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  1. Politics
27 January 2010

Which of these IT projects face the Tory axe?

Labour tech for the chop if Cameron and co get in

By Jon Bernstein

We know the general thrust of the Conservative take on government IT projects: money-sapping failure.

It’s a position that dovetails nicely with another favourite line of opposition parties in the run-up to a general election — that such initiatives are a bureaucratic waste of time and money and should be eradicated to fund front-line services/tax cuts/deficit reduction (delete as appropriate).

But when it comes down to it, which of the many Whitehall IT projects would a Tory government ditch?

The technology website silicon.com has delivered an interesting piece of research in an attempt to answer just that question.

Of the 11 big projects introduced by Labour since 1997, two will definitely be axed, five have a low chance of survival, one is in the balance and three should survive:

1. The National Programme for IT Chance of survival: Low
2. ID cards Chance of survival: None
3. ContactPoint Chance of survival: None
4. FiReControl Chance of survival: Low
5. The National DNA Database Chance of survival: High
6. Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act Chance of survival: Low
7. Interception Modernisation Programme Chance of survival: Low
8. Digital Britain Chance of survival: Low
9. e-Borders Chance of survival: Medium
10. Police Central e-Crime Unit Chance of survival: High
11. Defence Information Infrastructure Chance of survival: High

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