IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The legal deadline for the introduction of the digital tachograph had been extended until 5 August 2005 but an extra period of tolerance is needed. The digital tachograph must be legally recognised and accepted by all Member States including the UK from 5 August onwards.

The network, spread throughout the Union, takes over from the Info-Points Europe and Carrefours, which traditionally provided the public with facts and figures on EU-related matters to urban and rural areas respectively.

A Truro-based grants specialist has welcomed a new EU fund providing free Wi-Fi to over 6,000 communities.

The new €120 million (£108 million) European Commission programme, which opens later this year, will help provide free public Wi-Fi networks across Europe.

The European Union has launched a network of information centres intended to cover all member states, but the UK has not taken its place, it has emerged.

The Europe Direct network, launched on 4 May 2005, is designed to provide the public with information on EU law, programmes, institutions, policies and treaties including the European Constitution.

ProptechOS finds European cities lag behind US counterparts in terms of being prepared for a smart connected future

A new study has revealed the 10 European cities that are best prepared for a smart future.

According to the research, from ProptechOS, London leads the way ahead of Amsterdam and Berlin. Paris and Lisbon rounded out the top 5.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged every home in the UK is to get next-generation broadband.

In a speech on the UK's digital future, the PM said the government will seek to "make Britain the leading superfast broadband digital power, creating 100 per cent access to every home".

Is the pandemic highlighting just how powerful (and invasive) smart city technology will be?

• Data-powered ‘smart cities’ provide rich insights into social trends
• Insights from surveillance tech and sensors are being used to track the impact of the coronavirus
• Of course, this carries some big implications on privacy

Smart cities rely on the collective intelligence derived from the technologies embedded into the framework and services of its future-forward metropolis

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and US offer advice on potential smart city vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them.

New guidance, Cybersecurity Best Practices for Smart Cities, wants to raise awareness among communities and organizations implementing smart city technologies that these beneficial technologies can also have potential vulnerabilities. A collaboration among the Five Eye nations (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US), it advises communities considering becoming smart cities to assess and mitigate the cybersecurity risks that comes with the technology.

A joint effort between the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand yielded recommendations to prevent cyber attacks on increasingly digital infrastructure.

As municipal infrastructure becomes increasingly integrated with technologies to improve the operations and efficiency of basic utilities—running water, power, and internet access—the governments of the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand launched updated cybersecurity protocols.

The concept of heavily connected, internet driven Smart Cities bristling with digital cameras and sensors might have been the dream of Big Tech firms like Google and Amazon looking to rewire urban infrastructure in their own image, but the Five Eyes intelligence community, including the Australian Signals Directorate, has just fired off a serious new warning about the major cyber risks technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT)  and 5G now pose.

In a major upgrade to advice previously directed at the deployment of 5G networks, the Five Eyes agencies are now telling everyone from major carriers to town mayors and wastewater operators to take a serious second look at the heavily-pumped notion of connecting everything from rubbish bins to traffic lights to the net.

Public sector digitalization challenges and solutions for transformation success

As the world rapidly digitalizes, government agencies are under pressure to boost productivity and deliver the seamless, user-friendly services that people now expect. In the UK, this effort is driven by the government’s 2022-25 Roadmap for Digital and Data.

The Autumn Budget underscores Government’s growing commitment to supporting the public sector in digitizing its service delivery and improving outcomes. It allocates £2 billion for technology investment in the NHS and provides additional support for digital transformation in other public services. The time to leverage technology to optimize operations, increase productivity and empower the public sector is now.

Cities are becoming living, breathing digital platforms, with 5G, AI, data and sustainability backing all aspects of daily life. But just like every city has its own personality and priorities, each one defines and approaches ‘smart’ in its own way. For example, Dubai believes that centralising decisions will help it move quickly and scale before anyone else does.

At the same time, cities in the UK think that experimentation across multiple sites and pilots is much more valuable. These contrasting strategies both have their merits, and founders and investors can learn plenty by comparing Dubai’s smart city and London and the broader UK’s smart-city pilots.

Die britische Polizei hat auf die wirtschaftlich schwierigen Zeiten reagiert und stellt auf Sparflamme. Aus Kostengründen erschließt sie sogar neue Kommunikationswege. Großbritanniens Polizisten wurden daher aufgefordert, künftig soweit als möglich Funkstille zu halten und mit ihrer Zentrale vorzugsweise per SMS in Kontakt zu bleiben. Laut britischen Medien betrifft die Sparmaßnahme hauptsächlich Routine-Meldungen. Deren großes Volumen verursacht im Funknetz zu hohe Kosten. Kurznachrichten sind im Vergleich dazu wesentlich günstiger.

The self-driving, zero-emission shuttles will be piloted in Sunderland after receiving £6m in government and industry funding.

The Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle project will trial three self-driving Aurrigo Auto-Shuttles.

A safety driver will be on board the shuttles just in case.

The Age UK funded research into who uses telecare by the Strategic Society Centre said that four million people could benefit from using personal alarms and alerting devices.

But of this group only 113,000 people currently received care from their council. 1.9 million people relied on care from family members and a further 1.9 million received no support.