In a speech, Brown said the government's goal was to replace the first generation of e-government with a more interactive and personalised service.
"Companies that use technology to interact with their users are positioning themselves for the future, and government must do likewise," he said. "Mygov marks the end of the one-size-fits-all, man-from-the-ministry-knows-best approach to public services.
"Mygov will constitute a radical new model for how public services will be delivered and for how citizens engage with government - making interaction with government as easy as internet banking or online shopping."
Using open source technology, Brown said the government will unleash data and content to the community and allow people to be the authors and editors, taking control away from civil servants.
"This bold new approach will transform the way services are delivered but, more importantly, it will be the vehicle through which citizens will come to control the services that are so important to their lives and communities," he said.
"With Mygov, citizens will be in control - choosing the content relevant to them and determining their level of engagement. And their feedback will in turn help us to improve services.
"Today you can book and pay for a holiday online in minutes. Why can't you do that for a blue badge for a disabled person? With Mygov you will.
"You can deal with your bank when and where you want, at any time that suits you. Why can't you do that with your Jobcentre? With Mygov you will.
"These days websites tell you what other services or products might interest you. Why don't government websites do that? With Mygov they will."
Mygov will give people a simple dashboard to manage things like pensions, tax credits, child benefits, council tax, medical appointments, their child's education and applying for identity documents, he said. The launch date of the new service has not been made clear.
To make access easier, the PM also launched an access to public services initiative, allowing users of government services to identify themselves easily.
In what appears to be almost identical to a Conservative policy announced in its technology manifeso earlier in March, Brown has promised to publish all government contracts online that are over £20,000. The Conservative policy's threshold was £10,000.
To help government deliver all these reforms, Brown also announced the expansion of Martha Lane Fox's role. Currently the digital champion, working to increase digital inclusion, she will help the Cabinet Office to establish a new digital public services unit. The new unit will ensure departments transfer and transform as many services as possible to online channels.
"It will put the four million people who are among the heaviest users of government services - but who have never used the internet - at the heart of our strategy rather than letting them literally slip through the digital net," Brown added.
As part of his "government of all the talents", Brown has also created a larger role for Sir Tim Berners Lee. With £30m of government funding, Sir Tim has been tasked with heading up a new Institute for Web Science. Based in Britain it will work with government and British business to "realise the social and economic benefits of advances in the web", Brown said.
"This will help place the UK at the cutting edge of research on the semantic web and other emerging web and internet technologies, and ensure that government is taking the right funding decisions to position the UK as a world leader. And we will invite universities and private sector web developers and companies to join this collaborative project."
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Quelle/Source: Public Service, 22.03.2010
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