US aims to measure e-gov savings: The US government is trying to ascertain the level of savings yielded by e-government initiatives. The Office of Management and Budget has sent a memo to the CIOs (chief information officers) of all federal agencies asking them to identify IT systems that are being updated or replaced due to e-government programmes. The memo outlines a framework to help agencies determine the cost of IT investments and measure the savings achieved on an ongoing basis after IT initiatives are rolled out. Agencies are requested to have these measurement tools in place by 30 September. The OMB said it would seek further cost-savings details from agencies in November, as part of its annual e-government report to Congress, and then at regular intervals going forward. Members of Congress who have blocked e-government funding in the past have at times blamed agencies' lack of documentation of the savings these projects claim to generate.
UK committee queries ID card scheme: The UK's Science and Technology Committee has raised a number of concerns with the Government over its approach to ID card technologies. In a new report, the committee advises the Government to carry out consultations on scientific and technical issues, as well as the procurement process, in relation to the proposed national ID card scheme. The committee said it was "sceptical about the validity of costs" for the scheme, and it called on the Home Office to publish a breakdown of IT-related costs. The report also asks the Government to clarify the overall scope of the ID card programme and the involvement of different government departments. The Home Office is also being urged to prioritise funding to undertake social science research with regard to the impact of an ID card scheme on all sectors of society.
Scotland invests in telecare for older people: Thousands of older and vulnerable people in Scotland will be able to live more independently for longer thanks to an STG8 million investment in new "telecare" technology, according to the Scottish Executive. The telecare technologies, which have been trialed in the West Lothian region, involve the installation of monitors in the homes of older people. These monitors can include fall sensors, panic buttons or flood detectors and are connected to a round-the-clock emergency call and response service. "Use of telecare allows, for example, non-intrusive monitoring of whether an individual has got up in the morning, or has fallen, or has had a flood in the kitchen or bathroom. It can also be used to remind people to take medicine," said Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm. The minister said the new STG8 million funding would enable local authorities to develop the service in their areas, with the aim of delivering telecare to around 75,000 people across Scotland, including 9,000 with dementia.
NI rolls out e-prescription system: Hewlett-Packard has signed up with Northern Ireland's Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to implement a new electronic prescription system. The new IT system, the Electronic Prescribing and Eligibility System (EPES), is designed to fight the problem of prescription fraud, saving the Northern Ireland department STG4 million in the process. Under the eight-year deal, H-P will implement and support the system, which will work to combat fraud by matching patient and prescription information against Social Security and other records. If a false claim is discovered, the Central Fraud Unit of the Central Services Agency will be notified. "EPES is about modernising the prescribing and dispensing process to improve patient safety, reduce administration costs and reduce fraud in the provision of health care in Northern Ireland," said Paul Simpson, deputy secretary, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. For more on this story see ENN.
Bulgarian e-gov tender draws controversy: A number of Bulgarian IT firms have clashed with the Government over tenders for a high-profile BGN6 million (EUR3 million) e-government project, reports the Sofia Echo. According to the newspaper, 10 companies bought tender documents for the project but only two of them -- H-P Bulgaria and Siemens Business Services -- went on to submit bids. The Bulgarian Association for Information Technologies (BAIT) claimed on 26 July that the tender process was biased in favour of H-P and did not allow other international IT firms to compete. Local media have reported that three companies -- ACSIOR, Contrax and IBM -- have taken legal steps to halt the tender process. The State Administration Minister has responded by threatening to take a libel suit against BAIT.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Sylvia Leatham
Quelle/Source: ElectricNews, 16.08.2006
