Last week's failure of the HMRC to undertake basic steps to protect
the data of some 25m-odd British citizens is a classic case of how IT
by itself is of no value at all. All the retinal scanning in the world is of no use if it's not actually employed.
We're the tail end of a cultural revolution right now -- moving
into a true digital age, where online is woven into society. What
happened above was stone age thinking leading to a blundering
oversight. The issue fundamentally comes down to perception -- how can
losing a couple of small pieces of metal and plastic potentially cost the taxpayer £300m? The risks associated with sending several hundred kg of printed material of a similar nature would've been abundantly clear.
Lack
of basic IT literacy is what caused this debacle. Governments all over
the world lumber in a taxpayer-funded gravy train, using old value
systems and old methods of working that just don't take into account
modern day needs and risks.
It's time some of the fat was cut.
And it's not from the bottom -- it's from the grey suited middle
management encumbents that have no real incentives to improve. With the
money saved, get some decent IT literacy into the departments.
Or better yet, hire some digital natives -- almost anyone under
25 fits this: they'll be full of ideas and be fluent in today's new
digital channel.