Category: Articles

Private pain, public gain: learning from the private sector

A version of this article appeared in Public Service Magazine, October-November 2004

Chancellor Gordon Brown’s plans to cut posts from the civil service rely heavily on greater use of IT. He told the House of Commons on July 12: “It is precisely because the public sector has invested £6 billions in new technology, modernising our ability to provide back office and transactional services, that I can announce… a gross reduction in civil service posts of 84,150.” A further reduction of 20,000 posts from local and devolved national governments is also on the cards.

The newly formed HM Revenue and Customs department is to lose 16,000 posts, largely as a result of rationalization of back office functions and increased use of IT.
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Knowing me, knowing you

Bigger databases may mean greater efficiency for the state and private sector, but they could also mean more unwelcome intervention into our personal lives. SA Mathieson reports

In 2004, I spoke to up and coming MP David Cameron (my local MP, who I profiled here) about his opposition to government database plans such as identity cards. In 2011, as prime minister, he caused this to happen.

All articles on ID cards.

Read more about ID cards in my book, Card declined: How Britain said no to ID cards, three times over – including the full version of the interview with David Cameron. Continue reading “Knowing me, knowing you”

Those who scan, do: Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS)

First appeared in Health Service Journal, 10 June 2004

The use of digital imaging systems within the NHS has been on the verge of taking off for some years – but hasn’t. That is set to change this year when a combination of central initiatives dramatically unfreezes the potential for progress at a local level.

On 1 May, the National Programme for IT announced deals with GE Medical Systems to provide picture archiving and communications systems in three local service provider clusters, with Philips and Kodak with ComMedica winning one LSP contract apiece. The systems will be installed from this summer, with national coverage planned for completion in three years.
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Brand designs: the NHS logo

First published in Health Service Journal, 19 February 2004

Draw a rectangle 2.4 times as wide as it is high and fill it with a colour known as Pantone Blue 300. Then, using the Frutiger Bold Italic font, fill it with the three capital initial letters of Europe’s biggest employer. Voila: a logo found on signs, stationery, vehicles, identity cards and uniforms across the country – and reproduced 144 times in a recent copy of this magazine.
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Eyes on the child

The Soham murder trial highlighted the use of mobile phone tracking. But how effective is the technology for consumers, asks SA Mathieson

A look at the accuracy of mobile phone tracking services for the Guardian, and the ethics in using them to track children. I have also written about how networks track users and how the technology is used by the emergency services.
 Continue reading “Eyes on the child”