28 May 2004
The government repositioned its e-agenda this week with the appointment of a new head of e-government poached from the private sector and a distinct move towards cost savings through efficiency.
Ian Watmore, UK managing director of consultancy firm Accenture, will take up the newly created post in September. He will replace the e-envoy, Andrew Pinder, whose departure date is still to be announced.
Watmore's appointment confirms a significant shift in the government's thinking. He will lead a new e-Government Unit that will replace the Office of the e-Envoy from June. This unit, housed within the Cabinet Office, will shift the focus away from getting public services on-line to 'delivering efficiency savings'.
'The e-Government Unit [will] ensure the government capitalises on ICT to transform service delivery and achieve a step change in operational efficiency across the public sector,' said Cabinet Office minister Douglas Alexander.
The unit will also work in partnership with the Office of Government Commerce to help shore up areas of significant weakness. It will monitor the progress of major government IT projects – a crucible of failures and cost overruns in the past – and manage the 'relationships' with large-scale private sector suppliers.
It will also conduct research and set e-government policy for the private sector.
Watmore, who joined Accenture in 1980 and has been UK managing director since 2000, already has experience of government contracts, having landed a £1bn deal with the NHS for the firm last year. His appointment will placate many in the IT industry who called for a private sector expert to take the reins of e-government policy.
It is understood that he will be taking a significant drop in salary: remuneration for the post is understood to be around £125,000 a year.
'Douglas Alexander and Sir Andrew Turnbull have set a formidable challenge not only in driving up use of government services on-line but also driving change, reform and efficiencies throughout the public sector by using IT,' said Watmore.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is thought to have been involved in the appointment, said Watmore would play a 'pivotal role' in government. '[He will] ensure that IT supports the business transformation of government itself so that we can provide better, more efficient, public services.'
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