Swept along by the internet boom of the 1990s, New Labour has long had lofty visions of how the internet could transform Britain. In December 1999 Tony Blair was amazed by the “fantastic possibilities” of the world wide web. It would mean the start of a “different world”, the prime minister suggested.

It was not long after, however, in March 2000, that the NASDAQ stock exchange peaked and the technology bubble burst. And, matching trends across the internet industry as a whole, the succeeding years have seen a maturing of the government’s approach to the role of technology in the public sector.

Some problems, such as the so-called ‘digital divide’, remain a concern. And there are other issues such as whether simply putting existing services online really makes the best of the possibilities that new technology has to offer.

A further set of concerns revolves around the ability of the public sector to successfully deliver technology projects on the scale that is often needed to make a real difference across a range of public services. In many of these areas there is, to put it modestly, a chequered history of successes and failures.

While internet hype was at its greatest during Labour’s first term, it has been during Blair’s second term in power that the transforming possibilities of technology have begun to be grasped. Much of the drive for this has come from the push to develop public services that are personalised for each and every citizen.

It is the use of technology – either directly by the citizen or through the intermediary of a public sector employee – that will play a key part in deciding whether the prime minister’s reforming visions are realised.

Playing a key role in this masterplan is the e-Government Unit. Overseen by high-flying Cabinet Office minister David Miliband, it is under the day-to-day direction of Ian Watmore, who also has the role of chief information officer.

Among the unit’s key responsibilities is a remit to promote joined-up development across the public sector that can “support citizen-centred public service reform”. More fundamentally, behind the scenes, it also works to build capacity to harness IT-enabled reform.

In local government, where much interaction between citizen and state takes place, it is Phil Hope who has ministerial responsibility. The e-local government minister believes “tremendous progress” is being made at town hall level, where the average council is now 79 per cent “e-enabled”.

In this edition of Blue Skies magazine, we look at the efforts being made to help policy makers and civil servants prepare for the delivery challenges that lie ahead. Our technology case studies focus on the key areas of health, education and local government.

And Blue Skies concludes with a series of articles reminding us that while technology is not a panacea for every problem, it can make a real difference if its potential is properly understood.