internet

The digital infrastructure divide: the spatial landscape of broadband coverage across the UK

By Cecilia Wong and Helen Zheng Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment Posted: March 4, 2025

Changing social norms and the COVID-19 lockdowns have drastically shifted how we utilise the internet to conduct our daily lives, creating a rapid increase in home/hybrid working and online shopping. In this article, Professor Cecilia Wong and Dr Helen Zheng demonstrate how high quality, reliable and good coverage of telecommunication infrastructure has resulted in differential […]

We need an ‘Internet of Materials’ to get from lab to market faster

By Phil Withers Filed Under: Science and Technology Posted: October 3, 2019

In this blog Professor Phil Withers, Chief Scientist at the Henry Royce Institute calls for an ‘Internet of Materials’ to help the UK to innovate faster, smarter and with a more competitive edge. A new material or process can utterly transform a sector, or even our lifestyle. Failing fast in the lab and learning quickly […]

Young people, social media and the Internet: part of the problem and the solution?

By Terry Hanley Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Health and Social Care Posted: February 22, 2017

In the coming weeks, the House of Commons Education and Health Select Committees will be hearing oral evidence on their inquiry into children and young people’s mental health and the role of education. Members of the Manchester Institute of Education have written three blogs expanding on some of the key issues in their submission and […]

Is Dr Google a good source of medical information?

By Julia Mueller Filed Under: Featured, Science and Engineering, Science and Technology Posted: February 23, 2016

We won’t stop Googling our symptoms any time soon, so why aren’t online health information resources more effective? An interdisciplinary study between Computer Science and Health Sciences is trying to answer the question, explains Julia Mueller. The internet is increasingly becoming an important health information source and many people routinely turn to the internet to […]

Securing the Internet

By Daniel Dresner Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted: July 28, 2015

The scale and vast cost of cyber crime has been made clear in the last few weeks. Daniel Dresner suggests that stronger industrial standards may be the best response. Cyber crime is reportedly costing the UK up to £34bn each year. Within that total, personal identity fraud is rising fast and is now responsible for […]

The online challenge facing government

By Tarlok Teji Filed Under: Featured, Westminster Watch Posted: May 18, 2015

Creating a coherent digital policy that addresses both opportunities and threats is likely to prove a challenge for the new Government, argues Tarlok Teji. One of the major policy challenges facing the new Government is defining our relationship to the hyper-connected digital world. While that world brings fantastic opportunities, it also creates risks of global […]

Understanding online threats in the internet age

By David Omand Filed Under: Featured Posted: November 26, 2014

The internet is more than an enabling technology: it also enables criminals and terrorists to do evil in ways that were never before possible, explains Sir David Omand. The internet presents a range of challenges and threats that are new – for the individual, for businesses and for governments. Let us consider human activity today […]

Addressing online threats in the internet age

By David Omand Filed Under: Featured Posted: November 21, 2014

Intelligence agencies are responding to the threats posed in the internet age. We should be relieved, argues Sir David Omand. Faced with the growing threats posed in the internet age, UK law enforcement has reorganized. It is recruiting more cyber professionals, notably through the new National Crime Agency. Increasingly the police have looked to the […]

The role of intelligence agencies in the internet age

By David Omand Filed Under: Featured Posted: November 13, 2014

Effective controls and regulations ensure that the UK’s intelligence agencies use their advanced knowledge of cyberspace for the collective good, argues Sir David Omand. Our law enforcement and intelligence agencies can answer complex questions about legitimate targets that would previously have been hopelessly intractable. That capability in the hands of authoritarian governments can be used […]

Responding to the ‘darknet’

By Anita Greenhill Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology, Whitehall Watch Posted: June 27, 2014

The ‘darknet’ is being used by criminals and political dissidents to avoid surveillance. Anita Greenhill suggests ways that governments can tackle it. While most people use the internet’s legitimate channels to shop, search for items, or communicate with friends and family, there are some who hide in the internet’s cracks and shadows. These less known […]

The digital infrastructure divide: the spatial landscape of broadband coverage across the UK

We need an ‘Internet of Materials’ to get from lab to market faster

Is Dr Google a good source of medical information?

Securing the Internet

The online challenge facing government

Understanding online threats in the internet age

Addressing online threats in the internet age

The role of intelligence agencies in the internet age

Responding to the ‘darknet’

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