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Understanding young news audiences at a time of rapid change
This report examines the shifting news consumption habits of audiences aged 18–24. It highlights a definitive move towards social-first, audiovisual content and individual creators. Furthermore, it explores the growing role of generative AI in navigating complex stories, emphasising the need for publishers to adapt to these evolving digital preferences.
Manufactured consent: Stopping the harm from manipulative lead generation
Lead generation in Australia's digital economy has become a significant source of consumer harm, involving the harvesting of contact details for sales pitches. This report examines manipulative practices that manufacture consent to avoid consumer protections, highlighting the $1 billion loss from the First Guardian and Shield Master Funds collapse.
Old workers, young machines: Can AI and automation offset population ageing?
This report assesses the capacity of artificial intelligence and robots to automate ageing workforces across 135 economies. While automation could offset demographic pressures, its effectiveness is limited because ageing often occurs in sectors with low automation potential, such as health and agriculture, particularly in several fast-ageing advanced economies.
Liability and pricing of dual-use AI
This research analyses AI provider liability for dual-use models enabling both cyberattacks and defence. It demonstrates that while liability can improve welfare by reducing contest resources through higher prices, it may increase harm by weakening precautions. Market competition and guardrail incentives significantly influence optimal liability shares.
Public finance in the digital era: Emerging themes 2026
This report explores emerging themes in digital-era public financial management (PFM) for 2026. It examines the integration of artificial intelligence, digital public infrastructure, and earth observation to improve fiscal oversight, tax administration, and public welfare, while highlighting risks from declining international aid and proprietary software lock-in.
Delivering the digital economy: African migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates e-commerce and delivery sectors
This report examines the exploitation of African migrant workers within the United Arab Emirates' e-commerce and delivery sectors. It details systemic abuses including recruitment debt, deceptive contracts, and excessive working hours, highlighting how subcontracting models fragment accountability. The findings advocate for stronger international labour standards to protect vulnerable platform workers.
Toward a more human pace for data center development
This research examines the environmental and social impacts of rapid data centre expansion in the United States. It highlights how generative AI infrastructure disproportionately burdens marginalised communities through pollution, increased utility costs, and resource depletion. The authors call for a "more human pace" centred on environmental justice.
AI-driven productivity gains enable more CO₂ emissions than they avoid in a global energy–economy model
Research using a global energy-economy model indicates that AI-driven productivity gains increase net annual CO2 emissions by 0.47–1.8 gigatonnes under parallel adoption. Enabled emissions from fossil sectors consistently exceed avoided emissions from renewables. Achieving net reductions requires renewable productivity gains to be four to five times greater than fossil gains.
Leveraging technological solutions for human rights due diligence
This report distils lessons from 25 organisations on leveraging technology to strengthen human rights due diligence in value chains. It categorises various tools, provides case studies, and outlines practical steps for responsible AI adoption, emphasising that technology must complement, rather than replace, human judgement and meaningful stakeholder engagement.
Assessing digital traceability systems for critical mineral value chains: Aligning upstream and downstream agendas
This report assesses digital traceability systems for critical raw materials, evaluating their architecture, feasibility, and impact. It emphasises aligning downstream regulatory demands with upstream producer realities, recommending that traceability should support due diligence and inclusion—particularly for artisanal mining—rather than serving as a standalone compliance burden.
Advancing competition for financial inclusion: Six policy considerations for financial sector authorities
This report provides six policy considerations for financial sector authorities to promote competition and advance financial inclusion. Drawing on eight country case studies, it explains how regulators can use existing mandates, coordinate across sectors, and leverage infrastructure design to address market concentration and support digital financial innovation.
Solutions to protect consumers from fraud in digital finance
Curating 56 successful fraud protection solutions, this report details strategies across intelligence sharing, telecom security, and biometrics. It highlights how AI-driven oversight and multi-sector collaboration, such as Malaysia's NSRC and UK's reimbursement rules, can reduce losses and restore consumer trust in digital financial ecosystems.
2026 Sustainable investment trends
This report analyses sustainable investment trends for 2026, examining physical climate risk, the energy transition, and Asia’s leadership. It addresses the influence of artificial intelligence on power demand and emission targets, alongside structural challenges in the health care and food production sectors, highlighting resilience and adaptation as key priorities.
Who funds and who pays: The funding of solar geoengineering, 2020–2025
This report examines the dramatic tenfold increase in solar geoengineering funding between 2020 and 2025. It highlights the dominance of US and UK tech billionaires and government agencies in financing research, raising concerns about transparency, democratic oversight, and the marginalisation of Global South interests in climate policy.
Reconsidering supply chains and industrial policy from the economic security perspective
This report analyses supply chain resilience and industrial policy through the lens of economic security. It evaluates market failures in supply chain investment, examines cases of Chinese economic coercion, and assesses Japanese semiconductor subsidies for TSMC and Rapidus, emphasizing the roles of diversification, existing industrial clusters, and international research collaboration.
Role of Japanese firms in the East Asian electronics industry: A supply chain network perspective
This research analyses Japan's position in the East Asian electronics supply chain using network science. While Japan remains a vital upstream supplier of components and equipment, its dominance in mainstream semiconductors has declined. Conversely, Japanese firms maintain strong leadership within automotive clusters and unique electronics-automation-utilities ecosystems.