WILL we need law books in the future? The question is provoked by the arrival of Sony’s new digital book, Reader. It is lightweight, the size of a DVD box, with a paper-like display and it can hold hundreds of books (http://products.sel.sony.com/pa/prs). It can connect to the internet and can handle sound and image. So why bother with legal tomes? Perhaps we won’t. Many lawyers already prefer online law reports to conventional volumes, while the business of producing books has become secondary to online services for many legal publishers.

Researching electronically is becoming natural and when lawyers do want paper, they can print important pages. Yet the old arguments remain: we like the touch, odour and aura of books and libraries; books are pleasant to own and collect; reading a book seems easier and less prone to error than viewing on screen; and it is convenient to have many books open at once. So, nostalgia, tradition and some plausible practicalities may keep law books on the go for some time yet. But, then again, how many web users today consult traditional encyclopaedias?

THE story of Project EAGLE is sad yet inspiring. It is about under-funded innovation in the public and voluntary sectors.

From 2002 to 2005, the Legal Services Commission and two Citizens Advice Bureaux collaborated in developing a prototype, internet-based system that provides expert help on employment law for generalist advisers (www.projecteagle.org.uk). The project was conducted with enthusiasm and insight, and it demonstrated the potential of interactive expert systems for providing guidance through complex bodies of regulations. This success echoed experience in Australia, where advanced off-the-shelf tools are available (www.ruleburst.com).

Initially, EAGLE was supported by the Invest to Save Budget. But government funding has now run out and the project has been brought unceremoniously to a close. It is lamentable that a tiny chunk of the UK’s £14 billion annual spend on IT cannot be allocated towards completion of this project. It is surely in everyone’s interests to improve services that help citizens to understand the law and their entitlements.

THE Government is looking for a new Chief Information Officer (CIO). This is a serious position, whose holder is to lead the IT profession in the public sector and use technology to transform government services.

So what kind of demigod is equal to the task? In pondering this one, the headhunters face the same issues as leading law firms who decide to appoint a new CIO, as has become fashionable. The job specification may not be as formidable but lawyers tend to be rather more demanding users than civil servants.

Is the CIO simply a fancy new title for the IT director or is this a new beast, operating and influencing at the highest echelons of strategy and policy? Whether in government or in law firms, the CIO should be much more than a master technologist. The job demands a seasoned manager who is indeed pivotal at board level, an outstanding communicator, well versed in IT, but, vitally, passionate about information sharing, knowledge management, e-business, and challenging current working practices. A tall order.

The author lectures and consults internationally. He is IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice and Honorary Professor at Gresham College. He can be contacted through www.susskind.com

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