Brown Wants More Technology in U.K. Public-Service Provision
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown will say he wants to increase the use of information technology such as Web-based systems and databases to improve public services from policing to health care.
The aim ``is to ensure we utilize all the innovation at our disposal to improve public services in this country and to give more power to those who use them,'' Brown will say in a speech to Google Inc.'s Zeitgeist Conference in London today.
Brown is trying to regain the initiative after his party slumped to its worst local-election performance since the 1970s this month. His rating as prime minister by British voters has fallen to the worst level for a leader since John Major's premiership in 1995, and he faces the prospect of defeat in a by-election later this week, opinion polls showed yesterday.
``Across government and the public services we must present and distribute the information we hold in a way that enables it to be re-used by online communities, potentially reaching many millions more people and helping make Britain a country of technology pioneers,'' Brown will say.
Brown will announce a range of areas where he wants to increase the use of information technology, including the use of video-imaging of crime suspects and allowing patients to book medical appointments online. He will also announce a joint initiative with Google to use British meteorological data on the Google Earth application to show the effects of climate change.
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