"ICT is going to play an increasingly important role in
changing how government works and how services are provided. The
Government’s ICT Strategy is in its early days and initial signs
are good. However, new ways of working are as dependent on
developing the skills of people in the public sector as they are on
changes to technology and processes; the big challenge is to ensure
that the Strategy delivers value in each of these
areas."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 21
December 2011
The National Audit Office has commended the early progress being
made by the Government in implementing its ICT Strategy but has
identified areas where progress has not kept pace with the
Government’s ambitions.
Launched six months ago, in March 2011, the Strategy is
intended to tackle systemic problems in government ICT projects
which in the past have tended to be too big, lengthy, risky and
complex. Departments have independently developed systems which
have often not communicated easily with one another. The broad aim
of the Strategy is to reduce waste and project failure, create a
common ICT infrastructure for government and use ICT to change how
public services are delivered.
According to today’s report to Parliament, the Government has
adopted a pragmatic and collaborative approach and has largely met
the first round of deadlines for taking action. New arrangements
are in place to implement the Strategy; and the leadership,
governance and mechanisms for making sure departments comply with
the Strategy are different from those in the past and have the
potential to secure benefits. Thirty actions from the Strategy have
been rationalized into 19 delivery areas with a more consistent
plan about how the new approaches and standards and the common ICT
infrastructure will be taken forward.
However, there are also a number of areas where not enough
progress has been made. The Cabinet Office has not yet developed a
system for measuring the extent to which the Strategy is resulting
in sustained change. Government has also been managing the
resources to implement the Strategy informally up to now and,
without a clear resource plan, gaps may start to hinder progress.
Gaps in ICT skills in the public sector also remain a serious
challenge.
Publication details:
HC: 1594, 2010-2012
ISBN: 9780102977066