• Study here
    • Study here
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduates
    • Visiting students
    • Outreach with schools and colleges
  • Living here
    • Living here
    • Where you will live
    • Eating here
    • Library & resources
    • Chapel & Faith
    • Do what you love
    • Help is on hand
  • Our people
  • News, events and more
    • News, events and more
    • Our vision for 2030
    • News
    • Events
    • Hertford history
    • Rare books & Archives
    • International Programmes
    • Conferences & events
    • Governance & legal
    • Vacancies
    • Visit us
    • Contact us
  • Hertford Intranet
  • International Programmes
    • International Programmes
    • Directors’ welcome
    • Our programmes
    • Our partnerships
    • Life in Oxford
    • Hertford in Asia
    • How to apply
  • Alumni
    • Alumni
    • Hertford today
    • Meet the Hertfordians
    • Publications
    • Alumni societies
    • Alumni FAQs
    • Update your details
    • Meet the Development team
  • Support us
    • Support us
    • Give to Hertford
    • Fundraising priorities
    • Leave a legacy
    • For donors
  • Contact us
xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
  • Hertford Intranet
  • International Programmes
    • International Programmes
    • Directors’ welcome
    • Our programmes
    • Our partnerships
    • Life in Oxford
    • Hertford in Asia
    • How to apply
  • Alumni
    • Alumni
    • Hertford today
    • Meet the Hertfordians
    • Publications
    • Alumni societies
    • Alumni FAQs
    • Update your details
    • Meet the Development team
  • Support us
    • Support us
    • Give to Hertford
    • Fundraising priorities
    • Leave a legacy
    • For donors
  • Contact us
  • Study here
  • Living here
  • Our people
  • News, events and more

Study here  ›

  • Undergraduates
  • Graduates
  • Visiting students
  • Outreach with schools and colleges

Living here  ›

  • Where you will live
  • Eating here
  • Library & resources
  • Chapel & Faith
  • Do what you love
  • Help is on hand

News, events and more  ›

  • Our vision for 2030
  • News
  • Events
  • Hertford history
  • Rare books & Archives
  • International Programmes
  • Conferences & events
  • Governance & legal
  • Vacancies
  • Visit us
  • Contact us

Thursday 25th June 2020

Home / Alumni / Hertford today / Hertford Virtual Events / The software that led to the lockdown

Professor Michael Wooldridge – The software that led to the lockdown

Thursday 25th June 2020

Throughout the first half of March 2020, European nations raced to enforce lockdowns in an attempt to stem the spread of the corona virus. But the UK stood apart: major sporting events continued, and for pubs, restaurants, cinemas, universities, and schools it was business as usual. The UK government, it seemed, was set on a markedly different approach to that of our continental counterparts. And then, more or less overnight, the UK government pivoted: just ten days later, the UK was also in lockdown. What had caused this unexpected volte face?

It rapidly became apparent that one crucial driver for this decision was an epidemiological model developed by Neil Ferguson and his team at Imperial College, London. The report produced on the basis of the model made international headlines, and it is surely one of the most influential and terrifying scientific papers written this century. It predicted that, unless containment measures were taken, then the virus would kill more than 20,000 UK residents per day: the NHS would be utterly overwhelmed. The report made international headlines. A short time later, the software underneath the Ferguson report was made public, and computer programmers across the globe were fascinated to start analysing it. And it turns out that the program that led to an unprecedented change in UK life, with mind boggling social and economic consequences, is in fact rather crude.

So what is the story of this program? How does the model work? Why are people concerned about the quality of the software? Could software quality have played a role in making the lockdown decision? In this webinar Professor Wooldridge will look at these questions, and the issues they raised.

If you missed the webinar, you can catch up below:

Alumni

  • Hertford today
    • Hertford Virtual Events
      • COVID-19 rapid testing technology
      • Global supply chains after Covid
      • The software that led to the lockdown
      • Risk management during a global pandemic
      • Think and Act Big! How to navigate through the pandemic
    • Introducing Hertford
    • Hertford statistics
    • John Donne Lectures
      • Susie Orbach (2020)
      • Mary Beard (2019)
      • Nick Clegg (2018)
      • Mark Thompson (2017)
      • Frances O’Grady (2016)
      • Shami Chakrabarti (2015)
      • Tony Hall (2014)
      • Gus O’Donnell (2013)
      • Mary Robinson (2012)
      • Toby Barnard (2010)
    • Neil Tanner and the Tanner Scheme
      • The Tanner Scheme
      • Tanner Day
      • Recollections of the Tanner scheme
      • The Tanner Research Project
    • The Simpkin Dynasty
      • Simpkin
      • Simpkins (Simpkin II)
      • Simpkin III
      • Simpkin IV
  • Meet the Hertfordians
    • HertNet
    • HertFolk
    • 50 years of Co-education
    • Our History of Access
  • Publications
    • Hertford College Magazine
    • The Bridge
    • Hertford College Donor Report
    • Hertford College E-News
    • Hertford Blog
      • Photography takes flight
      • Who wants to be a politician?
      • Money, money, money
      • Hertford in the time of Corona
      • A Hertford Chemist in Lockdown
      • New rules – the Corona Sashay
      • EnglishLit to LockdownLit in 2020
      • Lawyer in the Loop
      • Isolation in the face of disease past and present
      • H is for Hawk
      • Floating in Pre-Lockdown Copenhagen
      • Mentoring opens doors to Oxbridge
      • Running to cope with PTSD
      • Challenger banks rally to meet the coronavirus call
      • Being an Olympian with no Olympics
      • The Truth About the Housing Crisis
      • Rethinking Plastics
      • Donating my hair to find a cure
      • Life in the E Fast Lane
      • What can new digital currencies learn from COVID track & trace?
      • Doctors Made Invisible
      • Why I’ll Be Embracing Failure in 2021
      • Pianos for Hertford
      • Reaching out in lockdown
      • Fostering inclusion and diversity
  • Alumni societies
    • The Hertford Society
    • Hertford10
  • Alumni FAQs
  • Update your details
  • Meet the Development team

Study here

  • Undergraduates
  • Graduates
  • Visiting students
  • Outreach with schools and colleges

Living here

  • Where you will live
  • Eating here
  • Library & resources
  • Chapel & Faith
  • Do what you love
  • Help is on hand

Our people

  • Our people

News, events and more

  • Our vision for 2030
  • News
  • Events
  • Hertford history
  • Rare books & Archives
  • International Programmes
  • Conferences & events
  • Governance & legal
  • Vacancies
  • Visit us
  • Contact us

Follow us

Hertford College
Catte Street
Oxford
OX1 3BW


Tel: +44 (0)1865 279 400

© 2025 Hertford College Registered Charity No. 1137527

  • Contact us
  • Privacy
  • Legal

Site by Franks and Franks