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Category: Standards

Semantic, linked and smart data – predictions for 2014

Semantic, linked and smart data – predictions for 2014

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See the full article on Scoop.it – Data & Informatics Quite a lot to digest here, though the overall sentiment is positive for development and innovation around open and linked data. Actual products as opposed to proofs, pilots and concepts. There is also renewed optimism that the Semantic Web can deliver on its original vision, Semantic Web 2.0 (my term) utilising ‘cognition-as-as-service’ (CaaS), and building bridges between ‘Big Data’ and the Semantic Web in order to rurn unstructured chaos into…

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Social Media: It’s not the Wild West after all!

Social Media: It’s not the Wild West after all!

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If there is one good thing to come out of the Newsnight fiasco, which resulted in the irresponsible and inaccurate smearing of Lord McAlpine on social networks, it’s the challenge to the long-held assumption that Tweeting or blogging defamatory or libellous material cannot be policed, and that those who propagate and repeat such mis-information cannot be held to account. As Lord McAlpine’s lawyers progress their legal case against the BBC and those considered to have been responsible for incorrectly identifying him…

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Why are Government and Local Councils still using IE6?

Why are Government and Local Councils still using IE6?

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It’s insecure, it’s flaky… it’s government IT policy! I picked up on this article in The Register a couple of days ago, where Tom Watson MP had asked UK government departments when they intended to upgrade their browsers from Internet Explorer (IE6). It didn’t really surprise me that Tom Watson had raised this issue since I know he’s an advocate for modernising government through better use of technology, he’s a prolific blogger in his own right http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/ and was the…

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Records Management in a Web 2.0 World

Records Management in a Web 2.0 World

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My colleague James Lappin (Thinking Records Ltd) recently hosted and facilitated a podcast with me, Steve Baily – senior adviser on records management issues for JISC infoNet and author of the hugely successful and thought-provoking book ‘Managing the Crowd, rethinking records management for the web 2.0 world‘ and Elizabeth Lomas, PhD Researcher at Northumbria University. I was indeed in esteemed company! For me this was an opportunity to air the views I had previously blogged about regarding a perceived disinterest or…

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Taxonomies vs. Folksonomies

Taxonomies vs. Folksonomies

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I wanted to get myself up to date on contemporary ideas around use of taxonomies vs. folksonomies and was drawn to a course being run by the UKeiG (part of CILIP). The course was led by a renowned and respected information management professional and Fellow of CILIP. It was like stepping back in time 10 or 15 years, where metadata standards, structured lists, taxonomies, thesauri and controlled vocabularies were paramount in the discipline of effective information management. Discussion on folksonomies,…

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Web 2.0 vs Accessibility

Web 2.0 vs Accessibility

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I attended an “Enterprise 2.0” event last week where Ian Lloyd gave a very thought provoking presentation on the impact of Web 2.0 on accessibility. Ian is a web developer working for the Nationwide Building Society, and clearly knows his stuff when it comes to designing websites that will accommodate assistive technologies – such as screen readers, voice to text and screen magnifiers. This was particularly relevant to the work I’m presently doing in building on-line environments for support of…

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New Gov website fails accessibility standards

New Gov website fails accessibility standards

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Just picked up from Public Sector Forums (PSF) – the Cabinet Office have launched a new ‘Customer Service Excellence‘ website, which apparently fails the government’s standards for web accessibility, breaches the guidelines for government websites and contravenes the COI’s ‘Inclusive Websites’ guidance. The website claims to be ‘AA’ compliant, but accessibility expert Dan Champion described the site as “shockingly bad…. a catalogue of serious failings. Every page on this site fails WCAG level A on multiple checkpoints and requires significant…

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Social Media User’s Bill of Rights

Social Media User’s Bill of Rights

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Came across this today, which seems to be gathering a body of support. I like the sentiments; pity it’s not enforceable! Joseph Smarr, Marc Canter, Robert Scoble, and Michael Arrington have authored a bill of rights for users of the social web. The bill states: We publicly assert that all users of the social web are entitled to certain fundamental rights, specifically: Ownership of their own personal information, including: their own profile data the list of people they are connected…

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Blogging Policy

Blogging Policy

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I’ve recently seen a number of conversations in the blogosphere from people asking about corporate blogging policies, since I assume their companies are getting nervous about what their employees might  be saying via the cyber medium. Sun met this issues head on about 3 years ago, and actively encouraged their employees to blog by providing them with dedicated server space. Their blogging policy is as good as any I’ve seen.  Pity that all companies don’t encourage this level of transparency…

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