Wisdom in fragments

In times of crisis, whether through conflict or nature, it is not an option for us to assist people but an obligation.

We are no longer sovereign-islands protected by fortified walls and arbitrary map-lines- we are an interconnected global family who depend on each other in incredibly profound ways.

Even the most untrained eye can sense the degrees of discrimination seen in foreign policy responses to natural disasters and conflict. Discrimination which can only rationally be explained by morally abhorrent flaws in foreign-policy.

The twenty million people who currently need assistance in Pakistan are not terrorists, nor of strategic importance for our governments. They are much more important than that, they are people like you and me- men, women, families, children- who only want the best for their lives, and who were already struggling with immense poverty, even before nature yielded a blow.

And a country that stops its citizens having access to Facebook, say, or Google or Skype, faces real disadvantages – from inward investment to domestic discontent…

Cambridge computer scientist specializing in security engineering and cryptography

And the overall picture that's emerging is that the controls which still work operate more along corporate boundaries than along national boundaries. In order to censor YouTube, for example, countries like Turkey and Pakistan had to block access to the whole site; it's not practical just to block selected content.

Cambridge computer scientist specializing in security engineering and cryptography

[the impact of the internet on liberty and free speech has been] very positive indeed – not so much two steps forward and one step back, as ten steps forward for every step back. By breaking the oligopoly of the established press and letting everyone be a publisher, it has made information much harder for the powerful to control.

Cambridge computer scientist specializing in security engineering and cryptography

we are moving towards a global theatre where even though each actor (country) may be at different levels of economic growth, the technologies which exist to enable the globalisation stimulate high levels of transparency, meaning that each agent (companies, customers, suppliers, politicians, etc) will be accountable for their practices, and so must act with greater consideration (and less arrogance!)

organisations will often behave in international economic theatres (such as China) with the same operational processes and assumptions as their 'home' environments (such as Australia) with the assumed protection of the legal, political and other systems of their 'home' environments.

In all institutions from which the cold wind of open criticism is excluded, an innocent corruption begins to grow like a mushroom – for example, in senates and learned societies.

Philosopher Known for "Beyond Good and Evil" & Critique of Morality

There are really only three types of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, 'What happened?' Which group would you rather be in?

Asia region countries are able to shave not just 10% off process-costs versus their western counterparts, but often 60-80%, often bringing great improvements and advantages in the process. This ensures they are more agile and able to sustain competitive advantage through continual innovation.

Western societies have to heed the strategies of the east where innovation and progress are fundamental parts of their attitudes to business. Japanese carmakers built their sustainability from their constant ability to innovate rather than being cheaper.

We have been able to continue reactively where the pace of change has not outstripped our ability to react to it, but increasingly this is not the case and the pace of global change is pivotally now balanced with our ability to react, and soon will have a greater momentum than that.

We therefore see the drone exhibiting through software signs of the moral-affective function of 'guilt' when engaging in each mission.

Roboticist & Pioneer of Ethical Autonomous Systems and Robot Ethics

After each strike the drone would be updated with information about the actual destruction caused. If it did more damage than expected, then it could use this information to restrict its choice of weapon in future engagements.

Roboticist & Pioneer of Ethical Autonomous Systems and Robot Ethics