Early Adoption

Sainsbury’s Volunteer Shopping Card for Those Shopping on Behalf of Others
Customers visit a web page and select how much they’d like to spend on their weekly shop. The E-Gift Card is then emailed directly to the person shopping on their behalf, which can be redeemed at checkout in store.

Japanese students attend graduation ceremonies through robots
The Business Breakthrough University in Tokyo held a remote graduation ceremony, with students using robots to “attend” while remaining at home. The “Newme”robots were dressed in graduation caps and gowns for the ceremony and carried tablets which displayed their student’s webcam.

Technology is ‘winning’ during the COVID-19 pandemic
The winners in the COVID-19 pandemic are technology firms, as friends, families and colleagues try to digitally replicate face-to-face communications and socialising.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-iAZJAgUUn/?igshid=17qeuwzthhbss

U.S. Universities accepting Duolingo English Test
With the suspension of traditional English proficiency tests in countries most affected by the coronavirus, a wave of US institutions are now accepting the results of the Duolingo English Test, either as stand-alone proof or as a supplement to other measures of English-language proficiency.
Source: https://thepienews.com/news/us-more-heis-accepting-the-duolingo-english-test-amid-uncertainty/

Zoom Video stock spikes by more than 100% since January
The share price of Zoom, the US remote conferencing service, has doubled since the end of January, rising from $70 a share at the end of January to over $141 by 26 March. As more countries are forced into lockdown, firms which help to bring us together – for work or play – are thriving.

Food delivery company started delivering a paper “shield” to consumers
Meituan, one of China’s biggest food delivery firms, has started delivering a paper “shield” to consumers from its platform in order to help protect them from catching the coronavirus.

Driverless vehicles ease delivery logistics pressure
Chinese driverless delivery van start-up sees demand surge amid coronavirus outbreak. Leading internet based companies; MEITUAN, JD, SUNING, BAIDU; start employing driverless vehicles to ease delivery logistics pressure during home confinement. This application is likely to continue in the future and further influence people’s daily lives.

The tech dimension
As internet usage keeps rising a key value is early adoption, the hunger for the next and newest technology. Globally, 7 in 10 try to keep up with technology (70%), and as many as 9 in 10 online

Spend, spend, spend − trouble on the financial horizon
Faced with uncertainity about the future, hedonistic ‘you only live once’ lifestyles are growing in appeal. People

Future of Mobility
Many of the macro forces acting on the planet are emboldening manufacturers and governments to accelerate developments for the future of mobility: rapid urbanisation driven by dynamic populations, our technological tipping point and the need to