By silicon.com, 24 August 2005 09:20
For a very long time, 2005 has been talked about as a watershed year for e-government in the UK. Here we are approaching the end of year deadline - note, at the start of the year we quickly heard the government and various civil servants start talking about the December 2005 deadline - and we are pretty much ready to ask whether the shift has been a success.
Yes and no, is the honest answer.
Let's be clear - it's too early to say whether the desired efficiency gains expected from taking so many processes and citizen services digital will be realised. But we can make a call on the switchover. Which brings us back to the yes and no answer.
The yes side of things is born out by the stats. This week local e-government minister Jim Fitzpatrick said that "electronic enablement of council services" has risen from just 26 per cent in March 2002 to 77 per cent in March this year.
And the situation is improving rapidly. Ask ministers as well as those supplying the technology building blocks for e-government and most will tell you that all or virtually all local councils will be in the right place by the end of the year.
The next stage sounds simple: make people use the new channels.
But this is easier said than done. A recent finger-in-the-air, quick poll by silicon.com found that of our readers - who tend to be tech-literate and well-educated - almost three-quarters (71 per cent) said they hadn't noticed new interaction from their local authority. Only 21 per cent said they knew there was more going on online these days.
So here's the no part of the answer to the earlier question. The shift to full-fledged e-government depends on the populace knowing the newer ways they can interact with those they pay to govern. Many citizens would be surprised by just how much they can do online these days.
Recent entries in the public sector category to this year's CNET Awards (run by this publication's owners) showed true innovation and progress in simple areas such as speaking to a local council without being given the run around - in short with a high level of service that would match that from well-run private companies.
We applaud local authorities in getting to the point where the 2005 deadline should be hit. This wasn't always such a certainty.
But now let's make all the good work meaningful. Let's get both taxpayers and government benefiting from the changes. And that has to start with generating awareness of what is now available online.
Comments
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1. Misceng
If my experience is anything to go by well run private companies are thin on the ground. I have had the need to complain to several companies over the past year about their service and in all cases I got a "Public Relations" answer which did not refer to any of the points I raised. My local council is Elmbridge, Surrey and there all but the Planning Department behave very well.