In 2016, a wave of self-service analytics swept across the enterprise. Governments began embracing the modern approach to business analytics, with IT and public sector leadership partnering to derive maximum value from their data.

Here’s a preview of our predictions for 2017:

Forbes (26.01.2016)  There are 53 million freelancers in America today. By 2020, 50% of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers (this does not mean they are all full-time freelancers, but one of every two workers will be freelancers in some capacity). This on-demand work, instant gig economy is moving more and more into independent professionals that are using mobile and technology to create ecosystems of work they enjoy. Who says you can’t drive an Uber in the morning, design websites all afternoon, and cater your own food company at night?

Big Data’s Impact on Social Services
By Lindsey Getz
Social Work Today
Vol. 14 No. 2 P. 28

The amount of data being produced and used on a daily basis has exploded, and that increasing volume has required new solutions for processing and managing it. Nicknamed “Big Data,” the generation of all this information and how to analyze it have implications that affect the social work profession.

Ride-hailing company partners with nuTonomy in latest battle with US rival

Ride-hailing company Lyft, Uber’s chief US rival, will begin its first pilot programme for self-driving taxis in Boston later this year in conjunction with nuTonomy, the autonomous car start-up.

The partnership will present a new competitive challenge to Uber, which recently fired its top self-driving engineer and is in the middle of a trade secrets lawsuit from Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet.

The Freelancers Union “53 million” report contains data results of the most comprehensive survey of the U.S. independent workforce in nearly a decade. Here are a few of the main stats from the report:

forbes.com (23.06.2017) The European Union is trying to create a law concerning the rise of the robots as they come to steal all our jobs. One of the more ludicrous suggestions is that robots should pay social security taxes for all the social security benefits they won't get. 

OECD Library (24.04.2017) This strategic foresight report assesses the interaction between demographics, economic development, climate change and social protection in six countries in East Africa between now and 2065: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The report combines population projections with trends in health, urbanisation, migration and climate change and identifies the implications for economic development and poverty.

jdsupra.com (10.05.2017) Due to the calling of a snap general election, the Work and Pensions Committee has curtailed its inquiry and has now published its report on the gig economy and its use of self-employment. The report is somewhat damning of companies that utilise the gig economy model.