Opinion
Opinion
IT management
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Bitcoin is a bubble, but manias can have economic benefits
The UK's railway mania, the tulip bubble, the dot com boom and other collective economic madness – such as bitcoin – might lose people a lot of money, but they often lay down important foundations Continue Reading
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We must avoid the Brexit risks to London's tech community
London's chief digital officer warns of the risks to jobs, innovation and investment if the UK pursues a hard Brexit when leaving the EU Continue Reading
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Blockchain’s promise goes beyond fintech
By reducing the cost of peer-to-peer data and resource transfer, blockchain can remove the need for third parties and middlemen across industries Continue Reading
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Why CryptoKitties shows the future of humanity in the robot age
Spending millions on blockchain-based cat collectibles might seem trivial, but it explains why economists aren’t worried about robots taking all our jobs Continue Reading
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Building on the UK tech sector’s momentum in 2018
The UK’s digital and tech industry made great progress in 2017, and the government aims to further its support in 2018, says digital minister Continue Reading
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How to boost your personal brand as an IT professional
Seven steps to help you build a personal brand in the workplace, articulate the value you provide and build your professional reputation Continue Reading
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How to attract investors for your enterprise software startup
Are you looking to find an investor for your enterprise software company? This expert advice explains what investors will be looking to find in an innovative software business seeking backing Continue Reading
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My brother Lauri Love should have the right to a trial in the UK
Lauri Love should face trial over hacking allegations in a British Court, rather than be extradited to the US, where his extraordinary skills will be lost to society, says his younger sister Continue Reading
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A guide for businesses to China’s first cyber security law
Companies that break China’s new cyber security law may be fined or even have their licence to trade in the country removed Continue Reading
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Will the review of Gov.uk Verify fix the UK's digital identity problems?
The rumoured review of the UK government’s identity assurance programme provides the ideal opportunity to fix problems and accelerate progress Continue Reading
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The challenge of our era - digital transformation at Allianz
The insurance firm wants to become "digital by default" and its CIO explains the vital role DevOps and cloud play in its change programme Continue Reading
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Why now is the time to appoint a chief agility officer
Companies need to innovate and find new ways of getting products to the market more quickly. Appointing a chief agility officer to the board will help Continue Reading
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How the iPhone shows the value of innovation in a capitalist economy
Ten years of watching the iPhone transform markets around the world demonstrates the economic value of technology innovation Continue Reading
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Rethink risk through the lens of antifragility
Antifragility is an exciting alternative that fuses value and risk, and CIOs and IT executives are well positioned to help Continue Reading
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Gov.uk Verify and identity assurance - it's time for a rethink
The government's Verify identity platform is not meeting user needs - it's time to step back and review how best to make online identity for public services work Continue Reading
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Escaping waterfall government and the myth of 'digital transformation'
An agile approach to digital programmes will not transform Whitehall unless the waterfall approach to policy and decision-making is overhauled too Continue Reading
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How AI is disrupting the role of call centres and call centre staff
Artificial intelligence could eliminate many white-collar jobs in coming decades. Its effects are already being felt in the call centre industry, but there is still no substitute for the human touch Continue Reading
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Gary McKinnon: Why Lauri Love should be spared the nightmare of extradition
Computer activist Lauri Love should be spared a life sentence in a US jail, says former hacker Gary McKinnon Continue Reading
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Enterprise NAS performance challenges and how to resolve them
NAS storage can be used for mission critical workloads but NFS-based storage comes with performance challenges. Jim Bahn of Virtual Instruments outlines the main ones Continue Reading
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A new nearshoring game is emerging
Countries selling themselves as nearshore business services locations need to change their sales pitches to avoid becoming like all the other countries doing the same Continue Reading
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Six essential processes for keeping data secure
Data security is increasingly vital for organisations as the countdown begins for compliance with new rules imposed by the EU’s general data protection regulation Continue Reading
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The true cost of running technology
Ministry of Justice digital chief Arif Harbott discusses the importance of disclosing the costs of technology – and why it makes sense to invest to avoid expensive glitches Continue Reading
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Robots will transform, not replace, human work
Claims that robots will steal our jobs are commonplace – but humans will find themselves working side by side with robots, rather than being replaced by them Continue Reading
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Why we’re measuring the digital economy in the wrong way
Conventional measures of productivity and growth, such as GDP, fail to capture the true effect of the digital revolution – but we're getting richer nonetheless Continue Reading
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The problem of smart cities and connectivity in the UK
Only once leaders develop a framework for local economic and societal development can the “smart city” buzz can evolve into “intelligent communities” Continue Reading
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How the Consumer Rights Act will affect the digital industry
Consumer legislation has been updated to take into account the unique nature of digital content – but what does it mean for technology suppliers? Continue Reading
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The importance of e-leadership in meeting digital challenges
Henley Business School identifies ICT trends that will alter the demand of e-skills, especially those needed by e-leaders Continue Reading
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Life’s a breach: How to handle the press after a hacking attack
Emily Dent, specialist in crisis PR, offers some advice to organisations that unexpectedly find themselves in the headlines Continue Reading
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The top 10 myths about agile development
Examining some of the most common misconceptions in the growing field of agile software development Continue Reading
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Government as a platform, or a platform for government? Which are we getting?
Government as a platform is the latest buzzword in Whitehall - but is that really what they are going to deliver? Continue Reading
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Can legislation stop cyber crime?
Rising cyber crime suggests criminal law does not deter criminals and that a better legal solution is required to prevent further rises Continue Reading
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What is government as a platform and how do we achieve it?
There are lots of discussion going on at the moment about digital “platforms”, and the impact they might have on UK public services Continue Reading
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Five questions every board should ask after Sony Pictures breach
What can the board do to avoid having to answer embarrassing questions at the next shareholder meeting? Continue Reading
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Revolutionising digital public service delivery
Public sectors across the world are attempting a transition away from closed, top-down, bureaucratic, and paper-based transactional models Continue Reading
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Nobody has a monopoly on digital leadership
As IT becomes more strategic and pervasive, effective digital leadership is needed by just about every organisation Continue Reading
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The digital CIO: ‘Fear of Google’ and the ethics of digital business
Could the big digital players be using their dominance by exerting unfair competition? Continue Reading
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Watermelon SLAs – making sense of green and red alerts
Often IT SLAs don’t reflect the real service and service experience of users. They also aren’t focused enough on the business results Continue Reading
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Define a software delivery strategy for business innovation – four key steps
As software takes a central role in modern business models, application delivery capability has become the key enabler of disruption Continue Reading
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The legal considerations of the internet of things
As with many new technologies, there are a number of tricky legal challenges to consider as part of widespread IoT adoption Continue Reading
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Opinion: The Strategic Execution Framework
Innovation. Agility. Performance. Scalability. Are these among the key initiatives for your company this year? Continue Reading
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Five tips for managing project change requests
Change is an inevitable part of a project, so working out in advance how best to handle change requests will make the whole process much easier Continue Reading
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Searching for the signal of open standards amid the growing noise of agile
For all its undeniable strengths, the use of agile in government is in danger of becoming a fetish Continue Reading
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Should you allow a bring your own device policy?
Employers are realising there are challenges presented by BYOD which, if not dealt with, could have a serious impact on the business Continue Reading
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Living with Google Glass – not quite useful enough to overcome the dork-factor
Businesses will use Google Glass first, says Simon Dring after spending a few days living with the technology. Continue Reading
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User acceptance testing needs real training, not just a short course
In spite of its importance, user acceptance testing (UAT) is often chaotic, problematic and ineffective Continue Reading
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Technology, society and morality: the implications for technology leaders
Technology is evolving at a pace and scale that has never been experienced. Society is struggling to keep up with the social and moral implications Continue Reading
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Who owns your LinkedIn account?
It is common for employees to use personal social networking accounts for work, but who actually owns those accounts? Continue Reading
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The dangers of internet cafés
Businesses need clear computer use policies and need to ensure staff are properly trained in data protection, writes Garry Mackay Continue Reading
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BBC's DMI project failure is a warning to all organisations
The decision to cancel the BBC’s Digital Media Initiative (DMI) with nothing to show for the almost £100m spent on it should be a warning to other organisations about the risks involved in large-scale IT projects Continue Reading
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The challenges of information governance in our increasingly litigious age
Formulating the right enterprise-wide information governance policies is essential in heading off potential legal and compliance costs Continue Reading
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Why IT education is failing
There are a plethora of UK IT educational projects and initiatives but no focus or urgency to channel the energy of teachers, says entrepreneur, Rick Chandler. Continue Reading
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The Great Deverticalisation – part 5: Mind the GaaP
Politicians and government have the opportunity, through the power of open platforms, to take the lead in creating modern public services Continue Reading
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Empowering users: It is not all about BYOD
The real benefits of bring your own device (BYOD) only arise when the right culture and mindset are developed Continue Reading
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The Great Deverticalisation - part 4: The role of the private sector
Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply? Continue Reading
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The Great Deverticalisation - part 3: New skills and structures in the public sector
Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply? Continue Reading
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The Great Deverticalisation - part 2: The power of open
The public sector has the opportunity, through the power of 'open', to take the lead in creating organisations for the future success of UK plc Continue Reading
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The great deverticalisation – part 1: the street
Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply? Continue Reading
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The socially intelligent project manager
IQ alone is not enough to determine project success. Good project managers also require social intelligence Continue Reading
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Customer relationship management vs business relationship management
Business relationship management (BRM) and customer relationship management (CRM) are different, yet must work hand-in-hand Continue Reading
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EU court legalises second-hand software
In a landmark decision, the European Union Court of Justice ruled that the reselling of used software licences is legal. Continue Reading
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Tackling the challenges of the next-generation firewall
Security expert Brian Honan shares top tips on installing and maintaining a next-generation firewall Continue Reading
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Tech companies facing mounting IP challenges
The recent flurry of patent buying and selling activity in the global tech sector illustrates dramatic changes in the way some of the biggest technology companies are approaching their intellectual property (IP) Continue Reading
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Why the public sector is turning to multi-sourcing
Sarah Burnett explains why the public sector is moving from single sourcing to multi-sourcing, in an age of austerity. Continue Reading
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Open standards are about the business model, not the technology
Software companies, abuzz with lobbyists and patent lawyers over government open standards, are similar to the record industry 10 years ago. Continue Reading
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IT service management: The only way is ethics
It is now very common for professional bodies and membership organisations to have codes of ethics and standards of conduct. Continue Reading
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Opinion: Is big data just big hype?
If the deluge of headlines and vendor marketing materials is anything to go by, big data is the next big thing. So how much is there really to all this big data talk? Continue Reading
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Five ways to improve your IT project management
Project management and the IT industry go together like jam and toast. But not all project management is good project management. Continue Reading
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Bridging the information gap
The pace at which modern business tends to move has resulted in a situation where centralised decision-making struggles to keep up. Continue Reading
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The importance of mutual understanding: A faster track to business alignment and satisfied users
The benefits of a service-centric approach to IT tend to come back to IT in numerous ways - users are happier, the business functions more effectively, and in return IT tends to receive both more funding and freedom to develop, writes Andrew Buss, ... Continue Reading
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Seven steps to successful negotiation for IT buyers
Nigel Owen of training consultancy Huthwaite International provides some key tips for benefiting both seller and buyer when negotiating a sale or purchase. Continue Reading
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Software as a service can breed dependency so choose suppliers with care
SaaS is not utility computing: it matters who delivers it and how Continue Reading
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Security Zone: The ISO/IEC 38500 IT Governance Standard
IT governance means different things to different folks, yet it is generally understood to require alignment with best practice standards and methodologies. However, it can be really hard to see the wood for the trees due to the multiple frameworks,... Continue Reading
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Six reasons why the NHS National Programme For IT failed
Like many men, I don't go to the doctor very often. The last time I did, I was with my GP for 25 minutes: five minutes discussing my symptoms and 20 minutes helping her to understand how to use her new computer system to record my symptoms, her ... Continue Reading
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NHS IT - A personal view
The media last week was full of comment on the "problems" at the NHS IT project as Accenture ducked out. Yet again, the comment portrayed the project as a "disaster" - indeed “yet another public sector IT disaster”. Continue Reading
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Seeing the big picture
Information security is about securely bringing together the organisation's two most important assets - information and people. Continue Reading