The new government representative for all things e-, his main responsibility is for 'developing policy and planning for ICT (information communication technology) within Government'. Officially, he is now the 'Head of e-Government' and part of the e-Government Unit, which will be based in the Cabinet Office to 'join up electronic government services around the needs of customers'. He will report to Douglas Alexander, Minister for the Cabinet Office, and Sir Andrew Turnbull, the Cabinet Secretary.
'The Head of e-Government is one of the biggest and most challenging IT positions in the UK today,' said Watmore on his appointment. 'Douglas Alexander and Sir Andrew Turnbull have set a formidable challenge in not only driving up use of Government services online but also driving change, reform and efficiencies throughout the public sector by using IT.'
Welcoming Watmore to the hot seat, the Prime Minister Tony Blair described the role of e-Envoy as 'pivotal'.
'I am delighted that Ian Watmore is to take up this role,' said Blair. 'He will be playing a pivotal role ensuring that IT supports the business transformation of Government itself so that we can provide better, more efficient, public services.'
For his part, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Douglas Alexander, defended the work of the e-Envoy to date: 'The achievements the Government has made so far have been notable,' he claimed. 'Already 71 per cent of Government services are available online. Indeed, only last month we launched Directgov which has the potential to transform the way that citizens interact electronically with Government.'
But this marks a gain of just one per cent from the end of 2002, when Steven Marsh, director of security at the Office of the e-Envoy, claimed the level was already 70 per cent, with the most difficult services yet to be tackled.
But commenting on the name change, Alexander also said: 'The change to e-Government Unit represents a development from the original e-Envoy's task of "getting the UK online", to ensuring that the Government capitalises on the potential of ICT to both transform service delivery and achieve a step change in operational efficiency across the public sector.'
This signals, perhaps, a shift in emphasis away from achieving the government's target for putting all its public services online in 2005. His predecessor came in for widespread criticism for the quality and breadth of the Internet rollout achieved so far. The main criticism faced was that the easiest services had been cherry-picked for early implementation, which was misleading for the likelihood for success in meeting the overall target.
Note that as part of the name change the URL for the e-Envoy website will change on 2 June, from www.e-envoy.gov.uk to www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government.
Quelle: PC Pro, 26.05.2004
