Quantum Matters: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Quantum Cybersecurity
With a US inteligence report confirming that President Putin authorised a pro-Trump influence campaign in the latest election, China and the US in a stand-off, and the recklessness of ransomware groups tolerated, and at times abetted, by state actors, geographical risk is at its highest in a long time. See my latest column in The Quantum Daily on how we are skirting the edge. And what steps can be taken to mitigate risk.
An assassination in Sarajevo. The subsequent chain of events ultimately leads to a world war. An estimated 20 million people die.
Power to the People
Firstly, many thanks to my dear friend, Alderman, Professor and Sheriff Michael Mainelli for asking me to share some thoughts with you.
INTRODUCTION
Covid-19 and its economic effects are not going away anytime soon. We will be seeing a reconfiguration of our systems, ranging from geopolitical relations to the power of national governments, from company accounts to working patterns.
Some say the new paradigm is but an acceleration of existing trends. I wouldn’t disagree, but there is a point at which acceleration leads us into a new world, one where we must change our outlook. One where the responsibilities of Boards of Directors broaden out into the wider world. THAT is what I will focus on today.
The lightweight vs the heavyweight
Getting to be a heavyweight boxing champion takes many years of training, a top coach and clear rules of engagement. Talent may well be the least of it.
The UK is sadly bereft of all of these as it bravely makes its way in a world where the boxing ring is riven with cracks and the ropes are frayed and broken. Trade giants of the likes of Peter Sutherland and Pascal Lamy built the global trade structure brick by brick, compromise by comprise, backed most notably and most crucially by the US.
But President Donald Trump’s disdain for traditional allies and alliances extends to the World Trade Organisation and its carefully wrought rules, which are in any case due for modernisation in a services and digital centred world. The application of unilateral tariffs on China, leading to an exchange of tit-for-tat, is not the worst of it. Rather, it is taking the fight outside the ring, as Mr Trump did by pressuring Canada to arrest the CFO of Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, or blackmailing Mexico with a progressive 5% tariff on exports if it did not do more to curb illegal immigrants from Central America.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week held out the exciting prospect of a trade deal with the US in 2020. Here are six home truths on global trade which he might wish to share with the nation.