There’s an old joke – old in terms of the digital age, that is – that says simply “the internet is made of cats”. It is a reference to the fact that on any given day someone will tweet or e-mail or post to Facebook a photograph of a cute, fluffy kitten doing something funny.

Many of us could be said to be “web-sceptic”, and will probably relate to this adage – very often the internet does seem to be full of fripperies and trivialities, teenagers typing in incomprehensible text-speak, and the streets are full of people head down over their mobile phones and tablet devices, logging on instead of looking up.

But all that’s just background noise that fills up the spaces in what is really the most amazing technological advance of the last century, and the internet and related communications devices can be a huge source of good.

Take two stories in today’s Telegraph & Argus which illustrate this perfectly. People missing hospital appointments, either because they can’t be bothered to go or because their lives are so busy and diaries so full that they just forget, are a huge problem to the NHS.

So a simple mobile phone text reminder service was set up by Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital – and has slashed missed appointments by half.

Similarly, Bradford again led the way with an online database of children attending schools in the district which showed who was actually eligible for free school meals and how many families weren’t taking this up because they did not know. It’s so successful it’s being recommended for other districts.

Two fine examples of how new technology is a force for good.