My job was announced by Tony Blair in a speech in Cambridge on Monday 13 September 1999. I was appointed as the Government's first "e-envoy", helping to promote e-commerce and to galvanise action within Government.
The job arose from a review carried out by the Cabinet Office's Performace and Innovation Unit. The full report is available online - a description of the job is in Chapter 14 (see extract). The official web site is http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk.
I headed a small team in the Cabinet Office, working closely with Patricia Hewitt, the DTI minister responsible for e-commerce across Government and with Ian McCartney, the minister in the Cabinet Office working on modernising Government.
I went with Tony Blair to Cambridge for the announcement but then returned to Australia to finish things off and get organised for the move back to the UK. I started my new job properly in January 2000 (though I was already doing quite a bit by e-mail).
I had to take some time off in Australia in April and May when my wife Katie was ill. I returned to London to continue the job, but subsequently decided I couldn't give it the 100% it needed. So I resigned from the job, leaving in mid-October 2000 and returning to live in Australia.
The official e-mail address for e-envoy correspondence is e-envoy@open.gov.uk. I no longer receive email to that address but it will be dealt with by the office in London.