May 2022 Summaries

Speechmatics has partnered with Kao Data, a leading sustainable data center in the UK, to address its growing need for data storage while minimizing environmental impact. This partnership is significant as it highlights the importance of sustainability in the tech industry and provides an opportunity for Speechmatics to reduce its carbon footprint. With Kao Data's commitment to renewable energy and reducing emissions, the two companies are working together to create a more environmentally conscious future. The need for data centers will continue to grow, driven by increasing internet usage and the exponential growth of machine-generated data, making sustainable solutions like Kao Data's 100% renewable-powered facilities crucial in mitigating climate change.

Kao Data has secured a new customer contract with Speechmatics, a leading speech recognition technology scaleup, to host their high-performance computing (HPC) deployment at Kao Data's Harlow campus in the UK. The HPC deployment will include NVIDIA A100 GPUs and will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, supporting Speechmatics' expanding GPU-accelerated neural network research and development. Kao Data was chosen as the UK's premier location for HPC and AI due to its sustainability and energy efficiency commitments. The partnership marks an exciting prospect for both companies, with Kao Data looking forward to working closely with Speechmatics to support their unique approach to speech recognition technology.

The Digital Markets Act` has been published by the European Commission, and the UK Government has announced its own `Plan for Digital Regulation`. These regulations aim to promote competition in the tech industry, with a focus on giving smaller companies more space to grow. The rules also address issues such as pre-loading apps and software onto products, preventing monopoly-by-the-back-door tactics. Additionally, there are guidelines around captioning regulation to ensure all content comes with closed captions, making it easier for viewers to access information. While some tech giants have expressed concerns that these regulations could reduce innovation, the author believes they will ultimately foster more competition and choice for European innovators and start-ups.

It's Mental Health Awareness week around the world, highlighting the prevalence of anxiety in people worldwide, with 30% experiencing some form of anxiety in their lives. In the workplace, signs of anxiety include restlessness, irritability, and feeling out of control, which can impact concentration, motivation, and task completion if ignored. The rise of working from home has led to a sense of inescapability for many, with 77% of surveyed professionals tired of Zoom meetings. Researchers are using AI to recognize signs of anxiety with over 90% accuracy, suggesting its potential role in identifying, normalizing, and treating mental health conditions like anxiety. Recognizing the importance of work-life balance and addressing issues such as excessive screen time, video-chat fatigue, information overload, and social isolation can help mitigate anxiety. The NHS has listed common anxiety symptoms, and small changes to daily habits, such as getting enough sleep, scheduled worry time, and easing up on caffeine and alcohol intake, can help manage anxiety. By acknowledging mental health and seeking support, individuals can take steps towards a healthier work-life balance.

There’s nothing quite like industry recognition to know you’re on the pathway to something extraordinary. The BOLD Awards recognize companies and projects that lead the way in technology, making a positive impact on the world around them. Speechmatics was awarded the prestigious BOLD Award for BOLDest AI for their incredible work in speech recognition and artificial intelligence, specifically for solving real problems such as the bottleneck caused by the lack of labeled data in ASR. The company's self-supervised speech algorithms have led to improved performance and accuracy across a diverse range of voices, particularly in environments with noisy backgrounds. This achievement has been a huge boost for all sectors of the business, and Speechmatics is now at the forefront of a bold new way of doing things.