Portugal (109)
The ideas market
Inocrowd is a technology platform created to connect companies and investors with business proposals and challenges on the one hand and business solutions on the other. The website operates like a job searching platform with lists of seekers and solvers. A solver may be anyone who is a specialist in a given area, who is willing to receive real-life challenges faced by companies (the seekers) and help them by submitting solutions in exchange of remuneration.
Why it matters
The promise is to revolutionise the innovation market through new partnerships. In an ever more specialised world, will this ‘find-your-own-solution’ formula become a way to present and spread business ideas (with no bureaucracy or boundaries) and increase competitiveness within the Portuguese market?
Banking thesaurus
Portuguese BES bank [Banco Espírito Santo] just launched the b-a-bes – a dictionary that helps customers understand bank-related terms and will hopefully increase economic literacy levels. This online tool recalls the expression “b-a-bá” (babbling) and includes videos, graphics and answers to frequently asked questions about economic jargon.
Why it matters
Teaching basic concepts about money, credit, savings and financial operations can be very helpful, especially when the current financial crisis can make people further confused and insecure. Are these kind of campaigns capable of enriching and reinforcing the client-bank relationship? Also, could they attract new clients in a time when the financial sector is considered unreliable by a majority of consumers?
Vacancy…for females only
A London hotel has become the latest to roll out a suite of amenities for women, despite a ruling that declared a similar scheme in Copenhagen as illegal under discrimination laws. The Dukes Hotel will assign some of its rooms ‘Duchess Rooms’, loading them with treats to tempt single female travellers or groups of women. The Duchess rooms will be looked after exclusively by female room attendants, contain extra items such as a makeup mirrors, hair dryers, styling accessories and offer a selection of glossy magazines. The bathroom will have female amenities, while the rooms will be filled with fresh flowers.
Why it matters
Undoubtedly provocative, the no-men allowed rooms in the Dukes Hotel (the name is itself an irony in this new context) is following a subtle but growing trend of new services dedicated exclusively to women like gyms, spas, transport, etc. Some may well consider this a regression in social values and equality, but the question remains: Are we, women, willing to make and welcome that regression by adopting a new, yet vintage, lifestyle?
