HC Deb 26 February 2001 vol 363 cc399-400W
Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the IT projects his Department plans to undertake in the next year; and if he will state in each case the(a) expected date of commencement and completion and (b) cost. [151475]

Mr. Chris Smith

The IT projects currently being planned by the Department for the next year are as follows:

  • Redevelopment of the Department's website—start date May 2001, end date October 2001.
  • Review the functionality of the Government Art Collection website—start date September 2001, end date February 2002.
  • Replacement of remainder of desktop PCs—start date December 2001, end date April 2002.
  • Development of communications management processes—start date July 2001, end date February 2002.
  • Redevelopment of Department's intranet—start date June 2001, end date December 2001.
  • Development and implementation of e-business strategy—on-going.

The individual cost of each project is currently budgeted at less than £100,000, save for the replacement of desktop PCs, where the cost will be of the order of £300,000.

Alongside these projects the Department will be taking forward a number of major initiatives including the development of Culture Online, e-tourism pilots and, with funding provided through the New Opportunities Fund, the rollout of the UKOnline Learning Centres which will see all public libraries connected to the internet.

Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the IT projects currently undertaken in his Department; and if he will state the(a) expected completion date and (b) cost of each project. 1151516]

Mr. Chris Smith

The IT projects currently being undertaken by the Department with expected completion dates are as follows:

  • Development of a database for recording export licensing requests for works of art—May 2001.
  • A website for the Government Art Collection—April 2001.
  • Replacement of desktop PCs—April 2001.
  • Implementation of the Knowledge Network—April 2001.
  • Conversion of internal systems to support web access—March 2001.
  • Review of communications—June 2001.
  • Development and implementation of e-business strategy—next key milestone July 2001.

The individual cost of each project is less than £100,000, save for the replacement of desktop PCs, where the cost is currently under discussion with potential suppliers.

In addition we are supporting additional development work on the 24 Hour Museum.