A strategy for transforming government IT will be
launched by ministers today after months of work by government
chief information officer Ian Watmore and his CIO colleagues across
the public sector.
The focus will be on gearing public services to the needs of
citizens, rather than government departments, and improving the
professionalism of specialists.
It will also look to integrate IT-related activities that are
common to many departments, such as human resources and finance,
into shared services operations.
But ministers have announced IT led transformations before, with
questionable success. Despite various government initiatives a
report from the European Union last week showed the UK had slipped
behind most EU countries in the use of e-government services.
The UK is fifth from bottom for those using the internet to
obtain information about government.
One challenge for Watmore and his colleagues will be to convince
sceptics that the latest strategy will make any difference to the
way the government machine works, its running costs, or the way it
deals with the public.
There are also doubts over whether there will be any specific
mechanisms for reporting to parliament when IT-related projects go
wrong.
Whitehall must embrace honesty >>