NZ government may partner with IT industry: The government of New Zealand is considering a collaboration with the private sector IT industry. Through the partnership, the government hopes to promote the export of IT systems developed for or piloted by the public sector. The idea was first proposed at a conference organised by IT consultancy Synergy and attended by several government ministers in July this year. Government ministers are due to meet later this month to decide whether to take the proposal further. According to a report in The Dominion Post, the main motivation behind the proposal is the hope that government spending on IT could fuel growth in the ailing ICT sector, if the public and private sectors work together to extract value from government investments in IT. Government procurement accounts for around 40 percent of all IT purchases in New Zealand.
IBM to help Brazil use open source software: IBM has signed an agreement with the Brazilian government to help it develop expertise in open source software. In a statement, the IT giant said it had signed a letter of intent with the government that outlines a common interest in developing products based on open source standards and software, such as Linux. According to IBM, open standards "bring better interoperability, lower costs and greater scalability" for the public sector. "Linux can play a fundamental role in the economic development strategy of developing countries, such as Brazil," said Rogerio Oliveira, president of IBM Brazil. The news of the agreement is Big Blue's third announcement in recent weeks involving governments and Linux. The UK government has said it is to engage in a series of tests of Linux software, while the Russian government is working with IBM to establish a Linux competency centre in Moscow.
Public sector IT directors favour outsourcing: More than half of public sector IT managers in Europe are in favour of selective IT outsourcing, according to a new study by Synstar. The IT solutions company surveyed 700 European IT directors, including those in Ireland and the UK, for its annual Pressure Point Index report. Fifty-three percent of survey respondents in the government sector said that selective outsourcing -- outsourcing certain managed services -- was the most effective method of trimming costs while improving performance. The type of functions IT managers said they would like to outsource were infrastructure support (39 percent), user support (27 percent) and staff management (6 percent). Just 12 percent of respondents said they would be happy to surrender control of their IT strategy. Apart from reducing costs and improving performance, some of the other benefits of selective outsourcing cited by managers were access to skills that are lacking in-house, a guarantee of service levels and value for money.
Singapore gives guidance to Jordan: Jordan has enlisted the help of Singapore to develop its e-government program. The two countries signed an agreement this week to promote co-operation in the areas of e-government and ICT development. Under the deal, Singapore will provide e-government consultancy services to Jordan. Singapore was recently ranked the number one country for e-government in an annual study by Brown University, and earlier this year a similar study by Accenture rated Singapore as the number two country for e-government. The accolades reflect the fact that Singapore has so far e-enabled around 1,600 public services. Singapore's Information and Communications Acting Minister George Yeo said his country planned to share its e-enabling expertise with Jordan, especially in areas such as financial management and portal management. Government ministers also hope the relationship will help foster partnerships between Singaporean and Jordanian companies on e-government projects, as well as increase trade and investment between the two countries.
Czech Republic launches e-government portal: The Czech government has launched its new e-government portal, known as the Public Administration Portal. The site aims to provide a one-stop shop for citizens and businesses who wish to find information on and communicate with public sector bodies. The site currently offers information on Czech and European legislation, contact details for central, regional and local authorities, and a guide to public services for key life events, such as birth or marriage registration. The Ministry of Informatics said that additional services will be rolled out over the coming months, expanding the site's functionality to include transactional services, which will be supported by the use of electronic signatures. There are also plans to add an English-language section to the site to provide information for tourists and English-speaking residents. The Ministry of Informatics said the new portal would cost CZK40 million (EUR1.25 million) a year to run.
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