The information technology analysts, Gartner, predicts that if governments do not spell out the benefits gained from IT spending there will be disillusionment. They also predict that by 2007, more than 50 percent of government IT initiatives that have been cost-justified by traditional economic and financial return methods will notachieve return on investment targets.The UK Government will spend 19.6 billion dollars on Information Technology in 2003, an increase of 4 percent on 2002. It will then steadily increase this amount to 22 billion dollars in 2005. The UK spends more public money on information technology than any other government in Western Europe, and almost double that of Germany in second position with 11 billion dollars in 2003. As time passes and scrutiny of public spending grows, pressure is increasing on the Government to prove that this is money well spent.
Public bodies need to look at how their corporate governance arrangements are working and tackle weaknesses. Poor corporate governance is at the heart of many public service failures, but good governance can contribute to high-quality services and greater community cohesion. This message from the Audit Commission results from a close look at how corporate governance is working across the health service, local authorities, police and probation service.A key role of corporate governance is maintaining public trust and the Commission found that public bodies fare badly on the ‘negative ‘ drivers of trust. They are perceived to have poor leaders and managers and to be uninterested in peoples’ views. It is clear that the more open and honest organisations are with themselves about their performance, the more open and honest they can be with service users and the public. This honesty is the foundation for deciding appropriate action to remedy poor performance.
This document is designed to help public sector bodies think about the benefits of e-government such as making them easier to access, more convenient to use, more responsive and more transparent. It also has the potential to free up resources by delivering services more efficiently. It explains how they can quantify the benefits and how they can identify the associated risks. The guidance should be read in conjunction with the Green Book, HM Treasury’s guide to ‘Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government’, which provides a clear explanation of the nature and purpose of an economic appraisal. ‘Measuring Expected Benefits’ shows the generic process for developing a business case. It focuses on identifying possible options for an e-government project and reviewing the options. It shows how the guidance in the Green Book can be applied and highlights some of the issues that arise in e-government.Published by the Office for Government Commerce and available at http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sdtkdev/new_content/HMT%20Guidelines%20Version%201.4.pdf
Read more on MEASURING THE EXPECTED BENEFITS OF E-GOVERNMENT…