IT investment ranks as high as training says NAO

IT projects worth £10bn are currently underway across Whitehall departments, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

Technology investment is as important as training more skilled front-line staff such as nurses and teachers, says the 'Increased resources to improve public services' report published last week.

But departments need to manage the time lag between citizens' expectations and the implementation of the necessary infrastructure to speed up delivery.

'It will take some time before many of the planned improvements in public services are fully achieved because of the timescales involved in upgrading infrastructure, training, and in implementing new IT systems,' says the report.

'Managing the gap between the public's rising expectations of better services and the time it takes to deliver discernible improvements which are clearly visible to people is a significant challenge to departments,' it says.

Project management skills will be critical if improvement programmes are to remain on time and budget, says the NAO.

'Realising the full benefits depends on each organisation delivering services using the additional funds effectively so that they are translated into the right staff, skills, infrastructure, IT and equipment needed,' it says.