Some commonly established egovernment assumptions: the end of 2005 will see the deadline for 100 per cent of government services to be delivered electronically; Tony Blair set this target back in 1997; and most councils will fail to meet the cut-off date.

But none of these statements is completely accurate.

There are indeed targets set for the end of December by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) around the Implementing Electronic Government programme. But these are just baseline targets; there are further, more challenging deadlines set for April next year.

And while Tony Blair did talk generally about egovernment in 1997, the original deadline for local government compliance was 2008.

Targets were moved forward three years by a European Union egovernment
agreement in 2000 and, what’s more, John Major had already set electronic
service delivery in motion during his time in office.

And though it is undoubtedly true that some councils will struggle to complete
all egovernment programmes, most organisations have made significant progress towards e-enabling at least some of the services they offer their citizens.
Angela Waite, president of local government user group Socitm and head of ICT at Canterbury City Council, says the majority of councils will be there or
thereabouts on deadline day.

‘The targets have been a very good way of focusing their minds and have been a useful checklist,’ she says.

But given that there are as many as 467 local authorities in the UK affected by egovernment issues, it comes as no surprise that service delivery and meeting targets can be a complicated process.

Some observers believe that while a substantial amount of work has been undertaken, its impact has been somewhat limited.

Gunveer Mahandru, managing director of web design consultancy IconZest, says local government web development lags behind its private sector equivalent.
‘For all the hard work, look at the functionality you expect when you interact on the web with your bank, your supermarket and your travel agent,’ he says.

‘There are no council web sites at all that can offer anything equivalent.

‘There were great intentions around this, but the problem has been the way the targets have been interpreted and implemented at the local level.’

IT staff at Swansea City Council recently fought fiercely against outsourcing plans concerning a £100m egovernment project. And last year, Bradford City Council management had to backtrack on service provision plans to keep a 10-year egovernment initiative on course.

Could these be the first of many tussles, as ambitious transformation projects run up against unconvinced staff who are more concerned with losing generous pension entitlements than e-enabling council services?

Paul Smith, research director of public sector consultancy Kable, says the
original aim of the egovernment targets – to move a bureaucracy invented in the Victorian era into the 21st century – has to be applauded.

‘But the reality is that this is a long path with many little steps that need to be taken,’ he says.

‘There has been a realisation that one size fits all is not appropriate. For instance, is it necessary for all councils to offer the ability to pay council tax online? Are there more pressing local issues?’

Waite also recognises that councils are beginning to understand how specific technologies are best used in certain circumstances.

‘There have been discoveries that not all issues – use of smartcards for instance
– are relevant to all cases,’ she says.

But for now, most councils are striving to complete egovernment projects under way and to meet forthcoming targets.

How do councils’ IT leaders respond as they see 31 December looming in
their calendars?

Mike Weston, ICT and egovernment manager at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, says the targets have helped, and believes local government service delivery in his region has improved as a result.

The council now boasts a series of electronic facilities, such as integrated customer relationship management (CRM), a range of one-stop shops and localised self-service facilities on the web.

‘It’s an unfair comparison to judge local government against something like a commercial site,’ says Weston.

‘You go there when you want to – we have to be so much more available and responsive.’

Dave Lovelock, ICT strategy and egovernment officer at North Wiltshire District Council, also believes local government organisations offer a specific – but correct – type of technical resource for the user.

‘We do not think people want the same sort of CRM, say, as in the commercial sector – they do not want to hear about the progress of their planning application when they have rung up about paying their council tax,’ he says.

‘The thing about deadlines is, if you do not set them you do not tend to do
anything – so the egovernment targets were very helpful. They were challenging, but I think more for the business side than the IT side.’

Working to egovernment deadlines has placed tremendous pressures on local government IT departments.

Organisations needed to integrate a range of electronic services quickly and effectively for the benefit of users.

The government recently discovered the average local authority had e-enabled 79 per cent of its services.

And most will meet the deadline to have all services online by the end of the year, according to research from the ODPM.

With the numerical target expected to be met, the challenge now is to focus on what comes next, says the ODPM’s recently published Two Years On report.
‘Moving into the final year of the local egovernment programme, it is time to consider the contribution of our investment to the big picture,’ says the report.

Waite says egovernment experiences will help future adoption and adaptation of technology in the public sector.

‘It is the next step that matters – we have put the technology in place, now we need to speed its take-up and use, both internally and externally,’ she says.

‘We very much see the future as transforming local government using IT and egovernment structures.’

December and even March deadlines aside, western economies continue to pour money into public sector IT.

In August, researcher IDC predicted government IT spending in western Europe will grow at an average rate of 5.3 per cent between 2004 and 2009, compared with 4.5 per cent for the rest of the IT market, hitting $49bn (£28bn) by 2009 – up from $38bn (£22bn) in 2004.

The local authority element of that spending is considerable: $18.7bn (£11bn) last year, set to rise to $24.8bn (£14bn) by the end of the decade.

But Mike Blackburn, sales director for BT’s local government arm, says that councils will still need to concentrate on fulfilling citizen requirements, despite the achievements of the first round of egovernment initiatives.

‘We may have hit the target but did we get the point? There have been significant strides in local government but have the citizens noticed yet?’ he says.

‘Councils may be more efficient in the back office but until that becomes more evident it is a moot point. Until it is as easy to move house as it is to buy a chair off the web the jury’s still out.’

Technology workers continue to strive to improve local government IT, and Computing’s annual ImageTrak report recently revealed that system security is the key concern for IT professionals working in the public sector.

Maintaining the balance between accessibility and security of information
is an important consideration for many areas of local and central government.
‘It is one of the big challenges,’ says Eric Woods, government practice director at analyst Ovum.

‘There are increasing pressures on the public sector to extend services – 24/7 availability of information, for example – which change the risk profile.’

Unfortunately, says Woods, there is no easy answer.

‘These are simply the new circumstances in which public sector organisations have to operate, and that balancing act is critical,’ he says.

‘It is a difficult challenge that needs to be addressed on two levels: the technical aspects and the organisational issues, such as the need to educate employees.’
Jonathan Anderson, programme manager at Gloucestershire Electronic Partnership, a joint IT initiative among the county’s local authorities, agrees that it is particularly difficult for public sector bodies to maintain the balance between accessibility and information privacy.

‘The Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts loom large over much of what we want to do, particularly when it comes to sharing information between departments within a single authority, never mind across different authorities,’ he says.

‘I think some clarification is needed from the government because data
protection and security of information are paramount.

‘The lack of clarity about what can and cannot be shared under legislation means there can be a barrier to the sharing of information.’

Expert view
Eric Woods, government practice director at analyst Ovum, says maintaining the
balance between accessibility and security of information is one of the big challenges for public sector organisations.

‘This is not just an issue for the public sector, but across the board,’ he says.

‘There are increasing pressures on the public sector to extend its services – 24/7 availability of information, for example – which change the risk profile.’

Woods says there is no easy answer for organisations looking to work within
this environment.

‘These are simply the new circumstances in which they have to operate, and that balancing act is critical,’ he says.

‘It is a very difficult challenge that needs to be addressed on a number of levels
– both the technical aspects and the organisational issues such as the need to educate employees about the issues.’

The drive for IT innovation in the sector also changes organisational approaches to technology, says Woods.

‘I think people want an element of conservatism in their public bodies, but the attitude has changed a lot in recent years. Egovernment targets have generated a fresh perspective on IT in both local and central government,’ he says.

‘It is taking its time, but there are a range of exciting projects going on with things such as customer relationship management, information management and so on, in all sorts of areas – education, planning and social services.’

Woods says that, as a result, local government is far from the staid environment it was 10 years or so ago. But advances still need to be made.

‘On the whole the public sector is not really aspiring to be leading-edge with technology per se; the innovation is coming in the way technology is applied,’ says Woods.

‘In the private sector, a lot of innovation is about generating more revenue from customers. The public sector, of course, faces the challenge that if it increases
take-up of services, it costs more, so it has to find a way of squaring the circle.’

And as take-up of services – and use of data-rich technology - is increased, public sector IT chiefs will become increasingly concerned by data sensitivity issues.

‘New questions are arising in this area,’ says Woods. ‘Once you start moving to a predominantly electronic environment, the nature of the information and t he way it is accessed changes.

‘I do not think we are on top of it yet. One of the things we have seen on the data protection side is a lot of concern about privacy, but you also need to be able to improve effectiveness and convenience.’

Woods says, for example, that most people are happy for government departments to share their address if it means they only have to tell one agency when they move house.

‘But resolving questions about how we all relate to and interact with the government is key,’ he says.‘The sector is still trying to understand what people need to feel confident about public services sharing information about them.

‘Clearly, those responsible for delivering IT in the public sector are in the middle of that debate - both responding to it and helping to drive it. It is a very live issue.’

Case study: Gloucestershire Electronic Partnership
Technology initiatives must prove their benefit to citizens

Local authorities are focused on making sure the citizen is at the heart of everything they do.

And Jonathan Anderson, programme manager at Gloucestershire Electronic Partnership – a joint IT initiative among the county's local authorities – says
the organisation uses technology to increase access for local users to public sector services.

‘While there is not a pressure to be innovative with technology, there is certainly a pressure to be innovative and cost-effective in terms of making sure the maximum number of people can access your services in the ways they want,' says Anderson.

‘While the egovernment agenda has driven authorities to consider adopting new technology, they have also been very keen not to implement enterprise-wide systems or untested technologies without a firm grasp of the benefits to citizens.'

But at the same time as ensuring that citizen access is maximised, Anderson must also maintain an effective balance between accessibility and information security.

‘It is particularly difficult,' he says. ‘The Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts loom large over much of what we want to do, particularly when it comes to sharing information between departments within a single authority, never mind across different authorities.’

Anderson says much confusion surrounds data protection policy.

‘I think some clarification is needed from the government,' he says.

‘Data protection and security of information are paramount, but because of the lack of clarity about what can and cannot be shared under the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Act, they can be a barrier to the sharing of information.'

But at the same time country-wide egovernment initiatives have placed pressure on authorities to make information publicly available.

‘The focus is on enabling services. Many authorities are part of Socitm’s Better Connected review of web sites every year, and take their ranking very seriously,' says Anderson.

‘That has been a big driver for ensuring web sites provide better access to information. And if people can get their answers over the web, they will not need to call the council, which means benefits all round.'

As more and more information is made available, Anderson says regulatory requirements are a key concern for public sector IT managers.

‘In the past, the IT departments have been required to focus primarily or exclusively on their own authority’s requirements,' he says.

‘Clearly, that is still a paramount focus - but today they do not want
to ignore the possibility of working with others in order to gain economies of scale and greater access to development resources. My role is all about helping them to recognise those opportunities and act on them.’

And to help authorities make the most of their resources, Anderson says more authorities are making the most of integration and content management systems.

‘Within the seven authorities I deal with, two years ago there were
probably only two content management systems - the rest were hand-cranking HTML,' he says.

‘Now up to five or six out of seven use content management systems.

‘All the authorities are moving that way - first, to avoid any bottlenecks of information that needs to be put up on their web sites and intranets, but also to ensure communicating to the public over the web is not just seen as the IT department’s responsibility.’

Case study: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Council teams up with BT to transform its services to the public

One council that it is already primed for transformation is Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in South Yorkshire.

In April 2003, Rotherham launched a £150m public-private partnership scheme with BT to help meet egovernment targets and improve the way it works.

The joint venture - Rotherham Brought Together (RBT) – has a 12-year lifespan, says chief executive Brian James.

'We wanted to transform the council, not just outsource our IT,' he says. 'The first three years of the contract have been about egovernment and the December 2005 targets. Now we are stepping up the pace.'

The aim of the initiative is to deliver improvements in customer service and council efficiency across a series of internal and external-facing service areas, notably
customer service, revenues and benefits, human resources and payroll, procurement and IT itself.

The project can boast a series of early accomplishments. In its first year, RBT exceeded efficiency savings targets by £3m, meaning Rotherham is on course to exceed the Gershon requirement of 2.5 per cent efficiency gains per year.

An integrated eprocurement system has also produced savings of £1m in the first year.

About 80,000 pieces of paperwork have been removed from the system, saving on handling time.

And the council’s revenues and benefits system now interfaces with the housing rent account, council tax, document imaging, debtors and general ledger
accounting systems. As a result, it now takes an average 23 days to process a claim. The national average is 36 days.

'We will definitely deliver on the centrally defined targets in both December and March,' says James. 'Without these targets we might have taken longer to get there.’