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In its White Paper on Modernising Government,
the government set a target that by 2004, 75%
of people living in deprived neighbourhoods will
have the capabilities to access electronically
delivered public services and the skills to do
so.
In line with its e-business
strategy, the DfES is aiming to increase
the number of people with access to ICT
via up to 6,000 UK online centres and online
training via learndirect. The Wired
up Communities initiative is testing out
models for home based access to ICT and
DfES is supporting the development of the
e-Learning Foundation
to ensure that educational institutions
provide improved ICT access and skills for
children of school age, especially in Wired
up Communities areas.
Recognising the need to fast track developments
by providing specific funding, over a three year
period from April 2001, £6 billion is being invested
to boost central government organisations' presence
online and meet the target that all public services
which can be transacted electronically should
be available online by 2005.
The Office
of the e-Envoy is the key central agency responsible
for e-government and one of its key policy objectives
is to achieve the target for electronic service
delivery by making all government services available
online by 2005.
In June 2002, nearly £50m of funding was
announced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
for 64 partnership projects aimed at helping
deliver better services online. Click here for a full list of the 64 partnership projects and here
for more information on the work of the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on local
e-government.
The "Better Connected" survey reports
from Socitm span the last four
years and provide a useful framework for comparing
progress made by local authorities over the provision
of e-government services and the extent to which
they are transactional. In 2001, the survey found
that few local government sites display interactive
features and the ability to do a number of transactions
online.
The most recent Socitm survey report is
available from Socitm on a subscription
basis to local authorities, as well as a
number of useful publications from IDeA
- including an online good practice
toolkit. Another useful source of information
on progress to date is the E-government monitor.
At the same time, the Department
for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
is providing £350 million to promote e-government
innovations among 388 local authorities in England
to develop their e-government policies. It will
deliver a substantial amount of public money to
each council by 2004, as well as funding innovative
projects and partnerships. Since April 2002, all
local authorities have been required to complete
Implementing Electronic Government (IEG)
statements setting out their plans.
The DTLR is providing the funding to Local Government
Online Pathfinder projects to develop implementation
of electronic services. A list of all 25
Pathfinder Projects can be viewed here.
The Government
Gateway is another major project, designed
to provide a central authentication service
for government agencies to allow them to
transact with businesses or citizens on-line
for matters requiring confidentiality and
reliable identification of users. The Office
of the e-Envoy has drawn upon a number of
lessons from the pilot projects using the
Gateway through most of 2002 and 2003.
The www.governmentontheweb.org
site is dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding
of e-government and the impact of web-based technologies
on government. The 'Government on the Web' reports
from 1999 to 2002 are available for download
and highlight the progress made with a number
of key initiatives:
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Useful
Reports and Articles
DTLR - Modern
Councils Modern Services: Access for ALL
Cabinet Office - Electronic
Government Services for the 21st Century
(PIU Report Sept 2000)
National Audit Office - Better
Public Services through e-Government, April
2002
Center
for Public Policy, State and Federal E-Government
in the United States, 2002
ODPM -
Connecting with Communities: Improving Communications
in Local Government, 2002
Civic and Community Technology Article,
Wilcox and Pearl, April 2002
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