NI civil service announces software deal: The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) has signed a software agreement with systems integration firm Propylon. Irish company Propylon will provide electronic document and records management, workflow and enterprise application integration software to public sector bodies in the North. The contract allows any government body to invite Propylon to propose its PropelXsoi product as a solution for any enterprise application integration project. PropelXsoi can be used to develop and automate business processes that span multiple business functions and back-end systems. "This contract validates our view that the period of monolithic solutions is passing and the future is based on an innovative service-oriented approach to enterprise application integration," said Propylon CTO Sean McGrath. Propylon already lists a number of public sector organisations in the Republic of Ireland as clients, including REACH, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, and Science Foundation Ireland.
Lack of ICT hinders e-gov rollout in Eastern Europe: The new EU Member States are being hampered in the rollout of e-government due to a lack of ICT infrastructure, a new report says. A study of the new EU members as well as prospective members such as Turkey, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), claims that a lack of broadband and fixed-line telecoms services, combined with inconsistent levels of government commitment, is hindering e-government progress. The Oracle-sponsored report found that fixed-line penetration is above 40 percent in only three countries (the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Slovenia), while just two countries have broadband penetration levels in excess of 3 percent (Estonia and Slovenia). Just as important as IT infrastructure, the report says, is planning and commitment by government leaders to the implementation of e-government initiatives. The study recommends the establishment of clear structures, such as dedicated government departments, to oversee ICT and e-government developments. The EIU's top-ranked countries for e-government were Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia.
European Commission aims to share criminal data: The European Commission has proposed measures to improve the exchange of information on criminal convictions across Europe. The Commission has adopted and sent to the Council and the European Parliament a proposal to improve the flow of data between EU Member States relating to criminal convictions. The proposal has the short-term aim of strengthening the existing machinery for exchanging information on criminal records. The proposal stipulates that if a Member State convicts a national from another Member State of a crime, the first country must immediately notify the second one. A second proposal, due to be adopted by the end of the year, will advocate the computerisation of the information exchange process. It is expected that, instead of proposing the establishment of a single, common criminal record, the Commission will suggest a system that links the criminal record systems of the Member States.
NZ report claims e-gov progress is healthy: The New Zealand government says its e-government rollout is progressing well, but some say areas such as user take-up and inter-agency collaboration could be stronger. A report by the State Services Commission claims that the government has largely achieved the first of its goals for e-government: to make the internet the "dominant means of enabling ready access to government by 2004." The study, "Achieving e-government 2004: A report on progress toward the E-government Strategy," reviewed over 100 government websites and found more than 65 percent were performing "commendably". State Services Minister Trevor Mallard said there were many examples of innovation where e-services were making government services quicker and more convenient, such as the Worksite/PaeMahi portal, which acts as a one-stop shop for employment and training in New Zealand. Still, online newswire Computerworld says that a number of surveys show that public awareness of e-services is poor. The news agency also quotes e-government head Laurence Millar, who says more joined-up services are needed where agencies can freely pass information among themselves.
Democratic institute blasts Bush's e-gov programme: A US Democratic think-tank has criticised the Bush administration's e-government efforts. In a scathing report, the Progressive Policy Institute says that in the more than three years since President Bush took office, the US has slipped behind in the global e-government rankings, taking second place to Canada, and with many other countries set to overtake the US within the next year. Apologists for the Bush administration might argue that the White House has been preoccupied with the war on terror, says report author Robert Atkinson -- an unofficial adviser to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry -- but little progress has been made even in the area of using IT to improve homeland security. The report suggests a number of measures to improve federal e-government efforts. They include appointing a federal CIO, providing funding for cross-agency e-government initiatives, and integrating federal, state and local services into one web portal.
Autor: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle: ElectricNews.Net, 20.04.2004
