Here are my predictions for 2010, as quoted by the Society for Computers & Law:
“Last year, I predicted that IT projects would take a battering unless they could be financially justified by reducing costs that pay for those projects. With continued belt-tightening, I expect that to continue in 2010, with many non-essential IT projects being deferred.
I also predict that with organisations having fewer staff and each with more on their plates, there will be more incidents of software licences not being kept up-to-date. As pressure mounts on software licensors to hit their revenue targets, bodies like the BSA will have rich pickings and there could be some high-profile revelations of copyright infringement.
On data protection, I expect the next hot topic involving breaches of the seventh principle of the Data Protection Act to revolve around loss or misuse of data caused by dishonest staff. With between one and two in every three British staff (depending on which research you believe) apparently willing to lie on their CVs and so many data breaches caused by acts of individual staff, how long before the next wave of press interest into data loss surrounds theft of databases containing sensitive data by staff who should never have got through basic background checks when applying for their jobs?”
I welcome anyone’s thoughts on these or their other predictions.