E-envoy Andrew Pinder criticized the government's introduction of
its Regulation of Investigatory Powers legislation (RIPA) and
admitted that his office has an "awkward" relationship with local
authorities.
He made his remarks during the keynote speech at the GC2001 event
in London on Tuesday.
"My role and my office requires enabling legislation such as the
Electronic Communications Act, and regulatory legislation as with
RIPA," said Pinder. "Unfortunately RIPA was a clumsily introduced
and unfriendly piece of law enforcement, which caused quite an
outcry. I am glad to say modifications have been made to make it
friendlier."
The e-envoy claims that the UK's change to e-government could be as
significant to the country as the industrial revolution. "The
Industrial Revolution put us on top of the world and we can strive
for this sort of success again. The change is about making the
country stronger, creating a better economy and providing a better
service," he said.
He stressed the importance of local government in the move to
e-government but admitted that his lack of power at local level was
a problem.
"I have authority in central government, but not locally," said
Pinder. "This creates and awkward relationship between us and local
authority. However the full picture must include local authorities
and we are giving them strong support."
During his speech Pinder also called for an end to the blame
culture in government to allow public servants to take risks in
pushing towards Tony Blair's target of complete electronic service
by 2005. He said, "I don't want people to be cautious in going for
targets. I want to praise the risk takers, even if they may fail at
times."
Bruce Ackland.