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Ireland launches interactive shipping planner | Taiwan is tops for e-gov: survey | UK's new e-gov chief calls for CIOs | Lewisham council devises Wi-Fi model | Jordan takes steps to create e-ministry | Gambian civil servants to get e-gov training Ireland launches interactive shipping planner: Ireland's Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) has launched an interactive shipping route planner. The planner was designed by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) and is hosted on its website, www.imdo.ie. The planner presents information on the shipping services, ports, routes, operators and frequency of services available at all Irish ports. "The new shipping planner will help all Irish companies involved in international trade find details of scheduled unitised services connecting Irish ports to our trading partners," said John Browne, Minister for State at the DCMNR. A statement issued by the DCMNR estimates that, by volume, 99 percent of all Irish trade is transported through Irish ports and via the Irish maritime transport supply chain. The shipping planner, which is free to access, was launched by the IMDO at the Irish Transport Summit in Dublin. Taiwan is tops for e-gov: survey: Taiwan is top of the league in terms of e-government performance, according to a new study of 198 countries. The Brown University survey assessed 1,935 government websites during June, July and August 2004, under headings such as the number of online services, disability access, privacy and security. The study found that 21 percent of government agencies around the world now offer online services, up from 16 percent in 2003. Only 14 percent of sites analysed display privacy policies, while 8 percent present security policies. In addition, just 14 percent of sites provide some form of disability access, a figure that is unchanged since last year's survey. Singapore was ranked second in terms of overall e-government performance, down from the top spot last year, while the US and Canada took third and fourth places, respectively. Ireland ranked 34th, up from 95th place last year, while Great Britain came 14th, down from 7th position last year.

UK's new e-gov chief calls for CIOs: The new head of e-government in the UK, Ian Watmore, has said he favours the establishment of CIO (chief information officer) positions in every government department. In his first public address since his appointment as chief of the new e-Government Unit, Watmore said that CIOs were necessary in order to ensure that internal IT strategies fit across government. "We need someone senior in all government areas [to act as CIO] and that person will have responsibility for delivering strategy," said Watmore. Identifying his other priorities as head of e-government, Watmore said he would work with the rest of government to create information and IT strategies and that he would help the government to create policies and frameworks in which IT strategies can be implemented. He also stressed that e-government should focus on providing useful services for citizens, with the emphasis placed on transactional services as opposed to numbers of visitors to websites.

Lewisham council devises Wi-Fi model: The London borough of Lewisham in the UK has developed a model for providing e-government services over Wi-Fi that it hopes will help other local authorities to follow suit. The wireless broadband service is being provided in partnership with BT Openzone under an initiative known as the National Project for Mobile Working (NOMAD), sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. NOMAD assesses and documents best practice for the delivery of wireless access for local authorities. Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in a number of Lewisham's council buildings, including the town hall. The local authority hopes to encourage council employees and members of the public to use the hotspots to access the internet, e-mail and online government services. Lewisham council plans to evaluate the benefits of the project to council staff, local people and local businesses.

Jordan takes steps to create e-ministry: The government of Jordan has selected IT firm Eskadenia Software Solutions to develop an e-government project for the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities (MOTA). In the first step toward transforming MOTA into an e-ministry, the Professions Department will be equipped with the ability to provide e-services for business users. The Professions Department issues and renews licences for the ministry's 1,500 clients -- businesses in the tourism industry such as hotels, restaurants and travel agencies. Eskadenia has already designed a portal site to promote tourism for the ministry. The IT firm will provide a link from the tourism site to a new website for the Professions Department, where the ministry's clients can log in to avail of services such as renewing and tracking licence applications.

Gambian civil servants to get e-gov training: A number of government staff from Gambia are set to take part in an e-government training programme, reports African newswire AllAfrica.com. Thirty members of staff from various public sector departments will participate in the programme, which is being held at the Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in Ghana and is run with assistance from the UN Economic Commission for Africa. The training will initially focus on network installation and maintenance, network security, and web design and management. Course participants will be expected to pass on their knowledge to staff in their departments and to help the Gambian authorities to roll out e-government. The government is planning to launch a pilot project that will facilitate electronic communication between 10 departments. Gambia is also planning to launch a media campaign to promote the use of ICT in the government, health, education and business sectors.

Autor: Sylvia Leatham

Quelle: ElectricNews.Net, 15.09.2004