WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
You may not even realise you have been hacked |
Lessons have not been learned from the realisation that a Russian website was providing links to access baby monitor cameras, says the UK’s data protection watchdog. The launch of a website that allowed people to watch footage from insecure cameras around the world prompted a warning from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2014. But the regulator has recently warned many people are still not ensuring the security of their connected devices. This means Internet of Things (IoT) products such as baby monitors, music systems and photo or document storage which can be accessed online are at risk of revealing your personal details to other people. A lack of security when it comes to IoT devices could mean that a search engine is used by criminals to locate vulnerable devices and then gain access to them or others on your home network. An attacker could then use your equipment to mount attacks on others or take your personal data to commit identity fraud. |
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ICO: UK families still at risk from baby monitor hacking style attacks Public must act to protect themselves when using Internet of Things devices Security is still keeping IT professionals awake at night according to BCS survey Internet of Things: balancing benefits with data security Less James Bond; more Alan Turing & Gordon Welchman nquiringminds: making cities smarter places to live & work techUK: IoT Devices Expected to Outnumber Mobile Phones Big Data and IoT worth £322bn to the UK by 2020 AGI Foresight Report 2020 – location intelligence vital to connecting a ‘Digital Earth’ Manchester wins £10m prize to become world leader in ‘smart city’ technology |
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Life is what you make of it mostly |
We shouldn’t fear a lonely old age because loneliness is far from inevitable, according to a study funded by the ESRC. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), Professor Christina Victor’s research suggests only 10% of people over 50 complain of significant loneliness – a figure which has remained unchanged since the 1940s. “One of the major stereotypes prevalent in our society is that old age is almost guaranteed to be a time of loneliness,” suggests Professor Victor, from Brunel University London. “Interestingly our findings indicate this ‘lonely’ group is made up of three distinct sub-groups. “For half of them loneliness appears to have been established for at least ten years and is, we suspect, possibly a lifelong experience. Then we have ‘lonely’ people who are moving into loneliness (possibly due to a bereavement) and those moving out of loneliness (perhaps because they have adjusted to changed circumstances). Crucially, lonely people are not a heterogeneous group.” … “One of our most interesting findings is that expectations of loneliness are strongly associated with loneliness outcomes,” she explains. “In other words, loneliness is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy: those who believed that loneliness was a normal part of ageing, were more likely experience loneliness as they grew older.” And while pets do not necessarily protect against loneliness, strong social networks certainly do. |
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ESRC: Fears of loneliness in old age are largely unfounded NICE guidelines for promoting independence & mental wellbeing for older people Age UK: Loneliness among older men with poor health a growing problem How arts & cultural projects are proving life doesn’t end when Dementia begins £9.5m to design new solutions for the UK’s ageing population Funding to pilot new way of supporting Suffolk's rural groups BHF: Study links loneliness and heart disease LGA: Councils respond to report on loneliness & isolation Homeshare opens new doors to independent living for older & younger people NICE: Membership of social groups after retirement ‘boosts health & wellbeing’ New research finds arts and culture helps combat loneliness among old people Sporting memories charity kicks off new year with vital funding LGA: Councils & charities find innovative ways to tackle loneliness this Christmas Britain must do more to tackle ‘virus of social isolation’ says EHRC Most people in the UK are less lonely – apart from men with low qualifications Breaking the mould of loneliness – Paula Bee 1,400 digital champions to bring the benefits of being online to thousands NICE: New advice on mental wellbeing of older people in care homes marks bold step forward Kris Hopkins sees cutting edge homes for older people in Milton Keynes Advocacy champions older people affected by cancer Compassion & empowerment for older people in England |
A healthier outcome which could be self-financing |
A report published last week shows an NHS programme to train vulnerable people to use the internet has led to over half feeling more confident to manage their health, 21% making fewer calls or visits to their GP and 6% making fewer trips to A&E. This behaviour change is estimated to have saved the NHS £6m in avoided GP and A&E visits in just 12 months. As a result of the Widening Digital Participation programme, run by NHS England and Tinder Foundation, 59% of learners report feeling more confident to use online tools to manage their health, 65% feel more informed and 52% say they feel less lonely with 62% saying they feel happier as a result of social contact, an important indicator for overall well-being. Searching online for symptoms & medications advice and using digital health tools such as apps help patients to take a more active role in monitoring & self-managing their condition. However, there are currently 12.6m people living in the UK who lack the digital skills to use the internet in this way. These people tend to be older and more likely to be in poverty with high health & social care needs. The programme has reached over 220,000 to date, targeting some of the hardest to reach communities, with 82% of those trained experiencing at least one form of social exclusion including unemployment, disability and homelessness. This follows the recommendation made by Martha Lane Fox in December 2015, to increase take-up of internet enabled services in health and care by designing digital tools and training programmes to ‘reach the ‘furthest first’. |
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NHS innovates to provide better care Reboot UK: improving health & wellbeing through digital technology |
SME Supplier Locator update... |
UK Government and public sector spend with SME’s is continually on the increase and by 2020, it is the stated intent of Cabinet Office that £1 of every £3 spent on government contracts goes to SME’s. The past 5 years have seen government make a priority of getting money through its supply chain into the hands of SMEs, by both setting targets and introducing new procurement mechanisms. Against this backdrop, the WiredGov Supplier Locator service has been developed specifically to embrace the SME Agenda and provide the ideal platform for SME’s to promote their services, solutions, accreditation and success stories directly to our ever increasing audience across all government and public sector verticals and Tier 1 suppliers. |
Will the advantages of this change outweigh the disadvantages (especially for the students building up debt)? |
Following a consultation on reforms to the education funding for nursing, midwifery & allied health professional (AHP) students, the government has set out its plans to keep healthcare courses accessible for all. Currently, two thirds of people who apply to become a nurse aren’t accepted for training - we are committed to plans which could mean up to 10,000 more home-grown nurses, midwives and allied health professionals by the end of this parliament, with those in training getting around 25% more financial support while they study. We’ve listened to feedback from the consultation and as a result will provide extra funding to help cover additional expenses like travel and more support for students with children. We will work with the RCN and other partners in taking this forward. |
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DH: Plans for changing healthcare education funding Civitas: End the limit on medical training places to reduce dependency on overseas doctors Civitas: Limits on nurse training numbers should be scrapped No coherent attempt to assess headcount implications of 7-day NHS Number of nurse training places in Wales to increase by 10% in £85m Welsh Government investment |
Farmers should act now to avoid ‘feeling blue’ this autumn |
Bluetongue vaccines for sheep & cattle are now available across Britain, with supplies approved for use in vet practices. There is a high risk of an outbreak of Bluetongue (BTV-8) towards the end of the summer as a result of infected midges being blown across the English Channel from France, where the disease is present. The disease affects all ruminants, but particularly cattle & sheep. It poses no threat to human health and does not affect meat, milk or other animal products. Vaccination is the best way to protect Britain’s livestock, and farmers are being encouraged to talk to their vets to decide if the vaccine could help their businesses. |
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Defra: Bluetongue vaccine now available for farmers in Britain |
Could you help ‘shape’ healthcare services? |
NHS England is committed to ensuring that public & patient voices are at the centre of shaping our healthcare services. Every level of our commissioning system needs to be informed by insightful methods of listening to those who use & care about our services to inform service development. There are a range of opportunities for the public, patients, carers and patient representative organisations to get involved in shaping the work of NHS England, and we are currently seeking to recruit a Patient and Public Voice (PPV) partner to sit on the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG). The closing date for all applications is 3 August 2016, with interviews to be held on 11 August. |
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NHS England specialised commissioning Patient & Public Voice (PPV) partner opportunity |
Potential Neutron Muon Users asked to give their input |
The Research Councils are seeking input from their communities in the development of an updated long-term UK strategy for neutron science. The UK is making a significant contribution to the construction of the world’s next generation neutron facility, the European Spallation Source (ESS) currently being built in Lund, Sweden, and is a founder member of the ESS consortia. Neutron facilities support a broad range of scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, engineering and the environmental sciences. They are used to address grand societal challenges, in energy, health care and the environment. Work supported by the facilities provides innovative solutions for industry. Community input is key, so there will be discussions at Neutron Muon Users Meeting (July 26 - 28). To facilitate these, attendees will be invited to discuss:
You will also be invited to provide comments during the poster session on the following questions:
If you are unable to attend the NMUM meeting but would like to comment, or if you think of further comments you would like to make, please email neutronstrategy@stfc.ac.uk by 9 September 2016. |
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Editorial Commentary: Surely we can come up with some compromises on ‘Free Movement of people’ |
Even if ‘Brexit means Brexit’ movement of people/workers will continue to some degree, just to ensure the UK’s economy will continue to function smoothly. Not only is this a ‘hot topic’, it is a massive one covering many areas of the UK economy (including the NHS) so, for the sake of brevity, I will only (briefly) address a few aspects of one area – seasonal farm workers. Most UK residents are generally seeking all-year round jobs for obvious reasons, but farms require peak levels of staffing for only limited periods of the year, so providing an area of possible ‘agreement’ in the Brexit negotiations. If we revived a version of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme it would facilitate the ability of workers from the Eastern Europe & Baltic countries to come & earn more than a year’s wages in their ‘homeland’ in just a few months as ‘guest workers’ (i.e. without bringing their families over or receiving state benefits). The UK government would need to ‘beef-up’ its monitoring & enforcement of pay & conditions to ensure our ‘guests’ were treated fairly and received their due. This would help ensure UK workers were not undercut. In addition we should perhaps consider an online identity system for them (with bio-security measures, photo, etc.), which would have to be periodically validated by the employing farmer so as to ensure a worker didn’t just use his NI number to move on to another area of work (office cleaning, etc.) in competition with UK residents. The halting of periodic validation could help stop access to public sector services and highlight any ‘over-stayers’. It is possible to set up some win/win agreements on the movement of people, but it will take time to address the issues involved so as to ‘deliver’ Brexit. Not so much ‘Free Movement’ as ‘Agreed Movement’! |
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BCS: How can online identity schemes help the digital revolution asks BCS report Farmers' fears over loss of seasonal worker scheme - Farmers Weekly Analysis: Farming's access to labour if the UK left the EU Migration Watch UK | MW290 : Incentives for Romanian and Bulgarian migration to the UK |
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Still a ‘hot topic’, with widely spread views, for those who put fingers to keyboard in order to ‘share their views’: |
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UK Government: ScotGov, Wales & NI: WAG: ‘Brexit’ top of the agenda as Cabinet Secretary meets UK Farming Minister at Royal Welsh WAG: FM makes case for Wales in meeting with PM WAG: Environment & Rural Affairs Secretary welcomes productive talks on EU exit at Royal Welsh Wales and Northern Ireland Ministers discuss Brexit impact at Royal Welsh Show WAG: FM holds Extraordinary British-Irish Council Summit to discuss Brexit ScotGov: British-Irish Council to discuss EU Think Tanks, etc.: PC&PE: Starved FCO urgently needs resources for Brexit challenge and opportunities |
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More news, opinions, documents, claims & counter-claims; |
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ScotGov: First Minister meets the PM 10DS: PM to visit Wales to underline her strong personal support for the union |
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