Andrew Miller MP (Labour) MP for Ellesmere Port & Neston. Member of the All Party Internet Group. Member of EURIM. Andrew Miller is Chairman the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee, PITCOM. He also presents widely on Information Technology, E-working and E-Government. Gained a Diploma in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics. Before becoming an MP he worked as a Trade Union Official - Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union (MSF). Lists 'Science and Technology Communications' and 'Information Technology' in his top five special political interests. Vice Chairman of PICTFOR.

Electronic Voting

House of Commons debate European Parliamentary and Local Elections (Pilots) Bill 16 March 2004

I have examined the statistics carefully, because I am interested in alternative ways of voting. I have investigated other systems such as electronic voting. Although that system benefited the Conservative party in Vale Royal, I am in favour of it. I think it would be very short-sighted of us not to look for new opportunities to enfranchise people in all our communities.

Intercept Modernisation

ZDNet reported Andrew Miller MP saying in Labour tech tsar attacks gov't comms-database plan

"The worry that I have is the sheer practicality of being able to manage that data in a meaningful way."

"Keeping everything from everyone might seem like a good idea, but you have to face up to reality of what the hell are we going to do with it,"

Discgate

House of Commons debate Information Assurance 6 February 2008

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his new appointment. When he considers the failures that there have been in data security, he will find a common thread. It is not a policy failure, but a failure of management and training. Will he look at what the private sector does to ensure that people are properly trained and that they are aware of their obligations under privacy legislation, and will he ensure that such rules are adopted in the civil service.

News

2008-09-05 - ZDNet - Labour tech tsar attacks gov't comms-database plan: Author: Nick Heath; Summary: The Labour chairman of an influential technology group has warned that government plans to monitor UK email and internet records could collect too much data to be useful. ... Andrew Miller MP, chairman of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee, cast doubt on the value of requiring ISPs to hold such a vast amount of information, saying the data would be too broad to be useful. ... Miller said: "The worry that I have is the sheer practicality of being able to manage that data in a meaningful way." "Keeping everything from everyone might seem like a good idea, but you have to face up to reality of what the hell are we going to do with it," he added.

2008-01-22 - ZDNet - MoD lost three unencrypted laptops: Author: Tom Espiner; Summary: Secretary of state for defence Des Browne has admitted that the laptop lost by the Ministry of Defence containing details of up to 600,000 defence personnel was not encrypted, and also that services personnel have previously lost two more laptops containing similar unencrypted recruitment information. Labour MP Andrew Miller said that he was "deeply concerned" that the lack of reporting of these incidents "may well constitute officials having broken [data-protection] law".

2007-07-03 - Kable - Government fights public spending website: Summary: The government is obstructing a bill aimed at establishing a new website for information on public sector spending ... Labour MP Andrew Miller said that the big cost was not building the tool but flowing data into it. "That could only be made feasible through a great deal more integration between operating systems in government departments, whereby information from different systems could be integrated at the press of a button," he said.

2007-06-03 - The Register - UK gov fights public spending website: Summary: The government is obstructing a bill aimed at establishing a new website for information on public sector spending. The bill, which originated in the House of Lords, is now being led by Conservative MP David Gauke. It would require the Treasury to create a government expenditure website, as well as giving the government the power to extend it to other public sector bodies, but the government believes it would cost too much. ... Labour MP Andrew Miller said the big cost was not building the tool but flowing data into it. "That could only be made feasible through a great deal more integration between operating systems in government departments, whereby information from different systems could be integrated at the press of a button," he said. "That would take a leap of faith on the part of opposition parties, all of which expressed concern, reservations and opposition to the centralising of data as envisaged in the Transformational Government white paper."

2007-02-13 - The Register - MPs launch IT comp for primary children: Summary: A parliamentary group has launched a competition for primary school children to prove their grasp of technology. The Parliamentary Information Technology Committee (Pitcom), and e-skills UK, the skills council for IT and telecommunications, announced the Made IT Happen competition yesterday. The competition is open for 9 to 11 year olds to come up with ideas on how to use technology to support their school or local community. It is looking for projects that make the most of a school's available ICT resources and fits within the national curriculum. Andrew Miller MP, chair of Pitcom, said: "There is a lot of excellent work with technology going on in the UK's primary schools. Young people are being encouraged to use technology creatively for activities that range from running clubs and networks to campaigns and community projects. "Made IT Happen will enable us to recognise and celebrate the best of this work."

2006-11-27 - BBC - Vigilance urged over IT security: Summary: The all-party Parliamentary IT body Pitcom said MPs needed to remain vigilant about the threat when passing laws to do with "critical services". Pitcom chairman Andrew Miller MP said much good work had been done by the government and technology industry to "create safeguards and back-up systems across our critical services"."But parliamentarians cannot afford to take their eye off the ball in this ever more complex and fast-changing field," he said. "All new legislation which impacts on the provision of such services needs to take IT issues and in particular IT security into account."

2006-10-13 - ZDNet - Met criticises local police e-crime response: Author: Tom Espiner; Summary: Senior police officers have criticised local police responses to reports of e-crime, and have welcomed plans for a national police centre to co-ordinate cybercrime-fighting efforts. ... Labour MP Andrew Miller said that restructuring would "improve the concentration of expertise for specialist work". Miller said that industry, especially the financial sector and Internet service providers (ISPs), should co-operate in collating information to present to the police. "If ISPs come across anything suspicious there should be a collective reporting mechanism going to a central reporting point for e-crime," Miller told ZDNet UK."In a sense there should be an indexing of data. Millions of emails to the Met won't work. Somebody in industry itself should be pulling information into a central point."

2006-06-29 - The Register - Guardian blushes red in tech quiz challenge: Author: Wendy M Grossman; Summary: Enter BT offering revenge in the form of a challenge quiz: four MP-led teams and one from the Guardian, all facing off over four rounds of seven or eight questions each. ... The Bit Players, led by Andrew Miller, Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston.

2006-02-10 - BBC - Spyware warriors call for action: Author: Adam Blenford; Summary: Security experts say that growing numbers are being conned into paying for fake anti-spyware programs. ... "The real problem is that there is a need to encourage active international co-operation to bring about an end to this," said Andrew Miller MP, who chairs of the UK Parliamentary Information Technology Committee (Pitcom). ... Mr Miller said that the challenges of streamlining even a UK-wide fight against spyware were "enormous". "People will need to take advice and receive support from well-meaning people not working for government agencies," he said. "That kind of co-operation is going to be a pre-requisite."

2004-10-19 - The Register - UK preps major security awareness campaign: Author: John Leyden; Summary: A major UK government campaign to help small businesses and consumers protect themselves from Internet security threats will launch in the UK next year. ... Andrew Miller MP, Joint vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee, backed Project Endurance's wide-ranging approach. "Spam, virus and extortion are intellectually separate but are all tied together. You can't pick out one part of the [cybercrime] spectrum because they are all interlinked," he said.

2004-10-14 - Andrew Miller - Collaborating in the Fight Against Cyber Crime: Author: Andrew Miller MP; Summary: The thing that separates cyber crime from so many other areas of criminal activity is the fact that the victim can be young or old, a small business or an international corporation, or indeed public or private sector, within any country, anywhere in the world. The crimes themselves range from minor nuisance of junk mail, through to the deliberate theft of identity and criminal activities supporting terrorists groups. ...

2003-10-02 - The Register - Doubts raised over MPs' anti-spam crusade: Author: Tim Richardson; Summary: A bid by UK politicians to take their anti-spam message to the US later this month is likely to fall on deaf ears. The All Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) - which includes MPs Derek Wyatt, Brian White and Andrew Miller, and e-Envoy Andrew Pinder - is due to meet with Senators and officials in Washington DC between October 13 and 16 to discuss what can be done about unwanted junk email.

2003-09-22 - The Register - MPs head to US on anti spam mission: Author: Tim Richardson; Summary: MPs from the UK are to meet with Senators and officials in Washington DC next month to discuss what can be done about spam. ... The All-Party Internet Group (APIG) - which includes MPs Derek Wyatt, Brian White and Andrew Miller - will be joined by e-Envoy, Andrew Pinder, to try and tackle the problem.

2002-12-17 - BBC - Silver surfers do well at Westminster: Summary: Older politicians are far more web-savvy than their younger counterparts, a survey has found. ... MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston Andrew Miller has had a website for three years. He is confident that a presence on the net has improved his relationship with younger constituents. "Any MPs that doesn't have a website by the next election will be looked at scornfully," he said.

2002-01-15 - Andrew Miller - Britain's Broadband Future - the Government's role: Author: Andrew Miller MP; Summary: By using Local Loop Unbundling to help bring competitive pressure on BT'’s local monopoly – the Government encouraged BT to begin investing seriously in broadband on its own account.

2001-12-10 - Andrew Miller - E-Administration, E-Government: Services for Tomorrow’s Society: Author: Andrew Miller MP; Summary: What does good e-government look like? The challenges are Motivate people to get engaged in the government’s policy process and make sure departments have the structures in place to deal with increased participation. Recognise Internet access as a fundamental e-democracy issue, and strive for inclusive access. Make sure people know of and understand how to take advantage of the new opportunities to influence the democratic process via the Internet - and what they can expect from government when participating. Openness – access to public information is a cornerstone of democracy. Provide electronic access to electronically stored information. Make sure issues are debated in a democratic, inclusive, tolerant and productive way.

1998-12-15 - Andrew Miller - Information and Communication Technology Tools for Better Government: Author: Andrew Miller MP; Summary: A paper commissioned by the Cabinet Office Minister in preparation for the Modernising Government White Paper. 34 pages in length.

Contact

millera@parliament.uk

Links

Andrew Miller MP Website (Broken in firefox)
Andrew Miller MP TheyWorkForYou.com
Andrew Miller MP Wikipedia