Microsoft today introduces a new server designed to help the British government fulfil its pledge of putting all government services online within four years.

Andrew Pinder, Britain's e-envoy, spent yesterday meeting Microsoft executives in Seattle to discuss plans to give everybody access to the internet by 2005.

Mr Pinder, who was appointed to the post this year, is under pressure to explain how the government will deliver on its pledge.

The government named Microsoft at the end of last year as the leading private sector company involved in its UK Online initiative.

In just 15 weeks the group has developed a portal linking all government services. It is expected to take substantially longer for the service, based on the company's Biztalk server, to be implemented.

The contract, understood to be Microsoft's largest for a foreign government, has potential to be extremely lucrative.

In his keynote address at the meeting today, Bill Gates, the chairman and founder of Microsoft, will credit Britain with pushing for the "largest e-government initiative in the world".

The company invites officials from about 80 states to its government leadership conference each year.

Mr Pinder is also to speak at the conference on The Innovative Government. It is his first overseas trip since being confirmed as e-envoy.

The post, which was created in 1999 to champion internet issues in and outside government, was criticised by the Labour-led trade and industry committee last week as overly bureaucratic and without real power.

After spending three days in Seattle, Mr Pinder, a former information technology director of the inland revenue, will fly to San Francisco for a two-day visit to Silicon Valley.