Signal Leading technology firms worth almost seven trillion dollars

Summary

The report states that over recent decades a small number of global technology companies have gained billions of users worldwide and a combined market value of almost seven trillion US dollars. They dominate several industries, including hardware, software, operating systems and cloud computing. A cycle in which services become more valuable as their user base grows limits competition and makes it hard for smaller rivals to catch up. These firms collect huge amounts of personal data, and concentrating it in single organisations increases breach risks and reduces user control. The report also lists as vulnerabilities that the global technology industry produced 2 to 3 per cent of world carbon emissions in 2021 and that semiconductor manufacturing generates significant toxic waste.