Archive for 'tomwatson'
Websites under £20k dodge Maude’s gateway
There's an intriguing mismatch between the answers to two PQs tabled by former Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson today. In one, he asks 'what criteria have been set to govern the creation of new Government websites', to which Francis Maude replies: I am determined to reduce the number of Government websites and so the creation [...] read on »
Gov websites to use open source ‘whenever possible’
In the response to a pretty innocuous parliamentary question from Tom Watson, new Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude makes a statement which could, on the face of it, be of monumental significance for UK e-government. The Government believe that departmental websites should be hubs for debate as well as information-where people come together to discuss [...] read on »
Watson to quit at reshuffle?
A blink-and-you'll-miss-it line from the Sunday Times at the weekend: 'Tom Watson, the Cabinet Office minister wrongly accused of involvement in the Damian McBride smear e-mails, will return to the back benches. He has told friends he is exhausted by government and wants to see more of his two children.' I've got no inside track [...] read on »
Govt seeks £120k/yr Director of Digital Engagement
Who said there were no 'senior strategic web roles' in government? The Cabinet Office has just issued a job advert, looking for someone to 'develop a strategy and implementation plan for extending digital engagement across Government', and 'act as head of profession for civil servants working on digital engagement'. It's a Senior Civil Service Pay [...] read on »
Reshuffle junior moves
Please, please, can we not have reshuffles on a Friday? The Cabinet positions were all confirmed by the end of the day... but the junior moves were certainly happening late into Friday evening, and one assumes, over the weekend. And whilst I'm sure a few government webbies were grateful for the weekend overtime, it does [...] read on »
Tom Loosemore to Channel4
I'm probably the last to pick up on this news, but for the sake of completeness, I should note the announcement last week of Tom Loosemore's imminent move from Ofcom to Channel 4's 4IP. With the demise of the notion of a Public Service Publisher online, quoted by Tom as 'one of [his] areas of [...] read on »
Commons motion to free postcodes
I've just come across an Early Day Motion at the House of Commons, dated 1 July 2008, by Labour's Khalid Mahmood: That this House believes that the Register of Postcodes is a national public asset and should be freely available. Short and sweet. And attracting healthy numbers of (mostly Labour) MPs willing to add their [...] read on »
Mash! Mash! Mash!
The latest move from Tom Watson's Power Of Information Taskforce, effectively a big BBC Backstage-style government mashup competition, is a master stroke. The Power of Information Taskforce want to hear your ideas on how to reuse, represent, mashup or combine the information the government holds to make it useful. ... We will take the best [...] read on »
Guido-Tom Watson consensus on gov jobs?
One senses there's not a lot of love between Guido Fawkes and Tom Watson. So it's all the more remarkable that, within a few days, they've effectively reached an identical conclusion on the need for a better approach to public sector job advertising. A week ago, Tom wrote a blog post noting the lack of [...] read on »
Minister wants more social media
Tom Watson publishes (what looks like) a speech announcing the formation of a Power Of Information Taskforce, to be chaired by former LibDem MP Richard Allan (now senior manager of UK&I government affairs at Cisco), taking forward the Power Of Information report by Ed Mayo and Tom Steinberg. An interim Progress Report on Power was [...] read on »