Category Archives: Government

Britain, Government, Politics

A new legal crackdown on those who abuse MPs

BRITAIN

The Committee on Standards in Public Life has been asked by the Prime Minister to review the law following the abuse and threats Members of Parliament have been subject to. Lord Bew will head the review.

The law could be changed to stop the diatribe and abuse of MPs, the new head of the public standards watchdog has said.

Lord Bew warned politics was at a “tipping point” after an increase in vociferous personal attacks and threats against candidates during this year’s election campaign. Some had swastikas carved on their posters.

Theresa May said she was “shocked” and has asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to review the issue.

Lord Bew warned: “We are in a bad moment and we have to respond to it. We cannot afford to lose people of quality in our political life, and we may be approaching a tipping point.”

Speaking earlier in the week in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour, he did not rule out the possibility that the Committee would recommend new laws to protect candidates, saying: “Everything has to be considered.”

Asked about claims by Conservative MPs that they had been abused by Left-wing activists, and that Labour had not done enough to condemn this, Lord Bew said: “It’s absolutely clear the Labour leadership holds the view that politics should be conducted in the normal way without threat or fear.”

His aim, he told the programme, was to ensure public debate remained “vigorous” but steered clear of “nastiness and hatred”.

But he called on all party leaders to speak “with some sharpness” against abuse.

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Business, Government, Society, Technology

Empowering humanity comes through technological advance

TECHNOLOGY & HUMANITY

Technology Empowerment

Technology firms must adapt by making people’s goals their own priorities. Only then will they significantly add to the growth of society and to the economy.

The empowerment of the individual has radically changed through how we access and utilise technology. Consider, for instance, just the way and how we now watch television. The broader picture of technological development is no longer a take-it-or-leave-it template, but a bespoke service tailored to the individual.

Earlier television broadcasts were carefully scripted and delivered to present a highly curated programme, forcing us not to only share the same worldview, but also to watch on the terms being offered by the programme makers’.

The evolution of video fundamentally changed both our view of the world and how we interact with it. In less than a century, we’ve moved to an online and digital world with billions of viewpoints, coming from governments and businesses and more importantly from people. Everyone offers a unique perspective; and, we now have a truly live culture where technologies like Periscope and Facebook Live mean that anyone can broadcast what they want and tune in when they want – on their own terms.

This illustrates that the way we use technology today is to bend it to our own needs. Change may be endemic, but the key point is that the individual is now in control. It’s no longer the case that people are adapting to technology – rather, the technology is continuing to evolve and adapt to us.

The situation now is that every time an experience is personalised, or where technology anticipates our needs and wants, we are being thrusted forefront to realise or satisfy those needs. In terms of digital evolution, this is the age of human empowerment and it matters to business. With technology that truly responds to people, based on what they want, firms can evolve from being a supplier to one of being their customers’ partner.

IntelligentX, a London-based Brewing Company, has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to continuously collect and incorporate customer feedback. It utilises this information by incorporating it into its thinking to brew new versions of the company’s beers. The firm provides feedback into its algorithms: with people’s tastes changing faster than ever before, AI seems a logical and perfect way to respond.

This is how businesses will grow their role in people’s lives, and by establishing a place in the future of society. They need to become more than just a provider of products and services.

We might like to refer to it as the hyper-personalisation of technology. It is likely to drive commercial success at the scale of entire industries, not just at the individual or micro level. The digital leaders of the world, proactive as always, are making big calls in response.

Consider Electronics giant Philips. It is looking to transform healthcare into one that becomes connected, with a comprehensive experience that’s both intertwined and accessible throughout people’s lives. Through the development of new apps and connected devices that integrate into our lives, it will become possible for health professionals to live alongside each patient. This will allow them to build a closer, more personal relationship, and an opportunity to provide comprehensive – not just reactive – care packages.

Paradoxically, for patients, connected healthcare isn’t an improvement because of the technology itself. The draw is the empowerment it gives individuals over their own health – you only need to consider how wearable technologies are driving a tailored approach to personal fitness programmes.

Company conglomerates like Philips have the leading edge because their technological strategies focuses on the needs of the individual patient, and on their terms.

If any business is to become a true partner to people that process must start with technology. No doubt, the path ahead will have its challenges. But the foundations are built on matters of trust.

Yet, barely one in two members of the public say they trust businesses to do what’s right. Even fewer look on business leaders as credible sources of information. If people are to value these new partnerships, companies must work hard to gain and by keeping that trust.

One of the best ways of doing this is by putting the power in the hands of the customers. That can be achieved by designing technology that works for them. This will mean an end to technology tools whose power is only unleashed when customers adapt to or in learning how to use them.

Technology’s great new strength lies in its growing humanity. Tools that interact with people – structured in such a way that they learn from those exchanges – should be able to adapt for any future interaction that makes the experience of using them all the more human.

To put these new adaptive technologies to use, businesses must adopt people’s goals as their own. Technology is now crucially the agent of change and it should be enabled to empower people in an interactive and collaborative way.

When companies are aligned to people’s individual goals and aspirations, only then will they be contributing to the growth of society and the economy.

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Education, Government, Scotland, Society

The importance of libraries and our need to rely on them

LIFELONG LEARNING

Library

Public libraries are places for educational and lifelong learning.

Reading is one of life’s great pleasures. Not much comes near the feeling of being engrossed in the pages of a book, growing to love and loathe the characters and becoming familiar with fictional worlds. Often, the difference between fiction and reality is wafer thin.

For some, reading for pleasure involves non-fiction to learn about people, places and subjects, whether it’s sport, hobbies, history, travel, science or study and business-related material.

There is a unique and idiosyncratic joy that comes from reaching the closing chapter and pages of a great book – and sometimes a momentary sadness that our journey into the world of imagination and learning created by the book’s author has come to an end.

Reading for pleasure is one of our nation’s favourite pastimes, but it also has a very important role to play in educational development and the health and wellbeing of individuals and society.

There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the positive impact of reading for pleasure on literacy and attainment, as well as on our emotional wellbeing. Reading also manifests itself by allowing people to experience other cultures and faiths and to develop an understanding, empathy and appreciation of different beliefs and values.

It should go without saying, but literacy is a fundamental and lifelong skill. The nation always needs a population that is ably literate and educated. The ability to read improves chances of employment and leads to better health and higher levels of wellbeing. It also helps people to comprehend and ask questions that otherwise would be missing.

But, for reading to become a lifelong habit, it must be encouraged from a young age and promoted as an enjoyable activity.

Libraries, of course, are not alone in promoting literacy, but they do have a distinct role as a local space where people of all ages and backgrounds can come to explore, learn and discover.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government is currently developing a cultural strategy, with core themes emerging around access, equality and excellence. The library sector will have a significant contribution to make to this discussion for the role libraries play in supporting lifelong learning, skills and appreciation of culture. Libraries across Scotland promote a range of reading displays – with often new books on offer – and the importance of reading for pleasure is recognised at a national level too.

Libraries are also running the Tesco Bank Summer Reading Challenge Scotland. Coordinated by The Reading Agency, the initiative encourages children aged 4-11 to read at least six books over the summer holiday period. Book Week Scotland, an annual celebration of books and reading for readers of all ages, encourages adults and children alike to enjoy the pleasure of reading through library, school, community and workplace events.

In 2016, more than 17 million books were loaned from Scotland’s public libraries, more than six million of these borrowed by children.

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