CIO Essentials: Stolen laptops, PC-killing phones and RFID

Ever wondered what CIOs are reading on silicon.com? Our CIO Essentials feature puts you in the picture. Each week a leading IT chief picks his or her top stories from the past week and explains why they matter.

This week we hear from Mike Roberts, IT director at the London Clinic.

Exclusive: How safe is your laptop?
Security and laptops don't mix. I was working in the defence industry some years ago - and the only secure system has a man with a gun next to it. We have to move away from storing physical data on portable devices and use biometric security to get access to data. Then the issue will go away - until someone cuts off one of your fingers.

Can smart phones kill the PC
This is like waiting for a lottery win. I've been asking manufactures for the 'single unified device' for about four years. All I want is a phone that will run basic Word, Excel and PowerPoint with a good browser. I know this has been around for a while but the device needs to work with a conventional monitor and keyboard on a standard wi-fi network, as well as being a good GPRS/3G phone on the move. If I can get it - for about £250 per unit - I'd move 80 per cent of my end users over to them this year. What are my chances?

Tech skills shortage: UK must act now
Alarm bells ring when I see this type of article. I worked for a major outsource provider and they would use this type of article to encourage companies to outsource to secure skills. For me, the core skill that I have to have is IT literate business knowledge. Being able to gather 'requirements' from the business and retaining control over key relationships in the business is the most important area. I focus on these skills and look to suppliers to provide the deep technical skills.

100Mbps mobiles coming soon?
Fantastic - but where's the money coming from? Back in 2000 I was working on the early WAP and GPRS services and it was apparent that there was very limited market for the services as the bandwidth performance was poor. Now we are looking at 100Mbps on a phone. Hold on - unless you work for a media company, do you need that kind of bandwidth for business? Looks like another consumer product, or am I missing some sales hype?

NHS Trust cuts the wires, plans for RFID
It's good to see the use of wi-fi expanding in the health sector. RFID can have a wide variety of applications, including patient tracking and locating. However, the key here is to build a close relationship with the RFID solution provider as early as possible. When the wi-fi network is upgraded from basic coverage to include the location elements, the number of access points can go up considerably. Also, the tag solution provider may require a very specific wi-fi access point topology which can increase costs dramatically.

If you are a UK-based IT director or CIO and would like to take part in the CIO Essentials series by choosing your top five stories of the week, send us an email here at silicon.com.