Digital tech

This briefing gives an overview of the UK’s telephone and broadband infrastructure. It covers fixed (static) broadband infrastructure (rather than wireless technologies). It includes an introduction to poles and ducts, and how they can be accessed by other Internet service providers who are wanting to build their own telecommunications infrastructure.

This POSTnote covers current and future uses of genome editing, how it is regulated and the potential concerns it raises.

Automation technologies can reduce costs and raise productivity. However, there is considerable uncertainty over their potential effects on the UK workforce. This note provides an overview of how these technologies are being used; and potential implications for employment, skills, education and inequality in the coming decades.

This POSTnote updates POSTnote 455 (January 2014), summarising the latest data on scale of use, safety and quality of electronic cigarettes, and their value as a stop smoking tool. It also explores the implications of the new EU Tobacco Products Directive and regulatory approaches in the UK.

Financial Technology (FinTech) describes the application of digital technology to financial services. This POSTnote reviews how and why FinTech is being used, and the benefits and challenges it presents to the UK.

This briefing provides an overview of how encryption works and how it is used.

Digital forensic science is the process of obtaining, analysing and using digital evidence in investigations or criminal proceedings. Digital evidence ranges from images of child sexual exploitation to the location of a mobile phone. This note looks at the use of digital forensics by UK law enforcement agencies. It covers how evidence is obtained, the legislation and regulation in this area, and the efforts being made to address the challenges faced by practitioners.

A POSTnote which explains the plans to introduce electronic health records for everyone. As well as background on what information such records will contain, the paper discusses the opportunities and challenges implementing them will involve.

Automated technology is increasingly used in military activities such as intelligence gathering, navigation and weapons delivery. The most widespread use of automated technology to date has been remotely piloted air systems. However, each of the main military domains – air, land and sea – make use of automation. This POSTnote outlines current and potential future applications of automation in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and in combat. It then summarises debate over legal, ethical and societal issues, including debate over whether a pre-emptive ban is needed on future lethal autonomous weapons systems.

This note looks at developments in information and communication technology (ICT) and their relevance for UK policy in the next five years. It examines the capability, use and economic impact of ICT; technical barriers; and implications for cybersecurity, privacy and internet governance.

This note examines forensic language analysis, the scientific validity of procedures and their applications, and explores the issues surrounding their use.

This POSTnote focuses on trends in UK compulsory education and outlines where trends differ between individual nations.