The National Audit Office has commended the early progress being made by the Government in implementing its ICT Strategy but has identified areas where progress has not kept pace with the Government’s ambitions.

Launched six months ago, in March 2011, the Strategy is intended to tackle systemic problems in government ICT projects which in the past have tended to be too big, lengthy, risky and complex. Departments have independently developed systems which have often not communicated easily with one another. The broad aim of the Strategy is to reduce waste and project failure, create a common ICT infrastructure for government and use ICT to change how public services are delivered.

NAO believes there are also a number of areas where not enough progress has been made. The Cabinet Office has not yet developed a system for measuring the extent to which the Strategy is resulting in sustained change. Government has also been managing the resources to implement the Strategy informally up to now and, without a clear resource plan, gaps may start to hinder progress. Gaps in ICT skills in the public sector also remain a serious challenge.