The use and management of geographic information in local e-government in the UK

The modernisation of public services in the Information age has placed the use, management and exchange of information at the centre of the work of local government. As much of the information held by councils is location based, the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in these organisations is set to take on a far greater corporate significance. The UK Government's promotion of «joined-up» initiatives in key sectors such as health, education and crime prevention, has focused attention on the types of factors that may influence the exchange and analysis of such data, much of which is held by local authorities. Despite a number of studies that have demonstrated the potential of data sharing, there has been a lack of published research into the relationship between the e-Government programme and the management and use of geographic information (GI) in local authorities. This paper describes the results of a national survey of local authorities that has examined the degree to which councils have included provision for the use and management of geographic information and GIS in their formal visions for e-government. It is clear from the survey that GI(S) are seen as very important to the e-government process with almost ninety per cent of respondents stating that GI(S) features in their e-government strategies. However, if full advantage is to be taken of the integrating ability of geographic information, then effective and efficient management of this information must be undertaken at a corporate level.