From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions(ending 4/12):

Business and management:
•The EU is looking at dropping GDP as a measure of a nation’s wealth and wellbeing, and developing another tool that will take environmental and social indicators into account.
•The ”Babies and bosses….” synthesis report from the OECD on work and family life is available – it is a synthesis report of the previous 4 volumes published between 2002 & 2005. Vol 3 which contains the report on New Zealand can still be browsed online.
•UK readers of the Daily Telegraph have voted NZ as the best holiday destination worldwide. 30,000 readers are questioned about their travel habits.
•The NZ Institute of Economic Research is predicting modest growth of the economy over the next 2 years, in their December issue of Quarterly Predictions.
•Identity theft and credit card fraud are of most concern to NZers, according to the December Unisys Security Index. The Index covers national, financial, internet and personal security issues. Across all issues considered by the Index, the group consistently showing greatest concern in New Zealand was the 18-34year olds.
•Business NZ has just launched a new book “A Stable Climate for Business”, which explains the key facts on the climate change debate and makes recommendations to both business and Government about opportunities and policies. (Look on the right of the home page, under “Commentaries”.)
•The Economic Development Minister, Peter Hodgson has released a Cabinet Paper, “Advancing Economic Transformation”, which will have a big impact on Auckland. There are 6 main priorities in the paper, one of which is “Making Auckland a world-class hub of innovation and internationalisation.”
•The World Bank has released on their “Doing Business” website, the “Paying Taxes 2008” ranking report – NZ ranks 9th out of 178 countries for its business tax regime (up 1 place from the previous year).

Health and wellbeing:
•Prompted by the release of 'Monitoring the Health of New Zealand Children and Young People; A Literature Review and Framework Development', the Public Health Association wants all social sectors to work together to address the much poorer health of Maori and Pacific children and young people.

Environment and sustainability:
•The PM attended the Commonwealth Heads Of Government (CHOGM) meeting last week, and one of the outcomes was the Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan. The plan is intended to support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
•The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is looking for partners to deliver interest free loans and grants to homeowners for energy efficiency and heating solutions.
•At the Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Japan, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern that the water situation within the Asia-Pacific region is especially worrisome, and that water scarcity undercuts environmental sustainability, impedes efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – eight targets to slash poverty, hunger and other ills by 2015 – and could set off wars and conflict.

Law & Government:
•Local government workforces in the UK face issues similar to our own in NZ: a tight labour market, skill shortages, the ageing population and increasing demands for modernisation, efficiency and excellence. There, a workforce planning toolkit has been created to help local government produce workforce development plans.
•As the result of a White Paper released in May in the UK (Planning for a Sustainable Future), the government there has put forward a new Planning Bill and associated documentation.
•A conference on privacy held in Montreal in October, emphasised the way in which rapid changes in and spread of technology are challenging the principles of privacy protection.
•Remember that old urban myth about Auckland being the size of Los Angeles? If you want a better idea of sizes check out the UK website ranking of the size of urban areas,. Los Angeles is 12th and Auckland is 354th.
•Also at CHOGM last week, NZ was elected onto the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which was established to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values. Other members of CMAG are Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Ghana, and Namibia.

People, culture and diversity:
•On the 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders, New Zealand ranks 15th out of 169 countries. The first 14 countries are all within Europe - Canada ranks 18th, Germany 20th, the United Kingdom 24th, Australia 28th, Japan 37th, the United States 48th, and Fiji 107th.
•Having time to play with your kids during the week is being squeezed out by our busy Kiwi lifestyles, according to a recent survey sponsored by Anchor.
•Methodist Mission Northern have just published “Homelessness in New Zealand: a discussion & synthesis of research findings.”

Science, technology & transport:
•Stagecoach in Scotland is going to trial an initiative whereby passengers trade in their used cooking oil for reduced fares. The oil will be recycled to power 8 biodeisel buses.
•The creators of Second Life, Linden Labs, are collaborating with IBM to attempt to create a universal avatar, that will be able to travel between virtual worlds, so that people will only need to create their avatar once. 2 years ago, only 9 virtual worlds existed – now there are over 30.
•And speaking of Second Life, some council staff will have seen how this virtual world works at the Digital Summit in Auckland last week – but did you discover that the island in Second Life known as “Auckland City” is owned by Launchsite, a virtual reality reselling company?
•At another conference on virtual worlds in London, concern was expressed that all virtual worlds teach children, is that they are first and foremost, consumers. A keynote speaker urged creators to build more moral virtual worlds.
•And in the Netherlands, a Dutch teenager was arrested this month for allegedly stealing virtual furniture.
•Saga Zone is a new internet social networking site designed for the over-50s. So far 13,000 people have signed up, and the oldest user is 87.
•A UK government-backed campaign group is warning that a quarter of the 11 million Britons using social networking sites, may be leaving themselves open to identity fraud.

Education
•The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which compares 15-year-olds in the principal industrialised countries once every 3 years, shows NZ teenagers rank 7th out of 57 countries in science in the report “PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World”.