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Michael Winrow

Michael Winrow is a freelance writer covering technology and business for publications such as BBC news.

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QR code containing many everyday items such as a coat hanger, microwave and shopping cart.

COVID-19 made QR codes huge, but what’s their future?

  • Digital transformation
  • min read
    • If you've visited a restaurant or store recently, chances are you've seen and used the ubiquitous small squares that make up a QR code. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the small squares that make up a QR code became ubiquitous. Our exposure to these codes was never higher, nor their value clearer. But how did we get here? Why are QR codes today's technology of choice for navigating our lives? Let's step back to Japan, 1994. Where QR codes began Automotive components manufacturer Denso Wave had a frustrating problem on their supply line. They were using bar codes on their components that workers had to scan for information they needed. But bar codes became limiting for the company because of the small amount of information each could hold. The company gave one of their young engineers, Hara Masahiro, the task of developing a solution. Bar codes are one-dimensional (read along one axis,) but Masahiro's creation was two-dimensional: Read horizontally and vertically. It increased the information held from just 20 characters to 7,000. The speed these new codes introduced to manufacturing created its own problem. Technologist Simon Raik-Allen explained it to me like this: "Imagine a conveyor belt with all the products going past. You want a camera to see which products are where. If they go too fast, the camera won't read it." Since then, eagerness to adopt QR codes in business and personal lives has varied. Asia has been the keenest adopter, with QR codes playing a central role in digital payments. In China, consumers use WeChat or Alipay apps to make some 90 percent of mobile payments, and both use QR codes to facilitate the transaction. In Africa, M-Pesa has started to incorporate QR codes into its text message banking service. In Europe and North America, uptake had been less enthusiastic – until now. A 2015 TechCrunch article called QR codes "frustrating" and a "laughing stock." Brands eager to plaster QR codes wherever they could and the likes of QR code tattoos led to perception the codes were a gimmick. The user needing to download a QR code scanning app may have contributed to this sense of needless novelty. In 2017 things changed. Phone manufacturers began incorporating QR code scanners into camera apps so users didn't need to download an app. Improvements in mobile technology letting scanned links open more quickly also played a part, according to Joe Waters, author of QR Codes for Dummies. These improvements planted the seed that allowed the technology's quick adoption in the pandemic when the need became clear. Waters says, "People now want as little contact as possible with everyday objects that may spread germs." This poses a novel question: Will our newfound familiarity with QR codes lead to new uses in the coming months and years? How should business and tech leaders be thinking about QR codes? The Future of QR codes Large retailers like Amazon have started experimenting with QR codes to track and for payment in their physical stores. But opportunities are opening for retailers of all sizes, especially around demonstrating sustainability and environmental credentials. Fashion label Another Tomorrow uses QR codes on labels to give consumers more information on the clothing item's sustainability. Provenance uses blockchain to make supply chains transparent, with QR codes for consumers to see evidence of what the brand claims. The 2021 'right to repair' EU law means consumer electronics manufacturers must add a QR code for more information on the product, like how loud it is. Securing QR code-reading for business Data security is a pressing concern with widespread adoption of QR codes. Consumers and businesses may not have known the security risks as they rapidly adopted the technology in the past 12 months. David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky, says "A tainted QR code might ask a user to download a malicious app containing malware. The malware could then steal personal information." Businesses can reduce their risk by using a reputable, up-to-date QR code scanner. It also pays to raise awareness among staff and customers of malicious QR codes, for example, advising they consider whether a code looks tampered with before scanning it. The battle for a new technology's acceptance is won when the audience understands what it does that no other technology can do. The pandemic gave the QR code a chance to show it was no gimmick. Business should expect to see QR codes used more widely and creatively, and consider how those game-changing 7,000 characters could help them do business better.
post covid circular economy

How the post-COVID economy can change from a line into a circle

  • Emerging tech
  • min read
    • Around the globe, government thinking is turning to how to rebuild national economies after long closures during the pandemic. This rethink means a chance to restructure economies, aiming for a swift bounce-back but also addressing greater challenges, like climate change and waste. Alongside the post-Covid economic rethink, it may be the right time to 'go circular,' with emerging and proposed technology on the horizon that could speed the transition. What is a circular economy? Today, economic growth has a 'take-make-waste' pattern: We extract resources from the environment, use them to make products, then dispose of products and manufacturing waste in landfill. Circular economies by contrast, incentivize reusing resources and reducing waste at each step. Co-Chair of UN International Resource Panel Janez Potočnik said a circular economy is how we could achieve "prosperity in a world of finite resources." And it's a big change, as Georgia Sherwin, a director at investment firm Closed Loop Partners told me: "The circular economy is the most significant restructuring of global commerce since the industrial revolution." Leading circular economy proponents The Ellen MacArthur Foundation say the circular economy has three parts. First, it limits natural resource extraction to what is needed, reducing the release of greenhouse gases and other pollution in the process. Second, it makes sure products and materials stay usable for as long as possible. Third, once goods are no longer usable, it has mechanisms to safely return biological resources to the natural environment and to make sure technical resources (like electronics) are reused in other products. New technology reducing industry waste It sounds great, but how does the circular economy work in practice? In construction, Building Information Modelling technology helps builders make more accurate models of buildings to be demolished. This makes it easier to salvage valuable materials and reuse parts of an existing structure. Aviation is developing a similar solution. "We're working with an aircraft engine manufacturer to develop a digitally enabled 'passport' that helps identify and value materials, components and parts," Professor Fiona Charnley, Associate Professor of Circular Economy at University of Exeter, UK tells me. "It means more intelligent decision-making based on economic and environmental value of materials, and more effective use of aircraft parts between lifecycles." A circular economy would also ensure less food waste. Some estimates suggest reducing food wastage could be worth at least 155 billion US dollars by 2030. Now in 15 countries, Too Good To Go is an app that lets companies like restaurants, bakeries and hotels sell surplus food cheaply online when it would otherwise have to be thrown away. Dynamic pricing uses AI to adjust supermarket prices, automatically discounting short-dated goods, reducing food waste 39 percent and increasing takings 10 percent in one supermarket chain. Dr. Anne Velenturf, circular economy researcher at University of Leeds, UK says tech solutions must go beyond consumers. "In big business, digital solutions are key to keeping track of qualities of products that can be reused, remanufactured or recycled," she explains. Take for example, smart factories that can manufacture products like modular housing. Reducing the burden of packaging The Ellen MacArthur Foundation projects the market for returnable packaging – packaging that's washed and refilled – will grow by 60 percent to 59 billion US dollars between 2018 and 2026. The European Commission plans to make all plastic packaging in the EU market reusable or cost-effective to recycle by by 2030. Polymateria has developed a new plastic called Cycle+. This plastic has unique qualities, being biodegradable after three years but recyclable during its lifespan. Georgia Sherwin of investment firm Closed Loop Partners also talks of AMP Robotics, who are using "artificial intelligence and robotics to make sorting recyclables more efficient." The electronic waste problem Technical materials, such as many electronic components, don't fit as neatly into the circular economy as others. According to World Economic Forum and UN report A New Circular Vision for Electronics, electrical goods waste (e-waste) represents 2 percent of waste but 70 percent of hazardous waste bound for landfill. Electronic goods manufacturers could play a role. Computer hardware firm Dell commit to a circular economy by making their products easier to repair and letting consumers and businesses return Dell e-waste for free. They're also working to increase how much recycled material their new products contain – their new plastic components are about 35 percent recycled. Global economy only 8.6 percent circular While these innovations are promising, there's still much work to build a truly circular economy. The Circularity Gap Report 2020 found the global economy is just 8.6 percent circular, meaning we use only 8.6 percent of resources more than once. Circularity has fallen from 9.1 percent circular in 2018, and demand for resources is expected to grow hugely in the coming years. Dr. Simon Mair, ecological economist at University of Bradford, UK thinks we need to broaden our thinking to achieve a circular economy. "A truly circular economy must transform the goal of the system," explains Mair. "As long as the goal is to make as much money as possible, it will be hard to keep resource use down." It's also challenging to implement a circular economy, according to Professor Charnley. There must be new policy and legislation to encourage system-wide change, and common measures of progress. This change must come from leaders in government and business. "We must equip our future leaders and professionals with understanding of the circular economy and give them skills and capabilities to change systems."
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