Civil Servant Access to Internet
Im currently trying to find a data source which will identify how many civil servants have access to the internet (at place of work). I have seen reference in several documents to wording along the lines of: 'most have access' and also 'some civil servants do not have Internet access', but none quote their evidence source. Any help in finding some numbers would be a great.
Most civil (and public) servants would routinely have access to the internet if it formed part of their role. Access would then be governed by local policies. It is unlikely that a centralised evidence source would be available as each civil service department or public body would be responsible for allowing and monitoring access locally.
Yes, I think it's fair to say that every civil servant with a PC has internet access.
There are 498,000 of them:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/index.aspx
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/facts/statistics/index.aspx#
Not all civil servants have internet access. In fact not all civil servants have (or need for their work) a personal computer. For those that do have a computer it is, as stated in an earlier post regarding internet access, dependent on local departmental usage/security policies whether the internet is available to them and to what extent the internet is filtered.
I think having the internet at work is an important research tool for any civil servent, Wikipedia and other various tools to help you in your working day. The internet has been excessable for 10 years now and the novelty of sneeking off and checking facebook out or checking ebay during their work routine is the thing of the past due to the increase of smart phones. any business that wont allow internet access for their employees is doomed to fail. and the same should be said for any goverment department. Lets give our civil servents the tools and the trust to do their jobs better than its currently possible. :)
I can't agree less that civil servants need full internet access. Most would use it to waste their time surfing the net, not doing the job they are paid to do.
I speak from experience as an ex Civil Servant.
But what im saying is that the novelty of the internet has worn off for the majority of the population. and with PDA's and Smart phones on the rise means that people are more likely now to browse the internet in there break instead of when they are doing their work. I agree that if you give an inch some people will take a mile. But the internet is a massive recource, I use it to check meanings, spellings, company research and usefull information. The internet is to us what the pocket calculator was to us in the 80's. it saves us time. Besides there is security measures that cost nothing to prevent people from logging on to facebook and the like. but don't deny them Google or Wiki, People need it.
:)
This is just prejudice.
Many civil servants do not need to access the internet for security reasons or because the job does not need it. Some civil servants routinely use the internet for work purposes and mostly do so through monitored corporate systems that block access to inappropriate websites (of which facebook, twitter might be likely candidates) or only allow access to certain sites. The internet is a useful tool and I see no point in banning its use for fear of what users might do when access is routinely monitored and blocked and abuse can lead to disciplinary charges.as in many jobs public servants need to look up information from many open sources (eg phone numbers, timetable) or consult web based srvices neded to do their job.
But clearly there are always those who abuse facilities and often such people become ex-employees for doing so.