The move follows a series of embarassing government IT failures and delays including the Contributions Agency’s NIRS2 fiasco and Siemens’ botched project at the Passport Office.
The CSSA will conduct a study gathering IT industry views on large IT projects, drawing on experience not only from dealings with government, but from other sectors and internally.
The association will offer expertise and submit recommendations to the Cabinet Office Major IT Projects Review team that is already working to ensure that future government systems run effectively, deliver value for money and apply best practice from previous projects.
Cabinet Office minister Ian McCartney, said: ‘This is a significant step with government and industry working together. This reflects our joint determination to improve the development and management of our major IT projects. Suppliers share responsibility for ensuring that projects are delivered on time, on budget and provide the promised service improvements. Both sides suffer when things go wrong.’
The new CSSA study will complement the first-ever comprehensive review by government of its IT projects, announced by McCartney in October. The CSSA Project Review Board will research IT successes and failures, drawing upon the IT software and services industry knowledge and experience of implementing major IT projects in the public and private sector.
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