Once again the government has been called to task over its target of putting all public sector services online by 2005. Think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research says services should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to see if e-enabling them will benefit the citizen.
It is a view that has been voiced by many IT managers in local authorities, who fear the restrictive targets will lead to services being put online simply because they have to be, and not on the basis of whether people will actually use them.
Pretty much everyone involved in these targets has either publicly or privately expressed these concerns, yet still the government continues to beat the 2005 drum.
The danger is that, in the drive to find another box that can be ticked off on the government's checklist of achievements, a real opportunity to deliver innovative services could be missed and the public left with the legacy of yet another botched IT implementation.
Quelle: Vnunet
