There’s ‘The Deficit’ and umpteen other deficits that are giving grief across all sectors of the economy. But underlying all these, inhibiting a revitalisation of the economy, is a deeper, darker deficit – the Digital Deficit.
In this CMA editorial written for Bdaily (the UK’s online business forum) we discuss a top down and bottom up view of the impact of the digital deficit in the context of an emergent digital economy and the upcoming debate at NextGen12
Full story here.
When facts seem to get in the way of belief it is hardly surprising that some folk get upset.
Cherished notions about productivity were at the root of consternation in the UK last week but the puzzle provides a few extra clues for those who have not yet fully understood the impacts of digitalisation and ‘the digital economy’.
With jobs growth highest amongst people least likely to benefit from digital efficiencies and an increase in ‘digital economy’ activities that are not included in GDP estimates we are seeing the emergence of new realities and an urgent need to design better ways of understanding what is going on.
Full story here.
In the past two weeks the turnaround in UK attitudes towards Olympic prospects has been impressive.
Running rings around our expectations is now similar to what is needed to overcome the UK’s ‘Digital Deficit’ (DD).
In this slightly ‘tongue in cheek’ editorial we liken DD to an endemic medical condition where early recognition of the symptons may prevent the need for more radical therapies later.
Full story here
The House of Lords Communications Committee’s report offering an alternative vision for the UK is an important contribution towards the challenges of resolving the country’s digital deficits.
The Communications Management Association’s view has been widely reported.
The linkages between digital investment and economic growth will now be further explored at NextGen12.
Read the original CMA text here.
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.
Read the full story here
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.
Read the full story here
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.
Our editorial streams in the quarter April-June 2012 were dominated by coverage of the UN Sustainability Summit, (Rio+20) with considerable input from ‘Groupe Intellex Associate’ Marit Hendriks in Rio de Janeiro filming for NextGen TV.
Surprise hits, however, were the editorials on the ‘digital’ economy, New Economic Models and, from the archive, a heart-felt sermon on the iniquities of call centres, ‘ Please hold during the silence’.
The Quarterly Review includes references, acknowledgement, a chronological listing and a full alphabetical index of topics and people featured in the last 3 months.
In this final editorial from the UN Sustainability Summit in Rio we consider the disappointments felt by many participants but also celebrate the digital connectivity that has taken the messages from this event to all corners of the world.
In Marit Hendrik’s compilation of voices from Rio we hear from the UN leadership, from those concerned with their own country’s leadership deficit in environmental matters and those who really understand the need to re-engage with a digitally-empowered and well-connected next generation.
Full story here with video from Marit Hendriks for NextGen TV.
Ria in Spanish is the feminine of Rio and it seems only appropriate for our 4th report from Rio+20 to acknowledge the work of women around the world.
On a day when London and Brussels both experienced the power of dignified but determined voices we turn our Rio+20 spotlight on Tanya, Doris and Brittany – three voices with messages that lift us out of politics, resolutions and declarations and into the real world of getting on with finding solutions to everyday environmental problems.
In the rain forests of the Amazon or remote valleys in Switzerland or from the distant shores of New Zealand we feature three great examples of digital empowerment.
Politicians and the media may think the Rio+20 sustainability text is ‘insipid’ but life goes on and the present powers will be held to account by the next generation.
Full story here with videos by Marit Hendriks for NextGenTV.
Groupe Intellex 