UK: Government aims to end IT failures
Supplier management to help standardise terms and costsA cross-government view of technology programmes and suppliers will help to prevent IT disasters, according to Cabinet Office minister Jim Murphy.
One of the plans included in Whitehall’s first government IT strategy, to be published later this month, is for suppliers’ multiple public sector contracts to be managed as a portfolio rather than on an individual basis, Murphy told a conference in London this week.
UK: e-Government needs to be reach disadvantaged people - planning is needed
Public services need to do even more to help disadvantaged people to turn their lives around says a new report from the Government's Social Exclusion Unit. 'Improving Services, Improving Lives' shows that public service reform offers a real opportunity to make services work better for those who need them most.e-Government services may completely miss people who don't have an address, let alone access to a computer or phone - and strategic planning is needed for many 'next generation' governmental online services to ensure that intermediaries (such as Citizens Advice bureau) are able to assist in their delivery to this vulnerable section of society.
UK: Waverley's website gets top marks for air quality
Waverley Borough Council's website has recently been rated as one of the top five nationally when it comes to providing information about the borough's air quality.Air Quality Management magazine examined all 428 local authority websites across the country to judge their air quality web pages. They assessed each site on two key factors, awarding marks out of five for quality of information and ease of use. In particular they looked at whether the air quality pages of the site are welcoming and logical, how much information is carried and whether this is kept up to date. They also judged the site on how easy it would be for a casual 'surfer' to find the air quality pages.
USA: GAO gives e-Rulemaking team an 'attaboy'
The Government Accountability Office has given high marks to federal officials in charge of the governmentwide e-rulemaking initiative, saying they embraced many industry-standard best practices for managing projects.The team, spearheaded by the Environmental Protection Agency, is especially adept at creating a collaborative environment, giving a fair hearing to suggestions from other participating agencies, GAO said.