NEWS AND UPDATES JUST BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR…(WELCOME 2022).

In central image above: Pantone Color of the Year 2022: Very Peri💜

Money is not the issue anymore, Self-Realization is. Welcome 2022. 

Just before this year comes to an end, a round of applause for the last updates regarding tech, design et al., but also interesting facts and figures  we saved for last…Enjoy and come back for more next year for sure! 

-World Mobile, who recently announced their plans to make low-cost, high-quality internet access available to Zanzibaris, has signed a partnership with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in Zanzibar to provide free, unlimited internet to schools across the region. The target is to connect all schools in the region by the end of 2022. In addition to connectivity, World Mobile has installed some laptops for teachers and students. Roll out will be achieved through a close collaboration between World Mobile and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to install solar telco and power equipment efficiently in schools. Providing access at schools will also enable World Mobile to supply connectivity to the local areas around them, boosting the local economies. Revenues generated from this will benefit the schools directly as they become node operators on the World Mobile network. 

-Data linkage provides insight, informs policy change, and helps answer society’s most important questions through increasing the utility of data. Within the context of innovation and modernization in public services, Socitm, GeoPlace and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council utilize Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) as those last can provide a wealth of insight and enablement for local authority decision making and projects. Socitm is supporting the ethical use of data and data insights effectively to make informed decisions and support ethical change as part of wider placebased post Covid recovery. UPRNs can facilitate data linking within a local authority context and this can be used to create a rich picture of intelligence for analytical and project needs.  

-Another EU member decides to seriously test crypto: No other than Estonia, Estonian central bank Eesti Pank and Guardtime research project confirms role for digital bill money systems in CBDC deployment KSI Cash per transaction energy use is just 70 µWh (micro-Watt hours) compared to 0.1 Wh for Visa and 1 MWh for Bitcoin.Blockchain technology can play a key role in the development of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) platforms worldwide, a joint research project by Estonian Central Bank Eesti Pank and leading European deep tech company Guardtime has found (please see the attached press release). The study set out to investigate the technological and operational frontiers of blockchain technology and its use in the context of CBDCs using KSI Cash, a digital currency technology based on the KSI Blockchain. 

Testing confirmed that digital bill-based money systems are linearly scalable and highly efficient delivering end-to-end payment times of 0.6 seconds based on speeds of up to two million bill transactions per second. Crucially it delivered a much smaller carbon footprint and lower energy use than current instant payments platforms – per transaction energy was just 70 µWh (micro-Watt -hour),compared with 0.1 Wh (Watt hour) for Visa and 1 MWh 

(Megawatt hour) for Bitcoin (1 Megawatt hour is one trillion micro-Watt hours). The summary report written by Rainer Olt and Tiit Meidla of Eesti Pank and Luukas Ilves and Jamie Steiner of Guardtime says:  “The CBDC platform we deployed proved to perform well. The system was tested at speeds of up to two million bill transactions per second, where it operated with faster transaction times, lower energy use, and a smaller carbon footprint than current instant payment platforms.” 

-The CCPC is launching a full investigation into Synch Payments to determine if it lessens competition in Ireland. The launch of a proposed payments app by four major banks in Ireland has hit another stumbling block, with the country’s competition authority launching an in-depth investigation into the joint venture. 

In January, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and KBC Ireland alerted the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) of their intention to create a digital payments service to compete with the likes of Revolut (which has more than 1m Irish customers) and N26. Following a preliminary assessment, the CCPC said that it found the notification to be invalid because it was unable to gauge the scope of the Irish banks’ plans. 

Last month, the Irish Times reported that Synch Payments had secured an additional €5m to fund the venture, led by AIB and Bank of Ireland buying up more than €4m in shares. Permanent TSB bought €855,000 in stock while KBC, which will soon exit the Irish market, bought only €8,500. This was on top of an initial capital raise of €5.9m that was reported earlier in the year. 

*Growing digital banks such as the UK’s Revolut and Berlin-based N26 pose a significant threat to the market share of traditional banks because of their easy-to-use smartphone applications and popularity with younger users. Earlier today (9 December), UK neobank Monzo was valued at $4.5bn after a fresh funding round that saw the company raise $500m. 

-Quant technology provider SigTech has announced that Revelio Labs, an industry leader in workforce intelligence, is the first client for its new Data Showroom service, a platform that revolutionizes the way data owners sell their data reducing the sales cycle from months to weeks.The SigTech Data Showroom, which launched in November this year, allows users to validate the value of alternative data within days rather than months by providing preloaded, mapped, and harmonized data, as well as signal code examples and backtesting building blocks. 

The Data Showroom provides data owners with more transparency on how customers are using their data, making it easier to engage prospective new clients and to convert trial users into paying customers. 

Revelio Labs’ team of data scientists, economists and engineers deliver industry leading workforce analytics and data to support strategic planning for companies looking to compare their own data to competitors. Most workforce data, unlike financial data, lacks the standardization necessary to develop sophisticated trading models. 

-Today’s apparent exchange between U.S. congressmen and crypto executives has been surprisingly productive, civil, and open-minded. This is big for web3. At stake in the House of Financial Services Committee hearing during the previous weeks:  the future of digital assets, (meaning  NFTs, stablecoins, and their  availability in the near future. Investment on those values seem to be entirely relevant and not the digital-chimeras-type-of -discussion during previous years, especially with the USA struggling to find an adequate position for its size in digital growth, in the comprehensive list of the big country players in crypto. The intentions are clear from inside the White House and beyond as well, that the U.S Dollar is there to coexist with its crypto-offspring in the near future. 

-Next Steps in AI: The Critical Role of Research and Innovation in realizing the full potential of AI, including training the next generation of researchers, supporting talent, and the importance of fundamental AI research in AI innovation became apparent during Covid’s first wave in the UK and it evolves rapidly. At present time UK is ahead in the amount of startups in AI in comparison with the USA:  training the public and the work sector in AI remains a challenge, nevertheless responsible, regulated AI in order to be robust, unbiasedundiscriminating and transparent, is tailored to each domain application. 

At the core of the educational system, starting from the schools, UK acknowledges the need to get the best people and train them with AI training programs conversion aiming to master AI: not just to pick it from the shelf but make it customizable to the best use of the individual or service domain. 

Data analysis and coding are about to get re-diverted not just to how-to-use AI but how to INVENT AI. Academia and industry have a foot in both camps as good AI is getting made always by diverse teams. Trust is another issue since AI tends to be appreciated but not judged as an irreplaceable technology of high importance, a pervasive locomotive in economy across all sectors. Slowed down or hammered by regulation? AI is not scared of regulation in the UK as all startups are very accessible, but all investors need to do is asking or getting ASKED TO INVEST.  

Key people in the AI field:  

Tim Cook, Deputy Head, The Office for AI 

Kathryn Magnay, Deputy Director - Cross-Council Programs, EPSRC 

Aldo Faisal, Professor in AI & Neuroscience & Founding Director, Centre in AI for Healthcare, Imperial College London 

-Whats new in Tech? Check out some of the industry’s most trailblazing females: 

Tugce Bulut, Founder & CEO, Streetbees 

Rose Hulse, Founder & CEO, ScreenHits TV 

Sam Evans, Head of International, TechNation 

-In the search of their (digital) future:  young people and employment. Almost two-thirds of those who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic are under the age of 25.There is a risk that, without coordinated action, the negative economic impact of the pandemic will be long-lasting for this generation. Additionally, in a nationwide poll of 1,000 16–18-year-olds by the Institute of Coding, more than half believe the digital workforce lacks diversity. 70% of youth surveyed think the sector is run entirely by those of white, British ethnicity, and over a third think there are unequal opportunities for women. One in ten admitted they are actively discouraged from pursuing digital education and jobs due to the lack of people that represent them. While some of these opinions echo what many people in the industry may already feel, it is shocking that these are the perceptions of young people who have yet to set foot in the industry. 

Favourite Quotes of the Year (almost) Gone By:  

-“We need less information and more knowledge”. 

Elif Shafak 

-“Listen to the Quiet people, (especially at countries in turmoil)” 

Ellen Ehni 

-“New Media take time to shape and that very Form depends upon Us” 

“People Need & Deserve to Know: not only to get Informed, (about the surface of things)” 

Timothy Snyder 

-“#Infodemics is not serving as a Shield of Accurate Reporting” 

Audrey Tang 

-“Don’t devalue your Brand. Put Quality in it instead of Clickbaiting” 

Jesper Doub 

A Title 4 All for this Holiday season:  

Garden Cities of To-morrow (To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform), by Ebenezer Howard. 

All the Best & Bloody More/A VERY un-PERI-lous Year 2022! 

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌     

  

Gatherings: Is 70’s Design Stronger than Us? (Xmas 2021 Edition).

In image above (CW): 

Room: Alessandro Mendini-My Prisons: "STANZE-Rooms: Novel living concepts", Exhibition-Triennale 2016, Milano, IT

http://www.8ea.it/en/portfolio/stanze-catalogo-mostra-xxi-triennale-milano-aprile-2016/

Lamp: Jordi Canudas, Dipping Light 

http://www.jordicanudas.com/projects/dipping-light-for-marset

Poster:  Beatles T-Shirt on Talent, Stella McCartney

https://www.stellamccartney.com/gb/en/unisex/the-beatles-get-back/get-back-t-shirt-6J0004SPW268490.html

Screen/TV/Interface/Books: LG Quantum Dot NanoCell

https://www.lg.com/uk/lgnanocell/truth.jsp

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16793.Stardust

https://www.jameshowe.com/books-1/2017/5/4/bunnicula

https://www.bookdepository.com/My-Fathers-Dragon-Ruth-Stiles-Gannett/9780440421214?redirected=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base1&utm_source=GR&utm_content=My-Fathers-Dragon&selectCurrency=EUR&w=AFFMAU9SMDG1M8A8V9RB

https://www.electa.it/en/product/enzo-mari-curated-by-hans-hulrich-obrist/

Armchair: at flea markets everywhere and 

https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/design-week-ny-2021?cmp=email_Daily_Marketing_Email_verB_N11142_N10809_N10808_N11143_Design_Week_in_New_York_06-Dec-21&utm_campaign=MARDailyEmailLIVE&utm_content=email_daily_marketing_email_b&utm_dept=20th_Century_Design&utm_medium=email&utm_source=zaius&utm_term=06-Dec-21

Power bank: https://www.zagg.com/en_eu/universal-batteries?brand=164&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2NaNBhDvARIsAEw55hhBEvPmbz_2Jio6Xi2aEWcrhCzO6uX3QUoaY7NEGGdGGaEqGX_XuPEaAoDMEALw_wcB

Music: https://www.fruugo.gr/%CF%80%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%BF-%CE%BC%CE%B5-%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CF%87%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%81%CE%B1-kalimba/p-53844142-108887758

Tray: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/paris-je-taime/_french-majolica-flower-form-handled-tray-c908

Stools: at flea markets everywhere and 

https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/design-week-ny-2021?cmp=email_Daily_Marketing_Email_verB_N11142_N10809_N10808_N11143_Design_Week_in_New_York_06-Dec-21&utm_campaign=MARDailyEmailLIVE&utm_content=email_daily_marketing_email_b&utm_dept=20th_Century_Design&utm_medium=email&utm_source=zaius&utm_term=06-Dec-21

Wine and  Condiments: 

http://www.lambouri.com/  

https://www.bostock.nz/product/apples-organic/

Spontaneous Underground. Cultural Immigration. (R-)Evolution as Heritage. Hosting and Entertaining for Friends (a crowd of 50 thousand people will do;-). Digital & Artisan. Global (Soul) Warming. A Humanity Archive.  

In the era of acute social media domination, it seems that the 70’s vibe transcends- still- contemporary aesthetics in design and interiors, to start with.  Aesthetics is Ethics after all, a system or set of values, defining social and political standing before creating a final image: something that only looks, works, feels good. Good design is pollinated with the 70’s legacy of Design 4 Good, firstly initiated through a psychedelic approach but ending up to the defense of Community, the sense of Belonging, a protective intention of no-harm. A notion larger than just being part of a local identity, breaking out your own Unit: the warmth of the Artisan even when design illustrates the highest tech in utilities and resources, that is a 70’s immunity to today’s turn in production.  

Escapism, losing thy self inside a personal journey of beliefs or even substances, has been heavily criticized in 70’s design, raising questions about functionality and accusations about Hoarder syndromes and consumerism. The feeling of lingering and forgetting the World and who you really are, only for the sake of becoming a part of wholesome process in terms of producing things, that storage element of the 70’s is always present even in the cashless society of the digital era. Experimental exploration in materials and formats was never about depriving design from its practical purpose but ended up to another level of creative knowledge: finding your way back to a much sought solution instead of just missing out the essential idea, in exuberant form and colour-only one element of the 70’s most people can recall.  

The 70’s apprenticeship in the development of future graphic communication, became part of an ever changing décor and finally got built into code, marking heavily the digital dialogues of today’s reality, the IoT and soon enough the AR and Metaverse virtual ecosystems.  

Can the 70’s still produce inspiration and stock up Humanity’s archive, on the fast way into the Deep Digital? The proof is out there, all over the place in design studios and factories, and it still remains a factor of knowhow and flair conveyance to the Gen Z designers, creators and citizens.

In photo bellow: Hosting and Entertaining your Friends At Home (70’s Classic Interiors Encyclopedia).  

Season’s Greetings and a Happy Holiday 4 All!

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌

Smart thinking + City Thinking = Smart City(-ies)>>>Amend or Destroy? (featuring Portugal's Smart Cities Summit 2021).

The future of cities through smart technologies consists of a yester-year clause already and an ongoing process right now in most of the large urban centers of the globe. Technologists and citizens are united, working together towards intelligent tech in order to tackle problems and create new ways of living well. Everyone agrees that we all know who to address and what we need to achieve in terms of smart living inside the town or city. The transition to the final function, image and infrastructure of the city grid though, remains the tricky bit we need to follow carefully: the pace or rate of transition that allows the radical solutions we so need, in an less scraping-all-from-the map way. Thus said, complete re-invention of quarters from scratch, can and will impose total demolition of some of the existing networks, buildings, paths, machines, methods, practises. Promises for a more fluid transformation until 2040 will definitely aggravate the non-so-light-decision to erase artefacts of previous decades for good, in order to replace them with holistic solutions, ready to comply with the A-Z of the future dense landscape of digital services. Amendments will not be always possible: additions, extensions or temporary "patches" to all products of material culture, some of which are unable by birth to transform easily into a total digitalization environment and certainly unkeen to adopt to net zero emissions protocols in less than 2 decades time. 

Climate-wise, the latter has been the top subject of the list to begin with in this year's edition of Smart Cities Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. Currently, around 55% of the world's population lives in cities, and this number is predicted to reach nearly 70% by 2050. This presents significant challenges in terms of managing resources, processes and infrastructures in urban spaces, in order to respond increasing population density and safeguarding the quality of life of all inhabitants. However, this also means that cities – and, as such, their management – ​​play an increasingly important role in fighting climate change repercussions. It was in this context that João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister of Environment and Climate Action, opened the first day of the Portugal's Smart Cities Summit 2021, taking place last week.

“Days after the COP 26 Summit in Glasgow on climate – the most important since the Paris agreement, in which each party would have to present itself as more ambitious in its decarbonisation goals – the importance of cities becomes very evident- it is of vital importance to achieve those climate goals”, emphasizes the Minister.

“It is now essential that every city wants to be famous for its commitment to the climate, to its citizens and to transforming life in their cities towards a carbon neutral society that regenerates resources, creates well-being, generate wealth and make the economy grow – not only inside but also outside walls”.

"Only cities and local authorities have the capacity to bridge the gap between the obligation to combat climate change and the need for this transition to be just, without leaving anyone behind, and choosing the right policies for urban territories", concludes the Minister of Environment and Climate Action.

Production in all sectors, from basic commodities, fashion, furniture et al. to Fine Art will go through major remapping as well. As an example, SAP announced the availability of SAP Responsible Design and Production, a solution that allows you to design products sustainably and transition to a circular economy. This is the latest offering in a growing portfolio of sustainability-specific software applications that help companies increase their measurement and data management capabilities. As corporate sustainability regulations such as plastic taxes are introduced, the SAP Responsible Design and Production solution enables brands to accelerate their transition to Circular Economy business practices. The SRDP helps companies gain better visibility into material flow throughout their processes, including tracking and enforcing constantly-updating regulations, especially those relating to product packaging and plastics. With the growing development of sustainable products by companies, the management of materials and regulatory data is one of the most complex challenges in today's consumer industry. There is inherent complexity in designing products that eliminate waste and use responsible materials, but the SAP Responsible Design and Production platform- native in Cloud, co-developed with Accenture and based on the SAP Business Technology- addresses these perplexities and offers the ideal, customized solution to customers, helping them to make circular products available and achieve a regenerative economy.

Check out our top selection of most noteworthy startups in the exhibition area of PSCS 2021, covering a wide spectum of facilities regarding intelligent systems for energy, security, crisis prevention, governance, architecture and design:

https://wavecom.pt/

http://www.enermeter.pt/

https://www.ama.gov.pt/

http://www.apemeta.pt/pt/

https://aqvamore.com/

http://www.e4s.pt/

https://www.bloomwall.com/

http://www.gesi.org/

Until next year's show, stay well and be smart in & out your home, town or city.

Best wishes

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌

WEB SUMMIT 2016-2021:The lifelong learning experience up to now, (key notes from the fair in Lisbon, Portugal).

Why Web Summit turns out to be that important after all? Apart from the global influence of the event business-wise, as the game-shaker and  play-maker of the digital entrepreneurial world plus a major platform to actually inspire more recent tech fairs in other capitals in the likes of London and Amsterdam, Web Summit remains a generator of ideas and actions for social change. The once-upon- a-time Irish startup starting all the way back in Dublin, moved to Lisbon's vibrant, digital ecosystem, merging forces with the local and international market but also affecting politics and helping to create initiatives by all those factors who strive for a benevolent, cooperative, restorative and innovative era of technology 4 Good.  

Here is a condensed recap of a few focal highlights of those last years, the beginning of a exciting journey: as long as the digital era creates opportunities of expansion  but also raising question marks Web Summit will continue to contribute with solutions in and out the web, always with strong ethics and the power of a new thinking class.  

-HR: Character VS Curriculum Vitae 

Recruitment technologies are getting more and more advanced, enriched lately with deep AI, an attempt for quicker and more centralized selection of candidates, a method that created controversy though especially in beauty pageants where the algorithm focused on Caucasian candidacies. The essential ability to distinguish the right one for the job remains  finally the interview and the evaluation of his/her personal traits and code of ethics, more than the prior experience or the knowhow. The difference-maker is always the character-builder in contemporary HR approach. (JobSCope A, Polina Montano). 

-Outer space – Airspace: Field 4 Business 

The outer space exploitation plus the airspace ventures of the future go beyond the exploration of other planets and civil aviation (airlines) for tourism purposes. Bobby Healy, the founder of aviation company MANNA stirred customer services through contemporary  technologies: drones delivering your takeaway lunch order. Astroscale,  is a global private space debris removal company using its technology for stock sustainable transferring  to outer space, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The possibilities are endless and they do not stop in the sectors of retail or waste management. 

-Improve VS Recreate 

In certain areas there are certain ways to function. Penalties inside the digital space acting as amendments or alerts to tech giants are proved to be unsuccessful: the result is that fines are getting paid by the Big tech for several discrepancies which end up being repeated. The actual solution for certain practices to stop is to demolish (and recreate from scratch) entirely the digital environment of action for the big tech who continue to ignore legislation. EU deciphered the challenges of this year including the need for restoration after a penalty and the recovery of the market post-damage, a new code of conduct (i.e. the Anti-Trust Law Enforcement) for any upcoming big company, the new tools set for distant working and learning, the need to release the weights and move faster in a capitalistic environment of private property and initiative. 

-AI Benevolence VS AI Discrimination 

With clauses like “physical labour in the industrial unit is going to be vanished” and AI wining over vital space in the workforce department when it comes to learning, public transports, farming and admin the new dominant question is born; not how many jobs we will lose to machines but what type of new jobs we will move into? Many countries implement coding since kindergarten and specialized tech or customer support tends to become a new sector of economic growth. 

-Growth VS Scale 

Vertical profit or profit in physical money tends to be less important when other type of assets like NFT are taking the lead (among many others to follow), especially to multidimensional, hyper-architected environments like the Metaverse soon to be launched inside many industries other than entertainment, (: virtuality, interaction between humans And services, augmented features 4 larger or smaller user audiences worldwide).  

-Public sector Architecture VS Public Sector Infrastructure 

Dr. Rebecca Parsons on evolutionary architecture and governance, she re-invented the public speaker's game in WS19, regarding a subject we rarely hear about and even more rarely tend to (really) understand. Linear hierarchies in the public sector infrastructure, pyramid schemes with the odd external app enriching the user value to make it look “upgraded”, belong to the Napoleonic era. The current notion of digitally stereoscopic , fully augmented, intelligent systems where civilians and public administrators contribute and navigate simultaneously saves time, can be error proof and excels in provision and crisis management scenarios. 

-Supply Chain VS Climate Rescue 

What it takes for environmental organizations to team up for one cause: net zero carbon emissions by 2050? Sustainability is not an expense but a cost-reduction factor and it needs to be implemented at the birth of every business, like an energy certificate for buildings, like water, electricity or consumables. The themes of ecology, desystematization and re-systemization, Circular Economy Model, ethical consumption, deplastification, repair, performance economy, dematerialization et al. are going to affect the state of the planet therefore the change in our climate. A change directly linked with a shift of the current economic and political system. 

-Shake hands (with the attendant next to you) VS not to shake hands;-) 

Paddy Cosgrave's advice is the first kick in the opening WS ceremony, just to break the ice and start networking: shake hands or (post-Covid) kindly introduce yourself to the person seating next to you;-))  

Which is your favourite year from 2016 onwards at Web Summit in Lisbon? You can register your vote and comment at the Blogger comment section bellow! 

NEXT: TO BE CONTINUED WITH PORTUGAL SMART CITIES SUMMIT 2021 UPDATES;-)) 

Stay awesome and trust in #websummit 

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌   

5G (>>TO 6G >TO…): WHAT’S NEXT? AN (ALMOST) GLOBAL IMPACT REPORT, powered by OMDIA.

Image above: Courtesy of Orange, https://5glab.orange.com/en/, https://www.orange-business.com/en/focus/5g 

Follow OMDIA on Twitter: @OmdiaHQ 

What will the impact of 5G be in real time? In-depth studies are commissioned in several countries already, exploring all the major micro and macro-economic changes ignited by 5G with a predominant one curated by mega service provider Orange and executed by OMDIA top tech experts. The two companies focused on economy (sales), employment (substitution of sectors and profession transformation, including new tech design and over-specialization in all areas) and the environmental impact (:total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by country by industry, thus on a specific part of the Eurozone for the time-being). 

5G facilitation on 1.enhancing mobile wireless broadband (:at work, school, university or distant learning hub, for entertainment purposes enabling augmented and virtual reality, for mobile computing and digital signage), 2. massive Internet of Things use (:smart agriculture, smart cities, smart homes, smart energy and utility monitoring, remote monitoring), 3. Autonomous vehicles, drones and public transport, plus medical apps and industrial automation (robotics) will impose the essential reassignment of all vital sectors and their core design. That also means a significant increase of sales in areas such as: retail, media/communication, admin, health-social work, construction/real estate, hospitality-food, arts-education, forestry, fishing being only some of them. There may be job losses though from: mechanization of production/processes; driverless transportation (e.g., mining and quarrying); remote monitoring, management, and control of assets; digitalization of customer interaction.

However, these will be outweighed by job creation from: manufacture of 5G equipment and components; software development for digitalizing industries; cellular/5G security specialists; drone operators; logistics analysts/technicians; autonomous vehicle/drone engineers. Different sectors of the economy and different types of roles will be enhanced and created because of 5G implementation. 5G will enable and create cognitive/physical jobs. Skilled specialized technicians will be required to install, operate, and maintain a wide range of devices, components, and systems across a range of industries. 

Previous research and public reporting by mobile service providers shows that mobile services drive a net reduction in Green House Gas emissions, by helping to reduce emissions for example, reducing travel and improving energy efficiency. 5G will accelerate this by enabling new features, applications and services, reducing the power consumption per gigabyte of mobile services; and increasing the scale and intelligence of IoT services. 5G-enabled smartphones and other devices will improve existing apps and create new ones, that will help to reduce physical travel and thus reduce emissions, with current examples including mobile banking, mobile shopping, video calling, and enterprise collaboration. Furthermore 5G enabled IoT devices, platforms, and services will improve efficiency in ways that reduce travel time and energy/fuel use, (ex. asset tracking, energy monitoring, smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart manufacturing, and smart agriculture). 

We need to synchronize watches though, simply because 5G networks are not active everywhere, (per town quarter/zone, per municipality, per urban centre, per county, per country): a key issue triggering immense repercussions in the everyday workflow. Cross-borders 5G facilities still vary per country-member in the EU as it happens many times inside continental parts of each territory, due to geographical and socio-economic specifications.  What will be the level of adoption of 5G in each area/country? The drivers of adoption are varied and they depend on 1. The pace of standardization, level of network deployment and availability of 5G devices  2.The adoption rate of previous cellular technologies  3.The competition from other technologies, such as short-range connectivity in the smart home 4.The overall annual revenue from sales of all private and public enterprises within the specified industry. So, this includes both sales directly related to 5G goods and services (i.e., infrastructure, devices and connectivity), intermediary goods and services (e.g., semiconductor components), but also the broader ripple effects: the economic activity enabled by 5G.  

In the era of powerful AI/AR when the future of jobs, the so-called gender disparity, the next generation of climate innovation, the net-zero corporate attitude on reduction of carbon and costs are current talk and they definitely consist of the next decisive step in economy and society, designing and  establishing 5G is getting to a state of almost-an-emergency. That’s only the beginning of high-speed mobile networks with also 6G rising, about to change practically everything in data delivery and beyond.  

NEXT: Web Summit 5 + 1 (2016-2021): A Blogumentary. Stay tuned!-)  

Cheer up & Speed up 💨

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌   

THE METAVERSE CHALLENGE/ PROTO-"METAVERSE GARDENS": is MV the new way of translating our Utopias into Realness? (powered by London Tech Week 2021).

Like the space race, Metaverse is the exciting, lyrical, digital space for multiple players and strategies. How might it all pan out, and what are the opportunities for CreaTech businesses? Creativity meets technology, whereas gamification (games) is the starting point on top of which other technologies will pile up. In sectors like performing arts entertainment such comedy, talk shows, series et al., Metaverse will launch new meaningful projects with Hollywood and independent studio brands ready to adopt quickly and tie up all the following elements together: social media, virtual goods, AI, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, blockchain, cloud computing,  AR, gaming engines renamed to 3D interactive editors, all leading in spatial spaces not through a flat screen: an invisible world about to reveal itself next to us. 

The first objections are truffled all over a wide spectrum of critiques: overlooking the power of the individual in all this can be an issue as the factor of exploitation for profit is obviously  embedded and there might be a danger-as always- for media powerhouses to  dictate their own worlds to large audiences versus to converge their cultures. 

Current internet tools but also platforms do not meet expectations anymore, generating problems of all kinds, from privacy issues to fake news galore, just to quote some random ones. Metaverse can potentially provide a more fulfilling environment for communication and eventually recreation. MV is an Enabler connecting us very physically- (especially elderly people or people with disabilities), closer than ever before to the luring notion of “physical communication”. An essential tool for future Smart Cities, climate change fight and saving the planet, MV set of tools and technologies will not be used just to entertain or edu-tain, but to do good. 

In the post-factual era's many different features Metaverse’s intrusion is a fact and it is here to stay. The technology is rising quickly and like Digital currencies disrupting the idea of what Money is, MV will disrupt the process of every sort of human exchange from now on. 

Can MV win back (Fashion +) Design-at-Large lost cause? 

The indications are more than clear, if not far more than just that. The Minimum Higher Income & Expenditure law in China affecting the luxury industry to the maximum, the actual plateau at the dawn of circular fashion & economy that slows down production, (we do not need nor fancy any more goods ), the intense need to preserve the Ateliers, collections and archives of heritage Houses (hence initiatives a la Met Gala), plus the Tokenization in finance, pushing away traditional money alongside with the Rise of Metaverse as a new Homegrown space, all these reasons lead brands to engage new ways in order to sustain their ecosystems and continue as Brands + More. In an already saturated, struggling market defined by post-covid recession, companies are willing to implicate material-less ventures and getting paid in MV in-game currencies added up in the long list of crypto-assets, instead of trying hard to sell clothes, tables, cars, or souvenirs etc (: Epic Games revenue hit $5.1 billion in 2020, driven by Fortnite and the sale of in-game currency V-Bucks.  Ex. Balenciaga skins are priced at 1000 V-Bucks which equates to approximately $8.)  

Data & privacy protection, copyright protection and legislation, new workforce specialties, cross-platform facilitation and synchronization of infrastructures in the EU, the USA, Asia and beyond need to be tackled though at the same time the actual technology will start to fuse with the current status, in and out the internet.  

In 20 years you might be able to switch on the light and your MV circuit or system will be on, with your kids and family benefit from it for sure. Until then do your research and enjoy (every real and digital aspect of life that can be helpful, constructive and loving 4 U): 

Key MV people to follow:

 

Sol Rogers, Founder & Global Director of Innovation: REWIND x MAGNOPUS 

Jenna Seiden, Vertically Coastal Consulting 

Nick Fellingham, Co-Founder & CEO: Condense Reality 

Tony Currie, Creative Director: Imagination 

Cathy Hackl, Chief metaverse Officer-CEO: Futures Intelligence Group 

Rudy Lee, Chief strategy officer: Zepeto 

Check out these hubs – companies 4 extra resources: 

Yahoo Ryot Labs 

Block V 

Wolf 3D 

Aircards 

Fashion Innovation Agency 

Roblox 

London Tech Week 

Switch the lights off - Turn on the MV😊

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌

SUPERSALONE STORIES 2021: PUTTING ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER OF WHAT IT WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER IN DESIGN AND BEYOND.

In photo above: Conditional Longevity: The Umbrellas by Charlie Humble-Thomas, RCA Royal College of Art, selected and shown at The Lost Graduation Show at the Supersalone 2021, Milan, Italy, (Image credit: Charlie Humble-Thomas).

Curated by the architect Stefano Boeri and his dream team of co-designers, featuring 425 brands, 170 young creatives and 39 makers, for a total 1,900 projects on exhibit, the buzzwords around “supersalone” were: restarting, safety and sustainability. Plus a brandnew opportunity to experience its new real and digital dimension. From 5th to 10th September 2021, more than 1,900 projects (from exhibiting brands, selfproducers, designers and young 2020/2021 graduates), filled the first four pavilions of the Milan Rho Fairgrounds (68,520mq overall) with a packed public programme that included over 40 famous speakers (architects, innovators, visionaries, entrepreneurs, artists and politicians), a number of films shown in partnership with the Milano Design Film Festival, four Food Courts conceived by Identità Golose and starring nine of the greatest interpreters of Italian cuisine and a large ADI/Compasso d’Oro exhibition, intended to underscore the points of contact between different sectors, experiment with new exhibition formats, draw in and motivate visitors. Also, and especially to fire up the engines of the design city par excellence: Milan. That, in essence, is “supersalone” – the Salone del Mobile.Milano event entrusted this year to its curator Stefano Boeri and an international group of co-planners – Andrea Caputo, Maria Cristina Didero, Anniina Koivu, Lukas Wegwerth, Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual of Studio Folder, and Giorgio Donà, co-founder and director of Stefano Boeri Interiors.

The major theme underpinning “supersalone” was certainly the concept of sustainability and the issue of reuse, recycling and circularity. This approach is crucial in terms of returning not just to the same level of economic development as before the recent crisis, but also to striving for “better and more responsible development.” As part of the strategy for building the event, priority has been given to hire and reuse, in order to cut material waste as much as possible. The spaces available to the companies have been designed to allow the products to stand out, while keeping the use of support structures to a minimum. All the materials and components of the installation conceived by Andrea Caputo – long parallel sets designed for the specific goods categories – and by Stefano Boeri Interiors – the communal areas: food courts, arenas, lounges – have been achieved using a reduced quantity of chipboard panels (1,230 mc), made from 100% recycled wood, channelled back into the production cycle with a view to circularity, saving  553,500 kilograms of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere. Everything has been designed to be dismantled and subsequently reused: the display systems have no loose components and were fully recycled post-exhibit; the lounge areas, the benches and the chairs have all been “dry” mounted and can also be disassembled and used again at different times and in different contexts. 

All the bricks making up the display sets for The Lost Graduation Show, one of the true highlights of the fair, were totally reusable and are part of a system of modular, locally sourced Ytong autoclaved, aereated, concrete blocks: once disassembled, all the components were ploughed back into the construction production cycle.  Not all the drapes used in the display will be printed or coloured, so that they can be more easily reused and, in a bid to avoid wasting material, “supersalone” did not produce brochures or information material on paper. 

The Identità Golose Food Courts used only compostable cutlery and crockery. The beverage areas also minimised the use of plastic, in favour of 100% recyclable PET. Underscoring the green mission of “supersalone,” some of the 200 trees donated by the Salone del Mobile.Milano to Forestami, were positioned at the Porta Est/East Gate entrance, and some inside the pavilions. They were lated replanted in Milan’s Parco Nord, helping to expand one of the Metropolitan City of Milan’s “green lungs.” This stunning forest of greenery  provided a warm welcoming  and accompanied “supersalone” visitors to a fascinating and original setting. This immersive and sensory experience engaged the public and prepared them for an exhibition with the accent firmly on sustainability. The “forest” did n't simply stop at the entrance but winded its way to the heart of the event, where another hundred tall trees emerged  inside the various exhibition spaces and the many rest and relaxation areas.   

Amping up this green area was the sound art installation at the entrance to the event, the art project Resonantrees Performing Marco Mengoni by the Sound Artist Federico Ortica. Driving the project is the idea of combining eco-sustainability with the compositional potential of trees as a source of acoustic resonance. 

One of the most keenly-awaited exhibitions at “supersalone” was The Lost Graduation Show as mentionned, curated by Anniina Koivu, which showcased 170 projects by students who graduated between 2020 and 2021 from 48 design schools in 22 different countries. It was a tough choice given that almost 300 schools in 59 countries responded to the open call in early June. The event owes its appeal to a format that represents a first for the Salone, spanning the full spectrum of furniture design, and more. The state of the art of the industry was on show through projects focussing on design in the areas of mobility, healthcare and sport, inclusive design, materials research and sustainability, drawing attention to how contemporary design has evolved and how it can be communicated. 

"The Lost Graduation Show provides an unrivaled opportunity to pick up where we left off and home in on the most urgent issues design needs to tackle, as well as decide on the right direction to move in. How better to kick off than by listening to the issues young designers are raising, and the solutions they are coming up with? Best of all will be finding out that the things young creatives mostly care about are surprisingly similar all over the world. Bringing them all together on a global stage offers a chance to start over again.” ,said Anniina Koivu, curator of the exhibition.

(in picture bellow: Tre Miglia by Matteo Brasili, NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano, 4 The Lost Graduation Show, image credit: Matteo Brasili)

The Makers Show was the section of the “supersalone”, dedicated to self-producing designers from all over the world, showcasing the output of ateliers, studios, workshops and start-ups that combined design experimentation with new production techniques and research into materials. An overall snapshot of independent design and the new directions it is taking, this contribution to the group exhibition offered an even more comprehensive overview of diversity in the world of creative living. 

A fluid, cross-cutting exhibition, the Makers Show embraced different areas of design, from furniture to accessories, in one place, it brought together objects that embodied the new economic, social, productive and relational values conveyed by the confluence of craft skills with new digital knowledge, local knowledge, global needs, specialized skills and collective narratives. Through all these pieces, the “Supersalone” is an incubator of new stories, offering an opportunity to discover original products, stay abreast of emerging phenomena, and keep up with the independent design market evolution, in direct contact with its leading exponents. 

(in picture bellow: Industrial design by Michal Kleiner, Shenkar School, Israel, 4 The Makers Show, image credit: Michael Shvadron)

The “supersalone” Open Talks provided opportunities for discussion, dialogue and inclusion in order to draw up a roadmap for design in the near future. A programme put together by Maria Cristina Didero focusing on the great contemporary issues such as design, art, architecture, education, gender, the circular economy, environmental impact, the relationship between project and curation and much more- with legendary speakers bringing up their light, knowledge and experience in the likes of  Italian Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani, Humberto Campana (:in picture bellow with his brother Fernando), Bjarke Ingels, Hans Ulrich Obrist to Carsten Höller, Alejandro Aravena to Michele de Lucchi, Beatriz Colomina to Cecilia Alemani, Formafantasma to Philippe Malouin, Cristina Bowerman to Davide Oldani.  

Since 1961 Milan has put together an impressive array of exhibitions, events, performances, installations, advertising campaigns and publications that have supported the Salone and forged strong ties with the international design community and the local community at large.  il Salone / la Città, an exhibition/event conceived by the Triennale Milano Italian Design Museum for the Salone del Mobile.Milano and curated by Mario Piazza is a portrayal of the most memorable cultural productions that the Salone del Mobile has staged with the aim of generating understanding and respect for design among enthusiasts and consumers alike. Compressed into a single event are the main themes: craftsmanship, early explorations into the concept of "furniture", the great masters, the birth of "Italian style", the theme of living, food culture, the environment and finite resources.  

(in photo bellow: Enzo Mari: 1976-2008, 44 Evaluations Installation view - © Triennale Milano - foto Gianluca Di Ioia)

Every year we are raving about the Salone hospitality and the wonders of Italian gastronomy offered magnanimously to the visitors and the Press. This year was no exception but furthermore it arose the concept of Identità Golose Food Courts, a new  tailormade event to “supersalone”, designed as both an integral part of the visitor experience , but also an opportunity to savour the original recipes of some of the greatest Italian chefs and artisans. The gastronomic creations on offer consisted of an invitation to sample top quality cuisine, catering to every taste and requirement. With the Identità Golose Food Courts, “supersalone” ventured on an inspirational journey that highlighted Italian creativity and excellence in the realm of food, fostering a joyful, varied and successful approach toward making food an integral part of all the wonders of the actual fair landscape. 

Check our Pinterest Board Of Faves, fueled by divine, new creations + products from the top companies, brands and studios at the supersalone 2021 here.

...“We invested and planned, with the focus on quality, sustainability and the digital dimension, and the upshot has been that our enthusiasm has been clear for all to see, our ability to create a system and look beyond business yet again in order to provide a global experience, albeit in a different form, at which what really counted was innovation, commitment and cohesion. We lit the fuse and sparked a chain reaction that has involved the entire international design community, the city of Milan and the sector as a whole. We are now looking to the future, with a renewed appreciation of the value and the history of this collective heritage, keen to embrace the new challenges by getting straight to work on the 60th edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, which will be held from 5th to 10th April 2022.” ...

Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano at her farewell speech. 

We are full of gratitude to all organizing parties for this immensely successful supersalone and we are looking forward to April 2022, and the Salone del Mobile 60th Anniversary Edition, a memorable moment for the design industry and the continent's creative history and projection to future ecosystems. Until then, keep checking all Salone del Mobile social media for updates, because the best is yet to come.

#InSupersaloneWeTrust

https://www.facebook.com/salonedelmobileofficial

https://twitter.com/isaloniofficial

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SnQ3uE9C5vtBqM91X0EIA

https://www.instagram.com/isaloniofficial/

https://www.pinterest.it/isaloni/

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌

Network slice management: Orchestrating compelling 5G use cases, (also in design education and production, powered by OMDIA).

The implementation of 5G on current multi-uses, accelerates the application of advance technologies and their combined formats. Network slicing being one of them, is promised to introduce new modules in design technology at large, therefore growth from 5G-related revenue. 5G is meant to be the key for short-term pivotal changes such as smart-city sensors, industrial sensors and connected stadiums- going through drones, autonomous vehicles, wearables and ingestibles plus sustainable energy- reaching out long-term applications in the likes of industrial automation, remote surgery and smart grids (electricity, water, state administration, higher education et al). By the year 2024 the prediction for network slicing customizable experience is defined as slicing-a-service (dynamic slices customized to the needs of individual customers and created on demand): the beginning of a true revolution for creative services and processes of all kinds, design included. Holistic solutions other than connectivity & control can be adjusted in schools, universities, creative studios and the wide range of media, by every Communication Service Provider (CSP)- also in other corporate environments for instance in commercial aviation- for business optimization, customer loyalty, regulatory compliance and omni-channel experience. 

Network slicing service support acquires agility, control, cost-effectiveness, autonomy, intelligence and certainly new combined 5G business models for the future. CSPs can no longer operate new networks as they have operated traditional networks. 5G network slices as dynamic service instances with system network orchestration (SNO), nevertheless there are still some issues to be addressed, with predominant concern the end-to-end service orchestration across multiple domains, including non-5G. The strong demand from the enterprises, the public sector and the households themselves will eventually lead communication providers to provide dynamic 5G slicing in the minimum time possible. 

For more information on network slices and the different solutions provided through ORACLE by OMDIA please check here – you can also follow OMDIA  on Twitter: @OmdiaHQ  

NEXT: Supersalone month is about to kick-start….  

Take care-Enjoy Slices of all kinds😊 

A4D-D4A 💙💚🙌

TWO FULFILLING STARTUPS, A PRELUDE TO LONDON TECH WEEK AND STORIES ABOUT ABLEISM IN DESIGN.

In image above: the Arborea way, (click to watch the full video).

In times like these when climate change is hammering territories, making up one of the next big excuses for international conglomerates and lobby politics to "fully act on business terms", the following lines are about to focus on possible solutions in order to tackle the consequences of the post-disaster era. Entrepreneurial and scientific forces acting 4 Good are not just a chimerical vision in a 1964 Sci-fi B-Novel but an actual reality emerging through a different, transparent and sustainable approach to production and to profit. 

Arborea continues its mission to fight food insecurity, especially after the current events leading to food shortage primarily in produce the following years, (therefore inaccessibility to specific foods due to a much higher price range) and an increasing demand for high nutritional quality products. Arborea’s team developed a breakthrough cultivation system, the BioSolar Leaf, which harnesses natural photosynthesis in a radical new way. Thanks to sunlight, our technology facilitates the growth of microscopic plants to produce healthy food ingredients, all while generating breathable oxygen and sequestrating large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), a major contributor to climate change. At Arborea, the final production consists of clean and healthy food while harmonizing with Earth’s regulatory carbon-cycles on a massive scale. Arborea’s breakthrough cultivation technology mimics the functioning mechanisms of a real leaf to self-maintain the ideal growth conditions homogeneously at different scales and with the smallest energy inputs. Furthermore, it uniquely sequesters CO2 from most exhaust gasses, even with very low CO2 concentration and at atmospheric pressure.

The final food ingredients and proteins are wholly vegan, NO-GMO, hormone-free and mostly carbon neutral.The unique functioning mechanisms of the BioSolar Leaf impedes contamination to produce the safest and purest ingredients.

Design highlight: Bionic Chandelier made by Arborea, an air purifying bionic system which purifies  the air indoor by producing oxygen and absorbing CO2 thanks to photosynthesis performed by the microplants endorsed into "leaf" modules. Now in the permanent collection of the V & A Museum in London.

Fashion rentals received a certain hype over the years, only to be considered by some critics an unstable sector within the fashion retail industry - until now: By Rotation totally re-invents the game of fashion rentals with an app offering a dozen of smart features, eventually providing a global, smooth and fluid C2C service , one that promotes circularity, green + clean fashion ethics and excessive amounts of availability in great items of clothing and accessories. 

It’s seven weeks until London Tech Week, and we’re looking forward to go back to the festival this September - gathering the world’s most inspirational founders, global leaders, senior investors and rising stars to collaborate and discuss the vital role of technology on society. Click onwards and secure your spot today.

Go ahead and nominate the women excelling in technology careers:The #InspiringFifty UK awards, hosted by accelerateHER, during London Tech Week showcases 50 incredible, trailblazing women leaders across the UK, (you can submit your nominations here).

With the inclusivity clause becoming more and more apparent and relative to the design world and beyond, adaptive design is becoming more and more of a raising issue: why studios and companies are so afraid of disability? Nevertheless, with adaptive fashion fruition trending, one things is a certainty, that ableism affects business and prevents those figures from getting a real boost; meaning that the commercial sector suffers from untargeting citizens with disability, (AI block in relevant ads on social media like Facebook) or rejecting neurodivergent consumers in unsuitable for them, physical commercial environments (for instance noisy malls are rather difficult to navigate by people with a complex developmental condition such as autistic spectrum disorder). 

In photo bellow: Tommy Adaptive Shorts by Tommy Hilfiger: without buttons but with velcro fastening instead, the line is adjusted to facilitate people with prosthetic limbs (hands), where fine, finger movement to button up is not possible.

Take Good Care & Save the Planet

BR

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌