WELCOME TO THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF SALIENCE
This week we cover infectious tunes, predictable birdsong and boardroom diversity. Plus, female fintech founders are getting a boost and traditional materials are proving best for our buildings.
You can let us know your thoughts on these stories and any other topics that you would like covered by emailing [email protected]
Sustainability Spotlight
Reducing the environmental impact of the construction sector will be key to reaching net-zero. Could wood provide a solution that is durable and sustainable, but also beautiful?
Funding females
Barclays has announced that it will be expanding its female-focused startup fund into Europe. The $30 million programme will operate from its London-based HQ, and be directed at female fintech founders in the EU and UK.
Promoting Diversity
Deborah Gray, Director at recruitment consultancy and Sapience client Totum Partners, writes to the Financial Times about key cultural changes that businesses should make to stop the role of Chief Diversity Officer becoming a token gesture.
A little bird told me
Scientists have discovered that they can predict what a bird is about to sing just by reading the signals from its brain, noting a similarity to speech processes within humans. Could this knowledge be used to create an artificial voice box for people who can’t speak?
This week in PR
What new challenges are small and medium sized business facing in the wake of the pandemic? The Sapience team tuned into a webinar with James Hurley, Enterprise Editor at The Times, to find out more about the key issues facing companies across the UK, and why it’s important that this gets more media attention.
Sapience’s favourite
What tune has been stuck in your head this week? Mathematicians have found that music is as infectious as viral diseases, mapping patterns of song downloads against data from epidemic curves to show that different genres have varying levels of transmissibility.
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