Reply is a group that specialises in consulting, system integration and digital services with a focus on the conception, design and development of solutions based on the new communication channels and digital media.
Comprised of a network of companies, Reply partners with leading industrial groups in defining business models, made possible by new technological and communication paradigms such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, digital communication and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Reply is characterised by:
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a culture focused on technological innovation;
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a flexible structure able to anticipate market developments and interpret new technological drivers;
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a delivery method of proven success and scalability;
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a network of companies specialised in specific areas of expertise;
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teams composed of specialists, selected from the best universities;
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a highly experienced management team;
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continuous investment in research and development;
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and long-term relationships with its clients.
THE ORGANISATIONAL MODEL
With over 7,600 employees (as of 31 December 2018), Reply operates through a network of companies that specialise in processes, applications and technologies, as well as centres of excellence in their respective fields.
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Processes – for Reply, the understanding and use of technology involves the introduction of a new enabling factor for business processes, based on an in-depth knowledge of both the market and the specific industrial contexts of implementation.
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Applications – Reply designs and implements application solutions aimed at satisfying core business needs.
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Technologies – Reply optimises the use of innovative technologies, implementing solutions capable of ensuring clients maximum efficiency and operational flexibility.
Reply’s services include:
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Consulting – with a focus on strategy, communication, design, processes and technology.
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System Integration – Making the best use of potential technology, combining business consulting with innovative technological solutions.
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Digital Services – innovative services based on new communication channels and digital trends.
MARKET FOCUS
In every market segment in which it operates, Reply combines sector-specific expertise with a broad experience in the provision of services and a wealth of advanced technological capabilities.
In 2018, the breakdown of the group’s sales in its various vertical sectors was as follows:
Telco & MEDIA
In a world that is continuously evolving towards convergence between the physical and the virtual, the types of relationships companies have with their customers are drastically changing. The digitalisation of services and of interactions impose new challenges on telco and media companies in terms of supply, business models and operating processes, often leading to increasingly competitive scenarios. Against this backdrop, Reply works with leading operators in the sector to define and implement digital transformation strategies. These are based on the renewal of systems that support products and services and to support the development of new service models that are customer-focused and delivered across all channels.
Furthermore, the rising use of the Internet of Things (IoT) requires an increasing reconfiguration of networks that can transport large volumes of data in real time. This data will is no longer solely generated by smartphones and mobile devices, but by a multitude of connected objects with widely different functional characteristics.
This new age of “smart connection” is characterised by a different approach to the network, which must be adapted and reconfigured to meet changing user demands and of the supporting service.
Reply offers integrated strategic and technological consulting services to support the design, definition and management of the new-generation networks, based on SDN (Software Defining Network) technologies, capable of integrating and managing virtual networks (Network Virtualisation) through network engineering services and network operations. The arrival of 5G networks, furthermore, marks the end of the fixed/mobile barrier, eliminating communication-related distances connected to broadband limitations, to latency, and to the receptive capacity of the 3G network.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Reply is increasingly active in supporting the digital transformation of Europe’s financial institutions. In this area, Reply works with some of the major players in the sector on many key issues, from the definition of multi-channel strategies, to the implementation of open banking and open API models and the adoption of AI models and technologies. In particular, in the increasingly relevant fields of big data, robots and artificial intelligence, Reply is investing heavily and collaborating with leading financial institutions (banks and insurance companies) along two lines of development:
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the concrete integration of the new big data technologies and architectures with existing systems; and
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the development of skills, analytics and machine learning models, aimed at extracting tangible business value from available databases.
Reply also boasts a strong and highly specialised presence in mobile payments and related m-commerce services. Reply offers consulting services, as well as a wide range of models and architectural solutions, aimed at the banking/insurance market and at emerging players in the payments industry, while also taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the entry into force of the PSD2 legislation (revised Payment Service Directive).
Reply maintains a strong market presence in the wealth management arena and has developed a wide range of specific skills and solutions. These are focused on the emerging consulting models, on expanding the range of services offered and on “robo advice”-type solutions and platforms. In the area of Governance Risk Control (GRC), Reply operates with a dedicated consulting division highly specialised in issues relating to risk evaluation and risk control. Within this, Reply is working with several leading financial institutions on a broad range of initiatives connected to the implementation of EBU standards and the development of associated models and solutions. Finally, Reply has been involved in numerous projects relating to the most advanced frontiers of innovation, such as in the latest biometric recognition technologies and digital identity, as well as quantum computing.
MANUFACTURING
Native Cloud platforms and applications, together with a focus on the enabling aspects of digital transformation, are at the core of Reply’s offering to the manufacturing market. Industry 4.0 and logistics 4.0 are increasingly critical aspects to the strategic development of companies in the sector. Reply has invested heavily to enhance its products and service offer in this area, with the re-engineering in 2017 and 2018 of its proprietary Supply Chain Execution and Manufacturing Execution System solutions. A solution was developed, based on IoT, cloud computing and big data technologies, that can communicate with the latest generation of sensors in production lines and products that create a backbone for the next generation of applications in the logistics and manufacturing sector.
Furthermore, Reply partners with companies to support them in the phases of transformation and management of their information systems, from strategic design to the understanding and redefinition of key processes, and the implementation of solutions that integrate core applications in the manufacturing and distribution sectors. The areas of focus and development of skills involve the support of supplier relationship management processes; the design and implementation of control systems and planning based on the new generation of Cloud ERP solutions; the planning and control of production units through Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES); and the distribution and handling of products across complex logistics networks through Supply Chain Execution (SCE) processes.
RETAIL
The retail industry is experiencing a time of significant change driven by various factors, including the evolution of consumer purchasing behaviour, the entry of new players and the digitisation of products and services. Customer experience, on the other hand, is an increasingly key differentor for retailers. Consumers expect to be able to interact with a brand wherever they are, thereby strengthening the link between physical stores and e-commerce.
In 2018 Reply partnered with various clients to support their digital transformation journeys. This work saw the merging of physical and virtual spaces through the development of multi-channel e-commerce platforms, of marketing automation solutions, of smart boxes and by re-engineering the logistics chain both on supplier and customers ends.
Energy & UTILITIES
In 2018 the energy and utilities sector saw the growth of innovative technologies on an industrial scale, across the entire value chain. Cloud Computing has become the leading provisioning tool for companies of all sizes, above all in the implementation of various digital transformation initiatives. The approach based on IoT models is increasingly widespread in the areas of generation, energy management and at the support of efficiency and smart city initiatives.
The first key intelligent process automation and artificial intelligence initiatives were announced in 2018, solutions that are expected to see further consolidation in 2019.
Against this backdrop of extensive transformation, Reply is one of the reference partners in the sector, combining knowledge of the market and of its unique processes, with a distinctive capability to design, implement and manage innovative digital solutions and technological platforms that support the “core business”. The company’s consolidated expertise in the introduction of new digital technologies has been further verticalised, with particular reference to the definition and development of new models in the energy management and downstream services sectors aimed at energy efficiency, areas in which Reply works with energy sales companies, as well as with end customers.
HEALTHCARE & GOVERNMENT
The increasingly evident need to bridge the gap between citizens and Public Administrations (PA) has led to the introduction of measures aimed not only at restructuring the management and control model (e.g. reorganisation of the national health system) but also the enhancement of existing services through the introduction of increasingly more digital and smarter systems (e.g. new monitoring system for individuals affected by chronic conditions). A public sector that is closer to its citizens implies a greater reach of the services offered, increasing the levels of usability and therefore of supply possibilities.
In the area of digital health, Reply’s highly specialised delivery of IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) focuses on two main areas: developing a network of information sharing among the various stakeholders in the field (i.e. patients, professionals and networks of those affected); as well as monitoring and supporting the citizen/patient at each stage of their “care and cure” journey (e.g. healthcare, social care).
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
Technological innovation forms the basis of Reply’s objective: providing its customers with the tools necessary to increase flexibility and efficiency. Reply is involved in a continuous process of research, selection and marketing of innovative solutions for sustaining the creation of value within organisations.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial intelligence, one of the founding dreams of information technology itself, is a discipline that has existed for a long time. For years a mere fantasy due to the unavailability of systems and data, this technology is now becoming a reality which is capable of bringing about concrete benefits in different contexts. Over the next few years, revolutions are expected in all fields, especially in the industrial sector, but also in areas related to society and to the private life of individuals.
Reply’s artificial intelligence offering is based on three key areas: human-machine interaction (with the development of conversation and natural language recognition systems or visual recognition systems), automation (through technologies such as intelligent process automation) and the creation of systems to support business decisions (data prediction). The essential factor for implementing artificial intelligence projects is the availability of data. AI offers effective results, provided that the datasets available are historical and updated in real time. Within this framework, Reply focuses not only on the technology, but also uses advanced models for the management and processing of vast amounts of data required to train the algorithms.
Specifically, Reply applies the results of its research on artificial intelligence to real-world scenarios, creating customised solutions that integrate machine learning, deep learning or reinforcement learning algorithms, with recommendation systems, predictive engines, conversational interfaces or video and image recognition systems. Reply collaborates in these areas with the world’s leading AI technology players.
BLOCKCHAIN
In a landscape of emerging technologies, blockchain will increasingly be able to foster new digital ecosystems based on distributed computational infrastructures. Today, the shared nature of blockchain–based digital registers represents an opportunity characterised by multi-industry application, with repercussions for the financial services sector and management of the supply chain. Moreover, the possible synergies with other exponential technologies – such as IoT and artificial intelligence – make blockchain an ideal convergence layer to support the data marketplaces of the future.
Reply has defined a portfolio of services, encompassing consulting, design and the implementation of solutions based on the blockchain and the distributed ledger technology (DLT). Among the major initiatives developed in 2018, Reply, alongside its insurance and academic sector partners, launched the first sandbox for the Italian insurance market. As a founding member of the “Trusted Smart Contract Association”, it aims to define standards for the industrial adoption of legally enforceable smart contracts.
CLOUD COMPUTING
The Cloud has permanently established itself as one of the most important areas of transformation that companies have had to face. Virtual environments and services offered by leading, global vendors have modified the concept of IT, transforming it from being a simple commodity to one of the core elements on which to configure an organisation’s digital transformation.
At the same time, the ever-increasing maturity of the cloud in its various declinations (IaaS, PaaS or SaaS) is driving service providers and consulting companies to develop offerings to tackle highly strategic issues, such as the coexistence in the cloud with traditional on–premise applications and the challenge of data management security.
In the Cloud Computing field, Reply has defined a products and services offer that combines the following elements:
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consulting support (from the business process to operational management) that can help clients to understand, select and develop the most appropriate technological solutions and applications.
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an end-to-end provider service which, supported by partnerships with major international vendors including Adobe, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Salesforce, allows clients to benefit from the most effective solutions for their needs, both in terms of the model and the technology selected.
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SaaS services and solutions, based on Reply’s proprietary application platforms.
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a cloud infrastructure management service, with 24/7 availability, able to support customers not only in managing their infrastructure, but also at the application layer, guaranteeing continuity at the highest levels, constant performance monitoring and cost efficiency.
Customer Engagement
The rapid evolution of data analytics tools was triggered by the major innovations of technology companies. These tools use data-driven analysis methodologies made possible both by the large availability of data and the increasing computational capacity for analysis. Specifically, the data-driven approach is defining a new framework for the design and management of customer-focused marketing initiatives. Once the needs of the individual customer have been interpreted, based on data and analysis provided by CRM platforms, it becomes possible to tailor one-to-one marketing campaigns, launched in real time to meet specific needs.
To exploit this competitive advantage and establish a consultative and strategic platform, Reply has created a competence centre focused on the customer robotics approach. Experience from initiatives across various sectors (e.g. automotive, financial services, utilities, retail, etc.), has enabled Reply to develop a framework for the development and implementation of processes related to the direct interaction with the customer, designed to recognise and anticipate needs across the various digital channels. This initiative integrates machine learning, artificial intelligence and cognitive systems models.
Customer robotics facilitates the conception, design and implementation of services aimed at interpreting the data and providing fully data-driven customer service tools. These include recommendation systems for products and conversational services able to understand and interact independently using natural language.
Reply constantly invests in developing its expertise in leading CRM and e-commerce platforms and solutions, thanks to a solid ecosystem of partnerships with world leaders in the industry, including Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Salesforce.
CYBER SECURITY
Over the years, IT-related risks have increased dramatically in frequency and impact, leading to serious security violations. Millions of client data records have been compromised worldwide, affecting governments and other organisations. As a result, the mounting attention from regulatory bodies concerning the protection of information, personal data and critical infrastructures, requires an ever-increasing commitment from companies to manage their cyber security.
To respond to this increasing complexity, Reply’s coherent and complete set of integrated products and services protect the integrity of its customers’ systems, from setting the best cybersecurity strategies, to the identification and implementation of the most suitable technological solutions to mitigate risk. Through its extensive network of partnerships, Reply offers wide-ranging expertise on the most innovative and widely used security technologies on the market. Furthermore, the company can help its customers to scout, select and implement protection solutions designed to mitigate advanced risks related to the latest technological drivers (cloud, IoT, Industry 4.0, automation, etc.).
Reply supports businesses throughout the implementation phase of its integrated information protection plan, from the identification of threats and vulnerabilities to the planning, design and employment of appropriate technological, legal, organisational and risk transfer (cyber insurance) countermeasures. Lastly, thanks to its cyber security command centre, Reply assists large organisations with advanced computer security incident management and response action as well as threat intelligence services.
DATA & ANALYTICS
Data and its uses have become a key strategic factor in the digital transformation of businesses.
By combining technological skills in data analysis, data modelling and data process re-engineering, Reply makes it easier for its clients to approach the issue of data, focusing on cultural change and a new approach to data management and to the use of data. In particular, Reply supports its customers in the definition and implementation of data analytics platforms that apply advanced models to core corporate processes.
In 2018, Reply continued to develop a specific offer portfolio in the machine learning field, designed to address growing demand from companies wishing to automate lower impact processes such as invoice reconciliation, while building value-added services based on innovative process automation models through deep learning, image recognition and prescriptive analytics.
DESIGN CONSULTING
In a world increasingly characterised by complex ecosystems, Reply supports its clients to create innovative and distinctive product-service experiences for the B2C and B2B sectors. From analysing needs through to strategic business objectives and technological enablers, Reply can transform them into integrated customer journeys and prototypes that make the results immediately tangible and verifiable. Results are then developed in an iterative and agile way, until they are launched on the market.
At the same time, a customer-centric approach requires a change in the organisation, to enable a successful customer experience journey. Reply supports organisations in managing such changes to make them really customer-centric, receptive to market inputs or feedback, agile in releasing new products and services, as well as mobilising cross-functional teams that operate in full autonomy towards specific objectives.
In 2018, Reply continued to invest in this area through the acquisition of new talent and expertise. Its two studios in Milan and Munich were further expanded enabling support for customers in Europe and globally.
Digital EXPERIENCE
Real time marketing, artificial intelligence and analysis of the customer journey are the three transformation technologies set to impact most on the relationship of brands with customers. The use of these technologies enables brands to increase their marketing results through a continuous improvement of the customer experience in terms of loyalty and growth of its base.
Taking advantage of these emerging capabilities means building a more data-driven vision of the individual customer. The growing interest in cross-device identification tools and account-based marketing solutions (ABM) underlines the increasing interest among brands towards technologies offering targeted and coherent interactions among owned, earned and paid media.
Reply has developed a broad and highly specialised set of skills, including digital storytelling, contextual interaction, omnichannel loyalty, data recognition to capture large quantities of information and subsequent data analysis expertise to create effective market insights. To extend this scenario further, there is a need to ensure coherent communication between the various media involved, through a consolidated strategy that also incorporates a multimedia asset management component.
In recent years, Reply has developed specific expertise and solutions to support companies in the development of immersive experience projects through the application of augmented reality and virtual reality. These technologies are expected to have an increasingly strong impact on the marketing strategies of highly innovative brands.
E-COMMERCE
Physical and digital, in-store and online: these are today’s drivers of convergence and digitalisation of companies, reaching far beyond the retail market.
Today, there is an increasing demand that the digital presence of a brand guarantees a purchase experience can be made in just a few clicks, allowing customers to quickly browse an interactive site. There should be no barriers, technological, physical, digital or relating to touch points that limit the user experience. A clear digitisation strategy is essential.
The magnitude of the customers’ digital identities is of increasing importance. Now, any strategic decision regarding investments in technology must be supported by increasingly sophisticated mathematical models based on data collected across the distribution chain, the sales chain and in all interactions with consumers. The value of this information is therefore twofold: the data is able to help streamline revenue reporting, quickly exerting influence on stock management, while the purchase conversion rate can be improved thanks to predictive analysis of purchasing behaviour.
Reply supports its customers on their journey, offering the latest technological solutions and helping them to define the best digital transformation strategies for the specific market and budget.
ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE & AGILE
The recent paradigm shifts in areas such as cloud computing, the mobile world, IoT and big data, along with more mature models of agile and DevOps delivery, have rendered the IT landscape unrecognisable compared to a few years ago.
In order to excel in the digital economy, characterised by the convergence between the physical and the digital worlds, organisations must remove the boundaries between IT and business. This will allow enterprises to be agile in exploiting the new developments available to them, although they must proceed with caution to avoid damaging existing systems and processes.
This new technological approach requires agile delivery models in which small, highly qualified, multi-disciplinary teams implement a process of end-to-end change in a very short timeframe, working directly with the managers of the various business areas involved. Reply supports its customers in the realm of enterprise architecture through a vast catalogue of architectural frameworks, methods and models, consolidated in many projects completed for large industrial, media and service groups.
GAME STUDIOS
The development of the videogame market is increasingly prevalent, attracting all age groups and remaining equally divided between males and females. The average age of gamers increased in 2018 to around 36 years old.
A culture has developed that allows companies to continually improve the dialogue with customers, with games playing an important role.
In addition to creating internationally acclaimed games, Reply has developed an offer that meets the communication needs of gaming brands within a 360° perspective. Reply is constantly investing in this area so that it can offer, through the use of the latest technologies, increasingly innovative and engaging game experiences.
During 2018, Reply was able to further assert the company’s ability to create quality products, with a focus on an international market. In particular, the release of Lone Wolf, a legacy Reply production, on the Nintendo Switch platform has had considerable success both in terms of visibility and sales performance.
INDUSTRY 4.0
The fourth industrial revolution is the combined effect of connectivity, data processing power, latest generation mechanical automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Industry 4.0 models are quickly redefining production sites around the world, transforming them into systems closely interconnected with the supply chain, logistics, sales, the products themselves and the support and maintenance chain.
Plants become open ecosystems that need to be able to adapt autonomously to new tasks, to carry out maintenance activities and to predict the best input and output flows through constant communication with supply chains, while attaining levels of efficiency and control that minimise costs and maximise results.
For this new global world of interconnected production, Reply has developed a suite of integrated solutions capable of ensuring its customers are flexible, connected and efficient. In particular, Reply’s mission is to accompany its customers along the entire transformation journey: from the planning and development of solutions that open up the production sites and interconnect them to the entire digital world, to the design and implementation of solutions capable of rendering products “smart”, connected and digital.
The digitisation of companies is a transformation expected to take place in the medium term, made possible and concrete by the use of all the vertical and horizontal pillars offered by Industry 4.0 (robotics, digital twin, cloud and fog computing, augmented reality, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, etc.).
THE INTERNET OF THINGS
2018 saw the emergence of three main trends which steered the development of Reply’s products and services offer in the IoT realm. The first is the growing need for differentiation in insurance, telco and utilities. In response, companies in these industries have consolidated connected objects as a cornerstone of product portfolio extension strategies for creating value and customer loyalty.
The second trend is the growing opportunity for marketing in support of existing products. Through the increasing availability of connectivity, it is now possible to fundamentally transform the market approach of the manufacturing segment.
The third and final trend has seen the exponential spread and popularity of new voice interaction mechanisms, such as smart speakers or voice assistants, as well as new systems of interaction, which are stimulating a different interaction between the physical world and the digital services world.
To tackle these challenges, Reply has designed and developed HI ConnectTM, a platform of services, devices and middleware, on which to base specific vertical applications such as ecosystems for the household appliances sector, advanced logistics, environmental security, contactless payment and product traceability. In 2018, Reply consolidated its position in the areas of home and professional appliances, connected insurance and in new telco offers and utilities for the connected home, as well as in the manufacturing, healthcare, insurance and automotive sectors.
MIXED REALITY
Combining advanced technological skills, experimentation of new technologies and the ability to produce high quality content in its proprietary laboratory, means Reply has developed a products and services offer for implementing augmented reality applications. This design and development offer enables users to enjoy an engaging experience, where they are transported into in a virtual and navigable environment.
AR and VR projects implemented by Reply during the course of the year have covered many areas including in healthcare, where installations aimed at motor rehabilitation and training were created. Numerous projects were also conducted in the marketing sphere, which saw VR and AR become excellent tools to support product presentation and customer engagement.
MOBILE & APPS
In the mobile sector, Reply supports companies’ interactions with their users based on omnichannel applications and architectures capable of meeting needs of the new market by increasing the usability and performance of services, integrating new channels and types of devices seamlessly following specific guidelines of each platform.
With reference to the increasingly pervasive phenomenon of mobile video – where the quality and stability of the service are essential to ensuring its success – Reply is engaged in major European projects for the provision of Over The Top services, with design, development, validation and monitoring teams.
Following the latest mobile developments, Reply launched its first experiments on the iOS platform, based on the use of AR Kit for augmented reality solutions, as well as on the Android platform, based on the Android Auto and Android TV tools.
In addition, Reply strengthened the company’s own application factory dedicated to mobile apps for both business and consumer worlds. The factory includes a user experience laboratory that closely collaborates with teams of developers specialised in various platforms, which bases its activity on a data–driven approach using tools and methods that focus on users’ needs and behaviours.
QUANTUM COMPUTING
A portfolio of innovative technologies – that made possible to look at complex problems from a computational point of view – are entering the market. We are referring to the accelerated computing realm, whose basic purpose is to hasten computational workloads through the use of innovative hardware platforms. Within this framework, quantum computing takes on a role of absolute prominence. In fact, the ability to encapsulate the information within quantum bits (Qubits), taking advantage of the massive parallelisation of quantum algorithms, makes it possible to solve problems typically beyond the reach of classic technologies.
In 2018, Reply launched a centre of excellence dedicated to quantum computing and formed an important alliance with D-wave to enable cloud–based access to their Quantum Annealer. Some of the key achievements during the year include: the identification of use cases providing added–value for potential customers, the definition of guidelines for the development and experimentation of this type of technology, the development of solutions in different areas ranging from cybersecurity (with a particular focus on quantum key distribution) to logistics optimisation and quantum machine learning.
SOCIAL MEDIA
In recent years, social media has profoundly changed the way in which individuals of all age groups communicate and interact, in both their private and professional lives. The Internet has correspondingly transformed itself from a purely informative tool, to an immense space for dialogue and conversation, and for the research, purchase and evaluation of product/service brands.
New opportunities can be capitalised on by brands that are able to analyse and take advantage of the interactions generated on social media, be they customers, prospects, employees, partners or suppliers. The strategic assets in this realm are the ability to observe relevant phenomena, the process of defining the most effective social media marketing activities to meet a brand’s business needs, data–driven content curation and social analytics activities.
Social media represents a valuable system of data that makes it possible to better understand users and to generate actionable insight. For example, data on user expectations supports those marketing initiatives focused on anticipating emerging trends; analytics data supports communication teams in defining communication clusters; advertisement interaction data makes it possible to optimise campaigns to decrease the dispersion of communication and to improve the conversion performance.
