As part of the legislation package that creates the Department of Homeland Security, the US Senate Commerce Committee has approved the establishment of an IT "National Guard." The National Emergency Technology (NET) Guard will consist of rapid-response volunteers who are prepared to help restore communications and technology in the event of terrorist attacks or other emergencies. The legislation also calls for opportunities for NET Guard volunteers to assist with "non-emergency tasks related to local preparedness and prevention, including reducing the vulnerability of government information technology systems."
The US Internal Revenue Service is using its Web site to try to track down the almost 97,000 taxpayers who have not claimed their 2001 tax refunds. The IRS has added a new "Where's My Refund?" page to the site, in the hope that it can trace the owners of USD80 million in undelivered refunds for tax returns filed this year. Refund cheques often go astray because the taxpayer has changed address without informing the IRS or the US Postal Service. Taxpayers can claim their refunds on the site by simply entering their Social Security number, filing status and the amounts of the refund shown on their 2001 tax returns.
In a unique initiative for the UK government, two agencies are prepared to use digital signatures, reports Government Computing News. The Pesticide Safety Directorate (PSD), an executive agency of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be able to issue digital signatures to validate pesticide licences, which by law require signatures from the two agencies. Defra has spent almost STG100,000 on a system that enables a document to accept two signatures and allows officials to exchange licences by e-mail. The delivery mechanism for approvals works by loading signed documents onto a database via a secure Web server for applicants to retrieve and download.
In the wake of a study that claimed that hundreds of UK government Web sites had "serious problems," a new survey by Business2www claims that the majority of government and public service sites have an "alarmingly high number of errors." Business2www, a specialist in Web site testing, conducted a survey of 46 major government, political and public service sites using its SiteMorse software to perform automated diagnostic testing. The study found that the Inland Revenue site was the worst offender, with over 14,500 errors, closely followed by the Department of Health (12,313 errors) and HM Treasury (10,145). The best-performing site was the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which had 511 errors.
The European Commission has decided to allow the governments of 11 candidate countries to collaborate on trans-national e-government initiatives with Member States. Under the Commission's Interchange of Data Between Administrations (IDA) programme, candidate nations will be allowed to share data with EU administrations on the application of EU law, the enforcement of internal market rules and the supply of e-government services across borders to citizens and enterprises. There have already been moves to bring Poland and Slovenia on board, and the remaining candidate countries -- Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia -- can take advantage of the initiative from 1 January.
Voters in Austria were able to get the results of the recent election delivered to their mobile phones, according to a report by Kablenet.com. The Interior Ministry has recently launched a range of e-services for citizens, including a portal where election forecasts and results can be viewed and where people can sign up to receive election information on their mobile handsets. In conjunction with its technology partner Siemens, the government can send text messages updating registered users on the election's progress. Also offered is a search engine facility that allows mobile users to find polling stations in their vicinity.
The government of Korea has moved a step closer to e-government by providing citizen and business services on the Internet. Some aspects of the government's services for businesses are already up and running, such as e-procurement for government contracts and licensing of intellectual property. The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs has made its civil affairs administrative services available on-line since the beginning of November. Around 400 documents can now be requested on-line, and citizens can pay for their delivery by mail with a credit card, an on-line money transfer or with electronic cash.
Quelle: Electricnews
