AI Trialled to Help Forest of Dean Council Plan 5,400 New Homes by 2041

Artificial intelligence is being tested by Forest of Dean District Council to help identify locations for 5,400 new homes required by 2041.

Credit: GETTY IMAGES

The council is under pressure to meet a revised government target of 597 homes per year, up from 330, following changes introduced in summer 2024.

Council Leader Adrian Birch said an AI company has been tasked with a research project to determine whether the technology can be trusted to support planning decisions.

“If we can trust the AI to get it right then we will look at whether that is a feasible option,” Birch told a council meeting.

The district’s current local plan, covering 2021 to 2041, originally included 6,600 homes. However, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has since made it mandatory for the council to deliver a total of 12,000 homes by 2041.

Many of the initial 6,600 homes are already planned for areas including Lydney, Beachley and Newent.

To meet the new target, the council is revisiting previous proposals, such as a garden town between the A40 and A48 near Churcham, and a new settlement near junction 2 of the M50 close to Redmarley.

Birch said the AI company has also been asked to analyse public responses from the council’s local plan consultation held last summer.

“We will then be comparing our results with their results,” he said, adding that the council would review the use of AI if any concerns arise.

The council voted unanimously to review its 2021 to 2041 local plan and explore alternative strategic housing options.

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• Forest of Dean must build 12,000 homes by 2041, up from 6,600

• AI is being trialled to help identify locations for 5,400 additional homes

• Council Leader Adrian Birch says AI will be assessed for reliability

Source: BBC

Alibaba’s AI Tool for Pancreatic Cancer Detection Gains FDA Breakthrough Status

Alibaba Group Holding’s research division, Damo Academy, has received a breakthrough device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for its AI-powered pancreatic cancer detection model, Damo Panda.

Credit: Edmond So

The designation allows for a faster review and approval process, marking a significant step for the Chinese tech giant’s expansion into global healthcare.

Damo Panda, first introduced in Nov. 2023 in the journal Nature Medicine, is designed to detect early-stage pancreatic cancer in asymptomatic patients using deep learning.

The model was trained on abdominal non-contrast CT scans from 3,208 pancreatic cancer patients. According to Damo researchers, it demonstrated 34.1% higher sensitivity than radiologists in identifying the disease.

Alibaba has already trialled the tool in China, screening 40,000 people at a hospital in Ningbo. The model identified six early-stage cases, including two that routine exams had missed.

Damo Academy, founded in 2017, focuses on AI and RISC-V chip architecture. It has developed a series of processors under the XuanTie brand, including a server-grade CPU announced in Feb.

Alibaba plans to promote Damo Panda both in China and internationally through partnerships with companies such as Ankon Medical Technologies.

AI has increasingly influenced medical imaging, with studies showing its ability to match or exceed human experts in image analysis and enhancement.

Other Chinese tech firms are also investing in AI healthcare tools. In Feb., Huawei Technologies launched a large AI pathology model with Shanghai’s Ruijin Hospital to assist in cancer diagnostics.

Huawei has also formed a new team dedicated to the medical and healthcare sector, according to Chinese media reports in March.

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• Alibaba’s Damo Panda AI model receives FDA breakthrough device designation

• The tool detects early-stage pancreatic cancer with 34.1% higher sensitivity than radiologists

• Trials in China screened 40,000 people and identified six early-stage cases

Source: SCMP

Digital Wallets Set to Surpass Credit Cards in Hong Kong by 2030

Digital wallets are projected to become the leading payment method in Hong Kong by 2030, overtaking credit cards in both online and in-store transactions, according to the 2025 Global Payments Report by Worldpay.

Credit: Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg

The report forecasts that digital wallets will account for 45% of online transaction value and 48% of point-of-sale (POS) transactions in the city within five years.

Credit card usage is expected to decline to 32% of total transactions, down from 39% online and 45% in-store in 2024. A decade ago, credit cards made up 62% of online and 56% of POS payments.

Daniel So, Hong Kong Manager at Worldpay, attributed the shift to increased smartphone usage, which is driving the adoption of mobile payment technologies.

AlipayHK is currently the most popular digital wallet in Hong Kong, used by 42% of respondents in the Worldpay survey. It is followed by Octopus Wallet at 23%, Apple Pay at 22%, PayPal at 18%, and WeChat Pay HK at 14%.

Despite the rise of digital wallets, credit cards remain relevant. About 54% of users link their credit cards to digital wallets, compared with 16% who connect bank accounts and 10% who top up with cash.

The report also noted the rapid growth of account-to-account transactions through the Faster Payment System (FPS), launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 2018. FPS is the fastest-growing in-store payment method and is expected to grow at a 14% compound annual rate from 2024 to 2030.

FPS has expanded to include cross-border payments, linking with Thailand’s PromptPay in Dec. 2023 and planning further integration with mainland China’s Internet Banking Payment System.

Hong Kong offers a wider variety of digital wallets than mainland China, where credit card usage is low and mobile wallets typically connect directly to bank accounts.

In mainland China, Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate, used by 77% and 67% of online shoppers, respectively. Digital wallets accounted for 84% of online and 70% of POS transactions in 2023, with projections rising to 89% and 77% by 2030.

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• Digital wallets expected to handle nearly half of Hong Kong’s transactions by 2030

• AlipayHK leads usage among Hong Kong consumers at 42%

• Credit card usage projected to fall to 32% of total transactions

Source: SCMP