Local governments refuse to join Japanese information sharing network: A number of Japanese municipalities have resisted joining Juki Net, the country's nationwide computer network for resident registration, which officially launched this month. Juki Net lets citizens get a copy of their residence certificates from any municipal government by showing identification, such as a driver's licence. But an editorial in Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper says Juki Net violates individual privacy, since it collates and stores a vast amount of personal information on the network and on a personal Juki Card. The government is seeking to use Juki Net as a key part of its e-government infrastructure, but the paper says citizens should have the right to keep their information off the network.
Study calls for better service on e-mail queries: Local authorities worldwide can improve the service they offer to the public by implementing basic changes to their Web sites, such as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages, according to a new study by customer relationship management company Kana. A study of various authorities in the US and Europe found that Dutch local authorities were the fastest to respond to a time-sensitive e-mail query (around 22 hours), but UK authorities were the worst, taking an average of 58 hours to reply, if they replied at all -- around a third of the authorities had not answered after 10 days. Governments must find a means of quickly handling high volumes of citizen queries if they are to scale up their e-government services, Kana said.
London freezes travel prices for smartcard users: The city of London is offering a financial incentive to get bus and underground passengers to pay for journeys with Oyster smartcards instead of cash. During 2004 fares for some journeys are set to climb by up to 25 percent, but the city will freeze fares at 2003 levels for travellers who pay in advance for their journey with Oystercards, smartcards that can be charged with cash before a journey. The city, which says it's carrying 1.4 million more bus passengers a day than four years ago, is seeking to cut queues and improve driver safety by removing cash from buses completely by 2006. The city estimates that the new fare increases will bring in additional revenue of STG81 million.
Oregon emergency broadcast system goes live: After more than a year of development and testing, the US state of Oregon has gone live with RAINS-NET, the Regional Alliance for Infrastructure and Network Security. This emergency communication system uses a variety of technologies to notify local and national organisations -- like hospitals, schools, key businesses and federal agencies -- about emergencies, and to keep communicating with them during the crisis. In Oregon the system is connected to the local 911 emergency centre, where operators receiving calls immediately notify emergency services. With RAINS, other institutions on the network receive the same notification, including rich media like maps or other images where necessary. Authorised institutions will receive initial notifications of a crisis through means like text messages to a mobile phone or a "screen pop" window on their PC. The coalition of Oregon technology companies that developed RAINS is looking to license the emergency communications system elsewhere, and four other states are thought to be exploring the technology.
Planning applications go on-line in East Sussex: In the UK, Wealden District Council in East Sussex has put a planning applications facility on-line for residents. Citizens can log on to www.planning.wealden.gov.uk to see application details and supporting documentation, and an on-line form lets visitors lodge comments or complaints about applications from the Web site. The facility, which the council said has attracted 16,000 visitors since its launch in April, is designed to let visitors find planning applications even if they have only sketchy details about the site, such as "The Barn" or "High Street." The Web site, which also lets visitors track the steps in the processing of applications, was developed by Aurora.
Quelle: electricnews.net
