UK ministers make e-government pledge

The UK government has published its blueprint for a modern administration, and revealed that it will revamp its technology procurement procedures.

At the launch of the Modernising Government White Paper, government officials promised that all central and local government services and activities will be reviewed over the next five years to identify the best supplier in each case.

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jack Cunningham also said that Labour had inherited a series of IT "calamities" from the previous Conservative government.

Peter Kilfoyle, Minister for Public Services, added: "One of the things that horrified us when we came in was the disparity between IT systems, even within the same department. It seems common sense to have some coordination based on open systems. The sensible thing to do is to have a corporate IT strategy."

Kilfoyle also promised new services for businesses, including a single source of information on regulations. "We intend to increase greatly the ability for business to respond electronically to government, and the Internet will play a large part in that," he said.

The White Paper also outlines the government's intention that 100 per cent of "basic dealings with government" will be delivered electronically by 2008, and that public services will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Speaking via a video link, Tony Blair pledged to improve the way government uses technology: "If government were a private sector company operating in a commercial market today, it would be making a huge investment in information technology to upgrade the level of service. We have got to do precisely the same in government to deliver the services that people need."