Download or read book Uk Centre for Medical Research and Innovation Ukcmri written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Science and Technology Committee today agrees with, and commends, the scientific vision for the new UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation, but expresses reservations about the project's location. It says the case for the centre's central London location near St Pancras station was not overwhelming and it could have been sited elsewhere. The advantages of co-location with universities and hospitals and access to good transport links, which the Committee accepts play a fundamental role in the centre's vision, come at a price: extra construction costs; a site incapable of expansion; and the concentration of medical sciences in the 'golden triangle' in the south of England. On the issue of funding, the Committee's concerns about the project's costs were assuaged by evidence from the Government that the taxpayer will not be liable to any further costs should the project overrun. On the management structure, the committee was told that an experienced team with a proven track record were now taking charge. The Committee is sympathetic to the local community's concerns about the project, and recognises attempts made by the centre's management to engage with the local community, but says it is saddened that efforts have not been as successful as they might have been. One way some benefit could accrue back to the local community is to ensure that the land released from the National Temperance Hospital site (the original site intended for the UKCMRI) is used for housing, including social housing.

Download or read book Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-03-24 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the realm of health care, privacy protections are needed to preserve patients' dignity and prevent possible harms. Ten years ago, to address these concerns as well as set guidelines for ethical health research, Congress called for a set of federal standards now known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule. In its 2009 report, Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health Through Research, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information concludes that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not protect privacy as well as it should, and that it impedes important health research.

Download or read book Modern Methods of Clinical Investigation written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1990-02-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The very rapid pace of advances in biomedical research promises us a wide range of new drugs, medical devices, and clinical procedures. The extent to which these discoveries will benefit the public, however, depends in large part on the methods we choose for developing and testing them. Modern Methods of Clinical Investigation focuses on strategies for clinical evaluation and their role in uncovering the actual benefits and risks of medical innovation. Essays explore differences in our current systems for evaluating drugs, medical devices, and clinical procedures; health insurance databases as a tool for assessing treatment outcomes; the role of the medical profession, the Food and Drug Administration, and industry in stimulating the use of evaluative methods; and more. This book will be of special interest to policymakers, regulators, executives in the medical industry, clinical researchers, and physicians.

Download or read book Devil s bargain written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-07-09 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The UK Government's position as an advocate for nuclear power makes it difficult for the public to trust it as an impartial source of information. Technically competent public bodies that are independent of Government - such as the Health & Safety Executive and Office for Nuclear Regulation - are in a much better position to engender public trust and influence risk perceptions. The Committee calls on these regulators to make greater efforts to communicate risk to the public and develop their role as trusted sources of information for lay people, in addition to providing risk information for technical audiences. There is also a lack of strategic coordination across Government when it comes to risk communication. A senior individual in Government should lead a Risk Communication Strategy team, drawing together existing expertise within Departments and public bodies - and be visibly responsible for overseeing risk communication. Furthermore, the decision to class the Fukushima incident at the same 'Level Seven' magnitude as Chernobyl - despite there being significantly lower levels of radioactive material released into the atmosphere and no deaths directly attributable to the accident - demonstrates the need to revise the scale used to communicate the magnitude of nuclear accidents. The global body responsible for the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) should review the scale. This report also calls on sources to emphasise to the public that exceeding recommended minimal radiation exposure levels may not pose any risk to people or the environment

Download or read book The Changing Economics of Medical Technology written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1991-02-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans praise medical technology for saving lives and improving health. Yet, new technology is often cited as a key factor in skyrocketing medical costs. This volume, second in the Medical Innovation at the Crossroads series, examines how economic incentives for innovation are changing and what that means for the future of health care. Up-to-date with a wide variety of examples and case studies, this book explores how payment, patent, and regulatory policiesâ€"as well as the involvement of numerous government agenciesâ€"affect the introduction and use of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures. The volume also includes detailed comparisons of policies and patterns of technological innovation in Western Europe and Japan. This fact-filled and practical book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, health administrators, health care practitioners, and the concerned public.

Download or read book Science in the Met Office written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-02-21 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Met Office currently operates as a Trading Fund within the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Committee welcomes the move to BIS, particularly given the potential for closer links with the research base and the opportunity to develop further its commercial activities. Core services though for the public service must be maintained. The Met Office generates a significant proportion of its revenues from Government contracts and Customer Service Agreements, in addition to its' commercial services and the Government should provide clearly defined funding commitments. This would allow the Met Office to take a longer-term perspective on scientific and operational development. The Government has no plans to privatise the Met Office, which the Committee saw as putting at risk the strong partnerships built with international partners and the sharing of crucial meteorological data. Also the Committee welcomes the Government's initiative of Public Data Corporation. Some concern though is expressed that scientific advances in weather forecasting and the associated public benefits (particularly in regard to severe weather warnings) are available but are being held back by insufficient supercomputing capacity. The Met Office should attempt to streamline the scrutiny of science under one committee and develop a strong customer relationship with key government departments.

Download or read book Marine Science written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-04-11 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Properly managed Marine Conservation Zones will protect marine life the UK's coastal waters and ensure the fishing industry has a sustainable long- term future. The Government is currently letting the project flounder while sensitive environments are further degraded and the industry is subjected to further uncertainty. It has been over three years since the Marine and Coastal Access Act was passed, with cross-party consensus that Marine Conservation Zones were necessary and has widespread public support. Despite this, the designation process has been repeatedly delayed and Marine Conservation Zones have become increasingly controversial. 127 Marine Conservation Zones have been proposed, but Defra has consulted on only 31 of these, without setting out the zone selection process, when these would be implemented or exactly how they would be managed. The Committee welcomes the publication of the Marine Science Strategy and establishment of the Marine Science Coordination Committee. However, it notes concerns about the effectiveness of these measures and highlights the risk that changes to funding mechanisms could undermine support for long-term strategic marine science. It is also recognised that the Natural Environment Research Council is currently operating with inadequate resources, but it should consider the impact that restructuring its research funding has had on its support for strategic marine science. The Committee recommended there should be a duty on commercial operations to share the data they collect. It is concerning that funding for important long-term monitoring programmes remains opportunistic and piecemeal. Developments in technologies such as autonomous underwater vehicles could dramatically alter the way in which marine data is collected

Download or read book House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Clinical Trials HC 104 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-09-17 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many of the trials taking place today are unregistered and unpublished, meaning that the information that they generate remains invisible to both the scientific community and the public. This undermines public trust, slowing the pace of medical advancement and potentially putting patients at risk. All trials conducted on NHS treatments-and all other trials receiving public funding-should be prospectively registered and their results published in a scientific journal. While the focus should be on implementing this change for future trials, the Government must also do what it can to ensure that historic trials are registered and published, particularly where they have been publically funded. The Government should also take steps to facilitate greater sharing of the raw data generated during a trial in a responsible and controlled way, with the knowledge and consent of patients. The report also draws attention to the recent fall in the number of trials taking place in the UK. It finds that the need for multiple governance approvals from participating NHS organisations remained the biggest barrier to setting up a UK trial, but that lack of public awareness was also a key issue. Recruiting participants can also be a challenge. The report calls on the Government to take its recommendations into account in ongoing discussions regarding the revision of European clinical trials legislation and in its response to the European Medicines Agency's consultation on the release of clinical trial data, which closes at the end of this month

Download or read book Medical Innovation written by Davide Consoli and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-10-05 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together a collection of empirical case studies featuring a wide spectrum of medical innovation. While there is no unique pathway to successful medical innovation, recurring and distinctive features can be observed across different areas of clinical practice. This book examines why medical practice develops so unevenly across and within areas of disease, and how this relates to the underlying conditions of innovation across areas of practice. The contributions contained in this volume adopt a dynamic perspective on medical innovation based on the notion that scientific understanding, technology and clinical practice co-evolve along the co-ordinated search for solutions to medical problems. The chapters follow an historical approach to emphasise that the advancement of medical know-how is a contested, nuanced process, and that it involves a variety of knowledge bases whose evolutionary paths are rooted in the contexts in which they emerge. This book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners concerned with medical innovation, management studies and the economics of innovation. Chapter 5 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 3.0 license.

Download or read book Sessional Returns written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-09-14 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees

Download or read book Educating Tomorrow s Engineers written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-02-08 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the UK we teach young people to become computer users and consumers rather than programmers and software engineers. This is creating a chronic skills gap in ICT. We need around 82,000 engineers and technicians just to deal with retirements up to 2016 and 830,000 SET professionals by 2020. On the plus side, the Government's proposal to include computer science as a fourth science option to count towards the EBac is welcomed. The Committee also welcomes the EBac's focus on attainment of mathematics and science GCSEs but is concerned that subjects such as Design and Technology (D&T) might be marginalised. A Technical Baccalaureate (TechBac) is being designed but if it is to be a success, schools should be incentivised to focus on the TechBac by making it equivalent to the EBac. Reforms to vocational education following the Wolf Review meant that Level 2 of the Engineering Diploma, a qualification highly regarded, would count as equivalent to one GCSE despite requiring curriculum time and effort equivalent to several GCSEs. The Engineering Diploma, however, is currently being redesigned as four separate qualifications. The Committee also expressed concerns over the Department for Education's (DfE) lack of clarity on its research budget, and use of evidence in decision-making. The DfE needs to place greater focus on gathering evidence before changes to qualifications are made, and must leave sufficient time for evidence to be gathered on the effectiveness of policies before introducing further change. The possibility of gathering evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) should be seriously considered

Download or read book Bridging the Valley of Death written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-03-13 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There exists the concept of a valley of death that prevents the progress of science from the laboratory bench to the point where it provides the basis of a commercially successful business or product. The future success of the UK economy has been linked to the success of translating a world class science base to generate new businesses with the consequent generation of UK jobs and wealth. A troubling feature of technology companies in the UK is how many are acquired by foreign owners where the subsequent jobs and wealth are generated outside the UK. It is key that the Government ensure that sufficient capital is available and recommended that the proposed bank for business, possibly in partnership with the Business Growth Fund, be used to promote a bond market for medium sized businesses, thus providing growing small businesses with an additional source of funding. It is also recommended that the Government investigate the potential to require funds to have a proportion of European SME equities. There needs to be a mechanism to support SME's who do disproportionately badly from the current R&D tax credit scheme. The Technology Strategy Board is becoming the focus for government innovation policy and Government should consider how they can resource the TSB to provide local level advice to technology businesses. The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) and the SMART Award scheme would appear to be successful initiatives but lack sufficient funds to meet the demand from companies

Download or read book Innovation nation written by Great Britain. Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-03-13 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This White Paper represents the ambition of Government to promote innovation across society as a tool to develop and generate economic prosperity and improve the quality of life throughout the UK. The policies include proposals about how Government can use procurement and regulation to promote innovation in business and make the public sector and public services more innovative. The White Paper is in 10 chapters: The role of government; demanding innovation; supporting business innovation; the need for a strong and innovative research base; international innovation; innovative people; public sector innovation; innovative places and the innovation nation: next steps. An Annex sets out the development of this White Paper. Published alongside the White Paper is 'Implementing "The Race to the Top": Lord Sainsbury's review of Government's science and innovation' (ISBN 9780108507175). Lord Sainsbury's review published in October 2007 (HM Treasury, ISBN 9781845323561, http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/5/E/sainsbury_review051007.pdf) and also relevant is the 2008 Enterprise Strategy (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/E/3/bud08_enterprise_524.pdf)

Download or read book Pre appointment hearing with the Government s preferred candidate for chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-03-09 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The preferred candidate is Dr Paul Golby and the Committee recommends the appointment proceeds

Download or read book Progressive Capitalism written by David Sainsbury and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The neo-liberalism that dominated economic thinking since the advent of Thatcher and Reagan is now seen to have serious flaws. Progressive Capitalism seeks to replace it with a new Progressive political economy, based on an analysis of why the growth rates of countries differ, and what firms have to do to achieve competitive advantage in today's global economy. The cornerstone of the political economy of Progressive Capitalism is a belief in capitalism. But it also incorporates the three defining beliefs of Progressive thinking. These are the crucial role of institutions, the need for the state to be involved in their design, and the use of social justice defined as fairness as an important measure of a country's economic performance. Progressive Capitalism shows how this new Progressive political economy can be used by politicians and policy-makers to produce a programme of economic reform for a country. It does this by analysing and proposing reforms for the UK's equity markets, its system of corporate governance, its national system of innovation and its education and training system. Finally, Progressive Capitalism describes the role the state should play in the economy - an enabling one, rather than the command-and-control role of traditional socialism or the minimalist role of neo-liberalism.

Download or read book HC 734 Current and Future Uses of Biometric Data and Technologies written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its broadest sense, biometrics is the measurement and analysis of a biological characteristic (fingerprints, iris patterns, retinas, face or hand geometry) or a behavioural characteristic (voice, gait or signature). Biometric technologies use these characteristics to identify individuals automatically. Unlike identity documents or passwords, biometrics cannot be lost or forgotten since they are a part of the user and are always present at the time of identification. They are also difficult, though not impossible, to forge or share. Three future trends in the application of biometrics were identified during the inquiry: (i) the growth of unsupervised biometric systems, accessed via mobile devices, which verify identity; (ii) the proliferation of "second-generation" biometric technologies that can authenticate individuals covertly; (iii) and the linking of biometric data with other types of 'big data' as part of efforts to profile individuals. Each of these trends introduces risks and benefits to individuals, to the state and to society as a whole. They also raise important ethical and legal questions relating to privacy and autonomy. The Committee are not convinced that the Government has addressed these questions, nor are they satisfied that it has looked ahead and considered how the risks and benefits of biometrics will be managed and communicated to the public.

Download or read book HC 703 Government Horizon Scanning written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-05-04 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government launched its new horizon scanning programme last July, stating that 'in a tight economic climate, it is more important than ever to have the best possible understanding of the world around us, and how that world is changing'. However, as it stands, the new programme is little more than an echo chamber for Government views. The new bodies that have been created consist entirely of Civil Servants, effectively excluding the vast pool of expertise that exists outside of government. The new programme does not even have a dedicated web presence to keep interested parties informed. The programme's failings are partially attributed to a lack of ministerial oversight. The Government also needs to recognise the potential role to be played in the new programme by the Government Office for Science (GO-Science), specifically the Foresight Unit. The relative lack of impact that the Foresight Unit has historically had on policy is largely a result of its non-central location in government. GO-Science is located in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). In contrast, the new horizon scanning programme is located in the Cabinet Office. In choosing to situate the new horizon scanning programme in the Cabinet Office, the Government has recognised the importance of location and has thereby acknowledged the strength of this argument. GO-Science should be relocated from BIS to the Cabinet Office, where it can play a more central role in the new programme and more effectively fulfill its role of ensuring that the best scientific evidence is utilised across government