Top 10 government IT stories of the year

Catching cheats and losing data

The year was dominated by stories about government-held personal data, whether that was ID information or what people choose to throw away.

Undoubtedly, the fall-out from HM Revenue & Customs' loss of two discs containing 25 million child benefit records has reverberated throughout the public sector with seismic proportions.

On a more positive note, the public sector - both central and local - has been able to demonstrate a number of IT projects that clearly save money and make administration more efficient.

Here's the year's top 10 stories:

1. UK passports face massive price hike
The cost of a passport was predicted to increase substantially over the next five years because they will contain electronic data such as biometrics.

Spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, raised concerns over the durability of these chips. The manufacturers could only guarantee the chips for two years, even though the passports are supposed to be issued for 10.

2. Privacy watchdog clamps down on DVLA data sharing
The Information Commissioner's Office ruled that the data held in Swansea can only be passed on to third parties for legitimate uses, such as crime detection.

Last year, the DVLA was criticised for making £6.3m selling drivers' details to private sector companies - slapped wrists all round.

3. Lie detector beats benefit fraud
Harrow Council trialled voice recognition technology to test benefit claimers and saved £110,000 of benefit payments in three months. The technology, which cost the council £63,000, detects stress patterns in the caller's voice to indicate whether they may be lying. The trial continues until May 2008

4. MoD arms itself with BlackBerrys
The Ministry of Defence gave the green light to supply the mobile email handset to anyone in the department that needs one.

The devices have been security cleared and the move is part of an effort to make employees more efficient.

5. Anti-plagiarism tech traps cheating students
A story that draws together two popular issues - the digitisation of student administration and catching cheats.

The university admissions body Ucas trialled software that checks university applications against its archive to make sure applicants aren't copying material available via the web.

2,500 applicants were found to have plagiarised other sources within their university applications.

6. ID Cards: The bidding war begins
In August, the Identity and Passport Service's (IPS) Framework Procurement was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, inviting potential suppliers to pitch for the lucrative ID card contracts. Around £2bn was up for grabs.

This happened before the loss of child benefit claimants' personal data by HMRC brought the whole idea of ID cards into question, and 2008 is bound to see more debate on this controversial issue.

7. Chip and bin wheels closer
The Local Government Association put forward the idea of wheelie bins fitted with microchips to record the weight of the rubbish thrown away by households, which would be billed for the amount of refuse they create.

A spokesman said chipped bins could appear on UK streets by this time next year.

8. ID cards will be secure, insists Home Office
Following damning criticism by US security expert Frank Abagnale, the UK government was forced to defend its ID card programme, saying processes would be put in place so no one person could compromise personal data.

This was in October, one month before one person - according to the government's own statement - did just that at HMRC with 25 million child benefit records.

9. Atos Origin NHS contract not in the best of health
The IT consultancy Atos Origin had a key ultrasound and medical imaging contract suspended in March, after NHS North West found incomplete patient information and delays in reporting diagnoses. Up to 900 patients faced being called back to have scans repeated.

10. Biometrics wing their way into Gatwick
Gatwick airport trialled fingerprinting technology at immigration this autumn. However, only arrivals from Sierra Leone were included in the trial, as these flights arrived in the UK at a quiet time for immigration staff.

The pilot will be completed by next April. The Border and Immigration Agency is aiming to use biometric measures for all non-visa nationals arriving from outside the European Economic Area by 2011.