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UK central government market profile to 2010/11
The total ICT market in the UK central government sector reached £3,440m in 2006/07. Kable estimates that it will grow by 4% to £3,577m in 2007/08, growth in the subsequent years though will slow, reaching £3,777m by 2010/11
Published: 04 Jan 2008
Technology and the transformation of social protection
This report examines the systems of welfare benefits and social services that together make up social protection in the UK
Published: 25 Oct 2007
Public sector outsourcing: The big picture to 2012
In this report we examine £74bn of services commissioned by government from the private and third sectors. By 2012 we estimate that this will have grown to a market worth almost £100bn.
Published: 17 Sep 2007
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News
Patient info ends up on eBay
14 September 2007
An NHS trust is investigating how one of its hard drives containing confidential information was sold online
The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust is trying to find out how one of its computers full of confidential medical information was sold on eBay.
Disposal of the Dudley's computers is carried out under contract to Siemens Medical Solutions, as part of a PFI agreement. Computer Disposals has a sub-contract with Siemens to dispose of obsolete IT. All hard drives that leave the trust via this route should undergo data wiping, which meets the government's standard of being over-written three times.
The confidential data was discovered by researchers working on forensic data recovery methods at Glamorgan University. The university's research is sponsored by BT, which purchases 250 hard drives a year from places such as eBay and regional computer fairs. It then passes these to the university which attempts to recover data.
The research is designed to raise awareness in organisations of how easy it is to recover sensitive data where poor data wiping processes are used.
The trust said that, together with Siemens, it has carried out an internal investigation into the incident and developed recommendations to prevent data from being left on unwanted hard drives.
"Unfortunately an investigation into how this particular hard drive has been openly purchased has not been able to identify the route at this stage, and the trust is continuing with its efforts to identify the source, including the possibility of theft," the trust said in a statement to GC News on 14 September 2007.
They include a change to the contract between the trust and Siemens about responsibility for the disposal of all IT equipment and the purchase of a degausser to ensure that hard drives are wiped before they leave the trust.
The trust board is expected to accept the recommendations when it meets later this month.
This summer a report from the Information Commissioner's Office highlighted a "horrifying" number of public sector organisations that were guilty of careless breaches of personal information. It received almost 24,000 complaints concerning personal information over the last year.
In one high-profile breach, an online recruitment system for junior doctors revealed highly personal information on application forms, including sexuality and religion.
Source: Kable's Government Computing
Publication date: 14/09/2007 11:23:58
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Kable is Europe's leading authority on the impact of e-government and public sector technology. It offers a range of public sector ICT research services, events and publications including GC and Smart Healthcare magazines.
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