For our weekly updates throughout August we will be focusing on one of BAB's portfolios and highlighting some of our members' thought leadership in this area. This week were are looking at Policy. |
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Members who work with us on our Policy portfolio |
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Companies/individuals who follow our Policy work as stakeholders |
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Been forwarded this email by a colleague? Become part of our Policy stakeholder list today! Sign Up
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Click the video above to learn more about Andrei and his role at BAB!
Andrei Cazacu, Policy Manager
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Andrei is BAB’s resident policy wordsmith and while most in the membership will have gotten to know him discussing topical and substantial issues around Intellectual Property or the Digital Services Tax over the last year, the rest of the BAB team would like you to know he is also an avid foodie and music aficionado, on top of his excellent knowledge across policy matters.
Over the last seven years BAB’s policy portfolio has grown in leaps and bounds thanks to an active community of members and the commitment of BAB leadership to strengthening the economic corridor between the UK and US. Our Policy Manager Andrei plays a key role by monitoring the policy landscape, collecting feedback on relevant UK/US issues which turn into BAB white papers, and maintaining our relationships across the UK and US governments. He works across these areas to bring our network together in focused meetings with policymakers and thought leaders to ensure transatlantic business has a voice through our policy engagements. On top of these activities, Andrei is the architect of the annual BAB ‘Policy Agenda’ which defines a set of priorities set by leading firms within the network for the year to come and informs BAB’s programme and advocacy work on both sides of the Atlantic.
The energy and activity behind BAB’s policy activity is at an all-time high as we support members through the UK-US Free Trade Agreement discussions and the future UK-EU relationship. If you would like to be involved with our Policy activity or learn more please contact Andrei here: acazacu@babinc.org
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Policy Activity from our Membership |
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EXXONMOBIL, GEORGIA TECH AND IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON PUBLISH JOINT RESEARCH ON POTENTIAL BREAKTHROUGH IN MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY |
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Scientists from ExxonMobil, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Imperial College of London have published joint research on potential breakthroughs in a new membrane technology that could reduce emissions and energy intensity associated with refining crude oil. Laboratory tests indicate the patent-pending membrane could be used to replace some heat-intensive distillation at refineries in the years ahead.
“Through collaboration with strong academic institutions like Georgia Tech and Imperial, we are constantly working to develop the lower-emissions energy solutions of the future," said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company.
“Inspired by reverse osmosis technology that has reduced energy intensity tenfold for water purification, we decided to look into ways to use new materials for liquids separation, which if brought to industrial scale, could significantly reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions,” said Swarup. “This is one of many new materials ExxonMobil is researching to reduce energy intensity and CO2 in our operations.”
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PWC's EMEA PRIVATE BUSINESS SURVEY 2020 |
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How do EMEA private businesses pass the agility stress test in unprecedented times? While private businesses in Europe, Middle East and Africa have seen a major impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agility is paying off in improved performance.
Focusing on resilience is as important as ever. The current operational and financial challenges that private companies are facing make this pandemic an agility stress test for their business models. Leaders whose companies have been able to combine flexibility with a focus on people, technology and their customers, “agility champions”, report better profitability and expect stronger performance in the future.
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MCGUIRE WOODS CONSULTING'S FEDERAL POLICY WATCH |
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The latest update looks at emerging technologies. This week: FCC requests comment on social media order as White House withdraws O’Rielly nomination; U.S. Justice Department asks court to block California net neutrality law; FTC Commissioners testify before Senate Commerce on Section 230, antitrust; Congress voices support for Open Technology Fund; National Institutes of Health announces new COVID-19 testing technologies.
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ARUP PRESENTS A FASTER (BUSINESS) CASE FOR CHANGE |
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The pandemic has offered everyone a chance to revisit and rethink their priorities. Many national governments are now enacting stimulus programmes, targeting infrastructure spending, keen to shore up demand and re-energise their economies. With big ambitions to ‘build back better’ (and greener), public sector organisations and authorities have a unique opportunity to decide which initiatives to progress, and turn infrastructure investments into local benefits at speed.
Spending (wisely) can be harder than it sounds. That’s why Arup have developed a new rapid decision making framework that can speed up the process of option selection, provide much needed transparency and deliver schemes that can deliver real community benefits.
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VULCAN CONSULTING FOLLOWS THE EU-UK POST-BREXIT TRADE DEAL |
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In only their second face-to-face meeting since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, EU and UK negotiators, this week, failed to make significant strides in the post-Brexit future relationship negotiations.
In the sixth round of negotiations between EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart, David Frost, the sides failed to reach a breakthrough on the key stumbling blocks: clear rules for a level-playing field for fair and open competition, fisheries, as well as the role of the European Court of Justice to oversee any potential agreement.
While the parties had “intense and useful” discussions on trade in goods, trade in services, energy, transport as well as police and judicial cooperation considerable divergences persist as the, according to Mr. Barnier, the UK Government continues to request single market-like benefits.
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THE RISK ADVISORY GROUP PARTNERS WITH AON TO PRODUCE THE TERRORISM & POLITICAL VIOLENCE RISK MAP |
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The country risk ratings draw heavily on proprietary data and represent the joint assessments of Risk Advisory and Aon. The map and its supporting analysis aims to provide a global overview of exposure to insurable political violence risks for businesses and their supply chains in 2020.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a turning point and will have widespread geopolitical impact. The socio-economic implications of Covid-19 are likely to be significant, creating complex security challenges long-term. Particularly hard-hit countries – such as those with a significant footprint in the tourism and retail sector, or where there are proportionally more deaths from the pandemic – have greater potential for civil unrest and government-focused protest regarding response and lockdown measures. Economic grievances may also incubate nationalist extremism or encourage the use of political violence at a sub-state or state level. Riots, civil unrest and extreme right-wing terrorism punctuated 2019 and this trend looks set to continue in 2020.
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BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP'S PERSPECTIVES SERIES LOOKS AT THE KEY DYNAMICS OF A GLOBAL RESTART |
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COVID-19 is a global societal crisis. BCG believe that the COVID-19 outbreak is first and foremost a societal crisis, threatening lives and the well-being of our global community. Society now, more than ever, needs to collaborate to protect people’s lives and health, manage midterm implications, and search for lasting solutions.
Leaders need to drive an integrated response to navigate the crisis. It is the duty of health, political, societal, and business leaders to navigate through this crisis. A complex interplay of epidemic progression, medical response, government action, sector impact, and company action is playing out. This document intends to help leaders find answers and shape opinions to navigate the crisis in their own environments. It encourages thinking across the multiple time horizons over which we see the crisis manifesting itself.
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INTERNET ASSOCIATION LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE |
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Internet Association (IA) launched its updated website, which includes features such as richer, more detailed policy pages and improved accessibility. The new site allows visitors to interactively learn about IA’s policy positions and offers deeper context on the internet economy’s impact in the U.S.
“IA member companies offer incredibly valuable services to U.S. consumers and businesses, and the new site highlights IA’s continued efforts to promote policies that protect the internet’s future,” said IA Interim President and CEO Jon Berroya.” The revamped website provides easily accessible resources for lawmakers, the general public, and other stakeholders that will help us achieve our policy and advocacy goals.”
IA’s updated website features include:
- An interactive state-by-state map detailing the internet’s economic impact
- Integrated policy pages that highlight the industry’s positions on issues like content moderation and privacy, and showcase IA’s work by making letters, filings, and other helpful documents easier to find
- Improved accessibility to better meet the needs of visitors to the site
- Faster and more accurate search capabilities
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ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES ASK IF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS THE ANSWER TO IMPROVING THE SELF-SCANNING EXPERIENCE IN OFFLINE RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS |
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More retailers are learning how machine learning algorithms can be used to maximise the return on their self-scanning solutions and optimise the scan-and-go shopping experience to match consumer expectations.
As the retail industry evolves and customer expectations are shaped by the capabilities of today’s online world, brick-and-mortar retailers must know how to offer a shopping experience that resonates with a shopper’s digital needs and expectations. With personalised content and service now a basic feature of social media, entertainment and e-commerce platforms, consumers have come to expect the same level of personalization in the offline world – in brick-and-mortar stores. According to The Harris Poll, over 37% of people will stop doing business with a brand that doesn’t offer a personalised experience.
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GROW YOUR TECHNICAL SKILLS WITH GOOGLE |
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Whether your're new to computer science or an experienced coder, there's something for everyone in the Google Technical Development Guide. Explore beginning and advanced programming tutorials, plus courses in cloud computing and machine learning.
Google have carefully curated a collection of materials from many sources, including Google, that can be used to supplements classwork or direct your own learning.
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COVID-19 Travel Updates and Business Resources from BAB |
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BAB is collecting the latest developments in travel restrictions between the UK and USA, as well as resources and guidance for employees and employers in both the UK and USA so you don't have to. Be sure to check back regularly on our website using the link below to stay up to date.
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