Power to the portal: Civil servants get teched-up

The Department for Education and Skills is to launch a corporate portal to ensure each of its employees can access key work-related information.

The news comes after Lord Macdonald, minister for e-government, announced the UK government is to issue a nationwide policy for sharing knowledge within Whitehall.

The portal will provide a single point of access for staff to view up-to-date information and news.

In addition, staff will be able to look at HR files regarding their expenses, holiday allowance and departmental policy. Users also have the chance to personalise content.

Simon Stevens, regional director for Plumtree, the company behind the portal technology, said: "There was an opportunity here to provide an infrastructure to enable people from different groups to work within departments and also externally on joint projects online."

The scheme has already been running as a pilot for the past six months and improvements are scheduled to be rolled out over the next six months.

Stevens claimed the roll out should be complete within 18 months.

The Highways Agency and Ordnance Survey department are also working with Plumtree to develop similar portals.

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