Corporate Vision September 2017

CORPORATE VISION / September 2017 7 NEWS , Bartercard UK, which is a global online trading platform, has secured a year-long sponsorship deal with the Hampshire-based club. It’s not the first time that Barter- card UK has offered its support to sports teams or clubs and being associated with community activ- ities like this is a core feature of the brand’s ethos. Philip Ciniglio, CEO of Bartercard UK, said: “It’s a fantastic opportu- nity to be able to sponsor football clubs such as Basingstoke Town FC. As well as giving our support to the team, it gives Bartercard UK the chance to showcase our brand to potential new members. We wish all the team at Basing- stoke Town the best of luck for the upcoming season.” Bartercard UK branded hoardings will be highly visible throughout the grounds in Hampshire during the sponsorship period, providing lots of exposure for the online trading brand. The sponsorship deal is also great news for the Hampshire football club, which has been around since 1896. Will Wilkin- son, Head of Digital and Mar- keting at Basingstoke Town FC, explained: “We’re truly delighted to welcome Bartercard UK as a principal sponsor for the 2017/18 season. It means so much to our club to have such a great sponsor on board. Being aligned with such a globally established company is also fantastic for our team and can help elevate our status and reputation as a football club.” Will adds: “As our fans will know, the club is going through a tran- sition currently with the current Chairman stepping down and stopping his financing. The club is moving to a community owner- ship model so saving money off the bottom line is critical for us to survive and thrive.” The partnership sees Basing- stoke Town FC become a mem- ber of the Bartercard network, with sponsorship funds being offset against services the club would have otherwise paid for in cash and is already paying divi- dends, with the club recently sav- ing £1000 on insurance renewals. Visit www.bartercard.co.uk for more information. The Internet of Things (IoT) market is poised for rapid growth with the development of microelectronics, ubiquitous connectivity and cognition. Due to the abundant opportunities for vendors and service provid- ers across all levels of the IoT ecosystem, enterprise systems integrators and platform vendors have a promising future says Frost & Sullivan. In the consumer space, Amazon, Google, Apple, Samsung and Microsoft have intensified efforts to dominate the personal assis- tance race to control homes and the profitable consumer IoT and artificial intelligence sector. To succeed in a highly-fragmented market, consolidation will be es- sential with vendors and service providers coalescing around large enterprise platforms that provide the necessary build- ing blocks and encourage the development of applications from smaller vendors. Frost & Sullivan’s analysis titled, Growth Opportunities for Service Providers in the Internet of Things (IoT), predicts the total number of IoT devices will grow from approximately 12.44 billion Bartercard UK Sponsors Basingstoke Town FC devices in 2016 to over 45.31 bil- lion devices by 2023, at a global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3%. In addition, the study shares an overview of the IoT landscape in the next 12- 18 months in terms of adoption, applications and key market players, as well as forecasts growth opportunities for vendors and service providers in different levels of it IoT ecosystem. “Application development platforms are the engines that drive IoT growth. By tightening integration and consolidating IoT platforms, seamless solution development, costs and value for customers will be improved,” said Frost & Sullivan Internet of Things (IoT) research director, Dilip Sarangan. Five predictions for IoT in the next 12-18 months include: • Transition from connected devices to the use of cogni- tive or predictive computing and sentient tools; • Use of artificial intelli- gence to transform smart devices so that they react to changes in the environment without human intervention; • Increased commoditisation of platforms; • Boom in drone delivery and use of drones to monitor remote wildfires, cell towers and electric lines; • Unsecure devices and malware escalate cyber-at- tacks, making IoT a national security hazard. “While it is impossible to create standards across all the indus- tries that are part of IoT, there is need for standardisation around how data is collected, stored and communicated across different industries and applications,” not- ed Sarangan. “This will provide leadership opportunities for large platform vendors.” Growth Opportunities for Service Providers in the Internet of Things (IoT) is part of Frost & Sullivan’s Internet of Things (IoT) Universe Growth Partnership Service program. www.frost.com Bartercard UK recently announced it will be sponsoring Basingstoke Town Football Club throughout the 2017/18 season.