Hello! ¡Hola! Hei!
What is “Water Resilience”? How is the EU intending to solve the EU water crisis? Will we need to follow military etiquette and take showers under 2 minutes?
Dear reader, my name is Marco and I am lucky to be your guest editor with water as the theme for this edition of TechAways. Let me start by calming your nerves: although you should responsibly limit excessive water consumption, your right to sing the full length of Bohemian Rhapsody while the water is running is likely not in danger!
Water is truly the foundation of life and our whole economy depends on this precious resource. The sectors considered particularly strategic for a competitive and decarbonised future of the EU such as chemicals, semiconductors, hydrogen and EV batteries are quite water-intensive. In parallel, we face many water-related issues such as – droughts, floodings, polluted waters, high levels of water abstraction, lack of funding and, notably, uptake of water technologies.
But did you know that the EU is a leader in water tech, holding over 40% of all patents globally? There are already a lot of technologies on the market, but the right incentives are needed to ensure wider-scale use within and across sectors.
In the interest of addressing such key challenges facing water in the EU, the European Commission is publishing the EU Water Resilience Strategy on 4 June.
According to a draft version of the strategy, the Commission will explore the use of public procurement to boost clean water technologies and water efficiency across sectors. Through the revision of the Public Procurement Directive, the EU executive could consider introducing mandatory green criteria. In other words, this would require procurement to go beyond the lowest-price approach and look at sustainability more extensively.
The concrete potential initiatives on financing (such as a study to better quantify funding needs for water resilience and a new water program with the European Investment Bank) are also likely to zoom into the use of water technologies across the economy.
Though the strategy is important, the proof is in the pudding of implementation. To achieve the goals of the strategy, a good dose of collaboration and ambition will be necessary. Will we succeed or forget the value of water and, once again, act based on a mistaken perception of abundance? I do hope that we have collectively learned our lesson and that the strategy will ultimately lead to real and actionable change.
Marco
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#TechAways is brought to you by SEC Newgate EU’s one and only #tech team featuring Julia Piwowarska, Ali El Majjaoui and Marco Moreno.
Elevating infrared for human eyes 🔴 [The Guardian]
Hard to say whether this is a game-changing breakthrough or just another step towards our not-so-funny dystopian future, but let’s stay optimistic! What is it? Super contact lenses that give humans near-infrared vision. Who? Scientists [good, this is good] from the University of Science and Technology of China. Not inspired by Black Mirror or sci-fi heroes, but by birds, bees, mice, and other animals that already see what we can’t. How? Humans see light between 400–700 nanometres (the rainbow range), from red to violet. The lenses use special nanoparticles, which take invisible infrared light and convert it into visible red, green or blue light. Like magic, but actually, science. Why? Besides a cool upgrade to our eyeballs, it could help people with colour blindness see better.
Hackers find a new way to steal your passwords… and your money 💻 [PCWorld]
If you’re using a password generator, here’s a heads-up: hackers are targeting it. How do they do it? These platforms are open-source, free and work across different operating systems. In other words, they help you generate and store strong passwords safely. Recently, hackers have found a way to exploit them through creating fake websites that look and work exactly like the real ones. Same layout, same download button, same everything; except this version comes with a side of ransomware. If this sounds bad to you, that’s because it is very bad: hackers use this malware to encrypt your personal data and, in exchange, you get a ransom demand. Not really fair. They can also steal your usernames and passwords, access other accounts on your network and spread a harmful virus across all your devices. Now, this is something you want to avoid. So, always double-check website URLs before downloading software and don’t fully trust search ads, even from big platforms.
The hidden cost of remote working ✈️ [The Next Web]
In our post-pandemic, internet-connected world, the idea of working from everywhere but office doesn’t sound too far-fetched. Over the years, becoming a remote worker travelling and living in different locations has become aspirational for many of those burnt out by corporate office culture. Being such a “digital nomad” comes at a cost, with many struggling with inflation, political turbulence, lack of financial security, increasingly complex visa rules and loneliness. Often, the cost is borne not by the digital nomads themselves, but by the communities they enter. Like with any type of gentrification, popularity of certain hubs drives living and housing costs up as neighbourhoods are inevitably transformed to meet the needs of this new class of workers. It remains to be seen how return-to-office mandates will change remote work, if at all.
AI will now also help you hallucinate 😵💫 [The Rolling Stone]
Aside from its many amazing functionalities, AI can now also help you hallucinate and experience prophetic delusions. This is what happened to many people who, after talking to AI chatbots, had a spiritual awakening and believed that the AI has chosen them to reveal the truth needed to save the world. There is an easy explanation for why this happens – an overly agreeable, available 24/7 AI bot can reinforce grandiose delusions in people with existing tendencies towards experiencing psychological issues, which friends, family or therapists wouldn’t otherwise enable. Even those without predispositions can find themselves believing that AI is sentient or ready to offer them a higher spiritual truth when they turn to large language models in search of deeper meaning. So far, AI has been found to be bluffing in all those instances, so don’t get your hopes up.
In case you haven’t had enough:
Mysterious Database of 184 Million Records Exposes Vast Array of Login Credentials [WIRED]
The Netherlands is building a leading neuromorphic computing industry [The Next Web]
Let’s Talk About ChatGPT and Cheating in the Classroom [WIRED]
Do we need publicly-owned social networks to escape Silicon Valley? [El País]
AI poses a bigger threat to women’s work, than men’s, says report [Reuters]
How 3D printing is personalizing health care [Ars Technica]
New! Pop-Tech Pick
We’re kicking off this new section with what many of us consider the best current TV show: Severance.
Quick synopsis: let’s say you had a chip implanted in your brain that splits your memory in two. One version of you remembers only your life at work (innie). The other, only your life outside of it (outie).
Weird? Absolutely. That’s exactly what happens to the employees at Lumon Industries: two lives, two identities, one body.
About this week’s editor, Marco Moreno:
My name is Marco; I am a public affairs consultant specialised in sustainability and bringing treats to the office. In my free time, I love to cook, read historical fiction and crush family and friends in geography quizzes.