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Richard Steel

Currently president of local government IT managers group SOCITM, Richard Steel is also the CIO for Newham Borough Council, the East London region which will host the 2012 Olympics. Formerly he worked with large city banks, but having made the switch to the public sector, he has not looked back. A keen blogger and enthusiast of British sports cars, Steel is a regular speaker on issues surrounding the CIO role in the public sector. A full profile of his career can be read here

Richard Steel

August 03, 2009

Signing off

It is time to retire my Blog

Today is my last working for Newham and so, for now at least, after well over 300 entries since starting at the beginning of 2007, it's time to...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 30, 2009

Under a cloud

Defined what we mean by “Unified Communications"

Wednesday started with a self-inflicted headache after I attended, on Tuesday evening, 2e2's annual reception hosted by Lord St. John of Bletso on...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 27, 2009

Continuing my Swan Song

Digital telephony convergence/ security will also be on the agenda

Geoff asked me to review ICT pay and allowances in the light of the present economic environment, so that's what I've been doing, this week, and...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 16, 2009

Too much flexibility

Our recent response to the Digital Britain report

On Monday Glyn Moody wrote in Linux Journal of his having agreed with Microsoft to cancel the planned discussion of the OXML ISO standardisation...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 12, 2009

Reinvigorating public sector unified communications

We should focus on the long-term UC requirements

There's been a lotin the computer press, this week, about Google's announcement that it will launch its "Chrome Operating System". E.g. "Google OS...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 08, 2009

Mobile Media Is Key

Capital Ambition’s

Capital Ambition's "London Mobile Portal Event" at Prospero House (241 Borough High Street), on Tuesday, was a "sell-out". There were excellent...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 06, 2009

Moving on

A lot can change in a year

Friday's combined Central & Local CIO & CTO Councils meeting was mainly about ICT and the Operational Efficiency Programme. How can we cut...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 03, 2009

Dining with the father of the web

Whatever your views about national ID cards and a�database state�, joined-up public sector infrastructure remains a key service enabler

I've had one or two conversations with Microsoft and Buying Solutions colleagues about what was to happen to the PSA09 licensing deal. The...

Posted by: Richard Steel

July 02, 2009

Help beat this Microsoftie

Engage more proactively in driving Government transformation

Here's an interview with Phil Pavitt, who will shortly be moving to the HMRC, which I'm expecting will be one of the most transformative events in...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 28, 2009

Investing in our future

Earlier this week, Richard Carde (by teleconference) John Stockwell and I were involved in a discussion with Andre Tytheridge (2e2) about progress...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 25, 2009

Short enough to be a tweet

It's great to see that Martin Ferguson and others are continuing a lively Socitm Blog. For me, this represents the best means of keeping...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 23, 2009

Information, innovation & improvement

The problem with e-Government was always that Government somehow created the impression that this was the opportunity for a supplier "feeding...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 20, 2009

An important customer service channel

On Tuesday 7th July there's to be a London Public Mobile Portal event at Prospero House (241 Borough High Street), which will include presentation...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 18, 2009

All change

The racing at Le Mans was great, with Peugeot diesels winning for the first time, and a great performance from a new Aston Martin LMP1 Team, but...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 10, 2009

Another sleepless night please

24 hour challenges of the government CIO

We're used to the occasional story of how, after 50 years, a war-time letter eventually finds its way to the intended recipient. Well I think I've...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 05, 2009

Musical chairs

Top CIOs on the move in London

Congratulations, Phil Pavitt on your move to the HMRC. Thanks for the great work at TfL. I hope we can sustain and build on that, and continue a...

Posted by: Richard Steel

June 04, 2009

Taking a break from strategy...to strategise

I'm on a mission to evangelise ICT as our saviour from recession

I see that the Government has committed to funding research into ultra-fast broadband. This can't be about squeezing still more capacity out of...

Posted by: Richard Steel

May 29, 2009

Safety in numbers

Sad news and the positive side of insourcing - it works

Today, along with a number of other Newham colleagues, I was at the funeral of Paul Bull, our Printing & Reprographics Manager who had bravely...

Posted by: Richard Steel

May 27, 2009

Onwards and upwards

The budget is looking pretty healthy

Well, I completed a first draft of updated Newham ICT Strategy, yesterday, but I'm anticipating a lot of feedback requiring more work on detail......

Posted by: Richard Steel

May 20, 2009

Please don't put the kibosh on transformation

Transformational Government strategy must be guided by an over-arching vision of public sector security

The Cabinet Office published its annual Transformational Government Progress Report, last week. It has produced this useful poster to highlight...

Posted by: Richard Steel


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