New system aims to reduce red tape for UK farmers: A new web-based system for farmers could save the industry up to STG28 million a year, according to the UK government. The Whole Farm Approach, due to be launched next year by Department for Education and Rural Affairs (Defra), aims to cut down on red tape for farmers, saving them time, money and labour. The first stage of the system includes a web portal and detailed farm appraisal in the form of a self-assessment package. Farmers and growers who sign up to the complete system will be able to reduce the time they spend filling out forms and the number of inspection visits to their farm, said Defra. The system will continue to be enhanced over the next few years, and Defra hopes to link it up with farm management software and farm assurance schemes. "We hope it won't be too long before farmers can use the Whole Farm Approach to do everything from filling out the farm census and applying for the Single Payment Scheme to registering their animals and acquiring their waste licences exemptions," added Farming Minister Lord Bach.
Maine citizens offer housing to hurricane victims: Residents of Maine in the US are offering to house people displaced by Hurricane Katrina by registering their details on the state's official website. Authorities have added a page dedicated to the disaster relief effort to the state website, www.Maine.gov. Maine citizens who wish to offer either short-term or long-term housing to victims of the hurricane can visit this page to submit their details, which will then be shared with government agencies and certified relief organisations involved in relocation efforts. Since the page went live on 2 September, more than 900 Maine residents have signed up to the service. In addition to facilitating the offer of housing, the state has also made efforts to promote easier transportation of relief supplies. International Registration Plan (IRP) requirements are being temporarily waived for vehicles from outside Maine that travel through or to Maine in order to transport emergency supplies to the Gulf Coast region. A number of other states, including Massachusetts and New York, have implemented similar waivers.
EU Member States advised to take action on eCall: The European Commission has urged EU Member States to implement the infrastructure needed to support the automatic emergency call (eCall) technology soon to be installed in motor vehicles. Under an action plan agreed by the Commission and industry bodies in February 2005, all new cars in Europe are to be equipped with eCall technology by 2009. The technology would mean that, in the event of a crash, a call would be automatically made to the pan-European emergency services number 112 and the exact location of the vehicle reported, thus reducing emergency response time. While the motor industry is well on the way to rolling out the eCall technology, the underlying support structures necessary to handle the emergency calls has fallen far behind schedule, said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding, speaking at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany. The Commissioner strongly urged national and regional governments to invest in the necessary infrastructure and to promote eCall at national and international levels.
Ethiopia rolls out online aid management tool: Ethiopia has become the first country to implement the Aid Management Platform (AMP) from the Development Gateway Foundation, a non-profit body whose mission is to help developing countries make the most of the internet. AMP is a web-based information-sharing tool that aims to improve the coordination of international development aid, in order to enhance the results of its use for people in developing countries. The tool helps in the administration of international aid by tracking and reporting on aid flow and aid programmes. It also aims to improve planning, allocation, disbursement and general management of aid resources through facilitating access to standardised information about aid activities. "Deploying AMP in Ethiopia is a critical part of our effort to ensure that aid programmes are aligned with Ethiopia's national development priorities," said Fisseha Aberra, head of the Multilateral Cooperation Department in Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED). Led by MOFED, the AMP rollout was a joint initiative of the Development Gateway Foundation, the OECD, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.
Amsterdam launches contact centre solution: The City of Amsterdam in the Netherlands is rolling out a contact centre solution aimed at giving its citizens easy access to information about public services, reports CRM Today. The Service Resolution Management (SRM) solution, provided by KANA Software, will help the city council to launch a single-service phone number next year that will provide a single point of contact by phone or e-mail for citizens with inquiries. The aim of the rollout is to resolve on first contact 80 percent of the 2 million phone calls the council receives each year. The solution can also handle up to 500,000 e-mails a day in most languages. The City of Amsterdam has 14 autonomous districts and 41 administrative departments, its decentralised structure creating difficulties when it comes to consistent, centralised communication. It is hoped that the new solution will help break down internal divisions and encourage consistency. "Our new service hub will have a major impact on the way we interact with citizens and employees -- although the organisation supporting it will remain essentially unchanged," said Arjen Hof, head of the E-government Department in the Municipality of Amsterdam.
Autor: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle: ElectricNews, 14.09.2005
