A selection of notable quotes and comments we’ve come across this month
By Marc Ambasna-Jones 09 Oct 24 Reading time: 3 mins
“The best thing we could do to help start-ups get out of universities is rejoin the EU, or at least rejoin the customs union. But assuming that isn’t going to happen, the next thing we need to look at is pension funds. We need pension funds to reinvest in British industry, which they have abandoned.”
Hermann Hauser, founder of Arm Holdings and VC firm Amadeus Capital, talks about start-up funding and market challenges for UK entrepreneurs. From our article Venture view: Hermann Hauser at 75
“Within this decade, I think it is likely that we will see a commercially-useful quantum computer, although exactly when depends as much on the development of suitable algorithms as it does on hardware advancements.”
“The UK must now create a vision for where it sees itself in the global hydrogen economy and develop the policy environment needed for UK industry and innovation to flourish.”
“I don’t think you can justify CERN on the grounds it’s going to make fundamental discoveries which will pay for themselves. The real justification is that it’s pushing back human knowledge. An urge to understand the nature of matter and the structure of the universe is as old as civilisation.”
Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, former CERN director-general and emeritus professor of physics at the University of Oxford, on why CERN needs to remain focused on its core objectives and not get too distracted by its product innovations and economics. From our article CERN at 70: the world’s largest physics lab continues to shape innovation
“Every single woman had a story, from being asked out on dates while they were pitching to being forced into meetings held over drinks, receiving inappropriate messages, and in a few cases, physical advances without consent. The most common feeling amongst these women was a sense of resignation. Women are having to navigate sexual politics and in many cases their sexual safety on top of the already stressful and arduous experience of fundraising.”
“As we approach the 2030 deadline established by the United Nations to progress the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda, quantum technologies might offer a unique opportunity to advance the 17 sustainability goals, from alleviating poverty, to decarbonising our planet, moving to renewable energies, and improving health and wellbeing for all.”
Taken from a new report by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Accenture, Quantum for Society: Meeting the Ambition of the SDGs, by Laura Converso, Thought Leadership Principal Director, Accenture, Arunima Sarkar, Thematic Lead, Quantum Technology, World Economic Forum and Devendra Jain, Lead, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Technology, World Economic Forum
Working as a technology journalist and writer since 1989, Marc has written for a wide range of titles on technology, business, education, politics and sustainability, with work appearing in The Guardian, The Register, New Statesman, Computer Weekly and many more.
