Selinko is the first secure internet of things (IoT) solution provider offering an integrated platform giving each object a unique identity that can be verified by anyone using a smartphone. Chief executive Patrick explains his hopes and concerns with authentication technologies.
Can you tell us about your role as chief executive at Selinko?
When you are the chief executive of a small company, you have to wear multiple hats. Since we created the company in 2012, our initial focus was on developing the business by bringing new solutions to wine and spirits brands, but we’re now moving into developing solutions for other products and sectors. I feel that business development has a lot to do with listening to industry experts and understanding their pains before helping to solve them. I spent a lot of time doing that and trying to sell them on our vision. Now that we have the chance to work with a few large customers, I’m spending time in the industrialisation of our solutions so that they can benefit more customers as well. As Selinko grows, we’ll need more resources – sourcing them is one of my main priorities.
What emerging technologies are most exciting to you at the moment?
I have to say that technology doesn’t excite me much per se. Although I’m not the kind of person who buys all the latest gadgets, I’m most interested in what you can do with technology and I think it has certainly driven Selinko’s approach. We feel technology is just an enabler. If you look at near field communication (NFC), for example, there were long discussions between experts – some defending it, some saying it will never break through the market. The fact is, if you want to make a secure payment with a mobile device, there is no way of avoiding NFC. We focused on delivering product authentication to consumers and we adopted NFC to achieve our goals. If a technology shows up tomorrow that does a better job at it, we will gladly adopt it.
What trends are you seeing develop within the area of anti-counterfeiting technology?
I think there is a change happening right now in the way that brands facing counterfeiting issues are looking at solving problems. They are slowly moving away from brand protection and are moving into consumer protection. At the end of the day, the first victim is not the brand who is seeing a lack of revenue, but the consumer who thinks he is buying a genuine item could be fooled into drinking his favourite drink which, if counterfeit, could in fact poison him. The minimum that a consumer asks from a brand is that what they buy is genuine. Today, there are tools to guarantee this. This requires a real change in the mindset of many brand-protection departments, but I believe it has started to happen. A “genuine by design” approach is emerging and the way brands engage with consumers will also change.
In what other areas do you think banking technology will be applied to solve authentication issues and prevent fraud?
I believe the biggest space is IoT, which is bringing in new problems in terms of privacy and security. For example, a few weeks back, it was shown how simple it is for hackers to get into a car and change its software. We humans log into computers and smartphones every day using character passwords and we’re now moving into the field of biometric data. Objects don’t speak like us, but you still need to give them the ability to sign in to the network and start communicating. There is no better way to do that than with banking encryption technologies. I think the most prevalent area this will be applied is where there are privacy issues to tackle and regulation must come in to play. Drones are a good example of this.
Finally, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs and startups looking to move into authentication technology solutions?
Authentication technology is complex and very hard to explain to people who don’t have an engineering or computer science degree. However, you need to spend time simplifying your messages so that non-technical people understand what you are doing and why you are cutting edge. It’s important because there will always be a decision maker along the line that does not understand the technology. Furthermore, I believe that it’s important to keep you finger on the pulse of the problem you’re trying to solve, and not so much on improving the technology all the time. I think this advice is valid for any technological start-ups and not only for authentication technology solutions.
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