Around half the websites the government earmarked for closure
in a programme to rationalise the number of government websites
have been closed down and their information moved
elsewhere.
Cabinet Office figures show that 762 of the 1,649 targeted
central government websites have been closed, and a further 599 are
expected to close this year.
As Computer Weekly
reported, most central government websites will move their
content to one of two websites -
Business Link or
Directgov - by
2011. While information look-ups are open to all, access to
transactions on the sites will go through the fiercely protected
Government Gateway for
authentication.
Others, such as Companies House, have put their content and
services onto Business Link, but have not closed their own site.
Some 26 departments are expected to keep their own website.
The scheme is part of the Cabinet Office's
Transformational Government programme to improve the return on
investment in government IT projects and to improve information
sharing between departments.
It also aims to reduce opportunities for hackers to corrupt
popular government websites, either to hack them to steal
information or use them to distribute malware.