Austerity behind award-winning website

The UK government’s new services and information website has been named Design of the Year by the Museum of Design, providing a rare moment of glory for a publicly funded IT project. The ceremony marked the first time the award, which has been running for six years, has been won by a website. Previous winners have included the London Olympic Torch and the One Laptop Per Child project. It was also a sign that the Cabinet Office might have pulled off what no other arm of government has yet managed: a smoothly run IT project that simplifies government systems and saves money.