"Too Much Recklessness" Blights UK Government IT projects, Says Report

A new report from The Work Foundation-- a UK based non-profit research group -- finds that too many government ICT (information and communication technology) projects have been insufficiently piloted before being rolled out, are over-complex in design, ignore the advice of the staff who must use the systems, and try to solve too many problems at once, rather than build on systems that are already in place.

The independent report on the UK public sector -- sponsored by Adobe -- says public managers need a 'balanced' approach to risk when delivering ICT projects: neither too cautious, nor too foolhardy.

Alexandra Jones, associate director at The Work Foundation, and co-author of the report, said: "Too many government ICT projects fail to deliver the promised benefits because public sector managers have a reckless streak -- they become dazzled by the potential of the technology and lose sight of what is practically deliverable.

"Government should not be about cutting edge innovation -- it should be about serving citizens well and efficiently," she said. "If someone gets their benefit late due to computer failure, it matters in a way that it simply doesn't when private sector ICT projects fail. The private sector can afford the luxuries of innovating; in the public sector, ICT needs to work.

"There is no question that ICT can and will be a huge advantage in enabling the public sector to serve citizens better -- and there are many examples of successful projects up and running that are doing so already at both local and national level. But technology is not an end in itself. Managers need to identify more clearly what the appropriate technological solutions are for a particular service, rather than include flashy software functions for the sake of it."

The report makes a range of recommendations. It argues public managers charged with developing and delivering ICT programs should:

• Keep it simple: too many projects exhibit a desire to over-complicate, and to reinvent the wheel.
• Pilot first: large-scale ICT projects need to be trialed on a smaller scale before being rolled out more widely. Learning from previous projects is likely to bring greater success than trying something new.
• Don't revise too much: 'scope-creep' occurs when the scope of a project is revised repeatedly -- leaving policy makers and managers blaming each other for the failure
• Listen to staff: the advice of those who must use the system in their day-to-day work is of paramount importance
• Manage change better: if a process requires computerizing, it is likely to require new ways of working as well. Allowing time and money for managing the change will ensure greater operational success.