Recent Initiatives towards New Standards for Language Resources

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Compendium of Cultural Competence Initiatives in Health Care

Public and private sector organizations are involved in a number of activities that seek to reduce cultural and communication barriers to health care. These activities are often described as cultural competency and/or cross-cultural education. A recent Institute of Medicine report recommended that the health care system pursue several of these techniques as part of a multi-level strategy to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in medical care. To address this need, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has developed a compendium, as a first attempt to describe these activities in a single document. The compendium was prepared in response to the many requests from the media and others to define cultural competency and identify efforts underway in this emerging field. The initiatives included in the compendium are from 1990 to the present and it is divided into two categories: Public Sector Initiatives (Federal/state/local) and Private Sector Initiatives (health care institutions or professional organizations, foundations, academic institutions/policy research organizations, and other). This resource also includes brief definitions for the major terms, organizational descriptions of initiatives and a list of experts in the field

Towards an Intellectual Property Rights Strategy for Innovation in Europe

On October 13, 2009 the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel (STOA) together with Knowledge4Innovation/The Lisbon Forum, supported by Technopolis Consulting Group and TNO, organised a half-day workshop entitled ‘Towards an Intellectual Property Rights Strategy for Innovation in Europe’. This workshop was part of the 1st European Innovation Summit at the European Parliament which took place on 13 October and 14 October 2009. It addressed the topics of the evolution and current issues concerning the European Patent System as well as International Protection and Enforcement of IPR (with special consideration of issues pertaining to IP enforcement in the Digital Environment). Conclusions drawn point to the benefits of a comprehensive European IPR strategy, covering a broad range of IP instruments and topics

Global integration of public sector information

This paper deals with technological methods for consolidating assets lists of available public sector information (PSI) for re-use. In this direction, the effort is to review the state of the art in delivering access to PSI throughout the world and to prioritize the necessary engagements for joining available PSI catalogues. We propose an architectural framework grounded on Semantic Web technologies to deliver a global platform for federated searching. A speculative survey of available PSI portals is presented, and the initial implementation, results, and analysis of the proposed architecture are covered in detail

The Geopolitical Commission: Learning the ‘Language of Power’? College of Europe Policy Brief #2/20 February 2020

The European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen has branded itself as a ‘geopolitical Commission’. Does this imply a geopolitical turn in the external action of the European Union (EU)? > According to High Representative Josep Borrell, the EU needs to learn the ‘language of power’ so as to translate its resources into geopolitical impact. First fledgling signs of a search for more economic sovereignty, strategic autonomy, leadership and ‘weaponised’ trade have emerged already in recent years. Many of these initiatives still need to be implemented while new ones are being added. > Geopolitical EU external action implies a more integrated external action. It also means reinforcing the EU’s resilience against external pressure, while not neglecting ‘geopolitical cooperation’ in the face of geopolitical competition. The geopolitical Commission will have to find a ‘European way’ to deal with great power challenges in line with the EU’s capabilities and values

Education Workforce Initiative: Initial Research

The purpose of this initial research is to offer evidenced possibilities in the key areas of education workforce roles, recruitment, training, deployment and leadership, along with suggested areas for further research to inform innovation in the design and strengthening of the public sector education workforce. The examples described were identified through the process outlined in the methodology section of this report, whilst we recognise that separation of examples from their context is problematic – effective innovations are highly sensitive to context and uncritical transfer of initiatives is rarely successful. The research aims to support the Education Workforce Initiative (EWI) in moving forward with engaging education leaders and other key actors in radical thinking around the design and strengthening of the education workforce to meet the demands of the 21st century. EWI policy recommendations will be drawn from a number of country level workforce reform activities and research activity associated with the production of an Education Workforce Report (EWR). This research has informed the key questions, approach and structure of the EWR as outlined in the Education Workforce Report Proposal. Issues pertaining to teaching and learning in primary and secondary education are at the centre of the research reported here; the focus is on moving towards schools as safe places where all children/ young people are able to engage in meaningful activity. The majority of the evidence shared here relates to teachers and school leaders; evidence on learning support staff, district officials and the wider education workforce is scant. Many of the issues examined are also pertinent to the early childhood care and education sector but these are being examined in depth by the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative. Resourcing for the Education Workforce was out of scope of this initial research but the EC recognises, as outlined in the Learning Generation Report, that provision of additional finance is a critical factor in achieving a sustainable, strong and well-motivated education workforce, particularly but not exclusively, in low and middle income countries. The next stage of EWI work will consider the relative costs of current initiatives and modelling of the cost implications of proposed reforms. EWI aims to complement the work on teacher policy design and teacher career frameworks (including salary structures) being undertaken by other bodies and institutions such as Education International, the International Task Force on Teachers for 2030 and the Teachers’ Alliance, most particularly by bringing a focus on school and district leadership, the role of Education Support Professionals (ESPs) and inter-agency working

Learning with IT: Towards a research agenda ‐questions and issues

Learning with information technology (IT) is at the top of the research agenda for further and higher education. It is also at the centre of many post‐16 investments and policy initiatives. The widespread use in recent years of the term ‘information and learning technology’ (ILT) in further education (FE) colleges illustrates the particular focus in that sector. This paper analyses why this conjunction of learning and technology is seen as so important and describes how it has been articulated in practice. It outlines the scope of related research and how this matches the political and social imperatives, the professional development concerns of staff in the sector, and the ever‐changing technological context. In its summary of the pertinent research questions, the paper shows how research priorities can be and are being matched by concrete developmental practice