YouSaid · the spoken record

David Willetts

lines on the record: 44
first: 2019-06-15
most recent: 2019-06-15
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Okay, good. I think the better way to approach that problem is to say, how do we make the US and or Europe or other places attractive to entrepreneurship and encourage people to think about the regulatory framework and the economic framework as want to be participants in these markets as opposed to the anti kind of policies we have, which is let's make it harder for free flow of capital and try to stave off those opportunities. It used to be that 90% of venture capital and entrepreneurship happened in the US literally almost as early as 20 years ago. And if you look at those numbers today, it's about 50%. And so the amount of kind of capital that's kind of been distributed globally and therefore the amount of opportunity set distributed globally is interesting. We have to think about this beyond kind of regional borders. We will have talent in people that are free-flowing across geographies. And so we have to think about this from a broader global initiative.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“How you exchange information and the validation of that information is an essential part of having a democratic debate. And that is a big problem in today's world. So I think it is possible to have that conversation with people, but all political conversations today are extremely difficult because they happen in such a fevered environment with so much polarization and the interaction between conventional and social media. With that qualification, I answered”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And how do we deal with the fundamental challenges that we have, as we talked about earlier from an incentive perspective and short tenures on office and people's ability to be in office? Is that a conversation you think that the country and the nations are prepared to have?”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I hear you. You're saying. They just need to have their fears. That's the thing that you need to persuade them of. You're going to say to them, guys, technology is going to change the world and we've got to prepare for it. They're not there yet. When you get them there, then obviously in all sorts of different ways. But this is where I think.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I always say to people in politics when we were campaigning, and they'd say, you know, I'd say, right, because we campaigned on the slogan in 1997. You labor, New Britain. And they say, no, but it's much more complicated than that. I say, okay, guys, it is.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I agree. I guess the only thing I would add to this, because I think about this a lot, interestingly, is that we treat technology like this word, this homogenous nebulous entity. And the reality is that every single instance so depends on the specific technology. So my call to action, I guess, would be to think about it very specifically. The way we think about AI, that's such a broad phrase and it's a very scary phrase that suggests everything from generalized intelligence to very specific automation that gets your bank account updated automatically. So I think there's two things to this. One that we need to be incredibly specific about what technology we're talking about in what context and then B, we also dial in the right degree to what we're talking about at what point because it really makes sense. I completely agree.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So it's not that you displace traditional questions of taxation and inequality. But the truth of the matter is it's going to be probably in the long term more significant for that individual and for the society if this technological revolution is handled properly. So if you had a debate in the UK at the moment about our healthcare system, national health service, it would be, should we spend 10 billion pounds a year more on it or 5 billion? But how do you change the whole of the way we implement care for people because of technology is going to have a much bigger impact?”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You come to issues of very tradition like income inequality. Now there is a perfectly good question as to whether you raise the minimum wage and if so by how much and my government was for coming to introduce a minimum wage in the UK so I'm very familiar with all those arguments. But in the end, there is a whole other dimension to that individual, which is about the world that's changing and their place in it and whether they're going to have the skills and the aptitude. So you're just saying completely.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think that's right. We're fundamentally talking around the issues. It's either immigration or it's incommunicated equality or other things that drive the debate. But the fundamental question is exactly that, which is how do we move forward with broader economic growth initiatives? So sitting here in Silicon Valley, any individual company is probably better off, quite frankly, taking break glass first and then ask for forgiveness later, right? And so I think the idea of having kind of solving that collective action problem through a convening organization makes a lot of sense.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You've got to put this technology question at the heart of the political debate. Now the solutions some people may go to the left, some people may go to the right. Some people will ever be in between, but make it the conversation.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“From the point of view of my institute, what we're doing is we're creating a tech and public policy center. And the idea is to bring a certain number of people who really understand the tech side and a certain number of people who come from the public policy side, put them together in a structured way. I will kind of curate that. And out of it should come what I call serviceable policy and a narrative about the future, which makes sense of this technological revolution. And then to link up with politicians not just in the UK and Europe, but actually over here, and create a sense that this technological revolution should be at the center of the political debate. How do we handle it? How do we, as I say, mitigate its risks and access its opportunities? So that's one very specific thing. And then I think the other thing, frankly, is just to be out there, myself and a number of other people, at least of access to the airwaves, to say, guys, we've got to switch the conversation.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's a fantastic question, and actually, it's interesting because we're investors in nation builder, which is one of the companies that mobilize a lot of the communities that actually organize for pro and for con around these things so quick thing i do want to make sure we actually give answers because we're asking a lot of questions so can you both give a little bit more on what concretely we need to do”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Agree with you because that can indulge in law of justice. If you take so a lot of what drove, for example, Pregnant the UK is apart from the immigration issue was this idea of communities people left behind. So what is it that technology would do to go into those communities and help people gain better education, get connectivity to the world? Because in the end, this is what it's all about. If you're not connected, you're not. So I think one big question is, how does the technology sector”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There are alternative universities coming about too. Exactly. We're investors in Udacity, there's this Lambda school, there's all these interesting types of containers where people can get what they call nanodegreges or micro skills or specific skills. There's so much that's actually in play because the point I want to raise here, this is kind of an underlying theme to me, is that technology, as you pointed out, you can take an optimistic view. It also gives you the means to address many of the problems that we are complaining about. Because when I think of some of the trade-offs between Waiting for a government to update policy. What I love is that a massive users on a platform can essentially vote with saying leave that platform. And immediately that platform is going to act the next day in a way that a lawmaker cannot overnight.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Such a fascinating because, in fact, my eldest son's got a company that's on apprenticeships and technology. So that's exactly what he does. And I think it's really, really interesting because of the idea that, you know, you don't necessarily have to go to university.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Comes out of fundamental macroeconomics, right? Which is we can improve growth for a country by either population growth and or productivity growth, right? Those are the two levers in theory that we can impact. And if we could frame the discussion around technology, that's a lot of where the U.S. has done well, right? We've generally, obviously times are changing, but we've generally been very open to immigration and thought about population growth as a way to help improve the lot for people generally. And we've also been very open to productivity growth in the form of technology and automation. And if we can frame it that way, but also to your point, recognize that there are going to be disintermediations along the way. And part of our responsibility is to help from a training and education perspective and even potentially the role of government in subsidizing the transition from less automated to more automated society.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What is driving? Why would that do? So, what's driving the populism is pessimism. If people are pessimistic, then they look for someone to blame. If people are optimistic, they look for something to aspire to. And that's the essential difference”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And your vulnerability is there comes a point when suddenly the mood flips. And it doesn't matter how much wealth and power and excess you have. You're the target. So that point, everything changes. So if you want to avoid that, I think it's got to be a dialogue that's structured and it requires not just things happening between the tech sector and government, but for people like my own institute to use our sort of convening power, the political side to say to the politicians, look, let's get our heads around this. Here's my essential challenge. How do you take this technological revolution?”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, and to be so defensive that you're just thinking all the time, how can we ward these people off? But here's the thing. You can sometimes, if you have wealth, which a lot of these big tech players do and power and you also have access, they can go and see whoever they want to see, it can sometimes mask your essential underlying vulnerability.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But you see, that's why I think the attitude of the technology sector to engage with government is so important. Because if you're engaging with government and saying, look, we understand there's a massive set of issues here and we're really going to sit down and work with you as to how we get the right answer, then government's in a position where they regard you as a partner. But I think for this moment in time, a bit like actually the aftermath of the financial crisis, government kind of regards You're looking after yourselves, but we've got to look after the public.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's exactly right. And, you know, the analogy we have here in the States was the Dodd-Frank legislation that came out of the global financial crisis where financial institutions had to comply with a whole new set of regulations. What it really did here in the U.S. was it really entrenched those incumbents very well and it made it very hard for startup financial institutions to grow. And it was very hard for a new institution to get a banking license for many years, in part because of the regulatory cost of doing so. And so how do you balance that? And maybe the answer is, look, it's an education problem, but well-meaning a politician certainly expect and intend that regulation is the appropriate way to deal with these things. It does, in some cases, interfere with the overall goal of entrepreneurship and of startup formation.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, to make it concrete, there's been a, over the last several months, and I'm sure probably more so in Europe as well, there's been a number of articles talking about when you look at kind of the broad impact of GDPR. Essentially, it's inured largely to the benefit of the very large incumbents, which was probably not what was intended to do.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Okay, let's say we all agree, which I think we do, that there needs to be a connection between all the entities working together, no question, more engagement, more explanation, more understanding, thinking of consequence. I think those are all table stakes. The question now is how do you then think about unintended consequences? Because the story to me is not that bad things have bad consequences. It's that often the worst consequences come from very well intended things. And quite frankly, the perfect example that comes to mind is GDPR.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the other thing will be another question for politics which will be very challenging because what would be weird is if the whole of the world is undergoing this revolution and politics is just kind of staying fixed, the type of people who go into politics, what happens often is people leave university, they go and become a researcher for NMP and then they become an MP and then become, but they have no experience of the outside world, right? So that's one, and it becomes a constraint over time. And then the types of people who work in government. So you were saying something about the people who've been brought in to, say, the veterans administration here. So how do you actually open up public service and then get a greater interoperability between public service and the private sector? Because all of the sort of pressure certainly coming from the media has been not to allow that to happen and not to allow politicians to have anything other than just focused on.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“A fundamental rethinking of what the role of government is, quite frankly, which is, again, if you take the premise that the overall objective for government is to create economic conditions that hopefully generate long-term economic growth and sustainability for individuals and companies, then you're right. Maybe the ancillary role of government is how do we deal with short-term issues that have market dislocations for people? Maybe that's a more proper way to describe what the role of government is in many cases.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But my point was very, very simple that universities are going to be major engines of economic growth in the future, in particular because of the link between university and technology and the development of technology. Therefore, we cannot afford for UK universities not to be able to. Position as a country that, along with the US, probably has most high quality universities in the top 50 in the world that we've got to be prepared to do that now. Some people, by the way, rejected it, and today it's a big political issue again. You can get to at least some form of alignment between long-term and short term.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The way this happened in the 19th century, and you had whole new politics created around it. On the other hand, I think there are two things that are important here. First of all, I think the technology will in some way provide solutions to what is a constant dilemma for an ordinary politician, which is we need to do more for our people, but we can't just keep spending more and taxing more. If the technology can help unlock part of that, that is something they're prepared to go for. And secondly, with most politicians, if they're able to see this within a longer term perspective, then you say to them, look, we'll help you and guide you through this process of change. But in the end, it's a beneficial change. And what I found when I was in government is some of the difficult reforms we put through, for example, around education reform, healthcare reform. We were able in some ways with at least some people to say,”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think there's a third piece. There's an incentive problem. I would imagine if you did a survey of most politicians, they would say, my fundamental role is how do I improve long-term economic growth and job sustainability for my constituents that I may not. If people kind of cut through a lot of the politics, that's really why they think they're there. Is look, they want to make a better life and make a better opportunity for their constituents. The problem we have, though, is because their short-term incentive program is to get re-elected, which I understand is a good thing from a political perspective. It's very hard for them to take that long-term view because the shorter term opportunity is to say, look, I really need to do no harm to my constituents, and by allowing technology, which might be in the short term, displacing and unsettling to job growth and other stuff, particularly for different segments of the population, it's very hard, I would imagine, as a politician to square those two things, which is how do I help my constituents understand, to Sono's point, that, yes, over a period of time, it was a good idea to have industrialized farming as opposed to pure manual agrarian farming.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You probably shouldn't test me on it. But that is one lacuna. Those people have to understand this is like the 19th century industrial revolution. So you've got to get your ordinary politicians to understand. And then there's another lacuna, which is, I think, in getting the dialogue at the top level between particularly the Americans and the Europeans, because I also think it would be immensely helpful if we had a more transatlantic approach.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no, absolutely. So, look, I think there are two caps that I see, and I just look at this from the side of the, as it were, ordinary politician, because I think there are initiatives that are happening inside government where people or departments will get it and therefore they'll embrace it and bring in smart people to help them and so on. But I think there are two sort of lacunae. One is your average politician does not understand a lot about this. And that is not sort of a disrespect to your average politician. That it's new. It's complicated. It takes your time to get your head around it. My eldest son is in technology and I'm always trying to get him to explain blockchain to you.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You are listening to those being affected by technology, but with the point of view that spins it forward for future generations. Because if we had listened to all the farmers in the first wave of the Industrial Revolution, we may not have many of the things today. But their grandkids are benefiting from those things.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, I think it is too. And what's really amazing is that it's got tangible impacts. A specific example is we have a huge veterans administration that doesn't get great healthcare. So they redesigned the VA site in order to make sure that people who have accessibility issues can use this site in a friendly way. There's many more applications of the types of things they're doing. We've actually had them on this podcast, but I think those are some avenues. But to Cooper's point, there is no single entity. I will say that at Wired, I edited a big set of op-eds around the ITU, which is sort of like a UN for the internet. And it was during the WC12 hearings, which you might recall, I think Kamadun Ture was the head of the commission and I edited him as well. And what's fascinating to me is that there's a lagging versus a leading approach to it because you're sort of taking the data that's passed, not really looking forward. And that was what I saw as a big drawback when I was working with the WC-12 op-ed. So I'm curious for your take on how do we shift it.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That organization doesn't exist today, at least. I'm not aware of where you would do that. I think the other problem with it is we have to think beyond geographic and national borders on this stuff because technology and capital are free-flowing in our society. You almost need a United Nations or some kind of type of organization to convene to have those discussions, I think.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Obviously, you've got specific micro issues. I mean, they can be big in their impact, like driverless cars, but there are specific things. They've got specific issues attached to them. But where does the tech sector go if it wants to... engage on the bigger macro question of how do you redesign government by the way as well as individual sectors because government itself is going to have to change”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Tech players, but the others as well. So I think one of the things that, in a sense, my question to you is, how do you manage to get into that dialogue with policymakers where these very empowering people recognize that in the end, however powerful they are, they are not more important than the public interest?”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I completely get that. That's why I think it's got to be a big. Got to be done in a big way from the collectivity rather than individual people going. Because, of course, you're absolutely right. What will happen is that the entrepreneurs think, okay, if I go and say I've got the following five problems that I can see in this technology I'm developing, they're going to shut his head. I think the hard question will be you're getting people and companies.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Everything will be impacted by it. Exactly. I am fascinated by the potential of technology to allow African nations and governments to circumvent some of the legacy problems we have within our systems. And that goes for everything from basic healthcare and education through to how you help agricultural smallholders develop a better yield, cooperate better together, link up better with the market. And in fact, one thing that's happening in Africa today is there are applications of tech that are growing up in interesting ways. So my point is you've got all these different facets and yet at the moment the curious thing is if you were to go to virtually any European country or if you were to come here and say, okay, name the top four issues, where would technology be in that list?”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Would say that then there are two questions that derive from that. One is how do you make regulation intelligent? How do you make it abide by the public interest or enhance the public interest, but at the same time not dampen that creative and in a way entrepreneurial drive behind the development of new ideas? And then secondly, what are the ways that government should be working with those that are going to be impacted by technology? If you're in the car industry, it's going to be a huge change, right? I mean, if you get these driverless cars, it's going to change obviously jobs. It's going to change insurance. It's going to change the method of production, what you produce. It probably changed the concept of car ownership in some way.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, I agree with that. I think, though, what's different is we used to be able to compartmentalize technology. It was a piece of software that you used at work to help you be more productive. But if technology really is going to be part and parcel of everything, then I think it changes the nature of how we think about that responsibility because it is regulated industries in many cases that have been largely immune over time from technology in a way that appears to be different today.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“My advice would be stop looking at your own narrow interest in what you're doing and understand you've got a collective interest in making the world of policy and politics understand the technology, what's going to happen, how you get A, the right system of regulation, and B, how you allow government to enable these transformative changes.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Now, I think the difficulty is that, yes, you're right, it's very empowering. On the other hand, it's actually quite frightening to people because you kind of all understand it. And the rest of the world doesn't quite understand it. And so far as they do understand it, they find it somewhat dystopian in its look. I was actually sitting with some people from my old constituency in the north of England a few months back. And, you know, I said to them, I wonder what's going to happen when we have driverless cars. And their attitude was it's never going to happen. The role of the politician is to be able to, in a sense, articulate to the people those changes and then fit them into a policy framework that makes sense. And that's the worry because if the politicians don't understand it, they'll fear it. If they fear it, they'll try and stop it.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's going to transform everything. So I think the fundamental challenge is that the policymakers and the changemakers are not in the right dialogue with each other. And this is where misfortune will lie if you end up with bad regulation or bad policy and where the tech people kind of go into their little huddle because I'd say this with great respect, but they tend to be slightly, you come to this Silicon Valley and it's like walking into another planet, frankly. Yeah.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“First thing I would say from the political perspective is that technology is essentially an empowering and enabling thing. So I regard it as benign, but it's got vast consequence. So the question is, how do you deal with the consequence? How do you access the opportunities and mitigate its risks and disbenefits? So that is, I think, the right framework to look at it. But because it's accelerating in its pace of change and because the change is so deep, and I look upon this technological revolution as like the 21st century equivalent of the 19th century industrial revolution.”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the context is that there's so much discussion right now about tech in the context of inequality. One of the points of view that I have, particularly coming from a background where my family came from India, et cetera, is that it's also very democratizing. And a lot of people can do new things in better ways because of technology. But I think the big question I think we care about today is how do we bring more people into the system and make sure that tech benefits everyone”
2019-06-15 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: The Politics of Technology · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source