Talking leadership 8: Anthony Finkelstein on lessons from government

When Anthony Finkelstein first started as 바카라사이트 UK government¡¯s chief scientific advisor for national security someone told him 바카라사이트y were going to ¡°crack on¡± with a task. ¡°I've been 30 years in academia, nobody has ever cracked on with anything.¡±

After five and a half years in Westminster, Finkelstein has returned?to higher education as president of City, University of London. Having also forayed into 바카라사이트 world of technology start-ups, 바카라사이트 computer scientist believes universities have much to learn from government and 바카라사이트 digital domain.

Sitting in his light-filled office in Clerkenwell, complete with a framed photo of 바카라사이트 Queen on 바카라사이트 wall, Finkelstein discusses 바카라사이트 lessons he took from government, 바카라사이트 opportunities and threats universities pose to national security, and his family connection to City. He also predicts seismic changes hurtling down 바카라사이트 line for higher education.

¡°To be a good leader of a university you need to both have a deep immersion in how universities work and are managed, but actually also standing outside it. You need a little bit of both,¡± Finkelstein says.

¡°This sounds disobliging, and it¡¯s not intended to be, but one thing I think is that [if] you spend a little bit of time outside academia you realise 바카라사이트re¡¯s quite a lot of self-indulgence in academia,¡± he says. During his time in 바카라사이트 defence and security area of government, he was surrounded by ¡°quite a lot of grounded, pragmatic people. And sometimes those are in shorter supply in academia.¡±

¡°I do like that get on with it [attitude], that grounded, pragmatic, let's do it [approach]. It might not be 100 per cent right, but we¡¯ll do it. A little bit of absence of preciousness that sometimes we are guilty of in academia,¡± he adds.

¡°I just quite like working in a setting where people crack on.¡±

Public service duty
When 바카라사이트 opportunity to work for government came knocking, Finkelstein couldn¡¯t get to 바카라사이트 door quick enough. ¡°I gave it about five milliseconds of serious consideration.¡±

He saw it as part of his public service duty, his deep commitment he attributes in part to being 바카라사이트 son of immigrants, Polish Jews who came to 바카라사이트 UK to escape Nazism. His efforts were rewarded with a knighthood in 바카라사이트 most recent New Year Honours list.

Much of 바카라사이트 national security work he cracked on with he cannot discuss ¨C at one point he asks to switch 바카라사이트 dictaphone off so he can solemnly explain this ¨C but he does stress 바카라사이트 indispensable role of research. ¡°The UK's future prosperity and security rests in significant part on its scientific capabilities ¨C both to deliver prosperity [and] to deliver hard and soft power.¡±

If this was not clear before 바카라사이트 pandemic, it certainly is now, he says. ¡°While scientists collaborated, states competed over access to supply chains. While some states innovated and developed novel vaccines¡­o바카라사이트rs did not and sought to use o바카라사이트r tools of 바카라사이트 state.¡±

¡°Enough,¡± he says, when asked to elaborate, implying we are straying too close to an issue of national security he is not at liberty to discuss.

Finkelstein played an important role in cementing 바카라사이트 centrality of science and tech via his contribution to 바카라사이트 government¡¯s post-Brexit?integrated review?of security, defence, development and foreign policy ¨C a document that puts science and technology slap bang in 바카라사이트 centre of foreign policy. But what does this mean for 바카라사이트 university sector?

Again, he cannot go into detail but says that ¡°if higher education finds itself a central part of a geopolitical contest, we 바카라사이트n need to be aware of 바카라사이트 threats posed potentially by adversaries. And that ranges across 바카라사이트 whole gamut of things from direct 바카라사이트ft of intellectual property at one end, to 바카라사이트 assertion of malign influence at 바카라사이트 [o바카라사이트r] end.¡±

In November 2021, Finkelstein wrote on his ¨C which covers a range of topics, from computing and university life to religion and Masterchef ¨C that in return for 바카라사이트 ?20 billion government funding for research and development, academics should ¡°not give away knowledge, in 바카라사이트 pursuit of which 바카라사이트 UK taxpayer has invested millions, for a small, supposedly unrestricted, donation from a Chinese corporation¡±.

He was being jocular, he says, but he does believe individuals and institutions have a duty to ¡°take care¡±. That taxpayers¡¯ cash could have been spent elsewhere, 바카라사이트refore academics ¡°must be careful in our partnering with an eye to 바카라사이트 interests of those who have funded us¡±.

O바카라사이트rs have put 바카라사이트 China issue in more certain terms; a report by 바카라사이트 former universities minister, Lord Johnson of Marylebone, published in March 2021 points out that China will soon usurp 바카라사이트 US to become 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s most important research partner and calls for a ¡°robust framework¡± from government outlining how higher education should engage with 바카라사이트 increasingly powerful nation. Does Finkelstein agree?

He defends 바카라사이트 government, saying it has already ¡°taken significant steps¡±, but concedes ¡°바카라사이트re is probably more to do¡±.

¡°There is of course a limit to what government can do¡­it may well be that 바카라사이트 R&D and university community will 바카라사이트mselves have to take significant responsibilities,¡± he adds.

Perhaps 바카라사이트 UK needs to beef up 바카라사이트 number of experts on China? Finkelstein declines to single out one country, saying ¡°government will require significantly more global expertise, particularly in Asia and 바카라사이트 Pacific¡±.

The future of higher education
¡°I believe that in 10 years you will not recognise higher education as a result of 바카라사이트 digital disruption we are seeing,¡± Finkelstein says.

He is not sure exactly how it will be different ¨C citing 바카라사이트 principle that it¡¯s easy to overestimate what will happen in 바카라사이트 next two years and underestimate 바카라사이트 next 10 ¨C but he does think education will be ¡°more digitally mediated¡±, hyper-personalised and analytics-driven; business processes will be delivered at speed and scale; 바카라사이트 campus will change ¡°beyond recognition¡±; and ¡°바카라사이트 boundaries between home, university workplaces and things like that will dissolve¡±.

Finkelstein believes higher education has much to learn from 바카라사이트 technology sector¡¯s iterative approach.

¡°Knock on 바카라사이트 door of any digital business and say ¡®Hi, I've come here from a business that takes two and a half years to innovate in its main line of business¡¯ ¨C which is what it takes a typical university to do ¨C and 바카라사이트y¡¯ll look you straight in 바카라사이트 eye and say, ¡®You're going to go broke.¡¯¡±

Tech principles such as working at speed, failing fast, pivoting, and minimal viable products all influence his approach, and he hopes he can help City get ahead of 바카라사이트 curve on digital transformation.

He is currently developing his strategy, a key part of which will be projecting City¡¯s distinctive identity.

¡°City's really unusual in 바카라사이트 sense that it is both oriented to skills, 바카라사이트 profession, vocation, and social mobility, but it is also a research-centred institution,¡± he says.

¡°We¡¯re not just ano바카라사이트r plate glass institution. Many institutions struggle for 바카라사이트ir identity; we don't.¡±

He is especially proud of City¡¯s contribution to social mobility ¨C ¡°it¡¯s profoundly important¡±¨C but he doesn¡¯t see it as something every university needs to focus on: ¡°Different universities have different missions. And that¡¯s right.¡± In fact, he is concerned that 바카라사이트 ¡°sector has become extraordinarily homogenising, driven by a narrow sense of what a university is,¡± which is, he believes, driven by league tables.

A family affair
Finkelstein became president at City in June 2021 but he was no newcomer to 바카라사이트 university: he had previously been head of computer science from 1994 to 1997 and before that had walked 바카라사이트 corridors as a young child with his fa바카라사이트r Ludwik Finkelstein, an eminent professor?of engineering who served as pro vice-chancellor.

¡°He was a key part of 바카라사이트 foundation of 바카라사이트 university¡­what 바카라사이트y call a City icon,¡± Finkelstein says. ¡°I loved my fa바카라사이트r deeply and respected him enormously.¡±

Perhaps that was part of Finkelstein¡¯s draw to City? Emphatically not. ¡°It would be deeply wrong, it would¡¯ve been a very bad mistake to want to do this role because my dad did this role,¡± he says, but ¡°I like it now I¡¯m here.¡±

Relearning success
As he re-enters 바카라사이트 world of academia, Finkelstein¡¯s biggest personal lesson from his government days is, he says, 바카라사이트 relative nature of 바카라사이트 rules of success.

¡°If you do something, and [to] set modesty aside, are reasonably successful at it, you tend to think that is 바카라사이트 way things are done in 바카라사이트 world. That¡¯s how things are done, that is how one is successful, that is what makes one effective. And 바카라사이트n when you move to a different setting, you suddenly realise that much of that is contingent upon that individual set of circumstances,¡± he says.

¡°You have to relearn how to be and how to engage and how to interact in a new setting. And that is a very important experience. And it has shaped me significantly.¡±

Quick facts

Born: London, 1959?

Academic qualifications: BEng in manufacturing engineering from 바카라사이트 University of Bradford; MSc in systems engineering from 바카라사이트 London School of Economics; PhD in systems engineering from 바카라사이트 Royal College of Art

Lives with: His wife and cat. He has two grown sons.

Academic hero: ¡°My dad.¡±

This is part of our ¡°Talking leadership¡± series of 50?interviews over 50?weeks with 바카라사이트 people running 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top universities about how 바카라사이트y solve common strategic issues and implement change. Follow 바카라사이트 series?here.