User:Jayvdb/Saved pages/Nicholas Beale

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Nicholas C.L. Beale is British management consultant with interest in social philosophy and a background in computer science. His work on strategic investment and management issues is said to have helped develop the best framework in the world for engagement between companies and investors[1]. He is also involved in the public debate on the relationship between science and religion, and initiated discussion of the ethical and spiritual implications of the Internet.[2][3][4] He hosts a Christian apologetics web site starcourse.org, and as part of which, he manages John Polkinghorne's web presence. Nicholas Beale is very outspoken on the questions related to the existence of God. In a debate with Colin Howson, he defended the position that "the scientific and philosophical arguments for the existence of God are almost overwhelming".

Contents

[edit] Career

Beale was born in 1955 the son of E.M.L. Beale, FRS. He was a scholar at Winchester College and in Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge[5] . He was Managing Director of Beale Electronic Systems Ltd (1977-85) and held other positions before becoming Chairman of Sciteb (1989- present). He was a director of the First Film Foundation( 1991-95). He is an oblate of Alton Abbey 1994-; Freeman of the City of London 1996, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists 1997 (and Chairman, Ethical and Spiritual Development Panel 97-05); FRSA 1991[5]. In the 1980s he served as a voting member on IEEE Project 802.5 WG[6], and patented an invention concerning reconfiguring token rings, required by the IEEE Standards Board to be available under RAND terms to vendors.[7][8] Also in the 80s, Neale and Simon Peyton Jones proposed the addition of combinators into Ada with notation called "ADL/1", [9][10] and he continued to write technical papers about emerging telecommunications, such as fibre optics,[11][12] and the private industry standards Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP) and Technical and Office Protocol (TOP).[13]

[edit] Social philosophy

The major influences on his thought are John Polkinghorne, whose website he runs[14], and Charles Handy to whom his book Constructive Engagement is co-dedicated.

[edit] Science, technology, society and religion

In 1997 Beale initiated a series of WCIT Colloquia at the House of Lords on the Ethical and Spiritual Implications of the Internet, whose featured participants included Steve Shirley, Richard Chartres, Robert May, William Dutton and Arun Sarin[2]. Beale co-authored a paper on the ethical and spiritual implications of the Internet[3] and contributed to the first [citation needed] book on the subject[15].

Beale believes that "the scientific and philosophical arguments for the existence of God are almost overwhelming" and his debate[16] on this subject with Prof Colin Howson was published in Prospect[17].

[edit] Business and investment

His first publication, R&D Short-Termism? (published in collaboration with the CBI) suggested that there were significant pressures on companies to under-invest in R&D. Subsequent publications were mainly based on work to improve communication, trust and understanding between investors, investment analysts and industrialists, although one collaboration with the Royal Society[18] worked to encourage dialogue between Investors and Scientists.

His Constructive Engagement: Directors and Investors in Action, written at the instigation of Charles Handy, describes what Beale sees as best practice in the relationship between directors and investors, illustrated by case studies, as well as material based on interviews with leading UK directors and investors. He advocates a transition from governance to stewardship and suggests that board behaviours matter more than processes. A case study from this book formed the basis of his HBR piece and his Sunday Times article. The CEO of one UK Investor suggested that Beale's work has helped develop the best framework in the world for engagement between companies and investors[1].

[edit] Publications

[edit] Technical publications

[edit] General publications

[edit] Books

  • R&D Short Termism? (in collaboration with the CBI) published (1991)
    • Reviewed: "Industry and City" The Times 19 April 1991.
  • Cybernauts Awake (co-author). Church House Publishing (1999) ISBN 0715165860 Text on the web
  • Constructive Engagement: Directors and Investors in Action Gower (2005) ISBN 9780566087110

[edit] Articles and other publications

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes & references

  1. ^ a b Keith Jones, CEO of Morley Fund Management, quoted here
  2. ^ a b WCIT House of Lords Colloquia 1997-2005 details here
  3. ^ a b N. Beale, P. Duquenoy and H. Thimbleby, "UK Views on Ethical and Spiritual Implications of IT", Fourth International Conference on Ethical Issues in Information Technology, Ethicomp'98, pp734-742, 1998. [1]
  4. ^ Internet wake-up call. Church of England. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  5. ^ a b Entry in Debrett's People of Today 2006 p109
  6. ^ (un-numbered) p13 of ANSI/IEEE Std 802.5-1985 ISBN 0471-82996X
  7. ^ Nicholas Beale et al. Data transmission system and method US Patent number: 4709365
  8. ^ IEEE Stds 802.5 - 802.10 and amendments. IEEE (April 11, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
  9. ^ NCL Beale (November 9-11, 1981). "An ADA compatible specification language". Proceedings of the ACM'81 conference. doi:10.1145/800175.809857. ISBN 0-89791-049-4. 
  10. ^ NCL Beale. "Compiling ADL/1 to combinators". TR8202. 
  11. ^ Beale, N C L (30 April - 2 May 1985). "Standard fibre optic ring LANs". SPIE Conference on Fiber Optics: pp. 98-106. 
  12. ^ Beale, N C L (1989). "Remarks on standard fibre-optic LANs". International Journal of Digital & Analog Cabled Systems 2 (3): pp. 133-137. ISSN 0894-3222. 
  13. ^ N C L Neale (1988). "The MAP/TOP initiative", in R. Reardon: Networks for the 1990s. John Wiley & Sons, pp132 - 138. ISBN 0-86353-131-8. 
  14. ^ John Polkinghorne official website
  15. ^ Cybernauts Awake: Ethical and Spiritual Implications of Computers, Information Technology and the Internet Church House Publishing 1999 ISBN 0715165860
  16. ^ Beale / Howson emails in full, The Starcourse, accessed 25 April 2007
  17. ^ Prospect Article May 1998
  18. ^ (with Sir Brian Jenkins GBE) The Missing Link, City Science & Technology Dialogue published by the Royal Society, 1995


[edit] Categories

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Consultants