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The Morning Download: Travel Industry Sees Automation as the Ticket to Pandemic Response
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Good morning, CIOs. The travel industry, hit with a tidal wave of cancellations and looking to protect customers and its own front-line workers from Covid-19, is increasingly adopting automation technologies. CIO Journal's Angus Loten has the story. Some highlights below:
Automating the tidal wave of cancellations. Software maker Automation Anywhere Inc. has retooled its robotic process-automation software to help carriers like American Airlines tackle the surge in demand for refunds.
Device for finding weapons now identifies fevers. Paine Field Passenger Terminal in Everett, Wash., last week began deploying a camera aimed at screening passengers for fevers. The camera, developed by Austin, Texas-based technology firm Athena Security, was originally designed to spot individuals carrying guns.
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Robot cleaners. Xenex Disinfection Services LLC has converted technology developed to rid hospital wards of viruses, germs and bacteria into a hotel housekeeping robot.
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A doctor wearing protective gear gathers a saliva sample from a driver at a drive-in COVID-19 testing facility in Berlin, April 30, 2020. PHOTO: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Blockchain may offer solutions to fighting Covid-19. Some of the most effective actions deployed to control the spread of the virus in countries with strong central governments are much harder to implement in Western countries where individual privacy and civil liberties play a much stronger role. Enter blockchain.
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F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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While it’s impossible to predict what other technologies could have as big an economic impact as LCDs did, many countries are betting on 5G, quantum computing, quantum cryptography, solid-state batteries, and new ways to battle pandemics. One thing is clear: The countries that fund basic scientific research have a far better chance of dominating the global economy in the next century.
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Analysis by the WSJ's Christopher Mims
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“I both love and hate the title, because it’s so vague.”
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— Su Hyun Kim, who joined digital agency Barbarian Group LLC as its experience creative director
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Jeff Bezos could face a range of questions from the House Judiciary Committee, including such issues as Amazon’s market power and impact on small businesses to the safety of its workers and sales of counterfeit products on its platforms. PHOTO: JOHN LOCHER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Amazon CEO Bezos called to testify before Congress.
Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee called on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to testify on its private-label practices, citing a WSJ investigation that found Amazon employees used data about independent sellers on its platform to develop competing products. (WSJ)
Elon Musk tweeted last week that Tesla’s stock was too high. The market agreed. Asked later if the tweet was vetted or made in jest, Mr. Musk said: “No.” (WSJ)
A Ford joins electric-car maker board. Ford has named Alexandra Ford English, daughter of executive chairman Bill Ford Jr., to fill the company’s board seat at electric-car startup Rivian Automotive. Rivian's vehicles use a so-called skateboard layout with a large battery, capable of giving them a travel range of about 400 miles on a single charge. (WSJ)
What does one do after running Google? Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and chairman, has positioned himself as a conduit between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon. (New York Times)
The race to recognize the masked face. Facial recognition companies are struggling to update their algorithms to identify people wearing face masks. (Wired)
Silver Lake to invest $750 million in Jio. The investment by the private-equity firm in Indian telecommunications and technology giant Jio Platforms Ltd. comes less than two weeks after Facebook said it would pay $5.7 billion for a nearly 10% stake in Jio. (WSJ)
Elliott Management to finance lawsuit against Quibi. The hedge fund has agreed to fund a suit brought by interactive-video company Eko, which claims Quibi, the new streaming service founded by entertainment veteran Jeffrey Katzenberg, is violating its patents and has stolen trade secrets. (WSJ)
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Everything Else You Need to Know
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International stock markets and oil prices fell as U.S.-China tensions escalated over blame for the possible origin of the coronavirus pandemic. (WSJ)
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared for emergency use an antibody test from diagnostics giant Roche Holding AG , the company said Sunday, a move that could add significant capacity to efforts to determine the wider spread of Covid-19. (WSJ)
J.Crew Group Inc., the preppy U.S. retailer that recently fell on hard times, filed for bankruptcy protection, as several high-profile companies in the U.S. battle with the economic and financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. (WSJ)
The coronavirus shutdowns are giving scientists an opportunity they never thought they would have: to see what would happen to the planet if the world’s economy went on hiatus. The result has been drops in air pollutants to levels not seen in at least 70 years. (WSJ)
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