re Government webpage for every citizen in the race to create a paperless society

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: March 20, 2010 3:16:08 PM EDT
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Government webpage for every citizen in the race  
> to create a paperless society

> Dave,
>
> Remind me again what happens to those persons banned from the Internet
> under the "Three Strikes" (and other existing and/or proposed laws) if
> such a regime came to pass?  And that's just one of the many reasons
> why such a concept is inane.
>
> It's one thing to offer online services as a very useful alternative,
> but once you make them mandatory, start closing the call centers and
> *require* everyone regardless of skill levels to use the Internet for
> basic government services, it's a recipe for potential disaster and
> effective disenfranchisement of the very people who are often in need
> of those services the most -- even if you have a wonderfully designed
> and operated computing infrastructure.
>
> This is just the sort of half-baked IT wackiness we've come to expect
> from Her Majesty's government of late.  Jeez.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, NNSquad
>   - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
> Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
>   for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
> Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
>
>
> - - -
>
>
> On 03/20 14:51, Dave Farber wrote:
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > > From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk>
> > > Date: March 20, 2010 2:08:15 PM EDT
> > > To: dave () farber net
> > > Subject: Government webpage for every citizen in the race to  
> > > create a
> > > paperless society
> >
> > > Hi Dave:
> > >
> > > From today's (UK) Times newspaper - for IP if you wish.
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > >
> > > Brian
> > >
> > > ---
> > >
> > > Government webpage for every citizen in the race to create a  
> > > paperless
> > > society
> > >
> > > All public services could be delivered online within four years  
> > > under
> > > an ambitious pledge by Gordon Brown to create a paperless state and
> > > save billions of pounds, The Times has learnt.
> > >
> > > Tens of thousands of public sector jobs could go in Jobcentres,
> > > benefit offices, passport centres and town halls if face-to-face
> > > transactions are scrapped in favour of cheaper and more efficient
> > > online form-filling.
> > >
> > > On Monday the Prime Minister will announce plans that he claims  
> > > could
> > > save billions of pounds over four years by making dealing with the
> > > State as easy as internet banking or shopping on Amazon. Cash will  
> > > also
> > > be saved on postage stamps, telephone calls and government  
> > > buildings as
> > > the switch to the internet leads to the phasing out of call  
> > > centres and
> > > benefit offices.
> > >
> > > The aim is that within a year, everybody in the country should  
> > > have a
> > > personalised website through which they would be able to find out
> > > about local services and do business with the Government. A unique
> > > identifier will allow citizens to apply for a place for their  
> > > child at
> > > school, book a doctor's appointment, claim benefits, get a new
> > > passport, pay council tax or register a car from their computer at
> > > home.
> > >
> > > Over the next three years, the secure site will be expanded to allow
> > > people to interact with their children's teachers or ask medical
> > > advice from their doctor through a government version of Facebook.  
> > > But
> > > union leaders and privacy experts immediately warned that the
> > > Government's record on IT projects was already catastrophic and  
> > > there
> > > would be key concerns about privacy, data protection and fraud. In
> > > addition many elderly, disabled and undereducated people find it
> > > difficult to carry out transactions online.
> > >
> > > . . .
> > >
> > > Full story at:
> > >
> > > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7069240.ece
> > >
> > >
> > > Some early cynical commentary on this by Toby Young can be found  
> > > in a
> > > (UK) Daily Telegraph blog:
> > >
> > > Broon's latest announcement could cost the taxpayer billions
> > >
> > > Oh dear. Here we go again. Gordon Brown is due to announce on Monday
> > > that he wants every citizen to have their own personal webpage  
> > > within
> > > three years of Labour being re-elected. According to the Prime
> > > Minister, this will enable them to access a range of public services
> > > online, allowing them to apply for school places, book GP
> > > appointments, claim benefits, get a new passport, pay council tax or
> > > register a car.
> > >
> > > Sounds like a good idea until you pause to think how much it's going
> > > to cost. When it comes to delivering cost-effective, large-scale IT
> > > programmes, New Labour's track record is lamentable. To take just  
> > > one
> > > example, the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), established in
> > > 2002, was originally supposed to cost £2.3 billion over three ye 
> > > ars. In
> > > 2006, with the Programme far from complete, the National Audit  
> > > Office
> > > estimated the total cost over 10 years would be £12.4 billion.
> > > Officials involved in the Programme now think its cost will be  
> > > closer
> > > to £20 billion and it won't be complete until 2014-15, though ev 
> > > en this
> > > target - some nine years later than originally planned - is  
> > > regarded as
> > > wildly unrealistic by most seasoned observers. Needless to say,  
> > > those
> > > bits of the Programme that have come on stream so far are largely  
> > > out
> > > of date and unworkable. According to Edward Leigh, the Chairman of  
> > > the
> > > House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, "This is the biggest IT
> > > project in the world and it is turning into the biggest disaster."
> > >
> > > . . .
> > >
> > > http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100030731/broons-latest-announcement-could-cost-the-taxpayer-billions/
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon
> > > Tyne,
> > > NE1 7RU, UK
> > > EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
> > > FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell
> >
> >
> >
> > -------------------------------------------
> > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
> > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
> > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com