How important is having the CRE website? Essential - and it has transformed the way we're able to work. Instead of having to send out tons of material and the annual report, we can now refer people to the site. I wrote a piece for the Guardian recently and received 150 emails asking for more information on the CRE. In the past, I had to send everyone the information but now I can send them the URL.
Could the net be harnessed more for racial equality issues? We need to find more "friendly portals" and make it ever easier for people to access our material online. The dream of organisations like ours is that, eventually, someone will come up with a better way of hooking PDAs and, more importantly, mobile phones into websites so you can get more information that way.
Do you feel the interactivity is still in its infancy? In a way. I remember at university in the early 70s and we first started using computers seriously. Even to do something simple you would have to punch holes in hundreds of cards then put them into "instant turnaround" - meaning you put the cards in and came back the following day to see your result! To some extent, I think we're still at that stage with the internet.
What do you use your computer for?
Email is very important to my work. I have a work address and two AOL accounts but the main use is for schedul ing. At the CRE we're networked, so that anyone who needs to know what I'm doing can see that information, although my team is the only one with access to change things.
Gadgets? I have an IBM ThinkPad which I'll be replacing soon and a Tungsten Palm. I've just upgraded my mobile to a Sony Ericsson P800 - although I've no idea how to use many of the functions yet!
Do you see mobiles becoming part of the electoral process? I would like them to be. The central problem with getting people to vote is that they have to have something they believe is worth voting for - but we don't make it easy for people to actually vote. What could be simpler than registering your vote by text message? There are issues around security but most of the trials have demonstrated that it's not so difficult.
Isn't texting still a generational thing? It's not that older people will never pick it up, it just takes us longer. My daughter's first line of communication is texting, while it's taken me 48 hours to get used to turning my P800 on.
Favourite websites:
www.bbc.co.uk
www.theguardian.com
www.cabinet-office.gov.uk
Raregroove Records
Fortnum and Mason
Visit: <A HREF="http://www.cre.gov.uk"" TARGET="_NEW">www.cre.gov.uk
