Yesterday, the FSB launched a new report urging the Government to transform post offices into small business hubs. A number of interesting ideas were put forward, including establishing a business desk at each Post Office with specially trained staff or offering meeting room facilities to start-ups and micro businesses.

I welcome the report and its call for action. A number of the points resonate with proposals Intellect put forward in its response to the Business and Enterprise Committee’s inquiry into the future of the PO network. For example, Intellect’s response suggested:
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The relationship between privacy issues and smart metering was always going to be fraught with concern. As such, I was interested to read this article which includes a summary of some of the key issues being faced in Canada and Netherlands. Firstly, to Canada, where law-enforcers have monitored energy usage as part of gathering evidence against suspected marijuana growers. Clever, eh? However, in court, the judge dismissed the ammeter as a source of evidence for reasons of invasion of privacy; it transpired that the police hadn’t obtained the necessary search warrant to use it. Not such a smart move after all.
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Although this time of the year is known as the silly season there is clearly some smart thinking going on.

I came across this article published yesterday about ‘Smart Grid 2.0: ‘The Soft Grid’. The ‘Soft Grid’ referred to here is an emerging market segment described as the ‘countless new applications needed to improve the generation, distribution, consumption and monitoring of the Grid’. (Contrast the ’smart grid’, which, generally speaking, refers to infrastructure hardware.) The potential of this ‘intelligent software’ is noted and comparison to Apple’s approach to the third-party development of applications for its products is made.
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Yesterday, the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s consultation on smart metering for electricity and gas closed. As consumer groups and energy companies took to the airwaves, I expect the printers at 3 Whitehall Place were working overtime as a no-doubt plethora of responses from a range of interested parties were being churned out to make a long summer reading list for the officials involved.

Amongst others, the Energy Networks Association, and the Energy Retail Association have submitted responses urging the Government to make decisions quickly. This is a view that I agree with. Talking to Intellect’s members, there is no doubt there is genuine enthusiasm and excitement with regard to the roll-out of smart meters. As such, the Government’s response to this consultation will be eagerly awaited.

So what did Intellect’s response say?
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An interesting posting appeared on Google’s public policy blog yesterday which once again set out not only their support for smart meters but what they are doing to better leverage their use. One key part of this is the Google PowerMeter. In brief, it will enable users to access information about their own energy use on their iGoogle home page. This reminds me of an earlier posting which highlighted that it is possible to receive updates about your home’s energy use via Twitter.
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Although it may feel longer with all this sunshine (bar the recent tropical-style action) and long summer nights, it’s been a little over three weeks since the launch of Digital Britain. In this time we’ve seen the appearance of the Digital Economy Bill on the legislative programme for next term and today, an announcement from BT detailing the initial stages of their FTTC roll out. For all those broadband wonks out there these developments represent a significant step towards what I have heard termed, and I kid you not, next generation nirvana. (more…)

The collapse of the Postal Services Bill led the news last night and – along with Andy Murray – dominated much of the quality press this morning. The fallout from Lord Mandelson’s announcement has caused much head scratching with all the stakeholders as they figure out what lies ahead.

Politically, the Bill has been a hot potato from the start, with the Labour Party demonstrating an ability to tear itself apart over it, and the Conservatives, with their support for the Bill, adding further pressure to the Government. So what happens now?

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Partying like it's 1399

Following last week’s publication of a UK national Cyber Security Strategy, the FT devoted a leader column to “Cyber security risk” highlighting the growing threat of cyber warfare to national security and resilience and its future role in conflict.

This is a subject close to the technology industry’s heart, and the recent publication of a national Cyber Security Strategy has now also focused Government’s attention on what many believe is the newest theatre of war. Whilst we at Russell Square therefore applaud the FT’s interest in the subject, I cannot help but disagree with their fundamental conclusion – that developed economies (including the UK) are better placed to withstand the collapse or compromise of our digital networks than less developed equivalents.

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I just came across this story about the rollout of smart meters in New Zealand. However, my use of the word ‘smart’ is perhaps misleading, given that some energy companies over there are being lambasted for installing ‘dumb meters’.

In the words of one consumer, talking about his new meter, ‘it has not made any difference to my life whatsoever, except I think my power bill is a little bit higher than it used to me’. He goes on, noting that it is ‘smartly taking more of [his] cash’.

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25 minutes ago, Lord Mandelson responded to a question on Royal Mail in the House of Lords. He said the following:

‘Market conditions have made it impossible to conclude the process to identify a partner on terms that we can be confident would secure value for the taxpayer.

There is therefore no prospect in current circumstances of achieving the objectives of the Postal Services Bill. When market conditions change we will return to the issue.

We remain convinced that Hooper’s combined package offers the best chance of securing the universal postal service while protecting Royal Mail pensions’.

Reflections in due course…