Comments on: Great expectations for U.S. health care – Smarter Cities redux http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2009/10/great-expectations-for-us-health-care-smarter-cities-redux.html Just another weblog Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:15:57 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Duncan Bayne http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2009/10/great-expectations-for-us-health-care-smarter-cities-redux.html#comment-11027 Duncan Bayne Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:11:56 +0000 http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2009/10/great-expectations-for-us-health-care-smarter-cities-redux.html#comment-11027 I have a few questions re. this project, some of which I was hoping would be answered by the video. I clicked on the video & it popped up a WMV video; not very helpful given that I'm running Linux. So I thought I'd post them as a comment ... Firstly & most importantly: what is your position on individual freedom w.r.t. your proposals for changes to cities, healthcare, etc.? I'm worried by the fact that your approach seems top-down. For example you talk about designing a healthcare system. What does that _mean_? Does it simply mean providing information to citizens so they can make informed choices as to how to spend their own money? Or - and this is what worries me - are you talking about using tax money (i.e. by money taken without consent) to build a system which people will be forced to deal with (e.g. through compulsory insurance, or by legislation imposed by a federal monopoly like the FDA)? Also, I have a few questions regarding IBMs involvement. I can't imagine that IBM would enter into a campaign like this without having built a business case for it. I'd love to see the numbers on this. What sort of expenditure on IT infrastructure do your BAs project for these plans (smarter cities, improved healthcare)? What proportion of this expenditure does IBM hope to capture through this campaign? Or is it seen as a marketing / PR exercise, not lobbying? If so, what sort of return do you expect? I have a few questions re. this project, some of which I was hoping would be answered by the video. I clicked on the video & it popped up a WMV video; not very helpful given that I’m running Linux.

So I thought I’d post them as a comment …

Firstly & most importantly: what is your position on individual freedom w.r.t. your proposals for changes to cities, healthcare, etc.?

I’m worried by the fact that your approach seems top-down. For example you talk about designing a healthcare system. What does that _mean_?

Does it simply mean providing information to citizens so they can make informed choices as to how to spend their own money?

Or – and this is what worries me – are you talking about using tax money (i.e. by money taken without consent) to build a system which people will be forced to deal with (e.g. through compulsory insurance, or by legislation imposed by a federal monopoly like the FDA)?

Also, I have a few questions regarding IBMs involvement. I can’t imagine that IBM would enter into a campaign like this without having built a business case for it.

I’d love to see the numbers on this. What sort of expenditure on IT infrastructure do your BAs project for these plans (smarter cities, improved healthcare)? What proportion of this expenditure does IBM hope to capture through this campaign? Or is it seen as a marketing / PR exercise, not lobbying? If so, what sort of return do you expect?

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