Across the UK Higher Education, Humanities departments are facing a fresh wave of cuts. The value of disciplines such as history has been undermined by two decades of derision by government ministers.[1] As we move into an era propelled by advancements in AI, a key question arises

The three C’s of procurement - Cost, Control, and Compliance have sat at the core of our profession for decades. But in an era of volatility and strained supply chains, these functions alone no longer cut it. Procurement needs to evolve into a business-enablement function. I propose a new Book of Procurement that embraces the broadening of our purpose. Here are three vital themes we should include:

The ambitious campaign to re-orientate the islands and coastline of the North Atlantic sea lanes to dependency upon Cenél nEóghain inevitably encountered its challenges, such is the nature of interdependence between people, groups, and nascent kingdoms. The Scandinavian diaspora developed a strong legacy in the Hebrides, and although their value to the Irish kings was no doubt felt and increased over time; demanding strategic marriage alliances, additional land, and possibly a kingship, there was always an element of being other to the natives, particularly to the ruling kings and clans of Donegal. Even the development of high-status Hiberno-Scandinavian identities could ultimately not trump the power of being a native nobleman. In part, it was the impenetrability of Ireland, of Irishness, that encouraged their movement further north into Iceland. Through distant mirrors, we see the flecks of that Irish influence glinting beneath the lava flows and sparkling in the rhythms of their verse. And so, it comes as no surprise when we hear reports from geneticists that the greatest genetic affinity of ancient Icelanders is with the modern-day people of the Hebrides, and of Donegal.

Ask any ‘90s-era web developer if the current World Wide Web is what he or she envisioned and, in all probability, the response will be a firm no. The early vision of the Internet wasn’t one of monster-sized corporations turning network effect into monopolies of power. It was never a picture of companies like Facebook and Google harvesting free information from us, exploiting our right to privacy and fostering distrust. The dream never included intermediaries dictating their own rules, nor was

Big news hit our newsfeeds this Summer - Ventures had landed in London armed with $100 million to deploy across the continent.  Backed by an all-star team of partners including Eze Vidra, Tom Hulme, Peter Read, Avid Lanzadeh and temporarily, MG Siegler, their arrival triggered a wave of heightened anticipation across the European tech ecosystem with the majority relishing the impact this could have on the region - and they are right to be positive. First and foremost, Google Ventures’ arrival o

“Humans are underrated,” concluded Elon Musk after recent production line difficulties caused the company to fall short of its weekly production target in Q1. Citing production line difficulties due to excessive automation, Musk consigned human help in order to get the company back on track. It is a rather tantalizing turn of events, given that we are so used to economists predicting that robots are going to steal our jobs. Visions of a hyper-capitalist dystopia abound:

From art and gaming to parking and education, the technology of bitcoin is transforming every industry. Over the first three months of 2018 alone, venture capitalists have poured $500 million into 75 blockchain projects, more than double what they raised in the last quarter of 2017. We are at the height of crypto hype, and fundraising in the sector remains robust. Thousands of exciting new companies and entrepreneurs are coming together in preparation for a blockchain revolution.

The financial technology sector is not just hot, it’s smoking hot. In the first six months of 2014, $346 million was invested in fintech venture deals in Europe, that’s already more than double what was raised in the whole of 2013*. U.S.-based fintech start-ups also attracted an estimated $1.3 billion in the last quarter alone. This flow of money into fintech is only set to intensify over the next 12 months; sending a game-changing blaze throughout the finance sector. A sector, btw, which is worth more than a trillion dollars.