Anna Thomas MBE’s Post

How ready is your region for technological transformation? Join us for lunch at Imperial College London's i-HUB as part of London Tech Week to hear an expert panel discuss how our 'Disruption Index' maps the readiness and impact of technological transformation across England. Both main parties are campaigning strongly on a 'growth' agenda powered by technology. But how does this work in practice? The DI aggregates for the first time data on investment, R&D, and 'readiness' to benefit from technology - offering a radical reframing of 'levelling up.' Limited spaces, so do grab one now: https://lnkd.in/e_B6xk3k

Fully supportive of the findings and recommendations in this paper which I discussed with researchers and other experts last week. At Connected Places Catapult we empower local leaders (public and private) to be effective stewards of their places, identifying and integrating innovative technologies with wisdom and good governance. Visit the Place Leadership hub on our website for information on how we can support you to critically evaluate novel solutions, create inclusive practices and foster good growth. https://lnkd.in/eJR83WgU #FutureCities #SmartCities #ArtificialIntelligence #Ethics #Inclusion #LocalGov #UrbanSpace #PublicRealm // Geoffrey Stevens, Aisling Conlon, Vasant Chari, Geoff McCormick, Alan Peters, Dr Wolfgang S., Alex Cousins, Rikesh Shah, Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), UK Innovation Districts Group

Highlights from the Berkeley Innovation Forum, Fall 2024. Day 1: Kicked off with global healthcare insights, exploring innovative technologies and new business models shaping the future of care. Tours of Berkeley’s research centers were a great way to see open innovation in action. Day 2: We dived into the role of AI and emerging technologies in life sciences, discussing their transformative impact on patient care and healthcare access for underserved communities. Day 3: Focused on mental health and neuroscience, exploring how AI and emerging tech are driving proactive, lasting solutions in mental health. Day 4: Wrapped up at Stanford with discussions on global collaboration and precision health—highlighting how partnerships can revolutionize care delivery worldwide. These four days have been filled with transformative insights and exciting possibilities for the future of healthcare! #HealthcareInnovation #AIinHealthcare #MentalHealthInnovation #LifeSciences #GlobalHealth #OpenInnovation #Collaboration #BerkeleyInnovationForum

For the next two days, Reimagine ADM is attending the #RevaluingExpertise - Troubling Automated Practices and Human Competences conference at the University of Helsinki. The first keynote speaker is Alison Powell, associate professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her presentation explores ’deceptive stories’ about technology and how they foreground hegemonic forms of knowledge and expertise. Drawing on an example from UK’s National Health, she describes mismatches between digital health startups promises of digital scalability and the multi-scalar nature of the NHS. What kinds of epistemic alternatives to deceptive stories of scale might be possible within public sector contexts? #RevaluingExpertise

How do social inequalities play out in the digital era? I was interviewed for the The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) #LSEInequalitiesBlog blog and asked: What are the “lived” consequences of digitisation in relation to social inequalities that have historically existed? How should organisations that intervene in the digital space respond? And how will the next wave of technologies – from generative AI to “smart” homes – change the landscape for digital inequalities? Want to know what I answered using examples from #DiSTO and REMEDIS?Have a read: https://lnkd.in/ejBuiNyA

Great evening yesterday at Imperial College London! The fireside chat on research and innovation with Tom Kalil and Matt Clifford was both inspiring and thought-provoking! Here are some key takeaways: 🔷 Policies to accelerate innovation include: 1) Addressing lab space shortages, 2) Easing government restrictions on startup growth, 3) Guiding pension funds to invest in high-risk ventures, and 4) Developing alternative career paths for postdocs. 🔷 AI & Jobs: We need to design policies that accelerate AI development while creating new opportunities for job creation. 🔷 Big Ideas, Big Players: When proposing ideas, think not just about the solution but also who can help and how they can contribute. 🔷 Urgency for Innovation: Can we create the same urgency for innovation without a crisis? With antimicrobial resistance threatening 10M lives annually by 2050, we need bold action now. Rapid solutions are crucial for tackling issues like pandemics, antibiotic resistance, climate change and more. 🔷 Data Matters: It’s not just about having data, it’s about understanding what data you need, how to get it, and how it can be used to drive impact. 🔷 New Institutions: Sometimes reforming existing organisations isn’t enough; new ones may be required to address institutional blind spots. 🔷 And finally, a valuable life advice from Tom: There is a difference between influence and authority – learn how to have influence even without having authority. Thank you to TXP and UK Day One Project for organising! Mary Ryan David Lawrence Julia Garayo Willemyns Ronit Kanwar Tom Westgarth Andrew Bennett Renaissance Philanthropy Imperial Policy Forum #Innovation #Research #Philanthropy #Ambition #AI #TechPolicy #Entrepreneurship

How do we bring evidence into policy innovation? That's one of the questions we tackled today at a Social Science Research Council conference "Research to Solve Problems." A great day at NYU with US social science deans, university leaders, funders and policymakers. Some key takeaways: 👉 US universities are asking how to improve/increase local and national policy impact for research, and several people pointed to UK leadership in the REF and from our funders to spark translational and applied research. 👉 The Evidence Act of 2018 created statutory mechanisms for evaluation of federal agencies. There are binders of questions (!), "learning agendas", for all agencies where policy makers outline what they are looking to find out. 👉 We know incentives are not aligned for academics to work on policy questions, but other parts of infrastructure matter: making sure durable ways of building relationships and partnerships with communities and policy partners continue beyond the single project, creating new structures and supports within the university for this work, supporting research support teams to do the excellent work of connecting outside the academy. 👉 Lots of people want effective public services and efficient governments. If we are going to get there, we need social science and quality evaluation science and ways to link research with policy. I'm grateful for the people who help me think through how we move research for policy innovation forward including a great US/UK list, including conversations today Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy Jessica Montgomery Bill Janeway Ryan King Arnold Ventures Bill Deverell Anna Harvey CSaP - Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge ICPSR at University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

Yesterday's #FutureofBritain conference hosted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change was a great success👏 Watching virtually doesn't have quite the same impact, but the high-calibre speakers and discussions more than made up for not being there in person 💯 Here are five moments that stood out for me: 1️⃣ Exponential growth 📈 Matt Clifford reported that computational power in AI & tech development has increased x100 million in the last decade 🤯 I guess it's safe to say that public and private investment won't match that rate of change, but... 2️⃣ We need a new national purpose 🚨 Great to see William Hague and Tony Blair discussing AI & tech as one of the top defining missions for the UK in the coming years. Ambitions for long-term growth are for the birds unless we can harness the potential for the UK to become an AI superpower. 3️⃣ Revamping mindsets on healthcare 💉 Wes Streeting was excellent on his mission to supercharge an #NHS fit for the 21st century. Key soundbite: the NHS is no longer simply a public services department, it's an economic growth department. 4️⃣ The case for digital identity 💾 Rajeev Chandrasekhar's sketch of how #digitalidentity has enabled 1.2 billion Indians to "leapfrog" a generation of missed opportunity was fascinating. It seems a no brainer, and I was super disappointed to see the new Labour government slam the door closed recently without any real debate! 5️⃣ Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Pat McFadden on the importance of message discipline... but I'm still none the wiser on what is the role exactly of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 🤔

For the past three years, the Institute for the Future of Work has been working with the "Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing" – funded by the Nuffield Foundation – has been researching how the adoption of #AI and #automation technologies has been changing #work, and working lives. This work has been informed by Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides’ work on labour market ‘frictions’ that earned him The Nobel Prize in Economics. The three frictions he identified in that research – three factors that prevented the perfect matching of positions available to those seeking work - were #geography, #information and #skills. Since that award, the rollout of new technologies has provided an unprecedented shock to the labour market, the breadth and depth of which we have explored through the lens of these three frictions. However, those impacts are also happening at different scales – at the macro, system level, at the meso, firm level, and at the micro, individual level. This past Tuesday, 17th September the Institute for the Future of Work has brought together academics, policy makers, funders, local authorities and central government to discuss the regional implications of this research and how it can positively #impact work, lives and the #UKeconomy. It was fantastic to be collaborating and generating ideas to see how #goodwork can bring a better and more prosperous future for the UK and beyond. From a #justtransition perspective, combining technology and innovation with a #green economy is essential, as is translating what "good work" and prosperity mean for the local communities involved. Anna Thomas MBE Department for Business and Trade Professor Sue Black OBE Sana Khareghani Gina Neff, Ph.D. Naomi Climer CBE @Dr Anne Marie Imafidon Martha Dalton Graeme Nuttall OBE

🔬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 🔬 Based at The University of Manchester, The Christabel Pankhurst Institute is a £35m initiative to promote needs-led health technology research and innovation. Providing a unique partnership between the University, NHS, business and local government, The Christabel Pankhurst Institute plays a vital role in translating research into new products and services to help solve some of the most pressing health and care challenges. The Institute provides a focus for the University's health technology research and innovation, creating a multidisciplinary approach with research across@ Areas of research include: 📱 Translational research in digital, AI technologies and advanced materials 🔬 Understanding pathways for health technology 📉Health economics to understand the health and economic impacts of deploying innovations ⚙️Efficacy and safety of technology-based innovations 👩💻 Social and behavioural science to explore the impacts of health technologies 💡Addressing health inequalities through inclusive innovation Learn more about the institute 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWcd94-R #LifeSciences #GreaterManchester #Healthcare #Research #HealthInnovation