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The World Bank will use the proceeds to support the financing of projects that advance its goals of eliminating extreme poverty while minimising environmental impacts and enhancing gender equality and public health.

World Bank launches first bond linked to the SDGs

By: EBR | Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has issued its first bond linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the global effort to combat climate change, end poverty and promote equality

These are complex problems, and the solutions will not be simple. But a few broad paths to progress are already clear. We must work together with web companies to strike a balance that puts a fair level of data control back in the hands of people, including the development of new technology like personal “data pods” if needed and exploring alternative revenue models like subscriptions and micropayments. We must fight against government over-reach in surveillance laws, including through the courts if necessary. We must push back against misinformation by encouraging gatekeepers such as Google and Facebook to continue their efforts to combat the problem, while avoiding the creation of any central bodies to decide what is “true” or not. We need more algorithmic transparency to understand how important decisions that affect our lives are being made, and perhaps a set of common principles to be followed. We urgently need to close the “internet blind spot” in the regulation of political camp

3 dark trends that could destroy the web

By: EBR | Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Today marks 28 years since I submitted my original proposal for the world wide web

Citizen science – the convergence between science and society – already proved successful in EyeWire where people competed to map the 1,000-neuron connectome of the mouse retina. Also, the use of nanoparticles as coating of implanted abiotic devices offers great potential to improve the immunologic acceptance of invasive diagnostics. Brain-inspired neuromorphic engineering aims to develop novel computer systems with brain-like characteristics, including low energy consumption, adequate fault tolerance, self-learning capabilities, and some sort of intelligence. Here, the convergence of nanotechnology with neuroscience could help building neuro-inspired computer chips; brain-machine interfaces and robots with artificial intelligence systems.

How to ensure future brain technologies will help and not harm society

By: EBR | Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Thomas Edison, one of the great minds of the second industrial revolution, once said that “the chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.”

The conference programme was a highlight of the week, featuring 322 speakers from consumer brands, mobile organisations, mobile operators and industries including automotive, advertising, banking, health, NGOs, entertainment and education. Also European Commission Vice-President Ansip was present and stipulated the importance of the development of 5G, especially for Europe that, as he warned, can’t miss the boat as it did with 4G. Highly anticipated keynote speaker Reed Hastings, Founder and CEO of Netflix discussed how content is in the midst of a period of disruption and change. ‘In the era of content’, Huawei CEO Eric Xu highlighted, ‘gold being found on video. The role of mobile operators is shifting towards becoming digital content players’.

Reflections on MWC 2017 – The Next Element

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, March 13, 2017

The Mobile World Congress 2017 is over, it was – as usual- an overwhelming experience and probably ‘the biggest annual TMT show on earth’

What consumers want and expect from their energy providers has also evolved rapidly. A sizeable portion of today’s consumers (both residential and commercial) is increasingly focusing on reduced carbon emissions, increased choice, and higher reliability and security. While consumers may articulate a desire for these attributes and an appetite to engage in their energy usage, most of the grid-edge technologies are still in the very early stages of adoption, and even this early adoption requires a meaningful push from subsidies or regulation. In the past half century, reaching mass adoption for innovative products (penetration above 50%) has decreased to about 15 to 20 years and has relied on “rational adopters” who focus on cost and convenience.

4 ways to unleash the electricity grid of the future

By: EBR | Friday, March 10, 2017

The electricity industry is in the midst of a transformation, as technology and innovation disrupt traditional models from generation to beyond the meter

Women’s labour force participation varies around the world – from just 15% in Algeria all the way up to 88% in Tanzania. But whatever country we’re talking about, one thing stays constant: not a single one has managed to close its gender pay gap

A day without women? This is what it would look like

By: EBR | Friday, March 10, 2017

When you get to the office this Wednesday, look around. Do you spot anything different? Notice anyone missing? There’s a good chance you’ll see far fewer of your female colleagues than usual

So how might automation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution differ fundamentally from that in the past, preventing technological progress from being labour augmenting, at least in the short to medium term? Perhaps the main difference is the speed of technological progress and its adoption. The technologist Hermann Hauser argues there were nine new General Purpose Technologies (GPTs) with mass applications in the first 19 centuries AD, including the printing press, the factory system, the steam engine, railways, the combustion engine and electricity. GPTs by definition disrupt existing business models and often result in mass job losses in the industries directly affected. For example, railways initiated the replacement of the horse and carriage, with resultant job losses for coachmen, stable lads, farriers and coach builders. Most of these GPTs took several decades to gain traction, partly because of the large amounts of investment required in plant, machinery and infrastructure.

Should economists be worried about artificial intelligence?

By: EBR | Friday, March 10, 2017

This post highlights some of the possible economic implications of the so-called “Fourth Industrial Revolution” — whereby the use of new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) threatens to transform entire industries and sectors.

President Trump set out an ambitious agenda as he addressed a joint session of Congress, in a speech more notable for its tone than in substance. “The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us”, Trump said in his hour-long speech.” No attacks on the steaming media, no attacks to the former Obama Administration or his opponent Hillary Clinton. He announced to create millions of jobs. He urged Congress to ‘act decisively’ to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump promised ‘massive tax relief for the middle class’ and asked Congress to pass a $ 1trillion of dollar infrastructure package.

Trump claims ‘A new chapter of American greatness’

By: EBR | Wednesday, March 1, 2017

President Donald Trump has promised a ‘renewal of the American spirit’, in his first speech to Congress. He claims in his presidential address ‘new chapter in American greatness’

What is the Democrats future? It’s urgent that the party stops squabbling and recognise a few fundamental truths. If the party doesn’t understand these truths and fail to do what’s needed, a third party will emerge to fill the void.

Is there a future for the Democrats?

By: EBR | Tuesday, February 28, 2017

The American Democrats have chosen a new chairman, Obama’s labour secretary, Thomas Perez

Hoggart’s definition of mass product was something that contained no emotional truth – nothing that could be measured or felt as real, however painful that reality might be to confront – because it was produced by people who believed their audience had no ability or desire to detect that truth. “Sex-and-violence novels,” he wrote, epitomised “an endless and hopeless tail-chasing evasion of the personality”, a description that could have been taken from a review of Fifty Shades of Grey. That sense of evasion is palpable in much current chart music, the lyrics of which obsess over personal slights and bungled attempts at saving face using the distancing devices of social media. It’s a uniformly alienated sound, generated by producers seeking to smooth out any hint of creative individuality.

Parallel lives: how the Brexit vote revealed Britain’s divided culture

By: EBR | Tuesday, February 28, 2017

How did our culture became so polarised – and what can Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy, written 60 years ago, teach us about how we live today?

Diversity is essential in science. It recruits new ideas, different perspectives, and fresh approaches to problem-solving — ingredients that fuel the creativity required for innovation. Vera Rubin unequivocally advanced the discovery of Dark Matter. She did this after she was denied a slot in the astrophysics program at Princeton because they didn’t accept women. She did this after she fought for access to telescopes and reconfigured male symbols on bathroom doors to create one for women. She did this after “luminaries in the field” repeatedly told her that her observances didn’t matter.

Too hot, too cold. What porridge can tell us about women in science

By: EBR | Friday, February 24, 2017

In 2017, there have been two important landmarks for women in science: first, astronomy trailblazer Vera Rubin passed away, and second, we passed the eighteenth anniversary of Larry Summers' (in)famous speech as President of Harvard University

Business initially embraced nano, with the term used as a selling tool on packaging and in advertising. Consumers bought, and continue to buy, products which do this. (Labelling of nano on cosmetics in the EU in 2013 has had no effect whatever on sales, it appears). However, gradually, “nanophobia phobia” took over. Nano was taken off packs and company websites for fear of a backlash, despite quite positive evidence from many public dialogues about public views of the technology in use, and NGOs engaging constructively on governance.

5 lessons for launching an emerging technology

By: EBR | Thursday, February 23, 2017

Technologies develop in silos, with little connection and almost no lessons flowing from one to the other

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has been particularly vocal in his criticism, claiming Soros and groups backed by him wanted to secretly influence his country’s politics. Orban said groups receiving funding from Soros needed to be made transparent and identifiable. ”Large-bodied predators are swimming here in the waters. This is the trans-border empire of George Soros, with tons of money and international heavy artillery. It is causing trouble ... that they are trying secretly and with foreign money to influence Hungarian politics,” said Orban.

Is billionaire Soros ”undermining democracy” in Eastern European member states?

By: EBR | Thursday, February 23, 2017

The Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros has been accused of "undermining democracy" in several EU member states. It is claimed that Soros and groups backed by him have sought to secretly influence politics in Hungary as well as other east European countries

What we need is a smart global approach, one which focuses on collaboration and the sharing of information to enhance our collective security. Global leaders need to fundamentally rethink policy frameworks and find innovative ways to help people move across international borders. And while enabling people to discover the world is important, it is imperative that we ensure the safety of national borders and citizens.

7 ways to make travel safer

By: EBR | Wednesday, February 22, 2017

An unprecedented number of people are on the move, and the numbers are only going to keep rising. International arrivals rose from 25 million in the 1950s to 1.2 billion in 2016, and are expected to reach nearly 2 billion by 2030

Given that the fiscal targets are “on track”, the emphasis now is on the reforms required to sustain the gains of the programme after its conclusion in 2018, he added. Dijsselbloem said creditors are “moving away from austerity and focusing more on deep reforms, which was also a key criterion for the IMF”. “I don’t see signs of higher concern,” said Italy’s Minister of Economy and Finances, Pier Carlo Padoan. “I see and hope to see some sign of progress,” he told reporters in his way into the Eurogroup meeting. “There is no risk of ‘Grexit’,” added his French colleague Michel Sapin, referring to a possible Greek exit from the eurozone. By adopting this “shift”, he expected to win the IMF’s approval to return to the programme, a key condition for various countries to continue lending to Greece, including Germany.

Greece’s lenders shift from austerity to reforms

By: EBR | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The Eurogroup took a small step on Monday (20 February) towards the completion of the second review of Greece’s €86 billion rescue programme, placing the emphasis on reforms over austerity to reduce the country’s huge debt pile

Traditionally, technology progress outpaces the political process: we already missed drafting the moral charter for the internet, and continue to play catch up till this day. We cannot afford to be blind-sided by the next frontiers, be it in biotechnology or AI. Our future is increasingly being scripted by engineers and entrepreneurs, who are not necessarily being held to account.

The moral dilemmas of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

By: EBR | Friday, February 17, 2017

Should your driverless car value your life over a pedestrian's? Should your Fitbit activity be used against you in a court case? Should we allow drones to become the new paparazzi? Can one patent a human gene?

Second on the Telegraph’s list is Qatar. More than 75% of its population is foreign-born. Indians are the biggest group of immigrants, numbering 646,000. People from Egypt and Bangladesh form the next largest groups with 164,000 and 160,000 respectively. Hundreds of thousands of migrants are working to build the infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup finals that Qatar will host in 2022.

Which countries have the most immigrants?

By: EBR | Friday, February 17, 2017

One of the biggest mass movements of people in recent history continues to dominate news headlines and political discourse

So at its most dangerous, ‘post-truth’ has the potential to turn into Orwellian newspeak. It normalises the situation where facts no longer have any weight to them. It neutralises the sinister undertone of fake news and online hate speech. It paralyses us, leaving us feeling like there is nothing to be done since the blade of our best weapon, truth, has been made blunt and rendered useless.

Why we should resist the idea and practice of ‘post-truth’

By: EBR | Thursday, February 16, 2017

In November 2016, after what was by any measure a tumultuous year for Europe and the world, Oxford Dictionaries chose ‘post-truth’ as its Word of the Year

The protectionist model, like that used by Japan, Switzerland and Norway, incentivises domestic production with trade barriers and high prices; the decoupled subsidy model, like the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), supports farm income without incentivising overproduction; and the income insurance model, like the one used by the US and Canada, helps farmers through crises.

Britain can become ‘global leader’ in agricultural trade outside EU – study

By: EBR | Saturday, February 11, 2017

Adopting a market-oriented agricultural policy after leaving the EU could make Britain a world leader in agricultural trade in the decade to come, according to a briefing published on Thursday (2 November) by leading UK think tank Chatham House.

The network effect digital businesses enjoy creates a winner-takes-all environment, while the consequent and ever-expanding data deluge enables such companies to drive efficiencies and do far more with less. The net result of fewer successful companies employing ever-fewer people is of course a hugely reduced tax base – with the burden of healthcare and pensions falling on individuals, and ultimately, increasingly, government. Furthermore, the fact that these companies are not tied to any particular geography and can base themselves wherever is most tax-efficient (in fact, governments are scrambling to offer incentives to attract these corporations) explains why corporate taxation rates across 28 G20 and OECD countries have plunged from an average of 45% in 1983 towards 25% today.

The digital revolution is destroying our democracies. It doesn’t have to be that way

By: EBR | Friday, February 10, 2017

Amid the waves of populism currently engulfing many Western democracies, it’s all too easy to forget the core purpose of governments; what the men and women who roam the corridors of power, and the civil service who support them, are actually supposed to do

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EU Actually

Guterres: the one and a half Celsius is dead

N. Peter KramerBy: N. Peter Kramer

On the eve of the UN climate conference COP30 in Brazil, the word was finally out.

Europe

France remembers Bataclan attacks but knows enemy has not gone away

France remembers Bataclan attacks but knows enemy has not gone away

Just as France marks the 10th anniversary of the Bataclan massacres, another reminder has come of the permanence of the jihadist threat.

Business

China to loosen chip export ban to Europe after Netherlands row

China to loosen chip export ban to Europe after Netherlands row

Beijing has said it will loosen a chip export ban it imposed after Dutch authorities took over Nexperia, a Chinese-owned chipmaker based in the Netherlands.

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