Blog

Why the British Government just doesn't 'get' data

Many years ago, I sat in on a talk by the Chief Executive of a major oil company. The very small audience was mostly made up of his middle managers from every corner of the globe. At the end, he invited questions. As one of only 3 outsiders in the room, I was amazed,...

Can we make dustpans like the Americans?

Last Christmas my wife bought me a dustpan and brush. They were beautifully wrapped. She had bought them from Labour and Wait – a well known shop off Brick Lane in the east end of London. There weren’t too many interesting features of my present, but one did catch my...

Data grubbing is bad for us

In a previous life, I worked in human resource management, negotiating with trades unions. It was a management function outside finance where a LOT of numbers were thrown around. How much was being claimed? What would be the impact on the organisation today and into...

Outsourcing R&D in government

Suffolk is going to outsource everything. In other places, development proceeds. Let’s consider a key possible area. The research and intelligence that should be supporting local enterprise partnerships. Just in the last few weeks we’ve heard that South Tyneside is...