Guest blog by Dot Porter, University of Glasgow Library Research Fellow. My name is Dot Porter and I’m the Curator, Digital Research Services at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. In 2020 I was awarded a Visiting Research Fellowship at the University of Glasgow Special Collections, which would allow me to come to Glasgow and spend […]
The Northern Ireland Command Papers – A conversation with George Woodman
George Woodman began working with official publications three years preceding his appointment to Stormont where he was the Librarian before retiring on 31st March 2011. His career spanning 37 years establishes him by his contemporaries as the authority on Northern Ireland official publications, and this is matched with his depth of understanding and experience of official papers emanating from the wider jurisdictions of the UK and Ireland. His papers, “A Century of Partition”, (Church of Ireland Clougher Diocesan Magazine 2021) and “Official Publications – 30 years of change”, (published in Refer Summer 2012), explain the establishment of Northern Ireland and the changes in official publishing during his career. Both provide valuable context for this piece, which focuses on the Northern Ireland Command Papers (NI Cmd. Papers). Relating to a wide range of topics, most Command Papers were…
Gigabit-broadband: Funding for rural and hard to reach areas – “As of January 2022, 64% of UK premises had a gigabit-broadband connection available, according to the telecoms regulator, Ofcom. That’s a connection that can support download speeds of at least 1 gigabit per second.
The Government’s target is for gigabit-broadband to be available nationwide by 2030, with 85% of premises expected to be met by 2025. Nationwide coverage means “at least 99%”.
Around 20% of premises, mostly in rural areas, are estimated to require public funding to deliver gigabit-broadband. This briefing looks at current and past government funding programmes for gigabit-broadband roll-out. These programmes follow the Government’s previous publicly-funded superfast broadband programme.”
AI Watch, road to the adoption of Artificial Intelligence by the public sector: A handbook for policymakers, public administrations and relevant stakeholders. “This handbook is the first endeavour at the European level to outline possible avenues to promote AI in support of public services. The recommendations and the actions included in this handbook are formulated in compliance with EU values and digital principles, and intend to provide a multi-level and multidimensional actionable plan to foster citizen-centric and inclusive AI adoption and use by the public sector, as a safe, lawful and trustworthy driver to achieve common good and wellbeing in the European society at large.”
Multilingualism: The language of the European Union. A briefing on the languages of the European Union, data on language usage, and the practicalities of providing multilingualism in the European Parliament, for example, translation services and costs.
Short-term rentals in the EU: Report. “A Flash Eurobarometer survey about short-term rentals in the EU, booked via platforms. A representative sample of citizens, aged 15 and over, was interviewed in each of the 27 Member States of the European Union.”
The digital euro: Policy implications and perspectives : executive summary. “The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to launch a two-year investigation phase of a possible digital euro. This announcement has raised many expectations and also many questions. What would be the purpose of a digital euro? How would it work? What would be the consequences for European citizens? Would it disrupt the activities of banks?…