Author The Big Potatoes

Discussion: Automation anxiety

Tuesday 6 October, 2015 6:30 for a 7:00 pm start, finishing at 21:00 De Santis 11-13 Old Street (near junction with Goswell Road) London EC1V 9HL [Map] The theme of automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and employment has come to the fore in the last year — highlighted by books such as Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s […]

Discussion: A post-Election innovation agenda

Tuesday 26 May, 2015 6:30 for a 7:00 pm start De Santis 11-13 Old Street (near junction with Goswell Road) London EC1V 9HL [Map] Introduction After the surprise (to most) General Election outcome, discussion about the economy – in terms of growth, productivity, innovation and new industries – has subsided still further, and focus has turned to the […]

Discussion: Innovation and the General Election

Monday 27 April, 2015 6:30 for a 7:00 pm start De Santis 11-13 Old Street (near junction with Goswell Road) London EC1V 9HL [Map] Introduction The UK General Election is upon us but there is little discussion of the economy in terms of growth and wealth creation, let alone productivity, innovation and new industries. Having hosted almost […]

Manufacturing Workgroup: 3D printing: neither gimmick nor revolution

Monday 25 March, 2013 6:30 for a 7:00 pm start De Santis 11-13 Old Street (near junction with Goswell Road) London EC1V 9HL Introduction The potential of 3D printing has gripped the imagination of many in design, manufacturing, information technology and architecture. At a time when many business innovations are based around how the ‘product’ is packaged and sold to the customer, it is indeed refreshing to see a […]

Short-termism and conservatism in medical research

In The Life Scientific (BBC Radio 4, 5 Feb 2013) Jim Al-Khalili spoke with breast cancer pioneer, Professor Valerie Beral director of the University of Oxford Cancer Epidemiology Unit. Discussing long-term research she noted: There is a problem with the current ethos of medical research. Grant givers want results in 3–5, not 10–20, years. It’s […]

Article: The end is nigh: is survival all we can hope for?

For his Battle of Ideas 2011 satellite event in Derby (The end is nigh: is survival all we can hope for?, on 11 October) James Woudhuysen wrote in the Independent Blogs about the modern day subsumption of everything to the Apocalypse and the lack of ambition of politicians: In the 1980s [many thought everything] had […]

Event: Idea factories? Manufacturing and making in the 21st century

Friday 30 September, Battle of Ideas Festival, Victoria & Albert Museum James Woudhuysen will be speaking at the V&A Friday Late debate Idea factories? Manufacturing and making in the 21st century (one of the Battle of Ideas Festival Satellite Events) on Friday 30 September. There is no cost to attend the event. James notes: In […]

Event: Designed in Britain, Made in Britain

Friday 16 September, London Design Festival, Imperial College London “We want the words: ‘Made in Britain, Created in Britain, Designed in Britain, Invented in Britain’ to drive our nation forward. A Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers” said Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in his 2011 Budget speech. In his prime […]

Article: Big Pharma, small ambition

James Woudhuysen argues that the biopharmaceuticals giant Pfizer’s decision earlier this year to close the company’s labs in Sandwich, south-east England, exposed the Lib-Con coalition government’s lack of any strategy for growth. Analysing the trends in pharmaceutical research and societal attitudes to it over the last fifty years he argues that: The agenda in society […]

Article: Yuri Gagarin’s brave, brilliant leap into the dark — James Woudhuysen

On the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight, James Woudhuysen praises Gagarin’s daring – and says we need more of it today. Read on at spiked