E-government is not just about technology and electronic service delivery; it is about using information and communications technology to improve the delivery, quality and accessibility of public services built around the needs of the citizen and customer. It can mean doing things in radically new and different ways. Service delivery will be reengineered away from the historical departmental model of service delivery towards a model based upon and focused on the needs of the citizen; there will be sharper democratic accountability with greater citizen participation and community involvement. E-government is an integral part of local government modernisation and drive towards providing more efficient and effective delivery of local services.
To bring about this change every council will need a commitment at the highest level, both amongst Members and staff. It will be a commitment not only in broad terms to achieve the vision of an e-council, but equally a commitment to undertake the practical steps necessary. First there must be a clear strategy. Then the policy, procurement and technical issues in that strategy must be driven forward. Partnerships need to be developed. At all levels throughout the council a culture of innovation and learning needs to be fostered.
The National Assembly and local government in Wales have jointly committed themselves to implement a strategy for improving service delivery using information and communication technology, based on the identification and addressing of local issues and priorities. This will subsequently allow the determination of common themes and priorities across Wales and the development of national and local targets for future years. Much of what happens within e-government will facilitate and underpin the efficiency savings made clear within the ‘Making the Connections’. This debate will also be informed by practitioners such as SOCITM and their E-Charter document.
As councils implement their strategy, key issues will need to be addressed and these will range from developing leadership and tackling culture change to addressing legacy systems and developing partnerships to maximise the benefits of new technology.
In terms of partnership working local government has joined with other sectors of the Welsh public service in the Assembly led Public Sector Broadband Aggregation initiative. This project has been established to develop and maintain a cross sector broadband communications infrastructure to deliver efficiency gains as a result of the aggregation and management of public service demand, together with the provision of an operational network capable of supporting inter-organisation and cross sector working and the sharing of electronic information.
The Assembly, in the published Making the Connections action plan, “Delivering the Connections – From Vision to Action” provides a focus on key issues for development by making specific mention of the potential surrounding electronic information, payment and purchasing systems, smartcard technology and broadband technology.
For more information contact: Paul Charkiw