eGov 3.0?

Well I never thought I'd be writing such a cheesey headline.

But the controlled parking zone department at Islington Council has brought me much joy, for a change, and IT is at the heart of that delight. After years of battling to get annual parking permits out to residents on time, frustations driven by lengthy queues at the council offices and psychotic wardens, the council this year made it impossible to buy permits other than by phone or online, using an e-commerce application.

So I was forced to do it online. But it works so well. Why should I ever have doubted local government? I applied at about 11pm on Tuesday and a new permit turned up on my doorstep at 9am yesterday. No need for photocopying documents, no need to queue, just a customer ID number used to verify account history with an integrated database.

After some stuttering, is digital local government really here, and worryingly impressive?

Mind you, they've never had any problem collecting my parking fine payments.