April 2008 Archives

There in no excuse for permanent secretaries and senior responsible owners to ignore "The Directors' Guides to Managing Information Risk" published yesterday. Each of the eight guides follows the format a Churchillian "prayer": "pray let me know on one sheet of paper ..."

Yesterday at Infosec the Information Commisioner said that the Cabinet Secretary's Review was expected to be focussed on "issues of accountability and governance", indicating that the heads of departments would be personally responsible in the event of serious data breaches. But where is the guidance on how to share information securily going to come from?

I have agreed to chair the session on "Ethical aspects related to the use of government on-line services" at the European Commission workshop on "Ethics and e-Inclusion" in early May. In parallel I am mapping "issues and players" for the new UK Internet Governance Forum. As with climate change it looks as though we are walking backwards into a most uncertain future.

Last night was the annual Computer Weekly 500 reception with EURIM, hosted by the Earl of Erroll. The Cholmondeley Room and House of Lords Terrace were even more packed than in previous years - with the happy hum of intense lobbying.