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22 December 2011 | Adam Leach
Mixed teams of buyers, IT
professionals and senior heads from government departments overseeing IT
purchasing is a step in the right direction although challenges remain, a
report concludes.
Implementing the Government ICT Strategy: Six-month review of progress, published yesterday by the National Audit Office (NAO), said the current government approach
to implementing an IT strategy provided a greater chance of it being adopted
across departments than previous efforts.
In order to increase project
teams skills the government has brought together procurement and IT
professionals with government chief information officers (CIOs) and senior
directors from the six highest spending departments. On this, the report said:
“This mix of staff from across government are making sure that strategy
solutions are aligned with the business needs of departments.”
NAO chief Amyas Morse, said: “The
government ICT strategy is in its early days and initial signs are good.
However, new ways of working are as dependent on developing the skills of
people in the public sector as they are on changes to technology and
processes.”
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, said: “We are
determined to deliver world-class public services that offer value for
taxpayers’ money, and we know that effective and efficient ICT is a critical
part of making this happen. The NAO report shows we are going about this the
right way, by commending our progress so far.”
While it took an overall positive
view of progress to address the skills gap in the medium to long term, the
report highlighted that short-term progress, remained a “serious challenge”. It
said: “The Cabinet Office and departments and agencies need to immediately
address capability gaps, particularly in procurement, supplier relationship
management, new methods [of delivery] and digital services.”
A spokesman for the Cabinet
Office told SM that action was
already under way to make use of people’s expertise: “Senior responsible owners
for delivery areas will establish the skills they need. The new delivery model
and allocation of responsibilities has been designed to leverage the skills and
expertise in their existing teams.”