Ukonline


Ukonline was a "portal" website of the UK Government linking to public sector information, and was originally called me.gov. The site was launched in 2001 and maintained by the Office of the e-Envoy. It replaced the earlier single online government website, the Government Information Service hosted at open.gov.uk, which had been established in November 1994. The need for an updated single government website had been identified in a 1999 Portal Feasibility Study prepared by PA Consulting for the Central IT Unit in the Cabinet Office.
The site featured news, links, and search facilities connecting together much of the government's web presence, though later this pan-government search facility was removed. Visitors to the site were able to search for information on a variety of topics and retrieve a list of government departments that were able to provide them with more information. It was also possible to do such things as apply for a passport, buy a television licence, register to vote or complete and send a Tax Self Assessment form, but only if users left the website, as they could not actually perform the transaction on UKonline.
The site was replaced in 2004 by the service Directgov, which was then replaced in 2012 by the service Gov.uk.
There is still a network of community internet access points called the UK Online Centres network, run by the Tinder Foundation.