E-Envoy calls Government's IT targets "unhelpful"
E-Envoy Andrew Pinder has called the Prime Minister's targets for a full electronic service by 2005 "unhelpful" in a speech to international IT industry leaders at Microsoft's Digital Britain Summit.
He said, "I know the Government will not appreciate me for saying this but there have been some unhelpful targets set, particularly the main one of full electronic service by 2005. I would be more than happy if, by the target date, we could have the main Government services online with full citizen participation."
The E-Envoy stated he would not discuss changes to the Government's E-agenda after making the comments, but hinted prior to the finalisation of the re-shuffle that there could be some amendments to the targets. "I have had a very good and productive relationship with the E-Minister Patricia Hewitt (who has since become Secretary of State for Trade and Industry), but there will be some Ministerial changes and they will have their own personal views," he said.
Asked if Pinder's original comments amounted to an admission that the Government had over-pledged the number of IT initiatives it could realistically handle within the set time, a Cabinet Office spokesman told UKTECH: "Speaking at the Digital Britain conference, Andrew said simply that the 2005 targets were not particularly helpful. Rather than dogmatically meeting targets, Andrew stressed the importance of creating truly citizen-focussed services which are widely used by the public and businesses. Since taking up the position of E-Envoy in February, Andrew's mantra has been to innovate, not just automate - ensuring maximum benefit and value added services for the citizen."
Denying that the project deadlines would mean that the targets would not be met on time leading to a 'rush job' just before the deadline at the expense of the taxpayer, the spokesman replied, "At no time did Mr Pinder say the targets were 'unrealistic.' The Office of the E-Envoy remains committed to working towards those targets."
The Government's previous IT shortcomings during the last term led to the creation of The Gateway Process in February - a system designed to monitor the progress of E-Government initiatives.
Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury said at the time of its launch: "Failure in big projects doesn't come cheap and is no longer a concept that the public is prepared to accept in the development and construction of major Government projects. Poor procurement leads to the waste of public finances. That is why the Gateway makes commercial common sense."
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Richard Powell, UKTECH