Professor
@UCL
, Sir, writer, policy geek, interested in fixing things & infinitely curious about how the world works, author 'When Science Meets Power' & more.
Delighted that UCL announce today I'll be Professor of Collective intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation – a dream role for me. I’ll also be working with the UNDP, Demos Helsinki, & govts of Finland, Bangladesh and UAE – hopefully making myself useful. More soon …
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor
@geoffmulgan
as Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy and Social Innovation at UCL STEaPP.
I announced today I’ll be leaving Nesta at the end of 2019 after 8+yrs. Lots of time to find a fantastic successor - internal or external - for one of best jobs around. Am hugely proud of the brilliant Nesta team, now 300 strong: catalysts of vital change in the UK and globally
I’ve written a little blog on the challenges faced by the Spectator clique that currently runs the UK; the risks of being out of sync with woke culture & expertise, and the tensions in Conservatism between doing & spectating.
Today I joined a group that includes many scientists, artists and thinkers I admire; the leaders of the Labour and LibDem parties; and, of course, a long parade of state-approved rogues, thieves and even pirates down the centuries ....
@UCLSTEaPP
With family roots in New Zealand I'm biased. But to see NZ's response to tragedy (like this newspaper front page) & Jacinda Ardern's fluent empathy, is an incredible tonic when so many nations and leaders seem morally lost right now. A small nation showing how to be truly big.
Karina and I got married yesterday! with a tiny gathering of close family. I am feeling very lucky in so many ways: everyone who has known Karina, whether as friend, writer, editor, creative director & much more - will understand.
We've prepared a summary of Nesta free resources available for anyone involved in trying to help government work more successfully. These cover everything from finance and data to experiments, democracy and evidence.
Delighted that Ravi Gurumurthy has been confirmed as Nesta's new CEO, taking over from me at the end of this year. I've known him for over 20 years and hugely admire his creativity & values - and his ability to get things done. V good news for Nesta & all of our many partners.
We're pleased to announce Ravi Gurumurthy
@rgurumurthy
will be joining us as our new Chief Executive. Ravi is currently Chief Innovation Officer at the International Rescue Committee
@theIRC
. We look forward to welcoming him later this year
I've done a blog on why we can't afford incompetent politicians; the case for training them better; current examples from around the world; and proposals for the future. All comments and examples welcome.
As British politics started falling apart yesterday, at lunchtime David Cameron was eating at the next table to me, looking relaxed. Perhaps this would be a good future politics exam question: how should David Cameron have been feeling on 15 November 2018?
People involved in social change are particularly vulnerable to burnout & depression: excellent piece surfacing what otherwise only gets talked about in private and late at night.
I've a new paper published today on how systems think & could think better. It synthesises much work by others and also suggests new approaches, roles & structures - to help guide the systems we all depend on. Comments welcome!
One of the exciting things set to happen in Europe in 2020 is the growth of challenge-based universities: I did work on this a few years ago - - so am delighted to see these ideas now gaining traction.
Ahead of a talk tomorrow I've written an overview of governments' uses of AI - including the crazy way they finance so much AI (through the military and intelligence agencies) and yet direct so little to the everyday needs of public services.
My new paper on social imagination - it's a version 1 but I've really enjoyed working on it as a partial escape from the very real crisis all around us.
"We find it easy to imagine apocalypse and disaster; or to imagine new generations of technology. But we find it much harder than in the past to imagine a better society a generation or more into the future."
@geoffmulgan
'The Imaginary Crisis' out now!
My new book on social innovation is published tomorrow - "a bold, inspiring book that will leave you smarter, more inspired, and ready to improve the world". We've an event at Nesta, & there's a healthy discount at & on Amazon
I've written a draft paper on the case for 'exploratory social sciences' - addressing why mainstream social science has retreated from radical design and imagination, and how this could be put right. Comments welcome on both the diagnosis & prescription.
My blog on how governments are innovating and how they should be raising their sights - ahead of our event in September showcasing practical examples, a book of visions showing where government could go, & a new handbook on how to get there
V happy that my new book on collective intelligence is now out - and with strong endorsements. I'm obviously biased - but think that what it's saying is pretty important.
New data on who trusts friends or strangers around the world. The range is extraordinary (and correlates quite well with both happiness and good government, which is both a cause and effect of high levels of trust)
I now have a personal website which brings together blogs, books, videos etc and will provide a running (or at least strolling) commentary on things I'm working on (). All suggestions for improvement welcome.
I've a piece out today on social science and social imagination - & why we need more of both to get beyond the crisis (with a bit too on the often-forgotten great British traditions of social imagination)
A little thrill when you start seeing your new book in bookshops – and hope that the smallness of the pile is a sign that they’re selling well (though I'm not sure it's an obvious Xmas present)…
I've two books recently out in paperback which describe fields I think will become part of the common sense of the 2020s. They've had good receptions, described variously as 'bold', 'inspiring’, ‘fascinating’, ‘brilliant’, ‘magnificent’. Pl read & enjoy (if you haven't already)!
I've done a paper on 'whole of government innovation' as part of an EU programme I'm chairing: it's about how to get the whole of a government focused on a task like net zero or development and use of AI. All comments and suggestions welcome.
Here's a first attempt at thinking about what might happen to government and policy after COVID-19 - to feed into various discussions on 'how not to waste the crisis'
I've written a draft paper on how to design future public institutions - part of a broader programme to develop a more developed discipline of organisational architecture. All comments and suggestions welcome:
My new book on science and power comes out this week - showing how politics and governments should cope with an era when pandemics, climate change and AI dominate their agendas, yet often reveal a gulf between their capabilities and what's needed.
Power in the UK has become opaque and illegible. Here I share a simple test which most struggle to answer. Because power is so illegible it's not surprising people feel disempowered. Thoughts & ideas on better questions - & better answers- welcome.
The New Institute in Hamburg is looking for fellows to work on the future of democracy: this week has shown how fragile democracy is right now and how badly we need fresh ideas.
My easter highlight/surprise was testing positive for COVID-19, two and a half weeks after vaccination. The vaccine has probably mitigated it – but still high fever, listlessness, coughs etc. Luckily a year of lockdowns is good preparation for self-isolation.
I’ve written a paper on wisdom - & why it seems so scarce right now. It combines some theory & ideas on how it might be applied to education, institutions, government and technologies. I’m sharing it in draft now to elicit comments and criticisms.
A practical new model for connecting government, big firms and civil society to work together on big problems. Here Kate Sutton sets out more about the Inclusive Economy Partnership via
@nesta_uk
OECD shows UK now unusually reliant on rote-learning, far more than China, Japan etc that have updated their methods. OECD also shows that too much memorisation damages children’s ability to solve problems & be creative. Parents - and policy-makers - should be worried!
My new paper on how governments can - and should - try to steer their societies and economies (for the big tasks like net zero) - is published by Demos Helsinki, alongside other reflections on this
As Imran suggests there's a whole new genre of ‘Covid Confirmation Bias’ – dozens of pieces by public intellectuals saying that the crisis changes everything and just happens to change everything in the direction they wanted anyway. A bit lazy, to say the least.
Really glad that although Covid-19 is going to fundamentally reshape our political discourse due to the whole world waking up to some fundamental truths about how our society works, it's going to do so in-line with what I thought should happen anyway.
Barnard Castle Eye Test Update:
It was the most demand we have ever seen for a beer.
The traffic crashed our
@BrewDog
website for 9 hours.
We sold 648,768 cans (all we could make).
This enabled us to make & donate over 100,000 bottles of sanitiser.
Hope you guys enjoyed it!
We're hosting OECD and European Commission today at Nesta discussing the many exciting ways data is transforming innovation policy. This paper summarises some of our thinking and projects (& I'll be doing a keynote this afternoon)
Indeed! Hollywood sci-fi repeatedly confirms the crisis of imagination: brilliant creativity in imagining technological futures, pathetic inadequacy in imagining social and political futures (& usually reverting to empire/feudalism). I wish they could raise their game.
One thing that Dune, Star Wars, and other space operas have in common, is that in those civilizations, space travel comes much earlier in history than figuring out alternatives to imperial autocracies or assembly based democracies.
Greatly looking forward to launching this with my friend & collaborator, the always inspiring Roberto Mangabeira Unger, offering responses to inequality, stagnant productivity and political anger - with
@Mad_Gabes
@MazzucatoM
@paulmasonnews
@isaacmstanley
This may seem like common sense - but worth acknowledging that it is at odds with how science and tech is funded almost everywhere, and at odds with what most influential experts advocate ...
Interesting report from
@nesta_uk
&
@BritainThinks
on changing public perceptions of innovation & new technologies . Headline findings (see pic) all v sensible too (& in line with our Bio Bubble report for Nesta).
Billions will be spent on refurbishing parliament: a fraction of this could be used to improve democracy. This should be blindingly obvious - but I've yet to hear a single politician make this case. Perhaps they're distracted? via
@nesta_uk
My new paper for the New Institute on 'exploratory social science' is published today. It shows how the social sciences could play a much bigger role in designing options for the future of everything from decarbonisation to welfare, democracy to cities.
My new book - Another World is Possible - is out tomorrow: 'the tonic the world needs' - 'Wonderful, eclectic and deeply interesting' - 'An inspiring call for a more imaginative tomorrow' Please buy, share, argue, use as fuel for thought and action!
Congrats to the editors & many authors of this big new book on collective intelligence (I've a piece on govt as a brain). Much of this will be conventional wisdom before long - but right now many of the people who should know about it are unaware...
My piece in Computer Weekly today - on the risks of AI myopia (linked to the CogX festival in London). I'm still not sure how open the leaders of AI are to constructive criticism - I hope they can be.
Everything you ever wanted to know about new methods for doing innovation, all in one short event - covering everything from data and prizes to crowdfunding and impact investment
I've written a blog on 'knowledge atrophy' - why do some fields, and sometimes whole societies, become stupider, forgetting more than they learn. All comments and suggestions welcome.
I've done a little reading list recommending good books on how societies think - linked to my book 'Big Mind'. Please take a look, read the books & hopefully get as much out of them as I did.
We're looking for someone exceptional to be part of a great new initiative... Senior Researcher/Project Manager (Collective Intelligence and Digital Social Innovation | Nesta via
@nesta_uk
I really appreciate the kind messages! My COVID is more annoying than life-threatening (I hope). But it’s a warning to others to remain healthily paranoid even after you’ve been vaccinated (I'd had one AZ in mid-March).
Good that OECD is maintaining its engagement with public innovation - and in this report showcasing quite a few projects either backed or advised by
@nesta_uk
Just released: Embracing
#Innovation
in
#Government
: Global Trends 2018
Report identifies 3 key trends:
1. Digital identity
2. Systems approaches
3. Inclusiveness & vulnerable populations
👉 See report & 10 case studies |
#WorldGovSummit
For anyone who read 'The Plague' as a teenager and found its portrayal of our capacity for denial, and the randomness of suffering, all too credible this by Alain de Botton is well-timed and worth a read right now.
Science direct has the results of the randomised control trial for the Action for Happiness “Exploring What Matters” course (now in 26 countries) - confirming its remarkably strong positive effects on well-being and social connectedness.
I've written quite a lengthy report ('Will Governments Ever Learn?') on how skills for governments are provided around the world (by civil service colleges, universities and online) & where the gaps are. All thoughts and ideas welcome.
Many thanks to
@anirchowdhury
,
@gquaggiotto
, a2i and others for a very productive few days working with business, ministers, NGOs, UN & educators on how Bangladesh could leapfrog to a collective intelligence approach to jobs & skills. V much looking forward to the next steps...
A blog on the recent TV series on Blair&Brown: brilliant TV & interviews, but not so brilliant as analysis or history. Does TV always have to avoid the big questions & default to the 'one damned thing after another' school of history?
A brilliant piece on the randomness of rewards; why successful people so often overestimate their talents; why luck is so important; & implicitly, why we should want systems that are generous to the unlucky.
I wish the BBC and other broadcasters did this more often - when someone makes a factual claim, immediately show your viewers the actual facts. It would do wonders for the quality of public debate.
Michelle Obama on the Establishment: "Here's the secret. I have been at probably every powerful table you can think of... I have served on corporate boards, I've been at G summits, I've sat in at the UN. They're not that smart"
Something I’ve been working on for a while is announced today: a new ESRC-funded International Public Policy Observatory on COVID which we’re leading from UCL/STEaPP with a fantastic group of partners across the UK and beyond.
UCL STEaPP is leading a £2m international research-policy initiative to mitigate the biggest social impacts of
#COVID19
and help accelerate the UK’s recovery. Find out more about the International Public Policy Observatory:
I placed a bet in January that Boris Johnson would be out in 2021. My last political bet was on the Brexit referendum when I overestimated leave's winning margin. Again, I may be wrong on the detail. But I'm confident I’m right on the direction.
For 7 years at Nesta we've been researching, mapping & supporting Digital Social Innovation across Europe. On 25/6, we draw this work together in what shld be a great event in Warsaw exploring the potential of
#DSI
for cities.
#NewUrbanVisions
My new book ‘Prophets at a tangent: how art shapes social imagination’ is out in hard copy today – a few thousand digital copies have already gone out but there is something appealing about a book you can hold (and with pictures too!)
My gut tells me DT will be humiliated tonight & storm off in a tantrum; but sadly I don't wholly trust my gut (or for that matter the reams of smart analysis) so will just have to wait nervously for the people to speak ...
The AI distraction playbook v evident right now: 1. say you want regulation but do your best to stop it 2. get people talking about extinction not current issues 3. encourage windy calls from political leaders & intellectuals, but nothing on the 'how'. So far it’s working well.
My new blog on the possible future for social science, linking intelligence design, data, social R&D and experimentalism. Comments and critiques welcome!
I'll be doing a speedy lunchtime seminar talking about my paper on systems: 1.15-2pm Monday 29th March. Please register here: The paper can be found here:
I've done a paper on transferability - how do we know if something works in one context whether it will work in another - ahead of our session 1-2pm on Weds 6th Dec. The paper is here: & the event can be found here:
Thanks to Mariana and the UCL team - a sudden flood of excellent public value reports all now out. Here's a link to ours: which shows how the idea has been applied in different fields
Great afternoon at
@nesta_uk
for the
#RethinkingPublicValue
event. A recording of the event will be online soon but in the meantime thank you to the Nesta team and
@geoffmulgan
for hosting this event with us. Read our latest policy brief on public value:
So sad to hear of Jeremy Heywood's death, who I worked with for 20 years, truly ‘civil’ and truly a ‘servant’. None of the pomposity of Sir Humphrey or the cynicism of The Thick of It. A master at driving the machinery of state. God knows we’ll need more of his kind.
Delighted to be hosting the OECD conference on creativity and critical thinking in education at Nesta in London today, and serving as warm-up act for a brilliant talk by Andreas Schleicher ...