Most European consumers will remember the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs. At the time, replacement technologies were available but unpopular in the market place, with higher initial costs and perceived poorer performance. But this regulatory intervention precipitated a seismic shift in the development efforts of the lighting industry.
The small and mid-cap sector of the chemical industry has undergone broad structural change over the last decade. We have witnessed significant consolidation, numerous mergers, spinoffs, active portfolio restructuring, and selected privatisations. All these actions have been designed to improve performance and reposition companies to succeed in a changing market environment.
The news that UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Business Secretary Grant Shapps are working on a new vision for supporting growth industries such as advanced manufacturing and life sciences and the creation of a dedicated government Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, comes at a time when the nation’s industrial health is at risk from high costs and political and economic uncertainty.
Stopping global warming is a top priority for policymakers in the EU and beyond. It is now time to accelerate the pursuit of carbon-free ambitions, and silicones will be essential facilitators of that change, as our latest study shows. With substantial emissions savings thanks to silicones, we look forward to progressing our EU decarbonisation ambitions.
It’s never been a tougher time to recruit good quality chemical industry candidates. A recent study of human resources professionals revealed that 92% felt that the UK is experiencing a labour shortage and that this is resulting in significant revenue losses.
Few organisations have avoided the negative implications associated with the challenging economic environment in 2022. Just as Covid-19 and Brexit-related hurdles had been addressed, rising production costs have led manufacturers to take action to stem potential losses.
Market disruptions created by the Covid-19 crisis have primed every aspect of the pharma industry for change. The innovation, collaboration and productivity the world experienced due to the scope and urgency of this crisis were remarkable, and the pharmaceutical industry will never be the same.
Global pollution trends are of big concern for environmental research laboratories; however, certain environmental issues receive less attention than others. While much of the current focus centres on carbon emissions, for example, the role of the global nitrogen cycle in the planet’s ecological processes cannot be underestimated.
The Artificial Intelligence market was valued at $68.1bn in 2021 and is expected to grow at 14.8% CAGR during the period 2021-2026. Growing popularity of the metaverse and its integration with AI is expected to bode well for growth over the period. Furthermore, increasing adoption of explainable AI (XAI) technique, in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail, e-commerce and advances in quantum computing is also expected to favour growth.
For centuries, chemical innovations have advanced every sector of the economy. But novel chemicals may introduce a degree of risk that must be carefully managed. In Sphera’s 2022 Safety Report, we highlight the trends and developments in process safety management (PSM) and operational risk management (ORM) that have implications for chemical management.