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The admission by Mr Smith was made as part of a live video link speech to the conference in London where the Government's worst IT blunders were broached before reforms to stop such disasters from occurring again were re-iterated.
Mr Smith said: "The Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Passport Office, and Benefits Agency all suffered under the weight of poorly procured and badly designed IT systems.
"As IT is at the heart of the economy, so it must be at the heart of Government. To place IT at the heart of Government we need an effective partnership with the IT industry. Our track record has not always been as good as it could be."
Mr Smith outlined the Government's main initiatives to improve partnerships with the IT industry:
- The Gateway review programme;
- The SPRITE programme;
- Senior Responsible Owners;
- The Senior IT Forum;
- The work of the OGC in developing Best Practice Toolkits; and
- The Supplier Management Team - opening up the Government market to all enterprises.
He said: "The Gateway review programme is a technique for delivering procurement projects based on proven private sector practices, designed to ensure value for money improvements. So far 104 projects- or £18 billion of Government investment- have benefited from the Gateway programme.
"The SPRITE programme flowed from a major Cabinet Office led review of IT-enabled business change projects. The aim is to improve the success rate by hardwiring best practice into the procurement process. The OGC now have responsibility for implementing the review's recommendations.
"Virtually all Government IT projects have now appointed a Senior Responsible Owner. An owner’s role is pivotal to the successful outcome of IT enabled schemes.
"The Senior Forum is an important part of this partnership process, an opportunity for Government and the IT industry to come together to identify, and address, joint systemic issues.
"Partnership, at the heart of the Senior Forum, must be at the heart of our IT agenda. In the past we have not always got it right. The capacity in the public sector has not been there. IT companies in the private sector have not always deployed the staff and the resources to ensure the right result. All that is beginning to change.
"In the work of the OGC I see the potential for wholesale reform - a revolution in Government procurement. In the work of the Senior IT Forum, I see the mechanism to make a partnership between Government and the IT industry- based on shared objectives, openness, and trust."
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Richard Powell, Shout99
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