US fails to reach e-government targets: The federal government in the US is failing to meet its e-government objectives. Of the 25 "Quicksilver" e-government initiatives sponsored by the Bush administration, only two have met all of their aims over the past two years, a House of Representatives subcommittee heard recently. Linda Koontz, the General Accounting Office's director of information management issues, testified that Grants.gov and IRS Freefile were the only two projects to fulfil their goals, while five projects achieved more than half the targets set. Of the 91 objectives originally set by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the projects, the GAO found that 33 had been met; 38 had been partially achieved; and no significant progress had been made for 17 targets. However, the OMB and a number of e-government project managers have disputed the GAO findings. Koontz said that e-government aims were unlikely to be achieved until agencies cooperated with each other more and received strong support from their executives in order to change the way they operate.
Maine adopts Google technology: The US state of Maine has added Google search technology to its e-government portal. The site, www.maine.gov, contains more than 90,000 pages of content and provides over 300 services for citizens and businesses, ranging from vehicle registration renewal to fishing licence requests. According to Carrie Gott, general manager of Maine.gov, the large volume of information available on the site meant a new search engine was necessary in order to meet the needs of people and organisations who interact with the state government via the Web. The Google search factors in more than 100 variables for each search query and includes features such as automatic spell checking, cached page searches and advanced Boolean searches. Maine.gov has ranked among the top four state e-government portals in the annual "Best of the Web" competition in the US for the last four years.
NEC wins Victorian VoIP contract: NEC has emerged as the winning bidder of a contract to upgrade the internal telephone system for the government of Victoria in Australia. Four companies had been shortlisted for the Victoria Office Telephony Service (VOTS) contract, which will involve the rollout of Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony services across more than 23,000 handsets within state government agencies. CSC Australia, Optus and Telstra lost out to NEC, which will supply infrastructure, services and support under a three year deal. In a statement, the Victorian government said it expects to save more than AUD1 million a year thanks to the upgrade. The administration currently spends around AUD178 million a year on phone services, and the VOTS contract is the first major upgrade of its telephone system in almost 20 years. Testing of the new system will begin in June, with a progressive rollout expected to be completed by April 2005.
British Columbia launches on-line land service: The government of British Columbia in Canada has added a new land information resource to its Web site. The Land Information BC (LIBC) portal aims to provide a comprehensive guide to the province's land and natural resources for citizens, academic institutes, businesses and government agencies. Announcing the initiative, Minister George Abbott said the portal is part of the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management's efforts to deliver integrated science-based land, resource and geographic information. The portal provides access to more than 30 services within the ministry, including reports and documents, images and maps, and interactive mapping tools. E-mapping services include access to land use plans, land ownership and tenure information, and air photo inventory. The portal is accessible from the government's main Web site, www.gov.bc.ca.
China edges towards digital signatures: China has moved closer to the authentication of electronic signatures for e-government and e-commerce transactions. A draft law favouring the implementation of digital signatures was approved at an executive meeting of China's State Council in late March. The draft Law on Electronic Signatures proposes the establishment of an on-line authentication system that will safeguard Web-based transactions and legalise the use of e-government and e-business applications. Speaking at the meeting, Cao Kangtai, director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, said the draft law would make electronic signatures as legitimate as handwritten signatures. The draft legislation will now be submitted for approval to the National People's Congress.
Quelle: Electric News Net, 06.04.2004
