Welcome to this 94th issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”. Each week, I sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
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I am sending this newsletter this Friday from Montreal, Canada. This is what I noticed this week, thank you for sharing with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive and Strategic Intelligence
Google trends makeover. Searching tweets by location. Storytelling, Data Journalism & Online Investigation. OpenAI is massively expanding ChatGPT’s capabilities to let it browse the web and more. AI can now forecast the next food crisis. The Dawn of the Post-Search Internet. A Spy Wants to Connect With You on LinkedIn. Searching for census data ( check also this stunning visual search for census data in the UK)
We have scheduled the dates for 2023 for our courses. “Advanced Search Techniques for Competitive and Customer Intelligence” will be offered on June 5, 2023. Registrations are now open.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Nearly 60% of Institutional Investors Used Reddit for Investment Calls. Daylight savings chaos. Rebranding an Invasive Fish as a Healthy Seafood Option. It Sure Seems Like Amazon Is Making a New Web Browser. Autonomous cars could help millions of disabled Americans find jobs. Food at Belgian hospital recognized by leading restaurant guide Gault&Millau (is it the chocolate?). Hard to believe. Why did no one see the crisis coming? Amazon rumored to buy AMC theaters to turn them into logistics centers.
I published an article about strategic blindspots for the World Economic Forum.
Our future
Mental Health Among Teenager Girls. Inventory-checking drones. Americans are snacking more. Self-steering droids define Zipline's new Platform 2 drone delivery service. China ‘Colonizes’ Space with Its First Rice Harvest. Ikea adds stock-counting drones to more of its stores. ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker. The vertical farms of tomorrow.
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
First companies hire “prompt writers”. Homeless shelter launches fish farm. A new Utah law will require social media platforms to get parental consent before minors can create accounts and implement a curfew for users under 18. Apple Is Reportedly Taking Attendance Amid Back to Office Push. Vinyl outsells CDs for the first time since 1987. Toblerone to Remove the Swiss Matterhorn Mountain From Its Logo. Microsoft Laid Off Its Entire AI “Ethics and Society” Division. Hamburg in Germany Tries Heating Water Underground to Cut Carbon Emissions.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na)
This week, I discovered a Foresight Directory.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
Caterpillars and their imaginal disks. The Last Days of SVB. Meet the archive moles. The Silicon Valley Bank Social Contagion . This changes everything. Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention.
I like new words, and discovered this week that “prompt” is trending …
Feeling good
One diary entry per day, written by a different person from history. Fonts of 2022. The Air Traffic Control radio. Breaking down the Gom Jabbar Scene. Journal ideas.
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Thanks for reading Weak signals and other trends!
Contact me at Competia with your feedback or ideas. Thank you for reading.