Latest news with #HowBigThingsGetDone
Metro
3 days ago
- Politics
- Metro
How a cup of tea led to the UK heading up the first metro system in Mongolia
Here are a few fun facts you might not know about Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. It's the coldest capital city on the planet, with an average temperature barely above freezing point. Its Mongolian name translates to 'Red Hero'. And nobody has ever managed to build a metro system there. That's not for lack of trying. Strenuous efforts to bring light rail transit to tunnels beneath the city's broad streets have been taking place for at least 15 years, with countries from South Korea to France offering help to no avail. Now, salvation appears to have come in an unlikely form: an air-conditioned rail line 4,300 miles away, taking passengers from Reading in the west to Shenfield in the east, with tasteful purple branding. Yep, you read that right – our very own Elizabeth Line is soon going to be also running through the deep depths of Mongolia's capital city, Ulaanbaatar. Craig Munro breaks down Westminster chaos into easy to follow insight, walking you through what the latest policies mean to you. Sent every Wednesday. Sign up here. Fiona Blyth, the UK's ambassador to Mongolia, first brought up the Elizabeth line to Ulaanbaatar Mayor Khishgee Nyambaatar in a meeting last November at her residence, a standard suburban house decorated with local art and Union Jack cushions. The mayor signalled his ambition by bringing along a book that has quickly become beloved of city planners and infrastructure nerds around the world since being published last year, plainly titled How Big Things Get Done. Blyth told Metro: 'He's straight down to business, you know, he's not interested in flattery. 'He is a man who is trying to get big things done.' She served him and his wife a cup of Yorkshire Tea and a plate of banana bread, the specialty of the embassy's Mongolian residence manager, then talked him through one of the UK's 'biggest things' of recent years. That was just a month after the mayor's election. Three weeks later, Nyambaatar was in London to try out the Elizabeth line for himself. 'It was quite a surreal moment, being on the tube with someone who's a big figure in Mongolia,' recalled Blyth. 'He's instantly recognisable, probably to every Mongolian. He's a pretty senior figure and we're just, you know, on the Tube.' Over the course of that visit and a return trip in February, he met figures including Transport Minister Mike Kane, Foreign Office Minister Catherine West, and Crossrail boss Paul Dyson. Nyambaatar – a man Blyth describes as 'quite down to the brass tacks' – immediately dived into the details in a bid to work out how such a system could work in Ulaanbaatar. The upshot is that Crossrail International, the firm that delivered the Elizabeth line, is now strategic advisor for the 19.4km, 15-station metro project – and UK companies will be invited to bid on linked contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds. It's a big deal for British businesses, and a massive deal for Mongolia. The residents of the capital will enjoy shorter commutes, cleaner air, and a more vibrant city. Currently, Ulaanbaatar is facing a rapidly growing population, spread across a wide area, with a poor public transport system relying almost entirely on buses. All that is a recipe for one thing: gridlock. At peak hours, the Yaarmag road carries around 95,000 vehicles. Sitting in traffic for hours every day is, of course, particularly grim in a place where the temperatures can fall to -37°C in winter. The predominance of cars has also made Ulaanbaatar one of the most polluted capital cities in the world. Children growing up in the centre of the city have 40% less lung capacity than those who grew up in the countryside. Locals, understandably, are fed up to the back teeth. A metro system is the obvious solution. But every effort to get one off the ground over the past 15 years has fallen flat, to much frustration. But since Nyambaatar's election, he's pushed forward with the planning of the city's very own Elizabeth Line. Mayor Nyambaatar said: 'Mongolia and the UK are jointly building a world-class metro system from the ground up – echoing the bold urban ambition that gave rise to London's underground in 1861. 'This project not only meets global standards – it reflects a shared vision for resilient, connected cities.' More Trending Put simply, Blyth said, this is Mongolia's 'single biggest infrastructure project since the end of communism at the beginning of the 1990s'. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the ambassador's work was an example of how the government has 'reframed embassies as an elite salesforce for UK plc'. He added: 'From the eighteenth century to the present day, Britain has always been a rail pioneer and I am delighted that the globally-admired Elizabeth line will now be expanded to our partner countries.' Work on UB Metro is due to begin in next year, as temperatures begin to creep back into positive figures. Spring can't come soon enough for the residents of the world's coldest capital. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: LNER urges passengers 'do not travel' on East Coast rail line today MORE: Everything you need to know about new Europe travel rules coming within weeks MORE: Severe delays hit Northern line after Tube track fault
Business Insider
27-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Why 99.5% of big projects fail
Dan Gardner is the coauthor of "How Big Things Get Done," a book that explores why so many billion-dollar projects, from nuclear power plants to Olympic Games, go wrong and how some manage to succeed. Drawing on data from over 16,000 megaprojects, Gardner and his coauthor Bent Flyvbjerg reveal the startling truth: Only 0.5% of big projects are delivered on time, on budget, and with the promised results. Business Insider interviewed Dan Gardner to learn about some of the world's most high-profile projects, like the Sydney Opera House, which soared 1,400% over budget, and the troubled California High-Speed Rail, which is expected to cost over $100 billion and hasn't moved any passengers yet. He also spotlights the rare successes, like the Empire State Building and the Hoover Dam, to show what's possible when projects are built on smart planning, strong leadership, and modular thinking.
Scoop
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
The Beths Announce New Album 'Straight Line Was A Lie' & Release New Single 'No Joy'
The Beths — the Auckland based quartet of vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck — announce their new album, Straight Line Was A Lie —their first for their new label ANTI —out August 29th, and share the new single/video, 'No Joy.' The Beths know the futility of straight lines. Existential vertigo serves as the primary theme on the indie heroes' fourth album. The Beths posit that the only way round is through; that even after going through difficult, transformative experiences, you can still feel as though you've ended up in the same place. It's a bewildering thing, realising that life and personal growth are cyclical and continual. That a chapter doesn't always end with peace and acceptance. That the approach is simply continuing to try, to show up. 'Linear progression is an illusion,' Stokes explains. 'What life really is is maintenance. But you can find meaning in the maintenance.' The path from The Beths' critically celebrated and year-end-list-topping 2022 album Expert In A Dying Field to Straight Line Was A Lie was anything but straightforward. For the first time, Stokes was struggling to write new songs beyond fragments she'd recorded on her phone. She'd recently started taking an SSRI, which on one hand made her feel like she could 'fix' everything broken in her life, from her mental and physical health to fraught family dynamics. At the same time, writing wasn't coming as easily as it had before. ' I was kind of dealing with a new brain, and I feel like I write very instinctually,' she says. ' It was kind of like my instincts were just a little different, they weren't as panicky.' While Stokes felt a huge relief from taking an SSRI, she articulates the emotional trade-offs on today's single, 'No Joy,' which thunders in with Deck's vigorous percussion and drops another classic Beths soundbite: 'This year's gonna kill me/ Gonna kill me.' Ironically, though, the stress Stokes sings about can't touch her, thanks to her pharmaceutical regimen. She wants the feeling back. " It's about anhedonia, which, paradoxically, was there both in the worst parts of depression, and then also when I was feeling pretty numb on my SSRI,' Stokes says. ' It wasn't that I was sad, I was feeling pretty good. It was just that I didn't like the things that I liked. I wasn't getting joy from them. It's very literal.' In writing Straight Line Was A Lie, Stokes and Pearce broke down the typical Beths writing process. For inspiration, they read Stephen King's On Writing, How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, and Working by Robert A. Caro. Liz broke out a Remington typewriter (a birthday gift from Beths bassist Benjamin Sinclair) every morning for a month, writing 10 pages' worth of material — mostly streams of consciousness. The resulting stack of paper was the primary fodder for an extended writing retreat to Los Angeles between tours, where Stokes and Pearce also leaned heavily into LA's singular creative atmosphere, went to shows, watched Criterion classics from Kurosawa, and listened to Drive-By Truckers, The Go-Go's, and Olivia Rodrigo. Opening themselves up to a wave of creative input, plus Stokes' free-flowing writing routine, proved therapeutic. ' Writing so much down forced me to look at stuff that I didn't want to look at,' Stokes says. ' In the past, in my memories. Things I normally don't like to think about or I'm scared to revisit, I'm putting them down on paper and thinking about them, addressing them.' Already a celebrated lyricist, Stokes has long impressed fans and critics with wryly knowing song titles like 'Future Me Hates Me' and 'Expert In A Dying Field' — catchy, instant-classic turns of phrase that capture the personal and ladder up to the universal. But Stokes' intentional deconstruction and rebuilding of her relationship to writing, however, has resulted in a complete renewal. Her songwriting has achieved startling new depths of insight and vulnerability, making Straight Line Was A Lie the most sharply observant, truthful, and poetic Beths project to date. Following Liz Stokes's recent, sold–out solo show at Largo in Los Angeles with special guests Roz Hernandez, Courtney Barnett and Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords), The Beths announced a world tour across North America, the UK and Europe this fall. They'll headline some of their biggest venues to date, including The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Salt Shed in Chicago, Brooklyn Paramount in New York City, Union Transfer in Philadelphia, 9:30 Club in Washington, DC and more. A full list of dates is below, and tickets are now available here.
Zawya
25-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Global experts and policymakers convene at KPMG's Public Sector Excellence Forum 2025 in Riyadh
The event featured ten thought-provoking sessions with over 25 local and international speakers across high-profile panel discussions and fireside chats on AI-driven transformation, economic sustainability, and public sector innovation. KPMG launched the Blueprint for Intelligent Economies, a strategic framework designed to help governments leverage technology and innovation to enhance economic resilience and governance effectiveness. Riyadh – Public sector officials, industry experts, and policymakers gathered in Riyadh for the Public Sector Excellence Forum 2025, hosted by KPMG Middle East. Under the theme, "Governing with impact: Delivering public value," the forum explored leadership, technology, sustainability, and risk resilience, shaping the future of governance. At the opening of the event, Dr. Abdullah Al Fozan, CEO at KPMG Middle East, emphasized cross-institution collaboration as critical to public sector success, stating, "Excellence in the public sector is not just an end goal but an ongoing process that requires a clear vision, effective collaboration, and shared commitment. Challenges exist, but when efforts are united and institutions work together, they can easily be overcome." High-profile speakers from Saudi Arabia's public sector included H.E. Dr. Munir Eldesouki, President of KACST, who was interviewed by entrepreneur Mansour Alsanooni on how great leaders inspire action, and Eng. Suliman AlRumaih, Group CEO of SALIC who delved deeper into securing food, water, and energy sustainability. Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg, Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen and author of the groundbreaking study on project management, 'How Big Things Get Done,' took a data-driven approach to large-scale projects and presented critical insights into the successful delivery of such projects. The panel on capabilities – one of the four foundational themes of technology, sustainability and risk – featured H.E. Dr. Bander Alsajjan, Director General at the Institute of Public Administration, Dr. Mohammed Alabdulaali, Assistant Minister at Ministry of Health and H.E. Hekia Parata, Former New Zealand Minister of Education, Minister of Energy and Resources, and Minister for Women, who discussed how to build exceptional leaders during exceptional times. Ismail Alani, Head of Government and Public Sector at KPMG Middle East who also sat on the panel, emphasized the importance of foresight in public sector leadership, 'Exceptional leadership is not about reacting to change but anticipating it. In today's rapidly evolving world, public sector leaders must embrace agility, innovation, and strategic foresight to drive meaningful impact.' Further, the Blueprint for Intelligent Economies was launched and introduced by KPMG's Global Head of Government, Brenda Walker and Maz Hussain, Head of AI for KPMG Middle East. The publication, co-developed by KPMG and the World Economic Forum, presents a framework that focuses on AI-driven economies in which the technology is leveraged for the public good. The technology panel explored human capital and AI-driven governance models – emphasizing AI adoption, workforce upskilling, and cybersecurity in public sector transformation, while the sustainability panel discussed financing models for sustainable development – and featured Eng. Hashim Al Dabbagh, CEO as Aseer Development Authority and Stephen Beatty, Chairman of the Advisory Board at the National Center for Privatization. The fourth theme, risk, was approached with two sessions, on predictive risk management tools, and the anticipation of systemic shocks – black swans and unknown unknowns, featuring Dr. Mohammed Aldhoayan from the National Cybersecurity Authority as global KPMG experts in dynamic risk assessments and geopolitics. POLITICO Executive Editor Anne McElvoy and Adrian Monck, Senior Adviser to Abu Dhabi's Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence moderated the forum's sessions. Hanan Alowain, Partner in the Government and Public Sector at KPMG Middle East, closed the event by reflecting on the forum's insights, emphasizing the shared commitment to progress, resilience, and collective prosperity.
