Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Fri, May 17, 2024 09:25 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Miguel Valdez

Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management, The Open University
Miguel Valdez began his career as a software engineer, went on to become a technology journalist, and is currently working as a Lecturer in Technology Management and Innovation in the school of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University.

Research interests
Miguel's doctoral research applied the Strategic Niche Management framework to study sustainable transport pilots in Milton Keynes, with a particular focus on the sensemaking activities that took place in organizations considering the adoption of electric vehicles under the Plugged-in Places programme. He further developed this understanding of cities as experimental spaces within the transport work package of MK:Smart, a £16 million smart city programme.

Through his research, Miguel has developed an interest in the ways in which different actors make sense of innovative technologies and develop competing narratives about the future of their city. His research has drawn insights from urban geography and innovation studies to interrogate how the experimental spaces in cities may facilitate the development of new knowledges about sustainable innovation, and on how such knowledges coalesce and travel. This research has been based on the qualitative study of policy and trade literature and on interviews and participant observation involving citizens, lead users, industrial actors and policymakers in local and national government.

Self-driving buses that go wherever you want? How the UK is trying to revolutionise public transport

Oct 02, 2023 06:24 am UTC| Business

Futurology is littered with predictions that failed to materialise, not least in the field of transport technology. In Edwardian times, when public transport was largely powered by horse or steam, a number of new concepts...

Electric Car Series

Millions of electric cars will need charging in future – but how?

Dec 17, 2020 11:10 am UTC| Technology

One consequence of Brexit is that Britain will desperately need a modernising industrial strategy. In Boris Johnsons mind, a key element of this is the recently announced green industrial revolution which included bringing...

Economy

What should you do if you can’t pay your rent or mortgage?

The cost of living crisis is making it difficult for many people to pay their bills, including housing costs. Private sector rents have increased by an average 9% over the year to February 2024, and rising interest rates...

Reducing energy demand and improving efficiency will help prevent the next gas crisis

Gas prices have relaxed, Europe has come out of the winter with record gas storage levels and a surfeit of liquefied natural gas is set to reach the shores of Europe over the coming years. Many commentators are hopeful...

Minimum wage for South African farm workers: study shows 2013 hike helped reduce poverty even though compliance was poor

Minimum wage policies are typically aimed at reducing poverty. Yet there is little direct evidence of this effect, especially in developing countries. And none for South Africa. In a recent paper, we consider the...

Gas is good until 2050 and beyond, under Albanese gas strategy

The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel through to 2050 and beyond. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuels uses would change over...

South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed

The South African governments Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan was launched in November 2023. It is a roadmap guiding the country away from reliance on coal-fired power towards renewable energy alternatives by...

Politics

Donald Trump Allegedly Offers Oil Execs a Deal to Scrap EV Incentives for $1B Donation

Former President Donald Trump reportedly proposed a $1 billion deal to oil executives, offering to end electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in return for campaign funding, according to The Washington Post. This move underscores...

US Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote with gerrymandered maps instead of fixing the congressional districts first

For the 2022 midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use congressional districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of Black citizens. A 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court in February...

Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections

Ahead of the European parliament elections in June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age of 18 to vote....

South Africa will be president of the G20 in 2025: two much-needed reforms it should drive

South Africa will play an important international role in 2025 as president of the G20. The G20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the African Union and the European Union. Between them they represent 85% of global...

What early 2024 polls are revealing about voters of color and the GOP

By the end of winter 2024, the return of Donald Trump to the top of the GOP presidential ticket has revealed a surprising trend in the former presidents base of support: his increasing popularity among Black and Latino...

Science

Why are algorithms called algorithms? A brief history of the Persian polymath you’ve likely never heard of

Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without...

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light

A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

Technology

Microsoft Integrates AMD AI Chips into Azure, Competing with Nvidia’s GPU Offerings

Microsoft announced Thursday that it will integrate AMDs MI300X processors into its Azure cloud services, offering a competitive alternative to Nvidias GPUs. Azures New AI Processing Power According to Reuters,...

Altcoins a ‘Relatively Huge’ Risk as Big Returns Fade, Analysts Warn Investors

Analysts caution that altcoins now represent a relatively huge risk, with the days of massive returns fading. Markus Thielen of 10xResearch suggests the high-reward era is over as crypto market narratives...

Bitcoin Has Best Day in 2 Months as SHIB to Get More Scarce with Shibarium

Bitcoin experienced its largest single-day rise in nearly two months, while ShibaSwaps expansion to Shibarium is set to increase SHIBs scarcity by boosting its burn rate. ShibaSwap Launches on Shibarium, Increasing SHIB...

Kia's Electric Pickup Spotted in US Testing, Targets Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning

Kias upcoming electric pickup, designed to rival the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, and Ford F-150 Lightning, has been spotted testing in the U.S., marking a significant step in its development. Kias Strategic Move into...

OpenAI Strikes Deal with Reddit to Bring Content to ChatGPT, Boosting Stocks

OpenAI and Reddit announced a partnership on May 16 to integrate Reddit content into ChatGPT, enhancing the chatbots capabilities and driving Reddits stock up 12% in extended trading. Reddit Diversifies Beyond...