EC issues call for eEurope Awards: The European Commission has issued a call for submissions for the eEurope Awards for eGovernment 2005. The awards are open to all public administrations -- national, regional and local -- in the EU member states, candidate countries, and Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. Nominations should be shown to deliver innovative initiatives in the area of e-government and have valuable lessons to share as best practices with other administrations. The applications selected for the awards will go on display at the EU's Ministerial eGovernment Conference 2005 in November in Manchester, UK, where they will play a central role in the conference. The closing date for submissions is 1 June, and proposals can be submitted online at www.e-europeawards.org from 16 March.
US to increase spending on RFID: US federal government spending on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is set to grow 120 percent by fiscal 2009, according to a new report from Input. RFID is a technology for storing, receiving and transmitting data via antennas on tags that respond to radio frequency queries; the system works in a similar way to barcode technology, but line-of-sight is not required. Input, the government research firm, says that the US Department of Defense is successfully using RFID technology to improve its supply chain management process, and cost savings have been made through its use in the war in Iraq. The department is now considering other ways to use RFID in the supply chain process, such as in the tracking of parts, weapons, and even soldiers in the field. On the civilian side, growth in the use of RFID is expected to begin slowly, according to the Input study, but a significant increase should start in fiscal 2007, as business cases emerge demonstrating cost benefits in areas outside of the supply chain process.
Oman signs e-gov infrastructure agreements: Oman's Ministry of Commerce and Industry has signed two agreements that will pave the way for the rollout of e-government services. The Times of Oman reports that the two projects -- to be implemented by Gulf Business Machines, Oman (GBM) in association with IBM -- involve the installation and management of "one-stop shop" IT infrastructure and the design and rollout of office automation solutions. The minister of commerce and industry, Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, said that the two projects served as a major step toward establishing e-government infrastructure for the facilitation of electronic transactions with citizens and businesses. Maqbool said that the ministry's online facility would include e-filing functions for 42 of its services. With regard to the office automation project, the front-end and back-end processes of the ministry will be computerised, he added. Staff at the ministry will be trained over a four-year period to ensure smooth implementation of the two projects.
UK launches ITsafe initiative: The UK government has launched a website aimed at raising awareness of viruses and other threats for home PC users and small businesses. The ITsafe (IT Security Awareness for Everyone) website, www.itsafe.gov.uk, offers free advice on surfing the internet, using e-mail, and keeping software up-to-date with patches. The site also provides a threat alert service, where users can sign up to receive information about the latest threats either by e-mail or text message. The service is funded by the Home Office and relies on information provided by the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC), the government's centre for electronic defence. "There is a clear need for easy-to-understand and simple independent advice for non-technically minded people who use computers either at home or at work," said Home Office Minister Hazel Blears. "The purpose of this new government service is to ensure computer users are aware of the risks involved and how to deal with them easily and effectively without causing alarm."
Malta revamps statistical resource: Malta's National Statistics Office (NSO) has just launched a revamped version of its website. Maltese newswire di-ve.com reports that the site, http://nso.gov.mt, now functions as a fully fledged online information portal, according to Alfred Camilleri, the director general of the NSO, speaking at the launch. Among the portal's new features are access to statistical databases, subscription facilities for various information services, and online purchasing of information and publications. Also present at the site's launch was Minister for IT Austin Gatt, who described the revised site as not just another website, but an important business tool. The portal was designed and developed by maltaNET.
Autor: Sylvia Leatham
Quelle: ElectricNews, 02.03.2005
