Cabinet technology supremo Ian McCartney has been busy. Fresh from his announcement of new standards for public sector call centres, he has launched a series of initiatives on other fronts.

A 'new media team' has been created and charged with driving up the standards on Government websites and pushing the transfer of business processes towards the internet. An audit will lay the groundwork for setting new targets, likely to include:

• better design, accessibility and navigation within and between sites
• advice to departments on e-commerce, designed to move sites beyond information and into transactions
• pushing culture change through the civil service.

The Government is working on its own comprehensive 'corporate IT strategy' and has already committed £500M to establishing a national network of information and communication technology learning centres to promote the message more widely.

Elliott Chase