The Gala project will combine local government services with the
Internet in one easy to use package.
The Government, local authorities and IT suppliers are investing
millions trying to deliver online services to the public. But
behind the hype of e-government there is little research on how
people will actually use such services, writes
Mike Simons.
However, this could change with a small experiment as part of
the European Union-funded Gala project. The Gala project has already looked at how a range of
seamless services can be delivered via personal computers and
kiosks. Now it aims to find out how practical and desirable it is
to take local government services into people's homes.
Three authorities in Britain - Suffolk County Council, Ipswich
Borough Council and the London Borough of Lewisham - are taking
part in the project, along with councils in Barcelona, Bologna,
Cologne and Gotenborg. BT is also a partner in the project,
supplying the necessary technical support.
Chris Mole, leader of Suffolk County Council, said, "With this
experiment we are trying to find out how useful the Internet is for
local government. We are interested in exploiting any form of
technology which can help us provide services to everyone, whatever
their circumstances or wherever they might live."
For five weeks 15 families in Suffolk and five in Lewisham have
been conducting a trial of the system, which gives them access to
the Web and to local government information both from their region
and from Europe.
A chat room and discussion board has been set up and the
families have been encouraged to form their own electronic
community.
This is hardly groundbreaking stuff but, according to Antoinette
Moussalli who is running the project for Lewisham, "Although this
information was largely available, previously it was not always
easy to find. The beauty of Gala is that you don't need to know who
is providing a service to find out more about it.
"For example, if you want to catch a bus, you don't need to know
which company runs which service to find out more details.
"This has important implications for councils delivering
services, particularly in rural areas," she added.
The key, however, will be research commissioned from the
University of Surrey, which will look at how well the volunteers
coped with the equipment and how useful it was.
Tony Blair may have a vision of electronic government, but
unless services are accessible and used by people who wouldn't
normally consider using a computer - either because they can't
afford one or because they don't know how to use it - his vision
will fail.
- Know of an innovative public sector project? If so e-mail
Mike
Simons