Every year, National Small Business Week brings out initiatives and recognition for small businesses, showcasing the entrepreneurial spirit from coast-to-coast.

BBVA has today launched an innovative new global payments system that includes cards, alternative payment forms and a fraud-prevention tool.

A report by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) studies the degree of readiness of different countries ahead of an ever increasing presence of  technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence. The study includes a series of in-depth interviews with experts in different fields, among them, Elena Alfaro, Head of Customer Solutions Analytics & Open Innovation at BBVA.

A little more than two years after its approval by the European Parliament, the new European Regulation on Data Protection or GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will go into effect on May 25, 2018. It is not just another regulatory change: it is the most important change to European data regulation in 20 years and involves new rights for consumers, such as the right to be forgotten and the right to data portability. It also strengthens the concept of consent.

Creating a startup isn't the exclusive territory of new entrepreneurs or young people with moneymaking ideas. Big technological companies and their CEOs have recognized how to spot potential in emerging companies, buying them outright or overseeing the development of their growth potential.

For the third consecutive year, BBVA Compass and the Houston Dynamo are creating an opportunity for a local small business to take the next step in its success.

The spread of artificial intelligence will have positive and negative effects. In order for the former to outweigh the latter, companies, politicians and social groups should gave some thought to this and act accordingly.

Big data and data science have become disciplines increasingly in demand in the labor market, serving as tools of great value in training the youngest professionals. With the technological future for the region looking promising, students in Latin America are increasingly engaged in training in these areas and finding out how to apply them to real life.

Adapt or die. An emphatic statement, but one that perfectly captures the spirit that drives startups. The search for innovation is often what characterizes these entrepreneurs, who now how to seize the opportunities enabled by new digital technologies linked to an innovative business idea.

The streets of New York's Chinatown, Granada's Sacromonte neighborhood, or Southall (London's Little India) are examples of how people tend to live near others from the same place or social status. But businesses, restaurants, and bars are just as important meeting places as where we live. Esteban Moro, Professor at Universidad Carlos III and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), uses big data tools to analyze how people interact in these places.