The finding emerged in a survey carried out by the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA). The details were given at a conference at Craigavon Civic Centre on e-government, the initiative designed to use technology to improve the delivery of public services. NILGA established that although every council had a website, and 17 published council minutes online, only five were genuinely interactive.
Heather Moorhead, NILGA chief executive, said: "Only five councils allow customers to perform full transactions online, including online payments, the rest forcing the customer to use post and traditional channels to deliver payments and forms - thus removing the main benefit of transacting online.
"The results of our survey suggest that the various councils are placing a different priority on the issue of e-government, and that each is at a different stage in e-government adoption.
"The truth is that most councils are developing their e-government strategies in isolation.
"Given that many of e-government's major benefits will only be realised if councils work together, share experience, gain economies of scale and reduce duplication across the sector, it is clear than this situation must be addressed."
Quelle: The Belfast Telegraph, 14.06.2004
