How they can make things more efficient, more effective and cheaper for business.

In January 2024, Professor Ruth Misener was presented with the Needham Award for her&nbsp;exceptional contribution to identifying and solving fundamental computer science research challenges at the intersection of computational optimisation and machine learning. A special panel discussed the complexities of optimisation as a research discipline and how algorithms can help businesses make good decisions in the face of uncertainty and complexity. Ruth was joined by Michael Huth, Professor of Computer Science Head of Department of Computing, Imperial&nbsp;College London; Timo Berthold, Director at FICO and Lecturer at TU Berlin; Claire Adjiman, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London&nbsp;and Director of the Sargent Centre for Process Systems Engineering at Imperial and UCL; and Darren Budd, Commercial Director UK and Ireland, BASF.

The Needham Debate: Optimisation algorithms 

Lisa Ventura MBE has been on a fascinating journey from mainstream TV to a cybersecurity career. Alongside this she has had a developing diagnostic journey. She talks to Brian Runciman MBCS about neurodiversity, her autism diagnosis and more. As she says... 'we are all generation cyber.'

From 'Millionaire' to cybersecurity 

Professor Jane Hillston, one of the winners of the Lovelace Award for 2023, discusses her work in formal languages. She talks to Brian Runciman MBCS about resource use in systems and performance modelling - measuring how much resource is used and when, from a mathematical viewpoint. It has applications in biology and transport systems in smart cities such as bike-sharing. She is also involved in smart techniques, using ambient sensors and associated data to give people later-life benefits. Also discussed: tracking and husbanding data in AI models, double stochasticity in quantum, and is computer science post-colonial?

Formal languages, mathematical models and bike sharing

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, speaks to Brian Runciman about the site's progress over the last 22 years; fakes news; reliable sources; the Wikipedia community and funding model; and being a pathological optimist. With bonus content on stochastic differential equations…&nbsp;

Wikipedia: pretty good in parts

If you like combining live music with discussions about science and technology, there’s now several summer festivals that tick that box. At the Dot Festival at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, and at WOMAD festival, you can hear expert talks and bands. Claire Penketh went to another festival - How the Light Gets In - to find out more, in this special edition of the Gem.&nbsp;

How the Light Gets In

Felix Ryan speaks to Brian Runciman about a specialist area of IT - pen testing in the context of embedded systems. He talks careers, inspirations and why he launched a podcast on such a niche area.

Playing Doom on a Coke Machine

Professor Wendy Dearing discusses her passion for digital health and her career path from Nurse to Dean. She also tells Brian Runciman about enabling nursing careers through NVQs, the development of Digital Health and Care Wales, the problems with social care and the benefits of the NHS app.

Lost tribe, backbone then centre-stage

Professor Tom Crick speaks to Brian Runciman about&nbsp;Wales’ science and technology reform and what our aspiration should be for digital skills and achieving a digitally competent population. In the context of Palantir and other large organisations interest in health data, how can and should we protect health records? What role should ethics take in curriculums?

Citizen-centred tech

'The best founders see something in the world they want to fix'. Entrepreneur and start-up investor Barrie Heptonstall talks to Brian Runciman about agritech and education start-ups, the crossover between doing good in society and capitalism, and what he looks for in people he would invest in.

Ideas help, but it's about the people

Computing in society 

The Gem of all Mechanisms podcast is an interview series, where we talk to people in the know from many different disciplines: academics, computer scientists, policy makers, philosophers and more about the complexities of 21st century tech and how it affects us all. It is produced by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT. BCS is on a mission to ensure everyone’s experience with technology is positive. We support the people who work in the industry and aim to make IT good for society. Our members shape policy, influence change and raise standards to realise the potential of technology.

The Gem of all Mechanisms

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