A think-tank report examined issues surrounding online information. It asked why this area had become so bitterly contested, especially around intellectual property, and explored the dilemmas this created for policy-makers.
Source: Will Davies, Markets in the Online Public Sphere, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
The government published a strategy for using technology to transform government services.
Source: Transformational Government: Enabled by technology, Cm 6683, Cabinet Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Nov
A report said that the digital divide needed to be bridged, and electronic public services delivered, in a way that excluded people would use that suited their experience.
Source: Inclusion Through Innovation: Tackling social exclusion through new technologies, Social Exclusion Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 5550)
Links: Report | SEU press release | Crisis press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report examined how information technology could help improve public services.
Source: Alexandra Jones and Laura Williams, Public Services and ICT - Final report: How can ICT help improve quality, choice and efficiency in public services, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Nov
A report said that closer ties between business and university science threatened to stifle public debate about science and distort research priorities.
Source: James Wilsdon, Jack Stilgoe and Brian Wynne, The Public Value of Science: Or how to ensure that science really matters, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report (pdf) | Demos press release
Date: 2005-Sep
The government accepted the recommendations in a report (from the Council for Science and Technology) on public involvement in science and technology, and set out a strategy for embedding public engagement processes into the policy-making agenda.
Source: Policy through Dialogue: Government response, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500)
Links: Response (pdf) | CST report (pdf) | DTI press release
Date: 2005-Sep
A report said that a new generation of internet-based information services, that enabled house-hunters to select their 'ideal' neighbourhood, had the potential to widen the divide between the richest and poorest localities.
Source: Roger Burrows, Nick Ellison and Brian Woods, Neighbourhoods on the Net: The nature and impact of internet-based neighbourhood information systems, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings 0405 | JRF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Aug
A research report said that home use of computers appeared to exacerbate, rather than reduce, digital divides among secondary school pupils. Pupils from social groups AB2 and year 11 pupils had more independent access to, and exclusive use of, computers within the home than pupils in other year and social groups. Libraries and internet cafes did not act as substitute sources of access.
Source: Gill Valentine, Jackie Marsh, Charles Pattie and BMRB, Children and Young People's Home Use of ICT for Educational Purposes: The impact on attainment at key stages 1-4, Research Report 672, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2005-Aug
A think-tank report said that technological advance should be directed to providing social and economic benefits, while ensuring that legal and constitutional priorities - including privacy and democratic participation ? were not undermined. People were more likely to embrace technology if they had more choice about how and when it was used to store information and access services.
Source: William Davies, Modernising with Purpose: A manifesto for digital Britain, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report (pdf) | IPPR press release
Date: 2005-Jul
A think-tank report examined how information and communications technology could help to improve public services. In order to improve both customer satisfaction and value for money, public servants needed to match the right technology with different groups.
Source: Alexandra Jones and Laura Williams, What ICT? Providing more citizen focused services, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Work Foundation press release
Date: 2005-Jun
A report explored the relationship between broadband technology and wider aspects of rural life.
Source: John Craig and Briony Greenhill, Beyond Digital Divides? The future for ICT in rural areas, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency (0870 120 6466)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Apr
A research report said that the lack of internet skills and experience among many parents was potentially harming their children's education and job prospects, and could be placing them on the wrong side of a growing digital divide.
Source: Sonia Livingstone and Magdalena Bober, UK Children Go Online: Final report of key project findings, Department of Media and Communications/London School of Economics (020 7955 7710)
Links: Report (pdf) | IWF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Apr
A government report set out a national digital strategy. It included a scheme to give more secondary school pupils the opportunity to access computers at home, and new ways to fight against internet crime - including a new multi-agency child internet safety centre to protect children.
Source: Connecting the UK: The digital strategy, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881) and Department of Trade and Industry
Links: Report (pdf) | DTI press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Apr
A report said that information and communication technology could help make public services quicker, more accessible out of hours, and more efficient - as well as supporting frontline staff in their jobs. But there were real challenges to improving public services and to fully realizing the benefits that ICT offered.
Source: Alexandra Jones and Laura Williams, Why ICT? The role of ICT in public services, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Work Foundation press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A government report set out a strategy for maximizing the uptake of digital services, while avoiding a 'digital divide'.
Source: Connecting the UK: The digital strategy, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881) and Department of Trade and Industry
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Mar
A report summarized research on public attitudes towards a range of issues related to science (including engineering, medicine and technology) - such as public engagement with science, trust in scientists, and awareness of issues related to science and technology.
Source: MORI, Science in Society: Findings from qualitative and quantitative research, Office of Science and Technology/Department of Trade and Industry (020 7215 2582)
Links: Report (pdf) | DTI press release
Date: 2005-Mar