Friday, June 20, 2014

That reminds the pond of a scene from the Big Malaise ...


Malcolm Turnbull discovering IT for government in today's Graudian, under the header Government's IT projects needn't cost the world. Here's how we can do better:

... once you create a booking system for the prison system, it’s not that radically different to use that booking system for people to make appointments for a driving test or Centrelink appointment. So that code should be accessible for other departments to use.


Now the pond understands the integration the foolish eastern suburbs fop is trying to peddle - the pond tried to peddle it a decade or more ago in Canberra - but  did it occur to a prat of the first water that mentioning the prison system, a driving test and Centrelink in the one sentence might just be a little tone deaf? As if your average government customer was a criminal, a dole bludger and a P plate driver ready to wreak havoc on the roads ...

Was big Mal's major example of the benefits of integrated data the only thing that came to mind because the UK IT whizz blathered on about prisons?

What about eHealth? Oops, now there's a guaranteed disaster zone ...

And what about following up the lecture on being efficient for crims and welfare leaners (is there a lifter or a pickpocket in the house) with another sentence celebrating the spreading of data and code like wildfire?

Is this the best the attention seeker can do?

Clearly not, because the fatuous fop rounded out his mindless piece with a wonderful piece of fatuousness which should be read at dial up speed, about the speed many still use to connect to government:

None of this sounds revolutionary for those involved in the technology business. 

Oh sweet Jesus. This from the man who invented the intertubes in Australia ...

The most successful are totally focussed on customers – their needs, their convenience, their experience; and competition quickly sorts out the stars from the also rans. 
Governments, more often than not, don’t have the discipline of competition, so they need to work even harder never to forget that the only objective is to deliver a better and better service for the citizens they represent.

The pond raced outside and thought it noticed the NBN and speedy broadband just sinking below the horizon, but perhaps it was just a glorious sunset, or the sound of a pigeon crapping on...

So here's a cartoon from The New Yorker the pond had on standby for just such a meaningless occasion:


2 comments:

  1. Snake oil salesman .. in other words, a bullshit artist

    ReplyDelete
  2. Agree with Mal's second-hand ideas, but the federal level gov's idea of "a better and better service for the citizens they represent" should be stuff like better education, less crime, a cleaner environment, and honorable survival, rather than a fucking reusable booking system.

    ReplyDelete

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