trip to london

(reconstructed from wayback)

I’m in central London at the moment talking about the Semantic Web with various CIO/CTOs working in and or around the Criminal Justice IT and eGov departments of the UK. During the conference we were notified of the bombings around central London. The conference has been cut short in part because many of the folks I was talking to needed to focus on the real problem at hand. (That, and while it was clear a chain of events were unfolding, it was unclear what the targets were. In this particular case, having so many top UK officials in one single place I suspect was not viewed as a good idea).

The situation was terrible, but the people responded in a fantastic manner. I’m impressed with how Londoners delt with this tragedy – working with each other to help those that need it most. The UK Government officials (Fire, Police, Emergency, etc.) in particular reacted brilliantly in the face of a terrible series of events. People were clearly shocked, but unwilling to let this terrible situation keep them from getting on with their lifes. My thoughts are with those dealing personally with this tragedy.

If there is a silver lining one could see from this event, it was witnessing the indomitable spirit of man rising above such a terrible tragedy. This is certainly not a trip I’ll soon forget.