UK govt already behind on IT reforms
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New government transparency site reveals that various IT procurement reforms are overdue. Plus, minister’s meetings with tech vendors revealed
The UK government is already behind its own schedule for reforming its IT procurement and project management practices.
This fact was revealed on a new government transparency website, which explains each department’s ‘business plan’ and their progress towards achieving it.
The Cabinet Office, which is overseeing government procurement reform as well as new transparency initiatives, has failed to enact two major changes to public sector IT purchasing.
The department was supposed to start publishing the details of all IT projects worth over £1 million in September 2010. It was also due to have published “guidance on the presumption that ICT projects should not exceed £100m in total value and the aspiration to reduce the scale of large ICT projects” by now.
These changes were announced in June 2010.
Some IT-related milestones have been achieved, the transparency site reveals. For example, the first wave of government IT projects to be axed has been identified and the power of the government’s CIO John Suffolk has been increased “to integrate ICT across government”.
The new transparency site also details meetings between ministers and companies or trade groups that took place during June and July 2010.
This reveals that Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude met with Microsoft, Cable and Wireless and BT to discuss government procurement, and Fujitsu for contract negotiation (Maude is known to have since met with other IT services providers to discuss contracts). He also met with PC and phone-maker Apple for an ‘introductory meeting’, as did schools minister Michael Gove.
In June, Prime Minister David Cameron met with social networking business Facebook “to discuss new media and transparency issues”.
Cameron's second external meeting as Prime Minister was with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the site also reveals.
Only two months ago the deputy CIO of the Cabinet office announced it was government policy that 25% of ICT expenditure was to be spent with UK companies. This is not unusual the US government has a similar policy.
It's interesting to read the notes of meetings set to discuss ICT procurement; BT, C & W, Microsoft & Fujitsu! you would have thought that they would have at least included the BCS or anybody represented the British computer industry.
Every year thousands of millions of pounds of tax revenue is lost by the purchase of computer equipment from the US, thousands of jobs that could easily be done here the benefits to the economy are boundless.
If the government truly wants to make a difference he should put his money where its mouth is and support the British economy. Don't believe the hype the equipment delivered by US ‘brand name’ companies are usually manufactured in the same Chinese factories as those unknown companies that still cling on here in the UK and in Europe.
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