The life of physicist Freeman Dyson spans advising bomber command in World War II; working at the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, as a contemporary of Einstein; and providing advice to the US government on a wide range of scientific and technical issues.
He is a rare public intellectual who writes prolifically for a wide audience. He has also campaigned against nuclear weapons proliferation.
Last year, the UK’s Cabinet Office asked an external management consultancy to examine staff morale and high turnover at the Government Digital Service. After interviewing more than 100 civil servants, its scathing confidential analysis described an organisation beset by low morale and run by a “cabal” management of old friends, who bypassed talent in favour of recruiting former associates – while Whitehall viewed GDS as “smug” and “arrogant”.
No 10’s controversial “nudge unit” has been spun out into a company – but it hasn’t fallen far from the nest. The 16-strong Behavioural Insights Team (as it’s known) will become a private entity and will be able to tap into cash originally set aside for fledgling inventors.
It will then sell its services back to the government and, if all goes well, other governments and organisations.
Former quango now-charity Nesta will provide £1.9m funding for the Unit’s experiments, and … Read More
Widespread ridicule has greeted the announcement that eight giant technology companies led by Google and including Facebook and LinkedIn were going to save us from the NSA.
The ridicule is thoroughly justified, for trusting giant corporations – whose business models rely on selling your identity to advertisers – to safeguard your privacy is like hiring a kleptomaniac to guard the sweet shop.
Thirty years after the Khmer Rouge declared war on “the Garden of the individual”, Silicon Valley was lauding … Read More
