O’Conall Street

I was flicking through a toy store catalog the other day when I noticed a really cool new toy. It’s a one week old dinosaur with a brain called Pleo. This cuddly little two footer is able to find its way around the house and remembers its playmates. The application of basic computing in toys is now staggering and I was for a moment really attracted to the idea of having this robot pet running around the house. Lets face it. No walks or food, no mess and definitely no worries about it escaping to go live with the neighbours. All things that have happened to me with pets in the past!. Pleo’s personality will develop the longer it lives with you and for a modest investment of £249.99 will give you endless hours of fun.

Sitting here writing this watching a fascinating programme on the application of artificial intelligence in the coming decades. Physicist and futurist Michio Kato is lifting the lid on the intelligence revolution on BBC4 tonight. All hail freeview. From second life to ASIMO Honda’s humanoid, Dr Kato is now exploring the opportunity for the application on nano technology in addressing motor-neurone disease and tackling mental illness. It is estimated that by 2050 it will be pretty normal for humans to have some ‘non biological intelligence’ in their bodies. Its not science fiction. In California scientists are already close to developing an artificial hippocampus, the part of the brain which stores memory. This could unlock Alzheimer’s and epilepsy suffers. And in Japan, Parliament is considering the first law ever to regulate robots.

Wonder what the creationists will make of all this? Can’t wait for that debate in the Assembly?

The DUP MLA, Mervyn Storey, has today called for Intelligent Design (a form of creationism) to be taught in science classes in Northern Ireland. This is likely to start (and pardon the biblical pun) an almighty row which will divide the Assembly, the churches and the people of Northern Ireland. This issue has not come out of the blue, for some four years now a number of DUP politicians have been seeking to have the creationist analysis presented alongside the geological interpretation at the proposed Giant’s Causeway Interpretive Centre. They believe the Causeway was formed some 4,500 years ago as a result of the biblical flood, slightly at odds with the geological explanation for one of the finest examples of basalt columns in the world. Good reason some more cynical observers would suggest why the party seems  so keen on having it built by a private concern and potentially beyond Assembly scrutiny.

For those of you who have not been following this debate, Creationists believe the Bible to be more or less literally true and that the universe, earth and life were created by God and were not the product of evolution or can be explained scientifically. This view is most strongly held amongst fundamentalist Protestants. The vast majority of those in other major faiths such as Islam, Catholicism and progressive Protestantism see the biblical explanation as compatible with modern scientific theories: an allegory which helps us understand our origins.

Intelligent Design, which is a very polished argument, is what Mr Storey is advocating for our science syllabus. Dr Iain Stewart, one of the best known earth scientists in these islands was discussing this with me over a pint after the Tellus Conference earlier this week. As an eminent scientist he is not surprisingly in total disagreement with Intelligent Design. Whilst flawed in his mind he is critical of mainstream scientists simply trying to ignore creationists rather than dedicating some time and energy to rebutting their flawed arguments. This will have to change if Mr Storey’s campaign is to be resisted. There is a desperate need for science to tackle those who are trying to turn Intelligent Design into a credible scientific theory. Not unsurprisingly Northern Ireland could end up at the centre of a global debate in the years ahead.

For what it’s worth I think creationism is something to be discussed and considered in a religion class, not a science one.

When people ask what is interesting about my job I often say pretty much everything. Here is a good example. For the past three years Weber Shandwick in Belfast has been working with the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland on the biggest geophysical and geochemical survey ever to take place on these islands. The Tellus project results are being announced today at a major conference in Belfast.

 The project was of tremendous scientific importance but also challenging from a communications point of view given the survey methods (low flying aircraft and direct soil sampling) and the reach (everywhere in NI and some parts of the border counties in the South).  The communications efforts have already been recognised by the PRCA (IRL) and the CIPR Pride Awards where it was the top 2006 winner. Indeed the project’s outreach manager, Dr Marie Cowan, has gone on to us assume one of the top earth science communication roles in Europe as Communications Manager for the British Geological Survey.

Weber Shandwick’s project leader, Sonya Cassidy, will tell you the communications were good but the science is excellent. There is hardly an aspect of life in Northern Ireland that will not benefit from this project’s outputs. There may well turn out to be gold in the Craigantlet Hills or Platinum in Antrim and the possibility of us tapping into geothermal energy deep underground is one step closer a a result of Tellus. Farmers will also be interested in the detailed readings of numerous elements in the ground soil which way exceed anything they would have had access to on a regional basis. I could go on and on but best check out the project website yourself to find out more. As Garth Earls the GSNI’s Director said at the press briefing yesterday. We are scratching the surface of opportunity with this data. It is now time for the private sector and academia to dig deeper into it to grow our economy and make our region more sustainable.

At the outset of the project we set ourselves an objective of trying to connect young people with science through Tellus. Debates, gold panning in the Mournes and cliff walking in Larne all brought us eventually to W5 at the Odyssey where we have hosted two successful Gold Mine days allowing 16 - 18 year olds role play there way through the planning process for a Gold Mine. Each has been a sell out and the third is planned for next February. 

To Garth Earls, Mike Young and Marie Cowan at the GSNI we want to say thanks for making us part of this amazing journey to the centre of (NI’s) earth.

The Irish Times publishes it’s new Innovation magazine today for I think the third time. Available online through Ireland.com, the supplement is a useful tour of the so called knowledge based economy on the island of Ireland. My favourite article ‘From the Ashes’ is the story of business and ideas which picked themselves up after failure and went on to success.  Building on failure is a key characteristic of strong growth open economies in which high added value knowledge based companies succeed.

I blogged some time ago about the ‘creative economy’ in Northern Ireland. Since then it has been refreshing to see Queen’s University Belfast take a number of initiatives to attract top class STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) students. It’s a grand a year if you have three As! Not just a good idea but good corporate communications too.

Not saying anything about the poor Ireland sporting shows this weekend. The Rugby was disappointing, the NI soccer was poor and the Republic, well they were not much better. Just to rub salt in the old wounds the Walker cup boys fell short by a point. Not Good!

Can Northern Ireland become a creative economy and what is a creative economy anyway?

My boss and Weber Shandwick CEO in the UK and Ireland, Colin Byrne, referred to a great book by John Howkins in a recent blog on Byrne Baby Byrne.  Howkins considers the contribution ‘creative industries’ make to the economy. He defines a creative industry as one which make money from ideas. Other economists are also writing on this subject, most notably Richard Florida whose books include the Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class.

The interesting thing about these thinkers’ approach to creativity is that they define a creative economy is a much broader sense then you would think. Its not just writers, actors and artists. It also includes lawyers, scientists and dare I say it PR consultants. Anyone who (should) thinks for a living. Magnets for ’talented’ people from all over the world, they are places people will move to for work.  The Republic of Ireland has become according to a number of matrix one of the most creative economies on the globe. For centuries a place of artistic creativity it is now also a a major IT and scientific research centre, something that will grow its wealth as well as culture.

Florida identifies three common characteristics of creative economies:

1. Talent - they attract the smartest and most gifted to move their to work;
2. Technology - they have the infrastructure to allow people to work, and;
3. Tolerance - they must be able to accommodate many different types from the IT wizard, the research scientist and the radical artist and make them fell equally at home.

The south has come a long way in the past decade to meet the three T test. The North has the talent and the technology. But will it transform itself into a tolerant place?

I’ll return to this minor obsession of mine later. In the meantime if anyone knows Nora Jones tell her we could set up studio for her here in Belfast!

The Dubs won on Saturday by the way. Dublin - Kerry semifinal. Classic stuff.