In this sequence I talk about the use of social media to drive donations for charities, and the full session including the slides used is available from Third Sector Magazine at: http://www.donationsthroughsocialmedia.com/

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dave Prentis: 'The purpose of industrial action is not industrial action, it is to get an agreement that is acceptable.' (Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian)

The argument put forward by the union is that the Government shouldn’t push ahead with plans to increase the retirement age for public sector workers, to move away from final salary pensions or to force them to make greater payments into their pensions because it is unfair; this argument denies the basic economic realities – the Government has no choice.

Historically, it was the case that public sector professionals accepted that they would be paid less than those in the private sector, but that in return they would have better conditions – more holiday allowance, earlier retirement age and greater stability. Workers in the private sector experienced less security, less holiday allowance and worse pension provisions, but earned greater salaries with which to make their own provisions for their financial future.

The differences between the two sectors have been eroded over a number of years, to the extent that some jobs in the public sector now have greater salaries than those of equivalent responsibility in the private sector, due to the need to attract the best talent into the public sector into less ‘glamourous’ roles.

At the same time, workers in the private sector have experienced significant downward pressure on salaries as a result of globalisation and the global recession, and so the balance that existed no longer prevails – the difference between the working conditions across the whole of the economy are now much more similar than they once were.

Against this backdrop, it is hard to understand how the leadership of the Unison can justify the inevitable equalisation of pension provisions for public sector workers when people across the whole of the economy are suffering as we fight our way out of the economic mess left by years of Labour mismanagement.

It is hard to imagine that people in the retail sector who have seen their hours reduced and their salaries squeezed by increased living costs whilst having to work harder and faster than ever before will have much sympathy for striking workers that prevent them getting to work by disrupting train and Tube services or deny their children the education that they need by closing schools – especially when those public sector workers are often better paid.

However, I also sympathise with the overwhelming majority of that union’s membership who DID NOT vote for strike action; can a 20% vote for strike action really be considered sufficiently representative to justify a strike? It defies all logic.

It certainly cannot give Dave Prentis and Unison’s leadership a mandate to call strikes “on a scale not seen since the General Strike of 1926″ – such language is clearly politically motivated, and driven by ideology and a desire to bring down a Tory-led government, rather than what is in the best interests of the workers they are meant to represent.

Can workers really afford to give up wages at a time of economic hardship, especially when only a minority of them support strike action? Will they be willing to do so, when so few of them could even be bothered to vote in the first place?

Even Ed Balls, writing today, seems to be encouraging the unions not to strike, conscious that our delicate economic recovery simply cannot sustain a wave of rolling industrial action – it would be irresponsible.

It’s likely the the British public will not be sympathetic to strikers whose working conditions are at least as good as – and in many cases better than – their own.

Bearing this in mind, surely going on strike is the last thing that the unions should be doing now?

Weakening the economy can hardly be in the interests of the people that the unions purport to protect and serve – they should be thinking strategically, rather than focus on the little picture.

I have a feeling that George Osborne will welcome a fight with the unions – it will give the Government a reason to introduce legislation (quite rightly in my opinion) that will force unions to secure at least 50% of the votes of their membership to legitimately hold strikes.

More importantly, it will accelerate the reform of the public sector in a way that aligns well with the Government’s overall plan to reduce the size of the public sector and stimulate growth in the private sector.

I’m torn; I do not want to see our economic recovery disrupted by unnecessary strike action, but at the same time I think that a programme of mass strikes will accelerate the demise of the unions and help to eradicate the militancy that continues to undermine the effectiveness of British trade unions – and ultimately strengthen our economy.

Striking is never effective; in this instance, it is also not right. But it may have positive political outcomes for the Government.

At first, I was worried that being stuck on a ship with dozens of suppliers and potential suppliers would be less than enjoyable, but I need not have worried because it was an excellent experience, and one that I highly recommend.

The standard of the event was very high – from the initial cocktail reception, through the excellent keynote presentations and all the way on to the well- organised supplier presentations, it was obvious that the team behind it really understand how to put on a show that is relevant for the audience – and that delivers real value.

Specifically, when compared to other events, several things stood out at ITDF11.

First, the calibre of the attendees was very high, with CIOs and IT directors from hundreds of major organisations across a range of industry sectors, creating great opportunities to talk about the issues facing technology leaders, and the chance to share experiences with peers.

The quality of the event organisation and management was superb; the whole thing ran like clockwork from start to finish and the organisers must be commended on pulling off such a logistical feat whilst making it fun for the attendees.

Last but not least on the list must be the quality of the speakers and facilitators – they were outstanding and the sessions that I attended had the right level of research, insight and thought leadership; I have already started using some of the models that I picked-up at the event, and discussing projects and challenges with some of the great contacts that I made.

Not surprisingly, one of the main topics of discussion over the three days was the cloud, with many delegates talking about their plans to adopt cloud computing, despite the uncertainty that some still have.

Skills management for talented IT professionals was also high on the list, with many technology leaders thinking about how best to keep their most valuable team members as we come out of recession and economic growth returns.

All in all an incredibly stimulating event, and one that I look forward to attending again in the future!

The P&O Aurora - venue for the IT Director's Forum 2011

Computer Weekly, the UK’s leading technology magazine, invited me to present at their CW500 Club – an event for technology leaders from a range of different organisations across the UK.

This event took place at the British Computer Society (BCS) and was a lot of fun!

Many thanks to Computer Weekly for sharing this.

Click here to view the embedded video.

(Copyright Computer Weekly 2011)

Today, our new Chancellor, George Osborne, took the initiative and introduced the toughest Budget for nearly a century. He has rightly been dubbed ‘The Enforcer’ by the British press.

George Osborne delivers his first Budget flanked by Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander

Like many, I will be analysing the impact of the budget on my finances and those of my family, but what has struck me most so far is the image above…

A Conservative Chancellor delivering a budget consisting of many things that the Liberal Democrats opposed flanked by the two most senior Liberal Democrats; priceless!

Who said that there is never anything exciting in politics?! I wonder how they felt and how their party will react to their leadership supporting policies that they campaigned against just weeks ago.

Believe it or not, the Prime Minister was sitting behind George Osborne, curiously out of shot – perhaps conveniently?

I commend George Osborne and this brave budget. Well done, George – no longer ‘Boy George’ I think!

Firstly, let’s not forget that 11 men lost their lives in the fire that led to this spill; whilst it is important to consider the economic impact on the USA and beyond, we have to remember that these men died just doing their jobs and the suffering of their families mustn’t be forgotten.

The Horizon off-shore drilling rig exploded on 20 April 2010 and over a month later, thousands of gallons of crude oil are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico with all attempts to stop the leak so far having failed.

This is the worst environmental disaster in American history, and possibly the worst’ in human history and leads to one question – when are we going to take seriously our need to eradicate our dependency on fossil fuels?

Satellite image of the BP Horizon oil spil in the Gulf of Mexico

As long as we continue to extract oil from increasingly difficult to reach places, we will sustain the risk of major environmental catastrophes like this.

President Obama was right to ban new drilling around the American coast, but this is must be just the first step in what must be a concerted effort by governments around the world to encourage companies to invest seriously in alternative forms of energy.

Our current reliance on oil leads to inequality and conflict all around the world as we fight for control of dwindling supplies of ‘black gold’. Even without the inevitable ecological disasters that ensue, the continued exploration for oil generates a human cost that we must now consider unacceptable…

As the oil slick threatens hundreds of miles of US coastline, so it should threaten the continuation of oil exploration near human settlements.

It is time for us to get serious about looking at other forms of energy.

I talked about the challenges of managing an IT strategy and function in a dynamic, resource-constrained environment – something not unique to Comic Relief!

Computer Weekly Interview 18 May 2010

Click the picture to read an electronic copy of the full article at the Computer Weekly website.

Why am I here? Volcanic ash, apparently…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Not for the first time in recent months, events in Iceland are having a ripple effect across Europe and beyond, allowing the country to punch above its weight.
Since last night, winds from the north-west have been carrying volcanic ash from Iceland towards Britain closing many of our airports – including, unfortunately enough for me, airports in London where I was due to arrive early this morning.

Three months ago, if someone had told me that they were pr

edicting that flights across Europe would be delayed due to volcanic ash from a dormant volcano in Iceland I would have laughed at them. The very suggestion would have been ludicrous; like something from a low-budget disaster film.

However, today,  not only is it a a reality, but experts warn that this phenomenon could be with us for some time to come as the last time this volcano erupted, it continued spewing magma and ash for over a year…

Incidents like these serve to remind us of the power of nature and our relative weakness before it; despite all of our technology and our dependence on flying, there is nothing that we can do to stop or even to avoid the impact of this ash – planes simply have to stay on the ground.

Or do they?

Some observers, such as Sir Richard Branson, believe that the authorities are over-reacting and that they should not be in a position to close the airspace because of the ash, and insist that the airlines should make the choice for themselves and their passengers.

Sir Richard went as far as to describe the decision to close Manchester airspace as “once again beyond a joke”.

Why is he so angry? At one level, I’m sure that I’m sure that like many good businesspeople he has a natural aversion to Government meddling, but the more serious issue here for the airlines is that of economics.

Every hour of closed airspace means hundreds of grounded flights – not only lost business for the airlines, but potentially huge compensation bills from the affected passengers.

If the worst-case scenario came to fruition and the volcanic ash became a feature of our weather system for another year, the regular closure of airspace across Europe would devastate an already weakened airline industry that is coming out of the worst recession in living memory.

These economic eruptions may be more than the industry can take.

This situation does call into question our reliance on air travel as a primary mode of transport; perhaps this disruption will give us pause for thought, allowing us to consider the alternatives which are often more cost-effective and less damaging to the environment.

I must declare and interest here; I fly more than most and rack-up about 15 return flights a year due to my various business and charitable activities – it is nothing short of hypocrisy for me to be suggesting that people should fly less, but we really must!

This volcanic activity may force us to – although the economic cost may be very, very high indeed.

A luxury sports car maker based in the Netherlands has announced it is moving an assembly plant to Coventry.

Spyker Cars makes up to 50 luxury cars a year, mainly for the US market, with prices starting from about £180,000.

It said up to 45 out of 135 jobs would be at risk when it moved its assembly plant from Zeewolde in Holland to Whitley in Coventry by the end of 2009.

via BBC News – Dutch car maker plans move to UK.

This is fantastic news for Britain – it is good to see foreign companies deciding to make strategic investments here in the UK – especially in our ailing automotive industry.

There are many good reasons for Britain to become – once again – an international hub for manufacturing, perhaps reducing our reliance on the Financial Services sector.