directgov
Michael Cross has a piece on directgov in today’s Guardian Online. He points to a couple of important weaknesses:
Directgov falls a long way short of the “online government store” previously trailed by the e-envoy. Citizens will still need to go to individual agencies’ sites for “transactions”, such as filing tax returns online. Directgov’s relationship with local government, which is responsible for most regular contacts with officialdom, is also unclear.
Interestingly, he points the finger at Douglas Alexander for the slow pace of change:
Pinder blames the complexities of joining up systems at the “back end” of government. However political caution may also be to blame. Pinder’s immediate political boss, the Cabinet Office minister Douglas Alexander, is understood to be highly averse to taking risks with IT.
