Eight + one megatrends you need to check out in 2018

A new year has just begun, with phenomena and trends that were mere ideas just a few years ago. Change will never be as slow as today, and therefore it is important to look up to see the big picture. Here are eight megatrends, plus one upcoming hot topic, you need to keep an eye...

Nine Things You Should Know to Be Smart About Driverless Cars

Just a few years ago, not many people realized what digitalization of transportation would be. Now, autonomous cars are the talk of the town, and carmakers, tech giants, and start-ups are racing to stay ahead in the mercilessly competitive transformation of the mobility industry. It could turn out to be the most profound of all...

Former Skype founders rethink local delivery

Former Skype founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis aim at reshaping local small scale delivery with the company Starship Technologies and this small autonomous device, moving at four miles per hour. The plan is to offer local delivery from the grocery store or retailers, or last-mile delivery of goods arriving to local hubs with ordinary carriers,...

Google’s goal: To control the world’s data

In 2013, Google acquired eight companies specializing in robotics, and many have asked what Google will do with all those robots. The eighth company wa s Boston Dynamics, which through funding by DARPA has developed a couple of high-profile animal-like robots and the two-legged humanoid Atlas. A week after that acquisition, Google became the world's...

A really good post on ethics for machines, robots, cars…

Here's a really good piece on the difficulty but also the importance of ethics for machines, robots, autonomous cars, arms and similar stuff powered by artificial intelligence: Moral Machines by Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology at N.Y.U. Prof Marcus argues that the moment autonomous cars will be so much better and safer than human drivers that we...

Six industries that will be hit by digital revolution

Some people in the music industry still wonder what happened when an established and profitable business model was torn to pieces in a few years. Well, soon a lot more people in several other industries will ask themselves the same thing. I just outlined six industries that will be hit in the next future in...

We just launched Next Magasin – on how technology’s changing the world

A few days ago we finally launched Next Magasin – a new magazine on how technology's changing the world (just to be clear, it's only in Swedish for now). I'm the managing editor and it's been a great time to work with the first issue, which is free to download or to read on Ipad/Android/Pc....

Five industries where 2 billion jobs will be lost

Most people have understood that the music and the movie industries have been profoundly changed by the internet. Fewer realize that this was just the beginning. Futurist Thomas Frey recently talked on how 2 billion jobs will disappear by 2030 and also outlined five areas in which this will happen: 1. Power Industry 2. Automobile transportation 3. Education...

Autonomous cars highlight fundamental questions

I like the recent call from Molly Wood at Cnet News (where I used to work in 2009): “Self-driving cars: Yes, please! Now, please!”. She notes quite obvious advantages with autonomous cars – safety, efficiency and environmental improvements – and observes that the forces working against adoption are fear and love of driving, emotions so...