Blogs and Opinions
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3 reasons why Singapore is the smartest city in the world
Thursday 14th of November 2019
It’s official: Singapore is the world’s smartest city. That’s according to a new survey Published by Swiss business school IMD and the Singapore University of Technology and Design – the IMD Smart Cities Index – which looked at how well cities are adopting digital technologies and improving the lives of the people who live there.
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This fascinating map shows how food moves around the US
Thursday 14th of November 2019
In a country as big as the United States, you might expect food to travel hundreds of miles before it reaches the dinner table. But the first-ever map of America’s food supply chain shows some commodities never leave the county in which they were produced.
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These companies all experimented with a 4-day week. Here’s what happened
Thursday 14th of November 2019
With the rise of popular work chat apps like Slack and easy access to corporate email 24/7 through our smartphones, breaking away from work can feel more difficult than ever.
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We’ve stopped eating together. This is why that’s a bad thing
Thursday 14th of November 2019
Eating alone, once considered an oddity, has become commonplace for many across the Western world. Fast food chains are promoting eating on the go or “al desko”. Why waste time in your busy day sitting down at a table with others?
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Cases of drug-resistant typhoid fever are on the rise. This is why we should worry
Thursday 14th of November 2019
New extensively drug-resistant variants of an ancient and deadly disease – typhoid fever – are spreading across international borders. Cases have been reported in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Iraq, Guatemala, UK, US, and Germany, as well as more recently in Australia and Canada. In recent years, drug resistant and travel-associated typhoid variants have also been spreading through the African continent. Under-reporting and international surveillance gaps mean that drug-resistant typhoid is probably even more extensive than we think.
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How to stay fit in your 60s and beyond
Thursday 14th of November 2019
Ageing is inevitable and is influenced by many things – but keeping active can slow ageing and increase life expectancy. Evidence shows that ageing alone is not a cause of major problems until you are in your mid-90s. And strength, power and muscle mass can be increased, even at this advanced age.
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These four leadership mindsets are driving the new economy
Thursday 14th of November 2019
Are you able to change the culture of your organization? It’s possible, perhaps, if you can articulate what your culture is or if you are a CEO or C-suite executive. But let me ask a different question: Are you able to set a new tone and mindset for how your team, your project members, or your function work together and with others, both inside and outside your organization? The answer, in this case, is most likely to be a resounding yes.
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From Model T to EV: a short history of motor vehicle manufacturing
Thursday 14th of November 2019
You can have any colour you like – as long as it’s black. That’s how Henry Ford is said to have explained the way his mass-manufacturing processes brought affordable, standardized motoring to the American masses.
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This is how New York plans to end its car culture
Thursday 14th of November 2019
Walking or cycling in Manhattan should soon be a lot safer following a vote by New York City councillors to build about 400 km of protected bike lanes and redesign 2,000 road junctions to make them safer for pedestrians.
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Why your next car is a bike
Thursday 14th of November 2019
On the window of a bike shop in Copenhagen, a sign reads: Your next car is a bike.
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How Kolkata is tackling its air pollution with public transportation
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
Kolkata is pioneering greener commutes citywide – and thanks to an innovative project to deploy more electric buses and ferries, the city now ranks fifth on a list of places that are reducing their annual emissions.
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The link between government confidence, populism and the internet
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
Information and communication technology has no doubt had a positive economic impact globally, but its political bearing is less clear. This column shows that the proliferation of mobile technology reduces citizens’ confidence in their current governments, especially in places where news broadcasting is censored but the internet is not. Furthermore, by reducing the cost of reaching voters, the internet has also led to increased support for both left-wing and right-wing populist movements.
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Venice mayor declares disaster as city hit by second-worst high tide
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
Venice’s mayor prepared to declare the city a disaster zone on Wednesday after the second highest tide ever recorded flooded its historic basilica and left many of its squares and alleyways deep under water.
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MIT made an army of tiny, ‘virtually indestructible’ cheetah robots
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
MIT’s Mini Cheetah robots are small quadrupedal robots capable of running, jumping, walking, and flipping.
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Here’s why no country is prepared for the wide range of global threats facing us today
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
There’s little that the left and the right agree on these days. But surely one thing is beyond question: that national governments must protect citizens from the gravest threats and risks they face. Although our government, wherever we are in the world, may not be able to save everyone from a pandemic or protect people and infrastructure from a devastating cyberattack, surely they have thought through these risks in advance and have well-funded, adequately practiced plans?
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This watchmaker turns mushrooms into ‘leather’ watches
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
A watchmaker in Indonesia’s Bandung city thinks the next step in sustainability is a wristwatch with a strap made out of the complex root structure of a mushroom.
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This Dutch butcher makes plants taste just like meat
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
Jaap Korteweg was brought up on meat. That’s what happens when you grow up surrounded by cows on a farm in Holland.
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Happy workers are more productive, research shows
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
How are you feeling? Your answer to this deceptively simple question will likely determine how productive you will be at work today, according to new research.
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These are the countries that have made their climate commitments law
Wednesday 13th of November 2019
New Zealand has joined an elite group of countries that has enacted emissions-target legislation, aiming to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050.
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Has Russia forged a new international security role?
Tuesday 12th of November 2019
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
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This is what’s happening to the Amazon, according to NASA
Tuesday 12th of November 2019
Human activity is drying out the air above the Amazon, according to a new study, raising fears the planet’s biggest and most biodiverse rainforest will soon be unable to sustain itself.Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California analyzed atmospheric moisture levels over the Amazon going back two decades. They found a significant drop over time, with forest trees requiring more water to cool down – water that can’t be provided by the atmosphere or the forest soil.
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Why law enforcement and businesses need to join forces to fight global cybercrime
Tuesday 12th of November 2019
The digital revolution is changing the way law enforcement protects communities and the way businesses manage risk.
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Here’s what you need to know about the future of multi-generational working
Tuesday 12th of November 2019
Changing demographics are creating a workplace that is more age diverse than ever before. Just look around: from post-millennials to baby boomers, more and more generations are working side by side.
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Amsterdam has a bubble barrier to catch canal plastic
Tuesday 12th of November 2019
The latest innovation to tackle plastic pollution? A bubble barrier.
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This is how Estonia is growing its population
Tuesday 12th of November 2019
In Estonia, the bigger the family, the better.