With an election fast approaching, the third and final day's debate in the Future Government Forum saw a call for the next administration to include a minister for e-government at Cabinet level. It involved a 'virtual think-tank' of 100 people.
New technologies provide the means to fully implement joined-up government.
At the moment there are too many isolated initiatives that are not sufficiently integrated. As a result it is tricky to embed e-government in wider government strategies for modernisation. This is needed if new technology is to transform and improve the ways that services are delivered and also the ways that we are governed. It would also get away from the situation at the moment where there are too many chefs in the kitchen. Elsewhere the debate focused on the proposed use of the Post Office network to deliver online public services to the citizen.