LINK: “Outsourcing: The Socitm view”

Today, the picture is very different. Socitm policy advocates ‘smart sourcing’ as critical for successful ICT delivery – more aligned with common sense than past Whitehall policies. This is particularly important today, with cloud models offering more flexibility in scale…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Are open standards a closed barrier? | Government Digital Service – "Fresh out of a roundtable discussion on the Open Standards: Open Opportunities consultation, Linda Humphries discusses whether open can really…

What I’ve been reading

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Exploring how digital technology can support young people to engage socially and economically in their communities : Tim’s Blog – Tim is "launching an open research project to find key…

“Kids today need a licence to tinker”

Nice article by John Naughton on the state of IT education in schools: What is happening is that the national curriculum’s worthy aspirations to educate pupils about ICT are transmuted at the chalkface into teaching kids to use Microsoft software.…

Bookmarks for February 23rd through April 4th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Reaping the benefits of shared services – Interesting interview with @terryhuggins on the shared services arrangement between South Holland and East Lindsay councils. UK IT Strategy Sets the Pace for…

Future of local gov IT strategy

Gotta love blogging local government types. Great post here from Warwickshire County Council’s Jim Morton about their developing IT strategy. My favourite bit: 1. Embrace the practice of using ICT as a Utility: It is now possible to consume software,…

Bookmarks for October 3rd through October 19th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Solace 2010 write up; Localism, hash tags and a reflection on priorities – Great write up from Catherine Howe. Thriving too: Big Society: Yours Mine and Ours – "So how…

The pipe problem

At Public Sector Online (which Elaine did a marvellous job of writing up on the LP blog) last Monday, the question was asked – as it often is at these events – what could be done about the fact that…

Bookmarks for September 20th through October 1st

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Social intranets: Enterprises grapple with internal change – Great stuff on deploying social tech within big organisations. Open Government Licence – "You are encouraged to use and re-use the Information…

Bookmarks for August 5th through August 11th

EAVB_CFHFXKJFDR I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Splashpath – “Splashpath is a free service for Leisure Operators to create, update and communicate swimming pool timetables” The Value of Transparency Is At The Boundary between Government and…

Bookmarks for July 28th through August 5th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. NHS spends millions on websites that fail patients, says government report | Society | The Guardian – "The NHS spends up to £86m a year on thousands of websites that…

Bookmarks for July 3rd through July 7th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Government Reservists 2 – an idea for the Big Society? | Podnosh – "We do need government to change itself and fast.  Might government reservists now be a way for…

Bookmarks for June 7th through June 17th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. What Does Government Transformation Mean, Exactly? – "Rather than fantasizing about the myth of transformation, governments have to accept that future is no longer predictable and focus on what changes…

Hack Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Council‘s approach to open government and IT strategy is impressive. Check out their IT strategy blog, where they detail their use of the cloud, for example, and their open data site. Great stuff, and good to see it…

Bookmarks for April 30th through May 14th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Should the Public Sector pay for Content Management Systems? « Carl’s Notepad – [with open source] "You will still need to consider the integration aspects but open source products are…

Jos Creese new Socitm President

Hampshire County Council’s Head of IT Jos Creese is the President of Socitm for the next 12 months, and if this quote is anything to go by, he seems an ideal man for the job: IT professionals must carve out a…

Bookmarks for April 19th through April 23rd

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Open innovation, why bother? – 100% Open – "…if open innovation is to deliver sustainable business advantage then we need a better understanding of what motivates contributors to these initiatives,…

Bookmarks for April 11th through April 16th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. A New Approach to Printing – “a service that enables any application (web, desktop, or mobile) on any device to print to any printer.” Governments and Citizens: You Don’t Own…

Bookmarks for April 5th through April 10th

I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Social Media Security – "We have found a huge lack of accurate information around security issues and awareness of social media. This website aims to help educate users of social…