Why do 70 per cent of Public Sector Partnerships fail to deliver?

Research suggests that up to 70 per cent of partnerships fail to deliver their intended outcomes. CPCR, a consultancy specialising in developing organisations, leaders and partnerships, concludes that the key drivers of this failure are issues of trust and deteriorating relationships.

90 per cent of respondents surveyed by CPCR at a recent exhibition for the North East public sector reported that in many cases partners place insufficient significance on the building of relationships within the partnership and often revert to adverse behaviours which result in the partnerships’ objectives not being met. CPCR believes that these partnerships often under estimate the time it takes to establish and develop strong relationships.

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are at the heart of the government's efforts to gain best value service for the public sector and it believes that the delivery of key public services through partnerships can bring many benefits which have the potential to result in successful and cost effective outcomes. However, due to the high failure rate of partnerships this comes with risks that can be a potential threat to the tax payers pocket.

Anne Cuthbertson, director at CPCR explains, “When entering a partnership, you often start with ‘good will’ but without careful commitment from both sets of partners, things can start to slide off track and you then find the trust has broken. Both partners need clear and mutual objectives and need to invest in developing and strengthening relationships, without this good will can be tested and the partnership performance can quickly start to deteriorate. “Partnerships that have a pre-agreed method to identify and tackle issues before they arise are the ones that are in a much stronger position to survive and thrive and often having some outside guidance can enable partners to focus on learning to trust each other whilst not loosing site of the objectives. “Increasingly partnerships are looking to use an objective measure to assess the performance and maturity of relationships. The online Partnering Maturity Model we have developed helps partnerships to focus on specific improvements appropriate for their context and needs”, concludes Cuthbertson. For the continued success of future partnerships it’s vital that challenges are worked through at all levels and across all partner organisations. It’s the give-and-take that makes partners confident to keep moving forwards even when the going gets tough.

* - Article from Publictechnology.net

City's Computer Network Hijacked

A computer engineer has been accused of hijacking a city's computer system.

Terry Childs is accused of tampering with San Francisco's new computer network to give himself exclusive access, and is allegedly refusing to hand over the passwords which would allow officials into the system.

Mr Childs worked as a network administrator for five years for the San Francisco city government.

The network on which he worked stores 60% of city data, including employee e-mail, payroll files and law enforcement records. Documents in the system can currently be accessed, but if there is a problem with the network there is no way to repair it quickly.

Experts from Cisco have been brought in to try and rectify the problem, but without the passwords it could take weeks and cost millions of dollars.
It is not yet clear what Mr Childs' motive might have been for his alleged actions.
San Francisco's mayor Gary Newsom described him as "rogue employee that got a bit maniacal".

While it can be hard for companies to stop the actions of a rogue employee, one computer security expert said that systems are in place to try and anticipate when problems are likely to arise.

The Huntsmann system from Tier-3 monitors behaviour on computer systems and alerts security administrators when non-typical behaviour - such as changing passwords - takes place.

Chief technology officer Geoff Sweeney told Sky News Online: "This is an extreme case but they do occur.

"The worst possible scenario is an administrator who goes bad.

"At some point you need to establish a monitoring process that will identify behaviour that is suspicious."

Mr Childs has pleaded not guilty to four charges of computer tampering, and his lawyer said there is no danger to the city's computer networks as a result of his alleged actions.

* - Article taken from Sky News

Government Pathetic on Knife Crime

Admittedly this blog is dedicated to the IT and Information Management sector. However, I'm sure that this sector, like all sectors, will be worried about the recent knife crime epidemic and have their own views on it. Therefore, due to my strong views on this I thought I would air them.

It seems simple to me. People who carry knives should get a mandatory jail sentence. I would go as far as to say one that carries a bit of meaning with it. 3 years minimum.

Knives like guns are lethal weapons and if people take them out in public, be it for "protection" or "kudos" on the street they are taking the risk that they or someone else will use that knife to cause serious injury and as we have seen so regularly recently even death. Therefore, if this government really valued protecting innocent civilans and establishing safe streets they would implement new strict laws on this rather than keep changing their minds on soft policies like showing the users of knives the injuries they can cause. Im sure the press coverage recently has done that. That sort of tactic is more useful for prevention rather than stopping people who have already used knives.

In another slight deviation, i think that any budding entrepenuer should seriously look into building a prison, hiring some experienced security staff and then hiring it out to the Government. It seems clear to me that they will require some more prison space soon!