Author Archives: davidsprott

Unknown's avatar

About davidsprott

Artist, writer, veteran IT professional

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

Posted on February 2, 2021 by davidsprott

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?

Posted on January 27, 2021 by davidsprott

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.

Posted on January 20, 2021 by davidsprott

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

We Need to Talk About (Irish) Agriculture

Posted on January 16, 2021 by davidsprott

This morning I listened to a radio clip about the Irish peat industry. Peat harvested from local bogs has been used for centuries for cooking and heating in Ireland. Throughout the 20th century, peat was prized as a source of … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, Economic Model, Organic Farming | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Spotlight on Climate Bill (Ireland)

Posted on January 9, 2021 by davidsprott

The Irish government published it’s first climate change bill in 2015. This was superseded by the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020. This post records my initial review of the combined bills.    I couldn’t find a … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, Governance | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Renault Zoe 2020 – Report on EV In General Use

Posted on January 4, 2021 by davidsprott

I ordered a new Zoe Iconic R110 50Kw last December. We were extremely lucky to be able to test drive the only new-model car in the country at that time, so we had hands on experience pre ordering. I decided … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon Footprint, Electric Vehicles, EV, Renault Zoe | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Remember we still need to save the world. Let’s re-energize and refocus Climate Actions in 2021.

Posted on December 31, 2020 by davidsprott

We need to energise climate actions in a highly effective way, engaging ordinary people that causes and enables governments to make more courageous longer term decisions. Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, COP26 | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Happy XMAS (War is Over?)

Posted on December 17, 2020 by davidsprott

Should we simply return to what was normal in 2019? Or do we have an extraordinary opportunity to leverage not just the reduction in emissions but to learn from the experience of disaster that literally stopped us in our tracks. Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Covid19, Digital Transformation, Economic Model, Personal Technology, Technology Platforms | 2 Comments

Split up Facebook? No! Enforce Open Social Media Interoperability Standards to enable real competition.

Posted on December 10, 2020 by davidsprott

I see today in the Guardian that “The US government and a coalition of 48 states and districts have filed parallel lawsuits against Facebook in a major antitrust offensive that accused the social media behemoth of anticompetitive behavior and could ultimately force … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Transformation, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Governance | Leave a comment

Sovereignty – The Road to Madness

Posted on December 9, 2020 by davidsprott

It seems the Brexit process is likely to founder on the rocks of Sovereignty. Earlier today Boris Johnson said, “the EU was seeking an “automatic right” to retaliate against the UK if its labour and environmental standards diverged from theirs.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Brexit, Brexit Britain, Politics | Leave a comment