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8th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Europe in 2013
First and foremost, happy New Year. I hope 2013 is a great year for all of you. Late 2012 marked the mid-point of the UK Coalition government’s five year term and this week the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister published the Government’s own mid-term review. Given the interest in Sweden on the UK’s approach […]
8th January 2013 London, UK
Digital’s place in the diplomatic toolkit | GDS
Departments’ Digital Strategies showed how far the impact of digital has been within government. For the FCO, the addition of social media tools to the diplomatic arena will be incredibly important: Like many organisations the FCO’s communications teams are well versed in the opportunities social media provides, from distributing and amplifying consular messages to British […]
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7th January 2013 Ottawa, Canada
2012: SIN Canada, a Year in Review
So it’s 2013 already! My how time flies when you’re having fun! It’s about this time of year when I like to take a step back and look at what we’ve accomplished over the last 365 days, and to start looking forward to the adventures the coming year will bring. Well, what did last year […]
5th January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
New Year in Sudan
2012 in Sudan seemed hectic pretty much up until the last minute. 2013 promises to be no less. So, like many others, I squeezed in a bit of holiday between the two. My son came to visit and we spent some time visiting the old, the new and the in-between in Sudan. The old were […]
3rd January 2013 Washington DC, USA
2012 – A Fantastic Year for British Fashion
As 2012 and my first six months of my job at the Embassy came to a close, my colleagues and I reflected back on how great the year was for the UK. One of the reasons that we were able to celebrate this was because of the cutting edge UK fashion industry. Recently our very […]
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3rd January 2013 Toronto, Canada
The Raspberry Pi comes to Toronto
If you aren’t familiar with the Raspberry Pi, it’s a $35 computer about the size of a credit card. Designed and assembled in the UK, the RPi was conceived as an educational tool to bring “real” computer science back into schools. Rather than simply learning how to be an end-user of computer programs, students would […]
3rd January 2013 Chevening, UK
A Re-Education Process: My Chevening Experience So Far
This months Chevening Conversations blog entry is by Malaysian Chevening Scholar King Chai. Marcus was right – I should’ve taken more time to write for the (I presume) now-defunct Kopi Kluang ‘Weekly’ Column on LoyarBurok.com. As I was packing my things to leave for Kent to celebrate Christmas with my ‘parents-away-from-home’, it suddenly hit me […]
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3rd January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK 2013: G8 Presidency
This time last year, the UK was looking forward to Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and hosting the Olympics and Paralympic Games. I think most people would agree that they went tremendously well. 2013 promises to be busy in a different way, not least because the UK is taking on the Presidency of the G8. […]
2nd January 2013 New Delhi, India
Forward look for 2013
You had the SINners best bits of 2012 and so we thought at the start of this new year it would be a good time to have a look at what the SIN India team are getting excited about in 2013. Events and projects ranging from environmental issues to bioenergy to creative economy are going […]
31st December 2012 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Amid the Winter’s Snow
On the day of the first heavy snow in Tashkent, I went out to the former Abdul Kassim Medressah, which now houses artisans’ workshops and shops selling craft work from around Uzbekistan. The city looks very different under a fresh coating of snow. The Medressah is an attractively simple building from the early nineteenth century. […]