Turkey to roll out on-line tax system: The Turkish government is to set up a national tax network that will enable citizens to file their tax returns on-line. Siemens Business Services has secured a deal to complete the e-government project by summer 2005. Under the USD64 million project, Siemens will establish a call centre and data warehouse to store all tax data, set up a backup and disaster recovery system, and integrate all tax offices with the new network. The system for filing returns electronically will involve the use of digital signatures and public key infrastructure (PKI) technology to enable the secure transfer of encrypted data. A law is currently being processed through the Turkish parliament to give electronic signatures the same legal status as handwritten signatures. The government hopes that the new e-system will improve its efficiency and help it to crack down on Turkey's black market, which is estimated to make up one-third of the country's economy.
Asia-Pacific countries fail to drive use of e-services: Governments in the Asia-Pacific region have failed to drive the take-up of e-government services, according to new research from IDC. In a study entitled "Asia/Pacific Policy and Strategies Influencing Government IT Spending 2004," analyst Nathan Midler says that "governments [in the region] have designed bold and grand plans for e-government, but in many cases their efforts have failed to deliver the intended outcome." The report goes on to say that in spite of high hopes for e-government efforts, many e-services remain under-used. In many cases, governments continue to rely on off-line work methods or keep inefficient work processes in place alongside newly implemented IT solutions, the study says. In an interview with CNET Asia, Midler said that low levels of PC ownership or Internet usage were not responsible for the poor uptake of e-services. Instead, he laid the blame on the approach adopted by authorities to e-government, saying that those in power need to invest in the kind of services that users actually desire.
Parana switches to open source: The state of Parana in Brazil is adopting open source software for some of its IT systems. Celepar (Companhia de Informatica do Parana), the organisation in charge of technology for the state, has announced that it plans to offer Web-based software to all 10,000 PC users in the Parana administration. IT supplier eGroupWare said it is developing a solution in conjunction with the government that is built on the enterprise-class open source database MaxDB. Developers from Celepar and eGroupWare are working on a version of the software that will be known as Expresso. The final product will be a platform based on the Linux operating system with eGroupWare and MaxDB as the underlying database. In a statement, eGroupWare said that the Parana government is making "a huge effort in converting all applications and desktops to a free software base." Since the current government came to power, eGroupWare says, the state is no longer investing in new software licences but is focusing on investing in free software development.
Novell to manage Rosetta for Victoria: The Victorian government in Australia has signed a multimillion dollar deal with Novell for the implementation of its Project Rosetta. The AUD9.5 million contract, for which Novell beat companies including Sun and IBM, will link up the government's disparate directories, allowing separate lists of information and data to be shared between departments and agencies. Novell will also create a white and yellow pages directory where government departments can share and view information. The new directory infrastructure will form the basis for future e-government projects, and it is anticipated that a second phase, due for completion in 2007, will connect the government with external suppliers. The Novell solution will be based around its Nsure Identity Manager product, which includes a function to combine multiple passwords into a single login.
Malaysia plans to increase broadband use: The Malaysian government has announced plans to increase its broadband penetration rate. Speaking at the recent Information Technology Governance 2004 conference, Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik noted that the country's Internet penetration rate is a mere 4 percent, and less than 3 percent of the population has access to broadband Internet services. "We cannot depend solely on the private sector to provide this broadband access because it is going to be too slow," Lim said. The minister said that the government was formulating plans to up the broadband rate that would draw on existing government infrastructures, such as SchoolNet, an e-learning initiative being implemented in about 400 schools, and MyRen (the Malaysian Research and Education Network). Lim said he hopes to present the plan to the Cabinet as soon as possible, and he estimated that the project could be allocated "a few hundred million" ringgit.
Autor: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle: Electric news Net, 07.07.2004
