Skills gap obstructs e-government progress in UK: A lack of skills is the main obstacle in the way of local authorities in the UK that are trying to implement e-government strategies, according to a report due to be released by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). A survey of senior officers in all councils across England found that while 97 percent of local authorities currently have a senior officer in charge of e-government, nearly three-quarters said their staff "lack sufficient skills and understanding in relation to e-government." The study also indicates a shortage of the business skills associated with e-government, with more than 80 percent of councils saying that their officers lack "change management" and "process reengineering" skills. Furthermore, just 20 percent of councils have calculated the costs and benefits of their overall e-government programme. Although the majority of councils (94 percent) are attempting to provide training for their officers, it is mostly done on an "ad hoc basis," the report said.
EC launches e-business portal for SMEs: The European Commission has launched an on-line portal to provide information on the legal aspects of e-business for small to medium-sized enterprises. The site, eBusinesslex.net, is available in 12 languages and is a result of the ELEAS (E-commerce Legislation Easily Accessible to SMEs) project, which was started in October last year. The aim of the initiative is to facilitate cross-border electronic transactions and to help SMEs make the most of the EU single market. The portal provides a guide to all of the legal aspects of electronic trading, such as on-line payments, privacy issues, data protection and intellectual property rights. Other resources on the site include a database on e-business legislation, an e-business glossary and a guide to e-business self-regulatory initiatives. The portal was developed by the Enterprise Directorate General of the European Commission, in collaboration with the network of Euro Info Centres.
Iceland fails to bridge digital divide: Electronic government in Iceland is doing little to stop the digital divide from widening, according to a study by independent researcher Jon Thorsteinsson. In a survey of the Web sites of 20 local authorities, Thorsteinsson found a marked increase in the differences between the sites of more populated areas and those of less densely populated regions in the country. The former were found to have more content and services than the latter, as well being easier to access. The study says that people who live in rural areas often have poor access to the Internet and are becoming more marginalised from the government. The survey shows that Iceland is failing to make the most of its position as one of the best-placed countries to benefit from e-government: The World Economic Forum's recently released "Global Information Technology Report 2002-2003" ranked Iceland fifth in terms of "networked readiness" -- a measure of how prepared an economy is to capture the benefits of technology in order to promote economic growth and productivity.
New Zealand to consider use of open source: A government report in New Zealand has recommended that departments consider the implementation of open source software. A State Services Commission briefing paper, authored by E-government unit director Brendan Boyle, was sent to all government department chief executives and will be brought to the attention of the government's IT procurement staff. The report did not explicitly advocate the use of open source but said that New Zealand should follow the UK's lead by taking a neutral position on the issue. When buying software, government agencies should be encouraged to assess open source alternatives in terms of cost, function, interoperability and security, the report said. The paper noted that the governments of South Africa, Argentina, Italy, Peru and India encourage or require government bodies to use open source software wherever feasible.
New Jersey ramps up e-fingerprinting: An electronic fingerprinting system is to be installed in all New Jersey jails, according to state officials. The new "Live Scan" system will replace the ink-and-roller method of fingerprinting with an electronic scanner that captures and stores the biometric data in a database. The system is linked to a national criminal database, which, if a match is found, brings up a person's criminal history and other personal data. The USD400,000 system, funded by federal and state grants, will speed up the process of identifying suspects -- a procedure that used to take between seven and 14 days but with the new system will only take a matter of minutes. State officials said it would also become easier to identify suspects who use false names; currently around 40 percent of all New Jersey inmates have four or five aliases. The New Jersey State Police and some county jails are already using the technology, and the system will be implemented throughout the rest of the state by the end of the year.
Quelle: electricnews.net
