It was fun to write a piece for Computer Weekly’s 50th anniversary on NHS IT from 1966 to the present, but a depressing pattern emerged. One part of the NHS brings in some state-of-the-art computing; most of the rest of the NHS carries on regardless; progress is not, on the whole, made. The National Programme for IT showed that imposing complicated IT systems from the centre tends to fail, but so has letting the local NHS do its own thing. Continue reading “Ending 50 years of NHS IT hurt”
Category: Articles
The libraries that offer sexual health services and cancer support
Coventry’s Central Library runs health-related events and a mental health drop-in service, reaching people that the NHS can’t
How Coventy City Council works with a local NHS trust to provide advice on sexual health and cancer in its libraries. Continue reading “The libraries that offer sexual health services and cancer support”
Why tech firms fear Brexit: immigration. Lack of it.
Many people will vote for Brexit because they fear immigration. UK bosses of tech companies I have spoken to for The Register will vote against it because they fear lack of immigration. And the one I found who will vote for a British exit from the EU thinks that Cameron’s deal is bad partly because it tries to restrict immigration.
Continue reading “Why tech firms fear Brexit: immigration. Lack of it.”
Good news from government on FoI, too early to say on IP bill
Today saw announcements on two areas of major interest to journalists. One, the report of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information, is good news. There were expectations that the commission was primed to weaken FoI; it hasn’t, and in fact it recommends ways to strengthen it, including speeding and shortening the appeals process.
The government’s response is also cheering, saying that charges for FoI will not be introduced, as “We believe that transparency can help save taxpayers’ money, by driving out waste and inefficiency”. Well, quite.
On the Investigatory Powers Bill, it’s too early to say. Some of the recommendations in the three parliamentary reports on the draft IP bill have been adopted, including better protection for journalists, but police have also gained further powers.
Continue reading “Good news from government on FoI, too early to say on IP bill”
Robo-advice in financial services for ComputerWeekly.com
I have just had published two more articles on financial services, the first for ComputerWeekly.com on the growth of robo-advice in the US (provided by firms such as Betterment) and increasingly here as well (Nutmeg).
Such automated financial guidance could fill the gap between expensive independent advisers (which in the UK we now pay for upfront) and people selling products from just one organisation. Alistair Haig, a former banker now doing research at Edinburgh University, is optimistic about robo-advice:
What you end up with is a proposition to customers that’s part human, part machine… Robo-advisers, if they are done well, can provide an improvement for the rest of us.
The full article is here. Continue reading “Robo-advice in financial services for ComputerWeekly.com”