Not Using the Internet

Got an email pointing out this article in Nextgov. The hook is a McKinsey report on Government 2.0, and includes this:

"But a decade later, e-government services have not delivered on promises, according to the report, which pointed to a government agency that invested millions of dollars to develop a service to enable citizens to manage accounts with the government online, but achieved an adoption rate of less than 5 percent. The agency was not named."

That could be FSA. [Updated--though if you read the report it sounds as if it's a non-U.S. agency, but the report is not clear.]

If it is, I'd argue these reasons work against success, which might well apply to other agencies:

1. The idea that moving online endangers jobs. That certainly undercuts one's motivation (did in my case, anyway).
2. Mistakes in version 1.0.-- Harshaw's law: "We never do things right the first time."
3. Program people and IT people didn't communicate.
4. Lack of a broad enough vision at high enough levels.
   

Also from the article:

"The report recommends that agencies elevate the governance model for e-government initiatives so that lines-of-business executives are held accountable for users adopting the service, the costs of the online tools and for establishing teams to support development and management."

Problem is, the board of directors for FSA is Congress, and they don't know much. (BTW, watched Hal Holbrook's "Mark Twain Tonight" on DVD last night--there was a man who really didn't think much of Congress.)