30 of the Digital Society glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
Buying and selling goods and services over the internet, including sales from businesses to consumers, between businesses and between consumers.
The use of digital systems by governments to deliver public services, share information and interact with citizens and businesses, for example through online tax returns, digital identity cards and public service portals.
Learning delivered or supported through electronic devices and digital networks, such as online courses, educational apps and virtual classrooms.
Organised competitive video gaming in which professional or amateur players and teams compete in leagues and tournaments, often in front of live and online audiences.
Buying and selling financial assets such as shares, currencies, bonds or cryptocurrencies through electronic platforms instead of by phone or on a trading floor.
The use of electronic systems to cast or count votes, including electronic voting machines at polling stations and remote internet voting from a voter's own device.
Discarded products that have a plug or battery, such as phones, computers, televisions, cables and household appliances, which often contain both valuable metals and hazardous substances.
A person or organisation among the first to take up an innovation after the innovators, often respected by others and therefore influential in its wider spread.
An integrated system that detects or forecasts a hazard, assesses the risk and sends timely warnings to people in danger so that they can act to reduce harm.
An environment, online or offline, in which people mainly meet views that repeat and reinforce their own, because they choose like-minded sources and contacts.
The arrangement of a society into layers of people with unequal income, wealth and opportunities, in which people's position tends to persist over their lives and across generations.
A community of living organisms interacting with each other and with their physical environment, such as a rainforest, a coral reef or a wetland.
A digital record of a person's health history, such as diagnoses, medicines, test results and vaccinations, that authorised clinicians can access and update, often across different hospitals and clinics.
Any part of a system that can be identified on its own, whether physical (a server), digital (code or data) or human (a user, designer or regulator).
A computer built into a larger device to perform one dedicated function, usually with fixed software, such as the controller in a washing machine, a car's brakes or a pacemaker.
The appearance of properties or patterns in a system as a whole that arise from interactions between its elements and cannot be found in, or easily predicted from, any single element.
A process through which people or groups gain more control over their own lives and more ability to influence decisions that affect them, for example by gaining access to information, tools or networks.
Converting readable data (plaintext) into an unreadable form (ciphertext) using an algorithm and a key, so that only someone with the correct key can convert it back.
Encryption in which data is encrypted on the sender's device and can only be decrypted on the recipient's device, so that no one in between, including the service provider, can read it.
A type of intervention that strengthens positive or effective aspects of a situation that already exist, such as a service that makes sending remittances cheaper.
An evaluation criterion that asks whether an intervention fairly addresses the needs, claims and interests of the specific people and communities affected, considering fairness, inclusion and reciprocity.
The design of tools, workplaces and systems to fit the human body and mind, so that people can use them safely, comfortably and efficiently.
A systematic approach to deciding what is right, based on a central principle such as maximising good outcomes, following duties or respecting rights, which can be applied to new situations.
The systematic study of what is right and wrong, good and bad, and of the reasons for those judgements; also, a set of principles that guides the conduct of a person, group or profession.
An ethical framework, developed by thinkers such as Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings, that places relationships and responsibility for others, especially vulnerable or dependent people, at the centre of moral decisions.
Gradual, step-by-step change in which each version builds on the one before, such as yearly improvements to smartphone cameras and batteries.
A wearable frame, powered by motors or using passive springs, that supports or adds strength to the body's movement, used in rehabilitation, by people with paralysis and by workers doing heavy or repetitive tasks.
AI systems, or methods applied to them, that make the reasons for an output understandable to humans, so that decisions can be checked, challenged and trusted.
The act, process or product of representing ideas, emotions or experiences in a form that others can perceive, using one or more modes and media.
An umbrella term for all technologies that combine or replace the real world with digital content, including augmented, mixed and virtual reality.