The Global Gender Gap Report 2014
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Through the Global Gender Gap Report 2014, the World Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracks their progress over time. While no single measure can capture the complete situation, the Global Gender Gap Index presented in this Report seeks to measure one important aspect of gender equality: the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics.
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China is building a new Silk Road, and this one is digital
Saturday 18th of August 2018
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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Future-proof skills & jobs, factories of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and other top stories this week
Saturday 18th of August 2018
How future-proof are your skills — and job? Answers to our Instagram quiz.Hothouse earth. Why climate change might soon accelerate.
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A bird’s eye view of urban poverty and social inequality
Friday 17th of August 2018
Photographers have been using drones in recent years to wow us with breathtaking shots of stunning scenery and jaw-dropping landscapes. But now photographer Johnny Miller wants to show us a different side of life from a whole new perspective, through an initiative he calls Unequal Scenes.
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Scientists are developing greener plastics – the bigger challenge is moving them from lab to market
Friday 17th of August 2018
Synthetic plastics have made many aspect of modern life cheaper, safer and more convenient. However, we have failed to figure out how to get rid of them after we use them.
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Crop-munching armyworm could threaten millions of farmers in Asia
Friday 17th of August 2018
A voracious crop-chomping pest which has wrought havoc in Africa could threaten millions of farmers in Asia, U.N. experts warned on Tuesday, as India battles the continent’s first reported infestation of fall armyworm.
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What role did credit ratings play in the 2008 crisis?
Friday 17th of August 2018
New evidence on the performance of non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) during the 2007–13 period casts doubt on the ubiquitous claim that the 2008 financial crisis was triggered by over-extension of mortgage credit and a failure of rating agencies to recognize the associated risks to investors. Non-agency RMBS are backed by mortgages that do not qualify for guarantees issued by agencies of the U.S. government. Examples of such loans are “jumbo” mortgages that exceed the value limit for guarantees, those with a high loan-to-value ratio, and those lacking the documentation needed for agency backing. From 1987 through 2013, various lenders issued about $5.8 trillion in non-agency RMBS. A common narrative for the start of the financial crisis suggests that credit agencies downplayed the riskiness of RMBS, drawing in lenders who did not appreciate their intrinsic risk. Some also claim that ratings were less accurate in the subprime market than elsewhere.
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An AI has uncovered coral reefs that are resistant to climate change
Friday 17th of August 2018
Underwater wasteland.
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This Kenyan online food delivery system is cutting waste
Friday 17th of August 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When two university students knocked on the door of Lillian Kanari’s organic food shop five years ago seeking work, she realised their web design skills could help her business solve one of its most intractable problems: food waste.
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Why male is our default gender
Friday 17th of August 2018
It’s still a man’s world, a bias revealed in phrases about humanity as “measure of man” or “man shall not live by bread alone,” or the ubiquitous use of pronoun “he” even when subject is not identifiable as a man or woman.
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How globalization is changing innovation
Friday 17th of August 2018
The diffusion of knowledge and technology worldwide in recent decades has brought important changes to the global innovation landscape. But those changes could be much more profound if countries created more supportive investment environments.
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This graphene battery can recharge itself to provide unlimited clean energy
Friday 17th of August 2018
Graphene is a modern marvel. It is comprised of a single, two-dimensional layer of carbon, yet is 200 times stronger than steel and more conductive than any other material, according to the University of Manchester, where it was first isolated in 2004.
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Chart of the day: London is the Airbnb capital of the world
Friday 17th of August 2018
10 years ago, in early August 2008, the website Airbedandbreakfast.com went online, marking the birth of Airbnb. Back then the three founders, Brian Cheky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk wanted to help short-term travelers find affordable accommodation and provide renters with an opportunity to make an extra buck by renting out spare rooms or even just the namesake airbed on the floor. Little did they know that 10 years later their little venture would be one of the hottest private companies in the world, valued at nearly $30 billion. Over the years, Airbnb has developed into much more than what it was originally meant to be. These days you can rent millions of houses, apartments and rooms on the platform. For many young travelers is has become the favorite if not the only way to find accommodation when travelling.
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Your colleagues are not dinosaurs – it’s workplace routines that make innovation difficult
Friday 17th of August 2018
In many sectors, the disruptive changes now occurring are so major that they have been described as the “fourth industrial revolution”. In response, organisations are focusing on innovation – hackathons, innovation labs and design jams are popular. Unfortunately, many innovations do not make it through to implementation.
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If Americans swapped 50% of the beef they eat for vegan proteins, it could save a lot of land
Friday 17th of August 2018
Many of us eat meat, dairy, and eggs on a regular basis. Unfortunately, these dietary choices are not without harm to the environment. Luckily, you don’t need to cut burgers and eggs from your diet entirely. Even just reducing the amount you eat makes a big difference when it comes to the planet’s health. For example, a survey conducted by Impossible Foods recently found that if Americans swapped 50 percent of the beef they ate with vegan proteins, it would save about 72,000 square miles of land.
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Electricity grids are at risk from cyberattack. Here’s how we can keep them running
Friday 17th of August 2018
On Aug. 14, 2003, a software bug contributed to a blackout that left 50 million people across nine U.S. northeastern states and a Canadian province without power. The outage lasted for as long as four days, with rolling blackouts in some areas for days after that.
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The 2004 lecture that finally convinced David Attenborough about global warming
Friday 17th of August 2018
Sir David Attenborough’s long career as a presenter of BBC natural-history programmes first began in 1953 with a three-part series called “Animal Patterns”.
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What will medicine look like in 30 years?
Friday 17th of August 2018
Adapted from an address to the Royal College of Physicians, London, on the Occasion of their 500th Anniversary by Andrew Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer Proteus Digital Health
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5 ways natural nanotechnology could inspire human design
Friday 17th of August 2018
Though nanotechnology is portrayed as a fairly recent human invention, nature is actually full of nanoscopic architectures. They underpin the essential functions of a variety of life forms, from bacteria to berries, wasps to whales.
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These are the hurdles to the free movement of African people
Friday 17th of August 2018
The African integration project took several major steps this year. One of them was the African Union’s adoption of a protocol on the free movement of people. The move has been widely welcomed.
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K-pop is now so universally beloved that even Algerians speak a little Korean
Friday 17th of August 2018
South Korea has become the surprise soft-power mecca of the 21st century. American music and movies still make loads of money worldwide, but they seem increasingly passé and predictable. It is instead K-pop and Korean dramas that are providing the world with fresh sounds and storylines, catapulting the Korean boy band BTS atop the 2018 Time 100 reader poll.
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Buy more books than you ever read? The Japanese have a word for that
Friday 17th of August 2018
Let’s see. Where to begin.
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Why being paid more often – not just more – will help hourly workers
Friday 17th of August 2018
From San Francisco to South Africa, the issue of fair pay is the subject of furious debate around the world – and for good reason.
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These countries are gaining the most by employing older workers
Friday 17th of August 2018
Businesses around the world are chasing the grey dollar, but older people can contribute more to an economy than how they choose to spend their retirement funds.Humans are living longer, which puts additional strain on healthcare provision, social care and pensions. And unless these issues are addressed, they could wreak havoc on economies in the future. The thinking goes that by harnessing the potential of older workers, governments can raise additional tax revenues and increase spending power, which in turn boosts output. Golden Age Index 2018
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Emirates is building a giant vertical farm to feed airline passengers
Thursday 16th of August 2018
The world’s largest vertical farm is coming to Dubai.
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The electrification of transport could transform our future – if we are prepared for it
Thursday 16th of August 2018
Electric vehicles (EVs) are set to change everything about how energy is consumed and supplied.
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Moving up the income ladder takes generations. How many depends on where you live
Thursday 16th of August 2018
Most of us, especially in developed nations, expect to grow up to earn more than our parents. But as a new in-depth report by the OECD shows, this is becoming less likely. In fact, things have been trending this way for decades.
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New Zealand has passed a ban on foreign homebuyers into law
Thursday 16th of August 2018
New Zealand’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday to ban many non-resident foreigners from buying existing homes, completing the Labour-led government’s election campaign pledge.
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Caribbean states and Richard Branson have launched a green fund to fight disasters
Thursday 16th of August 2018
British billionaire Richard Branson and two dozen Caribbean nations and territories on Thursday launched a multi-million-dollar initiative to turn the hurricane-prone region into a green tech hub resilient to disasters.
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India’s first female SWAT team has won its first case – to exist
Thursday 16th of August 2018
After more than a year of being put through their paces – learning to scale buildings, defuse bombs and rescue hostages – India’s first all-female commando team started work on Friday, breaking a traditionally male bastion.
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MIT mathematicians have solved an age-old spaghetti mystery
Thursday 16th of August 2018
If you happen to have a box of spaghetti in your pantry, try this experiment: Pull out a single spaghetti stick and hold it at both ends. Now bend it until it breaks. How many fragments did you make? If the answer is three or more, pull out another stick and try again. Can you break the noodle in two? If not, you’re in very good company.
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These 4 cities used data to become more sustainable and inclusive. Here’s how
Thursday 16th of August 2018
Cities across the world have pledged to take action on climate change, including planning for more sustainable forms of transportation. But many cities, as we’ve previously noted, lack the data and information necessary to track and monitor their progress. This data provides valuable examples of transportation patterns and needs, allowing cities to plan mitigation actions that decrease their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—an important step to meeting goals set in the Paris Agreement.
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The economic costs of a US-China trade war: what financial markets tell us
Thursday 16th of August 2018
The Trump administration raised the stakes in a trade dispute with China by proposing 10% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods on 10 July 2018, on top of $50 billion of tariffs that were officially imposed on China. The Ministry of Commerce of China immediately responded by warning of similar retaliation. In the latest World Economic Outlook (IMF (2018a) and G-20 Surveillance Note (IMF 2018b), the IMF estimates that the global economy will be 0.5% (or roughly US$430 billion) smaller by 2020 if the various tariffs threatened by the US, China, Europe, Mexico, Japan, and Canada were to be implemented.
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How a 20-year old mobile technology protocol is revolutionizing Africa
Thursday 16th of August 2018
Every time you dial *XYZ# to check the airtime balance on your phone, you are using a decades old technology standard called USSD. For a very long time, that’s pretty much all it was used for, but now the game has changed.
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This team of Saudi women designed an award-winning app to make the Hajj safer
Thursday 16th of August 2018
Four young women from Saudi Arabia are challenging stereotypes with their victory at a record-breaking hackathon. Their innovation could even help save lives by making it easier for non-Arabic speaking Hajj pilgrims to navigate their way through five days of religious devotion.
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6 steps to becoming a successful social entrepreneur
Thursday 16th of August 2018
We believe in the power of social entrepreneurship to decrease unemployment, increase female participation across fields, and bring education. We want to share what we have learnt with you to become a successful social entrepreneur. Where to start and how to get to scaling your solutions to drive impact. The steps that we know will lead to success are:
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Living to 100: why we should plan for more sushi, chocolate and work
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Sadly, Miyako Chiyo, the oldest person in Japan and the world, recently passed away. She was an incredible 117 years old.
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Cancer-curing Marie Curie voted the most influential woman in history
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Nobel prize-winning scientist Marie Curie was the most influential woman in history, Britain’s BBC found in a poll on Thursday, highlighting her role in curing cancer.
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What’s the future of cryptocurrencies?
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Much hyperbole surrounds cryptocurrencies—either they herald a new high-tech payments era without interference from the state, or they are a speculative fad which will sooner or later crash and burn.
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Universal basic income costs far less than you might think. Here’s why
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Want to get rid of poverty, lessen inequality and provide financial stability in a world of precarious work? Well, why not simply give everyone enough money to ensure basic sustenance?
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New Zealand’s new maximum-security jail has a sensory garden
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Inmates at New Zealand’s new maximum-security prison will have access to a sensory garden with native plants, a waterfall and rock feature.
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Jakarta is one of the world’s fastest disappearing cities
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
On the north west coast of the island of Java lies the Indonesian capital Jakarta, one of the world’s largest cities. It is also one of the world’s fastest disappearing cities.
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How we overhauled healthcare amid Venezuela’s crisis
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
The Venezuelan health system is experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. There has been a reappearance of endemic diseases, medicine shortages, a mass exodus of medical professionals and the collapse of hundreds of clinics and hospitals unable to attend to a single patient because of their poor conditions.
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The Cuban government has tested nationwide internet
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Cuba’s government said it provided free internet to the Communist-run island’s more than 5 million cellphone users on Tuesday, in an eight-hour test before it launches sales of the service.
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For most US workers, real wages have barely budged in decades
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
On the face of it, these should be heady times for American workers. U.S. unemployment is as low as it’s been in nearly two decades (3.9% as of July) and the nation’s private-sector employers have been adding jobs for 101 straight months – 19.5 million since the Great Recession-related cuts finally abated in early 2010, and 1.5 million just since the beginning of the year.
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These designs could be coming to an office near you
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Jody Ford, chief executive, PhotoBox Group
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Happiness or career success: Which comes first?
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Across the lifespan, society often pushes a subtle message with a basic formula: Work hard, become successful, then you’ll be happy. We hear it from our parents, teachers, employers, and even television ads. After a while, this way of thinking can become automatic. “When I graduate from college … When I land my dream job … When I make six figures,” we think to ourselves, “then I will be happy.” Although this formula is intuitive, unfortunately, it is likely broken and backwards.
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Good news: The world is getting better. Bad news: You were wrong about how things have changed
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
At Our World in Data we aim to bring together the empirical data and research to show how living conditions around the world are changing. Is that necessary?
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Your mind isn’t deep at all. In fact, it’s flat
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
A box of crackers features the tagline, “Conscious eating.” An artistic subgroup embraces the Burning Man ethos: “Conscious music.” This self-declared genre arises from the same set that talks about techniques for “higher consciousness.” In every instance, the sentiment is obvious: my product is better than yours because there’s something deeper going on over here.
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The next four years are going to be ‘anomalously warm’
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
The next four years are going to be anomalously warm – even on top of regular climate change. That’s according to new research my colleague Sybren Drijfhout and I have just published.
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Pollution is killing the Taj Mahal and time is running out to save it
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
The saying goes that the Taj Mahal is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening, and golden when the moon shines. Though this may once have been true for the famously pristine marble monument, a mixture of pollution and poor management has now burdened the Taj with a 24-hour layer of yellowy-brown. Condemning the “lethargy” of restoration efforts, India’s Supreme Court recently told the government to restore the Taj or demolish it.
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This stranded ship of soybeans could help you understand the US-China trade dispute
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
Cargo ship Peak Pegasus became a bit player in the US-China trade drama on July 6 when it raced against the clock to deliver US soybeans to China before retaliatory tariffs kicked in. Users on the social media site Weibo cheered Pegasus and its cargo on, with one user writing, “You are no ordinary soybean!”
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These Chinese millennials say they’re ‘spiritually Finnish’
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
A Finnish cartoon character has become an unlikely hero for young Chinese, and even a symbol of resistance against compulsory socializing.
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Is fear of nuclear terrorism distracting us from more realistic threats?
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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AI will improve healthcare and cut costs – if we get these 4 things right
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
The potential for data-driven medicine and predictive analytics is clear. AI and machine learning are assisting healthcare providers with more informed clinical decision-making and enabling patients to take an active role in their own health, with access to real-time data via wearables and mobile apps.
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Measuring consumer confidence isn’t useful anymore. Here’s what we should do instead
Wednesday 15th of August 2018
The Consumer Confidence Index is a child of its time. Established in 1967 by US business association The Conference Board, it was developed in response to the first slowing of the post-war economic boom. As the momentum of growth could no longer be taken for granted, it was necessary to understand and monitor its drivers more clearly, in order to codify what might be called a theory of change. As consumption became an increasingly significant part of the economy, the model was simple: if more consumption increased GDP, boosting people’s confidence to consume would be a powerful leading indicator of growth.
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What research tells us about gender difference in perceptions of ability at work
Tuesday 14th of August 2018
In Oceans 8, when Debbie Ocean is asked why she felt the need to organise a multi-million-dollar jewellery heist, she replies: “Because it’s what I’m good at.”
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This is what the UK tells us about the impact of minimum wage policies
Tuesday 14th of August 2018
There is renewed interest from governments around the world in minimum wage policies. These has been more common in places where real wages have stagnated, because a minimum wage is a policy lever to generate a wage increase at the bottom of the wage distribution. For example, Germany introduced a national minimum wage in 2015 (Caliendo et al. forthcoming), and Seattle and Los Angeles passed measures to progressively increase the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by 2018 and 2020, respectively (Jardim et al. 2017, Reich et al. 2017).
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The link between education levels and agricultural workers
Tuesday 14th of August 2018
The second half of the 20th century has been characterised by two global trends: an unprecedented increase in human capital, at least as measured by years of schooling; and a steep decrease in the share of the population employed in agriculture.
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As a rising global power, what is India’s vision for the world?
Tuesday 14th of August 2018
Seventy-one years ago – on 15 August 1947 – India gained independence. Over the subsequent decades, the country has managed its evolution in an international system largely created and guided by the United States and its partners. While it was not easy for India to pursue independent domestic and foreign policies within this system, the American-led order was preferable to the British Empire from which New Delhi had liberated itself.
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More than one billion people do not have access to electricity. What will it take to get them connected?
Tuesday 14th of August 2018
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 centres around achieving access to affordable, reliable and sustainable modern energy for all by 2030. Currently, 1.2 billion people worldwide – one in every six people on the planet – do not have access to electricity. Based on a business-as-usual scenario, some 780 million people are projected to remain without it by 2030. A radical new approach is needed if this trajectory is to be remedied.