The Internet is gaining popularity as a delivery channel in the banking sector. At the same time, customer needs are changing. A total of 12 Internet banking operations in the UK are analysed under customer empowerment functions and Internet banking Web attributes. Internet banking renders location and time irrelevant, and empowers customers with greater control of their accounts. Banks achieve cost and efficiency gains in a large number of operational areas.

English In the UK regeneration strategies and patterns of local service provision have usually been imposed from the top down. Most communities have had little influence over plans to revitalise their areas or the design and delivery of services. The ‘New Labour’ government has emphasised its commitment to involving local people in a wide range of policy decisions relating to employment, health, crime reduction, education, local government services and regeneration. According to ministers an enhanced role for local people will increase local accountability and improve service standards. Previous experience of community-focused initiatives suggests however that there are significant obstacles to increasing public participation. Moreover, the present government’s commitment to ‘bottom-up’ initiatives and local experimentation may be at odds with its strong centralising instinct and continuing insistence on ‘zero tolerance of failure’.

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Government policy-making emphasis worldwide is moving increasingly to how ICT can be used to achieve effi ciency savings ( Gershon 2004 ) or to transform activities ( Cabinet Offi ce; Transformational Government 2005 ). The role of ICT in achieving effi ciency benefi ts or supporting transformational change is almost universally accepted by policy-makers, despite the fact that little robust evidence exists. eGovernment evaluation methodologies are reviewed and evidence is provided in this paper to demonstrate that transformational eGovernment projects produce greater benefi ts than other types of initiatives. The level of benefi ts for different groups of benefi ciaries is examined. A key factor determining benefi ts and impact of any project is the number of users of the service and/or the frequency of use of a system. Paul Foley is in the Leicester Business School, De Montfort University. Ximena Alfonso is a managing partner in Alfonso Duncan Consulting, Leicester.

Skills shortages and training problems are forgotten by many companies when they adopt new technology. 52 engineering firms in a ‘traditional’ industry in a single local labour market were interviewed to examine their attitudes to new technology and the skills and training implications of technology adoption. Skills and training issues were often forgotten or misjudged during the new technology appraisal process. It was these same areas which created most problems for many companies after adoption. Misjudgements concerning the level of labour force flexibility and training requirements for staff often created problems after the adoption of new technology. Skills shortages for adopting firms are most acute at the skilled level, this predominantly concerns the ‘local labour market'. Most firms adopted a short term response to skills shortages. Relatively low utilisation of policy initiatives and ‘formal’ avenues of assistance prior to new technology adoption were also identified.