• Week 4: Scenarios: good, bad and ugly?

    One can (and should!) debate the utility and popularity of scenarios, but I wanted to start the discussion this week by focusing on one particular set of scenarios, namely that of the International Energy Agency (IEA).  The new 2013 World Energy Outlook will only be released in a few weeks’ time, and they will contain…

  • Week 3: The promise and perils of research assessment and implications for Mode 2 knowledge

    As noted in my tweet yesterday, this week’s topic is the efforts by the UK to assess the quality of its academic research base.  Paul Jump’s article in the Times Higher offers a wonderful introduction to the history and evolution of research assessment efforts in the UK up through to the current Research Excellence Framework.…

  • New topic for Week 2

    Time to switch over to #techpolicyw2 !! The subject this week is the wonderful piece in The Economist entitled: ‘Unreliable research: Trouble in the Lab’ http://econ.st/19QXzFe The Economist starts with a great hook to Danny Kahneman’s concern that many efforts by public bodies to ‘nudge’ or ‘prime’ is based on poor research. From there, the…

  • What is an essential reading, or, what is it essential to read?

    I was recently asked in two different ways which of the ‘essential’ readings students should be focusing on. This is an excellent question and rather than answering directly to the students, I thought I should offer my own perspective on what is meant by an essential reading and what is expected in terms of readings.…

  • First topic for our weekly discussion

    The Chief Executive of Swale Borough council in Kent recently wrote a piece in the Guardian Leaders section that touches on a range of issues pertinent to our course including the role of evidence in decision-making, the nexus of technology, policy and public engagement and the tension between politics and rationality (often a major challenge…

  • Welcome to Cambridge!

    Welcome to Cambridge! It may well be autumn, but a good place to start the first blog post is with the summer reading list.  Every year we have an excellent discussion when students first arrive in Cambridge, but I have always thought it a bit of a shame that we don’t do more with the…