Dispatch from the Digital Planet is a monthly bulletin that talks about new updates in digital innovation across the world and their impact.
Innovative businesses are key to sustainable development. This research highlights three companies: Husk Power Systems (sustainable energy), Nexsis (solar panels for essential services), and ThredUp (secondhand e-commerce). Insights emphasize the value of pay-as-you-go models, digital tech’s role in sustainability, women’s empowerment via regenerative tech, the need for government support in renewables, and maintaining consumer demand.
Inclusive businesses use digital tech to advance global sustainability, worth $12-15T yearly. Studies highlight the need for trust, low-tech solutions, and environmental focus.
The needs of the global sustainable development agenda are both broad and urgent, and innovation models are central to addressing them in a timely, efficient, and scalable manner, from promoting inclusive growth and ensuring the longevity of natural resources to addressing issues across the state of the human condition.
All methods of storing value have some environmental cost associated with them. We explore the environmental costs of US cash notes, which amount to $0.26 annually per note, based on resources used and CO2 released. We then compare our cash estimate to the environmental costs of crypto assets, using Bitcoin as the basis, and totals $70 annually per coin in terms of CO2 released. However, when considering all the US banknotes in circulation in the aggregate, and all the mined Bitcoin currently available, we find that the overall environmental impact of cash notes ($12.9 billion USD) far exceeds the environmental cost of Bitcoin ($1.3 billion USD).
BBC Digital Planet Gareth Mitchell discusses key findings from the Digital Intelligence Index (DII) and their implications for VR/AR personal data safety and identification and sustainability. With expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
The delivery of public services online requires two necessary conditions: the infrastructure — hardware and software — for governments to deliver public services digitally, and abundant availability of affordable internet access. We scored and arrayed 42 countries on these two aspects: (1) digital public services and (2) inclusive and affordable internet. Additionally, we wove in a snapshot of the stringency of government lockdown and social distancing mandates into this analysis.
How is COVID-19 impacting different parts of the US and how prepared each state is to safely begin to lift stay at home orders? Digital Planet analyzed average weighted change in workplace, residential, and transit mobility in relation to the average change in the effective reproduction rate of the virus (Rt).
Which countries help expedite entry, growth, and exit of technology-based businesses?
The Cost of Cash: Mexico report does more than simply estimate how much time and money Mexican consumers invest in access to cash. It also asks what groups in society are most likely to pay for access to cash with fees, transit times, and queue times; rich or poor, young or old, Northern or Southern, male or female, and rural or urban. It asks whether financial traits are equally important.
India’s economic growth propels financial revolution via modern services. Cash-heavy economy, low non-cash payments, high cash management costs analyzed. Technology, Aadhaar key for cash-to-digital shift. RBI, banks face currency operation costs. Report stresses payments’ role in inclusion, cash reduction benefits.
Explore the enduring relevance of cash in today’s digital world. Discover the reasons behind its persistence, including anonymity, control, and trust. Learn about the challenges faced by digital alternatives and the complex interplay of habits, regulations, and technology in the cashless revolution. Dive into a comprehensive study shedding light on the costs and benefits of cash use across various stakeholders in the American economy.
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The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
