Apparantly one thousand charities have so far benefited from free software through one of our most successful charity partnerships. The Computer Charity Trust manages a software donations program called CTX on our behalf, which enables charities, of any size, to access free licensed software. Because the scheme hasn't had wide coverage I thought it worth a mention here, as I know that many public sector organisations get involved in activities with charities, and public sector employees are often involved in charities in their private lives.
There's an important note at this point: there are limits to the amount of software any single charity can apply for - The Computer Charity Trust website has more information
This year Changing Faces was one such charity who were able to upgrade their whole system thanks to the scheme.
Each year, around 3,000 children are born with cleft lips, craniofacial conditions or birthmarks. The NHS sees 40,000 people with burns or scalds; a similar number are treated for cancer of the head, neck, mouth, throat and skin. Changing Faces is the UK national charity that supports people who have disfigurements of the face or body – whatever the cause, helping people to develop high self-esteem and self-confidence and have access to the very best health and social services throughout their lives. Christine Muskett is Head of Operational Support at the organisation, which has 21 members of staff including two based remotely in Scotland and Wales. “There was little consistency to the software being used across the organisation,” explained Christine. “We don’t have the budget to consider a routine 3-year upgrade cycle, so had a mix of software versions running, all needing support and troubleshooting.” Charities often naturally struggle to find resources to invest in back-office efficiencies. Here it was no exception – the upgrade was an opportunity that simply wouldn’t have been available without CTX and Microsoft. "The project wouldn’t have been on the agenda,” notes Christine. “We’d have just had to get by. As it was, we upgraded the whole charity for the money that we might have spent on three, maybe four users. That was an incontrovertible financial argument.” Posted by Ellen
Each year, around 3,000 children are born with cleft lips, craniofacial conditions or birthmarks. The NHS sees 40,000 people with burns or scalds; a similar number are treated for cancer of the head, neck, mouth, throat and skin. Changing Faces is the UK national charity that supports people who have disfigurements of the face or body – whatever the cause, helping people to develop high self-esteem and self-confidence and have access to the very best health and social services throughout their lives.
Christine Muskett is Head of Operational Support at the organisation, which has 21 members of staff including two based remotely in Scotland and Wales.
“There was little consistency to the software being used across the organisation,” explained Christine.
“We don’t have the budget to consider a routine 3-year upgrade cycle, so had a mix of software versions running, all needing support and troubleshooting.”
Charities often naturally struggle to find resources to invest in back-office efficiencies. Here it was no exception – the upgrade was an opportunity that simply wouldn’t have been available without CTX and Microsoft. "The project wouldn’t have been on the agenda,” notes Christine. “We’d have just had to get by. As it was, we upgraded the whole charity for the money that we might have spent on three, maybe four users. That was an incontrovertible financial argument.”
Posted by Ellen
Microsoft has various anti-virus and anti-spyware products available these days - including Defender, OneCare and Forefront - and I confess that I've been getting a tad confused about what they all do and who would use each one!
I've now found this really useful webpage which has a very neat little table that explains it all very nicely.
Hope this might be useful for you too!
The page also includes links off to more details on each of these if you want to know more about any/all of them.
WWILFing is a technology phenomenon most of us are familiar with when sitting in front of our computer screens. That dreaded moment when you ask yourself – what was I looking for?
We cannot pretend that Microsoft has invented a cure for WWILFing but we are developing very powerful solutions for searching and finding the information and knowledge you are trying to find somewhere in your computer systems – be it structured information in databases or business applications; or unstructured data in intranets, miscellaneous information repositories or finding the specialist resource or knowledge held by other people in your organisation.
We are running a Live Meeting (webcast) on Enterprise Search in the Public Sector on Tuesday September 4th from 10-11AM. All you need to do to take part is to pre-register and activate this link and connect to the dial-in conference call:
Live Meeting Web URL:
http://www.livemeeting.com/cc/wwe_uk/present?id=1032349735&pw=641A6C9C&recording_agreement=accepted&formSubmitted=true
Live Meeting Conference Call Number:
Telephone: 0118 909 2000
Access Pin: 1796572
If you can’t join us for the live webcast then you will be able to replay it from our website (www.microsoft.com/uk/publicsector) at a time that suits you.
Also, there is now one place where you can go to find information about Microsoft’s search solutions including case studies, product overviews and white papers:
www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch
Posted by Ian
In a report recently produced by Nick Coleman, the former head of IBM Security Services for EMEA, for the Cabinet Office on the Government‘s information assurance strategy he makes the somewhat stark assessment that “adequate mechanisms are not yet in place to support (connecting to more environments and sharing data in increasingly hostile environments), which puts at risk the government's aspirations for service delivery enabled by technology."
Security boils down to one thing – can you trust the user? No matter how rigorous the vision, how detailed the security policy and sophisticated the technology information is always at risk from decisions taken by users.
Bruce Schneier, the cryptography guru, sums up the dilemma perfectly in his blog where he argues that most security decisions are generally made for nonsecurity reasons. It is business decisions that determine the level of risk that most users are willing to take when it comes to their online security.
That is why information security needs to be seen as an enabler rather than an inhibitor to encouraging more citizens to interact online with government; be it their local authority over refuse disposal or the Inland Revenue over their tax return.
Microsoft has made significant investments in security in recent years and we continue to augment our security technology portfolio and to provide the practical advice to users to protect themselves when online – at home, on the move and in the workplace.
Check out the following sources of more information on Microsoft’s approach to information security:
- Trustworthy Computing: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/default.mspx
- Microsoft UK Security home page: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/security/default.mspx
- Get Safe Online: http://www.getsafeonline.org/
- Steve Lamb’s blog: http://blogs.technet.com/steve_lamb/
What’s your view? How do we make security an effective enabler to encouraging more online interaction between citizens and government?
Following enhanced government guidance to all local authorities in 2006, Warwickshire County Council decided that they needed to increase their Internet monitoring and filtering capabilities to improve security and to meet new accreditation standards for Internet filtering and monitoring. “We needed a technology solution that would help us implement an effective Internet child-safety system in the schools,” says Chris Page, Technical Development Manager, ICT Development Service (ICTDS). “For example, if a child was in an online chat room and was being targeted by a child predator, an Internet filter would not stop that. We needed an easy-to-monitor system to work alongside filtering to detect and report these types of events. We didn’t have anything in place to do that.”
What they wanted was user authentication to enable logging; category-based URL filtering to block inappropriate and unknown sites; and client-based monitoring to capture the creation and display of inappropriate content in any application. With a new security solution, based on ISA Server 2006 (click here if you want to know more about this Microsoft product), they have simplified deployment and centralised their IT security management capabilities. The solution also reduces costs for the Local Authority and provides virtual private networking capabilities, as well as solid integration with its existing IT infrastructure.
There's a lot more to read about in the case study, which contains useful information whether you're thinking at a local authority level, regional broadband level or just as an individual school or children's care facility.
500MB of free online storage that can be private, shared or public.
This has been coming for a little while, and then when it arrived, it was initially only for users in the US. But now, it has been activated for customers in the UK. And this has some really useful applications in the public sector. SkyDrive gives users 500MB of free online file storage - password protected by their Windows Live ID. And they can be stored in private, shared or public folders - allowing you to decide who has access to each folder.
What could you do with it? Well, things like...
Some of the features added to this Beta version are:
Sign up for your personal SkyDrive here
Skydrive doesn't have the sophistication of our more comprehensive collaboration tools such as Groove or Sharepoint however if you have a fairly simple requirement to share files across multiple PC's and users then you may well find this useful.
Each month we are planning to run Public Sector live meetings (webcasts) that are aimed at people working in Public Sector who are interested in hearing from experts about how to get more out of products and solutions from Microsoft and our Public Sector partners.
The live meetings will run on the first Tuesday of every month (1000 – 1100) and here is a taster on what is coming up over the next few months.
Tuesday September 4th: Enterprise Search in the Public Sector
Tuesday October 2nd: Web Content Management in the Public Sector
Tuesday November 6th: Document Records Management in the Public Sector
The first Live Meeting is on Enterprise Search in the Public Sector – Tuesday 4th September 2007
This Live Meeting explores the key elements of a successful Enterprise Search solution. It demonstrates how a winning solution gives Public Sector organisations access to their unstructured sources as well as structured and line-of-business system data while respecting varied security needs. It also underlines the crucial part played by people search — providing access to the expertise that resides in others and locating subject matter experts. With significantly improved search capabilities provided by Microsoft® Office SharePoint®Server 2007, organisations now have access to an enterprise-class solution that enables users to find the information and expertise they need to drive results.
The Live Meeting agenda is:
10:00 Welcome and intro to Live Meetings Jason Burton, Microsoft
Enterprise Search in the Public Sector Sol N’Jie, Microsoft
Q&A All
11:00 Wrap up and preview of October Live Meeting Jason Burton, Microsoft
To take part in the Microsoft Live Meeting on Enterprise Search in the Public Sector on Tuesday September 4th from 10:00 -11:00 you need to enter the following web URL on your browser and connect to the conference call line:
If you need additional information contact Ian McKenzie on i-ianm@microsoft.com
Popfly is a new web-based only product created by Microsoft (currently in its prelaunch test phase) that allows users to use a simple drag-drop surface to create original applications, called mashups. Popfly’s incredibly friendly interface allows users to join together “blocks” of data from different web services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Virtual Earth, and create unique content with myriad functions that can be customised at will. The most exciting aspect of Popfly is that it requires no knowledge of HTML or Java!
Hence, an application that once took hours of toil and technical expertise to write can now be ‘mashed up’ using Popfly in seconds. Its simplicity and versatility make this promising new Silverlight related application ideal for governments to employ. (See here for our previous posting explining Silverlight.) For instance, one could use Popfly to create a map showing all schools in the UK. The Virtual Earth and Live Search blocks just need to be dragged and dropped into the canvas and joined together. Then, the search terms (e.g. “UK schools”) can be entered in the Live Search block and the map display details entered in Virtual Earth. Finally, with a simple click of the “Preview” button, you can see your custom application!
Yet this is just a rudimentary example of Popfly’s capabilities. In addition to the basic blocks, it will let you bring in personalised content created by more advanced software such as .NET. Experienced users can even use Popfly to write their own codes and create highly complex websites and widgets!
One significant example of Popfly’s benefits in the corporate sector is BP’s new enterprise mashup. BP – who have around 100,000 employees worldwide— wanted to create a new system of aggregating weather data in order to speed up response times in case of a natural disaster. These mechanisms are critical to helping BP protect their staff and assets in case of an emergency weather event. Prior to the introduction of Popfly, data was collected manually, “war room” fashion with maps and paper based information. Popfly allows them to get real-time insight, so that they can monitor events in real-time as they unfold. This gives BP the ability to make faster and more informed decisions, and ultimately save lives and valuable assets in the event of a natural disaster.
Popfly clearly has a lot of potential to do many great mashups. With the option of sharing mashups and customised information blocks Popfly has the added potential to become a community on the cutting edge of technological innovation. I highly recommend playing around with Popfly to see what innovative mashups can be produced, click here to visit the Popfly website where you can get more information and register to use it as part of our prelaunch testing process.
Posted by Sandeep
This forum is aimed at both business and technical people involved in Public Safety from the police and criminal justice agencies and will provide in-depth knowledge of the latest technology products and solutions from Microsoft and our partners.
As you are aware, Police and Criminal Justice agencies face a unique and challenging environment. One that requires you to meet operational pressures to the highest possible standard of service, while also operating in the most cost effective, transparent and compliant way possible.
Public Safety agencies have an unprecedented opportunity to take the lead in transforming service delivery and deliver better, more efficient services both internally and externally to citizens. Whilst the change required to deliver this transformation must be business-led and driven by business process and cultural change, many recognise the crucial enabling role that technology plays in making this happen.
Come and hear about relevant customer projects, attend practical workshops, see solutions demonstrated and hear from expert speakers whilst networking with your peers.
All you need to do to reserve your free place now for the Microsoft Public Safety Technology Forum on Wednesday October 10th at the Microsoft Campus, Thames Valley Park, Reading is to contact us by phone, email or online.
Phone: 0870 166 6680 Ref. 8075
Email: emilyb@microsoft.com
Web: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032348075&Culture=en-GB
Hello again - back from holiday - no midge bites I'm glad to say and not too soggy either! Scotland did pretty well for weather over the last two weeks :-)
While on holiday I saw this article in The Observer about Email Stress and having got back this morning to 434 emails I can see that managing large numbers of emails could be very stressful for lots of people.
My personal approach to managing emails has changed drastically over the last few years and the approach I outline below has saved me a sginificant amount of time (at least 2-3 hours a week I think) - so I thought I'd pass it on to you.
I now use a rather wonderful feature called Search Folders to manage and find emails. This means that I don't file emails into individual folders any more - I was never much good at doing this in a really consistent way anyhow as lots of emails could be filed in several different folders and I could never remember which folder I'd put them in :-)
So this morning I had a quick whizz through my Inbox just flagging the relatively few that need follow up or more detailed reading (about 50) and then I filed all 434 into one offline Inbox folder (this also helps to keep down the size of my Mailbox) and then I have set up lots of different search folders that let me find emails that meet certain criteria - the ones marked for follow-up, those received within a certain month, or from my manager, or from any of the contacts at a particular external company. The really useful feature is that any particular email can appear in several search folders if it meets the criteria for that folder - so it's like being able to have multiple views of my Inbox.
I also use features like archiving to move out older emails so I keep the size of my offline Inbox to a fairly reasonable size.
Search Folders are available with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 - you can use Rules on older versions of Outlook to sort email for you - but it's not as good as Search Folders because each email can only go into one folder.
If you haven't used them yet then I'd strongly recommend them - this is probably my favourite feature in Outlook!