31 March 2005
According to the Guardian the prime minister is set to announce a £10 million competition to create a city of e-technology in order to transform the electronic delivery of services.
The paper reports that Tony Blair will announce the competition - akin to the city of culture title - on Friday.
It is hoped that the competition will stimulate ideas for IT development within local government and go some way in closing the so called digital divide.
Ideas mooted by the Guardian include online access to crime information - so helping to establish any patterns of crime, use of IT to set up micro businesses and Internet kiosks on the corner of every street.
A government source told the paper they did not to be prescriptive but wanted the prize to spur innovation and fresh ideas rather than simply putting current services online.
The £10 million prize is set to be awarded in 2008.© DeHavilland Information Services plc
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