UK council signs STG6 billion e-government deal: The metropolitan borough council of Sandwell in the UK has agreed a STG6 billion e-government deal with Fujitsu Consulting. The seven-year contract involves the implementation of Oracle's e-business suite, covering finance, purchasing, human resources and payroll. The implementation process began last year and is expected to be completed this month. The key financial, human resources and procurement modules went live in April this year, and 2,000 council staff are currently using the system. Other aspects of the contract that are due to be implemented over the next year include the addition of an e-procurement facility and the evaluation of CRM (customer relationship management) technology. "Our original set-up was based on a number of ageing stand-alone, back office systems, most on a mainframe platform due to be decommissioned," said Tina Nicholls, project manager at Sandwell Council. "The decision was made early on to use this opportunity to not only replace these systems with an integrated solution but to also modernise our working practices and offer extended capabilities like e-procurement."
EC project promotes open source software: A European Commission project has been launched with the aim of supporting the adoption of open source software in the public sector throughout Europe. The "Three Roses" project, funded by the EC's IST (Information Society Technologies) programme, is an initiative of three European networks that support the modernisation of the public sector at local and regional levels: ELANET (Association of Local and Regional governments), Eris@ (European Regional Information Society Association) and TeleCities (an association of cities active in ICT). The project focuses on e-government services and e-business solutions that can be promoted by public administrations, with special attention paid to the development of e-tools to support education with regard to open source solutions. A Web site for the project has been established, www.prelude-portal.org/3roses, to provide an on-line forum for those involved in the research of open source software. The results of the Web forum will be debated at a workshop event in Brussels in September and will contribute to development of a roadmap for future research work under the EC's 6th Framework Programme of Research and Technological Development.
Western Cape takes first e-government steps: The provincial government of the Western Cape in South Africa has launched Cape Gateway, the first phase of the administration's planned introduction of e-government services. The project, which aims to reduce the red tape that citizens encounter when dealing with the government, includes a drop-in centre that provides free Internet access to various government Web sites. A call centre, outsourced to UK-owned company Dialogue, was also opened as part of the Cape Gateway programme. "While the opening of the call centre may be a small step as far as technology is concerned, it is a giant leap forward in e-government," said Harold Wesso, head of the government's Knowledge Economy. There are also plans to launch a one-stop-shop "citizen-centric" Web portal later this year. The technology behind the Cape Gateway project is partly provided by telecoms monopoly Telkom, which has installed a system that allows all provincial government phone numbers to be dialled internally, thus reducing costs.
Dubai launches IT education scheme for citizens: The government of Dubai has launched an initiative aimed at accelerating IT penetration in the country, as part of the Dubai eGovernment strategy. Dubbed "e4all," the programme aims to provide IT education in the community with the help of IT partners including Intel, Fujitsu Siemens, Microsoft and Epson Middle East. Speaking at the launch of the initiative, eServices Director Salem Al-Shair of Dubai eGovernment said, "As we are getting closer to the goal [of providing e-government services], there is a need for accelerating people's readiness for e-services. E4all is a step designed to fulfil that need." Under the e4all scheme, special deals and IT training packages will be made available to all government staff, registered businesses and citizens. The scheme will include PCs and notebooks being sold at special prices, instalment schemes for buying hardware and software, and free IT training and subscriptions to IT magazines. The government is hopeful that the project will eventually not only help people to get the maximum benefit from Dubai eGovernment services but also enhance their value in the job market.
German government and Infineon cooperate on security: The German Federal Ministry of the Interior has agreed to cooperate with Infineon Technologies on the German government's IT security. The far-reaching agreement covers a close information exchange between the government and the chip manufacturer about security in relation to three areas: smart card technology, mobile applications, and PCs and computer networks. With regard to smart cards, the two parties intend to focus on technological considerations for new electronic ID cards and a qualified signature card incorporating biometric functions. In relation to secure mobile solutions, the government and Infineon want to jointly develop applications and a trustworthy mobile platform that will enable mobile devices to encrypt data and to authorise payments. Finally, work on security for PCs and PC networks will include the security standards of the "Trusted Computing Group," an industry initiative that wants to standardise the requirements for PCs to secure them against virus attacks and unauthorised manipulation. "The intensive cooperation with Infineon will enable the speedy availability of security for our citizens," said Minister of the Interior Otto Schily. "It will also help to modernise Civil Services and to offer new services [that are] more citizen-friendly."
Quelle: electricnews.net
