This week, we turn to the ubiquitous role that evidence plays in the decision making process. Quite obviously, societal decisions do not simply depend on the weight of the evidence and can turn on ideology, norms, beliefs, history and path dependence, … Continued
For the last couple of weeks, even before it was brought up in the supervision, I have wanted to tackle healthcare policy, but I think we have to continue our discussion on privacy given recent unfortunate events in Paris. It … Continued
The main project operating under the UK Foresight programme at the moment is on the Future of Cities, which is intended to look at ‘the opportunities and challenges facing UK cities over the next 50 years’. They have recently published a somewhat … Continued
This has been a very busy week for net neutrality on both sides of the Atlantic (and beyond). Most notably the European Parliament voted down various proposals to retain a strong form of net neutrality, which was almost lost amidst coverage of … Continued
This week, we are meant to be looking at institutions, so I thought that the national INDCs (shorthand for the unwieldy ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contribution’) for the upcoming COP-21 (short for the 21st conference of the parties to the UN … Continued
This week, the website, the Conversation has an article on the need for regulating UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones). Drones came to most people’s attention first through their use in military warfare over the past decade although … Continued
Well I tried to think of other ‘simpler’ introductory topics, of which there are many, but the elephant in the room is the current VW scandal. In the end, we just had to have this as our first blog. The … Continued
Is the Ebola vaccine taking too long to get to market or is it being rushed too quickly? In spite of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending that vaccines jump straight to phase III efficacy tests in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra … Continued
Sir Mark Walport, the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser issued his first annual report this past week, entitled Innovation: Managing Risk, Not Avoiding It. In this short report, he makes a number of quite useful points regarding risk, hazard, exposure and … Continued
This week I thought I should propose something different for your blog contribution. Originally, I thought I should assign everyone the same goal: write a short ‘letter to the editor’ based on an article that you feel the urgent need to comment … Continued