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WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
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EU News: The next war may not be as physical, but the consequences could be financially ‘bloody’ - Hundreds of cyber security experts from across the EU have been testing their readiness to combat cyber-attacks in a day-long simulation across Europe. In Cyber Europe 2012, 400 experts from major financial institutions, telecoms companies, internet service providers and local & national governments across Europe faced more than 1,200 separate cyber incidents (including more than 30,000 emails) during a simulated distributed denial of service (DDoS) campaign.
The exercise tested how they would respond & co-operate in the event of sustained attacks against the public websites & computer systems of major European banks. If real, such an attack would cause massive disruption for millions of citizens & businesses across Europe, and millions of euros of damage to the EU economy. In the next decade World Economic Forum experts estimate a 10% risk of a major Critical Information Infrastructure incident causing €200bn in economic damage.
Cyber Europe 2012 ~ CO: UK announces extra funding for cyber security capacity building ~ Hacking IT systems to become a criminal offence ~ Digital Agenda: Commission reviews Member States' protection against cyber attacks ~ BIS: Physical locks & guards won’t keep them out ~ Government Web Sites Under Sustained Attack: Protecting Against Modern DDoS Threats (Last item)
DUK: The consequences of obesity include much more than just heart problems - The number of people with diabetes in Britain is expected to rise by 700,000 by the end of the decade, according to a new analysis by Diabetes UK. The analysis, based on data from the Yorkshire & Humber Public Health Observatory, shows that 4.4m people in England, Scotland & Wales are projected to have the condition by 2020.
This would be an increase of almost a fifth, and the equivalent of adding almost the combined populations of Liverpool and Newcastle to the current total. The vast majority of the extra 700,000 cases would be Type 2 diabetes, which can often be prevented by making healthy lifestyle changes and losing weight. Incidence of Type 1 diabetes, which is not linked to lifestyle, is also rising but scientists do not know for sure why this is the case.
DUK has warned that the cost of providing healthcare for the extra 700,000 people would put great financial pressure on the NHS, which is already spending 10% of its entire budget on treating the condition. There would also be a great human cost, as those people developing the condition would be at increased risk of amputation, blindness, kidney failure and stroke, and ultimately of early death.
Press release & links ~ Diabetes UK - NHS spending on diabetes 'to reach £16.9 billion by 2035' ~ DUK: Researching racial origin is not just about immigration (5th item) ~ BHF - Future health risks for obese children ~ Paediatric diabetes teams struggle to secure due funding ~ Diabetes UK - Flaws in NHS Health Check have ~ Diabetes treatment success ~ Majority of people with diabetes 'not meeting cholesterol targets' ~ Diabetes campaign launched ~ Number of diabetes prescriptions in England rises to 40m ~ Over 80 hospitals lack specialist footcare teams ~ New Diabetes UK information leaflets available ~ Diabetes Specialist Nurses provide care of similar quality to doctors, study finds ~ Call for a million people to get Type 1 aware ~ The management of adult diabetes services in the NHS ~ Diabetes healthcare has reached state of crisis ~ Diabetes UK - Only a fifth of young adults with diabetes get all the health checks they need
HPA: Best not to leave everything just to ‘God’ - The Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) want to remind people travelling to Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to seek health advice before making the journey to help ensure a healthy trip.
Dr Jane Jones, a travel-associated infection expert at the HPA, said: "As this year’s Hajj is now less than a month away, it is really important that pilgrims seek medical advice and make sure they comply with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health entry requirements for Hajj, which includes a valid certificate of vaccination against meningococcal meningitis (ACW135Y). Vaccinations should be completed at least two weeks prior to departure to ensure their effectiveness”.
Press release & links ~ Government warns against bringing food back from the hajj ~ Council of British Hajjis ~ Check for ATOL ~ FCO – Hajj ~ BIS: Package Travel
MoD: Above & beyond - A total of 106 members of the Armed Forces have received honours & awards in the latest Operational Honours List.
MoD: They still ‘Don’t like it up them’, especially from soldiers prepared to charge into enemy fire - A soldier who led a bayonet charge over 80m of open ground through enemy fire has been awarded the Military Cross. The gallant & tactical move by Corporal Sean Jones of 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) reversed a potentially dire situation when his patrol came under attack in a carefully planned ambush in October last year.
DfE: This should cause a reaction among chemical students - New teacher training scholarships in chemistry led by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) have been announced recently. Around 130 scholarships worth £20,000 each will be available. Any graduate with a 2.1 or first class degree will be eligible to apply for a scholarship on a chemistry Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course.
Working with experts in teaching practice, the RSC will award scholarships to candidates with exceptional subject knowledge, enthusiasm for the study of chemistry, and outstanding potential to teach. The RSC’s relationship with the scholars will continue into their teaching careers to develop a cadre of outstanding chemistry teachers who are part of a community of chemists across schools, universities and industry.
VSO: Helping them to help themselves - Accenture and VSO last week announced that Umaro Kargo, a shoemaker from Makeni, Sierra Leone, is the winner of the Making Markets Work for the Poor: Entrepreneurship Award. The award, which honours an individual or group which demonstrates outstanding entrepreneurial spirit in the face of adversity, provides Mr. Kargo with $2,000 worth of in-kind support for business development training from VSO partners to help him build his business by accessing influential markets within West Africa.
Aligned with Accenture’s global corporate citizenship initiative Skills to Succeed – which by 2015 will equip 250,000 people around the world the skills to get a job or build a business – the award seeks to recognize & celebrate examples of how markets can work to help lift people out of poverty.
DH: Ensuring we can cope despite the ‘health freeze’ - Emergency planning officers & emergency planning liaison officers are advised of the launch of the national capabilities survey 2012 on the 5 November 2012.
The purpose of the survey details how it fits into other cross government preparedness programmes and how it relates to the Civil Contingencies Act. The survey applies to both category 1 & 2 health responders.
UKOC: Customer feedback is always useful - UK Online Centres are always trying to improve the UK online centres network for both partners & users, but they need your input to make it happen. The online Partners survey will help to let them know what you think and how the network could work better for you & your learners. The survey will only take a few minutes to complete and all of your responses are completely anonymous.
STFC: Reward for illustrating that Physics is ‘exciting’ - To celebrate the work of science journalists and their importance in promoting contemporary scientific ideas & discoveries last week saw the launch of a new prize for physics journalism. The prize offers the opportunity of an expenses paid trip to Japan, to visit world-leading facilities carrying out research at the frontiers of physics. The prize is sponsored jointly by the Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Entries close 17:00 on Friday 4 January 2013.
EU News: How will Spain (let alone the UK) find the extra money? - To enable the EU to pay incoming bills, the European Commission's budget proposal for payments must be reinstated, to restore funds cut by the Council, said Parliament's Budgets Committee in its position, voted Thursday, on the EU's 2013 budget. MEPs also reversed other cuts proposed by the Council in investments to stimulate growth & jobs.
Press release & links
Forthcoming Event: Gartner Data Center Summit 2012 | 27 – 28 November | London, UK - Accelerate Innovation. Drive Transformation. Achieve Operational Excellence - Delivering a wealth of unbiased analysis, Gartner Data Center Summit is the place to take the measure of today’s hottest infrastructure and operations (I&O) trends and technologies while validating your planning and direction.
Forthcoming Event: Gartner Data Center Summit 2012 | 27 – 28 November | London, UK - Accelerate Innovation. Drive Transformation. Achieve Operational Excellence - Delivering a wealth of unbiased analysis, Gartner Data Center Summit is the place to take the measure of today’s hottest infrastructure and operations (I&O) trends and technologies while validating your planning and direction.
The 2012 Agenda is designed to help IT leaders deliver operational excellence and smart infrastructure investment in today’s rapidly evolving environment. Discover how to get the most from critical initiatives such as consolidation, virtualization, big data, disaster recovery, infrastructure convergence, cost optimization and cloud computing.
Drawing from our latest research, our team of analysts deliver on your data center needs with a powerful five-track agenda:
A - Data Center Cost Optimization, Governance and Sustainability
B - Data Center Technology Modernization and Selection
C - Establishing the Right Priorities for Data Center Facilities, Service Quality and Business Continuity
D - Cloud, Virtualization and Other Transformational Data Center Trends
E - IT Operational Perfection: Achieving and Maintaining Process Excellence
Drawing from our latest research, our team of analysts deliver on your data center needs with a powerful five-track agenda:
A - Data Center Cost Optimization, Governance and Sustainability
B - Data Center Technology Modernization and Selection
C - Establishing the Right Priorities for Data Center Facilities, Service Quality and Business Continuity
D - Cloud, Virtualization and Other Transformational Data Center Trends
E - IT Operational Perfection: Achieving and Maintaining Process Excellence
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