EURIM Working Group Minutes

Working Party:	Theme 01/ Working Group
Ref:	02-T02-Min05
Minuter:	Emma Fryer
Date:	09/10/02
Circulation:	Attendees and Apologies
Queries to:	Emma Fryer, Tel: 0191 384 0282 Mob: 07714 803 650 Emma.fryer@eurim.org

Minutes of the EURIM / Intellect Planning Meeting on scope for joint activities on Modernising Government 9^th October 2002, kindly hosted by Intellect
Meeting Notes
			Action
1		Chairman’s introduction
	1.1	JT outlined the purpose of the meeting – · to share ideas between the two organisations and compare the EURIM agenda with that of Intellect’s e-government group with the aim of seeing whether there was room for collaboration. · to explore the possibility of bringing the organisations together to run a joint event for mutual benefit - if the agendas were aligned closely enough.
2		Intellect e-Government Group
	2.1	JT outlined the function of Intellect’s e-Government group and ran through its Charter.
	2.2	Its purpose was to inform Intellect members of what was going on in government through dialogue with the e-envoy, OCG and departments. Members were primarily interested in what departmental agendas and government policy meant for suppliers They held monthly meetings that were usually attended by between 40 and 70 people.
	2.3	To date they had concentrated more on obtaining information than giving feedback but this was changing – the next meeting would be followed by a facilitated discussion to provide government with Industry’s perspectives.
	2.4	JT outlined the forward programme of the e-government group.
3		Intellect Events – Tina Compton
	3.1	TC outlined Intellect’s forward programme of events. They had held a successful conference on Local e-Government in September and were planning a follow-up event in November on electronic public services. Other relevant events included a meeting with the Home Office on Entitlement Cards, planned for January and an event on procurement proposed for later in 2003.
	3.2	These conferences were primarily educative, to inform members, explore hot topics and promote networking. The target audience comprised both suppliers and customers but delegates were mostly the former.
	3.3	Conferences were also vehicles for exploring or addressing the issues that were raised at group meetings.
4		Intellect Groups – Nick Kalisperas
	4.1	NK outlined the various Intellect groups that were currently active in the public sector. In addition to the e-government group there were three others: JESICA – dealing with criminal justice issues, Healthcare, and the Defence Briefing group, which had evolved from the FEI’s defence committees. The Senior IT Forum was a joint Intellect/OGC high level group (with 10 Suppliers and 10 Customers) that was addressing the systemic and long-standing problems at the industry-government interface and was helping to shape future policies and practice. Progress was fed back into the e-government group.
	4.2	NK noted that Intellect was happy to work with other parties provided there was benefit for the members.
5		EURIM – Philip Virgo
	5.1	PV Noted that EURIM had a slightly different approach from Intellect:- to find out what government was doing and if necessary change it . He ran through a few examples of how EURIM had changed policy both at its formation and its implementation stages.
	5.2	EURIM’s members comprised a mixture of IT suppliers and users, politicians from all parties and officials from government departments and agencies. EURIM’s strength was its ability to bring all these players together to address issues and recommend mutually agreed solutions.
6		EURIM’s Modernising Government Group – Tom Abram
	6.1	The group’s key objectives were 1. to educate parliamentarians so that they should ask the right questions and understand the feedback that was coming from the NAO (National Audit Office) and the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) 2. to influence the way in which central government organisations work. Their submissions to Cabinet office and organisations such as OPSR, PMDU, OGC and E-Envoy were well received - they were pushing at an open door. The Departments were a different matter and the objective was to draw attention to best practice to help bring about change in a positive way.
	6.2	The key messages coming out of the group’s recent work were summarised in the latest briefing papers and focused on the issues of programme management (joined up government, can-do culture, driving uptake) why Public sector ICT projects fail, and interoperability. These were critical to achieving real modernised government.
	6.3	The group would try to achieve its objectives through a three stage process – 1. Release the three briefing papers to the press on a privilege basis before sending them to the membership. 2. hold a small event for the press to meet the authors on the same day as the papers went on general release. 3. organise an event to reinforce the key messages to those targeted in government.
	6.4	PV explained the procedure around releasing briefings – EURIM working parties could produce different kinds of formal outputs – position statements, overviews, etc, but if they wanted this output to take the form of a formal EURIM Briefing Paper – a 4 x A4 document in a standard format, it needed the approval of all the members, and political approval from both main parties before it could be released.
	6.5	TA reported that other activities were currently being undertaken by four new subgroups, on Social Exclusion, open source in government, Medical records and NHS Delivery.
7		Scope for Collaboration
	7.1	JT thanked everyone for their contributions. The next question was how might the two organisations work together. Did it make sense for them to start planning a joint conference or seminar? It was agreed that the obvious candidate for collaboration was the “key message” event – see stage 3 of point 6.3 above.
	7.2	The two organisations had many members in common, particularly the larger companies. PV noted that it would be of great benefit to EURIM to get input from the smaller companies that were Intellect members, because their views were under-represented
	7.3	It was agreed that the UK’s e-government agenda was in urgent need of a new over-arching strategic framework. There was a big vision, lots going on, but nothing tangible to join up the Centre, the departments and agencies, and the Local Authorities in their individual silos. This frustrated OGC and OeE and the Cabinet Office. The recent EURIM briefings could be used as ammunition in getting this message across.
	7.4	NK noted that it was important to move beyond just identifying the problems – they needed to identify what could be done, and the best way of doing it. TA agreed - the latest EURIM briefing was called “time for the next steps”, and dwelt on exactly those aspects.
	7.5	JT proposed that if they could bring together the content of the EURIM briefings and the output of the Senior IT Forum they would have a very powerful message. It was agreed that there was much to be gained from bringing the two communities together to run a joint event, primarily for the benefit of Intellect members and the EURIM community, but with an additional aim of raising the issues politically. They now needed to decide which issues they should focus on.
	7.6	JT noted that the Senior IT forum was planning a publicity launch for 30 October and there were 4 or 5 outputs that would probably provide the material for this event, viz:- recent contributions from industry members to OCG, the need for government SROs to have opposite numbers in industry, a new Procurement Code to replace the present customer best practice guide, partnering guidance and a skills development programme.
	7.7	TA observed that the Senior IT Forum was a very well-kept secret. NK noted that the 30th October was the starting point for bringing their work out into the open.
	7.8	JT noted that the communications group of the senior forum had a three-phase approach planned – firstly to produce useful material, secondly to make people aware of it, and thirdly to achieve a change of behaviour. It was agreed that the problem was not lack of guidance but in getting people to follow it.
	7.9	NK noted that OGC was focusing on helping SROs and would welcome interaction with their counterparts in industry. TA noted, and it was agreed, that there was an important message to industry in this.
8		Points of Agreement
	8.1	It was agreed that the event should have a tight focus.
	8.2	It was agreed that the event title should be along the lines of “Making Your programme Successful”, with an agenda focused on demonstrating the things SROs could do to ensure success.
	8.3	It was agreed that the target audience would comprise: · project managers, SROs and/or their teams Their opposite numbers from industry Other members of EURIM and Intellect Those who set policy frameworks within which programmes are being delivered
	8.4	It was agreed that the event would have to be chargeable and that it should be self funding. If possible it should be subsidised by sponsorship.
	8.5	The budget would be defined by the venue.
	8.6	It was agreed that attendance figures of around 75 would be ideal, with the emphasis on senior business managers in government
	8.7	It was agreed that it should take place around February 2003
	8.8	The venue should be in or near Westminster
	8.9	The event should be jointly branded (EURIM / Intellect). Endorsements from other organisations like OGC should be sought.
	8.10	It must add value – no one was going to come and listen to government policy initiatives
	8.11	The event would be managed by Intellect’s events team.
9		Programme & Speakers
	9.1	It was agreed that the conference should be a maximum of half a day, probably starting around 9.30, because of the difficultly of getting SROs to events.
	9.2	It was agreed that only about 4 main speakers would be required, plus some panellists.
	9.3	TA suggested Sir Andrew Turnbull as a keynote speaker.
	9.4	Tony Wright MP was suggested as an alternative.
	9.5	Peter Gershon and John Higgins would make good panellists
	9.6	Views should be sought from an SRO and an SRIE. Suggestions included Inland Revenue and NAO.
10		Actions
	10.1	TA, JT and NK would consider the topic and focus of the event.	TA, JT, NK
	10.2	TC, EF and CH would look into venue and budgets	TC EF CH
	10.3	EF agreed to ask Guy Lodge how to approach Tony Wright MP	EF
11		Date of next meeting
	10.1	The next meeting will be held from 3.00 to 4.30pm on Monday 11 November, hopefully at Intellect’s offices at 20 Red Lion Street (venue to be confirmed)

Attendance – 9^th October 2002

F name	Surname	Organisation
Tom	ABRAM	Mantix
Tina	COMPTON	Intellect
Emma	FRYER	EURIM
Carrie	HARTNELL	Intellect
Nick	KALISPER AS	Intellect
Jonathan	TAMBLYN	CMG
Philip	VIRGO	EURIM

Referred papers

EURIM Briefing 35 – Time for the Next Steps

EURIM Briefing 36 – Interoperability – Joined up Government needs joined up systems

EURIM Briefing 37 – Making IT work – the pre-conditions for public sector systems success

Intellect e-Government group Charter

Intellect Groups forward programme – Autumn 2002