Opinion

Opinion

IT governance

• In an age of uncertainty, now is the time to rethink your outsourcing strategy

  Brexit and Trump are not only creating challenges but also opportunities in the outsourcing sector, and outsourcing deals will need to be flexible to exploit them  Continue Reading

• 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

• How government can use digital procurement to spend its way out of Brexit troubles

  Better use of the government's purchasing power could help to boost sectors, such as technology, likely to be affected by Brexit  Continue Reading

• Finance firms are vulnerable to cyber attacks, so why do customers think they are secure?

  The public are overly confident in the ability of banks and financial institutions to protect their data, but that will change when mandatory reporting comes in next year under the General Data Protection Regulation  Continue Reading

• 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

• Four reforms to deliver competitive broadband

  The UK will never benefit from ‘gold standard full fibre’ broadband without major reforms to the fabric of government, writes Ed Straw  Continue Reading

• Building business value with IT4IT

  To reinvent IT, CIOs must go beyond current process-based approaches and equip their teams with the right information and tools, completely automate end-to-end workflows, and provide the business with the controls to govern IT  Continue Reading

• Is ‘OK’ OK? Delivering the next government network platform

  As GDS signals its intent to move away from the Public Services Network, the industry and public sector must work together to create a new internet-based network platform for government  Continue Reading

• Telecoms: Opportunities and challenges in 2017

  The telecoms sector is undergoing profound change, particularly in terms of consumer demand and technology, says Angus Finnegan of law firm Taylor Wessing  Continue Reading

• Fight against Investigatory Powers Bill may not be over

  Labour's shadow home secretary Diane Abbott says that wider society must now debate the controversial Investigatory Powers Bill, despite Parliamentary approval  Continue Reading

• Acquiring public sector software systems – an alternative role for GDS?

  Controlling and measuring software systems in government is notoriously difficult, so could a healthcare model offer a better alternative?  Continue Reading

• 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

• The benefits of digital business process management with blockchain technology

  Distributed and decentralised ledger technologies, smart contracts and the internet of things have the potential to disrupt and revolutionise business process management and optimisation  Continue Reading

• Investigatory Powers Bill – the case for mass surveillance

  As the Investigatory Powers Bill goes through its final stages in Parliament, a former GCHQ intelligence officer puts the case for the bulk surveillance powers contained in the legislation  Continue Reading

• Local authorities must collaborate to survive

  Councils need to seek opportunities to work with their peers if they are to take advantage of digital transformation at a time when budgets are squeezed  Continue Reading

• A Good American: a personal take on mass surveillance

  Director Friedrich Moser draws some conclusions on mass surveillance from his groundbreaking documentary on the work of NSA whistleblower, Bill Binney  Continue Reading

• Escaping legacy – removing a major roadblock to a digital future

  Legacy IT and legacy thinking are preventing many organisations from embracing the digital economy – but it is an obstacle that can and must be overcome  Continue Reading

• Prism and the law: The state of play in August 2016

  Computer Weekly assesses the history, legal aspects and latest developments in the story of the mass surveillance programme launched by the US National Security Agency  Continue Reading

• It’s not too late to turn the tide on Investigatory Powers Bill

  The government has set David Anderson QC an almost impossible task in his review of the sweeping bulk powers proposed in the Investigatory Powers Bill – but it is not too late to make a difference  Continue Reading

• A day in the life of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal

  Britain's most secretive court combined the surreal with the deadly serious, as it debated the legality of bulk data collection by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ  Continue Reading

• Privacy Shield gets green light – for now

  Privacy Shield faces inevitable legal challenges, so organisations should prepare by considering legal and practical alternatives  Continue Reading

• What CIOs should know about Brexit

  CIOs should start talking with other executives and their teams and begin planning now for potential changes  Continue Reading

• Brexit and technology: How network effects will damage UK IT industry

  Although largely ignored in the Brexit debate, network effects will damage the UK's high-tech industry if Britain leaves Europe  Continue Reading

• 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

• Fear, uncertainty and data doubt hold back public Wi-Fi

  Venue owners’ uncertainty and befuddlement over what they can actually do with their Wi-Fi infrastructure and the data carried over it is hindering their ability to realise the full potential of public Wi-Fi  Continue Reading

• A legal perspective on Ofcom’s BT Openreach review

  Frances Murphy, partner, and Joanna Christoforou, of counsel, from the London office of global law firm Morgan Lewis examine Ofcom’s review of BT’s Openreach  Continue Reading

• Fighting the ‘fortress mentality’ at DWP – my search for the truth about Universal Credit

  IT programme manager and freedom-of-information campaigner John Slater reflects on his four-year battle to force the Department for Work and Pensions to release key documents  Continue Reading

• EU moves towards digital single market with online content portability

  Lawyers Chris Watson and Tom Scourfield explain how the EU is moving towards the creation of a digital single market with its proposal for online content portability  Continue Reading

• Will people be at the heart of your business transformation?

  Areas of the business that hold workforce data face a huge opportunity to help their organisations accelerate end-to-end transformation and increase their odds of success  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Start with threats to increase value of penetration testing

  How can an organisation ensure it gets value from penetration and security testing services?  Continue Reading

• What CIOs need to know to ensure their PMOs deliver

  The most effective project management organisations spend most of their time and resources on relationships and minimal time on tasks  Continue Reading

• The missing ingredient for effective problem management

  Problem management implementations often fail or have limited success because they lack managers who are trained to lead problem investigations using structured methods  Continue Reading

• The need for a 'Capability Exchange' for digital government

  In the last of a three-part series, Mark Thompson outlines a digital vision to make government a more cohesive, integrated organisation  Continue Reading

• The power of situational awareness for digital government

  In the second of a three-part series, Mark Thompson outlines a digital vision to make government a more cohesive, integrated organisation  Continue Reading

• Time to get mapping - how a blind government can develop sight

  In the first of a three-part series, Mark Thompson outlines a digital vision to make government a more cohesive, integrated organisation  Continue Reading

• Supercharging cyber security protection: Questions to ask when hiring a managed services provider

  With information security concerns and challenges at an all-time high, and a global shortage of security professionals to address them, some enterprises are turning to managed security services for help. To ease the selection process, Dragana Vranic...  Continue Reading

• Where next for UK government as a platform and GDS?

  Amid all the debate about the direction of digital government, it's important to take a critical look at the GDS plan for government as a platform  Continue Reading

• Driving digital productivity in the UK

  There is a need for British businesses to improve their adoption of digital technologies  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Security needs to be part of change management processes

  How can development, operations and security teams collaborate around change to ensure security is maintained and even improved?  Continue Reading

• What corporate IT can learn from startups

  Former Hailo and Betfair CTO Rorie Devine shares his experience of working with startups and what IT leaders can learn from them  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Manage business technology outcomes, not IT assets

  Why CIOs need to adopt a business technology agenda if they want to survive in the age of the customer  Continue Reading

• IT is a platform for economic success and a fairer society

  Labour's Chi Onwurah, formerly shadow Cabinet Office minister for digital government, outlines the party's policies for IT and digital  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Avoid the audit toxic cocktail of obfuscation and back-protecting

  What is the role of information security professionals in handling uncomfortable truths about data security from internal auditors?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Internal audit an essential component of data security

  What is the role of information security professionals in handling uncomfortable truths about data security from internal auditors?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Engage with auditors early to improve security

  What is the role of information security professionals in handling uncomfortable truths about data security from internal auditors?  Continue Reading

• Why you need smarter case management

  Business users will see myriad benefits from an emerging wave of case management applications  Continue Reading

• 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

• 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

• US technology companies facing growing UK pressure over internet spying

  Tension is growing between the UK and US over Prism spying  Continue Reading

• Let’s get digital on the electoral curriculum for all our politicians

  More politicians need to understand how changing the business model of government through digital methods can help UK plc's bottom line  Continue Reading

• A practical framework for digital public service delivery

  There is a tension between governments’ need to be more flexible and agile, and the discipline to use standard platforms and open architecture  Continue Reading

• Why digital governance and data protection matters

  In a digital world, new approaches to data protection and governance are vital for minimising risks and maximising performance  Continue Reading

• Government doesn’t get complexity

  Why do some government things go well and others not? The reason - complexity  Continue Reading

• Government must be a platform entrepreneur to deliver 'digital 2.0'

  The government needs to start with a clear policy and architecture for digital 2.0  Continue Reading

• 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

• Balancing user desires with business needs

  With users increasingly taking IT decisions into their own hands, businesses need to try harder to keep up  Continue Reading

• How to prevent getting caught up in the minefield of large IT programmes

  The recent number of large IT write-offs suggests that we are stuck in a vicious cycle of failure, which is nothing new.  Continue Reading

• Tools for CIOs leading M&A projects

  IT mergers and acquisitions are reaching a peak and are becoming more complex. This poses a distinct set of challenges for CIOs  Continue Reading

• How to make IT governance work

  Governance is undoubtedly an important subject for any organisation, but what does it really involve?  Continue Reading

• The advent of outside-in IT and how it changes the relationship with business

  Cloud computing and consumerisation are leading to enterprise IT losing control of IT within the firm  Continue Reading

• Software integration is removing system blindfolds

  Since the introduction of auto-complete forms, there has been a steady progression in the way business data and information is handled  Continue Reading

• Why Universal Credit IT concerns mean the project needs to be paused

  The Universal Credit Rescue Committee advised Labour to pause the controversial programme – its IT expert explains why  Continue Reading

• It’s time to add cyber insurance to your cyber security strategy

  Insurance policies for cyber crime have become more credible and viable  Continue Reading

• Is cloud the answer to the legacy IT problem?

  How do you meet escalating demands and keep up with change in technology, when you don't have the funds for a large-scale replacement?  Continue Reading

• Managing IT projects: when things go wrong

  No matter how thoroughly you plan, unexpected events can disrupt IT projects. Find out some expert survival tips  Continue Reading

• Buyer beware: second-hand user licences mired in uncertainty

  Despite a recent European Court of Justice ruling on the sale of used software, second user licensing remains a contentious subject  Continue Reading

• The anatomy of IT projects – why they are difficult and why they fail

  A guide to the complexities of managing successful IT projects, and how to negotiate them  Continue Reading

• BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT: We are investing for the nation's future

  Roger Marshall, immediate past president of BCS, explains how the Institute for IT is investing its cash reserves  Continue Reading

• Opinion: The Strategic Execution Framework

  Innovation. Agility. Performance. Scalability. Are these among the key initiatives for your company this year?  Continue Reading

• BCS faces 'plebeian revolt' over business reforms

  The Chartered Institute for IT is haemorrhaging money and losing touch with its members, claims a member of the BCS's governing council  Continue Reading

• 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

• Why collaboration is the only way to combat cyber threats

  Cyber threats are the most effective way to attack an organisation and those with malicious intent are finding more sophisticated ways of carrying out their activities  Continue Reading

• Why Europe is wrong to kill Safe Harbour

  Suspending the EU-US Safe Harbour agreement on data protection will do nothing to address surveillance, says international policy analyst  Continue Reading

• Managing the future of complex business and IT landscapes

  IT management and governance must cope with complexity, improve outcomes, and automate processes - but today’s IT delivery model is failing  Continue Reading

• Value chain mapping – learning to use IT as a strategic weapon

  Mapping, like viewing the board in a game of chess, is essential to any form of gameplay, and that includes IT  Continue Reading

• Smart machines raise challenging questions

  Smart systems like IBM’s Watson, autonomous vehicles and a growing army of robots are quietly making more and more decisions every day.  Continue Reading

• C’mon guys – don’t bottle up the Public Services Network; release it

  There is a stark choice between a PSN that has a customer-centric approach to security or one with a locked-down security framework  Continue Reading

• Entropy and data quality: How to keep your data accurate

  The quality of data held in IT systems will deteriorate unless steps are taken to maintain its accuracy and consistency. We look at what businesses should be doing to control that data quality more effectively  Continue Reading

• IT may not have to worry about mobile device backup

  Analyst Charles Brett offers some advice for IT departments on backing up data from mobile devices, tablets and smartphones,  Continue Reading

• 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

• One step ahead - the importance of staying in control of your organisation’s BYOD policy

  As every CIO is probably no doubt sick of hearing by now, ‘the era of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is here’. Employees now expect to be connected 24/7 to allow greater flexibility and productivity, and companies now need to judge how they can best ...  Continue Reading

• 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

• Avoiding the mistakes of NPfIT in new NHS IT contracts

  What are the contracting experiences of NHS Trusts who have started their own IT procurement, and how can mistakes of the past be avoided?  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Best practice tips for business intelligence success

  Recognising the importance of data and analytics is one thing; putting in place the right processes and tools is a different matter  Continue Reading

• 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

• Reclaiming the role of the CIO

  It has become fashionable to question the value of the role of CIO, but much of this discourse is both self-serving and without foundation  Continue Reading

• Enterprise architects: Please leave your framework at the door

  Enterprise architects should use architecture frameworks for inspiration, rather than trying to apply the entire structure to their organisation  Continue Reading

• 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

• Why IT contracts are bound to fail

  Traditional IT contracts are ill-suited for today’s dynamic and consumer-driven business environment  Continue Reading

• Tips for master data management best practice

  Master data management (MDM) projects must be business-owned, joined up, and proven step-by-step  Continue Reading

• Students set the IT agenda through BYOD schemes

  Kevin Papworth, UK Director at education IT supplier Ellucian describes how BYOD is changing the use of IT within higher education  Continue Reading

• Getting the right processes in place to benefit from big data

  Most executives recognise that the vast amounts of data coming into their organisation can be used to make the business better, but few are taking full advantage  Continue Reading

• How to build a business continuity and recovery plan

  Practical tips on how to build a comprehensive business continuity and recovery plan for your business  Continue Reading

• Tips for better governance and compliance

  What is the relationship between regulation, governance and IT, and how can they contribute in ways that support the business?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Basic engagement principles can boost IT security’s profile

  How can information security make business sense?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Security often overlooked in M&As

  What role do IT security professionals play in mergers and acquisitions?  Continue Reading

• Get serious about people risk to reduce cyber crime

  Organisations can become blinded by compliance to the point where they have a false sense of assurance about managing people-related risk.  Continue Reading

• Forrester: Five important guidelines for business technology governance

  Forrester believes that "good" IT governance is business technology governance – a conscious process by senior executives to establish strategies, structures, processes, and measurements for the management of technology to boost business results  Continue Reading

• How to make IT contracts agile

  Agile software methodologies have been around for years, yet many in the legal profession still feel they are entering unchartered waters  Continue Reading

• Consumer capital: The new reality of 21st century data exchange

  Consumers are beginning a counter-offensive against the monopoly that industry has enjoyed over the spoils of big data  Continue Reading