January 2008 Archives

The consultation on the Innovation Strategy of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills closes tomorrow. The questions assume hierarchies of committees to tour the world, pick winners and measure success by "publication".

The debate over the ID cards and register took new turns this week with leaks over the nature of the "incremental approach" and reports of major suppliers losing interest in bidding for a big centralised scheme.

In my rant against Data Protection and Information Assurance snake-oil yesterday I forgot what is by far the best, cheapest and most authoritative source of good advice: the Information Commisioner's website.

External directors have the opposite problem to journalists. Under "fin de siecle capitalism" and in public sector "quangoland" they are sacrificial goats: little or no power to effect change but expected to share responsibility for failure. The time has come to butt back.

The DIUS (Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills) consultation on its Innovation Strategy closes on 31st January. This goes to heart of UK survival as a technologically advanced nation. Make your views known - via all channels open to you.

In ancient Sumeria, birthplace of writing and coinage, all property belonged to God and commercial transactions were determined by laws which applied to rulers as well as their subjects, to whom they were accountable. Ancient Egypt was different, as is modern Britain.

This evening the Number 10 Website had 8,245 petitions, on all sorts of subject from the serious to the frivolous. That on e-Crime has now climbed out of the noise. It may have only 348 signatures: but what quality!

Today is the deadline for submissions to the public consultation on the first "operational" ID Cards Pilot - alias "The Trial of Smart Card Provisional Driving Licenses for Wales". How many of you huffers and puffers miss such exercises?

From puberty to senility we are urged to put intimate details on-line via services like Bebo, MySpace, Facebook, Linked-In and Friends Re-United to be trawled by friends, predators, on-line marketeers, anti-piracy lawyers and information aggregators.

Just before Christmas the Secretaries for Culture and Business, James Purnell and John Hutton, announced a ThinkTank to look at convergence. In parallel we are due to implement the AVMS Directive, which wrecks the economics.