World’s Best Vineyards Top-50 celebrations in Mendoza

It is a great honour to serve as the Academy Chair for the UK and Ireland of the World’s Best Vineyards awards organised by William Reed, which are designed to celebrate and promote the best wine tourism experiences in the world. To achieve this, there are 21 regional panels, each of which has 36 members, who annually vote for their top 7 winery/vineyard experiences. Membership of these panels changes each year, with a constant rotation of new members rotating onto them. In this role, I have very much tried to ensure that our panel represents the rich diversity of the countries of the UK and Ireland, different wine sectors (including importers, retailers, sommeliers, writers, and consultants) and varied personal characteristics including gender, ethnicity and age. This is by no means easy to achieve!

The annual awards ceremony for the top 50 winery/vineyard experiences is hosted by a different country each year. The 2021 ceremony was thus hosted at Schloss Johannisberg in the Rheingau in Germany, and this year’s ceremony was held in late October at Zuccardi, Valle de Uco, in Mendoza Argentina. The Academy Chairs along with a select group of other leading figures in the wine tourism industry are invited to these awards, and this year a spectacular progamme of winery visits was arranged in Mendoza in partnership with The Government of Mendoza.

We had the privilege of visiting the following wineries, where we also had comprehensive tastings:

• Catena Zapata
• Anaia Wines
• El Enemigo
• Huentala Wines
• Salentein
• Zuccardi (where the awards ceremony took place)
• Durigutti Family Winemakers
• Cheval des Andea
• and althogh we did not visit Bodega DiamAndes, they hosted a welcome dinner and tasting.

I have long wanted to explore Mendoza, and the beauty of the mountains and vineyards, the commitment and expertise of the wine-growers, the winery architecture, and above all the generosity and expertise of all of our hosts went far beyond any of my expectations. I hope that the slide-show below (in approximate order of visits) captures something of my enthusiasm and excitement. Especial thanks are due to the team at William Reed, and to Dr. Nora Vicario, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Province of Mendoza, for supporting this event, and for her constant energy and enthusiasm.

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It would be invidious to pick out any one wine or winery as being somehow the “best” – they were all so interesting and different! The following, though, are among my lasting memories:

• The land appears so flat – but terroir matters! Most of the vineyards are laid out for mile upon mile (or kilometre upon kilometre) across the alluvial plain at the foothills of the majestic Andes. However, although appearing very flat it is actually gently sloping, and there are indeed important difference in terroir. These depend particualrly on altitude, but also on soil depth and charactistics (not least depending on the balance between clay, sand, and stones).
• The nets. Many vineyards are swathed in black plastic netting (clearly shown in the image at the top of this post) which is particularly intended to protect the young shoots from being harmed by hail, but it also helps shade the vines from the intense sunlight that prevails here. It nevertheless adds significantly to the costs of production.
• The architecture. I don’t think I have ever visited a wine region with such a wealth of recent architectural creativity. The level of financial investment in these wineries, restaurants, and hospitality venues is conspicuously high! While some of this investment comes from external sources and the proft generated from their owners’ other enterprises, I was also told that during the COVID restrictions they continued to have significant income from wine sales at a time when their costs were actually reduced, thus enabling them to invest further in their wineries.
• Innovations in the wineries – and the music. It was fascinating to see the new wine making equipment and innovations in all of the wineries we visited (very visible in the images above). Egg-shaped and rounded fermentation tanks were very evident, and the novel mate-shaped tanks designed at Anaia have pushed the boundaries of vinification yet further. Concrete was dominant everywhere, but it was also interesting to learn about ongoing various micro-vinification trials. Several wineries nevertheless continue to use oak barrels extensively. It will be several years before the influence of these different methods on the wines produced will be fully understood. It was also fascinating to see how many wineries placed an emphasis on the connections between music and wine – even with tango on top of the concrete tanks at Zuccardi!
• Irrigation everywhere – almost. The plains below the Andes in this part of Argentina are dry and arid. Almost all of the visible vegetation has thus been planted through the use of extensive irrigation; drip irrigation in the vineyards is ubiquitous. However, on being asked, several of the vitculturalists with whom I spoke mentioned that they are beginning to explore dry farming nearer the Andes mountains where water is more plentiful. The challenge here, though, is the danger of the much colder weather in the higher areas nearer the Andes. I look forward, though, to the results of this experimentation, and suspect that they just might produce even higher quality wines.
• The wines. I have always enjoyed Malbec (or Cot as it is known in the Loire and Cahors), and recall that years ago we published a fascinating paper in the Journal of Wine Research in 1991 by Angel Gargiuolo that explored how quality and quantity could be combined in Argentina through careful selection of vines and appropriate crossings that would achieve optimal yelds and quality in this environment. Ever since then, I have wanted to visit Mendoza to taste for myself the results of this research (as well as the early work by Nicolás Catena Zapata) that helped to lay the foundations of the modern Mendoza wine industry. The red wines that we tasted (mainly Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon – although also including less familiar Italian grape varieties and others as well) were almost all of very high quality, with the Malbecs at their best combining real elegance, rich blackberry and plum flavours, and fascinating herbal and spicy overtones. However, I also learnt much more about the different characteristics of the wines made from grapes in the region’s various subdivisions (often reflecting differences in altitiude). I particularly enjoyed, for example, the elegance of the wines from grapes grown in Gualtallary (at up to 1600 m) in the Uco valley, especially the Malbecs and Cabernet Francs (as well as blends between them) – although this might have been in part infleucend by my enjoyment of Malbec (Cot) and Cabernet Franc blends in the Loire Valley the previous week! While it is indeed possible to find very good Malbec on the shelves in UK outlets, it is clearly necessary to visit Mendoza itself to taste the very best!
• The hospitality and culture. I was blown away by the generous hospitality of all our hosts. It was such a privilege to learn from so many hugely experienced and knowledgeable wine-growers, and to taste the complex nuances in their wines. Beyond that, though, the professionalism, knowledge and warmth of welcome from all those who helped show us around was truly impressive – everyone I met, from the chefs and those pouring the wines, to the hospitality staff and the winery owners, went out of their way to help us understand their many cultures of wine. It was very humbling to experience the generous warmth of their welcome.

If I had to choose my favourite experience it must have been the opportunity we had at Catena Zapata to make our own blends of wine from different districts – mine was, though, very different from their official blend: yes, you’ve guessed it, I had a much larger proportion of Gualtallary! Thanks so much to Ernesto and Alejandro for guiding us through this (and to Alejandro for his wonderful wines at El Enemigo).

It has been so sad to read recently of the heavy frosts that hit Mendoza the week after we left – very much hoping that the impact will not be as serious as at first it appears.

Thanks again to everyone at William Reed, the Government of Mendoza and all of the wineries that we visited for making this such a memorable journey of discovery

Experiencing COVID-19

I had managed to avoid COVID-19 until a couple of weeks ago, but what seems almost inevitable some 30 months after it arrived on our shores has now come to pass. I have tested positive for COVID – despite all the care I tried to take. Many people have been far iller than I am, but I have always said that COVID is often much worse than is often thought, and I now have the living experience to show it (despite being triple vaccinated and one of the few people who still regularly try to wear a mask in crowded public spaces and in transport, not least to protect others). In line with UK government messaging that most people will not be seriously ill if they catch COVID and WHO guidance that “Most people infected with the virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment”, it is commonly held that COVID is no longer something that we should particularly worry about. After all, many people have no symptoms at all, and others scarcely know they have had it. Well, anyone who has experienced “mild to moderate” COVID will know just what it’s like – although few seem to have shared their COVID experiences online so that others can understand just what an unpleasant infection it can be – even for those not ill enough to be in hospital. Imagine the worst flu you have ever had, and then multiply it! Prepare to be completely exhausted for several weeks and beyond.

So, this is my COVID diary:

• Day 1. Began well, I had a negative Lateral Flow Test (LFT) since it was two days before I was due to fly overseas for a work commitment. As the day drew on, I developed a headache and tinnitus. I didn’t really think anything of it because all of us get headaches, don’t we?
• Day 2. Tested negatve with a LFT again, but the headache hadn’t gone away, and I started to get a runny nose and a sore throat. Some glasses of wine in the evening would hopefullly help me relax and serve as a delicious and gentle anaesthetic! After all, I had tested negative, and had probably just got a cold…
• Day 3. Woke frequently during the night with a painful sore throat, burning mouth, and tingling skin on my face. At one point, I could hardly swallow, so had plenty of water to drink, along with the paracetamol that I have taken regularly since (although not sure they make much difference!). At 6 a.m. I was suspicious, and took another LFT – after all, I wanted to fly in 8 hours’ time. I guess not unsurprisingly it rapidly showed up as being positive. Everyone who has experienced this will know the strange emotional feelings associated with a positive test. By now I was feeling really rather unwell: dizzy, the beginnings of a cough, brain a bit numb, unable to focus, tired… The clock was ticking though, and I somehow had to rearrange my flights, and let my colleagues know I would not be joining them. That took much of the morning, partly in bed and partly on the ‘phone. As the day progressed, I felt worse and worse: a pulsating headache, fatigue, and increasing pains throughout my body (especially where I had suffered sporting injuries in the past). After making a sandwich for lunch, it was back to bed and some sleep (facilitated by paracetamol). By the afternoon I felt a little better, and so crashed out on the sofa watching sport on TV. This was also an opportunity to order some food for delivery online the next day! But feeling slightly better was not to last! I somehow managed to make a simple meal, but as the evening progressed there was nothing for it but back to bed. My headache was much worse, sore throat increasingly painful, nose like a tap, and a cough starting along with pains across my chest. Lots of water by my bed to rehydrate. Blood pressure was very high…
• Day 4. Another restless night without much sleep. At one point my throat was so painful that I made a mug of hot lemon, ginger and turmeric tea. It seemed to help me a little to swallow, but my heart was pounding away heavily. I guess it was trying to pump blood around my body to counter the infection. I felt lousy as I eventually got up, and scraped together some cereal for breakfast. Hot tea helped again with the throat, and I even managed to make my must-have morning cappuccinno. As the day progressed, COVID seemed to be attacking different parts of my body in turn, looking for vulnerabilities. So, my throat felt better but the cough and pains across my chest were wose. I was having to get rid of increasing amount of phlegm, and my nose was still running out of control. Somehow I managed to put away the food delivery that came at lunch time, and make a simple salad. In the afternoon, I was able to do a little bit of digital catchup, but I couldn’t really focus, and became so tired. By the evening, I started to feel sick (perhaps the coronavirus leaving my throat for my stomach!), and didn’t feel like making any food for dinner, but forced myself to eat something – washed down with plenty of water (wishing it was wine). Beginning to wonder if I will ever feel well again…
• Day 5. I slept so badly – burning throat and frequent cough – not helped by noise of distant traffic (my hearing seems to be ultra-sensitive). Plenty of water, but even the lemon, ginger and turmeric tea that had helped the previous night didn’t seem to help at about 3 a.m.. My body, though, ached less, and I had energy to shower and shave when I got up later for the first time for several days. I tried to attend to some e-mails and join a Zoom call from bed with colleagues overseas at the symposium that I was meant to be attending. My brain couldn’t cope, and exhausted I crashed back to sleep. Small meal of pasta for lunch, but as the afternoon progressed I felt worse and worse again: headache, sore throat, really painful cough tearing at my chest/lungs (difficult to describe the horrible burning pain), difficult to breathe, very tired. I watched a film for nearly three hours, feeling ever worse. Paracetamol seems to make no difference. The rest of the day was a bit of a blurr – didn’t feel like eating any dinner, and just had lots and lots of water to drink. Decided to try hot honey, lemon and brandy before going to bed which seemed to help ease throat and coughing.
• Day 6: A wonderful thunderstorm in the night, seeing the flashes of lightening, hearing the crashes of thunder, and the torrential rain falling on the roof – made the world seem very real. Managed to get some sleep, albeit intermittently. Cooked an omelette for breakfast. Could see signs that I was gradually beginning to feel a little better – but persistent cough and tired chest, bringing up large amounts of dark-coloured plegm. At least the burning pain of coughing previously has receded. Losing track of days and time. Tried to sleep and rest in the afternoon; drank lots of water. Managed to eat a little dinner, and then watched a women’s international football match in the evening, but very tired by the end of the day. Wobbly on feet, and minor falls on stairs; pains in new areas, with many glands starting to ache for the first time. Tried honey, lemon and brandy again to help ease throat and coughing.
• Day 7: Am definitely recognising that I am feeling a bit better, but still very weak with a persistant cough, headache and runny nose. Still have no idea how long it will continue and how it wll progress. Had difficulty sleeping during the night, because of nose becoming regularly blocked which limited my abililty to breathe. Not easy to find a good position in which to sleep – changing sides regularly, and lying on tummy rather than back seemed to help breathing. Managed to attend an online team meeting for 30 minutes from bed – but any talking just elicited more coughing, and felt exhausted afterwards. Managed to check a few e-mails – feeling very grateful that I am not being sent many. By afternoon, became very tired again, and reverted to bed. Symptoms seem to be turning into bronchitis – so much coughing and phlegm, but grateful that the early vicious chest pains are no longer present. In evening even managed to cook a stirfry – so, must be feeling more together again. Advice from family and friends is consistent: take it easy for another week, and don’t try and do anything in the way of work because it will just prolong it. Tried ibuprofen for the cough, but no idea if it really worked.
• Day 8: Took ages to get to sleep last night – was coughing and having spent so long in bed over recent days wasn’t feeling very tired. Woke early and read news on my ‘phone. For the first time in a week am actually feeling as though I could do things. Boiled an egg for breakfast, and had some yoghurt and fruit as well. Felt very tired having done that – dizzy and faint, with just no energy at all. Back to bed to try to catch up with all the incoming e-mails. At least I can feel some progress towards normality, but headache has returned to accompany the omnipresent cough. Exhausted already; back to bed… Paracetamol… Announcement that the Queen had died provided a surprisingly sad focus to the day; perhaps made more so by all the uncertainties as to the future of our country and people.
• Day 9: the days are all blurring into each other. Woke coughing in the middle of the night, and had taken a long time to go back to sleep. Just about managed to contribute to a work Zoom call but very tired afterwards – too much coughing. COVID seems to have morphed into bronchitis – not as painful, but the coughing just seems to go on and on. It is so tiring. Little energy for anything. I had rearranged my flight overseas in case I was well enough to go this weekend, but there is no way I could possibly travel. Fortunately, I was able to cancel it for only a small charge and have it refunded back into our research grant. The news is full of the Queen’s death. Managed some soup for lunch, and then back to bed for some restful sleep. Walked up and down the garden a few times, and picked tomatoes, but that was about all I could do. Face and mouth tingling, but mainly just coughing and tired. Looked online to try to find more information about how long this will last – and apparently the expectation is two or three weeks, with there being nothing one can do other than paracetamol and drinking lots of water. Everyone has said, and I have said to others, make sure you don’t do too much too early; I can now really understand why.
• Day 10: longing for an undisturbed night – eventually managed to get some sleep between about 4 and 8 in the morning. Changed sensations again today – tingling mouth and cheeks, tinnitus back along with headache, but coughing miraculously a bit less. Watched the accession ceremony and proclamations at St James’s Palace and the Royal Exchange on TV, then lunch and back to bed. Just feeling so week and exhausted. No enthusiasm to do anything. At least I did a new online order for food tomorrow!
• Day 11: I did sleep quite well, apart from being woken from a deep deaming sleep at about 4 a.m.. Am gradually regaining my strength, but doing anything that requires thought or physical exercise make me really tired, brings on coughing, and leads to a headache. Am definitely better, but no inclination to do anything – wondering if the lethargy will ever go away. Went out to buy a commenorative newspaper (given I have tested negative, and was still wearing a mask this does not seem rash). Spent much of the day watching television: combining proclamations of Charles as the new King, while his mother’s coffin was driven from Balmoral to Edinburgh. I also managed to do some slides for a presentation in Nepal on Wednesday, and even had a go at cutting the grass (probably a big mistake). By the evening, my sore throat had returned, along with the familiar tingling in my mouth and face. Watched some TV to while the time away. Almost anything I do makes me tired, and I have no enthusiasm to get up and do anything.
• Day 12: Not much to report on; still gradually beginning to feel better, but whenever I try to do anything I start coughing and feel very tired. It’s a slow process. Cut my head open (not seriously, but it really hurt when I did it) as I fell into the edge of a window after breakfast; far from steady on my feet. Although all the NHS COVID guidance notes online say that you can expect to have a cough for several weeks and shouldn’t contact your GP unless seriously ill, I decided to make a telephone appointment with my GP – not least because I have mild underlying asthma, and was wondering how I should try to get rid of the cough. I was very impressed about what happened next: was offered an appointment at a GP Acute Illness Clinic at the local hospital in the late afternoon! Arriving by car just before the appointment, I phoned the number I was given and was invited straight in to be seen by a GP. He was very pleasant but clearly tired – it turned out that he had had COVID five times, but he was kind enough to say that none were as bad as I clearly still am. It’s very difficult to tell whether COVID-related bronchitis is viral or bacterial, but to be on the safe side he gave me a prescription for antibiotics (Clarithomycyn) and steroids (Prednisolone) over the next 5-7 days. Let’s see if they help, or if their side effects turn out equally badly!
• Day 13: Woke several times in the night – but fortunately managed to get back to sleep quite swiftly. Began the day trying to get the medicines I had been described, but local chemists did not have them in stock so I had to go further afield. Very tired on returning home, and so crashed out yet again. For someone usually so energetic, I am finding it very strange that I can just lie down and rest – no energy for anything else. If I try to read for more than a few minutes, I just lose interest and cannot concentrate. But by the afternoon, my coughing has indeed reduced significantly, though still have pains in my lungs and a tingling sensation on my face and chest. Increasing stomach pains might be a result of the antibios… Managed to cook an evening meal and then spent the rest of the evening stuck in front of the TV. Early to bed; very tired.
• Day 14: Two weeks in to COVID and for the first time can begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps the antbiotics and steroids are indeed working. Glad that I don’t seem to have any unpleasant side-effects. I slept really well, but woke soon after 5 to prepare for my online contribution to our ongoing work in Nepal – so envious of my colleagues working there, and sad at many levels for not being able to travel and be with them. It was great to see everyone in the workshop online, but the more I talked the more I coughed. I do hope that they felt my contribution was of value. I went back to bed shortly after 7, and fell blissfully fast asleep until nearly 9.30! The best sleep I have had for the last fortnight. Another online meeting between 10 and 11 finished me off – incredibly tired and lethargic. After a lazy day, I managed to stay awake to watch the most enjoyable England v Wales women’s rugby international. Overall, a day of definite improvements
• Day 15: Another good night’s sleep, and feeling well enough for my elder daughter and grandson to visit. Quite a lazy day, and was taken to a nearby children’s play area in Windsor Great Park in the afternoon which was most enjoyable! This was the first time I’ve been out in the sunshine for any length of time. However, it is crazy how tired I am feeling, with lots of symptoms (headache, sore throat, coughing, painful chest and lungs) having returned. Crashed out exhausted at the end of the day.
• Days 16-18: continuing slow improvement. Managed to do a bit of gardening, but still very tired. It was good, though, to be in the fresh air. No longer coughing very much, but permanent dull headache, and feeling faint and dizzy if I try to do anything. Wishing I had my usual energy. Last day of medication – very much hoping that I can eventually throw this off. Spent the morning of Day 18 watching the Queen’s funeral – uplifting, impressive and very moving… So many memories…
• Day 18-34: it is depressing to experience how slow the “improvement” is. I haven’t been able to do any real exercise (bike, walking, fitness routines) for the last fortnight. Even just walking up the stairs still makes me breathless. It is very frustrating. I’ve found this RCOT report on How to manage post-viral fatigue after COVID-19 quite helpful – in particular it emphasises the importamce of trying to have fun. Memo to myself: plan to do some fun things!

Male Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Women and Digital Technologies in Pakistan

I am delighted to see the research practice paper that I worked on and wrote with my dear friend and colleague Dr. Akber Gardezi has now been made available within the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D working paper series. It is one of the most important pieces of research that I have ever done, but academic journals did not see fit to publish it. Perhaps this is because it is indeed worthless, and we have done a disservice to all those who contributed to our research, but perhaps it may also be because it challenges too many of the taken for granted assumptions about style and content of publishing in ICT4D academic journals in the 2020s. Both Akber and I are immensely grateful to the many people in Pakistan with whom we spoke for this reseach, typified by the group of amazing women illustrated in the photo above from 2020.

I wanted the paper to be published in a good academic journal to help Akber’s career, but in the end after journal rejections we decided that the messages were too important simply to be binned in the rejection folder. I will let readers judge whether it is indeed worthless – but for those of you who think it is, please at least take away some of the important messages contained within it.

Abstract

The full paper is available here, but the abstract reads as follows:

This paper reports on qualitative research undertaken to explore men’s attitudes and behaviours towards women and technology in Pakistan (in Azad Kashmir, Islamabad, Punjab and Sindh) in January-February 2020.  It is premised on a concern that much research and practice on gender digital equality is based on ideas emanating mainly from North America and Europe, and may not be nuanced enough and sufficiently culturally appropriate to be relevant in different contexts, such as an Islamic state in South Asia.  It builds on our previous research on mobile ‘phones and identity, as well as the use of mobiles for sexual harassment in Pakistan.  Four main conclusions are drawn: first, wider aspects of Pakistan’s society and culture would need to be changed before substantial gender digital equality (as conceived in most “Western” literature) is achieved; second, there was considerable diversity in the views expressed by our participants about gender digital equality, and whilst we do draw some general conclusions these should not mask the importance of such diversity; third, despite the challenges, the last decade has seen substantial changes in the use of digital technologies by women, especially in urban areas and among the higher classes, with many more girls now studying STEM subjects and a small but growing number of women taking jobs in the tech sector; and finally, it highlights complex and difficult questions about universal and relativist approaches to gender digital equality.

Acknowledgements

Very many people contributed to this research, and it is their voices that we wanted to reproduce in the paper. Many of them asked to be named in anything we wrote, and so I reproduce the paper acknowledgements here in full:

We are extremely grateful to colleagues in COMSATS University Islamabad (especially Dr. Tahir Naeem), the University of Sindh (especially Dr. Mukesh K. Khatwani) and the International Islamic University Islamabad (Dr. Bushra Hassan) for facilitating and supporting this research.  We are also grateful to those in Riphah International University (especially Dr. Ayesha Butt) and Rawalpindi Women University (especially Prof Ghazala Tabassum), as well as senior management of those companies (Alfoze and Cavalier) who helped with arrangements for convening the focus groups.

This paper is above all, though, an expression of our efforts to share the views of the many people who contributed so passionately and openly to our questions.  These people (listed in alphabetical order of first names) are therefore, in practice, the originators of the views that we have sought to combine and share more widely: Aakash Kumar, Abdul Bari, Abdul Maalik, Abdul Manan, Abdul Rehman, Abdul Saud, Afsheen Altaf, Ahmed Bilal, Ali, Ali Shah, Dr. Alina Zeeshan, Amir Gohar, Amna Anwar, Anam, Andleeb Ismail, Anmol, Anzalna, Arslan Ahmad, Asad Malik, Atia-Tul-Karim, Awais Ahmed, Awais Rahat, Ayesha Kayani, Dr. Azhar Mahmood, Babar Ali, Balaj Chaudary, Bilawal Ali, Bushra Kanwal, Ch. Hussain, Ch. Murtaza, Danish Shoukat, Danyal Malik, Darima Habib, Darshana, Fahad Saleem, Fahim, Faiza Kanwal, Faiza Shah, Faizan Abrar, Fatima Seerat, Ghazala Tabbassum, Heba Mariyam, Habibullah, Hafeez ur Rehman, Hafsa, Hamid Nawaz, Hamza, Hassan, Hina Akram, Humna Ikhlaq, Ihtisham Ijaz, Kainat Aslam, Kainat Malik, Khuda Bux, M. Hamza Tahir, M. Hassan, M. Riaz, M. Wajahat, M. Hassan Zehri, Maira, Manzoor Ali, Maryam Rehmat, Mehmoona Akram, Memoona, Mishkat, Mohsin Tumio, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Sarwar, Muhammad Zeeshan, Munawar Gul, Muqadas Saleem, Muqaddas Abid, Noman Javed, Noor Nabi, Noor ul Ain Maroof, Osama Osmani,Paras, Qayoum, Rajesh, Ramsha, Rashid Ali, Rashid Shah, Raza Asif Ali, Rehan Arshad, Renuka, Rohit Kumar, Rumaisa Feroz, Saeed Ahmed, Saima Mehar, Dr. Sajjad Manzoor, Saleha Kamal, Sameen Rashid, Saqib Hussain, Sara Shahzad, Sarfraz, Sarmed Javed, Sarwan Nizamani, Shahid Sohail, Dr. Shahwawa, Sharjeel, Shehrol Asmat , Sonia Khan, Sumaira Tariq, Syed Ahmed, Talha, Tasneem, Tehmina Yousaf, Tehreem, Usama Basharat, Usama Nasir Khan, Usama Thakur, Usman Farooq, Waleed Khan, Waqas Masood, Yasir Iqbal, Yousif Khan, and Zahra Ali.  We hope that we have done them justice.  All of them ticked the box indicating that they wished for their names to be recorded in material that we wrote; those few who chose to tick the box saying that they did not want their names recorded are not mentioned here, but we are very grateful to them nonetheless.

Some of the brilliant people with whom we spoke are illustrated in the images below, and I hope that what Akber and I have written does indeed do justice to the time you spent sharing your thoughts with us, and that together we can indeed begin to change attitudes towards the interactions between women and digital tech.

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All of the material resulting from our research is available on the TEQtogether site in the section on our research in Pakistan, including the guidance notes that have subsequently been produced in Urdu and English based on the research.

What if…? [Thinking about first-mile connectivity]

It was great to have been invited by Aminata Amadou Garba to give the final talk in the ITU Academy’s training session on Last Mile Connectivity on 30th June. She was happy for me to be a little bit provocative, and so I returned to one of my long-standing arguments – that by using terms such as “the last mile” or the “last billion” we often denigrate the poorest and the most marginalised. If we really want to ensure that they benefit from the use of digital technologies, we should instead start thinking about them as “the first mile” because they are most important!

The session addressed seven main themes:

1. The “last” mile in whose eyes?
2. Parallels with the “next billion”
   • and the “Digital Divide”
3. Whose perspectives matter most?
4. The political economy of connectivity
5. The fundamental role of regulation
6. Global connectivity initiatives
7. Environmental implications

I’m so glad that we were able to have quite a lively discussion both during and after the presentation – a copy of which is available here for those who might be interested.

Goodwood Festival of Speed

I greatly enjoyed my first adventure to the Goodwood Festival of Speed yesterday, courtesy of a good friend on the Board of Lotus Cars. What an amazing day out! It was vastly more extensive than I had ever imagined, and apart from a rather circuitous (not well sign-posted) route to the parking, everything seemed to be highly efficiently organised. There was generally plenty of space, despite the many thousands of people there, and almost magically one didn’t even really have to queue to cross the bridges! There was so much to see, from the current F1 teams to classic cars, from the wide range of contemporary electric cars to the future of robotics (and even a glimpse of Nigel Mansell reunited with his F1 Title Williams FW14B). I hope that the pictures below capture something of what an enjoyable and fascinating day it was – culminating in an impressive display by the Red Arrows!

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Thanks so much again for the Lotus hospitality (including a delicious lunch in good company). It brought back fond memories of regularly having to fix the starter motor in cold and wet weather on my original Ford Escort, and always wanting a Lotus Europa! It was a reminder too of how driving has changed over the last 50 years, with a large slice of sadness that much of the fun has now gone out of driving – at least in the UK. It’s rather good to think that I have been able really to enjoy driving in a world before a future when all cars are made to drive us around. Am I one of the last to believe that autonomous humans are preferable to autonomous cars?

Environmental impact of digital tech: spectrum environmental efficiency

It was a real pleasure to join the Wireless World Research Forum’s (WWRF) 47th meeting held at the University of Bristol today, where at the invitation of Knud Erik Souby I presented a short paper entitled “Environmental impact of digital tech: spectrum environmental efficiency“. This provided a broad introduction to the reseach agenda of the Digital Environment System Coalition (DESC) Working Group on spectrum environmental efficiency.

In essence, the paper

• emphasised the substantial amount of existing research on spectrum efficiency and energy efficiency;
• highlighted the lack of existing research on “spectrum environmental efficiency” (rather than just on energy);
• reflected on the observation that, although 5G is widely seen as being more energy efficient, the total increase in traffic (and sensors) means that 5G systems as a whole require more energy than was the case with previous wireless generations;
• emphasised the importance of future wireless generations being designed to reduce environmental harms;
• outlined aspects of the future research agenda of the working group, including:
  • always taking environmental considerations (not just climate and energy) into our research practice;
  • what are environmental implications of using different parts of the spectrum?
  • how do different masts/antennae impact the environment?
  • new ways of assessing landscape impact
  • environmental implications of sensor network
  • recommendations for good practices by telecom/wireless companies – and regulators
  • helping develop a toolkit for the UN Partner2Connect digital coalition
  • how can future wireless generations minimise environmental harms?
  • links with DESC working group on satellites and outer space (with UNOOSA involvement);
• recognised the importance of listening to and understanding alternative/indigenous knowledges about the environment (and digital tech);
• noted that the WWRF is a formal partner of DESC; and
• invited members of the WWRF, and especially those from the private sector, to join DESC and contribute to our future work.

Academic perspectives on WSIS and the SDGs, WSIS 2022

It was a great pleasure to have been invited to contribute as a panellist to Session 406 of the WSIS Annual Forum on 2nd June 2022 on the theme of “Academic perspectives on WSIS and the SDGs”. This was a hybrid event, and as the picture below shows it was sadly not attended by very many people actually in Geneva! (Follow this link for my short, full presentation.)

However there was active participation online, and it was good to share some reflections on the theme. As ever, I tried to be diplomatically provocative, reflecting on my participation in the original World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva (2003) and Tunisia (2005)…

… as well as on many occasions since at the WSIS annual forums, especially when in 2019 I changed WSIS to MISS in front of my good friend Houlin Zhao the Secretary General of the ITU:

My presentation in particular emphasised the important need for the UN system to stop replicating and duplicating its efforts to use ICTs for “development” (or should this read “to serve the interests of the rich and powerful” especially the “digital barons“?); it is striking and sad, for example, that the UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for digital cooperation and Our Common Agenda make no mentions at all of the WSIS process.

My main argument was that with only eight years to go, it is essential that we start planning now for what will replace the SDGs, especially with respect to the uses of digital tech.

I did, though, also address to other themes: how academics can indeed benefit from the WSIS process (see below) as well as a short introduction to the work that we are now doing as part of the Digital-Environment System Coalition (DESC).

Follow this link for my short, full presentation.

Freedom, enslavement and the digital barons: a thought experiment

It was a delight and a challenge to have the opportunity earlier today to present a keynote for this year’s IFIP 9.4 conference on Freedom and Social Inclusion in a Connected World in the form of a thought experiment on the topic of “Freedom, enslavement and the digital barons“.

My main aim was to explore how thinking about the “unfree” can help us better understand the intersection between freedom and digital tech. In particular I focused on five main themes: some of the ways in which academics have previously considered the concept of freedom within the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D); ways of understanding “unfreedom”; six examples of digital enslavement; the relationships between freedom, rights and responsibilities; and the ways in which people in general and academics in particular can resist enslavement by the digital barons.

The examples of digital enslavement that I briefly explored were:

• Digital addiction
• We are the data
• Governments enforcing use of digital systems for government services
• Labour exploitation (through extending the working week)
• Digital poverty and education
• Digital tech contributing to modern slavery

Time precluded the inclusion of several other forms of enslavement that I might have considered. Drawing on my medievalist backgroung, I was especially interested in the role and interests of the Digital Barons.

In part, this keynote drew on arguments that I have previously addressed in more detail in

• Prolegomena on Human Rights and Responsibilities
• The advantages of being unconnected to the Internet: a thought experiment
• Reclaiming ICT4D

I also made it clear that appropriately designed digital tech can be used to great advantage by poor and marginalised communities, although given the theme of the confernce I concentrated exclusively on “digital enslavement” and the role of the “digital barons”.

The full slide deck (in .pdf format) is available here without the transitions and animations. It also omits the subtitles in Spanish that were included for our colleagues in Peru who had originally been planning to host us in person.

On language, gender and digital technologies

I wrote a short post back in 2018 on the gendered languages of ICTs and ICT4D, and partly in the light of this I was very kindly invited to contribute to the fascinating collection of essays edited by Domenico Fiormonte, Sukanta Chaudhuri and Paola Ricaurte on Global Debates in the Digital Humanities, recently published by the University of Minnesota Press.

The short chapter is divided into two parts. The first on language, gender and digital tech is based on the premise that in the broad field of digital technologies, most practitioners have been blind to the gendering of language and thus perpetuate a male-dominated conceptualization of ICT4D. It addresses: the gendering of electronic parts, the use of language in ICT4D, digital technologies represented by male nouns, and computer code: bits and qubits. The second part explores some of my thoughts on the use of the term “frontier technologies”, building on another 2018 blog post.

Male & Female Connectors

I’m delighted that the publishers have now shared a copy of this with me, and have also given me permission to share it here. The chapter is only seven pages long, but I hope that readers may find that it challenges some of their existing thoughts about aspects of gender and digital tech. I would be delighted to carry on the conversation with anyone who mght be interested…

“Open Science” Keynote for WACREN

It was a real privilege to have been invited to give a keynote on “Open Science in Africa and for Africans: addressing the challenges” this morning at the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN) 2022 conference held in Abidjan. The role of a keynote is to provoke and challenge, and so I took the opportunity to share some of the reflections and challenges that I have been struggling with over many years, and especially since I first met the inspirational CEO of WACREN, Boubakar Barry, some 18 years ago in Dakar, Sénégal at an event we participated in on Free/Libre and Open Source Software convened by Imfundo.

Participating online in the hybrid WACREN 2022 conference

The six challenges on which I focused in the Keynote were:

• Whose interests does Open Science really serve?
• The rise of individualism: is it too late for communal science?
• Which models of publication best serve Africa?
• How valuable are Open Data, and for whom?
• The dangers of Scientism?
• Who pays?

Underlying my thoughts are two fundamental concerns:

• If you don’t have access to, or cannot use “Open Science”, can you really benefit from it? Does “Open Science” really empower the poor and marginalised?
• Is Open Science mainly a means through which the rich and powerful continue to maintain their positions of privilege? This is typified by the ways through which global corporations and companies persuade governments to make their data about citizens available as Open Data, so that these companies can then extract considerable profit from them.

The full slide deck in .pdf format is available here, and the slide below summarises my final thoughts about the ways forward.