2024-08: August month note
Short(ish) month notes for August. I’ve spent the last week not working, which has been much needed. I’ve been feeling a little burnt out after a busy summer, and by last Friday I was running on empty.
I think I’ve started every set of months notes saying I’ve been busy. But hoo boy was I not prepared for July! Thoughts on the general election, welsh politics, work, CrowdStrike, gin, house work and a final word on Twitter
2024-05 / 2024-06: Catch-up note - May & June 2024
Things got busy, and I predictably stopped writing. These are some brief catch-up notes for May & June dominated by work, my board, house renovation and Dilys
External Article
Public Digital Newsletter: CrowdStrike special
Following the CrowdStrike incident a few days earlier, I guest edited a special edition of the Public Digital Newsletter to bring together articles and views that explained what happened, how it might have been avoided and what might happen next.
External Article
Public Digital: CrowdStrike - a global wake-up call
I’ve published a post on the Public Digital blog with immediate reflections on the CrowdStrike outage which impacted millions of computers around the world.
2024-04: April month note
I started writing this last week, and then got completely sidetracked. This has been one of those months where so much has happened, I probably should have written week notes instead. But you’re going to get this abbreviated (but still overly long) summary instead.
2024-03: March month note
I’m sure I only wrote one of these a few days ago - but apparently we’re almost in April. Unintentionally, this one is very focussed on my health / NHS based work. March 2024: presenting reports, health annual plan, house work, duty of candour and cooking
2024-02: February month note
Another month gone. It’s a cliche, but it really has just disappeared - I’m sure New Year was only a few weeks ago. But that means it’s time for another month note. February 2024: board, work, house renovation, turning the oil tanker, devolution and the resurgence of week notes
2024-01: January month note
I’m not sure I can stretch myself to writing something every week, so I’m setting myself a slightly less onerous goal of a note every month instead. So - January 2024: work, health, things I’ve read and things I’m thinking about
Horizon IT scandal: repeating patterns
There is so much that has been written and said about the Horizon scandal over the past 10 years, that it’s hard to pick out what actually happened, and how it got so bad.
When things go really badly wrong, there’s never just one cause. Many things have to have failed. In the case of Horizon, this list is huge: the tech, the supplier, the culture, the investigations, the lawyers, the system of private prosecutions, the management, the politicians, the governance and scrutiny, the recovery.