What happens when art meets technology, AI, and data? You get the trailblazing digital artist and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), lecturer Refik Anadol. For this episode of At the Edge, Anadol sat down with McKinsey Senior Partner Lareina Yee at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos. They discussed his multisensory installation about the melting glaciers and the joy that comes from bonding with technology to push…
1 February 2025Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European CommissionRemaining competitive is fundamental for Europe’s future. We need faster economic growth and higher productivity to protect the quality of life for Europeans – from their jobs and incomes to their security and welfare.Europe must act. Our competitiveness is at risk. While a global revolution in artificial intelligence unfolds, the EU…
It’s been a year and a half since McKinsey published “Empty spaces and hybrid places: The pandemic’s lasting impact on real estate.” The comprehensive report examined the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on office attendance, occupancy, and demand. It also examined related factors, including residential moves from urban centers to the suburbs (which may mean fewer visits to the office) and online versus in-person shopping (which may affect the vibrancy…
Quick Hits Under the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, employed parents whose babies are admitted to neonatal care within the first twenty-eight days of birth and remain in hospital for at least seven consecutive days have a right to up to twelve weeks of leave and pay. The act aims to allow new parents necessary time during challenging circumstances without interfering with their maternity, paternity, or parental leave.…
The word ‘boomtown’ was practically invented for the mining industry, which has a history of gold rush euphoria followed by equally intense busts. The pattern has continued through the past decade, with mining companies buffeted by a global pandemic, trade tensions, and geopolitical conflicts (Exhibit 1).Very few of them have been able to capitalize on the peak periods to prepare for downturns. Instead, as we noted in 2022, the mining…
For anyone serious about becoming a top athlete, well-known steps to success include intense conditioning, a health-conscious diet, and grueling hours of practice. However, a unit developed by Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) Professor Jo Boaler highlights a variable often overlooked in the formula for athletic achievement: the ability to use data to identify pain points in performance and adjust accordingly.For the new Basketball Data Analytics unit – published on youcubed,…
Frontiers In the digital age, brand is signaled by marketers, but meaning is cocreated with consumers. Marcus Collins January 30, 2025 Reading Time: 10 min Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series Jon Krause/theispot.com The image and meaning a brand conveys have never been entirely within the owner’s control; they have always been in dialogue with the world…
Topics AI in Action This column series looks at the biggest data and analytics challenges facing modern companies and dives deep into successful use cases that can help other organizations accelerate their AI progress. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Colgate-Palmolive, the consumer products giant whose origins date back to 1806, has long been a data- and insights-oriented company. It has gathered consumer…
Personality characteristics have long been thought to predict a wide range of personal outcomes, including career success: being conscientious, for example, will take you further professionally than, say, being neurotic. However, because personality has primarily been measured through surveys, obtaining large-scale, detailed data on personality traits has been challenging. Furthermore, these surveys are often given in high-stakes situations, such as when applying for a job, and people may be…
Here’s the challenge facing brands and retailers: Communicate clearly with a vast array of consumers who speak thousands of languages, hail from countless different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds, and make purchasing decisions based on highly personal preferences. It’s no easy feat to reach all of these consumers on a broad scale in an authentic way. For some time now, companies have been trying to address customer needs through personalization, using…
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty does not necessarily entail alignment and a desire to confront the US. Rather, its main goal is to utilise largely unused capacities in relations on the one hand and to try to define ordering mechanisms in the region on the other in order to provide for stability, interests, and more sustainable relations, writes Alireza Noori, Assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of…
The RLRH launched in 2020 to address the lack of refugee-authored scholarship and under-representation of refugees and displaced people in higher education, particularly at graduate level. By providing access to training, mentorship and funding, the RLRH aims to redistribute power and opportunity to researchers and students from displacement backgrounds so that they can challenge and change humanitarian policy for the benefit of future generations.After providing crucial early funding for the…
Quick Hits The SCHA requires that higher education institutions participating in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 programs collect, report, and publicly disclose hazing-related incidents and implement hazing prevention and awareness programs. The SCHA also mandates that institutions, as part of their Clery Reports, begin collecting hazing data and statistics as of January 1, 2025, and include, among other items, all hazing incidents that were reported to…
DeepSeek R1 is now available in the model catalog on Azure AI Foundry and GitHub, joining a diverse portfolio of over 1,800 models, including frontier, open-source, industry-specific, and task-based AI models. As part of Azure AI Foundry, DeepSeek R1 is accessible on a trusted, scalable, and enterprise-ready platform, enabling businesses to seamlessly integrate advanced AI. DeepSeek R1 is now available in the model catalog on Azure AI Foundry and GitHub,…
The new method, published in npj Vaccines, analyses the vaccine vial label and its adhesive and therefore allows the vaccine vials to be retained in the supply chain. Furthermore, the study has shown that the technique can also differentiate genuine Covid-19 vaccine liquid from falsified vaccine surrogates, using a recently published method developed using non-Covid vaccines.The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10.5% of medicines worldwide in low and middle-income…
The Omama study, undertaken by Dr Michelle Fernandes and the F1000 research group, focused on Roma children living in poor communities in Eastern Slovakia who are subjected to the “triple threat” of poverty, stunting and early developmental delays, with many prevented from achieving their full developmental potential by age five years. The study compared neurodevelopmental outcomes at age two years between Roma children receiving a community-based early child development (ECD)…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the workplace, and HR functions are no exception. From recruitment to onboarding and even manager training, AI-based platforms are becoming the go-to solution for many organizations. These programs promise scalable, customizable courses with instant feedback and on-demand accessibility, an enticing prospect for companies seeking efficiency. But when it comes to developing effective managers, the stakes are too high for a one-size-fits-all approach. According to Gallup,…
Closing the approximately $700 billion annual nature financing gap is essential to halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Alongside the necessary governmental action, the private sector has a critical role to play in mobilizing the funding needed. To support businesses in these efforts, this road map outlines the steps to develop and implement a nature strategy and a nature finance action plan. While focusing on biodiversity credits, the considerations…
On January 29, 2025, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion dedicated to historical memory in the context of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops. Anton Bespalov, the moderator of the discussion, noted that although Nazism was defeated by the joint efforts of the West and the East, with the Soviet Union playing a decisive role, this fact has apparently become inconvenient for the Western…
Recent volatility has added new layers of complexity to a topic that already challenges business leaders: prioritizing investments. When executives want to understand the trade-offs between different initiatives, they typically compare the projects’ net present values (NPVs)—the measure of an investment’s worth over its entire lifetime discounted to today. In theory, these analyses should balance near-term and long-term financial viability. In practice, however, that’s increasingly difficult to do because uncertain…
Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images A new (or is it old?) administration is back in power in the U.S. After a four-year Biden Administration, one that passed the largest climate bill in history (called, in Washington-speak, the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA), the country has…
Quick Hits Healthcare employers will have to navigate several labor and employment law issues in 2025, including a potential continued rise in union organizing, new restrictions on the use of noncompete agreements, emerging workplace safety risks, compliance concerns, additional pay transparency laws, and immigration regulatory and enforcement changes. The issues arise as the new presidential administration seeks to shift federal policy on several of the key issues, including labor relations…
Microsoft Cloud and AI Strength Drives Second Quarter Results REDMOND, Wash. — January 29, 2025 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year: · Revenue was $69.6 billion and increased 12% · Operating income was $31.7 billion and increased 17% (up 16% in constant currency) · Net income was $24.1 billion and increased…
Making government more productive offers substantial rewards for the public. A McKinsey study across 42 countries found that if public services could reach the productivity levels of the leading performers in their peer groups, the improvement would be worth an estimated $3.5 trillion per year. Since then, governments have spent more on public services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Allowing for this increase and inflation, the productivity gap could be…
As we navigate through the current AI revolution in software development, one thing is glaringly apparent: Both the infrastructure and application layers are experiencing a surge in demand. AI and other trends are dramatically increasing the amount of code being developed, meaning there is more code than ever that needs to be reviewed and verified before it’s put into production. That’s catching the attention of huge tech players like GitHub,…
Stanford University Libraries (SUL) have assumed permanent stewardship of the California Historical Society Collection, a trove of over 600,000 items spanning the history of California and the West since the 18th century.The collection, acquired in collaboration with the Bill Lane Center for the American West, will become known as the California Historical Society (CHS) Collection at Stanford and will be made available to the public and academic community in the…
Quick Hits President Trump removed two of the three Democratic commissioners on the EEOC. The removals leave the EEOC with two remaining commissioners and likely will lead to a Republican majority that will push the president’s agenda, including recent executive orders. The unprecedented action is likely to lead to legal challenges regarding the grounds for removing the EEOC commissioners. According to media reports, on January 28, 2025, Commissioners Burrows and…
Frequently asked questions How is the company celebrating its 50th anniversary? Microsoft is commemorating our 50-year anniversary by celebrating the achievements of our employees, customers, and partners that have dreamt, built, and used Microsoft technology as a force for good, while also looking ahead to the future. Microsoft recognizes that our success and growth globally would not have been possible without the support of the place we call home, the…
Quick Hits President Trump removed NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox and discharged NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, marking a significant shift in the Board’s leadership. Wilcox’s removal leaves the NLRB without a quorum (minimum of three members) to hear cases, raising questions about the legality of the dismissal and potential court challenges. According to media reports, President Trump removed Wilcox, a President Biden Democratic appointee to the Board, on January 27,…
By 2040, Asia could contribute 42 percent of global GDP, be home to 60 percent of the Fortune Global 500 companies, and have 55 percent of the world’s total workforce. These factors form a favorable macro backdrop for Asian companies, driving the emergence of what we call Asian global players. Asian companies are making rapid advances in areas such as digital services, fintech, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy. Their…
The control panel to the human experience is hidden inside a bony box. We can thank our skulls for keeping our brains safe. But this protective case also makes the three-pound organ that generates our mental lives and behavior particularly challenging to study and treat. Add to this the sheer complexity of the human brain – 100 billion neurons, with more than 100 trillion connections among them. It is perhaps not…
Two major areas for consolidation leading from the Brazil G20 are a major motivation for reviewing past agreements and declarations, as well as the extent of past G20 resolutions: The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and the incorporation of the voices of civil society and other engagement groups to make sure that no area of society is left behind, Mikatekiso Kubayi writes. South Africa assumed the presidency of the…
The economy is not expected to have grown at all in Q4 2024 due to the boost from the Paris Olympics washing out. This would put full-year 2024 growth at 1.1%, unchanged year on year, mainly driven by foreign trade and public spending, with private domestic demand (excluding inventories) stagnating. Average annual CPI inflation eased from 4.9% in 2023 to 2% in 2024. In 2025, growth is predicted to slow…
We have finally left 2024 behind us and are looking forward to what the new year 2025–the Year of the Snake–will bring for China consumption. Looking back at 2024, we’ve seen a steep contrast between perception and reality. Consumer and business sentiment remains at an all-time low, and there is no evidence that this will change anytime soon. At the same time, China yet again delivered 5.0 percent gross domestic…
Trade relationships are continuing to reconfigure, and changing geopolitics is a major reason. The United States has continued to shift trade away from China and toward other economies such as Mexico and Vietnam. In some cases, this is due to these economies forming an intermediate step in trade flows between China and the United States. European economies have moved away from trade with Russia and increased trade with other partners,…
The increase in physical activity was mainly seen in those doing semi-routine occupations such as bus driving or hairdressing, and routine occupations such as cleaning or waiting, or technical jobs. There was little change seen among people entering managerial or professional occupations.People who work from home saw a decrease in levels of physical activity – though their sleep levels did not change when they started work. Young adulthood – ages…
In Future Motion, Inc. v. Lai, decided Jan. 7 by Judge Michael Simon (D. Or.) (appeal filed Wednesday), plaintiff sued defendant for patent infringement, and Judge Simon issued an injunction that purported to bind not just defendant but others: [I]n accordance with the Court's inherent equitable power to issue provisional remedies ancillary to its authority to provide final equitable relief, any internet service provider including but not limited to any…
Matt Harrison Clough In July 2024, an executive at luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari received several messages that appeared to have been sent by CEO Benedetto Vigna on the messaging and calling platform WhatsApp. The messages, which originated from an unfamiliar number, mentioned an impending significant acquisition, urged the executive to sign a nondisclosure agreement immediately, and claimed that Italy’s market regulator and the Italian stock exchange had already been…
Leaders of the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) outlined key student priorities, and President Jonathan Levin discussed potential impacts of the new presidential administration for Stanford during the Faculty Senate meeting on Thursday.In the student government’s annual report to the senate, ASSU President Diego Kagurabadza and Vice President Divya Ganesan highlighted issues important to students such as free speech, AI, academic accommodations, admissions, and social life. The ASSU represents…
With the energy transition gathering pace, businesses are prioritizing cleaner energy sources and electrification to meet decarbonization goals and reduce energy costs. They are taking a more active role in managing their energy supply with the associated services, for example, through the direct procurement of clean energy via power purchase agreements (PPAs). This is being achieved by generating and managing on-site energy as “prosumers” and optimizing equipment and installations that…