From 16% twenty years ago to over 70% today. Our food security may be controlled by a small group, fewer than 10 very large corporations. They decide prices, varieties, conditions of growth. They manage patents and intellectual property rights. They make agreements with governments and public institutions. And they have a strong influence on regulations, laws and treaties. In this three-part series, EuroScientist, publishes the outcome of a data and science journalism investigation, which opens the discussion about the interaction between industry and farmers in the global seeds business. This makes for fascinating reading. Read more [...]
Our food security may be controlled by a small group, fewer than 10 very large corporations. They decide prices, varieties, conditions of growth. SEEDcontrol is a project born from the partnership between formicablu, an Italian science communication agency, and Oxpeckers, a South African Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism. Specifically, the project has been designed by Elisabetta Tola and Fiona Macleod. Read more [...]
If the global antritrust authorities and regulatory agencies allow the pending merges to go through, the most likely scenario will be that two of the three top seed companies in the market will now act as one. Or, to put it in other terms, 60% of the seed market will be controlled by only three companies. Read more [...]
Is it going to be forever difficult for small farmers to enter the market? SEEDcontrol is a project born from the partnership between formicablu, an Italian science communication agency, and Oxpeckers, a South African Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism. Specifically, the project has been designed by Elisabetta Tola and Fiona Macleod. Read more [...]
At their simplest, blockchains are just lists of transactions - ledger books - that are recorded in a transparent and decentralised way. Currencies such as Bitcoin are the best-known application of the technology. However, other applications are emerging far beyond the financial sector. In this stimulating opinion piece, Philip Boucher, policy analyst at the European Parliament's Scientific Foresight Unit explains the opportunities and challenges that such an emerging technology offer. The biggest question is: are we ready to give up traditional financial and governmental control in favour of decentralised blockchain applications harbouring greater transparency? Some of the answers may be found in an event organised by the Scientific Foresight Unit of the European Parliament event on the 11th May 2017. Read more [...]
Innovation hubs have now been mapped out in Europe; And their relative strengths identified. Nesta's 2016 European Digital City Index(EDCi), is a composite indicator which measures the receptiveness of cities across Europe for young digital firms. These indicators include access to funding, business environment and the prevalent entrepreneurial culture in each city. London, Stockholm, Paris, Amsterdam and Helsinki round out the top five spots. Meanwhile, Berlin, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dublin and Vienna comprising the top ten. Find out more about the role that local conditions can play in encouraging the entrepreneurship and scaling-up of innovative businesses. Read more [...]
This article has been produced as part of a data journalism initiative called 'Medicamentalia - Vaccines ' brought to you by the Civio Foundation. It outlines some of the successes in vaccination campaigns from governments across the world. It also gives you a historical perspective on the key scientists who have been instrumental in developing vaccines of the past centuries. Find out more, it makes for an insightful reading. Read more [...]
This article has been produced as part of a data journalism initiative called 'Medicamentalia - Vaccines ' brought to you by the Civio Foundation. It outlines some of the successes in vaccination campaigns from governments across the world. It also gives you a historical perspective on the key scientists who have been instrumental in developing vaccines of the past centuries. Find out more, it makes for an insightful reading. Read more [...]
The lack of vaccines is one of the biggest problems for immunisation in South Africa. The shortage of antigens is influenced by external problems, such as issues with pharmaceutical production and internal problems, such as poor management of stock, poor training, or staff shortages. It is a complex subject, in which the causes converge but there are many parties at fault. This is the fourth piece of a series from a data journalism initiative called 'Medicamentalia - Vaccines ' brought to you by the Civio Foundation. Read more [...]
Shane Snow is a freelance science and business journalist turned entrepreneur. In this interview with EuroScientist, he tells the story of how he co-founded Contently, a company initially created to help companies and brands to produce editorial and multimedia content telling their story. He also explains how the its business subsequently evolved into a technology company by incorporating the latest web tracking and analytics technologies to effectively distribute its content over the internet. Snow discusses the challenges of creating suitable content to help raise the profile of science, making a distinction between content that is promotional in nature and more critical journalistic content. Read more [...]
Hacking solutions to science problems are springing up everywhere. But what about the publishing industry? Where are the TripAdvisors for journals submissions, the Deliveroo for laboratory reagents? Clearly there are so many opportunities technology could bring to radically change the lives of scientists that it is a bit difficult to know where to start. Yet, the debate on the future of scholarly publishing may be about changing the incentives for researchers rather than embracing smart technology solutions. Find out from the experts in the industry who gathered in Frankfurt a few weeks ago. Read more [...]
The legal implications of the consequences of the actions of robots endowed with artificial intelligence are currently the object of discussion at the European Parliament. In this opinion piece, Orsolya Zara, legal and policy advisor to an MEP at the European Parliament, in Brussels, provides some insights into changes pertaining to robots liability that may need to be implemented in civil law. Read more [...]
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