Government approach to IT is flawed, says report

The Institute for Government condemns 'necessary evil' attitude

The government's approach to IT is flawed and must change, according to a new report from The Institute for Government, an independent charity working to increase government effectiveness.

The report, System Error: fixing the flaws in government IT, states: "Despite spending around £16bn per annum, Whitehall and Westminster often see IT as a necessary evil: a risk to be mitigated rather than an opportunity to be exploited."

It recommends that the government implements a platform across the government for the delivery of IT projects to enable efficiencies of scale while simultaneously becoming more agile.

Government CIO Joe Harley said: "Government has a large and complex IT estate and the majority of it works efficiently and effectively.

"However, we are always looking for ways to improve and this report has a number of very useful recommendations for us to consider as we formulate our ICT strategy."