Government blind on digital needs: Labour

Opposition moves to garner support - and votes - for its rival IT policy

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Chi Onwurah has slammed the government's vision for a digital Britain as non-existent.

Her comments come as the opposition prepares to launch its Digital Britain 2015 review, speaking at the Digital Leaders annual conference today.

"The government has no vision for digital Britain – the report that Labour delivered in the last year of our government, Digital Britain, has yet to be superseded," she said.

"Four years on, the opportunities are different and we are not even beginning to reap the positive benefits of the way technology can change our public services."

Onwurah (pictured) underlined that proper use of IT, protecting privacy, maintaining transparency, and paying attention to service design, can be a powerful tool for the public sector, empowering government and citizens while saving money.

"Rather than addressing these challenges ad hoc and reactively, we need a framework for the relationship between the people and their data, government and digital," Onwurah said.

"Labour will be acting where this government has so comprehensively failed," she added.

Digital Britain 2015 will look at how digital technology, including IT, can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government.

The review will culminate with a published update of relevant parts of Labour's 2009 Digital Britain report, led by Onwurah and Michael Dugher working across shadow department teams and alongside "outside experts". But no specifics are yet announced.