Efforts to curb carbon emissions are falling short ‒ and geoengineering is again in the spotlight. Will governments end up tinkering with Earth’s thermostat?
The overall objective of the future of crop protection project is to present an overview of crop protection options for European farmers to enable them to work sustainably while securing food production, preserving biodiversity and supporting farmers' incomes. The policy options proposed are based on an assessment of current and emerging crop protection practices and their impact on the common agricultural policy (CAP) objectives. This overview shows that several crop protection practices are under ...
Given the central role that online platforms (OPs) play in the digital economy, questions arise about their responsibility in relation to illegal/harmful content or products hosted in the frame of their operation. Against this background, this study reviews the main legal/regulatory challenges associated with OP operations and analyses the incentives for OPs, their users and third parties to detect and remove illegal/harmful and dangerous material, content and/or products. To create a functional ...
This report addresses the nature, scope and possible effects of digital automation. It reviews relevant literature and situates modern debates on technological change in historical context. It also offers some policy options that, if implemented, would help to harness technology for positive economic and social ends. The report recognises that technological change can affect not just the volume of work but also its quality. It identifies threats to job quality and an unequal distribution of the risks ...
The report provides an in-depth overview of the social, political and economic urgencies in identifying what we call the ‘new surveillance workplace’. The report assesses the range of technologies that are being introduced to monitor, track and, ultimately, watch workers, and looks at the immense changes they imbue in several arenas. How are institutions responding to the widespread uptake of new tracking technologies in workplaces, from the office, to the contact centre, to the factory? What are ...
Thermal imaging cameras are currently being installed in office buildings, hospitals, shopping malls, schools and airports as a means of detecting people with fever-like symptoms. Given that these cameras are not necessarily designed to operate as medical devices, there are questions about their suitability in the context of the current pandemic. This note provides an overview of the use of thermal imaging empowered with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, its suitability in the context of ...
With its recent European Green Deal framework, the EU is striving to achieve climate neutrality in its economy by 2050 and, simultaneously, bring itself on the path of recovery from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology will inevitably play a significant part in this process. However, historical experience tells us that culture and aesthetic have too had significant roles in recovery from a crises, be it war, economic recession, or an epidemic.
As artificial intelligence (AI) companies and other organisations are seeking ways to comply with ethical principles and requirements, blockchain, under specific circumstances, could be seen as a means to safeguard that AI is deployed in an ethically sound manner.
As happens with all applications of AI, autonomous vehicles require abundant data. Information external to the vehicle is crucial as it needs to know the structure of the road and the presence of obstacles or other vehicles in its path. Internal information is also essential, as the vehicle needs to know its own status and the reliability of critical elements, such as brakes. Even if autonomous vehicles need to detect traditional signals and allocate uncertainty areas while sharing the public thoroughfare ...
Thermal imaging cameras are currently being installed in office buildings, hospitals, shopping malls, schools and airports as a means of detecting people with fever-like symptoms. Given that these cameras are not necessarily designed to operate as medical devices, there are questions about their suitability in the context of the current pandemic. This note provides an overview of the use of thermal imaging empowered with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, its suitability in the context of ...