Apprenticeships: not so much ‘You’re fired', more ‘You’re hired’

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Defra digital, Defra services, Software tools
Dana and her fellow apprentices

When people hear the term apprentice some will immediately think of the hit BBC TV reality game show 'The Apprentice’, in which budding entrepreneurs compete for the chance to win a big prize. The concept of apprenticeships has been around a long time though. And earlier this month Civil Service apprentices up and down the …

Getting out early feels good: meet the Defra team building a new digital service for GB exporters

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Defra services
Export health certificate for consignment to China

Ever needed to send some ‘sheepskin to China’, how about ‘horses to Argentina’ or even some ‘greasy wool to Chile’. Perhaps not, but for some companies these niche exports are their core business, and it’s big business.

New Year, new start: the changes that I’m pledging to my digital footprint

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: ICT sustainability
Digital footprint

Climate change and sustainability are increasingly becoming part of our everyday conversation. However, what doesn’t get discussed much, is our use of technology and the impacts that they have on the world around us. So what can we do as individuals to help make a difference?

Content design and artificial intelligence: friends or enemies?

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Defra content design
Robot holding a pencil above its head

You’ve probably heard the scare stories about automation cutting swathes through traditional employment. Artificial intelligence (AI) can now even write news reports – so could content designers who create clear, easy to use information on GOV.UK also find themselves redundant? 

Flood warning finds its voice

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Defra digital
Flood road closed image

The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are responsible for providing flood warning information to people at risk of flooding in England and Wales. One of the main ways we do this is by sending free automated voice calls. We’ve recently improved this part of the service by switching to Amazon Polly.

First authority in UK to partner with Google Public Alerts

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Defra digital

Over the past year the Environment Agency’s Flood Information Service has been working with Google and their Google Public Alerts system, to create an enhanced flood information platform. We can now proudly say that we are the first UK authority to push flood warnings through Google’s online notification platform.