The rewards have been substantial. In 2005, 92 percent of businesses and 35 percent of individuals filed their taxes electronically, reducing paperwork and speeding up the payment of returns.
By pooling the telecommunications services of all the ministries, the government saves about $70 million annually.
The government also accepts 15,000 online bids each month from companies seeking public contracts. Thousands of students and parents pay school tuition on the Internet, and citizens apply for drivers' licenses, property titles and a host of other certificates online.
To speed up delivery of these services, about one million citizens now have identification cards with chips inside that, when scanned, instantly provide personal data.
The cards, which cost about $8.50, have ID and PIN numbers for protection.
Hsieh Chang-yao, a manager at a clothing company, got his card at the local government office in the Xinyi district of Taipei so that, among other things, he could go online to get a household certificate, an important form of identification, instead of returning to his hometown outside Taipei.
"Since people in modern society are busy and not as flexible, we have to be able to communicate more online," he said.
The government's efforts have attracted notice. The Brown University Taubman Center for Public Policy put Taiwan at the top of its list of the world's most Internet-savvy governments.
Taiwan's goal has not just been to reduce paperwork and speed up services. It has used the Internet to tear down walls between ministries and increase transparency after years of authoritarian rule.
"The Internet is not just to get rid of regulations, but also to establish a mature democracy," said Yeh Jiunn-rong, the former minister of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, which reviews the effectiveness of government projects and policies. "While we were doing government reform, it was a golden opportunity to do it right with e-government."
Autor(en)/Author(s): Ken Belson
Quelle/Source: The New York Times, 26.06.2006
