Government Connect pilot stage launches

System to connect up local and central government systems is shown to early adopters

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) today (Thursday) launches the pilot stage of a programme to provide a common infrastructure for local egovernment services.

Government Connect is a package of electronic tools, standards and guidance developed to deliver fully transactional government services to citizens.

The scheme was announced last March to provide a way for local authorities to link their back-office systems and securely share information.

Led by a joint team from Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, the ODPM and the Cabinet Office eGovernment Unit (eGU), the infrastructure is designed to attach to the Government Gateway authentication service.

The system will eventually consist of three separate parts: register, exchange and email.

The register element will provide a toolkit based on common standards and best practice for authenticating users and creating citizen accounts.

Exchange will be based on middleware to unite disparate council IT systems, and email will provide secure communications for local authorities.

Though joining the system is not compulsory, the government aims to have every local authority signed up to the service by December 2007.