When IT Meets Politics

Using the Internet to put "Hope" into Africa

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:57:01 +0000

Next week I will be blogging again on the competition being run by the Information Society Alliance, EURIM, for those capable of using multi-media to explain complex messages to politicians. In the meantime I been sent details of a rather simpler on-line art competition where you can all be judges and then bid to buy the entries you like, whether they win or not.

The power of government misinformation: be very afraid

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:36:29 +0000

"The still calm voice that drives the strongest of men to panic". Today the Audit Commission launched a discussion paper "Nothing but the Truth" to start "a discussion on how to ensure that data on local public services is fit for purpose". Read it. Think. Then be afraid. Because some of the data on the files of central government is much worse.

Towards realistic regulatory frameworks for Identity

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:18:40 +0000

Over the past year the Information Society Alliance (EURIM) has been trying to structure a group to look at Identity Governance: the professional and regulatory frameworks that should govern Identity Management systems and those who run them.

Why do you need to know who I am?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:36:04 +0000

Andrew Yeomans raises some profound points in his comments on my previous blog. They also trigger some obvious "end-user" questions: Who are you? Why do you need to know? What's in it for me? Why should I trust you? Will you tell me if what I tell you is "compromised" while in your custody? WIll you pay me damages for any loss or inconvenience I incurr as a result?

Citizen or Subject - the root politics of personal identity?

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:55:58 +0000

On Wednesday I was a guest at a conference which brought together delegates from Central Government departments and their would-be suppliers to discuss Identity and Information issues. There was a common assumption among the delegates that it was a self evident truth that we all need coherent electronic identities within frameworks regulated by government

What is not different about the Internet?

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:05:15 +0000

I enjoyed Government 2010 on Thursday despite the tunnel vision of enthusiasts who believe the Internet changes everything but will nonetheless be much the same in 2015 as it is today. That may, unfortunately, be true in the UK where the Digital Britain vision is still only for one-way video-streaming rather than the "competing inter-active, broadcast quality video networks to the home" that was the vision of the last Government for 2002.

What is different about Public Sector Systems?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:55:51 +0000

Much rubbish is said about the differences between public and private sector - often to justify centralised empire-building or reluctance to clarify objectives and set priorities. But there are some genuine fundamental differences. Failure to recognise them has doomed several well-intentioned systems to help those in most need.

Getting more for less: the reform of public service delivery

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:01:40 +0000

IT suppliers find it hard to understand the animosity to them from politicians when they are blamed for "failure" despite having done all that the contract said. The reason is that the politicians remember being told that the new system will do whatever they want - but not that they had to be clear about what they wanted - and were not allowed to change their minds.

Why didn't we celebrate the 40th Birthday of the Internet?

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:24:53 +0000

Is it because most of the closed community which controls the Internet wish to avoid taking responsibility for their actions/inaction by pretending it is an immature but precocious child?

Why does each generation of technology devotees feel compelled to repeat the mistakes of the last one - like teenagers discovering sex?

Who wants Cloud computing other than to avoid national regulators?

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:11:36 +0000

Several players want to brief MPs and candidates on Cloud Computing. Why should politicians be interrested? Is it any more than the global data centres of Google and IBM and Microsoft outflanking those of EDS and Fujitsu? Who is willing to address the political issues of responsibility for resilience and content and liability for service failure or abuse?

Is Statutory Internet Regulation inevitable?

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:31:12 +0000

In his introductory comments to the Parliament and the Internet Conference today, Ed Richards seemed to think that the transition of Ofcom from a Broadcast to an Internet regulator was inevitable, as content and viewing habits moved across, albeit it raised many questions of practicality.

The power and the frailty of Internet Free Speach

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:58:58 +0000

Whether it was Guido Fawkes or the Twitterers, this morning saw a demonstration of the power of the blogocracy in overcoming the attempt to stop the Guardian from publishing questions tabled in parliament. Not only was the list of full questions posted in comments on Guido's blog but so were links to the full texts of the Minton report on Trafigura and of the Barclays Tax Avoidance schemes and a mass of scuttlebutt on other Carter Ruck clients.

The crumbling of the innocent carrier defence?

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:09:08 +0000

"Jury exacts $32m million penalty from ISPs for supporting crminal websites" One of the topics of conversation at all the Party Conferences was the need to address the dark side of the Internet. There is a common view that the same law should apply on-line as off-line. But on-line specfic legislation equally commonly turns into attempts to give players exemption from off-line liabilities because "it is too difficult too ...", "we are an immature technology ..." etc.

Conservative Dragons give priority to the jobs of the future

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:30:09 +0000

The Information Society Alliance (EURIM) Policy Dragons Den in Manchester was the only one to proceed to a vote. Under the crisp chairmanship of Kemi Adegoke (Candidate for Dulwich and West Norword) there was some distressingly well informed roasting of the IT industry's track record of delivery and a lively argument over the desirability and practicality of cleaning up (alias censoring) the Internet, The twelve parliamentary candidates on the panel then gave clear priority to removing the barriers to enterprise and job creation.

Full house for broadband in Manchester

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:22:36 +0000

Sixty delegates crammed into a room for 40 for the Conservative Technology Forum meeting on "Accessible broadband for all" at the party conference. Perhaps the high spot of the discussion was a speaker volunteering to deliver 2 megs inside two weeks and upgrading it to ten megs next spring, in response to a question from a Councillor representing a nonspot in the South East