News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
History has shown that technological change is inevitable. Seventy-five years ago, it took hours to decode Enigma. Today, nearly 2 billion people use smartphones to instantly access an endless repository of information. Other revolutionary technologies, such as artificial intelligence, drones, and gene editing, will re-shape the future in ways that […]
On January 21st, 2015 The Australian published an article on the front page of the paper reporting on a ‘groundbreaking study’. This study showed that ‘people living near wind farms face a greater risk of suffering health complaints caused by the low-frequency noise generated by turbines’. The wording of that […]
The fact that Germany is on the verge of Industry 4.0 is now commonplace knowledge, which a serious economic policy paper cannot ignore – regardless of whatever stripe. After the epoch-making inventions of the steam engine, electricity and the computer the fourth industrial revolution is materialising: digitisation. Nevertheless, the political […]
As the dust settles on the international climate change negotiations in Warsaw, I feel a sense of déjà vu. Hunger strikes, a mass walk-out by civil society, and eventually a last minute deal agreed upon by sleep-deprived delegates after 36 hours of non-stop negotiations. This has become an annual ritual. […]
Countries, cities, companies, & civil society can lead the fight against climate change – but they must link up with the multilateral process too Global governance is gridlocked. As the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations makes clear, politicians have every incentive to address narrow, short-term interests, and few reasons […]
The last few days have been an uncomfortable experience for me. I’ve found myself doing something that I hadn’t ever expected to do.
Core IV of the Masters in Public Policy (MPP) came to a close last week with a panel on scientific advice to government. We were delighted to welcome three of the UK’s most esteemed scientists, all of whom have practical experience of giving advice to government. Lord Robert May FRS […]
It’s Friday of week 4, the halfway point of Hilary Term, which means we are also halfway through Core IV: Science and Public Policy. I’m sure our first cohort of MPP students would agree that the last four weeks have been both exciting and engaging. Core IV began with […]