technology – Page 12 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Get super connected: still time to take up broadband offer

Small to medium sized businesses in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders are being reminded that there is still time to apply for vouchers, which could connect them to superfast broadband.

The scheme has helped 442 businesses in Edinburgh with superfast connections so far. To date there has been a lot of interest in the scheme and businesses are encouraged to apply before funds run out.

Funding for the project is part of the UK Government’s £150 million super connected cities programme being delivered locally by City of Edinburgh Council.

Vouchers are awarded to businesses to help cover the installation costs of connecting to superfast broadband services up to the value of £3,000. Businesses pay the VAT costs and the ongoing subscription.

To qualify for a voucher, organisations should be small to medium sized located in the City of Edinburgh Council area, have fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than £40m. Further information and an application form can be found here.

Cllr Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said: “The vouchers will provide much needed financial assistance to small to medium sized businesses in the city who don’t already have a fast connection. We have worked hard to secure this opportunity for local businesses and I would strongly recommend those without a fast connection apply for a voucher as high grade broadband is more reliable, faster and it will make your business more efficient and competitive.”

Further information

The voucher scheme is part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Connected Capital Programme, which aims to improve Edinburgh’s broadband connectivity. Follow on Twitter @connectedinburg.
Businesses in Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders areas can access the vouchers through the Edinburgh scheme
In the vast majority of cases the voucher should cover the total installation cost but where it doesn’t, businesses will have to cover the difference themselves.
Edinburgh’s Connected Capital Programme is part of the£150m Super Connected Cities Programme which is being delivered through Broadband Delivery UK, which is part of the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Other projects forming part ofthe Connected Capital Programme are an outdoor wireless network delivered though a service concession contract, wireless hotspots in a number of public buildings. Wi-fi on the trams and buses is already in place

Superfast broadband is defined as speed of at least 30 Megabytes per Second (Mbps) and ultrafast is defined 80 to 100+ Mbps.

Getting communities connected

More than three million homes and businesses have been reached by the Westminster government’s nationwide rollout of superfast broadband, figures published today reveal. The announcement follows news that libraries are to share in a £1.5 million Scottish Government investment to enhance digital participation.

The rollout is delivering superfast access – internet speeds greater than 24 Mbps – to those properties not covered by existing commercial networks and is on track to take superfast access to 95 per cent of the UK by 2017. More than four out of five UK homes and businesses already have access to superfast speeds, and the rollout is currently reaching an additional 40,000 homes and businesses every week.

This comes following recent news that BT will make up to £129m available to extend the Government-led rollout of superfast broadband across the UK.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said: “Reaching three million properties is a huge achievement. Our rollout of superfast broadband is transforming lives up and down the country as every day thousands more homes and businesses are gaining access to superfast speeds.

“It’s fantastic to see that the rollout of superfast broadband is now delivering for customers and for the taxpayer. The levels of people taking up superfast broadband in areas where we invested public money are beyond our expectations, and BT is now reimbursing the public purse to deliver further coverage across the UK. This now means that BT will be providing up to £129m cashback for some of the most hard to reach areas.”

The additional funding will be made available to local authorities to reinvest the money in providing further superfast broadband coverage to even more homes and businesses, and much earlier than originally planned.

The money is being made available as a result of a clause in the contracts BT agreed with government and local authorities that allows the funding BT has received to be returned or reinvested into further coverage if take-up is better than the 20 per cent expected in BT’s original business case. The higher take up rate to date has resulted in BT making a new business case assumption of reaching 30 per cent take-up in these areas.

In Scotland, more than 394,000 homes and businesses have been reached by the rollout of fibre-optic cable.

Gavin Patterson, CEO BT Group, said: “The UK is making great progress with fibre broadband. Twenty three million premises are covered by BT’s open access network, with three million of those enabled under the BDUK programme. Our Openreach engineers have worked tirelessly to connect some of the most remote parts of the UK, from Shetland and Hebrides to the moors of southwest England.

“The public have responded by taking up fibre in large numbers, and that’s good news for those areas that haven’t been reached yet. It means additional funds are being released which will enable us to go even further at no extra cost to the taxpayer and earlier than expected.”

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: “Our continuing investment in speedier broadband will unleash the full potential of our countryside – creating jobs, boosting exports and improving the quality of life for people living in rural communities.

“By ensuring everyone has access to the same technology and services we can boost the productivity of rural areas, making it as easy to open and expand a business in some of the most beautiful parts of our countryside as it is in our cities.”

Almost £18million funding is being made available to accelerate high speed broadband roll-out for Scotland’s rural communities.

The early benefit comes from the success of the Scottish Government-backed £410million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme, which has now reached over 365,000 homes and businesses from the Shetland Isles to Dumfries and Galloway.

And Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney yesterday announced £1.5 million to boost free Wi-Fi in public spaces.

The £1.5 million funding for 2015/16 is part of the Scottish Government’s wider drive to enhance digital participation, improve rural connectivity and the uptake of online public services across Scotland.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney visited Ullapool library in the MacPhail Centre to see at first-hand the impact of the public library Wi-Fi programme to date.

He wanted to find out how people are benefitting from freely available connectivity and met trainers and participants in a ‘Get To Know Your Techno’ group, an innovative digital participation initiative which has seen young people teach older people digital skills and the benefits of being online.

Mr Swinney, said: “It’s wonderful to be here in Ullapool to announce our public wireless programme which includes a second phase of funding for free public Wi-Fi in libraries. This supports the promotion of the wider economic, social and cultural benefits from public spaces and has the potential to attract new audiences to our public libraries.

“Helping libraries and other public spaces to provide free connectivity will be increasingly important as the use of smartphones and tablets continues to increase and the appetite for internet access on the move grows.

“Libraries don’t just provide access to reading material they play a crucial role in providing access to IT, improving attainment, supporting children in the early years and empowering communities. We want to help libraries to empower communities, tackle inequality and boost the economy, as well as provide more people with opportunities to learn and to experience local heritage and culture.

“The latest research from Ofcom shows that more Scots than ever before are using smart devices to access the internet – almost 40% say their smartphone is their main way of accessing the internet and indicates that half the adults in Scotland own a tablet. The Scottish Government is committed to improving and extending access to public Wi-Fi in support of our world class digital vision where people can connect anywhere, with any device, at any time by 2020.

“Ullapool is already benefitting from free public Wi-Fi and the ‘Get To Know Your Techno’ group is a great example of how easier access to Wi-Fi improves digital participation across our communities and can bring younger and older members of the community together.”

Digital Information Day for MHA tenants

Muirhouse Housing Association tenants have an opportunity to brush up their technology skills at event at Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre tomorrow (writes James McGinty):

Come and find out more about using phones,tablets and computers with the M.H.A. Team at Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre (Lounge/Cafe area) on Tuesday (9 June) from 11am – 1pm.

This is an event for M.H.A.Tenants only.

An expert from the field of computers will be there joining the Team and if you attend your name will be entered to a lucky dip to win a tablet!

Talking Tech during National Digital Learning Week

Education Secretary Angela Constance has called on all Scottish schools to make the most of opportunities offered by digital learning, as National Digital Learning Week continues.

Ms Constance was speaking as she visited Mauricewood Primary School in Penicuik to see how technology is being used to support learning in the school.

National Digital Learning Week (2-6 March) highlights how learners and teachers are using digital technologies in schools across Scotland.

At Mauricewood, Ms Constance saw a presentation about ‘The Moscars’, a project where groups of pupils used technology to develop a short film. She also chatted to pupils who are using technology in a variety of ways to find out more about other countries and their cultures.

She said: “We want learners and teachers in Scotland to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by technology in order to raise attainment, ambition and opportunities for all. Technology is all around us and we want all of our schools to tap into its rich potential for learning.

“There’s exciting events going on every day throughout National Digital Learning Week and I am delighted to see some great examples for myself at Mauricewood.

“At Mauricewood and in other schools across Scotland, there’s great examples of technology being woven into day-to-day learning, bringing subjects to life and opening up opportunities for research, collaboration, communication and creativity.

“This week also marks the start of a National Digital Learning Community, where we want teachers and educators across Scotland to continue conversations and reflections about digital learning, and we want this conversation to continue long beyond this week of activity.”

Activities are ongoing throughout the week, including TeachMeets in a number of authorities for teachers to share good practice, practical innovations and personal insights in teaching with technology, GlowTV events and daily blog updates at

:https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/ndlf/

Conversation are also continuing all week on Twitter using the hashtag #digilearnscot.

A video message from Ms Constance, marking the start of Digital Learning Week, can be accessed at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cmVLUU43f8

Meet beats tweet when looking for work

‘Getting out there and speaking with people is just as important as being online’ – Grahame Smith, Scottish STUC

Technology may have invaded every aspect of our lives, but new research shows a personal touch is still the best when it comes to getting a job.

The 2014 Employer Perspectives Survey, released today by government skills experts the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), shows that despite the meteoric rise of social media, just 7% of employers say they’ve used it to recruit new staff.

Based on interviews with more than 18,000 employers across the UK, the study reveals that recruitment methods involving the human touch, such as filling vacancies through word of mouth and personal recommendation are still widely used by employers.

Just over one in ten (11%) of employers said they used work experience as a recruitment tool, whilst the number offering a job as a result of a speculative enquiry has more than doubled.

Although the findings may be welcomed by parents who are unconvinced that their offspring’s broadband consumption actually equates to job hunting, the researchers say the findings point to a greater need to hone jobseekers’ social skills.

Grahame Smith, a Commissioner at UKCES and General Secretary of the Scottish TUC said:

Digital skills are crucial in the modern workplace, and while many young people excel in this area, these findings show how important it is for jobseekers to also develop their personal presence. Getting out there and speaking with people is just as important as being online, but it’s more difficult for the digital generation.

That’s why it’s important to break down the barriers between education and employers. By offering simple things like business mentoring, careers talks, work experience and mock interviews, businesses can make a huge difference to the future of young people. Our research shows that whilst only a minority of employers currently work with schools and colleges in this way, the good news is that those that do say it’s easy and rewarding.

Michael Davis, chief executive of UKCES, said:

For those looking for work, making use of social media when job hunting can bring a world of information at the click of a mouse, but when it comes to making that all important first impression it seems there’s no substitute for legwork.

This research shows that what really matters to employers is an opportunity to get face to face with candidates, and get a real understanding of how they tick and what they can offer.

For employers it’s important to not become over-dependent on one form of recruitment. Our research shows that word of mouth is still commonly used to hire staff – but this risks missing out on a huge talent pool just because people don’t happen to be plugged into the right professional networks.

By striking a balance, both sides can benefit. Creating strong links with local education providers is just one way of achieving this, allowing employers to see first-hand what young people can offer, while simultaneously giving young people opportunity to build crucial contacts.

Other findings from the report include:

businesses in London and the south-east are most likely to recruit a young person – 32% of employers have recruited a young person in the past 12 months.
businesses in the East Midlands, the south-east and the south-west are most likely to have recruited an older person (aged over 50) with 33% of employers reporting they’ve taken on an older member of staff in the past 12 months.
nearly half (49%) of hotels and restaurants have recruited young people in the past year, compared with just 13% of employers in the utilities sector.

Apps the way to do it!

City’s innovators tackle the Edinburgh Apps challenge

A running app for tourists and a tool to organise sporting activities in the city were amongst the winners in a competition to find innovative solutions to improve life in Edinburgh.

The inventions were awarded at the Edinburgh Apps event, which this year focused on health, culture and sport themes.

Run by the City of Edinburgh Council, the annual ‘civic challenge’ encourages participants to develop digital services like mobile apps, websites or product concepts to enhance life in the city for residents and visitors. It is one of the first events of its kind to take place in the UK, allowing entrants to work with Council and partner data to create new ideas.

Last Sunday, developers, designers and start-up companies gathered to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, which consisted of David Williams, Joint Commissioning Officer for Health and Social Care at the Council, Colin McMillian, Club Development Officer in the Council’s Culture and Sport department, Claudette Jones, Chief Information Officer in the Council’s ICT department, and Pippa Gardner, Managing Consultant of Urban Tide.

Other winning entries on the day were SpeechCity, a smartphone app providing a conversational tour guide, and ACE, which supports people recovering from addiction to stay sober.

Economy Convener and Digital Champion Councillor Frank Ross, who also helped judge the competition, said: “We were very impressed with the calibre of entries to this year’s contest – choosing the winner was a tough decision. Not only were concepts inventive but also incredibly useful, proving how important technology is to running a modern city.”

Winners will receive funding to develop their ideas further in partnership with the Council, along with additional business support.

This is the second time Edinburgh Apps has taken place, with last year’s winners including Airts routing tool, which would help the Council plan Health and Social Care equipment deliveries more efficiently, and Trashman, an app helping the public to locate their nearest recycling bank, now named Recycle for Edinburgh.

What the winners said:

Mark Sorsa-Leslie, co-founder of Bubbal, won the challenge to promote the city’s viewpoints with their app, which automatically updates users with historical information on nearby monuments, giving the opportunity to donate to their upkeep.

He said: “We want to make Bubbal like a Twitter for places – you can follow landmarks like you follow people, based on your interests. Edinburgh Apps is the first thing we’ve ever won and it will be great to work with the Council, which we hope will help encourage local users.”

Jenny Tough, whose team won the Wildcard app award with Run2See, a free app providing running routes and tourist information for runners new to the city, said: “Winning the award was a real boost of confidence – it will be really useful for us taking the app forward to production.”

Jim Law’s Find a Player app, which works to join sports venues, sporting activities and willing players together, added: “The app idea came to me because I was getting really frustrated with always looking for games of football but being offered them at the wrong times. I thought there must be a much more efficient way to contact people organising games and that this must be the same with lots of different sports.

“It was fantastic to win, we’re genuinely over the moon. If we can prove this model in Edinburgh it can drive us on to other councils but it’s great just to get the chance to work with Edinburgh.”

For more information on the competition and details of the winners and entries, visit the Edinburgh Apps website.

Sign up to the EdinburghApps challenge

The City of Edinburgh Council is calling on designers, developers and start-up companies to sign up to the challenge.

There are only a couple of days left until the next stage of the 2014 EdinburghApps contest, being held at the Capital’s Informatics Forum this weekend (4 and 5 October).

If you are interested in taking part in this event, visit the EdinburghApps website and register on the event page or email edinburghapps@edinburgh.gov.uk.

The open data contest, which aims to find innovative solutions to help improve the lives of people in Edinburgh, will see participants pitch ideas about digital services like mobile apps, websites and product concepts which have the potential to enhance health, sport and cultural life in the capital.

The weekend will feature a master class on how to pitch ideas to judges, followed by a two day long ‘hack’ where participants will have the chance to work on their ideas, hear more about open data and take part in a ‘flash hack’ to build the city’s first dashboard.

Participants focusing on health will be asked to come up with ideas to either help people who have been supported by Council services to stay safe or to make it easier for individuals with deteriorating conditions like MS and dementia to access advice and information.

Those interested in culture and sport have been challenged with encouraging people to take up physical activity. Competitors can also use data to improve visitor experiences in the city’s museums and galleries, or to promote the capital’s attractions and history.

The Council’s Digital Champion, Councillor Frank Ross, said: “I am delighted to be involved in such an innovative event which really channels people’s creativity in using technology and data to make a difference to the lives of people in Edinburgh. The challenges this year are so diverse and I look forward to seeing the new and original ideas and concepts participants produce.”

The entries will be judged at a competition final on 26 October, with the winners being offered business support and the opportunity to work with the Council on developing their concepts further.

This is the second year the Council has run EdinburghApps. Previous winners include AIRTS, who are developing an app that helps the Joint Equipment Store operate more efficiently, and a Waste app helping the public to locate their nearest recycling bank. Thanks to the competition these apps are now due for release by the Council in October.

The event is sponsored by Jadu, MacRoberts, IBM, FreeAgent, Marketing Edinburgh, Transport for Edinburgh and CSI.

Getting connected

Lothians and Fife set to benefit from Edinburgh broadband scheme

Thousands of businesses in the Lothians and Fife are set to benefit from free superfast broadband thanks to a successful scheme led by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The initiative is being delivered until March 2015 by Business Gateway in Edinburgh as part of the UK Government’s £100 million Super Connected Cities programme, and is now being extended to cover organisations located within five miles of the city’s boundaries.

Vouchers are awarded to businesses to help cover the installation costs of connecting to superfast broadband services up to the value of £3,000.

To qualify for a voucher, applicants should be small to medium-sized businesses or third sector organisations located within five miles of Edinburgh, with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than £40m.

Councillor Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said: “This is an excellent example of Edinburgh helping small to medium sized businesses in the City Region access funding for a fast broadband connection. We have worked hard to secure this opportunity for local businesses and I would strongly recommend those without a fast connection apply for a voucher as high grade broadband is more reliable, faster and it will make your business more efficient and competitive.”

West Lothian’s Executive Councillor for Development and Transport, Cathy Muldoon, said: “I would encourage any West Lothian companies within a five mile radius of Edinburgh to check if they are eligible for free connection to fast broadband under this scheme, as it can deliver a significant boost to their business. This could include businesses in Livingston, Broxburn, Mid Calder and East Calder.

“West Lothian Council has pledged to invest £2.5 million in next generation broadband by 2017 to ensure the area is one of the best connected areas in the UK.”

Councillor Jim Bryant, Cabinet Member for Economic Development in Midlothian, said: “Reliable and fast broadband is an essential service for Midlothian businesses. We are pleased to be part of the Connected Capital Programme so that businesses within five miles of the Midlothian / City of Edinburgh boundary can take advantage of the voucher scheme incentives and sign up with their preferred supplier from the recommended list. We will continue to work with partners in the Scottish Government on their Step Change, and Community Broadband Scotland, programmes to ensure wider access to high speed broadband in Midlothian.”

Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Cabinet Spokesperson for Economic Development and Tourism, said: “I hope local businesses will explore this option which offers an opportunity for faster connection. We continue to look at all the options available to connect all businesses and homes in East Lothian to faster broadband and will work with others to bring this about as quickly as we can.”

The scheme is being marketed via the Business Gateway Service in each local authority area. In the meantime, applicants are welcome to contact the project team directly on 0131 469 3990.

Organisations located within five miles of Edinburgh’s council boundaries are encouraged to check their postcode and apply online.

City seeks Appsolutely brilliant ideas

Forward-thinkers are being challenged to come up with innovative solutions to help improve the lives of people in Edinburgh:

EdinburghApps, run by City of Edinburgh Council, pits teams and individuals against one another to create fresh and creative concepts using Council and partner data. Launched in 2013, the event offered winners business support and the opportunity to work with the Council to develop their concepts further.

Now the competition will return for a second year, in partnership with Transport for Edinburgh, and will centre on two themes: Health and Culture and Sport.

Designers, developers, start-up businesses and other entrants will be able to use data provided to create apps, websites or other concepts. Ideas should either help citizens live healthy and independent lives or encourage interest and participation in culture and sport.

This year’s EdinburghApps event will launch on 5 September with an Ice Breaker evening at the School of Informatics Forum, where anyone interested in entering will hear more information about the challenge and themes.

Participants will then be given seven weeks to work on their ideas before presenting them at a judging and awards event on 26th October. A series of drop-in sessions will be run during this period to allow competitors to discuss their entries further.

Councillor Alasdair Rankin, the city’s Finance & Resources Convener, said: “Technology is key to creating a thriving, equal society and events like these show the multitude of ways we can harness its benefits. We were incredibly impressed by the range and quality of entries in 2013 and I look forward to seeing what this year’s entries have to offer.”

Organisers are hoping to attract a similar calibre of entries to last year’s EdinburghApps, which was won by Joint Equipment Store, an app that helps Council lorries operate more efficiently, and Trashman, another app helping the public to locate their nearest recycling bank.

Thanks to the competition these apps are now due for release by the Council in October.

EdinburghApps also ran an interim Hackathon in June, when participants were challenged to use data from the Council, Scottish Government and other partners to come up with solutions to improve road safety.

If you are interested in taking part in this event, visit the EdinburghApps website and register on the event page or email edinburghapps@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Internet virus threat – act now to stay safe

Internet users have been warned that they have just two weeks to protect themselves against the GameOver Zeus and CryptoLocker viruses being used by criminal gangs to extort millions of pounds, security agencies announced on Monday.

GameOver Zeus was created by Eastern European criminal gangs to locate and capture computer files that give access to banking and financial information, while Cryptolocker encrypts all files on a target’s computer and demands the user pays a ‘ransom’ of around £300 to unlock the data.

Almost 250,000 computers worldwide have been infected with CryptoLocker since it first appeared in April and it has so far been used to extort payments of more than $27m (£16m), according to the FBI.

What can you do to protect your computer from cyber attack?

Well, protecting your passwords is a good place to start – don’t store unencrypted passwords on your computer in case they are detected by malware viruses. If you must store passwords, use a safe and reliable password manager application like PasswordBox, LastPass 3.0 or KeePass, which back up and shares with your smartphone or tablet computer.

And Norton Internet Security has issued the following advice:

Both Gameover Zeus and Cryptolocker are malware targeting personal information for financial gain. Gameover Zeus runs software on an infected device, which is used to intercept online banking transactions, defrauding customers and banks.

Cryptolocker is a new form of ransomware which works by encrypting files on the victim hard-drive, then demanding payment for the key to decrypt.

This week the UK National Crime Agency and the FBI, working with Symantec and other partners, were able to significantly disrupt two financial malware operations: Gameover Zeus botnet and Cryptolocker ransomware network.

How to protect yourself:

If you receive an e-mail with an attachment – DO NOT open it unless it’s expected. Examples would be invoices for unknown purchases, bank statements (which are never e-mailed)
DO NOT click on website links to download files unless you have request them
Make sure that the signatures for your anti-virus software are updated to the latest version as this will protect against Gameover Zeus
Run regular full scans of your computers and backup your files

It really is worth taking the time to follow these simple steps now to avoid a lot of grief afterwards.