What's Emerging end of July 2023
A newsletter on interesting stuff that is emerging around the world so you can think about strategy.
Welcome to our end of July newsletter
In the next few weeks, Paul will be working on a strategic board review with a health sector foundation and working with VETASSESS on its long-term strategy. He will also be presenting on the future of Agricultural Shows in Adelaide , working with Housing Choices Australia on their long-term vision and with the I CAN network on the future of their online mentoring program.
If you are interested in talking to us about any of these approaches, please Contact Us.
The Emergent Futures Team
In case you missed it. The most popular link from the last edition:
The mathematically correct way to tie your shoes
Paul: Not sure how true this is, but it has changed how I tie my shoelaces, especially for cricket, where they kept coming undone. Seems to have worked so far…... Read more
What are we Writing About?
Due to Paul being on holidays (yes again), we have nothing in this section this edition.
What’s Emerging
Remote working may lead to 20pc drop in Australian office property prices
The decline in the value of office buildings owned by Australia's super funds looks very tame compared to what's happening overseas. For instance, the world's biggest asset manager Blackstone sold its 49 per cent stake in a lower Manhattan skyscraper (One Liberty Plaza) for $US1 billion — which was a steep discount of 33 per cent (considering the building was valued at $US1.5 billion six years ago).Paul: we did some scenarios on CBD buildings for a national cleaning company in 2020 and this was our central scenario....…..Read More
French city drops order for 51 hydrogen buses after realising electric ones six times cheaper to run
The €29m ($33m) Montpellier Horizon Hydrogen project — which included the construction of a small solar-powered green-hydrogen plant — had been announced by EDF subsidiary Hynamics in December 2019.Since then, it has been awarded €18m of funding, including €6.9m of grants from regional, national and European funds — with the most recent coming from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility less than a month ago — and €8.9m of investment and loans from the French sovereign fund Caisse des Dépôts.....…..Read More
This edible battery could power the world of diagnostics and sustainable energy
For the anode of this battery, the Italian researchers used riboflavin, a crucial substance necessary for cell growth and functioning and found in a wide variety of food, including lean meats, almonds, and spinach. Quercetin, a crucial antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables, such as onions, grapes, berries and broccoli, was picked to be the cathode. Activated charcoal, used to treat cases of poisoning, was used to increase electrical conductivity, while a water-based solution acted as the electrolyte.For the separator, which is commonly used in batteries to prevent short circuits, the researchers used nori or seaweed...........……. Read more
Generosity Report Shows Younger Donors Less Trusting of Charities Than Older People
According to “Rethinking Resilience: Insights From the Giving Ecosystem,” older and younger people have different views of charities. Older people expressed more trust in nonprofits and were more likely to donate, while younger folks doubted “the efficiency and reliability of charities” and gave more informally, which is described as direct giving to individuals or unregistered groups rather than to a registered nonprofit......……. Read More
DA Gives Thumbs Up To UK’s Genetically Modified Purple Tomatoes In The U.S.
Developed over the past 15 years in the UK, the purple tomato is a licensed variety proprietary from Norfolk Plant Sciences. It is currently being marketed exclusively in U.S. restaurants in a few areas. It will be test-marketed in retail stores in 2024. In 2025, the company will start looking at further expansion..........…..Read more
Lithuania launches Europe’s first driverless delivery robots on public roads
In July Vilnius became the first European city to introduce a small fleet of autonomous delivery robots on public roads. Developed by Estonia-based startup Clevon and in collaboration with Lithuanian delivery platform LastMile, three driverless robots are now bringing groceries to shoppers’ doors in the capital’s city centre.........…..Read more
WhatsApp voice notes are revolutionizing farming in Senegal
In Senegal, a country with low levels of literacy, WhatsApp voice notes allow farmers and researchers to share information and collaborate. Farmers, researchers, and NGOs use WhatsApp as their primary source of communication, using it to spread information about techniques that help them face challenges like climate change....….. Read more
Genetically edited wood could make paper more sustainable
CRISPR trees with less lignin could reduce energy and climate impacts of paper products....…. Read more
IngredientWerks produces "Meaty Corn," proving it can significantly reduce the high-cost of key alternative protein ingredients, with a carbon-neutral footprint, at industrial scale
As a high-value heme protein and key animal replacement ingredient, bovine myoglobin is used to mimic the taste, texture and aroma of meat in alternative protein applications........…..Read more
Microsoft puts a steep price on Copilot, its AI-powered future of Office documents
Microsoft’s latest technology. Microsoft 365 Copilot will be available for $30 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium customers. That’s a big premium over the cost of the existing Microsoft 365 plans right now. Microsoft charges businesses $36 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E3, which includes access to Office apps, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and many other productivity features. Paul: This gives some indication of the level of productivity improvement that MS think Copilot will drive...........….. Read more
Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Articles
The product, pitched as a helpmate for journalists, has been demonstrated for executives at The New York Times, The Washington Post and News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal..........….….Read more
Tracker hidden in a skirt uncovers what can happen to our recycled clothes
Some garments donated to major retailers travel 15,000 miles ... before they are burnt or dumped, a new investigation reveals.….…Read more.
Shein’s head of strategy Peter Pernot-Day on how the e-commerce app is trying to get ahead of its own marketing narrative
“We like to call [our model] on-demand production,” said Peter Pernot-Day, Shein’s global head of strategy and corporate affairs. “The way it works is: we will identify potential products, we’ll work with one of our small-batch production partners, and we’ll make between 10 to 100 copies of that garment — we’ll then offer it for sale,” he said. If the garment resonates, Shein goes back and finds a partner who can manufacture it at scale. “That’s allowed us to operate profitably — it’s also allowed us to dramatically reduce excess inventory waste.”..……...… Read more.
World’s largest battery make CATL to build multiple recycling plants in Europe
Ni said CATL is already the world’s largest electric-vehicle battery recycler, with the capacity to recover more than 99% of a cell’s nickel, cobalt and manganese and more than 90% of its lithium.................…Read more.
Business Tips
Firms With Flexible-Work Policies Hire Faster Than Those Fully in Office
New research from Scoop Technologies Inc., which advises organizations on how to coordinate hybrid staffing, compared headcount growth at roughly 3,600 fully flexible, hybrid and entirely in-office companies. It found that flexible outfits — those with hybrid, fully remote or electively remote staffs — added headcount at more than two times the rate of fully in-office counterparts during the March-through-May period......…..read more.
Heat Pump vs Solar: Which is More Cost-Effective for Hot Water
There are passionate advocates on either side of the argument who swear by their weapon of choice....…. Read More
What is Strategic Thinking?. The Four Key Characteristics | by Roger Martin
“If we are going to apply the modifier strategic to the activity thinking, what makes it different than just plain business thinking? Upon reflection, I think there are four characteristics that make strategic thinking sufficiently unique and distinctive that it is a question worth answering”…... Read more
Finding the golden thread: an approach to articulating program logic
The Golden Thread methodology is a visual and effective way to articulate program logic statements – the indispensable tools for describing how our activities lead to the impact we seek. Paul: About social impact, but the thinking is more generally useful even though it is over 10 years old. ……Read more
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