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2nd July 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Video: the perils of conspiracy theories
A harvest fails. Saboteurs are blamed. A well-know personality dies tragically. A secret plot is alleged. Another well-known personality dies tragically. Rumours circulate that he has faked his death and has been seen in a supermarket near Basingstoke. I have written several times in this blog about conspiracy theories. Now, if you don’t mind hearing […]
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2nd July 2015 Canberra, Australia
Let’s talk about dialogue
What do you get if you put 30 academics and diplomats in a room for two days? No, this is not the start of some lame joke about hot air, or people thinking twice before saying nothing, it’s what happened in Sydney recently. I was part of the second Australia-UK track 1.5 Asia Dialogue last week. […]
1st July 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Global networks
This is a networked world. And yet there are few genuinely global networks out there. By that I mean networks that have a capacity to operate globally, co-ordinated centrally but operating in capillary fashion, horizontally in a radial pattern as well as vertically in a hub and spoke model. One of the reasons why we […]
1st July 2015 Bangalore, India
Back to Thiruvananthapuram
I recently visited the City of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala with my colleague Sam Kumar from the British Deputy High Commission in Chennai. Our aim was to see how the city has grown as a hotspot for research and innovation activity in India. My predecessor, Dr Tom Wells, visited with the same aim in 2012 – and to […]
30th June 2015 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 22-28 June 2015
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-22-28-june-2015 [View the story “Canadian science news: 22-28 June 2015” on Storify]
30th June 2015 Tripoli, Libya
For the Libyan People
I spent most of the first week in my new job as British Ambassador to Libya in Skhirat, Morocco. It was a good chance to meet and get to know the members of the Libyan Political Dialogue. Before arriving in Tunis I concentrated on trying to get an understanding of Libya. If you want to […]
30th June 2015 Mumbai, India
Interview with Andrew Davidson, UK Intellectual Property Office
Andrew Davidson, Head of Global Cooperation and Development with the UK Intellectual Property Office visited India from 01-05 June. He met with several stakeholders from the academia, government and industry. I caught up with him to discuss the visit. Read on! What brings you to India? I supported conferences organised by the European Patent Office […]
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30th June 2015 Canberra, Australia
Magna Carta: then and now
Over the last two weeks, I’ve taken part in a number of events to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. My personal highlight was undoubtedly introducing Prime Minister Tony Abbott to an audience of over 300 people in Parliament’s Great Hall, to deliver the British High Commission’s annual Magna Carta lecture. As I said […]
29th June 2015 Bangkok, Thailand
4 Ways in which the UK is helping to grow Prosperity in Thailand
The Southeast Asia Prosperity Fund recently awarded one-year grants, to four projects in Thailand to implementing agencies that work in the area of improving transparency in Thai public procurement procedure and in business sector, assisting the Thai government to achieve ambitious goals on climate change, and enhancing energy security in Thailand. I will be blogging about […]
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29th June 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Nessun Dorma
It’s been a tiring week. The middle part of the Council session is always hectic as delegates scramble to finalise the version of the resolutions that they want to table by Thursday’s deadline. But my sleep levels have taken a heavier battering than normal thanks to the Women’s World Cup, taking place in Canada’s far-off […]