Richard Thomas, head of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK, told Parliament that CEOs should be responsible for the protection of confidential data in their firm's possession, and should face criminal charges in the event of data loss.This recommendation comes in the wake of recent high-profile data breaches, in particular the loss of unencrypted information on 25 million UK citizens by UK Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Social security numbers belonging to as many as 5000 Wisconsin taxpayers were exposed because of a bad letter template used with a misaligned letter folding machine during a state tax form mailing. The letter format placed the social security number too close to the address field, causing it to be exposed outside the envelope.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports that the number of federal government high-risk IT projects has declined since the start of this year. This information is presented in two reports: the quarterly project High Risk List and the Management Watch List.
The UK Identity & Passport Service (IPS) has released an excellent post-implementation assessment report describing lessons learned from five key 2007 projects. In an unusually transparent move for any government agency, the report candidly examines each project's objectives, deliverables, and areas for improvement.
Back in the 2001 time frame, the Office of Government Commerce (National Audit Office) in the UK established a program for avoiding large-scale IT failures. The program, called the Gateway Process, established a series of evaluation milestones, or gates, against which a project must be reviewed over its lifecycle.
About a year ago, the FBI annouced they had this little problem: the agency built a software system, called the Virtual Case File, that never saw the light of day. You see, the software designers never asked the users what they actually did need.
Failed government projects often remain hidden behind layers of bureaucratic obfuscation, only to be revealed after an agency has wasted substantial time and money. Given this, imagine my surprise upon learning of a state agency providing the public with genuine transparency and openness with web-based, real-time project status reporting.
According to a recent report from Parliament, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK continues to pursue EDS for compensation over a major failed IT implementation. The settlement totals £71.
Chalk up another massive IT problem for Her Majesty's government in the UK. According to InterGovWorld and the Financial Times, the UK has bidding has opened on a controversial multi-billion pound identity card program called the National Identity Scheme (NIS).
The Internal Revenue Service continues to have system problems related to economic stimulus rebate checks. Given a program of this magnitude, in which the IRS will mail 130 million checks, unexpected problems caused by computer glitches are not surprising.