COI to run government's public services on web

by David Tiltman, Marketing 29-Mar-06

LONDON - The role of the COI is to expand dramatically to include the management of the government's online public services.

From 1 April, the Cabinet Office is to transfer responsibility of Directgov, the web portal that brings together services from 11 Whitehall departments, to the COI.

It will be the first time the COI has been responsible for delivering services direct to the public as well as communicating them.

Launched in 2004, Directgov has, until now, been part of the Cabinet Office's e-Government Unit. It has an operational budget of £5m a year, and is expected to grow in importance as more services move online.

'Directgov has a key role in making public services more accessible,' said Cabinet Office minister Jim Murphy. 'With its excellent track record of getting information to those who need it, the COI is the ideal location for it.'

Directgov, which receives more than 2m hits a month, is currently the subject of a £1.8m advertising campaign, created by Walsh Trott Chick Smith. The executions use the strapline 'Public services all in one place'.

The Cabinet Office's Media Monitoring Unit, which tracks domestic and international news coverage of the government, will also move to the COI.

The news comes as the COI celebrates its 60th anniversary. An online poll released this week by the BBC found that the 'Charley says' child-safety ads from 1973 were the nation's favourite public-information films.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.