Key points

	·	The vision of a connected information society will not be achieved without clear policies to avoid digital divides
	·	ICT strategists' choices now will determine whether ICT and eGov makes society in future more inclusive or fragmented
	·	The modernising agenda calls on local authorities to make their accountability and welcome these changes positively, maintain a clear focus on continuously improving services and develop more coherent ways of listening to citizens
	·	But few authorities claim they have the capacity to achieve full modernisation in the timescales envisaged
	·	Efforts are undermined by the narrow methodologies used to measure achievement - IEG and eGov targets encourage people to tick boxes rather than asking whether e-access adds value to citizens
	·	Action is needed urgently at national level to address the lack of coherent approach to tackling issues of capacity (infrastructure funding, development and skills shortages) - "funny money funding" eg ISB grants make long-term planning difficult and reinforces short-termism, also technical issues - such as the complexity of integrating existing systems - and legal restrictions
	·	Carrying forward arguments for resourcing IT over competing priorities needs council chief executives with radical long-term visions or committed and knowledgable political leadership
	·	Increasing requirements on councils to undertake IT-driven initiatives (eg identification, referral and tracking of vulnerable children) will create a new debate around who should sit at the 'top table' and change management structures - strategists will come to the fore, service deliverers will become more secondary in nature.

 

	·	Coherent approaches - Councils want to deliver changes on the ground which are cross-cutting for their organisations and provide seamless services
	·	Information is fundamental - we need to look now at drawing information together and avoid high levels of overlap and duplication
	·	Jim provided an overview of the Local eGovernment Standards Body, announcing that the first online repositiory of local eGov standards would be available at the end of October
	·	Local government's contribution to its future developments is vital - to input into priorities and hit areas of short-term benefit
	·	IT Suppliers who don't rise to the challenge now could face a real threat to their survival - it's important to work with them so they adopt standards and practices in their products to help local government deliver its agenda
	·	The eGovernment Interoperability Framework: "Not a great deal of use to me... didn't understand what I was looking at". The Standards Body could perhaps work with the Office of the e-Envoy to make eGIF usable and helpful
	·	We should look to take people out of organisations' processes and eliminate or automate if possible. Core service transformation is vital
	·	The early National Projects Roadshows are proving extremely illuminating in showing the amount of current overlaps among projects - and the strength of will to get these overlaps out of the system.

 

	·	Highlighted examples of local eGov services internationally
	·	Research indicates Dutch citizens want more channels, fast services, 24/7 access, transparency and openness
	·	eGov is becoming less technology-driven and government-oriented to being about customer service
	·	Need for more international co-operation and exchange between groups such as Socitm, VIAG and similar bodies in Europe.

 

Workshops

	·	There are seven 'Creeds' of CEO:
		1 Hypocrite: Espouses strategic importance of IT, negates through personal actions   2 Atheist: Convinced IT is of little value, publicly 'comes out' with this belief   3 Waverer: Reluctant accepts strategic importance of IT, not ready to get involved   4 Zealot: Convinced and believes s/he is an authority on IT   5 Agnostic: Concedes IT may be strategically important, has to be convinced over and over   6 Monarch: Accepts IT is strategically important, and appoints best possible CIO to handle IT   7 Believer: Believes IT is an enabler of strategic chance, demonstrates this by their behaviour
	·	Also an 8th Creed: Thinks ICT is strategically important, but isn't sufficiently knowledgeable to be able to manage eGovernment
	·	Skills needed to manage eGovernment - Shape demand for eGovernment, set expectations, deliver, provide leadership and generic skills such as strategic thinking, project management, team working
	·	Skill sets:
		E-Champions Vision, communication, political understanding, organisation awareness, strategic working, influencing, customer service, relationship building, team working and leading   Heads of ICT Professional expetise, customer service, organisational awareness, team working, communication, relationship building, managing performance, managing projects, flexibility

 

	·	Many authorities are involved in strategic partnerships or outsourcing data processing - but often fail to identify properly the roles and responsibilities in terms of legal rights/working protocols
	·	Data protection: Individuals are now more aware of their rights and prepared to use them. It's a matter of time before the Information Commissioner focuses on the public sector and local government in particular
	·	Keep up-to-date with guidance notes issues by the IC on its website- while not holding the full force of the law, they represent good practice and are taking in account when choosing whether to prosecute
	·	Obtaining data subject consent is nine-tenths of compliance - but only valid if the data subject is provided with full details of how the data is used/shared
	·	Many data-sharing initiatives can't proceed because local authorities lack statutory powers
	·	Freedom of Information: Councils need to have streamlined and efficient compliance procedures. FOI places a focus on the need to produce, process and update information accurately.

 

	·	Basic introduction to classic "do's and don'ts" of website usability - focus on the needs of users, don't use acronyms, keep navigation consistent, each webpage should exist independently, use simple sentences...
	·	Demonstration of the Department of Work and Pensions website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk - example of a government search engine which unhelpfully produces thousands of results
	·	Best practice example: London Borough of Hillingdon: http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/

 

Local Government IT Excellence Awards 2003

These awards recognise leading examples of innovative and effective use of ICT by local authorities to improve service delivery.

The Panel:

Q: Do you think ID cards will become a reality? Are there realistic opportunities for local authorities to use them as authentication services?

JVDW: We are having the same debate in the Netherlands (as in the UK).

Q: Are there discussions[about identity cards] in the ODPM?

JB: Local authorities are very active in this area, such as the Smartcard National Project - a lot of local authorities are thinking about smartcards - what wll be the impact on them if a national scheme is introduced. There's a lot of big issues for local government that we will need to sort out.

GE: ID cards could support service delivery. We need to strengthen the privacy and data protection legislation - and where is the business case from the citizen's perspective? We don't seem to be addressing this...there is a lack of trust between the public and government and we need to rebuild this. We need to put the citizen in control - a system of consent needs to be in place. People should be getting better services because they have consented.

Q: What is the panel's view of the Regional Broadband Aggregation Bodies?

GE: I'm not sure what take-up will be among local authorities. As I understand it, the DTI initiative delivers just the wires. Time will tell.

MM: In Kent we have had a big broadband initiative, but still several exchanges have not been enabled. I don't know how the DTI initiative can help us there.

JB: My concern is that this is a DTI-driven initiative that doesn't reflect what is happening on the ground - does it fit in with other people's procurement cycles?

JVDW: What are the applications that government uses that need broadband, expect for healthcare? Where is the content?

Q: What does the panel see as the role and responsibilities of Heads of ICT? Does the title hinder progress to the top table? If so, what are the alternatives?

JVDW: We are continuously having that discussion (in the Netherlands) - Is it important to be at the top table?

Q: ... But don't you want to be part of the formation of strategy?

JVDW: You can do that without being at the top table if you have a good relationship with your management. It's about how you manage the relationship in your organisation.

GW: What does a head of ICT do? If its a 'techie-type' role, then I think there's a strong case (for not being part of the top table). If its about supporting a major business change programme, that person needs to be very much engaged. I don't think 'Head of ICT' really sums up what the role does.

MM: When Personnel become HR it became 'strategic'. Those at the top table are people for whom ICT is not second nature - but if you are interested in the business, you can translate and take ICT to help improve services massively.

Q: What happens when the 'e' is taken out of eGovernment?

JB: I think its a very real issue that we in government are thinking about - do we go for another tranche of eGov money or will we deliver more efficient customer service of which 'e' is part of the package. 'E' will become increasingly outdated. If we have a chance of getting money from the Treasury - we need to deliver a return on that investment - are you being more effective and efficient organisations.

JVDW: In the Netherlands we have a new Cabinet which has lost the 'e'. The service delivery questions are coming back - we were focussed on the websites.

Q: With so much information available on government websites, is there sufficient resources to maintain what is already there?

Comment from floor: The information being made available is growing at an exponential rate. We never kept our information up-to-date - it's just more visible now it is on the web. We deal with it by having a devolved network of responsibility (for maintaining the content).

JB: This is what we are trying to address with the Online Government Store. We have so many websites so its no wonder citizens get confused - also the average website is pretty costly, and none of them are run particulary well.

Q: Finance - Year One IEGs suggested huge shoftfalls in the funding need to meet eGov targets. How do we reconcile the gap?

Question to the audience: How many of you feel you won't meet the 2005 targets? (No one volunteers). How many of you believe you will meet the 2005 targets? (Around two or three hands raised).

Comment from the floor: The target has been downgraded - the definition of eGovernment has been relaxed.

JB: The target has not been relaxed - I'm sure it will be achieved, I am more concerned about whether we will see the transformation underpinning it - will we see the benefits in back-office processes. There are many things that government wants to do - the amount going to eGovernment has been a pretty good settlement. Hopefuly the things we are doing will help to bridge the gap between what we want to do.