DIMS is part of the ILR's Electronic Access Service (EAS) scheme, which will see over 6 million government archive documents placed on an easily-accessible database. Some of these documents date as far back as the last century. "Back in 1999, we started this journey by implementing a project called Integrated Title Registration Information System," says John O'Sullivan, Information Systems Manager for the ILS. "As a result of our e-government mandate, this in turn led to an on-line customer access interface to our information called the Electronic Access Service, which is now an increasingly important channel for delivering our services."
Lithuania's Eurovet revolution: The Lithuanian State Food and Veterinary Service is to adopt a new system called Eurovet to track the country's livestock, to be implemented by Irish company E-blana. The contract is worth EUR1.5 million to E-blana, and is the first time an electronic tracking system will be put in place in Lithuania. The system is part of an overall plan to prepare the country for inclusion in the EU, and is funded in part by PHARE, the EU's mechanism for preparing and funding applicant countries.
Eurovet will comprise details of over 2.5 million animals and E-Blana will work in conjunction with ALNA, a Lithuanian firm. Chief Technology Officer for E-blana Michael McGrath said, "This contract is a very significant win and underpins the suitability of Eurovet to meet current legal requirements and provide public health assurance and animal welfare transparency."
Macromedia solutions in Washington: San Francisco company Macromedia has formed a new group within the company that will offer Web support specifically for government sites. While government agencies in the US already use some Macromedia products, from November 3 they will have the opportunity to avail of what Macromedia calls "whole-product, one-box solutions specifically targeted to their needs". Significantly, the solution will enable what the company calls "non-technical users" to update content, create templates, and speed up processes. The package will include the Macromedia Solution for Policy Compliant Websites, Macromedia Government Solution for Rapid Application Development, and the Macromedia Government Solution for Simplifying Web Updates. The firm is hoping to cash in on huge e-government spending in the US - last year's budget was USD50.4 billion, and this year's budget is estimated at USD57.3 billion. The US administration has requested a budget of USD59.3 billion for 2004, and it is estimated that over 71 million people used a government Web site in 2002.
Dubai raising standards for e-government: Dubai's e-government strategies appear to be positioning it as a leader in the region with calls for other Arab Emirates countries to follow its lead. Dubai has become one of the first countries to offer totally integrated on-line services available through one portal (www.dubai.ae), which also provides access to corporate services. A senior delegation from the UAE Air Force and Defence Institute recently visited Dubai's e-government chiefs to study their system. "Dubai e-government has become a highly successful IT initiative in the region and we would like to leverage its expertise to develop our processes further," said Colonel Mohammed Ibrahim Al Disi, who led the delegation.
Attitude problems haunt UK's e-government plans: Fujitsu's Government Consulting Division has conducted research which shows that despite an investment of STG5 billion in e-government, over 71 percent of people prefer to use the telephone when dealing with local authorities. Fujitsu says this particularly applies to the disadvantaged, who simply will not or cannot access government technology. Combined with the number of people who do not access e-government by choice, this brings the number of people who still telephone their local authorities to 96 percent. Other findings show that while approximately 45 percent of UK households are on-line, just 15 percent of men and seven percent of women over 65 use the Internet. The figures make depressing reading for those pushing the e-government agenda in the UK. While e-commerce and on-line banking have grown to 27 percent and 21 percent respectively since 2000, the numbers using e-government services have increased by only 1 percent.
IT in the fight against organised crime: Serbia's Organised Crime Directorate (OCD) is to implement a state-of-the-art system to investigate organised crime in the country, with the new equipment financed by the German government. Organised crime has been a persistent problem in the country since the breakup of post communist Yugoslavia. Peter Jung, liaison officer for Germany's criminal police division, has said that helping Eastern European countries to fight crime will harmonise them with general European standards. The new system, worth EUR800,000, will especially help to fight financial crime, providing faster links and improved processing of information. At a press conference in Belgrade on October 28, Serbian Minister of the Interior Dusan Mihajlovic welcomed the new equipment pointing out that other projects, such as police training in human rights, and communications training for police, would benefit from this investment.
Quelle: Electric News, 29.10.2003
