Saturday 4 May 2013

Four professors review the Government Digital Strategy


Alan W. Brown is the Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Surrey Business School, University of Surrey.

John A. McDermid is the Professor of Software Engineering at the Dept. of Computer Science, University of York.

Ian Sommerville is the Professor of Software Engineering at the Dept. of Computer Science, University of St Andrews.

Rob Witty is the Professor of Information System Engineering at the Dept. of Informatics and System Engineering, Cranfield University.

They have written a paper, A Perspective on the Government Digital Strategy (GDS): Balancing agility and efficiency in UK Government IT delivery. The paper is dated 7 January 2013, it is marked "draft" and it is a review of the Government Digital Strategy published on 6 November 2012 by the Government Digital Service.

Speaking about the Government Digital Strategy (GDS), the professors say:
more ►
Posted by David Moss at 12:08 0 comments

Friday 3 May 2013

Cloud computing – a fairy responds

The following anonymous comment on Cloud computing – away with the fairies has been received and may be commented on later:
A prospective customer has to investigate the cloud supplier. Is the supplier competent? And reliable? What do their existing customers make of the service? The service may need to be audited. Does the supplier take backups? Where are they stored? Are they any good in an emergency? What do they know about security? Who's going to get priority when there's an emergency? Are their staff trustworthy? Which jurisdictions do they operate in? Contracts have to be negotiated. Then someone has to work out all the scripts to transfer code and data into the cloud. Or from one cloud supplier to another.

And so when you run an OJEU procurement, you magically DON'T do any of this? These costs are inherent in ANY outsourced procurement; arguably they are minimised in G-Cloud because of the pre-selection, but even if not, they're no different from any competition. You could also argue that in cloud services, contracts *don't* have to be negotiated - you take or leave what is offered, and it is up to YOU to manage the risk - but then that's the same no matter what procurement route you follow.

Regarding up-front costs, my reference wasn't to due diligence, but to the capital costs of setting up a service in the "traditional" way - i.e. buying dedicated kit, delivery, installation, configuration, testing, even before you get to the application. This kit has to be specced to handle peak load (otherwise you get a debacle like the census launch), for a 5 year contract, and woe-betide if things change in that time period...

Oh, and you might want to ask somebody in Central Govt how much / how long it takes to run an OJEU procurement; typically the *shortest* cycle is 6 months, and big contracts can be 12+ months.

Regarding the Guardian article on the "*Amazon* marketplace for traders" (http://services.amazon.co.uk/services/sell-online/how-it-works-pro.html), this is NOTHING to do with cloud computing, it is for organisations selling goods and service to the public, using an online shop. This is no different from eBay changing their cut of sales, or a council upping local rates.

The Wired article is referring to the *AWS Reserved Instance Marketplace* (http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/reserved-instances/marketplace/), which allows Cloud users to sell virtual machine reservations they have bought bought but no longer need. See this article for more information about what a Reserved Instance is, and why you might use it: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/reserved-instances/

Finally, there is also the AWS Marketplace (https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace), which is the cloud equivalent of the physical marketplace, to allow software companies to sell pre-installed VMs, support services, etc. AWS cloud customers have *no* requirement to even visit that marketplace, but Amazon provide it as a value-added service.

Could Amazon increase their cloud pricing? Yes, they could; however the 7+ year trend is in ONE direction, down - and in the event they do increase the price, the cloud model means that the customer can move - no long-term lock-in, no 5 year contracts to break, no waste of CapEx, just choose another provider.

Of course, portability between clouds can be problematic, but this is NO different from between two "traditional" providers, and in many cases, the use of standards such as OVF for VM migration means that cloud providers are ahead of the curve.
Posted by David Moss at 11:19 0 comments

Cloud computing – a fairy responds

The following anonymous comment on Cloud computing – away with the fairies has been received and may be commented on later:
A prospective customer has to investigate the cloud supplier. Is the supplier competent? And reliable? What do their existing customers make of the service? The service may need to be audited. Does the supplier take backups? Where are they stored? Are they any good in an emergency? What do they know about security? Who's going to get priority when there's an emergency? Are their staff trustworthy? Which jurisdictions do they operate in? Contracts have to be negotiated. Then someone has to work out all the scripts to transfer code and data into the cloud. Or from one cloud supplier to another.

And so when you run an OJEU procurement, you magically DON'T do any of this? These costs are inherent in ANY outsourced procurement; arguably they are minimised in G-Cloud because of the pre-selection, but even if not, they're no different from any competition. You could also argue that in cloud services, contracts *don't* have to be negotiated - you take or leave what is offered, and it is up to YOU to manage the risk - but then that's the same no matter what procurement route you follow.

Regarding up-front costs, my reference wasn't to due diligence, but to the capital costs of setting up a service in the "traditional" way - i.e. buying dedicated kit, delivery, installation, configuration, testing, even before you get to the application. This kit has to be specced to handle peak load (otherwise you get a debacle like the census launch), for a 5 year contract, and woe-betide if things change in that time period...

Oh, and you might want to ask somebody in Central Govt how much / how long it takes to run an OJEU procurement; typically the *shortest* cycle is 6 months, and big contracts can be 12+ months.

Regarding the Guardian article on the "*Amazon* marketplace for traders" (http://services.amazon.co.uk/services/sell-online/how-it-works-pro.html), this is NOTHING to do with cloud computing, it is for organisations selling goods and service to the public, using an online shop. This is no different from eBay changing their cut of sales, or a council upping local rates.

The Wired article is referring to the *AWS Reserved Instance Marketplace* (http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/reserved-instances/marketplace/), which allows Cloud users to sell virtual machine reservations they have bought bought but no longer need. See this article for more information about what a Reserved Instance is, and why you might use it: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/reserved-instances/

Finally, there is also the AWS Marketplace (https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace), which is the cloud equivalent of the physical marketplace, to allow software companies to sell pre-installed VMs, support services, etc. AWS cloud customers have *no* requirement to even visit that marketplace, but Amazon provide it as a value-added service.

Could Amazon increase their cloud pricing? Yes, they could; however the 7+ year trend is in ONE direction, down - and in the event they do increase the price, the cloud model means that the customer can move - no long-term lock-in, no 5 year contracts to break, no waste of CapEx, just choose another provider.

Of course, portability between clouds can be problematic, but this is NO different from between two "traditional" providers, and in many cases, the use of standards such as OVF for VM migration means that cloud providers are ahead of the curve.
Posted by David Moss at 11:19 0 comments

GOV.UK – not the 9 o'clock news

Simpler, clearer, faster – that's GOV.UK's shoutline.

GOV.UK is the new "single government domain" produced by the Government Digital Service and it recently won the Design of the Year award:
Design of the Year jury member Griff Rhys Jones said GOV.UK "was a clear winner".
Great 1980s satirist that he is, Mr Rhys Jones hasn't lost his touch.

----------

Updated 2 September 2013
GOV.UK wins the only 2013 D&AD award in the newly-created "Writing for Websites and Digital Design" category.

Updated: 15 November 2013
Ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken/GDS comes top of the Digital Leaders 50 awards given to those "who demonstrate a pioneering and sustainable approach to digital transformation". The BBC come second and Francis Maude third.

No examples of sustainable digital transformation are given but CloudStore has been unavailable for eight of the 14 days leading up to the awards' being announced on 12 November 2013.

Updated 15 November 2013:
Back in May, G-Cloud won the Public Cloud Project of the Year Datacentre Solutions Award 2013. Few people noticed ...

... but one wag did (@LazBlazter), and retweeted the following on 9 November 2013, just after CloudStore's October outage, on day #2 of the November outage:

Updated 8 December 2013:
Only one way to go from here, two weeks at the top, ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken tumbles to sixth position in the Computer Weekly UKtech50 awards, "our definitive list of the movers and shakers in UK IT".

No.1 now is Liam Maxwell, chief technology officer, HM Government.

And what did ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken tell us about technology in his speech to Code for America? "Technology is a fourth-order question in government", he said. Only after the user needs and the policy needs and the operational needs have been determined should attention be paid to the technology needs, if any ... If we let technology determine public services, then "we are literally starting in the wrong place and guaranteeing failure". The proper question to ask is: "What technology may we need to provide the service?" ... "One of the first battles you've got to fight", he said, "is putting technology in its place".

Clearly the awards panel disagree.

Updated 21 January 2014:
In Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude Decries 'Old Style' Obamacare Insurance Website, published in the Huffington Post, 9 January 2014, Mr Maude makes the uncontentious claim that the US government is useless at IT, unlike the UK government, which has GOV.UK and IDA. At one point we read:
Noting the success of the gov.uk site, a portal that brings the government billions in revenue from countries such as New Zealand that have paid for the source code, Maude said ...
Is this true, does anyone know? Have New Zealand or anyone else paid billions to use the GOV.UK source code?

Updated 26 January 2014:

2013 GovFresh Awards winners
by Luke Fretwell / January 21, 2014, 6:00 am:
Updated 18.6.14

Since we last looked (15 November 2013) the Digital Leaders 50 awards have become the Digital Leaders 100 awards – twice as good.

All change?

No. Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE, executive director of GDS and senior responsible owner of the identity assurance programme (RIP), is still top:


Not only that but the Skyscape express rolls on ...


... as does the Martha-now-Lady Lane Fox revolution:



Updated 10.9.14

The awards just keep coming in.

One breathless encomium ...


... after another ...


... and another ...


... and another ...


... and another:


Sometimes even Anna and Katie and Rachael and Emer and Alexandra must get tired. At which point there's a praise-generating engine in GOV.UK's armoury that takes over:


But today, new heights were scaled, when an awards body contacted GDS and begged them to apply so that they can be given an award:


What next?

Can GDS write an app that generates GOV.UK award-awarders?


Updated 31.10.14

Still the praise keeps coming in – is there no end to it?






Updated 4.12.14

Now Computer Weekly have published UKtech50 2014 - The most influential people in UK IT and the first question must be "where have Skyscape come"? You will remember that Digital by Default News rated Skyscape the number 1 digital leader in the Industry category back in June. Six months later, and Computer Weekly ... don't mention Skyscape.

Still, we know from Simon Wardley that:


Close.

But no award for accuracy.

Actually they came fourth and fifth, not third and fourth, if you care to look.

Liam Maxwell, the government's chief technology officer who comes in at number 4, is "attempting to break the stranglehold of the oligopoly of large companies that have dominated government IT". That's what Computer Weekly say.

How's that going?


In its first 2½ years of existence, G-Cloud, the government cloud project, has placed 53.2% of £346 million = £184 million of business with SMEs (half of which goes to Skyscape alone, according to Skyscape).

£184 million. £0.184 billion. Spread over 2½ years. And how much does the government spend on IT every year? About £20 billion? Some way to go before Mr Maxwell can expect to come third.

Which brings us to fifth, Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE CDO, executive director of the Government Digital Service and senior responsible owner of the pan-government identity assurance programme (RIP). As Computer Weekly say: "Bracken is the figurehead for a cultural change in how public services are delivered in a digital world".

And how's that going?

As every fule kno, you can't have digital-by-default public services unless you can identify your parishioners. That requires identity assurance.

GDS are several years late starting a small beta test of their offering. The users are finding it hard. No alternative, non-digital registration system is provided. And GDS are breaking their own rules.

Meanwhile, they are providing us with re-written front ends to services we already had, but with no identity assurance, and without re-designing the services first. Culture change? Hardly. The promise of government transformation is not being delivered.

Gavin Patterson, the Chief Executive Officer of BT, came sixth. When Westminster and Whitehall realise in several hundred billion pounds' time that, in digital-by-default, they are chasing a will o' the wisp, Mr Patterson may expect to move up at least one place.


Updated 28.1.15

It's not all prizes. GDS receive the odd brickbat, too. For example, Mr Craddock isn't entirely smitten:


But there's still a lot of breathless fan mail like this coming in:


And recently, the Prime Minister of Australia joined Suzanne:
ESTABLISHMENT OF A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OFFICE

The Commonwealth Government will establish a Digital Transformation Office (DTO) within the Department of Communications so that government services can be delivered digitally from start to finish and better serve the needs of citizens and businesses ...

The DTO will use technology to make services simpler, clearer and faster for Australian families and businesses.
"Simpler, clearer, faster" is, of course, the motto of GDS's GOV.UK.

It's high praise indeed when even the level-headed Australians find you worthy of imitation. "Simpler, clearer, Australia", as Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE CDO rather amusingly said.

And it's not just the Australians. The Americans, too. Look what came out of the White House on 16 January 2015:
U.S.-U.K. Digital Government Partnership

Today, we are building on a long history of innovation and collaboration on digital technologies with the United Kingdom.  The President and Prime Minister Cameron just announced a commitment to strengthen and expand the ongoing digital partnership between our two countries.  Both countries have made real progress in working to improve how our governments use digital services to better serve citizens and businesses, and to build a stronger digital economy.  We will expand our already existing collaborations in these areas ...

In 2011, the United Kingdom created the Government Digital Service (GDS), a centralized group of digital experts who have vastly improved citizen experiences when using government digital services. This team has worked to make public services digital by default, simpler, less costly, and faster to use ...

The United Kingdom developed a comprehensive Digital Strategy ... This strategy, once fully implemented, will save taxpayers in the United Kingdom £2.7 billion per year.
Again, this is high praise indeed.

Positively intoxicating.

So much so that it's as well for Australia and the US to check the record.

Has UK government been transformed by GDS? Has UK Citizen experience of government digital services been vastly improved? Are UK public services digital by default? Is the UK's Government Digital Strategy feasible? When will it be fully implemented? And how sure is anyone that it will save £2.7 billion p.a. (previous estimates include 1.2, 1.7 and 1.8 billion pounds)?

Are the claims made for the efficacy of GDS reliable? Or do they, like the emperor's new clothes, evaporate on inspection? Which is it?

GDS's idea of UK public services becoming digital by default depends on identity assurance. Central government departments and local authorities have to be sure that you are who you say you are when you log on.

The executive director of GDS is also the senior responsible owner of the pan-government identity assurance project and the project is late. Several years late.  He gave a talk in the US on 16 October 2013. Here's a 1'15" clip:


He claimed that GDS have eight or nine "identity providers". They have one. Experian.

He claimed that the first identity assurance services would start later in October 2013 with HMRC (the UK's IRS). The planned test did not take place. No explanation. No acknowledgement.

He claimed that identity assurance would support 45 million users. A year later on 30 October 2014 they had 741 users in a private beta test, please see Slide #14.

"I just can't get enough of gov.uk's awesome @gdsteam"?
Posted by David Moss at 10:46 0 comments

GOV.UK – not the 9 o'clock news

Simpler, clearer, faster – that's GOV.UK's shoutline.

GOV.UK is the new "single government domain" produced by the Government Digital Service and it recently won the Design of the Year award:
Design of the Year jury member Griff Rhys Jones said GOV.UK "was a clear winner".
Great 1980s satirist that he is, Mr Rhys Jones hasn't lost his touch.

----------

Updated 2 September 2013
GOV.UK wins the only 2013 D&AD award in the newly-created "Writing for Websites and Digital Design" category.

Updated: 15 November 2013
Ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken/GDS comes top of the Digital Leaders 50 awards given to those "who demonstrate a pioneering and sustainable approach to digital transformation". The BBC come second and Francis Maude third.

No examples of sustainable digital transformation are given but CloudStore has been unavailable for eight of the 14 days leading up to the awards' being announced on 12 November 2013.

Updated 15 November 2013:
Back in May, G-Cloud won the Public Cloud Project of the Year Datacentre Solutions Award 2013. Few people noticed ...

... but one wag did (@LazBlazter), and retweeted the following on 9 November 2013, just after CloudStore's October outage, on day #2 of the November outage:

Updated 8 December 2013:
Only one way to go from here, two weeks at the top, ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken tumbles to sixth position in the Computer Weekly UKtech50 awards, "our definitive list of the movers and shakers in UK IT".

No.1 now is Liam Maxwell, chief technology officer, HM Government.

And what did ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken tell us about technology in his speech to Code for America? "Technology is a fourth-order question in government", he said. Only after the user needs and the policy needs and the operational needs have been determined should attention be paid to the technology needs, if any ... If we let technology determine public services, then "we are literally starting in the wrong place and guaranteeing failure". The proper question to ask is: "What technology may we need to provide the service?" ... "One of the first battles you've got to fight", he said, "is putting technology in its place".

Clearly the awards panel disagree.

Updated 21 January 2014:
In Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude Decries 'Old Style' Obamacare Insurance Website, published in the Huffington Post, 9 January 2014, Mr Maude makes the uncontentious claim that the US government is useless at IT, unlike the UK government, which has GOV.UK and IDA. At one point we read:
Noting the success of the gov.uk site, a portal that brings the government billions in revenue from countries such as New Zealand that have paid for the source code, Maude said ...
Is this true, does anyone know? Have New Zealand or anyone else paid billions to use the GOV.UK source code?

Updated 26 January 2014:

2013 GovFresh Awards winners
by Luke Fretwell / January 21, 2014, 6:00 am:
Updated 18.6.14

Since we last looked (15 November 2013) the Digital Leaders 50 awards have become the Digital Leaders 100 awards – twice as good.

All change?

No. Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE, executive director of GDS and senior responsible owner of the identity assurance programme (RIP), is still top:

Not only that but the Skyscape express rolls on ...

... as does the Martha-now-Lady Lane Fox revolution:


Updated 10.9.14

The awards just keep coming in.

One breathless encomium ...

... after another ...

... and another ...

... and another ...

... and another:

Sometimes even Anna and Katie and Rachael and Emer and Alexandra must get tired. At which point there's a praise-generating engine in GOV.UK's armoury that takes over:

But today, new heights were scaled, when an awards body contacted GDS and begged them to apply so that they can be given an award:

What next?

Can GDS write an app that generates GOV.UK award-awarders?


Updated 31.10.14

Still the praise keeps coming in – is there no end to it?





Updated 4.12.14

Now Computer Weekly have published UKtech50 2014 - The most influential people in UK IT and the first question must be "where have Skyscape come"? You will remember that Digital by Default News rated Skyscape the number 1 digital leader in the Industry category back in June. Six months later, and Computer Weekly ... don't mention Skyscape.

Still, we know from Simon Wardley that:

Close.

But no award for accuracy.

Actually they came fourth and fifth, not third and fourth, if you care to look.

Liam Maxwell, the government's chief technology officer who comes in at number 4, is "attempting to break the stranglehold of the oligopoly of large companies that have dominated government IT". That's what Computer Weekly say.

How's that going?

In its first 2½ years of existence, G-Cloud, the government cloud project, has placed 53.2% of £346 million = £184 million of business with SMEs (half of which goes to Skyscape alone, according to Skyscape).

£184 million. £0.184 billion. Spread over 2½ years. And how much does the government spend on IT every year? About £20 billion? Some way to go before Mr Maxwell can expect to come third.

Which brings us to fifth, Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE CDO, executive director of the Government Digital Service and senior responsible owner of the pan-government identity assurance programme (RIP). As Computer Weekly say: "Bracken is the figurehead for a cultural change in how public services are delivered in a digital world".

And how's that going?

As every fule kno, you can't have digital-by-default public services unless you can identify your parishioners. That requires identity assurance.

GDS are several years late starting a small beta test of their offering. The users are finding it hard. No alternative, non-digital registration system is provided. And GDS are breaking their own rules.

Meanwhile, they are providing us with re-written front ends to services we already had, but with no identity assurance, and without re-designing the services first. Culture change? Hardly. The promise of government transformation is not being delivered.

Gavin Patterson, the Chief Executive Officer of BT, came sixth. When Westminster and Whitehall realise in several hundred billion pounds' time that, in digital-by-default, they are chasing a will o' the wisp, Mr Patterson may expect to move up at least one place.


Updated 28.1.15

It's not all prizes. GDS receive the odd brickbat, too. For example, Mr Craddock isn't entirely smitten:

But there's still a lot of breathless fan mail like this coming in:

And recently, the Prime Minister of Australia joined Suzanne:
ESTABLISHMENT OF A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OFFICE

The Commonwealth Government will establish a Digital Transformation Office (DTO) within the Department of Communications so that government services can be delivered digitally from start to finish and better serve the needs of citizens and businesses ...

The DTO will use technology to make services simpler, clearer and faster for Australian families and businesses.
"Simpler, clearer, faster" is, of course, the motto of GDS's GOV.UK.

It's high praise indeed when even the level-headed Australians find you worthy of imitation. "Simpler, clearer, Australia", as Public Servant of the Year ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken CBE CDO rather amusingly said.

And it's not just the Australians. The Americans, too. Look what came out of the White House on 16 January 2015:
U.S.-U.K. Digital Government Partnership

Today, we are building on a long history of innovation and collaboration on digital technologies with the United Kingdom.  The President and Prime Minister Cameron just announced a commitment to strengthen and expand the ongoing digital partnership between our two countries.  Both countries have made real progress in working to improve how our governments use digital services to better serve citizens and businesses, and to build a stronger digital economy.  We will expand our already existing collaborations in these areas ...

In 2011, the United Kingdom created the Government Digital Service (GDS), a centralized group of digital experts who have vastly improved citizen experiences when using government digital services. This team has worked to make public services digital by default, simpler, less costly, and faster to use ...

The United Kingdom developed a comprehensive Digital Strategy ... This strategy, once fully implemented, will save taxpayers in the United Kingdom £2.7 billion per year.
Again, this is high praise indeed.

Positively intoxicating.

So much so that it's as well for Australia and the US to check the record.

Has UK government been transformed by GDS? Has UK Citizen experience of government digital services been vastly improved? Are UK public services digital by default? Is the UK's Government Digital Strategy feasible? When will it be fully implemented? And how sure is anyone that it will save £2.7 billion p.a. (previous estimates include 1.2, 1.7 and 1.8 billion pounds)?

Are the claims made for the efficacy of GDS reliable? Or do they, like the emperor's new clothes, evaporate on inspection? Which is it?

GDS's idea of UK public services becoming digital by default depends on identity assurance. Central government departments and local authorities have to be sure that you are who you say you are when you log on.

The executive director of GDS is also the senior responsible owner of the pan-government identity assurance project and the project is late. Several years late.  He gave a talk in the US on 16 October 2013. Here's a 1'15" clip:


He claimed that GDS have eight or nine "identity providers". They have one. Experian.

He claimed that the first identity assurance services would start later in October 2013 with HMRC (the UK's IRS). The planned test did not take place. No explanation. No acknowledgement.

He claimed that identity assurance would support 45 million users. A year later on 30 October 2014 they had 741 users in a private beta test, please see Slide #14.

"I just can't get enough of gov.uk's awesome @gdsteam"?
Posted by David Moss at 10:46 1 comments

From AP to Yodlee via miiCard

Trust: miiCard foresees a new world
in which you can "grant access to your spouse ...
with a simple touch on a screen"

AP Twitter hack causes panic on Wall Street and sends Dow plunging

Wall Street collided with social media on Tuesday, when a false tweet from a trusted news organization sent the US stock market into freefall.

The 143-point fall in the Dow Jones industrial average came after hackers sent a message from the Twitter feed of the Associated Press, saying the White House had been hit by two explosions and that Barack Obama was injured. The fake tweet, which was immediately corrected by Associated Press employees, caused a sensation on Twitter and in the stock market ...
That was the Guardian, last week, 23 April 2013. Very unpleasant.

Traders are paid to respond quickly and they did – "the market recovered within a few minutes".

That time, the hackers caused a few minutes of panic. Next time it will be a few seconds. People are beginning to understand that hacking is very hard to protect against. And that information has to be checked before we decide that it's a fact. Even if it appears to come from a trusted source like AP. Because it may not be them operating the AP Twitter feed, it may be hackers, as it was in this case.

Six days later, a lot slower than the traders, enter the marketing men:
TRUST BREAKDOWN - WHY WE NEED TO OWN OUR ONLINE IDENTITIES

Posted on April 29th 2013
By: James Varga

... People, businesses, and governments need to be more proactive about creating and then managing trust online so that we can both prevent things like this from happening, and also turn on the possibility for a new future where completely new products and services are available online because we can trust one another. Imagine being able to access your medical records online, grant access to your spouse, and then send them to another doctor for a second opinion – all with a simple touch on a screen. It can happen if we build the trust frameworks necessary to both secure and manage those identities involved ...
It's not as though the individual sentences make much sense in the copy above but you get the drift.

It may help to tell you that Mr Varga is the chief executive officer of miiCard, a company which claims to provide "the only way to prove you are who you say you are purely online". (Apart from all the other companies making the same claim, you will no doubt wish to add.)

You know what's coming:
Our own identity service is working closely with the White House driven initiative in the US, efforts in the UK, and a number of private coalitions – including The Respect Network – to help accelerate this process and deliver online trust today. But to be effective, this will also take a commitment by users and businesses and organizations to embrace the concept and make it standard practice. Only when everyone commits to owning their online identity, can we truly build trust online and eliminate the possibility of fraud, hacks, or even more dire scenarios.
"Eliminate the possibility of fraud, hacks, or even more dire scenarios" – eliminate?

That's a tall order. Even James McCormick, who was sent down for 10 years yesterday, might have trouble pitching that line.

Before you subscribe to the miiCard service in the hope of eliminating fraud, hacks or even more dire consequences from your life, do take a look at the terms and conditions. "We will use reasonable endeavours to provide alerts in a timely manner with accurate information", they say at clause 9, very good of them, "however, we neither guarantee the delivery nor the accuracy of the content of any alert". Oh.

And then they start shouting:
THE CONTENT AND ALL SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SERVICE OR PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS-IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE CONTENT OR OPERATION OF THE SERVICE. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.
and they go on:
WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT OF THE SERVICE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE THAT THE CONTENT THAT MAY BE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE IS FREE OF INFECTION FROM ANY VIRUSES ...
and on:
WE SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, DELICT OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, LIQUIDATED DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE OR BUSINESS, ARISING IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM YOUR ACCESS TO THE SERVICE ...
The Ts and Cs don't sound nearly as confident as Mr Varga's article, do they. In fact, there's a bit of a "trust breakdown" in the proceedings now, and it only gets worse if you move on to read the miiCard documents on:
  • security – to subscribe to miiCard you have to store your bank account details with Yodlee, a company you may or may not have heard of.
  • and privacy – miiCard promise to keep your data confidential unless they can't.
The problem was a few minutes of consternation on the stock markets. The proposed solution involves giving your bank account details to some total strangers. It's not obvious that the antenna is connected.
Posted by David Moss at 02:34 0 comments

From AP to Yodlee via miiCard

Trust: miiCard foresees a new world
in which you can "grant access to your spouse ...
with a simple touch on a screen"

AP Twitter hack causes panic on Wall Street and sends Dow plunging

Wall Street collided with social media on Tuesday, when a false tweet from a trusted news organization sent the US stock market into freefall.

The 143-point fall in the Dow Jones industrial average came after hackers sent a message from the Twitter feed of the Associated Press, saying the White House had been hit by two explosions and that Barack Obama was injured. The fake tweet, which was immediately corrected by Associated Press employees, caused a sensation on Twitter and in the stock market ...
That was the Guardian, last week, 23 April 2013. Very unpleasant.

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Posted by David Moss at 02:34 2 comments