Author: Gert Christen

Climate Change As A Business Opportunity

Published by Gert Christen

The most enormous business opportunity since the invention of the PC! In the face of the unprecedented challenges posed by climate change, a new frontier of business opportunities emerges, where sustainability and profitability intertwine to shape a better future for our planet and economy. Computers were the source of the 20th century’s wave of growth and prosperity. Climate change is the equivalent opportunity for the 21st century. Innovation and entrepreneurship are the keys to unlocking it. Tackling issues as significant as climate change can seem daunting. Still, our most fantastic opportunity lies in leveraging the knowledge and tools we already use every day, tools that are in our pockets right now! In our connected world – which we have spoken about extensively in past Digigram newsletters – our always-on lifestyles can and should intersect with sustainability in big and small ways. Climate change is not about lamenting and tree-hugging. It is about creating innovations and taking them to market thru entrepreneurship. Using today’s tools, we can effectively address climate change challenges. In November 2021, President …

Gert’s Digigram Newsletter of May 2023!

Published by Gert Christen

Happy May! Spring has sprung and the flowers in California are blooming – so much so, that you can even see them from space! As the spring semester is winding down and I will be back at UC Berkeley in just a few months for my class on Connected Life, I want to center this edition around all the ways that a connected life affects us daily, even in ways that we don’t always see. In this edition of Digigram: #1: Connected Life. Online. Everybody, everything, everywhere, all the time: Everybody and everything is now online all the time. This is how a majority of us live our lives today: Connected! This is enabled by technologies. Innovations that were once a pipedream of human ingenuity relegated to sci-fi novels and utopian thought exercises are now our daily reality. But in creating these solutions, questions, and considerations arise. Will these technologies really enhance everyday life for everybody? #2: A deeper look at the humanitarian impacts of a connected life: What is the role of entrepreneurs in creating …

State of the Metaverse… metawhat???

Published by Gert Christen

Remember when there was a lot of buzz about the metaverse? But ask a random person on the street today what it all means, and you’ll get dozens of different answers. There is definitely less buzz around the “metawhat???” Mark Zuckerberg promised us a network of virtual worlds that are interconnected and that would allow us to interact with each other and with digital objects in a seamless and immersive manner. This would leverage virtual reality, and augmented reality, and would revolutionize industries. Or would it? Companies like Meta (or the artist formerly known as Facebook) have seemingly gone all in on the metaverse, but it seems like their biggest use case thus far has been virtual reality conference rooms.  What happened to the promised revolution?Who asked for this? And how is the Metaverse coming along? So far, the payoff hasn’t been very solid. According to a recent report, most people don’t care about the metaverse – unless it’s in a gaming context. And some gaming applications are pretty cool, and are gaining popularity such …

Connected Life: Utilizing Next-Gen Technologies for Humanitarian Action

Published by Gert Christen

As we explore a connected life, our society is still trying to comprehend how digital technology plays a role in creating life-changing and life-saving solutions that would not have been possible even 5-10 years ago. What is the role of entrepreneurs in creating technology that can solve some of the hardest problems in the world, such as humanitarian law and policy, or environmental impact? With the incredible advances in connected technologies built on systems like the blockchain, digitalization has become a priority not only in the tech sector but also for organizations providing solutions for uses with extremely high stakes, such as humanitarian relief in conflict areas. A colleague of mine, Yannick Heiniger, is currently working as a Senior Technology Diplomacy and Cyber Advisor for the Swiss foreign ministry in San Francisco. Yes, Silicon Valley’s tech companies have become so important that countries send diplomats to the Bay Area. Denmark started the trend by appointing a “Tech Ambassador” and Switzerland’s consul general in San Francisco also has the rank of an ambassador. Why? Because in …

Connected Life. How everybody, everything being online everywhere, all the time is changing our lives.

Published by Gert Christen

By 2025, we will have over 27 billion IoT devices connected to the internet – that’s more than three devices for each person living on Earth. And two-thirds of these persons own a smartphone, which makes them also constantly connected to the internet. No doubt: Everybody and everything is now online all the time. This is how a majority of us live our lives today: Connected! And enabled by technologies.  Never before has the world, its infrastructure, and the people who live here been more connected, and personalization is helping to drive tailored experiences for people while connectivity technologies are helping companies create new products, deliver better services anywhere in the world and realize efficiency gains never thought possible on a massive global scale. These innovations that were once a pipedream of human ingenuity relegated to sci-fi novels and utopian thought exercises are now our daily reality. But in creating these solutions, questions, and considerations arise. Will these technologies really enhance everyday life, and for everybody? Is the rapid growth of e.g. mobile, AI, and …

Digigram Newsletter of March 2023!

Published by Gert Christen

Welcome back, and greetings from Switzerland! I am currently visiting family and meeting with some very exciting clients of USA Launching Pad. There are many exciting things on the horizon, so stay tuned for future issues of this newsletter to hear more. In this edition of Digigram: #1: The Empire Strikes Back: Google announced a ChatGPT competitor. ChatGPT is the hottest generative AI innovation, and with Microsoft integrating ChatGPT into its enterprise product suite, other companies have to follow suit with their own AI systems. Unsurprisingly, then, Google recently announced its own AI chatbot service, Google Bard. What WAS surprising is that Google is bringing back their “Covid-semi-retired” co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page from their islands to lead the charge! What is next for Google, how will the other tech giants leverage AI chatbots for their own missions, and who will end up on top? Some predictions. #2: Browser wars reloaded: The emergence of ARC – can the new browser company break into the market against Google’s Chrome or Apple’s Safari? I tried out the service …

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What Does It Take to Create to a Circular Economy?

Published by Gert Christen

According to most recent estimations, over 300 million tons of petroleum-based plastics are produced annually. These plastics are used in a wide range of products, from packaging materials to electronics and vehicles. However, a significant amount of plastic waste ends up in landfills, where it can take centuries to break down, leading to pollution of the surrounding soil and waterways, as well as harm to wildlife that may ingest or become entangled in the plastic. A large amount of plastic waste also ends up in the ocean, where it harms marine life and disrupts ecosystems. It is estimated that by 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight. Sure, efforts are being made to reduce plastic waste, such as recycling programs and the development of biodegradable plastics. However, these solutions are not perfect and face challenges including contamination and lack of infrastructure for collection and processing. For the curious, there are a couple of ways you can handle plastic from a biochemical standpoint: Traditional Method, which involves melting plastics and …

ARC browser analysis

Published by Gert Christen

Google might be just beginning the race in the AI wars, but in the battle for maintaining its place as the preferred browser, a new competitor surfaced. ARC is a new entrant into the web browser market that claims to be a more private, more secure, and faster browser than the dominant competitors. Some of the most attractive features are built-in blockers for cookies by default and lightning-fast page load times that create a more responsive browsing experience. Because ARC is built with security in mind, it has also built-in anti-phishing protection, built-in malware scanning, and sandboxing to prevent malicious code from affecting the system. It’s highly customizable and offers the ability to change appearance, keyboard shortcuts, and other features. Can it really take on Google Chrome with over 70% market share? It depends. To compete effectively, ARC will need to offer some compelling features that you can’t find on other browsers and require significant marketing and outreach efforts to build its user base. I tried ARC, and it does well on features despite limitations! It …

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Google Takes on ChatGPT

Published by Gert Christen

nless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve heard about ChatGPT. ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. It is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models and has been fine-tuned using both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. Microsoft is ALL IN on AI, and was the first to partner and invest in ChatGPT, and just confirmed another investment into ChatGPT, rumored to be around $10 Billion. Artificial intelligence has the potential to change the landscape when it comes to how tech giants compete with each other, and some experts believe there will be a competitive AI landscape as companies seek ways to optimize business operations with machine learning. Microsoft announced the integration of ChatGPT into their BING search engine. A brilliant move by Microsoft to change the competitive situation in the search market! Which obviously raised alarms at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View: You dare go after Google in search, you better dress warm! We didn’t have to wait long at all for the reply: Google announced …

Digigram Newsletter of January 2023!

Published by Gert Christen

Welcome back to DIGIGRAM! Thanks to those who read our last issue and inquired about USA Launching Pad and the recent Connected Life class at UC Berkeley. Excited to share that the next USA Launching Pad starts in March, and Connected Life will make a comeback in the fall semester (it was voted the second-most popular startup class at UC Berkeley, woohoo!). 2023 is off to a stormy start – literally! San Francisco just recorded the wettest 22-day period since 1862. It was so wet that it saturated sand dunes, which gave way to drop a world-war II bunker onto the beach below. Looks like a scene from the “1941” movie! Luckily, the sun has finally returned to dry out a soaked California. Photo: “Relocated” bunker at Fort Funston (Source) In this edition of Digigram: #1: MIT & Climate Energy Prize – This long-running competition for student-led climate startups is solving some of the biggest issues facing our environment. Hear from this year’s organizing team about how promising young people from the world’s best universities fight climate change today. #2: …