Changes To PSN Needed, Claims Camden CIO

Camden Council CIO John Jackson has claimed that the Public Services Network (PSN) needs to be more flexible and accommodating.

The PSN is a government framework that acts as a single communication channel for all UK public sector bodies.

Although the Network is intended to save money and improve services, the project has encountered a number of problems, including numerous councils who were unprepared for a security compliance deadline.

This issue saw the Cabinet Office backtrack on a statement that non-compliant organisations would be cut off from the network, later claiming this would not happen.

Four Key Improvement Areas

The Camden CIO has claimed that in order to improve, there are four key areas related to the PSN that must be addressed.

“Firstly, who is the decision maker,” he said, speaking to a UK IT publication.

“We need more clarity and transparency on decision-making and policy and who is in charge now,” he added.

Besides this, Jackson said, compliance needs to be more flexible, claiming that risks differ from authority to authority and this should be taken into account.

He asks that people consider Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) because people will always find a way around any security walls.

Jackson also believes needs addressing is too strong a focus on “techy stuff” and an “obsession with over-securing everything.”

“Where is the thinking about skills, awareness, softer culture change and behaviour change? That is arguably more important than the current controls,” he claimed.  

Jackson regularly comments on public sector IT issues – in March, he criticised the complexity of the G-Cloud procurement framework.

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