IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

"Telemedicine represents a priceless opportunity to broaden access and affordability to modern health-care outcomes," said Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson, in his comments about the telemedicine trial and the impact of the availability of telemedicine solutions here. "Jamaicans here and in the diaspora, as well as others overseas, may now seek to take advantage of opportunities to get premium care in tandem, or not, with a vacation experience on our shores. It also offers tremendous potential as a conduit for information and technology transfer and the forging of public-private partnerships in health between Jamaica and the global community."

Private startups can help governments alleviate the pressures of urbanisation and improve the quality of city life, but partnerships between the two sectors are not always straightforward

The rise of smart cities is providing unprecedented opportunities for mutually beneficial public-private partnerships to provide new business opportunities, cost efficiencies, and greater access to specialist skills and expertise.

Justizministerin Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf und Postchef Ulrich Gygi orientierten am Montag in Bern über die neue Dienstleistung des Bundesamt für Justiz (BJ) und der Post. Das BJ rechnet dieses Jahr mit 325 000 Gesuchen um einen Strafregister-Auszug. Das sei Ausdruck eines erhöhten Sicherheitsbedürfnisses.

Sweden-based Nordea Bank intends to begin distributing smart card readers to up to 1.1 million customers in the fall, Ingemar Borelius, head of the bank's Swedish Internet-banking service, told Card Technology’s sister publication CardLine Global Edition. According to Borelius, the new devices, which include PIN pads, will take over for a less-advanced reader used by about 40,000 of the bank’s customers. Both types of readers are made Sweden's Todos Data System.

But what do these public-private partnerships (PPPs) look like in practice? I put this question to Laura Hosman, assistant professor of political science at the Illinois Institute of Technology, United States, who specialises in ICT for development (ICT4D) and such partnerships.

However, governments are increasingly burdened with increasing demand of education services matched with increased enrolment, especially at primary and secondary education levels.

The governments therefore take initiatives to involve the private sector in supporting the education development.

The unique facility of its kind is expected to become operational in a month's time and will eliminate the need of personal visits to both the offices by the license-holders or their representatives to get the work done.

A senior official of the company highlighted that information-driven tools are crucial for the long-term growth of the UAE, in particular for the financial and real estate sectors.

The assertion has been made by the Society of IT Management (Socitm) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) in a report published on 11 April 2005. Titled A marriage of convenience? A review of experiences from partnerships and outsourcing contracts, it is based on a survey of 26 local authorities that have been involved in outsourcing.

In an unassuming building near McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, 14 different agencies from federal, state and local government work together toward one goal: to keep residents and tourists safe. One of three fusion centers in the state, the SNCTC stands out because it’s an all-hours operation that focuses not only on terrorism, but also on all crimes and hazards.

More governments look to private partnership as new responsibilities mount.

Public-private partnerships are now an option to more than half the states in the nation. And as governments find themselves responsible for a growing range of project areas, like broadband, the benefit of increased resources for projects that might not happen otherwise, like broadband, is pushing the trend forward.

A wave of government-focused technology startups are changing the way governments serve their citizens

Local government partnerships with the business community are often perceived as deals and contracts with large, established corporations. Yet as startup scenes flourish in cities across the U.S., these partnerships are increasingly bringing together local governments and small, emerging startups in the civic innovation space. The result is a win for both sectors: cities are exposed to nimble technologies and creative ideas, and young companies get an opportunity to test and refine their products while serving the public interest.

Government information technology has changed more in the last 10 years than in the previous 30, said Linda Gooden, president of Lockheed Martin Information Technology.

The Public-Private Partnership cooperation is seen as an effective measure to speed up digital transformation and green growth in businesses and localities, said insiders.

The Dien dan doanh nghiep (Business Forum) newspaper cited the success story in digital transformation of the central province of Thua Thien – Hue as an outstanding example of the effective connection between businesses and authorities.

Access to services like health and water is increasingly dependent on citizens’ capacity to pay, which transforms rightsholders into consumers, critics warn.

When it was launched in 2015, the Smart Cities Mission aimed to select 100 urban areas that would be retrofitted with infrastructure, offer residents a sustainable environment and use information technology to increase efficiency in governance.

This, the urban development ministry estimated, will cost Rs 7 lakh crore (approximately $105 billion) over the next 20 years.

This week Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan highlighted, during the Budget Speech, that partnership between government and businesses is a central priority of the National Development Plan (NDP) and key to rapid development for economic growth.

MTN Business welcomes the budget speech and the recent call by the president for the public and private sectors to work together by mobilising the resources and capacity for quality delivery of services.