Ctrl-Shift - Understanding Consumer Empowerment

So much has happened and changed in 2011 and the control shift is well underway. We've captured below some of the significant milestones that have unfolded this year with links to the relevant news items taken from our Market Watch.

Consumer empowerment

Consumer habits are rapidly changing driven by technology and use of social media. Consumers are becoming hyper connected and active participants in markets and they are recognising the power of acting collectively (think Occupy London). They are changing their shopping habits: according to Reevoo’s research nearly 90% of respondents would not purchase a product before reading others’…

We're now planning our next research reports and we'd like your input.

We're already committed to two reports (see below) and would like to choose two more from the options list. Feedback very welcome.

Privacy comparisons. Which of the top 100 e-commerce e-tailers has the best privacy policy and which has the worst?

Decision-making market. As a follow-on from our work on personal information management services (PIMS), we look at the broad scope of suppliers in this market and chart what benefits consumers get from making better decisions.

Options for early 2012 -

The Personal Data Store (PDS) market.…

Just come across the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee’s report on Government’s use of IT. Entitled “recipe for rip-offs: time for a new approach” it covers lots of things but one in particular struck my eye.

Here are its conclusions on the specific issue of Personal Data Ownership.

“Giving control of personal data to the individual has the potential to improve data quality while reducing both costs and risks. Individuals are used to controlling their own data with private sector companies, such as Amazon and with utility companies.
Moving to a model where the citizen maintains…

Instead of establishing a huge, centralised National Identity Scheme, the Government wants to establish a decentralised market of competing private sector identity providers. Each will provide an identity assurance service, so that public sector and other providers can be confident of the identity of the person they are dealing with. For some organisations, the Identity Assurance Programme offers a straightforward business opportunity to become an Identity Provider.

Ctrl-Shift's briefing on this new programme reveals that if the new approach works it should bring three major benefits:

• Reduced risk and lower costs for both organisations and individuals via standardised processes…

The Ctrl-Shift Explorers' Club met on May 12 to share experiences and understanding of the changing consumer market place. It was an eclectic mix. Attendees included large corporations and small businesses; public and private sectors; different vertical markets; and suppliers of marketing services and the creators of some of the new tools available to consumers.

The event had plenty of time for discussion around a number of topics we've been researching including

The Government’s ‘mydata’ initiative - what the paper says, what the implications are, and what companies should do to take advantage of the hidden radicalism in this…

A new EU-wide research survey published in April 2011, has shown that the UK lags behind many other countries according to a consumer empowerment index. The research revealed that less than 50% of the 56,000 respondents (in 29 countries answering 70 questions) felt confident, knowledgeable and protected as consumers.

The European Commission said that the "results show that consumer awareness and skills are worryingly low. However, there is a considerable potential to empower consumers and thereby to improve consumer welfare and reduce consumer detriment. The internet and the media have a key role to play in…

Attended an excellent event at Nesta this morning. Four great speakers all revealing how new services designed around the user are making real savings for the NHS and other parts of the NHS. The introductory remark was that if 1% of consultations could take place at home, this would save the NHS £250m a year. It's a huge saving and opportunity.

* Adil Abrar, founder and director, Sidekick Studios. Sidekick are behind the Buddy project, part of NESTA’s Reboot Britain programme looking at new solutions for public services, helping patients with anxiety and depression to track…

A small but significant step was announced on October 11, Mydex has launched a new project to introduce a step change in the relationship between individuals and the organisations they deal with - the first ever operational Personal Data Store service. This is a significant new development that starts to restore to individuals control over the management and sharing of their online personal data.
The Mydex Community Prototype provides individuals with the tools to enable them to store and manage their personal details, to have them externally verified, and, at their discretion, to…

Well, the nervously awaited emergency budget has arrived, and a collective sigh of relief is almost audible across the country 'not as bad as I'd expected' seems to be the general feel. But I'm afraid the worst is yet to come and the dramatic if yet unspecified departmental cuts of 25% of budget is one of the hardest hitting. To find that mangnitude of cuts in spending without having an impact on front line services is going to require some radically new thinking. In the past a 'push the message' approach has been a proxy for behaviour change, which most…

Well, the nervously awaited emergency budget has arrived, and a collective sigh of relief is almost audible across the country 'not as bad as I'd expected' seems to be the general feel. But I'm afraid the worst is yet to come and the dramatic if yet unspecified departmental cuts of 25% of budget is one of the hardest hitting. To find that mangnitude of cuts in spending without having an impact on front line services is going to require some radically new thinking. In the past a 'push the message' approach has been a proxy for behaviour change, which most…

Today's announcement that the government is looking to get public input (a sort of crowdsourcing, perhaps?) into the upcoming cuts to public service is further confirmation that there is a seismic shift in the world of public services. The previous prime minister was reportedly a fan of apps such as Asborometer which build on publicly available data. And the minister now responsible for Government IT (and more besides) announced in March as part of the Conservative policy formation that "we will also create a small IT development team in government -…

Today's announcement that the government is looking to get public input (a sort of crowdsourcing, perhaps?) into the upcoming cuts to public service is further confirmation that there is a seismic shift in the world of public services. The previous prime minister was reportedly a fan of apps such as Asborometer which build on publicly available data. And the minister now responsible for Government IT (and more besides) announced in March as part of the Conservative policy formation that "we will also create a small IT development team in government -…

Fundamental, radical shift of control over personal data back to the individual is on the agenda whichever main party wins the next election. From the Labour manifesto yesterday:
We will explore how to give citizens direct access to the data held on them by public agencies, so that people can use and control their own personal data in their interaction with service providers
From the Conservative manifesto:
Wherever possible, we believe that personal data should be controlled by individual citizens themselves.
This principle is key to the "Control Shift". It will be government policy.…

Here's a copy of the response I sent in, on behalf of Ctrl-Shift and of Mydex CIC, to Anne McGuire MP's request for evidence about about the role of third sector organisations in personalisation. I copied it to HMG's CIO John Suffolk who expressed an interest in the subject on his blog and to Martha Lane Fox because of the intersection with her vital work on digital inclusion

Third-sector role in personalisation of public services: note from Mydex CIC and Ctrl-Shift Ltd
-------------------

The third sector has a crucial role to play in personalisation, so the answer…

HMG's Chief Information Officer John Suffolk has posted on the role of the CIO in the light of the control shift
I think there is a move towards the CIO title being taken over by a very important person indeed – your Customer, or in my case the Citizen. Yes the Customer (or Citizen) Information Owner. This is not the marketing department who believe they own all the customer information, nor is it the salesman who historically attempted to keep all his data on his clients so only he/she could sell to them. This is the Customer/Citizen owning…

Here's the text of a talk I gave today in Russell Sq at the invitation of the Identity and Passport Agency and the IT trade association Intellect.

We've run out of money. And officials and suppliers face the real prospect of a new
administration coming to power committed to abolishing ""ContactPoint"", ""CfH"" and ID
Cards.

The Opposition goes further with a recurrent theme about restoring control of personal
data to individuals. First David Cameron then Pauline Neville-Jones raised it, then in
summer a CPS pamphlet spelt it out: It's ours: why we, not government should control…

VRM took a great leap towards becoming HM Loyal Opposition official policy today with the publication of a CPS paper by Liam Maxwell: "It's ours - Why we, not government, must own our data"

Essentially it's the first-ever VRM manifesto for government IT (if you don't count my GC talk last month or blog post here in April). As Maxwell sets it out:
A clear choice is emerging for the future of government IT:
− Either to continue with the Transformational Government
agenda. This relies on the State holding, in the words of the