IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Speaking as part of a panel at the Gov IT UK conference in London on 8 March 2006, Improvement and Development Agency e-government implementation manager Chris Clarke said that suppliers should do more to make it easier for organisations to collaborate.

Public sector demand for shared services will outstrip supplier capacity by three to one and the IT industry is not doing enough to prepare for the scheme, says the director of the government programme.

Shared services is a central element of both the Transformational Government strategy published by the Cabinet Office eGovernment Unit (eGU) last November and the Treasury’s efficiency review. The plan is to save money by sharing administrative functions such as human resources (HR) and finance across organisations.

The Senior IT Forum, which was set up to encourage dialogue between Whitehall and its technology suppliers in order to tackle project failures, is not to be scrapped but will be "complemented" by a council of key industry representatives, it has emerged.

The Transformational Government (TG) implementation plan published by the Cabinet Office this week signals unprecedented political backing for IT-enabled public sector reforms.

The plan sets out details for delivering the three themes outlined in November’s TG strategy: customer-focused services, shared back-office systems and development of the public IT profession.

It has chosen pbviews from Performancesoft for its own organisation and the 28 PCTs and Trusts that comprise its area.

Surrey and Sussex, one of the largest Strategic Health Authorities in England, works closely with the 15 Primary Care Trusts, seven acute hospital trusts, two ambulance trusts and four trusts providing mental health and specialist services that are located in Surrey and Sussex to deliver health services to their community of 2.5 million people. Their aim is to support their local NHS organisations in delivering the NHS plan and continuous improvement in the provision of health services in their area.

Installed by BT and currently run and administered by the Business Centre Swansea, the network provides pay-as-you-go wireless internet access throughout the main pedestrian areas of the city centre, at a rate of £10 for 2 hours.

The 10-year IT outsourcing deal was initially agreed upon more than a year ago but its signing was delayed as disagreement over the terms and conditions for the transfer of Swansea IT staff to the private sector dragged on.

New figures show 1,008,585 users accessed the website during the nine months between April and December 2006.

With a further three months remaining, last year's visitor figures will be dwarfed. In 2005/6, the total number of website visitors stood at 852,879.

Swansea City Council has scrapped plans for the second phase of its outsourcing contract with Capgemini because of cost.

Swansea finally inked the £83m 10-year contract for phase one of the service@swansea project last year after a bitter 18-month battle with IT staff and trade union Unison over whether workers would be permanently transferred or seconded to Capgemini. The £83m figure includes an extra £40m investment by the council on top of its existing IT budget over the 10 years.

Swansea council has finally signed an £83m IT outsourcing contract with Capgemini after a protracted and bitter 18-month battle over jobs with staff and the trade union Unison.

The 10-year deal between the council and Capgemini was initially agreed more than a year ago but was delayed as the row over the terms and conditions for the transfer of Swansea IT staff to the private sector rumbled on.