The Great Global Refinery
Previously we have looked at the economic behaviour of an enterprise through an evolutionary prism used more commonly in biology. Now we extend this approach with a physics analogy to recognise enterprise…
Innovation
Robotics: Beauty and the Beast
Will humans soon be dreaming of electric sheep, asks James Fitzgerald. Beyond the angry headlines on immigration lies a more subtle movement that promises to usher in a population explosion – of…
The awakening of a new nuclear power
In the early, halcyon days of nuclear power, British prowess in engineering enjoyed some of its finest hours. Here was a clean power and an unlimited resource that the country had the…
The big read: Plant gene – turn on, tune in, or drop out?
A regulatory system that is as clear as mud to many crop producers and the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union will raise new questions, says James Fitzgerald. A middle ground…
A new economics for an age of innovation
Prosperity, health, longevity – all good things in principle but they come with a cost. In this major new section of Chief-Exec.com we seek to discover how society can pay the bill…
The big read: Tech world faces up to burning issues
As we race towards a technological renaissance, we find ourselves more vulnerable than ever to a great cosmic power, writes James Fitzgerald. Techies around the world would have been hard-wired for insights…
The big read: Life under the all-seeing “I”
Stefano Ermon of Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Lab speaks to Chief-Exec.com about the hopes and hazards of a world populated by learning machines As anyone who has ever tried to get…
Green cars line-up on the starting grid
In 1899 the Belgian, Camille Jenatzy, broke the speed barrier at 100 kilometres an hour in a cigar shaped electric car known as La Jamais Contente. In 1900 at the World Exhibition…
High-minded hopes for automation
Motorists and pedestrians will breathe a sigh of relief at the prospect of a cloud-to-car future of autonomous and emission-free driving. Or will they? Technology groups such as Apple and Microsoft are…
Hammond bets on a productive future
In 51 minutes and with 15 references to “productivity” the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond threw more light on what a post-Brexit Britain could look like than all the uncountable hours of hints…