E-government doomed to failure, says Gartner

A report by technology consultant Gartner Group says that efforts to implement online services by government departments is doomed to failure unless steps are taken to control costs and extract the additional value made possible by new technology. The main cost benefit of information technology is that it enables organisation to do more with fewer people, but governments cannot fire staff, leaving wage bills relatively unchanged even as technology acquisition costs increase. And poor implementation of technology projects often leaves customers looking to traditional face-to-face m...