17 Jan
Member News

Chatbots – What are they and how can we use them?

As the apps were a paradigm shift of customers going more towards mobile solutions, the chatbot hype shows similarities to such a shift. With app downloads and retention decreasing, not to mention the fact that a user uses only a few apps per day, companies are looking for creative and innovative ways to engage customers better, provide improved customer service and to analyze and respond to trends in real-time. Enter the chatbot. These conversational agents, software programs use messaging to...

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17 Jan
Chapter News

A Shifting Global Economic Landscape: Update to the World Economic Outlook

Today the IMF released an update to the World Economic Outlook. An accumulation of recent data suggests that the global economic landscape started to shift in the second half of 2016. Developments since last summer indicate somewhat greater growth momentum coming into the new year in a number of important economies. Our earlier projection, that world growth will pick up from last year’s lackluster pace in 2017 and 2018, therefore looks increasingly likely to be realized. At the same time, we...

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17 Jan
Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

EU and US publish TTIP state of play assessment

Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and United States Trade Representative Michael Froman have today published a joint assessment of the progress made in the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) since negotiations started in July 2013. Commissioner Malmström said: "As discussed with Member States at the last Trade Council in November, this assessment aims to outline and summarize where things stand in the EU-US trade talks, building on our established policy of increased transparency in these negotiations. The...

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17 Jan
Member News

Luxottica and Essilor to merge in blockbuster eyewear deal

Luxottica Group SpA (LUX) and Essilor International SA announced Monday, Jan. 16, that they would merge, creating an eyewear giant with combined revenues of over €15 billion ($15.96 billion). The combined company will have a market value of over €46 billion based on the companies' respective Friday closing market capitalizations.  The companies said in a statement that they will also have combined net Ebitda of about €3.5 billion (derived from their 2015 results). In the medium term, they expect revenue and cost synergies of €400 million...

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13 Jan
Chapter News

All you need to know about the election of the new Parliament president

  Parliament will kick off the second half of its five-year term with the election of a new president, 14 vice-presidents and five quaestors during next week's plenary session. On 17 January MEPs will elect a successor to current president Martin Schulz, who is stepping down and will then go on to decide on who will be vice-presidents and quaestors. Read one to find out more about what they do, who is eligible to stand and how they are elected...

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13 Jan
Chapter News, New York Related News

NYCEDC and Civic Hall Labs Launch NYC BigApps 2017

Submissions Open for Civic Innovation Competition  Focusing on New York City Youth, Seniors, and Immigrants  Winning Technologies Will Receive Cash Prizes, Accelerator Admission, and be Eligible for a Pilot on LinkNYC Kiosks  New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), in collaboration with Civic Hall Labs (CHL), today announced the official launch of NYC BigApps 2017 competition, which has started accepting submissions. This is the seventh offering of NYC BigApps, the City’s premier civic technology competition that has awarded close to a half-million dollars...

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12 Jan
Member News

Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2017

Summary: Over the past several years, the United States Supreme Court has become increasingly involved in the area of intellectual property law.  During that time, the Court has issued significant decisions on, among other things, patent eligibility, indirect infringement, the definiteness requirement, enhanced damages and fee shifting.  The renewed focus on intellectual property law appears poised to continue into 2017, with the Supreme Court scheduled to issue decisions addressing a variety of issues, including venue in patent cases, the functionality...

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12 Jan
Chapter News

Foreign Direct Investment stocks at the end of 2015- The EU continues to be a net investor in the rest of the world- EU and US markets still highly interconnected

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks held by the European Union (EU) in the rest of the world amounted to €6 894 bn at the end of 2015, up by 14.9% compared with the end of 2014. Meanwhile, investment stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU rose even more strongly to €5 842 bn at the end of 2015 (+22.8%). However, the EU maintained a net investment position of slightly above €1 000 bn vis-a-vis...

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12 Jan
Chapter News

Robots: Legal Affairs Committee calls for EU-wide rules

EU rules for the fast-evolving field of robotics, to settle issues such as compliance with ethical standards and liability for accidents involving driverless cars, should be put forward by the EU Commission, urged the Legal Affairs Committee on Thursday. Rapporteur Mady Delvaux (S&D, LU) said: “A growing number of areas of our daily lives are increasingly affected by robotics. In order to address this reality and to ensure that robots are and will remain in the service of humans, we...

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12 Jan
Chapter News

Remarks by President Donald Tusk at the opening ceremony of the Maltese presidency, Valletta, 11 January 2017

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, It is good fortune that the Maltese Presidency comes at this extraordinary time, a time full of new challenges and dramatic upheavals. In these six months, in Rome we will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Treaty, and the Brexit procedure will formally be launched. The spring will also be a demanding test for the whole of the EU with regard to migration, especially on the Central Mediterranean Route. Such a sequence of events requires...

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