09.26, Wednesday 14 Jun 2000

Government web sites are shit says the Commons Public Accounts Committee. And here's a nice snippet: You know it was promised that by 2005 100% of government services should be available electronically? Well, 'electronically' includes by telephone. That's so cynical. Do they think we're stupid*?

Government web sites aren't bad, if you know where to look. It's a grim situation where all these reports are posted but we only hear about them when there's a press release. Lazy journalism? Services, on the other hand, aren't well delivered at all. For some reason the independent committees responsible for advising policy are made up of older, less involved people, not the young people from inside the industry who use the web every day. Solving complex problems has as much to do with what you ask, and that part should be goal driven otherwise you'll never be able to push the envelope. Hm, I'm not getting this across very well. The BBC summarises the report.