Priocept

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Priocept's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, its uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Priocept is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

The Rt Hon Lord David Blunkett, MP

The Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles, MP

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

52 | PRIOCEPT

Dan Norris-Jones, managing

director

City of London

Priocept, founded in 2004 and with offices in London and

San Francisco, helps businesses create digital products and

services. Providing a range of consultancy services in the fields

of software development, ecommerce, cloud infrastructure and

web operations, Priocept works with many of Europe’s leading

organisations to help them exploit the latest digital technologies.

Priocept’s founder, Dan Norris-Jones, believes there is an inherent

problem in the provision of technology consultancy services, not

only for Priocept but for many companies across the IT industry.

More than anything else, it is the willing use of verbose technical

language – jargon – that hinders the operation of technology

companies, making the industry appear unapproachable. Dan

discusses here the problems with inter-industry reliance on jargon,

and how this must be addressed as the world beyond information

technology becomes increasingly reliant on itsservices.

A call for plain English in the digital world

When we founded Priocept to help organisations with the dual challenge of

understanding information technologies and subsequently translating this

understanding into the successful delivery of software solutions, we defined the

following as one of our founding values:

Never blind with science – always use plain English rather than buzzwords

Unfortunately, the world of information technology, computing and “digital” are

awash with even more jargon than when we started out 14 years ago. At Priocept

FACTS ABOUT

PRIOCEPT

»Managing director:

Dan Norris-Jones

»Established in 2004

»Headquartered in London,

with offices in San Francisco

»Services: Assistance for

businesses in creating digital

products and services

»No. of employees: 20

»Clients include Argos, Avis,

GlaxoSmithKline, Kent & Essex

Police and Virgin Mobile

»A leading UK partner of

Amazon Web Services and

Google Cloud Platform

»www.priocept.com

Priocept

53PRIOCEPT |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

we have resisted this trend as much as

possible, but every year it takes more

time and effort than ever before to

communicate technology concepts

clearly without succumbing to the

temptation to use the latest batch of

meaningless buzzwords.

Despite working with information

technology and software all day

every day, and despite employing

consultants who are experts in various

digital technologies, even we struggle

to make sense of all the latest jargon

being used. Most technology jargon

is not clearly defined, so if you find

one expert who can explain what

a term means, the next expert you

speak with will invariably give you a

differentdefinition.

If the experts in the field of information

and digital technology can’t agree on,

clearly define or understand their own

terminology, then what chance does

the lay person – consumer, business

leader or government policymaker –

have of understanding all the various

terms and their nuances?

The worst offenders

Whether you are a consumer, a

business person or a technologist

yourself, do you know what “the

cloud” is? Don’t be ashamed if not

– neither do we. Priocept works with

“the cloud” every day and yet we

could not define what it was if you

asked us, nor could anyone else in our

industry. It’s simply marketing jargon

which has, unfortunately, found its

way into the day-to-day vocabulary of

consumers, business and government.

What about “cyberspace”? It sounds

like something out of a 1980s science-

fiction movie, but for all practical

purposes, “cyberspace” just means

“the internet”. Most people understand

what the internet is – virtually nobody

understands what cyberspace is. So, let

us call a spade a spade and start saying

“the internet”instead.

Then we have “cybersecurity”. Once

again, it sounds like something from

the movies or a CIA-themed series on

Netflix. When we say “cybersecurity”,

we simply mean “information

security”, or perhaps “internet

security” or even just “computer

security”. So why can’t we say this? We

have business and government leaders,

at the most senior levels, perpetuating

this jargon and needlessly difficult

vocabulary and therefore perpetuating

misunderstandings and confusion.

The list continues. We have extensive

regulations surrounding the use of

“cookies”, requiring businesses to

ask consumers to accept them, and

yet many consumers would have no

idea what a cookie was or what they

were accepting. We have “the internet

of things” or “IoT”, even though

everything that has ever been connected

to the internet is inherently a “thing”.

Even the word “digital” is heavily

misused and increasingly meaningless,

and now seems to be used, incorrectly,

to mean “anything that runs on a

computer, phone or theinternet”.

Devonshire Square,

London

The key to

jargon

elimination is

to ask

yourself: when

you are about

to use a given

term, do you

truly

understand

what it

means?

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

54 | PRIOCEPT

First principles not fashion

As information technology becomes

increasingly complex, we need to

get better at communicating its

conceptsclearly.

The key to jargon elimination is to ask

yourself: when you are about to use

a given term, do you truly understand

what it means? If not, then go back

to first principles. Seek out the most

basic underlying terms that you really

understand and which you know

are commonly understood. Then

communicate from first principles

using these terms as the foundation.

Avoid adding fashionable jargon just

for effect. Resist the temptation to join

the echo chamber and ask yourself

if the jargon is necessary. If it has

an unclear or ambiguous meaning,

avoidit.

Why is this important?

In previous generations, the UK has

taken a leadership role in democracy,

law, human rights, industry and many

other areas that define our society.

There remains a huge opportunity

to take a global leadership role in

information technology.

The English language is the first

language of technology, of computing

and of software. Billions of lines of

code are written each year, with

nearly all programming languages

using an English-based syntax.

But virtually all technology jargon,

whether “cloud” or “cookies”, is

also English-based. The UK has an

opportunity to encourage the use of

plain English in technology, to use

this to develop a leadership position

in technology, and to improve both

technology education and economic

productivity as a result.

Many information technology projects

continue to be delivered late and over

budget while failing to meet their

original objectives. Moreoften than

not the cause is not the limitations

of the technology itself but poor

execution – poor planning and

management – and this is typically

caused by poor communication.

Information technology’s obsession

with needlessly confusing jargon has a

lot to answer for here.

Although Priocept is very effective at

building complex software systems and

digital platforms for our clients, what

we are most effective at is helping

our clients understand a myriad of

information technologies, what they

all mean, how they work, and how

they can be utilised to maximum

advantage within an organisation. We

invariably achieve the most effective

communication with our clients – who

are typically business people rather

than technologists – on subjects

relating to complex technologies by

eliminating all the jargon, going back

to first principles and talking in plain

English. In 2018 and beyond, we

hope to see business, education and

government doing the same.

IT project

failures are

caused not by

the technology

itself but by

poor execution

– poor

planning, poor

management

and poor

communication

“

Code – the heart of all

software development

The Parliamentary Review Publication, in which this article originally appeared, contained the following foreword from the prime minister.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister