Since arriving as a Lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to integrate digital into the curriculum. I have a course on Digital Government and will be teaching modules next term on what we’ve lea…
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eaves.ca: The Empire Strikes Back: How the death of GDS puts all government innovators at risk
The UK Government Digital Service(GDS) is dead. I’m sure it will continue to exist in some form, but from what I’ve read it appears to have been gutted of its culture, power and mandate. As a innovator and force for pulling the UK government into t…
Continue readingThings Are Good: Solar Sales Soaring Sixfold
Bloomberg is reporting that they anticipate a sixfold increase in star capacity thanks to the efficiency of a having a naturally-occuring ball of fire in our solar system. The sun is an abundant resource which shines its rays on us and now we have the industrial means to convert the sun’s rays into a powerful […]
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Continue readingeaves.ca: Canada’s Draft Open Government Plan — The Promise and Problems Reviewed
Backdrop On Friday the Canadian Government released its draft national action plan. Although not mentioned overtly in the document, these plans are mandated by the Open Government Partnership (OGP), in which member countries must draft National Action …
Continue readingeaves.ca: How the Media Should have Responded to Peter Thiel
Much ink has been spilled about Peter Thiel’s funding of various cases against Gawker. However, the discussion of whether he should or shouldn’t mostly miss the point. Nor do the responses give me much confidence in the media, who seem fo…
Continue readingThings Are Good: Email, Productivity, And How You Feel
Dealing with an endless stream of emails is challenge in any office environment – even just socially it can be rather taxing. The solution to email always seems to be just around the corner with a new startup from Silicon Valley appearing every year to “save” us from email. Here’s an idea it’s not that […]
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Continue readingThings Are Good: What’s That? Use Your Phone to Identify Plants
Pl@ntNet is an app that can identify plants using the camera on your mobile. Presently, it’s limited primarily to Western Europe (since it was in France),Indian Ocean, and parts of South America. The technology behind it can be used to extend it elsewhere and let’s hope it gets more global support. “What makes the project […]
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Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Command F: a Bittersweet Function
I tell my students of the magic of “command F” on Macs and “control F” on PCs. This F function key, that can find a word or phrase anywhere in the text, is a game-changer when hunting for the best quotation or for that juicy bit of information or when…
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Way to Think About Digital Currency Replacing Cash
Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and other digital currencies are shaking up how the internet thinks about money. In turn, this has forced countries and large institutions to rethink how money works and who claims to have control over it. Perhaps it’s time for the decentralized blockchain-systems to replaced by a robot-controlled centrally-backed system. Or, at the very […]
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Continue readingThings Are Good: The Unstoppable Renewable Revolution
For years naysayers have been arguing that renewable energy isn’t a good idea because the electrical input fluctuates too much on the grid. Now we have more evidence that those naysayers have nothing to back up their argument. Over at Climate Progress they have a good post on key factors that make the renewable revolution […]
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Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Junkyard wars
Syrian rebels have been using modern technology in the simplest of ways in their war against the Assad regime in Syria.In the picture at left, a rebel crew are shown using an angle meter app for the iPad to check the alignment of a mortar barrel …
Continue readingTechnology bargain betrayed—where have all the rewards gone?
Early in the Industrial Revolution, many workers were concerned about being replaced by machines. The most well known group were the Luddites, British weavers who smashed mechanical looms that threatened to replace them with low-wage labourers, leav…
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Web Makes You Humble, Not Stupid
In the early years of the internet people worried that it would make people stupid and people would sit around not contributing to society. It turns out that the internet is not as bad as TV. Indeed, the web may make us more humble and help us realize our own ignorance. One possibility is that […]
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Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Uber and the Luddites
The fight against the sharing economy, and Uber in particular, can be disorienting. Opposition is often painted as techno-phobia. The good guys in this story are Uber and progress; on the other side are opponents afraid of flexibility and smartphones, kicking and screaming against a future already here. In many ways, this is like the […]
Continue readingScripturient: The birth and death of privacy
I was in a local grocery store recently and it was my misfortune to enter, and walk most of the same aisles at the same time as a voluble woman shopper. She spent her entire time there on her cell phone. From before she entered, through the time she …
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Importance of Infrastructure Changes for a Sustainable World
With COP21 happening this week in Paris there are many approaches to fighting climate change being discussed. No matter what approach is used there will have to be structural changes in how energy is delivered and how goods are transported. Over at Gizmodo they took a look at how quickly we can transition to a […]
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Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Take The Pressure Off With Tech Aides at Home
Guest Post by Maria Ramos As life expectancies have grown over the years, many people are living longer than ever before. This is undoubtedly a good thing, but it places certain stresses on those who care for the elderly. Besides taking care of an aged parent or loved one, many
Continue readingeaves.ca: Moving to Harvard
Hi friends. Just a brief note to say that I’ve been invited to come to the Kennedy School of Government to be a Research Fellow in the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program (STPP) at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
Continue readingThings Are Good: Vote on Canada’s Digital Future
On Monday the 19th Canadians will cast their ballots for who they think should run the nation. Open Media has released a report card on where the political parties stand on digital issues impacting Canadians. It’s with no surprise that the conservatives get a failing grade. The good news is
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Virtual Companion for a Safe Walk Home
At the schools I teach at they each have a volunteer run service to help people walk home who are worried for their safety. When one graduates from these schools they are on their own. Seeing that this how walk-safe programs work a bunch of students have created an app
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