CCTA
| Abbreviation | CCTA |
|---|---|
| Motto | The Government Centre for Information Systems |
| Formation | 1957 (as the TSU) |
| Extinction | 2000 (subsumed into the OGC) |
| Legal status | Defunct executive government agency |
| Purpose | New telecommunications and computer technology for the UK government |
| Location |
|
|
Region served
|
UK |
|
Membership
|
Electronics and computer engineers |
|
Parent organization
|
HM Treasury |
| Website | www.ccta.gov.uk |
The Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) was a UK government agency providing computer and telecoms support to government departments.
In 1957, the UK government formed the Technical Support Unit (TSU) of HM Treasury (HMT) to evaluate and advise on computers, initially based around engineers from the telecommunications service.
As this unit evolved, it morphed into the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), which also had responsibilities as a central procurement body for government technological equipment.
CCTA's work during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s was primarily to (a) develop central government IT professionalism, (b) create a body of knowledge and experience in the successful development and implementation of IS/IT within UK central government (c) to brief Government Ministers on the opportunities for use of IS/IT to support policy initiatives (e.g. "Citizen's Charter" / "e-government") and (d) to encourage and assist UK private sector companies to develop and offer products and services aligned to government needs.
Over the 3 decades, CCTA's focus shifted from hardware to a business oriented systems approach with strong emphasis on business led IS/IT Strategies which crossed Departmental (Ministry) boundaries encompassing several "Departments" (e.g. CCCJS – Computerisation of the Central Criminal Justice System). This inter-departmental approach, (first mooted in the mid to late 1980s) was revolutionary and met considerable political and departmental opposition.
In October 1994, MI5 took over its work on computer security from hacking into the government's (usually the Treasury) network. In November 1994, CCTA launched its website. In February 1998 it built and ran the government's secure intranet. The MoD was connected to a separate network. In December 1998, the DfEE moved its server from CCTA at Norwich to NISS (National Information Services and Systems) in Bath when it relaunched its website.
Between 1989 and 1992, CCTA's "Strategic Programmes" Division undertook research on exploiting Information Systems as a medium for improving the relationship between citizens, businesses and government. This paralled the launch of the "Citizen's Charter" by the then Prime Minister, John Major, and the creation within the Cabinet Office of the "Citizen's Charter Unit" (CCTA had at this point been moved from HM Treasury to the Cabinet Office). The research and work focused on identifying ways of simplifying the interaction between citizens and government through the use of IS/IT. Two major TV documentaries were produced by CCTA – "Information and the Citizen" and "Hymns Ancient and Modern" which explored the business and political issues associated with what was to become "e-government". These were aimed at widening the understanding of senior civil servants (the Whitehall Mandarins) of the significant impact of the "Information Age" and identifying wider social and economic issues likely to arise from e-government.
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