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Bridging the digital divide: Greater Manchester schools creating pathways to success

Paul ArmstrongStephen Rayner By , and Filed Under: All posts, Digital Futures, Education Posted:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority created the Pathways to Success strategy to support schools to deliver education to vulnerable children during lockdown. In this blog, Dr Paul Armstrong, Dr Stephen Rayner and Emeritus Professor Mel Ainscow reflect on the strategy and explore the opportunities for schools to implement aspects of it […]

Older man speaking on a mobile phone

Only a call away: Reducing loneliness and social isolation in older people

Lis Boulton By Filed Under: All posts, Digital Futures, Growth and Inclusion, Health and Social Care Posted:

For many older people, the COVID-19 pandemic increased levels of loneliness and isolation. They were unable to visit friends and family, and access in-person support. Low levels of digital literacy among older people also prevented them from making the most of online support services. Here, Dr Lis Boulton assesses the effects that the pandemic had […]

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Rewriting the creative sector’s digital transformation

Anita Greenhill By Filed Under: All posts, Digital Futures, Education, Inclusive Growth Posted:

The creative sector is incredibly diverse and there are growing disparities between those who are already familiar with the digital world of work and those who are struggling to adapt. In this blog, Dr Anita Greenhill addresses the challenges that the sector will face in the coming years and provides examples of best practice from […]

Accelerated automation and digital advances in the world of food retail

By Filed Under: All posts, Digital Futures, Growth and Inclusion Posted:

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted consumers to buy food online, which meant that food retailers had to adapt quickly. In this blog, Abbie Winton explores the changes that food retailers had to make during the pandemic and how these changes may have long-lasting consequences for the sector. Every major food retailer sought additional workers, which helped […]

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Infodemic: tackling conspiracy theories on social media

Professor Peter Knight By Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Digital Futures, Growth and Inclusion Posted:

In February 2020 the Director-General of the World Health Organisation warned that “we’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic,” because “fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus, and is just as dangerous.”  There has been large debate around ways to control the spread of misinformation and disinformation, especially on […]

Beyond privacy and security: Opening-up ‘trust’ in digital healthcare

By Filed Under: Digital Futures, Health and Care, Health and Social Care Posted:

As COVID-19 sees us become increasingly reliant on the digitisation of healthcare data, how have the UK public previously reacted to the use of technology in healthcare? In this blog, originally published in our On Digital Trust publication, Dr Barbara Ribeiro examines previous approaches to integrating data into care, the impact on public trust, and what […]

Citizen’s data, healthcare and trust

By and Filed Under: Digital Futures, Health and Care, Health and Social Care Posted:

Health data has informed a central part our NHS for more than two decades, helping the informative bodies to improve services and understand health trends. This has also proved key in understanding, and attempting to mitigate, the worst impacts of COVID-19. However, when this data is shared with secondary bodies, does the public trust that […]

Democracy at risk? Detecting and deterring the flow of disinformation in elections

Rachel Gibson By Filed Under: Digital Futures Posted:

On 21 July, Ministers published a report that found the UK Government failed to counter Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum, despite a mounting body of evidence of global efforts to use and abuse digital platforms to influence democratic outcomes. As a result, how can we be sure that what we are being told […]

#HereToDeliver: Valuing food delivery workers in the future

By , and Filed Under: Digital Futures, Growth and Inclusion, Health and Social Care Posted:

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore a new cadre of valued workers. And it’s not the corporate CEO or senior business leader but the delivery workers that are helping cafes and restaurants stay open (in some form) during lockdown. Cristina Inversi, Aude Cefaliello and Tony Dundon of the Work and Equalities Institute (WEI) […]

Social media and mental health: Can we trust what we’re being told?

By Filed Under: Digital Futures, Health and Care Posted:

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent lockdown initiated in much of the world, has highlighted the crucial role of social media in social connectivity and news dissemination. In this blog, from our publication On Digital Trust, Dr Margarita Panayiotou explores whether social media is as bad for our mental health as we are led to […]

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