Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
BL ADE RUNNER
2049: INSIDE
THE SCI-FI
SEQUEL
-----------
THE BATTLE
TO DEFUSE
MOSUL’S
DEADLY IEDS
-----------
BRYAN
CRANSTON
ON REBOOTING
PHILIP K DICK
O C T 20 1 7 ---- ------------ W I R E D . C O .U K
WHITNEY WOLFE
R E I N V E N T E D D AT I N G .
NOW SHE’S
TA R G E T I N G L I N K E D I N
REVEALED
-----------
EUROPE’S 100
H O T T E S T S TA R T U P S
I D E A S -------------------------------------- T E C H N O L O G Y -------------- D E S I G N ------------------------- B U S I N E S S
10-17 _ CONTENTS _
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF WILSON. HAIR AND MAKE-UP: ANNA FUGATE-DOWNS.
STYLING: NATALIE OGURA. PHOTOGRAPHY (THIS PAGE): DAN BURN-FORTI
PLAY
The yap economy
Shape-shifting architecture; Haynes jet-engine kit; BMW Concept When art and science collide; how to
cobots; the Cassini mission; ancient 8 Series; flat-pack products; multi- digitise six million sounds; Abbey
microbes; Crossrail’s tunnels; whale- room speakers; bike helmets; Omega Road’s accelerator; transhumanism;
heart preservation; language barriers watches; Ruark radiogram Philip K Dick’s sci-fi shorts; magnetic art
Craig Venter’s productivity Whitney Wolfe’s dating app Bumble Iraq’s second city has been liberated
hacks; the Raspberry Pi success aimed to empower women. Now the from Daesh, but thousands of booby
story; Edinburgh startup guide; Tinder co-founder has set her sights traps litter its buildings and roads.
Debbie Wosskow’s life lessons on tackling tech’s sexism problem WIRED reports from the urban front line
112 FEATURE
Like the back of a hand
122 FEATURE
The AI science machine
128 FEATURE
Back to the future
136 FEATURE
Viva el internet
Managing editor Mike Dent Digital editor James Temperton Advertising manager Silvia Weindling
Senior commissioning editor João Medeiros Product editor Jeremy White Senior account manager Elaine Saunders
Commissioning editor Oliver Franklin-Wallis Commissioning editor Liat Clark Account manager Pavan Jhooti
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_ CONTRIBUTORS _ 10-17
Creating WIRED
Tales from the front line Stuart McGurk Amelia Tait
John Beck travelled to Mosul with GQ commissioning editor London-based writer Amelia
photographer Cengiz Yar ( left ) Stuart McGurk spoke to Tait met Bumble founder
to report on the city’s liberation Blade Runner 2049 director Whitney Wolfe in Texas and
from Daesh. In addition to booby- Denis Villeneuve about the found her to be classically
trapped roads and buildings, the inspiration behind the film. cool. “However,” Tait says,
pair also had to contend with the Does McGurk think it will “the Austin heat meant
stifling heat. “Iraqi summers are live up to comparisons with that I was the sweatiest I’ve
tough,” Beck explains. “Temper- the original? “I couldn’t be ever been.” Does she think
atures were already higher than more excited for the new Bumble will help women
40°C in Mosul when we began Blade Runner,” he says. regain confidence in dating
reporting this piece in early June. “It was always going to sink apps after the horror stories
It was Ramadan and the soldiers or swim on whether they many have experienced on
we followed continued to battle matched the distinct visual Tinder and others? “Hopefully
Daesh without eating or drinking feel of the original. You can it already has. But can it
from dawn until sunset. We fasted see just from the trailers change the way that men
too when we were with them, that they’ve managed it – treat women outside
sharing a huge meal at night. The and then some.” the app? We shall see.”
fighting was concentrated in the
city’s western bank, which was only
accessible via dirt roads, a pontoon
bridge and numerous checkpoints.
We wouldn’t have made it there at
all if it weren’t for the charm, skill
and endless hard work of our two
fixers, Mouhammad and Sangar.”
San Miguel have been exploring the world since 1890. Throughout our journey we
have discovered more trailblazers like Belinda who share our thirst for discovery,
creativity and new experiences. This unique collection of inspirational people form
the San Miguel Rich List, coming 12th October.
10-17 _ FROM THE EDITOR _ 0 1 3
Pictured: Bumble
team members
( l-r) Whitney
Wolfe, Sam
Fulgham, Alex
Williamson and
Caroline Ellis
A
few months ago, we noticed a notable trend in
our web-traffic data: stories with a political is our cover subject, Whitney Wolfe, who in 2014 quit her
aspect were extremely popular with readers. job as co-founder at Tinder after allegedly being sexually
Perhaps this isn’t surprising; today’s news harassed by colleagues. She says she was sent abusive
cycle – from the chaos of Brexit to the shambles in the White messages and called derogatory names. Wolfe’s lawsuit
House, the tragedy of Grenfell to an iceberg twice the size of against the company was settled without admission of
Luxembourg breaking away from the Antarctic ice shelf – is wrongdoing. Her response has been to found Bumble,
relentlessly political and possesses an existential urgency. a dating app that empowers women by ensuring only
At one point, it seemed that liberal democracy was they can initiate contact. This month, the startup is
cruising towards comfortable middle age. The world order launching Bumble Bizz, a network akin to LinkedIn.
had been established and we were edging in the direction We are thrilled to announce that Wolfe, along with Sarah
of greater freedoms and equality, some of it driven by increased Lacy – the journalist whose piece on sexism at Uber
access to technology. Sometimes progress was dramatic prompted one of its executives, Emil Michael, to suggest
but, more often, it was simply the direction of travel, pulled it should hire a team to smear journalists who covered
inexorably in one direction by the tide of history. the company in an unflattering way – will be speaking at
Today, whether we are addressing issues of security or WIRED Live, our two-day festival, on November 2 and 3 in
the environment, employment law or corporate takeovers London (wired.co.uk/event/wired-live). Please join us for
of global organisations with vast amounts of data, the what will be an engaging and urgent occasion.
WIRED perspective of the world – one that is centred
on how technology, science and ideas are shaping every
aspect of society – is the norm, not an outlier.
As we were putting this issue together, two stories centred
in the tech industry emerged that shared thematic similar-
ities. Firstly, after conducting an investigation spurred by
PHOTOGRAPHY: EYEVINE
ENGINEERING
crossrail
countdown
Below Tottenham Court
Road in central London,
engineers are adding
the final touches –
escalators, ticketing
booths and signalling
– to a station that will
accommodate 170,000
passengers a day.
This is part of Europe’s
largest infrastructure
project: the £14.8
billion Elizabeth
line, also known as
Crossrail. “The existing
infrastructure in
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTOFFER RUDQUIST
MARGRETHE VESTAGER
THE MOST POWERFUL
WOMAN IN EUROPEAN TECH
ILKKA PAANANEN
THE $10 BILLION CEO
CARRIE GOLDBERG
T H E AT T O R N E Y F I G H T I N G S E X U A L T E R R O R I S M
SUE BLACK
THE INVENTOR OF NEW FORENSICS
ROMY LORENZ
THE AI MASTERMIND
language
barriers
A study found that the vocabulary
used by police during traic stops
depends on the race of the driver
1% 1% 1% DATAVIZ
50%
AMSTERDAM
50%
BOSTON
Number of screen
captures covered in
foliage for each %
50%
FRANKFURT garden
cities
Green View Index Green View Index Green View Index
1% 1% 1%
Forget counting parks – a
database of urban greenery
ranks cities based on how
leafy they look to residents.
75% 25% 75% 25% 75% 25% Researchers are already
using satellite imagery to
estimate the number of
trees in cities, but Newsha
Ghaeli, a research associate
50% 50% 50%
at MIT’s Senseable City Lab,
GENEVA LOS ANGELES LONDON
wanted to analyse residents’
Green View Index Green View Index Green View Index perspectives. She called
22,30 16,32 14,73 her analysis Treepedia. “It’s
important to understand the
amount of trees and canopy
1% 1% 1%
cover from the street, as
that’s what we perceive to
be in cities,” Ghaeli says. To
create the greenery maps,
her team feeds images from
75% 25% 75% 25% 75% 25%
Google Street View into an
algorithm that estimates
what percentage of each
image consists of trees.
50% 50% 50% Plotting these scores on a
MIAMI PARIS SACRAMENTO map determines the leafiness
of each street. The results
Green View Index Green View Index Green View Index can be combined to give each
20,30 12,53 23,12 city a score. The data set
for London consisted
of two million images.
1% 1% 1% Lower amounts of city
greenery have been linked
with higher stress levels, so
analysing tree cover may offer
key health insights. “We’re
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_ START _ SELF-DRIVE
ustin Russell helps cars see. As before he was old enough to drive laser light, have been around for
Early
different lasers and receivers”), whereas omous they’ll need to be using his
Luminar’s requires only one to create an technology. So confident is he in
almost 3D map. So, not only can it collect Luminar, he says it can accelerate
adopters
better data, but it’s also far cheaper to make. the arrival of fully automated cars
“We’re aiming to help firms get dramati- by as much as five to ten years. How
cally fewer critical failures or disengage- will those cars compare to today’s?
ments,” Russell says. “This is the first sensor “We’re possibly thousands of times
to meet the minimum specifications our better at seeing edge cases such as
customers have requested. You can’t send a a child chasing after a ball,” he adds.
car out and miss one in every 100 people.” “Overall, when are those scenarios
going to come up? Very rarely, SALLY
but when they do, we’ll be able to COLDHAM
see them.” BC luminartech.com founder,
Airloom
MATT EAMES
chief
commercial
officer, Feefo
CHERRY
FREEMAN
co-founder,
LoveCrafts
SPACE
_ START _ AUTOMATION STATION
ROBOTICS
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0 3 2 _ START _ CAFFEINE RUSH
bike-café empire
Maria De La Croix didn’t
get the barista job at
Starbucks. “According
to its dress-code policy
Money
machine
Digital wallet Scrip could
let customers make payments
with a swipe of their thumb
is designed to allow
direct transfers without
recording transactions. O Thumb over the
The device could rippled surface
develop as a supportive to physically
digital ledger, ordering connect with
MONEY
the “dark economy” digital cash
of non-traceable,
but necessary cash O Scrip deliberately
transactions. “Scrip slows down till
will be open to any transactions; pay
digital currency,” Amit £26 by swiping
says. “The possibility for £20, £5 and £1
of circumventing the
traditional banking
system becomes
real with blockchain.”
Lucy Johnson
newdealdesign.com
0 3 6 _ START _ WAITING GAME
n December 2016,
city, Christchurch in New Zealand, became covered in a centimetre of Above: Sarah Stewart
SURVIVORS
Is there life on Mars? These
Even so, it’s covered by ice that’s four
metres thick for much of the year.
It wasn’t always like this. Three
thousand years ago, the lake was
much deeper, reaching higher
As Johnson puts it, “They hunker
down and shut down all metabolic
activity, and basically just wait until
conditions return to a more clement
state.” But if that was the case, over
Antarctica-based scientists say up the valley and teeming with time the environment would have
there’s something in our soil… microbes. As it receded, the lakebed taken its toll and the cells would have
sediment containing those microbes been damaged, eventually beyond
was exposed to the air. The mat of repair. That hadn’t happened. So
microbes dried up and over time Johnson began to look at another
level of metabolic activity, at least
enough to repair your genome so it ‘Microbes are
doesn’t get damaged beyond repair?”
Johnson says. But to do that required the big story
an understanding of the genetics
behind this ability to stay “just alive”. in Antarctica.
What in the DNA of these microbes
made them so tough? Previously that It’s Earth’s most
would have been impossible.
GENETICS
For the first time, the researchers Mars-like place’
on the ice were equipped with pocket-
sized DNA sequencers, the MinION
MK 1B made by UK company Oxford
Nanopore, to sample and sequence
the microbes right there on the ice,
sending back not samples, but data. Antarctica,” she explains. “This is the
For something to survive in such most Mars-like place on Earth.”
a harsh environment means that the This is important because there’s
microbes have evolved to produce a chance that microbes that we
biochemicals within that are able to find on Earth might have once been
provide protection. These chemicals resident on Mars. At a time when the
are called secondary metabolites and Red Planet had running water, rocks
are very useful for humanity. One from both planets hit each other as
group forms the basis of modern a result of asteroid impacts. As we
antibiotics, for example. can be sure that the rock traic went
The DNA sequencing of organisms in both directions, it’s possible that
that can be found thriving in harsh microbial life went with it.
places allows scientists to not only On Mars, life will need to have
add to the great catalogue of living survived even after the planet’s water
things, but also to the catalogue evaporated or froze. It turns out, at
of genes known to produce useful least in Antarctica (and for a much
secondary metabolites. shorter time period), that might be
As well as this, sequencing species possible. So perhaps buried under-
in situ is important because, in many neath some Martian gravel, there’s
ways, it enables the re-emergence of something similar, waiting to be found.
old-school adventure biology. Where Ben Hammersley georgetown.edu
Victorian botanists would travel to,
say, the eastern Himalayas to bring
back rare orchids, today’s geneti-
cists are now travelling to extreme
locations to bring back genes.
But Johnson, as Georgetown’s
hypothesis, that the cells had stayed assistant professor of planetary
PHOTOGRAPHY: ANGEL A BAI;
metabolically alive at a very low level science, has another reason to study
and continued to repair themselves. microbes that can exist in harsh
“One of the questions we wanted to environments – something even
DAVID GOERLITZ
ask was: over what timescale should more adventurous than expeditions
we see dormancy as favoured, versus in search of extreme genetics: life on
something maintaining a very low Mars. “Microbes are the big story in
_ _ _ _
apps Alexi
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WIRED SECURITY RETURNS TO LONDON TO DISCUSS THE LATEST INNOVATIONS, TRENDS AND THREATS IN
CYBERSECURITY, ENTERPRISE DEFENCE AND SECURITY INTELLIGENCE. CONFIRMED SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
ANDREI SOLDATOV CALEB BARLOW PAUL HOARE ALLISON MILLER DMITRI ALPEROVITCH BEYZA UNAL
INVESTIGATIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF SENIOR MANAGER, PRODUCT STRATEGY, CO-FOUNDER AND RESEARCH FELLOW,
JOURNALIST AND THREAT INTELLIGENCE, PROTECT & PREVENT, SECURITY, GOOGLE CTO, CROWDSTRIKE CHATHAM HOUSE
AUTHOR, THE RED WEB IBM SECURITY NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY
• • • • • •
Russian investigative Caleb Barlow leads Paul Hoare is the Allison Miller designs Alperovitch co-founded A specialist in nuclear
journalist Andrei several teams focused senior lead and and implements real- CrowdStrike in 2011. The weapons policy, Unal
Soldatov co-founded on threat intelligence, co-ordinator for all time risk prevention Washington DC-based leads projects on
Agentura.ru, a watchdog research and incident cybercrime work and detection systems cybersecurity company chemical, biological,
of the Russian secret response and related to the Prevent running at internet tracks 15,000 hacks a radiological and
services’ activities. He preparedness. He was and Protect strands scale. Her role at Google year. It uncovered the nuclear arms. She
is the author of The Red behind IBM’s X-Force of the National Crime is focused on mitigating suspected Russian conducts research
Web, which details the Command, the world’s Agency. He is the security risks and intelligence behind the on cybersecurity and
battle between Russia’s most sophisticated longest-serving cyber threats to platforms email breach suffered in critical infrastructure
digital dictators and cyber simulation senior investigating and consumers across 2016 by the Democratic protection, with a focus
online revolutionaries. security environment. officer in the UK. Google’s portfolio. National Committee. on civil nuclear plants.
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responsibility into a secret and secretive operation they want to keep such “zero-day” should provide an opportunity to
is always likely to cause conflicts of interest. vulnerabilities secret for potential separate two key roles: clandestine
WannaCry was an example of a state-developed cyber development into a cyber weapon. signals intelligence and the cyber
weapon turned against its creators. The core exploit, This is the challenge the National security of the UK’s critical national
Eternal Blue, is believed to have been created by the US Cyber Security Centre faces. infrastructure. The best way to start:
National Security Agency (NSA), who presumably By its own description, the NCSC make the National Cyber Security
intended to keep it secret. Then, in April 2017, it was was set up “to help protect our Centre independent from GCHQ.
critical services from cyber attacks,
managing major incidents and WIRED Security takes place on
improve the underlying security of September 28 at Kings Place,
Emily Taylor the UK internet”. Part of that would London. See wired.uk/security17
is CEO of Oxford include informing suppliers such
Information Labs as Microsoft of the discovery of
and editor of major vulnerabilities. But the NCSC
the Journal of cannot do that if it’s also hoarding
Cyber Policy vulnerabilities for its boss, GCHQ.
_ START _ 3D VISION
The shape-shifter
No two walls of the V&A Dundee museum are the same,
thanks to its advanced parametric modelling
O One pointed
corner projects
out over the
River Tay like the
prow of a boat
Three hundred
200m-deep bore
holes provide
800,000 kWh
of heating
sagged. Once it was completed, Mucciola relied concrete panels were hung from them,
on the internal floors and the roof to ensure each weighing up to 3,000 kilograms and
the three-storey building was rigid: “This inter- spanning up to four metres. The idea, explains
action between the parts forms the overall Mucciola, is to help the museum, which is set
structure of the building,” he explains. on the banks of the River Tay, blend into the
The work didn’t stop there, however. When rugged landscape by giving it the familiar
the walls of the building – which is Kuma’s first appearance of a Scottish cliff-face. “The
in Britain, as well as the first V&A museum building sits gently,” he explains. “Despite
outside London – were completed, 2,500 its solidity.” Clare Dowdy vandadundee.org
ARCHITECTURE
a new spin
on green
energy
Just off the west coast
of Britain, 32 wind
turbines spin.
Located at Burbo Bank,
seven kilometres from
Liverpool Bay, they
are the biggest
commercial turbines
in the world. Each is 195
metres tall – 53
metres taller than a
standard turbine –
with a diameter of 164
metres. Consequently,
the farm can supply
230,000 homes.
But the biggest
challenge is getting
the turbines out to sea.
“We use a vessel, called
a jack-up,” says Benj
Sykes, UK vice-
president of Dong
Energy, which operates
the wind farm. “It has
legs so that it can jack
itself out of the water.”
In 2012, the clean-
energy industry set a
goal of getting offshore
wind electricity down to
£100 per megawatt in
eight years. That
milestone was passed
in just five, and Sykes
says giant turbines will
help wind become one
of the cheapest energy
forms. “We are
confident that turbine
size will continue to
increase,” he says. BC
dongenergy.co.uk
EDITED BY JEREMY WHITE _ GEAR _043
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WORDS: KATHRYN NAVE. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE
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WORDS: KATHRYN NAVE; MATT BURGESS. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE
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AUDIO
From the beautifully Less visually exciting than Bang & Olufsen’s range, Naim’s
crafted BeoSound 1 and 2 Mu-so nonetheless ofers high-end audio heritage. Up to five
conical speakers to speakers can be wirelessly connected using AirPlay or through
the archery target- the app, which is fast, but less intuitive than the Sonos version.
impersonating BeoPlay The build quality of the Mu-so speakers is aircraft-grade and
A9, Bang & Olufsen has they have delightful design flourishes such as back-lit controls.
some of the finest- They pump out a powerful sound for their size, with passive
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BeoPlay and BeoSound Speakers two to five
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setup as part of the newly Streaming Spotify, TIDAL, iRadio
launched Multiroom
Collection. Like most of
the systems tested here,
during the set-up
process you have to
instruct one of the
speakers to generate its
own wireless network, in
this instance, a
Test_ multi-room speakers
From streaming to surround sound, which set-up resonated the most with WIRED?
methodical app-led
process. But the app is a
challenge to use and
isn’t helped by an
occasional one-second
lag. There’s no desktop
control, but Mac users
can use AirPlay, although
this is hit and miss in a
multi-room scenario due
to transmission delays.
Performance-wise,
the BeoSound models
are more refined and
tonally balanced than
WORDS: ADRIAN JUSTINS. PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE; ROGER STILLMAN
the BeoPlays.
8/10 From £450 Yamaha MusicCast
bang-olufsen.com
Speakers six to 32 A relatively recent build quality and finish Macs. EQ adjustment is
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FLAC, WAV, AIFF has the backing of one suggests a higher sound quality, while
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Wi-Fi, AirPlay, most venerable hi-fi Set-up and operation on overall clarity, still
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Streaming Deezer, as a multi-room platform, tested here, and the 7/10 From £400
TuneIn, Spotify, offering integration app is an aesthetic car uk.yamaha.com
Google Cast with more than 40 crash with no desktop Speakers four to ten
of Yamaha’s home- controller. At least hi-res File formats WMA,
cinema receivers, streaming is available, MP3, AAC, ALAC,
hi-fi systems and as is AirPlay, which allows FLAC, AIFF, WAV
soundbars. The range streaming outside of the Connectivity Wi-Fi,
of dedicated multi-room app, including from AirPlay, Ethernet,
speakers largely mirrors Bluetooth, DLNA
those of Denon, with Streaming
similar-looking designs TIDAL, Deezer,
throughout. Likewise, the Spotify, Napster
_ GEAR _ LOUD AND CLEAR
Speakers four to 12
File formats
WMA, AAC, MP3,
WAV, ALAC, FLAC, DSD
Connectivity
Ethernet, Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi, DLNA
USB, 3.5mm aux in,
headphone jack (Heos 7)
Streaming TIDAL,
Denon Heos TuneIn, Mood Mix,
Deezer, Napster,
Denon rattled Sonos by reliable when it comes – from a DLNA-networked Spotify, SoundCloud
calling its multi-room to building a multi-room device. However, there’s
sub-brand Heos. It also setup across many no computer desktop-
used a similar sequence speakers. But Heos ups controller option and the
of alternate odd numbers the ante in terms of app itself is cumbersome
for the names (and sizes) features by offering to navigate in places. The
of its speakers and, most Bluetooth and USB speakers are sturdy, but
HOW WE TESTED
The wireless multi-room systems tested all use Wi-Fi as their main transmission platform. Each
was tested for its ease of installation, set-up, operation and sound quality by WIRED. We assessed
every system in a multi-room scenario, running them all in party mode and using speakers in
separate rooms for different sources. We also tested the ability to access streaming services such
as Spotify, TIDAL and Apple Music, plus other network-connected sources such as NAS drives.
AUDIO
Sonos
The Bell is a regular, non-smart road helmet with two clever safety features:
a new industry-standard MIPS technology that reduces rotational forces on
the head in a crash (with a “floating” cradle); and progressive layering that
consists of two polystyrene shells of diferent densities bonded together.
Eighteen vents keep the head cool and tri-guides consign pesky twisted straps
to history, making the Bell a joy to wear. In fact, WIRED completely forgot
that we had it on at times. It’s the most comfortable helmet on test by far –
if it was combined with Lumos technology, it could well be the perfect lid.
8/10 £199 zyrofisher.co.uk
W I R E D R E T A I L . O C T 1 1 , 2 0 1 7. K I N G S P L A C E , L O N D O N
WIRED RETAIL RETURNS IN OCTOBER TO GATHER THOSE AT THE FOREFRONT OF CHANGE IN THE
INDUSTRY – THE INDIVIDUALS, STARTUPS AND INCUMBENTS – TO EXPLORE THE SECTOR’S FUTURE.
THE ONE-DAY EVENT WILL COVER TOPICS AS DIVERSE AS FRICTIONLESS PAYMENTS,
VIRTUAL REALITY, 3D PRINTING, DRONE DELIVERY, BLOCKCHAIN AND PERSONALISATION.
ANNABEL KILNER DANIEL MURRAY JOHN VARY KIRA RADINSKY LEILA MARTINE MATTHEW
COMMERCIAL CO-FOUNDER, INNOVATION MANAGER, CHIEF SCIENTIST DIRECTOR, NEW DRINKWATER
DIRECTOR, MADE.COM GRABBLE JOHN LEWIS & DIRECTOR OF DATA DEVICE EXPERIENCES, HEAD OF FASHION
• • • SCIENCE, EBAY ISRAEL MICROSOFT UK INNOVATION, LONDON
Annabel Kilner heads Serial entrepreneur John Vary leads • • COLLEGE OF FASHION
up five markets for and angel investor Room Y, the UK Kira Radinsky is a Leila Martine is •
Made.com, the fast- Daniel Murray department store’s pioneer in predictive responsible for An award-winning
growing designer is co-founder of the in-house skunkworks. analytics. She founded introducing new and influencer in wearable
furniture brand UK’s fastest-growing He oversees and SalesPredict in 2012 innovative Microsoft technology, Matthew
known for its success fashion and lifestyle leads the creation and was installed as products to the UK. One Drinkwater creates
and continuity in app Grabble and is and development eBay Israel’s director of product, the HoloLens, beautiful wearables
seamlessly connecting the host of popular of special projects data science following enables new forms of which bring augmented
online customers with podcast The Secret geared around multi- SalesPredict’s interaction between and virtual reality into
in-store staff. Lives of Leaders. sensory experiences. acquisition in 2016. brand and customer. the real world.
KINGS PLACE, LONDON. OCTOBER 11, 2017 BOOK YOUR TICKET: WIRED.UK/RETAIL-TICKETS
Stay ahead of the
competition with
WIRED Consulting
consulting@wired.co.uk
THE MASTERS _ GEAR _
DESIGN
that are overdrawn in order to Other luxury additions include will not see these features on the
make a clear statement to the a faceted gearshift lever and surface. They will be hidden.” What
audience about what the key BMW’s iDrive Controller, which is about autonomous driving ability?
elements for this vehicle are.” constructed from Swarovski glass. “I can’t make any statements from
The interior is typically Talking about the technology on a technical point of view, but it will
indulgent for a concept, and the Concept 8 Series, and the forth- be cutting edge.” JW bmw.com
BMW has gone heavily for carbon- coming Coupe, Girard would only
fibre accents, both aesthetic confirm it would be the highest-end
and structural. For example, offering from BMW: “Of course it Visit wired.co.uk or
there are carbon-fibre shells will be cutting-edge technology, in download our digital
for the leather-covered seats. terms of driving assistance, but you edition for more
DIGITAL DISCUSSIONS
WIRED and Accenture gathered some of the UK’s most prominent women working
in digital to discuss the best ways to inspire the next generation of talent
ow should we encourage At the event it was noted that forums for According to research by Leeds University
and motivate the coming building confidence are key. Organisations Business School, having one woman on a
generations of innovative such as Code First: Girls, a not-for-profit firm’s board reduces a company’s risk
H female digital leaders and
celebrate the sector’s
social enterprise, run networking events and
offer training and services around coding
of bankruptcy by 20 per cent. Yet women
represent just between ten and 20 per cent
rising stars? That was and recruitment. According to CEO Amalide of boardrooms in the UK. This has to change
the question behind a networking dinner Alwis, the platform has helped more than 2,000 – and there are signs it will.
co-hosted by WIRED and Accenture in May. women access coding training since 2013. The UK government has set a target for
Taking on this complex issue was a diverse The civil service was also referenced as a all FTSE 350 boards to have 33 per cent
list of attendees, including Wendy Tan White, sector that actively supports its female staff. female representation by 2020 – an increase
general partner of Entrepreneur First, Blippar One guest – a founder who previously worked of some 350 more women in top business
co-founder Jess Butcher, Seedcamp partner in a government digital role – recounted how positions. Yet it was noted that company
Reshma Sohoni, and a host of digital leaders she was promoted following pregnancy. culture must be inclusive from top to bottom.
and rising entrepreneurs along with WIRED “That was a huge boost,” she said. “It gave “There is an informality to power that
and Accenture attendees. me the confidence to start my own business.” doesn’t get talked about much,” highlighted
one guest. “A lot of decisions are made in
upper management – not at board level.”
For a fully inclusive and inspirational
digital workplace to exist, everyone must
be part of the conversation. A female forum
is positive, one with progressive men
in attendance is better. But a true cultural
shift will be achieved when every side is
involved in the debate – including dissenting
voices. As one attendee put it: “Culture
trumps strategy every time.”
For more, see accenture.com/digital
PUZZLES
PHOTOGRAPHY: SHINSUKE KOJIMA
Piece forever Nervous System’s Infinity Galaxy Puzzle has only 139
pieces – but, like the space scene it depicts, it never ends >
Piece forever (continued)
The Infinity
Galaxy Puzzle
( pictured
previous page)
Sound bytes:
has no beginning
and no end: like
the cosmos it
how to digitise history
represents, it just Will Prentice is in a race against time to save the British Library’s archive of 6.5
goes on and on. million sound recordings – before it’s lost forever to decay and dead hardware
Created by
Massachusetts-
based generative
design studio
Nervous System,
it’s based on
the Klein bottle,
an “impossible
structure” in
which the inside
and outside are
mathematically
indistinguishable.
Not only can the
pieces on the left
edge be flipped
over and
attached to the
right side, the
entire puzzle can
be completed in
any direction.
The 20.5cm
mind-bender is
adorned with a
high-resolution
image of the
centre of the
Milky Way and
comprises 139
double-sided
pieces, including
three “whimsy
pieces”: an
astronaut, a
space shuttle and
a satellite. And,
as the puzzle is
double-sided, you
can never see the
whole image at
once. Puzzled?
That’s the idea…
JT n-e-r-v-
o-u-s.com
O F F T H E R E C O R D _ P L A Y _
A
ising things that are held in tiny pockets of
England,” Prentice says. “There’s dialect, folk
PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK WILSON
Stamps of
authority:
when design
speaks louder
than words
A new London exhibition charts the
effect graphics can have on crises
Digital extra!
Download the WIRED
app to see more images
from the exhibition
H I T F A C T O R Y _ P L A Y _
MUSIC
etween 1962 and 1970, the From left: Vochlea’s founder George Philip Wright, AI Music CEO Siavash
Beatles recorded nearly all Mahdavi and Jon Eades, innovation manager at Abbey Road Red
their singles and albums at
B London’s Abbey Road Studios
using one of EMI’s innovative AI-powered guitar-learning app, now period,” adds QRATES co-founder Taishi
REDD mixing consoles. Five has licensing deals with Sony and Fukuyama. The platform has already hosted
decades later, the studio is turning to startups Universal, including a collection of more than 3,500 vinyl crowdfunding projects
to keep up with the pace of technological change. Beatles songs; another graduate, and completed more than 300.
“We are aware of the studio’s heritage of Tokyo-based QRATES, is the first Abbey Road Red’s latest intake includes
continually tracking technology as it changed online crowdfunding platform for AI Music, which has created an app called
over the years,” says Jon Eades, innovation artists and labels to collect pre-orders Ripple that personalises tracks for each
manager at Abbey Road Red, the studio’s from fans to fund vinyl pressing. listener. “We’re going to use artificial intelli-
technology incubator, which launched in “Without the right introductions, gence to help unsigned grassroots artists
2015. “It’s all about pushing that forward.” some of the most important players collaborate with each other, then connect with
Abbey Road Red runs six-month mentoring within the music industry can be very a fanbase and a distribution network,” says
programmes, giving music-technology startups hard to reach,” says Simon Barkow- CEO Siavash Mahdavi. Vocals can be recorded
PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK WILSON
access to the famous studio’s experts and facil- Oesterreicher, one of the co-founders straight into a smartphone, and a studio-style
ities, not to mention a foot in the door with of Uberchord. “The criteria for backing track is applied automatically.
Universal Music, which has owned the complex choosing which incubator to be a part “When you sing on one track, your vocal can
since buying out EMI in 2012. The third wave of came down to three things: fit on any other track in the system,” he adds.
of startups graduate in October and their resources, geography and whether Also new to the incubator this year is software
track record is impressive. Uberchord, an the value extends past the incubation firm Vochlea Music. “The idea is to use your
voice as a controller to trigger diferent software
instruments, a bit like speech recognition, but
non-verbal and completely real-time,” founder
You’re only “I loved The Six Million Dollar Man when I was a kid,
so the minute I learned that I was losing my eye, I began
researching how I could turn it into a camera.”
liveable by art-deco accents. Inside, succulent gardens Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), about humanity’s near-future – the “pig sex”
hover in glass globes; outside the window lies an unfor- Janelle Monáe (Moonlight), Richard storyline from the show’s first episode was,
giving desert landscape. The planet’s air is so dangerous Madden (Game of Thrones) , Anna according to Cranston, “indelible” – but
that Davis’s character, Vera, runs inside on a treadmill, Paquin ( True Blood) and Steve Dick’s stories hone right in on what’s really
surrounded by VR projections of long-lost woodland. Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire). at stake. The core of Electric Dreams and Dick’s
It’s a clever bit of visual trickery, but also somewhat The same went for writers and original stories is not an elaborate vision of the
prescient. Of camera, production staf are cooling down directors, with each able to choose future, but the humanity at the centre of those
by standing in paddling pools amid warnings from London the story that excited them most. allegories. On the face of it, Human Is examines
oicials against outdoor exercise, due to poor air quality. Writer David Farr, best known for a single marriage, but the questions it poses
Dick is best-known for adaptations of his work – are far more wide-ranging and slippery.
apocalyptic films such as Blade Runner, Total Recall and So what’s the message behind the dystopia?
Minority Report – but the author’s Cold War-era stories “I like the ambiguity of it,” Cranston says,
are where he really gets to grips with human nature. Five pausing. “I didn’t answer that question.
years ago, his estate approached director Michael Dinner Art is so subjective that nobody is wrong in
and asked him to read through the author’s 125 short whatever you are feeling. We could all watch a
stories to see if any could be developed for television. Pictured: Bryan Cranston executive- film together and have nine diferent reactions
“After a week or two, I called them and said: ‘How about produced Electric Dreams, his first to it, and neither one of us is right or wrong.
all of them?’” says Dinner. As well as Cranston, Dinner also major TV project since Breaking Bad Fill in your own answer.” Nicole Kobie
Switzerland, South Korea and Croatia.
Among them are Haroon Mirza and Jack Jelfs
of London-based studio hrm199. Jelfs is an
artist and musician who studied theoretical
physics at Imperial College London, and
When has worked with Mirza on installations at
the Tate Modern and Serpentine Gallery in
art and London. Mirza and Jelfs met in 2015; Mirza’s
conversations with the physicist-turned-
science artist sparked his interest in theoretical
physics, and how it relates to art. “There
collide are some parallels, when you think about
electromagnetism, light, electricity, electro-
magnetic spectrum and sound,” Mirza says.
CERN scientists hope that inviting “The physics of all these things are another
creatives into their labs will spark new conceptual framework to help think about
conversations about our Universe your existing work and to realise new works.” 102.4 MILLION
The artists will visit CERN several times over the amount of
the coming months, during which time they will global wearables
watch scientists as they operate. “I’m inter- in 2016, says
t cern, the european ested in the way they work, the relationship research firm IDC
Organisation for Nuclear to what I do and how all these diferent disci-
A Research, art and science
are colliding. Experiments to
plines seem to be coalescing,” Mirza says.
“Scientists at CERN are beginning to talk Canelio This
further our knowledge of the about this idea of science heading towards training device
Universe might not sound like the ideal candidate a brick wall. They’re starting to accept there can help to
for art, but understanding complex scientific are some things we just aren’t able to under- propel a pooch to
questions requires unusual ways of thinking. stand – something that artists encounter every a level 73 “Puppy
Since 2011, artists have taken up residencies at day.” Mirza and Jelfs will be carrying out inter- Sergeant” with 12
CERN, on the outskirts of Geneva, to watch scien- views with the particle physicists working at achievements
tists carry out experiments. The Arts @ CERN CERN, as well as documenting life inside the under his collar
project seeks to make this inscrutably complex laboratory and the experiments that take place through the app’s
work more comprehensible by interrogating there. They are also keen to explore the Large social network
the fringes of our scientific understanding in Hadron Collider – following in the footsteps
diferent ways. “Artists come to CERN looking for of sound artist Bill Fontana, who captured the
the fundamental questions about the Universe,” sounds of the 27km tunnel as part of the Arts BorrowMyDoggy
says Mónica Bello, head of Arts @ CERN. @ CERN residencies in 2013. The dogsitting
“The goal is to bring artists into conversation “I can’t wait,” Mirza says. “To be there and service has more
with scientists and see what happens.” among these people who are doing something than 600,000
Art and science may initially seem like polar so precise and specific is going to be incredible.” registered users
opposites, but they do share some common Chris Stokel-Walker arts.cern in the UK
ground, Bello says. “The way the two proceed is
very similar – through creativity and curiosity.”
Put an artist and a scientist in the same room
and, CERN hopes, something magical will ART
happen. Cross-disciplinary
conversations can help people
rethink their approach and
perhaps shed some new light
on the work at CERN.
“It’s a way to understand the
purpose of everything we do,
to try to understand the world
through science and art,” Bello
says. “When science is giving us
answers about the Universe we
live in, it’s about looking at things
that are not obvious. Artists do
that in a diferent way.” In 2015,
two British artists, Ruth Jarman
and Joe Gerhardt – known as
Semiconductor – spent two
months at CERN, delving into the archives and
conducting interviews. In doing so, they opened
up what can often be an impenetrably dense lab. Adam, Eve, Others and a UFO,
This year’s intake of artists travelling to an installation by Haroon Mirza, who is among
the Franco-Swiss border hail from the UK, CERN’s 2017 intake of resident artists
STUDYING CREATION _ LEAD INVESTMENTS _ PL AY _ 0 7 5
illions of us have already bought into the idea of the quantified self, strapping
Fitbits on to our wrists and counting our daily steps. Man’s best friend is next, with
a series of startups aimed at making dogs’ lives – and their owners’ – a little easier.
M Teaching Rover to do things on command can be diicult. The professional trainer who
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAN BURN-FORTI; HAROON MIRZA/LISSON GALLERY
helped Vjeran Fistric with his dog used a clicker to reinforce good behaviour. Fistric liked
the idea, but didn’t like the fact that it wasn’t
digital – so he founded Canelio, a startup that combines a digital
clicker with a smartphone app. “Our solution gamifies the whole
experience,” explains Fistric. The pet’s progress is tracked through
the app, and the owner gets statistical support and training advice.
The yap economy
There are plenty of other dog-focused services out there. At last: the age of the quantified dog is upon us
BorrowMyDoggy connects busy owners with those who want
to spend some time with a dog but are unable to keep one as
a pet. Potential adopters needn’t visit kennels to find their next best friend – BarkBuddy is a Tinder FitBark
for dogs, where you can swipe right to express an interest. FitBark – a small device that fits on to a dog’s Switzerland has the
collar – is equipped with a 3D accelerometer. Then there’s Whistle, which uses GPS and a SIM card to track world’s most active
your dog – handy if they decide to channel their inner Fenton. Meanwhile, we’ll have to wait for the ultimate dogs – and puppies
breakthrough: a bot that can clear up after our hound has done their business… Chris Stokel-Walker need less sleep
than babies,
according to
FitBark’s database
The essence
of whisky
Glenfiddich’s ongoing search for the World’s Most
Experimental Bartender unveiled a London duo who
perfectly captured the olfactory wonders of whisky
Pictured: Charles
Roche, Scout
PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE
of Liquid Intellect
consultancy (left)
and William Hetzel,
Scout assistant
manager and perfumer
GLENFIDDICH EXPERIMENTAL SERIES _ WIRED PARTNERSHIP
WOOD
A key woody note was
represented in the
perfume by a blend
of scents mixed from
vetiver, labdanum,
olibanum and patchouli.
FIG
The perfume’s fruity
note was created
through a combination
of Stemone, gamma-
octalactone and Iso
E Super scents.
CARAMEL
The sweet element
was conjured from
a carefully selected
mix of ingredients:
labdanum, vanillin,
benzoin and fenugreek.
LEATHER
Cade, vetiver, oakmoss,
Iso E Super, myrtle and
Suederal provided the
required bold freshness
for the perfume’s most
complex element.
INSIDER UPCOMING
EVENTS
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WIRED Security
Events, new returns to London
in September
products to explore the
and promotions latest innovations,
trends and threats
to live the in enterprise cyber
defence, security
WIRED life intelligence and
cybersecurity.
Compiled by Speakers include
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Eland and Beyza
Unal of Chatham
House. Book now.
September 28, 2017
wired.uk/security17
WIRED
RETAIL
Our annual
celeration of
the future of
retail brings
representatives
from brands,
payments firms,
supply-chain
networks and
logistics together
to discuss the
innovations and
trends impacting
virtual – and bricks
and mortar –
commerce.
October 11, 2017
wired.uk/retail17
1 2 WIRED
ENERGY
3 4 Meet influencers
and leaders, from
energy suppliers,
government and
ftse 500 companies
to energy startups,
at the first WIRED
Energy event.
Expect connected-
home innovator
Nina Bhatia, tidal-
energy pioneer
Inna Braverman
and micro-grid
entreprenuer
Lawrence Orsini.
October 12, 2017
wired.uk/energy17
WIRED
LIVE
WIRED’s flagship
event reboots
as WIRED Live –
celebrating every
1/ Lindex 2/ Christopher 3/ Marcin 4/ Fjallraven aspect of our
sustainable Raeburn Blanket Rusak RE-KÅNKEN world, with ideas,
jeans in black Camo Duffle Bangles rucksack technology, design
and more. Already
An ethical choice of Pioneer of recycled From his Botanic jewellery This special edition confirmed: Google’s
Matt Brittin, former
clothing, these jeans are materials Christopher collection, these backpack is made entirely
Formula One driver
made of denim produced Raeburn’s new collection limited-edition Marcin from polyester recycled Nico Rosberg,
using 45 per cent less features designs made Rusak bangles are from plastic bottles. Dyed Improbable founder
water and 27 per cent less from reused military brass-based and layered with SpinDye technology Herman Narula
energy than most. High fabrics. This camo duffle with resin made from – reducing water, energy and space doctor
quality and fitted to the coat is made of army dried waste flowers. and chemicals used in Beth Healey.
PHOTOGRAPHY: SUN LEE
current relaxed-style blankets. Its black and grey Detailed with fossilised manufacturing – these November 2-3, 2017
trend, these washed black, colouring makes it a staple stone and marble-like bright bags feature a large wired.uk/live17
fringed hem, holographic- for the colder months, and blooms, the gothic look main compartment and
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EDITED BY VICTORIA TURK _
Productive genes
Craig Venter took on the US government in the race to sequence the human genome, created the first synthetic
cell and founded the J Craig Venter Institute. Here, he tells WIRED the secret to his success
_ WORK SMARTER _ INSIDER KNOWLEDGE
CRAIG VENTER IS THE ULTIMATE Q&A “The Vietnam war changed me. “I never have any doubt that things
late bloomer. As a child, he I was shipped out to the Da Nang are going to work. Creating the first
preferred going surfing to doing Hospital during the Tet Offensive. synthetic cell is the kind of research
schoolwork, performed badly in I dealt with thousands of young the government wouldn’t have
academic subjects and spent his men who didn’t make it back and funded because I doubt we could
formative years on Californian learned at an early age that the have convinced a grant committee
beaches. Despite this, he would worst thing you can lose is your life the problems were solvable. But
go on to make his name as a How do you motivate – taking risks and suffering I was certain we could.”
pioneer in synthetic biology. your team? setbacks is part of moving forward.
In 2000, Venter led the private Most people are happiest I came out of it highly motivated “My English teacher in community
team that raced against the when they’re working hard and I try to put that to use every college said most people are at their
government-sponsored Human on a large team, dealing with single day. What people miss today most creative when their pleasure
Genome Project to sequence the a big idea. It doesn’t matter is how 99 per cent of success is tanks are full. I have adrenaline-
complete human genome. They if it’s Nobel laureates or what they call ‘sweat equity’.” junkie hobbies: sailing, riding motor-
succeeded – years before the kids just out of school. cycles and racing cars at high speed.
expected end of the programme. “My mentor at the University of Knowing that if you don’t give
In 2010, he announced that he had What time do you get up California, San Diego, was the late something your full attention you
created the first synthetic cell. in the morning? Nate Kaplan, the co-discoverer might die clears out the baggage of
Venter is now chairman and No two days are the same. of coenzyme A. I studied under him the daily grind. After that, ideas just
C E O o f t h e J C r a i g Ve n t e r My genome is a fast when I left the Navy. He always used come to me. Not from sitting down
Institute, a not-for-profit genomic metaboliser of caffeine, to say that ideas were a dime a trying to have an idea.”
research organisation. He is also so the one thing that’s dozen. He probably had ten brilliant
executive chairman and co-chief always there is the two ideas every day, but he didn’t have “I’m not known for being a patient
scientist of synthetic biology to four cups of coffee the means to make them real. I think person – though I’m getting better.
company Synthetic Genomics, as I have when I wake up. the same thing. I get good ideas There are people in both business
well as executive chairman and every day – the secret is learning and science who can’t bring a project
head of scientific strategy at What is your email hack? how to execute them.” to completion; they’re not closers.
AS TOLD TO STEPHEN ARMSTRONG. ILLUSTRATION: DAVID GALLETLY
genomics-based health firm I either answer them But usually they self-select out
Human Longevity. Not bad for a instantly or not at all. I’m “I am competitive, but some races of our organisations.”
slow starter. WIRED asked him how getting close to a strategy are not worth winning. When hierar-
he manages to achieve so much. where I don’t read most chies don’t allow you to make “We can detect diseases up to
emails, because it progress, I’ll leave the track they’ve 20 years before you have the
encourages people to find set and find a new way to do it. That’s symptoms, and that’s only going
other ways to tell me. threatening to some people’s social to improve. Age is the number-one
order. I’ve come in for a lot of criticism risk for most diseases, so avoid
What’s your mantra? in the past for that reason, but hypertension and diabetes. Don’t eat
That you’ll always get I’ve learned to deal with it. It’s one too much and exercise a lot. I have
a second chance. thing when people shoot criticisms a personal trainer three mornings a
at you. It’s very different when week and, yesterday, I rode 500
Worst habit? somebody is shooting rockets at you. laps of a track on my motorcycle. If
Not suffering fools gladly. It sort of puts things in perspective.” you do that you’ll sleep pretty well.”
WHERE TO STAY
UK STARTUP HUB
EDINBURGH
The Scottish capital is home to a
growing community of angel investors
Below: Station F director Roxanne Varza at the star tup hub’s headquar ters
0 8 4 _ WORK SMARTER _ ILLUSTRATED BRIEFING
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WOSSKOW’S 1974 1989 1995 1995 1999 2008
MILESTONES Born in Sheffield, Won a Young Graduated from Joined management Co-founded Co-founded
South Yorkshire Enterprise the University consultants Mantra PR investment firm
award of Oxford Oliver Wyman Maidthorn Partners
Debbie Wosskow
CEO, Love Home Swap
“The most
successful
entrepreneurs
have the Three
Gs – Graft,
Grace and Grit”
DEBBIE WOSSKOW IS THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF HOME-EXCHANGE SERVICE LOVE HOME SWAP. Since its launch in 2011, it has
secured £7.5m from Wyndham Worldwide and acquired rival outfits 1stHomeExchange and Home for Exchange. It was
itself acquired by Wyndham in July. Wosskow also runs AllBright, a female-focused investment fund, and LifeStyler,
an app for booking lifestyle experts. She previously co-founded PR company Mantra and investment firm Maidthorn
Partners, and was the founding chair of Sharing Economy UK. Here she shares her learnings. As told to Charlie Burton
LESSONS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP _ WORK SMARTER _ 0 8 7
Founded Love Became chair Launched female- Co-founded personal styling app LifeStyler;
Home Swap of Sharing founder VC Love Home Swap acquired by hotel giant RCI,
Economy UK fund AllBright part of Wyndham Worldwide
Grace – things happen and tempers flare, 37, so she’s a fantastic operator. But I have says. So he switched to
and you’ve got to look for people who are had these small businesses that go from Facebook-run Workplace,
gracious enough to inspire teams but also being an idea to a thing and then I sell them. which lets teams create
able to get shit done. And Grit – because you In a sense, we’re able to divide and conquer.” a group for each client in
can have days and weeks and months when which they can drop in
things aren’t going right. When investments Don’t shy away from the spotlight industry news or
I’ve made haven’t worked out, it’s generally “If you are a platform entrepreneur where information that could be
because the entrepreneur hasn’t had one of you’re selling a product, then, of course, relevant to their social-
those, grit being the main thing.” it’s helpful for people to know who you are.” media marketing strategy
as they come across it.
Hiring takes time You need a thick skin “It’s enabled us to be more
“Hiring people is really hard. Even when you ”If I’ve achieved anything over the past 20 productive and more
have experience it’s still very easy to years, it’s that I’ve developed the hide of a effective in our work, he
make big and expensive mistakes from a rhino. If somebody writes something you don’t says.” Bonnie Christian
hiring perspective, so my advice would be love about you or your business, or when you’re
to always take your time. Whenever you’re pitching for investment and you get a ‘no’,
rushing a hire and you think, ‘That’s fine, which is often, no matter how successful you
they’re good enough,’ they’re generally not are – I took that personally when I was in my
the right hire for your company.” twenties. Now, I don’t take it personally at all.”
The need for cleaner challenges is to put them in those cities, you can make
energy might look like perspective. “I look at the a difference.” Kay realised
too huge a problem for energy challenge through that there’s another thing
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAN DENNISON
SHELL
S H E L L _ W I R E D C O N S U LT I N G
You have a product but a company producing Grand Ideas Award in the community through It worked well, and
no budget to test it? tiles transforming 2011; with Shell’s support sport and clean-energy gave us a leg-up when
Laurence Kemball-Cook people’s footsteps into he then installed 200 tech. “To test the tiles, we presented our idea
has some advice. He is energy. Kemball-Cook tiles on a football pitch we installed them in a to investors and the
the founder of Pavegen, won a Shell LiveWIRE in a Rio favela to inspire building site in London. public,” he says.
Cummins recounted how his startup Aceleron and leading by example in order to engage
was born to be a clean-tech company. the general public about clean tech.
Cummins had initially been working on an Kemball-Cook, who won the Shell LiveWIRE
electric bicycle powered by used battery Grand Ideas Award in June 2011, started putting
packs. The idea didn’t fly with investors, but together the technology in his university lab.
one of them suggested that he focus on the “I was working all night long, every night,” he
battery pack, because the idea had potential. said. After he had a prototype, he trialled it by
Today, Aceleron transforms used lithium- secretly installing it on building sites.
ion batteries from vehicles and appliances Fast forward to 2014, and Pavegen was
into battery packs for bicycles or home-energy reaching out to places much farther than
systems. “What we do is reuse an existing building plots in London: thanks to a collab-
resource to produce a novel and more acces- oration with Shell, Cook brought his tiles to Rio
sible product,” Cummins explained. de Janeiro. “We flew to Rio and visited a favela
Furthermore, Aceleron aims to inspire with a huge soccer pitch. Kids there didn’t
other companies in different regions of the have anything to live on apart from soccer,
world to follow its lead – and create battery- but the lights didn’t work,” he recalled. “As
processing facilities that would both part of the Shell #makethefuture campaign,
encourage local entrepreneurs and provide we installed 200 tiles in the pitch. They stored which have become deeply entrenched.
the public with cheaper batteries. up energy as the kids played and the lights Tom Robinson, who launched the award-
Laurence Kemball-Cook, whose company turned on. It’s a cool energy solution, and a winning company Adaptavate to manufacture
Pavegen manufactures special tiles able to way of inspiring new energy entrepreneurs.” low-impact construction materials, got the
convert pedestrians’ footsteps into electricity, Sometimes the real challenge for purpose- idea for his business while working on a
also believes in the importance of inspiring driven companies is changing mindsets building site. “I was on this site and I thought:
WIRED SPEAKERS
Purpose-driven Carlton Cummins and personas. Companies At what stage of their simplifying our customers
businesses need to Desolenator’s Louise should create a mental lives are they? What is the to the essentials,”
appeal to customers Bleach suggest thinking image of the people they best way to strike a chord Cummins says. “It
and inspire them. But about customers not want to cater to: what are with them? “We make a helps because it brings
how to do it? Aceleron’s only as persons, but as their motivations? customer blueprint by customers to life.”
“I have always been a feminist... I have always in my soul wanted equality.” Whitney Wolfe, p94
BY AMELIA TAIT
N O W, A S T H E C O - F O U N D E R O F T I N D E R
L A U N C H E S A R I VA L T O L I N K E D I N , W O L F E
Also in February,
Tesla engineer AJ
Vandermeyden sued
the company, alleging
that it ignored sexual
harassment. Tesla denied
the allegations and fired
Vandermeyden in June
after an investigation.
In April, the US
Department Of Labor
accused Google of
extreme gender pay
discrimination, following
a workplace audit (Google
denies the allegation).
Bumble is just an app: but it’s scraped back from her face, with Her bracelets clink noisily as she gestures
changing the discussion. It’s changed not a single strand out of place. emphatically. “I don’t know what someone’s
the lives of Wolfe’s team, her family, Throughout our day together she’s perception of me from the outside is, I mean,
the women who work at the Hive. This mentioned the idea that all this is for I don’t Google myself,” she says. “It scares
is just the start, but it’s a start. her teenage self. For the first time, me… I think the most important thing to
“I’m permanently anxious, my she seems to go properly of-script. know is that you can be a CEO and still have
doctor is gonna block my cellphone “I know that I probably shouldn’t be problems and normal stuf going on.
number soon,” Wolfe says, as she telling a reporter this stuf, but I don’t “Just because you find success in one area
drives me back to my hotel. She really care because it’s real, like… if a of your life doesn’t mean that all of a sudden
removes her right hand from the 21-year-old girl picks up a magazine everything’s perfect,” she pauses to find the
steering wheel and touches her and is reading about how ‘every- right words, “no matter how many of your goals
thumb and fingertips together. thing’s perfect!’ and ‘everything’s you achieve, it doesn’t make you whole, right?
“Sometimes my fingers go numb great!’ then what is that gonna do? “It’s like a work in progress. Always.”
when I’m really nervous, it’s weird.” That’s not going to do anything.”
Sometimes she experiences heart Amelia Tait is the technology and digital
palpitations. Outwardly, Wolfe is culture correspondent for The New Statesman.
polished and perfect. Her hair is This is her first feature for WIRED
DEFUSING
Iraq’s second
city has been
liberated from
Daesh, but
thousands of
booby traps litter
its buildings and
roads. WIRED
reports from the
urban front line
BY John Beck
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Cengiz Yar Jr
LIEUTENANT AHMED ABBAS ALI
HIS CHUNK OF
A momentary flash of pain pushes aside all three-storey houses sprawled behind cap, produces a brown stick of pliable
thoughts of the car bomb. He’s bent over a concrete walls. Iraqi forces had retaken it C-4 from his trouser pocket, then takes a
battered white Chevrolet saloon containing several from Daesh a fortnight previously there was multitool and slices of a piece the size of
canisters of explosives wired to an incredibly still fighting nearby. Some local residents a child’s fist. He cuts a short test length of
sensitive pressure trigger. Ali had defused two had already returned to their homes. white fuse, lights it to check it’s not damp
nearby improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Others never left at all. and tosses it to the pavement, where it
the past half hour, cutting the wires of bombs The dozen or so soldiers acting as fizzes for a few seconds. Satisfied, he
half buried by the roadside. This one, though, is an escort to Ali’s four-strong explosive takes a 30-centimetre section – enough
too dangerous to tamper with. It is one of Daesh’s ordinance disposal (EOD) unit hammer to burn for around a minute – and
newest and most dangerous IEDs, the same design on metal gates along the street, shouting attaches it to a detonating cap pushed
that had killed several of his comrades over the past orders to clear the block as men, women and into the plastic explosive. Last come
few months. So he decides to blow it up. children emerge squinting into the fierce three bottles of drinking water, which
The car is parked on a quiet street in west Mosul’s June sunshine. An oicer radioes in the co- he and a comrade position around it with
Islah al-Zarai, a middle-class district of two- and ordinates to a command post and, in brisk a large roll of sticky tape.
Arabic, requests permission to detonate. With the area cleared, Ali walks
“Are there civilians?” comes the response. towards the Chevrolet and attaches
“Yes but we’ve warned them all and the package to its boot, where the
secured the roads.” expanding water will activate the
“OK. Begin.” trigger. A team-mate pulls their Ford
Ali, a 23-year-old with a neat moustache, pickup close and keeps it running as
_ WIRED _ 10-17 thick eyebrows and customary camouflage he sparks a plastic cigarette lighter and
holds it to the fuse. He was careful not bangs, so they back of, shrug, return to their improvised, learning new techniques and modifying
to swear when it flared up and scorched vehicles and drive back towards their base. equipment to counter their adversaries.
his middle finger; it’s the holy month of “That,” Ali said later, “was a quiet day.” EOD teams are at the forefront of this new arms
Ramadan, when cursing is forbidden. race. IEDs are one of Daesh’s most devastating
His mind snaps back to the job and he weapons and, as government forces fight to expel
runs for the pickup, the fuse burning the militant group from Iraq – most recently in the
faster than he anticipated. They accel- IN Iraq and Syria, Daesh exists successful Mosul ofensive, eight months long at the
erate hard towards a breeze-block and somewhere between a standing army and an time of our visit – its bomb makers have produced
corrugated-iron fruit shop, where the insurgent force. When the group swept across ever more complex and lethal creations. In Mosul,
other men have already retreated. northern Iraq in a shock ofensive midway the attacking troops found booby-trapped explo-
Suddenly, a youth on a scooter appears, through 2014, its men captured military sives at every stage, from wide approach roads and
driving blithely towards them. Ali and his vehicles as well as vast stores of arms and rural villages to built up urban areas. Iraqi Prime
men scream at him to stop. He comes to munitions. But as the war has raged on, they Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in the
an abrupt halt as the IED explodes with have also become adept at fielding adapted or city on July 10 after almost nine months of devas-
a thud that rattles the shop’s roof. self-made weapons thanks to nimble research
The soldiers wait for any stray pieces teams with a genius for terrible new forms
of shrapnel to land, then walk back to of death and the mass-production capabil- [PREVIOUS PAGE] Sergeant Sajad Nabil from
what’s left of the wrecked Chevrolet. ities to realise them. Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi 16th Division surveys a ruined house for
Flames and thick black smoke pour out. underfunded and undertrained, have not explosive devices. [ABOVE] Ahmed Abbas
The street is cracked and blackened. The had the resources to adapt at an institutional Ali and his explosive ordinance unit detonate
car lets out a series of small pops and level. Instead, troops and police units have a suspect abandoned Chevrolet in west Mosul
DAESH BEGAN TO
D I S C O V E R THE
tating fighting, but Daesh remains dangerous even in the federal police in 2012 and, once in
defeat. Every door, window, side street and vehicle HUMVEES’ WEAK uniform, his skills were quickly needed.
will have to be checked and cleared. Meanwhile, Iraqi government forces tend to fight
the jihadists still cling on elsewhere in the country, mounted, staying in or close to their
where they are expected to employ the same tactics. POINTS, T H R O W I N G vehicles where possible. The vast
Ali begins his morning by inspecting a recently majority rely on armoured Humvees,
captured Daesh explosives factory in a house with a which are ubiquitous on the roads, check-
bullet-pocked green façade. It faces a central inter- GRENADES INTO points and frontlines of Mosul, painted
section that coalition warplanes had bombed into according to their owners: sand for the
mounds of earth and mangled vehicles. Ragged army; black for special forces; blotchy
white flags hanging from nearby buildings indicate THEIR OPEN TURRETS blue for federal police; and dark green
the presence of civilians, but the only signs of life for their ailiated rapid response units.
are two soldiers surveying the scene from wooden American troops first brought the
chairs wedged under the shade of a ruined truck. vehicles here during the 2003 Iraq
The unit searches the surrounding area first they walk. A massive cloud of smoke plumes invasion and quickly discovered that
and, after a short time, find an IED next door to into the air from an apparent airstrike, but they were vulnerable to both insurgent
the factory, its detonator linked to a mobile phone. nobody looks up to check. IEDs and RPGs. Faced with spiralling
They are not surprised. “Most of the houses here The second workshop is set up in a former casualties, the US Army replaced
are booby-trapped now,” Ali says. rotisserie chicken restaurant, opposite a them with hulking, mine-resistant,
Debris litters the front garden, where a warped crudely spray-painted Daesh flag and ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs).
gate and awning frame lay among the paraphernalia containing the same tangle of ingredients, For the considerably less well-funded
of explosive manufacturing. There are mixing bowls components and tools. Plastic purple flowers Iraqi forces, this was not an option.
for the ingredients and piles of components next hang in one of the corners, overlooking Iraq’s Humvees are fitted at the
to protective gloves and work boots. The ground dozens upon dozens of suicide belts, mine point of manufacture with an armour
shines silver with powdered aluminium added to casings, screws to be used as shrapnel and package that will stop most small-arms
the explosive blend to enhance its blast. more sacks of explosives. fire. Initially this seemed suicient, but
Inside, it is dim, with sandbags piled into The team carries out as much as it Daesh began to discover the vehicle’s
exposed windows and floral curtains drawn over can, stacking the truck until the creaking weak points, targeting wheels or engine
the others. Daesh had manufactured rockets here suspension can take no more. blocks and sometimes throwing grenades
and completed versions encased in launch tubes into their open turrets.
are piled on to metal racks in the front room. Natik and others like him tried to help.
They, too, are a recent innovation, designed He explained the modifications made to
to be mounted on a long-time favourite weapon: IN the sometimes low-tech struggle for the vehicle in front of him as one of his
suicide car bombs. Vehicle-based IEDs have claimed superiority on Iraq’s battlefields, Daesh men welded damaged sections. “First,
hundreds of Iraqi lives, but soldiers became more are not the only ones who have been forced we armoured the tyres to avoid snipers,
adept at dealing with them. to modify their vehicles. The following then we put an armoured plate on the
At first, Iraqis targeted the driver and engine, afternoon, I visit a huge walled compound on radiator and a hole to make sure that
so Daesh applied armour plating thick enough to the southern approach road to western Mosul. the hot air still escapes.” More plating
stop small-arms fire. More recently, troops began The guards outside sport the distinctive blue now encloses the turret, leaving only a
to rely on tanks, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) naval-style camouflage of Iraq’s federal police small opening for the gunner. The modifi-
or heavily armoured bulldozers to destroy or block – the heavily armed force more akin to the cations are now fairly standard for the
the attackers. Within the past month, the EOD military than law enforcement – that has unit and carried out using sheet metal
team tells me, Daesh had started using mounted played a major role in the fight for the city. bought from local merchants.
rockets on its vehicles’ roofs to help drivers blast Inside are portable buildings for the They had done bigger jobs, too, such
their way through to a target. “We see many car 60-strong force who work there and a series as refurbishing vehicles captured from
bombs with these now,” Ali says. “If one of these of bays made from rusted supports strung Daesh or armouring bulldozers and
hits a bulldozer it will split it in two.” with camouflage netting, which ofer little frontloaders with tonnes of metal. Natik
He and his team begin to clear the factory, respite from the 42°C heat. At one of these takes particular pride in a Humvee that
loading the weapons and explosives on to the bed workstations, labelled “Gearing” with a he turned into a hardened repair-and-
of a flatbed truck for disposal later. hand-painted sign, Sergeant Major Qayis recovery truck, with a huge steel box on
There is another workshop across the wrecked Natik, 32, oversees a group of engineers the back and a cable on the bonnet thick
intersection, so they head there afterwards, passing tinkering with a Humvee. enough to haul anything the engine can
an unexploded suicide car bomb with its front Natik wears blue overalls with a black move. He added silhouettes of eagles cut
half encased in sheet metal. The heavy thud of a skullcap. Sweat and dust cake his brow. from a skid plate and the words “Victory
large explosion sounds a couple of blocks away as He had been a blacksmith before joining comes from God” to its rear doors.
of the Iraq 9th Armoured Division’s a man among them who had not been
engineering corps. They are not locals and wounded at some point. They are all
‘I STARTED ACTING many, including the moustachioed Captain intimately familiar with explosives and
Ali, are from Baghdad, rotating in for 15 days spend some of their downtime studying
before taking a week of back home. the newest iterations of Daesh’s bombs,
CRAZY AND WALKED The unit has worked through almost every examples of which they store near their
stage of the battle against Daesh, including quarters in a desolate house with a
the recent brutal combat in Baiji and Ramadi. wrecked yellow taxi that had ploughed
OUT INTO THE IEDs. In Mosul, they often moved out ahead of the through its garden wall.
frontline, clearing a way for the advance so The house holds a number of explo-
close to Daesh that “If they throw a stone, it sively formed penetrators, paint
I CUT WIRE AFTER would be on our heads,” as one man put it. pot-sized devices with a thick metal lid
They carried guns and grenades in case they that transform into armour-piercing
were ambushed. They often were. warheads. Next to them sit lines of bombs
WIRE U N T I L I C O U L D But much of the duties consisted of stufed into water pipes which had been
clearing the vast amount of booby-trapped buried next to pressure plates. There
IEDs left behind by the militants. The unit’s are also the dissembled components of
GET TO MY TEAM’ unoicial motto is “From sunrise to sunset”. a suicide belt: a cloth and metal casing;
They often arrive to inspect a house first a pile of yellow ammonium nitrate-
thing in the morning and go on to defuse based explosive; and some wire and ball
device after device until the light fails them. bearings. A squad member appears from
THE EOD team’s base lies west of the They do not work with the stringent the house wearing boxer shorts and a vest,
city amid the dust storms, barely-there roads safety constraints, protective gear and then begins to reassemble it for my
and mud-brick villages that stretch out to the remote-control vehicles employed by the benefit, smoking casually. He scoops the
American and Australian militaries that
trained them. This is partly because most
possess “specialised equipment” that begins
and ends with a cheap, humble multitool
(Leathermans are rare and sought-after [ABOVE, FROM LEFT] A federal police
here) but also because of the sheer number drone; recovered munitions are disposed
_ WIRED _ 10-17 of devices they have to deal with every of in a desert crater west of Mosul
long. Between my first and second visits,
they’d lost one man and several others
had been injured. Of the men who made
up the unit when Ibrahim started, there
were now just five left. The rest had been
explosives into the belt with his hands, killed, wounded, or, in some cases, quit in “When I see that the way is very complicated,
tapes it up and slots in the detonation an attempt to avoid the same fate. that is when I blow it up with C-4.”
cap with a length of fuse before slicing Five years ago, Daesh was yet to appear That may be one of the reasons why he is still
of a separate section and lighting it to in its current incarnation, but its precursor alive. But he has nonetheless narrowly avoided
demonstrate how fast it burns. organisations were well established in Iraq death on many occasions. He reels off a list of
“Don’t worry,” he says, noticing me and had perfected horrifyingly effective stories. Once he tried to shift a jerrycan full of
glancing with some alarm at the glowing IEDs. Ibrahim usually encountered three explosives with a rope, causing it to detonate and
cigarette that was dangling from his different types, activated by either blow a hole in the ground as deep as his waist.
mouth. “It won’t set them of.” tripwires, pressure plates or mobile phones. Another time he trod on a pressure switch while
A L I enrolled in the unit a year ago, “Most of them were easy to deal with,” he making his way up a hill and set of a device just
part of a steady intake of new recruits remembers. But as he and his colleagues three metres away. The deafening, blinding blast
required to keep numbers up. He tried became better and faster at neutralising threw him back but he avoided the worst of the
not to dwell on the shockingly high the bombs, the insurgents simply surged explosion. In shock, he rushed down towards his
attrition rates. “If you think about this forward, making them more complex. colleagues. “I didn’t know if I was alive or dead,
and make yourself scared, you won’t be The process accelerated when Daesh so to make sure I ran and shouted, ‘Am I dead?
able to do anything,” he tells me quietly. s e i ze d M o s u l a n d f o r m e d i ts s e l f - Am I dead?’” he says, flashing a still, quick smile.
“The most important thing is morale.” declared caliphate in 2014. EOD teams One day, Ibrahim was working in the Christian
Ali’s commander is Captain Hasham began to encounter increasingly advanced town of Qaraqosh, which was taken by Iraqi forces
Ali Ibrahim, who, at 27, is one of the explosive devices, triggered by movement early in the Mosul ofensive and saturated with
oldest in his unit, and, according to his or a shadow cast across them. IEDs. By mid afternoon he was exhausted, so took
superiors, one of the best. Relaxing in an Daesh hid them better, too, under a brief rest while two of his men walked further
AC/DC “Hells Bells” T-shirt when I meet entrance-hall tiles, inside generators, up the road to deal with more devices. They were
him, he looks like a teenager. fridges or cupboards, usually rigged to blow engulfed in a huge explosion a few seconds later.
Ibrahim joined in 2012 after up if they were touched or lifted. They began “When it happened, I saw a head blown away from
requesting a position with an EOD to encounter the new pressure sensors the rest and I realised my team had died,” he says.
squad. The pull was partly, he says, found in the Islah al-Zarai car bomb around The smoke and debris cleared to reveal the other
the opportunity to save people’s lives, a year ago. Five of the unit had since been man sheared in half at the chest.
but also because he had heard there killed attempting to defuse them. He does not remember exactly what happened
were relatively few officers and, as Ibrahim moves deliberately now. “I’m next but he headed out into the heavily mined
a result, more opportunities for job not in a rush. When I find an IED, I check area. “I started acting crazy and walked out into
advancement. It was soon clear that it, I look at how it works and then, when the IEDs,” he says. “I cut wire after wire until
this was because few of them lasted I understand, I start to work,” he says. I could get to my team and dragged them back.”
_ WIRED _ 10-17
The display shows a grey, ruined street
leading to a roundabout. It is diicult to make
out detail clearly, as there is no zoom facility
on the drone camera and they have to keep
above 200 metres when over Daesh territory
to avoid small-arms fire.
AS well as new types of IEDs and Tiny figures clutching assault rifles AFTER Ali’s team detonates the car
triggers for them, Daesh has also suddenly appear on the screen, darting bomb, they start out towards their base, trucks
developed new delivery methods. In across the street from building to building. still laden from the explosives factories. Once
October 2016, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters “We have movement,” Talib murmured. they pass the outskirts, they detour of into the
working alongside French special forces More gunmen follow, then a motorbike desert on a grey gravel track through the open
soldiers spotted and shot down a drone races towards the roundabout. sands. After a few minutes, they arrive at a pit
near the town of Dohuk, north of Mosul. “They’re moving to attack our units,” he worn deep by a series of explosions. They come
This was not an unusual occurrence: the says, grabbing a nearby Samsung tablet here every few days to dispose of captured Daesh
militants had long used them for obser- displaying the drone’s location on a map of munitions and deactivated bombs.
vation purposes, so the Kurds scooped the area. He writes down the co-ordinates They unload the trucks – IED canisters, mortars,
it up to take to their base. As they did so, on a red Post-it Note, then radios the details rocket tubes, magnetised bombs, sacks of explo-
explosives inside the craft detonated, to the nearest frontline unit. sives – then pile them into the hole. Again, they
killing two of them and injuring two “I see many things in my days here,” he rig C-4 to a fuse, this time one that would burn
Frenchmen. They were the first known says, piloting the drone back to its base. far longer than a few seconds. They then drive
casualties of Daesh’s drone war. “There are always Daesh fighters passing off, not stopping until a huge plume of smoke
When the ofensive began in earnest, from place to place, car bombs and snipers. begins to rise into the air. The blast can be felt
Iraqi forces quickly began to report I always pass the co-ordinates on.” from more than a kilometre away.
weaponised drones, many of which were The drone unit added grenades to their Finally, back at the base, they rest. The EOD unit
commercially available, Chinese-made craft in early 2017, closely following the observes the Ramadan fast strictly and a day of
quadcopters modified to drop explosives. pattern established by Daesh. Instead of heat and exertion with no water or food has left
The usual load was a grenade fitted with plastic fins, they aixed shuttlecock feathers them exhausted. Most lie down and sleep, others
custom plastic fins. Daesh made and to the grenades to improve accuracy. “We chat about work, families or fallen comrades.
dropped grenades in large quantities, Some of the men get by on faith, others on
sometimes with lethal accuracy. Propa- gallows humour, joking over who took the biggest
ganda videos show them landing directly risks and would die first or noting that explosives
inside Humvee turrets and, on one THE UNIT ADDED have little respect for ranks. “At least death by IED
occasion, killing a tank commander. is quick,” one tells me, even though their many
Other armed groups, for example gravely wounded comrades testified that it was not.
in Ukraine, have deployed consumer, G R E N A D E S I N 2 0 1 7, Ali sits on a mattress next to Ibrahim, his boyish
unmanned aerial vehicles in warfare (see boss, as a battered air-conditioning unit in one
WIRED 03.17), but Daesh was the first to do of the windows struggles against the heat. The
so at scale – and weaponised. At first, Iraqi AFFIXING SHUTTLE- room is a mess, its red carpet almost completely
forces struggled to respond, relying on obscured by clutter. Clothing, bomb components
rifles and machine guns to shoot down the and watermelons are piled in the corner.
tiny mobile targets. But the federal police C O C K F E AT H E R S They talk of home. Ibrahim has two wives in
copied the technology as best as they were Baghdad and a child by each of them. “When I
able, using Daesh’s tactics against them. die,” he says with a laugh, “I will leave lots of
They developed a specialised unit T O T H E M T O I M P ROV E children behind me.” He shows me a video of his
equipped with the kind of craft available 18-month-old daughter running to the door after
on Amazon or eBay for as little as £1,500. hearing that her father was coming back from duty.
It consisted of four-man squads with their AC C U R AC Y Ali sits cross-legged and sucks his singed finger
own control truck and assigned to work reflectively. He had put off marriage for now,
alongside a specific ground unit. They declining to think of a future beyond the unit.
moved around depending on deployment “This job is dangerous,” he says when I asked him
but by June, Daesh territory had shrunk adjusted the drones ourselves,” Talib says. why. “I don’t want to bring a woman into my life
so much that most stayed parked outside “Then we killed Daesh with them.” then be killed and leave her without a man.”
a forward base in the city’s west bank Inside the forward base, senior oicers He lays still for a moment, then turns to sleep,
reinforced with green sandbags. monitor the teams from a control room lined waiting until sunset, when they would finally be
The drones are in the air constantly, with green floral-print sofas along three able to break their fast. Tomorrow, they would have
returning only to swap batteries. Inside walls and a bank of five televisions streaming to work again. And perhaps this time, it would not
the wood-laminate interior of one of the drone camera feeds. A sixth screen is tuned be quiet. In July, Daesh was pushed out of Mosul
vans sits First Lieutenant Ali Talib, 35. His into the local Iraqiya channel’s news report but for the Iraqis, for now, the fight goes on.
eyes are fixed on one of two large flatscreen and alternates between footage of frontline
TVs mounted each side of a digital clock. clashes and pieces on Donald Trump. John Beck is a freelance journalist and photographer
The technology is basic but effective,
saving the lives of civilians and soldiers alike,
according to a friendly major reclined on a
sofa. “From here,” he says, “we can identify
[ABOVE LEFT] Captain Hasham Ali the target and tell if it’s military or civilian.
Ibrahim with his multitool – the sum total These are our eyes. If Daesh wants to sneak
of many Iraqi soldiers’ field equipment into our units, we can see them from here.”
By
FIG.1
EACH HAND IN THE DATABASE AT PROFESSOR SUE BLACK HAS DEVISED A WAY TO TRACK DOWN
THE CENTRE FOR ANATOMY AND
HUMAN IDENTIFICATION IS PAEDOPHILES AND RAPISTS – BY MATCHING THE UNIQUE MARKINGS
PHOTOGRAPHED, DIVIDED INTO 24
PARTS AND CHECKED FOR 27 MARKS ON HUMAN HANDS WITH INCRIMINATING VIDEO EVIDENCE
CREDIT IN HERE LIGHT
X X- 1 7 _ W I R E D _ 0 0 0
I
one day in 2006, sue black, a professor at the university
of Dundee’s department of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology,
received a phone call from a man called Nick Marsh. He was a forensic
photographer who had worked with Black 17 years earlier as part including several public figures such as
of a team sent by the Foreign Oice to examine the bodies of victims The Who guitarist Pete Townshend and The
of war crimes in Kosovo. Marsh knew that Black had a special talent Thick of It actor and writer Chris Langham.
for identifying people from scraps of flesh and bone. Now he Black was again asked if she could identify
had evidence of a different kind and wondered if she could help. people in the images. “Operation Ore was
The piece of evidence was an eight-second-long digital video the first time I realised these kind of cases
clip. Marsh had been working on a case involving a teenage could have such a volume,” She says. “I was
girl who had alleged that her father had been coming into her naive. I thought it was all about isolated people
bedroom at night to molest her. When her mother refused to
believe her, the girl left her webcam running all night, pointed at
her bed. The camera captured a person’s hand and forearm
touching her. Her father denied that he was the person in the
video. “It was one of the spookiest and scariest things that I
have ever seen,” explains Black. “A real sort of horror movie.”
Marsh asked Black if there was a way to identify the perpetrator.
She didn’t have clue. “I’d never done anything like that before. I’d
never identified anyone using a hand,” she says. But after studying
the footage, Black noticed something that had escaped her before:
the veins on the back of the man’s hand were visible. In the dark, the
camera had reverted to infrared mode, and in those conditions the
deoxygenated blood in veins shows up as black lines. Black, an expert
in anatomy, knew that hand-vein patterns are unique from person
to person, even in identical twins. She asked the police to take photo-
graphs of the father’s hand and forearm. The vein patterns matched.
Black appeared in court as an expert witness for the prosecution,
presenting her vein-pattern analysis. It was the first time in British
legal history that evidence of this kind was presented in court
proceedings. When she was introduced, the judge had to stop the
trial for 90 minutes to ask her to explain the principles behind her
analysis. Black explained her rationale, but conceded that she didn’t
have statistics showing the likelihood of the hands matching. “That
research had never been done. I could say no more than everything
matched, and we couldn’t say it definitely wasn’t him,” she says.
Still, it was strong evidence and the prosecuting barrister expected
the jury to find the father guilty. However, he was acquitted.
“I asked the barrister if there was something we had done wrong
or something in the science that I had not been able to convey,”
Black recalls. “She said, ‘No, there was no problem with the
science. The jury had just not believed the girl. They thought
she didn’t seem upset enough.’” Black was dumbfounded.
Shortly after the trial of the girl’s father, the Serious Organised
Crime Agency (SOCA) asked Black if she could help with an ongoing
police investigation called Operation Ore. It was a long-running
investigation of more than 7,000 British people suspected
of downloading indecent images, after the FBI had found their
details on the database of a child-porn distributor in Texas.
The operation became the UK’s largest-ever computer crime
investigation, involving the arrest of more than 3,700 people,
in isolated cases.” According to Black, about a million
images of child abuse are uploaded to the dark web every
day. When police seize mobile phones and find indecent
images, they discover, on average, about 100,000
individual images. “It is a huge problem, and the
police can’t get near looking at them all, nor arresting
their way out of the problem,” Black explains.
In the end, she worked only briefly as a consultant on
Operation Ore, which soon became mired in controversy
_ WIRED _ 10-17 when journalists revealed flaws in police methods.
Nevertheless, it was a turning point themselves abusing a child, they are reliving the
for Black. During Operation Ore, she T W enactment. If there’s a part of them present in the image,
became fully aware of a problem H E it gives them an extra feeling of involvement.”
that she didn’t realise existed and E R The problem was that, in most cases, the only visible
that she might be the person who E parts of the abusers’ bodies were their hands and
could do something about it. O genitalia. Previously it had been widely assumed that
But in the months after the trial, it N H such evidence was not enough to incriminate someone.
occurred to her that she might have L P A But Black was unconvinced. “There was a research route
stumbled across a new idea. Marsh Y A N that had never been fully explored,” she says. “I
had mentioned that the police were R D had been involved in crimes where the victim was dead
seeing an ever-increasing number of V T S but these cases had live victims and perpetrators.
indecent images and videos of I S I thought there might be something we could extract
children. Abusers often appeared S A from those images and use in a meaningful way.
themselves: “Sexual abuse of children I O N I thought, ‘We should be researching it.’”
is often about power, and the touching B F D
is a part of that,” says Black. “When L
a perpetrator views an image of E T G
H E
E N
I
A T II
B A
U L sitting in her 70s office with its
S I high windows to let in light, Black
E A looks very much the academic in a
R loose cardigan, her strawberry-blonde
S hair pulled back in a plait. Her manner
is no-nonsense but affable.
Black grew up the youngest of two
daughters in a blue-collar Inverness
household, and was the first of her
family to attend university – she
studied biology then human anatomy
at Aberdeen. She began her career
teaching at St Thomas’ Hospital in
London. Stints of body-identification
work for the police, then the Foreign
Oice, led to her working in Kosovo,
for which she was awarded an OBE
in 2001. She has since worked in
conflict zones in countries such as
Iraq and Sierra Leone, and in
Thailand after the tsunami in 2004.
In 2003, Black took over the
University of Dundee’s Centre for
Anatomy and Human Identification
and began developing the links
between anatomy and forensic
science. In 2016, in recognition of
her services to forensic anthro-
pology, she was made a Dame.
The teams that work on forensic
cases are, Black says, “very close
knit. At the end [of a case] we will
sit and talk it through. Counselling
is always available, though we
haven’t needed it yet. We are very
tuned in to each other, and if someone is uncomfortable we deal
FIG.2 with it there and then. When a team is exposed to this sort of thing,
PROFESSOR SUE BLACK which is as bad as it gets, each of you has to know that the people
PICTURED AT THE UNIVERSITY you’re working with are not sufering themselves.”
OF DUNDEE’S CENTRE FOR After Operation Ore, Black realised that hand analysis would be
ANATOMY AND HUMAN taken seriously only if it had a genuinely scientific foundation, rather
IDENTIFICATION, JULY 2017 than being based on ad hoc comparisons. It was fine to show the
vein patterns of an abuser and the accused matched, but if the
accused contended that many people had matching veins, Black
wouldn’t be able to back up her argument with any scientifically
TABLE 1 She was aided by an unwitting mistake on
THE HAND ANALYSIS CONDUCTED BY SUE BLACK’S TEAM FOCUSES MAINLY ON Strachan’s part. His defence team ordered that
THE DORSUM, WHICH IS INDICATED IN BLACK ON THE DIAGRAMS BELOW photographs be taken of his thighs, their
intention presumably to show that body parts
‘THE INCIDENCE OF SCARRING ON THE DORSUM OF THE HAND’, A STUDY OF 238 SAMPLES AGED BETWEEN 21 AND could not be used to identify someone.
62 YEARS OLD (61 FEMALE, 177 MALE). BY SUE BLACK, BRIONY MACDONALD-MCMILLAN AND XANTHE MALLETT, 2013 However, when the photographer was taking
the picture, he asked his subject to hold the
photographic scale, which, says Black, “gave
us a beautiful view of the accused’s thumbs”.
Black compared the left thumb in the
picture with the Hogmanay image and found
matching details, including an unusually
shaped lunule, the white area at the base of
the nail. “This time, I was able to go back to
my database and put statistics to the data.”
In October 2009, Strachan was sentenced to
life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16
years, cut on appeal to nine years.
more scars than women, but right-handed men are more “Lateral deviation”. Each feature is marked to show whether it’s the
likely to scar their left hands, while right-handed women same on the rapist and the suspect. They all are. “And as I learned,
tend to scar their right – no one knows why. Black is that can be a challenge, because it makes you ask yourself if you’re
fascinated by the stories that are locked into the hands really seeing everything. Part of this work is knowing how to look;
in her database. One of her papers quotes the lines from asking yourself what you might not be noticing,” Black says.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel A Study in Scarlet: In the end, the match appeared strong. When presented with
“By a man’s finger-nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, Black’s report, Oketch changed his plea from not guilty to guilty; he
by his trouser-knees,” declares Sherlock Holmes, “by got 15 years. That plea change was important, Black says. It meant
the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his money that would otherwise have been spent on trials was saved. It
expression, by his shirt-cuf – by each of these things a also meant the child was spared from having to give evidence in court.
man’s calling is plainly revealed.”
Sometimes a case challenges
Black’s methodology. In 2014,
the Greater Manchester Police
asked her to work on the case of
paedophile Jeremy Oketch, a
30-year-old pharmacist who had
twice raped a two-year-old girl and
filmed the assaults. Although it was
impossible to prove, the child’s
silent compliance suggested that
s h e h a d b e e n d r u gge d . A n d
although the police had 55 minutes
of footage to examine, the only
visible parts of the rapist were a
hand and his penis.
The video was so distressing,
recalls Black, that when judge Hilary
Manley left the courtroom to view
it, she returned visibly shaken. Was
Black afected herself? “Images of
child abuse affect everyone who
views them,” she says. “I feel
anxious watching video because you
don’t know what’s coming next. But
you have to stay objective. I tell
myself that it’s not my place to go
back to analyse the incident, it’s
my job to find something that might
be of value to the investigation.” IV
The Oketch case presented her
with two technical problems. First, he was black, “and all black’s team helps police forces but the client pays the university; any
the people we had looked at previously had been white. I around the world – including the FBI, payment to Black’s team could be seen
didn’t know if all the features would be as visible on black Interpol and Europol – and works on to compromise its objectivity. Images
skin, but they were.” Second, a lot of the footage was clear, 30 to 50 cases a year. In the cases Black or video material are delivered on
the matches were numerous and potential divergences has worked on since 2006, the encrypted drives and handed to her in
almost totally absent. That sounds ideal, but such apparent percentage in which the accused have person. Black works in a team of three
certainty brings its own risks. Black takes a file from a cabinet changed their plea to guilty in but she first views all video evidence
and slips out her report on Oketch to show me (it is in the response to her analysis stands at 82. herself, absorbing the initial shock on
ILLUSTRATION: PIP PELL
public domain, having been used in a Crown prosecution). Black also takes on cases related to behalf of her colleagues. “You have to
Information is tabulated. Under “Hand” appears a long list circumstances such as those in which view it through the first time to know
of features: “Hand morphology”, “Thumb nail groove from the perpetrator has disguised their what’s coming,” she explains. “Then
asymmetrical lunule”, “Vein pattern” and so on. Under face. Grants have helped expand the you can narrow it down and look at
“Penis”, a similar list: “Penile morphology”, “Vein pattern”, database and her team have reduced the parts that are more important
the time it takes to compile a report. for the job you have to do.”
When a case comes in from the After that, she shares material she
police, Black administrates the project, thinks is important with Lucina
E
V
E
H N
A
N F I
D A R D
R O E
V E M N
E T
I U P I
N N E C
I R A
P Q S L
A U O
T E N T
T W
E T I
R O N
N S
S P
E
R
S
O
N,
FIG.4
BLACK’S OFFICE IS DECORATED
WITH A HUMAN SKELETON,
ANATOMICAL ART PRINTS,
FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS
AND A LETTER FROM THE
QUEEN (“MY ASSISTANT
MADE ME PUT THEM UP”)
Hackman, a senior lecturer in human identifi-
cation at the department, and both women
independently single out the pictures that best
highlight key anatomical features. Then they
agree about the ofender’s important features
and a photographic specialist on the team, Chris
Rynn, will enhance the images digitally. Once
they have established the ofender’s features,
they study images of the suspect, trying to
establish or discount a match.
Roughly speaking, the degree of certainty on Often this is enough for the accused to change their plea as there is
any biometric is dictated by the size of a data normally additional evidence to implicate the person. If you’re wondering
set. Black’s is not yet big enough to justify stating why no one is investing billions to create million-strong data sets, Black
a statistical probability, so instead she follows says it’s because there’s no money for research into catching child abusers.
the system used by the judiciary, which objec- In the forensic field, most research funding goes into DNA, because it’s what
tively grades the possibility of a match. they know and trust and there’s a drive to do things quicker and cheaper.
Even with clear images of a suspect’s and “We’ve looked at vein patterns on the right and left hands of all individuals
perpetrator’s hands, it is impossible to scientif- on the database and we haven’t been able to find any two that match,” Black
ically guarantee a match, as that depends on all says. “We have expanded the database many times since we began, but we need
the anatomical features present. A suspect can much bigger databases to establish greater degrees of certainty. We think we
be excluded with 100 per cent certainty, but a might get to something that’s as good as fingerprinting.” Black is attempting
match can only carry a grade of “strong support” to automate the process of searching for repeated patterns, creating algorithms
that the suspect and the ofender are the same that are able to extract the features from millions of stills or video images.
person. This equates to between a 1-in-1,000 to
1-in-10,000 chance that it could be someone else.
FIG.5
WHEN BLACK ANALYSES
THE BACKS OF HANDS IN FOOTAGE
SHE MAPS A GRID OF 24 CELLS,
THEN LOOKS FOR IDENTIFYING
MARKS AND HIGHLIGHTS IN THE
_ WIRED _ 10-17 VEIN PATTERNS
“We’ve done the pilot project, which
shows that we can extract vein
patterns and pigment patterns.
We’re now looking at whether we
can do skin-crease patterns on
knuckles,” Black says. “When you CASE STUDY
layer all these features and patterns, DEAN LEWIS HARDY
you increase the probability of
identifying the right individual to
the fingerprint level, or even perhaps
the DNA level of certainty. It could
allow us to identify and look for the
first-generation producers. It would
also mean reducing the strain that
looking at these images places on
oicers. They take a terrible toll.”
When asked about the possibility
that, as forensic hand analysis THE LEFT INDEX THE INDEX FINGER BOTH IMAGES During a trip to Thailand in 2004,
becomes more common, paedophiles FINGER OF THE OF HARDY IS ON FEATURE THE Kent-based Dean Lewis Hardy took
will start wearing gloves, Black is OFFENDER IS ON THE RIGHT AND THUMBS OF THE indecent photos of four girls aged eight
adamant: “They won’t. Most people THE RIGHT, AND THE OFFENDER ON SUSPECT. THE to ten years old, including images
who commit crimes aren’t very bright. THAT OF THE THE LEFT. A FILTER CREASES OF THE of his hand touching them. Five years
They think they’ll never get caught.” SUSPECT (DEAN HAS BEEN USED TO SKIN, NAILS AND later, he was found guilty of indecent
LEWIS HARDY) ON MAKE THE LUNULE – THE assault after being identified through
THE LEFT. IT FRECKLES MORE CRESCENT- an analysis of the images of his
HIGHLIGHTS THE OBVIOUS, THEN SHAPED MARKING hands. He received a six-year
FRECKLES AND A GROUPED INTO – HAVE BEEN sentence. Prosecutors said it was the
FOUR-POINT PATTERNS THAT OUTLINED first case to use hand analysis. Black
PUNCTUATED CAN BE COMPARED TO ASSIST found Hardy’s scars matched that
V SCAR. BETWEEN THE THE COMPARISON of the suspect, along with his freckle
SUSPECT AND WITH THE IMAGES pattern and thumb skin creases.
in june 2016, black was asked THE OFFENDER. OF THE OFFENDER. “Scars and creases are accidental,”
by Kent Police to work on the case Black explains. “Freckle patterns are
against Richard Huckle, one of the random, but their presence indicates a
worst predatory paedophiles in genetic predisposition to freckle
British history. Between 2006 and formation. Therefore, we had
2014, Huckle had groomed and features of different aetiology.”
abused up to 200 Malaysian children,
including babies, in Kuala Lumpur,
while masquerading as an English
teacher and philanthropist. Images
and videos of his rapes and assaults
had been shared with other paedo-
philes across the dark web. awarded himself “pedopoints” for 15 levels of abuse rated from dwell on the horrors of individual
In December 2014, National Crime “basic” to “hardcore”. He had also compiled a 60-page manual, cases but prefers to talk about what
Agency oicers arrested him when “Paedophiles and Poverty: Child Love Guide”, which focused on can be done to stem the sharing of
he arrived at Gatwick Airport to selecting deprived victims without being caught, and was found on child-abuse images online. “Can’t
spend Christmas with his parents, his laptop. He’d planned to publish it online and wanted to create our phones recognise parts of a body
and found 20,000 indecent pictures a paedophile wiki guide. “I’d hit the jackpot,” he wrote, “in a three- and stop the image being taken?”
and videos on his laptop. Officers year-old girl as loyal to me as my dog, and nobody seemed to care.” she asks. “That’s the challenge I
from the NCA’s Child Exploitation CEOP oicers selected material they felt was clearest and passed want companies such as Apple to
and Online Protection (CEOP) it to Black. “Some of it was quite old, so it was degraded, but take up, to stop technology being a
division viewed every picture and we didn’t need to study that,” she says. “Advances in camera mechanism by which our children’s
film clip. The material was deeply technology mean that paedophiles are taking clearer pictures these innocence is being stolen. Because,
disturbing: although 23 children days. It can make them easier to identify.” Even looking at this you know, the statistics say that one
would be identified in the charges, the selection took her team a long time. “It took us about four days to in six people have had unwanted
number of victims was believed to be view it all, seeing what we could use, isolating the parts to be used.” sexual attention as a child. One in six.
far higher because detectives found In the end, Black’s team were able to present evidence to I cannot think of a crime that is more
on his computer a ledger on which he show that Huckle was likely to be the perpetrator, and as the important. Can you?”
evidence mounted against him, as with Oketch, he changed his
plea to guilty. This resulted in the conviction of a man who judge Richard Benson is a journalist and
Peter Rook QC said had almost certainly blighted the lives of his author based in London. He wrote
victims and caused them severe psychological harm. about Asem Hasna’s 3D-printed
“The significant thing about that case was the scale of the prosthetics in issue 07.17
sentencing, Black explains. He was given 22 life sentences for 71
ofences, which was a way of the courts saying, ‘We are serious
about this, we are not going to take it lying down.’” Black doesn’t
THE AI
SCIENCE
MACHINE
Neuroscientist
Romy Lorenz
created an AI
program to help
design clinical tests
in real-time neuro
feedback.
Can artificial
intelligence help
us understand
the brain in
entirely new ways?
Above: Ryan Gosling plays Officer K in Blade Runner 2049, which is set 30 years after Ridley Scott’s original version 10-17 _ WIRED _
making waves. Polytechnique, in 2009, was a leave at the end were blueprints for an ark,
clinical, clear-eyed study of a real-life mass an interstellar ship to save a future mankind.
shooting in a Canadian college, as seen through Villeneuve insisted their language itself
the eyes of two students. It was nominated for should be the thing they bestow.
11 Genie Awards – the Canadian equivalent
of the Oscars – and won nine, including Best From a distance, the post-Polytechnique
Picture and Best Direction. That, in turn, led films of Villeneuve – the ones he made in the
to what Villeneuve describes as the “water- seven years between those LA water-bottle
bottle tour” of Hollywood producers (“You meetings and Arrival – don’t seem to have much
meet people for 20 minutes. They always in common. One, Incendies (2010), tells the
give you a water bottle”). And it was at these story of two Canadian twins who travel to their
meetings – because there wasn’t the budget in mother’s (unnamed) Middle Eastern homeland,
Canada – that he told anyone who would listen which is in the middle of civil war, to track
that it was his lifelong dream to direct a down a brother they never knew and a father
sci-fi film. But not any sci-fi film. they thought was dead. Another, Prisoners
He had been ofered some sci-fi screenplays, (2013), his first English-language film, saw
but often, “it’s just about how fast a car can go Hugh Jackman unlawfully capture and torture
and about the weapons. It’s not about explo- a man (Paul Dano) he suspected had abducted
ration of the human condition or things like his daughter. In Enemy (2013), an unfaithful
that.” To Villeneuve, who grew up awestruck history lecturer, played by Jake Gyllenhaal,
watching Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space uncovers his own doppelgänger. In Sicario,
illeneuve grew up in a small village, in the Odyssey and Spielberg’s Close Encounters of which was nominated for three Oscars, we
Trois-Rivières region of Quebec, in a family the Third Kind, it seemed like such a waste. dive into the dangerous and murky world of
that had two certainties: duck-hunting, and “I wanted to do a sci-fi film even before a government task force trying to take down
the law. “It was a very boring little village, my aunt gave me those boxes of comics,” he Mexican drug lords across the border. And
but there were some great characters. I was says, which suggests true forward planning. then, of course, there is Arrival itself, in which
raised in a Fellini movie, basically.” “I think what is beautiful about sci-fi is we learn that squid-like aliens communicate
Almost everyone in his family was a duck there’s a freedom in how you can approach
hunter – he was not, but remembers hearing
the guns at dawn as the hunters went out on
more intellectual subject matter, or more
abrasive subjects, or those that are a bit more
‘WITH SCI-FI,
the St Lawrence River – and almost everyone,
he says, worked as a legal professional. This,
diicult, or tougher or darker – things that
would be unbearable in a drama. But with YOU CAN
I soon learn, is no exaggeration.
What did his father do? “My father
was a notary,” he says, meaning, essen-
sci-fi it gives you a poetic distance, and you can
approach the subjects and explore them and
express them in a very dynamic way.”
APPROACH
tially, a solicitor. His uncles? “They were
notaries.” His grandfather, then? “My grand-
And so, when he met Dan Levine and Daniel
Cohen of 21 Laps – a production company,
INTELLECTUAL
father was a notary”. His grandfather’s
brothers then? “Oh, they were notaries.”
incidentally, that was in the middle of
developing a Spielberg-esque throwback sci-fi
SUBJECT
All his family were notaries apart from
his brother, he explains. “And he’s a judge.
series for Netflix which would later be called
Stranger Things – he said what he always
said: that he would like to do the kind of sci-fi
MATTER AND
So everyone was in law.” He was, unsurpris-
ingly, “supposed to become a notary.”
As a child, he says, he didn’t need much in the
that they don’t do any more. One more about
ideas than technology, more about people than
EXPLORE IT
way of bedtime stories, as he often told himself
his own, lying in bed, eyes closed, changing
guns. One, more simply, for adults.
Levine and Cohen, in turn, asked if Ville-
IN A VERY
camera and editing as he went, until sleep
finally took hold. It was a project in which,
neuve had read a short story called The Story
of Your Life. It was about aliens who came DYNAMIC WAY’
you imagine, he no longer had the final cut. to Earth, yet the meat of the story wasn’t not in sentences as we know them – ones that
He excelled in science at school, and would conflict, but the struggle to understand. necessarily begin with uncertain ends – but in
have studied it at university, but made an abrupt He said he hadn’t read it. They sent it over, complex ink-like circles, complete thoughts
gear change and chose to study arts instead. and it was love at first read. “At last! A story expressed instantly, without start or finish
“Everyone was like…” – he opens his mouth that had depth and was exploring something (or, as Jeremy Renner’s character puts it at one
as wide as it will go – “but of course, at about humanity and language, too!” point: “Imagine you wanted to write a sentence
the same time, it changed my life.” Tellingly, when he began working on it using two hands, starting from either side…”).
Success did not come instantly. His first with the screenwriter 21 Laps had provided, Yet look closer, and all the films are, like the
two films, both in French, were quirky, a the main change Villeneuve made from the alien language itself, circular. In Incendies, the
little of-beat, but slight, and garnered little first draft was that of the ending. In giving it twins discover their father and half-brother
attention. It was only after a career break – and a dramatic structure, the writer, Eric Heisserer, are the same person. In Prisoners, Jackman
a determination to only do work in which he had changed it to something more typically realises he’s got the wrong man, before finding
felt he was saying something – that he started Hollywood. The mysterious gift the aliens himself falsely imprisoned by the real culprit. In
_ WIRED _ 10-17 Right: Denis Villeneuve, photographed in Barcelona, June 2017
VILLENEUVE’S
MAGIC Enemy, we end with a clear sign that Gyllenhaal
is still cheating on his partner, and perhaps
years of movie story, of flashbacks. To reverse-
engineer that was insanely diicult.”
really strange. I can express an idea and he can It’s that moment, he says, beyond the
‘IT’S THE draw it”), and who has already begun drawing
desert mounds, freshly inputted from the
planning that comes later, and the maths that
makes it perfect, which he’s always looking for.
ELEGANCE OF Villeneuve brainscape. “My feeling,” he
says, “is that it’s going to happen.”
He describes it as the sensation of vertigo. Not
in the traditional sense, but more that nothing is
recalls images, not words. The cow, in Apoca- for WIRED. Blade Runner 2049 is released
There’s a joke among his friends, he says, that lypse Now, being lifted by helicopter. The boots in cinemas on Friday October 6
he speaks three languages: English, French and of a policeman, in No Country for Old Men,
Samhudecki. The latter relates to Sam Hudecki, scratching on the floor as he’s killed.
the storyboard artist with whom he shares a “That’s strong cinema. So I wish to be able
special bond (“I have a direct connection. It’s to make a movie without dialogue.” 10-17 _ WIRED _
VIVA
EL INTERNET
provide the dopamine rush your need, the dose you thought you
brain is demanding. Yet it does not could never go without. And then …
refresh. It will not refresh. failure. The website freezes, the app
Your fix will come in the form of a crashes. The shaky ETECSA network
small green scratch-card, almost like can’t handle the up-to-date versions
a lottery ticket and usually costing of FaceGoogleInstaSnapTwitter, and
a quarter of the average weekly so you’ll have to restart the app and
Cuban wage. Some quick work with pull down on your feed frantically,
a coin will reveal two horribly long again and again and again.
strings of numbers, and along with In Cuba, where Wi-Fi is both slow
a hunched-over clutch of other and terrible, you will be an emissary
addicts, you’ll enter the digits into from the future, a hint of the degen-
the password page of ETECSA, Cuba’s eracy to come. You’re a full-on
government-run telecommunications mainlining internet junkie with the
monopoly, whose design aesthetics world’s uproar piped into your head
are solidly 1997. And then… nothing. 24/7, your emotional landscape terra-
Your phone will fail to connect, or its formed and bufeted by whatever some
signal will quickly fade, since your narcissist just posted on Instagram
chosen hotspot, like most of the city’s or some windbag on Twitter. But like Havana residents been sitting around sipping mojitos
hotspots, is overwhelmed by demand. the “not even once” warnings around use Ethernet cables as the digital revolución passed them
(The government claims there are 60 drugs such as meth, you know that and antennas to by. They have workarounds. Oh,
hotspots in Havana, up from a handful after the internet is in Cubans’ pockets, connect to an ad hoc do they have workarounds.
a few years ago. That’s one for every it’s over. Even backward, bitter-ender Cuba-only intranet
35,000 Habaneros.) You’ll try again communist Cuba will become part of
for a secure connection.
Then again.
Then again, going on five minutes.
the vast data Borg, tied via arterial
fibre-optic cables and Wi-Fi to the
same pandemonium that gave us cat
B efore my visit earlier
Then ten minutes. videos, livestreamed murders and this year, I’d never been to Cuba,
Sweet Holy Jesus. President Donald J Trump. The real though Cuba had certainly been to
YES! irony is that if the internet does topple me. The Miami of my 80s childhood
The joy when your phone startles the government and bring democracy was a suburban reboot of pre-revo-
awake with a burst of delayed notifi- to this democracy-starved island, it’ll lutionary Cuba, filled with people
cations will be obscene and quasi- happen just as democracy itself is who still toasted El año próximo en
sexual. The screenful of bubbles from being undone by Facebook and other La Habana (“next year in Havana”)
every app you use – Facebook, Twitter, filter-bubble- creating, political- at important occasions. Everything
Instagram, email – will seem like an polarisation-amplifying, algorithm- from family letters to fresh-off-
orgiastic feast on the order of George optimised feeds. But we’re getting the-raft waiters kept us apprised of
Costanza’s sex-pastrami-baseball ahead of ourselves, and also oversim- the increasingly desperate condi-
trifecta. Madly, you’ll swipe, swipe, plifying, because the Cubans – the very tions. In Miami, even the dogcatcher
swipe, trying to get the pixel hit you resourceful Cubans – haven’t exactly had to have a foreign policy towards
the island, and Cuba seemed to be It seemed like only a matter of government professionals, nobody
all anyone ever really talked about. time. Yet other than a few rumoured can check their email or surf the web,
In Silicon Valley, where I worked experiments beginning in the 90s, legally, at home without permission
at companies such as Facebook and the Cuban government had a highly from the government.) There are
Twitter for the earlier part of this restrictive internet policy until 2015, even some startups capitalising on
decade, Cuba was generally regarded, when ETECSA’s first Wi-Fi hotspots the rarity, shoddiness and expense
when it was regarded at all, as a started popping up throughout of Cuban internet: Knales, a mobile-
technological curiosity. This socialist the capital. Walk down a street in messaging platform co-founded
worker’s paradise was a time capsule Old Havana and you’ll note a flock by Diana Elianne Benitez Perera,
where techno-capitalism’s “Make the of smartphone-clutching loiterers packages online weather reports,
world more open and connected” either standing or squatting in a park horoscopes, sports scores, foreign
idealism hadn’t yet delivered its as they try to get on ETECSA Wi-Fi. exchange rates, and other basic
liberal-democratic fruit. The under- This is Cuban internet, where access news into text messages that Cubans
lying assumption held that, whether to non-state-sanctioned websites is can read on their phones.
it was Facebook pages for Cuban blocked, the government snoops Given the rickety and expensive
businesses or Airbnb tourists from on anything unencrypted and the nature of Cuban connectivity, nobody
Texas, the internet’s arrival would service is grindingly slow, when it wastes time or bandwidth trying to
lead to a near-instantaneous trans- exists at all. (I’m told that fast internet stream an episode of Game of Thrones
formation of Cuban society from access is the exclusive domain of state or a YouTube video. ETECSA Wi-Fi,
Soviet-era holdout to just another institutions such as universities and
part of the globe requiring a very large, mostly foreign corpora-
dedicated user-support team. tions such as hotels. Short of a few 10-17 _ WIRED _
Cubans can be as conversant as any
Netflix-and-chill American about shows like
House of Cards, and they drop allusions
to the Lannisters and Omar Little constantly
when you can get it, is purely social transmits data via shoe rubber, bus, patios so you can siphon a nearby
and communicative: chatting with horseback or any other measure. ETECSA park’s Wi-Fi signal and
the uncle in Miami who sends you Oddly, it works. Cubans can be maybe check your email slowly (and
$200 (£153) every month via a as conversant as any Netflix-and illegally) from home? Resolver.
remittance company, the nephew -chill American about popular shows Cubans are the kings and queens
who moved to Spain, the cousin such as House of Cards or Black of resolver, the virtuosi of resolver.
outside the capital – that is what Mirror , and they drop allusions It’s the only thing that’s kept them
the ETECSA hotspot is for. to the Lannisters and Omar Little afloat since the “Special Period”
Which brings us to the first constantly. It’s been reported that as in the early 90s, when the Soviet
workaround. Every week, more many as three million Cubans access Union and its subsidy disappeared,
than a terabyte of data is packaged content via the paquete. And to leaving Cuba’s economy stranded
into external hard drives known as understand the paquete – as well as and Cubans themselves hungry.
el paquete semanal (“the weekly the other epic acts of Cuban hackery But arrayed against the forces of
p a c k a ge ” ) . I t i s t h e i n te r n et I’m going to describe – you need a resourceful resolver lies another
distilled down to its purest, most Spanish lesson you didn’t get at important word: complicado.
consumable and least interactive school. An important word to know Want to talk to the dissident
form: its content. This collection in Cuba is resolver. While literally journalists who scoff at Cuban
of video, song, photo and text files meaning “to resolve”, in practice it’s c e n s o r s h i p a n d a re ro u t i n e l y
from the outside world is cobbled closer to Silicon Valley’s notion of harassed and jailed? Es complicado.
together by various media smugglers lifehacking, but without the humble- Want to get a passport and visa to
known as paqueteros, and it travels braggy lifestyle posturing. travel abroad? Es complicado.
around the island from person to Need to navigate the endless My last Spanish lesson: No es
person, percolating quickly from hurdles involved in obtaining a fácil. It’s not easy. This is the closing
Havana to the furthest reaches in small-business licence? Resolver. refrain to almost every practical
less than a day and constituting Need to bribe a doorman at the Cuban conversation, usually uttered
what would be known in techie weekend to get into a popular bar or with a resigned shrug. The island
lingo as a sneakernet: a network that nightclub such as the ever-teeming is one immense battlefield of resolver
Fabrica de Arte Cubano? Resolver. vs complicado, with a decaying
Need to string 200 metres of cable colonial ruin for a stage and no
_ WIRED _ 10-17 and an antenna through neighbours’ es fácil as the Greek chorus.
C entro Habana is the likes of which only hardcore western
arse-end of a Potemkin village the gamers maintain. The cover is off,
government has renovated for cables snake out to racks bristling with
tourist consumption. Just west of external hard drives, and two monitors
picturesque Old Havana, and east display what appears to be sophisti-
of modern Vedado, gutted shells of cated file-management software. It’s
colonial-era buildings stand among the source for one of Cuba’s paquetes,
the odd pile of collapsed rubble or a vital connection to the outside world.
uncollected garbage. Squint, and What Yuri and his competitors and
on some blocks you’d be in a post- conspirators do isn’t strictly illegal –
apocalyptic city instead of Cuba. alegal is the preferred Cuban word
Even the taxi driver gets lost in this for this: un- legal – but it’s not so
overlooked part of the city and drops un-legal that I couldn’t track down
me blocks from my destination, Yuri through a few discreet inquiries
forcing me to walk the hot streets with to acquaintances in Havana’s small
my oline mapping app open. tech community. My sources tell me
Trying to tease out the numbering, there are half a dozen paqueteros
I note a hand-painted sign over one with nationwide distribution, most
ramshackle door announcing itself as of whom typically avoid reporters
the seat of the local Comité de Defensa and self-promotion. (The paquetes
de la Revolución (CDR) chapter. sell themselves.) But Yuri, who says
The organisation’s logo features he recently fell out with his partners
a Cuban-flag-clad patriot raising in a major paquete operation and
a machete to strike, emblazoned decided to strike out on his own, was
Above: Yuri, a media smuggler who decided with the motto Con la guardia en open to talking. After a few phone calls
to strike out on his own, holds a alto (“With one’s guard up”). and a quick get-to-know-you, Yuri
hard drive containing digital content... This unique product of the Cuban is taking me through his workflow,
revolution is worth a detour. The CDR ably and quickly hopping around the
is Robespierre-ian in both name and file structure of this week’s media
function and serves as a nationwide shipment. With a few keystrokes and
network of informants and agents clicks on various pop-up windows,
monitoring the population from he copies a new file into the going
every balcony and porch. Convening paquete, arranging content in a
a group of intellectuals to discuss standard and orderly directory
dissident politics, or even hackers structure. Películas clásicas (classic
to discuss an open-source project? films), interesantes y variados
You’ll have a uniformed agent (mostly ripped YouTube videos),
from Minísterio del Interior de deportes semanales (weekly sports,
la República de Cuba (MININT, everything from NHL to Formula One
charged with law enforcement) and even e-sports), and the ever-
knocking at your door, courtesy of important telenovelas (soap operas).
your snooping neighbour. Incredibly, I ask him if any of the content
the government has actually erected is physically smuggled from Miami
a museum to the CDR in Old Havana and he denies it, claiming it would
to commemorate the network of local be too expensive; in any case,
rats that has helped keep it in power. customs would catch much of it.
I finally figure out where the hell “But how do you download this
I am and realise my destination is much data, then?” I ask, somewhat
an incongruously tidy, well-painted aghast at the week’s worth of global
two-storey building that doesn’t look internet output he’s accumulated
like it just got hit with an artillery shell. in this dark back room. He points
I knock, and my contact, Yuri, opens to a pile of green ETECSA scratch
the door and lets me into an ample cards next to his monitor and claims
front room, empty save for a fatigued- he pays people, including a family
looking, sweat-covered man in a tank member, to sit in public parks
top seated on a lone chair. Unusually with Wi-Fi and download content
for the ever-sociable Cubans, Yuri for five hours a day. That’s who
doesn’t introduce me and continues the sweaty man in the front room
to the back of the house. The bare walls was, evidently, back from a long,
and almost total lack of furniture give hot day of downloading.
the place the feel of a safe house. I do the mental maths. One estimate
… which eventually makes its way to Cubans Arriving in a windowless back found that ETECSA Wi-Fi hotspots
on the street, allowing them to watch room, I see the raison d’être for this have a bandwidth of one megabit
everything from Formula One to YouTube videos operation: a large tower computer, the per second. Even assuming this
is true, and assuming Yuri and
his employees manage to suck up
all that bandwidth by sitting in
public parks at odd times, it would
still take more than 2,400 person-
hours of constant downloading to
capture the terabyte of data that
goes into a single week’s paquete. This
seems at the very least improbable. With no real money, the gamers have
It’s more likely that Yuri is lying,
in the way that so many Cubans lie cobbled together a faster network
about how they survive. Perhaps he’s
paying someone with fast internet than anything this socialist worker’s
– a network administrator in some
ministry, a hotel worker with access paradise has managed to produce
to expensive commercial internet
– to download large swathes of the
paquete for him. But he denies it.
The business end of paquete distri- runs the somewhat cheesily
bution is relatively simple, and a named Highvista Promotions, one
drug-trafficking comparison might of Cuba’s pioneering internet ad
be helpful. Yuri sells his master copy networks. In a landscape largely
to a distributor in every province, devoid of advertising (other than
who then resells to regional distrib- for the government), Cuba’s jerry-
utors in Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba, rigged media world has digital
Pinar del Río and wherever else, and inducements to consume.
eventually to the guy on the street. As a demo, Juaristi “browses”
Thus does data-on-wheels radiate the paquete for me, navigating a
out from that room to every corner Taiwanese-made external hard drive
of Cuba, and a river of money trickles loaded with that week’s content as
back, forming an eventual torrent, if it were some interactive browser.
the usual bits-for-money internet Inside every file directory is a selection
alchemy becoming a physical one. of image and video ads alongside the
And the government’s take on actual content; the typical Cuban user
all this? While initially hostile, the might open the ads accidentally as
paqueteros and the authorities have they browse, and they’ll soon no doubt
reached a liveable détente, with one develop a blindness to them. Highvista
side agreeing to ban all political can also superimpose pre-roll banners
and religious content and the other on the videos themselves, messaging
monitoring the output but mostly that is that harder to avoid.
taking an uncharacteristic laissez- Without knowing it, Juaristi has
faire attitude. Cubans are on their reproduced the business model of
third generation raised under the internet advertising circa 2007, before
sufocating weight of an all-seeing, Google’s DoubleClick and program-
all-knowing government, and many matic advertising technology crushed
of them reflexively avoid any topic of it. Namely, you have a “rate card”
conversation or media consumption that is just that: a list of prices for a
that smacks of political dissent. The list of ad placements, based on some
paqueteros just channel that subcon- vague, mythological notion of the
scious urge and conform to the value of each: Run of Network (the
government’s control of the media. entire paquete); Premium (the reality
Resolver beats complicado this round. show folder); the low-rent Remnant
It almost always does. Especially (cat videos), and so on. This model
when there is real money to be made. was the bread and butter of online
advertising in the jackass, low-tech
pre-Facebook/Google days. I mention
I
Havana
T he unsolicited guidance
The most surprising thing about
Cuba was the lived-in-the-moment
nature of totalitarianism. In Orwell’s
on how to bring home a visi tante fiction, political dictatorship remains
nocturno from my Airbnb hostess is an abstraction, some moral fable
worth recording for posterity: cloaked in binary judgments and
I should call the hostess once I know populated by villains and heroes. But
I’m coming home with someone, so the reality in Cuba is more mundane.
she can be there to oicially register There really is a banality of tyranny.
them and send their identification People realise they’re being ruled by
details to the state. Should my new autocrats, and do whatever necessary
friend rob me in my sleep, the señora to get by. They reframe “freedom” to
will report them to the police, and mean the little square of movement the
the full machinery of Cuban state government grants them, and consider
suppression will be engaged to hunt themselves free as a result.
them down. And hunt them they will: Here’s the tragic reality that
The señora reported that a guest of Silicon Valley optimists don’t realise:
hers had a bottle of expensive cologne technology won’t save or ruin Cuba
stolen, and the police found the thief any more than tourism. If the world
and returned the cologne. Totalitari- has learned anything from Cuban
anism has certain advantages. economic liberalisation, it’s that
One big disadvantage is dictator- what happens inside Cuba is almost
And what’s actually on SNET, other Left: A group of SNET ship’s inability to create a propitious unafected by anything the interna-
than gaming servers? There is an admins near a pilar situated business environment, which helps tional community does. My impression
Instagram clone called Foro Wifinet; on the outskirts of Havana explain why Cuba’s startup culture from the interviews I conducted is that
a Reddit clone called Netlab with remains half-hidden. When President change will come at a glacial pace, if at
themed subreddits and trolls. There is Obama was making noises about Cuba all. The centuries-old colonial façades
the Facebook clone, Sígueme (“follow in early 2016, a conga line of tech heavy- will crumble while people stagnate in a
me”), as well as forums powered by weights mustered to help “open” Cuba. sufocating political repression.
phpBB, that ancient code project Most of that amounted to nothing more In the meantime there’ll be ads,
that runs every forum from knitting than angling for a photo op with a memes and cyberbullying too. The
to Jeep repair. To conform to SNET’s popular president. Since then, only a busy minds behind el paquete and
aggressively enforced terms of service, handful of US companies have made SNET won’t stop and will spring
none of these service providers or site headway, most notably Google and forth with whatever technology they
administrators can display consumer Airbnb, the former investing in servers contrive. The aces of resolver will
advertising or charge users to access and the latter really going the distance. triumph over complicado, and one
their sites. Their creators launch these Airbnb drafted off an existing day maybe they’ll even win out over
services just for the sake of creating cottage industry in casas particulares the source of all the complicado, the
and gaining status points on SNET (“private homes”) and conspired to government itself.
– like the bygone internet pioneers, hack a payment scheme in a country No es fácil.
before Silicon Valley became about without accessible payment systems.
6,000-word Medium think pieces Airbnb complies with the Treasury Antonio García Martínez is the author
and $50 million funding rounds. As Department’s formerly pro forma of autobiography Chaos Monkeys.
with the paqueteros, the admins pre- travel restrictions, asking which of 12 This is his first article for WIRED
1 4 6 _ DETAILS _ 10-17 Published by The Condé Nast Publications Ltd, Vogue House, Hanover Square, London
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Condé Nast
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WORDS: BONNIE CHRISTIAN. ILLUSTRATION: GIACOMO GAMBINERI. SOURCES: THE GUARDIAN; SMARTINSIGHTS.COM; NASA.GOV;
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The fee a top Instagram influencer charges for one sponsored post.
Seventy-five per cent of brands are expected to use such
The number of digital particles used by researchers at the University influencers by the end of 2017, despite rates trebling since 2015
of Zurich to make 25 billion virtual galaxies. The astrophysicists
44% .05%
built a simulation of the formation of the Universe on a supercomputer
to help investigate dark matter and dark energy
BETH HEALEY FARAH AHMED HARRY STEBBINGS LEYLA HUSSEIN MAGGIE ADERIN- SILAS ADEKUNLE
MEDICAL DOCTOR AND HEAD OF IMAGING, FOUNDER, THE LEAD SOCIAL POCOCK CO-FOUNDER AND
POLAR SCIENTIST CORE RESEARCH TWENTY MINUTE VC ACTIVIST, WRITER AND SPACE SCIENTIST CEO, REACH ROBOTICS
• LABS, NATURAL • PSYCHOTHERAPIST, • •
Beth Healey HISTORY MUSEUM Harry Stebbings is DAHLIA PROJECT Maggie Aderin- Adekunle blends
researches human • probably the world’s • Pocock MBE is a space biology, video games
health in the world’s Farah Ahmed and her youngest venture Hussein helped found scientist who has and robotics through
most extreme team at the Natural capitalist, having Dahlia Project, the worked on many out- Reach Robotics. His
and unforgiving History Museum use joined Atomico last UK’s first specialist of-this-world projects. MekaMon gaming
environments. Her the latest imaging year at the age of 20. therapeutic service She is also a popular platform combines
work is helping to technologies to reveal He started his podcast, for FGM survivors, and science communicator advanced robots
prepare us for a the previously unseen The Twenty Minute VC, Daughters of Eve, a and is perhaps best- with video games, via
future of space travel – from identifying when he was 18 and charity dedicated to known for presenting augmented-reality
and interplanetary parasites to digitising is part of the team at ending gender-based astronomy show The gameplay controlled
colonisation. dinosaurs. SaaS site SaaStr. violence. Sky at Night. by smartphones.
Wealth Management
group.pictet
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PA R I S
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CONTENTS T E L AV I V
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AMSTERDAM
LONDON
HELSINKI
BERLIN
PARIS
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STOCKHOLM
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CONTENTS
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Managing editor Mike Dent
Art director Mary Lees
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App designer Ciaran Christopher
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Six years ago, we decided to produce an
annual briefing on the startups in the
European ecosystem that were getting
find ways to be successful – the
announcement in February by
venture-capital firm Atomico
Europe’s
people in the WIRED network excited.
We dispatched reporters across the
continent to meet entrepreneurs, technol-
that it had raised a $765 million
(£597m) fund to invest solely
within Europe to help startups
100
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: VICTORIA LING. SET DESIGN: VICKY LEES
52°31 N 13°23 E
BERLIN Low costs and high living standards have long drawn
entrepreneurs to Berlin, and while rents may be rising,
the city’s maturing startup scene continues to attract
international talent and investment. Although the
amount of VC funding raised in 2016 by German startups
decreased – primarily due to a large number of high-figure
rounds in 2015 – the volume of deals increased. At 43
per cent, Berlin has the second-highest number of
immigrant founders after Silicon Valley, and Franzke
expects its international appeal to grow post-Brexit, as
entrepreneurs see the German capital as an appealing
alternative to London. “Berlin is on the map,” he says.
Careship
Siblings Antonia and
Nikolaus Albert founded
Careship in 2015 after
struggling to find a carer
for their grandmother.
The digital marketplace
matches families
with at-home helpers of
various levels, from
companions to qualified
carers. “The number of
care-dependent people
will double by 2050, but
we don’t know who will
look after them,” says
Antonia. Careship closed
a €4 million (£3.3m)
funding round led by
Spark Capital at the start
of 2017. careship.de
Mimi Clue
Mimi Hearing Technologies WHERE TO E AT & DRINK Period-tracking and
has developed a Holzmarkt fertility app Clue raised
smartphone-based Holzmarktstraße 25, 10243 Berlin $20 million (£15.6m) in a
hearing test which uses Set up this year by the co-founders of Bar25, the Holzmarkt Series B funding round
algorithms to adjust the co-operative project hosts a variety of food at the end of 2016, led by
sound across devices to and drink outlets and a lively events schedule. Nokia Growth Partners.
suit the listener’s personal Since launching in 2013, it
“hearing profile”. Co- has attracted five million
founder and CEO Philipp customers and has
Skribanowitz says the introduced features such
aim is for Mimi to become WHERE TO VISIT as the Smart Pill Tracking
the standard for personal Teufelsberg tool. The company says
sound. “Nobody would Take the S-Bahn to Grunewald for one of Berlin’s more it plans to apply machine
buy an ultra HD television unusual historical sites. On a hill formed from the rubble of a learning to get more
and then not put on their planned Nazi college is a Cold War-era NSA listening station, insights out of the data it
glasses,” he says. mimi.io its radar domes now decked out with street art. collects. helloclue.com
WHERE TO WORK
Agora Mit telweg
Mittelweg 50, 12053 Berlin
Located in a 1920s factory building in Neukölln, Agora offers
professionals everything from day passes to fixed desk space.
BERLIN
WHERE TO STAY
Michelberger Hotel
Warschauerstraße 39-40,
Berlin 10243
Each room in this
converted factory
is designed differently,
and the shared space
includes a popular bar.
Lemoncat CEO
and founder
Doreen Huber
BERLIN
BY LIAT CL ARK
41.3902° N, 24.7380° E
BARCELONA
WORDS BY JOÃO MEDEIROS
PARIS
BY JOÃO MEDEIROS
48.8567° N, 2.3508° E
PARIS
PARIS
WIRED PARTNERSHIP | PICTET
FOUNDERS’
GUIDE
/
This section, produced in
partnership with Pictet,
showcases some of the
best aspects of three
European tech hubs –
informed by the startup
founders who live in them
Illustration: Michele Marconi
LISBON_ Portugal’s vibrant capital is ISTANBUL_ Once a global trade capital, STOCKHOLM_ Comprising 14 islands,
a buzzing, historic city that balances Turkey’s largest city is now the the Baltic archipelago punches well
a laid-back vibe with a hunger to grow centre of the country’s thriving tech scene above its weight in the startup stakes
PICTET | WIRED PARTNERSHIP
THE ROAD
AHEAD
We are in the midst of a radical technological
“
The telephone took In the first five months of 2017, the top ten
innovation shock, driven by progress in seven 66 years to reach stocks on the S&P – the large, innovation-
areas: the internet, IT and data processing, 50 per cent of US oriented companies such as Apple and
transport, automation, new energy, life sciences households. The Alphabet – contributed 45 per cent of per-
and smart materials. The shock has three key internet took just six formance, despite representing 17 per cent
characteristics from an economic perspective: ” of the index’s total capitalisation. Whether all
Christophe it is disruptive, deflationary and exponential. this adds to economic growth is a moot point.
Donay, chief At Pictet, we think the innovation shock helps Whole Foods might benefit from Amazon’s
strategist explain the paradoxes that are puzzling econo- online and distribution know-how to capture
at Pictet mists looking at the state of the world economy. business, but this does not mean additional
Private Bank By disruptive, we mean that the innovation economic activity is being generated.
shock is creating major upheaval within the
economy, with new, innovative companies cap-
turing business from traditional rivals. When
Amazon announced that it was buying Whole
Foods, both brands’ share prices rose, but other
food retailers traded down in the anticipation Above: The
that Amazon would capture market share and innovation shock
put pricing pressure on rivals. New-economy will speed up as
firms are increasingly dominating corporate AI impacts global
profit growth and leading the performance workforces and
of equity markets, putting the traditional drones take to
players under pressure. the airways
WIRED PARTNERSHIP | PICTET
IN THIS SECTION
/
LISBON
Portugal’s capital is a
thriving city and the
core of the country’s
startup ecosystem. In
the following pages, we
ask successful founders
from startups Codacy and
Unbabel to recommend
their best sites and bites
in the startup city.
//
STOCKHOLM
2016 was a strong year for
the Swedish capital, with
$1.2 billion in startup
investment seen in
the first six months.
Stockholm remains an
obvious draw for European
startups. We speak to
Aifloo and Dooer about
their favourite spots.
///
By deflationary, we mean that the more than 400 researchers. A small team ISTANBUL
innovation shock is, on average, pressing can now complete genome sequencing In the last two years, the
down on wages, adding to the pressures in about 24 hours, and sequencing costs reputation of Istanbul’s
that have prevailed since the financial are falling faster than Moore’s law. As a startup scene has grown
crisis of 2007–08. Job creation is sharply result, although the innovation shock is steadily. As Turkey’s
split between low value-added, low-wage still in its early stages with the effects economic, commercial and
and highly value-added innovation-led mostly concentrated in specific sectors, tech powerhouse, it’s little
activities – especially in the US. Automation it is accelerating sharply and set to have a surprise that companies
tilts remuneration further in favour of the revolutionary impact across the economy. such as shopping and
highly skilled – particularly those working The characteristics of this innovation delivery app Getir and
in sectors that provide the technical know- shock – disruptive, deflationary and expo- payments platform Iyzico
how for innovation. By contrast, the bulk of nential – help explain some key paradoxes are thriving.
the labour force are not benefiting from the of current economic conditions. First, why
innovation shock in terms of remuneration. wage growth and inflation remain low even
By exponential, we mean that the innova- though economic growth has been cycli-
tion shock is emerging at an exponentially cally picking up. Second, why, despite high
increasing pace. In general, the speed of profits and corporate margins at record lev-
technology adoption has increased over els, investment remains sluggish. Profits of political populism in developed economies
time. The telephone took 66 years to reach are concentrated, and since consumption – primarily a reaction to economic insecurity.
50 per cent of US households, the internet growth remains disappointing due to low With the innovation shock set to emerge
took six years. Mapping the first genome wage growth, firms are reluctant to invest at an exponential rate, this suggests
under the Human Genome Project took 13 in new capacity. In addition, the innovation that populism may well not have peaked.
years cost $3 billion (£2.34bn) and involved shock’s properties are contributing to the rise For more, see group.pictet
PICTET | WIRED PARTNERSHIP
LAUNCHING IN LISBON
/
Global city
The Startup Europe
Partnership, established
by the European
Commission, estimates
that 62 per cent of
investment into Portugal
comes from abroad. Lisbon LISBON Portugal’s vibrant
is by far the biggest draw capital is a buzzing, historic
for these funds, taking two city that balances its laid-back
thirds of that total. vibe with a hunger to grow
//
Skilled workforce
Portugal has a
multilingual population
rated as highly proficient
in English. Forty-two per
cent of its inhabitants
speak two languages
and 23 per cent speak
three. A quarter of the
population has a higher-
education qualification.
///
Cheap office space Codacy is proving invaluable for coders vide flexibility to adjust the code analysis
Operating costs in Lisbon who want to save time. The startup reck- experience” for each client. This enables it
are some of the lowest ons engineers spend 28 per cent of their to help companies implement its platform
in Europe. Cheap office time reviewing code, so its pitch is sim- based on specific needs. Once in place,
space is abundant, with ple: it enables workers to deploy better the platform reviews code, tracks issues
low corporation tax helping code, and to do so faster by automating – categorised based on severity – and
fledgling firms to get a Jaime Jorge, the review process. provides support through customisable
footing. Salaries are also Co-founder Founded in 2012 by CEO Jaime Jorge and static analysis and metrics.
competitive compared to & CEO, CTO João Caxaria, the startup received The community growing around the
northern Europe. Codacy $500,000 of seed funding in November Portuguese firm is testament to the trust
2013. In 2014 it claimed Web Summit’s BETA it’s earned. Codacy’s platform supports
Award, and gained further backing in 2015 13 languages, including Java, Python,
with $1.1 million of investment. PHP and XML. Yet 11 languages have been
Codacy’s success appears to stem added by the community, and each can
from a simple idea comprehensively de- be made the subject of their own static
livered. By automating code review, the analysis. The user community is a feath-
company currently reduces technical er in the cap for the startup, proving that
debt for more than 25,000 developers. At the coding community identifies with the
the core of this is its automated review issues the startup addresses.
tool. Yet around the core offering of add- For Codacy’s team, work goes on in Lis-
ed project oversight, Codacy has built a bon, where the startup launched. Proof that
flexible service standing it in good stead. the Portuguese capital can deliver highly
In the startup’s own words, it can “pro- technical, stable and scalable startups.
WIRED PARTNERSHIP | PICTET
/ // /// /
A pitch over dinner Local networking Serendipitous meetings A pitch over dinner
“I really enjoy taking people “Many startups are found “There’s a great coffee “A favourite for Unbabel is
to experience some great downtown. Besides the shop in the Startup Pistola y Corazon in Cais
Portuguese food. For meetups organised by Lisboa building. Also, if do Sodre. With amazing,
a fantastic meal, I the likes of Uniplaces you grab a bifana [pork tiny tacos, it ranks highly
would take a client to and Codacy, there are sandwich] at As Bifanas for producing the best
Cervejaria Ramiro or spots where founders Do Afonso, you’ll probably margaritas in Lisbon. For
Solar dos Presuntos like to meet, like Startup find people from Codacy fine dining, the Avillez
[both central Lisbon].” Lisboa and Betal.” enjoying them.” restaurants are a delight.”
//// ///// //
Why choose Lisbon? What makes it so vibrant? Serendipitous meetings
“There’s opportunity in “A thriving ecosystem is “Bairro Alto is the original
being in Lisbon as we have empowering more people centre of Lisbon’s
great talent moving here, a to create new products. A nightlife, with dozens
newly found sense of being Portuguese founder thinks of options. For something
European – more people globally from day one, as a little more laid back
are visiting than ever – and our market is not large and classy, you can’t
VCs that welcome the enough to create a scalable go wrong with Bar Foxtrot
opportunity to invest.” VC-backed business.” in Principe Real.”
PICTET | WIRED PARTNERSHIP
LAUNCHING HERE
/ //
Why choose Istanbul? What makes it so vibrant?
“Istanbul chose me: I was “Startups all over the city
born here and grew up try to address the needs
here. Apart from the emo- and make life just a bit
tional side, this is a city of easier. Turkish business
15 million people. Istanbul people are likely to want
basically has cities within to run their own business
it – it’s incredibly vibrant rather than work for
and ever-changing.” established corporations.”
WIRED PARTNERSHIP | PICTET
//
Why choose Istanbul?
“Istanbul is at the
crossroads of Europe and
Asia, with influences from
both continents. There are
many challenges in this
city waiting to be solved, so
it acts as a good launchpad
for entrepreneurs.”
PICTET | WIRED PARTNERSHIP
Michael Collaros,
CEO &
co-founder,
Aifloo
LAUNCHING IN STOCKHOLM
/ // //
Why Stockholm? Vibrancy factor Serendipity
“I launched my previous “Because Stockholm “You might want to steer
startup in my home town of is considered to be to Östermalm or Stureplan
Västerås and that worked Sweden’s tech startup for finance, legal, fashion
out pretty well. For Dooer, capital, it makes it easier or music. Gamla stan
it made sense to launch in to find the right people is up-and-coming for
Stockholm since it’s the and connect with programmers, social tech
hub of the accounting and the right partners if you and government, or hipster
bookkeeping industry.” are located here.” Södermalm for creatives.”
BY LIAT CL ARK 019
41.0082 ° N, 28.9 78 4° E
Sinemia Apsiyon
VISIT Rıfat Oùuz wants to get Launched in 2011 by
In May, Bo aziçi University more people into theatres Meric Akdamar, Erkan
launched the Startup with Sinemia, a cinema- Dogan and Kudret Turk,
Carnival, inviting founders subscription service. Apsiyon helps landlords
and angel investors Premium members can see and property managers
to share their stories. one film a day for the price streamline accounting,
of two tickets a month billing and communication
and get access to special with tenants. It recently
events and discounts. It raised $2.5 million and
raised $1.5 million (£1.17m) its mobile app, launched
from Revo Capital for US in January 2017, was
expansion and plans downloaded 50,000
ISTANBUL
BY OLIVER FRANKLIN-WALLIS
32.0853° N, 34.7818° E
TEL AVIV
WHERE TO DRINK
Twiggle ‘TEL AV I V H AS N EV ER Bell Boy
BEEN SO COSMOPOLITA N, Berdyczewski St 14, Tel Aviv-Yafo, 64258
Twiggle wants to make MEA N ING ISR AELIS This speakeasy-style bar serves some of the finest cocktails in
online shopping easier ARE BECOMING the city, presented with 50s flair – come for the sculptural
with smarter search. MOR E WOR LDLY TO creations, stay for the next pass through of the shot trolley.
Founded in 2014 by former COMPETE AT A N
Google employees Amir INTER NATIONAL LEV EL’
Konigsberg and Avi Avidor, ( Left-right) Taranis co-founder Eli Bukchin,
the company’s natural- – ADAM FISHER, BESSEMER co-founder Ofir Schlam, senior software
language search lets V ENTURE PARTNERS engineer Asaf Horvitz and co-founder Ayal Karmi
e-commerce sites search
with granular detail. For
instance, rather than
saying “chair”, a customer
could type “red art deco
chair with wooden legs”.
Crucially, the company
says it works within
existing search engines.
It has raised $33 million
from investors to date.
twiggle.com
Taranis
Farmers worldwide lose
up to 23 per cent of their
annual yield – worth
$300 billion – to crop
disease. Taranis, founded
in 2015, uses an array
of farm data – including
aerial imagery, sensors,
weather stations and a
smartphone app, to map
farms and predict crops
at risk of blight. The
company is now working
with industrial farms in
Russia, Brazil, Argentina
and the US. “To farmers
who have small margins,
a two per cent yield
increase is a 20 per
cent profit increase,”
says co-founder
Ofir Schlam. taranis.ag
TEL AVIV
OrCam
Bringg Deep Instinct Technologies
Logistics startup Bringg Deep learning enables Ziv Aviram and Amnon
promises to let any machines to recognise Shashua – who in March
business compete with cats on YouTube and sold Mobileye to Intel
Amazon when it comes hear the word “Alexa” in for $15 billion – founded
$15 billion
to last-mile delivery. a crowded bar – so why OrCam in 2010 to provide
Founded in 2013 by not spot cyberattacks? computer-assisted vision
Raanan Cohen and former Founded in 2014 by Eli for the blind. Using a Mobileye’s sale to Intel in March 2017
Gett CTO Lior Sion, the Tel David and Guy Caspi, frame-mounted camera was the startup nation’s biggest ever,
Aviv- and Chicago-based Deep Instinct has trained that is connected to a exceeding the $10 billion
firm lets companies a neural network with pocket-sized base unit, the total for all tech exits in 2016 alone.
interact online with hundreds of millions of $3,500 glasses can read
delivery drivers equipped malicious files. The result text aloud and recognise
with an Uber-style app is an AI that Deep Instinct faces and common
to manage routes and claims can detect zero- objects. In February, the
keep abreast of orders. day exploits. The company company raised $41
It’s raised $21 million has won several industry million, at a $600 million
from investors including awards, and plans to valuation, from investors
Aleph Venture Capital and expand into the US market including Intel. An IPO
Coca-Cola. bringg.com in 2018. deepinstinct.com is next. orcam.com Nexar Beyond Verbal
Nexar is a car dashcam “Research shows
with a difference. Its that about 40 per cent
smartphone app analyses of a conversation’s
video in real time to detect meaning is taken from
potential dangers that the tone of voice,” says
could lead to collisions, Yuval Mor, CEO of Beyond
automatically recording Verbal. Launched
dangerous incidents in 2012, the startup’s
and, crucially, issuing voice-recognition
real-time alerts to nearby software can sense
cars. Founded in 2015, emotional content. It’s
the company has already so accurate, the firm
raised $14.5 million claims, that it could be
from investors such as able to detect conditions
Mosaic Ventures and has including Parkinson’s
partnered with companies and heart problems, just
including navigation app from long-term changes
Waze. getnexar.com in “vocal biomarkers”.
“With Parkinson’s and
autism, you can hear that
something is wrong,”
says Mor. The company
has raised more than $12
million to fund further
research in collaboration
with the Mayo Clinic.
Early results, Mor
says, look promising.
beyondverbal.com
Beyond Verbal
CEO Yuval Mor
TEL AVIV
BY JOÃO MEDEIROS
38.7223° N, 9.1393° W
LISBON
BY JAMES TEMPERTON
59.3293° N, 18.0686° E
Detectify Greta
Security firm Detectify The internet is scaling
scans websites to provide fast: Cisco predicts
in-depth analysis of that a million minutes
potential malware risks. of video content will
It raised $1.07 million cross the network every
(£836,000) in January second by 2020. Greta’s
2017 from Helsinki-based AI aims to optimise this
Inventure Oy. Founded infrastructure and work
by 27-year-old Fredrik out the best route
Nordberg Almroth in 2012, for traffic – such as
STOCKHOLM
KRY
Healthcare startup KRY
connects patients with
doctors and therapists
anytime and anywhere,
using its smartphone
app. The company,
which has more than
100,000 patients, works
with over 100 doctors in
Sweden, who split their
time between face-to-
face appointments at
GP clinics and online
consultations. Founded in
2014, the company raised
a $6.8 million seed round
in August 2016. The
service provides more
than one per cent
of Sweden’s GP visits in
primary care. kry.se
Natural Cycles
Natural Cycles uses
algorithms to monitor
female fertility. Founded in
2013 by Elina Berglund and
husband Raoul Scherwitzl,
the app has more than
200,000 users in 161
countries. It uses body
temperature to measure
fertility and can determine
if it is safe to have
unprotected sex based
on statistical methods
developed by Berglund
during her time at CERN.
In February 2017 it became
WHERE TO STAY WHERE TO E AT the first app to be approved
Hotel Skeppsholmen Te a t e r n a t R i n g e n for use as a contraceptive
Gröna Gången 1, 111 49 Stockholm Götgatan 100, 118 62 Stockholm by a major European
Located on a tiny island slap-bang in the middle of the city, These market stalls are run by a selection of top chefs who testing organisation.
this hotel has great views and stylish rooms. serve fast, delicious food from brunch until sundown. naturalcycles.com
STOCKHOLM
BY JAMES TEMPERTON
STOCKHOLM
BY MAT T BURGESS
52.3702° N, 4.8952° E
AMSTERDAM
BY OLIVER FRANKLIN-WALLIS
Starship
Monzo Digital shadows Technologies WHERE
TO EAT
Monzo wants to make The Sony hack; Ashley In the future, your pizza Borough Market
banking smarter. Founded Madison; Yahoo!; the may be delivered by a Standing defiant
in 2015 by Tom Blomfield, DNC – large-scale machine – and Starship after June’s terror
Jonas Huckestein, Jason hacking and leaks are Technologies wants to attack, London’s
Bates, Paul Rippon and now a regular occurrence. build it. Founded in 2014 by oldest food market
Gary Dolman, it offers Digital Shadows wants to Skype co-founders Janus is booming again.
pre-paid cards connected protect companies from Friis and Ahti Heinla, the
to an app that tracks such events. Founded in London- and Tallinn-
spending and lets its 2011 by Alastair Paterson based startup has built an
customers analyse their and James Chappell, autonomous, six-wheeled
financial activity. But the startup’s technology delivery robot. Sounds
that’s only the start: in monitors more than 100 crazy? While drones need
April 2017, the company million data sources in to fight new regulations
was granted a full banking real time to detect leaks, (and gravity), Starship
licence, and raised £19.5 breaches and attacks has already run tests in
million in a Series C being planned. It counts 16 countries, partnering
funding round to launch several of the largest with the likes of Just
a full set of banking banks as clients, and in Eat and Domino’s Pizza,
products, starting with a 2016 raised £10.8 million and raised £13.4 million
smarter current account. to expand further into the in funding. Advantage
monzo.com US. digitalshadows.com groundbots. starship.xyz
LONDON
Mush
“A huge amount of new
mothers feel incredibly
isolated when they have
a baby,” says Sarah
Hesz. Launched by Hesz
and Katie Massie-Taylor
in 2016, mush’s “ Tinder
for mums” app lets
new parents connect
with others locally, chat,
swap and sell items.
After raising £650,000
on Crowdcube, the app
has reached more than
40,000 UK downloads
and is growing in the US,
Canada and Australia.
Parent-tech is a growing
field: a rival app,
Peanut , launched in
February 2017,
with sites like Mumsnet
slow to transition to
mobile. “Millennials
are becoming parents,
and they have different
expectations,” says
Hesz. letsmush.com
LONDON
Seenit
Need a film crew?
Seenit will find you one Habito founder
in the crowd. Emily Daniel Hegarty
Forbes’ content startup,
launched in 2014, was
founded on a simple
observation: with almost
everything being filmed
on smartphones, why
isn’t that footage used
more? Seenit’s invite-
only app, Forbes says,
ensures it can offer
high-quality footage from
uploaders, while users
can commission footage
and edit in the cloud. The
45%
company says it already
has more than 100 clients Habito hibob
– including big names
such as Unilever and Another UK startup in The proportion of UK tech jobs filled by foreign- Human-resource
adidas – and brings the growing proptech born workers, according to TechUK. Translation: departments are often
in over £2.3 million in scene, Habito wants to London’s startup success hangs on the opaque and outdated.
subscriptions. seenit.io make it easier to apply Government dealing with the EU on free movement. Hibob wants to change
for a mortgage. “I had a that. Founded in 2015,
really terrible experience the London- and Tel
Smarkets with a broker,” says Ravelin ‘W E DO NOT Aviv-based startup’s
founder Daniel Hegarty. FEAR online human-resource
Jason Trost knows Launched in 2016, Habito Founded in 2014, Ravelin COMPETITION hub, bob, unifies
the value of patience. is a digital mortgage analyses online behaviour FROM THE everything from benefits
Smarkets, the betting adviser; customers speak in real time to reduce CONTIN ENT. and pensions to work
exchange he co-founded with an online chatbot, payment-related fraud. IN DEED, IT documents, as well as
with Hunter Morris in inserting information like According to its clients CA N ONLY BE A providing companies with
2008, has flown under amount requested and – including Deliveroo, GOOD THING’ granular data about its
the radar for years – but employment information. Karhoo, and Easy Taxi, its employees and corporate
it’s now soaring. Like its “It means we complete technology reduces fraud – GER ARD GRECH, culture. The company
rival Betfair, Smarkets applications much faster incidence by more than 50 TECH CITY UK has raised £19.5 million
lets users bet against than traditional brokers.” per cent. The company has in Series A funding led
each other (as opposed Habito scours more raised £4.3 million to date by Battery Ventures
to the house) and than 15,000 mortgage from backers including to expand into foreign
charges what it says is an products to suggest Passion Capital and Errol markets, starting
industry-low two per cent the best option, and Damelin. ravelin.com WHERE TO VISIT with the US. hibob.com
commission. The platform takes a commission from The V&A
is expanding: it processed the eventual lender. Cromwell Rd, SW7 2RL
more than £1.1 billion in In January 2017, The evergreen arts and design
2015, and trebled its user the startup raised £5.5 museum’s new Exhibition
numbers; one long-term million in a Series Road Quarter encompasses
bet that is finally paying A round led by Ribbit a stunning courtyard and
off. smarkets.com Capital. habito.com underground gallery.
LONDON
BY ROWLAND MANTHORPE
HELSINKI
THANKS
F E AT U R I N G :
MARGRETHE VESTAGER
THE MOST POWERFUL
WOMAN IN EUROPEAN TECH
ILKKA PAANANEN
THE $10 BILLION CEO
CARRIE GOLDBERG
T H E AT T O R N E Y F I G H T I N G S E X U A L T E R R O R I S M
SUE BLACK
THE INVENTOR OF NEW FORENSICS
ROMY LORENZ
THE AI MASTERMIND
Wealth Management
group.pictet