UK helps councils with e-payments: The UK's Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has launched e-Pay, a scheme to help local authorities implement e-payment solutions for citizens and businesses. The STG1.2 million National Project is supported by an "e-Pay toolkit" website that promises to "demystify the complex world of e-Payments" and provide an information resource "to guide councils through the steps necessary to effectively implement an e-payment solution." The types of payments that could be made electronically by citizens include payments for council tax, property searches, planning applications, leisure facilities and parking. It is envisioned that the project will help local authorities to enhance customer service and to reduce the cost of processing payments. "e-Pay fits well into local government, and if it is rolled out effectively in local authorities it could save STG708 million over the next five years," said local e-government minister Phil Hope, speaking at the launch. The e-Pay project also fits in with the ODPM's wider agenda of having all local authority services e-enabled by 2005.
EC defines Open Standards: The European Commission announced its definition of Open Standards at the recent Open Standards and Libre Software in Government conference. Barbara Held of the European Commission's IDA (Interchange of Data between Administrations) Unit announced the Open Standards definition. Under the Commission's view, Open Standards require the royalty-free licensing of any applicable patents, and any constraints on the re-use of the standards is prohibited. Hosted in The Hague in conjunction with the Dutch Presidency of the EU, the event also provided an opportunity for keynote speakers from the Dutch and Irish prime ministries to urge governments to consider the adoption of open source software. Colm Butler, director of Ireland's Information Society Policy Unit, called on the open source community to make technical matters easier to understand for decision-makers. More information on the conference is available here.
Latin America forges closer links with Europe: Government ministers from Latin America and Europe have agreed to cooperate more closely on Information Society issues. Ministers from both regions made the declaration at the third Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) - European Union (EU) Ministerial Forum on the Information Society in Rio de Janeiro this month. The event also marked the launch of RedCLARA, a pan-Latin American network for research and education that is connected to the pan-European research network GEANT via the internet. RedCLARA will enable researchers in Latin America to collaborate on European research projects in areas such as high energy physics, astronomy and biomedicine. At the forum, ministers also committed themselves to making more efforts to tackle the social dimension of the Information Society; they agreed to develop an "Alliance for Social Cohesion through Digital Inclusion" and to encourage more dialogue between the two regions on policy and regulatory issues.
Intel helps India to promote IT literacy: Intel has signed agreements with India's department of technology and three state governments aimed at boosting IT literacy in the country, reports AFP. "Technology is already transforming lives in India, improving education and fuelling economic growth. We want to support the continuation of these trends," said Intel CEO Craig Barrett. The chipmaking giant will partner with India's IT department to make technology more available to school teachers throughout the region. Intel signed separate agreements with the states of Uttaranchal, Kerala and Karnataka for specific learning and e-government projects. A representative from Kerala's IT department said that Intel would help it to scale up existing programmes to bring internet access to rural regions and to promote computer literacy in remote areas.
London develops portal for city: The developers of a new portal site for London city in the UK have announced that System Associates will work with them on the project. London Connects, a joint venture between the Association of London Government (ALG) and the Greater London Authority (GLA), said that the proposed London Portal aims to make it easier for those visiting, living and working in the city to access information about services, without the need to know which geographical area or unit they live in. "Whether it is to find your nearest GP or post office, work out who has towed your car or submit a permit application, the portal will quickly guide you to the right page on the right agency's website," said Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London. System Associates said that they are using award-winning design experts Nykris to help devise an accessible, user-friendly web portal. The site will be supported by a sophisticated content management system and will incorporate a Google-style search engine into the front-end. The first phase of the portal is due to be launched in April 2005.
Autor: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle: ElectricNews.Net, 24.11.2004
