The Post Office Computer Scandal -and- How to make sure it doesn't happen to you

Prof Harold Thimbleby
Prof Harold Thimbleby
Calendar
Lectures
Date
Wednesday, 14 May 2025 7:30 pm
Speaker
Prof. Harold Thimbleby, Professor & Computer Software Consultant
Swansea University

Location

& CSTS Zoom Channel ID 912 0723 6181


Market Place, Cirencester GL7


Royal Agricultural University - Sir Emrys Jones Lecture Theatre


Sir Emrys Jones Lecture Theatre, RAU, Cirencester GL7 6JS


Description

Prof Harold Thimbleby is emeritus professor of computer science at Swansea University; he is a well-known speaker and has given over 600 presentations around the world. 
Harold works on fixing the problems that computers create. In 2014 he was an expert witness in a criminal case where he was able to establish hospital computers had created flawed evidence that had led to 73 nurses being accused of being dishonest. It was an NHS scandal mirroring the well-known Post Office Horizon Scandal where close to 1,000 postmasters were convicted of being dishonest because of flawed computer evidence. The experience led to Harold campaigning about the way computers are misunderstood, and the absurd common law presumption that computers are reliable. 
In 2021, he published Fix IT - See and Solve the Problems of Digital Healthcare, which won a best book award from the British Medical Association, who said everyone in healthcare should read it. A free magazine-like summary of the book is available at https://www.harold.thimbleby.net/booklet
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