Tom Young, Computing, Thursday 8 October 2009 at 10:42:00

Best practice case studies and footprinting tool offered by educational body JISC

JISC, the body that oversees IT in education, has launched a three-year programme to support colleges and universities in their adoption of more environmentally friendly IT practices.

The programme began last week with invitations to universities and colleges to bid for funding for projects to investigate green IT and to run exemplar projects in energy-use reduction.

JISC programme manager Rob Bristow said the scheme was even more important now the government has proposed to link institutional capital funding to carbon reduction targets.

"Given that institutions’ ICT-related electricity bills in 2009 are likely to be in the order of £116m… it’s clear that action needs to be taken," he said.

"JISC is developing tools to help universities and colleges address the environmental impact of their ICT use."

Earlier this year, JISC released a report entitled Sustainable ICT in Further and Higher Education, which contained institutional examples of best practice.

It also gave recommendations on purchasing environmentally friendly hardware and software, as well as recommendations on server virtualisation, thin client technology, energy efficiency, power management and remote working.

The body has also launched a tool that helps institutes calculate their IT footprint.

Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, Computing, Thursday 24 September 2009 at 07:15:00

The crisis in public finances will see outsourcing, shared services and cloud computing playing more prominent roles in government IT provision

The UK government is on the ropes over spending cuts. Every time a minister, or shadow minister, has spoken publicly the focus has been on saving cash. But the government has had to borrow £175bn this year just to keep the UK economy limping along.

Last week, the prime minister even had to concede to the Trades Union Congress that cuts in public sector services are inevitable. Media commentators have already started drawing up shortlists of expensive public sector projects that can be cancelled ­ including several major IT programmes. ID cards, the ContactPoint children’s database, and the NHS National Programme for IT are all vulnerable, and this is just the beginning.

Let’s put some of this into context though. The private sector has been thinking twice about outsourcing IT and business processes during the recession. A pattern developed in 2008 where companies stopped to think long and hard before signing contracts with third parties. In an environment where cash flow suddenly became critical, even the upfront costs associated with an outsourcing programme were too much to bear ­ even if the project would create long-term savings.

So why should the public sector suddenly jump into a frenzy of outsourcing and maybe even ­ whisper it ­ offshoring? It is mainly because something radical has to be done. That £175bn borrowing requirement dwarfs the projected IT savings of around £7bn described in the recent Operational Efficiency Programme by former Logica chief executive Martin Read.

When Opposition leader David Cameron suggested saving cash by cutting subsided food at Westminster, his comments received front page coverage, yet his “crouton cuts” might yield £120m at best. The media seems to be lost in a maze of partisan spin when the reality is that the public sector needs open-heart surgery on the way services are provided. This cash crisis might be the catalyst that forces genuine progress, beyond endless efficiency reviews.

Many in the IT industry do not believe the government can now achieve anything more by endlessly searching for efficiency.

“There is a bit of a conspiracy between the two major parties right now that the answer lies in efficiency programmes. Look at the savings proposed by such programmes and it’s small beer. Outsourcing in a major way will be on the agenda, along with sweeping public sector cuts,” says Alan Downey, UK head of public sector at KPMG.

But ensuring critical departments such as health and education go unscathed could mean worse news for technology programmes in other departments. Paul Connolly, director of policy and strategy for Serco Consulting, is worried the government will insist only on getting more for less.

“We are now in uncharted territory. Even the informed commentators have not digested the level of saving required,” he says.

Connolly adds some interesting points about the attitude of IT suppliers to the once cash-rich government.

“The outsourcing community has always offered more for less, but in an environment where spending was plentiful. Now the more-for-less argument changes and the less side is much less. So the outsourcing suppliers need to appreciate that circumstances are worse, but they need to demonstrate to government that they can think harder about how to supply better services and what future models of public services will work,” he says.

Of course, with hundreds of departments and services replicated across many sections of central and local government it could be shared services, rather than just outsourcing, that becomes the main focus.

“We expect a lot more government outsourcing. There is the cost driver, but also the Transformational Government programme. Given the prominence of shared services in that, we expect outsourcing to complement a move to more shared services,” says Geoff Llewellyn, head of public sector business Europe at offshore outsourcing firm Wipro.

But possibly the most critical question is how are services being delivered and could it be radically different? Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report in June proposed the concept of a “G-cloud’ ­ a cloud-based service of business tools available to any public sector body to dip into, as and when required.

It is feasible ­- the US government last week launched a very similar idea. The private sector is excited about the opportunities presented by the cloud, not least because it offers a way to buy services as they are consumed, with minimal infrastructure investment. But it requires a complete mindset change, and is that going to happen quickly across the public sector?

In this environment, the prospects for the big IT suppliers are good, whether it’s formulating G-cloud strategy, exploring shared services, or just taking on a regular outsourcing contract. When savings are required, it is likely the suppliers will be able to step up and offer something new. And don’t forget, outsourcing is virgin territory to entire swathes of the public sector.

“Government departments have only scratched the surface of outsourcing potential in the UK,” says Richard Marchant, local government strategic partnerships director at Capita.

“Only a very small proportion of local authorities, health organisations and central government departments and agencies have embraced it. We expect there to be an increase in local government outsourcing opportunities as they seek to provide quality public services within tight budgets. Central government has been less active in recent times but this market is beginning to gain momentum, as greater demands on public spending will bring an increased need for high quality services at a reduced cost.”

Bob Scott, vice president, public sector outsourcing UK at Capgemini, says there are many government agencies that have never outsourced and may now find it forced upon them.

“There is still a large element of the former quangos that have never even gone through first-round outsourcing,” he says.

“Very few police forces, for example, have gone beyond basic outsourcing such as cleaning. There is a huge opportunity.”

Outsourcing is going to be one part of the answer, but to start radically changing the way public sector services are procured and delivered will need a step change in the status quo. This affects both suppliers and the public sector itself. Perhaps that change could be generated by a group of innovative suppliers? Or perhaps both suppliers and public sector customers are just happier with things the way they are now?

Mark Kobayashi-Hillary writes the Talking Outsourcing blog for Computing. His new book based on the blog, Talking Outsourcing, will launch in London on 1 October . The launch is free to attend ­ visit www.noa.co.uk to register and read the blog at:

http://markkobayashihillary.computing.co.uk

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 11 September 2009 at 16:30:00

ContactPoint, the NHS National Programme for IT, and identity cards should be axed

The ContactPoint children's database, the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), and the identity cards scheme,should all be abolished, according to a plan to save £50bn a year of public spending put forward by the Institute of Directors and the TaxPayers' Alliance.

The report claims that abolishing ContactPoint would save £44m from 2010-11 onwards, the annual running costs of the database.

"Given the government’s appalling data security record, the children’s database is

an accident waiting to happen. It should be abolished," says the report.

Scrapping NPfIT will save £1.2bn a year, says the report, because it was never wanted by most NHS clinicians; it is running late; has unresolved issues over patient confidentiality; and it is too expensive.

Abolishing identity cards would save £55m from 2010-11 onwards, which represents the Identity and Passport Service’s (IPS) estimate of the gross costs

of providing ID cards to British and Irish citizens in 2010-11. The figure does not include the cost of biometric passports.

"Even if we accept the government’s own cost projections, abolishing the [ID cards] programme will still save up to £1.3bn over the next decade," says the report.

The Conservatives have promised to abolish identity cards and have proposed alternatives to the summary care record which is the main expense of the NPfIT. They have also heavily criticised ContactPoint.

Miles Templeman, director general of the Institute of Directors, said cuts desperately need to be made.

"Businesses are right now making savings and cutting back on costs to get through the recession, and there is no reason why the public sector should not have to do the same," he said.

Angelica Mari, Computing, Thursday 10 September 2009 at 11:16:00

Tomorrow's IT Leaders: How BA is focusing on staff development during its worst downturn

Developing the IT leaders of tomorrow might not seem a priority for many firms during a recession. But for British Airways (BA), one of those worst hit by the downturn, the nurturing of senior IT executives remains a priority.

The airline restructured its business and slashed its IT budget by 30 per cent this year. Some of the company’s 600-strong IT department contributed by volunteering for unpaid work or leave, saving £2.2m towards the overall cost-cut target, said BA chief information officer Paul Coby.

“We are very challenged in terms of saving costs and like many companies, we have reduced the external spend on training, but we have also focused on internal capabilities,” he told Computing.

To support the internal training programme in areas such as project management and architecture, the role of master practitioner was created to form communities that disseminate professional skills.

“We are using our internal skills to upskill everyone else, which is really motivating, as it also recognises the talent that we have,” said Coby.

“People may not be fantastic at teaching, but they know what they are doing and can relate to the real world. It is not terribly slick and polished but it’s certainly very practical,” he said.

As part of the restructuring of the IT function, four senior posts were created ­ reporting directly to Coby ­ dubbed technology and services partners, who work closely with business departments and help set future priorities.

“We have to save every penny, so getting priorities right and staying very close to the business is absolutely key,” said Coby.

Unlike some companies, BA is continuing its IT graduate programme and will hire 15 new staff this year. It will also work with the Open University on the development of a masters degree combining experience in IT with academic training.

“We have to recognise that we have a crisis in IT in this country, and given how important technology is to the competitiveness of the UK, this is a really serious matter,” said Coby, who also sits on the co-ordination board of IT skills council e-Skills UK.

“Young people don’t think IT is much fun and we have to fix that. Training is not very good or inspiring and the university courses are far too theoretical and not practically focused. We need to develop real models and show that IT is actually interesting.”

Tom Young, Computing, Monday 7 September 2009 at 11:03:00

Fujitsu will build systems in less than three months and provide ongoing support

The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £1.2m contract to Fujitsu Technology Solutions to build the IT for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme (NNPP).

The programme is part of a joint UK and US initiative for the next generation of defence submarines.

The specifications for the system include more than 200 different components, including PCs, robotic storage tape libraries, servers, software applications, network switches and videoconferencing systems.

The system will be delivered in just two-and-a-half months.

"Working with our team of engineers to build an IT system for the NNPP demanded both a high degree of flexibility and resourcefulness," said Paul Bolt, UK / US technology exchange programme manager for the NNPP.

"The Fujitsu team proved to be more than up to the task responding quickly to last-minute changes and delivering all the equipment on time and within the proposed cost budget."

The ministry also procured warranties from Fujitsu including a "break and fix " contract for certain components and systems procured – meaning the supplier will provide ongoing support for the installed systems.

Bryan Glick, Computing, Wednesday 26 August 2009 at 10:13:00

Becta contract worth up to £78m to support government's Home Access Programme

Education technology agency Becta is looking for an IT supplier to help deliver services to children with special home learning needs in a contract that could be worth up to £78m.

The deal will support the government’s Home Access Programme, a scheme that will roll out PCs and broadband connectivity to 250,000 households by March 2011 to allow children from low-income families to have access to technology to help their education.

Becta is now looking for a managed service provider to cater for applicants who will need enhanced assistive technology requiring additional support compared to typical users of the scheme.

The contract will cover case management, needs assessment, equipment supply and training for more than 11,000 households during the initial 14-month term, starting on 1 April 2010.

“A contractor to deliver the main service is in the process of being appointed, however recognising that some learners will require additional support, there will be a separate process to cater for children with enhanced assistive technology needs,” said the contract notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The value of the deal is estimated at between £10m and £78m.

Tom Young, Computing, Monday 24 August 2009 at 17:21:00

Tough times at communications giant lead to cost-cutting measures

BT has closed its graduate recruitment scheme as part of its cost-cutting programme.

The firm says it will not set a date for renewing the scheme but will maintain relationships on campus with students, faculty and career management services.

BT said in a statement: "BT can confirm that it has decided to cease its graduate recruitment programme for the time being, as a result of the current economic environment and pressure on staff numbers."

The scheme has recruited several of BT's top executives over the years including Hanif Lalani the current head of BT Global Services.

BT is a big employer of IT graduates and competition for places was fierce. It received 4,800 applications for 130 jobs through the scheme in 2008-2009.

BT said it remained committed to providing 2009 graduates who start this September with the usual two-year training scheme.

The firm reported £134m losses in 2008-2009, largely due to problems in its global services division.

The news comes as new figures from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco), which represents Britain’s IT recruiters, showed that twice as many IT workers entered the country from outside the UK as all the other professional services combined, highlighting further fears over a skills gap in the UK.

And A-level results last week showed that numbers of students taking ICT and computing A-levels both fell by over 20 per cent – the fifth consecutive year numbers have dropped.

Bryan Glick, Computing, Friday 14 August 2009 at 14:30:00

The leading conference for financial software

Softworld Accounting and Finance Solutions takes place at London Olympia 2 from 13 – 14 October 2009.

The two-day event consists of an exhibition, masterclass programme and vendor seminars, all of which are free for visitors to attend. The exhibition allows visitors to test products and see software demonstrations. The masterclass programmes address current issues and offers impartial advice from leading industry figureheads as well as showcasing case studies from vendors.

Softworld Accounting and Finance Solutions is co-located with Sofworld HR & Payroll Solutions. For more information on Softworld, to view the masterclass programme or exhibitor list in full please visit: www.sofworld.co.uk/af

Bryan Glick, Computing, Thursday 6 August 2009 at 11:12:00

Opposition parties lining up to suggest ways to change £12bn NHS National Programme for IT

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a more localised approach to NHS IT and an end to the centralised nationwide applications favoured by the £12bn National Programme for IT.

In an article for Smarthealthcare.com, Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb says the way to address the problems of the controversial NHS project is to “banish the idea” of national IT schemes.

“Successive governments have fallen for the charms of smooth talking management consultants and IT salesmen who have waxed lyrical about the potential savings and efficiencies of bespoke software packages and complex databases,” he said.

“Instead of thinking about how national programmes can transform the NHS, we need to be much more realistic about what we are trying to achieve.”

The Lib Dem approach is starting to mirror that of the Conservatives, who have called for patients to be given greater control over their medical records and for NHS IT to focus more on clinic needs.

Tory leader David Cameron has gone as far as suggesting that internet-based electronic patient record systems from Microsoft and Google could have a place in the NHS – although even fellow party member David Davis has scoffed at such an idea.

Angelica Mari, Computing, Thursday 6 August 2009 at 07:15:00

Manufacturer’s technology-led integration project tops the agenda, despite economic challenges

Premier Foods ­ – the UK’s largest food producer –­ is facing the challenge of delivering a major technology-led integration programme while IT budgets are cut and the cost of raw materials and manufacturing rise.

Fusion, the firm’s business transformation programme, has a group-wide implementation of SAP software at its heart (see below) and aims to build central resilient services with increased capacity and flexibility, at a lower cost.

The company introduced the plan to enable the consolidation of key processes and systems, following an acquisition spree that included the buyout of Campbell Soup’s UK operations for £460m last year.

“We want to take the complexity out of IT through this rationalisation process, drive proper value from our applications as well as better service levels, which is difficult to do when you have a mixed environment,” said Mark Vickery, group IS and change director at Premier Foods.

The project also involves infrastructure work, which should be completed by year-end, but the software overhaul represents the most testing aspect of the programme, said Vickery.

“The work on datacentres is important and needs to be done, but on the applications side you also have to change ways of working, and the people challenge is massive,” he told Computing.

“Also, when you are consolidating businesses, boards and project sponsors change too, so you have to continually communicate when you don’t have a stable base.”

Since joining the firm from United Biscuits in 2005, Vickery says the significance of technology in the business has changed from being a back-office function to a real driver of change.

“Businesses tend to go through cycles of heavy change and Premier Foods is right in the middle of that. IT has a huge focus –­ it’s in the board, in the forefront of people’s minds and very much in the sunshine,” he said.

But despite the crucial impact of technology across Premier’s operations, financial pressure has led to yearly budgets being reduced by a third to £50m.

“Given the complexity of what we are doing with the Fusion programme, we have a high capital investment, but my maintenance costs are quite low. Like all businesses, we have cash and capital expenditure targets and are fighting to keep costs down,” said Vickery.

Now the merger activity has subsided, the company is looking to the future, as well as driving integration. The SAP implementation in partnership with Atos Origin will continue, and Premier is also improving processes at its shared services centre in Manchester, which has already delivered “significant” business benefits.

Another project this year is the introduction of a real-time interface with SAP at the bakery division, where barcode scanning for bread baskets aims to mitigate issues such as loss of products under the current manual system.

Vickery expects that keeping a renewed enthusiasm and ensuring value for money under stringent business objectives will be his main leadership challenges over the next few months.

“The primary attraction of this job is the interesting challenge we have here ­ – you won’t find many projects of this size in the UK. And we tend to do what we set out to do,” he said.

Vickery manages about 400 staff, of which 60 are contractors ­ – a figure that shifts up or down depending on implementation rollouts. Finding the right skills has not been a big issue.

“You have to think of how you source the skill. Other than SAP, we are not using the bleeding edge of technology, so we are not fighting for specific pockets of expertise. If I were [using the latest], I would create a problem,” he said.

“But I have noticed some people who seem to rise rapidly without having that fundamental experience. During my professional life, I have been exposed to everything from technology to mergers and acquisitions. Now you see people who are SAP experts but do not have anything else. That is why businesses should look at their talent pools and have clear progression plans to ensure human capital is developed properly.”

Premier Foods technology overview

Information systems director Mark Vickery’s main responsibility at Premier Foods is the delivery of Fusion, a business transformation programme with SAP software at its heart, to simplify business processes and generate savings from acquisitions.

Following implementations across the firm’s grocery division, Premier’s cake business went live with the new system over Easter, consolidating operations such as warehousing, manufacturing and planning on to a single platform and removing 11 legacy systems and six tactical databases.

The main focus for the next 12 months will see the rollout of SAP across the Hovis bread division. The system – which aims to reduce the firm’s legacy portfolio of about 1,000 applications to 200 – is such an integral part of the business that it is also being used to manage more than 700 product development projects across the group.

“SAP is core to our strategy, but while we use the latest technology around that area, on the infrastructure side we are using proven tools efficiently instead of going down the brave new world of technology,” said Vickery.

As the SAP rollout progresses, it is expected that demand for capacity at the firm’s two Capgemini-run datacentres – consolidated from seven sites over a four-year period – will increase, so the firm will make use of VMware software for its 450 IBM servers. Some 270 physical boxes have already been virtualised.

To drive down costs and increase flexibility, Premier will continue using Citrix thin-client technology – 2,000 terminals are already in place – while reducing the 3,500 PCs currently in use.

Microsoft products are widely used across the firm, although Lotus Notes is the email client. According to Vickery, alternative tools such as Google Apps may seem attractive, but the cost factor would hinder the business case for a replacement.

“Cloud computing is interesting and we are looking at options, but that wouldn’t deliver value to us at the moment due to the cost of change,” said Vickery.

“As we go through these leaps of integration, we will look at new technologies that could help us become more effective. If the cloud gets somewhere near to where its proponents are imagining it will, it might have space in our business,” he said.

Dave Bailey, Computing, Monday 3 August 2009 at 16:38:00

e-Skills UK launches professional placement scheme to help boost employment chances of recent IT students

IT graduates are being offered places on a new scheme designed to offer better opportunities for internships to help develop their business skills.

Sector skills council e-Skills UK has launched the professional placement scheme aimed at boosting graduate student employability.

Called the e-Skills Internship, the programme has been designed by employers and universities to make it easier for firms to offer high-quality job placements.

e-Skills UK said research showed that firms employing IT professionals value stronger business, communication, and interpersonal skills in new graduates.

"The internship scheme offers students an agreed national standard which is valued by employers and recognised by universities - making those students more attractive to future employers," said e-Skills in a statement.

The programme is designed to boost graduates' business and interpersonal skills, to complement the technical abilities learned on their university courses.

Amongs the universities participating are Aston, De Montford, Sheffield Hallam, University College London, University of Kent and University of Plymouth. Employers involved with the scheme include British Airways, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, IBM and Network Rail.

Tom Young, Computing, Monday 27 July 2009 at 11:15:00

"Google is the last company I would trust with data belonging to me," says former shadow home secretary

Former shadow home secretary David Davis has criticised Conservative proposals to allow health records to be stored online by Google or Microsoft.

Earlier this month reports emerged that the Conservatives were examining such measures as an alternative to centrally held care records - a key part of Labour's £12.7bn National Programme for IT.

In a speech in April, David Cameron also mentioned the measures as a possible alternative to the central database.

But this morning The Times published a forcefully-written opinion piece from Davis pouring cold water on the proposals.

Davis left the Tory frontbench to fight a by-election on the issue of civil liberties and the encroachment of what he calls the "database state" – effectively sacrificing a Cabinet position should the Conservatives win an election next year.

Although Davis says that private companies are better than the state at handling personal information because of the fear of litigation, he argues that Google is unreliable.

"What was proposed was both dangerous in its own right, and hazardous to the public acceptability of necessary reforms to the state’s handling of our private information," wrote Davis. "Google is the last company I would trust with data belonging to me."

The article goes on to highlight Google's privacy record, the danger of a private company using the information for profit, and the necessity of the information being held within the UK.

The Conservatives have asked the British Computer Society to review the NHS IT programme and it will report later this summer.

Computing Staff, Computing, Friday 24 July 2009 at 11:06:00

Reviews of high-risk IT projects within the Home Office, Department of Health, and the Department for Work and Pensions released

Government buying agency the Office of Government Commerce has released the gateway reviews for a number of high-risk IT projects within the Home Office, Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The reviews were published in response to a freedom of information request for them made over three years ago.

After a protracted legal battle the OGC has recently released a number of other gateway reviews relating to the ID cards programme and the NHS National Programme for IT over the summer.

They award a red, amber or green status to projects based on their readiness for moving ahead.

They include a "red" status awarded to electronic booking systems as part of the NHS National Programme for IT.

It recommends that: "The deployment plans are reviewed taking account of experience to date, current constraints, and local capability."

Another review of the N3 broadband network for the NHS awards it an "amber" status. That review recommends "a senior responsible owner" be appointed as soon as possible.

Two reviews of the ID cards programme award it an "amber" status and recommend "setting out the case in a more strategic way" and highlights that the "new agency" for delivery should be made responsible for the "wider identity management scheme".

The recommendation was adopted and the agency became the Identity and Passport Service.

A Home Office plan for a single non-emergency number was awarded an "amber" status and it is recommended that a "commonly shared vision" for the project be agreed between the police, the Home Office and local government.

Tom Young, Computing, Thursday 23 July 2009 at 06:30:00

Charter airlines, ferry operators and Eurostar believe the government’s e-Borders programme will add cost and inconvenience to journeys, and could put them in breach of European law

With the prospect of controversy over privacy, freedom of movement and ambitious targets, the £750m e-Borders programme is likely to be the next major government IT project to come under increasing scrutiny as it rolls out across the UK and overseas.

The concept of the scheme is simple. It allows the UK to push its border controls further out to the point of passenger embarkation ­ – anyone boarding a plane, boat or train travelling to the country will have their passport details checked before they depart.

“By 2014 we want to cover all routes into and out of the UK and monitor more than 250 million passenger movements a year,” Julie Gillis, programme director for e-Borders, told Computing.

Carriers will be required to provide all the information on the biographical page of a passport to the Home Office as part of the check-in process.

This information is fed through to a control room with 250 staff, including representatives from all law-enforcement agencies, which will be up and running in Manchester by the end of the year ­ currently the UK Border Agency is operating a smaller version.

Checks are made against crime, immigration and terrorism watch lists before a passenger is allowed to travel. But this only skims the surface of how law enforcement can benefit from the system.

Data will be retained in a live database for five years and in an archive for a further five ­ making 10 years in total. This allows police and law enforcement to “mine” data ­ searching for suspicious patterns that could help target criminal activity.

Coverage of the scheme is increasing ­ by the end of this year it will track 60 per cent of journeys into and out of the UK, and aims to cover 95 per cent by the end of 2010.

But earlier this month some carriers criticised the programme’s tight timetables and said the plans were too ambitious. Currently, about a third of journeys ­ – mostly flights –­ are monitored. Because most scheduled air journey s are booked in advance, the information can be collected before travel using existing systems and passed on to the UK Border Agency with little hassle.

But with ferry services, charter airlines and Eurostar trains, journeys are often not booked in advance. And if they are, systems are often not configured to collect biographical passport data ­ in many cases just a name is provided.

Tim Reardon from the Chamber of Shipping told the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee earlier this month that capturing information at point of embarkation could lead to hours of delays as coach passengers have their details processed.

“We’ve been looking at this for four years and we still haven’t found a solution,” he told MPs. Representatives from Eurostar made similar complaints.

Eddie Redfern, head of regulatory affairs at TUI Travel, said complying with e-Borders requirements would cost Thomson, Thomas Cook and Monarch ­ the three main UK charter airlines ­ a combined £13.5m for no benefit to the companies.

“We have encountered significant delays where we are already delivering e-Borders requirements on certain routes,” he said. “And we are still being pressured heavily to [extend e-Borders to] new routes.”

Gillis said that e-Borders officials are as keen as the carriers to find cost-effective solutions, and she said sites introduced so far had been successful.

“There is no system yet in place for maritime and that’s why they’re not going live until 2010,” she said. “We’ve had no one [with systems that have gone live] report to us yet they have suffered problems with queues.”

But carriers claim their difficulties are genuine and not a negotiating tactic for watered-down regulations, citing legal issues over restricting the right to free movement, commercial monitoring of state documents, and problems with the mass transfer of passenger data contravening the European Data P rotection Directive.

The UK Border Agency says it is talking with the European Commission to resolve these issues before next year.

New technology at forefront of border security strategy

E-Borders is part of a broader transformation programme aimed at securing UK borders. Facial recognition technology that automatically matches a face against the digital image stored on a passport will be rolled out to check that those arriving are who their passport says they are.

From 2011 a replacement clearance system will be rolled out at UK immigration desks which will take fingerprint biometrics from arrivals to prove they are the same person who applied for a visa or passport – overseas visa applicants must now submit their fingerprint details to be cross-checked against UK databases.

Also from 2011, the National Identity Register (NIR) will hold a record of passport and ID card holders’ biographical details and a record of their biometrics. Border officials will be able to check details against the NIR, though the Tories have promised to scrap it.

Angelica Mari, Computing, Monday 20 July 2009 at 16:16:00

Government-backed training plan aims to provide effective IT education for teachers and students

A £5.6m government-funded programme to enhance teachers’ IT skills and improve learning has been launched today.

The England-wide initiative, led by The Open University and e-Skills UK and financed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), intends to help education professionals to make effective use of technology in the classroom.

To meet the needs of their increasingly tech-savvy students, the programme will focus on providing teachers in all areas with training covering areas such as experience of the ways in which IT is used in business environments.

The plan will see The Open University contributing with its virtual education set-up, while e-Skills UK will use its employer reach and background in IT skills programmes.

“We live in a technology-enabled world. To prepare young people for successful futures we need to transform the way in which technology is taught and used in education,” said e-Skills UK chief executive Karen Price.

“This places new demands on the skills and knowledge required of teachers. The UK already has many excellent technology teachers as well as teachers who are inspirational in their use of IT in lessons,” she said.

“We believe this programme will raise the overall standard to that of the very best, enhancing and enriching education for young people and their teachers.”

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 17 July 2009 at 10:46:00

Taxpayers lost £24m due to cancellation of phase two of Scope programme

The second phase of a government intelligence sharing system was scrapped because of problems with the un-named commercial supplier for the scheme, costing the taxpayer more than £24m.

The first phase of the Scope programme was delivered on time and within budget in 2007. The system enabled MI5, MI6, GCHQ and selected Whitehall departments to share information much more efficiently.

But the second phase - which would have provided added functionality - was cancelled following the failure of the main commercial supplier to the programme to meet key contractual milestones, Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell said in a written answer to Parliament.

"As a consequence of termination, it was necessary to write off and report as a loss in the annual report and accounts that part of the value of the asset under construction which had no prospect of becoming viable," she said.

Earlier this year the Intelligence and Security Committee expressed outrage at the decision to scrap Scope phase two.

"We have consistently reported concerns about Scope and are appalled that Phase II of the system – on which tens of millions of pounds have been spent – has now had to be scrapped," it said in a report earlier this year.

Jowell also said the Cabinet Office may pursue legal action against the supplier.

"My department is now working with the contractor to resolve issues arising from the termination of the programme, including consideration of the legal avenues available," said her written answer.