9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
29th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Jubilee of Mercy: a guide for British pilgrims
What does Pope Francis’s announcement of the Jubilee Year of Mercy mean for an embassy accredited to the Holy See? Above all, it means many more people coming to Rome, and specifically to the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica, not as tourists but as pilgrims. Our role, together with the British Embassy to Italy, […]
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29th September 2015 Mumbai, India
Antimicrobial resistance: UK-India collaborating to beat the superbugs
You might recall the UK Science and Innovation Network in India put together an excellent workshop on infectious diseases last year, where we explored various potential UK-India collaborative areas to help tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Top experts from the UK and India discussed important issues like open innovation and drug discovery; and the many associated […]
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29th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Social Media & Ethiopia: a discussion with some top ‘influencers’
Digital Diplomacy is a key part of our work in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We are encouraged to use social media and become closer to our audiences, to engage with and listen to them – it helps us reach a much wider range of stakeholders than through traditional methods of diplomacy. I started […]
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28th September 2015 Moscow, Russia
Russia to give robotic technologies a boost
Even for someone who has not been following developments too closely over the past 4 years, it’s clear that momentum is building to make robotics an integral component of STEM work in Russia. A recent message from the Education and Science Minister that “robotics should be made part of Russia’s educational curriculum” certainly brings the […]
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28th September 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Difficult Deliveries
However it happens, giving birth to a resolution at the UN is always difficult. In olden times, when the Human Rights Council was but a twinkle in the eye of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the process remained unchanged down the generations. Drafts were put together in foetal form by aspiring parent delegations, and then discussed […]
28th September 2015 London, UKSkopje, North Macedonia
`Speak Truth Unto Power`
The UK Civil Service doesn’t have an official motto – but if it did, it would almost certainly be: “speak truth unto power”. It’s a maxim that’s in the blood of good civil servants, even if they know that it won’t make their lives any easier. The best politicians learn to cherish civil service advice […]
28th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Postcard from Warsaw: A Very Human Dimension
Since I first saw a local Polish emigre folk dance group as a child, Poland has held great sense of romance for me. More recently, cycling and skiing along mountain border paths through fairy tale forests added to the magic. Warsaw though has always been for me a city of buildings. Buildings stretching along broad avenues as […]
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27th September 2015 Bern, Switzerland
Switzerland Innovation Nation
The Global Innovation Index 2015 (GII) was published in September. Switzerland was voted the most innovative country in the world and the UK reaffirmed its position in second place. The GII measures 141 economies around the world, based on its definition of the 79 criteria which constitute effective innovation policy. The index is calculated based […]
25th September 2015 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Global Goals for a better world
Later today (25 September), the United Nations will adopt 17 Global Goals to end extreme poverty and build a better world by 2030. Earlier this week, I took part in an event hosted by Standard Chartered Bank in Brunei to publicise the Global Goals – also called the Sustainable Development Goals. Visiting humanitarian advocate d’Arcy […]
24th September 2015 Bangalore, India
Manufacturing of the future
When we think of printing most of us think about a printer and paper. However in the last couple of weeks I learnt more about a different kind of printing called 3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing, that produces complex 3D geometric parts which cannot be made by traditional manufacturing. In 3D printing successive layers of […]