The war on coal?
Is banning coal an objective in and of itself or just one of many measures to address climate change and local and regional pollution problems? Is a war on coal a proxy for a war on climate change and, if … Continued
Week 6: Spectrum auctions
The starting point for this week’s discussion is the report Maximizing the Success of the Incentive Auction by Fred B Campbell, who, we are are told is the former Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau for the US Federal Communications Commission. Who is … Continued
Week 5: Millennium Development Goals 2015 and beyond
Building on our discussion of goals last class, I thought we might focus this week on one of the better known sets of goals, namely the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. These 8 goals were set in 1990 with a time … Continued
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 … Continued
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 … Continued
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 … Continued
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 … Continued
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, … Continued
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 … Continued