Hidden hazards of cutting costs

Doctors "almost in tears" over NPfIT system

At the British Medical Association's annual representative meeting in Liverpool Dr Paul Flynn of the BMA's Central Consultants and Specialists Committee said he had been brought in to help doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in London following the implementation of Cerner Millennium....
View Tony Collins's IT Projects Blog

An overdue outbreak of common sense: "Safeguarding your Identity"

Further to my blog this morning, I have just been given a link to the notice launching the new "Safeguarding Your Identity" strategy. Do read and enjoy. I do hope none of you will then tell me what I have missed and why I should not, for once, unequivocally welcome a Government strategy paper....
View When IT Meets Politics with Philip Virgo

ID Cards: Communications Genius in Action

I'd like to offer my congratulations to the Communications team at the Identity and Passport Service for successfully pulling off one of the most audacious and downright clever pieces of media manipulation I've ever witnessed. If I ever find myself in charge of a large and unpopular public service project, I'm headhunting the lot of you into my team. Here's why. Yesterday afternoon I was tied up r...
View Privacy, Identity & Consent with Toby Stevens

Eliminating opportunities for fraud

Bruce Schneier's excellent blog drew my attention to an interesting web site that prints copies of expenses receipts "for novelty use only". Perhaps our members of Parliament might find this useful. But to be honest they were unlucky to be so heavily scrutinised, because in practice expense claim fraud is a much more widespread practice than many managers realise.  ...
View David Lacey's IT Security Blog

They've all lost their mojo

I'm currently recruiting a Security Director to replace me as I move on to pastures new. I must admit to being wholly underwhelmed by many of the CVs that have come my way and also rather upset by the number of applicants currently out of work. Anyone who thinks information security is a recession proof career is wrong because around half of the CVs received are from individuals made redun...
View Security and Risk Management with Stuart King and Duncan Hart

The fight is on

Over the last six months I have become more and more interested in how political web 2.0 polemics will play in the run up to our general election next May(?). Political and politicised blogging has increased in leaps and bounds over the last 12 months (Derek Draper being a famous casualty of blogger Guido Fawkes), The Prime Mentalist (ooh I am pinning my colours to the mast) infamous YouTube spoo...
View Collaboration Technology 2.0 with Ian White and Michael Pincher

#csnf - Implementing Enterprise 2.0 Successfully

2nd panel discussion, hosted by Iwona Petruczynik of Frost & Sullivan What is web 2.0? Olivier Crieche: the stuff people use at home and are now starting to use at work Zeinab Lenton: It's about sharing and community JP: It's what the web should have been How to implement? JP: get on with it. Look at e-mail. How much never leaves the company - is there a better way to do that? When it goes ba...
View The Social Enterprise with Adam Tinworth

Orchestral collaboration across a screen

In an earlier posting, I discussed the use of TelePresence for some orchestral auditions for the Southbank Sinfonia in London, where instead of flying musicians in for 15 minute auditions - with the consequent effect on the organisation's carbon footprint - they appeared on the other side of the screen playing 'at home' in Glasgow, Madrid, Auckland and New York thanks to some collaborati...
View Innovate:Collaborate

Unified Communications = Competitive Advantage

I went to a Computer Weekly roundtable this week on the subject of Unified Communication. There were 20 or so CIO's there, including Ian Robinson, Group IT Director, McLaren Group, who explained how his COO had described Unified Communications as 'oxygen' for the group. Others described ideas that seemed to me to have huge potential for competitive advantage for their organisations. The more ...
View Making IT happen with Adam Burstow

The Lows and Lows of Internet Access

Apologies to any readers for the extended absence - lots of travelling, little in the way of Internet access other than WiFi hotspots that won't let you pay, neighbours of friends with annoyingly secure WLANs and other common (to me) failings.Even when it's fixed and should work, as I referenced t'other week regarding my friend and colleague Phil Snell, CTO of NetNetTechnologies and his trials and...
View The networks generation with Steve Broadhead

RFID has key role in Acqsys asset servicing model

  Today's challenging economic times are spurring the creation of new innovative business models to help restructure companies' finances and shift assets from company balance sheets to generate capital that can be better utilised within the business. One new business model that has recently emerged and is now operating across Europe is the streamlining of the servicing process for manufacture...
View Tune into RFID with David Bicknell

Steve Jobs needs a successor

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Steve Jobs, the  head of Apple, had a liver transplant two months ago after treatment for pancreatic cancer. If we look at how Microsoft prepared for the retirement of Bill Gates, with Steve Ballmer taking a very public role and Gates sitting back as chief software architect, it is clear that Apple has done little to prepare the company,&nb...
View Cliff Saran’s FUD blog

T-Mobile to announce UK G1 successor soon

T-Mobile, which launched the first smartphone to use Google's Android mobile operating system last year, is to expected to announce the G1's UK successor later this week. Another smartphone to get our heads around, but it adds to the competition and the more the merrier, I say.Official news of the G1 Touch in the UK will follow T-Mobile's announcement of the G1's successor in the US today, known a...
View Read all about IT!

Video: Barack Obama interrupted by annoying Duck ringtone

It's always the case, someone's phone has to go off at the worst time. Usually it's just a ring or something but what if you're ringtone is a duck? Embaressing right? What about if it rings when President Barack Obama is talking about race? Well, that's goto to be the worst moment of your life....
View Inspect-a-Gadget

Mobile broadband is a not luxury in a recession - official

Despite the almost daily introduction of faster, cheaper and more accessible mobile broadband packages that have seen adoption rocket over the last twelve months, there does appear in certain quarters that mobile broadband is still a bit of a black art.   Well not so says Top 10 Broadband who claims to be the UK's most popular dedicated broadband comparison site.   After what It calls e...
View Keep IT Moving

From old boys' club to ladies' room: Contrasting photos from W-Tech

The large Common Room at the IET building in Savoy Place was the venue for the drinks reception for W-Tech's evening networking event. On the wall just above where I sat gulping my mineral water is a group portrait by June Mendoza of various past Presidents of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. It looks very much like an old boys' club: But here's what the room looked like on the eve...
View WITsend - A place for women in IT

Snakes alive - it's a spy robot!

Technology is taking inspiration from nature with Israeli military scientists creating a robotic snake to spy on enemies and plant bombs. Presumably having giving up trying to train their pet snakes, the scientist used them instead as a model for a high-tech sneaking device. Soldiers can control the robotic snake and follow what it sees using a remote laptop. In addition to snooping, the robotic ...
View Downtime

David Taylor blogged on leadership skills for us as 'The Naked Leader' from May to December 2007. You can read the archived entries here.
View The IT Leadership Deal