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British government set for big IT changes

LONDON: Britain on Tuesday promised an electronic revolution in government, vowing to catch up with the private sector over the next decade in order to give citizens a better deal.

"The potential for change is vast," said an official White Paper on modernising government. "There is no good reason why, by 2008, it should not be as simple and easy to do many of the main dealings with government as it is today to make a phone call or choose between TV programmes."

The document acknowledged that until now the public sector had lagged behind private firms which had pioneered the use of call centres, the Internet and other new technologies in dealing with consumers.

It admitted that because of a decentralised approach to information technology up to now, the government's different departments were often unable to communicate with each other.

"It's clear that all government IT purchasing is going to be more centralised from now on," one official commented.

Racal Telecom, a leading supplier of electronic systems to the government, said it welcomed the document.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, who announced in 1997 that by 2002 a quarter of dealings with government should be available electronically, told the country's civil servants that their days of nine-to-five working were over.

"We have got to organise the services around the convenience of those people using the services. They are our customers. People don't work in the same way, nine to five, Monday to Friday -- they have different needs, different life patterns, different ways of organising their life," Blair said.

The White Paper said that with the exception of some processes which had to be exempted, half of dealings with government should be capable of electronic delivery by 2005 and 100 percent by 2008.

Among the new technologies singled out are multi-purpose smart cards, which can be used not only for payment but for identification. At present Britain is one of the few European countries without any form of national identity card.

But the White Paper sidesteps any suggestion that the use of such smart cards might one day become compulsory.

Other new technologies highlighted in the paper include digital signatures, which the government says should have legal significance alongside paper and pen signatures, digital television, and electronic gateways or portals to ease access to official data.

The government hopes to promote social inclusion -- a key goal of Blair's domestic policy -- by widening access to personal bank accounts among those who do not have one.

Other goals in the paper include changing the risk averse culture of the civil service and encouraging innovation with incentives.

Cabinet Office Minister Jack Cunningham said the new approach would apply across government, in schools, hospitals, police stations, doctors' surgeries, employment offices and local councils.

"We need joined-up government. We need integrated government," he said. The paper also commits Blair's government to double the number of people from ethnic minorities and women in top public sector jobs over the next five years.-Reuters