Next week, the Government is expected to produce its first annual
report on the UK's progress towards the e-economy.
The report should make interesting reading - because the past 12
months have been characterised by constant friction between the
Government's e-rhetoric and reality.
First there was the row over the tax treatment of IT
contractors, then a contentious debate over the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act, a string of high-profile dotcom failures,
and finally a string of embarrassing security faults in the online
banks. Meanwhile, progress towards the provision of local broadband
and unmetered Internet access has been painfully slow - arguably
because regulation of the sector is painfully weak.
And just as Tony Blair tried to bask in the glory of AltaVista's
initial announcement on unmetered access, the ignominious failure
of the service will reflect badly on central government's
e-credibility.
There are some promising signs, however. The performance of
e-minister Patricia Hewitt has been largely applauded, and there is
still goodwill towards e-envoy Alex Allan, though the time to
deliver is fast approaching.
The central problem remains: the Government is slow to
understand business needs - by which we mean the needs of ICT
users, not suppliers.
Its singular failure to listen to business over the RIP Act has
produced a confused and unsatisfactory post-legislation
consultation process that is generating much ill-will in the user
community.
On e-government, while there are many small success stories, the
whole online tax-filing debacle shows that it may be difficult to
deliver once the low-hanging fruit has been plucked.
In the meantime, the Government should spare the spin next week.
The UK is not the best environment for e-commerce, nor is it
currently close to being so. No amount of photo opportunities with
school computers or town-hall Internet booths can hide that
fact.