Wise words and waggishness

A selection of notable quotes and comments we’ve come across this month

Marc Ambasna-Jones

“Storage is an issue and I think it needs to be developed hand in hand with generation.

The challenge is getting industry to move at the right pace where they adopt storage as fast as they adopt generation.”

H2GO co-founder and director Enass Abo-Hamed on the need for the hydrogen industry to have a unifying strategy. From our article: Timing is everything. Can hydrogen storage solve a renewable energy problem and drive NetZero ambition?

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“Our purpose as intelligent biological life is to use energy to convert information into knowledge, which in turn lets us build intelligence. Intelligence allows us to survive and prosper as a species. I hope to show how artificially intelligent machines will help support us in building more intelligence, and as a result can have a very positive impact on our economics and on our own individual lives.”

Nigel Toon, Chief Executive Officer of Graphcore from his book “How AI Thinks” (which launched in Bristol on 20th February, 2024).

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“We are on the brink of a quantum technology revolution that is poised to transform diverse industries from the financial sector to healthcare, and UKRI is committed to ensuring the UK’s place at the forefront of this.”

Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director, Cross-Council Programmes at UKRI reacting to the UK government’s £45m quantum investment.

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“2024 will see the tech enterprise held accountable for its targets around ESG, driven partly by new guidance from the European Parliament to crack down on ‘greenwashing’.

The ICT industry has a responsibility to build powerful, next-generation digital networks with minimal environmental impact, through reducing scope 3 emissions to using sustainable energy resources, refurbished hardware components and incorporating end-of-life processes which promote circular economy principles.”

Caroline Griffin Pain, Chief Legal Officer, Colt Technology Services on greenwashing and environmental responsibility of ICT industry. Submitted via email.

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Image of Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith

“If the Government announced we’re going to build several terawatt hours of hydrogen storage, starting as soon as possible, it would trigger innovation and investment.

I bet if you said that in eight years’ time, there’s going to be a very large need for electrolysers, INEOS, ITM and Ceres will be there saying, we can do that. 

And if you said we’re going to have a very large need for converting the hydrogen back to power, ITM, CERES and JCB will be there. Those things will happen if we start building storage. The priority is to get it started.”

Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, a former director-general of CERN, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and a Royal Society fellow, on why the UK government needs some urgency when it comes to a hydrogen storage strategy. From our interview with Chris Llewellyn Smith.

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“The UK will be a good contributor towards 6G technology. Service providers like BT can bring in their perspective on customer needs.

Ofcom can provide regulatory insights. Ecosystem players like the UK’s ARM Holdings will play a significant role in terms of technology development and deployment.”

Purva Rajkotia, Director, Global Business Strategic Initiatives with the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) on the UK’s role in 6G development

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“Although global competition is getting fierce, the spirit of collaboration among Finnish universities, research institutions, government agencies and industrial partners is what sets us apart from other countries.”

FQF director Professor Peter Liljerjoth, a professor of physics at Aalto University describing Finland as a quantum technologies powerhouse. From our article on Quantum Computing in Finland

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“We must not forget the security challenges associated with this advanced technology. In the event that a country does develop a quantum computer capable of breaking current encryption methods, it is likely that they would keep it a closely guarded state secret, as the UK did when it broke the Enigma code during World War II.

For this reason, it is imperative that businesses take their own proactive measures to prepare for this eventuality by transitioning to quantum-safe algorithms before it is too late.”

Quantum expert and government consultant Tim Callan, Chief Experience Officer at Sectigo puzzling over the UK Government’s £45m investment in quantum, questioning why it is not focusing on securing all critical national infrastructure.

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Marc Ambasna-Jones
Marc Ambasna-Jones / Editor-in-chief

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.