Business & management:
• The UN is highlighting 5 key areas for investment that could help revive the global economy and boost employment while at the same time, accelerating the fight against climate change, environmental degradation and poverty.
• The status of the US dollar is under threat again, with a UN panel recommending this week, that the world abandon the dollar as its reserve currency, and instead adopt a collection of currencies, something like the old Ecu, or European currency unit, which was a hard-traded, weighted basket.
• The World Trade Organisation is expecting exports to drop by 9% in volume in 2009, the biggest drop since World War 2.
• An alternative approach to getting rid of the unwanted stuff that clutters peoples homes has appeared, one writer calling it “unconsumption”. Rather than dumping goods for disposal in landfills, people are now using websites that allow them to advertise used items they want to give away, with even Facebook taking part in the trend.
• 65% of US companies surveyed say that they value environmental and sustainability knowledge in job candidates and 78% of companies said that value will rise in the next 5 years. Companies are increasingly educating their employees about goals in these areas.
• US insurers with annual premiums above $500 million must disclose climate change risks to investors and regulators for the first time from 2010, with the introduction of the requirement to file Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Surveys.
• Research commissioned by the Holiday Accommodation Parks Association of New Zealand shows that while staying at holiday parks, travellers contribute at least $623 million in direct expenditure and support a wide range of businesses in the community.
Education
• A blog aimed specifically at baby boomers and seniors comes from a school that has been developing tools specific to helping seniors learn how to use the computer and the Internet.
• IBM staff have been converted to become fans of attending conferences in Second Life, after attending a Virtual World Conference and an Annual Meeting of IBM’s Academy of Technology.
Environment & sustainability:
• Water is critical to energy production, but the water / energy “nexus” can be overlooked. The World Economic Forum and Cambridge Energy Research Associates have just published “Energy Vision Update 2009. Thirsty energy: water and energy in the 21st Century”.
• NZs largest representative body in the water industry is changing its name. Water New Zealand is now the trading name of the New Zealand Water and Wastes Association. The change has been made to reflect the need for a more cohesive approach to the management, use and conservation of water.
• A UK conference on the emerging role of green infrastructure in creating sustainable towns and cities and successful places was held in London this week. The conference highlights official advice to the UK government to move spending out of “grey” projects, and into “green” schemes like parks.
• The Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center has concluded in a paper, that while the US government is likely to use market-led mechanisms (cap and trade, or carbon tax) to reduce CO2 emissions, it is not enough on its own to reduce emissions adequately by the middle of the century.
• The McKinsey Global Institute is predicting another oil-shock as soon as 2010 to 2013. As soon as economies are moving ahead again, the Institute expects that increased energy demand will inevitably force the price of oil up again.
• The Accenture Intelligent City Network with members from the U.S., China, Russia and the Netherlands, aims to bring utilities and city governments from around the world together to collaborate on putting smart grids in place.
Health & wellbeing:
• The NZ Institute of Safety Management is moving to join an internationally recognised occupational safety and health development program.
• Keeping an eye on elderly dementia sufferers can mean carers are forced to diminish the sufferers’ enjoyment of small freedoms. A care home in the UK is making use of satnav technology that allows dementia sufferers to take “walkabouts” without carers having to become restrictive.
Law & Government:
• Concerns are expressed in the UK, about public sector organisations needing to make sure that their communications network infrastructure offers appropriate built-in reliability and security and is protected with continuity schemes that guarantee accessibility when people need them during large-scale disasters.
People, culture & diversity:
• In the last 3 years, social networking has provided internet users with more opportunities for sharing short updates about themselves, their lives, and their whereabouts online. Use of Twitter and similar services is high amongst the young, but user figures drop rapidly by increasing age.
• A grandparent organisation in the UK has released a report that highlights the huge role grandparents play in caring for grandchildren whose parents work and in family life. There have been calls for tax breaks for grandparents who are carers, and “granny leave” for working grandparents when a grandchild is born.
Science, technology & transport:
• A UK transport select committee report is suggesting ways that councils could be involved in attempts to reduce traffic congestion caused by the school run, including providing free bikes, using American-style yellow buses and increasing free public transport.
• Abandoned fuel stations in London could get a new life, by being converted into fast charge stations for electric-powered vehicles.
• A US Dept of Energy laboratory has discovered that simply changing truck tires from dual tires to single wide tires increases fuel efficiency by 6-10%.
• Toronto is another North American city moving more quickly towards introducing electric vehicles to its roads.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
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