This week’s stories cover tech and sustainability, coming from Canada, USA and the EU
1-Apple’s iPad turns 15
On January 27, 2010, Steve Jobs unveiled the first-generation iPad at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Designed to bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops, the device featured a 9.7-inch LED-backlit touchscreen, Apple’s first custom-designed processor, a 30-pin dock connector, and storage options of up to 64GB. Starting at $499, it provided a new way for users to browse the web, read eBooks, watch videos, and engage with Apple’s expanding app ecosystem. I saw this story at macrumors and Jobs described it as “a magical and revolutionary device.”
Running a version of iOS optimized for its larger screen, the iPad brought a tablet-friendly experience to familiar apps like Safari, Mail, and Photos. It also introduced the iBooks app and iBookstore to compete with Amazon’s Kindle in the e-reading market. Its design featured thick black bezels, a physical home button, and a curved aluminum back, weighing 1.5 pounds with a 10-hour battery life.
Initial reactions to the iPad were mixed—some praised its portability and media capabilities, while others questioned its role and whether it could replace laptops. Despite this, the iPad sold over 300,000 units on launch day in April 2010 and surpassed one million sales within a month. By the end of the year, Apple had sold over 15 million iPads, generating $9.5 billion in revenue and establishing the device as a major success.
Over the years, the iPad has evolved into a core Apple product, leading to variations like the iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro, along with accessories such as the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard.

Apple’s iPad turns 15
2-GDPR fines in EU reach €1.2 billion in 2024
According to new data from law firm DLA Piper, European regulators imposed €1.2 billion ($1.26 billion) in GDPR fines in 2024. This marks a 33% decrease from the €2.9 billion ($3.1 billion) issued in 2023. It is also the first recorded year-on-year decline in fines since the regulation took effect in May 2018.(By the way I have a story here about EU’s high tech imports)
I read this story at Infosecurity Magazine and Ross McKean, Partner and Chair of DLA Piper’s UK Data Protection and Cyber Practice, noted that while this year’s total did not break records, it does not indicate a decline in enforcement. He emphasized that interest from regulators remains strong.
Since GDPR’s implementation in 2018, the total fines issued have reached €5.88 billion ($6.17 billion). The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) remains the most active regulator, issuing €3.5 billion ($3.7 billion) in fines—over four times more than the Luxembourg Data Protection Authority, the second-highest enforcer.
Here are the largest fines in 2024:
- €310 million ($326 million) fine against LinkedIn by the Irish DPC in October for improper data processing in advertising.
- €290 million ($324 million) fine against Uber by the Dutch Data Protection Authority in August for storing driver data in the U.S. without adequate safeguards.
- €251 million ($263 million) fine against Meta by the Irish DPC in December for a 2018 data breach affecting 29 million Facebook accounts.
A key trend in 2024 was the growing emphasis on personal liability for data privacy violations. Regulators increasingly cited organizational governance failures in enforcement decisions. One notable case involves the Dutch Data Protection Commission investigating whether Clearview AI’s directors can be held personally accountable for GDPR violations, following a €30.5 million ($32.03 million) fine against the company.

GDPR fines in EU reach €1.2 billion in 2024
3-The world’s most sustainable companies announced: Corporate Knights
Corporate Knights, a Canadian company producing corporate rankings, research reports and financial products based on corporate sustainability performance, announced the world’s most sustainable companies.
Here are the top 10 sustainable companies of the world:
1-Schneider Electric (France)
2-Sims Ltd (Australia)
3-Vestas Wind Systems (Denmark)
4-Brambles Ltd (Australia)
5-Taiwan High Speed Rail (Taiwan)
6-SMA Solar Technology (Germany)
7-Alstom (France)
8-Stantec (Canada)
9-Orsted (Denmark)
10-Enphase Energy (USA)
Here’s the methodology of the research, according to Corporate Knights:
“The Global 100 methodology uses a mix of fixed and variable-weight ESG and sustainable-economy key performance indicators (KPIs) to score companies against their peers. We measure the share of revenues and investments that are included in the Corporate Knights Sustainable Economy Taxonomy and percent rank those ratios against the company’s peer group (CKPG). We then give equal weight to the ratios and the percent ranks in awarding up to 25 points for sustainable revenue and up to 25 points for sustainable investment, for a total of 50 possible points. The other 50 points in the Global 100 are allocated to 22 ESG KPIs, covering environmental, social, governance and supplier sustainability themes.”
Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights, notes that sustainable revenues have been growing at twice the rate of other income streams over the past five years, now exceeding $5 trillion annually across 3,000 major companies. Sustainable capital expenditures are also outpacing other investments, signaling a long-term shift toward green business models.
Let me add that Corporate Knights has been ranking the world’s 100 most sustainable corporations since 2005.

The world’s most sustainable companies announced