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Public Policy
Building Europe’s digital economy
Nov 8th
The European Commission’s Digital Agenda is one strand of its Europe 2020 Strategy.
Over the last 15 years, over half of Europe’s productivity growth has been ICT driven. But if Europe is to fully exploit the benefits of the digital economy, it must address the seven key priority areas identified in the Commission’s Digital Agenda.
A new Single Market to deliver the benefits of the digital era
- Simplification of copyright clearance, copyright management and cross border licensing.
- Better access to pan European telecoms and digital services and content.
Improve ICT standard-setting and interoperability
- Interoperability will encourage creation and innovation
Enhance trust and security
- Coordinated approaches to both data security breaches and data projection legislation
Increase Europeans’ access to fast and ultra fast internet
- Very fast internet is essential for the economic growth. The Commission will explore how to attract investment in broadband
Boost cutting-edge research and innovation in ICT
- Increased investment in ICT R&D to ensure our best ideas reach the market.
Empower all Europeans with digital skills and accessible online services
- Everyone should be able to participate in the digital life
Unleash the potential of ICT to benefit society
- Online access to medial records
- Energy saving
- Support af aging populations
Making the digital agenda a reality is a key priority. The documents and background information to the Digital Agenda can be found on the Commission’s website.
An information revolution
Oct 27th
If patients and others are to make informed decisions, they need access to appropriate and accurate information. As part of the ‘putting patients first’ agenda, the UK’s coalition government has published a consultation document which emphasises the importance of information in delivering the health and social care agenda. The ‘Information Revolution’ paper covers the way in which information is collected, analysed and shared. Responses are invited until early 2011.
Challenges for Academic Libraries in Difficult Economic Times
Apr 29th
A recently released guide from the Research Information Network reveals how academic librarians are experiencing and responding to financial cuts in the current economic climate.
Using data which was gathered in the UK and internationally, and which was then explored further during late 2009 with focus groups of senior librarians, the guide examines the financial position of libraries, their strategies for dealing with challenging economic circumstances, and the value of libraries.
The report reveals that, after a decade of growth in budgets and services, academic librarians now expect a sustained period of cuts over the next three to five years. Directors from across the sector reported that they were being asked to model cumulative cuts of between 5% and 10% a year.
The scale of these cuts means that librarians are having to reconsider the kinds and levels of service they can provide in support of their universities’ missions. The study reports that librarians across the sector are looking very closely at the costs of the ‘big deals’ and how they might be reduced. As a consequence, there is increased interested in national site licences covering the whole of the HE sector.
Other reductions being considered include opening hours, subject support for academic staff and students, and information skills training.
The report acknowledges that, in the very long term, it is possible that open access may help to reduce the pressure on library budgets. However, for the next three to five years at least, open access initiatives will continue to represent additional burdens on libraries, while the costs of running repositories, or paying publication fees, are not being offset by any significant reductions in subscription costs for scholarly journals.
The guide stresses that library directors from across the sector are keen to use the current financial difficulties as an opportunity to rethink what the library does, and to do things differently. But as yet there are few concrete proposals that will transform services or yield large-scale savings. The report concludes that sustaining world-class information services is of fundamental importance to UK universities. Libraries and their directors have a critical role to play, but they cannot do it all themselves. Leadership and partnership with champions from across the HE and information sectors will be critical to sustaining the outstanding position of UK universities.
British Library Announces UK Web Archive
Mar 23rd
The British Library recently announced the launch of the UK Web Archive, which will store and make accessible every site in the .uk top-level domain. The project will deploy an impressive array of text-mining and analysis software - Avi Rappoport reveals the details in Information Today’s Newsbreaks.
British Library and BBC Team Up to Integrate Access to Archives
Dec 17th
The British Library and the BBC are to team up on a digital project designed to integrate access to nearly one million hours of BBC TV and radio content, and more than 150 million items from the BL.
BBC Director General Mark Thomson and Lynne Brindley, head of the British Library, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will seek to develop ‘new ways of integrating access.’ They will also work together on issues such as rights management, digitisation and storage. A joint steering committee will develop a uniform approach across the two institutions.
Mark Thompson said it is “vital we partner, harnessing the power of digital technology to give the public the access they deserve.” According to Brindley, the project aims to “create a model of best practice which will allow the library to develop similar opportunities with other public institutions.” The partnership demonstrates that “we are keen to share content for the benefit of today’s researchers and the knowledge economy”, she added.
The BBC has already made similar arrangements with the British Film Institute and the National Archives.
Google’s UK MD gives evidence to MPs: “Google is not a parasite”.
Dec 4th
Matt Brittin, Google’s UK MD, gave evidence this week to the UK government inquiry into the future of local media and denied accusations that Google is a “parasite” on traditional newspapers. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport inquiry is examining the impact of digital convergence, new media technology and changing consumer behaviour on the UK regional newspaper industry.
Brittin described Google as a “virtual newsagent”, and noted that publishers can choose not to have their content indexed if they wish. At the same time he acknowledged that the economics of newspaper publishing are now very different from the time when the only place to advertise was the local paper. “Online everybody needs to experiment”, he commented, praising regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press’s recent decision to test paywalls on some of its local papers.
He also spent some time explaining the new restrictions which allow publishers to limit clickthroughs from Google News to their subscriber-only content.
Brittin maintained a careful distinction between the revenue models of Google News compared to Google web search, the nuances of which might have been lost on the MPs who were grilling him. It’s a fine line, and it’s easy to paint Google as being responsible for the current woes of the newspaper industry. As Brittin point out, though, Google delivers 100,000 clicks per minute — that’s 4 billion clicks per month — to news websites worldwide. Not quite the stuff of pantomime villains.
Video of the entire session is here.
