O2 CEO: Public sector is in mobile "dark ages"

O2 CEO Peter Erskine has called for the public sector to be brought up to date with mobile communications.

Speaking today at the Financial Times world communications conference, Erskine said: "[The public sector] is one sector that is still in the dark ages with mobile communications."

The mobile boss, however, put the blame at the feet of the industry rather than the public sector itself.

"This isn't a criticism of government, it's a challenge to everyone in the industry to show what mobile can do for government," he said. "Of course things are happening in the public sector, but think what added benefits they could be enjoying."

Certain services are underused in the sector, Erskine added, and singled out the health service as needing a shot in the arm from text messaging.

"Why is it not used in the health service to make or confirm appointments?" he asked.

The O2 boss also suggested that 'intelligent parking' could be one area where the public sector should begin to adopt mobile technology.

O2 has a number of public-sector activities on the go, notably through Airwave, its digital radio subsidiary. It also has worked with West Yorkshire Police to get them using BlackBerry devices to access data.

"There are a lot of individual uses of the digital age but we haven't helped them join them up yet," he noted.