The computer gaming industry is huge. A new game has the same impact as a Hollywood blockbuster in terms of media interest and sales generated. Today we welcome the latest version of Grand Theft Auto (GTA IV) to the market. Expected to generate over $400 million in its first week, it has already generated 65 million unit sales over its life span so far .
If you're not familiar with the game, or don't have teenage (mainly male) or ‘man child’ members in your household, then the hype surrounding the launch may well pass you by. However, when you understand that the premise of the game involves stealing cars, ignoring all traffic regulations, running over pedestrians and killing innocent bystanders, you may be mildly shocked.
Don’t be. GTA was created in Scotland in the hub of the UK’s computer gaming industry (Dundee) and computer gaming has generated the need for creative IT skills and expertise in this country. The excitement generated by the launch of GTA IV reminds me of a thought-provoking presentation prepared by my colleague Ray Fleming – Shift Happens, which includes a fact stating that 84% of young people play computer games at least once a fortnight, whereas 72% of teachers never play computer games.
It may be glib to say that technology moves at a pace few of us can comprehend but it is true. If you have not already done so, watch Shift Happens. It’ll help you to understand better why GTA IV is both a commercial success and why playing it is not only a valuable educational experience but also great fun!
Last week in Porto, Portugal, Microsoft launched a new initiative for local government officials called the Citizen Service Platform (CSP).
The launch event was exceptional in two ways: firstly, I got to taste some fantastic Port Wine (and now know the difference between Tawny and Ruby Port); and secondly, I got to see how Local and City authorities from across Europe are approaching the challenge of delivering citizen services fit for our modern digital society.
I found the event (and the Port) to be very refreshing, primarily because it was not Microsoft doing most of the talking but the government authorities, who were keen to share their experiences with others and also to learn in the spirit of openness and engagement that pervaded the entire event.
In all, somewhere in the region of 300 people attended the event over the 2 days and during this time, I counted presentations from around 30 government representatives and partners. Many of them were from the UK and there were impressive keynotes from the City of Edinburgh, City of London, Leeds City Council and Essex Childcare Service.
One of my goals was to find out what the CSP was all about and it was not until the final sessions on the final day that all was revealed. In a nutshell, the CSP provides a delivery platform that both acknowledges and addresses key ‘business’ challenges of local government and makes the aspiration of Citizen Service delivery a reality, taking the best Microsoft applications, along with our best partner solutions, and using them to deliver improved efficiency and citizen services for all. If you want to find out more go to the Citizen Service Platform website for the lowdown or reply to me on the blog.
The event was brought to a close by the Secretary of State for Local Administration Government in Portugal, Eduardo Cabrita, who brought a suitably up-beat close to what had been a very successful event.
Posted by Mike
Today we've launched the latest version of our Digital Literacy curriculum in partnership with learndirect, UK online centres and OCR (Oxford and Cambridge RSA Examinations). Designed to help out those who feel that their basic computer skills need improving, which according to statistics from a recent ICM survey carried out on our behalf is 47% of all adults in the UK, the curriculum also delivers 30% of the Skills for Life numeracy requirements and 25% of the literacy. The same survey revealed that almost a third of adults feel they have no (13%) or poor (18%) computers skills and 12% feel excluded as a result of ineffective computer skills, while one in six workers say they lack the IT skills needed to do their jobs properly.
These issues will be discussed at today's launch event in Westminster, which will be attended by David Lammy MP, the Minister for Skills, and it is hoped that the Digital Literacy curriculum can help to improve these statistics and provide people with the skills they need to succeed in today's digital world.
The curriculum covers the following 5 modules:
Available to complete online, the course can also be completed with tutor support at a learndirect or UK online centre and prepares people to take a recognised qualification with OCR, so serves as a stepping stone to more advanced IT skills training. So if you, or someone you know, need to improve your digital skills, visit the Digital Literacy curriculum web site to find out more, access the course modules or find a course provider in your local area.
Posted by Amanda
If you join the MSDN blog community, using the "Join" link at the top right of the page, you get a couple of nice extra features.
One is that you get the chance to comment on any of the blog articles. It's not because I want to know who you are - unless you tell me in your public profile, I can't see that info anyway - but to prevent 'comment spam', which is a direct equivalent of emal spam, where thousands of comments are dumped onto the blog redirecting readers to amazing, once-in-a-lifetime offers...
The second reason to join the community, is if you want to subscribe to this blog by email, to get new articles into your inbox whenever they are published.
To sign up for email alerts, use this page, and you'll start receiving new posts as soon as they are published.
(And you can still subscribe to this blog through your RSS reader, using the RSS 2.0 link at the top of the page)
Posted by Ray
I will admit it - I am Scottish so tend to put my celebratory energies into St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th) rather than St. George’s Day.
Did your town hall or government building proudly fly the flag of St. George? Being a citizen of the UK involves being part of a multicultural community with many different customs, celebrations and languages. In terms of languages the most recent data I can find indicates that local authorities, criminal justice organisations and government departments spend more than £100 million a year on translation services.
One of Microsoft’s hidden FREE resources is our local language versions of Windows XP, Vista and Office. The free versions take the form of language interface packs (LIP) and captions language interface packs (CLIPS). Whether you need Inuktitut (Canadian dialect of Inuit) ,Irish Gaelic, Welsh or a version of most spoken languages in the world (I admit I could not find Esperanto) you can download a version here
Posted by Ian
InfoSecurity Europe 2008 takes place at Olympia in London from Tuesday April 22 to Thursday April 24th. If you are planning on going, you'll find Microsoft in our dedicated area – the Pillar Room. This will be clearly signposted in all the bumph (technical term!) you will be handed when you walk in the hall.
We are running a series of sessions on the following security topics:
You can read more information on these sessions here.
There will also be lots of security technology experts on hand throughout the event to answer any particular questions you may have about Microsoft and security. If you haven't already registered then do it quickly or you may be charged a £20 admission fee. You can register online here.
Deployment of new solutions can be a daunting prospect and when you're investing in new software to help you improve productivity you want to be sure you're maximising your assets to the full and deploying them successfully.
To help with this, we have a new Desktop Deployment Centre for Windows Vista and Office 2007. Featuring case studies from our Public Sector customers who have already deployed, along with planning and assessment resources and advice, the centre can help you to ensure your deployment is as easy and efficient as possible.
There are tools to help you assess your hardware infrastructure, information on how the latest Office suite can help you communicate more effectively, and best practice methodology to ease the implementation process. The centre will be expanded to include more of our technologies in the future and we will be regularly adding new case studies as they are published.
Microsoft is running a programme of workshops on Building User Trust in Public Services, in several cities throughout April and May. These workshops will provide you with the opportunity to understand our strategy for identity management in the delivery of public services and include a series of presentations, customer examples and practical demonstrations.
By attending the workshop you will find out how the Microsoft identity and trust platform can enable public sector organisations to transform their service delivery for employees, partners and citizens.
The workshop introduces you to Microsoft’s approach to managing identities securely online. In our workshop you will find out more about:
The Building User Trust in Public Services workshops focus on the key business drivers for secure identity management in the delivery of public services and provide an ideal opportunity for Chief Information Officers, Heads of IT, Heads of Customer Service, Security and Compliance Officers to find out more about the Microsoft technology roadmap and practical solutions for identity management in the public sector.
You can review the agenda for each workshop and register to attend here:
You can also register by phone on 0870 166 6658