Claudia Lanzoni, tax manager at SMP Accounting and Tax, is understood to have become the first person to complete the Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT) in the Isle of Man.

She had to pass three examinations to achieve the Chartered Institute of Taxation qualification, with subjects covering principles of international taxation, transfer pricing, OECD double tax treaties and OECD initiatives in the tax field, UK taxation of cross-border transactions, UK taxation of mobile individuals, UK non-domiciled and offshore trusts, EU law and CJEU tax cases. Claudia’s first language is Italian, meaning she had to study complex tax matters and sit demanding exams in her second language, making her achievement remarkable. ADIT is a specialist, advanced qualification in international and cross-border taxation which provides the opportunity to prove and improve professional credentials in international tax. It is recognised as a global benchmark of quality and an independent way of demonstrating knowledge and ability.

Claudia, who joined SMP in 2006, said: ‘I am extremely proud to have achieved this qualification, which is the result of intensive studying, hard work and the support of everyone in the SMP Partners Group. The additional knowledge earned during this process will further enhance the professional service SMP Accounting and Tax delivers for our clients all over the world.’

Since joining SMP Accounting and Tax in 2012, Claudia has assisted with queries on UK and international taxation, as well as the preparation of UK tax returns for companies, individuals and trusts.

NEW tricknology strikes again . . .

It is reasonable to expect that reception at any airport hotel will be only too happy to accede to requests for an alarm call in order to wake you up in time for an early morning flight.

But at the oddly named HamptonbyHilton establishment across the road from Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport they do not provide this simple service. They hand it over to new tricknology.

When I was taking an early flight back to the Isle of Man I asked for a call at 6.30am.

The girl at reception told me I had to do it for myself. She said: ‘You do it by way of a black box on your bedside table.’

The first worry about this was why an airport hotel, intimately involved with aviation, should need a black box.

Was it there in case the airport hotel crashed down to the ground and air accident investigators would need to find the black box with its important information?

This didn’t seem all that likely. But when I got to my room there was my black box. What to do with it?

New tricknology defeats me every time so I found and pulled a cord in the bathroom declared to be in case of emergency.

This brought a young man to my door. He didn’t seem surprised when I asked him to make the black box deliver an alarm call at 6.30am. He pressed some some buttons. Then he apologised and told me: ‘I’m afraid to say it can’t do 6.30am. It can only do 6.15am or 6.45 am. Your choice, sir’

It was like being told what’s on and what’s not at the New Tricknology Restaurant in somewhere like Sillycon Valley.

I chose 6.15 am to be on the safe side. I woke up at 4am and could not get back to sleep again.

That’s new tricknology for you.

THE Isle of Man Courier’s page one lead story headline was: ‘WOMAN, 40, HID ECSTASY IN HER BRA.’

I wonder if it was worth looking for.

THIS month’s crossword clue has been sent in by Redvers Skillicorn in Bristol.

It was in the Sunday Express general knowledge crossword as follows: ‘The – the Parliament of the Isle of Man.’

I am not going to publish the answer.

LIKE me, my Manx Radio colleague Stu Peters stares askance at the cultural fascism that is political correctness and in ‘Talking Heads’ last week he challenged the use of the word ‘chair’ in the disingenderisation (if that’s a word) of a human being who presides over a meeting.

‘Why not sofa or something of that sort?’ he demanded.

Well, I didn’t go along with sofa Stu. I would much prefer the word ‘stool.’

Of course in the Isle of Man, to be PC, it would have to be a three-legged stool.

LAST week I told my world-wide readership that I preferred Bremain to Brexit on the grounds that the devil you know is better.

This brought an email in from a lady wishing to be known as ‘Disgusted of Onchan’ saying: ‘During your very long lifetime we have been out of Europe for much longer than we have been in.

‘Perhaps your mathematical skills have increased and you are able to talk knowledgeably about kilos, metres, etc, etc.’

l’m not. But I can say that I am inching my way into the 21st century.

FRANK Bond says last week the Examiner said prizes for the Glen Maye duck race include ‘a return ticket for a car and two adults on the Steam Packet.’

As Frank says, that should pull them in.

FUNNIES File: The Press Association sent a story to Manx Radio saying: ‘Hundreds of black and white youths rioted in Brixton.’

WORLD headline: ‘Hospitals are sued by seven foot doctors.’

They must have had a tall story to tell.

Isle of Man Friends of the Earth co-ordinator Pete Christian suggests ways in which the government can meet its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent of the 1990 figures by 2050

-----------------------------

In May 2013 Tynwald voted to ditch a previous unanimously supported motion committing to securing 15 per cent of our electricity from renewables by 2015.

Instead, they voted for reducing carbon emissions by 80% of the 1990 figures, to be achieved by 2050.

After three years it seems reasonable to ask what has been achieved.

I don’t have access to accurate figures of today’s emissions, but I’m fairly certain there has been no major reduction at all.

At a recent presentation to Tynwald by acclaimed climate scientists Professors Anderson and Bows Larkin of Manchester University, the point was strongly made that reduced emissions are of the utmost urgency.

If we leave the bulk of the 80 per cent to be achieved by some magic bullet towards the end of the period, it will be too late.

I believe the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture will put something to July Tynwald addressing progress, possibly prioritising the twin issues of reducing domestic energy consumption, and the fuel poverty still shamefully affecting about 10 per cent of homes.

We hope this will be a substantial piece of work to be supported by members.

But meanwhile here are some suggestions for easy ‘wins’: not without cost, but the VAT rebate and the much vaunted return on the Pinewood investment give some leeway.

And any progress requires imaginative and targeted investment by enlightened politicians.

Electric vehicles

Allocate funds to subsidise purchase of new electric vehicles, grant of £3,000 per vehicle.

Based on average annual mileage of 5,000 miles or 8,000 kilometres, with real world average CO2 emissions of say 150g/km, I make that a saving of 1.2 tonnes of carbon per EV replacing an internal combustion-engined car.

A fund of £1m would subsidise around 333 vehicles with zero tail pipe emissions, total 400 tonnes saved each year.

Solar PV panels

Subsidies of £1,000 per household for the installation of 4kw solar PV arrays, promoting the uptake of this superb simple technology in 500 households, predicted to save at least the equivalent of 1.2 tonnes of carbon each per annum, there’s another 600 tonnes.

I’m sure the MUA could accommodate the level of electricity from this microgeneration, as significant kWhours will be consumed by the residents, and the MUA routinely sells excess energy into the UK already.

For the total one-off expenditure of £1.5m, that would be 1,000 tonnes carbon reduction, every year, and the twin initiatives would kick start a low carbon transition (revolution?).

Firefighters in Douglas were called out to Imperial Heights apartments at around 9.20pm last night (Wednesday) following reports of a burning smell.

On arrival, crews established that the incident was confined to the basement car park area.

After further investigation the cause was found to be a faulty motion sensor for the basement lights.

Crews isolated the electrical supply to the basement lighting circuit, and waited for the apartment’s electrician to attend and fix the fault.

Crew’s were in attendance for around 90 minutes.

Special IT Matters report by Steve Burrows for Business News.

Do you know how many customers you have?

For many businesses the answer will be no, because they trade through intermediaries, or no, because customers may have multiple accounts, or no, because it’s a cash business.

Data is funny stuff. It means different things to different people in different contexts.

We interpret data differently depending on our context, you and I may look at the same data and derive very different conclusions.

This is why we have GAAP and IFRS for corporate accounting, without consistency of processing the same set of data yields different answers to different users, and like for like comparisons between sets of data becomes meaningless.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard managers whining about dodgy data, only for it to emerge that the data was fine but their processing of it was inconsistent, undisciplined, ad-hoc, and frankly amateurish.

Last week we were flooded with data, when the ICIJ published the data extracted from the Panama Papers. Journalists, socialists, tax campaigners et. al. around the world are bleating on about the headline numbers. In the Isle of Man, we learned, the papers contain ‘4,983 offshore entities, 2,018 company officers, 213 intermediaries and 1,171 addresses linked to the Isle of Man’.

Tax authorities and financial regulators abroad are probably rubbing their hands with glee.

The headlines are not quite true.

Firstly the ICIJ offshore leaks database is not merely the Panama Papers, it also contains the data collected from earlier leaks published in 2013. Then once we start analysing the data there are substantial duplications, for instance under officers instead of around 2,000 Isle of Man Officers there are really only about 800 associated with the Panama Papers after cleansing and de-duplication, and most of these are corporate officers which are subsidiaries of CSPs.

The 1,000 addresses is similarly stretching the truth, after cleansing the sum total of addresses for the entities connected to IoM is about 250, the total of all addresses including addresses of officers and Intermediaries is 600 - and some of these are abroad.

The 50 per cent discrepancy between the news headlines and the truth is dodgy data. The Panama Papers include a mere eight Isle of Man registered entities.

misleading at best

While the underlying data may be OK, the way in which it has been assembled by the underpowered team of three ICIJ technicians is misleading at best.

It is easy to search the data for names, but not so easy to draw reliable conclusions from it. Instead of giving an accurate picture of the involvements of an officer, or intermediary, or address, it gives us a group of fragmented views; there may be for example six entries for an officer, each revealing a part of their connections - and no way for anyone to draw an accurate picture without downloading the raw data from the ICIJ and re-processing it to generate ‘Truth’.

This reflects a common problem seen in many corporate databases; amateurish construction and maintenance of data, lack of cleansing and de-duplication, failure to process in a consistent and standard manner etc. mean that data is not what it seems and valid information cannot be generated.

Just as many businesses cannot actually answer the question of how many customers they have even though they trade with those customers directly, because of duplicate accounts, and accounts for different departments of the same company and branch offices etc., without professional re-processing the offshore leaks database can’t tell us how many officers or addresses in the Isle of Man are associated with the Panama Papers.

Mud sticks however, so despite it being totally untrue, the world will think the Isle of Man has around 2,000 officers associated with dodgy dealings in Panama, which is most of our CSP sector. The damage is done.

dodgy data

The problem of dodgy data is pretty universal, and it has an adverse effect on organisational performance because decision-makers are misinformed. It is expensive to clean data and expensive to maintain it properly.

Producing accurate results is a distinct and demanding skillset, with the result that much of the so-called information we see in business is produced by amateurs. For example in one case I saw the sales and operations people in a company produced their own reports, and the inaccuracies only came to light when the MD queried why sales thought they had 40,000 customers when operations were only servicing 27,000 of them.

Amateurs handling data can have serious consequences, for business strategy, and occasionally for reputation. Many of us have at times derided Government statistics.

Getting to a single version of truth requires discipline and consistency of method.

One of the latest recruitment fads is data scientists - people who can actually process data intelligently, accurately and consistently (we used to call these specialists reporting analysts, but perceptions of the role have been upgraded as the paychecks required to attract the best have inflated).

amateurs

Nevertheless we almost all have these amateurs handling data, and producing dodgy results. Unless an organisation has a ruthless head of IT or chief information officer who insists on monopolising the professional production of reports, it is likely that the only reliable information in an organisation is the accounts, and their scope is very limited.

I recently received an email to my management consulting company, SBA Limited, from the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority (the FSA), the combined regulator which has replaced the Financial Supervision Commission and the Insurance & Pensions Authority.

The email read: ‘You are receiving this correspondence because it would appear that you may be undertaking, or holding out as undertaking the business of a virtual currency provider, a designated business as defined in Schedule 1 to the Act.’

The missive from the regulator went on to say: ‘If you have not already done so, will you please review your activities against the Act as a matter of urgency and advise us of your conclusions.

‘If you believe yourselves to be exempt or outside the scope of the Act please set this out in the form of a breakdown of the activities that you perform in respect of any customers on whose behalf you act, in or from the Isle of Man.’

To say that I took umbrage would be a magnificent understatement.

Here was some public servant maligning my company, and therefore me personally as its sole worker, as unlawfully operating a virtual currency business; perhaps dealing in untraced dodgy cryptocurrencies best known for facilitating unlawful trade in drugs and guns - and demanding that I go to the significant effort of explaining exactly what my business does in order to show that my management consulting activities did not fall within the scope of the act.

I telephoned the FSA demanding to know from where they had got their information, and was told it was ‘in their records’.

In short they had put SBA Limited into an official list or database. I asked why they had included me in their records, and they claimed they had read it in SBA’s website.

SBA’s website offers my services as a ‘virtual chief information officer’, and my expertise in ‘Virtualisation’ (the hosting of many computer servers on one physical computer), nowhere does it mention virtual currencies.

I can only assume that some blundering bungling bureaucrat working in the FSA has been trawling through Isle of Man business websites and cannot tell the difference between a six-foot two inch male, balding IT expert and a cryptographically encoded chunk of data purporting to carry information about a value transfer transaction.

implied threat

Thus SBA was included within the FSA’s dodgy data and I was harassed under implied threat of regulatory sanction to explain myself for our non-breach of the DBRO Act.

It would seem that some of the FSA’s amateurishly and unlawfully compiled records have no more integrity than the ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks dodgy database of stolen data. There is probably truth to be found in both of them, but both can also be used to draw dangerous conclusions in the hands of amateurs.

Harassing

Personally the prospect of the Panama Papers dodgy data in the hands of the blundering bureaucrats employed by regulators and tax authorities worries me deeply as the combination is guaranteed to waste huge amounts of taxpayer’s money whilst harassing many innocent people. Processing data is a job for professionals, unfortunately dodgy data is everywhere and unless the reckless amateurs who produce it are sat upon hard it damages governments, businesses and individuals.

For the sake of disclosure, I do have an interest in virtual currencies, which is nothing to do with SBA Limited so wrongly maligned by the FSA.

I am the inventor of a digital currency acceptance mechanism for vending machines. If the FSA had the nous to ask me about that I would have been able to tell them that my invention is outside the scope of the DBRO Act because I have merely created a machine for others to use; it’s not for sale (yet) and I don’t get to touch the filthy lucre myself.

Nevertheless, if virtual currencies ever go big for consumer payments I could be coining it in.

The hospice is to hold a second urban slide.

This year it will take place in Walpole Road in Peel on August 21, the same day as the Peel Soap Box Derby.

Caroline Cornish, head of international customer services and director and general manager (IOM) from Friends Provident International said: ‘We are thrilled to be support the Urban Slide event for the second year and our staff are excited to be involved in organising and staffing the event.

‘A few of us may even have a go ourselves! We are also proud of our ongoing partnership with Hospice Isle of Man which demonstrates our commitment to making a difference to the Isle of Man. The hospice does so much good work and it is an honour to support them in providing much needed care and support to the Manx community.’

Event nanager for Hospice, Sharon Connor said: ‘We are very grateful to Friends Provident International for co-partnering this event with us again, not only did they purchase the slide and all the paraphilia last year, they have donated funds again this year and are providing staff to help organising and man the event.’

She added: ‘This is a hill with guaranteed extra speed so we expect places to go quickly. I would encourage anyone interested to click on the below link as soon as possible and sign up.

‘We are limited to 500 places – we cannot keep places as it is an electronic sign-on system.’

For further details email events@hospice.org.im or ring Sharon 647432.

To register for the event {https://hospiceiomurbanslide2016.eventbrite.co.uk|click here}.

Tributes have been paid to Dr Mike Pendrill, a long-standing teacher at Ramsey Grammar School who has died.

Mike joined RGS as Second in English in 2002 from St Ninian’s High School and quickly established himself as a well respected, admired and popular member of the English team.

Head teacher Annette Baker said: ‘He described himself as a “restless academic”, intent on furthering his knowledge of his beloved English literature at every opportunity.

‘As a lifelong learner, while continuing to teach, he went on to obtain, in 2012, his DPhil in English literature. He was the point of reference for many a sixth form student heading for university, as well as a caring and supportive form tutor.

‘Mike was an inspirational teacher of English and media studies primarily, though typically his talents extended still further to the teaching of history, sociology, RE, general studies and drama.

‘He was also a passionate supporter of school productions, using his talents and experience as a filmmaker to ensure that memories were captured and shared.

‘He bore his illness with stoicism and fortitude, and worked for his students and the school up until the very end.

‘He will be sadly missed by students, staff, parents, families and members of the northern community.’

Staff at a number of companies in the Isle of Man wore red on Friday as part of a fundraising drive for the Red Cross.

Organisers are counting the money raised. So far it’s more than £6,500.

The companies included Microgaming, Conister Bank, Heron and Brearley, Baker Tilly, Claire Christian Couture and Duncan Lawrie.

John Houghton, the MHK who was suspended after he refused to accept that he was a bully, has now been offically suspended from the Department of Infrastructure.

The Council of Ministers has agreed the move today.

It means he’ll lose the extra £11,863 on top of his basic MHK salary of £39,546 for his role in the department.

Tynwald Members voted on Tuesday to receive a report by the Tynwald Standards Committee into allegations of inappropriate conduct made against Mr Houghton and to accept its recommendation that the Douglas North MHK apologise.

Mr Houghton refused to apologise and has been suspended indefinitely from Tynwald and the House of Keys.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/tynwald-washes-its-dirty-linen-in-public-1-7916754|Our report from earlier this week}

Speaking on behalf of the Council of Ministers, Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne MHK said: ‘I have spoken to Mr Houghton and explained to him that owing to his suspension from Tynwald he cannot continue as a member of the department. A key part of the role of a departmental member is to support the passage of legislation through Tynwald and its branches, a function Mr Houghton cannot currently fulfil.’

The Minister added: ‘The Council of Ministers has determined that Mr Houghton be suspended from the Department of Infrastructure without pay, with effect from Tuesday, May 17. If Mr Houghton complies with the decision taken by Tynwald and offers an apology consideration will be given to his reinstatement as a member of the Department.’

An email sent to all members of Tynwald from the Clerk of Tynwald yesterday reads

‘As you know, Mr Houghton has been suspended from the service of Tynwald and has been required under Standing Orders to withdraw from the precincts.

‘Would Members please note that while suspended Mr Houghton is not permitted to enter any part of the Legislative Buildings including the Chambers, committee rooms and public areas. His access card is being disabled and staff in the Office of the Clerk of Tynwald have been instructed not to provide him with any services.’

In today’s Manx Independent, Phil Gawne laments the macho 1970s style of Manx politics.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/mhk-john-houghton-accused-of-lying-and-bullying-1-7895194|Houghton accused of lying and bullying}

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/john-houghton-mhk-ordered-to-leave-house-of-keys-sitting-1-6946767|When Houghton was ordered out of the Keys in 2014}

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/houghton-apologises-to-mhks-over-pension-1-7006753|When Houghton DID apologise to MHKs (after the Manx Independent revealed that one MHK was not paying his pension. It turned out to be Mr Houghton}

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/john-houghton-resigns-from-whitley-council-1-1789585|Houghton resigned from Whitley Council in 2009 after he accused someone else of threatening, insulting and abusive behaviour}

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/outrage-in-keys-over-transsexuals-rights-comments-1-1789382|Houghton’s outburst against transsexuals}

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/hall-and-houghton-sacked-from-isle-of-man-dept-of-education-1-4466648|When Houghton was sacked from the Department of Education}

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/toilet-tax-is-unfair-but-we-must-introduce-it-our-hands-are-tied-1-6421865|Houghton’s defence of the introduction of the toilet tax}

Ramsey Commissioners are inviting people in the town to go along and meet them.

They are hosting a drop-in session in Ramsey Town Hall’s board room on Saturday, May 21, between 2pm and 4pm when members of the public will have an opportunity to meet the town’s newly elected board of commissioners.

It will be the first time that they have met the public at a session since {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/i-m-not-sexist-says-town-s-newly-elected-politician-1-7902428|our story} about William Hankin’s lewd language which was exposed in an employment tribunal case.

Chairman Lawrie Hooper said: ‘As with all local authorities Ramsey is facing difficult challenges to deliver more for less, secure Ramsey’s long-term economic growth and make our town a thriving place in which to live and work.

‘This can only be achieved by engaging with and listening to the community to better understand the issues that matter to the people of our town. It is for this reason that we are holding this drop-in session which we see as a valuable means of forming a productive partnership with those we serve.’

Police are hunting a driver whose car hit a pedestrian yesterday morning.

He was driving a black Nissan Navara at the entrance to Onchan shopping centre car park, Avondale Road, Onchan, at about 9.20am.

The pedestrian suffered minor injuries as a result of the collision.

Police would also like to speak to anyone in the area at the time who may have witnessed the collision.

If you have any information regarding the collision contact the police on 631212 or contact the anonymous Crimestoppers Line on 0800 555 111.

A drinker who fought with a pub barman who took away his pizza could be facing a prison sentence.

Lee Gerard Cushion, of Castlemona Avenue, tussled with the barman at the Prospect pub in Douglas then punched him twice as he lay helpless on the ground.

The court was told he objected to his pizza being taken and placed on an outside table at the front of the pub.

Prosecutor Michael Jelski said 40-year-old Cushion had visited the pub at around 10.30pm on September 29 last year and was sitting at the bar drinking and eating a pizza.

He said at 10.50pm, the bar staff started clearing glasses and Cushion tried to stop them. But when they took Cushion’s pizza outside the altercation erupted.

‘The defendant pushed the victim and he ended up on the pavement, and the defendant was seen punching the victim while he was on the ground,’ Mr Jelski said.

‘The defendant then threw a further punch towards the victim and the police were called but the defendant walked away before they arrived.’

However, he said Cushion had gone voluntarily to the police station a few days later and been interviewed.

He told police he felt the bar staff were being provocative in taking away drinks. He added he had left the scene because he tended to get in trouble dealing with police when he was drunk.

Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes bailed the defendant for two weeks pending completion of an all options pre-sentence report.

He was bailed on a £500 recognisance to his home address to reappear before the court on June 28 for sentencing.

Michael Commissioners have dropped plans to refurbish a play park at Crowe’s Field due to a lack of funds.

They are to meet the public about the issue on Sunday.

The board says that the current quotation for the refurbished park is £72,999.25. The price is for equipment and fitting only, and does not include drainage nor any safety measures.

The commissioners recently received £39,000 at the end of Glen Wyllin campsite lease. But as this sum is lower than the cost for the refurbished park, the remainder would have to come out of reserves.

The board has £125,000 in its reserve bank account, and the balance of the current account is £6,731.

A statement from the board reads: ‘Completion of the refurbished park at the current specification, along with other projects around the village which have to be completed, would mean that Michael Commissioners would have little to no funds available in the reserve bank account to reinvest in the village.

‘Once these funds have been spent it is very unlikely that we will have money in reserve again. Michael Commissioners also have an outstanding loan of over £22,181.

‘The only revenue source, the lease on Glen Wyllin, has been given up so Michael Commissioners now rely solely on the income from the rates and other very small items, unlike previous years when we could top up reserves with the profit each year from Glen Wyllin. For the financial year of 2016-17 the revenue from the rates is expected to be £230,904.This amount barely covers the outgoings budgeted for the year. Therefore, to keep the rates low, the commissioners feel that prioritisation has to take place.’

It continues: ‘There are other projects around the village that must take priority over the new park. This is due to up and coming legislation and health and safety concerns. In particular, the repair of six street lights to ensure there are no black spots and full audit of all 155 lights, which is estimated to be at a cost of over £20,000, plus VAT.

‘The public toilets on the Main Road must conform to regulations by offering disabled access by 2018, which will mean re-building a new block and quotes for this are still to be attained. Once this work has been accounted for, Michael Commissioners will be looking into options for new play equipment for the village and suitable sites. However, expectations for the current specification which was made public two months ago are unrealistic.’

Residents are invited to the commissioners’ offices in Main Road on Sunday from 11am to 1pm.

A survey will be available for residents to fill in, detailing options for expenditure in the village.

Lent lunches raised money for the island’s women’s refuge.

Thelma Lomax, the treasurer of the Isle of Man Women’s Refuge is pictured accepting a cheque for £2,922.00 from Hilary Kermode, chairman of the Northern Churches Lent Lunches and members of the committee.

Thelma thanked everyone who had worked so hard to raise the money and a the churches concerned for nominating the refuge to receive this year’s money.

Send your cheque presentation photos to newsdesk@newsiom.co.im

ALWAYS include a phone number for a contact.

Disruptive innovation is changing the face of global industry, as businesses embrace new technologies and harness new markets.

Given the seismic changes we have seen across the media, retail, travel and financial services and many other sectors, what will come next?

What will it mean for the future of business on the Isle of Man? What are the implications for the progression of your business? What challenges will it bring? These are some of the questions being explored as part of the afternoon programme at ISLEXPO.

The event’s post-lunch agenda kicks off with a lively panel discussion looking at how disruptive technologies are impacting businesses both on and off the island, with views from leading experts in the BioMed, blockchain, mobile and professional services sectors.

This will be followed by a keynote speech from internationally renowned investor and author, Jim Mellon. His talk ‘The Third Industrial Revolution Is Here: How The Island Will Benefit’ is set to be a fascinating insight into Jim’s predictions for how the business on the Isle of Man will be impacted by developments in technology and production.

The final talk of the day comes from seasoned entrepreneur, George Berkowski. The author of ‘How to Build a Billion Dollar App’ and one of the minds behind taxi app HAILO; George will uncover the true stories behind how the latest wave of billion-dollar tech businesses have been built on the back of mobile technology, analysing how quickly technology, the market and human psychology is evolving and what this means for business – with a focus on how the UK has become a hotbed for disruptive businesses and how ambitious regions such as the Isle of Man are playing their part.

ISLEXPO is free to attend and takes place on Wednesday, May 25 at the Villa Marina, Douglas. Register at www.islexpo.com

Campaigners are to hold a public meeting on Wednesday (May 25) about the island’s abortion laws.

The Campaign for Abortion Law Modernisation (CALM) plans to lobby island politicians to change what it sees as ‘outdated and discriminatory legislation’.

Last year the number of women with Manx addresses choosing to have terminations in the UK rose by nearly 17 per cent on the year before, according to figures released by the UK Department of Health.

A statement from CALM said it was concerned that these figures were just the tip of the iceberg, as they don’t include those women who use family addresses in th UK.

CALM spokeswoman Samantha Morris said: ‘The 105 women identified in the statistics had to pay clinic fees, travel and accommodation themselves but those who aren’t mentioned in the figures are just as much of a concern. The current law, the Termination of Pregnancy (Medical Defences) Act 1995, is both medically and financially discriminatory, and CALM’s mission is to show the island’s legislators how it really affects women here.’

The meeting, at 7.30pm at the Manx Legion in Douglas, will also see the launch of an online petition to galvanise public support for the campaign, and the reveal of the CALM publicity material.

There has been no secret proposal to government by the Steam Packet, Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne insisted in Tynwald.

Quizzed by Douglas East MHK Chris Robertshaw, Mr Gawne explained that the Steam Packet had been invited to submit an offer as part of the review of sea services.

He said he hoped to bring it to the floor of Tynwald in July.

The £85,000 cost of providing education at the Nunnery since it was sold was a ‘backdoor subsidy’, LibVan MHK Peter Karran claimed in Tynwald this week.

Education member Geoff Corkish told Tynwald costs fell from £149,900 to £85,300 in 2015-16.

But courses carried on without disruption for 100 full-time and 128 part-time students.

More than £6,200 was spent on catering at last year’s Tynwald banquet.

Further details about the cost of the event have been circulated to Tynwald members by the Treasury Minister.

He revealed the total cost was £10,534, including £1,416 for the hire of the Royal Hall, £6,236 on catering, £660 on entertainment and £1,898 on decorations.

This Saturday night sees Manx post-metalcore exponents Ignite The Sky heading to Amber in Douglas.

The band, whose line-up is completed by Daniel Cross and Richard Kinrade on vocals, Luke Williams and Adam Elston-Lane on guitars, Leo Craig on bass and Aaron West on drums have been around since 2010.

Influence wise you’ll hear the likes of Architects, Asking Alexandria, A Day To Remember, Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot.

The band has also recently released an EP which is available now as a download for free from https://ignitethesky.bandcamp.com/album/rain

Support for this free show comes from Honest Eyes and Ben Ingham. The doors open at 8pm with Ben Ingham kicking things off around 9pm.

For more information on Ignite The Sky and Honest Eyes visit www.facebook.com/ignitetheskyuk and www.facebook.com/pages/Honest-Eyes

While we’re on the subject of all things Amber, the venue has just released its line-up of TT shows.

For further info, please visit www.facebook.com/Amber-Bar-317692424912775/

This week has also seen The Bushy’s and Port Erin TT shows have also been released. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/611242239024216/ for further information.

Tomorrow night (Friday) sees Jaks Bar regular Ian Thompson in attendance at the Douglas venue.

Also known for his original material, Ian covers gigs with his trio boasts a set made up of songs from the likes of The Kinks, David Bowie, The Beatles and the like.

Well worth a look in if you’re in the area. For more information on Ian and his forthcoming shows, visit facebook.com/ianthompsonmusicor www.ianthompsonmusic.co.uk

Saying at Jaks and on Saturday you’ll be able to see 9 Mile Smile making appearance. The band, made up by vocalist Angela Wells, guitarists Graham Smith and Grant Evans, bassist Lewis Thompson and Johnny Wade on drums specialise in covers from the likes of anything from the now ubiquitous Kings Of Leon via The Stereophonics to Blondie and Michael Jackson via Amy Winehouse and Aretha Franklin and just about anything in between. For more information on the band please visit www.facebook.com/9MileSmile

Calling all Pink Floyd fans! Manx Pink Floyd tribute band Pigs On The Wing have announced a return to the Villa Marina Royal Hall for a show in TT race week on Tuesday, June 7.

For those that aren’t familiar with the band, if the likes of Floyd classics Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Another Brick In The Wall, Comfortably Numb and Wish You Were Here amongst many others are favourites from the extensive Pink Floyd back catalogue, then this event is an absolute must see.

Tickets can be purchased for £15 from the Villa Marina box office or online at wwww.villagaiety.com

visit facebook.com/pages/Pigs-On-The-Wing

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Steve Leach brings the latest rumblings, murmurings, news and views on forthcoming events in and around the island’s music scene. Help support the scene by emailing leachsteve@hotmail.com