Councils in England have the chance to become IT entrepreneurs under Whitehall's plans for the future of 22 national e-government projects.

Funded with £80m from the ODPM, the projects have seen the development of a range of software programs and processes for developing electronic public services. These products looked set to become orphans as funding came to an end - until the ODPM this week announced it would offer ownership of the products to councils. It will be up to councils whether they want to share the products with other authorities, or sign deals with commercial firms.

The ODPM said the approach was "consistent with the lead taken by local authorities in developing the national projects". Phil Hope, minister for local e-government, said the policy "should secure rollout of these products over the long term, where there is a demonstrable need from local government for them to continue".

But independent observers questioned whether local authorities would be able to make a commercial success of the products. Angus Doulton, of EIP, a group of local authorities cooperating on e-services, said councils would find it difficult to run software businesses. "Local authorities are moving into an area where they have no experience and will find it far more difficult than they think."