Qualityworld

E-government

The government is hoping to get 457 local authorities on-line by 2005. The buzzwords are 'e-revolution', 'e-citizen' and 'modernising agenda'. Looking past the hype, Peter Molloy, service improvement manager at ITNET, discusses e-government initiatives and asks if 2005 is a realistic target for getting local authorities online

E-government aims to promote continuous improvement in local government services through electronic service delivery (ESD). A report by the New Local Government Network, 'Winning the e-revolution in local government', suggests that the majority of local authorities are not prepared for the information age. Further, this report states that only 25 per cent of chief officers and ten per cent of political leaders have 'a good understanding' of e-government and few have project plans for delivering electronic services by 2005.

Unlike the highly directed approach adopted by Australia, UK Plc is very much driven by 'best practice' examples. There has been no real driver for change and no great incentive for local authorities to adopt an e-citizen focus. Subsequently local authorities have fallen into one of two categories. First, there are those that cite difficulties such as financial resources, time restrictions, manpower deployment and preoccupation with other initiatives, which ultimately prevent them from devoting attention to the information age. Second, there are those that have embraced the digital infrastructure, fully realising its benefits. The two different stances go some way to explaining the conflicting evidence with which local government personnel have been presented.

A conflict of opinion

Adopting a more positive stance, the office of the e-envoy claims in a recent report that the government's target of delivering 25 per cent of government services online by 2002 has been achieved more than a year early. Further, the report claims that more than 40 per cent of government services are now online, with this figure set to rise to nearly 75 per cent by 2002. This is, of course, at odds with the 'Winning then e-revolution in local government' report, which is not quite so optimistic. This raises questions about how the implementation of new initiatives is being measured.

Additionally few political leaders were reported as seeing e-government as a central political objective. This is supported by results from the Local Government Chronicle e-government survey of readers, which indicate that e-government initiatives remain a low budgetary priority, with half of the respondents claiming that less than ten per cent of their council's annual budget was devoted to IT equipment.

Despite the conflict of opinion in regard to the feasibility of e-government, local authorities are at least trying to achieve 100 per cent ESO in line with universal targets. In the meantime, questions are still being asked about e-government and how the change will be funded.

According to Local Government Chronicle's e-government survey of readers, the majority of benefits derived from ESD are perceived as external: 57 per cent cited the most important benefit of e-government as improved relationships with the public', and only three per cent felt that 'cost reduction' was the most important factor. The benefits are in fact twofold, focusing both on the citizen and the local authority.

Benefits to you

Fundamentally e-government is a people issue, not a technology issue. From the user's point of view, there is no difference between government and e-government; it is simply about having access to the right information, in the right place, at the right time. Moreover, e-government is an initiative to transform local authorities into CRM focused e-business organisations, raising standards in community leadership, service delivery and social inclusion.

By bringing local authorities online, ESD not only offers the local citizen enhanced, more accessible local government services, ranging from booking a squash court to paying council tax, but also enables citizens to choose how they want to interact with their council. Such a strategy may include elements of:

24 hours a day, seven days a week access to government services and council officers via mail, telephone, email, internet, digital TV, kiosk services and face-to-face interviews
internet access and free e-mail service to all citizens at their local library
smart cards used for public transport passes, school meals and to authenticate transactions such as online voting

Believe the hype

ITNET believes that this is possible. Local authorities are only failing to achieve their targets because they are preoccupied with the technological aspect of the initiative. E-government is not just a technology issue: the technology is merely a facilitator, enabling improvements to be made to the quality of people's lives.

In 2000, ITNET was awarded a contract by Warwick district council to provide e-business services using its 'OneGov' service as a basis. Having embraced the information age, Warwick district council opened a customer one-stop shop in the high Street to give citizens easy access to all community information and services. In addition, as part of the 'Open door' project Warwick aims to give local people new ways of accessing council information.

Future plans at Warwick include a customer contact centre and interactive information kiosks in public buildings (initially available in English and Punjabi); direct video conference links between Warwick DC and James Plaskitt (Labour) MP in London will follow, putting the citizens face-to-face with their MR

Benefits to local authorities

Delivering services electronically not only allows local authorities to offer faster service delivery and increased convenience, but also enables them to become far more cost-effective.

The 'e' concept alleviates the human resources required in branch offices. All services can be delivered more cheaply over the Internet, freeing up financial resources. This enables councils to focus on more important aspects of their work, such as the recruitment of more professionals, like teachers.

The secret of their success

Although essential to success, effective integration and communication across central government departments, local government departments and private sector IT suppliers is often the main barrier to change. The report - IT trends 2000/0 1 SOCITM' - takes this one step further by citing partnership difficulties and the inability to reach agreements on priorities as the main constraints.

From their experience of working together, ITNET and Warwick have developed the following principles, some of which will appear obvious to quality practitioners but which, in the heat of tight deadlines, are often overlooked:

set clear objectives: eleven objectives were set for the project at Warwick. These included ensuring that local government services in Warwick would be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week; providing improved services at a reduced cost; and ensuring that the use of technology as a means of communication will become second nature
be realistic: appreciate that the adoption of an ESO strategy cannot cover up a weak level of service. It is a tool for improving access, raising standards and retaining and attracting citizens
understand the bigger picture: when first embarking on an e-government initiative, there is a danger that you may undertake tactical projects without understanding the links between separate projects or areas of service. A local authority may for example, consider street kiosks to be the best way to communicate initially with citizens, but has not related this activity to the intranet it is constructing. Later, the housing department may build a call centre, but may not realise the benefits of linking it to the kiosk network, or may not even be aware that the kiosks are under development
communicate clearly with all parties: an added danger is that the management team, the IT team and council members may have different perspectives, resulting in potentially different expectations. It is critical that you understand exactly what your suppliers are going to be delivering
ensure that the supplier takes a strategic CRM approach rather than focusing on disparate elements of the solution: this will ensure that the supplier meets the needs of the citizen
get the IT supplier to begin with small projects and then build on this success: this will ensure that individual needs are prioritised, but that global aims can also be achieved
remember: it is not the amount of money spent on IT that ensures success, but the way it is invested
deliver visible results quickly: the priority for the supplier is to deliver five or six measurable and visible results within three to six months, rather than deciding upon hundreds of proposals but not delivering on any of them
produce a comprehensive solution portfolio: this should include the technology methodologies, training and process change consultancy needed to deliver the strategic vision. This includes the business and people processes as well as technology

Although the 2005 target is a massive undertaking, 100 per cent ESD capability is not only achievable but essential to a more citizen-focused and event-driven government.

Peter Molloy is service improvement manager with ITNET. He has over 20 years experience as a senior manager, designing and implementing quality and improvement programmes. He gained this experience in a wide variety of disciplines within manufacturing and service organisations.

ITNET supplies IT, business processes and e-services for clients in the private and public sectors. Its public sector clients include local government, central government and government agencies. It is currently working in partnership with 21 local authorities.