Ian Allsop runs the rule over some new technology fads – sorry, concepts.

It has been much on my mind recently. Sorry, not it. IT. Technology, gadgets and gizmos.

I have been writing up our annual Charity IT Survey, you see. On a computer, and everything.

Therefore I thought I would write a whimsical column, cheerfully casting myself in the role of lazy Luddite – never quite keeping up with developments and cynical about any new big idea. But then I realised I wrote a similar piece in May 2010. Brilliant – I can’t even keep up with the ways in which I have written about not keeping up.

Always out-of-date

Anyway, the almost exponential pace of change in technology means I am now out-of-date much quicker, with each passing upgrade, though I am trying to be canny by getting on the 7G bandwagon before it has even rolled into town. It’s coming folks, you heard it here first.

While writing the survey I was struck by a number of current concepts – I wouldn’t be so cautiously sceptical as to dismiss them as fads – that came up. ‘Bring your own device’ (BYOD), for example.

This is where employees can use their own portable bit of kit to access information held elsewhere.

A number of people working at the sharp end of IT have got – and excuse the use of jargon here – ‘proper excited’ about this, while sensibly warning of the potential downsides, for example around security, if BYOD is not done properly.

But I have been using BYOD for years. I make it a policy to never go anywhere without a pen in case I need to write something down. There are no security issues, unless I scribble a note that is ‘off-the-record’ or ‘Chatham House’, then inadvertently publish it.

I can leave a biro on the tube without worrying about costly replacements. But I do admit I need to review my back-up procedures. Generally, I make sure I carry a spare if going to something important, but I was let down by this recently at a roundtable debate I was writing up.

Both of my pens failed, meaning I had to move into disaster recovery mode and borrow one off the person sitting next to me. And I still have it (thanks, editor).

The other thing that I came across in our IT survey was the grand-sounding notion of ‘Big Data’, and – yes – I think it deserves those initial caps.

In these post-Snowden times, BIG DATA (hell, why not?) sounds a bit Orwellian and – apparently – is more than words and numbers being stored in a very large font, as I thought at first. Whatever it is, we are told it will have a big impact, make a big noise and generally be very big.

Speaking of big challenges, as 2014 drags itself painfully into February, I am pondering what I might do as a fundraising exercise.

In previous years I ran a half marathon and abseiled down the walls of Waltham Abbey. Admittedly not the most testing exercises in personal pain and endurance, but then I’m not David Walliams.

One thing I have already accomplished in 2014 is to identify a new favourite, previously-unheard-of Tory MP. As the coalition carries on along its merry way, outstanding new examples of intellect, compassion and logic keep rearing their empty heads from within the comfort of safe constituencies.

I was particularly (un)impressed by David Davies’ comments last month about the politicisation of charities (a theme I have vented spleen over before on this page) and how the RSPCA, set up to prevent cruelty to animals, had moved away from that purpose by campaigning against fox hunts (which are cruel to animals, unless I have missed something).

MPs without purpose

It would be interesting to explore how many MPs have strayed away from their original purpose, or indeed if they ever really had one. Davies said some other stuff as well and generally came across as ‘one to keep an eye on’.

And he isn’t the only one. There are a number of similar examples lurking and emerging, so much so that I suspect by the end of 2014 there will be plenty of contenders for my 2015 calendar of ‘most-rage-inducing public representatives’.

Perhaps my fundraising challenge should be to try and restrain myself whenever I hear such drivel. As physical extremes go, it could be the hardest thing I have yet achieved.

Subscribers to civilsociety.co.uk can read the Charity IT Survey 2014 here.

Ian Allsop is a freelance editor and journalist, and regular contributor to Charity Finance.