About this episode
In this episode, we welcome back Andrew Millar from the University of Dundee to discuss the current state of higher education, vibe coding platforms for non-developers, and the importance of community-driven conferences like Scottish Web Folk.App of the Week: Bolt.newThis week we're looking at Bolt.new, a vibe coding platform designed specifically for non-developers. Unlike tools like Cursor that are built for developers to pair program with AI, Bolt is aimed at people like marketers, designers, and small business owners who want to create functional applications without ever touching code.Paul has been using Bolt to build practical tools for his own business, including a custom top task analysis app, WordPress plugins, JavaScript extensions, and CSS animations. The platform handles everything from the database to publishing and hosting, making it genuinely accessible for non-technical users.However, we'd caution against treating these tools as production-ready for enterprise use. They're excellent for prototyping, internal tools, and small-scale applications, but they likely won't pass rigorous quality control in larger organizations. Think of them like desktop publishing was in the early days. They democratize creation but don't eliminate the need for professional expertise.For production-ready code, the real value comes when developers use AI pair programming tools where they can review, understand, and quality-check the output. The future likely involves professionals using these tools to increase productivity rather than replacing expertise entirely.Topic of the Week: The State of Higher Education and Digital TransformationAndrew Millar, who runs the digital team at Dundee University, joins us to paint an honest picture of the current higher education landscape. It's not pretty, but his candid insights offer valuable lessons for anyone navigating organizational crisis, whether in universities or elsewhere.The Perfect Storm Facing UniversitiesHigher education has always claimed poverty, but the structural problems have become impossible to ignore. Universities face two fundamental financial challenges: funding per student hasn't kept pace with inflation over the past decade, and research grants typically only cover around 80% of actual costs, leaving institutions to make up the difference.International students became the solution to plug this gap. They could be charged higher fees and effectively cross-subsidized teaching for domestic students and research activities. This worked until a perfect storm hit: COVID disruptions, international conflicts, hostile government rhetoric toward international students, and for Dundee specifically, the Nigerian economy's collapse, which dramatically reduced one of their key international markets.Dundee found t
