The Big Lottery Fund’s £15million grant aims to “build the skills that people and organisations across the UK will need in order to take full advantage of support and services available online”. In an announcement on Monday morning, Go ON UK’s Digital Skills CEO Summit will aim to address the fact that there are 16 million people in the UK who currently lack the basic online skills to confidently use ‘digital tools’ and 7.4 million people who have never been online. Mr Cameron said: “It...

Withings Smart Body Analyzer£129.95; available now; iOS/AndroidThese scales are the first which listen to the heart, and measure air quality, as well as the usual weight and body composition. It works in conjunction with the 'Withings Health Mate' app (iOS or Android). Graphs and results mean that users can monitor their health and share data with both competitive friends and familiy members and doctors or nutirtionists. The app also offers users the possibility to share data in a simple, reliable and secure way with a...

The European Award for ‘Best Content for Kids’ has been launched today, on Europe Day by the Insafe network. This exciting award aims at encouraging both children and adults to create new and highlight already existing child-friendly, quality online content. It is organised by the Insafe network within the framework of the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme. European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: "The online world can be a great place for kids. I dream of building a Better Internet for Children: with the...

Safer Internet Day 2013 has made the shortlist for the prestigious Nominet Internet Awards 2013 in the category making the internet a safer place.  Competing in the most popular Nominet Internet Awards ever, the UK Safer Internet Centre is delighted that Safer Internet Day 2013 has been shortlisted for the Nominet Internet Awards, celebrating the wide reach that SID 2013 achieved and the fantastic range of partner support.  The Nominet Internet Awards celebrate the achievements and innovation of UK internet initiatives, aiming to showcase projects which...

 Ofcom have published their annual Adults: media use and attitudes report, providing a rich overview of media use, attitudes and understanding among UK adults aged 16+. Key findings include: Over half of UK adults use the same password to access internet sites. More than half (55%) of adult internet users admit they use the same password for most, if not all, websites. Around one quarter (26%) say they tend to use easy to remember passwords such as birthdays or names, potentially opening themselves up to...

The UK Safer Internet Centre has responded to the government consultation on the Reform of the National Curriculum in England.   UKSIC’s response aimed to encourage  sufficient attention and rigour are given to e-safety aspects, and the centre detailed that it is important that digital literacy and citizenship should be taught more widely across the curriculum, outside of ‘computing’ alone and that opportunities for digital literacy to be included should be identified across subjects and age groups. We emphasised the centre’s belief that online safety...

“Your wireless data could be intercepted by anyone” Security vendors GFI Software has said that Wi-Fi services available on 50 London Underground stations might expose users to attacks by hackers as the Wi-Fi services do not have encryption in place. The services were available for free during the Olympics, provided by Virgin Media, but now they are free only for Virgin Media, EE and Vodafone customers while others have to pay to use them. According to Phil Bousfield, general manager of IT operations at GFI Software,...

Information available via the app includes nearest bus stops and train stations Thurrock Council has launched a free app for Apple and Android phones and tablets called Travel Thurrock that provides travel information to residents in a bid to encourage them to use sustainable transport like cycling, walking and public transport, as opposed to cars. Information available via the app includes nearest bus stops and train stations, timetables, cycle and pedestrian routes, guided tours of local places of interest as well as access to a car...

“Facewatch integrated with other tech in the car will make a significant contribution” Following a challenge set by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to incorporate latest technology into current police cars, the Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer was fitted with three computers and other software, including crime reporting system Facewatch. Features of the car included cameras that record activity around the vehicle; CCTV footage from the car that can be streamed and uploaded to Facewatch; other crimes reported around the country can be accessed;...

Offering improved connectivity for employees and citizens in public spaces Mobile network provider O2 has launched ‘Joined Up Public Services’ – a service to help public sector organisations with three core areas: citizen and community engagement, empowering employees and digital services. The first part of the programme is called Joined Up Citizen and will focus on encouraging direct engagement with the public via digital services and smartphone apps as well as: Improved connectivity for employees and citizens in public spaces; A mobile workforce, with technologies to...