Like millions of others, call centre workers were required to work from home at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog, Professor Debra Howcroft and Professor Phil Taylor examine the experiences of call centre staff and provide recommendations for improvement in the future. Managerial staff often directly and indirectly control call centre workers […]
Employability meets education: Why essays and exams are not enough
In an increasingly digital world, the skills that students require to succeed in employment are changing but assessments within education settings are not. In this blog, Dr Drew Whitworth discusses the potential pitfalls of traditional forms of assessment, such as essays and exams, which focus on information retention instead of application, and highlights how practice-based […]
Bridging the digital divide: Greater Manchester schools creating pathways to success
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 […]
Only a call away: Reducing loneliness and social isolation in older people
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 […]
Rewriting the creative sector’s digital transformation
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
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 […]
Infodemic: tackling conspiracy theories on social media
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
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
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
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 […]