholas Koukoumelidis was appointed Chief Financial Officer for Citi&rsquo;s Institutional Clients Group sector in early 2022. In his current role, Nicholas brings together the Finance function across all disciplines and works with the CEO, Business Heads, Product and Regional Leadership to assess financial performance, manage capital and balance sheet deployment and develop and execute business strategy.Most recently Nicholas served as the Lead Finance Officer for Global Markets &amp; Securities Services where he oversaw the franchise&rsquo;s financial performance and&nbsp; strategy. In that role Nicholas led the development of a full-scale strategic refresh to transform the business to be a technology-led organization with best-in-classexecution, and optimal resource utilization.
Prior to that appointment, Nicholas served as the Japan Country Chief Financial Officer. In that role, Nicholas was responsible for the Finance function across the Japan franchise and also served as the Chief Financial Officer of the legal entities Citigroup Japan Holdings G.K., Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc. and Citibank, N.A., Tokyo Branch. Furthermore, he oversaw the divestitures of the Retail Bank and Branded Cards and also led the formation of Japan&rsquo;s long-range ICG product and client strategy in alignment with the broader firm-wide objectives. From 2015 to 2017, Nicholas served as the Head of Financial Planning &amp; Analysis and Strategy for the Global Institutional Clients Group. In that role he oversaw and directed all aspects of Strategy, Earnings and Forward-Looking Analytics for the Sector in&nbsp; partnership with the CFO and broader finance leadership team.
From 2013 to 2015, Nicholas served as the Lead Finance Officer for the U. S. Consumer and Commercial Bank, overseeing all aspects of the franchise strategy, financial analytics, accounting, treasury, and risk management and led the transformational effort on the Bank&rsquo;s branch network. From 2001 to 2013, Nicholas has held several senior finance roles in Corporate Financial Planning &amp; Analysis, Global Wealth Management (Citi Private Bank / Smith Barney), including CFO for the North America Private Bank, and Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Smith Barney. Prior to Citi, Nicholas was a Senior Business Analyst for Spar Group Inc. and a Senior Fixed Income Analyst in the Analytics Division for Reuters America, Inc.
Nicholas is a graduate of Harvard&rsquo;s Business School Strategic IQ program, holds an MBA in Financial Engineering from Fordham University and a B.S. in Finance with minors in Advanced Statistics and Linear Models from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is married to Mary and has three children:Petra, Sofia and Stefanos ages 13, 10 and 8 respectively.

Nicholas Koukoumelidis, Chief Financial Officer, Institutional Clients Group, Citi 

Brian Rathjen, President of Roberts & Ryan Investments Brian Rathjen is the President of Roberts &amp; Ryan Investments. Prior to joining Roberts &amp; Ryan in 2017, Mr. Rathjen co- founded Kelson Group, a premier placement agent focused on raising capital from the institutional marketplace for top tier money managers in alternative and traditional asset classes. Prior to Kelson Group, Mr. Rathjen started and ran Marwood Group Asset Management (MGAM), a subsidiary of Marwood Group. Mr. Rathjen oversaw all business and client service and had senior responsibilities involving the strategic direction and overall management processes at MGAM. Mr. Rathjen started his career on Wall Street as Institutional Fixed Income Specialist at Prudential Securities in 1996.
Brian Rathjen graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1988. After additional Navy schooling in San Diego, Mr. Rathjen was an Engineering Officer in the Surface Warfare Community in the United States Navy. While serving onboard the USS Ouellet (FF1077) in Pearl Harbor Hawaii, then Lieutenant Rathjen was awarded both the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal for Meritorious Service.
Mr. Rathjen is passionate about Veteran causes. He serves on the Board of Directors for Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness. Mr. Rathjen is a Trustee for the Athletic and Scholarship Program for the Naval Academy Foundation and is a member of the Naval Academy&rsquo;s President&rsquo;s Circle. In addition, Mr. Rathjen serves on both Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Rice&rsquo;s Service Academy Selection Committees. Mr. Rathjen is a member of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick where he serves as Historian. Mr. Rathjen resides in Rockville Centre, New York with his wife Wendy and his two daughters Sydney and Charlotte.

Brian Rathjen is the President of Roberts &amp; Ryan Investments. Prior to joining Roberts &amp; Ryan in 2017, Mr. Rathjen co- founded Kelson Group, a premier placement agent focused on raising capital from the institutional marketplace for top tier money managers in alternative and traditional asset classes. Prior to Kelson Group, Mr. Rathjen started and ran Marwood Group Asset Management (MGAM), a subsidiary of Marwood Group. Mr. Rathjen oversaw all business and client service and had senior responsibilities involving the strategic direction and overall management processes at MGAM. Mr. Rathjen started his career on Wall Street as Institutional Fixed Income Specialist at Prudential Securities in 1996.
Brian Rathjen graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1988. After additional Navy schooling in San Diego, Mr. Rathjen was an Engineering Officer in the Surface Warfare Community in the United States Navy. While serving onboard the USS Ouellet (FF1077) in Pearl Harbor Hawaii, then Lieutenant Rathjen was awarded both the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal for Meritorious Service.
Mr. Rathjen is passionate about Veteran causes. He serves on the Board of Directors for Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness. Mr. Rathjen is a Trustee for the Athletic and Scholarship Program for the Naval Academy Foundation and is a member of the Naval Academy&rsquo;s President&rsquo;s Circle. In addition, Mr. Rathjen serves on both Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Rice&rsquo;s Service Academy Selection Committees. Mr. Rathjen is a member of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick where he serves as Historian. Mr. Rathjen resides in Rockville Centre, New York with his wife Wendy and his two daughters Sydney and Charlotte.

Brian Rathjen, President of Roberts & Ryan Investments

Nicholas Koukoumelidis, Chief Financial Officer, Institutional Clients Group, Citi Nicholas Koukoumelidis was appointed Chief Financial Officer for Citi&rsquo;s Institutional Clients Group sector in early 2022. In his current role, Nicholas brings together the Finance function across all disciplines and works with the CEO, Business Heads, Product and Regional Leadership to assess financial performance, manage capital and balance sheet deployment and develop and execute business strategy.Most recently Nicholas served as the Lead Finance Officer for Global Markets &amp; Securities Services where he oversaw the franchise&rsquo;s financial performance and&nbsp; strategy. In that role Nicholas led the development of a full-scale strategic refresh to transform the business to be a technology-led organization with best-in-classexecution, and optimal resource utilization.
Prior to that appointment, Nicholas served as the Japan Country Chief Financial Officer. In that role, Nicholas was responsible for the Finance function across the Japan franchise and also served as the Chief Financial Officer of the legal entities Citigroup Japan Holdings G.K., Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc. and Citibank, N.A., Tokyo Branch. Furthermore, he oversaw the divestitures of the Retail Bank and Branded Cards and also led the formation of Japan&rsquo;s long-range ICG product and client strategy in alignment with the broader firm-wide objectives. From 2015 to 2017, Nicholas served as the Head of Financial Planning &amp; Analysis and Strategy for the Global Institutional Clients Group. In that role he oversaw and directed all aspects of Strategy, Earnings and Forward-Looking Analytics for the Sector in&nbsp; partnership with the CFO and broader finance leadership team.
From 2013 to 2015, Nicholas served as the Lead Finance Officer for the U. S. Consumer and Commercial Bank, overseeing all aspects of the franchise strategy, financial analytics, accounting, treasury, and risk management and led the transformational effort on the Bank&rsquo;s branch network. From 2001 to 2013, Nicholas has held several senior finance roles in Corporate Financial Planning &amp; Analysis, Global Wealth Management (Citi Private Bank / Smith Barney), including CFO for the North America Private Bank, and Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Smith Barney. Prior to Citi, Nicholas was a Senior Business Analyst for Spar Group Inc. and a Senior Fixed Income Analyst in the Analytics Division for Reuters America, Inc.
Nicholas is a graduate of Harvard&rsquo;s Business School Strategic IQ program, holds an MBA in Financial Engineering from Fordham University and a B.S. in Finance with minors in Advanced Statistics and Linear Models from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is married to Mary and has three children:Petra, Sofia and Stefanos ages 13, 10 and 8 respectively. Brian Rathjen, President of Roberts & Ryan Investments Brian Rathjen is the President of Roberts &amp; Ryan Investments. Prior to joining Roberts &amp; Ryan in 2017, Mr. Rathjen co- founded Kelson Group, a premier placement agent focused on raising capital from the institutional marketplace for top tier money managers in alternative and traditional asset classes. Prior to Kelson Group, Mr. Rathjen started and ran Marwood Group Asset Management (MGAM), a subsidiary of Marwood Group. Mr. Rathjen oversaw all business and client service and had senior responsibilities involving the strategic direction and overall management processes at MGAM. Mr. Rathjen started his career on Wall Street as Institutional Fixed Income Specialist at Prudential Securities in 1996.
Brian Rathjen graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1988. After additional Navy schooling in San Diego, Mr. Rathjen was an Engineering Officer in the Surface Warfare Community in the United States Navy. While serving onboard the USS Ouellet (FF1077) in Pearl Harbor Hawaii, then Lieutenant Rathjen was awarded both the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal for Meritorious Service.
Mr. Rathjen is passionate about Veteran causes. He serves on the Board of Directors for Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness. Mr. Rathjen is a Trustee for the Athletic and Scholarship Program for the Naval Academy Foundation and is a member of the Naval Academy&rsquo;s President&rsquo;s Circle. In addition, Mr. Rathjen serves on both Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Rice&rsquo;s Service Academy Selection Committees. Mr. Rathjen is a member of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick where he serves as Historian. Mr. Rathjen resides in Rockville Centre, New York with his wife Wendy and his two daughters Sydney and Charlotte.

Season 3

Citi is joined by Brian Rathjen of Roberts & Ryan, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Broker Dealer, whose mission is to utilize financial resources to support veterans and their families by supporting organizations such as Boulder Crest Retreat, which provides programs and resources for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress (PTS).

Good Things Happen, E1: Banking in the Modern Era

Download Report 

Executive Summary

The key drivers behind Asia's faster adoption of technology include underdeveloped infrastructure, especially in retail, banking, and healthcare, as well as high internet penetration, young digital natives, urbanization, a rising middle class, and an entrepreneurial spirit.&nbsp;
Key areas where Asia currently holds an advantage over the West include:
<ul>
<li>Super apps &mdash; mobile apps that integrate multiple functions under a single umbrella &mdash; are unique to Asia, yet they are ubiquitous across the region. Driven by younger demographics and high digital adoption, Asian users are immersed in super apps and enjoy the convenience, ease of use, and multitude of services they provide.&nbsp; </li>
<li>Asia leads the rest of the world in adopting mobile payments both online and offline. According to FIS, in 2021, digital/mobile wallets accounted for nearly 70% of the e-commerce transaction value in Asia, more than double that of North America or Europe. Likewise, for purchases at physical points-of-sale, nearly half, or 44%, of transactions in Asia were done via digital/mobile wallets, a share 4-5x larger than in the West.&nbsp; </li>
<li>Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce that offers consumers an integrated platform with social features, providing more immersive and interactive shopping experience. Asia was the first region to introduce several social commerce formats, such as livestreaming e-commerce. According to Insider Intelligence, the U.S. is expected to reach China's 2018 level of social commerce penetration in 2026, indicating that China is roughly eight years ahead in social commerce. </li>
<li>Short-form videos have revolutionized the way people consume and creators develop video content. The commercialization of short-term videos took off in China, most notably through TikTok. Taking note of this video format's success, Western tech giants have been racing to create their own products with similar features, as the competition for users and advertising budgets intensifies.&nbsp; </li>
<li>While South Korea is widely regarded as the "home of eSports," the eSports boom quickly spread to other Asian countries, making the region central to the world of competitive gaming. Over the past decade, countries in the West have followed in Asia's footsteps by professionalizing eSports, organizing eSports tournaments, devleloping successful eSports teams, attracting sponsorships, and supporting a growing livestreaming market. Meanwhile, Asia continues to explore new frontiers in eSports: refining the eSports value chain, popularizing and scaling the mobile eSports ecosystem, and creating eSports hubs. </li>
<li>Webtoons &mdash; digital comics optimized for viewing on mobile devices &mdash; originated in Asia, where the industry continues to dominate, and are now making inroads into Western markets. South Korean companies have launched local-language versions of existing webtoons, venturing outside of Asian markets. They have also acquired local Western players, exporting their respective original webtoon content via acquired platforms. Like anime, manga, and K-pop, webtoons are softly permeating into Western media and entertainment. </li>
<li>In Asia, digital healthcare is significant in terms of both scale and penetration. Digital healthcare is reported to have touched the lives of around 1.5 billion people in Asia (in terms of registered users across emerging healthcare platforms), and its user base is continuing to grow. Furthermore, studies suggest the adoption rate of digital healthcare in developing Asia is 2.5 times the rate in the U.S. Moreover, unlike the West, where various scaled players specialize in each vertical of healthcare services, the digital healthcare industry in Asia has evolved from a standalone play to a comprehensive ecosystem of services.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

We estimate Asia adopts new technologies 8-12 years ahead of the West, making it much more like a time machine to the future. While its infrastructure has historically been underdeveloped relative to the West's. Asia's high internet connectivity, young and increasingly affluent and urban demographics, and entrepreneurial spirit have driven the region to adopt many technologies at a faster pace. In doing so, Asia provides a glimpse of what the future could look like in more developed, Western economies.

Seven Areas Where Asia Gives Interesting Insights Into the Future

We estimate Asia adopts new technologies 8-12 years ahead of the West, making it much like a time machine to the future.  While its infrastructure has historically been underdeveloped relative to the West’s, Asia’s high internet connectivity, young and increasingly affluent and urban demographics, and entrepreneurial spirit have driven the region to adopt many technologies at a faster pace. In doing so, Asia provides a glimpse of what the future could look like in more developed, Western economies. 

Asia as a Time Machine to the Future

In this episode of Citi Dialogues we hear from airasia SuperApp CEO, Mohamad Hafidz, on how the budget airline is leveraging tech and data to transform the customer journey.
&nbsp;
<iframe id="kmsembed-1_bsxdsz8i" class="kmsembed" title="Citi Dialogues | airasia" src="https://video.citi.com/embed/secure/iframe/entryId/1_bsxdsz8i/uiConfId/48537213/st/0" width="480" height="306" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-downloads allow-forms allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-pointer-lock allow-popups allow-modals allow-orientation-lock allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-presentation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

In this episode of Citi Dialogues we hear from airasia SuperApp CEO, Mohamad Hafidz, on how the budget airline is leveraging tech and data to transform the customer journey.

Citi Dialogues | airasia 

One of the industries that is likely to be significantly impacted by the surge in Artificial Intelligence is Education. In this video Tom Singlehurst, who covers the Education sector for Citi Research, discusses some of the changes that lie ahead. 

How will Artificial Intelligence change Education?

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