Tag: Brazil

Blue Yonder thinks Brazil will win the World Cup

Posted on June 14, 2018 by - News

02515419Artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Blue Yonder has picked Brazil to win the World Cup and claims that England only has a five percent chance of holding the trophy.

The outfit analysed every international match played since 1872 and ran a million simulations to predict the outcome, with Brazil given a 22.5 percent chance of winning.

Brazil was followed by Spain at 11 percent, Argentina at 9.5 percent and France at 7.8 percent.

Christian Haag, the data science consultant at Blue Yonder, explained how the AI came to its conclusion.

“We took data from every available international match going to back to 1872 and then ran simulations accounting for different outcomes for each match for all 32 teams, with either team one designated as the winner, team two winning, or a draw.

“We ran over one million simulations and calculated the chances of teams winning or finishing runner-up in the group stage, and reaching each stage of the tournament.”

England did not fare too well in the simulations and was given a 5.7 percent chance of glory in Russia this summer.

The Three Lions are predicted to win their first two matches against Tunisia and Panama in Group G, but are only given a 41.7 percent chance of beating Belgium in their final group game. Of course, you don’t need AI to know that England is not going to win.  Channel Eye’s divination team thinks they will have a harder time against Tunisia and Panama because everyone expects them to win.

The AI has unexpectedly put host country Russia just behind in England in winning the World Cup with a 4.6 percent chance, with more famous teams such as Portugal and Belgium trailing behind.

“One of the interesting predictions that emerged from our simulations was Russia’s stronger-than-expected performance. The team has struggled in recent years, and the lack of a qualification process makes their strength hard to judge, but host teams often fare well, and Russia may surprise many at the tournament.”

Telcos reap rewards in Latin America

Posted on April 16, 2013 by - News

nationalcongressWhile us Brits may shake our fists cursing at the telecom industry at large – swearing one day we’ll move to GiffGaff – in Latin America, telecoms is doing a world of good economically and socially, at least according to a report from industry analyst Ovum.

Ovum which has joined AHCIET to publish the AHCIET-Ovum Observatory of Telecoms Indicators in Latin America – or AOOTILA for short. As much of the world sank into economic doldrums in 2008, from then up to 2011 there has been overall growth in fixed and mobile internet connections by 72 and 41 percent respectively, according to the report.

Jobs, too, have enjoyed significant growth throughout the region. Workers employed by operators have increased by almost 60 percent – marking almost a quarter of a million jobs. Brazil and Nicaragua saw their telco workforce double, and Guetamala almost managed the same.

Telecom companies are increasing their capital investment – at roughly 28 percent overall- because they’re focusing on deploying access infrastructure. Without the correct infrastructure they are missing a trick on selling digital services, so it’s in their best interest.

In 2009, a year on from the onset of the global recession, Ovum noted that growing demand for fixed and mobile broadband has meant continuously strong investment – while capex grew by 28 percent on average to pass $22 trillion in 2011. Falling prices of entry level tariffs are helping to boost connectivity, too.

AHCIET secretary general Pablo Bello said that telcos are emerging in their influence and they do have a role to play in tackling poverty.

“It is time for countries to seriously consider how much faster we could close the digital divide and remove the regulatory moorings that are still hindering telecoms growth and equitable access to advanced services,” Bello said. “Our hard data shows that countries which have made the most progress are those where key players recognise the need for public-private cooperation with convergent public policies, regulations and taxation that encourage investment”.

“There are no magic spells to close the digital divide,” Bello said. “The key is to invest intensively in next-generation access networks and to educate on the sophisticated uses of digital connectivity, a challenge facing all participants”.