As the government strives to get everyone using online services, it must make sure it doesn't ignore people without internet access. This group of approximately 4 million people is skewed towards those aged over 65, in lower socio-economic grops or iwth disability. The Cabinet Office needs to make sure it understands these people's needs better and move forward with its plans to support them. They must not be put at a disadvantage because they either can't or don't want to go online. In some cases, fewer than 50% of transactions are completed online. To achieve its expectation that 82% of transactions are completed online, the Cabinet Office needs to understand better and break down the barriers that stop people with internet access from using online government services.
The book publishing industry is going through a period of profound and turbulent change brought about in part by the digital revolution. What is the role of the book in an age preoccupied with computers and the internet? How has the book publishing industry been transformed by the economic and technological upheavals of recent years, and how is it likely to change in the future? This is the first major study of the book publishing industry in Britain and the United States for more than two decades. Thompson focuses on academic and higher education publishing and analyses the evolution of these sectors from 1980 to the present. He shows that each sector is characterized by its own distinctive ‘logic’ or dynamic of change, and that by reconstructing this logic we can understand the problems, challenges and opportunities faced by publishing firms today. He also shows that the digital revolution has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the book publishing business, although the real impact of this revolution has little to do with the ebook scenarios imagined by many commentators. Books in the Digital Age will become a standard work on the publishing industry at the beginning of the 21st century. It will be of great interest to students taking courses in the sociology of culture, media and cultural studies, and publishing. It will also be of great value to professionals in the publishing industry, educators and policy makers, and to anyone interested in books and their future.
In this document the Government sets out a programme of action designed to position the UK as a long-term leader in communications, creating an industrial framework that will fully harness digital technology. The UK's digital dividend will transform the way business operates, enhance the delivery of public services, stimulate communications infrastructure ready for next-generation distribution and preserve Britain's status as a global hub for media and entertainment. This approach seeks to maximise the digital opportunities for all citizens. The report contains: (1) an analysis of the levels of digital participation, skills and access needed for the digital future, with a plan for increasing participation, and more coherent public structures to deal with it; (2) an analysis of communications infrastructure capabilities; (3) plans for the future growth of creative industries, proposals for a legal and regulatory framework for intellectual property and proposals on skills and investment support and innovation; (4) a restatement of the need for specific market intervention in the UK content market, with implications and challenges for the BBC and C4 Corporation and other forms of independent and suitably funded news; (5) an analysis of the skills, research and training markets, and what supply side issues need addressing for a fully functioning digital economy; (6) a framework for digital security and digital safety at international and national levels and recognition that a world of high speed connectivity needs a digital framework not an analogue one; (7) a review of what all of this means for the Government and how digital governance in the information age demands new structures, new safeguards, and new data management, access and transparency rules.
Fundamentals of Critical Care A Textbook for Nursing and Healthcare Students In Fundamentals of Critical Care, a team of clinicians and health educators deliver an accessible, timely, and evidence-based introduction to the role of nurses and healthcare practitioners in critical care. The book explores fundamental concepts in critical care and their implications for practice. Each chapter outlines essential knowledge necessary to understand key concepts and includes high quality, full-colour artwork to enhance learning and recall. Readers are also provided with clinical scenarios, practice questions, and red and orange flags to indicate physiological and psychological alerts respectively. Covering a range of common and specialised disease processes and treatments requiring critical care, the book provides: A thorough introduction to the critical care unit, including philosophies of care, ways of working, humanisation, and outreach Comprehensive exploration of organisational influences, including political, local, national, and international influences Practical discussion of legal, ethical, and professional issues, as well as evidence-based approaches to critical care In-depth examination of nursing care assessment tools, nursing communication, cognition, pharmacology, and more Perfect for nursing students and trainee nursing associates, Fundamentals of Critical Care: A Textbook for Nursing and Healthcare Students will also earn a place in the libraries of healthcare students in physiotherapy, paramedicine, medicine, and those returning to practice. All content reviewed by students for students. If you would like to be one of our student reviewers, go to www.reviewnursingbooks.com to find out more. To receive automatic updates on Wiley books and journals, join our email list. Sign up today at www.wiley.com/email
In this work, Bridgette Wessels offers a unique insight into the ways in which core public institutions and powerful organizations develop digital communications and services within the public realm. The book draws on her ethnographic research with the London Metropolitan Police Service during their engagement in an innovative project to improve communication with the public using digital technology. As one of the largest, most advanced and highly respected police services in the world, working in a socially, culturally and demographically complex city, the Metropolitan Police Service offers a highly revealing case study of technology and the human processes which it is designed to serve. The ethnographic research is used to develop a new theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between social action and technological change, addressing the way in which technology is socially shaped and culturally informed. The book also discusses the role of ethnography as a tool for researching complex multi-perspective, multi-sited networks of the innovation of digital technologies as forms of communication in late modern western society.
The Committee warns of a major public reaction against radio digital switchover, scheduled for 2015, unless the Government make the case for switchover and keep the public informed about its impact. There is 'public confusion and industry uncertainty' over radio switchover and concern that due to the lack of public information people are still buying analogue radios which will be out of date in a few years time. Retailers gave evidence stating that they are not getting adequate information on switchover plans so are unable to offer consumers accurate guidance when making purchases. The report also points out that car manufacturers are still fitting analogue radios in new cars and digital radios will not be fitted as standard in all cars until 2013.The radio switchover is contrasted with the television switchover programme, finding that the benefits of TV switchover were well understood, in contrast surveys show that the public are generally happy with the present FM radio system and with the range of programmes that are provided.The Committee recommends urgent steps on a range of actions including: providing a detailed plan for universal digital radio coverage including how it is to be funded; developing a policy for the long term use of FM; devising a help scheme for radio switchover financed by general taxation rather than the BBC licence fee; ensuring new digital car radios are fitted with a multi-standard chip to enable their use overseas; encouraging radio manufacturers and retailers to devise a sensible scrappage scheme for redundant analogue radios. It is also noted that the BBC and Government disagree over whether the cost of universal digital coverage of their national stations can be met under the current licence fee. The report says that it is essential that a 'firm and unambiguous' plan for funding the completion of build-out of the digital radio service is put in place as soon as possible. The report concludes reversing current policy would be unproductive given the amount of investment in digital radio already and while the switchover in 2015 is ambitious a change of target date is not favoured at this stage.
The Government has not in general measured the benefits delivered by its two central internet services Directgov and Business.gov, and the infrastructure service Government Gateway, which together cost some £90 million a year, according to a report today by the National Audit Office. Government departments and other public bodies use Directgov, Business.gov and Gateway to provide information to the public and to support a range of government online services. It is crucial that the Government Digital Service (GDS), established in March 2011 to implement a new strategy to deliver all government information services digitally, builds in the right mechanisms to achieve value for money as it plans the future of digital shared infrastructure and services. Today's report does conclude, however, that it is likely that Directgov, Business.gov and Gateway have delivered some cost savings to the public bodies which use them, through the reuse of common infrastructure. The public and businesses using the services have also benefited. Directgov (providing government information for the public) and Business.gov (a family of four services, one for each of the four nations of the UK, providing information for businesses) have enabled citizens and businesses to access information in a more organised way. Even though financial benefits are not clear, performance has been managed and most targets have been met. Since 2006, 1,526 government websites have been closed. Determining how successful the Government has been in closing websites has proved difficult, however, because the baseline numbers were based on an estimate and targets have changed over time. At the start, the Government was unsure how many sites it had and not all bodies have complied with the policy to close sites.
Examining the different bodies that publish official material, this book describes the types of material published, how it is made available and how it is recorded. Finding Official British Information focuses on the digital availability of official information and considers how much is now freely available on the web and how to locate it as well as addressing issues of web only publishing. It covers public bodies in the UK and includes publications issued by central and local government as well as the devolved assemblies and the many other organisations that issue official publications. - Quick 'how to find' section for each area - Designed for the non-specialist - Covering central and local government, the devolved assemblies and other public bodies in the UK
Eco-cities and Green Transport presents a systematic, uniform, and structured way to examine different cities at different scales in order to suggest unique solutions appropriate to each scale. The book examines city infrastructure and the built environment, transport system supply and demand, and transport behavior to offer innovative policy solutions for various transport modes. With end of chapter experiences and lessons summarized, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages for transforming cities and their transport systems to meet residents current and future needs. The increasingly rapid growth of global urbanization requires cities to be built in an ecologically sustainable, energy efficient, and livable way. A critical component in achieving these goals is an urban transportation system that uses natural resources as reasonably as possible. The outcome of a ten-year data collection research effort by the author and his team, the book sheds new insights into these challenges using a thorough investigation of traffic systems in 20 cities from 13 countries throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States.
