Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 8

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Brian McKenna and Caroline Donnelly are joined by a very special guest, in the form of managing editor (technology) Cliff Saran, who is on hand to assist with digging into some of the week’s biggest tech stories and trends.

• Cliff gets the ball rolling on the discussion by talking about the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web, and how it came to be, before discussing the concerns its inventor – Tim Berners-Lee – has about what the future holds for his “vague but interesting” creation. 

• The team also talks about how various technology developments over the years have not only shaped the web and how we use it today, but also the impact it has had on other parts of society, including the traditional high street.

• Caroline shares some insights about what caught her eye at this year’s Cloud Expo Europe/Datacentre World, including a talk by King’s College London chief IT architect Ian Johns about why users should lean into digital disruption rather than waste their time and effort trying to fight against it. 

• Datacentre sustainability was another hot topic at this year’s show, prompting Cliff to share his “theory” that a lot of the inefficiency we see within server farms could be down to developers writing defective code, while the impact Brexit could have on the sector’s energy security was also discussed in a little more detail.

• Brexit also rears its head again, as Brian shares his take on his recent trip to Vienna with OpenText. The event saw the enterprise data management firm reveal details of some research it has done with the Centre for Brexit Studies at Birmingham City University into the impact the UK’s exit from the EU may have on the motor industry and how it operates. 

• Rounding out the chat is Cliff’s appraisal of the Furman Report, which concluded that more must be done to encourage competition among the tech giants to prevent monopolies forming (and becoming reinforced), and to unlock new opportunities for new market entrants to thrive within the digital economy.