19 of the Digital Society glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
Measures taken before a product, material or substance becomes waste, such as designing products to last longer, reusing them or avoiding surplus production, so that waste is never created.
Lowering the quantity or harmfulness of waste that is generated, for example through recycling, composting, charging by weight or treating hazardous substances.
The process by which people orient themselves in a physical space and plan and follow a route to a destination, using cues such as signs, landmarks, maps and, increasingly, navigation apps.
AI that simulates intelligent behaviour without having a mind or genuine understanding. The term is often used as a synonym for narrow AI and says nothing about how well the system performs its task.
A relationship with an acquaintance rather than a close friend or relative; because weak ties link people to different social circles, they often provide new information and opportunities such as jobs.
Computing devices worn on the body, such as smartwatches, fitness bands, smart rings and smart glasses, that use sensors to collect data about the wearer or their surroundings.
The participatory phase of the web, from the early 2000s, in which users create, share and interact with content on platforms such as blogs, wikis and social networks, rather than only reading published pages.
Software that requests web resources using HTTP or HTTPS and displays them as pages the user can read and interact with.
A service that stores a website's files and applications on servers permanently connected to the internet, so that users can reach the site at any time.
A number attached to a connection between two nodes that controls how much influence one node's output has on the next; training a network means adjusting its weights.
The overall quality of a person's or a community's life, including material conditions such as income, food, housing and health, and less tangible ones such as security, dignity, social connection and the ability to make choices.
A network that covers a large geographical area such as a country or continent, linking many LANs; the internet is the largest example.
A website that many users can edit together through a web browser, keeping a history of every change; Wikipedia is the best-known example.
A network in which devices are connected by physical cables, such as copper Ethernet cables or fibre-optic cables.
A network in which devices exchange data through the air using radio waves, as in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile phone networks.
The ability to apply knowledge with good judgement, weighing values, consequences and long-term effects, to decide what action is right.
A system of linked documents and applications, identified by URLs and transferred using HTTP, that runs on the internet and is accessed through web browsers.
An international organisation that develops open, royalty-free standards for the web, such as HTML and accessibility guidelines, so that the web works for everyone on any device.
Creating a detailed imaginary world with its own places, history, rules and inhabitants, in which stories, games or other works can be set.