[Japan] System error: Japan cyber security minister admits he has never used a computer

[surface]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...inisternever-used-computer-yoshitaka-sakurada

System error: Japan cyber security minister admits he has never used a computer

Yoshitaka Sakurada also seemed confused by the concept of a USB drive when asked in parliament

A Japanese minister in charge of cyber security has provoked astonishment by admitting he has never used a computer in his professional life, and appearing confused by the concept of a USB drive.

Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, is the deputy chief of the government’s cyber security strategy office and also the minister in charge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that Tokyo will host in 2020.

In parliament on Wednesday however, he admitted he doesn’t use computers.

 

[Cray]

 

[access]

the most secure cyber security minister ever. cannot be hacked.

 

[satanboy]

Only in South Africa.....oh wait.

 

[ShaunSA]

What did they expect when they appointed a geriatric?

 

[konfab]

Please protect me from yourself..

 

[Cray]

Please protect me from yourself..

South Africa - "We have the most incompetent IT director in public service ever"

Japan - "Hold my beer..."

 

[WaxLyrical]

ANC gets goosebumps reading articles like this.

 

[Suspect99]

He should commit sudoku

 

[Arthur]

I don't see the problem. He's a manager hired for his skill in managing a large organisation and aligning all the arrows to ensure it achieves its mission. Doesn't mean he needs to be a security boffin or even a computer user - for that he must ensure the org he manages has the right goals, staffing, and resource, etc.

I don't expect the minister in charge of the post office to be skilled at letter delivery or how to operate an ink stamp. But he damnwell must be a capable expert at structuring and managing an organisation that does that stuff. That includes making sure the org has the necessary technical and professional experts to accomplish the mission.

 

[Knyro]

I don't see the problem. He's a manager hired for his skill in managing a large organisation and aligning all the arrows to ensure it achieves its mission. Doesn't mean he needs to be a security boffin or even a computer user - for that he must ensure the org he manages has the right goals, staffing, and resource, etc.

I don't expect the minister in charge of the post office to be skilled at letter delivery or how to operate an ink stamp. But he damnwell must be a capable expert at structuring and managing an organisation that does that stuff. That includes making sure the org has the necessary technical and professional experts to accomplish the mission.

This. The headline sounds shocking until you realise that most ministers rarely have any qualifications in the area they are deployed in. They are political positions after all and they get moved around too.

You can of course argue that this shouldn't be the way things are done but there is nothing unusual about this.

 

[Cray]

This. The headline sounds shocking until you realise that most ministers rarely have any qualifications in the area they are deployed in. They are political positions after all and they get moved around too.

Political or not, the fact that anyone in professional or public life doesn't know who to use a computer is scary. Plenty of CEO's aren't subject matter experts on the companies they lead but they sure as hell know how to use e-mail at the very least.

End of the day, his office is responsible for drawing up cyber security policies, at the very least he needs to know whether the policies he is putting his signature on are decent or not.

 

[Arthur]

This. The headline sounds shocking until you realise that most ministers rarely have any qualifications in the area they are deployed in. They are political positions after all and they get moved around too.

Exactly.

Very few if any smart technical experts become good managers. All too often technical people fail to grasp that management is itself a professional skill, and a rare one at that.

 

[Vrotappel]

I don't see the problem. He's a manager hired for his skill in managing a large organisation and aligning all the arrows to ensure it achieves its mission. Doesn't mean he needs to be a security boffin or even a computer user - for that he must ensure the org he manages has the right goals, staffing, and resource, etc.

I don't expect the minister in charge of the post office to be skilled at letter delivery or how to operate an ink stamp. But he damnwell must be a capable expert at structuring and managing an organisation that does that stuff. That includes making sure the org has the necessary technical and professional experts to accomplish the mission.

If one reads the rest of the article he appears quite incompetent.

 

[Arthur]

Political or not, the fact that anyone in professional or public life doesn't know who to use a computer is scary. Plenty of CEO's aren't subject matter experts on the companies they lead but they sure as hell know how to use e-mail at the very least.

End of the day, his office is responsible for drawing up cyber security policies, at the very least he needs to know whether the policies he is putting his signature on are decent or not.

If the ability to use email in some way impacts an executive's ability to do the job, the organisation has the wrong executive. If I were interviewing candidates for the job of executive, their claim to know how to do email would instantly tell me they don't understand the job.

 

[Arthur]

If one reads the rest of the article he appears quite incompetent.

But that incompetence has nothing to do with not being a security boffin or even knowing email. JJ Irani or Lee Iacocca or Herb Kelleher (random examples) know nothing about email and had never touched a computer, but they sure know enough about management to know you hire the best experts you can afford.

 

[Cray]

If the ability to use email in some way impacts an executive's ability to do the job, the organisation has the wrong executive. If I were interviewing candidates for the job of executive, their claim to know how to do email would instantly tell me they don't understand the job.

Every corporate CEO I know about or have met knows how to use e-mail and in fact it's the one system they cannot live without. I might assume some differences in organisation for a Public job but the fact is anyone in any leadership position who doesn't have such a basic modern skill is doing their organisation a disservice.

As for the interview thing, the ability to use e-mail would be assumed in an interview for any top position, you wouldn't mention being able to do it because these days it's up there with the ability to read and write. If someone in an interview mentioned never having used a computer It would raise serious red flags as to to their commitment to acquiring skills vital for the modern work place.

 

[MrGray]

His job is about good management, leadership and oversight, ensuring best practices are followed, etc. The extent to which computer literacy is a requirement is arguable. You could equally say that many countries' health ministers are not doctors let alone capable of putting a plaster on a paper cut.

 

[DanDango]

South Africa - "We have the most incompetent IT director in public service ever"

Japan - "Hold my sake..."

FTFY

 

[Arthur]

Every corporate CEO I know about or have met knows how to use e-mail and in fact it's the one system they cannot live without. I might assume some differences in organisation for a Public job but the fact is anyone in any leadership position who doesn't have such a basic modern skill is doing their organisation a disservice.

As for the interview thing, the ability to use e-mail would be assumed in an interview for any top position, you wouldn't mention being able to do it because these days it's up there with the ability to read and write. If someone in an interview mentioned never having used a computer It would raise serious red flags as to to their commitment to acquiring skills vital for the modern work place.

You said it better than I did. Nevertheless, at least theoretically, I can imagine an extremely capable and competent executive who is dyslexic and with eyesight so poor she can barely read. Her management skills might be so exceptional that her other handicaps are not disqualifiers. Ditto with email skills, or the ability to drive a car or pilot an aircraft - they might not be immediately relevant to or necessary for the executive or ministerial function. That just illustrates the principle I'm trying to establish - management expertise and skill is its own thing, quite distinct from any particular technical expertise.