Boris Johnson stands at the crossroads of another Huawei saga if Amazon Web Services crushes UK cloud products June 18, 2021 Cloud computing in the UK is at a crossroads: on one path is a vibrant domestic growth sector able to compete on the international stage, down the other is an industry dominated by a few Big Tech giants and stymied by policy inaction. In recent years, British tech companies are being overlooked time and time [...]
Britain can win the race for hydrogen supremacy if it faces down competition from Japan June 17, 2021 Japan has made an unprecedented commitment to hydrogen power as an alternative energy source, investing US$19.2 billion in the technology in new funding alone. As first out of the starting blocks, Japan has staked its claim as the world leader in the industry. We are at a critical juncture, however, and there is a golden [...]
The vaccine rollout has been a success but it has still fallen prey to Whitehall inefficiency June 17, 2021 Dominic Cummings has yet again attempted a forced exorcism of Matt Hancock from the government. To the ex-special adviser, the Health Secretary represents everything wrong with Whitehall and its bureaucracy: a failure to innovate, to find creative solutions or to ensure pinch points of stasis in existing symptoms do not become endemic. In this, at [...]
Politicians have learnt the lessons of 2008 but we should still fear inflation June 17, 2021 Forecasting inflation is like forecasting exchange rates. In both cases, economists must go out on a limb. Given the number of factors that come into play, making predictions about inflation and exchange rates leads more often to fiasco than to kudos. Let’s consider a recent, telling example. High inflation expectations were rife in the months [...]
A UK-Australia trade deal must address Canberra’s reluctance to tackle climate change June 16, 2021 The new trade deal with Australia is the first building block in the Prime Minister’s vision for a Global Britain, and sets the UK on a firm path to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. There has already been fierce debate over the contents of the agreement. Environmental concerns must be at [...]
Britain’s tech industry needs to address its gender gap and invest in women June 16, 2021 With all major crises, comes opportunity. A chance to consider where we are and where we want to be. Crisis is a catalyst for change. As the tech industry takes a central role in helping the global economy rebound, it must seize the moment and be inclusively bold. We need every talented entrepreneur contributing to [...]
Boris Johnson’s political capital to extend Covid restrictions is waning as more Brits are vaccinated June 16, 2021 Millions of Britons piled into social gatherings up and down the country to watch our boys notch up a notable triumph over the Croatian football team on Sunday. We will never know for sure how many of these were compliant with the current Covid regulations, but it is a fair bet that a sizeable minority [...]
To protect the NHS, we need to digitise and streamline communication between GPs and specialists June 15, 2021 Everyone knows that feeling when you’re completely physically and emotionally shattered, and you just can’t function. For most of us, this isn’t a particularly big deal, you’re only cooking your children’s supper after a long day at work, after all. But, when you’re looking after seriously ill patients and they’re dependent on your ability to [...]
Coutts CEO: Too many overly-cautious Britons are squirelling away savings in cash June 15, 2021 It regularly occurs to me that the British are harsh when it comes to embracing what it is they, or we I should say now after all my years here, do really well. We’re amazing at rallying against matters which are wrong or need improvement. But the other side of the coin still seems to [...]
Oliver Dowden: London’s tech trailblazers will lead the charge to tackle climate change June 15, 2021 Humans have long innovated their way out of adversity, and now it’s time for tech to take on one of the greatest challenges of our time. In 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to commit to bringing all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. It is one [...]