Newsletter Volume 31 Issue 11, Nov 2019
From The Editor
“In the recent New South Wales and Victorian elections, the returned state governments’ transport infrastructure promises added up to A$165 billion. What’s mostly missing from the promised transport solutions is smart technology that provides higher benefits at a fraction of the cost – when retrofitting existing roads in particular. The benefit-to-cost ratio can be more than a dozen times greater than for a new road.” The above quote is from a November 11, 2019 article in The Conversation by Hussein Dia, Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology. See below Smart tech systems cut congestion for a fraction of what new roads cost
“Researchers have made a major discovery that will make it immeasurably easier for people (or super-computers) to search for an elusive ‘green bullet’ catalyst that could ultimately provide entirely renewable energy.” This quote is from a Trinity College Dublin ScienceDaily report which explains that “by bringing together chemists and theoretical physicists, the Trinity team behind the latest breakthrough combined chemistry smarts with very powerful computers to find one of the ‘holy grails’ of catalysis.” See below, Scientists take strides towards entirely renewable energy
“Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the global supply chain and improve both the speed and security of handling the flow of goods at international borders. But researchers say big questions remain about how the transformation will unfold.” This quote is from an October 30, 2019 University of Houston ScienceDaily report which notes that , “the researchers focused on six supply chain “pain points” — traceability, dispute resolution, cargo integrity and security, supply chain digitalization, compliance, and trust and stakeholder management — and key challenges to widespread adoption.” See below, Blockchain offers promise for securing global supply chain.
The following is an extract from the latest issue of THE DROP, in which Maria Katsonis, Research Editor for The Mandarin, gives an overview and links to various briefs and recommended reading. “Published by The Mandarin and supported by ANZSOG, The Drop aims to make research more accessible to public managers and bridge the research policy gap. Each issue features a brief we have written to distil academic research into a format that walks you through the main points.” See below, Get THE DROP on Academic Research.
Current Issue
Articles in the current Issue cover:
Smart tech systems cut congestion for a fraction of what new roads cost
“In 2018, the benefits of this program totalled almost US$3.1 billion (A$4.5 billion). The costs were US$70.3 million (A$102 million). That’s a BCR of 43.7.”
Scientists take strides towards entirely renewable energy
“The team aims to now use artificial intelligence to put a large number of earth-abundant metals and ligands (which glue them together to generate the catalysts) in a melting pot before assessing which of the near-infinite combinations yield the greatest promise..“
Blockchain offers promise for securing global supply chain
“ the work suggests that adopting blockchain to track the movement of goods globally could benefit both industry and agencies charged with ensuring the safety of cargo entering the United States.,”
Get THE DROP on Academic Research
“RESEARCH BRIEF: UNDERSTANDING WHY POLICYMAKERS ‘DO NOTHING’
‘Why doesn’t the government do something about this?’ is a complaint often heard in legislatures, TV debates, opinion pieces, letters to the editor and cyberspace. Yet in the study of policy, there is a bias towards policy activity and a neglect of policy inactivity. A paper in Policy Sciences presents a five-part typology of policy inaction and examines its core drivers.”.
QESP Blog
Sacha Baron Cohen Uses ADL Speech to Tear Apart Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook
(QESP Editor’s Note: This is a link to an entertaining interview in The Daily Beast, where Sacha Baron Cohen discusses his acceptance of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) award and how he used the occasion to defame Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. See https://www.thedailybeast.com/sacha-baron-cohen-uses-adl-speech-to-tear-apart-mark-zuckerberg-and-facebook?ref=scroll )
Events
Consensus Software Awards
World’s Most Successful Awards
2019 Awards Presentations
The second set of Consensus Awards for 2019 will be presented in Sydney on the evening of Thursday 12th December by entrepreneur Richard White, founder of WiseTech Global, a recipient of a Consensus Award in 2004. WTG’s market cap is more than $8 billion on the ASX. The Awards Presentations are kindly supported by PwC and Access RnD.
The following Awards will be presented:
· Consensus Software Awards
· Consensus Innovation Awards
· Consensus AgTech Awards
· Consensus GreenTech Awards
· Consensus EdTech Awards
· Consensus Best Author Award
Event Details
Date: Thursday 12th December 2019
Time: 6pm for a 6.30pm start, finish at 10.30pm
Venue: Swissotel, Level 8, 68 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Cost: $250 includes 2-course dinner plus drinks
Dress: Smart Business attire
To book your ticket, go to https://www.trybooking.com/BHCPN
For further information, please contact: Julian Day on 0413 309 056
Quotes
Quote of the Day
Riding a bicycle is the summit of human endeavour – an almost neutral environmental effect coupled with the ability to travel substantial distances without disturbing anybody. The bike is the perfect marriage of technology and human energy .- Jeremy Corbyn
Quote from Yesteryear
Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you. – Aldous Huxley
Ted Smillie
QESP Chair