Technology Ideas That Might Not Be So Great

Posted By Ellen Perlman | September 20, 2009

I was drawn to the bmighty site by a tweet on my Twitter account that mentioned the Top 10 Best Technology Ideas...That Really Aren't." Governments might be interested in many of these.

For instance, (in no particular order):

#10. Telecommuting. The down sides, besides the distractions of children and the refrigerator, include resentment by office workers who aren't telecommuniting and are irritated that their colleagues have such freedom. There's the stress on the organization itself, dealing with the telecommuters and the technology workarounds. And there are the security issues.

#5 Social networking. There risks and entanglements of mixing the personal and professional sides of social networking. Risks, that is, to the integrity of the government the person represents. People are "poking" and prodding and posting who knows what kind of pix. I know I've got a strange mix of friends and business contacts on my Facebook page. Which is why I seldom post anything now. Don't want that risk. Can governments ask their employees to be discreet? Without a backlash?

#2 Tracking employees' internet use. Yes, employers have the right to track what you're doing at work. But is "spying on your employees" the best policy? And restricting Internet use can impinge on people doing their jobs. But the most harmful effect of "spying," if people know it's going on, is the loss of morale because they're not trusted to monitor themselves and their Internet use.

#9 Cloud Computing. The offerings aren't cost effective yet, according to the blog post. And no one yet knows the full security implications.

#4 "Hating on Microsoft and Google." I have no comment other than to say the headline amused me.

Ellen Perlman

Ellen Perlman was a GOVERNING staff writer and technology columnist.

E-mail: mailbox@governing.com
Twitter: @governing

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