Welcome to this 109th 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 preparing this newsletter this week from Montreal, Canada. This is what I noticed this week, thank you for sharing with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots. This section also is about the risks we miss.
Supermarket Food Waste Is a Big Problem. Is Dynamic Pricing the Solution? People are streaming pirate movies on TikTok, one clip at a time. Machine unlearning. Do 0% Loans Really Exist? Some Credit Unions Are Giving It a Try. How KissanGPT helps Indian farmers earn profit. Toward Parsimony in Bias Research .
Our future
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter (which I still find infinitely better than Threads).
China plans to establish a Moon-Earth Economic Zone to generate productivity worth USD $10 trillion annually by 2050. A study suggests that improvements in farming technology could lead to the yearly elimination of 13 billion tons of carbon emissions by 2050. With the aging workforce in several developed countries, with individuals aged 55 years and above making up over 25 percent of the labor force by 2031. Psychedelic retreats are going mainstream. Agility Robotics is opening a humanoid robot factory. Brands collaborate with virtual humans in China. Beijing’s Cemeteries Are Going Vertical and Digital to Save Space.
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?
Menendez appears to be the first sitting US senator to have been indicted twice on unrelated criminal charges and he currently plans to seek a fourth term. How often do men think about the Roman Empire? Lego axes plan to make bricks from recycled bottles. Uber Eats will start accepting food stamps for grocery delivery in 2024. Orange Is The New Yolk. Space Drugs Factory Denied Reentry to Earth. A university in Ireland to offer degree in social-media influencing.
What’s on our radar
This week, I prepared the keynote address for a conference in October on the future of tools available to real estate agents: Real estate agents say they can’t imagine working without ChatGPT now. The robot advisor. Technology can help you find the right realtor. How AR and VR is changing the future of real estate. Technology Is Revolutionising The Real Estate Industry.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that led 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 stumbled upon Appropedia, the sustainability wiki. This makes me recommand another newsletter from a futurist I have a lot of time for, Marie-Michèle Larivée, who this morning told me about CMCM ( en Francais pour nos francophones ici..). Michèle’s newsletter is a must too.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
How social media influences public opinion and news circulation. Who cares? How white Rice Crippled Tokyo and the Japanese Navy. Bosses Say ‘Feedback’ Is Too Scary for Some Workers, So They Use This Word Instead . Cave art pigments show how ancient technology changed over 4500 years. Supermarket chain Carrefour is rallying against shrinkflation in its French stores. The Man Who Thinks He Can Live Forever. New language discovered on ancient tablets found in northern Turkey.
Numbers
36%- An Oxford Economics survey discovered that 36% of the companies surveyed identify geopolitical conflicts as their topmost risk
93- US merchants paid an eye-watering ~$93 billion in Visa and Mastercard credit card fees last year
262,500- Set of tickets for section D, seats 41 and 42 of a D.C.-area production recently sold for $262,500 at auction.
Feeling good
50 of the weirdest, most wonderful corners of the web – picked by an expert. Positive news.
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