Cabinet Office Minister Ian McCartney yesterday unveiled a key plan in the Government's drive to get all its services online by 2005 and cut bureaucracy within the public sector.

Speaking at London's QE2 Centre, Mr McCartney launched the e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) – a piece of policy which will help IT systems across the whole public sector to communicate smoothly with each other.

There are two main benefits the policy will bring:

• Creating 24-hour one-stop Government: e-GIF is key to creating one-stop Government where services are available 24-hours a day from a single electronic point of access. For example, the UK online portal – built around e-GIF standards – will offer services around life episodes, giving the user information they need about a particular experience such as having a baby or learning to drive.
• Banishing bureaucracy in Government: Step-up the red-tape revolution within Government, moving the public sector away from traditional paper-based ways of working by electronically joining up information across a range of Government departments and organisations. Again this is built around e-GIF standards.

The Office of the e-Envoy's E-Government Group will provide important advice on best practice in implementing the e-GIF framework for the public sector.

Mr McCartney said, "This important initiative may not be the sort to grab headlines, but it reflects the sort of vital policies we are implementing to modernise our public services."

"The seamless flow of information across official organisations has many benefits to the public and the public sector worker. It will help us wipe-out the headache, of people having to contact a myriad of Government services when they want to do things like move house or learn to drive. In future this will all be available from one single electronic point, through the internet, public kiosks or other means."

"It will also help staff to do more of their work in simple electronic ways. And by tearing through the paper-trails created by routine transactions, we can free up frontline staff to provide a better service to the public."