Information Systems and New Public Management ‐ a View From the Centre

The combination of new public management reforms and ‘informatization’ is presenting opportunities for the re‐engineering of government business activities. Awareness and debate about the implications of this are limited however. Structural reforms to public services need to take account of the notion of information stewardship, and an essential competence of public officials is to manage and use information held in trust. Public service reforms which lead both to fragmentation and to the contract culture have implications for information systems development and implementation. Whilst new technology can be used to alter radically the administrative and service delivery systems of government, technical possibilities must be set alongside issues such as the privacy of the individual and the protection of public interest. The article also discusses the role of the Office of Public Services and Science, and HM Treasury, in stimulating appropriate strategies to cope with these dilemmas.