Welcome to this 74th 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 writing and sending this newsletter this week from Florence, Italy. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Search and Data
The data collected from electronic devices seized at airports, seaports and border crossings. DeepMind’s new chatbot uses Google searches plus humans to give better answers. The Follower. Seemless transcription. Summarize. A Mass Monitoring Tool That Includes Internet Browsing, Email Data. ByteDance’s search engine goes online. Corporate espionage is entering a new era.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
The South Asian polycrisis. Netflix’s creative decisions are caught between data and gut-feeling. Chaos surfing. FX on fire. Corruption is sending shock waves through China’s chipmaking industry. The Sneaky Genius of Apple’s AirPods Empire. Taiwanese citizens prepare for possible cyber war (and this is going our war as we rely so much on those semi-conductors…)
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
The new Robinsons ( in French). A future in sync. Solar textile. UPS, online hiring process takes just 25 minutes, and that 80% of their seasonal jobs won’t even require an interview. Urgency of getting people back to work gives new momentum to “microcredentials”. With prescribed art lessons, doctors are reconsidering the links between culture and health. What the world looks like with 8 billion people. Whence, Wherefore, Whither Utopia?
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?
Why all of those closed captions ? Sleepy chicken. Spotify is getting really into reading. Unauthorized Shein boutiques are popping up across Mexico. Elon Musk’s text messages. The fast food giant has teamed up with the streetwear brand. Are Tickets to High-End Culinary Events the Latest Status Symbol of the Rich? Vibe checks. Scientists are leaving the ivory tower for climate tech startups. Ethical dairy brand Kalverliefde sells milk from farms that keep calves with cows. First company to put Nature on its board of directors. Butter boards. Easyjet to stop offsetting CO2 emissions.
Numbers
2.24 - Worldwide tree cover has grown by 2.24 million square kilometers.
25 – 25% of all millennials (ages 26-41) plan to “always rent” and never own a home in their lifetimes. That’s up from 13% in 2018.
19- 19% is Percent of global retail sales made up by ecommerce in 2022
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 AI art image synthesis and Carbon.place which estimates the per-person carbon footprint for every Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) in England.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
How hurricanes wreck baby names. Ever wondered how a QR code works ? How ransomware payments get tracked. The filing cabinet ( and here). The fermented code. Semantic bleaching. How data mature is the non profit sector. How big is infinity ? Do US offices suffer from proximity bias? Why humans laugh.
Feeling good
From the sky. Take a roadtrip. Manhole covers. A modern resume. Parklets.
The photo this week is by Artist: Karen Arnold
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And do not miss the next issue:
Revisit: around this time last year, I published issue 28.
Thanks for reading Weak signals and other trends!
Contact me at Competia with your feedback or ideas. Thank you for reading.