NI upgrades document management: The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) is implementing an electronic and document records management (EDRM) system in a bid to make its administration more efficient. The system, which is being provided by IT services firm Steria, will be rolled out to over 16,500 civil servants across the Province. The new system is aimed at eliminating duplication and reducing the volume of paper that government employees are required to keep. "The project, aimed at streamlining both the accessibility and processing of information, will produce massive reductions in the use and holding of paper and enable the NICS to make better use of existing office space," said NI Finance Minister David Hanson. The system is being rolled out from January 2007. Meanwhile, it has emerged that public sector IT workers in the North are earning lower-than-average salaries. Read more on this story on ENN.
European group promotes e-procurement: A number of European countries have agreed on the common implementation of a standard aimed at simplifying electronic procurement for buyers and suppliers, especially in the SME sector, reports the European Commission's eGovernment Observatory. The e-procurement standard is known as UBL 2.0 (Universal Business Language 2.0) and is the result of an international effort to set up a royalty-free library of standard electronic XML business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices. The governments of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland, in cooperation with the UK, have formed an alliance called NES (Northern European Subset) to promote domestic and cross-border electronic trade, and the group is recommending the adoption of UBL 2.0 across the EU. The NES group is holding a workshop in Brussels on 15 February to spread the word about the e-procurement standards to other European countries.
Mongolia to roll out new customs platform: Mongolia is upgrading its customs system, in line with e-government efforts to improve efficiency and transparency. The upgrade, to be financed by a USD5 million loan from the Asian Development Fund (ADF), will see the existing manually operated system transformed into an internet-based system with a centralised database. Currently, traders must obtain official stamps and signatures from various customs points -- a process that can be subject to human error, delays and corruption. The loan from the ADF is being supplemented by a USD500,000 grant from Korea's e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund, and by counterpart financing of USD1.26 million from the Mongolian government. The project will be rolled out over three years by the Mongolian Customs General Administration.
Saudi citizens to get e-gov portal: Saudi Arabia has launched the first phase of a large-scale e-government program. The SAR3 billion (around EUR619 million) initiative is called Yesser (Arabic for "simplify") and seeks to make Saudi citizens more digitally literate, as well as to streamline government processes. As part of the first phase, a national e-government portal was launched this week at a high-level conference on e-transactions. "[The portal] is a major initiative for promoting transparency in government functioning and increasing productivity, efficiency and the speedy delivery of services to all people, including visitors," said Ali S. Al-Soma, an IT adviser in the ministry of communications and information technology, and director general of the e-government program,in an interview with Arab News. "By 2010 we should have at least 150 integrated portal services of [a] world class," he added.
E-government spending to thrive in 2007: IT consolidation is expected to drive global IT investment in the government sector in 2007, according to new research. The report from IDC's public sector subsidiary, Government Insights, also predicts that the standardisation of IT will heavily influence state investments. "The government market, with over USD150 billion targeted for technology spending in 2007, is among the top three vertical industries worldwide," said Teresa Bozzelli, chief operating officer and managing director of Government Insights. "With a USD9.1 billion increase in technology investments from 2006 to 2007 and a compound annual growth rate projected at 4.1 percent through 2010, this is both a high-value and high-growth industry that is typically less volatile than many other IT industry markets." For more on this story, see ENN.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Sylvia Leatham
Quelle/Source: ElectricNews, 17.01.2007
