Zag To The Zig #44 :: Innovating for airlines, Reverse Face Recognition & Internet To The Moon
It seems like the world keeps zagging more than we can zig. How apt. And if it feels like I’m avoiding stories on C19, American elections,…, you’re right. Most of that ‘content’ doesn’t give me much info/value right now and it makes me feel a tad down/angry. So why would one want to spend time on that? ;-) Instead…
We start in the Ethics Corridor this week
Shift To Thrift. Apart from ecological and sustainable aspects, there’s also a big economic side to the secondhand-market. The resale market is expected to be bigger than fast fashion by 2029. Full report by Thredup (note, they’re a platform for resellers).
What happens when a technology becomes a commodity. With local governments considering or banning the use of face recognition software for policing purposes, a variety of hackers, activists and artists are trying to do the reverse: apply it to identify police officers who sometimes work anonymously.
In the Tech Basement
Less anonymous police activity. The US Royal Navy has been testing jet pack suits. First geek reaction, wowzer. Then I read the first reply-tweet and cracked up. 🥀💣
Imagine having this guy as your husband. In 1997, before the smartphone, Philippe Kahn assembled a camera-phone while waiting for his daughter to be born. More melancholic moments like that in 25 defining moments in Tech.
🚀👨🚀🌒 And then we’ll top the tech section with this interview with Vint Cerf. He’s one of the creators of ’the internet’ 40 years ago, but is now aiming to create an interplanetary internet.
In the Economy Room
PayPal will allow users to buy/sell crypto. US only, I assume, and if you’re in crypto, you know there are easier/cheaper ways to do that. But still, worth mentioning, as the whole Bitcoin/crypto narrative keeps flirting with the mainstream. Plus, PayPal is allegedly looking to extend their portfolio by acquiring crypto companies.
Friend of ZTTZ Saqr Ereiqat (hello Dubai) pointed me to this report on the geography of crypto. Lots to work through, but two things stood out for me.
Nugget #1: the top 5 countries with the highest level of activity are Ukraine, Russia, China, Venezuela and Kenya. US is only #6. The first European country is the UK at #14. 🇺🇦🇷🇺🇻🇪🇨🇳🇰🇪
Nugget #2: P2P platforms are popular in developing countries, possibly because of easier on-boarding in countries where financial infrastructure might be more difficult to access.
The Alignment Economy. If you read my thoughts about Alignment earlier this year, you’ll understand why this triggered my curiosity. The bank HSBC and the government of Australian state Queensland are buying ‘Reef Credits’, a tradable unit that quantifies and values the work undertaken to improve water quality flowing onto the reef.
In the Attic of Innovation
Really? I can imagine the brainstorm where this came from.
- What do people do on planes?
- (writes post-it) They eat.
- So…. what if we use our useless planes as restaurants?Validation FTW.
Sam Reid (another friend of ZTTZ) has just launched the UseLoops platform. The USP is that it allows designers (in the broad sense) to gather structured feedback with design reviews, user research,… And it seems to have some neat integration with existing design software. Have a play.
In the Office
So, it is true. Experiencing low status increases the use of jargon.
And yes, that includes using acronyms: they also have a status compensation function. ⏰
Random ZTTZ
Practice makes perfect. Nuff said.
🏁 End note: 1 thing I’ll be doing this week
I’ll be kicking off a new strategic comms project for a corporate innovation facilitator. Very exciting.
Mental note: must look out for jargon and acronyms. 🤓