Social science sites of the week

Ukraine elections - get some facts

The final results are now on the central election committee website
or earlier posting has links to the main observers.
Official website of campaign of Volodymyr Zelensky gives some insight into his thought and campaign
Володимир Зеленський
Many reactions have discussed populism
commentary on the rise of this populist figure from European Council on Foreign relations
Euromaidan has discussion of the forms of populism in Ukraine.
the Conversation also has discussion of his popularity and its possible implications.

How much do people know about cybersecurity?
Recently the Uk government revealed research on the most hacked passwords.
You can download the top 100,000 from the National Cyber research centre.
For information on how common identity and online fraud is see CIFAS research summaries. This also gives basic data on the most frequently targeted groups.

How much do people know about cybersecurity?
The same centre also released the 2018 cyber security survey which found that 48% of those who responded found it confusing to know what to do to protect themselves online.
This echoes 2017 US research from Pew which found low levels of knowledge among the American public. Take their online test to see how you compare!
If you explore the website you can find more consumer research on attitudes and experiences of internet security

Is there a general lack of skills?
in July 2018 House of Lords House of Commons Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy Cyber Security Skills and the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure raised concerns about a lack of IT specialists in industry to support the future national infrastructure. It had proposals for future education.
Also on this theme see recent surveys on cyberskills in the Uk labour market and the summary of responses to the National Cyberskills strategy on how to increase capability
Recently the Financial Conduct Authority has been conducting audits of skills within UK firms. Get access to their findings form the website

Globally a report by non-profit association (ISC) in 2018 revealed a worldwide cyber security skills gap. "Based upon feedback from almost 1,500 ICT workers around the world, the report on Cybersecurity Workforce stated that almost two-thirds of businesses believe they have a cyber security skills gap.

For general advice on passwords try the Get safe online website.

Press freedom is declining
According to the latest annual report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) which ranks 180 nations worldwide only 24% are rated as having a good level of press freedom , a decline from 26% last year.
Criteria measured include: pluralism, media independence, censorship, the legal framework, and infrastructure. Download the full ranking, methodology and report from the website.

Which universities are best for gender equality?
Find out by consulting the latest index from the Times Higher . According to the THES it is Western Sydney University. The methodology focuses upon universities’ research on the study of gender, their policies on gender equality and their commitment to recruiting and promoting women. For more free research in Higher education, teaching and learning see our free scoop.it page

Principled Aid Index
Launched in March by the Overseas development index. This index ranks bilateral Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors by the extent to which they give aid to countries that need it most, support global cooperation and adopt a public spirited focus on development impact rather than short tern return for their domestic economy. The website has interesting explanations and infographics.

Another new initiative
The Business Multidimensional Poverty Index (bMPI), developed in partnership with the business association Horizonte Positivo in Costa Rica is a new tool for company information systems, to help measure poverty amongst employees in the supply chain. First used by Chairman of BAC Credomatic Bank, Costa Rica it discovered 12% of staff living in poverty. It is part of a new social enterprise called Sophia https://sophiaoxford.org/f/helping-businesses-fight-poverty which was launched this month. Find out more about the method here and its aims.

Notre Dame
After the sad fire. Discovered this gem from the Internet archive from architect; undertook a renovation at Notre Dame which lasted from 1845 until 1865. The 1853 book has many original plans and drawings.

Finally OU 50th Anniversary
Be inspired by stories and photos shared on the official website
They also have an online digital archive with some fabulous digitised materials
Amongst these I discovered some forward thinking videos on the possible role, of computer assisted learning from 1979 which also have some magnificent beards and moustaches on show!
See also this 1993 guide to computing

For free access to some new online courses go to Open Learn.