When I read the first letter I carelessly didn't check the header and assumed that it was the "UK government response..." that you spoke of. I thought, wow, som

When I read the first letter I carelessly didn't check the header and assumed that it was the "UK government response..." that you spoke of. I thought, wow, someone in our government is really switched on. They've cross referenced their letter, they are aware of the history of the subject and they understand why Britain is so woefully behind in this area. And moreover, they are reaching out to computing experts (albeit ones that contacted them first) to help with the project and meet with them in person. Awesome. Then I read the second letter and recognised the unimaginative, bureaucratic style that British people have come to love and cherish. "Oh, how can I get rid of this person and make them someone else's problem." Internationally, attitudes towards programming in academic circles are finally changing. There is right at this moment a real sea-change in the air. I don't know if that is due to Veovodsky's work on a new "Univalent Foundations for Mathematics" or whether people are just waking up to how much work it actually takes to bring academic computing work up to industry standards. But there is a change. Unfortunately I am yet to see evidence of it in Britain, however. Students still remain woefully underprepared in this area and don't seem to develop a natural affinity for programming except in extremely rare cases. And the academic attitude to computing is still very standoffish on the whole.