Ireland is a 'follower', says e-gov survey: Irish public sector agencies risk falling behind in innovation when it comes to delivering customer service, a new study has shown. Ireland ranked as a "follower" rather than a "challenger" in the e-government survey by Accenture, at 46 percent -- on a par with Belgium and behind countries such as the UK, France and Denmark. Canada and the US are leading the way when it comes to delivering customer services in the public sector. The report raises concerns about the possibility of Ireland -- along with Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium -- falling behind. According to the report, government agencies with the best record for customer service have focused on interactive and sophisticated services that are comparable with those of private sector firms. The new approach includes using services such as paying for on-street parking with a mobile phone, the use of text messages to issue alerts about missing children and the use of interactive voice response to boost access to services. For more on this story see ENN.
Civil servants must recognise value of e-mail: The public sector in the UK does not treat the legal status of e-mail with enough seriousness, a law expert warned attendees at an e-mail management conference, reports Headstar's E-Government Bulletin. Barrister Stephen Mason said that there was a risk that civil servants might enter into legally binding contracts via e-mail without realising it because "people don't recognise the value of e-mail". Mason said the "conversational feel" of e-mail could tempt users to believe it doesn't have the same legal status as that of print communication. However, e-mails can count as electronic signatures and can have the same status as print in terms of libel laws, he cautioned. In related news, a survey from E-Government Bulletin has revealed that many public sector bodies risk falling foul of freedom of information (FoI) law because they do not have adequate systems in place for securing, storing and retrieving e-mails. Some 28 percent of public bodies that had received FoI requests were unable to say that their organisation had measures in place to prevent unauthorised access, alteration or deletion of e-mail.
Dubai to e-enable form-filling: The municipality of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has developed an electronic form generator, which it claims will enable it to offer 90 percent of its services online by the third quarter of 2006. The Government's original target date for 90 percent e-enablement was 2007; around 84 percent of public services are now available online. The "Smart e-Forms" solution, currently being tested, allows for the creation of dynamic web forms and can be customised for the different departments of the Dubai municipality. Government workers will be able to use the application to quickly create forms, in a cost-efficient manner, while end-users will be able to fill in the forms online and submit them electronically to the municipality. Last December, the Dubai government said it planned to re-evaluate its e-government services due to poor take-up by citizens.
Vietnam to review costly e-gov project: Local authorities in southern Vietnam have called on the Government to investigate a floundering e-government project, according to a report by Thanh Nien Daily. Southern councils have asked the Posts and Telematics Ministry to review an ambitious project aimed at computerising and standardising administrative processes across the country. The project's objective is to provide all provinces and cities with a uniform information system, document management system and content management system. However, the wide-ranging initiative has failed to make much progress, with hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong being wasted during the project's first five-year phase to 2005. The councils said the initiative did not fit information management needs and that technical staff were not available to tailor the project to specific needs in cities and provinces. The local authorities also asked the ministry for more power to manage the project, saying they had none at present.
Bermuda rolls out ATM customs payments: Citizens of Bermuda can now pay their customs duties via an ATM machine at the airport, reports Bermuda's Royal Gazette. The move follows a public private partnership between the Government and Butterfield Bank. Customers of the bank who are returning to the country via Bermuda International Airport and who are liable to pay customs duty can now do so via a special ATM that has been installed in the arrivals hall. "The intent is to give our residents another payment option, which will reduce the number of persons standing in line to pay via the customs' cashiers at the airport," said Finance Minister Paula Cox, launching the service. Citizens can already avail of e-government services such as paying land tax via ATMs.
Autor/Author: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle/Source: ElectricNews, 24.05.2006
