Consideration of security for the proposed Government intranet will be ongoing but at this stage the Department is reasonably confident that an appropriate security framework is feasible when the time comes to develop the system. The Deputy will appreciate the importance of deriving maximum benefit from the application of ICTs to the Cabinet process. At one level, this will apply to electronic transmission of documents but it also has implications for collaborative working between Departments in the form of proposals for Government.
A preliminary examination of the wider issues is currently being conducted by a project group in my Department comprising representatives from the Cabinet secretariat, IT and SMI divisions. In due course this will be widened to capture the full spectrum of experience relevant to the preparation of the business of Government.
It is not possible at this stage to put a timeframe on the system. This will be addressed when there is a clearer appreciation of the full scale of the project. However, it is likely that the project will fall to be addressed in a number of separate stages of which an early stage will be the question of secure electronic transmission of documents between Departments.