A report outlined a new agenda for electronic government to deliver improved public services. Technology had the potential to transform public services, improving the organisation of government and the experience of citizens: but it was not enough just to put government services online - citizens had to want to use them, and they had to be part and parcel of organisational transformation.
Source: Noah Curthoys and James Crabtree, SmartGov Renewing electronic government for improved service delivery, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Work Foundation press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A report examined the implications of the internet for the development of social capital.
Source: William Davies, You Don't Know Me, but... Social Capital & Social Software, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report (pdf links) | Work Foundation press release
Date: 2003-Dec
The government said it wanted to all homes to have internet access by 2008 - in addition to the existing target of access for all those who wanted it by 2005.
Source: UK Online Annual Report, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report (pdf) | DTI press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
Research among children and young people aged 9-19 examined how they used the internet, and their opinions on its safety and value. It was found that, while the safety message was getting through to young people, governments, internet providers and parents could still do more to make the internet safer for children. Children were becoming the internet experts in families, but were still mainly using the internet as a means to communicate with friends and relatives, and for music and games.
Source: Sonia Livingstone and Magdalena Bober, UK Children Go Online: Listening to young people s experiences, Department of Media and Communications/London School of Economics and Political Science (020 7955 7710)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | LSE press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The findings were published of a public consultation exercise on genetically modified foods. It was found that people were generally uneasy about GM; the more people engaged in GM issues, the harder their attitudes and more intense their concerns; there was little support for early commercialisation; and there was widespread mistrust of government and multinational companies. The government said that it would 'reflect carefully' on the findings.
Source: GM Nation?: The GM public debate, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500) | Press release 24 September 2003, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (020 7238 6000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary | DEFRA press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A research report said that the internet was starting to open up politics to young people - and it could help to engage more of them with the political process. While only 11 per cent of those aged 45-54 with access to the internet had visited a political or campaigning website, signed an e-petition or joined a political chatroom, the figure rose to 30 per cent among young people (aged 15-24).
Source: Rachel Gibson, Stephen Ward and Wainer Lusoli, Participation, Political Organisations and the Impact of the Internet, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A report warned that changes to the law were needed to prevent employers from refusing people jobs on the basis of genetic test results.
Source: Kristina Staley, Genetic Testing in the Workplace, GeneWatch UK (01298 871898), Trades Union Congress and British Council of Disabled People
Links: Report (pdf) | TUC press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A report said that pharmacogenetics the study of how genetic variation affected people's response to medicines - could promise safer and more effective treatments: but it would first be necessary to address ethical concerns if the potential benefits of the technology were to be realised.
Source: Pharmacogenetics: Ethical issues, Nuffield Council on Bioethics (020 7681 9619)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | NCB press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A discussion paper examined the influence of public knowledge and beliefs in determining attitudes towards new technologies, in an attempt to understand the limited support for certain biotechnology applications such as animal cloning and genetically modified foods.
Source: Joan Costa and Elias Mossialos, Attitudes towards Biotechnology Applications in the UK: The role of knowledge and beliefs, Discussion Paper 10, LSE Health and Social Care/London School of Economics (020 7955 6840)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
The government began consultation on a draft policy framework for the use of smart cards by government agencies. It said that smart cards could enhance the achievement of key 'e-government' objectives by increasing the take-up of online services; acting as a catalyst for co-operative working and joined-up government; and overcoming the 'problem of authentication' between government and the citizen.
Source: Smart Cards: Enabling e-Government - Draft policy framework, Office of the e-Envoy/Cabinet Office (020 7276 3320)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Background | Cabinet Office press release
Date: 2003-Aug
A paper examined what steps could be taken to facilitate wider use of computer technology by older adults - in particular how political and academic assumptions about older people and new technology might be refocused, away from trying to change older adults, and towards involving older adults in changing the technology.
Source: Neil Selwyn, Stephen Gorard and John Furlong, The Information Aged: Older adults use of information and communications technology in everyday life, Working Paper 36, School of Social Sciences/Cardiff University (029 2087 5179)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
A paper examined the potential role of broadband internet in 'reconfiguring' access to people, services, information and technologies. It said that the technology could help to close social, economic, education, health, age, gender and other divides.
Source: William Dutton, Sharon Eisner Gillett, Lee McKnight and Malcolm Peltu, Broadband Internet: The Power to Reconfigure Access, Forum Discussion Paper 1, Oxford Internet Institute/University of Oxford (01865 287210)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
A report said that digital technologies could reduce pressure on the environment and create a more inclusive society, but there were also risks associated with their use.
Source: Making the Net Work: Steps towards a sustainable networked world, Forum for the Future (020 7251 6070)
Links: Summary (pdf) | FTF press release
Date: 2003-Aug
A report said that the government should make encouraging more citizens to use online services (and so speeding up public sector reform) the top priority in its forthcoming review of e-Government. If necessary the target of putting all public services online by 2005 should be downgraded.
Source: Noah Curthoys and James Crabtree, SmartGov: Renewing electronic government for improved service delivery, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Work Foundation press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
A new book assessed the development of telecare and 'smart home' services in the United Kingdom and internationally, and considered the potential of such technologies for older people with high levels of support need.
Source: Malcolm Fisk, Social Alarms to Telecare: Older people's services in transition, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Jun
A think-tank paper (sponsored by a mobile phone company) explored the social implications of new mobile phones with 'tracking' features (which allowed a person's phone to be continuously located).
Source: James Harking, Mobilisation: Growing public interest in mobile technology, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Paper (pdf) | Demos press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
A report argued that 'social software' - such as weblogs, business networking tools, and community sites - could help bridge the gap between 'online' and 'offline' worlds by integrating face-to-face networking with the usefulness of the internet.
Source: William Davies, You don t Know me but Social Capital and Social Software, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-May
In response to the independent Greenfield report, the government announced a new integrated approach to tackling the problem of the under-representation of women in science, engineering and technology.
Source: A Strategy for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology, Office of Science and Technology/Department of Trade and Industry (020 7215 0052)
Links: Response (pdf) | Greenfield report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Apr
A paper summarised recent discussions within the actuarial profession regarding the impact of new genetic knowledge on social policy.
Source: Chris Daykin (et al.), Genetics and Insurance: Some social policy issues, Institute of Actuaries (01865 268205)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
An annual report traced some of the main changes in ownership of in-home entertainment and attitudes towards broadcasting. It found some evidence of an emerging social divide in access to new technologies: more readers of broadsheet than of tabloid newspapers had a personal computer and access to the internet, but more tabloid than broadsheet readers had almost every other item of new technology.
Source: Robert Towler, The Public s View 2002, Broadcasting Standards Commission (020 7808 1000) and Independent Television Commission
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
A research study examined the links between political participation, knowledge of information technology and the needs of older people. It concluded that the internet has a long way to go if it is to fulfil its potential as an empowering democratic tool.
Source: Melissa McCarthy, Past the Post: Older people and new technology, Hansard Society (020 7955 7459)
Links: Summary | Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
Researchers reported favourably on the national e-learning foundation (launched in 2001 to help the government s plans to bridge the digital divide , by providing children from low-income families and in disadvantaged areas with access to portable computers and internet access to learning materials).
Source: Kate Calamatta, Paul Rhodes, Kerry Watson and Teresa Wilde, An Evaluation of the National e-Learning Foundation, Research Report RBX1-03, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Brief (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The National Audit Office said that more needs to be done to encourage older people to use government e-services if those services are to provide value for money.
Source: Progress in Making e-services Accessible to All Encouraging use by older people, HC 428 (Session 2002-03), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | NAO press release | Help the Aged press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A report evaluated the 'Wired Up Communities' project, designed to bridge the 'digital divide' by enabling socially excluded communities to use information technology to access jobs, learning opportunities, government and other services. The evaluation found that there been notable successes in encouraging participants to get online and/or to stay online: the majority of survey respondents had accessed the internet, and almost half of the participants received some training in internet use. However, in spite of being provided with the technology in the home, a quarter of survey respondents had not used it to access the internet.
Source: David Devins, Alison Darlow, Andrew Petrie and Tom Burden, Connecting Communities to the Internet: Evaluation of the Wired Up Communities Programme, Research Report 389, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan
An article reported on a conference held to discuss changes brought about by information and communication technology in economic and social activity, and their potential impact on the gathering of official social statistics.
Source: 'Official Statistics and the New Economy; Report of the 2002 IAOS London Conference', Economic Trends, January 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan