EWJ FEB 59 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 36
system, for the investigation of its defects, for the hundreds of faulty legal actions brought against SPMs by
the PO, and for the PO’s negligently defending legal
actions brought against the PO; and it is UK taxpayers who will now be paying the massive compensation
due to SPMs and others damaged by these failures in
the PO’s and Fujitsu’s technical procurement and systems testing and management. It follows that it is innocent UK taxpayers who should be entitled to the
largest Horizon compensation payments (but not,
of course, paid for by themselves!).
Further References and Links
Castell, S. (2024). ‘Working with experts in AI Matters’, ARIZONA ATTORNEY Magazine June 2024,
pages 22-27
https://www.azattorneymag-digital.com/azattorneymag/library/item/202406/4196507/.
‘AI and large language model (LLM) … systems are
here, now, with rapidly escalating spread and penetration into and across essentially all areas of the economy, industry, education and society … In a 2018
paper of mine, I revealed the truth “You cannot construct an algorithm that will reliably decide whether
or not any algorithm is ethical.” …From an IT Expert
Professional technical perspective, “the fundamental
things apply”: ‘Forensically, it’s not different just because it’s AI’.
Recommendation 6). UK Government procurement
and forensic assessment of fit-for-purpose IT systems must be improved and developed, not least in
regard to training IT systems developers, procurers
and assessors in using and applying the software
material defect test protocol.
Castell, Stephen, 2022. “At last a really socially useful
stablecoin: SNUT (the specialized national utility
token)”. Journal of Financial Transformation, Capco Institute, vol. 55, pages 94-99
.
https://kovan.ethplorer.io/address/0xd8d619c5719152
482884af794025d664732f6efd#chart=candlestick.
Looking to the future: my ‘MOH’ proposal
One of the most desirable outcomes of the Inquiry
would be Recommendations which, if carefully
thought-through, developed, implemented, managed
and monitored, would be designed to ensure that further ‘Horizons’ could not happen again in the future.
It is likely that to achieve this will require some innovative ‘out of the box’ thinking. My own creative ideas
in this regard are as follows (Work In Progress).
“I, Bitcoin”: As told to Stephen Castell, World Financial Review , June 16, 2021
https://worldfinancialreview.com/i-bitcoin-as-told-tostephen-castell/.
‘I am Bitcoin, the extraordinary cryptocurrency, digital money, familiar to many millennials, but puzzling
to others – even those happily trading stocks, shares,
and bonds, or ordinary currencies on the foreign exchanges. Being bought, sold, and “hodled” is both my
vocation and my avocation. Please be clear: that’s all
I do. I serve no other useful purpose’
‘Moving On from Horizon’ (‘MOH’)
My ‘MOH’ proposal has been discussed with the Resilience Directorate, Economic and Domestic Secretariat, of the Cabinet Office. I have written two papers
setting out and explaining my MOH thinking, available on request:
‘CASTELL – MOH Campaign Notes 29Jan2024.pdf ’;
and
‘Avoiding future PO Horizon-like miscarriages of justice_Layout 1.pdf ’.
Castell, S. (2021). ‘Slaying the Crypto Dragons:
Towards a CryptoSure Trust Model for Crypto-economics: Blockchain Versus Trust: The Expert’s View
of the Crypto Scammers’, March 2021,
h t t p s : / / w w w. r e s e a r c h g a t e . n e t / p u b l i c a tion/350361916_Slaying_the_Crypto_Dragons_To-
A brief summary is as follows:
Moving On from Horizon
Software Material Defect Audit of Critical Infrastructure and Public-Facing Systems, by Independent Skilled and
Experienced ICT Forensic Expert Professionals
(i) Establishing a Permanent Experts’ Software Committee of Inquiry (PESCI) with full software, systems and
services investigatory powers and resources to examine, audit and make recommendations towards the ‘no more
Horizons’ objective.
(ii) Recognition of and appropriate action to respect and put in place confidential mechanisms to implement Whistleblowing In Software Engineering (WISE). See for example: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/scc/about-us/people/lucyhunt
(iii) Ensuring that the BCS ITLF SRR Report recommendations concerning education and C-Level action are
promulgated and encouraged, to promote software and systems Service Resilience, particularly in respect of, and
in resonance with, the UK government’s own proposal for a Resilience Academy.
https://www.bcs.org/media/3j1n1mhc/service-resilience-and-software-risk-2023.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/deputy-prime-minister-annual-resilience-statement
https://www.bcs.org/membership-and-registrations/member-communities/bcs-it-leaders-forum/
(iv) Establishing a wholly new Office of the Software Ombudsman, SOFTOM, for citizens to report, avoid,
mitigate, fix, and/or be compensated for the effects and damages of, potential or actual software (including AI, LLM,
AADS and robot software) bias, glitches, failures or disasters.
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