I just thought I’d draw attention to this news article from BBC Online.

There’s some interesting stuff in it later on about the Digital Divide, something that is increasingly becoming a theme on this, and other blogs.   However, it’s the initial headline I want to expand on.

Just under a year ago Dave Briggs came to speak at an event I was involved in organising where we were talking about risk.  His background in risk management meant we could have a very informed discussion around the dangers of not only access to inappropriate materials, but also the risk of NOT accessing them.  It’s an ongoing theme, that appears to be ignored by the strategists as this article shows.  I was really pleased to see it directly refer to blocks at school and opening times:

“The quality of access is what matters for some kids who have to just rely on the library and school to go online. It is often limited, has blocks put on access to certain sites and is only available when these institutions are open.”

So what’s going on?  Well, on the other side of the coin, we have articles like this one in MJ this week.   While employee time must be a consideration it is worries like this that stifle innovation.  In the same MJ, the editorial makes a point about the culture of blame stifling innovation (see previous post for link).  The only way to counter this is to really look at the risk, as Dave Briggs suggested and say: “Whats the risk of doing it AND what’s the risk of NOT doing it.?”  If research such as that cited by the BBC is to be believed, the latter will often win outright.