London mayor appoints e-advisor

The appointment of an ebusiness advisor by London mayor Ken Livingstone has received a mixed reception from IT industry groups.

Colin Jenkins, a senior manager from Energis, signed on as e-advisor to the Greater London Authority and the Mayor's Office last week. According to Jenkins, his initial priorities will include tackling the skills shortage, and seeing whether power supplies in the capital can support the increasing number of datacentres being built.

"It is a difficult task. But London seems to be doing quite well in terms of internet capacity - it has more than any other city in the world," he told Computing. "In terms of its e-capabilities, it's head and shoulders above the rest of the UK. So I start from a very positive position."

Jenkins has agreed to remain in his advisory role for the next six months, after which another candidate will be selected by London First, the business group behind the advisor scheme.

"London is probably one of the biggest users of IT in the UK, but it doesn't have many of the large companies based within its boundaries, so it will be interesting to see how he works with that dichotomy," said Nick Kalisperas, e-government programme manager for the Computer Software Services Association.

"I think it is a good idea but, as with all appointments, the proof of the pudding is in the eating," he added.

But Mark Simmons, a senior analyst at Bloor Research, argued that the ebusiness advisor, like Livingstone, would be impotent because the Mayor's Office has no jurisdiction over taxation.

"IR35 has killed off the skills pool in the City. I can't see how this advisor can add value to what's happening in the market, especially as the government has its own ecommerce tsar," he said, adding that strained relations with the Cabinet Office will not help.

Jenkins said that he will take an interest in all construction projects in the capital to ensure that planners include adequate telecoms infrastructures.

Additional reporting from Network News

First published in Computing

See also:

UK councils to set e-government standards

The UK government has invited local councils to tender for the right to develop model e-government initiatives in a proposal valued at £25m.  06 Feb 2001

Mayor's sexy ebusiness move 'impotent'

London mayor Ken Livingstone has been criticised over his appointment of an ebusiness advisor.  17 Jan 2001

Tube funding flaw to cost £1m a week

London Mayor Ken Livingstone's tube supremo Robert Kiley has admitted to vnunet.com that his multi-billion pound London Underground rescue plan has not accounted for the cost of a vital £1.2bn radio communications network.  20 Dec 2000

Tube chiefs snub mayor with Tetra deal

Tube bosses have been accused of ignoring the bigger picture by splashing out £1.2bn on a terrestrial trunked radio network while its trains, tracks, signalling and escalators wear out.  07 Dec 2000

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