In an age dominated by constant, tech-powered connection, it would seem that the last thing we need more of is more time spent together – especially at work, and especially in person. Having spent the first two years of the decade rapidly adjusting to remote work and adopting the tech solutions that made this possible, dragging ourselves back into cities and workplaces can feel like time and energy wasted.

Across the board, organisations are changing. Post-pandemic workplace practices, changing tech trends and generational shifts are impacting the way organisations must run and respond to the world. Local governments are not exempt from the trends dominating the workplace and the world at large, which represent a whole new set of opportunities, or threats, for those paying attention.

Here are 5 trends local governments need to watch.

In an era increasingly defined by scandal, hypocrisy and betrayals of public trust, customers are increasingly holding corporations to high standards of integrity. Businesses and brands can no longer afford to cut ethical corners, fall short of marketing promises or fail to practise what they preach. In an age of skepticism and transparency, what customers are craving from their companies is congruence.

In order to build the trust and rapport with customers that has been so often compromised, businesses and brands need clear sets of values that they are committed to upholding. Without clear values to guide conduct and culture, it’s easy to lose our way, lose sight of the things that really count and subsequently lose the trust of those who matter most.

Between writing students’ essays, synthesising information and creating meal plans, ChatGPT is taking on a new role, getting involved in our dating lives. A growing number of individuals are using it as a kind of wingman for the digital age to up their game in talking to tinder dates and crushes, but for some the chatbot itself is the object of the romantic pursuit.

Upon discovering its ability to replicate a remarkably human written tone, many have been asking ChatGPT to supply them with pick up lines and poems that they can use to woo their Tinder matches. Despite anticipating rejection, one man reports using a poem as the opening message for a match: ‘Got her number back in less than an hour’.[1]

Within an economy increasingly characterised by precarity and uncertainty, the growing class of creators represents an alternative approach to money-making to traditional employment. Largely driven by Gen Zs, who are increasingly turning away from conventional career paths and towards options with greater independence and flexible, the creator economy continues to work its way into the mainstream.

A kind of gig economy for digital spaces, the creator economy involves those individuals who are using online platforms to publish and monetise content. Posted on platforms like Instragram, TikTok, YouTube, Patreon and Substack, the content of the creator economy is as diverse as the creators producing it. Whether through subscriptions, brand partnerships or advertising, creators are able to generate income through the appeal of their content.[1]

If there are two trends that consumers have come to prioritise in recent years they are personalisation and health. Among other things, the pandemic alerted us to the very real fragility of our bodies and boosted an already rising trend of health-consciousness. Meanwhile, as automation, AI and the accessibility of data points have surged in recent years, so has the capacity for businesses to personalise their products.

We live in an age where more and more of our daily lives is being monitored and measured by AI-powered tools. On the health and wellbeing front, this is often referred to as the Quantified Self Movement. Smart watches and monitoring apps are now widely used to track users’ health across a range of metrics. But more than simply counting our steps or evaluating our sleep, the emergence of wearable health trackers has the potential to revolutionise healthcare.

The fashion industry’s history of highly homogenised models has been an object of wide criticism for years now. Companies have made clear efforts to diversify the identities and appearances of the models representing their brands in order to more inclusive of the wider population.

Recent integration of AI within some of the world’s big fashion brands is seeing the diversification of models and the representation of customers become a much more viable reality. In partnership with AI company Lalaland.ai, Levi Strauss & Co is trialling a new approach to modelling their denim, using AI fashion models in place of humans.