The Government's £1bn investment in modernising IT across the
criminal justice network will create "significant" job
opportunities for IT professionals, Home Office minister Michael
Wills has told Computer Weekly.
Wills said, "Clearly, an investment of this scale will require a
significant number of skilled IT, programme and change management
professionals, who we will be recruiting in the next few
months."
Although Wills was unable to provide an exact figure for the number
of vacancies that will be created, experts estimate the project
could potentially create hundreds of new IT jobs.
Martin Sexton, of systems integration and implementation specialist
London Market Systems said, "There are possibly hundreds of jobs up
for grabs, although the fact that the major IT services firms have
so many staff on the bench, unassigned means that they are likely
to gain the lion's share of the work."
He expects that IT vacancies will be created across the board, from
systems and business analysts to programmers and project managers.
Sexton also predicted that the initiative will save the Government
money in the future. "By harnessing new technologies and Internet
standards, we should see substantial savings in the running of
government services," he said.
In last month's spending review it was announced that the
Government will invest nearly £1bn over the next three years to
create an integrated case management system across the criminal
justice network.
Wills said, "[The investment] demonstrates our commitment to
developing a joined-up case management capability which will
contribute to a more efficient and effective system to better
protect the public."
The UK's criminal justice network, which encompasses the police,
the Crown Prosecution Service, criminal courts, the Prison Service
and the Probation Service, has often attracted criticism for its
lack of joined-up IT.
A recent report by the Audit Commission said inadequate IT is
contributing to delays and inefficiencies across the criminal
justice system. Auditors also highlighted the lack of
interoperability between key criminal justice agencies.
Even Tony Blair, speaking at a conference in June, admitted that
many of the UK's criminal justice IT systems are "still in the dark
ages".
In an attempt to bring the network's technology infrastructure up
to date, the Government's Criminal Justice White Paper, which was
unveiled recently, outlined three key targets for criminal justice
IT:
- The delivery of secure e-mails across the criminal justice
network by 2003
- Criminal justice organisations to be exchanging case files
electronically by 2005
- Victims of crime should be able to track the progress of their
cases online by 2005.