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<\/p>\nThe Lionesses kicked off, then the public did<\/p>\n
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England\u2019s win and government missteps have given Brits a chance to exercise their two favourite past times.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no exaggeration to say the world is suffering through a time of division, and we can put the blame at least partly on the internet. Social media has given previously fringe voices a megaphone, and disinformation spreads like wildfire.<\/p>\n
Despite the unrest, the politics and the angry discourse, there are two treasured national past times that bring all Brits together: complaining, and sport. Last week, the Lionesses\u2019 historic victory at the Euros 2025 united us in celebration of the latter.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve also been cheering for women here at Computing, this time off the pitch, in the pursuit of the professionals who will make up the shortlist at the Women in Tech Excellence Awards<\/a> in November. It\u2019s fair to say that, like the England team, each entrant has her own skills and deserves recognition \u2013 but with over a thousand entries and limited spots, only the very best of the best will be featured.<\/p>\n But we\u2019re not only looking for professional success. It\u2019s all very well to look impressive on paper, but we also take into account factors like teamwork, leadership and business impact. It\u2019s a holistic process that considers each entrant as a whole person.<\/p>\n That, as Sarina Wiegman could tell you, is how you win a tournament.<\/p>\n To stick with the football metaphor, it looks like the Labour government has scored an own goal with the Online Safety Act<\/a>. It\u2019s difficult to argue with the intent to protect children, but there is plenty of justified public anger about overreach due to poor wording. Even Spotify, hardly an XXX website, now requires age verification.<\/p>\n The botched implementation and fears of increasing scope creep \u2013 Peter Kyle had to do a media tour last week to assuage fears that the government would not ban VPNs \u2013 have put Labour at a new low in popularity.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t taken the UK long to return to our other favourite past time, after all.<\/p>\n Recommended Reads<\/p>\n As Big Tech releases its latest finance results<\/a> \u2013 with many committing, again, to covering the land in new datacentres \u2013 Penny Horwood has examined their ESG reports to see how the widening energy gap created Big Tech\u2019s AI dream<\/a>. The conclusion? They\u2019re unsustainably taking from the future to look good today.<\/p>\n Demand for AI is damaging the planet, but it’s just so damn useful. At Google Cloud London in July I spoke to Nick Hodder of Imperial War Museums<\/a> and Morrisons CDO Peter Laflin<\/a> about how artificial intelligence is enabling brand new capabilities in their tech stacks.<\/p>\n And with the hunger for AI showing no signs of cooling, Daniel Neaves of Harvey Nash has written for us about the most in-demand roles in the field<\/a> \u2013 with tech leaders putting a greater value on AI skills than experience.<\/p>\n