HC Deb 16 November 2001 vol 374 c961W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is(a) the remit and (b) the membership of the Technologies Advisory Group. [15200]

Mr. Leslie

The Technical Advisory Group (recently renamed as the Technology Advisory Group) was formed by the Office of the e-Envoy earlier this year to enable government to obtain the views of expert and representative members of the Technology, Media and Telecoms Sectors and other industry on technology issues affecting the realisation of the e-government vision. The mechanism also enables industry to gain a clearer understanding of the current and possible future direction of e-government. The full terms of reference for the Group are at Annex A.

The membership of the Group is a cross-section of experts mainly at Technical Director level drawn by invitation from twenty or so industry leading organisations. The Department of Trade and Industry, the Society of IT Managers (SOCITM) and the Computer Software Services Association (CSSA) are also represented. A full list of members is attached at Annex B.

The group met for the first time in July and a second meeting was held in September. The next meeting is planned for December 2001. The subject matter has included the e-Government Interoperability Framework (the e-GIF), Public Key Infrastructure (PM) and Channels Strategies for e-government services.

A sister group, the E-business Advisory Group (EAG), was also established this year with a remit to provide views on how best to introduce e-business ideas and approaches across the Public Sector.