On the face of it this from ECOTEC Research & Consulting (via cc:eGov, seemingly an offshoot of the European Commission's DG Information Society and Media's eGovernment Unit) makes a helluva lot of sense - although I haven't had a chance to read the whole report yet. I have to say too that I'm a little nonplussed that something as commonsensical as this has emanated from the EU. The BBC's report on this is here.
As their press release says, in the wake of the HMRC fiasco, their paper is "a timely reminder about the need to manage trust and security effectively." A masterpiece of understatement! And, as the Chairman of ECOTEC, John Bell, says: “This study has demonstrated that trust in public authorities and their technological systems is a key issue for governments across Europe and one that will not go away. Dealing with it will be the next great challenge for governments in the digital world”. Well ... actually it's been "a key issue" for the past decade or longer, and dealing with it is becoming more urgent with each passing day.
Given the history of all this, we'll have to wait and see whether there is a cat in hell's chance of any of it feeding into the development of policy whether at a pan-European level or by individual member states. But I'm not holding my breath that The Great Bottler and his cohort will have the wit to pick up this particular ball and run with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment