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Whenever there is a crisis in the corporate world or the economy more generally, the same questions continue to surface: What is the purpose of a corporation? Is the purpose of a corporation simply to make money? Or do they have a broader role in society? Do corporations also have a social responsibility to help improve the world? The message is clear. Corporate strategies must include environmental and social factors — together with good (or, at least, better) governance. These elements are usually referred to as “ESG.” Still, “ESG” gets a lot of pushback. And, sure, companies often use ESG-statements as marketing tools to respond to the growing societal and political pressure to be more responsible. But, it’s not all jargon. ESG-strategies are here to stay. Companies that ignore the current trends will find themselves in an impossible position. More and more often, we see business leaders being put on the spot and asked, “what is your company doing to make the world a better place?” Silence or evasion isn’t an option either. It will be viewed as inaction. And inaction will be seen as a lack of concern or a tacit endorsement of the current state of affairs in the world. Smooth-talking will be viewed as a lack of sincerity and commitment. But there has been little or no discussion (yet) about how ESG strategies and ESG reporting (and ESG dialogue) will offer solutions to the many problems that SMEs face in today’s world – particularly in attracting and retaining investors, employees, and customers. This paper sets out the impact of ESG on the performance of SMEs.

Coronavirus is the first global crisis of a digital age and the divergence in policy responses reflects the challenge of navigating an unprecedented global situation under conditions of enormous uncertainty. We ask what lessons can be learned from this experience and identify two, both of which push against mainstream interpretations of recent events. First, and contrary to the view that the crisis exposed social media and Big Tech as a source of dangerous misinformation that needs to be regulated more strictly, the paper argues that the less mediated spaces of the Internet—social media and Twitter, in particular—played an essential role in triggering a more effective policy response based around social distancing, lockdown, and containment. Second, and contrary to the view that things will go back to normal once the worst of the crisis has passed, the paper argues that, as a direct result of lockdown, the status quo has been shifted across multiple sectors of the economy. Three examples of this shift are introduced, notably the forced experimentation with digital technologies in education and health, the increased use of remote work in many companies, and a reduction in environmentally harmful behavior and decrease in pollution levels. The long-term effects of this ‘reset’ are impossible to predict, but a quick return to the ‘old normal’ seems unlikely. The paper concludes with the suggestion that this reset has created a unique historical opportunity for the reappraisal of regulatory approaches across multiple domains and exposed the need for regulatory models better aligned to a less mediated, more decentralized world. COVID-19 is a global tragedy, but—given that it has happened—it should be used as a learning experience to re-imagine a better, more socially, and environmentally responsible future.

The use of digital technologies in healthcare is changing how medical treatments are developed by researchers, applied/practiced by medical professionals and experienced by patients. This article argues that a defining feature of this disruption is the emergence of new medical “apps” that leverage algorithm-based AI systems. As the use of such apps and AI wearables goes mainstream and new players—notably “Super Platforms” with digital rather than a medical expertise—enter the healthcare sector, the traditional means of providing medical services will be further transformed. These developments pose several challenges for regulators and other policymakers, most obviously, in the context of privacy and data protection. Here, we examine how the emerging field of Legal Design can provide a more transparent infrastructure that embeds relevant legal protections in the user interfaces of healthcare products and services. Such a user interface (UI) focused Privacy-by-Design approach offers a number of advantages, most obviously greater transparency, accountability and (consequently) human choice. The article offers several real-world examples of design patterns that illustrate the value of UI focused Privacy-by-Design in protecting individuals’ sensitive information, enabling people to make choices and retain control of their personal data. The piece concludes with some examples and reflects on the challenges specific to implementing Legal Design in an eHealth context.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains a blanket prohibition on the transfer of personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) unless strict requirements are met. The rationale for this provision is to protect personal data and data subject rights by restricting data transfers to countries that may not have the same level of protection as the EEA. However, the ubiquitous and permeable character of new technologies such as cloud computing, and the increased inter-connectivity between societies, has made international data transfers the norm and not the exception. The Schrems II case and subsequent regulatory developments have further raised the bar for companies to comply with complex and, often, opaque rules. Many firms are, therefore, pursuing technology-based solutions in order to mitigate this new legal risk. These emerging technological alternatives reduce the need for open-ended cross-border transfers and the practical challenges and legal risk that such transfers create post-Schrems. This article examines one such alternative, namely a user-held data model. This approach takes advantage of ‘personal data clouds’ that allows data subjects to store their data locally and in a more decentralised manner, thus decreasing the need for cross-border transfers and offering end-users the possibility of greater control over their data.

15 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, Cirrate octopods are considered to resemble the ancestor of all octopuses. Cirrates inhabit the deep ocean and are characterized by the presence of fins, a cartilaginous inner shell and a single row of suckers alternating with pairs of cirri thus comprising uniserial suckers and biserial cirri. The objective of this contribution is to improve the taxonomy of Opisthoteuthis bruuni from the southeastern Pacific Ocean and to suggest a new hypothesis of cirrate phylogeny. Given that the most complete molecular data set for cirrates available in public databases is comprised almost exclusively of 16S rRNA gene sequences, we compared the morphological and mitochondrial gene 16S rRNA data generated in this study from the genus Opisthoteuthis from the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Additionally, we sequenced Opisthoteuthis chathamensis, Opisthoteuthis mero and Luteuthis dentatus from the southwestern Pacific, as along with Cirroctopus mawsoni from Antarctic waters. The morphological data and the phylogenetic analysis confirm the status of Opisthoteuthis bruuni as a member of genus Opisthoteuthis and the family Opisthoteuthidae. This re-description includes the first morphological characterization of the male and female adult stage of O. bruuni, in addition to reporting geographic and bathymetric range extensions. Opisthoteuthis bruuni presents conspicuous morphological features (small terminal fins, short cirri and U-shaped shell). Our phylogenetic tree supports three families: Cirroctopodidae, Cirroteuthidae and Opisthoteuthidae, which is different from the phylogenetic arrangements previously reported, This work was funded with resources provided by INACH RG 50-18 project. [...] Mariana Díaz-Santana-Iturrios wishes to thank CONACYT for the grant provided during the postdoctoral stay within the framework of the call Estancias Posdoctorales en el Extranjero_2019, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

In this paper, we identified five fundamental principles for developing data protection law courses in today’s digital age. The paper outlines the broader context of the transformation of legal education in a digital age; describes the importance of integrating legal-thinking and design-thinking with a deeper understanding of the underlying technologies and user-interfaces; and introduces the main features of a new approach to teaching data protection and privacy. The main argument of the paper is to suggest that the data protection lawyer of the future will become a key intermediary of innovation – or a ‘transaction engineer’ – who helps facilitate and coordinate new forms of business and other social relationships; contributes to harnessing the benefits of disruptive technologies, automation and digital connectivity to build next generation legal services; and contributes to the development of a legally compliant and socially responsible technological infrastructure. To perform this function effectively, however, data protection professionals need to develop a new mindset, along with several new skills and capacities, including a better understanding of the technological architecture of a post-digital transformation world, as well as the power and importance of legal design. Crucially, this means re-visiting the law school curriculum and legal education, more generally. From a pedagogical perspective, we propose a task-oriented, “sandbox”, and “gamified” approach to data protection law that delivers a more meaningful student experience in which students are given the space to experiment via engagement with timely and practical problems.