ASML is Europe’s most valuable tech company, but lately it finds itself caught in a conflict between its commercial profits and its commitment to human rights. ASML makes the complex machines required to construct advanced microchips, and it sells many of these machines to China, where they are used to make microchips for among other things […]
Companies face a huge gap between the skills they need to prosper in the changing economy and the skills available in the labour market. Nearly three-quarters of executives say that changing the skill composition of the workforce is their top priority for dealing with future disruptions, but only 17% believe that their employees are ready for such […]
Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android mobile operating system dominate the smartphone market. The two companies also control the app stores consumers use when downloading apps for use on their smartphones. iPhone users can download apps only from the Apple app store. Android phones, meanwhile, allow ‘sideloading’ of apps from stores other than Google Play. For […]
It is no exaggeration to say that popular platforms with loyal users, like Google and Facebook, know those users better than their families and friends do. Many firms collect an enormous amount of data as an input for their artificial intelligence algorithms. Facebook Likes, for example, can be used to predict with a high degree […]
Web3 is a new paradigm that could define a new internet era. It is based on blockchain, a technology through which a network of computers – called nodes – can execute and validate changes to a public ledger. Blockchains can be used to record ownership of goods and claims to services, and because this information […]
The production of a cash crop like sugar is widely expected to increase social inequality, particularly in a colonial context. This column analyses Java, Indonesia, where the reverse was true. Using detailed data across 368 districts in colonial Java, the authors find that sugar production in the 19th and early 20th centuries stimulated the expansion […]
Throughout the pandemic, and particularly before vaccines became available, Black and Latinx people in the United States have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The Rockefeller Foundation saw an opportunity to promote equity in the COVID-19 response through vaccination, and in April 2021, launched the Equity-First Vaccination Initiative (EVI). The primary goal of the EVI was to reduce […]
The state of education in a country has cascading impacts across multiple facets of development. In line with SDG 4, providing equitable quality education remains a key mission for countries, especially those with low literacy rates. Zooming in on Tanzania, results from the National Panel Survey (NPS) show that while the country has made progress in […]
When Alvin lost income because of reduced work hours at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he was able to access the COVID-19 Recovery Grant, one of the Singapore Government’s measures to protect the livelihoods of Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. The application process was done completely online, and there was no need to […]
The COVID-19 pandemic strained health systems around the world and disrupted the delivery of health services, including maternal and child health care. It also slowed down progress toward universal health coverage (UHC). As the world marks UHC Day, we look at four priorities to ensure that low- and middle-income countries can resume progress toward providing […]
