eGISE Progress so far

The accountability of public services can often present an undeservedly unflattering picture. Much of the negative press surrounding the progress made in delivering eGovernment services belies real advances many local authorities have made to date. Some excellent work has already taken place, with local authorities having risen to the challenge of building an eGovernment infrastructure, often from nothing. However, almost all of this work has been developmental, reacting to central Government mandates. It is now time to reflect on what has been done and to establish a research agenda to help build future eGovernment capacity. This is where the world of academia is helping.

Brunel University's School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics (SISCM), has successfully secured Government funding to establish a think-tank of key stakeholders to identify critical research challenges in the area of eGovernment integration and systems evaluation. This focus is considered by many in Government as well as the academic and practitioner communities to be very important and topical, relating to how information systems are pieced together as well as identifying their benefits, costs and risk implications during development, roll-out, implementation and operation. The network created by and led at Brunel is called the eGISE Network and is funded (to the tune of an initial £60,000 and a recent follow up £40,000 to broaden out the research) by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Members include key figures from the UK research community as well as representation from those in local Government and others supportive Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). All participants are determined to make a difference through research, as well as having a genuine desire to help shape the future of e-Government. In total, as well as bringing together active academics in the area of e-Government, the eGISE Network involves over 50 local authorities, public sector agencies and private companies to form strategic partnerships.

Dr Stephen Jones, Head of Information Technology Services at Conwy County Borough Council explains the value of eGISE as being "rewarding and thought provoking, it allows me to brainstorm and interact with people that are all motivated to think outside-the-box . to sign-post eGovernment research challenges around IT services, systems, support and strategy".

We hope eGISE will help local authorities realise the expected benefits associated with their significant investment in eGovernment through promoting national debate and identifying research strategies needed to increase understanding of eGovernment, and the processes involved in effectively evaluating the implementation of information society technologies (IST). As Dr Tony Elliman from Brunel University who is a Co-Investigator and active member of the think-tank, comments "This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the direction of electronic Government"

The network has now emerged from its first year of activity to signpost what are considered the most critical research areas within its remit of integration and systems evaluation. In particular, the Network has defined and promoted research on IST strategies and their embedded mechanisms for evaluation and integration within government and the public sector. At the genesis lies several research strands that eGISE members believe are core to building a successful e-Government infrastructure, and which the think-tank will now focus their efforts and resources upon. These core research areas are classified as either agency or citizen facing, and then broken down into research themes: