Cummings has left behind a No 10 deluded that Britain could be the next Silicon Valley | David Edgerton

Talk of ‘moonshots’ is typical of the belief that the UK is an innovative state – but it’s far from itThough many have speculated on what Dominic Cummings ’s “legacy” might be, one of the more significant contributions he made to No 10 was his thinking about science and technology. Prime ministerial speeches have been peppered withpass é futuristic slogans about how Britain leads the world in quantum computing, genomics and AI, and promises that the country can be a “science superpower” – notions that Cummings made a central part of the Brexit project.Like many a macho innovation guru, Cummings is an amateur not a professional, an artless nerd and not an expert. That his policies and prescriptions have been taken seriously is a measure of our collective credulity about Britain ’s place in the world of innovation. But whether this foolishness will leave with the fool is another matter.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - November 18, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Edgerton Tags: Science Research and development Technology Dominic Cummings Politics Manufacturing sector Brexit UK news Source Type: news