Wellington moves to turn deep science into economic muscle WELLINGTON — In a modest line item with outsized ambition, the New Zealand government has committed NZ $1.35 million to chart a national pathway into quantum and photonic technologies. The goal is not abstract discovery alone, but something more pragmatic and
For decades, quantum technology lived largely in theory, confined to academic papers, government labs, and long-range forecasts. Today, it is stepping into a different role. Governments are formalizing strategies. Companies are delivering products. Investors are committing serious capital. What is taking shape is not a distant technological promise but the
In Manila, a quiet but consequential shift is underway inside the House of Representatives of the Philippines. By 2026, the chamber plans to eliminate paper from its daily operations and anchor its records in blockchain technology, a move that places the Philippines within a widening global experiment to modernize how
THIMPHU, Bhutan — In a move that is quietly reshaping how nations think about climate aligned finance, the Kingdom of Bhutan has allocated up to 10,000 Bitcoin, valued at close to one billion dollars, to support long term national development. The allocation will help fund Gelephu Mindfulness City, Bhutan’s flagship
Apple sustainability chief Lisa Jackson will retire in late January 2026, closing a 13-year tenure that reshaped the company’s environmental strategy and influenced supply chain practices across the global technology sector. Jackson, one of the most prominent environmental leaders in corporate America and a former administrator of the U.S. Environmental
The world’s digital backbone is expanding at a pace unmatched in modern history. More than a trillion semiconductors now enter the global market each year, feeding 11,000+ data centres and the accelerating adoption of AI. Yet beneath this surge lies a structural vulnerability: the technology sector’s dependence on land, water,
Artificial intelligence is accelerating faster than the capacity of many nations to govern, adopt, or benefit from it — a dynamic the United Nations Development Programme now warns could reverse decades of progress in global development. In a new UNDP report, The Next Great Divergence, released 2 December, the agency
We’ve missed the 1.5°C climate target, says the UN’s Secretary-General. Devastating consequences are now “inevitable” (The Guardian). When it comes to the climate debate, there’s been a fixation on prevention, as governments and businesses scramble to make up for decades of damage. But the reality is that we must now
Abu Dhabi — The bright lights of Abu Dhabi’s ENACT Majlis reflected off the mirrored façades of a city built on oil wealth — but this week, the conversation turned to algorithms. ADNOC, Masdar, XRG, and Microsoft have launched a new collaboration to fuse artificial intelligence with the infrastructure that
A Continent at the Crossroads The numbers are stark: by 2030, Africa is projected to achieve less than 6% of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Against that backdrop, a new conversation is gaining force—whether artificial intelligence and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies can serve as accelerators for Agenda 2063. AI
