The Treasury should change the way it funds government IT programmes to include people costs such as training, according to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR).
The left-wing think tank is publishing its Digital Manifesto today (Thursday), following a year-long examination of technological change and its impact on policy and politics. The programme featured issues such as digital inclusion, public sector efficiency and identity cards. The final report outlines the organisation's vision for digital policy in the coming five years.
'It stresses the need to consider why we want to modernise public services and our economy, not just how we want to,' said report author and IPPR senior research fellow William Davies.
While there is a well-developed IT and telecoms infrastructure, a largely quantitative approach to egovernment has left the UK lacking the skills and imagination to make the most of its digital assets, says the report. Changing the accounting standards used by the Treasury for egovernment projects would go some way to addressing this, it says.
The manifesto also considers the growing impact of data privacy and citizen information, and use of the internet for local and community involvement.
Autor: Sarah Arnott
Quelle: Computing, 14.07.2005
