The Cabinet Office announced yesterday that Ian Watmore, currently UK managing director of Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), will be the new head of e-government. This is, of course, after the Office of the e-Envoy is transformed into the e-Government Unit - with an attendant shift in emphasis and responsibilities [scroll down linked page]. No surprise at all to come across this, then:
"As part of this digital security infrastructure we envision that every constituent will have a highly secured, multi-purpose, government-provided electronic ID card that will serve not only for government purposes but also for online activities in the private sector - the electronic equivalent of today's ID cards [?!], passports, driver's licenses and social security cards." - p5, Accenture’s Technology Vision for Government [726 KB PDF file] (thanks, Charles)
Interesting also to note that on the same day Microsoft "also revealed it has been working with consultancy firm Accenture to offer customisable sets of software, strategies and best practices tailored to the needs of public-sector organisations".
No conspiracy, of course - just an entirely too cosy relationship between big tech, the mega-consultancies and government. It's the same old familiar names that to date have cost the British taxpayer billions in failed public-sector IT projects, and yet they just keep coming back for more...
Oh, and one final thing - over in the States it seems that Accenture are in the final running (1 of 3 companies) to be awarded the contract for George W.'s $10bn computer dragnet - unparalleled surveillance of foreigners (that's us folks!) that even the US General Accounting Office "has castigated as 'very risky', [warning] of significant management and oversight problems."
Let's just hope it's beyond them.
UPDATED 7/6/04: Martin Brampton as Devil's Advocate on Silicon.com asks Who wants government run like a business? He questions Tony Blair's claims both that Ian Watmore will play a "pivotal role ensuring that IT supports the business transformation of government" and that this will necessarily lead to "better, more efficient, public services".
Posted by lankyphil at May 26, 2004 12:53 AM | TrackBack