IT Essentials: Teach them to fish

The IT sector must take a hand in shaping coming legislation

With the Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill finally making its way through Parliament, the IT sector has to get involved in shaping it into a workable form – or risk another Online Safety Act.

There’s nothing that brings us Brits together like a good moan, so it was a bit of a surprise this week to see a broadly positive reaction to the proposed Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill as it started to make its way through Parliament.

The Bill aims to strengthen the UK’s cyber posture with new rules around third-party IT suppliers and reporting, plus stronger enforcement powers.

The cost of weak cyber protection and resilience has reached record levels, with cyberattacks costing the UK almost £15 billion a year, and £200 million in insurance claims. So, it is good to see serious work going into the space.

That said, we can't repeat the mistakes made with the Online Safety Act, one of the least popular and easily circumvented laws in recent years. As the new bill goes through the legislative process, the government must listen to experts about how to build it for maximum effectiveness.

That’s long been the duty of the non-partisan representatives in the House of Lords, who are experts in law, ethics and policy. What they lack – as was obvious in the case of the OSA – is technical expertise.

That expertise is sorely needed for the new bill, which leaves sectors like local authorities and waste management outside its remit. But that's okay, we all know cyber criminals only ever attack targets who are nicely protected by the blanket of UK law.

The new bill is a good start, but today’s IT leaders need to take a firm hand in steering it to a successful final state and share their knowledge with Parliament. We don’t need to give them fish; we need to teach the Lords how to catch them for themselves.

Even we Brits need a break from complaining every now and then – and the UK IT Industry Awards this week proved the perfect venue for IT professionals to cheer themselves hoarse. We’ve got a full list of the winners and a photo gallery of the night’s biggest moments for you to enjoy, whether you made it this year or not.

We’re also specifically commemorating the industry’s incredible female talent, with the release of the Tech Women Celebration 50: our annual list of the most inspirational women shaping the UK’s technology landscape. With representation at every career stage across multiple verticals, we’re making sure they get the recognition they so richly deserve – and many are on the shortlist for our Women in Tech Excellence Awards at the end of November, too.

Finally, Penny Horwood has written about the challenges CIOs face when turning AI ambition into measurable value. In too many cases the path to greater productivity and a reshaped workforce is hidden by a fog of questions and concerns.