Research Online

February 2012 Reports Digital participation in Scotland: A review of the evidence This report from the Scottish Government explores the reasons why Scots are seemingly falling behind in digital participation. The Scottish Government has an ambition ‘That the rate of broadband uptake by people in Scotland should be at or above the UK average by 2013, and should be highest among the UK nations by 2015.’ The report looks at the data sources for statistics as well as examining the barriers to participation and suggesting possible future research areas. The Skills Dilemma This report from The Work Foundation examines the skill levels and skills under-utilisation of the lowest skilled and lowest paid workers in the UK. The research found that skills under-utilisation is most prevalent among the low waged and especially in the retail and hospitality sectors. The report appears to reiterate that employers need to think more carefully about how they design job roles and how they make better use of the skills that their employees have. Evaluation of the Developing Employer Engagement Programme and the Knowledge Transfer Grant Three Year Report This report commissioned by the Scottish Funding Council is the final output from the DEEP and KTG three year project. It looks at how colleges have engaged with employers with encouraging results. The study reveals that there have been ‘tangible benefits’ to the Scottish economy and that these activities are sustainable. Events First EIPPEE Conference, 9-10 May 2012 The Hague, Netherlands. This is being co-hosted by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands and the Department for Education and Training in Belgium. The conference is designed to bring all those interested and/or working to increase evidence use in education to share experiences and ideas about how we can develop greater collaboration between researchers, policy-makers and practitioners and increase the influence of educational evidence on policy and practice. The conference will cater to those both familiar and experienced in the issue and those new to it through a pre-conference training workshop. Further information and the programme for this conference will be available soon on our project website. Suzanne Ebel Tel: 01786 892017 E-mail Suzanne Ebel