General News

When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in October 1957, shockwaves of panic reverberated through the corridors of power in the West. The USSR’s successful test of the first man-made device to orbit the earth caused the United States to fear it stood on brink of losing its technological superiority.

The inauguration of Barack Obama was a moment of faith - a moment when we dared to believe that hope will be followed by action in the USA. The order to close Guantanamo Bay and the initiative to get things moving in the Middle East gave immediate substance to the hope.

Some people think that words don’t matter, but language is our most powerful tool. The trouble is that words can be misunderstood and the intention can be quite different from what is heard by a sensitive listener.

The New Year at Westminster brings with it a renewed set of challenges. The twin challenges of peace and economic stability are particularly important as we start 2009, but the same could be said for any point in the last 1,000, or even 2,000 years.

The Internet touches every part of our lives now, and people are starting to realise that security and governance of the Internet can't just be left to “somebody else”.

If you received a mouse in your Christmas stocking this year the chances are that it was one of the electronic kind rather than the four legged or sugar kind, and that is all thanks to Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart who, in 1968, invented the computer mouse.

Mince pies, overcooked Brussels sprouts, and the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special are just some of the special clichés that we use at Christmas. ‘Hasn’t the year gone quickly’, is one that happens to be true. Each year seems to go by ever faster, so let’s use the Christmas and New Year period to take stock.

Spending a week in Hyderabad has reconciled me to the traffic challenges of Penarth and Cardiff at their worst. As I said to the chief minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh his streets provide the most exciting spectator sport I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

Keynote speech delivered to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation conference [Part 3]

Keynote speech delivered to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation conference [Part 2]