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UK: Whitehall gauges firms’ ID plans

Banks may lead industry push for secure cards
The UK government is seeing widespread interest from firms mulling the use of national identity (ID) cards, the civil servant in charge of the controversial scheme revealed at a European ID cards event last week.
Speaking at a conference in Brussels organised by e-business lobby group Eema, Katherine Courtney said that the government had been consulting the public and private sectors to develop usage cases for the proposed cards.
UK: Whitehall gives open source the thumbs-up
Office of Government Commerce says the technology is viable for desktops
Open source software is now a viable option for the public sector's desktops, says Whitehall buying arm the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
The agency is publishing its conclusions today following a series of year-long trials of open source technology across a number of public sector organisations.
UK: Whitehall hits the mark
The Cabinet Office has launched a quality award scheme for IT products and services bought by public sector organisations.
Minister Jim Murphy announced the availability of the CSIA Claims Tested (CCT) Mark Scheme at an event in Birmingham on 8 September 2005.
Developed by the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA), the service involves independent tests on the information assurance of off the shelf products and services provided to the public sector. It examines the security of products and that suppliers' claims for their performance are realistic.
UK: Whitehall ignores the phone call
Ministers have shunned a suggestion from MPs that the government should set up a telephone access gateway for public services
The Cabinet Office has ignored a recommendation from MPs that a cross government public services helpline modeled on NHS Direct should be tested.
MPs on the Public Administration Select Committee had recommended that the government should set up a telephone service similar to the French 'Allo Service Public', which answers 70% of enquiries in one call without having to refer people elsewhere.
UK: Whitehall IT strategy questioned
The government is developing a central Whitehall IT strategy to try and emulate the cost savings and flexibility achieved in the private sector.
Documents drawn up at the Office of the eEnvoy and leaked to our sister title, Computing, detail a common systems strategy designed to 'reduce the cost of IT, while getting improved output' and 'make government more agile and responsive'.
UK: Whitehall must embrace honesty and openness to succeed with IT

Every few years, like cyclical bouts of unseasonably warm weather, a minister pledges an end to tackle the causes of systemic failure of IT-related projects in government. But do any of these announcements make any difference?
Jim Murphy is the latest minister to read the yellowing script entitled "How this government will tackle the generic causes of failure".
UK: Whitehall plan for huge database

A giant database of people's personal details could be created at Whitehall under government plans which ministers say will help improve public services.
Tony Blair is expected to unveil the proposal in Downing Street on Monday.
Strict regulations currently prevent one part of government sharing personal information it holds with another.
UK: Whitehall ramps up e-government efforts

Build it and they will come
The UK government has announced a £5m national campaign to raise public awareness and encourage take-up of council e-services.
'Lose the Queues' is set to launch in early 2006 and will highlight the benefits of accessing council services online, including flexibility, convenience and improved access to information.
UK: Whitehall readies ID card action plan

Industry concerns focus on government management skills
The newly-formed Identity and Passport Service (IPS) will publish an action plan for the national biometric ID card scheme next month, and procurement will start next summer.
IPS chief executive James Hall announced the new details – the first since the start of the Home Office review in the early summer – at an industry briefing last week.
UK: Whitehall rethinks web infrastructure
UK Government websites are to get a new cross department content management service, says a procurement document
A group of Whitehall departments known as "the club" are looking for an IT contractor to set up a cross government e-communications infrastructure, according to a tender notice.
It wants the infrastructure to help achieve efficiency targets and to improve the Directgov portal and individual departments' websites. According to the notice, the aim is to "provide a better citizen experience through a consistent approach to displaying government information via the web".
UK: Whitehall should go Gallic
The UK needs to follow France and introduce a single telephone system for public services, say MPs
The government should cut down on the number of call centres it runs and set up a "Public Services Direct" contact point, MPs said on 17 March 2005.
UK: Whitehall skills under fire

Expert predicts long wait for successful government IT projects
It will take another 30 years before Whitehall can successfully deliver major IT projects unless fundamental changes are made, says a leading adviser to the National Audit Office (NAO) report on public sector efficiency.
Endemic problems in the civil service mean IT delivery failures will not be solved and the eGovernment Unit’s Transformational Government (TG) strategy is ‘hype’, according to Colin Talbot, Professor of Public Policy at Manchester Business School.
UK: Whitehall softens 2005 e-gov targets
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has reduced the number of mandatory e-government targets local authorities have to meet by 2005 in a new set of guidelines published last week.
The policy document sets 14 minimum requirements for e-government, including basic CRM, greater use of websites by the general public to support self-service outside office hours, and support for teleworking by local authority staff.
UK: Whitehall takes open road
A year-long pilot programme by the Office of Government Commerce has resulted in some encouraging news for open source suppliers
The Office of Government Commerce (OGC)'s report on year-long open-source software trials in the public sector says the software is maturing rapidly and should be considered alongside rival proprietary tools.
UK: Whitehall technology spend to rise
Central government's investment in ICT will increase by 21% over the next three years, according to Kable's latest report
Central government ICT expenditure forecast 2004-05 to 2007-08, published on 25 July 2005, forecasts that expenditure on ICT will rise from £2.6bn in 2004-05 to £3.2bn in fiscal year 2007-08. Just over 60% of the 2007-08 spend (£1.9bn) is predicted to be outsourced.
UK: Whitehall urges local sharing
Councils form an essential part of the plan to create pan-public sector shared services practices, a senior official has said
The Cabinet Office has appealed to local government to contribute to its programme to develop shared services principles.
Director of the shared services transformation team David Myers told delegates at the IDeA e-champions network conference that the public sector had to develop its own sharing principles to avoid repeat buying of systems and processes.
UK: Whitehall website scores with SMEs
A government website designed to provide practical advice for small businesses has received 8m visits in its first year
More than 40 government departments contribute information to www.businesslink.gov.uk. They include the Office of Deputy Prime Minister, Health and Safety Executive, HM Revenue and Customs and the Patent Office.
Over 650,000 small businesses use the site each month and the figure is rising, according to research into the website released on 1 June 2005. 90% of users believed using the site offers time and cost savings, while 85% said the information gave them the confidence to grow and develop their business.
UK: Who's in charge of government IT?

Responsibilities doled out to minsters in wake of cabinet reshuffle
As the dust settles on Prime Minister Tony Blair's major cabinet reshuffle earlier this month, it is finally becoming clear which ministers will have responsibility for IT issues.
Minister for industry and regions Margaret Hodge will take on responsibility for ecommerce - a role previously held by Alun Michael. Her other responsibilities include enterprise, growth and business investment; and strengthening regional economies.
UK: Who's in charge of IT in London?
Cities such as New York, Munich and even Bergen in Norway have a CIO - but not London
The fragmented political structure of London means that it would be extremely difficult to appoint a CIO or CTO to oversee IT policy for the whole city, according to the government agency tasked with managing e-government initiatives across the capital.
UK: Why e-government isn't working
UK drops down the e-government rankings - but there is hope
The UK has slipped another rung down the e-government ladder, slipping further behind leaders including Canada, the US and Denmark.
Despite the huge amounts spent on government IT - and the laudable target of having all government services online by the end of this year - the UK is still rated as a follower in the rankings put together by Accenture.