Duncan O'Leary
Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.
- Feeling unwell? Have a holiday... The idea has had a mixed reception – some regarding it as fairly traditional bonus, others arguing its just a gimmick. It may be one to watch for a government though, which is increasingly concerning itself with some the ‘social’ problems facing the country: what to do about smoking in public spaces? How to tackle obesity? The Mail is obviously going for the carrot option here rather than the stick, which has also been tried recently . The question is – without... continue reading on 5th August 2004
- Big Brother meets politics (again) When George Orwell wrote 1984 he probably didn’t envisage Davina McCall presiding over Friday night evictions – his version of Big Brother was about politics rather than pantomime. It is not without a touch of irony, then, that a British political party is using the 21st Century version as a way of making a point. It’s an interesting one in terms of reconnecting with voters: does it represent a welcome introduction of humour in to the political fold, or is it the kind of... continue reading on 2nd August 2004 Comments (2)
- Blogging to the Converted? The issue still being debated, however, is whether these blogs actually broaden the base of people participating. Some point to the massive fundraising effort which has seen Kerry outstrip Bush in recent months (and which saw Howard Dean receive a record number of donations to his campaign), but others remain skeptical, insisting instead that the internet has simply lowered the participation threshold for those already on board… continue reading on 26th July 2004 Comments (2)
- Apathy on the Beeb Perhaps foolishly I expected them to appear at the top of the page (where the headlines are) but they never turned up – heading straight to the bottom of the page where the more minor stories are situated. Checking back to the top of the page again I realised that ‘New playstation set for May debut’ and ‘Victims brother pleads for sharks’ actually featured higher in the running order. Is this simply a product of all the briefing that goes on before these events... continue reading on 12th July 2004
- Roundies and Squaries The Guardian carries the think-tank version of the kiss-and-tell story today. Ellie Levenson, a former editor of the Fabian Review, pokes fun at think-tanks, examining their branding and categorising them as either 'roundies' or 'squaries'. I tried to gather some opinion on the subject, but everyone's busy enjoying the last of the Waterloo puddles before the big move... continue reading on 28th June 2004 Comments (2)
- PPPs down under The Evatt Foundation in Australia have just published an article that I wrote for their website. The article deals with Public-Private Partnerships and their attempts to wrestle with the complexity of school improvement. continue reading on 21st June 2004
- Kerry storms ahead… Its not something which seems likely to precipitate an immediate revision of the American constitution, but it does spark some thoughts about some fairly recent events. Tuition fees were squeezed through parliament in on the back on the votes of MPs for Scottish constituencies – where fees were not going to be introduced as a result. One of the arguments used to defend this was that the new laws would effect the not insignificant number of Scottish students who opt each year to study in... continue reading on 21st June 2004 Comments (1)
- Bookworms and Networks [via IWire]Valdis Crebs has produced a new networked representation of the purchasing pattern of a selection of political books. Although personally unsure of what to make of this, it's got me thinking?The New York Times speculated last year about the possible political implications of a previous attempt, whilst Will Davies discusses the potential impact on literary criticism.An interesting exercise for the next away day?! continue reading on 5th May 2004 Comments (4)
- "The man" fights back Last month there was a brief discussion on an example of the internet ?bringing innovation from the fringes and planting it in the centre mainstream, but also how it still holds the ability to fast-track creativity around anything that stands in its way.? (Tims, 2004)Well the phenomenon of the ?Grey Album? doesn?t seem to have gone unnoticed: today David Bowie is asking bedroom DJ?s to mix any two tracks from his latest album, promising a car for the most creative response. A generous offer... continue reading on 26th April 2004 Comments (1)
- Higher Personalisation Charlie Leadbeater continues his personalisation Odyssey with an article in The Times Higher Education Supplement today. Unfortunately open access hasn?t penetrated the paper yet, but here?s a taster:?The 1990s model of customer-driven higher education is the high-throughput university, offering standardised, just-in-time degrees. Shopping for a degree is rather like shopping for white goods in the basement of John Lewis.Yet the generation going into university have grown up with quite... continue reading on 23rd April 2004