5 must reads for your weekend

We keep our ear to the ground for the interesting stats, insights and discussion points you need to feel in the know.

1. Male fertility and tapping into a “quantify me” trend

Every year, around 180 million aspiring parents experience fertility issues – that’s one in six couples.? Poor quality sperm is one reason for conception problems. But traditional sperm count tests are only 30% accurate. Mojo Fertility’s co-founder Mohamed Taha experienced this personally, finding that three different labs returned different sperm count results – an experience he describes as “terrible.” So, in 2017, Taha, Daniel Thomas, Fanny Chesa and Tobias Boecker founded Mojo Fertility to offer a better experience and eradicate human error from the testing process. The company created a new piece of AI-based technology that can count sperm with 95% accuracy. Next, they needed help articulating the value proposition to clinics. An EY team in Stockholm met Mojo’s founders, and together they began a brand development process and communications campaign targeting fertility labs in the Nordics. But?EY saw an opportunity to go much further - and target men directly. The EY team developed and took a home-testing kit from concept to public launch in just six months. Since then, the valuation of the company has doubled.? ?

How Mojo Fertility is helping more men conceive?

2. Is green tech the answer to decarbonization?

Let’s take transport as an example. Governments worldwide are wrestling with the challenge of rapidly decarbonizing our transportation systems. Some cities, like Paris, plan to ban all vehicles from their city center. Others are planning comprehensive restrictions on internal combustion engine vehicles while investing in new mass transit infrastructure. And how about electric vehicles? “The chicken-and-egg scenario right now is that people are not buying EVs because there isn’t the charging infrastructure,” says Marc Cotelli, EY Americas eMobility Energy Leader. “Yet infrastructure is not being installed because there are not enough EVs.” Other upcoming technologies, like sustainable fuels, need to be commercialized and implemented on a mass scale. For example, Boeing plans to have its commercial airplanes flying on 100% sustainable aviation fuels by 2030. To decarbonize the transport sector, governments need a coordinated policy approach at national, regional, and city levels...

?If there’s no silver bullet, can green tech hit the target?

3. One third of students are unhappy with their university

Our latest study, conducted in collaboration with Times Higher Education (THE), explored the wants and needs of more than 3,000 students and hundreds of teaching faculty and professional staff in eight geographies. Worryingly, one-third of students told us they feel neutral about or unhappy with their choice of university. The key reason? Quality of teaching. Students also give low satisfaction ratings to the “quality of online learning” - putting it at the bottom of all surveyed aspects of university life (although, the amount of online versus in-person teaching was of little concern). Although students rate the availability, quality of production and accessibility of digital learning materials reasonably well, they give low ratings to its ability to engage, enable collaboration or check understanding. Here’s how university leaders can strengthen their university’s student offering... ? ?

Why human-centered transformation design is critical for universities

4. “We’ve got this” isn’t cyber defense

“Privately owned businesses aren’t moving fast enough to outrun cyber threats” writes Ryan Burke, Global EY Private Leader. According to the?EY Global Cybersecurity Leadership Insights Study, even though cyber threats are a top risk for any organization, it takes 84% of those firms more than a month to detect a cybersecurity breach. Yes. That’s right – a month to recognize a breach.?Despite this, for many privately owned businesses, there is this feeling that “we’ve got this” – and a cyber incident can be managed and mitigated in-house. But that won’t cut it. “It’s a common leadership view for businesses owned by family interests or private equity that they can act in a more nimble way than large corporations and they generally do!” says Ryan. However, very few businesses have the?depth of in-house skill required to monitor the complicated threat landscape or manage complex, modern cyber incidents. But more leaders are recognizing this. The?study also reports that almost half of all private firms now outsource more than 30% of cybersecurity operations, and more than 50% realizing an acute need to upskill their own cybersecurity talent as a top priority. Ryan shares more in his latest article.

Privately owned businesses aren’t moving fast enough to outrun cyber threats?

5. Generations act and spend differently on sustainability?

It’s often assumed that younger generations will drive a shift to more sustainable consumption but when it comes to behaviors like using less plastic, recycling more or conserving water, it’s older consumers who are leading the way. According to the latest EY Future Consumer Index, 44% of Gen Z (those born between 2007-2012) recycles or reuses packaging after use vs 63% of baby boomers (those born between 1955-1964) and 65% of boomers?bring reusable bags to the store compared with just 43% of Gen Z. Despite this, younger consumers are more focused on buying better quality, checking the sustainability of brands and telling their friends what to buy. Moreover,?younger generations are speaking with their wallets when it comes to sustainable spending. 37% percent of Gen Z indicated that they are willing to pay for more sustainable goods and services compared with 29% of baby boomers. But that’s not all...

EY Future Consumer Index: when talk turns into action, be set for change?

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