Released every week, this report gives you a bite-sized summary of the biggest news events in Tech that occured over the week. With each story we give you the 'key facts' and 'key implications' of that story (ie why does this matter).

SAP agrees to buy Qualtrics for $8Bn in cash

Enterprise software giant SAP recently announced its acquisition of Qaultrics- a survey and research software company. Qualtrics offers subscription software for collecting and analysing data for market research, customer satisfaction and loyalty testing.

Why does this matter?

• This is the second largest SaaS (software as a service) acquisition ever, and the cash deal blows past estimates that pegged Qualtrics’ value, post stock offering, in the $4.5 billion-$5billion range.

• The acquisition will allow SAP to combine its operational data with customer experience data from Qualtrics, enabling clients to incorporate real time-feedback into their strategies.

• This is indicative of the trend across numerous sectors (e.g. Retail Banking) for ‘data collaboration’, where large institutions leverage their combined data to gain greater insights into their operations and customer interactions.

• Qualtrics will become part of SAP’s cloud business group with Ryan Smith continuing to serve as Qualtrics’s CEO.

Lime is debuting its line of shareable vehicles in Seattle this week

Lime, the start-up known for its brightly coloured dock-less bicycles and electric scooters, will be adding cars to its fleet of shareable vehicles. Customers will be able to book a ‘LimePod’ (Fiat500) for a 1$ unlocking fee and 40 cents per minute of use.

Why does this matter?

• This is the first such example of ‘shareable cars’ and marks a further evolution in urban transport.

• This is indicative of the company’s aggressive expansion, which also sees it releasing a fleet of scooters and bikes in Australia this week.

• Concerns about the safety of this scheme will concern regulators, who have grown irritated with these start-ups and the problems they bring. Lime in particular will need to demonstrate they have adequate mechanisms in place to make sure: users are meant to be on the roads, leave the vehicles in appropriate places when finished, are insured and are safe.

IMF tells central banks to look into issuing digital currency

The head of the IMF has called on central banks to look seriously at issuing digital currency. This follows from an IMF discussion paper published on Wednesday that considers the pros and cons of such a move. Currently central banks only issue electronic currency to banks; an online payment, for example, is not electronic currency it is simply money provided by commercial institutions.

Why does this matter?

• Some central banks have already been considering such a move. These are: Sweden, China and Canada.

• Some fear this could endanger financial stability. In March the Bank for financial settlements claimed a central bank digital currency could allow for ‘digital runs’. The reason: if the public had direct access to the currency, they would flock to the central banks in times of panic, creating a ‘digital run’ from private banks to the state and increasing the insolvency risks of private banks.

Google swallows up Deep Mind as it prepares to fully enter the healthcare sector

Google has just fully absorbed its wholly owned Deep Mind Health Unit, in doing so it has scrapped the independent review panel at Deep Mind and taken all the patient data the unit has accumulated in its work with the NHS.

Why does this matter?

• Trust demolition: This entirely undermines Deep Mind’s frequent claims that the patient data it collected when working with the NHS would be accessible to Google. Expect a strong reaction from consumer protection groups, regulators and healthcare commentators to this.

• Viewing this alongside Google’s hiring of Dr. David Feinberg to a leadership role reveals potential future plans for Google. Feinberg was the president and CEO of Geisinger, one of the US’ largest health services organisations renowned for its innovation and tech developments in healthcare. This evidently signifies Google’s intention to tie together multiple fragmented health initiatives and coordinate its moves into the $3 trillion-dollar sector.

• Healthcare is a data gold mine and has been considered a prime target for AI…Expect to see AI featuring more prominently in how you access and receive your healthcare.