When IT Meets Politics

Recent Posts

• Digital Britain Needs You

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 01 Feb 2019

BT has announced plans to train another 3,000 apprentices  on top of 3,500 engineers, including apprentices, hired last year. The announcement included an update on BT’s plans for new and upgraded ...

• Addressing the shortages of construction skills that threaten Broadband Roll-out

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 29 Dec 2018

Problems with quality, not just quantity threaten to derail full fibre roll out as they did cable TV roll out 25 years ago. Over the past couple of years broadband roll-out projects (BT, Virgin, ...

• Using technology to address the demographic time bomb

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 21 Dec 2018

The big challenge for 2019 is not Brexit. It is the demographic time bomb. Britain can no more leave "Europe" than it makes sense to tie our economy to a protectionist "ever closer Union". I will ...

• Happy Christmas and a Hokey Cokey New Year

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 19 Dec 2018

We have had a barrage of reports and articles telling us what the various types of Brexit deal really mean, None of them come remotely close to this for clarity and vision. That from the British ...

• Have your Christmas Presents vanished from your doorstep?

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 18 Dec 2018

So far only one of the presents we have ordered on-line this year failed to arrive - more than one e-mails telling us of delivery slots arrived after the parcel. It was therefore only chance that ...

• Education and training to help build the future, not just preserve the past

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 05 Sep 2018

Unless you understand the past you cannot make sense of the present let alone make sensible preparations for an uncertain future. Unfortunately most discussion on education and training policy is ...

• Does freedom of movement discourage skills development and depress wages?

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 25 Aug 2018

I recently looked at the Hays Index for 2017 to put the UK skills situation into international context. I strongly recommend reading the  report on "Regional dynamics of the Global Labour market - ...

• Why all the fuss about AI?

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 21 Aug 2018

Why is there so much publicity for 40 year old AI techniques, albeit with more processing power, bigger data files and more reliable communications lines?

• Injecting evidence into the On-line Child Safety Debate

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 14 Jul 2018

1 in 10 of those who video chat with strangers have been asked to change or undress on camera … we need open and honest debate, not obfuscation and claims that these are technical matters, too ...

• Guidance today for a 5G/IoT World Tomorrow

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 09 Jul 2018

This might best be achieved by engaging sponsors via sector/market/problem specific practitioner workshops to distil current good practice into draft guidance that could be used by those who will ...

• Addressing the Digital Infrastructure Skills Crisis

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 26 Jun 2018

Most of the skills in short supply can be acquired and assessed within days or weeks provided employers and those in their supply chains come together to agree standards and organise co-operation ...

• A UK Strategy for the 4th Industrial Revolution?

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 31 May 2018

Those who attacked my analysis because it undermined all they held dear (from “the examination treadmill” to the “PhD rat race”) have successfully resisted change to Government academic funding and ...

• Digital Skills - the view from 1997

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 31 May 2018

Education and training policy must better distinguish between core educational and academic skills (which rarely change over time) and vocational and technology skills (where traditional methods ...

• After us the drought of democracy?

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 23 May 2018

The BBC cover of a report from the Environment Agency warning of serious water shortages by 2050 while sufficient to supply 20 million consumers is being wasted prompted an attack of déjà vu. ...

• Skills audits back as insourcing gathers pace

  Philip Virgo - Winsafe Ltd 16 May 2018

, This morning I received an e-mail with extracts from a Gartner press release saying: “Infrastructure and Operations skills (I&O) gaps will cause 75% of organizations to experience visible ...