... one-third of stores already have a registered dietician at retail level, while 86% employ them on a corporate basis.

The trend is another sign that consumers are demanding more from their food providers as the Obama administration's health-care system puts a premium on preventive care. Moreover, it represents an increasingly powerful constituency for the nation's food marketers to win over.

While dieticians' primary mission is to assist shoppers, they are also a major brand asset for stores, many appearing on local radio and TV shows.

The publicity serves as a boost for supermarkets as they look to stay relevant in the face of increased competition from major drugstore chains such as Walgreens and CVS which have increased their food offerings.

Says food-industry analyst Phil Lempert who runs supermarketguru.com: "Supermarkets have lost 15% share over the past ten years, so they need to stave off and differentiate their offerings from drug, dollar and warehouse stores."

Today there are 500 - 600 retail dieticians, a numbert Lempert predicts will at least double within two years. The demand is so strong that he recently launched the Retail Dieticians Business Alliance to educate dieticians on supermarket operations.

It's a trend European giants such as Tesco, Carrefour and Sainsbury are unlikely to ignore.

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... 18,000 square-foot facility, claimed to  be "an Epcot Center for aging" that would draw consumers and industry leaders from across the country. The goal is to create what essentially would be a mall for fashionable and functional senior products, from furniture to cosmetics.

The project will aso serve as a 'living laboratory' in whch startups and other companies can demonstrate and test new products with a specific set of consumers.

One section will include a model home, called an 'idea house,' that will enable entrepreneurs to test and collect data on products designed to allow seniors to stay in their homes longer.

For instance, the bathroom might include new robotic-tub technology that helps lift seniors out of the bath. Another section will be filled with "eldertainment," such as virtual-reality games that promote fitness, mobility or rehabilitation.

One of InnovateLTC's clients is a Dutch company called Vita Care, which is developing "therapeutic motion simulation" systems that use video and vibrating chairs to simulate activities such as motorcycle riding or jet skiing. 

Assuming success stateside, it's seems invitable that the InnovateLTC concept will extend to Western Europe and beyond.

According to the company's website, InnovateLTC claims to be "deeply entrenched in academic research and has connections to several of the nation’s top universities".

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... "in the ranks of innovative nations" by 2020, spurring efforts to reform China's scientific and technological system.

The nation's leadership also aims to accelerate the building of a national innovative system and lay a foundation for the country to become a technological titan by 2049 when the nation celebrates the 100th anniversary of a united China.

The government document puts forward new measures to spur technological development, among them:

• Enterprises should become pillar for innovation;
• Supervision of research funds should be enhanced;
• Outstanding researchers aged below 35 should be encouraged to lead scientific projects.

With the international economic meltdown continuing to unfold, China is at a key stage of transforming its development model. The country's overall technological strength and competitiveness have played a leading role in economic and social development and safeguarding state security.

The framework document sets the goal for the country to be "in the ranks of innovative nations" by 2020, urging efforts to deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system. It also aims to step up the building of a national innovative system.

The longterm implications for the world's businesses and marketers are significant.

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... "Cloud computing is a game-changer for our economy. Without EU action, we will stay stuck in national fortresses and miss out on billions in economic gains. We must achieve critical mass and a single set of rules across Europe. We must tackle the perceived risks of cloud computing head-on."

Key actions of the strategy include: 

• Cutting through the jungle of technical standards so that cloud users get interoperability, data portability and reversibility; necessary standards should be identified by 2013.
   
• Support for EU-wide certification schemes for trustworthy cloud providers.
   
• Development of model 'safe and fair' contract terms for cloud computing contracts including Service Level Agreements.
   
• A European Cloud Partnership with Member States and industry to harness the public sector's buying power (20% of all IT spending) to shape the European cloud market, boost the chances for European cloud providers to grow to achieve a competitive scale, and deliver cheaper and better eGovernment.

According to Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship: "Europe needs to think big. The cloud strategy will enhance trust in innovative computing solutions and boost a competitive digital single market where Europeans feel safe.

"That means a swift adoption of the new data protection framework which the Commission proposed earlier this year and the development of safe and fair contract terms and conditions."

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... Brazil will have become the world’s third economy by 2030. 

According to English language weekly The Rio Times, the nation's economy is predicted to double its current size over the next twenty years, expanding GDP from its current US$2.4 trillion to about US$3.5 trillion by 2022 - then to around US$5 trillion by 2030.

Some believe Brazil’s fortunes are even brighter than that. Opines the nation's richest man, Eike Batista, a Brazilian business magnate who made a fortune in mining and oil and gas exploration: “I envisage Brazil in amongst the three biggest world economies, with major social advances and sustainable growth.”

Coupled with increased foreign investment and government spending, this long-term prediction is based on the supposition that a staggering 70% of Brazil’s swelling population will be of working age.

And a sizable proportion of that population will be middle class with a good level of disposable income; and also that new reserves of natural resources will be available for exploitation, particularly in the oil and gas industries.

Politicians are also optimistic, but say the biggest challenge will be maintaining sustainable development. José Augusto Coelho Fernandes, Director of Politics and Strategy at the Confederação Nacional da Indústria [National Confederation of Industry] believes that the country’s future lies in the hands of Brazilians.

However, Mr Fernades qualifies this belief: “Of course global growth creates the best environment, but part of the solution is independent of that: we need more education, innovation, tax reforms, modernized labor rules, and more investment in infrastructure, regardless of the worsening [economic] crisis in Europe, the recovery in the US, and growth in China.”

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... cause more problems than it solves between now and 2020.

Respondents to the Pew/Elon opinion poll delivered a decidedly split verdict.

53% agreed with the first [positive] statement positing:

Thanks to many changes, including the building of "the Internet of Things," human and machine analysis of large datasets will improve social, political, and economic intelligence by 2020. The rise of what is known as "Big Data" will facilitate things like "nowcasting" (real-time "forecasting" of events); the development of "inferential software" that assesses data patterns to project outcomes; and the creation of algorithms for advanced correlations that enable new understanding of the world. Overall, the rise of Big Data is a huge positive for society in nearly all respects .

But a substantial minority took a less optimistic view of the future with 39% agreeing with the second statement, which foresaw:

Many changes including the building of "the Internet of Things," human and machine analysis of Big Data which will cause more problems than it solves by 2020. The existence of huge data sets for analysis will engender false confidence in our predictive powers and will lead many to make significant and hurtful mistakes. Moreover, analysis of Big Data will be misused by powerful people and institutions with selfish agendas who manipulate findings to make the case for what they want. And the advent of Big Data has a harmful impact because it serves the majority (at times inaccurately) while diminishing the minority and ignoring important outliers. Overall, the rise of Big Data is a big negative for society in nearly all respects.

Respondents were not allowed to select both scenarios; the question was framed this way in order to encourage a spirited and deeply considered written elaboration about the potential of a future with unimaginable amounts of data available to people and organizations.

While about half agreed with the statement that Big Data will yield a positive future, many who chose that view observed that this choice is their hope more than their prediction. A significant number of the survey participants said while they chose the positive or the negative result they expect the true outcome in 2020 will be a little bit of both scenarios.

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... the role of communications in brand building and social engagement.

The new division is in line with P&G's global strategic plan, announced in February, which aims to achieve efficiency savings of $1bn in marketing spend, part of the company's overall $10bn cost cutting strategy.

Global Brand Building Officer Pritchard explains his take on the art of marketing - often perceived “as traditional TV advertising, and maybe a little bit of promotion.

"Brand building is looking at the purpose of a brand. It’s about identifying how that brand can touch and improve lives with its benefits and how you can then take those benefits and express them at the store level, in public relations, in digital, TV and print. It’s how you create experiences for consumers that include services, information, education and entertainment, so you build that entire brand experience.”

The latest upheaval was prompted by the imminent retirement in June of global external relations officer Christopher Hassall. It affects the 1,200 strong ‘external relations’ division, although there will be no job losses as a result of the changes.

But a number of communications personnel working in regulatory and technical matters will be moved to P&G’s research and development function, and a number currently working on government affairs will transfer to the legal department.

According to a P&G statement: “These are the right changes at the right time to leverage our synergies with R&D, legal and the brand building organisation, to stay ahead of changes in the external communications environment, and to ensure we are organized and prepared to protect and build the reputation of P&G and our brands in the decade ahead and beyond.”

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... Ava, as the digital Delilah is named, has no need of lunch or bathroom breaks, eschews overtime pay and never needs a vacation!  

The body responsible for the three airports - the New York Port Authority [NYPA] has been running a customer care program for over twenty years, but now plans to increase the number of red-jacketed Customer Care Representatives by twenty percent during peak hours.

To expand on its current program, the NYPA has created an innovative pilot plan featuring virtual customer care representatives - the first time such  technology has been used at a US domestic airport.

Currently, 350 human customer care agents provide information to help travellers navigate the airport and public transportation options. Easily identifiable by their red jackets, they staff the airport’s welcome centers and other high-volume terminal areas like checkpoint entry and exit points. Between them they speak a total of 27 different languages, with English and Spanish most prevalent.

The computerized, hologram avatars will provide automated, basic information to travelers in LaGuardia’s Central Terminal Building, Newark Liberty’s Terminal B and JFK’s Terminal 5 when they are installed in early July. The pilot will run for a six months trial period at a cost of around $180,000.

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... Sir John Sulston: "This is an absolutely critical period for people and the planet, with profound changes for human health and wellbeing and the natural environment.

"Where we go is down to human volition - it's not pre-ordained, it's not the act of anything outside humanity, it's in our hands."

The report's recommendations include giving all women access to family planning, moving beyond GDP as the yardstick of economic health, and reducing food waste.

Although the size of the Earth's human population used to be a main ingredient of environmental debate, it has fallen off the table in recent years.

In part that was because the Earth appeared able to support more people than predictions had suggested, and partly because developing countries came to view the population issue as a smokescreen to hide Western over-consumption.

However it is now back on the table, largely because of research showing that women in the poorest nations generally want access to family planning and that people benefit from it.

The United Nations "medium" projection indicates the population peaking at just over 10 billion before the end of the century, and then starting to fall, from a current level of seven billion.

"Of the three billion extra people we expect to have, most will come from the least developed countries, and the population of Africa alone will increase by two billion," said Eliya Zulu, executive director of the African Institute for Development Policy based in Nairobi.

"We have to invest in family planning in these countries - we empower women, increase child and maternal health and provide a greater opportunity for the poorest countries to invest in education."

The report recommends that developed nations support universal access to family planning, which it estimates would cost $6bn per year.

If the fertility rate in the least developed countries does not come down to levels seen in the rest of the world, the report warns, year 2100 could see a global population of 22bn of whom 17bn would be Africans.

The report will feed into preparations for the Rio+20 summit in June.  

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... cannot be continued for generations without major change".

The gloom continues: "Humanity has overshot the earth’s resources, and in some cases we will see local collapse before 2052 – we are emitting twice as much greenhouse gas every year as can be absorbed by the world’s forests and oceans.”

The Club is continuing its tradition of supporting work that raises fundamental questions and promotes far-sighted solutions. The report, by Professor Jorgen Landers of the BI Norwegian Business School, was launched to coincide with this week's meeting of global environmental charity WWF.

Published in the run-up to the Rio Summit, the Report to the Club of Rome: 2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years looks at issues first raised in The Limits to Growth paper, forty years ago. This created shock waves by questioning the 'ideal' of permanent growth.

Commenting on the findings of it's latest '2052' report, Club of Rome Secretary General Ian Johnson said: “Professor Randers’ analysis of where the world could be in forty years has demonstrated that ‘Business as usual’ is not an option if we want our grand-children to live in a sustainable and equitable planet. It took 40 years before the full message of The Limits to Growth was properly understood. We cannot afford any more lost decades.”

Drawing on contributions from more than thirty thinkers in the field, Professor Randers concludes that:

• While the process of adapting humanity to the planet’s limitations has started, the human response could be too slow.
   
• The current dominant global economies, particularly the United States, will stagnate. Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and ten leading emerging economies (referred to as ‘BRISE’ in the Report) will progress.
   
• But there will still be three billion poor in 2052.
   
• China will be a success story, because of its ability to act.
   
• Global population will peak in 2042, because of falling fertility in urban areas.
   
• Global GDP will grow much slower than expected, because of slower productivity growth in mature economies.
   
• CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere will continue to grow and cause +2°C in 2052; temperatures will reach +2.8°C in 2080, which may well trigger self-reinforcing climate change.

The launch of 2052 is part of a broader eighteen-month campaign by the Club of Rome to stimulate ideas on future options to shape the world in a sustainable way, taking its context from The Limits to Growth Report.

The Club of Rome is a global think-tank, composed of individual members and over thirty National Associations. Its mission is to undertake forward-looking analysis and assessment on ways forward to a happier, more resilient and sustainable planet. 

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