Trend Updates

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted our social lives. Any close contact is potentially dangerous. But what are the alternatives? New opportunities for meet-ups are emerging that are safe and cost little. A GDI infographic shows how we will meet in the future. The future of meet-ups will also be the central topic at the GDI Trend Day on 10 March 2021.

Museums, theatres, concert halls: wherever people came together to enjoy culture, there is now a yawning emptiness. How can museum-going be revolutionised? Sarah Kenderdine, a professor at EPFL Lausanne, provides the tools for innovation.

What must a digital day labourer be able to do in an uncertain world? Which skills are required?

Medical treatment is becoming mobile, moving away from the doctor's office and hospital and taking place everywhere: at home, in the supermarket, at work, at the airport and at school. What does this mean for patients?

The "Belt and Road" initiative is about economic influence and power, contended Bruno Maçães at the GDI Retail Summit. According to the politician, it helped create the landscape for China's e-commerce industry.

"Convinced it can do no wrong, China's decline may have begun before its rise is complete," writes geostrategist and former GDI guest speaker Parag Khanna for "Noema" magazine.

The world has entered a new state of paralysis, as no one knows when things will return to normal, argues economist and former GDI guest speaker Tyler Cowen in an opinion piece for the news agency Bloomberg.

A.I. will make it easier to offer tourism activities. For everyone, anytime. At the same time, the travel experience becomes even better due to more detailed feedback by smart assistants.

"During lockdown, when people were actually missing public spaces, they still chose not to use the traditional retail spaces. Because they’re not considered to be high quality public spaces anymore," says Kristian Villadsen, partner at urban strategy firm Gehl, in an interview.

Paul Myers cultivates organic vegetables on a large scale in a Liverpool warehouse. In a video interview at the GDI Retail Summit, he explained how he is growing a successful business using aquacultures.