Chow and Lin

Wheat is one of the earliest domesticated crops and the most grown crop today. Around 10,000 BC, the Neolithic Revolution (also known as the First Agricultural Revolution) started in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. Moving away from hunter-gatherer lifestyles, agricultural settlements formed around the cultivation of storable grains including wheat. One of the ancestors of modern wheat, Einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum), which was previously gathered from the wild, became the first wheat species that humans grew for food about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Wheat and cereal cultivation later spread to Europe, Central Asia, northeast Africa, and then other parts of the world.

Today, the most widely cultivated wheat species is Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), also known as bread wheat, accounts for 95% of annual global wheat production, followed by durum wheat (Tiriticum turgidum var. durum) which accounts for below 5%. Global wheat production was notably pushed during the “Green Revolution” (also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution) which saw high-yield wheat and rice varieties, and cultivation techniques spread through Mexico, India and Pakistan during the 1960s, and later to other Latin American and Asian countries. This movement was seen to alleviate world hunger, but also propagated agricultural intensification which required chemical fertilizer and pesticide application.

Wheat has the largest crop harvested area, with 219 million hectares in 2022. Total world wheat production was 788.5 million tonnes in 2023/24, and utilization was 798.2 million tonnes. The top wheat producing countries are China, India, Russia, US, France, Canada, Ukraine, Pakistan, Australia, Germany. Wheat is the 49th most trade product (by value) globally. Top wheat exporters are Australia, US, Canada, France, Russia and Ukraine, while top importers are Egypt, China, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.

Globally wheat flour is the second top calorie-providing agriculture product. Through the format of flour, wheat is transported through a global logistics network and used in many regions’ foods including bread, noodles and pasta, dumplings, cake and pastries. It is the main ingredient for many food cultures’ basic staples, tying into local social sensitivities and the politics of agricultural production, trade and food aid. Wheat flour shortage and price hikes led to the Flour War in France in 1775, and Egypt’s decades-long bread subsidy program. Governments from Italy’s Mussolini era to present-day Indonesia and South Korea have promoted replacement using locally grown cereals such as rice and sorghum to reduce import dependency and enhance food security.

The value chain for wheat encompasses activities of production, post-harvest storage, grain trade and transport, flour milling, distribution and usage in food manufacturing, food service, households and non-food sectors. Wheat cultivation faces ongoing disease and pest challenges. Climate change is expected to increase temperature and surface carbon dioxide, and shift rainfall patterns, which would impact crop yields and planting belts suited for wheat. Seed scientists are trying to develop drought-tolerant and disease-resistant wheat varieties using CRISPR gene editing and gene modification techniques. In recent years, major disruptions to global wheat and fertilizer trade occurred due to the Ukraine war, COVID-19 pandemic and Red Sea crisis.

Wheat has been embedded in cultural records and references, from Egyptian pharaoh art, to Van Gogh’s wheat field paintings, literature and films, to emblems of countries and institutions. These trace the evolving status of wheat, farming and products in human development across agrarian societies and urban economies.

The term “data” in the broadest sense refers to facts and information. In present-day context, the focus is on information that is transmitted, processed and stored in digital form. As such, changes in volume, speed and forms of data are closely linked to the development of computers and mobile devices, and digital infrastructure.

Major events and trends that have pushed mass creation and transmission of digital data include the rise of personal computers in 1980s, creation of a free public World Wide Web in 1991, spread of mobile internet from 2000s, surge of social media from 2010s and recent acceleration in video content. The idea of “big data” emerged also in the 1990s – as a large collection of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data that could potentially be analyzed to generate insights and influence decisions. It is estimated that 328.77 million terabytes of data are created globally everyday in 2024.

Semiconductors are a critical enabler for data storage and processing. Moore’s Law observed that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double every two years with minimal cost increase. Advances in memory and logic chips have meant smaller and faster devices, and more powerful supercomputers. However, global supply chain core technologies and resources are highly specialized and increasingly tangled with geopolitics.

Data centers have become essential physical infrastructure to store, process and manage vast amounts of data. They may be on-premise, or off-site “cloud”-based, depending on location of servers, and the underlying ownership and control required. The largest data center companies globally include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Meta, Equinix, Digital Realty and NTT Global Data Centers. Virginia, USA, is the leading data center market, hosting a third of the world’s hyper-scalers. Energy efficiency, carbon emissions and environmental impact are key sustainability concerns.

Data and IT innovations that have become mainstream concepts in the past decade include blockchain and cryptocurrency; metaverse, AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality); machine learning and AI (traditional and generative). Theoretically, these have been touted to bring advantages such as decentralization, connectedness and productivity. The related applications have impacted forms and methods in the creative sector. AI and cryptocurrency have drawn criticisms for their high electricity demands.

Data ownership and security have different implications at individual, organizational and national levels. The 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal highlighted the ethics around collection and usage of personal data by social media companies. In 2022, 134 out of 194 countries have established data protection and privacy laws. Cybersecurity is increasingly seen as a business risk especially with outsourcing of data processes and storage. Countries such as China, India, Russia and Nigeria have data localization requirements.

The data and IT ecosystem is dominated by global technology giants, of which many have business models that involve collecting and monetizing data. The “Big Five” tech companies refers to Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft. While each started from different points in the value chain, they have developed multimodal networks and capabilities including cloud and AI.

Digital technology use is overall seen as important for economic value creation and social benefits. Current development policy paradigms also try to assess digital gaps amongst countries, firms and individuals, to address lack of infrastructure access and capabilities.