Dear TechAways readers,
I am Lucia, one of SEC Newgate EU’s healthcare enthusiasts, working alongside Kanika Kholi, Tim Edgar and Alba Xhixha. I am beyond excited to be this week’s guest editor of TechAways!
The team has been developing the company’s healthcare practice for years, building expertise across diverse fields and helping our clients achieve their policy and communication objectives. We have expertise in the areas of Bariatrics, Mental Health, Global Healthcare, Oncology, Gene Therapy, E-Health and more.
The start of the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of the sector and the need for a resilient and innovative healthcare system. The crisis triggered conversations inside the EU institutions on how to establish a digitally driven and accessible healthcare system. As a result of those discussions, the European Commission launched the “European Health Data Space” for better healthcare, research and health policy decision-making. The EU Digital Covid Certificate is another clear example of how Covid-19 merged the tech and health sectors.
Ever-developing technology has the potential to enhance both the healthcare sector and our lives. Tech innovations such as AI in diagnosis, VR for professional trainings or 3D printing are the drivers of the future of healthcare.
I am eager to continue contributing to a healthy European society and present the latest tech news powered by my colleagues below.
Love reading out-of-the-Brussels-bubble tech news? Share it with your friends and colleagues, they can subscribe here. Ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Send them our way!
#TechAways is brought to you by SEC Newgate EU’s one and only team featuring Julia Piwowarska, Jarek Oleszczynski, Josef Cutajar and Lucia de la Riva.
Aching bones 🦴 [Yahoo! Finance]
Nestled at the foot hill of Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii is an archaeological metropolis. When the volcano engulfed the city at its eruption in 79CE, its ashes perfectly preserved the skeletons of those who couldn’t flee the incoming disaster. Among them were the residents of the ‘House of Craftsmen’. According to a research paper published in May 2022, a team of researchers was able to sequence the genome of one of the inhabitants. For the first time, archaeologist decoded the mitochondrial DNA of a resident of Pompeii. The sequence showed that the male inhabitant was suffering a disease, which, according to one of the participating anthropologists: “would have forced him to have little mobility”.
A spam a day 📧 [TechRadar]
Working from home, social media and talkative colleagues are the top productivity killers out there. However, it seems that there is one extra addition to the list (and it’s not your child). The additional productive vibe assassin comes in the form of… spam emails. According to a Kaspersky report, employees who get between 30 to 60 spam messages spend around 11 hours a year sorting them out. The hours extend to 18 for a 100 spam emails. Generally, between 45% and 85% of all emails sent on the internet are spam. Considering the amount of our time it takes, sorting spam emails could be an occupation on its own.
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it 🗣️ [ArsTechnica]
TikTok community guidelines are like walking a tightrope, something mental health activists know all too well. While talking about conditions such as depression, eating disorders or suicidal ideation is permitted on the app, those conversations are often censored. To bypass the tricky algorithm, users replace letters with numbers or punctuation, or use replacement phrases; this way, depression becomes d3pression, and instead of committing suicide, one ‘unalives’ themselves. This phenomenon is not TikTok-exclusive, with other social media platforms like Instagram or YouTube being famously fickle with their content moderation. However, the trend raises concerns about stigmatising open conversations about mental health, unintentionally making them taboo again as opposed to raising awareness.
Could obeying bad human rules be worse than a machine uprising? 🤖 [The Next Web]
AI is often thought of as something deeply inhuman, free from the emotional chaos of the human condition, but also our flaws and prejudices. As it turns out, this idealised version of AI is far from reality — unwittingly, algorithms can amplify their makers’ biases without even revealing how they reached the decision, holding up a mirror to the distorted ways of thinking present in our society. This may cause further marginalisation of already-marginalised groups, leading to more wrongful arrests of Black people or child services unfairly targeting poor families. The Institute of Ethical AI’s Chief Scientist Alejandro Saucedo points to three ways these risks can be mitigated: explainability, accountability, and security.
About this week’s editor, Lucia de la Riva
I joined SEC Newgate EU’s Communications team earlier this year. I have had the chance to learn from the company’s healthcare experts and to dig deeper into this fascinating sector and its particularities. With an academic background in International Studies and a professional background in communications, I felt attracted to the dynamics of the EU bubble and decided to move to Brussels to see it up close. I am hopeful that technology and healthcare will continue to evolve together, and that guided by the EU they will make our lives healthier, happier, and more efficient!
In case you haven’t had enough
This Startup Wants You to Eat Ground-Up Chicken Bones [Wired]
Tamagotchi kids: could the future of parenthood be having virtual children in the metaverse? [The Guardian]
Bronze Age City Emerges from River in Iraq Amid Extreme Drought [Gizmodo]o
Companies Are Hacking Their Way Around the Chip Shortage [WIRED]
Research shows gender disparity in women e-scooter rentals [TheNextWeb]