NAO slates UK.gov's 'haphazard' sci-tech money-chuck plan

Thursday 10th March 2016 10:55 GMT PaulAb

PI3

I recently purchased a raspberry pi 3, stacking 10 of these together I can run a LINUX XRDS cluster offering. I reckon this would class as a supercomputer, It's job will be to flash an LED in a very complex fashion, I want funding - how do I apply

I thought that I should also mention that, if we leave the EU it has been suggested that I could afford 2 LED's I would of course, expect extra funding for this.

(This comment is based on the minister in charge of BIS not knowing what an LED is).

You ministers and your VSOP XXXX.

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1. Thursday 10th March 2016 13:26 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Hurdles !
  
  Could not agree more, but maybe not for the reasons stated :-)
  
  IT is applying tech to business not science and should not get a penny of my tax money.
  
  Just to clarify "real" science and fundamental research goes a bit further afield than handholding hipsters on the silicon roundabout.
  
  I know physics, molecular biology, fundamental computer science and all that jazz are far less sexy than a shiny shiny app on an i-thingy or a-thingy... and they actually require substantial effort ( I know this is so last century).
  
  ~~
  
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Thursday 10th March 2016 11:23 GMT Ian Bush

Where's the recurrent spending?

And if you are buying the toys for the minister to stand in front of where, as the article mentions in passing, where is the money to keep it going when the minister returns to his club in London? in my own area, supercomputing, the real issue is not a lack of toys to play with, it's a lack of skilled individuals to help people use those toys well and the money to fund the day to day running costs. Such people require a unique set of experience and skills, yet the wages available for them are often low for such a skill set (so recruitment is hard), there is often little chance of career progression, and funding such people through grant money is often difficult. Yet without them the capital investment is simple a pile of silicon, metal and plastic sat in the corner ...

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Thursday 10th March 2016 12:05 GMT John Smith 19

Not just the big spending. Still no sign of the £60m George Osborn promised REL in 2014.

Still not arrived.

I wonder if there's a story there?

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1. Thursday 10th March 2016 12:11 GMT allthecoolshortnamesweretaken
  
  Re: Not just the big spending. Still no sign of the £60m George Osborn promised REL in 2014.
  
  The cheque is in the mail, honestly!
  
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  1. Thursday 10th March 2016 13:28 GMT Anonymous Coward
    
    Re: Not just the big spending. Still no sign of the £60m George Osborn promised REL in 2014.
    
    But was nabbed by the secretary who suddenly quit and moved to Brasil... ah now you remember !
    
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Thursday 10th March 2016 12:09 GMT allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

Toys for the minister to stand in front of

How about an array of 1,000 waterproofed PIs controlling lots of blinkenlights, immersed in a big plexiglass tank with sharks?

But seriously, how about making sure that BIS has the resources (i.e. qualified manpower) to evaluate the projekts it may or may not fund first?

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1. Thursday 10th March 2016 12:55 GMT Ian Bush
  
  Re: Toys for the minister to stand in front of
  
  For that money sharks with frickin' lasers surely?
  
  But seriously BIS does. That resource is called "The Research Councils." But because advice is given it doesn't mean it has to be listened to, for instance if it inconveniently doesn't recommend funding the ministers latest favourite new toy. In fact it might be better to reorganise things so that such advice isn't received in the first place.
  
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2. Thursday 10th March 2016 13:33 GMT Canopus
  
  Re: Toys for the minister to stand in front of
  
  But my friend the problem is that the only qualified resources are the very people asking for funds.
  
  I mean who except an experimental high energy physicist can tell you if a £2M cerenkov scintillator
  
  is an actual and useful piece of equipment or if it's a code name for a large supply of vodka?
  
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  1. Thursday 10th March 2016 14:51 GMT Paul Kinsler
    
    Re: the only qualified resources are the very people asking for funds.
    
    Usually scientists don't get to referee their own grant applications.
    
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Friday 11th March 2016 11:55 GMT Anonymous Coward

Meg Hillier

Meg bloody 'ID cards' Hillier is concerned the government isn't spending money sensibly????

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