WRITTEN ON April 21st, 2007 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Foundation of Trust, Identity, What do we want?
Here are four people
1. James Hall, IPS
2. John Suffolk, CIO
3. Phil Booth, No2ID
4. Sir James Crosby
And here are four statements:
A. Farms rare breeds of sheep
B. Has sculpture on public display in Wales to commemorate the end of mining
C. Created user-friendly secure ID system for UK’s most vulnerable children
D. Is implacably opposed to national compulsory ID register
Which person does each statement match to? Answers below.
The answers are
2A: John Suffolk breeds sheep
3B, 3C and 3D: These are all Phil Booth, public sculptor, creator of the award-winning Who Cares Trust Carezone. The national co-ordinator of No2ID, contrary to reports circulating in parts of government, is not a raving anarchist. He is however an experienced architect of sustainable identity systems in the most difficult circumstances. Shock horror: he knows what he’s talking about.
The Who Cares Trust’s Carezone closed in 2006 and is sadly no longer available, but you can get a feel for it in via the WayBackMachine
E&OE: James & James may also breed sheep, be closet sculptors, have built ID systems and be implacably opposed to a compulsory central register also. I don’t know enough about them. The point I wanted to make was just that Phil Booth is well worth speaking to and taking seriously.
7 Responses to “Match these people to these statements about them”
Gosh, I really didn’t know that, thanks.
Meanwhile, there is more – much more – which needs to be done to explore the connection between sheep breeding and senior positions in e-government.
For bonus points, name three more senior officials who have been prominent in this area who keep sheep.
Clue: one was one of Suffolk’s predecessors.
Conclusion: the propensity of senior officials, particularly with an IT bent, to keep sheep is dramatically higher than for the population as a whole.
Analysys: !!??!??
“Analysys: !!??!??”
1. They’re rich enough to be play farmers.
2. They’re hooked on public subsidies (cf, the ewe premium).
3. They have a romanticised vision of pre-industrial Britain and are uncomfortable with modern technology.
I dunno. I think keeping sheep is pretty cool. It’s real work. It keeps you close to the source of the food chain. There’s nothing to say that good tecchies can only eat Frito-Lays.
“I think keeping sheep is pretty cool. It’s real work.”
I’m officially outing you as a physiocrat.
Well, also a bit of a secret foodie. Armchair Fearnely-Whittingstall etc.
“The Who Cares Trust’s Carezone closed in 2006 and is sadly no longer available”
It’s a shame they closed. We had them present at the Digital Identity Forum a few years ago, and it was an excellent concept that had been well-executed (and founded on pseudonymous principals that the Home Office would be well-advised to study in the more detail).