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SustainIT
February Newsletter 2008
The 2008
National eWell-Being Awards Short list
19 projects from 135 entries in 7 categories
will vie for the honours at the 2008 eWell-Being Awards. This year’s
hotly contested awards were judged on the 21st January by a
20-strong panel of judges including senior representatives from
central and regional government, manufacturers, suppliers and
journalists.
The 19 finalists will battle it out, with
the winners being announced at a Gala Awards Dinner, taking place at
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on Wednesday 30th April.
**Please note a change of date to Wednesday
30th April**
As well as a sumptuous meal and a chance to
network with like-minded peers, attendees can be inspired by the
latest innovative applications of sustainable ICT and help to
celebrate outstanding examples of best practice from all over the
UK.
The finalists in each category of the 2008
National eWell-Being Awards are:
Better
Ways of Working – John
Radcliffe Hospital, The Open University
(Flash Meeting), Motion computers
Building
Community Networks – Bowbridge
Primary School,
My Society
Business
Applications – AEC Technology, Ener-G
plc
Reaching
the Digitally Excluded – First Movement, The
Open University (Open Learn), UK Online Centres, Age Concern
England
Improving
Public Services – Sportplan Limited, Groupcall
Limited, British Association for Adoption and
Fostering
Independent
Living – Just Checking Ltd, Disabled Living
Foundation
Low Carbon & Environmental Efficiency –
Teliris, Verdiem, Advice NI
If you haven’t yet reserved your place for
what promises to be a fantastic evening, contact us to book your
tickets that are available, priced £150 per head.
For more information on the Awards please
visit http://www.sustainit.org/ewell-being-awards/2007-8-awards.php
or contact Richard
Craven, SustainIT on 01733 311644 or r.craven@ukceed.org
Now, on with this month’s
news…
Richard
Craven
SustainIT
Greening
IT
Wicks Electrical and
Electronic Equipment plea
Reaching
the Digitally Excluded
£60 million over four
years to tackle Taiwanese Digital Divide
Digital World Leaves Poor
and Elderly Behind
Birmingham Schools Pupils
to receive 8,000 Free Computers
Birmingham Councillor
Challenges Digital Divide
Low
Carbon and Environmental Efficiency
New Range of Energy Efficient
Phones from BT
Better
Ways of Working
DCLG Research Shows
eGovernment Saves Carbon Emissions
Sewer Network to Offer
Broadband
Greening
IT
Wicks
Electrical and Electronic
Equipment plea
In a bid to raise awareness of the
electronics producer responsibility system and inform consumers how
they can contribute to compliance with the EU WEEE directive, energy
minister Malcolm Wicks and recycling minister Joan Ruddock issued a
plea to Britons.
"From fridges to flatscreens, many people
will have received the latest must have gadgets at Christmas or
bought them in the sales - and need to dispose of their old
equipment. In fact around two million tonnes of electrical goods are
thrown out every year in the UK
alone.
"Through the WEEE directive we have built a
network to service every household in the UK, with over 1100
recycling sites open to the public. Now it's up to consumers to play
their part - ask your retailer or local authority what service they
offer, or simply go to your tip."
More
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Reaching
the Digitally Excluded
£60 million
over four years to tackle Taiwanese Digital Divide
The project, running from 2008 to 2011, will
include supplying 24,000 computers free of charge to school children
from low-income families, establishing "digital opportunity centers"
that meet local needs and teach middle- to old-age citizens how to
use computers and the Internet, Chang said during a weekly Cabinet
meeting.
The project will give 24,000 free computers
to school children from low-income families. It will also set up
digital centres to meet local needs.
Taiwan's
digital opportunities were rated seventh best in the world in 2007,
up from 10th in 2006, according to the World Information Society
Report 2007 published by the International Communication Union under
the United Nations.
More
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Digital
World Leaves Poor and Elderly Behind
The National Consumer Council’s report,
Consumer Futures, says many people are disadvantaged by internet
shopping and telephone banking.
The consumer watchdog said a growing divide
had emerged between well-educated customers familiar with the
internet and those who do not understand the web. Figures showed
that only 29 per cent of people over the age of 65 have internet
access at home, compared with a nationwide average of 57 per
cent.
More than 13 million people in Britain live in
households below the low income threshold, which is defined as 60
per cent of median income (£182 a week for a single parent with two
children). More than two million people have no bank account, having
to manage their money through cash. This makes both payment for
services and receiving compensation far
harder.
More
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Birmingham
School Pupils to
receive 8,000 Free Computers
Birmingham City Council have welcomed
Government plans to give 8,000 laptops to schools pupils across the
city.
Councillor Les Lawrence said the plans would
help tackle the so-called "digital divide" between families who do
have access to computers and those who do
not.
He said, "This exciting programme is both
inclusive and self sustaining, and is helping to immediately address
the digital divide, as by the end of the year 8,000 additional
pupils will now be able to complete homework assignments, coursework
and revise for important exams in the comfort of their
homes."
More
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Birmingham
Councillor Challenges Digital Divide
A Birmingham City Council cabinet member has
appealed to broadband providers to reduce the cost of their services
in order to make the internet more accessible to low-income
households.
He said that government figures showing
there are 800,000 pupils without broadband access in their homes
shows there is a divide, with some pupils unable to use the internet
as a study and research tool.
He explained: "21st century children and
young people wishing to achieve economic wellbeing when they leave
full-time education need to have the skills required by 21st century
employers."
More
Top
Low
Carbon and Environmental Efficiency
New
Range of
Energy Efficient
Phones from BT
According to BT, the new handsets
incorporate power units designed to consume around 50% of the power
of previous units, helping to reduce CO2 emissions and reducing
electricity costs for consumers. It estimates that replacing its
DECT cordless and fixed-line phones with more energy-efficient
alternatives will result in a reduction of more than 195,000 tonnes
in CO2 emissions over the next three years - the
equivalent of taking 57,000 cars off the road for a year. Consumers
are also set to save a total of more than £39m through reduced
electricity bills.
More
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Better
Ways of Working
DCLG
Research Shows eGovernment Saves Carbon
Emissions
Contacting your local council via the
internet can save the equivalent of millions of air miles in carbon
emissions.
This report found that not only is online
service more cost efficient in staff time than the use of paper, but
there are also parallel savings in terms of CO2 emissions
because of the reduced number of
journeys.
Parmjit Dhanda, e-Government minister said,
"We know that driving to the Town Hall to carry out a transaction
uses 20 times more energy than doing it online. That's why it's so
important that we encourage people to talk to their local authority
through the web."
"The Best Foot Forward study supports
Government plans for a low carbon economy and debunks the received
wisdom that increases in IT server capacity negate any
CO2 savings arising from the Internet
economy."
More
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Sewer
Network to Offer Broadband
H20 networks has been in negotiations with
water firms for the last five years and began rolling out its
fibre-via-sewers network - known as Focus (Fibre Optical Cable
Underground Sewer) in 2003.
Elfed Thomas, managing director of H20
networks came up with the idea of using the UKs extensive sewer
systems (which spans some 360,000 thousand miles) to deploy fibre
networks some time ago.
More
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About
SustainIT
SustainIT
is an initiative of The UK Centre for Economic and Environmental
Development (UK CEED), an independent, entrepreneurial research
foundation. It conducts research on, and provides good practice
examples of, synergies between ICT and sustainable development.
For more information visit www.sustainit.org or contact us
on +44 (0)1733 311644.
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