Oct 25 2005, the public awareness of technology

My Scotsman article on identity and ID cards has produced a very positive response. Although one site I saw claimed I was stating the ‘blindingly obvious’, this is only true for those of us in the IT industry deeply immersed in such topics. Part of my point has always been that our industry has not been doing a good job of communicating on important technological issues in a language that makes sense to the average reader.

The fact that a national newspaper such as “The Scotsman” was prepared to carry so prominently an article dealing with technology is a tribute to them. The same is true of others who picked up on the story too – such as BBC Radio Five who provided me with an opportunity to make the same important technological points on air. This demonstrates a healthy appetite for relevant technology stories – and that we can find a language to communicate with and connect to the average reader and listener.

Of course, one or two of the headlines and straplines around subsequent coverage and secondary reporting are a little sensationalist, as is to be expected - but the core technology messages and concerns remain clear.

There are also some voices of cynicism (“What – Microsoft talking about security!”). But this is to miss a major point. It’s precisely because of our experience and the lessons we’ve learned about identity (particularly the reality of what does and what doesn’t work) and platform security over the years that we have some authority to speak on large-scale security issues. My colleague Kim Cameron has consulted and written extensively on this topic.

My intention is that my Scotsman piece is just the start. I intend to develop many more articles for the mainstream media that tackle this problem of how we bring important technological issues to our wider society. We need everyone to be acting from a position of knowledge and I would encourage my peers and all interested parties working in IT to join me in this endeavour.

Of course, an article like this doesn’t just appear overnight. I’ve been working for some time on the concept of a ‘public awareness of technology’ campaign – to reach outside the technical community to communicate the good, and the bad, of what modern technology makes possible. I believe our industry needs to raise its game in the way it communicates with the general public, the media, politicians, policy officials and others. In the same way that the scientific community is addressing this problem through its PAWS (Public Awareness of Science) initiative, so too should we – as responsible leaders in IT.