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Tuesday 2 December

We had a meeting of the Board of Directors yesterday which I chaired in Richard's absence. There is still a lot of work going on behind the scenes as we move the Society to its new position and we are now establishing the membership and commercial boards as well as developing work with the National Advisory Council. Linked to a review of our Events programme, how we better enable peer working, encourage our younger professionals, strengthen relationships with the regions, improve our own back office and ensure that we have strong finances I think we have "turned the corner". The Board is also aware that a large proportion of what has gone on is somewhat invisible to the membership and that cannot continue. We are now putting together a position statement on where we are and what we see as our future priorities and want you to let us know your thoughts when you see it (in the next couple of weeks hopefully). In March we intend to have an annual report ready on 2008 activities and also move forward on the vision for Socitm for the next 3 to 5 years. This work will be ready for the AGM which we are intending to hold on 23rd April, probably at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire. The day will be themed and structured differently to our traditional Spring Seminars. Put the date in your diary now, more details to follow as the programme and ideas develop.

Steve Palmer

Thursday 27 November

NZ Conference Report

With CITRA's merger with Socitm now largely complete, David Claydon, the President of the CCitDG (and Director of Strategic Information for the Salvation Army, UK & Ireland) has accepted an invitation to join the board of Socitm as a Non-Executive Director.

The ALGIM Conference Welcome Plenary was held in a marquee adjacent to the part of the hotel in which the exhibition was held. Mike Manson, ALGIM's CEO, was the Master of Ceremonies, first introducing Rick Cooper, the Mayor of Taupo, for his opening address. We international guests were introduced, and then each sponsor got up to present themselves. They were invited onto the stage in alphabetical order, and a buzzer sounded at the end of two minutes if they were still speaking. The presentations were split into two sessions, before and after the evening dinner. This worked well; the presentations were good natured, and I found them to be quite informative, although many claimed they were "only here for the beer"! During the proceedings, Mike played several amusing videos, including one of "George Bush" and "Condolesa Rice", and the Miami Dade Police recruitment video, having called Commander June Randall (one of the international guests, and rather more petite than her title seems to suggest) up onto the stage, who took it all in good part.

On Monday, Mike Wanden, the ALGIM President, opened the formal proceedings, and there were presentations from Rod Titcombe, Chairman of New Zealand's "Local Government Online" – a commercial organisation set-up and owned by NZ Local Authorities that develops and sells Local Government solutions – and Basil Morrison, Chairman of the Local Government Forum Board. Jim Higgins, the CEO of Local Government Online, spoke on behalf of New Zealand's new Digital Development Council, and its plans to support the development of the country's broadband infrastructure. During the conference, I heard many references to how far behind NZ is in broadband development, with unflattering comparisons with places like Zambia and Fiji, and I have to say that I struggled with the poor performance of the hotel "broadband" throughout our stay. Maurice Williamson, the MP whose portfolio included New Zealand ICT, until the change of Government two weeks ago, had been due to speak. From some of the comments, I'm not sure what sort of reception he would have received!

Annette Presley, who I hadn't heard of, but is well-known in New Zealand as one of its most dynamic entrepreneur's (and lives next to Bill Gates, apparently) was the motivational and inspirational speaker. Her rags-to-riches tale, despite adversity, with its main messages being confront your fears, learn from failure and do what you enjoy most. She did also say that her first employer (and mentor) sent her home three times to change her clothes and I couldn't help thinking that, in spite of all that wealth, she still had rather odd dress-sense! However, I'm not exactly famed for my sartorial taste, she's super-rich, and I'm not, and not only was her story truly inspiring, but also she now does a lot of work to help young people to realise their dreams.

James Hettrick, a US evangelist for connected communities, a former Local Government CIO who was responsible for pioneering work on broadband rollout in the city of Loma Linda, California, and founder of ISMS, was another keynote speaker. In his session – "An Economic & Feasibility Case for New Zealand Broadband Infrastructure" – among other things, he spoke about reusable plastic fibre suitable for use in pre-prepared domestic trunking, and rugged kerb-side trunking installed in slots easily cut with grinders to reduce deployment costs. He also demonstrated a "patch panel" suitable for installation in street chambers, which reduces costs by avoiding the need to terminate all the fibre pairs.

Other interesting presenters over the three days of the conference included Jan Zawadzki, CEO of Zawadzki Limited – a New Zealand based Google Business Partner – who told us that the Web is now just over 5,000 days old and, in the past few weeks, the number of web pages indexed by Google passed a trillion. I saw Anna Karin Jonbrink, a Parliamentary Advisor to the EU in Sweden, present on "Green ICT - Energy and Environment Manager" in Sweden, but here she spoke in English, so I took the opportunity to attend her session again, and now realise that her research shows that the greatest environmental impact from PCs is in use, not manufacture and disposal, which is the accepted wisdom in the UK, so I plan to put her in-touch with Catalina McGregor, who leads on Green ICT matters for the UK. I also saw Fairfax County's Deputy County Executive, Dave Mulchany's, excellent presentation on the use of Social Media in Local Government when I was in Atlantic City, but he presented to ALGIM via video-link from his in Washington DC office, so I attended again to see how it went. Mike Manson told me ALGIM has been doing video-link presentations for 5 years, and it showed, as the presentation was of a very high quality.

On Tuesday morning, I presented on developments in Socitm, and the Changing Role of the IT Professional, and included an overview of Newham and the opportunities it's pursuing. One of the audience recently emigrated to NZ, having worked in Newham, so we later chatted during a boat tour of Lake Taupo that was among delegates 'leisure options for late Tuesday afternoon. Rod Drury, a New Zealand Technologist & Entrepreneur presented on "The Role of Local Government in Broadband" on Wednesday morning. He spotted me in the audience – "oh look, there's Richard Steel!" Newham was among the first UK customers for his product "@ftermail", which he subsequently sold to the US company, "Quest". Rod made the case for publicly financed broadband infrastructure development, which, of course, I agreed strongly with, since we're doing it in Newham, but it was especially interesting hearing the case made by a capitalist! To paraphrase some of his presentation, "costs are too high for the private sector, which is interested in profit maximisation, rather than maximising public access", and "local government should deal with the last mile".

Tuesday night's formal dinner, and ALGIM Innovation Award presentations, was followed by dancing to a great NZ 80's band that got even me dancing. The conference, which included an annual light-hearted session – this year, "The Green Debate – are you ready for the Hemp Keyboard?" - finished with lunch on Wednesday, following prize-giving and a keynote from Rob Waddell, an Olympic Champion and NZ Champion Rower. Then it was time to say goodbye to many warm and generous new friends.

Sunday 23 November

Cousins Reunited

My cousin, Jonathan Steel, lives in Karaka, near Auckland, having emigrated with his family about 15 years ago. He and I hadn't seen or spoken to one another for over 20 years, but I 'phoned him a couple of weeks ago to tell him that Chris and I were about to visit New Zealand. He and Joanna, his wife, took time off work, and were at the Airport for the arrival of our flight at 11.00 on Thursday (20^th November). I booked a campervan for the duration of our visit, as we planned to tour the country, following the ALGIM Conference. (Although, we'd have hotel accommodation at the Conference, it proved simpler to hire the camper for transport throughout our visit, rather than mess about with other arrangements.) Jon and Jo took us to the Hire Depot, and patiently waited while we completed the paperwork and had everything explained to us. Then Jon rode with me, and Chris rode with Jo, back to their house where we were invited to stay for the next two nights. Their Guest Room, however, was already in use by a friend of Jessica, their daughter, visiting from Thailand, so we were sleeping in the 'van. No shortage of space for parking, 'though, on their 6 acre plot! Then, the four of us visited Jon's local Pub – the ideal way to relax after a long journey, in my view - before returning to the house in time for Jo to help Jessica put her horse through its paces. Jo has been involved in competitive riding since before they migrated from the UK, and Jessica now rides dressage. Jo cooked us a lovely meal then, after a bit more catching-up with family news, Chris and I had an early night.

We spent Friday with Jon's family and, asked what we'd like to do, we chose a drive north through the lovely countryside to relax at a hot springs spa, stopping en-route for a fish and chips lunch (wrapped the proper way - in newspaper!) In the evening, I played ten-pin bowling with Jon and Chris at Jon's local Bowling Alley. Having bragged about how good I used to be, I was roundly beaten by them both. We rounded-off the day with a curry, and were joined by friends of Jon and Jo.

After breakfast, on Saturday, we said our farewells and headed off for the Wairakei Resort, Taupo, where the ALGIM Conference was being held. We drove via Rotorua and stopped-off at the "Rainbow Springs" Nature Park and walked around its various attractions - all in or around the springs – various species of fish, birds, trees and other flora and fauna, including, of course, kiwi.

Having arrived at the Resort, and booked-into our rather nice accommodation, Chris and I joined ALGIM Committee Members and other international guests at the House Bar, from where we were taken to dinner at the Beach Brasserie at Manuels Hotel on the Taupo lake-front. Lake Taupo is the biggest inland lake in the southern hemisphere, roughly the size of Singapore, and formed less than two thousand years ago in a volcanic explosion.

On Sunday the ALGIM Team and international guests had a 9.00 start for the day's sightseeing. We viewed the Huka Falls, and the Wairakei Power Station from various vantage points. The Power Station is the second Geo-Thermal Power Station to be built in the world, in the '50s. It currently supplies around 3.5% of New Zealand's energy, but 60% of electricity in New Zealand is generated by natural resources, and projects in-hand will see 90% of energy production for the North Island in Taupo. New Zealand is a "nuclear free zone", which was a brave move, antagonising, as it did, nations like the USA which was used to parking its ships at New Zealand ports, but is no longer allowed to as it won't say whether they carry nuclear material. We then toured up the Waikato River by Jet Boat, and crossed to the Orakei Korako Thermal Park – a "prehistoric" landscape of bubbling pools, geysers and other geo-thermal wonders. We then powered back up-river in the Jet Boat powered by twin 350 Chevvy V8 engines, developing 750 bhp between them, doing some "boat acrobatics" along the way. Apparently, the Jet Boat was invented by a New Zealander, named Hamilton, who wanted to reduce his 20 minute boat journey home from work as his local pub, in those days, closed at 6.00 pm! On the way back to the resort we stopped to see the 2.00 pm opening of the Aritatia Damon the Waikato River. A condition of its planning consent was that it should be opened four times a day so the river could follow its original course. To stand downstream of the dam, and see the empty river fill, in a matter of minutes, to a twenty foot deep raging torrent is amazing. We returned to the resort to meet ALGIM's President, Mike Wandle, over drinks prior to the Conference Opening

Saturday 22 November

Holidaying in Hong Kong

We landed in Hong Kong at about 4.00 pm on Sunday, and were in our hotel on Causeway Bay by 6.00 pm. Chris and I had arranged to meet with Wan Lik Lee, who we met at the Socitm Conference, on our arrival, and after we had freshened-up he came to meet us and took us out to see Hong Kong by night. We took the Star Ferry across to Kowloon, with the 8.00 pm Laser Light Show between Tower Blocks either side of the harbour in progress. What a fantastic introduction to the city! Some of the towers are already decorated for Christmas, and you can get some idea of just how spectacular it will be when they're all in their seasonal regalia. Afterwards we took a taxi up to the Peak to see the famous City views (and photo opportunities) by night, and were (apparently) lucky to have arrived on an unusually clear day. After exploring the Kowloon Quayside as far as the Avenue of Stars, we returned to Causeway Bay, and Wan Lik took us to a local noodle café, which has served nothing but beef and chicken with noodles for 30+ years, for a supper washed-down by soya milk. It was the sort of place that, I'm sorry to admit, I wouldn't have had the confidence to venture into without someone familiar with their surroundings but I was really glad we went there, and the proprietor fussed over us and seemed delighted at our enjoyment of his food.

On Monday, we boarded a west-bound tram close to our hotel, and stayed-on past the Western Market, which Wan Lik had advised us would be a great way to get an overview and orient ourselves to downtown Hong Kong. I'm not completely sure where we got-off, but we walked back through the bustle of the dried-fish market that was the original business of the Island, which had mesmerised us as we passed on the tram, doing our best to capture the atmosphere in photos. We made our way back to the Star Ferry Terminal, and stopped for a beer in the sunshine, with the temperature still in the low 80's, before crossing, again, to Kowloon and catching the subway to Mong Kok, where we spent the afternoon wondering among some of the many conjoined markets, including the Ladies, Sportswear, Flower and Bird markets. On returning to the Ferry Terminal, we took the route direct to the Causeway Bay area, rather than Central, and were exploring our way back to the Hotel when Wan Lik contacted me on my mobile to say he wanted to take us to dinner on the famous Jumbo floating restaurant. This again, was not to be missed, and we enjoyed a sumptuous Chinese meal.

I awoke at four 'o' clock, on Tuesday morning, and couldn't get back to sleep, so spent a couple of hours on e-mail. Chris and I spent the day at Ocean Park. The Cable Car ride along the coastline and cliff-edge, from the entrance attractions up to the "headland" and main park, is amazing. The park is well worth a visit for the Coral Reef, Jellyfish and other aquariums, and there is the obligatory, but well done, dolphin show, as well as some thrill rides. There's also the Giant Panda Habitat, including a pair given by China on the 10^th anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty. In the evening, Chris and I dined at the hotel, and then went for a walk around the locality. It really seemed a different world, to us, with its busy street cafes amid towering tenements. Many of the apartments have seemingly home-made verandas hanging to the sides of the buildings!

On Wednesday we arose reasonably early and went for a swim and a sauna at the roof-top health club. I've always been afraid of heights, but it's the first time I've suffered vertigo in a swimming pool! We were booked to fly to Auckland on an evening flight and decided, the previous evening to check our luggage in early at the Central Rail Terminal for the Airport service, which Wan Lik advised us we could do. In the taxi, however, on a whim I decided we'd go all the way to the Airport, reasoning that the visits we planned were all in its vicinity on Lantau Island, forgetting that we already had train tickets, and what a long way it was. The extra cost wasn't too great, as taxis in Hong Kong are quite inexpensive, but there were no early check-in facilities at the Airport, so we also had to pay to leave our bags in the Left Luggage for most of the day. Then we caught a bus to Tung Chung and got the Cable Car to Ngong Ping, where the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha sits atop the mountain. The Cable Car ride was long with spectacular views, and the Buddha and Po Lin Monastery were well worth the visit. From there we caught a bus down the mountain to the Tai O Fishing Village, known for its stilt houses in its main creek. Again – not to be missed, and more great photo opportunities. We caught another bus back to the Airport, and had sufficient time for a snack and a drink after collecting our luggage and checking-in for our flight.

Our first trip to Hong Kong was a fantastic experience. Apart from the incredible atmosphere of the place, one of the things that most affected me was the impact of the SARS virus. Quite a few people were still wearing respiratory masks. Hundreds died, and the outbreak turned Hong Kong into a virtual Ghost Town for 3+ weeks, which is even harder to comprehend once you've seen the energy and vitality of the place.

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