Maggots, rats and a fork in the road

So what’s it going to be then, hey? Will the outcome of the Brexit negotiations see the UK forced to adhere to the EU’s “level

Online Public Services in the UK — 23 years of federated identity

Here’s my paper providing an overview of Federated Identity for Access to UK Public Services: 1997-2020 (PDF): As its catchy title suggests, it provides an

‘Blueshift’ and the evergreen promise of the ‘future’ of work

15 years ago at Microsoft, I proposed a programme called ‘Blueshift’. It was a deliberate provocation, an attempt to move away from rusty soundbites about

Future Shock | After Shock

It’s 50 years since Alvin Toffler‘s ‘Future Shock‘ was published in 1970. I remember first reading it some time later, in a battered, orange-coloured paperback

21st century identity

My opinion piece for Computer Weekly – implementing a 21st century approach to digital identity – has been published this morning. It sets out a

tortoise banks and uneven playing fields

Perhaps we had a lucky escape when banks declined to become online ‘identity providers’. After all, their track record in online security has some peculiar

the elusive pursuit of outsourced digital identity

Remember when UK banks were innovative, leading the world and always at the top of the polls for brilliant customer service? No, me neither. Actually,

the rise and fall – and rise? – of the performance platform

Open data and open standards were given a welcome and practical revival in the early days of the Government Digital Service (GDS). This included the

Digital government and asymmetric justice

Governments are acquiring and sharing more of our data on the basis that it will improve efficiency, personalise services, and reduce fraud, error and debt.

democracy, technology and the art of the bonsai

The General Election (2019 edition) is on. What better time to ask “Is technology breaking democracy?” After all, the evidence is mounting – from the

Improving identity assurance and trust

We may live in a digital age, but paper documents – notably passports – are still the most trusted evidence to help prove who we

biometrics revisited

One day last week I stumbled across the advert above for Biometrics 2006 while trying to sort out my hopelessly disorganised backlog of digital files.