Technology

• The skills required for the ‘smart local energy systems’ of the future need new approaches to training and qualifications.
  To support the UK Government’s net zero commitment, the energy system must become increasingly decarbonised, digitalised and localised and the skills required to develop, install and operate its components are changing.
• Generational attitudes to facial recognition: How retailers and policymakers should approach the use of developing facial recognition technology
  The use of facial recognition technology is becoming increasingly widespread. The technology, based on live or recorded CCTV footage, uses algorithms to recognise individuals’ gender, age, emotions and skin type. The use of facial recognition for national security is well known, but it is increasingly being used for commercial purposes, using data from public and private spaces (e.g shops) to track the behaviour of customers. So far, limited laws exist for this use of data. With the rapid technological development and usage, laws and rules are needed.
• Regulating digitisation of critical infrastructures: recommendations to harmonise safety and security of Operational Technologies
  As digital innovations proliferate across critical infrastructure sectors, we begin to regulate them to ensure the reliable and safe delivery of essential services like water, energy, or transport.
• Tackling teenage sexual violence: history shows culture, not just technology, should be addressed
  Debates over the prevalence of peer-based sexual violence among teenagers and young people were reignited by Soma Sara’s Everyone’s Invited movement in 2021. In the space of several months almost 15,000 Everyone’s Invited users shared experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. These revelations have called into question how well government guidance on how to handle sexual violence between young people in education settings is being implemented. They also highlight areas for development within the delivery of Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) both within and beyond schools.
• Regulating digitisation of critical infrastructure: cyber security decisions must be based on robust evidence
  Critical infrastructures (e.g. water, energy, transport) use Operational Technologies to provide their services. Operational Technologies are engineering equipment traditionally built for safety and resilience which, over the last few years, have been digitised and connected to the Internet. This creates new avenues for cyber security attacks: blackouts in power stations, pollution of water supply, hacked traffic signals.
• Lessons from political opinion polls: using surveys to value non-market goods such as human life
  Putting a monetary value on human life supports decision makers in seeking a balance between the cost of a safety measure and the reduction in harm it delivers, but new research suggests that the value given to a human life – the Value of a Prevented Fatality (VPF) – by the UK Government is too low.
• Privacy implications of pet wearables
  Pet wearables have significant privacy implications for consumers. This research into the extent of data collected by pet wearables has led to a clear understanding that consumer pet wearables available on the market capture far more data of owners than actual pets, and potentially mislead consumers into underestimating this extent of data capture. Moreover, pet data descriptions are often vague and may understate their potential to indirectly identify their owners or third parties.
• Minimising the Risks of Major Industrial Accidents
  The UK Government has recognised large industrial accidents as major risks to infrastructure in the UK. Serious accidents (and near misses) still regularly occur worldwide in all ‘high-hazard’ industries. They have the potential for major loss of life, environmental damage, and a massive impact in terms of lost production, company value, and reputation.
• Industrial Sustainability and the Role of Research in Addressing the UK Industrial Strategy’s Grand Challenges
  Industrial sustainability has been established as a core tenet of the UK’s Industrial Strategy. The Government’s Clean Growth agenda sets out a new narrative that embraces research and innovation to support the development of a regenerative, restorative and net positive economy.
• Widening participation in the digital age: can online networks and technologies support underrepresented students in succeeding at university?
  Online social networking practices can support the retention and success of more diverse students at university.
• Trident Renewal: future vulnerabilities must be taken seriously
  This briefing explores the challenges facing British defence in the aftermath of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
• Clean water linked to rising birth rates in Africa: why development initiatives must consider women’s reproductive services
  This research explores the unintended consequences of foreign aid and highlights the need for community based, bottom-up approaches to rural development initiatives in Africa.
• China’s Investment in Europe: labour management practice in the electronics industry requires overhaul
  This research investigates the restructuring of the electronics industry, with a focus on labour relations at Chinese companies in Europe.