Information Technology in Public Sector Settings: Towards Effective Systems Available to Purchase

The major problems experienced in implementing IT systems in the public sector are reviewed. Detailed UK research, carried out in the Department of Social Security and the National Health Service, is then considered. Many projects sub‐optimise due to neglect of the human aspects of computerisation, broadly conceived. It is concluded that establishing 16 success criteria still need to be imported into many IT projects if effective systems are to result.