By Andy McCue, 11 March 2005 18:05
NEWS Conservative MPs are proposing radical changes to government IT that would include the creation of an IT minister, IT contracts being put in the public domain, a new cyber-crime police unit and the creation of a faster national broadband infrastructure capable of delivering interactive video.
The proposals were unveiled today by the Conservative Technology Forum (CTF), a think-tank led by shadow industry and technology minister Michael Fabricant MP and European MP Malcolm Harbour. The plan does not represent official Tory policy but is aimed at outlining a technology strategy for the party in the event it wins the forthcoming general election.
The CTF manifesto advocates giving a senior minister ultimate authority and responsibility for all government IT projects "in contrast with the present diffuse system which gives responsibility, but little authority, to a senior civil servant who is effectively ignored by secretaries of state concerned only for their own departments".
Details of all winning IT bids would also be placed in the public domain unless they affect national security, along with all the NHS contracts awarded under the £6bn national IT programme for the health service.
The Tory MPs also propose a central cyber-crime helpdesk for collating all reports of computer and internet crime. Currently individuals and businesses must contact their local police force to report such crimes.
A separate paedophile investigation unit to crack down on internet child pornography is also advocated by the CTF but this fails to acknowledge the fact that the National Crime Squad already has a dedicated unit to cover this, which works with local child protection officers.
Aside from a promise to ease the burden of regulation the other key plank of the CTF plans is to encourage the creation of a national broadband infrastructure that rivals the 20MB lines offered as standard to consumers and businesses in Asia and the rest of Europe.
Speaking at the launch of the CTF plan, Fabricant said: "This action plan offers practical policies which an incoming Conservative administration must seriously consider. This shows our joined-up approach to policy making and our determination to move the UK to the front rank of digital economies."
Comments
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1. anonymous
The chances of this changing anything much are zilch unless they also intend scrapping OFCOM because there is only one company capable of creating the sort of infrastructure they are talking about and that's BT. Unless of course - and this is quite possible - the Tories will open up our markets completely to overseas - mainly American - companies thus demonstrating their traditional lack of support for UK industry.
2. Ken Hall
Yeah I agree, The Tories have no desire to support UK industry unless it happens to be a subsidiary of a larger global corp.
Labour have the identical policy. Who could forget when labour was rocked by the hinduja affair. Standing up for British business? Labour? I think not.
3. misceng
According to what I have heard Maggie Thatcher squashed a proposal by BT to put in a fibre network throughout UK because the government might have to pay for some of it. This shortsightedness has cost the country dear.
4. Simon Moores
Possibly best to read the Digital Action Plan first from www.conservative-technology.org
As one of the authors I would strongly disagree with the suggestion that the changes described would disadvantage our own companies.
5. James Dunlop
The Tory plans sound sensible. If executed well, they would be an improvement. Alas, neither party has a great track record when it comes to IT execution.
I do not share the other commentators' desire to have a government IT policy which focuses mainly on the needs of incumbent UK technology companies. If the UK is to prosper, we need a competative IT sector that serves its customers (ie UK industry and households).
I would welcome American companies competing with BT and offering an alternate Fibre optic network. Even if I did not use as US supplier, it would make BT responsive to my needs. At the moment, if you call them about their call prices, they are nice and try to sell to you. If you call about infrastructure, where they have a monopoly, they treat you in an offhand way.