The organisation has been formed as part of the latest tranche of National Projects announced under the National Strategy for Local e-government, which aims to find standard solutions to the common problems faced by councils attempting to e-enable key services. Initial work is expected to focus on capturing and promoting existing standards, with early results due by the end of this year.
The main work programme for the next two years will begin "in earnest" this Autumn, following the appointment of a Chief Executive who will be accountable to a twelve-member Executive Board comprising mainly of representatives from local government. Chairman Jim Haslem commented, "The standards body will perform a much needed role for local government, making it easier to join up services for the benefit of the customer by ensuring that many products from national and other projects are able to work together."
Activities outlined so far include creating an online repository of key e-government projects, encouraging IT suppliers to incorporate standards in core products used in local government, plus a range of other initiatives to support and advise councils in adopting e-standards. The body will also be setting up working groups for specific areas and inviting volunteers to take part in these.
Quelle: europemedia
