Joined-up government is a term that has been bandied about by Whitehall policy idealists for so long, and has remained so far from reality, that the phrase is now largely accompanied by a knowing look and caustic tone.
But, notwithstanding the usual quotient of departmental in-fighting, such cynicism may have cause to change.
With the shift from identity cards to identity management – and the even more significant move from a major procurement to reuse of systems already in place, and extension of existing contracts as they come up for renewal – joined-up government may yet be rescued from the dustbin of impractical naivity.
Leaving aside the political question about the ID card scheme and whether the UK either wants it or needs it, Computing’s concern is that the programme does not follow the well-trodden route to public sector IT disaster.
Avoidance of the traditional multibillion-pound, usual-suspects procurement, greenfield infrastructure build and departmentally blinkered specification process is certainly a promising start.
The realities of the Home Office’s piecemeal approach may yet prove technically unworkable. It is easy to talk up grandiose plans as if technology can link together in the same way as Lego bricks.
But that the department is even thinking about how the ID card plan fits into the wider picture is a major change from the early days of the scheme. And it signals a new maturity in thinking about technology programmes that reflects well on both the Home Office and the wider public sector IT community.
It would be wrong to be over-optimistic. The technical plan itself is fraught with difficulties, and the ID card scheme as a whole still faces formidable hurdles. But at least some real thought is going into the technology side.
While it is no guarantee of success, this is tangible progress for government IT. And joined-up government no longer looks like quite such a pipe dream.
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