Newsletter Volume 32 Issue 2, Feb 2020
From The Editor
“Diego Piacentini, a former Amazon executive who recently completed a two-year stint in Italy’s government, hasn’t gone soft during his time in the public sector: “Crucial tenet — don’t waste your time with people who do not want to listen, no matter what.” But then, the Digital Transformation Team (DTT) Piacentini founded didn’t have time to waste. After hiring mostly from the private sector, the DTT brought in a rush of new skills and approaches via its lean, 40-strong staff.” The above quote is from a February 20, 2020 article in The Mandarin by Josh Lowe, an editor at Apolitcal, based in London. See below ‘The essential data infrastructure on which all digital governmental services are built.’
“Notably, the scientists underlined the threat that the interplay and feedback loops between these risks pose. In other words, each of these global risks worsens one another in ways that may cascade to create a worldwide systemic crisis….For instance, it’s not just bushfires – it’s the combination of bushfires with drought, biodiversity loss, floods and ecosystem degradation….We should not be thinking about them in isolation as politicians sometimes seem to do, for instance by proposing to respond to bushfires by simply removing vegetation.” This quote is from a February 12, 2020 article in The Conversation, by Anthony Capon, Director, Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University. See below, 222 scientists say cascading crises are the biggest threat to the well-being of future generations.
“The potential of the study’s method extends even beyond the world of batteries, Ermon said. Other big data testing problems, from drug development to optimizing the performance of X-rays and lasers, could also be revolutionized by the use of machine learning optimization. And ultimately, he said, it could even help to optimize one of the most fundamental processes of all, ‘The bigger hope is to help the process of scientific discovery itself.’” This quote is from of a Stanford University19 February 2020, ScienceDaily article, which “was part of a larger collaboration among scientists from Stanford, MIT and the Toyota Research Institute that bridges foundational academic research and real-world industry applications.” See below, New machine learning method could supercharge battery development for electric vehicles.
“People generally loved the thought that most (not all) of the things needed for a good life could be within a 20-minute public transport trip, bike ride or walk from home. These are things such as shopping, business services, education, community facilities, recreational and sporting resources, and some jobs (but probably not brain surgery).” See below, People love the idea of 20-minute neighbourhoods. So why isn’t it top of the agenda?
“The GenerEOS Mission is to re-engineer the way funds are distributed to charities, through the introduction of fully transparent smart contracts and DApps (which are similar to apps but run on decentralized peer-to-peer computer networks.) The GenerEOS EOS.IO platform brings a community together as a co-operative.” See below, Blockchain Sydney Crypto Central Roundup
Current Issue
Articles in the current Issue cover:
‘The essential data infrastructure on which all digital governmental services are built.’
“The Italian government’s progress in digital transformation is instructive for countries looking to use a mix of private and public sector digital skills and approaches to kickstart transformation without huge resources.”
222 scientists say cascading crises are the biggest threat to the well-being of future generations
“The report includes a survey of 222 leading scientists from 52 countries who identified five global risks: failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation; extreme weather events; major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; food crises; and water crises. They identified these risks as the most severe in terms of impact on planetary health – the health of human civilisation and the state of the natural systems on which it depends.. “.
New machine learning method could supercharge battery development for electric vehicles
“ It gave us this surprisingly simple charging protocol — something we didn’t expect,” Ermon said. Instead of charging at the highest current at the beginning of the charge, the algorithm’s solution uses the highest current in the middle of the charge. ‘That’s the difference between a human and a machine: The machine is not biased by human intuition, which is powerful but sometimes misleading.’”
People love the idea of 20-minute neighbourhoods. So why isn’t it top of the agenda?
“Based on scaling up the cost of current bus services in Melbourne, we estimate the cost would be about A$250 million a year, or A$4 billion over the long term, in present values. This is a modest amount compared to current capital commitments for rail. These total A$30-40 billion, depending on what share of the cost of level-crossing removals is attributed to rail. Development of the government’s proposed Suburban Rail Loop around the city will add an estimated A$50 billion. Annual payments for metropolitan train services add A$1.1 billion..”.
Blockchain Sydney Crypto Central Roundup’
“Q&A: Q: Does Kraken comply with Austrac AML (anti-money laundering) requirements? A: The Kraken platform provides the highest standards of legal compliance. The Kraken team has decades of experience building security programs for the world’s top brands, investigating the largest consumer data breaches, developing security technology trusted by millions of businesses and discovering vulnerabilities in the technology used by billions of people every day.”
QESP Blog
Michael Mann: The rest of the world is watching. This isn’t just about Australia. This is an experiment that is playing out in the rest of the world. It’s a Petri dish, and the rest of the world is watching it right now to see not only how bad does it get, but what do we do about it? This quote is from a February 23rd, 2020 Juice Media Podcast (Warning: Juice Media is a companion to the Honest Government Ad series, so be prepared for R rated language.) In this Podcast, Professor Mann pulls no punches on Australia’s current plight, and also offers a link to a free training course on Climate Change: The Science and Global Impact. See The Fires Part 2: with Prof. Michael E Mann
Events
ACOSM 2020: Responsible Business Conduct
A heads-up for ACOSM 2020, which will be a full day Conference in Sydney on 5th May 2020.
Hilda has been working on responsible conduct in business including corporate social responsibility. This subject is highly relevant due to the recent and ongoing damage from climate change and the new risks facing Australian businesses, large and small, and including State and Federal Governments. QESP will be partnering with ACS, PMI, CSIRO and the Sydney Universities in an ACOSM 2020 Program which includes Keynote Speakers, Forums, Networking Lunch, and Post-Conference reception.
Watch this space!
Quotes
Quote of the Day
I’ve actually made a prediction that within 30 years a majority of new cars made in the United States will be electric. And I don’t mean hybrid, I mean fully electric. – Elon Musk
Quote from Yesteryear
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. – Albert Einstein
Ted Smillie
QESP Chair