#Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

[wisemancax]

Britain's Business Experts Discuss How to Drive Growth

Britain’s Business Experts Discuss How to Drive Growth Tony Blair Institute for Global Change We Are Changemakers! Business is the practice of making one’s living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services).

[mariacallous]

MYKOLAIV, UKRAINE—Kateryna Nahorna is getting ready to find trouble.

Part of an all-female team of dog handlers, the 22-year-old is training Ukraine’s technical survey dogs—Belgian Malinois that have learned to sniff out explosives.

The job is huge. Ukraine is now estimated to be the most heavily mined country on Earth. Deminers must survey every area that saw sustained fighting for unexploded mines, missiles, artillery shells, bombs, and a host of other ordnance—almost 25 percent of the country, according to government estimates.

The dogs can cover 1,500 square meters a day. In contrast, human deminers cover 10 square meters a day on average—by quickly narrowing down the areas that manual deminers will need to tackle, the dogs save valuable time.

“This job allows me to be a warrior for my country … but without having to kill anyone,” said Nahorna. “Our men protect us at war, and we do this to protect them at home.”

A highly practical reason drove the women’s recruitment. The specialized dog training was done in Cambodia, by the nonprofit Apopo, and military-aged men are currently not allowed to leave Ukraine.

War has shaken up gender dynamics in the Ukrainian economy, with women taking up jobs traditionally held by men, such as driving trucks or welding. Now, as mobilization ramps up once more, women are becoming increasingly important in roles that are critical for national security.

In Mykolaiv, in the industrial east, Nahorna and her dogs will soon take on one of the biggest targets of Russia’s military strategy when they start to demine the country’s energy infrastructure. Here, women have been stepping in to work in large numbers in steel mills, factories, and railways serving the front line.

It’s a big shift for Ukraine. Before the war, only 48 percent of women over age 15 took part in the workforce — one of the lowest rates in Europe. War has made collecting data on the gender composition of the workforce impossible, but today, 50,000 women serve in the Ukrainian army, compared to 30,000 before the war.

The catalyst came in 2017, years before the current war began. As conflict escalated with Russia in Crimea, the Ukrainian government overturned a Soviet-era law that had previously banned women from 450 occupations.

But obstacles still remain; for example, women are not allowed jobs the government deems too physically demanding. These barriers continue to be chipped away—most recently, women have been cleared to work in underground mines, something they were prevented from doing before.

Viktoriia Avramchuk never thought she would follow her father and husband into the coal mines for DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company.

Her lifelong fear of elevators was a big factor—but there was also the fact that it was illegal for women to work underground.

Her previous job working as a nanny in a local kindergarten disappeared overnight when schools were forced to close at the beginning of the war. After a year of being unemployed, she found that she had few other options.

“I would never have taken the job if I could have afforded not to,” Avramchuk said from her home in Pokrovsk. “But I also wanted to do something to help secure victory, and this was needed.”

The demining work that Nahorna does is urgent in part because more than 55 percent of the country is farmed.

Often called “the breadbasket of Europe,” Ukraine is one of the world’s top exporters of grain. The U.K.-based Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, which has been advising the Ukrainian government on demining technology, estimates that landmines have resulted in annual GDP losses of $11 billion.

“Farmers feel the pressure to plow, which is dangerous,” said Jon Cunliffe, the Ukraine country director of Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a British nonprofit. “So we need to do as much surveying as possible to reduce the size of the possible contamination.”

The dogs can quickly clear an area of heavy vegetation, which greatly speeds up the process of releasing noncontaminated lands back to farmers. If the area is found to be unsafe, human deminers step in to clear the field manually.

“I’m not brave enough to be on the front line,” 29-year-old Iryna Manzevyta said as she slowly and diligently hovered a metal detector over a patch of farmland. “But I had to do something to help, and this seemed like a good alternative to make a difference.”

Groups like MAG are increasingly targeting women. With skilled male deminers regularly being picked up by military recruiters, recruiting women reduces the chances that expensive and time-consuming training will be invested in people who could be drafted to the front line at a moment’s notice. The demining work is expected to take decades, and women, unlike men, cannot be conscripted in Ukraine.

This urgency to recruit women is accelerating a gender shift already underway in the demining sector. Organizations like MAG have looked to recruit women as a way to empower them in local communities. Demining was once a heavily male-dominated sector, but women now make up 30 percent of workers in Vietnam and Colombia, around 40 percent in Cambodia, and more than 50 percent in Myanmar.

In Ukraine, the idea is to make demining an enterprise with “very little expat footprint,” and Cunliffe said that will only be possible by recruiting more women.

“We should not be here in 10 years. Not like in Iraq or South Sudan, where we have been for 30 years, or Vietnam, or Laos,” Cunliffe said. “It’s common sense that we bring in as many women as we can to do that. In five to 10 years, a lot of these women are going to end up being technical field managers, the jobs that are currently being done by old former British military guys, and it will change the face of demining worldwide because they can take those skills across the world.”

Manzevyta is one of the many women whose new job has turned her family dynamics on their head. She has handed over her previous life, running a small online beauty retail site, to her husband, who—though he gripes—stays at home while she is out demining.

“Life is completely different now,” she said, giggling. “I had to teach him how to use the washing machine, which settings to use, everything around the house because I’m mostly absent now.”

More seriously, Manzevyta said that the war has likely changed many women’s career trajectories.

“I can’t imagine people who have done work like this going back and working as florists once the war is over,” she laughed.

[eaglesnick]

“To put political power in the hands of men embittered and degraded by poverty is to tie firebrands to foxes and turn them loose amid the standing corn; it is to put out the eyes of a Samson and to twine his arms around the pillars of national life.” – Henry George

The underlying cause of the current civil unrest on British streets can be summed up in one word – POVERTY.

Poverty and inequality in Britain has been rising since Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979. In an article in The English Historical Review titled, ‘Poverty, Inequality Statistics and Knowledge Politics Under Thatcher', 08/04/22, the author argues:

“Under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, economic inequality and poverty in the United Kingdom rose dramatically to high levels that have remained one of the lasting legacies of Thatcherism, with far-reaching implications for social cohesion and political culture in Britain.”

Tony Blair, a man who embraced Thatcher’s neo-liberal free-market philosophy claimed that while he was prime minister New Labour

 “...made the UK more equal, more fair and more socially mobile”  (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, 14/07/2019)

This is not true for the population as a whole. It is true that more was spent on public services, and on pensioners and those poorer working age adults with dependent children, both groups seeing their economic position improve. However:

“By contrast, the incomes of poorer working-age adults without dependent children - the major demographic group not emphasised by Labour as a priority - changed very little over the period. As a result they fell behind the rest of the population and relative poverty levels rose.( Institute For Fiscal Studies: Labours Record on poverty and inequality’, 06/06/2013)

Not only that, but income inequality also continued to rise under Blair as the already wealthy saw ’their incomes increase very substantially.’ (ibid)

We all know that the last 14 years of Tory government have only made matters worse: homelessness up; NHS waiting lists up; income inequality up; public services starved of cash; benefits cut; rents up, mortgages up. I could go on

Ordinary working people are suffering a cost of living crisis. The already poor have been pushed over the brink, especially in the North where the promised “levelling up” was just an empty election slogan to get Boris Johnson elected to power. Describing the neglected North one commentator said:

“Other countries have poor bits. Britain has a poor half”. (The Economist, ‘Why Britain is more geographically unequal than any  other rich country’ , 30/06/20

Poverty led to the UK Food Riots of 1766. Poverty led to the French revolution in 1789. The Swing Riots, caused by rural poverty swept southern England in 1830. Poverty led to the Russian Revolution in 1917.  Poll Tax riots hit the streets of Britain in 1990 and a report on the London riots of 2011 blamed “deprivation".

The point is, poverty causes feelings of hopelessness, abandonment, anger and resentment.  Sometimes the victims of poverty correctly identify the people or class responsible for their plight, sometimes they don’t. The poverty and inequality experienced in  Britain today is not directly the fault of immigrants. It is the result of deliberate policies by previous Conservative and Labour governments, but mass immigration does exacerbate already existing conditions of inequality and poverty.

There are not enough houses, the health system cannot cope with demand, there are not enough teachers or schools, and unemployment is rising, as is the day-to-day cost of living, while the already wealthy become richer still.

The far-right channel the anger that ordinary working people justifiably feel about this situation towards an easily identifiable target – immigrants and the children of immigrants, especially non-whites.

The most obvious example of this cynical political strategy in recent history is Hitler’s rise to power in Germany during the economic crisis of the early 1930’s, which saw runaway inflation, and a cost-of-living crisis. Hitler used the Jews as scapegoats, playing on existing prejudices and turning them into hatred, not only of Jews but of homosexuals, gypsies, black people, those with disabilities, Poles and even some Christian groups.

Our fathers and grandfathers fought against such racial tyranny and we should do the same but we will not be successful in that fight until our governments subscribe to the goal of a fairer and more equal society, a society where poverty is falling rather than rising.

There is a conversation to be had about acceptable immigration levels in relation to the economy and social cohesion, but that cannot be conducted in isolation to the need to raise the general standard of living for ALL our citizens and not just the few at the top. Martin Lewis warned politicians of this in 2022.

“We need to keep people fed. We need to keep them warm. If we get this wrong right now, then we get to the point where we start to risk civil unrest. When breadwinners cannot provide, anger brews and civil unrest brews – and I do not think we are very far off,”  (independent: 10/04/22)

No one listened and now that day has arrived.

[darkmaga-returns]

The thoroughly Technocratic “Digital Public Infrastructure” (DPI) originally slid in on the back of the global warming hoax. Unaccountable and unelected Bill Gates is rebranding the effort with his Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP).

On 1-3 October, the Global DPI Summit  2024 was held in Cairo, Egypt. The principal sponsor was a NGO called Co-Develop Fund, who promised to,

… bring together key stakeholders from the public, private, and civil society sectors, including:

Countries: Countries that are seeking best-in-class approaches to digitization.

Bilateral and multilateral institutions: Institutions that support country governments in their digitization efforts.

Open-source digital public good providers: Providers of scalable digital solutions that can be used by countries to implement DPI.

Private sector companies: Companies with the expertise and capacity to help governments implement digital solutions at a population scale.

Civil society actors: Actors who are working to ensure that DPI is implemented in a way that is inclusive and protects the rights of all citizens.

Global DPI thought leaders: Experts on DPI who can provide valuable insights and guidance to countries on their DPI implementation journeys.

Domain-focused actors: Actors who are working to implement DPI solutions in specific sectors, such as education, healthcare, and agriculture.

⁃ Patrick Wood, Editor.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is pushing governments to adopt the new global system for digital cash and ID that is backed by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Gates and his foundation are doubling down on support for s digital public infrastructure (DPI).

DPI supports both digital IDs and payments and is backed by the WEF, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations (UN).

Gates is now pressuring governments around the world to begin incorporating DPI as the globalist groups push for payments and IDs to switch to a fully digital system on a global level.

The billionaire laid out his vision for global DPI in a new blog post.

The Silicon Valley oligarch is once again attempting to establish his reputation as a visionary on these matters.

Gates praised several third-world “developing countries” for allowing DPI to be tested on their citizens.

He revealed that the system has already been “trialed for the rest of the world” in India, Kenya, Brazil, and Togo.

One of the major criticisms leveled at digital IDs and payments is that they will lead to “enhanced,” digital government surveillance, and subsequent disenfranchisement of people.

Many have also raised concerns about the rush to usher in the technology.

Globalists have been pushing for DPI to be rolled out globally for large-scale adoption by 2030, ostensibly to fight “climate change.”

However, Gates does not share these concerns about the technology and is heavily pushing for DPI to be rolled out for the general public.

According to Gates, citizens should not be concerned about government surveillance because “a properly designed” DPI will in fact “enhance” privacy.

He claims DPI includes “safeguards” which he didn’t elaborate on.

Gates also touches on what he says are the benefits of using Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP).

MOSIP is a global digital ID tool backed by the Gates Foundation.

However, MOSIP is yet another point of contention from the privacy standpoint.

But MOSIP featured as a key participant during the recent Global DPI Summit 2024 held in Egypt.

At the event, those behind MOSIP, as well as the World Bank, the UN’s development agency UNDP, and the globalist Tony Blair Institute all took part.

The event provided another opportunity for these organizations to push for global adoption of DPI by 2030.

In addition, the organizations pledged to work on accelerating this process.

MOSIP demonstrated its identity platform at the summit.

At the same time, it stressed that the goal of digital ID and payments is to improve accessibility of identification, “particularly for developing nations.”

The platform is already in use in Ethiopia, Morocco, and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the World Bank announced that it is about to launch its own global Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) program.

Read full story here…

[bopinion]

2024 / 18

Aperçu of the Week

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

(Mahatma Gandhi)

Bad News of the Week

It was Earth Overshoot Day for Germany. This means that on May 2, we have already used up our national share of global natural resources for the whole of 2024. In other words, we would need three Earths to maintain our current lifestyle. And we are not even the biggest "consumers" - in the USA, for example, Earth Overshoot Day was already on March 14 this year, according to figures from the Global Footprint Network.

So humanity is living off the land. Which, logically, cannot go on for long. What's more, we haven't just been doing this since yesterday and every reserve is limited. This is simply madness. The whole thing has hardly anything to do with climate change, but it all goes back to the same basic problem: "man-made". For the first time in the history of the earth, a species is not adapting to environmental conditions, but wants to adapt them to itself. But nature will not go along with this. It has lost its balance, so the imminent tipping points can be taken quite literally.

It is not yet too late. Humanity just needs to realize that it has to fundamentally change its way of life. From parasitism to symbiosis. A simple and simplified example: humans need oxygen to survive. Which they convert into carbon dioxide. The tree needs carbon dioxide to survive. Which it converts into oxygen. So it works perfectly well in a peaceful coexistence. However, if humans kill the tree by cutting it down, burning it or draining its water, they are depriving themselves of the basis of life. Pretty stupid, actually. And actually pretty easy to understand.

Good News of the Week

Preparations have begun in the UK for the controversial deportations to Rwanda. The police have arrested several people who entered the country illegally. Nationwide operations are underway, according to the Home Office. The first deportation flights are due to take place in July. The relevant law allows the deportation of asylum seekers to the East African country if they have arrived in the UK without permission. The origin of the migrants is irrelevant. The deportations can take place without the asylum applications even being examined in the UK.

Is this supposed to be worthy of a democracy and in line with European values? Certainly not. It is therefore not surprising that the High Court in London has declared the plans unlawful. The judges have doubts that the people in Rwanda will receive a fair asylum procedure. No wonder, because according to Amnesty International, the country has enormous deficits in practically all human rights. And in this ailing state, which is barely larger than Wales, the United Kingdom wants to set up a final dump for asylum seekers. A bad joke.

This joke fits in seamlessly with the Tories' government actions, which since Boris Johnson can only be described as a bad joke in general. They have now been punished for this and more in the local elections. And it is so severe that there is already talk of a "Conservative collapse". And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may even have to face a vote of no confidence. The loss of half (!) of the seats that the Conservatives had to defend shows crystal clear that the party's shift to the right is not convincing voters either. Nigel Farage's right-wing populist Reform UK is now the real winner in third place.

And the outlook also looks bleak. According to a nationwide survey by the opinion research institute Yougov, only 18% want to vote for Tory in the general election at the beginning of next year. And 44% Labour. The Labour Party, which was significantly realigned by former Prime Minister Tony Blair at the turn of the millennium (catchwords "New Labour", "modern social democracy" and "third way"), have positioned themselves as social democrats with moderation and a middle ground. With Labor, the inhumane Rwanda deal would not have happened. Nor the protection of the rich elite. And no Brexit either. I look forward to the UK showing a human face again soon.

I couldn't care less...

...that Donald Jessica Trump continues to languish in court instead of running a classic election campaign. Even though both actually look the same: he knows everything better, he has never done anything wrong in his life, he is unstoppable, his persecution is politically motivated, unjust and the biggest scandal in history. Give me a break.

It's fine with me...

...that Venice's lagoon Disneyland now charges admission to day tourists when they are already flooding the city. Because when I'm there, I'm firstly an overnight guest who explores the city when the day tourists have gone. And secondly, I'm there for the contemporary art (Biennale di Venezia) and am not queuing in front of the Dojen Palace. And thirdly, the city needs the money to preserve its historical status. After all, if an ice cream parlor sells overpriced bad goods, hardly anything will stick for the community.

As I write this...

...it has come true: there is no longer an "imminent famine" in Gaza. Because, according to UNICEF, the "imminent" must now unfortunately be deleted. And once again, the victims are almost exclusively civilians, more than half of them children. I can't remember the concept of self-defense ever being so strained.

Post Scriptum

Freedom of the press, or rather freedom of the media, is a very valuable asset for me. Because only unhindered access to neutral information can form the basis of a sound opinion. In addition, journalism also assumes a certain control function when it observes carefully, analyzes profoundly and argues logically. It is not for nothing that many call the (reputable) media the "fourth power in the state" alongside the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Therefore, for me, an attack on media freedom is an attack on democracy.

According to Reporters Without Borders on World Press Freedom Day last Friday, 36 countries will be in the category of lowest (or non-existent) press freedom in 2023. There haven't been that many in 10 years, including, unsurprisingly, Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan. Germany is in 10th place behind the Scandinavian countries, as there were 41 verified attacks on journalists. They tend to be associated with conspiracy theorists and the extreme right. Of course, because after all, they think the least of media freedom.

[beardedmrbean]

The government and two ministers are facing a confidence vote on Friday, Tampere-based Aamulehti and many other newspapers report.

Three of the main opposition parties tabled motions of no confidence on Wednesday during the Parliament's debate about the government's anti-racism statement.

The Social Democratic Party first released a statement expressing a lack of confidence towards Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government. The Green Party's parliamentary group endorsed the statement and added another motion of no confidence in Minister of Finance Riikka Purra (Finns). The Left Alliance tabled a motion of no confidence in Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (Finns) while also expressing support towards the motions targeting the government and Minister Purra.

Meanwhile, the opposition Centre Party said on Thursday that it would give the government a "yellow card." Suomenmaa, the party's newspaper, clarified that this means the party will abstain from voting.

"The government's communication is good, but the commitment of the Finns Party MPs remained unclear. A yellow card will serve as a warning to the government," parliamentary Group Chair Antti Kurvinen (Centre) posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Sanna Marin's resignation reverberations

Multiple papers carry reports on former Prime Minister Sanna Marin's (SDP) announcement to resign as MP.

"Sanna Marin has had enough of Finland," Helsingin Sanomat (HS) said in an editorial headline.

According to the paper, Marin likely decided to call it quits after last spring's parliamentary elections. Marin could not envision herself as number two in PM Petteri Orpo's coalition, HS wrote, which is why she sought career opportunities on the international stage.

The paper noted that Marin's tenure as Prime Minister made her an international superstar. Marin herself said she had received job offers from a number of organisations as well as private companies. Ultimately, she chose to join the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change because the UK-based group shares her values.

Meanwhile, tabloid Ilta-Sanomat noted that Marin's decision may have disappointed the more than 35,000 people in the Pirkanmaa region who voted for her in April. The tabloid took to the streets of Tampere to gauge people's reactions.

"I think we would have still needed her. It is a difficult question whether this is voter betrayal. When a person receives an offer for something really good, it's hard to refuse," Tampere local Mervi Saarelainen told the paper.

"Somehow you could sense it. Marin had been in the background quite a lot, so she probably had some other job in her sights. It seems to me that it was unnatural for Marin to adapt to the role of an MP after being prime minister. This solution makes sense" another passerby, Jaro Asikainen, told the paper.

First snow in September?

Iltalehti reported that summer-like conditions will persist for a little while longer, thanks to a high-pressure front that has kept skies largely clear and temperatures warm.

The trend is set to continue this weekend, with people in many areas of Finland set to bask in above-20-degree temperatures.

"The nights have already begun to get cooler as the amount of solar radiation decreases by the day, but we still get a hint of summer in the afternoons," Foreca meteorologist Anna Latvala told the paper.

The meteorologist added that an approaching low-pressure front will bring rain next week, although temperatures will remain relatively mild.

But the season change is unavoidable. As the nights get cooler, it's also possible that some northern regions may see the first snowfall of the season this month

"Parts of Enontekiö will typically see their first snow this month, according to the average forecast for this time of the year. Sometimes it may even snow more widely," Latvala said.

[jcmarchi]

Singapore-based Firmus wins recognition for AI data centre design

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/singapore-based-firmus-wins-recognition-for-ai-data-centre-design/

Singapore-based Firmus wins recognition for AI data centre design

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Singapore-based Firmus Technologies has been recognised with the Asia Pacific Data Centre Project of the Year award for its AI Factory facility.

The facility stands out for its advanced infrastructure and focus on energy efficiency, reflecting broader efforts to meet the rising demands of AI computing sustainably.

The AI Factory is part of Firmus’s ongoing initiative to transform existing ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) into GPU-powered AI computing platforms. The redesigned centres are equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and efficient cooling systems, enabling them to meet both enterprise and research needs with improved energy performance metrics.

As artificial intelligence continues to need more power, energy efficiency has become a major issue. Firmus has addressed the issue for nearly a decade with its AI Factory platform, which combines advanced immersion cooling technology with dependable design, build, and operation services. The company states its platform has several significant advantages, including:

Energy efficiency: 45% more FLOP per utility picoJoule than traditional data centres,

Cost-effectiveness: Up to 30% cheaper total cost of ownership (TCO) than direct-to-chip cooling platforms,

Scalability and sustainability: Supports high-density AI workloads while reducing environmental effects,

Global expertise: A track record in building and operating immersion-cooled data centres in Singapore and Australia.

The deployment of the AI Factory in Singapore shows how innovative approaches to data centre infrastructure can address the energy demands of AI. The project highlights a potential pathway for sustainable AI development by achieving a pPUE of 1.02 and a reduction in energy consumption of 45%. The achievement aligns with Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0, which emphasises sustainable growth in AI and data centre innovation.

Tim Rosenfield, co-CEO of Firmus Technologies, explained the broader vision behind the project, noting that it’s about balancing AI growth with sustainability. “By rethinking data centre design, we have created a platform that supports the growth of AI while promoting environmental sustainability. If we can do it in Singapore, where space is constrained and the humid climate is against us, we can do it anywhere,” he said.

Firmus has recently changed its leadership team, adding Dr. Daniel Kearney as chief technology officer. Previously AWS’s Head of Technology for the ASEAN Enterprise business, Kearney leads the engineering team at Firmus. He pointed out how sustainable AI infrastructure is becoming essential as AI technologies expand. “This win against established data centre players recognises the importance of technology like ours in meeting the growth of AI and the energy challenges it brings,” he said.

The company has been advancing its work through the Sustainable Metal Cloud (SMC), an initiative aimed at improving the efficiency and sustainability of AI infrastructure. Recent updates from Firmus include:

Power efficiency benchmarks: Firmus became the first to publish comprehensive power consumption data alongside performance results for the MLPerf Training benchmark,

Policy contributions: Insights from Tim Rosenfield contributed to the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s policy agenda on managing the energy demands of the AI sector,

Industry discussions: At ATxSG24, Firmus’s Chairman, Edward Pretty, joined a panel featuring organisations like NVIDIA, the World Bank, and Alibaba Cloud to explore the balance between sustainability and the computational needs of AI,

Hypercube expansion: Firmus’s team of 700 is installing the first fleet of Sustainable AI Factories, known as HyperCubes in multiple regions.

Engagement at NVIDIA GTC 2024: The company participated in two panels at NVIDIA’s GTC event, discussing sustainable AI infrastructure alongside partners like NVIDIA, Deloitte, and WEKA.

See also: The AI revolution: Reshaping data centres and the digital landscape 

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Tags: artificial intelligence, data centre

[christinamac1]

Atomic revival: A new age for nuclear?

 This week, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change released a reportdeclaring, “a new nuclear age is beginning,” arguing that nuclear poweris critical in meeting global climate goals. But how is this renaissancedifferent from earlier proclamations of an atomic revival? In this episode, Richard talks with report co-author Tone Langengen about the case for anuclear revival and the hurdles…

[adrl-pt]

Should we expect changes from the new Iranian president? Russian attack on children on IV drips.

You are watching news from the weekly rally at the Russian Embassy in Lisbon. Today is July 13, 2:30 PM.

On July 6, Masoud Pezeshkian, a representative of the reformist wing, was elected as the new president of Iran. The BBC News Russian Service reports that he criticized Iran's morality police, promised to ease internet restrictions, and called for nuclear deal negotiations. Turnout in this election was the lowest in 45 years. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remarked that "if anyone thinks that those who did not vote are against the establishment, they are clearly mistaken." Sounds familiar. https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/c2v0l123y9wo

In a CNN World article, Iran analyst Sina Toossi suggested that Pezeshkian was allowed to run to boost turnout. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/29/middleeast/iran-presidential-election-runoff-inconclusive-first-round-intl/index.html

Ali Fathollah-Nejad, director of the Center for Middle East and Global Order, stated on DW in Russian that reformists had not pursued change in recent decades and suggested that Pezeshkian was allowed to be elected to create a misleading positive image for the West. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMIEA9vmOr0

X social network user "Tired Kitten" posted a translation of a video by physician and mathematician Kaveh Mozafari, who revealed fraud in vote counts and turnout. https://x.com/psychotic_bat/status/1810336414241853883

In November 2022, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change presented a study showing that over 60% of Iranians want to live in a secular state rather than an Islamic republic. https://www.institute.global/insights/geopolitics-and-security/protests-and-polling-insights-streets-iran-how-removal-hijab-became-symbol-regime-change

Based on information provided by Iranians people from inside Iran, there is evidence that many election centers have been empty. In the circus election, we have seen Pezeshkian was the only reformist among other hardliner candidates. Just a few days ago, Pezeshkian acknowledged the support for terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah So, Pezeshkian is just a fake mask to continue the policy of the regime with a new face. Please stop flirting with the mullahs' regime in Iran. Wishing that the Iranian people regain their freedom, and wishing freedom for all humanity. https://youtu.be/3GVNys5K-lU

On Monday, July 8, during rush hour, the Russian military launched about 40 missiles of various types into Ukraine. https://www.moscowtimes.nl/2024/07/08/glava-mid-italii-obvinil-rossiyu-vvoennom-prestuplenii-posle-udara-pobolnitse-vkieve-a136165

The missile attacks killed 42 people, including four children. https://ru.interfax.com.ua/news/general/999023.html

One rocket hit the dialysis building of the Okhmatdet children's hospital in Kyiv. There were 627 patients on the hospital premises at the time of the attack. https://life.pravda.com.ua/society/v-ohmatditi-zavershili-ryatuvalni-roboti-shcho-vidomo-pro-paciyentiv-ta-pracivnikiv-302568/

Bellingcat analysts proved that the strike was carried out by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, refuting the Russian Ministry of Defense's claim that it was a Ukrainian air defense missile. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/07/09/russian-missile-identified-in-kyiv-childrens-hospital-attack/?utm_source=twitter

This attack was condemned by the majority of UN Security Council members and many European politicians. https://www.dw.com/ru/bolsinstvo-clenov-sovbeza-oon-osudilo-udar-rf-po-detskoj-bolnice-kieva/a-69609634

Attacks on residential buildings and shopping centers in Ukraine occur constantly. On June 22, blogger Anna Gin told the Dozhd TV channel that Kharkiv residents live under constant air raid sirens. https://www.youtube.com/live/OCGXT_1S648?t=353s

According to the Financial Times, Russian companies were purchasing Swiss and American-made parts for missile production and importing them through China. https://meduza.io/news/2024/07/10/financial-times-rossiya-sobiraet-rakety-h-101-odna-iz-kotoryh-popala-v-detskuyu-bolnitsu-v-kieve-iz-zapadnyh-komponentov

We call on the international community to completely close Ukraine's skies from Russian missiles and ensure the enforcement of sanctions against Russia.

The Deceived Russian on his YouTube channel reported that Putin spent 1 billion rubles on the missile that destroyed the Okhmatdet hospital, comparable to the cost of a new hospital, and showed another collapsing Russian clinic. https://youtu.be/B2DzfMK3z1A?feature=shared&t=93

Victoria Nuland, former US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, addressed the Russians on the Dozhd TV channel: “Think about what this military adventure of Putin has done for you? What has he done for you over the past 20 years? It would be much better if we could cooperate with you." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYDxzsAvtYE

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[giancarlonicoli]

26 giu 2024 13:45

RENZI, SENATORE A TEMPO PERSO - MATTEONZO, OLTRE A FARE IL CONFERENZIERE PAGATO DAI SAUDITI, CONTINUA AD ACCUMULARE INCARICHI INTERNAZIONALI: È STATO NOMINATO CONSIGLIERE STRATEGICO DEL "TONY BLAIR INSTITUTE" - IL SENATORE SEMPLICE DOVRA' CONSIGLIARE I LEADER POLITICI SUI LORO PROGRAMMI DI RIFORMA. CHISSA' CHI VORRA' SEGUIRE LE INDICAZIONI DEL CAPO DI UN PARTITO CHE NON È RIUSCITO A SUPERARE LA SOGLIA DI SBARRAMENTO ALLE EUROPEE... -

(LaPresse) - TBI è lieta di annunciare che Matteo Renzi, ex Primo Ministro italiano e già segretario del Partito Democratico (PD), entrerà a far parte del Tony Blair Institute (TBI) come Consigliere Strategico. Lavorando con i colleghi e i team di tutti i Paesi del portfolio TBI, Renzi supporterà il nostro lavoro ai massimi livelli, consigliando i leader politici sui loro programmi di riforma.

Renzi, il più giovane Primo Ministro italiano di sempre, ha una storia di successi che vanno dall'adozione precoce e completa della tecnologia digitale all'introduzione di radicali riforme nei servizi pubblici. "Sono lieto di dare il benvenuto a Matteo Renzi all’Institute come Consigliere Strategico. Matteo sarà una preziosa aggiunta al nostro team di leader che forniscono consulenza e approfondimenti strategici di alto livello, aiutando i leader politici di tutto il mondo a realizzare cambiamenti per i loro Paesi”, ha affermato Tony Blair.

“Sono onorato di unirmi alla TBI. Tony Blair è stata fonte di ispirazione per me negli anni del Governo e sono lieto di poter lavorare perché i leader di oggi e domani abbiano lo stesso esempio visionario e riformista”, ha commentato Matteo Renzi

Il Tony Blair Institute for Global Change supporta i leader politici e i governi nella costruzione di società aperte, inclusive e prospere in un mondo globalizzato. Lo fa fornendo consulenza specialistica ai leader politici di tutto il mondo su strategia, politica e attuazione, il tutto reso possibile dalla tecnologia.

I Consiglieri strategici di TBI ora includono Matteo Renzi, Sanna Marin, ex Primo Ministro finlandese, il Generale Sir Nick Carter, ex Capo di Stato Maggiore della Difesa nel Regno Unito, e Patrick Vallance, ex Consigliere scientifico capo del governo del Regno Unito. I Consiglieri strategici di TBI forniscono consulenze, tratte dall'esperienza, ai leader politici che affrontano una serie di sfide nell'attuazione di riforme radicali e importanti progetti di natio-building

[devenirmilliardaire]

Ousmane Sonko et Bassirou Diomaye Faye, l’étrange contradiction au Palais. L'ancien Premier ministre de la Grande-Bretagne refait surface en Afrique. Tony Blair est actuellement à Dakar, où il a été reçu ce vendredi par le président Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Ousmane Sonko et Bassirou Diomaye Faye, l’étrange contradiction au Palais la vérité ne dérange que les tordus selon ousmane sonko C'est en qualité de fondateur d'un institut portant son nom qu'il s'est entretenu avec le chef de l’État. Son institut travaille à titre gracieux avec le Sénégal, notamment dans les domaines de la santé numérique et de l'agriculture. Mais cette audience interpelle autant sur la rupture dont le nouveau régime se targue urbi et orbi à longueur de journée. Madiambal Diagne Dénonce La Fiscalité Des Entreprises De Presse Et Propose Des Solutions →A lire aussi Relations entre Ousmane Sonko et la Presse : Hier opposant à abattre, aujourd'hui Premier ministre et deuxième homme fort du gouvernement N’est-ce pas le même Tony Blair qu’Ousmane Sonko, alors opposant, clouait au pilori en reprochant à l’ancien régime d’en faire un conseiller spécial ? Tony Blair, le « manipulateur » d’Ousmane Sonko, reçu par le président Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Plusieurs fois reçus par le Président sortant Macky Sall, en 2021 et 2023 nominations du président Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye - Conseil des Ministres OK En effet, depuis novembre 2017, Tony Blair collabore régulièrement avec le gouvernement du Sénégal, notamment à travers son institut, le Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. En ce sens, l'ancien Premier ministre britannique a été reçu plusieurs fois par le Président sortant Macky Sall, en 2021 et 2023. Ousmane Sonko et Bassirou Diomaye Faye, l’étrange contradiction au Palais →A lire aussi 🌳💚 Le Président Diomaye Faye Plante Un Arbre En Symbole D’espoir Son institut travaille à titre gracieux avec le Sénégal, notamment dans les domaines de la santé numérique et de l'agriculture. Ainsi, Ousmane Sonko, très inquiet de la présence de celui qu’il qualifie de faiseur de guerres ethniques, avait dénoncé sa présence au Sénégal. Il avait accusé l'ancien président Macky Sall d’être une marionnette manipulée par Tony Blair à la solde des Occidentaux.

[mariacallous]

The soon-to-be ruling party in Britain has alighted on two motifs for its general election campaign: the red, white, and blue Union Jack and the word “change.”

If he is to win, Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, must pull off a voting shift greater even than that achieved by his mentor Tony Blair in 1997, the last time their party seized power. Yet such is the calamitous state of the Conservatives that after 14 years of misrule, a victory for Labour has been pretty much priced in for the election on July 4.

The only question is how great a majority it will achieve and whether that can produce a buffer large enough to keep it in power for a decade at least to tackle Britain’s many woes—from the economy to the health service, education, social care, and failed privatizations such as the postal service and water. Indeed, pretty much every area of public infrastructure needs repair.

There is another problem, one that is harder to enumerate but that also goes to the core of Britain’s unhappiness. Starmer often points to, if obliquely, the loss of the country’s status, its decline in esteem around the world and among the British themselves. There is little any government can, or should, do to address broad historical sweeps that produce such cultural malaise, such as postcolonial decline (which also affects France and similar countries).

What governments can do is chart a new course. Blair tried to modernize Britain’s image, with some success, at least until the Iraq War in 2003. Since then, it has retreated into the default position of desperately clinging to past glories, applying balm to cover more contemporary wounds. Starmer, for his part, will not talk about the central cause, Brexit; he refuses to countenance a formal return to European Union structures.

There are other causes of Britain’s malaise, however. The two most recognizable emblems of Britain’s soft power, the royal family and the BBC, are themselves beleaguered. There is little Starmer can do to address the former (though, within months of taking office, Blair persuaded Queen Elizabeth to show a little less stiff upper lip following the death of Princess Diana).

But there is much the prospective incumbent in Downing Street can do to help sort out the national broadcaster. The BBC’s future matters far beyond the island’s shores. It is central to the global battle for hearts and minds, an important tool for liberal democracy to counter the increasingly successful disinformation strategies of Russia and China.

In short, a reinvigorated BBC would also reinvigorate Britain’s reputation in the world. But to achieve that is easier said than done and will require considerable surgery.

Nearly 20 years ago, I wrote a piece reworking the famous acronym as “Broken, Beaten, Cowed.” Needless to say, the higher-ups at the network didn’t appreciate it. I stood by my argument then. I feel even more vindicated now.

Some of the problems are self-inflicted. The organization’s management has struggled to deal with a string of HR scandals, some extraordinarily sordid, over the years. These have damaged its reputation.

In the many decades I have known, and contributed to, the BBC, relations between staff and management have veered between suspicion and acrimony. Both sides seem to be equally responsible. The tens of thousands who work there have a deeply embedded civil service mentality. For many of these “lifers,” it has been their only employer.

Most of those now in charge of the organization have spent much of their careers outside it. That brings with it a difference in perspective but also a lack of loyalty to a venerable institution. They have pushed out a large proportion of the news and current affairs department and shut or pared back important foreign bureaus. Much expertise has gone with them. Many esteemed journalists have claimed they have been discriminated against and sometimes humiliated, while being encouraged to leave. Several employment tribunals are ongoing.

The bigger issues at stake are financial and political. The BBC has had to operate in an environment of deliberately stoked hostility. A series of Conservative culture ministers, almost one for each year in office, have either loathed or barely tolerated the publicly funded corporation. Its budget has been cut; its system of funding through a direct tax, the license fee, is now open to debate. Meanwhile, a Fox News-style culture warrior channel called GB News has been lavished with praise by the government.

The organization is facing a series of technological and demographic headwinds. Far fewer Gen Zers watch and listen to BBC output than older generations (a problem that other legacy media organizations grapple with). In a bid to keep up with the times, the BBC has changed the nature of much of its content. Serious detailed documentaries take second place to competing with TikTok.

The evening current affairs program Newsnight, on air since 1980, is now a low-cost, low-grade chat show. The morning radio program, called Today, which used to be an appointment to listen, has replaced much of its (more expensive) international coverage with round-Britain lifestyle segments.

The most visible area of withering is in the BBC’s global output. In a note to staff in April announcing her departure after only three years as director of the World Service, Liliane Landor expressed deep concern about the “operational capability” of the service, which broadcasts in 42 languages. “With media freedom under threat, the World Service is a force for good and the BBC needs to look after it,” Landor said in a statement.

The BBC announced in September 2022 that nearly 400 jobs in its global arm would be lost to save 28.5 million pounds (about $35.6 million). Several languages have been dropped, including Arabic, with Persian to follow. In 2021, the BBC spent 290 million pounds ($368 million) on the service, with the government, via the Foreign Office, committing to invest a further 94 million pounds ($120 million) a year until next March. After this, funding is up for grabs.

BBC Director General Tim Davie, while pushing through the cuts, has urged the government to provide more of the funding. “We cannot keep asking U.K. license fee payers to invest in it when we face cuts to U.K. services,” he said. “We will need to discuss a long-term funding solution … that comes from central government budgets.”

Back in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 fake news battle, the government gave the BBC an extra pot of money to fight disinformation coming from Russia, China, and elsewhere. The idea was to help expand a new unit verifying information and tackling bots. The sum, 8 million pounds ($11 million), while not unwelcome, was a drop in the ocean and does not compensate for the contraction of its traditional journalism.

The organization’s most recent annual report revealed that the weekly reach of the World Service had declined 12 percent year-on-year to 318 million people. Shortly after celebrating its centenary, the BBC is losing global influence at a time when it is most needed, with democracy in so much peril in so many parts of the world.

Starmer and his ministers will not want to get involved in the BBC’s day-to-day problems. Indeed, they will be keen, after a decade of interference by the Conservatives, to give it more operational independence.

Yet if there is one area where the government should be active, it is in preserving and extending the BBC’s role in providing impartial and reliable news and analysis to as many people as possible around the world. That will cost money – and Labour has made clear it will not spend what it can’t afford. Much of it could be found by abolishing the comical ‘GREAT’ campaign of British flag-waving that costs the taxpayer 60 million pounds per year. The government will have to do a new cost-sharing deal with the BBC and even if a little more has to be found, it is surely a price worth paying to give the UK an influence in the world it has steadily lost.

Whatever the costs, the long-term cost of watching as the organization’s international output continues to wither will be greater still.

[eaglesnick]

“We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich” - Peter Mandelson

The other day I made the assertion that when the people of Britain voted for Keir Starmer, what they were really getting was Tony Blaire. To be fair this was partly tongue-in-cheek but having read the Kings Speech setting out the Labour Party's plans to change Britain it is closer to the truth than is comfortable.

The Tony Blaire Institute for Global Change has a paper entitled: The Economic Case for Reimagining the State that was published July 9th, 2024, just five days after the UK elections. Some of the wording in this report is almost identical to some of the wording in the Kings Speech.

Tony Blaire Institute:  “reforming the UK’s antiquated planning system is a high priority that could unlock much needed infrastructure investment and help un-gum the UK’s housing market.”

Kings Speech: “My Ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing."

Tony Blaire: "Normalization of relations with the EU: A full reversal of these losses may be politically unattainable during this Parliament, but there is a path to a better post-Brexit relationship in the coming years"

Kings Speech: My Government will seek to reset the relationship with European partners and work to improve the United Kingdom's trade and investment relationship with the European Union

Tony Blaire: "The new government will need to lean in to support the diffusion of AI-era tech across the economy by adopting a pro-innovation, pro-technology stance, as advocated by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.”

Kings Speech: "It will seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models.”

The Kings Speech is, by necessity, very brief and gives virtually no detail how the government’s aims are to be achieved. We will have to wait and see how much more of Keir Starmer’s vision for the future of Britain mirrors that of Tony Blaire. If Starmer is as closely aligned to Blaire as these comparisons suggest then public sector workers beware.

Blaire places great reliance on the introduction of artificial intelligence to ALL sectors of the economy, but  especially within the public sector. Once introduced Blaire predicts a productivity gain of “one-fifth workforce time”

 Public sector workers, having adopted the new AI and having increased productivity by 20% can then expect the sack.

“If the government chooses to bank these time savings and reduce the size of the workforce, this could result in annual net savings of £10 billion per year by the end of this Parliament and £34 billion per year by the end of the next – enough to pay for the entire defence budget.”

This is the true Blairite mindset. Nothing about sharing the productivity gains made by workers in the form of higher wages, nothing about the redistribution of wealth or tackling income inequality. In Blaire’s Case for Reimagining the State poverty is not mentioned once. Inequality gets one mention but only as a statistic relating to workers forced to use food banks. 

What Blaire and Starmer – like the Conservative Party - appear to have forgotten is that  public services are exactly that –  services.  Yes they need to be efficient and cost effective but NOT to the extent that the service element is lost. The rich can afford to buy service, ordinary working people have to rely upon government for basic services and over the last few years they have been badly let down.  Poor pay, increasing workloads, job insecurity and private sector creep have all contributed to bringing Britain’s public services to the verge of collapse. Let us all hope Starmer and Blaire don’t push them completely over the edge.

[head-post]

Tony Blair called for “reset” of UK’s relationship with Europe

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, urged Labour to reset relations with the European Union and negotiate closer ties with the bloc in case of winning the election, according to the Daily Express.

Blair also suggested that record net migration, which reached 745,000 last year, was a sign that the UK remained an attractive place to live, calling identity politics a “cul de sac”.

Many expect Blair and his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change to have an impact if the Labour Party wins the general election later this year. He has pointed out in an interview with The Sunday Times that this does not mean Labour leader Keir Starmer will start trying to portray it as a reunification with the EU or the single market.

In any event, we’ve got a trade negotiation coming up in 2025. But at the moment we’re outside the big political union on our own continent and we’ve got a disrupted trading relationship with our biggest trading partner, so you’ve got to fix this stuff.

Starmer ruled out the possibility of rejoining the bloc and the single market, but some in his party would like him to prepare the way for the UK to rejoin. The Labour leader claimed he wanted to improve the UK-EU trade agreement, which should be renegotiated in the coming months.

Read more HERE

[beardedmrbean]

Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat repurposed an article in the British newspaper The Telegraph detailing former Prime Minister Sanna Marin's life after leaving Finnish politics.

The Telegraph highlighted Marin's appearance at Paris Fashion Week, and questioned whether British female politicians like Liz Truss or Theresa May would be welcome rubbing shoulders with the likes of Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian, Pamela Anderson, or Sharon Stone.

"It’s interesting that she chose to go to fashion week, as female politicians often spend years fighting against a culture that puts so much more value on their appearance than it does on men's," Natasha Lindstaedt an author and lecturer of media and politics told the Telegraph.

Lindstaedt also pointed to Marin's gender and age in relation to her meteoric rise to celebrity status, and noted that she was prominent as Finland's PM during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Marin has capitalised on this fame, taking a role at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and signing a deal with talent agency Range Media Partners.

The Telegraph suggested this blending politics and entertainment is a modern phenomenon, and added that for young politicians their charisma and good looks can launch new careers after their tenure in office is over.

Sick day pay cut unpopular

A recent Helsingin Sanomat poll showed that a majority of people in Finland are against the government's intention to make employees' first day of sick leave unpaid.

In the HS poll, 60 percent of respondents were against the reform, 32 percent were in favour and eight percent did not give an opinion.

In addition, the poll also asked whether respondents supported making it easier to fire workers and limiting political strikes.

A plurality of respondents were against both of these reforms, with 48 percent against the employee dismissal reform and 47 percent against limiting political strikes.

Some 41 percent were in favour of easing the reasons for firing, while 39 percent were in favour of limiting political strikes.

Chinese cars built in Finland?

An editorial in business daily Kauppalehti warned that Valmet Automotive is moving towards a 'grey area' by considering the production of Chinese electric cars at its auto plant in the western Finnish city of Uusikaupunki.

The EU is considering imposing tariffs on Chinese electric cars, which would create a competitive advantage for Valmet Automotive. The plant could then build Chinese-branded electric cars in the EU to circumvent these trade tariffs.

KL emphasised that the talks are preliminary and that the factory owners need to carefully weigh the political implications of such a move.

The Chinese firm CATL, one of the world's largest battery manufacturers, already has a 23 percent stake in the Uusikaupunki plant.

The other owners are the state-owned capital investment firm Tesi and the private equity firm Pontos, both controlling equal shares of 38.5 percent.

CATL came in as a part-owner in 2017, when there was less controversy around Chinese ownership and trading links in Europe.

KL noted that the Covid pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the cooling of relations between China and the West have changed that equation somewhat.

The paper said that in the current climate, Russia has shown that geopolitical crises can happen quickly, and prove to be quite costly for businesses.

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Regno Unito, critiche all'istituto di Tony Blair: “Ha preso soldi dai sauditi anche dopo l’omicidio Khashoggi”

LONDRA – Perché Sir Tony Blair ha continuato a fare consulenze al principe ereditario e leader de facto dell’Arabia Saudita, Mohammed bin Salman, anche dopo l’omicidio del giornalista dissidente Jamal Khashoggi? E perché il suo think tank Institute for Global Change continua ancora a essere retribuito da Riad? Sono domande che ha lanciato il Sunday Times, al quale l’ex primo ministro, nonché…