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By Suzanna Kerridge, 8 March 2000 00:30

NEWS A report into the French government's plans to turn its paper-based administration into a fully electronic system has revealed large flaws within the day-to-day running of parliament. The report, which was written by the Commisserat of General Planning, Bruno Lasserre, claimed that while some progress has been made, there is a serious mismatch between the organisation's processes and its use of IT. He said: "This new circulation of information puts the State's internal functions in question and tests the rigidity and constraints on its decision-making process. "It is necessary to modernise the organisation as a whole. Without these new technologies, we risk dividing the already divided services. The modernisation must touch all operating modes within departments, sectors and hierarchical structures," he added. Lasserre warned government officials not to become complacent and to continue the modernisation process. The French government concedes it has been slow to adopt the Internet but said it's now making up for the delay. Later this month, a three-day Internet festival, sponsored by the government, will see hundreds of companies such as Alcatel, France Telecom and IBM, giving the public over 600 lectures and demonstrations on topics ranging from ecommerce to getting online. According to the report, the French administration has caught up with other European countries in its use of data-processing equipment, intranets and the Internet in less than two years. Lasserre said three-quarters of government officials now process their daily parliamentary business using workstations. The report also showed that 40 per cent of civil servants use the network for at least three hours a day, a figure comparable to the use of technology in the private sector that boasts 41 per cent of networked workers. The report, called 'The State and Information Technology', is part of the government's action plan to modernise internal governmental processes.