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If you follow crypto currency at all you likely remember back in February 2021 when Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) announced a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin and a plan to accept digital currency as payment for electric cars. By mid-April Bitcoin was trading at a level over $64K. Then in mid-May, Tesla, through its CEO Elon Musk, announced it would stop accepting Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles citing the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining. It didn’t take long for Bitcoin to retreat to the $40K range it had previously been trading at.
That statement by Tesla was a wakeup call for many investors and users of Bitcoin. While just about everyone knows about Bitcoin, the blockchain and Bitcoin mining aren’t fully understood by many. Mr. Musk is right, it takes massive amounts of energy to facilitate the computers that mine cryptocurrencies on the blockchain.
According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), Bitcoin currently consumes around 110 Terawatt Hours per year — 0.55% of global electricity production, or roughly equivalent to the annual energy draw of small countries like Malaysia or Sweden.
Many companies that use hundreds of computers to mine Bitcoin will negotiate with utilities to get a favorable energy rate before they set up a facility. Since crypto currency mining can be done from virtually anywhere it makes economic sense to set up shop wherever the cheapest energy can be negotiated. Energy generated from hydro powered plants are popular, not so much because they aren’t burning fossil fuels, but because they can be competitive.
What can be done? Bitcoin currently works on a blockchain proof-of-work (PoW) protocol, an energy intensive model that the blockchain was built on. A new protocol, proof-of-stake (PoS) is the model many crypto currencies are using or working toward (Ethereum is working to transition to PoS).
The difference in energy consumption between the two protocols is dramatic, some of the newer crypto currencies utilizing the PoS model consume only a fraction of the energy Bitcoin does. The dilemma facing the crypto currency sector right now is that conversion to the PoS model can be very time consuming and the crypto currencies already using PoS aren’t nearly as popular or widely used as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Some of the newer PoS based cryptos also offer passive income by way of a dividend depending on your method of holding them. Some of these are Stratis, Algorand, Fetch, One, and Tron amongst others. Along with energy efficiency these dividends have been a draw for investors.
More than one pundit within the crypto currency world has predicted that Bitcoin will eventually move to the more energy efficient PoS platform. The consensus amongst those pundits is that Bitcoin will wait to see how the move works out for Ethereum, who has already committed to the transition, before they commit to it. Transactors writing Bitcoin smart contracts today may want to ensure they can be transitioned to a PoS protocol later.
Regardless of your opinion of Elon Musk, he has pointed out a flaw with the crypto currency/ blockchain model of transacting business and made us realize we are at a crossroads in the sector. The best thing we can do as crypto users or investors is to research the currencies we engage in. There are thousands of them out there, some already energy efficient and some transitioning into energy efficiency and we should know where they stand.
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NEARLY 1,400 commercial premises in Limerick were vacant in the first quarter of this year.
Of the 10,064 commercial addresses recorded in Limerick, 1,392 were vacant in the first three months of this year, amounting to a commercial vacancy rate of 13.8% - higher than the national commercial vacancy rate at 12.4%.
The total number of vacant commercial premises in Limerick has increased from 12.8% in the first quarter of 2013 to 13.8% in this quarter, according to new data published by GeoDirectory.
For the first time the report includes an analysis of the commercial vacancy rates of a selection of Ireland’s main shopping centres and high streets in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny and Limerick.
In Limerick, the report examined commercial vacancy rates on Patrick Street (56.0%), home of the long-awaited Opera site; Cecil Street (41.0%), Ellen Street (38.1%), Foxes Bow (30.4%), Cruises Street (18.8%) Roche’s Street (15.8%), Thomas Street (14.7%), O’Connell Street (10.3%) and William Street (10.3%).
They also analysed commercial vacancy rates in Roxboro Shopping Centre (43.2%), Castletroy Shopping Centre (31.3%), Parkway Shopping Centre (20.5%) and Crescent Shopping Centre (5.1%).
The street with the highest commercial vacancy rate was Patrick Street in Limerick where 14 of the 25 (or 56.0%) commercial units were classified as vacant.
Opera Lane in Cork, comprising 15 units, and College Street in Dublin, which has eight units, were the only two high streets found to have full occupancy. The shopping centre with the highest commercial vacancy rate was the Roxboro Shopping Centre in Limerick, with a 43.2% vacancy rate. Mahon Point in Cork and Jervis Street Shopping Centre in Dublin were the only two shopping centres found to have full occupancy.
Dara Keogh, chief executive of GeoDirectory, said “our findings illustrate that there are certainly parts of the country that are feeling the effects of the economic downturn more keenly than others.”
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Honda has no time for a summer vacation. Among the items on its to-do list: deliver all-new Honda Pilots and Civic Type Rs, plan the media and market launches for the 2016 Acura NSX, juggle lawsuits and government investigations over faulty Takata airbags, and ace its first Formula 1 season in seven years as the engine supplier to McLaren. And a new CEO will be overseeing all of this, as well as everything else Japan’s third-largest automaker has on its docket.
Takanobu Ito (above, right), who played a huge role in engineering the original NSX, is stepping down after six years as Honda CEO. He will move into a director position and remain on the company board, while managing officer Takahiro Hachigo (above, left) will move up to the number-one slot. Each man has served Honda for more than three decades (Ito since 1978 and Hachigo since 1982) and has held top positions within R&D and at the Suzuka factory.
During his tenure, Ito expanded Honda production to Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and China. He kept the innovative HondaJet flying—which, after decades of development, is now on its final checklist to FAA approval—and approved the Earth Dreams family of engines and overhauled electric powertrains now appearing in the Accord and various Honda hybrids. Also, the man digs 130-mph lawn mowers and supports smart, off-the-grid homes.
Hachigo led product development for the first-gen Odyssey and later for the second-gen CR-V before bouncing to purchasing and R&D management and most recently to roles in China and the United Kingdom. What we like most about Hachigo’s bio, according to Honda’s press release, is that he began his career “principally as an engineer in the area of chassis design.” We’ll take chassis and powertrain guys in leading roles over spreadsheet-types every time.
We don’t think Honda’s latest troubles led to Ito’s departure—he’s not leaving the company, remember—but it’s clear that 2014 was a particularly rough year for Big H. The firm’s safety record, at least with airbags and recalls, took a massive blow after the U.S. fined the company $70 million for poor record-keeping of accidents and defects. The company has been at the center of Takata’s exploding-airbag saga; they’ve killed at least six people—all of them in Hondas—and Honda has not been as transparent with regulators regarding the severity of the problem when its vehicles were first recalled in 2008. Further allegations from former Takata employees claim Honda knew of the problem starting in 2004.
- 2016 Honda Pilot Debuts: The Odyssey Continues
- Honda Mean Mower: A 109-hp, 130-mph Lawn Tractor
- Everything on Honda: News, Model Specs, Photos, and More
In Mexico, quality and supplier troubles, along with parts theft, forced Honda to delay Fit and HR-V production by several months. And new product has been a bit dicey over the past few years, too. The current-generation Civic was so disappointing at its launch for 2012 that Honda rushed a refresh one year later, and the Acura brand continues to wander in the wilderness. It would be easy to blame these issues for Ito’s departure—they’re certainly as well-known as his accomplishments—but without insider knowledge of Honda’s insular corporate culture, we’re inclined to think the man just wants to slow down a bit after 37 years at the same company. We’ll be curious to see the first moves from a Hachigo-led Honda.


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As Ryan told Japanese outlet AV Watch (translated by VGC), "If you look at the history of the game business, creating a special low priced, reduced spec console is something that has not had great results in the past. We’ve considered that option and seen other executives who have attempted this discover how problematic it is."
Ryan didn't single out any alternative consoles in "the history of the game business," and the contemporary example, the Xbox Series S, is still unavailable and therefore impossible to properly evaluate. Speaking of which, Ryan maintained that "I respect every competitor’s decision and their philosophies" in a tacit nod to Microsoft's approach to the new generation.
"Based on our research, it’s clear that people who buy a game console want to continue using it for four, five, six or even seven years," he continues. "They want to believe they have bought something that is future-proofed and not going to be outdated in two-to-three years. They want to have faith that if they end up buying a new TV that their current console will be able to support that new 4K TV they are considering on buying."
Ryan seems to be leaning on current market research as much as sales and opinions related to previous consoles, but whatever his reasoning, it's clear that he and Sony believe that the benefits of a single unified console outweigh the benefits of a cheaper next-gen entry point. This is reflected in the PS5 Digital Edition, which is the exact same PS5 console under the hood with the exception of a missing disc drive.
While it's not interested in a weaker PS5, Ryan says Sony will continue to support the PS4 for years to come, and games like Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales have now been confirmed for PS4.


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Business host plea for Dorchester's under-threat tourist office
An under-threat tourist information centre in a Dorset town could be hosted by businesses, the region's Chamber of Commerce has suggested.
The association made its plea in light of proposals to close the Dorchester site or relocate it to the library.
Business leaders have raised concerns moving the office from the shopping area would mean it was no longer visible.
The district council said the proposals would save at least £99,000 a year.
'Visible and viable'
The centre, on the corner of Antelope Walk and Trinity Street, welcomes 170,000 customers a year and deals with more than 7,000 phone calls.
Dorchester Chamber of Commerce president Steve Bulley said it was important to maintain a face-to-face service and any move needed to be both "visible and viable".
He asked: "Is there a business owner out there that's in a more prominent place that has some space that could talk to the council and start some negotiations?"
West Dorset District Council is reviewing its four tourist information centres in Bridport, Dorchester, Lyme Regis and Sherborne, which currently cost £353,000 a year to run.
A consultation on whether to move the Dorchester facility to the library or replace it with an unstaffed tourist information point is expected to be approved on Tuesday, in addition to a recommendation to transfer Bridport's centre to Bridport Town Council.


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The roadmap was published by PC Online and points to two Broadwell LGA launches this quarter – the Core i7-5775C and Core i5-5675C. These two parts will be joined by a total of four Skylake-S products in Q3, the Core i7-6700K, Core i7-6700, Core i5-6600K, Core i5-6600 and the Core i5-6500.
Both Skylake-S and Broadwell LGA will replace the current crop of Haswell parts, including Devil’s Canyon products. However, Broadwell LGA sits one tier above Skylake-S and Haswell-based products.
Starting in Q4, we should see more Broadwell LGA parts, but we don’t have any names yet. In the first quarter of 2016, we can also expect new Skylake-S parts.
Speaking of 2016, Intel plans to unleash the Broadwell-E in the first quarter of 2016. Little is known about Broadwell-E, but the new 14nm flagship is expected to sport eight cores. Clocks remain unknown, although the 14nm node promises substantial gains.


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Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment LLC, owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, and Stellar Partners Inc. have partnered to open an interactive Tampa Bay Sports retail shop at the Tampa International Airport.
The new, 1,000-square-foot location is scheduled to open in spring 2017.
Tampa Bay Sports already operates a retail store at Amalie Arena, home of the Lightning, as well as an online store. The airport location will include licensed merchandise from the local professional sports teams such as Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Lighting, as well as college teams such as the Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles and South Florida Bulls.
The new location also will offer a full sports experience, with video screens showing highlights, games and other content, as well as appearances by athletes and other sports personalities during the year. Additionally, travelers can immerse themselves in venues, events and action via virtual-reality experiences.
“We are extremely excited to bring our interactive Tampa Bay Sports retail concept to Tampa International Airport,” says Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment CEO Steve Griggs. “Tampa Bay Sports will go beyond a typical retail location, bringing visitors closer to the game than they’ve ever been before. We are very pleased to not only provide fans and travelers alike with a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, but also allow them to take a piece of the Tampa Bay sports landscape home with them.” — M.Q.


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Posted on January 21, 2019 at 2:04 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
The Digital Reader has a sale alert to share: the new Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for today only.
Both the 8G and 32G versions are $40 off, meaning they’re $89.99 and $119.99, respectively.
The new Paperwhite is, according to Amazon, its thinnest and lightest model yet, and it’s also waterproof.
See more specs and order a Paperwhite, if you're so inclined, on Amazon.
Categories: Today in Books


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joined the office in October 1994, Starr said Dash
would provide ethical and professional advice to him and his staff.
Alpha) Iron Man Edition dash
cam, an astounding model designed in partnership with Marvel and released exclusive to the Korean market.
Pure OTT players are also adopting DASH
as one of their baseline technologies, with even more ease when it's a new service that is launching.
It starts in Castle Street when the main Santa Dash
has finished and also finishes at Liverpool Town Hall.
Greene adds that the Amazon Dash
Buttons will help its brands stay competitive and top-of-mind with consumers who already have a lot of online shopping options.
Prime members are using Dash
Buttons at an increasing rate--over the last three months, Dash
Button orders have grown by more than 75%.
is a family event and a fun, active day out for all to enjoy.
Savor the unrivaled freshness of homemade juice everyday without additives, preservatives, or the hassle with the Dash
Go Citrus Juicer.
is as incredulous about all that is happening as anyone, and his self-conscious skepticism keeps the magical elements from seeming off-the-wall.
With the Mirage Eco Dash
, we hope to provide our players with a fun and challenging game that rewards their time spent on the game," said Froilan Dytianquin, MMPC Vice President for Marketing Services.
3 approached 75 knots when they realized something was wrong.
They found girls who followed the DASH
diet pattern had a lower incidence of excess weight gain as measured by body mass index (BMI) over the 10-year period of their adolescence.
Because a randomized clinical trial of the DASH
diet on cardiovascular end points may not be feasible, our study provides, to our knowledge, the strongest evidence to date on the long-term benefits of the DASH
diet in the primary prevention of [cardiovascular disease] among healthy subjects," the investigators reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
conceptualises the upper limb as a single functional unit.
Navigation Inc, a developer of in-car technology, has formed an agreement with Internet company Yahoo


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In 2013, Nico Jaspers, who previously founded the market research firm Dalia Research, began to notice a change in consumer behavior: more people were easily reachable through their smartphones. He realized that phones could become a key way to reach people for product research purposes, opening doors to opportunities to hear new opinions.
With this insight, Jaspers teamed up with Fernando Guillen to launch Latana, a platform that auctions mobile ad space to provide users with short research surveys. In a sign that investors continue to believe in the idea, Latana today closed a €36 million (~$35.79 million) Series B funding round – €10 million (~$9.94 million) in debt – led by Oxx and Creos in partnership with Balderton Capital.
“Brand marketing is the single largest cost item left in consumer businesses that is not well understood and measured,” says Jaspers. “We’re solving that problem and giving more visibility not only to brand marketers, but also to executives who are generally interested in understanding brand performance… [Latana] It helps them understand their target audience and predict what people will buy from them rather than their competitor.
To this end, Latana collects data from mobile-optimized surveys it distributes, using an AI system to identify trends that brands want to know about their target audience. The platform seeks to ensure that the changing composition of surveys – eg the makeup of respondents – does not affect empirical results, and it applies algorithms so that drilling down into audience segments does not greatly increase the margin of error.
“We are currently building the world’s largest database on brand performance, tracking over 100,000 brands worldwide,” continued Jaspers. “We are seeing a huge increase in demand for analytics solutions that create more visibility into brand performance and expect this to continue.”
Latana is not alone in space. Established rivals include Ipsos, Kantar and YouGov, as well as startups such as Attest, Streetbees and Quantilope. But Jaspers argues that few people focus on brand analytics, which is Latana’s specialty.
“Through our platform, we collect tens of millions of answers per month from millions of users worldwide,” Jaspers said – noting that the platform does not store personal data. “Now is a good time to raise [new capital] Because with tightening marketing budgets, the topic of marketing efficiency is at the top of the agenda for many companies and many brands are looking for solutions. We want to accelerate our go-to-market.
Oxx general partner and Latana board member Michael Johnson added in a statement: “Latana is disrupting the paradigm by providing brand marketers with accurate, timely and affordable brand marketing data powered by novel sampling techniques and advanced statistical processing methods. This presents an enormous market opportunity and we believe Nico and the Latana team are in pole position to build a truly large company.
Latana currently employs a team of around 70 people and plans to double the number of employees next year. The company’s total capital to date stands at €44 million ($43.75 million).


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There’s an unusual bit of good news out of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In March 2010 and again last November, the FDA rejected approval for a new medical device designed to help doctors detect cancerous skin lesions caused by melanoma, even though the agency’s scientific advisory board voted in favor of approval both times. But yesterday, the manufacturer, Mela Sciences, announced that the FDA had reversed course and agreed that the device is in fact approvable — pending agreement on labeling and the compilation of an appropriate user manual for physicians.
That’s good news. About 70,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma in the U.S. every year, and nearly 9,000 die from it. But it is nearly 100 percent curable if detected early. The question remains, however, what caused FDA to change course?
Unfortunately, it’s difficult for doctors to distinguish between skin lesions that are cancerous and those that are benign, so the detection process usually involves doctors making a judgement call about which lesions to biopsy based on their appearance. Highly experienced dermatologists are fairly accurate, but less experienced ones and general practitioners aren’t nearly as good. That, unfortunately, leads to a lot of false positives (unnecessary biopsies that are expensive and at times painful and disfiguring) and false negatives (lesions not biopsied that are actually cancerous). The MelaFind device aids in detection by digitally scanning a lesion using light from multiple wavelengths, including infrared, and then analyzing its appearance with an algorithm that factors in all the relevant characteristics. As an output, it essentially provides the doctor with a second opinion about whether any individual lesion should be biopsied. It can’t replace a doctor’s educated judgment, but it does provide a pretty good backstop against possible mistakes.
The FDA had cleared the clinical trial design and stipulated in advance that it would approve the device if it met certain goals. Nevertheless, the agency changed its mind after the results were in and rejected approval on the grounds that the device did no better than experienced dermatologists in detecting cancerous lesions. Like the dermatologists in the study, MelaFind did not detect 100 percent of the melanomas. And the study didn’t measure how well a typical (i.e. non-experienced) dermatologist would do while using the device. Essentially, the FDA was letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. The MelaFind was 98.4 percent effective in identifying melanomas, whereas typical dermatologists in a comparison arm of the study had just a 78 percent success rate. But if it couldn’t outperform the very best doctors, the agency seemed to conclude, it wouldn’t let anyone use the device.
At this point, a typical medical device or pharmaceutical company would have gone back to the drawing board or have given up the product altogether. Fortunately, Mela Sciences didn’t fold so easily. After the FDA’s initial rejection last March, the manufacturer filed a citizens petition requesting a reevaluation. And they also went public, charging the agency with changing the rules in the middle of the game. That drew a lot of attention, and the MelaFind controversy was featured in a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing this summer.
Fortunately, those efforts payed off. FDA won’t say why it changed its mind, but I don’t doubt that congressional oversight pressure made this kind of behavior untenable. Now, if only Congress would see this as an example of FDA’s systematically flawed decision-making and change the rules of the game, then we’d all be better off.


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After experiencing record revenues and growth over the last two years, semiconductor foundries are forecast to drop by 4% year-over-year in 2023, according to market research firm TrendForce.
Major IC design houses have cut wafer input for the first quarter of 2023 and will likely scale back further for the second quarter. During this time foundries are expected to maintain a lower-than-ideal level of capacity utilization rate in the first two quarter of the year.
In the second half of the year, TrendForce forecasts orders picking up for some components, however, the global economy may determine how much demand happens. Geopolitical risks that may also impact the supply chain include the war in Ukraine, issues with China and Taiwan and more.
IC design houses are preparing to lower the share of chip production based in China and the effect of this reallocation of foundry orders will be increasingly noticeable in the second half of 2023 and become obvious by 2024, TrendForce said.
According to TrendForce, 20 new wafer fabs will be built in the coming years as more countries provide subsidies to support construction and foundry makers begin a new era of regionalization after many years of semiconductor manufacturing being aggregated in Asia.
The U.S. will have five new fabs, China will have six, Europe will have four and another four will be located among South Korea, Japan and Singapore.
TrendForce said governments have quickly become aware of the importance of local manufacturing due to geopolitical events and the outcome of COVID-19 lockdowns. Because of this, foundries have a greater consideration for certain countries’ subsidy policies and their clients.


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More Google Nexus Tablet Rumored Confirmations
Where there’s smoker there must be fire, so they say and there’s a lot of smoke here. The Google Nexus tablet has been long rumored on the inter webs and more recently we’ve seen an alleged training document detailing both the looks and the specs of the upcoming pure-Android slate.
Now Bloomberg has it on good authority that Google will indeed announce its Nexus tablet at this year’s I/O, kicking off today. Furthermore, this time it’s not aiming at the Kindle Fire and Co. but “taking direct aim at Apple’s iPad, according to two people familiar with the matter”. The report mentions a $199 price-point for the tablet which will showcase the latest version of Android, dubbed Jelly Bean (or Jellybean).
The price above matches the one described in the earlier — training document — leak for the 8GB flavor (there will also reportedly be a 16GB variant too). The Nexus tablet is expected to pack a quad-core 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC, 12-core GeForce GPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB/16GB internal storage, WiFi b/g/n, NFC, seven-inch IPS display with 1280×800 resolution and a 1.2MP webcam.
Update: Reuters chimed in on the matter and is quoting an Asustek executive according to which the Google Nexus tablet will directly aim at and compete with the Kindle Fire. “It’s targeting Amazon. The Kindle is based on Google’s platform but with its own service, so Google has to launch its own service, too,” said the unnamed executive.


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Indianapolis is finally getting its own electric-car sharing service, a couple of years after the idea was first proposed for the Midwestern city.
Previewed last year, the BlueIndy service opens for customers today, using French-made Bolloré BlueCars.
There will be 25 locations throughout the city initially, with most hosting five cars each.
DON'T MISS: Indianapolis Electric-Car Sharing: We Drive BlueIndy's BlueCar (May 2014)
In addition, a station at the Indianapolis International Airport will host 20 cars, in the same parking garage used for traditional rental cars, according to the Indianapolis Star.
This represents the first stage in a plan to eventually build out a network of 200 charging and parking sites, and place 500 BlueCars on the streets of Indianapolis.
The airport site is expected to compete not only with traditional car services and rentals, but also ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber.
BlueIndy Bolloré BlueCar
Drivers with a $120 annual BlueIndy membership will pay $4 for every 20 minutes of use, while the airport will assess a $6 fee for cars picked up there.
That means drives to and from downtown should be significantly cheaper than taking a taxi, assuming there is no traffic, of course.
ALSO SEE: BlueIndy Electric Car-Sharing Parking Spaces Fought By Indianapolis Businesses
BlueIndy service will commence after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Cedric Bolloré--representing BlueIndy parent Bolloré Group--and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.
Ballard has lobbied extensively for the BlueIndy service, which has had its share of controversy.
As Level 2 charging stations began to be installed--in groups of five--at locations downtown recently, business owners began complaining that the sites would eat up valuable parking spaces.
BlueIndy Bolloré BlueCar
Members of the majority-Democratic City Council seized on the conflict to more broadly criticize Republican Ballard's handling of the program, claiming public parking spaces shouldn't be reserved for the privately-owned BlueIndy service.
MORE: Solid-State Batteries Already Powering Electric Cars: BlueCars, In Fact
Bolloré Group invested $41 million in BlueIndy, which is modeled on car-sharing services it operates in Europe. The Indianapolis city government contributed $6 million.
But perhaps a bigger challenge than politics will be getting citizens of the American Heartland to warm up to tiny electric cars designed for European cities.
Now that BlueIndy is officially open for business, it's time to find out whether this electric-car sharing concept can adapt.


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McDonald’s announces adult happy meals are on the way in collaboration with streetwear brand Cactus Plant Flea Market.
McDonald’s has been nailing every collaboration since branching out and partnering with artists and entertainers. Their collaboration with Travis Scott blew through the ceiling of artist and food brand collaboration causing social media users to rush to McDonald’s to eat exactly like Travis. In any public place such as malls or concerts, you’re sure to see at least one McDonald’s and Travis t-shirt reminding us exactly how big the collaboration was.
McDonald’s Announces Adult Happy meal Collaboration With Cactus Plant Flea Market
McDonald’s latest collaboration is sure to bring every adult back to their childhood with its new adult happy meals. For this collaboration, McDonald’s has partnered with Cactus Plant Flea Market. CPFM has a few massive collaborations under its belt as a clothing label. They’ve made merchandise for Kanye West for his Jesus Is King album and his Sunday Service Coachella performance and let’s not forget the highly sought-after Nike collaboration.
“We’re taking one of the most nostalgic McDonald’s experiences and literally repackaging it in a new way that’s hyper-relevant for our adult fans,” said Tariq Hassan, McDonald’s USA Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer. “I can’t wait to give fans a unique piece of art and culture as we dive headfirst into the dynamic world of Cactus Plant Flea Market together next week. With menu favorites like the Big Mac and McNuggets at the center of this collab, this is another way we’re reigniting a new generation’s love for our food and the brand.”
Of course, this collaboration wouldn’t be complete without merch. The merch will release exclusively on cpfmmcdonalds.com on Oct. 3 at 11 a.m. ET. The collection will only be available during a limited-time window, and of course while supplies last. The merch will consist of tees, hoodies, and collectibles to tell a story between two brands digging deep into nostalgia. You can get a look at the happy meal and merch below.


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That pot of gold at the end of Radiohead's Rainbows may not be as full as thought.
The band's ballyhooed In Rainbows, available only online at a price set by individual fans, may not be the paradigm-changing, label-killing force it's been hyped to be.
A new study says nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated they didn't pay anything for the download.
The findings were announced Tuesday by comScore, an information company that provides real-time measurements of Internet usage through a database of nearly 1 million Netizens. The company has permission to track all the users' Web activity. And according to comScore, approximately 62 percent of the people in its focus group who downloaded In Rainbows didn't kick in a single cent to what's been dubbed Radiohead's "honesty box."
The study was based on sales in the four weeks following In Rainbows' Oct. 10 release.
Those who did pay, forked over an average of $6 worldwide.
Based on its statistical sample, comScore found that Americans were more generous, shelling out an estimated $8.05 per download. Those abroad, mostly consumers in Europe, averaged $4.64 per download.
Some 12 percent paid between $8 and $12, about as much as what Apple's iTunes charges for a digital album. This group accounted for 52 percent of the band's profits.
Finally, 4 percent of the band's fans were dedicated enough to pay between $12 and $20—the same range as a typical brick-and-mortar record shop.
Still, according to comScore senior analyst Andrew Lipsman, Radiohead might be onto something.
"If [Radiohead] is getting $6 on average, and it's basically going straight into their pockets and their costs are minimal, it could be economically viable," he told E! Online.
Radiohead essentially needs to make $1.50 per download to break even, Lipsman estimates, so at $6 per buyer, the group still looks to make out pretty well with the scheme.
"The question is: How will new artists be able to use this [pay what you like] model in the future if they haven't built a fan base in the millions in the years leading up to the release of their album under [this] model?" said Michael Laskow, CEO of TAXI, a leading independent Artist and Repertoire firm.
Lipsman said that the comScore study revealed some interesting cultural differences in the downloading habits of American versus Netizens in the rest of the world, though predominantly in Europe.
"At least anecdotally, it sounds like there's much more of a music-download culture abroad," the analyst pointed out, adding that Americans' higher levels of disposable income might be one explanation.
Lipsman also pointed out that for every dollar consumers spent on download sales, they also spent $2 on Radiohead's $80 deluxe box set, which includes a free In Rainbows download, as well as a physical CD of the album, a bonus disc of eight additional tracks, vinyl records, a lyric book. The package is due to ship Dec. 3.
"It sounds like there will be continuing experimentation with this model," he added. "But the real question is: Was it worth it for Radiohead, and will there be more bands that experiment with it even without the notoriety they have?"
A rep for Radiohead has previously said the band would release sales figures at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Radiohead recently signed a deal with British indie label XL Recordings to distribute the In Rainbows CD in stores outside of North America on Dec. 3. The band is also in talks with a separate label for a Stateside release.
The band's old record company, EMI, meanwhile is trying to get in on the action. The label has announced plans to issue a seven-disc boxed set containing Radiohead's first six studio albums—from Pablo Honey to Hail to the Thief—as well as the live album I Might Be Wrong and original artwork by longtime collaborator Stanley Donwood for $80.
EMI will also make the catalog available in a limited-edition 4-gigabyte USB stick featuring the band's bear logo and CD-quality WAV files; it will also be available as a downloadable digital bundle.
Preorders for the boxed set are now being accepted at radioheadstore.com. The set will be available Dec. 10.
Radiohead has confirmed it will kick off a world tour in support of In Rainbows next May. In the meantime, according to the BBC, the rockers are gearing up for their first Webcast in five years on Friday, where they will reportedly talk about the new material and possibly play some songs.


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Nov 8, 2012 Retailers are trying to lure holiday shoppers earlier with guarantees that doorbuster items will be available.
Oct 18, 2012 Brick and mortar retailers like Best Buy, Target, and JC Penney, have an idea to compete with online rivals like Amazon. They are going to match their prices during the holiday shopping season.
Oct 11, 2012 The toy retailers will set up shop in two dozen stores for the holiday season.
Oct 2, 2012 This morning the National Retail Federation predicted modest growth for holiday shopping this year -- up about four percent -- and automakers are expecting another strong month of sales.
Oct 1, 2012 Several big retailers will increase their ranks of seasonal workers, as consumer spending picks up.
Shereen Marisol Meraji
Jul 20, 2012 For some companies, 30 days of fasting and reflection return profits.
Jan 23, 2012 This year's holiday season was slightly bigger by volume, but the week after the holidays saw a bit of a slide.
Dec 27, 2011 While a temporary deal has been reached in Washington, 2012 doesn't look much better in terms of bipartisanship. FedEx is set to raise its rates beginning in January. In Arizona, many non-industrial businesses are taking up space in warehouses.
Dec 27, 2011 A good holiday shopping season for most retailers wasn't enough to help ailing Sears, which will close around 100 stores in the coming months.
Dec 27, 2011 Following dismal holiday sales in a year that was strong for other retailers, Sears and Kmart will shut down over 100 stores.


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The new Singpass reframes the app’s role as Singapore’s trusted digital identity platform while allowing space for its future expansion.
Every Singaporean and resident holds an identity card as proof of one’s citizenship and identity. Now, they can also have a digital version on their smartphones by downloading the Singpass app.
While this Digital Identity Card (IC) was introduced in Singapore’s national digital identity app in May 2020, few of its then over 2.5 million users knew of its existence then. Singpass had also been associated with simply authenticating and logging into government services online. However, the service set up by the Singapore government in 2003 had always been conceived as a national digital identity platform.
With the rebranding of Singpass in early 2021 to mark its evolution of becoming Singapore’s trusted national digital identity, the designers at Government Technology Agency (GovTech) decided it was timely to redesign the app.


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Vineyard movement seeks to establish downtown church
The Park Rapids Planning Commission is being asked to decide if a church on Main Avenue would be preferable to empty storefronts.
Or, that board would have been asked Monday night. Two members of the commission, Jeff May and Janice Tidrick, didn't show up at the meeting, leaving the commission without a quorum or the ability to discuss its agenda publicly.
No subsequent meeting had been scheduled by press time Tuesday morning, By law the board must give 10 days notice to the public of a meeting.
Chair Richard Bradow apologized profusely to the audience gathered Monday night,
"It's kind of embarrassing," he acknowledged. "We really can't transact any business without a quorum."
Planning secretary Carmen Lockhart said she'd been phoning the pair for days with no response.
But the issue of a downtown worship center is stirring debate among merchants. Brett and Heidi Behnken, owners of The Lazy One, gave voice to what many merchants are privately murmuring.
Main Avenue "should be for retail stores and the like only," the Behnkens wrote to the Planning Commission. "Tourists come solely for the shopping and eating experiences on Main Street."
The proposed location of Lakes Area Vineyard Church is at 119 Main Avenue, which was the site of My Happy Place, and an adjacent building to the south that housed a Hallmark store that has since closed.
Brett Behnken said he took a "non-scientific study" of the makeup of Main Avenue.
"We have roughly 30 retail store fronts, 9 restaurants, 7 salons, 5 vacant buildings, 7 non-retail and 3 houses," his letter to the Planning Commission indicated.
"That is roughly 60 doors and 50 percent of those are retail stores," Behnken's letter states. "In my opinion, this number needs to go higher if we want to maintain our uniqueness and still maintain a healthy downtown."
Behnken suggested there were other locations in the downtown vicinity that might be more suitable for a church.
Church officials think downtown could be a "perfect fit" for the Vineyard campus because Sunday mornings few merchants would be open.
"Basically it's going to be a campus of Lakes Area Vineyard Church in Detroit Lakes," said church consultant Mike Meagher. "It will be our first campus. We're looking for a new location. We don't know if it's going to be a storefront. We're exploring that option."
Meagher said Robb and Sara Swanson "will be our campus pastors."
Robb Swanson owns Zhateau Zorbaz; his wife is a Park Rapids attorney.
Vineyard "is a church that was planted out of California in the 1970s," Meagher explained.
The founder was perplexed that Biblical teachings weren't put into practice in everyday life, so he started small groups out of his home that eventually grew into a movement.
The church that evolved planted other churches. The Vineyard is a "church planting movement."
It's evangelical, but in its own way, Meagher said. It would be a hybrid of evangelical and Pentecostal movements, but without the labels.
"It's a Biblical church and seeks to live out the Bible in a practical way," Meagher said.
Vineyard churches are known for their hospitality, relevant preaching and good music, Meagher explained. The movement or association of Vineyard churches, has spread internationally.
"Preaching that can be applied to our daily lives," Meagher added.
"We just want to bless the community," Meagher said. "That's what we've done here in Detroit Lakes and the city seems to love us here. We don't want to be a hindrance. We don't know if we will end up downtown."
Sara Swanson said she and her husband have had a Bible study group of around 20 people for the past three years that could serve as core membership for a new campus.
Swanson said she had heard rumors of misgivings from downtown merchants, but "no concerns have been brought to us."
Swanson, too, thinks a downtown church make perfect sense.
"Had we had the opportunity to say anything last night, we would have mentioned that," she said Tuesday morning.
"Our hope is if we do end up being located (downtown) that we would bring people to Main street at a time when it's not yet heavily trafficked and perhaps some people would stay and have breakfast or coffee" downtown. Other church activities would take place at night when retail establishments have closed, she said.
The Detroit Lakes Church has been there for more than a decade.
"The vision for our church is to experience God, grow in love and give it away," Swanson said.
As the Vineyard seeks to embrace the Park Rapids community, members hope the downtown will reciprocate.


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Gucci joined Parks, a nonprofit association helping companies to promote diversity and inclusion.
After nearly two years of falling retail sales, outlets are springing up — including the city's first luxury discount shopping complex.
Their posts and operative tasks will be delegated to the company’s namesake designer and to Daniele Corvasce.
Despite energetic p.r. to the contrary, the more we see during a 10-week pre-season, the less the fashion resonates.
The American skier will be among the celebrity models in the show, the official starter for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.
The group includes Prabal Gurung, Rodarte, Emilia Wickstead, Alexis Mabille and Anthony Vaccarello, along with three new designers.


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Gü Puds is celebrating solo diners in a bid to promote the launch of its ‘single’ serve desert packs.
The bold copy asserts Gü Puds are worth breaking up for.
Emma Rush, head of client services, Publicis Chemistry said: “There’s a real stigma around eating on your own. Pathetic, lonely, depressing… Or brilliant! We’ve created some engaging and humorous content that aims to inspire anyone lucky enough to have the chance to savour a solo pud moment.”
Chris Heyn, head of brand, Gü Puds, added: “This campaign has had us laughing since the first time Publicis Chemistry shared it with us. We’re looking forward to seeing what the humour and unexpectedness will deliver for our new Single Puds.”
Among the break-up lines are “You bought OJ with bits in? We’re done” and “That shirt with those shoes? We’re done.”


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The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday enabled launching of stores promoting school textbooks and electrical supporters, solutions of bedroom attendants of elderly people and community resources including boost amenities for pre-paid mobile phones throughout the on-going lockdown. The house ministry also said bread industrial facilities and flour mills based in metropolitan areas can restart surgical procedures through the continuous lockdown to fight the unique coronavirus outbreak. In individual purchases, the home ministry stated the decision has been considered after getting some inquiries with regard to exemptions of specific services and actions made it possible for through the recommendations issued to date.
Stores of educative books for college students, outlets of electrical enthusiasts will be capable to open up through the lockdown, that is scheduled to end on May 3. Bedroom attendants and attention givers of elderly people residing in their properties and public tools which include refresh facilities for pre-paid mobile connection is going to be permitted to offer you professional services, the ministry mentioned within its buy. Foods processing units like loaves of bread industrial facilities, milk finalizing vegetation, flour mills, dal mills and many others. , located in city locations is going to be allowed to work through the lockdown. Nonetheless, the ministry caused it to be obvious that social distancing for offices, workshops, production facilities and establishments must be made sure.


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Agricultural sourcing of ingredients for cosmetic and personal care has been all the rage in recent years, with many products often blurring the boundaries between food and beauty products because of the feedstock ingredients they share.
But with the growing problem of food commodity shortages and rising consumer food prices because of arable land shortages, researchers at Organic Monitor believe that the increasing reliance on agricultural resources by the beauty industry could open a pandora’s box of issues.
One of the principle driving forces behind the success of natural and organic cosmetic and personal care ingredients is the fact that they don’t use the type of harsh man-made chemicals that are potentially harmful, both to the individual’s health and to the environment.
Likewise, the use of plant-based ingredients is also flagged up as being environmentally responsible, because they are derived from renewable sources, which ultimately lowers the environmental footprint.
Ethical and ecological questions
However, Organic Monitor points to the fact that diverting agricultural land from food crops to crops used for beauty products throws up both ‘ethical and ecological’ questions.
The use of bio-fuels has led to much debate about diverting land use from food crops, exacerbating already pronounced shortages in worldwide food crop availability. This finger of blame could soon be pointed at the beauty industry for much the same reasons.
Given the rising worldwide population, particularly in the developing world, and the shrinking amount of agricultural land, this problem is expected to only get worse in the future.
Organic Monitor points out that the only way the industry is likely to successfully avoid being blamed for this is by ensuring that plant-based ingredients are sourced sustainably, in turn ensuring the land use is optimized.
Several of the big international ingredients players, cosmetics companies and retailers have already implemented initiatives to ensure that the industry is moving in the right direction.
RSPO leads the way in sustainable sourcing
One of the most significant and far-reaching industry initiatives has come from The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which has made huge progress in encouraging the beauty industry to switch to sustainable sourcing of palm oil.
This initiative is now supported by some of the industry’s biggest players, including L’Oreal, Avon and Unilever, and has established goals that will see many companies sourcing only sustainable palm oil by 2015.
Organic Monitor also points to the fact that natural and organic seals are helping to forge more sustainable sourcing of ingredients for the industry, while fairtrade initiatives also touch on this area, helping farmers in developing countries to employ more sustainable methods.
Likewise the issues of biodiversity and climate change are also helping to divert more attention to the sustainable sourcing of crops used for ingredients in cosmetics products, together with all other industries.
Ultimately, the researchers at Organic Monitor point to the fact that the sustainable sourcing of ingredients for beauty products will be a crucial insurance policy if companies want to avoid further blame for jeopardising food supplies.


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Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan is not worried about an economic slowdown, saying the U.S. consumer is still in a strong place.Banksread more
Target CEO Brian Cornell says he's encouraged by Trump's decision to postpone some consumer-oriented tariffs that were supposed to start Sept. 1.Retailread more
Corporate debt recently passed the $1 trillion mark in a continuing sign of global financial displacement.Marketsread more
President Trump insists the economy is healthy and says the only thing holding U.S. growth back is the Federal Reserve.Marketsread more
Target shares opened at record high after the retailer beat second-quarter earnings expectations and boosted its full-year estimates.Retailread more
Gluskin Sheff's David Rosenberg predicts one of the strongest parts of the U.S. economy will disappoint Wall Street and lead to a market meltdown.Futures Nowread more
Sanders' sweeping proposal would make it easier for workers to join unions and end the so-called right-to-work laws recently favored by the GOP.2020 Electionsread more
Germany has sold a 30-year bond with a 0% interest rate for the first time on Wednesday.Marketsread more
Morgan Stanley warns that "the wheels for a slowdown are in motion," adding that a slowdown in the manufacturing sector is spreading.Marketsread more
Lowe's also tops rival Home Depot on same-store sales growth in the U.S.Retailread more
* Soybean prices drop to lowest since December 2008
* Trump says in no hurry to sign trade deal with China
* USDA report confirms hefty grain stocks (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments to close)
CHICAGO, May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures sank to their lowest prices in more than a decade on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump said he was in no hurry to sign a deal to end the trade war with Beijing, a dispute that has slashed American exports of the oilseed to China.
Wheat futures dropped to their lowest price since January 2018 at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), and corn futures hit their lowest price since last September.
Trump's statement stoked concerns that the U.S.-China trade war will drag on, limiting U.S. agricultural exports. China is expected to retaliate against the United States for increasing its tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25% from 10% early on Friday.
U.S. farmers had been hoping for a deal that would accelerate commodity purchases by China and help reduce massive stockpiles of American soy.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday forecast bigger-than-expected domestic supplies of soybeans, corn and wheat, further pressuring the markets.
The USDA is not factoring a resolution to the trade war into its projections, said Dan Cekander, president of DC Analysis.
"They have no idea when there will be an actual agreement and you continue to trade it as if there is not," he said.
At the CBOT, the most actively traded July soybean contract closed down 0.6 percent at $8.09-1/4 a bushel. The contract's session low of $8.06-1/4 was the lowest since December 2008.
China is the world's top soybean importer. Until the trade war, it bought $12 billion worth of the crop from U.S. farmers each year. However, American shipments slowed after Beijing slapped a 25% tariff on U.S. soybeans last July as part of the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Friday that Trump had asked him to create a plan to help American farmers cope with the heavy impact of the U.S.-China trade war on agriculture.
U.S. soy shipments have suffered further this year as an outbreak of the fatal African swine fever hog disease in China has ravaged the world's largest pig herd, curbing demand for soybeans for use in animal feed.
"Price support is badly needed," said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst for Futures International.
CBOT wheat ended down 1.2 percent at $4.24-3/4, while corn fell 0.9 percent to $3.51-3/4 a bushel.
(Additional reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; editing by Steve Orlofsky and David Gregorio)


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“We are at the brink of massive digital acceleration” says Damien Perillat, our new head of the Global Online division of Ingenico since April of this year.
Bringing fresh insight and a wealth of payments experience, we spoke with Damien to learn more about his new role and the rapid changes in the global economy and payments landscape.
It was back in March that restaurants and bars were ordered to shut by the UK government to help halt the spread of coronavirus. However, after weeks of shut doors and takeaway orders, hospitality venues are now due to reopen to customers in July, providing they can enforce social distancing measures and keep their customers and staff safe.
Keeping customers safe from an invisible virus requires both staff and customers to take a considerable amount of extra care during service. And even after ensuring there’s plenty of space between customers, and staff are following the appropriate hygiene procedures, there’s still measures hospitality venues can take to ensure optimal cleanliness and maintain the positive customer experience.
The EU Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is more than just a piece of regulation. It’s an opportunity for eCommerce companies to innovate, remove friction from the customer experience and better control the data that drives their businesses.
Recent months have shown that e-commerce isn’t just a convenient way to purchase goods and services, it’s a vital lifeline for consumers.
On the Ingenico 40th anniversary, let’s have a look on the early years of the company short after Roland Moreno’s invention of the smart card in 1974.
As we continue to spend more time at home, we can find more ways to be creative. We designed these at-home activity sheets with people of all ages in mind.


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Microsoft's personal digital assistant, Cortana, has officially made the jump from the smartphone to the Windows PC.
During the Windows 10 launch event in Redmond, Wash., Joe Belfiore, vice president of Microsoft's operating group, demoed Cortana running on a Windows 10 laptop and tablet.
Cortana has taken on some new tricks for these devices, much more akin to some of the tasks found in Google Now, such as tracking your flights and sports scores for you, and anticipating other practical informational needs, like your calendar appointments. Cortana can also check the weather for you, and stores all this information into an at-a-glance panel called the Notebook.
Also taking a cue from Google, Cortana can autofill local desktop searches. You've seen this behavior in browser searches, but it's new to Windows in this form. More impressively, Cortana for Windows 10 can compose an email using your voice prompts, a peek into the other actions that we imagine Windows 10 users will be able to command with their voice. Naysayers wondering how accurate this is may get a boost of confidence knowing that the live demo went off without a hitch.
The assistant can also respond to more abstract verbal requests, like "Hey, Cortana. Find me photos from December." However, there are limits. To maintain a level of privacy, you can set parameters about what Cortana can and can't do, Belfiore suggested. "So I know what you know you've let me know, you know?" Cortana "said" to Belfiore in the on-stage demo.
Cortana's helping 'hands'
Cortana's is a real boon to tablet and PC customers who have envied the voice-activated assistant on Windows Phone. Here, Cortana is a time-saving convenience, and a break for sore typing fingers. More importantly for Microsoft, introducing Cortana to Windows 10 presents a chance to edge rivals like Apple's Siri and Google Now in bringing hands-free help to one of the world's most influential and most-used computing platforms, a community that's 1.5 billion users strong.
We'll bring you more details about Cortana for Windows 10 from the live demo area at Microsoft's event. Stay tuned!


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Denver Police have been keeping a close eye on the evolving cannabis market. A recent city report has revealed some intriguing findings that are sure to spark interest among both marijuana enthusiasts and law enforcement aficionados. According to the report, the Denver Police have processed a record-low amount of illicit marijuana. It seems that as the legal cannabis market continues to spread its roots, the illegal counterpart is slowly withering away. It’s like watching a weed being overshadowed by a beautiful, blossoming flower.
This decline in illicit marijuana is a testament to the success of the regulated cannabis industry. With dispensaries popping up like mushrooms after a rainstorm, consumers now have a legal and safe avenue to satisfy their herbal cravings. It’s like having a premium Apple store in the heart of Silicon Valley, offering the latest and greatest strains instead of iPhones. But what does this mean for law enforcement? Well, it’s a double-edged sword.
On one hand, the decrease in illicit marijuana means less time and resources spent on chasing down black-market dealers. It’s like a detective finally solving a case and having more time to enjoy a well-deserved cup of coffee. On the other hand, the report also highlights the challenges faced by law enforcement in adapting to this evolving landscape. With the legal market flourishing, it becomes increasingly important for the police to stay vigilant and ensure that all businesses are operating within the confines of the law. It’s like trying to catch a clever hacker in the vast expanse of the internet. As the cannabis market continues to evolve, it’s clear that Denver is at the forefront of this green revolution.
The city’s innovative approach to regulation has not only brought economic benefits but has also contributed to a safer and more transparent industry. It’s like witnessing a startup in its early stages, with the potential to disrupt an entire market. So, as the Denver Police process this record-low amount of illicit marijuana, they are also paving the way for a new era of cannabis consumption. It’s a fascinating time to be in the Mile High City, where the air is filled with excitement and the scent of progress.


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Global Republic launches app, aims to reach million customers in 2023
Global Republic, a fashion brand by Max Standard Stores Pvt. Ltd (Stanmax) have launched their App to fuel its growth and widen its reach across the country.
The brand claims to have more than 5000 downloads since the launch of its App and expects a million downloads by the end of 2023.
Global Republic sees huge potential for growth in the Indian markets and banking on its unique products coupled with affordable pricing to make deeper inroads in the country’s fashion space.
Commenting on the brand Dhruv Garg, CEO of Global Republic in a statement said, “At Global Republic, our core audience are Indian, and we design products according to their needs and demand. In our 40 years of experience, we know the exact requirement of the customer and we design our products taking Indian women and men into consideration.”
“Our customer-oriented approach has helped us achieve multi-fold growth in the last three years and we are looking forward to new challenges,” he added.
Global Republic currently has 10 standalone stores along with a presence in over 60 multi-brand outlets across India. The brand also sells through its website, stores, application, and social media.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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Tech layoffs were one of the biggest talking points in 2022, with around 1,500 tech jobs being cut in Singapore.
We shared about the companies that were affected by layoffs in 2022 and found a trend that the layoffs were mostly in part due to company restructuring, economic slowdown, and pressure from investors to be profitable.
While we are still fresh into 2023, we are still hearing much news on tech layoffs. We break down the cause behind the layoff, how much they are paying their employees, and how it affected Singapore workers.
Disclaimer: Companies included in this article are only based on media-reported layoffs.
Traveloka is an online travel unicorn that offers various products and services in the travel, local services, and financial services verticals across Southeast Asia.
The company has been trimming its workforce across different markets since January, including senior managers in Indonesia and at least seven managerial positions in Singapore.
The layoffs were not related to the performance review, and affected employees in Indonesia stayed "silent" out of fear of not receiving compensation.
The recent reductions in Traveloka's financial services workforce suggest it is refocusing on travel, which includes accommodation and transportation services, after having to adapt to the new normal during the pandemic, including launching e-grocery and food delivery services that were later terminated.
The company has raised significant funding over the past years and was valued at around US$3 billion in Q3 2020.
View all Traveloka salaries.
Indeed is a US-based job search platform that operates in over 60 countries.
The company has cut roughly 2,200 jobs across almost all of its teams and functions, which represents about 15% of the company’s total workforce.
Many Singapore employees have expressed their grievances online over the “major” job cuts in the city-state that have affected most of its local office.
The company expects the jobs market to continue slowing down, and revenue from HR tech will drop in the next two financial years, leading to the layoffs.
Total job openings in the US were down 3.5% year over year while sponsored jobs were down 33%.
View all Indeed salaries.
Accenture is a global IT services and consulting company.
The company announced it will lay off 2.5% or 19,000 of its employees over the next 18 months, with over half of the job cuts affecting non-billable corporate functions.
It was unclear how many of the affected employees were from the Singapore’s office.
Accenture stated it had to streamline operations to reduce costs in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, despite continuing to hire to support strategic growth priorities. The impact of the layoffs on employees in different countries was not clarified.
Crypto payments platform XanPool offers fiat-gateway software solutions for exchanges, wallets, and other crypto businesses.
XanPool has laid off nearly 40 of its employees, leaving an estimated headcount of fewer than 100 staff members. The company, which raised $41 million in funding last year, has also closed its offices in Singapore and Malaysia.
XanPool cited global market turbulence and a lack of funding options for startups as reasons for the layoffs. The firm had planned to use its latest funding to expand into Europe, North Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, but confirmed that the job cuts will affect its expansion into Latin America.
View all XanPool salaries.
GoTo was formed in 2021 in a merger — the largest in the country at that time between Indonesia's two most valuable startups, ride-hailing giant Gojek and e-commerce firm Tokopedia.
GoTo carried out another round of job cuts that will affect around 600 employees. It was unclear how many of the affected employees were from the Singapore’s office.
Around 12% of GoTo's workforce, which equated to 1,300 jobs, was cut by the company in November 2022.
GoTo has identified a number of teams that carry out similar functions and intends to combine various units within GoTo Financial's merchant business to establish a unified merchant services team.
Based on user submissions and past job listings, the salary of a Software Engineer at Gojek ranges from $8,000 to $15,800. On the other hand, the salaries of a Data Scientist at Tokopedia ranges from $4,000 to $20,000.
View all salaries of GoTo Financial, Gojek and Tokopedia.
Fazz is the Southeast Asian digital financial services group created by the merger of Payfazz and Xfers. In September 2022, Fazz raised series C money of US$75 million and received a US$25 million debt facility.
Fazz confirmed it carried out a layoff on 1st March 2023. The company did not reveal how many employees were impacted.
Affected employees received a severance package and notice period in accordance with local regulations, healthcare benefits for two months, financial and professional mental health assistance, and support to secure new employment opportunities.
Fazz shared that the restructuring initiative affected staff from all of its regional offices, and these efforts are aimed at shifting the focus to its core strengths – payments, credit, and stablecoins.
Google is a provider of search and advertising services on the internet. They are headquartered in California with over 78 offices in 50 countries.
An estimated 190 employees from Google’s APAC headquarters in Singapore were laid off on 16 February 2023. This comes after Alphabet, the parent company of Google, cut 12,000 jobs in January 2023.
The layoffs hit people from various departments including Google Cloud, Google Pay, HR and sales.
The layoffs were part of restructuring efforts into their core business as well as to venture into the artificial intelligence scene, similar to what Microsoft is facing.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Google based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Google salaries.
Dell Technologies offers the necessary technology infrastructure to help organisations develop their digital capabilities, modernise their IT systems, and safeguard their valuable information.
Dell Technologies shared that they cut 6.650 jobs on 8 February 2023. Dell Singapore also confirmed that the layoffs would impact 5% of Dell Technologies’ global workforce but did not mention how much of it would affect the Singapore office.
Co-COO Jess Clarke wrote in a memo to employees stating that the market uncertainty is their top reason for laying off employees in order to sustain their long-term goals.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Dell Technologies based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Dell Technologies salaries.
Foodpanda is an online food and grocery delivery platform owned by Berlin-based Delivery Hero and is headquartered in Singapore.
foodpanda conducted a 2nd layoff on 14 February 2023 after conducting a previous round of layoff in 2022. foodpanda did not disclose the number of staff that were laid off but shared that it affected staff across Southeast Asia.
foodpanda cited the challenging global macroeconomic environment as the reason for their decision to conduct downsizing.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at foodpanda (excluding managerial levels) based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all foodpanda salaries.
Daraz is an online marketplace that allows buyers and sellers to connect and purchase or sell a wide range of products.
Daraz shared that they were reducing their workforce by 11% on 6 February 2023.
CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen shared that the decision was made in order to achieve the company’s long-term vision in view of market disruptions in 2022.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Daraz (excluding managerial levels) based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Daraz salaries.
PayPal is a global online payment system that allows individuals and businesses to transfer funds electronically and securely, as well as process online transactions.
PayPal shared that they were planning to cut 7% of their workforce, amounting to 2,000 employees on 1 February 2023. This is their 2nd job cut after the first round of layoffs in May 2022.
PayPal was cited to be lowering their operating cost caused by the reduction in transactions due to the fall in purchasing power with the economic uncertainty and recession.
Based on user submissions and past job listings, the salary of a Software Engineer at PayPal ranges from $6,122 to $15,367. View all PayPal salaries.
Matrixport is a digital asset financial services platform that offers trading, custody, lending, and investment services for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
Matrixport announced on 27 January 2023 that they were downsizing their workforce by 10%. They had more than 290 employees in 40 countries. The job cuts were said to affect the marketing department the most.
COO Cynthia Wu shared that the move comes as a realignment of the company’s strategic goal in shifting towards a regulatory stance. This meant that they will continue to hire in compliance, legal and product development and reduce manpower in marketing.
Huobi is a global cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade a wide range of digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many other cryptocurrencies.
It was announced on 5 January 2023 that Huobi plans to lay off 20% of its staff. This amounts to around 220 employees affected.
Huobi shares that the layoff comes as a cost-cutting measure with the ongoing crypto winter. This comes after the founder, Leon Li, sold his full stake to Tron founder Justin Sun. Sun describes the move to be a short-term restructuring pain to move the company forward in the long run.
Crypto.com, established in 2016, has a customer base of over 10 million and offers various crypto-related services, including the fastest-growing crypto app, a crypto Visa card, an exchange, a DeFi wallet, and an NFT platform.
Crypto.com announced on 12 Jan 2023 that they were cutting its workforce by around 20% worldwide, which amounted to around 490 employees. This is their 3rd layoff since 2022.
Crypto.com shared that the economic downturn of the crypto market and the FTX implosion were the primary reasons amounting to the layoff. The company grew ambitiously in 2022 but is heavily impacted by the crypto winter.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Crypto.com (excluding managerial levels) based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Crypto.com salaries.
The following companies were affected by layoffs but did have any reports of Singaporean workers affected. Though its inconclusive to define their stance on layoff from the perspective of their Singapore offices, this serves as an outlook into the companies’ current situation globally.
Salesforce shared plans to cut 10% of their workforce on 4 January 2023 and close some of their offices.
Salesforce attributed the layoff to their rapid pandemic hiring. Additionally, businesses relying on cloud services are getting more conservative and trying to reduce expenses, which is hurting Salesforce’s revenue stream.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Salesforce (excluding managerial levels) based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Salesforce salaries.
A total of 18,000 roles were laid off at Amazon in January 2023. The company began letting its employees go in November 2022. The layoffs impacted workers from Amazon Web Services (AWS) too.
Amazon is reported to have conducted the layoff due to their overhiring during the pandemic. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also shared that the uncertain economy also played a part.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Amazon (excluding managerial levels) based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Amazon salaries.
Microsoft laid off more than 10,000 employees starting on 19 January 2023. Microsoft conducted layoffs in July and October 2022. Engineering roles were cut in the recent layoff.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared that the company is undergoing a refocus on their growth and long-term competitiveness. This was evident in their $10 billion investment in OpenAI later that month.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Microsoft (excluding managerial levels) based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Microsoft salaries.
Spotify is said to have cut 6% of their global headcount on 30 January 2023, accounting for around 580 workers.
CEO Daniel Ek shared that the company was too ambitious in investing ahead of their revenue growth and the layoff was in part due to pressures from investors to sustain their long-term goals.
View all Spotify salaries.
Zoom eliminated 15% of its global workforce on 8 February 2023, amounting to 1,300 jobs worldwide. Zoom operates across 5 countries (including Singapore), and not much information was revealed as to which region was impacted the most.
CEO Eric Yuan shared that the move was due to restructuring efforts after the company faced slower consumer spending after the pandemic boom.
Average salary ranges for the different positions at Zoom (excluding managerial levels) based on user submissions and past job listings:
View all Zoom salaries.
Meta is a technology company that is currently investing in building the "metaverse" and developing AI technologies for its products.
The company has announced another round of layoffs, this time 10,000 employees, as part of their "Year of Efficiency". The restructuring includes the closure of 5,000 unfilled job ads without hiring and the cancellation of lower priority projects.
The company aims to improve its organizational efficiency, increase developer productivity, optimize distributed work, and reduce unnecessary processes. The layoffs come after a period of excess hiring and will impact both tech and business groups.
The company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has also hinted at a reversal of their policy of promoting remote work for engineers.
View all Meta salaries.
We are sorry to hear that you were affected by the layoff. Over here at NodeFlair, we are determined to have you match with your next tech company by providing in-depth insights. Check out our Jobs page to look out for your next move.
To ensure the highest data accuracy and legitimacy possible for the community, we use payslips or offer letters as proof to verify the salary submissions.
Our team will vet through to ensure accuracy and publish thereafter if all is in order. In rare instances where there might be inconsistencies, our team will reach out to the user who has submitted for further clarification before publishing any data point.
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TORONTO — Ace Bakery and Hero Certified Burgers have teamed up in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Ontario Region (CBCF). From Sept. 28 to Oct. 25, diners can visit any Hero Certified Burger location in Ontario and purchase a burger on an Ace Bakery pink bun coloured with all natural beet juice.
“The ravages of breast cancer affect so many people. At Ace Bakery we feel strongly about finding innovative ways, like the pink bun, to raise funds for breast cancer research with the goal of ending such a terrible disease,” says Roy Benin, president, Ace Bakery.
Hero diners can upgrade their favourite menu burger to a pink bun or order the Think Pink Burger, featuring natural beef, raspberry goat cheese and a pink slaw. For every pink bun sold during the campaign, $1 will be donated to CBCF.


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Grand Banks Yachts plans to acquire Palm Beach Motor Yacht Co. of Australia, which builds five models ranging from 45 to 65 feet LOA. When the acquisition is complete, Palm Beach Motor Yacht founder Mark Richards will become CEO of the enlarged group.
Grand Banks will continue to build its yachts in Malaysia, while Palm Beach models will continue to be built in Australia. Both will be sold in North America, Australia, Asia and Europe. The United States is currently the largest market for Palm Beach models.
“With Mark as incoming CEO, this critical leadership role will be filled by a qualified boatbuilder with a deep passion and experience for yachting, combined with a proven track record of technological innovation and success in building and marketing boats internationally,” Grand Banks Chairman Heine Askaer-Jensen stated in a press release. “It is a rare combination and a remarkable fit coming at a critical juncture of Grand Banks’ own transformation.”
Richards founded Palm Beach in 1995. He is a seven-time champion skipper of the Sydney-to-Hobart race, he led Australia’s victory in the U.K.’s most recent Admiral’s Cup and he has represented Australia in two America’s Cup regattas.
Peter Poli, currently the acting CEO of Grand Banks, will continue as chief financial officer of the enlarged group once Richards takes over.
For more on Grand Banks, visit www.grandbanks.com.


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Apple’s (AAPL) employee-only memorial service Wednesday for Steve Jobs at the company’s Cupertino headquarters featured performances by Coldplay and Norah Jones, but it was a recording of Jobs himself that brought down the house.
In a haunting reminder of who Jobs was and what he meant to the company, Apple played a recording of its co-founder and former CEO reciting the lines to its famous “Think Different” commercial, which was created soon after he returned to head the company in 1997. “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers,” intoned actor Richard Dreyfuss in the original, while the commercial showed pictures of famous luminaries such as Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan and the Rev. Martin Luther King.
On Wednesday, with Jobs’ own voice uttering those words, filling the quad in the middle of its Cupertino campus where hundreds of employees had gathered, it was clear that the company considers him, too, to be one of those iconoclastic “crazy ones.”
“Suddenly you could hear everyone in the place trying to hold back tears,” said one employee who attended the ceremony. “It was the best moment of the day.”
The event marked a chance for Apple’s workers to remember Jobs, who, with Steve Wozniak, founded the company in 1976 and then led its amazing resurrection after returning to the company in 1997 after a 12-year absence. The event was broadcast to employees at remote offices and Apple stores.
Aside from the reaction to the reading by Jobs, who died of complications from pancreatic cancer, the mood at the service was festive, not somber, employees said. Speakers at the ceremony included Tim Cook, who succeeded Jobs as CEO; former Vice President Al Gore, who is an Apple board member; Bill Campbell, chairman of Intuit (INTU) and also an Apple board member; and Jony Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design, according to the employee. Jobs’ wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, attended the ceremony but did not speak, said the employee, who asked not to be identified.
Main campus scene
Apple workers lined up early in the morning to attend the memorial service at the company’s campus at 1 Infinite Loop. The ceremony began at 10 a.m. and lasted about 90 minutes.
People streamed in along De Anza Boulevard at the headquarters, many from the campus’ satellite offices, some carrying banners. Shuttle buses brought workers in from more distant locations. Many mourners carried their Apple notebooks to the service.
Thousands of Apple workers sat or stood in the middle of the company’s main campus in Cupertino before the beginning of the service. Other employees stood on balconies or patios overlooking the center common area. Hanging on the sides of buildings were at least three multistory-high pictures of Jobs.
Coldplay and singer Norah Jones both performed. Coldplay played four songs, the employee said, including “Fix You,” in which the group sings, “Tears stream down your face … and I will try to fix you.”
“It was so fitting for a memorial,” the employee remarked. “That was very sweet.”
The ceremony ended with Randy Newman’s song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” playing over the loudspeakers, the employee said. That was the theme song to “Toy Story,” the first feature film created by Pixar, which Jobs owned and ran until it was acquired by Disney in 2006.
At the conclusion of the service, employees said, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin told everyone to get back to work because that’s what Jobs would have wanted.
Later, dozens of employees gathered at a nearby BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, where several raised their glasses to toast Jobs. One employee said the event helped to give Apple workers closure after Jobs’ death.
During the ceremony, Apple’s stores closed or delayed opening. At the Walnut Creek Apple Store, the white curtain drawn across the windows drew the attention of passers-by. An employee opening the door for other workers said they could not speak with reporters.
‘He made it possible’
A handful of customers arrived around the usual opening time of 10 a.m. When told the store was closed so employees could watch Jobs’ memorial, Pittsburg resident Hameed Islam, who was hoping to set up a Genius Bar appointment, called the move an appropriate gesture.
“Steve Jobs made all this possible,” he said. “He made it possible for them to even be employed today. It’s nice to give them a moment of silence.”
At one of the company’s San Jose stores, employees, including some on their day off, gathered to watch a Webcast of the memorial. Though not physically at the event, the employees felt they were there, said one.
“We laughed, many cried, we clapped wholeheartedly, and we grieved the whole time,” said the store worker, who asked that he and the store not be identified.
The company, which has been displaying a picture of Jobs on the home page of its website since it announced his death, also began sharing some of the more than 1 million condolence messages that it has received, such as “Thank you, Steve, for changing the world,” from a fan named Julene.
Wednesday’s memorial service is the third since Jobs’ death. Jobs’ family held a small private funeral for him Oct. 7, and Sunday, Apple held a service for Jobs at Stanford that was attended by business, cultural and technology luminaries including Google (GOOG) CEO Larry Page, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Gore.
Although Apple executives and some employees attended Sunday’s service, Wednesday’s service is the first one exclusively for Apple workers.
Staff writers George Avalos, Jonathan Morales and Lisa Fernandez and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him on Twitter @troywolv.


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Blacks said on Wednesday that it had pulled the plug on a potential sale process as none of the would-be bidders came up with any reasonable offers.
However, the fact that Home Retail, which has been struggling recently, considered bidding for all or some of Blacks will fascinate the City.
Last year it was rumoured that Home Retail would be subject to a break-up bid. It was speculated that Asda, the US-owned supermarket, could buy Argos.
Now it looks as though Home Retail is seeing attack as the best line of defence. By expanding through acquisition, it could ward off any potential suitors.
It is understood that Home Retail received the information memorandum on Blacks and seriously considered making an offer for all or part of the chain.
"They ran the slide-rule over the company," a source said.
Blacks, which owns the Millets chain, said in October last year it was in preliminary discussions with several parties regarding either a possible offer for all or part of the company. It appointed McQueen, the advisory boutique, to advise its board on this matter.
However, Blacks said on Wednesday that none of the approaches was "sufficiently compelling" to pursue further in the context of the continued success of its ongoing turnaround programme. "The board has therefore terminated these discussions," Blacks said in a statement.
"The board is not aware of any parties with whom it has had discussions that are considering making an offer for the company at this time."
Other potential bidders included Lion Capital, the owner of AS Adventure Group, which is parent company to the Cotswold Outdoor chain.
Shares in Blacks fell 3 to 35.5p.


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@tiktok Our CEO, Shou Chew, shares a special message on behalf of the entire TikTok team to thank our community of 150 million Americans…
Fawry and Syrve partner to enhance F&B payments in Egypt
Fawry, the leading e-payments solutions and banking services provider in Egypt, has partnered with Syrve, an all-in-one restaurant management system, to introduce a seamless payments system and automated checkout experience to the food and beverage sector in Egypt.
This partnership was announced at the Cafex Expo currently underway at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in New Cairo.
Syrve, with a presence in 44 countries worldwide, offers a comprehensive restaurant management system that caters to the specific needs of individual establishments, including managing tables, stocks, staff, and payments.
By collaborating with Fawry, Syrve will now extend its services to Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, while Fawry will expand its market reach and deliver greater value to customers.
Heba El Awady, the chief business officer of Fawry, expressed her excitement about partnering with Syrve and bringing together their unique expertise and resources to serve their customers better in the F&B industry.
Alexander Ponomarev, the chief operating officer of Syrve, added that this partnership is a significant milestone for the company, and they see tremendous potential in working with Fawry to create value for their customers in Egypt and the rest of the MENA region.
Under the terms of the partnership, Fawry and Syrve will collaborate on a range of initiatives, including joint product development, cross-promotion of their respective offerings, and the integration of their technologies and platforms. The partnership will also involve joint marketing and sales efforts to reach new audiences and expand market share.
With a network of 36 member banks, its mobile platform, and more than 280 000 agents, Fawry processes an average of four million transactions per day, serving an estimated customer base of more than 39 million users monthly.
The partnership with Syrve will further enhance Fawry’s position as the largest e-payment platform in Egypt, serving both the banked and unbanked population with a wide range of digital services, including electronic bill payments, mobile top-ups, e-ticketing, cable TV, and various other services.
Meanwhile, Syrve’s cutting-edge technology solutions for the F&B industry cover all parts of restaurant operations, starting from point-of-sale (POS) and front-of-house features to stock keeping and forecasting. With its global presence, Syrve has already served thousands of restaurants worldwide and is now poised to offer its services to a broader customer base in Egypt and the MENA region.
This partnership between Fawry and Syrve represents a significant development for the F&B industry in Egypt and the MENA region. It will enable restaurants and other F&B establishments to offer their customers a more streamlined and convenient payment experience, while also enhancing their overall management capabilities.
With the continued growth of the F&B sector in the region, this partnership is poised to deliver significant benefits to both Fawry and Syrve, as well as their customers.
READ NEXT: Egypt’s Copal and Mastercard launch family payment app


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INSIDE LYFT'S SELF-DRIVING CAR
Instead of a smartphone with GPS perched on the dashboard, the self-driving Lyft is equipped with a small display that shows everything it’s seeing in real-time.
Cars, pedestrians, and other objects on side of road displayed as clusters of little blue dots, while purple route lines and yellow special indicators can also be seen moving around on the screen.
The cars communicate with small boxes mounted on the traffic lights, allowing them to understand the color of the light even when if they can’t ‘see’ it.
This works as a redundancy factor, to make the trip even safer, explained Nandita Mangal, who’s in charge of rider experience.
Whenever the car makes a decision, such as a lane change, it announces its activity to the riders.
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For the second consecutive year, the University's marketing and communications team garnered national recognition for integrated marketing projects that build on the University's "Smaller. Smarter." message.
Texas Wesleyan won four Collegiate Advertising Award medals, including two golds, for the following projects:
The Collegiate Ad Awards honor the nation's most elite collegiate advertising professionals for excellence in marketing. Texas Wesleyan competed amongst the likes of Babson College, Southeastern University and Stevenson University.
"These awards represent excellence – not only excellence in the judges' minds but excellence in results," John Veilleux, vice president for marketing and communications, said. "These most recent awards are representative of a cross spectrum of our work, as well as the talents of our diverse and gifted team members."
Last year, the marketing team won Collegiate Ad Awards for the overall advertising campaign, email marketing, brochures and website design. In 2012, they won recognition from the Higher Education Marketing Awards (HEMA) and from the American Advertising Federation Fort Worth Chapter, also known as the ADDY Awards. 2013 HEMA and ADDY Awards will be announced in March this year.
The "Smaller. Smarter." branding campaign first launched in 2012. The marketing and communications team aspires to raise Texas Wesleyan's visibility through a consistent brand message and deliberate communication strategy. Building on Texas Wesleyan's intentionally small message and working to fulfill the University's Strategic Plan, Texas Wesleyan's marketing team delivers measurable results.


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Tuesday 25 May 2021
Dubai has launched Food Tech Valley, an initiative that seeks to triple the UAE’s food production.
The initiative aims to create an integrated modern city that will serve as a hub for future clean tech-based food and agricultural products and an incubator for researchers, entrepreneurs, startups, and industry experts involved in developing solutions that have the potential to shape the future of the food industry.
The enclave will spearhead innovation and leverage collaborative networks to lead regional transformation and export knowledge on sustainable food systems globally.
It will support the use of technologies and applied research in food processing and agriculture and apply modern farming techniques – such as vertical farming, aquaculture, and hydroponics - to accelerate self-sufficiency in fresh food produce and reduce wastage of resources.
Food Tech Valley is the outcome of a partnership between the Ministry of Food and Water Security and Wasl Properties to explore urban planning of future smart and food-independent cities. Equipped with cutting-edge technologies, Food Tech Valley aims to achieve the objectives of the National Food Security Strategy 2051 https://thedubaiadvantage.ae/2021/04/11/dubai-approves-3-key-development-strategies/ and support a diversified knowledge-based economy.
Food Tech Valley will host vertical farms, an advanced smart food logistics hub, research and development facilities, and a marketplace. Driven by a circular economy model, the enclave will bring together companies, investors, and researchers in a sustainable agribusiness ecosystem to develop the latest aquaculture and hydroponics technologies. Over 300 varieties of crops will be produced in the new city using modern farming techniques and the latest agri technologies.
Through an innovation-based approach to food, the new site aims to enhance local food production, diversify investments, and advance research to align and influence future food trends and preferences. It will act as a global hub for startups, SMEs, and international companies with a wide range of expertise to exchange knowledge in the food industry.
The size of the agtech market is expected to grow from USD 13.5 billion to USD 22 billion over the next four years.
The enclave follows the basic principles of establishing flexible legislative frameworks for the food industry, leveraging joint collaborations and global trade networks to reach markets, and providing immediate and comprehensive services for food processing companies in Dubai at competitive costs.
With food and beverage investments in the UAE currently totaling AED 62 billion, Food Tech Valley will contribute to attracting further local and foreign direct investments in promising projects that help diversify the national economy and develop the supply chain and logistics services.