Thread by @divers_james

A small thread on “innovative” NI / Ireland border solutions /1

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NI in these forecasts likely to take a harder hit from Brexit than other parts of U.K. /2
irishtimes.com/business/econo…

The U.K. with its “Magical thinking” /3
amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/a…

The U.K. with its “naive thinking” /4
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

The U.K. with its “utopia” /5
uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/UKNews…

The U.K. with its “fairy tales” /6
irishtimes.com/business/econo…

On “unprecedented solutions” /7
irishtimes.com/opinion/washin…

Here’s the DUP sharing the fairytale /8
irishtimes.com/news/world/eur…

Here the perpetuation of the dream /9
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

Here Ireland on them not seeing any evidence of the technological dream /10
standard.co.uk/comment/commen…

Here on Revenue Commissioner’s seeing physical checks but “away” from the border /11
irishtimes.com/business/econo…

Here also is the government begging for help from businesses /12
huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/brexit-n…

David Davis cites 🇳🇴 and 🇸🇪 as a “very open border” model for U.K. to follow /13
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northe…

Here the actual reality /14
politico.eu/article/brexit…

And here /15
irishtimes.com/news/world/eur…

Here’s Donegal in the republic & a business suffering 25% loss in trade due to smuggling /16
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Here a post on Guiness just because it’s nice to have an alcohol industry view other than Wetherspoons /17
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Here’s the U.K. suffering customs fraud and being penalised by EU /18
theguardian.com/world/2017/mar…

Requires an “alert and nimble border Force” - thinks back to May’s record on border force /19

Here a review on May’s record /20
peterreynolds.wordpress.com/2016/07/02/the…

Here being a 15% cut in border force funding /21
telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/1…

So in terms of an “invisible border” it
has border posts, barriers, ANPR cameras and staff /22

Of course there is EU mutual recognition & AEO/AER’s but they don’t solve everything /23
irishtimes.com/opinion/newton…

So Legatum ... a think tank of experts we do need of course suggested blimps /24

Here on the World war 2 role of Blimps /25
wired.com/2014/10/world-…

“Scared the hell out of everybody” - not sure that applies now unless they carry bombs or are assisting on an aerial bombing run /26

Useful for surveillance ... well in WW2 that was mainly ASW (anti submarine warfare) work /27

But to try and equate that to NI border - doubt any submarines are used in border crossings /28

Perhaps if you fitted cameras to a blimp you could determine what area it could surveil /29

Here is the SR-71 Blackbird /30
wvi.com/~sr71webmaster…

The various cameras do look amazing - but /31

see earlier post on speed of blimp /32

Average 150-200 miles a day /33
vanwagneraerial.com/blog/18-blimp-…

Length of border = 310 miles /34

And of course it’s never windy or cloudy in NI/ROI /35
worldweatheronline.com/v2/weather-ave…

Of course if the blimps are predictable flight times/paths well Smugglers will easily circumvent /36

Of course the Blackbird cameras won’t give you ANPR on VRN’s or face shots of occupants /37

So you figure to effectively patrol border you would need ? blimps to give 24 hr coverage - 2,3,4,5..,? /38

And then assume reserve blimps to cover breakdowns /39

And then assume airstrip , fuelling, parts & maintenance support /40

Personnel from security, mechanics, pilots, admin and facilities staff /41

Of course local fire brigades prepared for aviation risk at airport and in air /42

Of course this doesn’t cover any helicopters or rapid response aircraft to supplement the blimps for aerial cover /43

Or where you need extra ground border / policing resources on this “non-physical” border to aid the blimps /44

Of course Legatum clever enough to pick a high level idea that already is in use /45

Here in America where they have a physical border (soon to be upgraded to Great Trump wall/fence paid for by Mexico ofc)/46

Using fixed position tethered blimps to provide low altitude radar to counter drug smuggling /47
recode.net/2016/11/8/1356…

Cost per tethered site $2.8 million a year /48
acc.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-…

So the other “blue sky” option Legatum come up with is Blockchain /49

Here’s IT experts on “nonsense” /50
irishtimes.com/business/techn…

Here’s a warning from Institute for Government on relying on undefined technologies /51
civilserviceworld.com/articles/news/…

So blockchain /52
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain

Harvard Business Review (2017) stating it expects blockchain to take decades to “seep into economic & social infrastructure” /53

Dubai use of blockchain for improvements in logistics , supply chain visibility and invoicing /54
enterprisetimes.co.uk/2017/02/09/blo…

Strangely it doesn’t mention eliminating physical border infrastructure & checks /55

Here also case studies on improvements on global supply chains /56
logistics-innovations.org/My-Research-Li…

Here with Maersk and efficiencies but again no mention of eliminating physical border infrastructure /57
fortune.com/2017/03/05/mae…

Here the world economic forum on the visibility to supply chain /58
weforum.org/agenda/2017/02…

Here the world economic forum on terrorism (internal & external) and blockchain /59
weforum.org/agenda/2017/01…

Here on Singapore and supply chain efficiency improvements /60
blogs.iadb.org/integration-tr…

Here’s a warning over hyping blockchain too much is dangerous /61
identityassurance.blog.gov.uk/2016/08/15/doe…

Here is Accenture consultants with consulting too sell /62
accenture.com/us-en/blogs/bl…

Here is the Government Digital Service in April 2016 /63
gov.uk/government/spe…

Of course if blockchain is instrumental in supply chain logistics /64

It would be even more effective if the U.K. was in the EU promoting and working with neighbours on this /65

🇨🇳 sees blockchain as an opportunity for world projection and growth & reserve currencies on their terms /66
coindesk.com/political-chin…

As America recedes into populist MAGA /67

China focuses on currency /68

And economic projection /69

If only the U.K. were part of a force magnifier bloc like the EU /70
ciis.org.cn/english/2016-0…

As Germany thinks the U.K. has gone insane /71

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🇨🇳 and 🇷🇺 will be seeking to exploit MAGA 🇺🇸 , 🇬🇧 & EU choices, instability, division and uncertainty /72

Blockchain will improve logistics / supply chain tracking and have a bearing on customs /73

But will it cast into oblivion the need to have physical customs/borders in the immediate /short term ? /end