E-Government - Ready or Not? 12/07/00 BT commissioned MORI and The Henley Centre earlier in 2000 to undertake research into the readiness of both consumers and government administrators for the implementation of electronic government by 2005. The study comes at a time of high expectation for the delivery of electronic services to the public, but also an awareness that implementation could be a complex process. The conclusions of this report - based on the research among both service managers and consumers - complement the principles of the eGovernment strategy: Building services around citizens' choices: making e-services the ones people prefer to use. Making government and its services more accessible. Social inclusion: dealing with the barriers of costs, skills and also aptitudes. Using information more effectively: sharing practical examples to build confidence. The strategies the government can take to advance both the service delivery and the citizen uptake of eGovernment share some striking similarities, although there are also issues specific to each. The outlook for eGovernment is very positive: both Government and consumers recognise that new technologies are important, and have enormous potential for improving the delivery of government services. If the targets for electronic government are to be met, the challenges lie in how eGovernment is implemented. From the consumer's point of view the barriers are more to do with confidence - both in terms of use of ICT and in the Government's ability to deliver electronic services successfully. Key in building this will be public services exceeding expectations, with fast, easy-to-use content, to make using electronic public services worthwhile. The MORI eGovernment Research Unit carried out initial qualitative interviews with senior decision-makers in each of the service-providing sectors covered in the project, including Alex Allen, the e-envoy and Paul Jenkins of NHS Direct. 452 structured telephone interviews were then carried out with policy managers in central government, local and regional government, education, health, police and judiciary. These interviews were distributed as follows: 75 interviews with central government. 100 interviews with local and regional government. 102 interviews with education. 100 interviews with health.