Information Builders’ UK MD has called for the Government to expand its view of the kind of services it should be offering people online. Speaking at the eGovernment conference in London last week, Jim Irving said that although the government’s plans to get its services online by 2005 were well underway, it needed to go beyond merely offering services like drivers licence and passport applications over the Net.

“I can pay for my council tax online,” he said “And I can complain if my bins are not empty. But what I would also like is an analysis of recent crime activity. Not just by county, but right down to street or even post code level.”

He argues that providing this kind of information to the public is crucial to the success of eGovernment. “Corporate organisations have used business intelligence systems for many years to analyse trends, report on exceptions, embrace corporate performance management, customer relationship management, targeted marketing and business activity monitoring,” he said. “This has led to improved efficiency, competitiveness and provided more timely information upon which to make decisions. Ultimately this needs to be the next phase for online government services in the UK.” ®