Evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Risk Assessment and Risk Planning from Lord Houghton, Sir Chris Deverell, and Mr Marc Schelhase.

Daily Telegraph article of 29 Sep 20 about the Army’s plans in the British Government’s Integrated Review of foreign policy, defence, security, and international development, with commentary from Sir Chris Deverell

Writing in the Daily Telegraph on 7 Sep 20, Sir Chris Deverell says that UK Defence faces a Gordian knot, forever trapped in a world in which it either needs more money or to reduce its level of ambition. This is an unpalatable place when government expenditure is in greater demand than ever, at the same time as the range and volume of threats we face are increasing, rather than reducing. Since World War II, the outcome has usually been to accept lower levels of capability. The only way to cut this knot is to find a way to do better at lower cost. This must entail doing differently, because Defence has repeatedly shown that it finds doing the same at lower cost incredibly hard to achieve. Embracing digital innovation is the way to do differently.

To facilitate the adoption of new technology in the UK military, Service Personnel need to be empowered to think and act differently. This article in Wired describes a new initiative to do just that, co-created by Daniel Korski, CEO of PUBLIC, and General Sir Chris Deverell, former Commander of UK Joint Forces and founder of the jHub. It’s called the Percy Hobart Fellowship, and it’s now in pilot with the Royal Navy.

A powerful group of business leaders and former senior public officials today calls for a fundamental overhaul of the machinery of government to improve delivery and protect public services in the wake of the Covid epidemic. 

The Commission for Smart Government warns that “every organisation in the country is urgently considering how to adapt and survive in the new world which the virus is shaping, and government can’t be exempt.”

YouTube link to an Oxford Answers Panel discussion about Entrepreneurship in the current climate, chaired by Professor Thomas Hellman, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School.

From CDL-Oxford:  Founders and innovators from across UK and beyond are being invited to apply for a virtual rapid response programme.

From Momentum Cyber: COVID-19 has profoundly affected individuals and organisations globally, and the world as we know it will change permanently.  What does this mean for Cybersecurity?