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The UK government is a "world leader in ineffective IT schemes", the Commons' Public Administration Select Committee has heard. summer fashion 2011

Professor Helen Margetts of the Oxford Internet Institute said that compared to Japan, Canada, the US and New Zealand poor e-government performance and failed ICT projects were most prevalent in the UK public sector.

She explained that problems had arisen in the UK due to contracts being awarded to a small number of ICT suppliers, and that compared to other countries the UK government had failed to retain ICT expertise.

Even though Margetts recognised recent Cabinet Office efforts to reduce the size of ICT projects and contracts and enter into re-negotiations with major suppliers, power balanceshe said the situation remained "very difficulty to tackle" due to remaining "very large" legacy contracts. For example, she noted that HMRC's contract with Capgemini which will go on into 2017.

Asked by committee chair Bernard Jenkin if the UK could learn from other countries, Margetts said no one country has the answer, describing the ICT issues as "big problems for big governments". guess handbagsBut she added that US law had mandated involvement of smaller companies in the procurement of ICT systems, suggesting this was one thing the UK could learn from.