Moving On
All has gone very quiet around here for some time. This is not due to excessively elaborate celebrations of the England Ashes victory and a correspondingly lengthy recovery period. No, far more seriously than that, I have got a job. As in full time paid employment that necessitates plenty of attention and brings with it a very steep learning curve.
As of this month, I am Head of Government Affairs UK and Ireland for Cisco Systems, which grand-sounding title means that I have to work on internet policy issues for Cisco, who techy readers will know, are one of the major suppliers of the hardware and software that makes the internet tick.
I chose to leave Parliament because I wanted to be involved more directly in the technology industry. Cisco have a place in most major projects in the public and private sector that involve shifting to networked business models. All players in this market will have their fans and detractors but, rather like joining a political party, you choose one that best suits you and then do what you can to constantly improve it.
So far, so good, as I am really enjoying it. As I get on top of things, I will get back into my blogging stride. Perhaps time to rename this to ‘Industrial Times’…
Congrats – sounds like a fantastic job. Looking forward to see the results of your skills in the world of Cisco.
Excellent news, Richard. Hope it goes well.
Good luck with the new job.
It doesn’t matter how you dress it up Richard, you’re still the embodiment of evil. I’ll pray for your soul
I’ve mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, it sounds like paid political work for a corporation, which is a strange idea in itself: corporations are not natural people, should be a tightly-regulated tool serving the public interest and shouldn’t influence politics in their own name, but we’re a long way from that now. On the other hand, I like many of Richard’s views and am happy to see him being paid to continue working on his interests…
^^
Looks like you need a spam filter. Returning to topic, congrats on the job Richard, at least you’re not working for that /other/ big technology company that loves to influence governments.
Congratulations Richard. Let me know if I can help out in any way.