Taking the web to the people

UKOnline is the government's electronic flagship portal

The UK Government is stepping up its campaign to put more of its services online.

Already the flagship UKOnline portal, which acts as a route to many government services, is being redesigned in advance of a relaunch in early 2002.

To help it concentrate on making departments work together to take services to the web, the government has signed a deal with US technology firm Loudcloud, which will see the company manage the day-to-day running of the portal.

But the government has a long way to go in its aim to reach more people as a survey shows that barely 11% of people have used the net to get at government services or to send information to government departments.

Pushing portals

The government has had a long stated aim to put all its services online by 2005 and to ensure that all the UK population that wants to can get access to the net.

UKOnline.gov.uk Life episodes

Learning to drive

Having a baby

Moving home

Dealing with crime

Going away

Pensions and retirement

Death and bereavement

Looking after someone

Looking for a job

One of the key elements of this strategy is the UKOnline.gov.uk portal, which will, eventually, act as the route people take to do business with government departments.

The portal is supposed to hide the intricacies of Whitehall behind an interface that arranges relevant information around "life episodes" such as having a baby or moving house.

Instead of having to go to different departments, citizens should be able to find out all they need to know via the website.

'Interesting issues'

Eventually, many of the transactions that could only be done face-to-face will be carried out through the UKOnline portal.

Now, the day-to-day running of the UKOnline site has been handed over to US technology firm Loudcloud, as the government prepares to ramp up its push to get people online.

Alan Mather, head of e-delivery at the office of the e-Envoy, said the UKOline portal was currently being redesigned ready for re-launch early next year when the numbers of people using the site is expected to grow significantly.

Currently, UKOnline.gov.uk gets about one million page-views per week.

"The deal removes a set of headaches that I would rather not have," said Mr Mather, "and it allows us to focus on the more interesting issues."

The Office of the e-Envoy was created to evangelise electronic ways of working across government.

European lead

Mr Mather said legal obligations (that prevent government departments sharing information) and bureaucratic tangles could get in the way of co-ordinating work across departments.

But the government's grand ambitions are dented by a survey released this week by market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres.

The survey found that the UK is lagging behind the rest of Western Europe in the e-government stakes.

Currently, only 11% of British people have turned to the web when trying to find information about government help and services. By comparison, in France, Germany and Spain, the rate is 17%.

The average rate across the 27 countries surveyed by Taylor Nelson was 26%.