It's taken a while, but at last a new type of high street bank has emerged from the wreckage of the credit crunch.
Last week Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary, called for the UK to adopt a US initiative 'Small Business Saturday', which once a year urges consumers to shop at local independent stores. And in a poll taken by the Guardian last week, an overwhelming majority of respondents (83%) thought it was a good idea.
The Open Public Services White Paper aims to 'encourage innovation and give people more choice and control over the services they use by putting power directly in the hands of millions of families and thousands of communities'.
Phew - by the time you read this we will have launched the Digital Makers Fund. A £225,000 open call for ideas to significantly increase the number of young people who participate in digital making activities.
The other day a very talented and committed member of my team suddenly looked very worried and asked me:
'What if we're wrong?'
'What do you mean?' I replied.
'What if we're wrong about digital technology and education? What if it doesn't make any difference? There's no evidence from previous trials that technology makes any difference to attainment. What if we're wasting money?'
October is a busy month here at Nesta Towers. The summer's officially over, the Olympic flame has moved on and Plan I has been published. Which means we're all now racing to Get Things Done. Number one on my list has been moving on our plans to build a public facing campaign driving demand for the Digital Makers movement.
The 23rd of June 2012 marks 100 years since the pioneer of computer science, Alan Turing, was born. This centenary is a timely reminder of Britain’s heritage as a computing nation.
The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. So said Thomas Malthus at the end of the 18th century, and he can be forgiven for predicting global apocalypse, given that population growth looked to be accelerating very rapidly when compared with food production.
The rise in our ageing population is one of the most significant social challenges we face. By 2025, half the UK adult population will be aged 50 or over. This profound demographic shift will increase the numbers of people affected by social isolation and ill health.
Papers are now online from the US Public Sector Prizes event organised by the Case Foundation, the Joyce Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology policy earlier this year.
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