Blair's digital wake-up call

In a report launched today it says current electronic government initiatives are fundamentally flawed. Of course, being a lofty, academic tome Transformation not Automation: The e-government challenge doesn't say this in so many words. But try these for size:

"The distinction between e-democracy, where [IT is] used to create new voting and decision making opportunities and e-government, where [IT is] used to improve efficiency and productivity of public services, is false."

That's not Labour's line. Getting internal government systems in shape and making information and services available online are two very distinct projects. Witness the redefined job description of our current e-envoy, Andrew Pinder: chief information officer, Whitehall plc by any other name. As for e-democracy, it is barely on Labour's radar.

"The objective of re-engineering services around the citizen rather than automating existing services should become the central focus."

"The practices underway today are leading the UK toward a 'virtual Whitehall'& reproducing Whitehall online should be avoided at all costs."

In its defence the government will point to UK Online, the portal that provides information and services via so-called 'life episodes'. Here, at least, data from different departments is brought together. But despite the growing mass of information on the site, the transactions promised are few and far between. And, in truth, the veneer of UK Online disguises the fact that most of the work behind the scenes continues on a department-by-department basis.

Ironically, Labour's self-imposed deadline of joined up government by 2005 only increases the pressure to replicate existing processes electronically - just the thing Demos warns against.

The report concludes that without an integrated approach, efforts to digitise government will backfire badly. Why? "Because expectations will not be matched by delivery, and the cost pressures on government will rise without extra spending leading necessarily to better outcomes."

With a second term in the offing, this report is a timely wake-up call.