Monday, 22 March 2010

Government announce another IT project failure

Well, it's not actually failed yet, but I can tell you it fucking will.

Everyone in the country is to be given a personalised webpage for accessing Government services within a year as part of a plan to save billions of pounds by putting all public services online, Gordon Brown is to announce.


Because, of course, the government's track record on large-scale IT projects is just fucking tickety-boo, isn't it? And it's pretty inevitable that the "within a year" will be quietly dropped in a month or two. After all, the contract will be awarded to the company best for the job company with the largest Labour party donations, and then it will be way over-budget and over-time (see NHS Computer System).

The Prime Minister has previously hailed the potential for the internet to slash the costs of delivering services by reducing paper forms, face-to-face contact with officials, postage, phone calls and building costs.


So he'd been told about this thing called "the internet" but didn't really know what it was, or how it worked.

He is now set to use a speech on Monday to unveil plans to give every voter a unique identifier allowing them to apply for school places, book GP appointments, claim benefits, get a new passport, pay council tax or register a car.


Here it is - the smoking gun. You are now just going to be a number. And of course the database holding all this deeply personal information will be nice and secure will it?

And what's the betting that once everything like this is done through a central point, we'll then require a card to do it? Maybe...an ID card?

Leave us the fuck alone.

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