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01 Oct 2004

We must take joined up e-government out of the hands of government

We have seen much progress putting government services online but virtually no progress joining them up.

At core this is not a technical problem – it’s an ownership problem. Government agencies do not own the problem of joining up services. They will never make a good job of it, and should not be asked to spend public money in this way.

Freeing up responsibility for joined-up e-government services and encouraging diversity is a step towards more radical change

Imagine a small remote rural community. They interact with the County and District Councils, numerous DEFRA agencies, Inland Revenue, Primary Healthcare, Customs and Excise, and the Local Tourist Board. They have an interest in some EU programmes. They might face a minor drug and alcohol problem, high unemployment, low take-up of tertiary education. They have a relatively large population of retired incomers. To reach their nearest hospital, library, or secondary school they face an hour drive, or a full day trip on public transport.

Which government agency has sufficent motivation to provide joined up e-government services which meet their needs?

And yet they have a vibrant local community which, given the right environment, is perfectly capable of organising joined-up government services. After all, they have already organised lottery funding for the village hall, run a small music festival, an annual agricultural show, and a Christmas pantomime for the children. There is an active branch of the Women’s Institute, a well-supported church, and numerous small groups providing a great deal of community child care, cultural activity, and informal welfare support.

The local community understands better than anyone what the priorities are, and are more strongly motivated to solve it than anyone else.

But it isn’t only in Ambridge that the problem of joined up government should be handed to those who care most.

Imagine a voluntary organisation dealing with disability. Who better understands the services which matter most to their clients, and the usability features that would make the biggest difference. Who is better placed to interface any special equipment? Given the right environment the voluntary sector would make a better job of improving access to e-government for special interest groups than any government department.

The same is true for any minority group, whether distinguished by ethnic background, language, geographic location, or special needs. If we really want an e-government environment that supports diversity, we must take the problem out of the hands of government.

And the same applies in the commercial world. Imagine a small business grappling with VAT, Corporation Tax, PAYE, Company house returns, and a raft of environmental, employment, transport, licensing and trading regulation specific to their industry. They are happy to pay an accountant to take care of paperwork because it is easier than learning how to deal with it themselves. Given the right environment there is a commercial opportunity for intermediaries to provide e-government services for business at no cost to the public. Instead of grumbling about excessive regulation the IOD, BCC and trade associations might better serve their members by joining up the government services that their members need.

To make this happen needs a framework which makes it possible for intermediaries to step in. This includes an architecture which disconnects back-office process from the user interface; and which supports common standards across different government agencies. The basis for al lthis is already in place.

It also needs government to create the space for intermediaries to step in. Rather than pressing local government and central agencies to join up services, and provide univeral access to every special interest group we should be actively discouraging them.

It needs an active programme to recruit and support a community of intermediaries in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

But above all it needs a recognition that accessing government services over the internet may have looked radical five years ago, but the impact is insignificant compared to the radical rethinking of the public service supply chain that technology makes possible.

• Posted by Peter Reed on 01/10/04 at 9:14am
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Ideal Government

Let's say what we want from e-enabled government. Let's observe government first-hand. Let's say "Wouldn't It Be Better If" (WIBBI). Become an ethnographer of bureaucracy today! It beats getting frustrated with public services.

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