ARCHIVE FEATURES

Online power to the people
Having invested millions in ICT, Birmingham City Council is looking for returns. Dawn Flook, the council's Customer First programme delivery manager, argues that e-government aspects of transformation will empower citizens and deliver savings

Demanding more of NHS procurement
In 2009 the direction for NHS procurement appeared clear for the next few years. But the general election seems to have changed that. Colin Cram, who will chair Public Service Events' Procurement in the NHS conference, looks to the future

Taking stock of patient safety
Patient safety can be compromised by poor stock control that leads to out of date medical supplies on hospital shelves or crucial items running out. But IT systems can make sure surgeons have what they need at the same time as cutting waste, writes Joel Haspel, CEO of Sentient Health

One more heave – or does Labour need a much deeper ideological renewal?
As voting begins on who will be the next Labour Party leader and Tony Blair urges the party not to abandon New Labour, Rick Muir from the Institute for Public Policy Research wonders if the party needs a whole new approach

Physical, Virtual, Cloud: the future of public sector IT
In a time of budget cuts, virtualisation and cloud computing could allow public sector organisations to get the most from their IT, writes David Blackman, general manager of Northern Europe, Acronis

A week in the life of a new MP, by Yasmin Qureshi
Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South-East who practises law as a barrister from chambers in Manchester, describes what a typical week can involve for her

A cultural phenomenon
The paths of science and culture have been deeply intertwined for centuries, writes UNESCO's former Assistant Director General for Science, Professor Maurizio Iaccarino…

Is it time to call a truce in the war on drugs?
There is no intrinsic logic to the legality and illegality of drugs so why do we criminalise the use of some drugs and not others, asks Professor David Nutt, former chairman of the advisory council on the misuse of drugs

Can the OBR really be independent?
There are several changes that can be made to the Office for Budget Responsibility to make it truly independent and an extremely valuable innovation, suggests Simon Wren-Lewis, economics professor at Oxford University and fellow of Merton College

Government saving with open source
Achieving significant efficiency savings and more from IT is possible - Peter Dawes- Huish, CEO, LinuxIT, considers how open source based systems and outsourcing can provide the solution