When I flipped my laptop open on Tuesday after a week’s vacation, I began drily deleting drafts, old articles, and schedules from last year. 2024 needs lots of disk space because our editorial team is bursting with new ideas and plans (more on that later!).
A new year means a blank notebook, a tidy laptop, and yes – also good resolutions. I am not the only one; a third of Dutch people resolve to lose weight (the most popular resolution), save money, or exercise more often. However, data from Strava shows that eighty percent of its users have already stopped making good resolutions by the second week of February.
The most considerable relapse occurs on January 19 – also known as Quitter’s Day, writes Ben Tiggelaar in his column (in which he also clearly explains how you can ensure that resolutions resist failure).
Well, new year or not, you always bring yourself along. The above may sound like it could be more uplifting, but you can also look at it this way: if you can keep your New Year’s resolutions until January 20, you are already doing well. Let’s see how far we get…
New years resolutions from innovations
In the wonderful world of innovation, many good intentions did come true. Germany saw the lowest carbon emissions in seventy years, and in the Netherlands the ‘Hollandse Kust Noord’ wind farm is ready for use. This means that the Dutch Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap met all its goals for last year.
The situation Albert Jan outlines in his cartoon this week – workers with a saw and drill in hand – has been behind the manufacturing industry in the Netherlands for some time. The ones and zeros floating through the picture apply to the sector’s good intentions, Elcke Vels writes in this article. Digitization and automation lead to a more efficient production process, but they also require workers to be more flexible than ever before.
Talking about flexibility: our own Laio is brimming with ideas to write even better articles for you in 2024. However, she is already quite satisfied with her achievements so far, too.
Here’s what else struck us this week:
- Lithium from Dutch geothermal water: it can be done, but it’s not really competitive yet
- Raise your spirits up: these five changes show that a sustainable transition is possible
- Netherlands intervenes in export of ASML chip machines to China
- Gerard & Anton Award winner Hable receives Braille Plume 2024 for the Hable One
- Vienna Philharmonic’s waltz interpretations get digital decoding, to allow any music fan to compare all 80+ New Year’s Day variations
Have a great, innovative week. And stay strong when it comes to your New Year’s resolutions!
Aafke Eppinga
editor-in-chief Innovation Origins
In case you didn’t read it yet: here is the latest edition of our magazine IO Next. Don’t forget to subscribe.
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