Archive | July, 2012

Letting go – job polarisation and innovation in the digital economy

26 Jul

No-one doubts that small companies are great generators of new employment but new research has also highlighted the effects of ‘job polarisation’ where the growth is found in either ‘lovely or lousy’ jobs at the expense of ‘middle income’ roles.

In this review of ICF’s latest report by co-founder Robert Bell we ask why large companies find innovation so difficult and we suggest that major firms have a wider responsibility for investment that could balance the apparent reluctance of banks to lend to small businesses.

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Assistive Technology

19 Jul

Six years on, but what has changed?

Revisiting a story from 2006 about ‘assistive technology’ we review progress with ‘speech to text’ and ‘sip & puff’ options for severely disabled people with spinal injuries.

So many things that we take for granted – like using a mouse and keyboard – are huge challenges for folk like Chris but can, at least in part, be resolved by ingenuity, innovation and determination.

But such a pity about the basic connectivity.

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reflections on a rainy month

15 Jul

It isn’t just the inclement weather that has disheartened UK citizens this last month.

The realities of digital dependencies have been heightened by bank systems failures, banks’ ethical failures and bank-sponsored bike breakdowns.

But it’s not just in the banking sector that regulatory reform is in the air.

Dig into all the calls for infrastructure investment (mostly in the cause of economic growth) and you find at their root the need to tackle the ‘digital deficit’ – something whose very existence many would deny or not yet comprehend.

It all adds up to a need for a post-Olympic rethink of national policy priorities.

read the full story here.

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