E-Government News

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.netMANILA, Philippines–The Presidential Management Staff (PMS) is considering a web portal where most infrastructure projects of the government can be monitored, a government executive said Monday.

Meeting with the PMS, Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera said the plan involves a system that will list down the priority projects of the administration.

The secure portal, which can also be accessed by PMS, aims to help the agency oversee the status of projects, especially large infrastructure projects, Diaz de Rivera said.

A portion of the portal will only be accessible to government agencies while the rest of the portal will be open to the public.

Diaz de Rivera said the project is still being explored by the PMS with help from the National Computer Center. “But we can also work with partners,” he added.

Meanwhile, the CICT executive said the agency itself is looking at building its own system to monitor e-government-funded projects.

Allocated by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) every year, the e-government fund was created to finance government projects that hope to improve public service through technology.

Diaz de Rivera said that there are close to 50 projects given e-government funding.

“We’re not making much headway in this project portfolio system that we’re also planning,” he said.

Source:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080505-134731/PMS-mulls-portal-to-monitor-govt-infrastructure-projects

By Leonilo D. LopidoTacloban City (May 5) — The Philippine Councilors League - Eastern Visayas Chapter (PCL-EVC) organized a training-workshop on e-Governance, Current Trends in Information Technology and Office Applications last April 25-27, 2008 at the AMA Computer Learning Center here.

This was disclosed by Claire Fernandez, regional IT coordinator and one of the resource person from the National Computer Center (NCC) where some 58 PCL members attended the training led by Hon. Wilson Uy, regional chairman and Engr. Billy C. Roseno, executive director of PCL.

According to Fernandez, the participants were equipped with the current use of office internet applications to reinforce their tasks as local legislators. Internet applications such as e-mail, messaging, surfing, searching effectively and other productive applications were tackled to make them globally competitive.

Meanwhile, Fernandez pointed out that the recent United Nations e-Government Survey 2008 placed the Philippines as one of the countries worldwide with website that encourages citizen engagement, one of the 21 countries that uses e-mail to update its citizen and has a 100% emerging utilization in terms of service delivery. She also noted that per 100 users, 5.48% are internet users, 5.37% PC users, and 50.75% cellular phone users.

Fernandez further disclosed that the website of selected countries highlighted in the survey are: http://www.gov.ph for the Philippines, http://www.sweden.gov.se/ for Sweden, http://www.denmark.dk/en for Denmark, http://www.regjeringen.no/ for Norway, http://www.gov.sg for Singapore, http://www.korea.go.kr for Korea, http://www.mext.go.jp/ for Japan, http://www.gov.cn for China, http://www.india.gov.ph for India, and http://www.depsos.go.id for Indonesia.

The 3-day training workshop was participated in by Vice Mayors, PCL-EVC regional council members, Sangguniang Panglungsod members, Sangguniang Bayan members, SP-SB secretaries, legislative staff and computer encoders.

Source:
http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p080505.htm&no=14&r=&y=&mo=

By Shareen HanBandar Seri Begawan - Bruneians can soon use the new electronic or biometric passport which promises better security and faster processing, when the new passport is launched today, more than a year since the project was first signed between Brunei and the passport suppliers. Pehin Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Mohammad Hj Daud highlighted this at the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Pakatan Sang Jati Dusun and Adau Gayoh (PSJD), which he officiated yesterday at the ICC.

He added that the association has also played its role in the community by organising various activities that are beneficial for its members.

As one of the seven ethnic groups that add colours to the Sultanate’s landscape, the richness of its language and traditions should be maintained according to this year’s Adau Gayoh theme - “Memperkayakan Budaya, Memperkasakan Bangsa” (Enriching Culture, Empowering Nation).

With such strong efforts and commitment from the Dusun community, its unique identity will not only be advantageous for the community, but also to the whole country as a national heritage treasure.

The minister congratulated PSJD, which was established in 1958, and acknowledged its leadership, while applauding its three founders, whose vision and initiatives have made it all possible.

Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja; Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Mohd Yusof, the Minister of Home Affairs, was expected to launch the biometric passport at the Immigration and National Registration Department.

The $7.1 million e-passport project was one of the Immigration and National Registration Department’s initiatives under the e-government project to replace the machine readable passport, which was introduced in 1993.

Aligned with international standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the national biometric passport contains several security features which were said to be difficult to duplicate.

Embedded with a 72 kilobyte chip, the passport contains permanent data on facial image and fingerprint image through a laser printing machine to verify ensuring that the examined passport is genuine and owned by the rightful person.

Another security characteristic is that through the Public Key Directory introduced by ICAO, officials at immigration control posts can determine the authenticity of the passport.

It will also cut down on entry processing time at immigration checkpoints, and the exemption of visas to enter specific countries.

The biometric passport project is a joint undertaking between local company Information Technology Protective Security Service and German company Giesecke & Devrient in producing and supplying the passports.

The leading German supplier of smart cards and cutting edge system solutions has been supplying Brunei’s passports since 1993.

Brunei was reported to be the third country in the Asean region to introduce the use of biometric passports, after Thailand and Singapore.

Source:
http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/May08/050508/nite01_1.htm

While the public and private sectors currently use information and communications technology (ICT) in contrasting levels, both agree that innovative technologies could serve as a tool for bridging the country’s yawning health gap.IDG News Service (IDGNS) distribuerer nyheter til IDGs cirka 300 it-publikasjoner og 450 it-nettsteder gjennom et internasjonalt nettverk av korrespondenter.

While the public and private sectors currently use information and communications technology (ICT) in contrasting levels, both agree that innovative technologies could serve as a tool for bridging the country’s yawning health gap.

At the CyberPress Forum held recently at the iAcademy auditorium in Makati City, experts from the industry said ICT is transforming the way health care is provided in the country for both the under-funded public health facilities and state-of-the-art private medical centers and hospitals.

Dr. Alvin Marcelo, director of the National Telehealth Center in UP Manila, said “telemedicine” modalities such as short messaging system (SMS), multimedia messaging system (MMS), and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) can help serve far-flung areas where the availability of doctors and health professionals is scarce.

Marcelo said 50% of Filipinos die without ever seeing a doctor in their lifetime and ICT could partly solve the problem.

Established by the University of the Philippines’ Board of Regents in 1998 as an attached agency of the National Institute of Health (NIH), the National Telehealth Center is based at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and is mandated to “design and develop IT-based solutions that will provide primary health care to local communities served.”

In 2005, the Commission on ICT (CICT), through the E-Government fund, awarded a grant to the National TeleHealth Center so it could “design and develop ten telehealth and telementoring systems” in the provinces of Cagayan Valley, Capiz Province, Leyte and Iligan, where the UP Manila medical school has satellite facilities.

However, Marcelo admitted that the set-up initially failed to reach its goals of providing remote telemedicine to the selected areas. The system took off only after barrio doctors “shifted to SMS teleferrals” that make use of “simpler technology and have less need for tech support.”

At the Telehealth Center, patient records are compiled and kept using open-source software, which, according to Marcelo, is easy-to-use, customizable, and capable of generating standard reports for local, provincial and regional patients, including components necessary for PhilHealth.

The center also offers e-learning in the form of a collection of formal and non-formal courses such as Masters of Science in health informatics; geographic information systems for health leaders; e-health project management and; e-learning for community health. The modules are taught by distance learning using VoIP, cellular phone, radio, or whatever means is available.

For the part of the private sector, De Los Santos-STI MegaClinic administrative director Jose Ronaldo De Los Santos said that, unlike government-run institutions, local private medical hospitals are globally competitive in terms of modern equipment.

He said this is what is needed to stay in the business since IT has now become “as important as medical expertise and specialized medical equipment.”

“We are now digitizing about 20 years’ worth of medical records to the patients’ financial records. We are going into a paperless setup where the patient is registered digitally in an (offsite) database,” De Los Santos said.

Doctors see patients at their clinic based on a “digital queuing system,” which is linked to a computer network that allows a doctor to simply type his prescriptions into the computer and click on the tests he is prescribing for the patient, as well as (encode) the diagnosis. “Our patients also get their lab results sooner, over the Internet, by email, making diagnosis quicker and more efficient–in many cases detecting diseases earlier so patients can seek less expensive and timelier treatment,” he explained.

De Los Santos said the Megaclinic is also working toward obtaining optical character recognition technology to make every word (in a patient’s medical records) a searchable record. He explained that each word in the document will act like a hyperlink that automatically allows access to other cross-referenced data within the same set of records. “However, the constraint is cost; though there is a need for such data mining capability so doctors will have better and quicker access to their patient records.”

Source:
http://news.idg.no/pcw/art.cfm?id=B9A75FEB-17A4-0F78-314A2678BE7852B4

04 May 2008 - STS, the Jordanian IT services and enterprise solutions integrator, has announced its award of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s (MoICT) bid for the third phase of the Secure Government Network (SGN) project. The tender mandates STS to provide public entities with a distinguished bundle of solutions and IT services to implement the third phase of the Secure Government Network.In harmony with MoICT strategy, the project responds to the e-Government program and the aspirations tied to it in terms of developing the performance of all public sector entities through the maintenance of close observation of developments on the international technology arena. STS IT solutions will be implemented through developing government entities infrastructure based upon the international Cisco and Dell technologies - renowned for its high qualitative performance, as well as enhancing e-services by implementing the latest Microsoft solutions.

It is worth mentioning that the third phase of developing the SGN is considered an important platform for the enhancement of the public sector course towards an advanced stage in providing e-services to over 46 government entities, and the adoption of highly protected and resourceful network that would guarantee increased efficiencies and performance in civil service.

“The e-Government program aims at establishing the Secure Government Network that would ensure a safe environ and faster response time when dealing with the safety and security of data. It also unifies many systems, programs and services that Government entities use. This stage of the project is designed to alleviate standards to the required levels that would support the overall status of ICT sector in Jordan, through effective private sector partnership that raises public service performance in executing government transactions efficiently, to the satisfaction of end users,” said Mr Hassan Hourani, Director of e-Government Program.

On his part, Mr Husam Katkhoda, Networks and Cisco Solutions Director in STS, expressed his pride in executing this public sector project, by saying: “We strongly believe in the importance of enhancing government performance through modern technologies and the best available solutions in the world that would provide high levels of standardized services. STS teams of experts are united in their efforts to work round the clock to strengthening our customers’ confidence and promote the status of STS both on the local and regional levels.”

About STS:

Since its establishment in 1989, STS has contributed significantly to the growth and development of IT field. STS has offices in Jordan, UAE, Palestine, Iraq and Syria; in addition to distributors in most of the MENA countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, and Oman. STS has developed strong partnerships with worldwide industry leading companies, such as Dell, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, CISCO, Arcot and has been the Master Distributor of Hypercom in MENA since 1996. STS serves over 400 corporate customers in MENA mainly distributed in the financial services, telecommunications and government sectors.

Source:
http://www.mysolutioninfo.com/news-display.aspx?Code=9223&t=STS%20Wins%203rd%20Phase%20of%20the%20Secure%20Government%20Network%20Project

The Information Technology Authority (ITA), taking part at COMEX 2008 for the second time this year is hosting a Government e-Services exhibition showcasing eServices offered by public sector entities of Oman.Organised by Oman International Trade & Exhibitions, COMEX Business is from 28th April to 1st May 2008 from 10 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 9:30 pm while COMEX Shopper is open till 2nd May from 10 am to 10 pm.

ITA realises the importance of Comex and the interest it stimulates within the information and communication sectors of Oman and the region.

This annual event has grown each year both in terms of participants and visitors alike.

An excellent opportunity to present the latest technological advancements in terms of products and services, IT vendors from both business and consumer sections make use of this opportunity to present themselves to their clients.

Comex is the ideal networking platform for the ICT community and a platform for innovative solutions to excite the vendors and consumers alike.

ITA believes that this focused ICT event will provide huge networking opportunities being the largest annual technology trade event of the Sultanate.

ITA has initiated broad participation of the public sector under the wider gamut of eOman highlighting the progress in the delivery of e-services.

Around 20 different government entities will be present under one single roof to showcase their services and orient the public towards utilizing such services.

Further, ITA will also present the progress of its flagship projects like the eGovernment services portal, ePayment gateway, government network, Digital Society projects, national data center, Community training program, national PC initiative and many others in this event.

Through an exclusive seminar section of the eOman pavilion, ITA will also conduct informative and interactive seminars on its eOman projects, further complemented by technical presentations from several private sector companies including Microsoft, Oracle, CISCO and Fortinet.

ITA will also update the community on the progress it has made for eOman, enabling the community to realise the potential benefits that they could expect from the implementation of its projects.

A gateway to the ICT sector of the Sultanate, COMEX runs in two parallel sessions: Business Section and Shoppers Section. The eOman pavilion will be open for the public on all five days of Comex (28th April - 2nd May 2008).

eOman will touch every segment of the community through this event and there are many competitions, raffle draws and surveys being organized by ITA team during these 5days.

Regular features on public sector services will be delivered through print media and Oman FM.

Attend the Government eServices exhibition section of Comex 2008 and benefit.

Source:
http://www.ameinfo.com/155354.html

Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee unveils 5-year plan to improve government services.ABU DHABI - The Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee (ADSIC) revealed today a 5-year plan for improving government services in the emirate.

The plan aims to fundamentally transform the manner in which Abu Dhabi government operates and delivers services to its customer base covering citizens, residents and businesses.

This IT-driven transformation is the outcome of a program launched in 2006 by the Abu Dhabi Government under, which was the brainchild of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, to improve service delivery, expand service availability and increase governmental efficiency.

The ADSIC (the entrusted ‘CIO’ of the Abu Dhabi Government) plan, entitled “A High Performance Government Delivering World Class Services to the Benefit of All Its Customers”, aims to fulfil 4 roles.

These cover being an ‘authority’ on IT policies and standards, an ‘enabler’ of technology and infrastructure projects for government modernization initiatives, an ‘innovator’ to position Abu Dhabi as a leader in government modernization both regionally and globally, and lastly, an ‘educator’ to foster IT literacy and create awareness for the potential and benefits of automation.

ADSIC is harnessing Abu Dhabi’s leadership support of and commitment to the Initiative and the cooperation and collaboration with Abu Dhabi Government Entities to be the driving force for government services modernization, delivering significant improvements in service levels for citizens, businesses, residents, government employees and government entities through IT and streamlined customer-centric processes.

To fulfil Abu Dhabi Government vision outlined in the Policy Agenda, ADSIC has adopted an internationally recognized framework for formulating and implementing a comprehensive e-Government Strategy - the Environment-Readiness-Usage (E-R-U) framework. ADSIC’s 5-year strategic plan is derived from this comprehensive strategy and encompasses over 75 projects across the E-R-U dimensions.

Some of these projects are already operational and available to all customers, such as the Abu Dhabi Government Portal (www.abudhabi.ae), the Government Contact Centre (800-555), and an electronic Land Management System at the Abu Dhabi Municipality.

An IT Architecture and Standards reference document to foster common standards across all Abu Dhabi Government Entities and ease integration of their respective usage services to the government portal platform has also been developed, with a second release near completion.

Enhancing IT skills of government employees to use and benefit from the e-Government modernization provisions has been of paramount importance as well with over 4,000 civil servants trained to date.

These achievements exemplify the strategic plan themes of government responsiveness, high performance, improved government and improved society.

“Recognizing that environment and readiness projects are essential pre-requisites for usage projects, ADSIC’s strategy is initially more focused on implementations in these 2 dimensions in the first couple of years, with focus shifting to the usage dimension there after,” said Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, ADSIC Chairman.

“This systematic approach will allow us to effectively realize the transformation of government into a more efficient, responsive and performing government which is at the heart of the ADSIC Strategic Plan,” he added.

ADSIC will pursue development and implementation of additional government modernization projects as outlined in its strategic plan in collaboration with concerned Abu Dhabi Government Entities.

A few examples of these projects include a virtual job market to facilitate recruitment and employment services, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) shared services for the Abu Dhabi Government Entities, and a one-stop-shop business centre for all commercial licensing activities.

Source:
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=25463

Kolkata, May 3 In an effort to provide better technological education among citizens, which will aid the process of e-governance, the state Information Technology department is providing computer-aided learning tools to the schools located in remote areas.Secretary Siddharth of the department said this at a seminar on “Driving Value Creation through ICT”, organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce. He talked about how the administration has benefited from information technology. He also, cited the e connectivity in 277 gram panchayats in Burdwan and the digitisation in state treasuries and telemedicine facilities in the state as examples. The department has identified 50 schools in North and South 24 Parganas for the next academic session.

The project has already been implemented in more than 65 schools in Burdwan and Bankura last year.

The schools are provided with a computer and a projector which can provide about 1000 lessons on a computer-aided platform.

The schools are identified on the basis of their remote location and the percentage of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe students enrolled in them.

“Although computer education falls under the aegis of the School Education Department, the IT department has taken up the initiative to promote e governance in the state,” said the secretary.

Source:
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Rural-schools-get-computeraided-tools-from-IT-dept/305151/

By Za’im Zaini & Yusrin JunaidiDeputy Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office officiating the opening ceremony of BICT career day. - JAMES KON

Brunei Darussalam is still relying on foreign expertise when it comes to information and communications technology (ICT) as the nation has yet to produce a critical mass of local ICT talents, said Dato Seri Paduka Eussoff Agaki Hj Ismail, the Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office when he launched the Brunei ICT Career Day 2008 at the conference hall of the International Convention Centre yesterday.

“To date, only 50 per cent of the current workforce in the field of ICT, in the private sector, are filled by locals. For the most part, ICT projects or e-government initiatives are still very much dependent on foreign consultants.”

“At present, the InfoCom Federation of Brunei is working closely with participating training centres to compile a database in order to better comprehend the various components required to boost the local ICT industry, ” said the deputy minister on how the federation and the career day event are relevant to the strategies and policies required to drive national development, particularly in ICT.

“To help alleviate the situation, the ICT Professional Human Capacity Development System - designed and developed 100 per cent by local ICT talents - will produce quantifiable analytical reports on the database compiled,” said chairman of BICT career day organising committee, Sheikh Abas Sheikh Mohamad.

“The career day is intended to be, first and foremost, a platform and catalyst for matching of supply and demand of the ICT professionals and industry needs in Brunei Darussalam.”

“I believe, with the correct marketing efforts and the dedication of the organizers, we will see a vibrant pool of local ICT experts being identified at this event, to meet current demands as well as future needs of the local ICT industry.

“This pool will become the foundation for our home-grown ICT experts who will eventually meet and aspire to exceed worldwide standards in ICT know-how.

“As we develop this process of building our human resource capacity in ICT, we will need strategic partnerships that will enable the relevant stakeholders to focus on the ICT requirements for nation-building.

“This is an area where InfoCom can come into play by acting as the hub in a three-way strategic partnership between the Government, the private sector and potentially qualified ICT professional jobseekers.

“With the support of the relevant public and private sector agencies, and the opportunities offered by today’s ICT Career Day, I am confident that InfoCom’s role can be further augmented to include crucial areas like the matching of ICT skill requirements to those of jobseekers.

“This brings me to another area where InfoCom can collaborate with other ICT stakeholders in analysing the nation’s ICT skills requirements.

“Compiling of the database will include recommendations on the necessary skill sets and knowledge that can be taken up by educational institutions as an important input.

Source:
http://www.brunei-online.com/sunday/news/may4h4.htm

Online licensing of haulage companies, shelved earlier this year, because of technical difficulties, could be back on the agenda, after the Government accepted a Fine Gael private members’ motion dealing with the expansion of e-government.Fine Gael Spokesman Simon Coveney said that the commitments made in the motion represented a major development, especially in the light of the “waste and underachievement” which had characterised the Government’s management of past Government strategies.

Coveney said the commitments included the provision of a secure online ID and payments system as a basis on which Government departments could deliver a whole series of e-government services.

Source:
http://hgvireland.com/news08a/hgv198.html