Report - Guardian

216 The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005In Context: Government ITThe UK Government has a long history of creating large-scale IT projects such as anational ID infrastructure. In fact, the Government leads the world on very large andvery long-term IT outsourcing contracts (e.g. the Inland Revenue project).Unfortunately these contracts are typified by large contract prices and few safeguards. 510Common Project ChallengesIn 2002 it was reported that central civil government departments had around 100 majorIT projects in their initial stages of procurement with a total value of £10bn. 511 In 2003the Government’s expenditure on information technology was estimated at £2.3bn. 512Ten departments accounted for three-quarters of the total expenditure, and five supplierswon 60 percent of contracts. 513 The Home Office ranks third amongst all governmentdepartments for IT expenditure. 514However, these projects all too frequently end in failure or substantial cost increases ordelays. The delays in implementing new technology can put service delivery atsubstantial risk. The NAO cites the Home Office project to improve handling ofimmigration, asylum and citizenship cases, giving the assessment that the projectsuffered because of late delivery of computer systems. 515 This resulted inrecommendations from the NAO that called on departments to consider whether aproject may be “too ambitious” and to agree details early in the process. 516 Some of thecommon problems and associated causes are identified in the table below.510 ‘Government IT Performance and the Power of the IT Industry: A Cross-National Analysis’, Patrick Dunleavy,Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow and Jane Tinkler, Paper to annual meeting of American Political Science Association,Chicago, 1st-5th September, 2004, Panel 25-2 ‘Digital Policy Issues: Inequality, E-government’, September 4,available at http://www.governmentontheweb.co.uk/downloads/papers/Government-IT-Performance.pdf.511 ‘Better Public Services through e-government’, a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, HC704-I,Session 2001-2002, April 2002, p.1.512 ‘Improving IT procurement: The impact of the Office of Government Commerce’s initiatives on departments andsuppliers in the delivery of major IT-enabled projects’, a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, NationalAudit Office, HC 877 Session 2003-2004, November 2004, p.14.513 Ibid., p.10.514 Ibid., p.14.515 ‘Better Public Services through e-government’, p.17.516 ‘The Home Office: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate's Casework Programme’, National Audit OfficePress Notice, HC277, March 24, 1999.