The rapid evolution and expansion of the digital media and entertainment industry have significantly impacted the environment through carbon emissions, energy use, and waste generation. 

According to research from the Sustainable Production Alliance, tentpole movies had an average carbon footprint of 3,370 metric tons—or about 33 metric tons per shooting day. Large films had a carbon footprint of 1,081 metric tons, medium films had a carbon footprint of 769 metric tons, and small films had a carbon footprint of 391 metric tons. TV series, noted researcher, can have an even more significant impact because prolonged production activities generate more carbon over their entire run.

In a recent interview for technology journalists, Benjamin Bross, Head of Video Coding Systems at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), provided valuable insights into the ongoing developments in versatile video coding (VVC). Bross shed light on the critical distinctions between hardware and software encoding and decoding and how these play a pivotal role in the evolution and adoption of VVC, the latest international standard in video compression. He also explored the broader implications of these advancements for both the industry and consumers.

According to Forrester’s (Nasdaq: FORR) 2025 B2C marketing and customer experience (CX) predictions, rising prices will prompt brand loyalty to decline by 25% in 2025. But while brand loyalty falters, loyalty programs will gain in popularity as consumers look for brands that provide value and give them a reprieve from indiscriminate price shopping.

Forrester’s B2C marketing and CX predictions analyze the dynamics and emerging trends to watch for in the year ahead. These insights help leaders and their teams prepare for future challenges and take advantage of new opportunities to thrive in 2025. Topics include: B2C marketing; customer experience; consumer; media and advertising; and marketing agencies.

According to a recent research from International Data Corporation (IDC) entitled The Global Impact of Arti f icial Intelligence on the Economy and Jobs, AI will have a cumulative global economic impact of $19.9 trillion through 2030 and will drive 3.5% global GDP in 2030. Brought about by continued business spending on artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, use of AI in existing business operations and in the delivery of better products and services to customers, this highlights the huge potential of AI in transforming businesses, reshaping industries, creating new markets, and altering the competitive landscape.

BOSTON—Inflation, increased barriers to trade, and relatively low global growth are among the factors currently placing tremendous pressure on business leaders and forcing firms to review and re-evaluate their costs to stay competitive and innovate. Despite these high stakes, only 48% of companies on average achieve their cost savings targets. Further, only 35% of executives report that their organizations’ approach to cost is strategic and planned, while the remaining 65% admit that their most recent cost-optimization program was an ad-hoc response to changing market conditions.

IT spending in Europe is projected to total $1.28 trillion in 2025, an increase of 8.7% from 2024, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. IT spending in Europe is on pace to reach $1.18 trillion by the end of 2024.

“In 2024, the surge of building out AI-related infrastructure by technology providers is driving high levels of spending on data center systems in Europe,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “CIOs in Europe will continue investing in public cloud end-user spending, which is estimated to reach $123 billion in 2024, and grow their security spending, projected to reach $47 billion in 2024.”

The survey, conducted from June through July 2024 among 258 sourcing and procurement leaders, was designed to help chief procurement officers (CPOs) understand and prioritize the most significant risks that could impede procurement operations, and what actions can be taken to manage them effectively.

"CPOs’ concerns about supply disruptions reflect the often unpredictable nature and potentially existential impacts of these events," said Andrea Greenwald, Senior Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. "They are coming to understand that the reactive measures they have employed to manage risks over the past four years will not be sufficient for the next four.

The global Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure market is on track for unprecedented growth, poised to surpass $100 billion USD in spending by 2028, according to the latest findings from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Tracker. Organizations increased spending on compute and storage hardware infrastructure for AI deployments by 37% year-over-year in the first half of 2024, reaching $31.8 billion.

Forecasts that total global online retail sales will grow from $4.4 trillion in 2023 to $6.8 trillion by 2028 at an 8.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). According to the report Global Retail E-Commerce Forecast, 2024 To 2028, which provides a five-year forecast for total, online, and offline retail sales for 40 countries globally, despite the growth in e-commerce, 76% (or $21.9 trillion) of global retail sales will still occur offline in 2028. As a result, retailers must continue to invest in omnichannel strategies that provide a seamless shopping experience, both online and offline.

LONDON- Four-fifths (80%) of asset and wealth management (AWM) organisations say disruptive technologies such as AI will fuel revenue growth, with those moving quickly to adopt ‘tech-as-a-service’ potentially seeing a 12% boost to revenues by 2028, according to PwC analysis.

PwC’s 2024 Asset & Wealth Management Report, released today, surveyed 264 asset managers and 257 institutional investors from across 28 countries and territories, and also finds that four-fifths (81%) are contemplating strategic partnerships, consolidations, or mergers and acquisitions in order to enhance technological capabilities and build an ‘extended tech ecosystem’ to innovate, expand into new markets, and democratise access to investment products ahead of a great wealth transfer.

Communications leaders must proactively protect their organization’s reputation from external and internal generative AI (GenAI) threats, according to Gartner, Inc. There are five essential strategies chief communications officers (CCOs) should consider when mitigating the risks associated with GenAI.

“From easily disseminated deepfakes spreading disinformation to impersonation attacks and unintentional employee misuse, the implementation of GenAI is riddled with risks,” said Amber Boyes, Director Analyst in the Gartner for Communications Leaders Practice. “It is important that communications leaders establish effective guardrails in their organization in order to balance the unprecedented opportunity with the significant external and internal reputational threats GenAI poses.”

In an era where music and audio revolutionise how we all engage with, enjoy, and experience our world, Futuresource Consulting’s Audio Collaborative event commands a position at the crossroads of technology and commerce.  

Hosted at London’s iconic Soho Hotel on 4 November, this year’s packed-out event was a defining example of how the industry can come together with camaraderie and collaborative energy. From industry-shaping insights and business strategies, to an exploration of trailblazing technologies, Audio Collaborative 2024 inspired bold conversations, setting the stage for the future of audio. The event was sponsored by a selection of world leading audio brands: DTS, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd., Audioscenic and Knowles.

In a vidcast interview for journalists, industry leaders Kirsten Bay, CEO of Cysurance, and Enterprise Security Architect Randle Henry from Check Point, shed light on the emerging role of insurability assessments in bridging the gap between cybersecurity and insurance. The conversation put into context the Cysurance Insurability Assessment Program, Powered by Check Point – a joint initiative that is bending the risk curve in favor of businesses by assessing and managing their cyber exposure profiles.

During a recent CIO.com virtual roundtable co-hosted with Tiago Azevedo, Chief Information Officer of OutSystems, technology leaders representing a broad swath of vertical industries -- from financial services and technology, to manufacturing and professional services -- gathered to explore how the integration of low-code and no-code platforms with AI governance may affect enterprise transformation strategies. The event highlighted the potential of Low-Code No-Code platforms to accelerate application development while ensuring governance and transparency.

In 2025, Over 80% of EMEA CIOs Plan to Increase Investments in Cybersecurity, AI/GenAI, Business Intelligence and Data Analytics

Only 14% of EMEA CIOs to Prioritize Building an Enterprise-Wide Technology Workforce in 2025On average, only 48% of digital initiatives meet or exceed business outcome targets, according to Gartner, Inc.’s annual global survey of more than 3,100 CIOs and technology executives, and more than 1,100 executive leaders outside of IT (CxOs). A cohort of CIOs and CxOs, known as the “Digital Vanguard,” has the highest achievement rate, where 71% of their digital initiatives meet or exceed outcome targets.

Distributor revenues inched up from the previous quarter to $20.2 B in the third quarter of 2024 (3Q24), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) North America Distribution Tracker (NADT). Year-over-year growth was down a fraction of a percent with continued growth in Software, Personal Computing, and Security, but offset by declines in Network Infrastructure, Services, and AV.

“IT distributors remain a critical component of a successful strategy,” said Ruth Flynn, research vice president, IDC Tracker & Data Products. “The flexibility and product coverage of IT distributors helped balance factors like interest rates and political uncertainty with post-pandemic recovery in a challenging Q3. An example is PC growth of 2% through distribution where overall PC shipments were down 6% in preliminary Q3 reporting.”

Today, International Data Corporation (IDC) released its highly anticipated worldwide information technology (IT) industry predictions for 2025 and beyond. The IDC FutureScape report outlines IDC’s top 10 predictions shaping the future of the IT industry and highlights how organizations across all industries will strategically pivot towards AI (artificial intelligence) to build resilient, AI-driven enterprises.

This year’s predictions underscore the urgent need to accelerate the AI pivot, advocating for strategic, long-term investments in advanced AI-enabled capabilities. Over the past 18 months, organizations of all sizes and industries engaged in extensive hyper-experimentation with AI. In 2025, we anticipate a shift from experimentation to reinvention. This shift will be driven by the introduction of AI agents, renovations in data, infrastructure, and cloud to deliver scalable ‘answers,’ and an enhanced focus on resilience through sound economics and pervasive cyber-recovery. Supporting this transformation, IDC forecasts that worldwide spending on AI-supporting technologies will surpass $749 billion by 2028. Notably, IDC reports 67% of the projected $227 billion AI spending in 2025 will come from enterprises embedding AI capabilities into their core business operations, surpassing investments in leading cloud and digital service providers.

According to a new forecast from the Worldwide AI and Generative AI Spending Guide published by International Data Corporation (IDC), European spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to reach $133 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.3% over the 2024–2028 forecast period.

The IDC AI technology scope also includes generative AI (GenAI) solutions, which have been capturing significant attention since late 2022. “While artificial intelligence itself is not new, the acceleration in AI adoption is largely driven by the attention surrounding generative AI,” says Carla La Croce, research manager, Data and Analytics at IDC. “GenAI adoption is moving swiftly from early testing and experimentation to more integrated business solutions. The CAGR for GenAI is expected to be 55% over the forecast period, significantly higher than that of more established AI technologies.”

While artificial intelligence (AI) holds the potential to unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation for businesses, sustained success will hinge on a wide spectrum of trust – including the underlying data and the community of professionals that act on the ensuing insights. Building trust in AI-generated insights will require both robust data management and human oversight. These were among the key takeaways from a recent CIO.com roundtable dinner in Boston.

In a world in which consumers expect products, services, and support to be accessible instantly, seamlessly, and in just the way they want—personalization has become a do-or-die business objective.

Over the next five years, $2 trillion in revenue will shift to companies that understand how to create personalized experiences and personalized communications. Most companies aren’t currently doing personalization very well, but new AI capabilities mean companies can personalize with unprecedented precision, and fine tune every customer interaction.