Business Daily

We look at how the country can grow its economy in 2024.

In November 2023, Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez won a second term as Spain's prime minister, and said his focus would be reducing public debt and helping key sectors such as tourism and the automotive industry.

Plus the government wants to become a leader in renewables.

Presenter: Ashish Sharma

(Image: Woman takes a selfie in Madrid. Credit: Getty Images)

The running shoe industry is worth around 50 billion dollars across the world, with more and more of us taking part in the sport.

(Picture: A group of runners racing through a park. Credit: Getty Images)

Presented and produced by Izzy Greenfield

It's widely recognised that we are bombarded with fast-paced imagery in the modern world, whether it's social media videos, or digital billboards in city spaces.

But there has been a similar explosion in sound, says advertising entrepreneur Michele Arnese. He thinks brands can only compete with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

Dougal Shaw speaks to the Italian tech entrepreneur who trained as a classical musician, but founded an advertising company that helps companies stand out with distinctive sounds.

(Picture: Michele Arnese of Amp looking at AI-generated music with a colleague.)

Presented and produced by Dougal Shaw

Semiconductors hit the news during the Covid-19 pandemic, as issues with supply chains led to shortages of cars and soaring prices.

Since then, geopolitical tensions have impacted the industry. 90% of the world's most advanced chips are made by TSMC in Taiwan.

In today’s episode, we visit a new semiconductor fabrication plant in the UK - the first to develop a low-cost, flexible semiconductor, as companies, and nations, race to diversity the industry.

(Picture: Two workers in PPE inside the Pragmatic semiconductor plant in Durham, England. Credit: Pragmatic)

Produced and presented by Hannah Mullane

The Caribbean island imports around 90% of its food and by law only US ships can be used to transport it – which pushes up the price.

We speak to islanders who think that needs to change, and are pushing for Puerto Rico to become more self sufficient.

Weather events like Hurricane Maria, which left many without power and water for months, have brought the issue to the forefront once again.

We meet a new generation who are leading the way, using new technology to try and make it easier, and cheaper, for people to buy local and rely less on imports.

Produced and presented by Jane Chambers

(Image: Puerto Rican farmer Fernando Maldonado. Credit: Jane Chambers)

Almost 60% of the world’s population live in cities. And this trend is expected to continue - by 2050 nearly 7 of 10 people will live in urban environments.  

Although more than 80% of global GDP is generated in cities, there are challenges: increasing carbon emissions and environmental pollution, traffic congestion and urban vulnerability, exposed by natural disasters such as floods and storms.

The creation of a digital twin - a digital representation of a real city, infrastructure or even a whole country - could help decision-makers simulate real situations, allowing them to make better decisions. Situations like floods and other extreme weather events.

We look into the technology and find out what the benefits and limitations are...

And the former foreign minister of Tuvalu, Simon Kofe, explains how climate change has forced his country to consider preserving their whole statehood and culture in the metaverse.

Produced and presented by Ivana Davidovic

(Image: A digital representation of Singapore. Credit: Singapore Land Authority)

Twice in 2023, the American government faced the prospect of having to shut down because politicians in congress couldn’t agree on a budget to fund it. Each time, a shutdown was narrowly averted – by last minute, short-term deals.

Now, a third deadline is looming in mid-January. It leaves politicians – with fierce disagreements over what services the government should pay for, and how – little time to reach an agreement.

We look at the impact of this uncertainty on businesses, and ask, in an election year, what can be done to bring the chaos to an end?

Presented and produced by Rob Young

(Image: An employee walks past a sign at the entrance of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History during a 35-day partial government shutdown in Washington, DC, January 28, 2019. Credit: Getty Images)

For 70 years, Pearl & Dean has been at the forefront of cinema advertising in the UK. Its CEO, Kathryn Jacob has been leading the company for 18 of them.

But it's been a rocky few years for the movie industry, as it battles the economic effects of the Covid pandemic.

In this edition of Business Daily meets, Kathryn discusses how cinemas are recovering, and how the advertising industry is slowly embracing diversity.

(Picture: Kathryn Jacob)

Presented and produced by Dougal Shaw

How easy is it to open a bank account in your country?

Around the world, 1.4 billion people can’t get a bank account, and two-thirds of them are in low and middle income countries.

People from migrant communities also struggle to access formal banking services.

We hear from 19 year-old Josue Calderon. Originally from El Salvador, he arrived in the United States when he was 16. He tells Sam Fenwick about the challenges of only being able to use cash when he first arrived in the US.

Sam also speaks to BBC World Service listeners about their experiences of opening a bank account.

(Picture: The hand of a woman about to take money out of her purse. Credit: Getty Images)

Produced and presented by Sam Fenwick

The use of these endlessly flexible 3D images is increasing rapidly.

Not just in entertainment, but in medicine, education, design, defence and more.

Holograms trick the brain into seeing something in 3D when it’s really just a projection, allowing us to feel immersed in something – whether it’s an atom, or a cityscape.

We talk to companies developing this fast advancing technology and ask – will we be living in a holographic future?

Produced and presented by Matthew Kenyon

(Image: A citizen watches a hologram of the artwork 'A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains' during a digital art exhibition at an art museum on March 11, 2023 in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. Credit: Getty Images)