These are the top workplace trends to watch out for this year:Sustainability in office landscapeWorkplaces are increasingly set up to incorporate sustainable and wellness-oriented designs, integrating sustainably sourced and minimally processed design and décor items.

Branded feel-good spacesIt’s an emerging trend where employees expect branded offices from their employers, taking care of all their major needs.

A branded workspace is more than a crude and conventional piece of real estate.

Curating a dedicated workplace strategy not only ensures optimal space utilisation but also helps in keeping employees engaged.

Another example includes JLL, the American commercial real estate service giant investing in Qdesq, a platform that engages affordable and serviced branded space providers. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583051438.9392185/Major-workplace-trends-to-watch-out-for-this-year?ref=audio_experience

— Facebook dominates the social media space and is one of the most recognizable entities in the world today.

It allows people to share things with long-distance friends or find new ones — but it has an uglier side as well.

Tech writer Steven Levy spent three years inside the organization and wrote a book about his experience called Facebook: The Inside Story.

Levy will be talking about his book with GeekWire editor Todd Bishop at 7 p.m. on March 2 at the University Temple United Methodist Church.

But those stories don’t really paint an accurate picture of how the tech giants became giants. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583047814.0243158/GeekWire-Calendar-Picks:-The-inside-story-about-Facebook;-International-Women’s-Day;-and-more?ref=audio_experience

As Future of Work 2020 wraps up, here's a look at some of the insightful talks, panels, workshops, and masterclasses held at India's largest product, tech, and design conference.

Swiggy's Tech Head Dale Vaz tells YourStory's Shradha Sharma that we are just starting to scratch the surface on how technology will change the world.

Yaw Yeo, General Manager of International Product and Business, Alibaba CloudAt Future of Work, YourStory's flagship product-tech-design conference, Alibaba Cloud’s Yaw Yeo spoke about how the cloud is empowering people amidst the coronavirus crisis.

Pramod Varma, who is the Chief Architect of Aadhaar and India Stack layers spoke about the experience of building these country scale systems.

At Future of Work 2020, Arnab Kumar of NITI Aayog said the nation’s think tank wants to build infrastructure and solutions using AI and ML to help every citizen in the country. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583046068.9730794/Top-highlights-from-Future-of-Work-2020?ref=audio_experience

However, consumers are generally not aware of data aggregators like Plaid and Finicity, which collect consumer data from banks, crunch it and feed it to fintech applications.

Blockchain technology can play a key role in helping data aggregators manage consumer financial data while complying with regulations and empowering consumers.

Blockchain technology can help data aggregators manage data in four key areas: security, privacy, analysis and auditability.

These blockchain protocols can help data aggregators achieve their objectives of analysing sensitive data from multiple sources while preserving its security and privacy.

However, even when regulations don’t directly apply to data aggregators, banks often bolster their own compliance with regulations by requiring data aggregators to enter into data-sharing agreements as a condition of accessing consumer data. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583044312.5402045/How-Data-Aggregators-Are-Using-Blockchain-To-Empower-Fintech-Players?ref=audio_experience

India is an emerging economy, and its population makes it a ripe market for both new and old businesses.

That is why the Chinese smartphone companies have fared much better in the Indian market than the American or European ones.

One, target preferred sectors and focus on big pain points of Indian consumers.

Unsurprisingly, the right companies with the right offer boomed.

All that being said, you can still remain hopeful that the next batch of Indian consumers may have a different outlook. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583042437.4221733/Recipe-for-founders-who-want-to-build-large-businesses-in-India?ref=audio_experience

These figures are telling – the Indian workforce is poised for a major paradigm shift in the coming years.

These factors have spurred thousands of Indian students every year to pursue their higher education abroad.

Between 1998 and 2018, the number of Indian students seeking foreign degrees had grown almost five times.

According to data provided by the Ministry of External Affairs, there were over 750,000 Indian students spread over 90 countries in 2018.

Foreign universities, too, are ever keen to attract more international students to build diversity. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583040607.6269946/Tapping-Into-The-Global-Aspirations-Of-India’s-Tier-2-and-Tier-3-Students?ref=audio_experience

Future of Work 2020 AI panelRolls-Royce Head of Partnerships and Ecosystem (APAC), Rajashree Rao said, “AI is real.

Engineers today have to figure that out and start with a hypothesis before claiming that AI is really transforming industries.

However, AI is already there in the healthcare and the automobile industries.”The impact of AI, across industries, can actually be quite significant.

One of the first countries to bring in data ethics and have a commission around AI is Germany.

According to the Data Ethics Commission in Germany, "the use of algorithms and artificial intelligence, as well as the handling of data, holds enormous potential. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583038940.7729404/Future-of-Work:-As-AI-transforms-lives,-it-must-stay-ethical,-says-panel?ref=audio_experience

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa on the Ongoing Efforts to Reforest AfricaThe continent of Africa has experienced alarming rates of deforestation.

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa, an African business leader and philanthropist, explains the state of African reforestation programs and how his company, GTS/MTC, is helping to make a difference in this area.

The gao tree grows naturally in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, making it an excellent choice for reforestation efforts.

Efforts Toward ReforestationEnvironmentally conscious companies like Ayabatwa’s GTS/MTC are helping to reforest the continent of Africa.

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa believes that reforesting Africa will continue to show benefits well into the coming decades. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583037015.300228/Tribert-Rujugiro-Ayabatwa-on-the-Ongoing-Efforts-to-Reforest-Africa?ref=audio_experience

At the third edition of YourStory’s flagship tech event Future of Work, Kapil Rathee, the Chief Product Officer and President of Junglee Games, spoke about the importance of building the right product.

He said, as a product manager, it is very important to ask oneself a question – ‘Are you building the right product or building the product right’.

The product needs to be scalable and seamless, it needs to have great user experience, and so on.

And if you are building a product, are you building the right product?,” asks Kapil.

According to him, it is the responsibility of the product managers to create a very creative work environment. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583035206.381045/Future-of-Work:-Kapil-Rathee-of-Junglee-Games-says-product-managers-are-responsible-to-create-a-work-environment?ref=audio_experience

Today, India’s first unicorn InMobi has three verticals including advertising technology under InMobi unified marketing cloud (UMC), data business TruFactor, and consumer content entity Glance.

At Future of Work, YourStory’s annual product-tech-design conference, Ekta Grover, Chief of Staff to CTO at InMobi, said “When we design our products, we expect technology not to complicate but simplify our lives.

According to Ekta, the user defines the product and its functionality.

It has raised a little over $300 million to date from investors including SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sherpalo Ventures, and others.

At the time, he said, "The key reason for InMobi’s success is creating a culture of innovation in the company.”(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta) | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583033408.6127598/Future-of-Work-2020:-InMobi’s-Ekta-Grover-on-how-understanding-your-user-is-key-to-product-development?ref=audio_experience