In the spotlight

 

Determining liability for security breaches isn't black and white

 

forbes, 26.05.2020

 

There were 1,473 data breaches reported in 2019 — a 17% increase over the previous year. That's 1,473 incidents in which intellectual property, sensitive company data and/or personally identifiable information of employees and customers was compromised or exposed. Read More

 

EU data protection rules abused to censor media

 

euobserver, 26.05.2020

 

Known as the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, the EU rules have been commended for protecting privacy rights, but also with promises of hefty penalties for violations by big techs firms and others. But some national authorities have also used it to intimidate and censor media. Read More

 

Privacy activist Schrems calls on EU authorities to get Irish watchdog moving

 

reuters, 25.05.2020

 

Privacy activist Max Schrems called on the European authorities to push the Irish regulator to speed up its handling of cases he has brought against Facebook on the second anniversary of the introduction of rules designed to help protect the data of consumers. Read More

 

First major EU GDPR decision soon on Twitter, Facebook data practices

 

business-standard, 23.05.2020

 

Twitter may be the first big technology firm to face a fine over tougher data protection rules. Read More

 

EasyJet to be sued over customer data breach

 

computerweekly, 22.05.2020

 

Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the High Court on behalf of nine million easyJet customers whose details were exposed in a data breach. The group action, worth £18bn, could see each affected customer receive a £2,000 pay-out if successful. Read More

 

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Agriculture & Environment

 

 

Factbox: Key climate spending in EU's 'green recovery' plan

 

reuters, 27.05.2020

 

The European Commission unveiled a 750 billion euro ($826.3 billion) package on Wednesday which it says will put fighting climate change at the heart of the bloc’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Read More

 

Coronavirus: Climate change 'could have greater impact'

 

bbc, 26.05.2020

 

The boss of energy giant SSE has warned that a failure to deal with climate change could eventually have a greater economic impact than coronavirus. Alistair Phillips-Davies wants the UK government to encourage private investment in renewables by giving the green light to big new projects. Read More

 

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Transport & Energy

 

 

Sweden looks to break out of its northern isolation

 

politico, 22.05.2020

 

It's part of a broader rethink of Sweden's transport links as the country tries to lower its dependence on flying — spurred by the industry's collapse during the pandemic — and instead shift to greener transport methods like trains and ferries. However, those more traditional links have been neglected for years, and won't be quick to rebuild. Read More

 

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Information society

 

 

The “Do everything at home” model pays off for some tech-enabled businesses

 

forbes, 21.05.2020

 

Last year I covered a shopping social network startup, FlipFit , going by the brand name Flip. The concept was interesting, an app that enables consumers to select in-home fashion deliveries, do their own personal fashion show and collect votes from their network to help them choose the garments they wish to buy. Read More

 

How 5G will power smart cities of the future

 

theglobeandmail, 19.05.2020

 

5G technology is expected to be 100 times faster than the existing 4G networks in Canada, with a much lower latency rate, or lag, when sending and receiving data in real-time. It will also be able to handle a much larger number of connected devices than current networks, enabling them to speak to one another. Read More

 

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Food & Health

 

 

Tech companies target temperature-monitoring patches for COVID-19

 

reuters, 26.05.2020

 

A group of tech companies is working on a patch about the size of small bandage that could be worn to monitor for the elevated body temperatures that can sometimes signal the onset of COVID-19. Read More

 

New online and wearable technologies for real-time monitoring

 

forbes, 26.05.2020

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 90% of patients who become infected with coronavirus report suffering from fever. The onset is usually sudden, followed by a period of sustained elevated readings for as much as a week or longer. Read More

 

Exclusive: big pharma rejected EU plan to fast-track vaccines in 2017

 

guardian, 25.05.2020

 

The world’s 20 largest pharmaceutical companies undertook around 400 new research projects in the past year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Around half were focused on treating cancer, compared with 65 on infectious diseases. There are eight potential vaccines for coronavirus in clinical trials, but there is no guarantee of success. Read More

 

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Science policy & Communication

 

 

‘Infodemic’: Scientists fight online coronavirus misinformation war

 

japantimes, 26.05.2020

 

He is among a growing number of doctors, academics and institutions who in recent weeks have adapted and amplified their scientific messaging in hopes of countering what has been termed an "infodemic" — a deluge of information, including widespread false claims, which experts say can pose a serious threat to public health. Read More

 

In land of big data, China sets individual privacy rights

 

reuters, 26.05.2020

 

The legislation is part of China’s first civil code, a sweeping package of laws that is being deliberated during the annual meeting of parliament, which began on Friday after a delay of more than two months due to the coronavirus. According to a recent draft, an individual has a right to privacy and to have their personal information protected. Read More

 

Big data, AI to lead post-pandemic economy

 

koreatimes, 26.05.2020

 

COVID-19 accelerates digital transformation of global business players The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, which broke out in late December 2019 and has now engulfed the world, portends to reshape our lives, and the world order as we know it. This is the 14th and last of a series to cast light on the changes that might lie ahead. Read More

 

'Scientists set new record for data transmission'

 

business-standard, 25.05.2020

 

Scientists on Monday said they have achieved a world record for high data transmission over 75 kilometres of standard optical fibre, using a powerful class of micro-comb called soliton crystals. Read More

 

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EU initiatives

 

Research Headlines - How to achieve more in funding R&I for the circular economy

 

ec-europa, 27.05.2020

 

The EU-funded CICERONE project is paving the way for closer cooperation among circular economy research and innovation programme owners (POs) the various public authorities across Europe that are currently the main source of funding for projects in this area. Read More

 

EU defence chief fears research will be squeezed by COVID-19

 

sciencebusiness, 26.05.2020

 

The costly effort by governments to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic will leave less money for defence in the coming years, and require greater cooperation than before among member states, says the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) new chief executive. Read More

 

International Cooperation - EU and Japan step up cooperation in science, technology and innovation

 

ec-europa, 26.05.2020

 

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and Naokazu Takemoto, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, agreed to step up EU-Japan cooperation in the context of the Japan-EU Leaders Videoconference Meeting. Read More

 

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Curious news

 

Life after coronavirus: 'We can shape a totally different world'

 

deutschewelle-en, 26.05.2020

 

On a personal level for you, as a transformation expert: has experiencing this crisis changed any of your theories? I felt that a lot of the things that were in my head have come to my tummy, just because you notice how ridiculous this is, the way that we've been running development and calling it successful development. Read More

 

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