How interesting:
"Andrew Pinder, who has the job of getting UK government online, is stepping down. The e-Envoy will leave when his contract ends in spring 2004. Mr Pinder has been overseeing the process of making sure that government services are online by 2005. He took up the Cabinet office post in 2001 but his exit spells uncertainty for the Office of the e-Envoy (OeE)."
"An interim report looking at the effectiveness of how the government communicates - including electronic communication - in light of the Hutton Inquiry, was published last month. The full report comes out at the end of the year. Some proposed changes include the appointment of a new Permanent Secretary for Government Communications. However, the Cabinet Office spokesperson said they were not pre-empting the outcome of the report. She said any role of the OeE as part of the proposals would not decided until the review is reported in full. Under the proposals, the Secretary would head the central civil service communications unit and would be responsible for media and press communications, as well as "Strategic Planning and Development". Part of the responsibilities would also be to make sure there is better "two way communication" between the general public and the government, as well as improved resources for government websites."
Two way communication sounds a bit lame - not exactly enabling many-to-many. As noted earlier (and please check Louise Ferguson's insightful comment), there are many missed opportunities going on here, certainly in the current incarnation of interactive services, despite some smart people and some interesting ideas. Needs some experts in implementation within the tangled, overgrown ecology that is government methinks.
