Innovation hints at a free data model to savour
A local government initiative shows how vital information can be made readily available to those who need it If you're in Lichfield and see a fashionably dishevelled young man wandering round municipal buildings taking notes on his iPhone, don't worry. It's probably Stuart Harrison, the council's webmaster, doing his bit to set data free. And to pave the way for a new kind of e-government. Harrison is a driving force behind one of the most refreshing developments in local government I've seen in years – a serious attempt to package Lichfield district council's data about planning applications, food inspections and leisure services in a way that not only makes it accessible but also reusable in third-party applications.
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Innovation hints at a free data model to savour
Ealing council lost £500,000 to computer virus
It was a bad day for a London council when one of its staff plugged a virus-infected memory stick into a computer, but quite a good day for absent-minded readers harbouring piles of overdue library books, and drivers wanting to park on yellow lines. The meltdown as the virus spread through Ealing council's computer system, crippling internal communications including the phones, and making it impossible to process fines and payments for almost a week, is estimated to have cost the Tory-run authority more than £500,000 in lost revenue and system repairs. Beyond this, 1,838 parking tickets, unable to be processed, were cancelled at a total cost of £90,000, libraries lost £25,000 in fines and booking fees, council property rent went uncollected, and £14,000 was spent on clearing housing benefit claims. As the council considered a report on the incident in May, the Liberal Democrat councillor Gary Malcolm called for heads to roll. "If this had happened in a private company, people would be sacked." A council spokesman said: "The council acted immediately to protect all data and ensure that essential frontline services could continue." Local government Local politics Computing London London politics Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
