…the UK also has its own – somewhat quieter – examples of success. High agency individuals who have done a ‘tour of duty’ and changed the wiring of government to respond to major challenges. Neuroscientist and former No 10 adviser James Phillips helped to set up the Advanced Research and Invention Agency; AI engineer and former No 10 adviser Nitarshan Rajkumar co-created the AI Safety Institute; Rob Murray designed and negotiated the agreement for Nato’s Defence Accelerator for the North Atlantic. These were highly talented people from outside government who simply decided they could have more impact if they moved into the system. More people are realising that such moves are possible.
.
…
.
More and more scientists and technologists are considering 6- or 12-month tours of duty in government to fight to turn things around. We need to make sure our system is harnessing this reserve army of talent to do good.
*Applications for Civic Future’s talent programmes close on Sunday 16 March 2025.
Margaret Thatcher is back in the news. But it is not her admirers on the Right who have put her there. It is our new Labour Prime Minister, whose diagnosis of our country’s ills seems to be that Britain was on the right path up until 1979, when the Conservatives got into power and precipitated […]
Dear Andy Burnham, Firstly, I must congratulate you on your new role. I am sorry that I have not written to you sooner and I know that you’ve technically been in post for a while now. In my defence though, you did go away almost immediately after taking office. The reason that I am writing […]
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is not a publication most would be familiar with. It is meant as a repository of overviews of big topics in philosophy broadly defined, inclusive of political theory. As such, entries added to it are unlikely to generate strong responses by the experts deeply familiar with each individual entry. Every […]
