http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2220346/office-eco-apathy-threatening I thought this story a little dispiriting. I have no great claim to green credentials (I drive a TVR, for heaven's sake!) However, it doesn't take a great deal of effort to adopt green standards that, for the most part, are consistent with efficiency and best practice. Successful society has to be built upon individuals' acceptance of personal responsibility for their actions, rather than "it's someone else's problem".


Today I attended a Socitm Police Group meeting at the Humberside Police Headquarters in Hull. This has only recently become fully operational again following last year's flooding. Many of the people based there are still repairing the damage to their homes, and some haven't yet been able to return home.

The morning was concerned with presentation by representatives of the NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency), and discussion of, the Gateway process for key-stage project reviews developed by the OGC (Office for Government Commerce) as now being rolled-out through the OGC accredited Police hub. (There are three others, for Health, the Ministry of Defence & Local Government.) Ann Middleton, from the Metropolitan Police, who chairs the Group, commented to the effect that the Gate Five Review process – benefits realisation – could be adapted to review systems already implemented, which I strongly agreed with. Whilst the Gateway Review process was borne from the desire (and need) to avoid the sort of project failures that have gained high media profile, and rightly so, it's still the case that many already implemented systems are used extremely ineffectively, but that doesn't grab the headlines the way big budget project cancellations and failures do!

I undertook to raise Socitm engagement with the Gateway Process – initially at next week's Socitm Futures meeting. It's clearly quite closely aligned with our theme around business engagement/ business efficiency and the need to partner with business to ensure effective exploitation of ICT infrastructure. I'm also interested in the "banking" system originally adopted to support the Review process – whereby Central Government Department's provided personnel to be trained-in and undertake reviews, which roughly equated to the value they received from being the beneficiaries of reviews. It's an approach that the Microsoft Shared Learning Group has also being trying to get off the ground.


After lunch, I outlined Socitm developments and ambitions. As we have set ourselves a target of developing the Society to represent all who work in IT in the Public and Third Sectors, I am particularly keen to get feedback from sectors that are not in the Society's Local Government roots – like Police. I'm glad to say that most of the comments confirmed issues that have already been identified and are either being addressed, or in the pipeline, and there was agreement that we are moving in the right direction. Some of the issues concerned demands on time and the competiveness of our environment,, sector-specific collateral, professional development and the SFIA framework (Skills Framework for the Information Age) – I spoke about our plan to launch a service based on the Aspire packaged software supporting SFIA, developed by Leeds City Council, in September – and continuity of support. Socitm had let the Police Group down, in concerning that last issue, following the retirement of its former national secretary, and I assured the Group of the Board's determination to ensure future continuity of support.