Welcome to this 71st 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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This newsletter was written this time from Bucharest, Rumania. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter to those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
A search engine for satellite imagery. Integrate data from public sources (OSINT), commercial vendors. Frameworks. These are the Tools Open Source Researchers Say They Need. A search engine focused on global library collections.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Apple goes in-house for lending service. Germany’s Ultra-Cheap Train Ticket Saved 1.8 Million Tons of CO2. Tesla’s virtual power plant had its first event helping the grid. Microgrid Controller Market to Surpass $14 Billion by 2030. A program to help first-time buyers purchase homes with no down payments, or minimum credit scores. When we lose cheap energy. The Ikea effect.
We have scheduled the dates for 2022 for our “Strategic Blindspot course” . Our next course will be offered in Montreal on October 26-27, 2022. Registrations are now open.
Our future
Four Trends From China’s Outdoor Leisure Boom. Another futuristic equistic city in the desert. Mars is irrelevant to us now. What on earth is a xenobot ? The 2022 Edelman Trust Report. The TransPod FluxJet. Consumer signals before they become exponential. China’s ‘Silver Economy’ Is Here To Spend. The future of work and the metaverse. Claims 2030. Trends shaping the future of insurance. The two-wheeled commute. Thirfting.
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?
Disaster consultants. A revised definition of what is a museum. "Battery passports". Katalog. Canadian Dairy Facility To Make Permanent Switch To Plant-Based. Dutch city is world's first to ban outdoor ads for meat. Kim Kardashian’s Business Venture: Private Equity. Half of the residents of Whittier, Alaska live in a single building. Dove switches to grey. Repurposing a parking lot. The world of GeoGuessr. Powering cars with crabs.
On our radar
I am working on building the curriculum for a strategy course for directors sitting on the boards of over 110 energy companies which I will be teaching in Qatar at the end of the month: Germany’s Ultra-Cheap Train Ticket Saved 1.8 Million Tons of CO2. Tesla’s virtual power plant had its first event helping the grid. Microgrid Controller Market to Surpass $14 Billion by 2030. Africa Energy Outlook 2022. China’s heat wave is creating havoc for electric vehicle drivers.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors.
This week, I went down the rabbit hole into real time Internet statistics.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
The origin story of Clippy. Deep Time Sickness. Japan’s war on disks. Radical curiosity. The artificial intelligence that erases the Far-flung ancient communities forged bonds through broken rings. Why A4? The last 747s. Cavitation, or why ship propellers are smaller than airplane propellers. The long shadow of street lights. Starling murmurations.
I like new words, this week, I discovered sceniusian: “the intelligence and intuition of a whole cultural scene.”
Feeling good
We need this in Montreal. Letterheads. Daily creative challenges.
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And do not miss the next issue:
Revisit: around this time last year, I published issue 27.
Thanks for reading Weak signals and other trends!
Contact me at Competia with your feedback or ideas. Thank you for reading.