Deja vu all over again?

摘要

It is a familiar tale: the government an-nounces an ambitious information technology (IT) project, awards contracts and sets deadlines. But then the costs start to rise and deadlines pass. The project is eventually completed years late, way over budget, and fails to deliver the promised benefits-or is scrapped altogether. Could this be happening to the National Health Service's National Project for IT (NPFIT)? If so, it would be big blow to the government. The NPFIT is not just another big IT project: lessons from previous fiascos (air-traffic control, benefit cards, the Passport Office, the Child Support Agency) have been applied and new procedures devised: as well as being vital to the future of the NHS, the NPFIT is also intended to show that big IT projects need not always go wrong.