The paper traces the history of IT coordination in government, from the early 1950s to the current e-government environment. Particular attention will be paid to the organizations that have been charged with coordination over the decades, and how they differed in terms of approach and success. It is argued that IT coordination from the centre has largely been ineffective, and protagonists have consistently been uncertain as to what should be done with government IT. This uncertainty and inadequacy has continued into the e-government era, and some of the efforts of the Office of the e-Envoy in particular seem misplaced and overambitious. The paper concludes that central government should remedy the fundamentals of departmental IT project management before wide-ranging joined up' e-government schemes can be attempted.
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