Head of e-Government to replace e-envoy in UK

Cabinet Office Minister Douglas Alexander yesterday announced the Government's intention to appoint a Head of e-Government, and to scrap the role of e-envoy which had been given the task of making all Government services available electronically by 2005.

Announcing the responsibilities of the Head of e-Government, Douglas Alexander said:

"The appointment of a Head of e-Government represents an evolution in the e-envoy role which will build on the achievements of the last four years. The Head of e- Government will play a pivotal role in supporting the Prime Minister's vision for public service reform. Their task will be to focus on ensuring that IT supports the business transformation of Government itself so that we can provide better, more efficient, public services."

The Head of e-Government will be based in the Cabinet Office and will report to the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Andrew Turnbull and Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• delivering the existing Cabinet Office target for electronic service delivery;
• defining and driving implementation of a Government-wide information systems strategy to support the public sector reform agenda;
• defining the architecture, requirements, and standards, and be the intelligent customer, for common Government infrastructure and services;
• providing leadership and guidance for the Government IT community; and
• acting as the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance.

The current e-envoy, Andrew Pinder, was already expected to leave his position in April 2004 when his contract ends. Adverts for the new post are expected to start appearing in the New Year.