Global Scans · Design · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Design thinking will increasingly play a key role in improving systems and customer experiences. Companies will re-learn their approach to innovation and embrace human-centred design principles. Designers will begin to apply knowledge of human interaction, specifically in the area of how we earn trust and respect, to AI systems.

• [New] An attitudinal change will be required as well so that people can divorce themselves from accepted forms of design and construction and embrace a new world, a world that will build houses and housing on an endless belt as for motor cars today and build hundreds of houses per day. Home
• [New] Without intervention, the fashion industry is projected to use 35% more land by 2030 - an area equivalent to 115 million hectares - roughly the size of Ethiopia-highlighting the urgent need for sustainable land management practices. UNCCD
• [New] Germany plans to build gas-fired power plants as backups for renewable energy. National Wind Watch
• [New] In 2025, wealth and asset managers should leverage technology further, creating an infrastructure that builds trust and transparency across areas such as risk, security, reporting and client experiences. MIT OpenCourseWare
• [New] The deployment of Suwaydawi forces alongside non-local government forces could secure Druze locals from Sunni extremists and build trust between the Druze community and the Syrian government. Institute for the Study of War
• [New] Besides flights within the United States (international flights often require a passport), some federal buildings and nuclear power plants will require a federally accepted form of identification as well. Daily News
• [New] Innovation in areas like artificial intelligence, data analytics, and omnichannel integration presents opportunities for Inditex to stay ahead in the competitive fashion industry. Osum
• [New] The Vuzix-designed and manufactured waveguides will be integrated into a new generation of thermal smart glasses being developed in collaboration with a European design and R&D advisory firm. Cision PR Newswire
• [New] As global players, fashion brands have the opportunity to work on global solutions to eliminate the use of hazardous substances throughout their product lines, and to drive a change in practices throughout their supply chains. Greenpeace International
• [New] In summary, naming a baby with an emoji in California could lead to serious legal challenges, primarily concerning identity verification, documentation, and acceptance in broader society. TravelPander
• [New] NASA's Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites will launch from Vandenberg and carry two identical satellites to orbit Earth. Star Lust
• [New] Nations like China, Singapore, and South Korea have demonstrated that introducing AI concepts at an early age fosters familiarity, reduces fear, and builds foundational competencies that mature naturally over time. Modern Ghana
• [New] CrowdStrike has introduced new capabilities across its Falcon platform to better secure cloud identities, protect data at runtime, and mitigate risks in SaaS environments. MSSP Alert
• [New] India needs to learn from the different tech threats emerging in various places and battlefields across the world and design technologies specific to the threats it is facing. The Week
• [New] In Bahrain, designs are being developed for an onboard detection and classification system based on artificial intelligence (AI) that will track small objects less than 2 mm in size that are difficult to detect from Earth. Max Polyakov
• [New] A half-tonne Soviet space probe designed to endure landing on Venus will tumble back to the Earth in two weeks and may crash down hard like a meteorite, a tracker has warned. The Independent
• [New] Not far from EAST, the Chinese government is building the Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology (CRAFT), a 40-hectare complex that will develop the underlying engineering for future fusion machines. IEEE Spectrum
• Many critics have focused on the risks posed by the US submarine industrial base and its ability to build nuclear-powered submarines quickly enough. The Conversation
• As a key deployment partner for Google Agentspace, KPMG will help clients build integrated and scalable AI platforms to enhance decision-making and effectively manage AI agents that unlock value with trusted, secure AI technology. Google Cloud Press Corner
• The slow pace of decarbonization of buildings and transportation threatens the European Union's goal of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050. Bruegel | The Brussels-based economic think tank
• Increasingly innovators are turning to creating solutions for defence, and the recent government announcements will encourage both innovators and investors and ensure that the UK can build upon its existing strengths and become a defence industry superpower. CBI
• Another important decision for leaders will have to make in the next 2-3 years will be whether to build in-house AI Agents using open-source models or adopt solutions from emerging vendors offering AI agents on a per-inference or per-conversation basis. All Tech Magazine

Last updated: 05 May 2025