Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

12th June 2018 Science Innovation USA

Carmen Schicklberger

Carmen Schicklberger

Head of Science and Innovation - San Francisco

Agribots and the tech revolution on the farm

What does the farm of the future look like? Increasing automation and big data promise to revolutionise every industry, including the agricultural countryside with a tech sector that will be worth more than £136 billion globally by 2025. The UK Government recognized this early on and launched an Agri-Tech strategy in 2013 to lead on […]

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8th June 2018 Delhi, India

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by Tamil Selvan Chandru

Senior Adviser - Newton Fund India

Witnessing the future of innovation policy

As the member of the UK government’s team in New Delhi tasked with building collaborations between the UK and India on Science, Technology and Innovation through the Newton-Bhabha Fund, a central part of my job is to build connections between UK and Indian innovation communities. So I was delighted that at the end of May […]

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5th June 2018 Vienna, Austria

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Motor City UK, Motor City Austria and the Jaguar i-Pace

The car is bright red – and silent.  It is, perhaps, the best electric car in the world. I recently had the privilege to attend the launch of the new Jaguar i-Pace in Graz, a couple of hours south of Vienna. Graz is one of my favourite Austrian cities, with a huge student population, a […]

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4th June 2018 Shanghai

Jacqueline Barry

Jacqueline Barry

Jacqueline Barry is Chief Clinical Officer at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult

The story of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult in China

The Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Catapult is a unique centre of excellence in innovation aiming to anchor cell and gene therapy manufacturing in the UK, by enabling companies to develop from small-scale to commercial scale CGT manufacturing systems and supply chain. The CGT Catapult’s vision is for the UK to be a global leader […]

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31st May 2018 Science and Innovation Network

Géninha Lisboa

Géninha Lisboa

Science and Innovation Officer, British Embassy Doha.

UK-Bahrain collaboration on water research

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water – H. Auden Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people. Since the very birth of human civilization, people have moved to settle close to it. People move when there is too little of it. People move when there is too […]

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25th May 2018 Canberra, Australia

Brigadier Andrew Harrison DSO MBE

Brigadier Andrew Harrison DSO MBE

UK Defence Advisor to Australia

When there was nothing you could do

Note: this speech was delivered by Brigadier Andrew Harrison as part of the National Sandakan Remembrance Day Wreathlaying Ceremony 2018 at the Australian War Memorial.  Last Saturday, a third of the globe’s population paused and watched, captivated, as a soldier from the town of Windsor, deeply in love, married his bride.  Glorious spring sunshine illuminated the […]

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23rd May 2018 Vienna, Austria

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

What a drug lab looks like – in Vienna

The crystals are colourless and brittle.  They could be an illegal narcotic substance. How to find out? Here at the UK Mission to the United Nations in Vienna we work closely with the UN office on Drugs and Crime.  Policy on drugs, which are produced and consumed in countries across the world, is a classic […]

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22nd May 2018 London, UK

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by Philip Parham

UK Commonwealth Envoy, former British Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates

Celebrating the Royal Wedding in the UAE (speech)

  Your Excellency Dr Ahmad bin Abdulla Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education. Your Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen. Welcome! Welcome – with thanks to DP World – to this iconic venue, which bears the name of Her […]

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