Never mind the technology, feel the benefit

A remarkable thing happened in the House of Commons a couple of weeks ago. A senior government minister and his Tory shadow had an argument about IT. And for once it wasn't all about Whitehall technology failures.

The confrontation between health secretary Alan Milburn and opposition spokesman Liam Fox was about policy, investment and the recognition that IT is essential to NHS reforms.

A few days later another remarkable thing happened. In a speech about modernising the criminal justice system, even Tony Blair talked about IT.

This is the first time technology has been on the political agenda since the height of the dotcom boom. Back then it was a reaction to the global internet hype. The web was trendy, and Blair wanted to tap into the prevailing belief that the internet was about to revolutionise society overnight.

So he committed the public sector to providing online services. But when the world turned against dotcoms, suddenly IT slipped down the list of priorities, at a central government level at least. Local authorities are still worrying about it every day.

The 'targets' mutated into 'guidelines'. Technology didn't win votes any more.

But now there's a new phrase, 'significant investment', which has been promised by Blair and Milburn. It's great to see IT as a political issue again, but will it happen?

Long-term goals

Blair's problem is that IT is not a quick fix. The billions of pounds needed for the NHS and joined-up justice will not deliver visible benefits for some time.

All the public will see is enormous amounts of money spent, some of it probably wasted on project cock-ups, with no obvious evidence of improvements.

Behind-the-scenes IT infrastructure development won't influence elections. And it will not be long before some bright spark starts saying how many nurses or teachers could have been recruited for the amount that has been spent on 'boring' technology.

It's an issue the IT industry faced for many years. Technology managers and suppliers learned that bits and bytes don't sell. Chief executives won't spend budgets on a bigger server, but they will spend money on faster responses to customer queries. It's a question of presentation, something you would expect the Prime Minister to know a lot about.

If the Government is to gain any political advantage from investing in IT, it needs to start selling the benefits in a language the general public will understand, like every good sales rep.

Don't say that so many millions will fund a broadband NHS network; say that it will fund GP access to test results so you won't have to visit the outpatients department.

Don't push a text messaging system for hospital appointments; promote the reduced waiting times and punctual meetings with doctors that it will produce.

Don't show off about technology; explain the better way of life it could create.

IT as a lifestyle benefit could have a knock-on effect on other government policies. Blair won't win political points by funding broadband technology to help people work from home.

But a transport department tax-break for companies that allow a certain percentage of their employees to telework every week means fewer cars on the road, reduced pollution and less crowded trains.

The Government's spin doctors need to apply their creativity to explaining why billions of taxpayers' pounds should be spent on seemingly dull, long-term technology projects. IT is not a black art, it is a way of making business more efficient and it can be a way to make people's lives more fulfilling.

More speeches about introducing IT, please Mr Blair, but sell the benefits, not the technology.