It’s fair to say that “Brand NI” has suffered over the past few weeks. A small group of people (numbering in the hundreds) are causing civil unrest in their own section of the city. The security services, unwilling to create an escalation, seem to be more interested in containment rather than ending the trouble. I … Continue reading “Brand NI”
It’s fair to say that “Brand NI” has suffered over the past few weeks. A small group of people (numbering in the hundreds) are causing civil unrest in their own section of the city. The security services, unwilling to create an escalation, seem to be more interested in containment rather than ending the trouble. I think they’re waiting for a dialogue to end the rioting rather than just arresting any agitator.
The trouble has pushed people to the extremes of their politics. Ignoring that the Alliance forged an agreement from Sinn Fein and the SDLP to fly the Union Flag over Belfast City Hall (on designated days). Thinking about that, the significance of that, should have impact on reasonable individuals. While this trouble was inflamed by the DUP and UUP (and by the leaflets distributed by the DUP hardliners), it’s clear that they no longer have any control over it.
But this is damaging us, locally and internationally.
We will have difficulty applying reason to this trouble. It’s not possible to reason with the unreasonable. And the rioters, allegedly aged between 14 and 16 years old, are most definitely unreasonable. They didn’t live through the Troubles, they are children of the Peace Process. And they are suffering; under-achievement in education being a significant reason. And the underachievement is because of a community mentality that values peer respect and holds education in contempt.
To get them to stop, you have to make them a better offer. That’s why Digital Circle is working to create more open access computing clubs (similar to Coder Dojo). Will that solve the issue? No, of course not. But this is a question of options and exits. How do you provide a better offer to a 14 year old who can see the money and power offered by doing what the crime lords of East Belfast demand?
Related posts: When stuck between a rock and hard place, the only way to go is sideways. 9/100 How I Find Blogging Ideas Hustling a quick buck… SpiceWorks. Shame.
Northern Ireland has been the scene of three nights of violence and vandalism since Belfast City Council voted to not fly the Union Jack every day. This brings Belfast in line with City Halls across the UK. They don’t need to fly a flag because they know they’re British. The flag is kept for special … Continue reading “Immoral Equivalency”
Northern Ireland has been the scene of three nights of violence and vandalism since Belfast City Council voted to not fly the Union Jack every day. This brings Belfast in line with City Halls across the UK. They don’t need to fly a flag because they know they’re British. The flag is kept for special occasions.
Some rhetoric I’ve heard recently:
Yes, the violence, criminal damage and bodily harm was wrong but so was the removal of the flag through democratic means.
This sort of equivalency indicates the speaker has no respect for law or democracy. Anyone making this statement is inciting thugs to riot and perpetuating hate and fear in our society.
I, among others, work hard to try and make Northern Ireland a better place to live. My Tweet stream was filled, over the last three days, with the sentiment that every young person in third level education wanted to leave Northern Ireland and many who had left were glad to have done so.
Do not call up that which you cannot put down.
Those involved in the violence, including those who organised the protests yet were unable to control the crowd of hate-filled thugs, are a disgrace. You shame us all.
From Pandodaily: The 60-person startup is pulling in close to $750,000 every day, according to our reporting. That’s 50 percent up from the $500,000 the Times reported in early October. Not bad for a two-year-old company, whose two big-earner games launched in June and August respectively. This is an important point for local investors and … Continue reading “We’re not going to get out of this mess with the thinking that got us in here.”
The 60-person startup is pulling in close to $750,000 every day, according to our reporting. That’s 50 percent up from the $500,000 the Times reported in early October. Not bad for a two-year-old company, whose two big-earner games launched in June and August respectively.
This is an important point for local investors and “business appraisal” executives. This company is two years old and they just launched their big earners in July and August of this year. It took them 18 months to produce a hit. Rovio, the other big game dev in Finland took 4 years to have an overnight success with Angry Birds.
Lesson for locals: it’s not going to be overnight but compared to biotech or ship building, it’s not going to be costly.
We’ve also heard that the startup has very low costs, spending as little as $60,000 a day. Again, Paananen wouldn’t confirm that figure, but he did say that user acquisition costs are very low, because the vast majority of its traffic is organic. The games spread by word of mouth because they are inherently social, he said.
They’re bringing in $750,000 a day and their costs are less than a tenth of that. Think about that for a minute when you consider the “high margins” that companies like Apple commands. 90% margins for this game. 28% margins for Apple.
Supercell has venture backing, but not a lot given this torrid growth. It has raised $15 million, including $12 million from Accel Partners alone.
This is the rub.
Northern Ireland has several venture funds but all of them are little. None of them would be able to meaningfully contribute to a $12M funding round. Also, Supercell is based in Finland but has operations in San Francisco. With backers like Accel Partners and London Venture Partners, it’s plain that Northern Ireland is attempting to play in the big leagues with their local venture capitalists. But having the plaque on the door isn’t the same as walking the walk.
Northern Ireland needs to accept that it has seed capital and treat it as such. The terms in the average term sheet from [local venture capital firm] are so punitive that I can honestly say they’re aimed at idiots and anyone with an ounce of savvy would just leave. There are bigger and better funds who actually are motivated to succeed (compared to tiny local funds who don’t give a shit whether you succeed because they get their fees anyway).
For a country of just over 5 million to produce a Rovio and a Supercell in just the last few years…well, that can’t just be coincidence can it?
No, it’s not a coincidence. Of course it’s not. They have a different environment. It’s a wealthier nation, but they also apply that wealth appropriately. In June this year, they launched a new €70M programme to support the games industry. In comparison, Northern Ireland has contributed almost nothing to sectoral development of this industry. They contributed £235K over three years from 2008 to 2011 but only if industry contributed £265K in effort (and the industry effort had to be given first).
This is separate from grant schemes for “creativity” or funding for R&D. I’m talking about direct sectoral development.
€70M versus £235K is considerable. Is it any wonder that the NI Digital Sector is lagging? I’ve come up with half a dozen ways that government could help develop the sector, at incredibly low risk to the public purse. I’m getting tired of thinking of new ways to push things forward when local companies cannot afford to take risks.
Now, if a local MLA comes up with this:
Support for highly motivated unemployed young people to set up their company. Worried about mass exodus of young people
That this Assembly calls upon the Executive to actively promote and raise awareness and understanding of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) across the public sector; and further calls upon the Executive to put in place appropriate measures to increase uptake of the SBRI by Departments and the wider public sector to help stimulate and … Continue reading “SBRI Briefing in the Assembly today”
SBRI is, in my opinion, possibly the most important tool for government to support small businesses in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is 98% small to medium enterprises, and 95% micro-businesses. Yet, the very people who provide the bulk of the private sector get the least assistance.
You see, it’s not funding, it’s procurement. It’s not a grant, it’s a purchase order. And it also neatly solves the problem of government not getting what they want out of the current procurement jungle (though they get what they ask for, to all our detriment).
I’ve been ruminating this blog post over the weekend and then an article on Techcrunch just spurred me to put the thoughts into electrons. I’ve been guilty of using the words “startups need” many times. There’s always something they need whether it is access to better talent, better markets, better funding alternatives. A startup is … Continue reading “The Biggest Lies Start With: Startups need…”
I’ve been ruminating this blog post over the weekend and then an article on Techcrunch just spurred me to put the thoughts into electrons.
I’ve been guilty of using the words “startups need” many times. There’s always something they need whether it is access to better talent, better markets, better funding alternatives. A startup is like a newborn baby; it needs access to certain resources, it wants access to other resources and, despite our feelings on the matter, it can get by perfectly well missing out on others.
90% Failure Rate And Why This Is Still Great
The article states that 90% of incubators and accelerators will fail to provide the massive high-growth companies they aim to. And that is okay. Because the important thing with this market is not the guarantee of success, but the taking of chances. And the important thing to realise is not what startups need, but what “we” need.
In a Northern Ireland context, startups who intend to grow fast will either have a rapid expansion programme based on sales or they’ll leave. Because the sort of cash that enables pre-revenue growth simply isn’t available here. We, speaking as the Northern Ireland private sector collective, need these companies to start here, to develop here, to be funded here and, most importantly, to stay here.
By turning this conversation around, it helps our leaders understand the stakes. This is not about small companies trying to get as much out of the government as possible in a market where local private investment is risk-averse, property-focused and afraid of technology. This is about the government putting in steps to avert their own doom. Governments thrive on taxes and without the taxes gained from “adding value”, from those productivity benefits from expert workers, governments can find themselves unstuck.
There’s a limited window now for the government to do what it needs to do for its own sake. Not for the sake of the startups, not for the sake of a few entrepreneurs or their investors, but for the sake of every civilian in the province.
We need to make smarter finance more accessible, we need to make markets more accessible, we need to ensure that the best people to hire for the knowledge economy are found here. By doing this, and only by doing this, can we ensure that startups will be created here in the volume necessary for our continued affluence.
Tonight I participated in a NISP CONNECT “Tiger Team” on the theme of Culture. The other attendees were all legends in their own right – both inspiring and intimidating in equal measure. Everyone there was there because they had contributed something to culture in Northern Ireland. Among other things, we were asked to pick five … Continue reading “Top five thoughts for Northern Ireland”
Tonight I participated in a NISP CONNECT “Tiger Team” on the theme of Culture. The other attendees were all legends in their own right – both inspiring and intimidating in equal measure. Everyone there was there because they had contributed something to culture in Northern Ireland.
Among other things, we were asked to pick five things from a series of topics generated by the group. Things that we saw as priorities. Mine were:
A 22nd Century Vision – we dwell on the last hundred years, from how we led the world in linen and rope manufacture, how we led the world in ship-building. We need to focus on the next hundred years. How do we want our society to be? Do we want Peace Walls? Do we wants proliferate a culture that attracts representatives from racist and sectarian political parties? Or do we want a civil society that others would envy?
A Great Place To Live – it’s currently a nice place to live, but not a great place. We are bogged down by the past, we focus on our traditions (and the way it has always been) and depend upon legacy (in the negative sense) for our identity. We should focus on what strangers see. They see archaic opening hours, violence and a divided nation.
Draw A Line Under The Past – if you want to see the efficacy of the Peace Process then look no further than our second city. The symbol of culture for the UK in 2013 has two irreconcilable cultures within it. Our coalition government must treat everything as access for all, even if it means turning up to celebrate a shared past.
Create A Common Agenda (for opportunity) – everyone needs to be raising their voices together on the need for change. The need for a civic (and civil) conversation over and above the interests of creeds and cultures is paramount. Write a constitution that everyone can agree to.
Let Students (All Of Us) Play – there is a constant need for learning in modern cultures and our society needs to facilitate that. The need for personal development and experimentation is satisfied in a developed country. The need for self-actualisation is only possible when other needs are met.
The Recession has brought austerity and, with that, a complacency and reduced desire for achievement. It has never been more important to realise a vision. In the lack of private sector stepping in to enact change, it falls to our powerful and well-manned public sector to make the sweeping infrastructural and environmental changes which will set the example for other societies. We can do this if our vision is aligned and our collective will is put to the task.
DETI (The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment) is having a public consultation on broadband for Northern Ireland. The thesis is the Provision of a 2 Megabit per second Broadband Service across Northern Ireland. The UK Government’s has proposed that virtually all premises across Northern Ireland should be able to access a broadband service with … Continue reading “The Broadband Blueprint (re DETI Telecoms Consultation)”
DETI (The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment) is having a public consultation on broadband for Northern Ireland. The thesis is the Provision of a 2 Megabit per second Broadband Service across Northern Ireland.
The UK Government’s has proposed that virtually all premises across Northern Ireland should be able to access a broadband service with a speed of at least 2 Megabits per second (Mbps) by 2015 and to provide superfast broadband to at least 90% of premises with speeds in excess of 24 Mbps.
DETI is considering those homes and businesses in Northern Ireland, particularly those in rural areas, where the choice of broadband provision is limited and/or the available speeds are less than 2 Mbps.
It is my contention that this thesis is flawed due to the definition of 2 Megabits per second being described as “broadband” is functionally incorrect. While this figure may have been sufficient in 20085, it was outdated in 2008 (at the time of the publication of the Northern Ireland Digital Content Strategy) and by 2012, this description is utterly unfit for purpose.
The following is a document I wrote in support of the Belfast City Council UltraFast Broadband SuperConnected City bid. I like to think that it, in addition to the other documents we supplied, assisted the council in achieving the £13.7M target they aimed for.
The Broadband Blueprint
Introduction:
Setting the scene:
Since 2003, with the launch of the iTunes Music Store, our bandwidth demands have increased more than 1000-fold. In 2003, we were content to download 3 MB music files. In 2012, we expect to be able to easily download 3 GB high definition movies and maintain multiple streamed internet video sources such as iPlayer, iTV Player, Netflix, Youtube, LoveFilm and 4OD. Broadband speeds have not increased to cope with this demand with most of the province still experiencing sub-1Mbps speeds and only very specific regions able to receive “SuperFast” broadband.
A family of four (2 adults, 2 children) may expect to be able to stream YouTube videos while watching time-shifted television on iPlayer while, at the same time, children are playing networked Internet games hosted on Disney and XBOX Live. A single high-definition (and highly compressed) video stream may demand around 4 Mbps. Each user on a broadband link will therefore need their own bandwidth and their overlapping demands create “contention” for the available bandwidth. When this is combined with ISP-mandated contention, broadband downstream speeds can fall significantly below advertised rates. A modern family therefore requires a minimum of “SuperFast” broadband just to be able to be an active consumer in the current digital content market.
What is SuperFast Broadband?
The definitions of broadband were provided as follows:
Broadband
Sub 24 Mbps downstream
SuperFast Broadband
24-80 Mbps downstream
UltraFast Broadband
80 Mbps+ downstream
This describes only one of four criteria we use for defining broadband.
Downstream bandwidth
Upstream bandwidth
Latency
Contention
It is important that we define what we mean when we refer to “high bandwidth” connections because that is only one of the four criteria and for digital businesses may not be the most important of the four.
Downstream bandwidth – the available bandwidth as advertised by an Internet Service Provider used for receiving files from the Internet. Actual performance will depend on other factors including the upstream bandwidth speed at the content location. Upstream bandwidth – the bandwidth used for sending files and content requests to the Internet. Sending files will compete for bandwidth with content requests and delivery. Latency – the time taken for content requests and administration signals to arrive at the desired location on the Internet. This is important for many online games and audio/video communication as well as time-critical operations (such as within bank trading systems). High latency connections can feel slow. Contention – the number of times an Internet Service Provider has sold a unit of bandwidth across a pool of customers. Consumer broadband in Northern Ireland usually has a contention ratio of 50:1. High contention connections will feel slow as customers compete for bandwidth (upstream and downstream) and latency.
We would suggest a simpler metric for broadband.
In 2001, a connection was described as broadband if it was 512 Kbps downstream and 256 Kbps upstream. Over the last decade, the demands for broadband have increased over 1000-fold. In response we must meet the demand head on.
Northern Ireland describes broadband as any link above 2 Mbps downstream in rural areas and 10 Mbps in urban areas. The region is currently not delivering this access.
In 2012, a broadband connection should have a minimum of 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) downstream and 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) upstream. We must consider the demands of the next decade for content consumption and creation.
The government has announced how it will share the money promised to 10 UK cities to allow them to create superfast broadband networks. “These 10 cities have produced ambitious and comprehensive plans, which will turn them into digital leaders, and give their local economies a real boost,” she said. Momentum/Digital Circle gave a good amount … Continue reading “Belfast to get £13.7M for broadband”
“These 10 cities have produced ambitious and comprehensive plans, which will turn them into digital leaders, and give their local economies a real boost,” she said.
Momentum/Digital Circle gave a good amount of (free) support to the Belfast bid when I wrote a manifesto paper on the definition of broadband and a ten pager on what could be done for local business, for local people and for innovation with a major investment in telecoms infrastructure.
Considering that a third of the population of Northern Ireland lives in the Belfast Metropolitan Area (which includes Lisburn and Bangor), it’s not a large amount of money and it’s important to mention that this level of investment needs to be made across Northern Ireland. And it is equally important for the cities who benefit to remember that they are not just cities, but they are the hubs of their region. Belfast, as the “capital” of Northern Ireland, has a responsibility to all of Northern Ireland.
And, like so many things, you can’t invest outside of Belfast based on per head of population when you are dealing with areas of the country which are remote or rural. It will take more investment to bring them up to 21st Century standards of broadband because they are already so far behind.
Derry is in the next list of cities to be considered for investment by central government. I think it would serve all of us well to consider how we can help them. It won’t arrive in time for City of Culture, but it may help extend the legacy of 2013.
What are the top 3 issues in ni right now? Unemployment…and…? — Keith Anderson (@keithbelfast) September 14, 2012 @keithbelfast Equality, Opportunity and Vision. As in the lack of these things. — Matt Johnston (@cimota) September 14, 2012 @keithbelfast Okay? Segregation, unemployment and cronyism — Matt Johnston (@cimota) September 15, 2012 My first answers; Equality, Opportunity … Continue reading “Top 3 issues…”
What are the top 3 issues in ni right now? Unemployment…and…?
My first answers; Equality, Opportunity and Vision
My second answers; Segregation, unemployment and cronyism
The second answers are, essentially, watered down versions of the first answers.
Equality
At an RSA-inspired “Civic Innovation” workshop organised by @denisstewart, I heard an impassioned speech by Dr John Barry about the need for equality in our society, about how we are divided between the haves and the have nots. And how equity in society would solve many of our ills. While I agree it would solve many problems, it would create more problems because we have not yet overcome greed. There is also the aspect of human endeavour and the need for reward. For someone to work 70 hours a week in a manual job and be paid well for it and for someone else to spend that time developing a blister on their thumb from their state-subsidised XBox is not an equitable situation. While there are many deserving cases of equality, I can point at many who need to take their future in their own hands.
The sub-issue of segregation is much more easy to resolve. I drove up to the new e3 Campus of Belfast Metropolitan College and my satnav (I always use my satnav) took me up past the peace wall, a road I had never driven before.
If ever you needed evidence that the peace process in Northern Ireland was a sham, this is it. We still have communities divided by fear, we still have riots in deprived areas of our society (over funding for ‘community groups’). The truth being that the terrorists never went away, the government just started paying them to stop killing people.
We are a society that, if it was an individual, would be given treatment for post-traumatic stress. Our emotionally damaged hive-psyche seems to limp from one victim mentality to the next. You only have to look at this rubbish.
Our politicians are, almost without exception, partitionist. They thrive on dividing the people among primitive tribal lines. They can be denominational (catholic, protestant), nationalistic (republican, nationalist, unionist, loyalist), urbanist (urban, rural), geographic (east of the Bann, west of the Bann, NorthWest, Belfast) and ridiculous (Israel, Palestine). While we let these small-minded bigots rule us, is it any wonder our society does not progress.
Opportunity
I have never had trouble getting a job. My opportunity was always limited by my desire to do things. Like Rory McIlroy I was mostly shielded from the Troubles. It was a self-imposed exile. I socialised with friends from every segregation in society. It didn’t matter which religion or region you were from.
I see opportunity everywhere.
I can understand that this vision of opportunity is not held by all. And when there is no opportunity in sight, corrupt elements are able to take the hopes of the young (and impressionable) and turn them to work. Look at the average rioter in the recent North Belfast disturbances. These are children of the era of Peace.
Unemployment isn’t the only issue here. Dissatisfaction is an issue. A feeling of discomfort exercised into rage by community leaders and partitionist politicians. And those who excel, become community leaders and politicians. How many of these young people have the opportunity to escape this tiny circle of unrepentant hate?
Vision
I was born in 1972 and, as such, I’m a child of my time. My nightmares were of the Cold War turning into a Hot War (this did not happen). Of being beaten as I walked home from school on account of my school uniform colour which identified my parents religion (this did happen). The present, depressing and apocalyptic, was never good enough.
Given three score and tend years and an expectation that I will die around 2050 is sobering. I haven’t much time left to “make a dent in the universe”. To enact some real changes. With modern medical science, however, I might expect to live to 100 years old. Or even more. That means that my legacy doesn’t begin in 2050 but it might stretch to 2100. My legacy becomes that of a 22nd Century Society.
My vision aligns with what I want “Our Wee Country” to be in the year 2101. I can afford this length of vision because I’m not an elected official worried about whether my constituency will vote me back in in three years. I can afford this because I am convinced that I might see 2101.
