Press Releases from Spire Research and Consulting (132 total)
Spire Client Entertainment Night May 2017
Spire Singapore hosted its first Client Entertainment Night of the year. Our business associates and partners joined us for a dinner reception followed by the movie screening of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” – Disney’s fifth installment in the Pirates franchise.
The event was held at Cathay Cineleisure Orchard. It was an opportunity for everyone to let their hair down and take a break from the office.
In…
Spire and YBC host breakfast seminar on smart use of market and industry researc …
On 4 May, Spire and Yamada Business Consulting (YBC) jointly held a breakfast seminar in Singapore to share ideas on how Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) can drive growth using smart market and industry research.
Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire Research and Consulting, discussed how market research decisions impact different operating functions within a typical SME and what kinds of research techniques are commonly used, together with the…
Spire briefs Anderson Junior College students on Halal product market trends
Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be invited as a speaker at Anderson Junior College in Singapore. Spire’s CEO Leon Perera spoke on entrepreneurial opportunities in the global Halal product market, a subject where Spire has published research articles and has been quoted in global media outlets.
Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of the Spire Research and Consulting, was privileged to give a talk to students organized by the Anderson…
Spire engaged as Knowledge Partner for Global Summit on cryptocurrency in India
Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be appointed as the Official Knowledge Partner at the Global Summit on Bitcoin & Blockchain: The State of Cryptocurrency – Opportunities and Challenges for Indian Economy – organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The summit was held on 3 March 2017 in New Delhi. It aimed to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by the new technology.
Yap…
Spire chosen as Official Research Partner to the ALYA WTA Malaysian Open for six …
Spire was honored to be appointed as the Official Research Partner for the sixth consecutive year for the ALYA WTA Malaysian Open – an international tennis tournament sanctioned by the Women Tennis Association (WTA). The event was held from 27th February to 5th March 2017 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Along with the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM), Spire was thrilled to…
Spire and YBC host breakfast seminar on the impact of demonetization in India
On 20 January, Spire and Yamada Business Consulting (YBC) jointly held a breakfast seminar in Singapore to explore the impact on India’s economy of the recent Rupee demonetization of high-value currency notes. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, Japnit Singh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Spire and Yasuyuki (Luke) Kita, General Manager of YBC (Singapore), addressed the session.
Spire Singapore and YBC discussed the demonetization’s impact on…
Prison ankle bracelets are all the rage in Brazil
With about 622,000 inmates, Brazil is home to Latin America’s largest and the world’s fourth largest prison population. Around 32,000 criminals sport one of the many types of ankle bracelets being used. Many others are on a waiting list.
The authorities estimate that they can save anywhere from USD12,000 to USD 72,000 a year for every tagged inmate removed from prison.
Will ankle bracelets allow more prison inmates to serve their sentences…
Cold coffee cannibalizing cold drinks
The price of coffee is set to reach a record high by 2018, which is why coffee shops are hoarding coffee beans to meet consumer demand.
While sales of hot coffee fell by 3% due to rising summer temperatures, cold coffee market sales were up by 80% over the previous year.
It takes about 0.2 kilograms of beans to brew a gallon of hot coffee, while cold coffee takes only a pound.…
London spearheads Europe’s largest infrastructure project
Flagged off in 2012, the London cross rail project aims to achieve better connectivity within the UK. Deemed to be Europe’s largest infrastructure overhaul, the project aims to increase railway capacity by 10%.
The project is expected to come on stream in December 2018. It will have 10 new stops, create 55,000 full time jobs, increase employment of female engineers as well as reach out to young students through various Crossrail…
Self-driven ships make a wave
By 2018 there will be fewer container trucks plying Norwegian roads, as Norwegian shipping company Yara is planning to launch unmanned ships to transport cargo between the countries biggest ports.
The first such vessel – Yara Brikeland – is set to launch in 2019 and will be initially manned. By 2020, it will run autonomously, resulting in around 40,000 trucks being taken off the roads.
Will unmanned ships shake up the maritime…
Japan and EU revive trade deal
The Japan and the European Union (EU) have formally agreed on the outlines of a free trade deal. The two crucial sectors affected will be the automotive sector for the EU and the agri-food sector for Japan. The deal, which has already been agreed on in-principle, will take about 15 years to take effect.
This Japan-EU trade deal is being touted as a strategic partnership that will boost co-operation not only…
Fabric cutting technology to help nab criminals
Researchers at the University of Santa Cruz do Sul in Brazil and University of Technology Sydney have developed a stabbing machine to help forensic scientists study cuts in fabrics.
Criminologists are often unable to recreate how stab wounds happened, since each cut will be unique. This new machine provides consistency while cutting through fabrics, thus making the analysis of textile damage a science.
Can fabric cutting technology help solve crimes?
For more information,…
India’s novel tea café industry
Quirky chai cafés in India like Chaayos are now replacing the dominance of Coffee shops like Starbucks, Barista and most notably Café Coffee Day. Established in 2012, Chaayos boasts of close to 40 stores and hopes to expand to 75 outlets by mid-2018.
Owned by Sunshine Teahouse, Chaayos has opened stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh. Bengaluru based Chaipoint and Mumbai based Tea-trails are the local competitors in the market.
Unlike Chaipoint…
Cross-border e-commerce comes with safety risks
High volume online shopping makes it difficult for US regulators to keep track of overseas manufactured items, effectively putting customers at risk.
E-commerce has enabled popular products such as fidget spinners and vaping machines to win huge numbers customers without the help of any big brands.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) took a year to put new safety standards on hover boards after it entered US markets. Five months later, ten…
Thailand bets on biodegradable plastic
Thailand has adopted new methods in material sciences, by making biodegradable plastic with sugarcane feedstock at an investment of USD100 million. Thailand’s vast reserves of eco waste from its world-class agricultural industry are also being turned into bio gas for powering turbines.
Will Thailand use agricultural waste products to create new green industries?
For more information, please visit our newsroom section here: https://goo.gl/LvpsDS
Spire Research and Consulting was established in 2000 to address…
African haircare industry surges ahead
The African hair care industry has been among the fastest growing across the content over the past few years. The market is expected to grow in value to USD761 million by the end of 2017.
Various factors are responsible for this steady growth, such as the global trend towards chemical-free hair products as well as growing acceptance of the natural texture and colour of African hair.
However, the pricing model is a…
The advent of the internet in Cuba kick starts online start-ups
Internet access among Cuba’s 11.2 million people is growing. Between 2013 and 2015, the share of the Cuban population using the internet jumped from about a quarter to more than 35%.
This growing market has drawn the attention of internet giants, such as Airbnb, Netflix and Google.
This trend has also fuelled activity among local entrepreneurs, who have launched domestic versions of sites such as the crowd-sourced business directory Yelp.
Will Cuba’s internet…
WannaCry ransomware attack affects millions
The first ever global worm-based ransomware attack – WannaCry –crippled close to 150 countries in May 2017. Ransomware usually spreads via email, relying on human intervention to initiate infection.
In a matter of hours, WannaCry spread to Internet-connected computers infecting many that were unpatched and exposed to the Internet.
In particular, the ransomware exploited older Windows operating systems, including Windows XP. The attack was a stark reminder about keeping antivirus, firewall and…
Blockchain technology set to hit retail sector
Blockchain is set to go beyond financial services and affect all sectors, especially retail. Blockchain enables a decentralized digital ledger to record information and transactions on a shared online network.
In Australia, this technology will soon enable consumers to scan a product and check the actual journey from farm to store shelf, alongside product quality.
Can the internet of things plus Blockchain revolutionize retail supply chains?
For more details. please visit our newsroom…
Virtual reality to replace medicinal painkillers
Virtual Reality (VR) technology may be a pathway to minimize chronic pain. The USA is facing its worst ever drug epidemic with more than 16, 000 deaths recorded in 2015, mainly due to opioid overdoses.
US researchers are now exploring VR as an alternative solution to minimize pain. In a trial group, VR medical therapies helped reduce pain by 60–75% after 60 sessions.
Can VR technology provide an alternative to addictive pain…
A room-sized 3D printer?
Torbjørn Ludvigsen is a Swedish inventor whose company – Replicating Rapid Prototyper (RepRap) – is busy raising funds to develop the Hangprinter. This suspended 3D printer uses the walls and ceiling of a room as its “frame” and can be used to print furniture-sized objects in an entire room.
While cable-driven 3D printers already exist, this 3D printer is different. It uses a frameless 3-D printing system which is cheaper to…
No more check-out lines at stores
The future of retail seems to be here. E-commerce giant Amazon has launched Amazon Go – a new grocery store concept with no checkout process. The order is posted to the customer’s Amazon account address later via a mobile application.
The store is spread across a 1,800 square foot area. It offers pre-made snacks, fresh meals as well as grocery goods like bread, cheese and milk. As you grab what you…
Iran nurturing its wind energy sector
With the lifting of trade sanctions against Iran in July 2015, a surge in energy demand led to the development of the renewables sector.
SUNA – the renewable energy organization of Iran – aims to attract private investment worth USD10 billion by 2018 and USD60 billion by 2025.
Wind energy will be crucial to Iran. There are 15 operational wind farms at present with 100,000 Megawatts of potential capacity.
Can Iran attract more…
Spyware tracking under the radar
The U.S. has seen a massive growth in sales of “off-the-shelf” software to trace an individual’s every move based on the microwaves emitted by their mobile phones. This opens the door to privacy and personal data security issues.
The fear of being watched has been expressed by 80% of Americans. The growth in consumer spyware looks set to continue over the next year and it is unclear how it can be…
Precious metal destroys cancer cells
University of Warwick researchers developed an organo-metal compound coded as FY26 to infiltrate cancer cells and activate cellular mitochondria to destroy cancer cells.
To date, FY26 has been tested in ovarian cancer cells and has been deemed 50 times more effective and cheaper than other chemotherapy drugs.
Can a newly discovered metallic compound vastly improve the treatment of ovarian cancer?
For more information, please visit our newsroom section here: https://goo.gl/RyttKs
Spire Research and Consulting…
India’s first banking robot
Taking a cue from a Japanese bank – Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ – Indian banks plan to use robots with artificial intelligence. Kumbakonam-based City Union Bank launched India’s first robot on-site assistant, known as Lakshmi.
The robot imitates human action, thereby reducing the response time to customers by up to 60% and improving accuracy tremendously. The bank became the first to deploy robots that can perform repetitive, high volume and time-consuming…
China’s ancient irrigation system under threat
One of China’s most recognized ancient oases – the Karez – is a construction marvel built by the Uyghur people. The water harvesting and underground transmission system called a Karez (which means well in the Uygur language) provides a sustainable water supply to some communities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Region (Xinjiang) as well as in some countries like Iraq, Iran and Kurdistan.
The irrigation method carries glacial groundwater to the Turpan…
Future of fresh in supermarkets
Can you imagine a life minus the hassle of chopping vegetables for cooking? A new concept of vegetable butchers in supermarkets in the U.S. is gaining popularity, providing shoppers’ quick alternatives for fresh produces that include deli, bakery, meat and seafood as well as produce sections.
The compound annual growth rates, from 2011 to 2015 for value-added vegetables was 15%. These include vegetable trays, snacking vegetables, side dish vegetables as well…
Internables – Next big thing in wearable technology?
As wearable technology grows, attention is shifting to internables. These are internal sensors in our bodies used to measure wellbeing. Internables may well become the new wearables.
We are naturally looking for better ways of living, trying to minimize our time spent on mundane chores but maximizing productivity. The ability to augment our sensory abilities with advanced technology might herald a new beginning.
For instance, the Sgnl smart strap – developed by…
Space-mining for platinum on the cards
Platinum mining in space is getting cheaper and easier. Prospect probes can probably be built for tens of millions of dollars each. An asteroid-grabbing spacecraft could cost USD2.6 billion.
Space mining seems more lucrative than initially thought. An asteroid the size of a football field could contain USD25 billion to USD50 billion worth of platinum.
Although space mining is still not viable commercially, the possibilities are endless. Space mining could even lead…
Skin pigments to strengthen sofas
Chinese researchers from Jiangnan University (in November 2016) made a recent break through by adding melanin in small quantities to polyurethane (a polymer), making the material sturdier.
Melanin is the natural protein found in the skin, hair and the iris of animals that gives color as well as protects them from ultraviolet rays. On the other hand, Polyurethane is a polymer used in materials to manufacture products such as tires, wheels…
How will Brexit impact Asian markets?
Britain still attracts substantial investment from Asia. Many Asian firms have established European Head Quarters in the country. How hard will Brexit hit Asian markets? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly.
Brexit will impact companies from Asia with operations in the UK, since they will no longer benefit from any of the EU’s Free Trade Agreement’s (FTA) with…
