Ireland's Reach project criticised for technology focus: Ireland's flagship e-government project has been criticised by an independent study for failing to deliver on its original promises and for being too focused on technology, according to a report in the Irish Times. The study claims that the EUR26 million Reach project, also known as the Public Services Broker, would end up being "highly disappointing" unless the government intervened immediately to change how the project was being managed. It also warned that the nature and magnitude of the project, which aims to create a one-stop-shop for all State services, were "ill-defined and poorly understood." The study, which was carried out on behalf of Reach by Joe McDonagh, a management and IT expert based in Trinity College Dublin, said the Reach project had successfully built the technology on which the one-stop-shop system could be based, but it was unlikely to deliver a comprehensive service unless the approach to the project was changed from an exclusive focus on technology. The report recommended additional resources, planning and the establishment of a body to supervise the project.
Irish local authorities opt for e-procurement: Local authorities in Ireland are adopting new technology to help communicate more easily with their suppliers. A new solution, already implemented by Kerry County Council, allows suppliers to submit their annual quotes online using dynamic e-forms through www.LAQuotes.ie. The solution was developed in-house by the local authority, and during an initial three-week test period, received 107,000 quotations from 1,300 suppliers. It has since been adopted by eight further local authorities around the country, with plans to extend it to others in 2006. "Requesting and processing quotations from suppliers is a major task for all councils, who each have their own unique forms for seeking such information as road-making materials, concrete products, plant hire and haulage," said Catherine Carmody, e-procurement project manager, Kerry County Council. "As a result of moving to a standardised online process, we have delivered major benefits for internal workflows, process management and [it] has led to a faster and more efficient system." For more on this story read ElectricNews.net.
Meath to enable remote working for staff: Meath County Council in Ireland is rolling out a solution to enable senior staff to work outside the office. The council is working with ICT services provider CARA Group on the implementation of Citrix Access Gateway, which will give the organisation control over who has access to which information, when and from where. "We'd wanted to offer staff a more efficient way to work off-site for some time, but could not afford any kind of security risk," said John Lawlor, head of information systems at Meath County Council. "The Access Gateway means that our staff can have up-to-date information anywhere, any time, across any network." Using the solution, elected members and senior staff can see the latest information in council records, wherever they are in the county, and staff can immediately update information, without the need to replicate efforts when they return to the office. The council is currently rolling out the technology to its 42 elected members, with the eventual aim of extending its use to all staff who work off-site or from remote offices.
Half of EU citizens and businesses visit government sites: Around half of EU citizens and businesses who used the internet in the first quarter of 2004 obtained public sector information online. According to figures released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, 45 percent of citizens aged 16 to 74 who accessed the internet in this time period used it to get information from government websites. Finland had the highest level of such access at 62 percent of internet users, followed by Denmark (56 percent) and Luxembourg (55 percent). On the enterprise side, 51 percent of businesses with net access used it to obtain information from public sector sites, with the highest level of access in Sweden (94 percent). Sweden, Finland and Estonia recorded the highest levels among businesses for downloading government forms. The study also noted that services to citizens among the 25 EU Member States were most developed in the UK, Sweden and Austria, while services for enterprise were most advanced in Denmark and Estonia.
Turkey plans e-government portal: Singapore-based CrimsonLogic has secured a deal that will pave the way for the rollout of Turkey's e-government programme, according to a report in the Bangkok Post. The SGD40.2 million (EUR20.1) project will involve the construction of an e-government portal for the Turkish government. The portal aims to provide a single point of access to e-government services for Turkey's 70 million citizens, along with its 30 government agencies. "The project will help transform Turkey's public administration into being more citizen- and business-centric and facilitate Turkey's entry into the European Union," said Leong Peng Kiong, CrimsonLogic's acting chief executive officer. The gateway will "lay the groundwork for Turkey's participation in future pan-European e-government services that require interoperability with services of EU nations," he said. Turkish company Oyak Technologies will act as the local partner for the deal.
Quelle: ElectricNews, 09.11.2005
