Industries in Depth

15 must-read stories for the weekend

Adrian Monck

Iran is poised for reintegration with the global economy. Better infrastructure and less bureaucracy will be needed to get the economy motoring.

Cyberspace is being hijacked by organized crime. But citizens of the internet are fighting back.

Founders of tech start-ups get all the glory. At least as important are the unsung heroes, quietly innovating within organisations.

The collaborative economy is disrupting insurance. Platforms for sharing cars and homes have spawned micro-premiums for micro-duration policies.

Is it possible to predict economic crises? Not yet. But new research suggests strengthening currencies and escalating leverage are strong signals of trouble to come.

Fighting corruption won’t end poverty. Countries ranking highly on anti-corruption measures grow no faster than lower-rated nations. Because there’s a big difference between the appearance of good administration and the practice of effective government.

Internet of things, internet of risks. By 2020, 26 billion devices will connect to the internet. More devices means more risks. Cites the Global Risks Report 2015. (Forbes)

Delays ahead. Creaky infrastructure is causing drawn-out delays for commuters in New York and beyond. Time for some upgrades? Uses data from the Global Competitiveness Report. (Yahoo)

Latin America’s start-up stars. Chile and Colombia are two of the world’s most innovative countries, finds a Forum report, making them ideal places to launch a business. (Latin Post)

Iran, Myanmar and Cuba: untapped opportunities. That’s according to one CEO, who was “encouraged by the positive messages conveyed at the World Economic Forum in Davos by President Rouhani.” (Telegraph)

Concerns over an artificial intelligence arms race prompted Stephen Hawking and hundreds more to write an open letter urging a ban on ‘offensive autonomous weapons’. They fear a third revolution in warfare.

Behavioural economics is limiting itself. It should stop focusing on deviations from purely rational decision-making and integrate the findings of evolutionary biology.

Who ends up as high-earning adults? Dumb rich kids are a third more likely to beat out smart poor kids in the adult earning stakes says a major UK government report.

Fertility in every rich country but one is too low to keep populations stable. The allure of urban living is one cause of the baby bust.

Deaths from malaria make mosquitoes the world’s deadliest arthropods. Promising new vaccines could soon take them down a step.

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Author: Adrian Monck is Managing Director and head of Public Engagement at the World Economic Forum.

Image: A GoPro device featuring 16 cameras, to be used with Google’s “Jump,” to provide viewers with 360-degree video, is shown during the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco, California May 28, 2015. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

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