The Hidden Threat to E-Government
Governments fail…Most governments experience problems when implementing large IT projects. Budgets are
exceeded, deadlines are over-run and often the quality of the new system is far below the
standard agreed when the project was undertaken.
Moreover, governments are not alone in failing. Evidence suggests that private sector
companies have similar problems. The Standish Group, for example, estimates that only
28% of all IT projects in 2000 in the US, in both government and industry, were successful
with regard to budget, functionality and timeliness. 23% were cancelled and the remainder
succeeded only partially, failing on at least one of the three counts.
Large public IT projects can pose great political risks. Ministers and governments are held
accountable for the failures and the accompanying waste of taxpayer money. These significant
economic losses comprise not only outright waste in exceeded budgets and abandoned
projects, but also – and equally importantly – lost opportunities for enhanced effectiveness
and efficiency.
…and e-government is in danger
The inability of governments to manage large public IT projects threatens to undermine efforts
to implement e-government. Most OECD Member countries have formulated ambitious action
plans for implementing e-government. The aim is to move service delivery to the World Wide
Web, to enhance information to citizens and to make public sector workplaces smarter for the
benefit of citizens, politicians and civil servants alike.
Unless governments learn to manage the risks connected with large public IT projects, these
e-dreams will turn into global nightmares. Governments must get the fundamentals of IT right
if they want to harvest the huge potential of going online.
posted by Unknown @ 12:04 AM
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