EU and US to set up stolen passports database: The European Union and the US government are discussing a proposal to establish an international database for stolen and lost passports. The two sides held their first high-level dialogue on transportation and border security in late April, addressing such topics as the introduction of biometric passports and the use of so-called sky marshals on transatlantic flights. Under the proposal, the joint database for stolen passports would be administered by Interpol, the international criminal police organisation. Although registers of lost and stolen passports exist in Europe and the US, there is currently no mechanism for sharing the data. "In terms of the passport registry, we are talking about stolen passports and this is critical," said Asa Hutchinson, under-secretary, US Department of Homeland Security. Hutchinson said the initiative would help to combat the use of stolen passports in terrorist and black market activities.
UK councils making good e-gov progress: report: Local authorities in the UK are making good progress in the rollout of e-government, according to a new report. "Local e-Government Now 2004," a study released by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and the Society of IT Management (Socitm), illustrates that local councils are using IT to boost administrative efficiency, improve the delivery of their services, encourage citizens to become involved in the decision-making process, and support local and strategic partnerships. The report features evidence from 26 case studies of local authorities and says that size is no barrier to e-government implementation. The study also highlights a number of key areas that councils need to focus on in order to develop e-government: customer care, for the improvement of services; consultation, to encourage a greater level of participation; information, to create a more robust framework for service delivery; and outcomes, to boost public value.
Germany signs IT security deal with Microsoft: The German government has signed a cybersecurity agreement with Microsoft. The software giant said that the agreement with the Federal Office for Information Security was aimed at boosting security in critical IT infrastructures for the German government. The two parties will collaborate through an "intensive exchange" of information on the topic of IT security, said Microsoft. The software firm also said it would work with the government on expanding interoperability between Microsoft products and those of other suppliers, including open source software. The agreement is a coup for Microsoft, which has been losing market share to Linux in the German public sector: In 2002, the government approved the purchase of Linux hardware and software from IBM, and hundreds of departments and agencies signed up for the deal.
BEA offers recipe for successful e-government: The successful implementation of e-government depends on selecting the right IT platform, according to a speaker at a recent Middle East e-government conference. Diyaa Zebian, regional manager, Middle East and Egypt, eSolutions, BEA Systems, said that e-government must be seen as a fundamentally new way of delivering services by means of ICT (information and communications technology), rather than merely an electronic version of existing services and procedures. "Earlier administrations used to be structured around rules," said Zebian, "Today, administrations are reorganised based on customer needs and expectations." The software company representative went on to stress the importance of implementing the correct software in order to make e-governance simple. Back office functions must be integrated first, before automating end-to-end processes across applications, to ensure a unified service for citizens and businesses. The BEA manager was speaking at the first Middle East eGovernment Summit, hosted by Dubai eGovernment in late April. The conference was attended by officials and experts from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as experts from Canada, Singapore and the UK.
Singapore reveals IT spending plans: The Singapore government has said it expects to spend SGD700 million (EUR341 million) on IT contracts in fiscal year 2004. The estimate was released at an industry briefing by Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), which said that the public sector would continue to award IT contracts this year, despite the slowdown in economic growth in the country. The proportion of money to be spent on hardware, software and services this year will remain about the same as in the last two years, according to the IDA. Around 70 percent of this year's IT budget will go towards hardware and software products such as new PCs, networks and software licences. The remaining 30 percent will be spent on services such as consultancy, software development and systems integration. The IDA revealed that some of the key areas that the government would be focusing on this year are IT infrastructure, security and business continuity planning.
Quelle: Electric News Net, 05.05.2004
