US to roll out electronic health records: The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has unveiled a ten-year plan to overhaul the health care system. The plan involves the creation of a new health information infrastructure, including electronic health records (EHR) and a network to link health records nationwide. Revealing details of the plan, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said the adoption of EHR had the potential to produce savings of 10 percent of the total annual spend on health care. He also claimed that the new system would improve privacy, provide better protection of medical records and reduce medical errors. "Electronic health information will provide a quantum leap in patient power, doctor power and effective health care," Thompson said. Patients would own and control access to their own medical records, he continued. Still, some analysts raised doubts about the financial cost of implementing EHR; one IT expert told ComputerWorld that it could cost USD10 billion, noting that the government's budget for health care IT is only USD50 million this year.
EC to build new communications network: The European Commission has issued a call for tender for the provision of a new communications network that will facilitate data exchange between it and the EU member states. The new EUR100 million system, known as s-TESTA (secured Trans-European Services for Telematics between Administrations), will offer a secure means of transferring data between the national administrations of EU and EEA member states and all EU institutions and agencies. The Commission is seeking proposals from suppliers who can implement a dedicated secure infrastructure with at least one access point in every member state and EU organisation. It is planned that the new network will build on existing national and local e-government systems, connecting in to a trans-European network. The Commission envisions that the new system will replace the current TESTA system in mid-2005. Responses to the tender notice must be submitted by 13 September 2004. More information on the invitation to tender is available here.
Iraq plans to build e-government system: The new administration of Iraq has announced that it plans to construct an e-government system. According to a report by the Reuters news agency, the Italian government will help Iraq set up an intranet to connect its government ministries, providing technical and financial support. "[...] today's agreement on information technology is of vital importance for us to create an infrastructure in the first stage of reconstruction," said Rashad Omar, Iraq's new minister of Science and Technology. According to media reports, the World Bank will also contribute funding to the e-government project. In March this year, the Italian government announced that it might sponsor the establishment of an intranet for the new Iraqi government and provide basic applications to improve central government services. Under the Saddam Hussein regime, Iraqi citizens were not permitted to use the Internet or mobile phones.
Singapore saves through IT overhaul: The Singapore government has announced that its Customs department has saved SGD1.5 million (EUR720,000) per year thanks to the implementation of an IT initiative. The year-long project, known as "Doing More with Less," saw Singapore Customs' IT department consolidate computing resources such as mainframe computers and servers. The department also reviewed its IT contracts and service level agreements with an eye to improving efficiency. The IT department carried out the review when the former Customs & Excise Department of Singapore's Ministry of Finance was being transformed into the current Customs department, incorporating units from other departments. The government says that apart from the monetary savings, the initiative resulted in improved ICT management and reduced the time spent training staff.
Dubai reaps the benefits of ePay system: The Dubai municipality says it has collected more than AED1 million (EUR218,000) in fees and fines over the past six months via the government's ePay system. The ePay service is a secure on-line payment system enabling registered users to pay utility bills or fines using a credit card or a special eDirham card issued by the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Finance and Industry. The municipality offers a total of 76 on-line services, 90 percent of which require payment. "We would like to urge other departments to move away from manual transactions, as the system we have in place is safe to use, robust, well-maintained and accurate," said Mahmood Al Bastaki, business process re-engineering consultant, Dubai eGovernment. "More extensive use of ePay will accelerate the momentum towards a fully automated e-government."
Autor: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle: ElectricNews.Net , 28.07.2004
