This week:

In this first issue of 2025, it’s time…

3 – To update your PESTLE analysis

2 – To realise tech billionaires aren’t just influencing tech

1 – To reconsider Get Smart’s “Cone of Silence”!

 

3 – It’s time to update your PESTLE analysis

“2025 promises to continue a trend of rapid change, with the sheer scale of such shifts being the top risk.”

Summary: A recent blog post by Steptoe discusses emerging risks for businesses in 2025. Key risks for 2025 include geopolitical instability (Do I need to provide the obvious example here?), economic volatility (Arising from the geopolitical situation that was just mentioned), technological disruptions (e.g. Have you heard of AI?), and climate change (e.g. While Ireland freezes, Los Angeles burns). The report provides insights into how these risks could affect global markets and offers strategies for mitigation.

So what? There are many political, economic, sociological, technological, legal, and environmental risks emerging or increasing in 2025. If only there was some way for an organisation to analyse and plan for these PESTLE risks..

Source: Steptoe

 

 

2 – It’s time to realise tech billionaires aren’t just influencing tech

“Having established power over Republican politics in the US, [Musk] is now intervening in European politics—and is himself becoming a leader of the international far right.”

Summary: Wired recently published an article on Elon Musk’s increasing influence on global politics. Recent examples include his refusal to block accounts on X that were violating Brazilian laws, his praise for Argentina’s austerity policies (despite rising poverty rates), his spreading of false rumours about conspiracies in the UK, and a recent livestream with a German far right leader. And yet it’s no surprise that his dealings with Italy’s right-wing government suggest that his political interventions often align with his business interests.

So what? We are what we (eat) read / watch / listen to. Putting this story alongside a recent announcement by another tech billionaire that Facebook and Instagram will no longer fact-check any content published on these platforms, we all need to be careful about what we read, watch, and listen to in 2025.

Source: Wired Magazine

 

1 – It’s time for Get Smart’s Cone of Silence.

“Apple has agreed to pay $95m in cash to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit claiming that its voice-activated assistant Siri violated users’ privacy, listening to them without their consent.”

Summary: Apple has agreed to a $95 million settlement in response to a class-action lawsuit that alleged Siri recorded conversations without users’ consent and shared those recordings with advertisers. The lawsuit claimed that Siri’s microphone was turned on without users’ knowledge, with Apple insiders suggesting it could be activated by something as simple as the sound of a zipper. One individual has accused Apple of recording their confidential conversations with their doctor. Apple continues to deny the claims, and this $95 million settlement represents 9 hours of profit. A similar case involving Google’s Voice Assistant is also pending.

So what? Whatever the tech companies claim, there are frequent stories about smart speakers and smart assistants ‘accidentally’ overhearing our conversations. It’s clearly time for Get Smart’s “Cone of Silence“!

Source: The Guardian