John RileyGroundswell
Government is only as good as the advice it gets. In the case of
IT, most of its advice comes from supplier lobbyists, with
virtually no input from users. Traditionally, politicians have
happily introduced legislation in blissful ignorance of the real
impact or cost to corporate UK.
This one-sided anachronism is beginning to change. Civil
servants, politicians, advisers and others who make up the
machinery of government are now looking seriously at ways in which
they can take on board the user voice.
The catalyst was e-commerce - particularly last year's
E-commerce Bill debacle where several government departments fought
their corners with all the guile and cunning of the best Yes
Minister episodes.
User power - not supplier influence - saved UK plc's e-commerce
competitiveness and marked the waning of IT suppliers' spin
monopoly. Several major corporations calmly whispered that they
were pulling e-commerce operations out of the UK. This ultimately
persuaded the Government to stop playing Canute over Internet-based
e-commerce.
Don't underestimate the impact of last year. The Government and
its advisers now actively appreciate the value of user input to
policy. Now is the time for users and user groups to collaborate to
exploit this new climate and ensure that the user voice is not only
heard but routinely acted upon.
