From the LOGIS news alert subscriptions (ending 26/02):

Business & management:
• A review of the electricity sector in which a notable degree of consensus was achieved between generators, Transpower and large electricity users, recommends a new approach to regulation.
• A Business NZ survey of 647 companies, to help inform its recommendations to the Jobs Summit this week, suggests the credit crunch may not be as widespread as thought.
• A new book brings together some of the world’s best minds to discuss Bill Gate’s proposal to the World Economic Forum in Davos, that big corporations integrate doing good into their way of doing business.
• A US study has found that 60% of employees stole company data when they left their job last year.
• More and more US businesses are looking for ways to cut costs, and are turning to waste vegetable oil to reduce fuel bills.

Education
• A 35-question survey available in English and Māori, Census At School, aims to raise NZ students' interest in mathematics and statistics as well as provide a fascinating sketch of what they are thinking, feeling and doing.
• New UK research says that focussing on literacy and numeracy at the expense of creative teaching at primary school, means that children are leaving lacking knowledge about the arts and humanities.
• Advocates of an interactive, self-service approach to corporate learning provide an overview of corporate learning so far, and say that a 21stC training department must shift direction in three areas: embracing complexity and adaptation to uncertainty; inverting the structural pyramid; and adopting new models of learning.

Environment & sustainability:
• An international group of scientists is renewing calls for policymakers to reduce both nitrogen and phosphorus when attempting to alleviate nutrient pollution problems (eutrophication) in fresh and coastal waters.
• In the US, some research on carbon footprints in the suburbs versus carbon footpritns in high-rise cities, shows that the suburbs are producing higher carbon emissions.
• More than 140 countries attending the governing council of the UN Environment Programme, have agreed to initiate a process that should end in a legally binding, international treaty that will crack down on mercury pollution.
• Melbourne Water’s managing director believes that bushfire-related run-off will contaminate the water supply for 3 months, and water inflows to some sources will be reduced by a third for the next 30 years. At the same time, Monash University research shows that about the same number of people were killed by one January heat wave, as those in the Victoria bush fires.

Health & wellbeing:
• Less than 1% of Kiwi carers of disabled children and young people are satisfied with the supports provided to their family, according to a University of Auckland qualitative study.
• University of Otago research shows that outdoor workers in NZ are exposed to much higher levels of ultraviolet radiation from the summer sun than internationally recommended occupational exposure limits.

Law & Government:
• A recent UN Environmental Programme report that examines conflicts in developing countries, shows that investing in environmental management and the governance of natural resources is an investment in conflict prevention, especially since 18 violent conflicts around the world have been fuelled by the exploitation of natural resources since 1990.
• For the next three weeks, NZers have a rare opportunity to shape the Government’s human rights priorities at a time when the economic crisis makes human rights more important than ever.
• A major review of council procurement processes with a view to improvement and smart procuring has been completed in the UK.
• A UK study shows what effect policies introduced since 1997 have had on reducing poverty and inequality, and measures the extent of progress. The report also considers future direction and pressures, particularly in the light of recession and an ageing society.
• British research shows that while MPs are getting more adept at using the internet, they tend to see it as way of talking to rather than hearing from voters.

People, culture & diversity:
• According to a new research report, violent video games and movies make people numb to the pain and suffering of others.
• A UK neuroscience professor has warned that social network sites risk infantilising the mid-21st century mind, leaving it characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity. Another scientist says that the lack of “real” social networking via social sites could isolate people, with the lack of face-to-face contact resulting in real physical harm.

Science, technology & transport:
• The Commerce Commission conference Broadband at a Crossroads being held in Auckland today and tomorrow, is being webcast.
• Plans for a system that will allow people to use one username and password across the internet have moved closer, with a number of popular sites agreeing to the scheme in recent weeks.
• A UK waste station that converts rubbish into energy, is powering the first waste-powered electric garbage truck.
• A Japanese university has built a test track line, to develop an energy-saving drive system for urban transportation. The rail course uses lift motors and the principles behind roller coasters to move the train and gain energy.