In November 2016, government launched the Future Board Scheme, in partnership with 30% Club and Board Apprentice. The scheme gives talented women from a wide range of backgrounds the opportunity to spend 12 months with boards in a developmental capacity. It is a unique opportunity for senior women to get board experience to progress their careers to the next level.

The concept has been developed through a number of successful trials run by UK Government Investments, Board Apprentice and the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. Now UK Government Investments and Board Apprentice are working together with 30% Club to make the scheme more widely available across the public and private sectors.

The scheme is aimed at FTSE 350 companies, SMEs and other major organisations. Each organisation involved hosts a participant on their own Board and in return puts forward an employee of their own to be placed on another participating Board. Several major companies and well-known public sector bodies have already signed up to take part in the scheme, including 30% Club members, Aviva and Hammerson, as well as the Student Loans Company and UK Government Investments.

Further information can be found on the 30% Club website.

This scheme has the potential to significantly grow the talent pipeline of women executives by giving women 12 months’ experience on a major board.

This scheme has the potential to significantly grow the talent pipeline of women executives by giving women 12 months’ experience on a major board.

Of the men and women completing a survey of mental health issues in rural Scotland 67% reported suffering depression and 22% admitted to suicidal thoughts and feelings.

Premier Li Keqiang called for maintaining the stability and development of the Tibet autonomous region when he joined a panel discussion with National People’s Congress deputies from the plateau region on Tuesday.

Tibet has a special place in the country’s overall development, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, “with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core”, has further made the region a priority since the 18th Party Congress in 2012, the premier told deputies during the ongoing NPC annual session.

This year will see further endeavors in promoting Tibet’s stability and development, which complement each other through focusing on key ways to improve local people’s livelihood, Li said. He vowed to improve public services in areas such as education, healthcare and heating.

He also said this year will see more efforts to develop Tibet’s special and competitive industries such as tourism, clean energy and ethnic medicines, under the premise that the ecology must be stringently protected at the world’s roof.

At an average altitude of about 4,000 meters, Tibet is sparsely populated－about 3.75 million people in multiple ethnic groups living on 1.2 million square kilometers of land, which accounts for one-eighth of China’s landmass.

Last year, Tibet’s annual GDP growth hit 11.5 percent, ranking first among China’s provincial-level regions.

In addition, the country will strengthen support and funding for Tibet’s transportation and power-grid infrastructures, he said.

The premier also vowed to intensify efforts in poverty alleviation, especially for those living near the nation’s borders, by creating better living conditions and industries.

He said unity should be strengthened to help all ethnic groups get along with each other, promote religious harmony as well as safeguard social stability and long-term peace.

On Tuesday, three other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee－Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan and Wang Qishan－also joined discussions of NPC deputies.

Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, met with deputies of the Taiwan delegation. He called for adhering to the policies of peaceful reunification and one country, two systems, as well as the 1992 Consensus that is characterized by the one-China policy in dealing with cross-Straits ties.

Yu said that any form of separatist actions to achieve Taiwan’s independence will be opposed and contained to safeguard peace and stability across the Straits.

Chinese police caught 19,345 telecom fraud suspects in 2016, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) on Wednesday.

The SPP increased efforts to crack down on telecom and Internet fraud and supervised the handling of 62 major telecom and Internet fraud cases last year.

The cases included one that allegedly triggered the death of Xu Yuyu, a high school graduate in Shandong Province, who died of cardiac arrest after losing her tuition money to telecom fraud, the SPP said.

In May 2016, the SPP issued a circular urging procuratorates at all levels to tighten crackdowns on telecom and Internet fraud.

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) destroyed a transnational telecom fraud gang in Cambodia, catching 39 suspects and paying compensation of more than 360,000 yuan (52,173 U.S. dollars)to 21 victims.

The SPP and the MPS have issued a joint guideline on such cases explaining punishment and case management for telecom and Internet fraud crimes.

As Head of the Accelerator, Lucy will be responsible for building strong relationships between defence and security departments within the UK Government, industry, academia and other partners, to accelerate the delivery of innovative ideas for the security and prosperity of the UK.

Launched in December 2016, the Accelerator fast-tracks innovative, game-changing ideas by funding their development and connecting suppliers to end users at an early stage of development. By matching them with expert Innovation Partners to and guiding them through the process, we help turn their ideas into marketable products and defence and security capabilities.

Backed by a rising defence budget and the £800 million Innovation Fund, the Accelerator is a key conduit for transforming Defence’s creative culture as part of the Defence Innovation Initiative. This investment helps deliver future battle-winning technologies, keeps our Armed Forces safe in challenging environments and creates prosperity. The Accelerator will also work with security departments from across government to strengthen the national security of our nation.

Lucy joins the Accelerator from the Home Office where she most recently led the science and technology, and private sector engagement work strands for the review of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy.

Rob Solly, Division Head for the Defence and Security Analysis Division within the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and Interim Head of the Accelerator said:

I’m delighted to welcome Lucy as Head of the Accelerator. Lucy’s passion for innovation and strong leadership skills will be vital in taking the Accelerator through to full operating capability; ensuring innovative ideas can be taken forward for the benefit of our Armed Forces and the security of the UK. Her expertise in horizon scanning and security technology and her knowledge of digital ethics and identity, social and behavioural science, make her a perfect candidate for this role.

Over the last two months, the Accelerator has launched two routes to funding: Themed Challenges and the Enduring Challenge, and is developing new collaboration mechanisms to be launched later this year.

Our themed competitions help our customers find solutions to specific challenges. These are announced throughout the year. The first Innovation Fund challenge was launched in February to revolutionise the human-information relationship for Defence.

The Enduring Challenge, launched in January, casts the net wider to provide a route into defence and security for any supplier who thinks they have an idea that can benefit UK Defence and Security, at home or abroad.

It exists because we can’t possibly know all the potential solutions and novel approaches out there – whether that’s more advanced technical capability, how we work or operate, or how we train our people.

This year the Enduring Challenge has secured £6 million, including a second phase of new funding. The first phase will look at ideas in their early stages, while the second phase will nurture promising projects, as well as offering an alternative route for more advanced ideas and technologies.