Author Archives: davidsprott

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About davidsprott

Artist, writer, veteran IT professional

UCC Climate Conference 2021

I virtually attended most of the UCC climate conference yesterday. It’s was a useful experience, not really because of the content which was highly variable, rather because it allowed me to think about where we are at. Here are my … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Economic Model, Organic Farming | Tagged , | 1 Comment

There’s More Bad News – Plastic is Even More Deadly than We Realised

Just when we are starting to hope that we can see an end to the Covid19 pandemic along comes more bad news. I read today that research now shows that tiny plastic particles in the lungs of pregnant rats pass … Continue reading

Posted in Plastic Pollution, Survival of the Human Race, Sustainability, Technology and Society | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Tell me No Lies,

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynihan This post is also available as a podcast: Over the past few years I have commented frequently on what many of us believe is … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Governance, Open Source Intelligence OSINT, Technology and Society, Technology Platforms, Trust | 2 Comments

Technology’s Crucible – Cause or Solution to Our World in Crisis?

Back in the 1970’s I, like many in the tech industry, followed the work of James Martin – a genuine guru and polymath who between 1965 and 2006 wrote over 100 books, many of which were huge best sellers. The … Continue reading

Posted in Digital Transformation, Governance, Personal Technology, Politics, Technology and Society, Technology Platforms | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Why listen to Bill Gates on How to Avoid a Climate Disaster!

Bill Gates is not a climate scientist. He’s not a politician. He has a “lot” of money and investments that could be seen as conflicts of interest. Why on earth should we listen to him? This post is also available … Continue reading

Posted in Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, COP26, Electric Vehicles, EV | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Have We lost the Covid19 Plot? A Case Study.

My conclusion is that unless we do something different now, we may lose this battle and be battling the pandemic for at least another year! I summarize a report on South Korea’s experiences and how we might learn from them. Continue reading

Posted in Coronavirus, Covid19, lockdown, Pandemic | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My Personal Experience Highlights How Brexit has thrown a Spanner into Smooth Running 21C Businesses

I would never knowingly have placed an order for a relatively high value item knowing it was sourced from the UK post Brexit. And my experience is clearly one of at least hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of disrupted transactions. Every one of them is someone’s nightmare. However, I doubt very much that it will cost Messrs Gove and Johnson any lost sleep. And down the line it probably won’t lose them any votes either. Continue reading

Posted in Brexit, Brexit Britain, Digital Transformation, Personal Technology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Question: What’s the Connection Between Climate Change and Brexit?

Easy, both are man-made problems, they are both slow burners and have been looming for years and they will both cause unpredictable problems that will run and run. Of course, climate change will be many orders of magnitude greater impact, … Continue reading

Posted in Brexit, Brexit Britain, Climate Change | Tagged | 1 Comment

Are We Using Technology to Get us out out of the Covid19 Mess?

Here in Ireland we are recovering from Lockdown 3, case load is reducing but the hospitals and entire health service is incredibly overloaded. There is real concern that new variants may be more serious, transmissible etc, and not covered by … Continue reading

Posted in Coronavirus, Covid19, Digital Transformation, lockdown, Pandemic, Personal Technology, Travel | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Democracy is not a fragile flower still it needs cultivating.

Well it’s been one hell of a ride! I remember talking to a good friend and colleague almost exactly four years ago. He lives in the greater DC area and does a lot of government business, so I listened hard. … Continue reading

Posted in Biden, Democracy, Digital Transformation, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Governance, Technology Platforms, Trump, Trust | Tagged , | 2 Comments