World Wide Web Week - 14th - 20th April 2016

Getting the most out of the internet...

The World Wide Web is prevalent in almost all aspects of modern life. In fact, it’s becoming hard to imagine what life was like before we welcomed the world into our homes.

We can access any piece of information whilst queuing for groceries, riding the bus or soaking in the bath at the end of a hard day. It’s fair to say the internet has revolutionised our daily lives in a very short space of time and with the pace of change increasing on a seemingly weekly basis, this looks likely to continue for as far as any of us can imagine.

But with so many areas of our lives affected by the web, it can be difficult to keep tabs on all of the issues and how they affect us. World Wide Web Week, now in its 9th year, presents an opportunity to take a detailed look at how the net is changing and what that means to you and your customers.

More than 82% of the UK’s population is now online, some 51 million people, and this number is only set to grow. Internet issues affect almost every corner of British society, male or female, young or old, rich or poor and therefore growing businesses need to be aware of all of the issues.

But how does the inexorable expansion of the World Wide Web affect consumers and businesses alike? Philip Browne is organiser of World Wide Web Week and explains why web issues should be central to all businesses development, ‘Understanding how you can use the internet to its full potential is crucial for all businesses, from the smallest start-ups through to the biggest multinational corporations.

‘Although we all use the web in one way or another, do we really understand all aspects of it? Do we understand web security? Or big data? Or where the internet is heading in the future? Getting to grips with all these issues so we can understand what they mean for us, and more importantly our customers, is absolutely central to growing your business and maintaining any forward moves you have already made.

‘For me, World Wide Web Week provides an opportunity for key industry insiders to get their message out to other industry figures, and the wider public. It creates an opportunity to bring these crucial issues to the forefront of people’s minds, helps to create solutions for common problems and points the way forward for the internet and all of us who benefit from its continued growth’.

World Wide Web Week runs from 14th to 20th April and addresses the key issues faced by businesses and consumers who operate online. Web safety, connectivity and wider understanding of the web are central to the week. If your business is online, then World Wide Web Week is for you!

How to make money from the Web

We all know how to use the web, but how do you turn this knowledge into pounds? For many businesses the leap from online presence to online cash generation isn’t necessarily a straight forward one. We’ve been looking at how your business can turn a website into a cash cow.

Social Media

It’s not that long ago that the term ‘social media’ would have been met with raised eyebrows and questioning looks but today, it proliferates society so completely that we have seen news reports of social media addicts.

Cloud Computing

The way we use the web evolves nearly every day – and one thing that’s changed since the early days of surfing is certainly how we’re able to store our pictures, films and text. Cloud computing has been embraced by all the online giants, but how does it work and how safe is it? We’re putting answers to those questions.

Online Security

When you venture into the online world, unless you have the knowledge and experience, it can often feel like a jungle with potential dangers just waiting beyond the next click. We’ve been looking at how to stay safe online.

What can we learn from the Web?

Having access to the internet is like having access to the biggest library known to man. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt says five Exabyte’s of data is created around the world every two days, roughly equivalent to all the data generated by the human race from the dawn of civilisation to 2003!

Can we find love online?

In recent years, the World Wide Web has come to the rescue of thousands of singletons all over the world but is there still a stigma attached to online dating? Are people happy to admit they met their partner on the web?