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Welcome to the Epoch Hothouse blog. What drives the agency is our curiosity about the future. Our Epoch Hothouse initiative is what drives our thinking, our approach and our ideas. It consists of events, research and an expert panel that allows us to question and challenge conventional thinking.
Posted by Nick on Fri Jun 18, 2010 17:53pm
Yesterday evening I attended the presentation of the DigiWorld Year Book which is an initiative run by IDATE the French based telecoms analyst and consultancy house. There were some interesting issues raised and questions posed during a panel session with speakers from OFCOM, AT&T, Telefonica, Cisco and BNP Paribas. According to IDATE internet traffic growth is occurring at a rate of 40-60% each year.
Posted by Nick on Fri Jun 11, 2010 16:02pm
The issue of the UKs broadband infrastructure was raised again this week with the first speech by the new minister for Culture Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt.
Posted by Nick on Wed May 12, 2010 18:12pm
Last week I attended the Science museum for a special evening focused on women in science. I'd recommend a visit to the museum during one of its evenings for adults, no children running around and there’s even a pub quiz.
I had the fortune to listen to a presentation by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astrophysicist that discovered Pulsars (large stars that emit radio signals all the way to earth) age 23.
Posted by Chris on Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:15pm
Yesterday, I was interviewed by Paul Mason, economics editor of BBC Newsnight, on why politicians are failing to connect with voters; the impact of social media and whether or not the current volatility in the British political system is a short term blip or will have lasting impact.
It was on the back of Paul's theory that the Blackberry world (that of politicians and those in power) is clashing with the iPhone world (society at large).
In his first public lecture since December’s Copenhagen Summit, Lord Stern, author of the Stern review and Professor of Economics and Government at LSE, described his visit to Copenhagen as “chaotic, wearing, tiring and disappointing.”
Posted by Helen on Thu Mar 11, 2010 17:50pm
Dan Roberts, Guardian business editor, cut a lonely figure on the panel; the sole left-wing voice defiantly open-collared amid a row of immaculate Windsor knots.
Posted by Nick on Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:59am
Last week I attended a Hansard Society event to mark the launch of their annual Audit of Political Engagement. The Hansard Society is a not for profit organisation concerned with promoting understanding of the role of parliament and politics. It was a good line up of speakers including the Right Honourable David Blunkett MP, Lord Rennard MBE, Shailesh Vara MP and Dr Ruth Fox from the Hansard Society.
Posted by Chris on Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:12am
It has been a big week in the work we have been doing to support the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security. On Wednesday, at the Royal Society, the Taskforce launched their second report - ‘The Oil Crunch – a wake-up call for the UK economy’.
Net Neutrality is an issue that can sometimes bypass us in Europe and often seems like an argument being held in Washington, with a case study being played out in China. For us this debate should receive a little more airtime as the outcome will set out the fundamental governance rules of the internet.
Posted by Chris on Thu Jan 07, 2010 17:15pm
The week most people return to work after the Christmas break has been one of high drama – some real, others less so. Apocalyptic headlines scream ‘The Worst Snow in 30 Years’, ‘Frozen Britain’ and the ‘Deep Freeze’. However, yesterday’s developments at Westminster saw confused broadcasters battling with which story to lead on: Frozen Britain or the attempted coup of the Prime Minister?
Posted by Chris on Mon Dec 07, 2009 18:51pm
With the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change opening today, there was a stark warning from the Danish Climate Minister, Connie Hedegaard, that the political will ‘will never be stronger’.
I think this is a correct analysis.
With the prospects of a global economy growing much slower than we’ve been used to and with increased public questioning of the science behind climate change it is vital that governments maximise the opportunities presented at Copenhagen. If they don’t, it may well be too late – not just for the planet but politically.
Posted by Chris on Thu Dec 03, 2009 17:39pm
This morning, we launched our Hothouse Foresight 2010 research with a breakfast salon at the Royal Society of Arts, London.
We had a prestigious line-up of speakers including Adam Boulton, political editor, Sky News; Paul Mason, economics editor, BBC Newsnight; Bronwen Maddox, chief correspondent, The Times; and Professor James Woudhuysen. Speakers shared their perspectives on the issues and trends likely to shape the coming twelve months and beyond.
Posted by Chris on Thu Nov 26, 2009 15:39pm
Yesterday, I took part in a lively debate at the Future Democracy 2009 event on the net’s role in boosting transparency in light of the MPs’ expenses scandal. Heather Brooke, the campaigner and journalist responsible for forcing Parliament to disclose MPs’ expenses under the Freedom of Information Act, and James Crabtree, managing editor of Prospect, were both on the panel. With the parliamentary expenses scandal at the heart of the discussion, we examined the issue of transparency, and whether or not ‘naked transparency’, as Professor Lessig refers to it, is a good thing for democracy and the functioning of government.
Posted by Chris on Wed Nov 18, 2009 0:23am
This week we held a future-gazing session in Soho. In addition to our Hothouse expert panel, we welcomed Gary Duncan, economics editor at The Times, as a guest contributor.
It was a broad ranging session. In four short hours, we debated the future of democracy, energy innovation, macroeconomics, global communities and the fusion of nanotech, biotech and artificial intelligence.
Trust and integrity have come to the forefront of debate in the last few weeks. What is common to the MP expenses scandal, the Iranian presidential election and the elections to the European Parliament is that trust, or the lack thereof, is responsible for the difficulties.
It is clear that for political systems and democracy to function, trust needs to be present. The difficulty with this is that trust is inherently intangible, something emotional and something that cannot easily be measured.
The past six months have been dominated by discussions of the broken financial system and flawed ideologies. A crippling global recession has given rise to mass disillusionment with the fundamental principles of capitalism and called time on self-interest as acceptable motive in business conduct. The reverberations of the 2008 crash are still being felt within the real economy: in the UK, familiar high street names continue to disappear; repossessions are up 50% year-on-year, and unemployment is steadily climbing towards 3 million. In the States, just days ago, Barack Obama was forced to step in to save General Motors as it filed for bankruptcy. Talk of ‘green shoots’ is sporadic and unconvincing.
Spending 15 hours in ExCel isn’t something I would wish on anyone. However, spending 15 hours in ExCel at the London Summit of the G20 yesterday was an incredible experience.