When the British civil servant Olly Robbins was first compared with Grigori Rasputin, the Russian cult-figure and self-proclaimed prophet, by some Brexiteer Conservative MPs, most of us were surprised. Then when the former head of Ml6, the British Secret Service, Richard Dearlove, said that Robbins “had serious questions of improper conduct to answer over the…

Automation of jobs is an unfolding phenomenon at the moment. As discussed in one of my previous blog posts, there is some sense of worry and anxiety concerning this. There are industry reports, statistical estimates and numerous media articles, which all suggest the possibility of robots replacing humans across many jobs, of robots ‘taking over’… For example, drivers…

Last week, from October 15 to 21, Barcelona’s City Council organized the first “Open City Biennial of Thought” (“Ciutat Oberta Biennal de pensament”), with the aim to “link the debate on the role of today's cities with the big challenges facing contemporary society.” More than 20,000 people participated in 69 activities, including talks, debates and…

Like a stone thrown into the pond of global geo-politics and business, the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi could have enormous impact in the middle east, on the U.S. elections, and in the way business deals with authoritarian governments.