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In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week, Nathan Kinch, Head of Experience and Labs introduces Meeco.

What does your company do?

Save, Sync and Securely Share Your Data On Your Terms…

Up until now the power to capture, analyse and profit from personal data has resided with business, government and social networks. What if you and I had the same power?

By releasing the world’s first Life Management Platform to market in 2014, Meeco is answering this question. Meeco provides individuals simple tools to control their personal information, and exchange it on their terms with the people and organisations they trust for shared value.

Meeco is proving unique innovation around customer on-boarding and know-your-customer (KYC) capability, through provisioning the API-of-Me. This enables customers to bring their identity and (consent) based access management to enterprise, enabling the customer to seamlessly consume products, services, advice and experiences. The result of this is a range of mutual benefits, including new value chains for enterprise, tailored outcomes for customers, lowering risk, increasing compliance, with all resulting in net new value. Additionally, the direct relationship between the enterprise and the customer builds a private channel for ongoing permission marketing.

An example of how we’re collaborating with the financial services industry can be seen below.

When did Meeco launch and what growth have you seen?

Meeco officially launched in 2014 and has consistently released product to the general public, whilst also furthering our internal R&D function to support the organisations we work with globally.

To put this in context, we’re now collaborating with commercial partners across three different continents. In 2016 alone we’ve seen approximately 280% YTD growth in this area of the business. Additionally, we’ve just announced a partnership with Privacy by Design search engine, Qwant, and have also recently adopted the COEL Standard.

meecosystemWhat are your main goals?

Our vision is to enable everyone on the planet with the means to gain equity and value in exchange for the information they share. To make this possible we have created a self-sovereign place where people can turn their life data into a growing and valuable asset.

A visualisation of this model can be seen in this MeEcosystem diagram.

Our vision is clearly ambitious. What was once our founders dream, and captured in our manifesto, is now becoming reality.

Where do you see yourselves in three years’ time?

In three years time, people all around the world, not just here in Europe, will exercise far greater control over their personal information. Because of this, individuals will be able to participate in the value chains typically only available to organisations.

Meeco’s Life Management Platform, through the ‘API-of-Me’ will enable individuals and organisations to exchange data freely, and with explicit, unambiguous consent, for shared value.

For organisations, costs savings and new revenue opportunities will be realised. For individuals, “right thing, right place, right time” products and services will become a reality.

We believe Meeco will be a core enabler of this new economic and societal value.

What aspect of mobile is most exciting to you right now?

Various emerging technologies are exciting. But it’s potentially hard to argue that anything else is surpassing the recent progress in the field of AI. The big question for us however, is who is the AI acting on behalf of? Is it you the individual, or it is say, Google’s commercial view of who you are?

It seems at present that most progress is being made in cognitive AI. We believe that much of the greatest impact in this field will result from the addition of ‘emotional AI’. This will of course take time, but the seeds are being planted at present.

What we now have the power to do is influence whether the AI we come to know and love will be ours, or someone else’s.

We’re watching this space very closely, particularly from an ethical standpoint. We have some capabilities in our R&D function, primarily focused on value-aligned decision-enablement for our members.

What’s the most critical issue that will hit mobile within the next 12 months?

People are moving into the drivers seat. Through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for the first time ever, you and I will control the use and distribution of our personal information. So rather than mobile devices being used to track each and everything we do, resulting for the most part in sub-optimal outcomes, these devices will become a critical component of how we save, sync and share our information to create value for ourselves and others.

Apart from your own, which mobile companies are the ones to watch in the year ahead?

We need to re-define ‘mobile’. The thing we’ll be watching closely is the seamless connection between what you’re wearing, and any surface that can act as a screen or a feedback mechanism. It’s too early to say if the iPhone 7 is progress towards this re-definition, but the ‘no jack’ rumors might be a start.

kinchNathan Kinch

Head of Experience and Labs

Meeco

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Also, with the increasing demand for more personalised experiences, we believe companies that enable citizens, customers, students, patients and employees to utilise their information as an asset, and enable those individuals to participate in the value chain, will see the greatest growth and realise the most value over the next five years.

The key point to add here is that the market is now moving, and quickly. Organisations need a personal data strategy that is human-centric, innovative and compliant. Mobile, particularly the re-definition of mobile, is a key enabler of this.

The time to move is now. This next 12 months will be very exciting.

MEF