World Futures Fall 2021

Summary of a larger report, which is hyperinked in the article. Six summary paragraphs present these scenarios. In April 2020, an ambitious initiative called Positive AI Economic Futures was launched by Stuart Russell and Charles-Edouard Bouée, both members of the World Economic Forum's Global AI Council (GAIC). In a series of workshops and interviews, over 150 experts from a wide variety of backgrounds gathered virtually to discuss these challenges, as well as possible positive Artificial Intelligence visions and their implications for policymakers. The workshop attendees and interview participants, from science-fiction writers to economists and AI experts, attempted to articulate positive visions of a future where Artificial Intelligence can do most of what we currently call work.

Yea this isn't a scan hit I need to post but an amazing find. Short article but includes a video demo and link to the website. Called the Pilot, one company has created a tiny wireless earbud that fits in your ear and translates the language you hear into the language you understand. The earphones work in conjunction with an app, but it works offline as well. People have been bound by language for centuries, and it looks like those barriers will soon be broken down by this tiny little device.

Article centers on trade relations and its effects on different ports. It mentions west coast ports dominating US ports in volume, but other ports are continuing to grow. Talk of investment now for the future. This article is pre COVID, so it's interesting to see the ideas before the effects of the pandemic were realized.

Summary of the year for the Port of Virginia. They did not see the severe backlogs noted by some of the west coast ports. It also mentions their investment into automation.

Bottlenecks are happening at many ports. Demand is exceeding capacity to where shippers are seeking alternate ports to ship to. Some say bottlenecks will easily last through the fall and possibly up until 2023. US west coast ports traditionally see a higher volume of throughput than the east coast ports, but with bottlenecks, traffic is being redirected to the east coast ports and will likely be into the future.

The article addresses current shipping problems. Though most problems can be attributed to the pandemic, other issues are noted that add to the frustration. Unions and US policy are the primary problems the author sees. Once the COVID hurdles are overcome, what's to say other problems still won't hinder the supply chain and what can we do about them. One place to start is the unions and their control over port operations and the other is trade policy--what will trade policy look like down the road.

The article focuses on rising sea levels, specifically on the east of coast of the US. WIth higher sea levels comes increased flooding and subsequent damage. The article mentions changes in the Gulf Stream, and how those changes affect the East Coast. Ultimately, people that live in these areas need to be prepared as the frequency of severe weather events, especially flooding, increases. This will effect port operations as people are relied upon to monitor and operate the ports. Can the displacement of people be compensated through increased automation?

An executive summary for the plan for the Port of Virginia for 2065. Talks about increased capacity, need for better throughput and needed investments. Interestingly it doesn't touch on climate change issues per se.

Lists 5 future trends in the shipping industry. All of the make sense, but each is only touched on a bit. Technology and the environment are really the two biggest, but others need to be considered.

The Ever Given incident--the cargo ship that blocked the Suez Canal for several days, pirmarily due to its size--has invoked new ideas about shipping--in this instance, it is wind powered ships. The ships would need to be smaller, but a zero emissions ship would be ideal. Can the increase in demand and port throughput still be accomdated with smaller ships? Is there a trade off for zero emissions and efficiency?

Good article on the entire shipping industry. The current backlogs have driven many to take a closer look at the day-to-day operations. This article gives a good overview of operations and problems. It identifies problems such as container shortages, to inefficient shipping, to integration with rail, and the effects of the pandemic. Lots of issues to be addressed as reliance on supply chains increase globally.

Short article on the Port of Virginia testing autonomous trucks. Containers received at the port are either hauled away by trucks or rail. Integrating autonomous trucks into the system could result in improved efficiencies in delivering and receiving containers. Actual implementation is likely a few years out, but automation coupled with less reliance on human intervention will be changing the way operations look in the future.

Article on the supply chain issues affecting the global economy. The increased demand along with shortages in available labor has added to the problem. Also mention of inflation and how the supply chain bottlenecks is likely to result in continued inflation in coming months. The reliance on ports is critical and with the anticipated growth in coming years, it will be even more critical.

Interesting perspective on climate change in regard to insurance companies and insurance premiums. People often rely on the insurance to compensate for their losses. Insurance companies approach now has to change, as severe weather events become more frequent. Many will be priced out of areas due to higher costs. All industries will be required to pay higher premiums, subsequently raising product costs to consumers

Mega companies are pledging zero carbon emissions. This puts pressure on the shippers to get the business of these mega companies. Failure to reach the 20240 goal could result in lost revenue. Interesting use of coporate pressure to make things happen. Once a few of the companies reach zero emissions, the others will face considerable pressure to do so as well.

Automation is seen as the big drive of change in sea ports of the future. With so many benefits being realized as a result of automation, it seems inevitable. Not only will we see automation but more connectivity of ports with other systems.

Short article that says that ports will need to grow in coming years (next 3 decades) to accomodate growing world trade. A fourfold increase would be considerably more volume than we presently see. The article says that the cost of expanding port capacity will exceed required rising sea level adaptation.