Welcome to London & The World and Happy New Year!
We hope that wherever you are in the globe, you had an enjoyable festive season.
Much like 2018, 2019 promises to bring change and disruption across the world. This year we will see important elections in India, Nigeria, Ukraine, Israel, South Africa and Argentina, to name but a few; a new era of UK-EU relations; and, in a year where half the world's population will apparently be online, technology will play an even bigger role.
In this issue, we consider a new age in employee benefits: blockchain-based incentives; we celebrate the growing opportunities in Rwanda; we learn from a Kazakh entrepreneur on his technology push in the construction industry; we review amendments to UK data protection law should there be a 'no deal' Brexit scenario; we explore the dispute resolution mechanisms in Middle Eastern countries; and we look at international arbitration from Hong Kong, to Russia, to the EU. In the battle for gender equality Iceland is leading the world: we share our latest film of 'A Gender for Change', part of our content partnership with The Economist. And finally, our 2019 MDR LAB applications are now open. If you are a start-up in the legal space anywhere in the globe this is your chance. Successful applications will have access to advice, mentorship and education.
We'd like to take this opportunity to introduce MDR Brand Management - a unique service that builds commercial value for brand owners and their IP through Brand Licensing, Franchise development and wider strategic commercial partnerships.
We hope you enjoy reading this bulletin and we look forward to hearing any thoughts you may have on its content.
Wishing you a great start of the year!