I'm pretty sure every member of the public with half a brain cringed when the government first launched this project. The woeful reputation earned over the year

I'm pretty sure every member of the public with half a brain cringed when the government first launched this project. The woeful reputation earned over the years by (UK) government-led, data-driven IT initiatives speaks for itself. It would seem that the two primary skills prized by the IT consultants is extremely short term memory and the ability to stick one's fingers in one's ears and go 'la la la - I can't hear you..oh, and here's my bill'. Devolving the purchasing in itself would not necessarily be a good idea, but I'm all for a six-pronged approach: 1) Develop or adopt robust data handling standards and a certification strategy 2) Develop a common/compliant platform standard and a certification strategy 3) Issue RFQs and proposals to competitive tenderers with the clear understanding that there will be no sole supplier 4) Evaluate and certify the offerings from winning tenderers 5) Allow competitive purchasing decisions at a local level from the certified/approved hardware and software vendors. 6) Implement a rolling auditing, performance re-assessment and certification renewal scheme for all vendors Time and time again the 'one shoe fits all', single vendor solutions from one of the big consulting organisations have proven to be a disaster, yet back they come when the next future-fiasco is in the planning stages. Cynical me smells something fishy about the whole cosy club.