Whitehall reforms to improve IT use

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) plans to shake-up the delivery of government IT programmes by improving Whitehall's programme management skills and avoiding the most obvious pitfalls shown up by past experience.

The aim is for a two- or three-fold improvement in success rates by 2006, according to the OGC document leaked to Computing.

Central to achieving this objective is the creation of departmental Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to function as a support system for staff working on delivering projects and as a focus for reporting up to Management Boards and political masters.

The OGC is also mandating a series of other measures to run alongside the creation of CoEs (see box). For example, big-bang implementations have been outlawed in favour of an incremental approach, and no government project dependent on IT can be announced before the options have been fully analysed.

The aim is to overcome common causes of disasters such as the lack of a clear link between the project and organisation's key strategic priorities, says the OGC. The Centres should be up and running by June.

In a speech last November, PM Tony Blair asked OGC chief executive Peter Gershon to investigate ways to strengthen the delivery of government IT.

Sources close to the OGC suggest that at a subsequent Cabinet meeting in early December, Gershon used a piece of US research showing that a measly 24 per cent of public sector projects are delivered on time and on budget to emphasise his point about the need for change.

His reform proposals were ratified by the Cabinet and the OGC is to report back on departmental progress later this month and again in June.

Suppliers are supportive of the plans.

'The OGC's idea is spot on - it sounds fantastic. The challenge will be making this happen at all the myriad end points because it will mean changing the culture and that can be tricky,' said IBM director of UK government business Rebecca George.

It's not just Whitehall that needs to improve, says Nick Kalisperas, egovernment programme manager at supplier trade body Intellect.

'There needs to be changes on both sides - suppliers also have to raise their games to meet expectations about public sector IT. There's no single magic solution that will revolutionise the entire implementation process but CoEs are a good step in the right direction,' he said.

'We are looking at improvements at every stage - making sure we are procuring smartly, that proper relationships are developed between customer and supplier, that the trust is there and the risks are managed appropriately.'

But results will not be instant.

'We are looking at overcoming a historical legacy. It will take time and partnership and people will need to hold their nerve,' said Kalisperas.

Further changes are also planned in other areas of Whitehall technology planning. According to insiders the 200-strong Office of the eEnvoy faces re-structuring to focus more closely on public take-up of online services.

A source close to the OEE said: 'We have been reviewing the position over the last 12 months or so. We have recognised the agenda for egovernment was predicated on targets or services rather than on quality and take-up so part of the restructuring is to make sure the focus is on those areas.'