Horizon scanning
In its 2017 Industrial Strategy, the UK Government set out a target of investing 2.4% of GDP on R&D by 2027. How is it planning to reach this target? What are the uncertainties emerging from COVID-19 and the withdrawal from the European Union?
Horizon scanning
COVID-19, Brexit and consumer behaviours are changing the way businesses operate. What could the impact be on manufacturing, retail and service provision?
Horizon scanning
Many organisations have turned to technology during the COVID-19 pandemic to aid social distancing. Could ongoing automation reinforce existing inequalities?
Horizon scanning
Flexible working could increase wellbeing and productivity, but benefits are not equally distributed throughout the population and could increase inequalities.
Horizon scanning
The UK aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. While industry support for the target is growing, some argue the target must be brought forward to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Horizon scanning
Upskilling and retraining adults is key to addressing future challenges and benefits productivity, health and wellbeing, social justice and communities.
Horizon scanning
The global commons include the atmosphere, ice sheets, a stable climate, biodiversity and even space. What is their current state and how can they be protected?
Horizon scanning
Climate change and decarbonisation efforts are impacting infrastructure. How might these changes intersect with protections against malicious attacks?
POSTnote
Cooling is a process used across many areas of society. It is important for buildings, industrial processes and the supply of food and medicines. It is also needed for sustainable development. Yet some cooling applications contribute to climate change and the demand for cooling is rising. This POSTnote looks at UK and global demand for cooling. It highlights ways of meeting this demand that are more sustainable than conventional practices. It also outlines technology and policy options to promote these.
POSTnote
There are various applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, such as helping clinicians to make decisions, monitoring patient health, and automating routine administrative tasks. This POSTnote gives an overview of these uses, and their potential impacts on the cost and quality of healthcare, and on the workforce. It summarises the challenges to wider adoption of AI in healthcare, including those relating to safety, privacy, data-sharing, trust, accountability and health inequalities. It also outlines some of the regulations relevant to AI, and how these may change. As healthcare is a devolved issue, policies on healthcare AI differ across the UK. This POSTnote focusses on regulations and policies relevant to England.
POSTnote
Large-scale woodland creation is being promoted internationally to mitigate climate change. It can also supply other benefits, such as improving biodiversity, air and water quality. This POSTnote summarises key factors influencing how much carbon is taken up by woodland, the different objectives of woodland creation, constraints to increasing UK tree cover and different finance options.
POSTnote
Devices with screens include game consoles, laptops and televisions. Screen use refers to activities undertaken on such devices and the time spent on them. Children’s screen use has increased over the past decade. Policy-makers and parents have expressed concerns about possible effects of screen use on children/young people’s development and health. This POSTnote provides an overview of how children/young people use screens, the opportunities and risks of this use, evidence on the possible effects on health and development, and evidence on ways to support healthy screen use.
Horizon scanning,Select Committee Area of Research Interest
POST has published 20 COVID-19 Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) for the UK Parliament. ARIs were identified using the input of over 1,000 experts. They were then ranked in order of interest to UK Parliament research and select committee staff, following internal feedback. Each ARI comes with a series of questions aiming to further break down each broad area. The ARIs focus on the impacts of the global pandemic and range from economic recovery and growth, to surveillance and data collection, long-term mental health effects, education, vaccine development, and the NHS.
POSTnote
Machine learning (ML, a type of artificial intelligence) is increasingly being used to support decision making in a variety of applications including recruitment and clinical diagnoses. While ML has many advantages, there are concerns that in some cases it may not be possible to explain completely how its outputs have been produced. This POSTnote gives an overview of ML and its role in decision-making. It examines the challenges of understanding how a complex ML system has reached its output, and some of the technical approaches to making ML easier to interpret. It also gives a brief overview of some of the proposed tools for making ML systems more accountable.
POSTnote
A heat network provides heating and hot water to an apartment, commercial site or series of buildings close together. It can also provide cooling. There is interest in using them to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from UK buildings. This POSTnote looks at the technology of heat networks and their sources of heat. It looks at considerations when building new networks. It also outlines a potential future market framework.
Total results (page 4 of 12)