Other Reports

Portals

ThePortal concept is outlined in the Modernising Government White Paper. It aims to provide an integrated, “joined up” means of access to government information and services.

One of the first such services will be a Change of Address service, allowing citizens to notify Government of a change of address in a single transaction. In addition to the service itself, the portal will provide a single point of authentication and receipting, and will allow audits of compliance with the Data Protection Act.

The first phase of this project is now complete. On 22nd and 29th January, trials of the Portal were conducted using Focus Groups which included existing members of the Peoples’ Panel (a Cabinet Office/MORI initiative). The Portal Demonstrator allowed trial users to issue “dummy” Change of Address notifications to two Departments (Inland Revenue and DSS) over the Internet.

The results of this research have already fed into preparations for the forthcoming “me.gov” and “Government Gateway” procurements, which will set up the first operational Government portal service.

Published documents:

Date Title Versions available April 2000 UK Government Portal: Change of Address Demonstrator MS Word April 2000 Assessing Attitudes to the Change of Address Function Government Portal Research MS Word April 2000 CITU Portal Demonstrator: Lessons learned for future portal project phases MS Word June 1999 Portal Feasibility Study rtf; pdf; Costs have been eliminated for reasons of commercial confidentiality.