Unwrap emerging trends and insights: Our holiday reading list

Unwrap emerging trends and insights: Our holiday reading list
SparkOptimus Team
Written by
The SparkOptimus Blog Team
December 22, 2023

‘Tis the season to not only be jolly but to also stay ahead of the curve. To keep you up-to-date with the latest developments in the fields of Sustainability, Data & AI and Digital Transformation, we've made a list (and checked it twice) of our top essential reading to dive into in the festive period.

So, grab a cup of your favourite holiday beverage, settle into your coziest chair, and join us as we unwrap some emerging trends and insights.

Sustainability

Making constriction products greener

The European Parliament has reached a political agreement to make construction products greener, paving the way for sustainability acceleration in this industry. The new law, which steps into force in 2024, mainly aims to drive the standardization of green products while companies still receive a ‘grace period’ until 2039 to shift from the current rules to the new law. Read more here >>>

Sustainability Awards 2023

The winners of the Sustainability Awards 2023 –coined as the most prestigious global competition for sustainable packaging innovation – have been announced at the Sustainable Packaging Summit in Amsterdam, during an awards dinner filled to the brim with 400 industry leaders. For the first time in Sustainability Awards history, joint winners have taken home prizes in two of the categories. Read more here >>>

Climbing the CSRD mountain

Ask business leaders what is keeping them from sleeping at night, and there is one response that often pops up: the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). For a long time, the CSRD seemed like a distant mountain on the horizon, a challenge to be tackled someday in the future. But that "someday" has now arrived, and the mountain seems even larger and more daunting up close. Read more here >>>

Data & AI

EU to expand support for AI startups

The European Union (EU) is expanding its support for AI startups by granting them access to its supercomputers for model training. The EU aims to develop dedicated AI algorithms capable of running on its supercomputers and plans to establish centers of excellence to facilitate this. Read more here >>>

Japan govt. to establish AI safety institute in January

The Japanese government plans to establish an AIsafety institute in January to ensure the safety of AI technology. The institute will research safety evaluation methods and create standards. Guidelines for AI companies were also presented, emphasizing principles such as human-centeredness, safety, and transparency. Read more here >>>

The practicalities of implementing Generative AI

Organisations tend to have many ideas on how to use GenAI in their business. However, in most cases, use cases are scattered across the organization and fail to ‘leave the basement’: Some developers are using Github copilot, or some marketeers are writing blogs with ChatGPT, but there is no coordinated strategy. So, what is required to successfully implement Generative AI? Read more here >>>

Digital transformation & strategy

2023 Report on the state of the DigitalDecade

The first State of the Digital Decade report takes stock of the EU’s progress towards a successful digital transformation as set out in the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030,highlighting the need to accelerate and deepen the collective efforts, including through policy measures and investment in digital technologies, skills and infrastructures. Read more here >>>

Australia publishes new government dataand digital strategy

The Data and Digital Government Strategy outlines five missions to accelerate transformation across the Australian Public Service (APS), focusing on delivering “simple and seamless” services“ for all people and business”, embedding solid foundations for “trusted and secure” digital and data, and calibrating government so that it is fit for the future. Read more here >>>

Can you future-proof your organisation?

With the digital landscape moving faster than ever before, we would be a miss if we didn't recommend our latest book as the perfect holiday reading material! Providing concrete examples on how to navigate the landscape, Disruption in Action walks through the digital transformation journeys of seven companies, taking readers through their end-to-end transition from high-level strategy through to the operational nitty-gritty. This is essential reading for any leader looking to understand digital and shape the future. Read more and download a free chapter here >>>

We're excited to see what 2024 brings, and look forward to continuing to partner with our clients to achieve their goals. Happy holidays from the entire SparkOptimus team.

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