Tag Archives: Governmental

Press release: Information – The King of Modern War!

Stalin was wrong! Artillery is no longer the King of War. Information technology has transformed the modern battlefield at sea, in the air and on land, and it is arguably the new King of War. In April the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) will help to demonstrate this as part of the Royal Navy led Information Warrior exercise.

Information Warrior builds on the impressive success of last year’s Unmanned Warrior exercise. It focuses is on how information can be used offensively and defensively to give the UK’s armed forces a battle winning advantage.

As part of the Royal Navy’s Project X programme, Dstl is working on smaller, more agile and user-friendly secure communications. This will enable new concepts of operations by delivering greater situational awareness. The Royal Marines will put this system to the test during the exercise to ensure that it allows their command to communicate effectively with troops on the ground.

Dstl’s Open Architecture Combat System (OACS) is another enabling technology, making it much easier for new applications – developed by a wide range of providers – to be integrated into ships’ combat systems. OACS underpinned the success of Unmanned Warrior 16, and will be used during Information Warrior to allow artificial intelligence applications such as STARTLE to be deployed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a major theme of Information Warrior. One of the first potential applications of AI is STARTLE. This uses AI-based reasoning to help operators analyse air movements to identify potential threats in seconds. Other Dstl projects will apply AI and Big Data to enhance the analysis of imagery from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to assess potential landing sites and routes to support landing forces.

Cyber resilience is another major theme. Dstl’s technical experts are supporting the RN to ensure that its forces are secure and resilient to cyber threats, in accordance with the national cyber security strategy. Consequently, Information Warrior will exercise the Royal Navy’s ability to defend itself against cyber threats, as well as conventional threats, ensuring that our cyber defences and skills remain state of the art in this rapidly evolving area.

Better information exploitation (IX) is another priority for Information Warrior. Dstl’s support in this area includes the Adaptive Tactical Information eXploitation (ATIX) and Every Platform A Sensor (EPAS) projects. ATIX uses all the available data sources, applying data analytics, machine learning and statistics to improve the commanders’ understanding of complex situations. This enables them to make more effective decisions. Currently much of the data gathered by sensors is not used. EPAS will address this by extracting useful information on events, such as ship tracks, from every available source. This builds a comprehensive store of data that can be analysed in real time, or at a later date.

Discussing Information Warrior, Dstl’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Lyle, said:

“Information has transformed the face of conflict. Dstl is excited to be part of the Royal Navy’s Information Warrior exercise – in which our scientists will be demonstrating and testing some of the latest innovations in cyber, information systems, Big Data and artificial intelligence research.”

Regular updates on the progress of the Information Warrior exercise can be found on the Royal Navy’s website.

February 15, 2017 HM GovernmentHM GovernmentGB • Governmental • HM Government • political

Fitness in forestry

Three student nurses put the arboriculture students at the Barony Campus of SRUC through their paces when they educated them on healthy eating, diet and fitness. read more

February 15, 2017 www.sruc.ac.uk Latest NewsSRUCGovernmental • political • SRUC

Theresa May’s lack of action compounds a failed and incoherent energy strategy, clumsily lurching from crisis to calamity – Long-Bailey

Rebecca Long-Bailey, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy commenting on Theresa May’s visit to Copeland said:

“The Prime Minister today failed to assure that the UK is committed to the NuGen nuclear plant at Moorside in Cumbria.

“Taking an equity share as Labour has called for would ensure this vital power station built. Theresa May’s lack of action compounds a failed and incoherent energy strategy, clumsily lurching from crisis to calamity.

“Labour supports new nuclear and the growth of renewable energy, but the Tories appear hell bent on preventing either, rushing us out of the Euratom nuclear partnership and slashing low carbon energy support.

“The Tories’ failure is forcing up energy bills and threatening jobs.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1 Labour tabled multiple amendments to the recent Article 50 Bills to seek continued membership of Euratom (the European Atomic Energy Community) including NC192. The government rejected those attempts to keep the UK inside the nuclear research and trade community, despite strong calls from the nuclear industry.

a. Leaving Euratom will have significant implications and disruption for the nuclear industry, and may affect the construction of Hinkley Point C.

b. Legal opinion is split as to whether leaving the EU necessitates the leaving Euratom.

c. Labour has come out in support of new nuclear.

2 The Government has greatly rolled back on support for low carbon energy to international condemnation.

a. It is months late in its publishing of the legally required Emissions Reduction Plan.

b. And risks missing it’s legally required Carbon Budgets as laid out in the Climate Change Act 2008.

3. Significant disruptions in financial flows to the energy infrastructure makes projects more risky, driving up the cost of capital and impacting bills payers.

February 15, 2017 GovWorldMagLabourGovernmental • Labour • Labour Party • political

‘Cymraeg for Kids’ rolled out across Wales

‘Cymraeg for Kids’ is a unique project set up by the Welsh Government in partnership with Mudiad Meithrin to support and encourage parents and prospective parents to transfer the Welsh language to children and promote the benefits of bilingualism.

Established in April 2016, the project works with NHS Wales and other partners to provide advice and support on the benefits of raising a child bilingually. It also provides groups for parents and carers to engage in activities that promote the development of Welsh language skills in children from birth to school age.

A network of officers currently delivers these services in 14 local authorities, but this new money will enable Mudiad Meithrin to expand these activities across the whole country for the first time. The nature of the services offered will be tailored to meet the specific linguistic needs of parents.

Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, Alun Davies said:

“We know that the combination of parental and social interaction with frequent exposure to practical language assists language learning and positively affects the linguistic competence of the child in later life.

“Encouraging and promoting the use of the Welsh language within the family remains one of the Welsh Government’s key priorities.

“It is vital we support our most important resource, namely our people – whether they’re fluent, lacking in confidence or eager to learn. We need to enable them to use the language in increasingly practical, creative and fun ways.”

Dr Gwenllian L. Davies, Chief Executive of Mudiad Methrin, said:

“We’re really pleased to be able to expand ‘Cymraeg for Kids’ to all parts of Wales and look forward to encouraging and supporting families to use Welsh at home. We’ll continue to work closely at a local level with all partners who share the vision of one million Welsh speakers by 2050.”

February 15, 2017 NewsWelsh GovernmentGovernmental • political • Welsh Government

Press release: Labour Market Statistics

James Brokenshire has today welcomed the latest Labour Market Statistics, which show continued stability for the Northern Ireland economy.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

I welcome today’s Labour Market Statistics which demonstrate continued stability in the Northern Ireland economy. The number of people in work has increased, the unemployment rate is at an eight-year low and the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits has fallen by 1,000 in January alone – the tenth consecutive monthly decrease.

As the UK leaves the EU and forges a new role in the world, this Government is determined to continue building a stronger economy and a Northern Ireland that works for everyone.