Peter Bradwell
Researcher
Peter Bradwell is a researcher at Demos. He is interested in the ways that information and knowledge is shared between people, and between people and government...
- Friday Rant - Simple Red I haven't ranted for a while so here goes...Mick Hucknall, in what I can only describe as the most perplexingly misguided and confused piece of writing I have ever seen, argued yesterday in the Guardian that copyright is fundamentally socialist, and implored 'real' Labour supporters who 'really' believe in Labour values to support the extension of copyright beyond the current 50 years. The piece is beyond nonsense... continue reading on 24th November 2006 Comments (1)
- J-Cast Just prior to his talk here last Thursday, Ian Bremmer discussed nations, states, openness and J-Curves with Catherine. It was a topical, wide-ranging and fascinating chat. Luckily, we had the tape-recorder firing for the sixth of our podcasts. continue reading on 6th November 2006 in Demos Podcasts
- Inside and Out It's easy to say that providing English language teaching to newcomers to the UK is important - but the how is less easy, and the why more contentious.One of the reasons is the massive increases in demand for ESOL courses. For example, the number of Polish people looking to enrol in ESOL courses rose from 151 in 2000-01 to 21,313 in 2004-05. You don't need a screaming headline to note that that is a big increase.But it is important, in the face of these statistics, to reassert why it is so... continue reading on 24th October 2006 in As You Like It
- What price free information? Information wants to be free? Well somebody, apparently, is paying over the odds to oblige.Frontier Economics were commissioned by the DCA to carry out a study into the costs of the FOI Act for government and the public sector. The remit of the study is pretty interesting in the link it makes between the first and second stated aim:1. The costs of delivering FOI, alongside an analysis of the key cost drivers2. An examination of the options for changes to the charging regimeIs a study on which... continue reading on 23rd October 2006 Comments (2)
- Arms length Today is a day of action against DESO - the Defence Export Services Organisation. This is the government agency who decides which arms can get sold to where. So I suppose it can be seen as a regulator - stopping naughty and dangerous people getting naughty and dangerous weaponry - with the stated aim of Defence exports being 'strong export performance by the UK defence industry helps in the delivery of required defence capability to our armed forces in the most cost-effective manner,... continue reading on 16th October 2006 Comments (1)
- More FOIbles... The Freedom of Information and Open Government Blog picked up yesterday on an early day motion in the commons. It's supportive of the Constitutional Affairs Committee's report which argues against the need to alter the charging mechanisms in the FOI act.There seem to be indications that the government is considering making it easier to refuse requests on costs grounds. As we've mentioned here on this blog, that seems an unfortunate and retrograde step and it's difficult to see the public... continue reading on 12th October 2006 Comments (1)
- The Medium is the Message? What better way to dispel the accusations that you're vacuous and policy-lite than to air your very own video podcast, or vodcast or...webcameron - noting your whimsical and more sincere policy insights and firing them into the open-access heaven of the internet? Talking straight to the people, wired straight into the public consciousness - no middlemen, no journo agendas, no spin; just your ideas with the ecover, some washing up, drying underpants and breakfast with the wife and kids.Are the... continue reading on 2nd October 2006 in Cool Tools for Government Comments (7)
- China and English Language Policy Just read an interesting piece in China's 'People's Daily Online'. It argues that perhaps there is little value in investing so much energy and effort in teaching everyone English - that the country's 'internationalization' doesn't necessarily entail that increasing numbers need be proficient in English. continue reading on 19th September 2006 in As You Like It
- Nothing is Free So Universal has signed up to the incoming download site SpiralFrog - which promises to offer free music and rely instead on advertising for revenue. For those of us who see the big-players of the music industry's reaction to digital music as the example of industry fudging - through misunderstanding - the promise of new technologies, this might come as a surprise. But I suspect that amidst the extraordinary publicity the news has generated, we might miss an important distinction that unlocks some questions that are rather more interesting than whether we can get free Razorlight tracks. continue reading on 30th August 2006 Comments (1)
- Can I Tell You You're Wrong Here? Got any spare time next Thursday evening? Have anything you want to get off your chest?Then you could do worse than involving yourself in this heartwarming and ingenious plan to play around with the ridiculous SOCPA legislation over the next week. That way you can express yourself right in front of the big cheeses in Parliament.As the Rachel From North London blog highlights, the scheme - which I think is led by Mark Thomas - is to get as many individual protests happening in Parliament Square... continue reading on 23rd August 2006