David Carey is the editor of 
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Loading ...Harper gets spoofed
It’s election time both north and south of the border, and the world seems awash in political hacks these days, not to mention political hackers.
No sooner has Repubilican VP candidate Sarah Palin had her email hacked and made public when Conservative leader Stephen Harper has fake emails sent to those on his mailing list software. Luckily for both candidates, the political fallout has been minimal.
But everyone in political office should sit up and take notice of these events, for they’re just a warning shot across the bow. In future, high- and not-so-high-profile candidates can expect a barrage of cyber-missiles to come their way.
Once the smoke has cleared from this year’s campaigns, I expect there’ll be a lot of discussion in political camps across North America around such topics as information security and damage control in response to some form of cyber attack.
After the Palin and Harper wake-up call, political parties will no doubt pay a lot more attention to security. Unfortunately for them, the hackers will always be one or two steps ahead of them.
For those of us sitting on the sidelines, it’ll be interesting to see what the next bombshell will be.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Second Life and the CIO
If you’re interested in the virtual reality world of Second Life as a business tool, check out the cover story of the Sept issue of CIO Canada when it hits your desk in a week or two, or read it on ITWorldCanada.com. After hearing Inspector Kevin McQuiggin of the Vancouver Police Department talk about setting up a recruiting seminar in Second Life, I talked to him to find out more about how they did it and what results they gleaned from the project. I also spoke to some of the other people involved.
The virtual recruiting seminar turned out to be a big hit, and it’s succeeded in raising the profile of the VPD around the world, especially with Gen X and Gen Y. If that’s an audience you’re targeting, for whatever purpose, Second Life is something worth giving some thought too. There’s a lot more to it than you might imagine. Those in the know will tell you that it’s certainly not just a virtual reality game for geeks. It may become a pervasive technology that smart companies will take advantage of for marketing, recruiting, hosting events and a bunch of other stuff.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...So simple only a child could do it
Had my first go at one of those do-it-yourself grocery store check-outs the other day, and the experience was so frustrating that I may never bother with them again. Kept getting messages, telling me to rescan the item or put it in my shopping bag. But the system couldn’t tell me what my error was and there was no one around to steer me in the right direction. Two or three times it looked like the whole thing was going to crash and I would have to take all my stuff to a regular cashier, wasting a good fifteen minutes of my time.
The whole experience was like a bad IT application roll-out - not enough training for the user and little to no tech support for him while he’s trying to familiarize himself with the technology. And in the end, you wind up with a frustrated employee looking for ways to work around the system.
After decades of introducing users to technology, seems like many organizations haven’t learned a thing when it comes to rolling this stuff out. To my mind, it should start with good user training, augmented by a very clear and uncluttered set of instructions - do this, do this, do this. And you need to follow that up with plenty of readily available support. Anything short of the above is a recipe for failure.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...CIO Assembly wrap-up
Well, the CIO Assembly in King City, Ontario wrapped up on Tuesday, and a good time was had by all. Folks came from across the country, so it was a good place to connect with peers in other parts of Canada.
If you missed the event, you can read all about it in the September issue of CIO Canada. As well, we’ve got a cover story coming up, based on a highly popular presentation at the conference. I think will be of considerable interest to a great many readers, so keep your eyes peeled for it.
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(1 votes, average: 8 out of 10) Loading ...CIO Assembly
In case it’s gone under your radar, this year’s CIO Assembly in King City, Ontario is only days away (July 13-15). Those of you who have attended these events in the past need no reminder as to how good they are, but if you’ve never been to one, allow me to offer a few words of recommendation.
This event is flat out the best you’ll come across in Canada for delving into issues of importance to CIOs, networking with IT executive peers and having more fun than should be allowed at a business function. The theme for this year’s conference CIO Impact: Innovative Thinking that Builds Business Success is one that should generate plenty of interesting discussions.
The Assembly also provides a great introduction to the CIO Executive Council and its members, who play a big role in putting on the event. The Council does all sorts of good work and provides opportunities to network and exchange information with leading CIOs around the globe. There’ll be plenty of members at the Assembly who will outline the benefits for you.
In short, the CIO Assembly is an event not to be missed. If you can squeeze it into your calendar, by all means do so. And when you’re there, look me up. I’d be happy to chat with you.
