Ireland should look to m-government: report: The Irish government could save as much as EUR20 million a year by increasing its use of mobile technologies, a new report claims. The study, "Mobile Communications in the Irish Public Sector", was carried out by iReach on behalf of mobile operator O2 Ireland. It maintains that mobile services not only provide a major opportunity for greater application of e-government than traditional computer-based technologies, they also offer the potential for a significant increase in public sector productivity and job satisfaction. The iReach report identifies a number of areas where greater adoption of mobile technology can reduce costs through increased public sector productivity, as well as boosting services to the citizen. For more on this story see ElectricNews.net.
Ireland and UK make e-conveyancing moves: Both Ireland and the UK have taken steps toward the rollout of an "e-conveyancing" system, in a move to make the transfer of property ownership a more efficient process. On 5 April, Ireland's Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, launched the Law Reform Commission's report on e-conveyancing. The commission noted that Ireland's antiquated system of land law must be reformed before e-conveyancing can be implemented. IT consultancy Bearing Point analysed the conveyancing process for the report, which recommended the establishment of a "project board" of key stakeholders from the public and private sector to make an assessment of the most appropriate model for e-conveyancing in Ireland. Meanwhile, in the UK, the Land Registry has been given permission to launch an e-conveyancing pilot system in October 2007. Stakeholders in the property industry will be issued with Home Information Packs outlining the changes to be made next June. It is anticipated that e-conveyancing will transform the current paper-based conveyancing system into electronic documents, requisitions and signatures.
UK council sites gain popularity: The number of visitors to local authority websites in the UK rose by 40 percent during 2005, according to a new study by Socitm Insight, the research arm of an organisation of local authority IT managers. The study, based on a sample of 46 council websites across the UK, estimates that 11.4 million people visited local government sites in February 2006 -- a figure that represents around 15 percent of the population and over 20 percent of internet users. Four out of five visitors reported a satisfactory experience and said they had found at least part of the information they were seeking. Job vacancies were the top reason for visiting council sites, at 14 percent of all enquiries, but their dominance is decreasing as other applications attract more interest, such as library information (8 percent), planning applications (5 percent) and sport and leisure facilities (5 percent). "The government's advertising campaign [to increase take-up], which breaks in May, will have a significant impact given that usage of council websites is already on a sharp upward curve," said Martin Greenwood, programme manager for Socitm Insight.
Saudi Arabia forges ahead with e-government rollout: The Saudi Arabian government is striding ahead of its European counterparts in terms of e-government development, claims a new study sponsored by Cisco Systems and the Saudi Ministry for Communications and Information Technology. The 2005 Net Impact study, carried out by Momentum Research Group, compares government and healthcare operations and services in Saudi Arabia in 2005 to those of other countries in Europe in 2004. The study said that the use of ICT had helped Saudi Arabian government departments boost customer satisfaction rates by 44 percent and that the number of citizens using e-services had risen by 34 percent, both higher figures than were found in Europe. Saudi Arabian departments are also forging ahead in the adoption of technology, with 95 percent using finance and accounting applications and 79 percent having a web interface for workforce collaboration and training. "The notably higher rates of application implementation in Saudi Arabia in 2005 compared to our research in Europe in 2004 may be due to the time-lag between the studies, or the very real possibility that Saudi Arabia has leapfrogged ahead," said Yvon Le Roux, vice president, public sector, Cisco Systems Europe and Emerging Markets.
Italy to investigate RFID potential: A government-backed research centre in Italy is to examine the potential use for RFID (radio frequency identification) in the public sector, according to a report by the European Commission's eGovernment Observatory. The CNIPA, a centre dedicated to the use of new technologies in public administration, will set up a study group involving suppliers, analysts, academics and interested public administrations to investigate the technology. RFID is a track-and-trace technology that is beginning to replace barcodes in many industries; it is a means of storing, receiving and transmitting data via antennas on tags that respond to radio frequency queries. While not currently in use in the public sector, it is thought that RFID could play a role in the future in areas such as enhanced document management, the tracking of cultural heritage goods, and food traceability.
Autor: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle: ElectricNews, 12.04.2006
