The UK and eGovernment: Chapter I, Introduction

Abstract
eGovernment is the “exploiting the power of information and communications technology in order to help transform the accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of public services. It can be used to revitalise the relationship between citizens and the public bodies who work on their behalf.” [1] To facilitate this there has been a significant ICT investment by the UK Government both nationally and locally to reform the provision, promotion and usage of public services. The bulk of this £6 billion eGovernment strategy[2] has been directed towards raising the quantity and standard of government information online, ensuring public access to the Internet and creating inroads towards more collaborative projects between organisations and communities. In many ways government policy has been successful. For instance, government information is freely accessible online and organised by websites which provide seamless access across departments and regions without the user needing to be conscious of the differences. Within government initiatives are slowly starting to foster greater cooperation, which helps to improve levels and quality of information and decision-making. There is a spectre of a significant proportion of the population failing to use the Internet for the daily lives and also to use governmental services online, as it increases inequality and fails to take advantage of economic efficiencies. However, the use of Internet centres throughout the UK, the increasing realisation of the effectiveness of support structures as well as the declining cost of Internet technologies should help to reduce this problem over time.

Chapter II: Infrastructure

The foundations of an effective eGovernment strategy involve ensuring national access to a modern telecommunications structure. Without modern ICT services such as high-speed Internet connections, a good telecommunications system and the potential of wireless communications technology that offers low cost access and a high population uptake eGovernment will struggle to fully develop. Significantly, low Internet usage increases the average cost of eGovernment projects, as potentially beneficial schemes become a drain on resources due to lack of interest.

The UK appears to be relatively strong compared to most countries in terms of the level of infrastructure and number of users. However, the information highlights that the UK is lagging behind a number of more advanced countries and the relatively high level of use is partly as a result of the dominance of the English language on the Internet increasing domestic interest.

When making planning or investment decisions it is important to consider infrastructure on a local as well as a national level. This is important for policymakers to locate the stronger and weaker regions, both to promote and encourage ‘smart cities’ but also to focus investment in reducing the ‘digital divide’, the isolation of certain communities from modern technology.

Chapter III: eGovernment Projects

The Government is committed through various initiatives to using technology in order to increase efficiency and improve the quality of government. This process takes two forms.

Firstly, ‘Back Office’ reforms help to improve the machinery of government processes, such as increasing the amount of high quality, localised data transfer between departments and regions. This can greatly reduce time wasting, as less administrative energy is spent on ascertaining which bits of information are permitted to be shared or not and helps to improve better informed, joined up government.

Secondly, the accessibility of government information online increases the level of service delivery to citizens and businesses, as information can be accessed 24/7 without any hassle. More advanced website platforms, such as ‘One Stop Shops’ help to organise data seamlessly, allowing for information from multiple sources being presented in a unitary, easy to navigate format without the need for users to have information from one source instead of having to know which department or local authority they need to deal with in order to deal with their query.

Chapter IV: Successes and Failures of eGovernment Projects

Chapter IV evaluates how successful the UK’s eGovernment initiatives are relative to other countries and towns, highlighting regions of success and failure and the reasons why. The results are mixed, as having focused on more simple reforms and failing to use the technological advantages of ICT and eGovernment to transform the process of government.

The work between government departments is very difficult, as it requires the close cooperation between a number of actors. There has not been enough of a framework to encourage this working together, with the Government failing to put pressure and financial incentives on greater joint projects. That may have started to change, with initiatives such as the Digital Challenge making ten of the most innovating regions in the UK work together to develop new ways of encouraging use of IT and the Internet.

The scale and difficulty of many projects result in overspending and inefficiencies. Given the differing demands of departments and regions it is difficult to have a one size fits all approach to major projects. A number of successful and unsuccessful projects are laid out, offering the opportunity for improved decision-making on future projects. This report recognises that there have been a number of failures do exist but that in many cases it is a problem of a failure to foster change rather than poor investment decisions.

Given the major costs and effort required to introduce eGovernment platforms and processes it is critical to examine how well government services are tailored and marketed to their users. ‘One Stop Shops’, especially when offering interactive services can be incredibly useful for people. However, the weaknesses and unpopularity of the system are highlighted, showing the need for a multi-format approach to providing information, including telephones and digital television.

The UK Government has focused on providing 100 percent of information online rather than developing more interactive government services, resulting in the benefit and interest from users being lower than websites that provide practical opportunities to complete transactions online rather than traditional methods. Despite this many UK cities are ranked as being successful, as the UK’s public policy culture complements their approach to Internet better than other countries. However, this advantage may erode over time if UK websites fail to offer increased levels of interactivity.

Chapter V: The Digital Divide

Given the strong physical infrastructure of the Internet being in place the main barriers to Internet use are age, income and employment. Given that the least well off use government services the most and have a lot to gain from using the Internet it is important for there to be strategies for dealing with the ‘Digital Divide’. Failure to act quickly may leave large areas of the population excluded and this could result in long-term economic and social difficulties.

There have been a number of initiatives to deal with this, including computer centres, Internet access in libraries, support structures and coordinated projects, such as Shoreditch’s ‘Digital Bridge’ scheme. This report finds that there have been a number of successful projects but there are a number of potential problems in the future, such as the lack of guaranteed long-term funding for public internet centres and that government projects and future reductions in the cost of the Internet will fail to reduce the Digital Divide or quickly enough.

Written by Jonathan McHugh in June 2007.
.>>Hyperlinks added in July 2010.

Part of Electronic Horizon: An Examination of the Importance of eGovernment and the UK Government's Approach to ICT, the Internet and its Impact on Modern Government

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[1] E-Government Review Greater London Authority: Audit 2004-2005 (Audit Commission) 2005 p. 4

[2] P. Foley, X. Alfonso, et al Connecting People: Tackling Exclusion? An Examination of the impact of the Internet by Socially Excluded Groups in London (Greater London Authority) 2006 p. 24