Rural Digital

UK’s first dedicated virtual livestock sale to go ahead

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I think this is one of the way things will permanently change (not completely but substantively) as a consequence of the coronavirus. This story tells us:

A rural auctioneer is holding the UK’s first dedicated virtual pedigree livestock sale as the coronavirus crisis continues to cause restrictions.

The initiative will allow Harrison & Hetherington’s (H&H) Annual Dairy Pedigree Sale of dairy bulls, from across the North of England and Scotland, to still go ahead.

The rural firm’s decision to launch an online catalogue comes as Covid-19 restrictions have made the conduct of livestock sales impossible.

But the virtual sale will allow “normal” trading to continue, albeit without the face-to-face sales that the traditional mart embodies.

The catalogue is already published, and bidding will commence on Friday 10 April at 9am, with final bids to be made by Tuesday 14 April at 5pm.

Coronavirus: 5G ‘certainly delayed’ in Europe and UK

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5G, the coronavirus, rural, Huawei, this story has a heady mix of players, all of which are reducible to the fact that rural places may be disproportionately badly affected in terms of the roll out of IT. Something new to talk about there then…..

The rollout of 5G mobile networks in Europe will “certainly be delayed” by the coronavirus outbreak, Huawei says.

The Chinese company is one of the major manufacturers of essential equipment for 5G networks.

Huawei said continuing the 5G rollout was the best way to ensure connectivity during the crisis.

But senior executive Eric Xu also told reporters the delays could last until “the time when the pandemic is brought under control”.

Answering questions about its annual report, published on Tuesday, Huawei vice-president Victor Zhang said there would “definitely” be an impact but it would not be as significant in the UK as the rest of Europe.

The first priority was to ensure the existing network was reliable, as people were using it to work, entertain and learn from home, he said.

But given the demand for bandwidth and better coverage, “the quickest way is to use the 5G deployment”.

“We need to accelerate the network bandwidth… to make sure everyone can work and can entertain and can share information,” he said.

Mr Zhang pointed to rural areas in particular, where existing mobile broadband coverage “is not good enough” to support people working from home.

Data innovation drive receives £6m government funding boost

I like the public services component of this new funding and the opportunities it might bring to address some of the rural inequalities we face through data focused solutions.

Innovate UK is providing £6m over three years to the Open Data Institute (ODI), to advance knowledge and expertise in how data can shape the next generation of public and private services, and create economic growth. Now in its sixth year, the ODI works to build a strong, fair and sustainable data ecosystem by helping businesses and governments around the world get data to people who need it.

Over three years, the work will enable the UK to build on its established strengths in data and data analytics, break new ground in creating value from data across industry, and ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of data innovation globally.

It will include a number of projects chosen by the ODI to progress strategically important areas: building data infrastructure, improving data literacy, stimulating data innovation and progressing the ethical use of data. In the first year of the programme, work will focus on creating economic, and social benefits from data, answering a range of key innovation questions and meeting business needs, including:

  • How can organisations make better technological and business model decisions by capitalising on emerging trends such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and measures that provide greater control over personal data?
  • How are data and technology innovation communities spread across the UK, and what are their links with our top academic and business institutions? What does this tell us about where Government should invest, and where businesses should establish themselves?
  • What are the most effective data-enabled public services? What lessons can they offer to other public sector workers developing services? And what new models can we uncover through experimentation?
  • How can government, businesses and communities work together to maintain data? How can they collaborate to ensure that data from multiple sources can be understood and combined easily?