I went to my first tweetup the other night, near where I live, and I have to say that after getting past the initial fear of walking into a room full of relative strangers (well, most of us had ‘met’ online previously), I had a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting time.
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The Epoch Blog
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.
Innovation: painting a bigger picture
Posted by Helen on Tue Jul 13, 2010 15:50pm
Last week’s debate, which Epoch co-hosted with Spiked and Big Potatoes, was titled ‘Beyond the iPad: what IT and telecoms could do for innovation, productivity and the economy’. An ambitious question, but one that our speakers tackled with enthusiasm, taking in seventeenth century ships, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and why teenage sons prefer the medium of text for communicating unwelcome news along the way.
What’s the future for innovation?
Posted by Helen on Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:02pm
Tonight is the night of our co-hosted debate with Spiked and BIG POTATOES, looking at the future of innovation.
Internet traffic growth: something to be worried about?
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.
2010: the death of command and control politics?
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).
Are politicians failing to assert influence in today's pluralist society?
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.
Free online content - Google, Google, gone?
Posted by Nick on Tue Dec 08, 2009 17:55pm
The decision by Google to restrict access to content through its Google News service is a landmark moment.
Foresight 2010 trends research launched
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.
Future-gazing in Soho: a 20 year view
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.
40 years after the birth of the Internet: 10 future trends
Posted by Amanda on Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:46am
Never wanting to miss the opportunity for a party, we held a lunch to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Internet. Guest speakers were David Rowan, editor of Wired UK and Nico Macdonald, the creator of the Internet Development Map. The idea was to discuss how the internet has evolved and what we can learn from this about the nature of innovation and also look forward to what might be coming.
On the internet, does anyone, like, care who you are?
Posted by Helen on Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:25am
Freud does Twitter
The BBC is showing a number of shows on Darwin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of The Origin of the Species. The ever-brilliant David Attenborough is hosting a programme on the tree of life, and the Open University and the Guardian seem to be getting in on the act with poster giveaways of the mighty tree itself.