70 of the Digital Society glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
The total amount of greenhouse gases released, directly and indirectly, by a product, activity, person or organisation, usually expressed in kilograms or tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
Scheduling computing work for times and places where the electricity supply has lower carbon emissions, so that the same work causes fewer emissions.
A failure in one part of an interdependent system that triggers failures in other parts, which in turn trigger further failures, so that the damage spreads well beyond the original fault.
An economy in which most payments are made electronically, by card, phone, app or transfer, and physical cash is rarely used.
A diagram that shows cause-and-effect links between the elements of a system with arrows, and marks each feedback loop as reinforcing (R) or balancing (B).
The suppression, removal or blocking of media content by a government, platform or other authority that judges it unacceptable.
The main processor of a computer, which fetches, decodes and executes program instructions and controls the other components.
A pressing, complex issue with far-reaching impacts and implications for large numbers of people. Challenges are widespread and persistent, often cross national borders and generations, and are intertwined with digital systems.
The evolution, transformation, adaptation or movement of something, such as a technology, practice, organisation, belief or value, from one form, state or value to another over time.
An agreed table that matches each number to a character, so that text can be stored in binary; ASCII covers 128 characters and Unicode more than 150,000.
A computer program that holds a conversation with users in text or speech. Early chatbots such as ELIZA followed scripted rules; modern ones such as ChatGPT are built on large language models.
The discouragement of lawful expression or activity across a population because people fear surveillance, punishment or harassment, even when no one has acted against them directly.
An economic model that aims to keep products and materials in use for as long as possible through durable design, repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling, instead of the linear model of take, make and dispose.
The gathering, reporting and sharing of news by members of the public rather than professional journalists, usually with smartphones and social media.
Scientific research in which members of the public take part, for example by collecting observations, classifying data or analysing results, usually in partnership with professional scientists.
Digital tools and platforms designed to improve the relationship between citizens and government, for example by publishing public information, collecting petitions, enabling consultation or tracking how promises are kept.
Organised armed violence within a single state, between the government and one or more non-state groups or between such groups, often linked to disputes over power, territory, identity or resources.
A statement put forward as true, which should be supported by evidence.
An algorithm that places each item into one of several categories, such as spam or not spam, or a normal or suspicious payment.
A device or program that requests data or services from a server across a network, such as a web browser asking a web server for a page.
A network in which central computers (servers) store data and provide services, and other devices (clients) send requests to them and receive responses.
Actions that reduce the harm caused by climate change that is already happening or expected, such as flood defences, heat-resistant crops and early warning systems.
Long-term change in average temperatures and weather patterns; the current warming is caused mainly by human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, farming and deforestation.
Actions that reduce the causes of climate change, by cutting greenhouse gas emissions or increasing the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
The number of processing cycles a CPU completes each second, measured in gigahertz; 3 GHz means three billion cycles a second.
The delivery of computing resources such as storage, processing and software as a service over a network, from remote data centres, so that users do not need to own or manage the hardware themselves.
A written set of principles and standards of conduct adopted by a profession or organisation to guide its members' decisions, such as the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for computing professionals.
Writing instructions for a computer in a programming language, following that language's rules, so that the computer can carry out a task.
A field of robotics that designs robots with human- or animal-like cognitive abilities, such as perception, learning, reasoning and planning, so that they can act intelligently in complex and changing environments.
A robot designed to work safely alongside people in a shared workspace, using sensors and limited force and speed so that it stops or slows when it touches a person.
Negotiation between an employer and an organisation representing workers, such as a trade union, to agree pay, working conditions and other terms for all the workers covered.
A text-based interface in which the user types commands for the computer to carry out.
The recognition that all people share basic needs, rights, emotions and vulnerabilities, whatever their nationality, culture or other group membership.
A program that translates the whole of a program's source code into machine code before it is run, producing a file that can be executed without the source code.
The use of algorithms, automation and big data, such as bots, fake accounts and targeted advertising, to spread propaganda on digital platforms.
A programmable machine that automatically executes sets of instructions to input, process, store and output data.
A name for the period since the mid-20th century in which electronic computers became central to work and daily life; it emphasises the machine rather than networks, data or people.
Malicious code that attaches itself to a legitimate program or file and spreads when that file is run or shared, often damaging data or systems.
A field of AI that enables computers to identify and interpret the content of images and video, such as objects, people, text and movement.
Malicious software that copies itself and spreads across networks on its own, by exploiting security weaknesses, without needing a user to open a file.
A powerful, pervasive and debatable idea, such as change, identity or power, that gives insight into an inquiry by acting as a lens on a real-world example.
A decision point in an algorithm that checks whether a condition is true and chooses which instructions to carry out next, usually written as IF... THEN... ELSE.
Minerals mined in conflict zones and sold in ways that fund armed groups, prolong violence or involve human rights abuses; the term usually refers to tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold.
A family of ethical frameworks that judge an action only by its results, so the right action is the one with the best overall consequences. Utilitarianism is the best-known form.
Software that blocks access to online content matching set rules, such as keywords, website categories or image analysis, used by schools, employers, parents and governments.
The monitoring of user-generated content on a platform and the removal, labelling, demotion or restriction of content that breaks the platform's rules or the law.
An area of life, such as cultural, economic, environmental, health, human knowledge, political or social, that situates an inquiry by showing where and for whom a digital system matters.
The merging of several distinct audiences, such as family, friends, teachers and employers, into one audience on social media, which makes it hard to present the identity that suits each of them.
The persistence of established practices, ideas, structures or values through a period of change, such as the QWERTY keyboard layout surviving on touchscreens.
A licensing method that lets anyone use, modify and share a work, on the condition that any modified version is shared under the same free licence.
The exclusive legal right of the creator of an original work to control how it is copied, shared, adapted and performed, for a period set by law.
Checking a source against other, independent sources to see whether they confirm, contradict or qualify its claims, as a test of its reliability.
An evaluation criterion that weighs the financial, social, cultural and environmental costs of an intervention against its benefits, and asks for whom the costs fall.
A claim that opposes, challenges or qualifies another claim.
A non-profit organisation, and the set of free licences it publishes, that let creators state in advance how others may reuse their work, for example with credit, without changes or only non-commercially.
Collecting reports about a crisis, often from the public by text message, social media or apps, and placing them on a live digital map so that responders, journalists and communities can see where help or attention is needed.
Minerals that are essential to important technologies, such as electronics, batteries and renewable energy, and whose supply is at risk because production is concentrated in a few countries or is hard to increase quickly.
Paid work offered through an online platform to a large, open group of workers, any of whom can take it on.
Obtaining ideas, labour, data or funding from a large and often anonymous group of people, usually through an online platform, rather than from a small group of employees or experts.
A digital currency that uses cryptography to secure transactions and usually a blockchain to record ownership, without a central bank or company in control.
The worldwide spread and mixing of ideas, values, media and practices, so that cultures in different places become more connected and influence each other.
The objects, places, traditions, languages and knowledge that a community inherits from past generations, values and wishes to pass on. It can be tangible, such as buildings and artefacts, or intangible, such as songs, rituals, skills and languages.
The process by which local cultures become more alike, and lose distinctive features, as a small number of dominant cultural products and practices spread across the world.
The shared beliefs, values, practices, customs, languages, arts and objects that a group of people creates and passes on, and through which its members understand themselves and each other.
Repeated, intentional hurtful behaviour carried out through digital systems, such as messaging, social media or games, usually among people who know each other, especially children and young people.
Criminal activity that uses computers or networks, either to attack digital systems directly or to commit traditional crimes such as fraud, theft and extortion.
The study of control and communication in machines and living things, based on feedback loops in which a system senses the effects of its actions and adjusts its behaviour. It was named by Norbert Wiener in 1948.
The interconnected virtual environment created by computer networks, especially the internet, often imagined as a single space separate from the physical world.
The use of cyberattacks by non-state groups to cause serious harm, such as loss of life or damage to critical infrastructure, in order to spread fear and achieve political aims.
The use of cyberattacks by a state, or groups acting for it, to damage, disrupt or spy on another state's computer systems, infrastructure or information as part of a conflict.