Recently, the City of Quincy attempted to shut down a client’s ability to rent part of her home on Airbnb. We defended the client in a hearing in July, and this week the court ruled against the City and in favor of our client. Many municipalities including Quincy have recently been tightening their regulation of short-term property rentals through services like Airbnb. On March 15, 2021, Quincy passed a zoning…
Did you know the UK generates more than 220 million tonnes of waste a year? Of that waste, around 44% is recycled, but a large proportion goes to landfill. Read on to discover how embracing the circular economy could reduce waste. Not only is a huge amount of waste going to landfills, but the production of items could be costing precious resources too. The circular economy aims to provide a…
Our recent research report, Generating Change, shares what newsrooms are doing with AI today.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill proposed to make employers liable for harassment of their employees by third parties, including sexual harassment. However, the House of Lords recently amended the Bill to remove the proposed third party harassment provisions. Employers were concerned that they would be held wholly responsible by the courts over a third party’s conduct. The Lords’ amendment has therefore come as relief to employers;…
The dizzying explosion of generative artificial intelligence platforms has been the big business story of the past year, but how they’ll make money and how smart companies can use them wisely are the questions that will dominate the next 12 months. “Students and executives are no longer asking whether we should adopt AI—but rather, when and how to do so,” says Andy Wu, the Arjun and Minoo Melwani Family Associate…
The Faraday Institution remains steadfast in its commitment to identify and invest in battery research initiatives that hold the greatest potential for making significant societal, environmental, and commercial contributions. This announcement signals the completion of our latest round of project refocusing, enabling us to allocate even more effort towards those areas of research that offer maximum potential in delivering transformative impact. Professor Pam Thomas, CEO, Faraday Institution. The Faraday Institution…
It’s more complicated than simply implementing new technologies.
How the technology could expand opportunities for millions of people and make the digital economy more dynamic, inclusive, and secure.
When Karl Wenner looks at his farm on Upper Klamath Lake in the mountains of southern Oregon, he sees a landscape in transition. He and his partners converted part of their fields of barley into wetlands along the shore of the lake to filter runoff and protect the quality of the water that eventually flows back into the Klamath River, which empties into the Pacific on California’s coast. The project…
Polarization has become the defining feature of the U.S. political landscape, and a common refrain is that social media is to blame. Online echo chambers and filter bubbles spread misinformation, fuel extremism, and stoke antipathy toward those with different beliefs — so the thinking goes. Facebook, in particular, has come under fire for its role in spreading divisive content. Lawmakers have even weighed proposals to regulate the algorithms that determine…
The 20th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled “Fair Multipolarity: How to Ensure Security and Development for All” will be held in Sochi on October 2–5, 2023. The meeting will be attended by more than 130 experts, politicians and diplomats from 43 countries throughout Eurasia, Africa, North and South America. Traditionally, at the Annual Valdai Meeting, the majority of guests are foreign participants. In recent years, the reports of…
Even in the best of times, a hospital emergency department (ED) is an environment of controlled chaos. Patients come in at irregular intervals with a wide range of symptoms, from a bloody finger to cardiac arrest. There’s only a limited number of rooms. Who gets to see the doctor first and who will have to wait, sometimes for hours? “The crowding in EDs is an increasing trend over the last…
An early-stage company requires a different organizational structure than a mature one. Marketing leaders must adapt their teams and strategies accordingly. Kimberly A. Whitler and Jonathan Metrick Determining the optimal design of a department or function is a key aspect of organization design and one of the most important decisions C-level executives make. Organization design establishes the essential infrastructure that enables or hinders companies’ effective deployment of strategic decisions,…
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its latest board minutes highlighting its increasing focus on artificial intelligence (AI), in which it “raised the question of how one could ‘foresee harm’ (under the new Consumer Duty), and also give customers appropriate disclosure, in the context of the operation of AI”. This publication indicates that AI continues to be a key area of attention within the FCA. It also demonstrates…
Billions of people rely on healthy oceans as a source of jobs and food, and demand for fish protein is only increasing. Projections show growth of 14 percent by 2030 versus 2020 levels, driven by growing markets in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. That said, the amount of wild-caught seafood remains flat, with more than 85 percent of the world’s fisheries pushed to or beyond their limits. This means…
There are many reasons why the political future of Taiwan Strait relations is uncertain, but the military considerations for Taiwan are much more straightforward. Taiwan should invest in capabilities that are highly survivable and potent against a potential attack from mainland China. That is the only productive direction for Taiwan's military. Unfortunately, it is a path not being taken because much of Taiwan's defense budget is locked-in to capabilities that…
The outcome of Russia's war on Ukraine and the provisions of a final settlement are as yet unknown. Ukraine may prevail in pushing Russia back to the 1991 borders, as President Zelenskyy intends. The conflict might result in a settlement with a divided Ukraine, both countries exhausted from the effort. It could grind on for years as a bloody war of attrition. The Russian effort could collapse, unexpectedly. More certain…
A review of more than 3,500 research papers shows how “field building” helps investors have a more positive impact on the environment and society.
The purpose of Bank Overground is to share our internal analysis. Each bite-sized post summarises a piece of analysis that supported a policy or operational decision.
Stephan Paolini - Creating and sustaining an environment in which employees are engaged and thrive requires more than an IT solution or a revised organization. It demands the transformation of your employees’ daily journey into a truly amazing People Experience. All too often, there’s a big gap between what senior management thinks is happening and the reality on the ground as underlined in a recent report from the Capgemini Research…
Following the passing of the long-awaited Personal Data Protection Law (“PDPL”) in Indonesia, on 31 August 2023, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology published the draft government regulation (“Draft Regulation”) on the implementation of the PDPL for public consultation. The public consultation will close on 14 September 2023. The Draft Regulation is expected to come into effect in October 2024. Summary of the key themes of the Draft Regulation:…
Companies have asked employees to return to the office for work, but that doesn’t mean we’re all back to normal. Loneliness and isolation continue to be workplace concerns, and only one in four employees feel like their companies care about their wellbeing, according to recent Gallup research. Many companies simply don’t talk enough about mental health at work, but employees need those conversations now more than ever. There has never…
Geeks are “obsessive mavericks”, and every company can benefit from their leadership style.
The review, conducted jointly with researchers from Oxford University, the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, and the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, included seven randomised controlled trials involving 2,464 women or couples who had been trying to conceive. Each month there is a narrow window for successful conception due to the limited lifespan of the sperm and egg, which begins from around five days before ovulation (egg release) and lasts…
We’re all living in a data haystack. You’ve got files on your OneDrive—some organized, some dumped in a heap in your documents. Files on your corporate server—some properly named and categorized, some not. Somewhere among your calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, and contacts is a needle—the sliver of insight you need now. Think of Microsoft 365 Copilot as a magnet. One of the most powerful aspects of Copilot is its…
Whilst potentially considered a taboo subject in the past, there is now far more conversation about menopause and, with employment rates for women aged 50 – 64 increasing from 46.9% in 1992 to 66.3% in 2023, more women are experiencing menopause during their working lives than ever before. The recent Employment Tribunal case of Lynskey v Direct Line Insurance Services Ltd demonstrates that menopause symptoms can amount to a disability…
10,000 layoffs at Microsoft. 6,000 layoffs on Twitter – that’s a whopping 80% of their workforce! Amazon isn’t far behind, with 18,000 layoffs Even Meta is planning to cut another 10,000 jobs. And Google? Well, they’ve let go of 12,000 of their own. Job market is always shifting these days. Job security feels like it’s hanging by a thread. These layoffs are causing a lot of anxiety and making the…
Scientists discover a biomarker in stroke survivors, suggesting that chemical changes after stroke can lead to depression. The findings may pave the way toward treatment. - By Sarah C.P. Williams “We can now look at a stroke survivor’s blood and predict their mood,” Marion Buckwalter said. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman checked himself into a hospital for clinical depression after suffering a near-fatal stroke. Fetterman’s case of…
For retail customers, shopping is an inherently interactive process. Even so, a reported 67% of apparel and 74% of footwear spending is done online. With so much emphasis on providing an authentic brand experience regardless of the channel, brands have experimented with creative ways to demonstrate a strong online presence amidst rises in direct-to-consumer (DTC) eCommerce. Using footwear and apparel retailers as an example, we’re seeing companies look to seek…
Coming from a public health background myself, the intention of the class is to provide a framework for utilizing entrepreneurial pathways to achieve public health goals. My own public health training was largely about analyzing problems and less about envisioning, creating, and implementing solutions. I wanted public health students to have that training, as well as MBA students at the School of Management. They may not think of themselves as…
The short-term outlook for growth in the euro area has deteriorated, while over the medium term the economy should gradually return to moderate growth as both domestic and foreign demand recover. Euro area economic activity grew at a subdued paced in the first half of 2023, despite the elevated level of manufacturing order backlogs and the unwinding of high energy prices. Moreover, these effects have largely waned and short-term indicators…
According to a study from Vanquis, people in the UK make an average of seven large impulse purchases each year. This adds up to at least £1,050 a year in spending that people later come to regret. Vanquis tasked mathematician and University Challenge star Bobby Seagull with finding ways to avoid “buyer’s regret” – the feeling that many people experience after spending on items they later decide are not worth…
Risk management consultancy is not merely a service but a critical partner in the success of any business. Risk management is a fundamental practice that can make or break a business. In today’s dynamic business environment, where uncertainties lurk at every corner, risk management consultancy plays a pivotal role in safeguarding your business interests. This comprehensive guide will explore the world of risk management consultancy, including its services, the paramount…
So much has changed since a groundbreaking study found that daughters of working moms often perform better in their own careers than daughters of stay-at-home moms—and are just as happy, to boot. Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across higher education and corporate America have continued to broaden opportunities for women in the workplace over the intervening five years, but the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into many a working mom’s…
Drastic regulatory changes are taking place in the world of private funds. On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced amendments to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) which substantially impact both SEC-registered investment advisers and unregistered investment advisers. The SEC voted 3-2 along party lines to adopt a set of new rules under the Advisers Act, with an express focus on private…
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou, poet and writer I use the above quote when teaching clients about the best practices of effective web writing for healthcare. It’s a good gut check for expectation setting. And it underscores the importance of word choice in our content. Healthcare content…
Especially for smaller companies.
UBS announces coupon payments on 5 ETRACS Exchange Traded Notes
Just two months after its initial release, OpenAI’s ChatGPT reached 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history according to Reuters. In the months since, we have seen AI strategy rise to a top priority among business leaders: More than half of CXOs now list “Generative AI and LLMs” among their top five priorities, according to our latest Battery Ventures Cloud Software Spending survey. But the growing…
What is know-how? What is a trade secret? Is all know-how a trade secret? Is all know-how confidential? How do these terms fit into the larger proprietary information framework that we refer to as intellectual property (IP)? Authors / Contributors: Authored by Natalia hawe and Anita Nador, with contributions by Matt Hervey (UK), Vivian Wei Cheng* (Singapore) and Vivian Desmonts (China). *Vivian Wei Cheng is a patent attorney working in…