From: Mustafa Akgul (akgul@Bilkent.EDU.TR)
Date: Fri 22 Mar 2002 - 21:18:24 EET
From: "Dan Jellinek" <dan@headstar.com>
To: <egovbulletin@headstar.com>
Subject: E-Government Bulletin - 22 March, 2002
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 12:40:12 -0000
Editor's note: From this issue, the bulletin is now fortnightly!
We hope readers will enjoy the extra coverage.
* E-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN.
The Email Newsletter On Electronic Government,
UK And Worldwide.
* ISSUE 110, 21 MARCH 2002.
Please forward this free service to colleagues
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email to egovbulletin-subscribe@headstar.com
- full details at the end.
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NOTE: As a navigation aid to blind and visually impaired people and
others using screen readers, all headings begin with an asterisk and end
with a full stop.
* CONTENTS: IN THIS ISSUE.
News:
Treasury spends more on net savings
- Invest to Save announcement.
Housing associations must build in web
- with no rise in rents.
Skills shortage returns to haunt government
- says new report.
Better Connected live
- online discussion forum.
Cold shoulder for Lib Dem consultation
- virtual silence.
UK Online TV trials extended
- remote control government.
'Virtual catalogue' project joins up government
- seamlessUK.
News in brief: Interoperability consultation; European culture portal;
Policymakers' hub; Information rights.
Section two: Analyis - metadata.
Seamless government moves a step closer - Essex County Council
aims to lead the rest of the UK in collating public and voluntary
service information. Dan Jellinek reports.
Section three: US focus - security.
Virtual government - tougher to terrorise? A diverse bunch of lobbyists
are pushing for quicker introduction of e-government to allay persistent
fears of terrorist attacks on buildings. Ben Schiller files from San
Francisco.
Section four: end-points.
2002 - web oddities. For all the talk of standardisation for councils on
the web, Tom Yeoman finds that eccentricity still has its place.
[Contents ends]
* SECTION ONE: NEWS.
TREASURY INVESTS MORE IN NET SAVINGS.
The Treasury this week committed itself to spending 10 per cent more
than last year on internet projects which aim to improve civil service
efficiency.
Despite the rise, the internet's percentage share of the Treasury's so-
called 'Invest to Save' budget remained almost static at 67 per cent, with
an allocation of 45.7 million pounds.
And although the cash allocation has expanded, the number of internet
projects chosen for funding has fallen from 80 to 50, increasing the
average Treasury investment from around 500,000 pounds to just over
900,000.
Local government-led projects managed to pull in 18.7 million pounds,
keeping their share at 40 per cent of the total.
Below is a list of the top 10 recipients with a significant internet element
to their proposal. For a complete list see:
http://www.isb.gov.uk/news_events/news_frame.htm
- Department of Culture, Media and Sport, 3.6 million pounds: creation
of online tourism community.
- Kent County Council, 3.0 million: online payments, bookings, fault
reporting, and information dissemination.
- Liverpool City Council, 2.9 million: licence and permission request
system.
- Home Office (Police), 2.7 million: e-learning solution.
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, 2.7 million: links to local
authorities.
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2.7 million:
multi-channel severe weather warnings.
- Home Office, 2.1 million: database of government funding available to
voluntary and community organisations.
- Land Registry, 1.6 million: electronic conveyancing.
- Manchester City Council, 1.5 million: development of multi-agency
portal.
- Warwickshire County Council, 1.5 million: online service access for
older people.
* HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS MUST BUILD IN WEB.
Housing association managers must stop seeing web services, office
technology and technology training as separate from their core business
operations, according to one of the authors of a new report uncovering
poor technology performance in the sector.
The Housing Corporation-funded study found that fewer than a third of
the web sites run by the 57 medium-to-large housing associations were
satisfactory. Problems highlighted include poor content and
functionality. Among the small number of satisfactory sites are those of
London & Quadrant (http://www.lqgroup.org.uk) and the Swan Group
(http://www.swan.org.uk).
But Martyn Pearl, co-author of the report, told E-Government Bulletin
this week that extra technology investment to fix these problems need
not necessarily filter through as higher rents for housing association
tenants. Given a certain amount of "ingenuity and imagination", existing
budgets could be redirected into office technology, he said.
Among other solutions proposed by the study for those failing to make
the grade is a break from a culture of "secrecy and ownership of
information" and the provision of extra funding for equipment and
training for board members and tenants.
To finance the training of housing association tenants, of which there are
1.5 million in the UK, associations should look to tap sources of external
funding such as the European Union, the report says.
NOTE: 'Remote control' can be bought for 14.99 pounds from Marston
Book Services:
http://www.marston.co.uk/
* SKILLS SHORTAGE RETURNS TO HAUNT GOVERNMENT.
A shortage of appropriate staff and skills is the biggest threat to e-
government projects, according to a survey of senior IT managers in 160
central government departments.
The research by publishers Kable (http://www.kablenet.com ) found that
worries about human resources exceeded concerns about funding in the
list of headaches for government IT managers. More specifically,
managers complained of lengthy recruitment processes, a shortage of
graduate-calibre new entrants, and a lack of motivation and long-term
commitment among existing staff.
The results suggest that the government has failed to act on
recommendations made in it own 'Major IT projects review', a Cabinet
Office report published in May 2001.
The review found that: "Responsibility for much of government's
technology has been transferred to the private sector. Large numbers of
technical experts and project managers have also moved to the private
sector as part of this transfer" (http://fastlink.headstar.com/itskills).
In evidence, the review cited Cabinet Office estimated that the
government's pool of skilled IT professionals had fallen from around
12,000 in the mid-1990s to less than 3,000 in 2001.
The Cabinet Office report also noted a "growing awareness across
government and the IT industry that organisations which have
outsourced all or part of their IT must retain at least some core skills in
order to manage contracts and projects effectively".
* BETTER CONNECTED LIVE.
The local government technology association SOCITM has opened an
online discussion forum on issues relating to its comprehensive annual
survey of council web sites, 'Better Connected 2002?' (see E-
Government Bulletin, issue 109).
The body is keen to canvass views on its 'mystery shopper'
methodologies for checking up on councils' responses to email, and its
profiles for typical web site users. It is also throwing the forum open for
wider discussion on general issues relating to local government on the
web. All e-government bulletin readers are encouraged to take part at:
http://www.socitm.gov.uk/insight/new_forum/
* COLD SHOULDER FOR LIB DEM CONSULTATION.
The first online policy consultation by a UK political party - the Liberal
Democrats - has so far been given the cold shoulder by all but a small
handful of 'free thinkers'.
The Lib Dems have often led the field in political web design, but their
latest scheme, launched on 8 March at the party's spring conference, has
so far attracted just three posts to its bulletin board and five to its email
list.
The online debate, which was created to consider IT policy, has so far
rather confusingly (and impractically) centred on a call for the
disbanding of all political parties. See:
http://www.makeitpolicy.co.uk
NOTE: Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy will no doubt hope for rather
more lively debate on the Highland Youth Voice's e-democracy website,
an elected parliament of 70 young people from the Scottish Highlands
which he will launch today:
http://www.highlandyouthvoice.org
* UK ONLINE TV TRIALS EXTENDED.
Interactive television versions of UK Online, the government's main
internet portal, are to appear on Sky, ITV Digital, NTL and Telewest
digital television platforms in April.
The trial follows the successful delivery of UK Online campaign
information to Sky viewers in January, using Sky's 'interactive
advertising browser'. Sky's browser uses a wireless markup language
normally used to deliver content to mobile phones.
* 'VIRTUAL CATALOGUE' PROJECT JOINS UP GOVERNMENT.
A project which aim to build a 'virtual catalogue' of public service
information held by central and local government, voluntary groups,
charities and other organisations across the UK was launched this week
by a group of local authorities.
The 'seamlessUK' group of authorities, led by Essex County Council,
has received lottery funding to help start the project. Other organisation
which join the group will be able to add search boxes to their web sites to
allow people to access the service. For the full story see section two, this
issue.
* NEWS IN BRIEF:
INTEROPERABILITY: Part one of the e-Government Interoperability
Framework, which sets out standards for the exchange of electronic
information between UK public agencies, was this week made available
for consultation by the Office of the e-Envoy. It incorporates a metadata
framework for the first time:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/gif
CULTURE GATEWAY: 'Europe and culture', a new EU-funded portal,
launched this week to provide a single, multilingual reference point for
information on European cultural policy:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/index_en.htm
KNOWLEDGE HUB: A web site to support evidence-based policy
making launched this week, linking to policy 'knowledge pools', virtual
think tanks manned by teams of experts:
http://policyhub.cmps.gov.uk/default.htm
LIBRARIANS' MANIFESTO: A document setting out the right to
access and publish information on the internet has been drafted by the
International Federation of Library Associations. It will be presented to
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in
April:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/ifla
[Section one ends]
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* SECTION TWO: ANALYSIS
- METADATA.
* SEAMLESS GOVERNMENT MOVES A STEP CLOSER.
A group of local authorities led by Essex County Council this
week launched an ambitious new project aimed at setting a UK-
wide standard for categorising and indexing public and voluntary
service information for citizens.
The 'seamlessUK' project will set 'metadata' standards that other
councils will be able to use to index local information sources. A
national indexing and routing system will then tie everyone's
databases together into a 'virtual catalogue' which users will be
able to search on the web without having to know where each
piece of information is held.
The service will be accessible both through its own web site - no
web address has been fixed yet but 'www.seamless-uk.info' has
been registered for possible use - and through special search boxes
carried on participating councils' own web pages.
The scheme is being funded over two years to the tune of 865,000
pounds by the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund
(http://www.nof.org.uk) as an extension to its 'People's Network'
project of wiring up UK libraries and schools.
It is being led by Essex in partnership with Bexley, Brighton,
Bromley, East Sussex, Kent, Medway, North Lincolnshire, and
West Sussex councils. The lead private sector technical partner is
Fretwell-Downing Informatics (FDI -
http://www.fdgroup.com/fdi), with further assistance from research
and consultancy group MDR Partners UK
(http://www.mdrpartners.com).
National information sources already signed up as partners include
Age Concern England; the BBC; Common Purpose; the London
Advice Service Alliance, which has developed a range of advisory
materials in different ethnic minority languages; the Lord
Chancellor's Department; the National Association of Citizens'
Advice Bureaux; the National Council of Voluntary Organisations;
NHS Direct Online; and UK Online.
Search results using seamlessUK will be returned either as web
links, contact details or information held centrally, depending on
local configurations.
"The concept is that for example someone will be able to find
information on their illness from national NHS Direct sources,
alongside up to date information about local support groups for
people with that condition," says Mary Rowlatt, who is leading the
project at Essex.
"We will take a broader view than the government's UK Online
search facility - they cover mainly central and local government
sites, whereas we will add more from the voluntary and support
sectors. Having said that, UK Online is a partner in the project and
we want to look at how we can work with them."
When the lottery funding expires in the autumn of 2003 it is hoped
that the project will be sustainable through subscription fees from
councils or possibly even advertising or other commercial activity
- all options will be explored, Rowlatt says.
Council interested in joining the scheme can undergo an
'information audit' to assess what information sources are held and
how they can best be adapted to fit in with the project's metadata
and other standards.
They will then be able to choose from a range of options including
outsourcing the entire running of their local part of the project, to
go live by 2003; buying in a lesser amount of assistance for an in-
house operation; or attempting to go it alone by incorporating the
metadata and other standards into existing web-based information
services. The standards used by the system are all open standards,
and also conform to the main web accessibility standards allowing
access by people with disabilities such as visual impairment.
The metadata standard developed by the project (based on the
Dublin Core metadata standard) is called the 'Community Advice
Seamless Portal' standard and has already been posted for
consultation on the 'GovTalk' web site:
http://www.fastlink.headstar.com/casp
Essex's own 'SEAMLESS' citizen's information project, on which
the current project is based, can also be viewed on the web at:
http://www.seamless.org.uk
This site carries information from some 31 local organisations, and
is funded by the council.
Future developments planned for seamlessUK include other
delivery channels alongside web delivery such as portable devices;
and information and searching in multiple languages.
One or two collaborative information gateway projects like this
have been attempted in the past by groups of councils acting
locally or regionally, but nothing like seamlessUK has yet been
tried on a national scale. If it manages to gain critical mass in the
coming months and years, it could prove a key turning point in
finally achieving the promise of 'joined-up government' through
the use of new technologies.
NOTE: Councils or others interested in joining the seamlessUK
project should email Mary Rowlatt on maryr@essexcc.gov.uk
[Section two ends]
* SECTION THREE: US FOCUS
- SECURITY.
* VIRTUAL GOVERNMENT - TOUGHER TO TERRORISE.
by Ben Schiller in San Francisco
Electronic government is already well-developed in the US, but the
growing fear of terrorism has brought together an eclectic group of
people to lobby for an even greater urgency in its introduction.
In October last year the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC -
http://www.ndol.org), a major centre-left powerbroker and think-tank,
released a working paper called 'Legislating by any means necessary'
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/dlc). Contained within were calls for virtual
meeting rooms and the increased use of email and instant messaging.
"A web site could easily be built that would facilitate virtually all of the
business normally conducted on the floors of the House and Senate, or in
committees from debates, to mark-ups [congressional committees at
which a bill is put into final form], to votes," the report concluded.
E-government advocates normally argue their case on one of two
grounds: either that it will improve accountability by increasing
participation in the political process; or that it will help government cut
costs by delivering services more efficiently.
But, in the wake of 11 September, the key driver may now be safety: the
DLC believes that while Congress is under threat from planes, bombs,
anthrax, small pox, you name it, it may be wiser and safer to move
government affairs online. "We admire the dedication of Congressional
leaders in believing they should set an example for the country by
returning to normal business as quickly as possible after the anthrax
attack," the council says. "But we can overcome terrorists by our
brainpower and our technology as well as by our courage."
And it is not just Democrats who are talking up the value of the internet.
Michael Savage, a flamboyant right-wing radio talk-host from San
Francisco, has been using his show on Hot Talk 560 KSFO to boost the
idea of e-government. "When will these idiots learn? They're sitting
ducks up there in Washington," ran some of his more repeatable
commentary.
Similar ideas are doing the rounds at major US companies. When the
governor of California Gray Davis announced in mid-November that the
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was likely to come under terrorist
attack during rush hour periods, many San Francisco-based businesses
allowed their staff to stay at home rather than taking lengthy alternative
routes into the city.
Of course, government is some way behind business in adapting to
teleworking and other forms of electronic work. As the DLC says,
"Congress is already a generation behind much of the private sector in
using information technologies to conduct business in the absence of
physical meetings." But the terror attacks, and the concurrent economic
downturn, could push both businesses and governments to become more
decentralised (something that would please US Republicans), with more
people working remotely and greater leeway given to managers making
decisions on the ground.
In a sense, the idea of teleworking has been untested during the boom of
the past few years. So long as companies could subsidise their
employees' travel expenses and ensure their safety in large office blocks,
there seemed little reason to try anything new. Now, all that may change.
[Section three ends]
* SECTION FOUR: END-POINTS:
- ECCENTRICITY.
* 2002 - WEB ODDITIES.
by Tom Yeoman
For all the earnest evaluation and regulation of local e-government as
service develop, there exists a breed of web services that proudly show
that eccentricity can withstand even the most ruthless efficiency drive.
Among such out-of-the-ordinary e-services is Birmingham City
Council's list of over 400 'Brummie' words in common use that can be
used to supplement the dictionaries of computer spell checkers.
The majority of them are local place names and celebrity surnames like
'Oddie' and 'Armatrading', but there are some other entries drawn from
local parlance including: 'bab', an affectionate term of address for an
adult woman; 'blarting', from the verb 'to cry'; and 'miskin', meaning
dustbin. To read more see:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/brum
This helpful translation tool has no doubt proved particularly useful last
December to non-Brummie speakers who logged on to the site's
interactive advent calendar, which provided links to traditional Festive
recipes from the region. For curry fans, the website's 'balti review' is a
must. Here, locals score and comment on hundreds of Birmingham's balti
restaurants.
Residents of Bristol, the East Riding of Yorkshire, and Brent in London
can all now watch people tie the knot, thanks to the foresight of their
local authorities, who have all installed live web cams in their register
offices. In an innovative variation on the theme, Stirling Council
(http://www.stirling.gov.uk ) in central Scotland has 'romantic Stirling',
allowing browsers to coo over a packed database of photographs of
couples recently married in the town.
London's Wandsworth Borough Council
(http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk) has addressed a common consequence
of married life with its 'name game' facility. Prospective parents can
search the register office database for the most popular baby names
registered in the borough since 1991, presumably to avoid saddling their
offspring with one but could equally be used to ensure conformity.
A boy's name - Alfred - also forms the centerpiece of a rather dubious
attempt by Winchester City Council to capitalise on its heritage as seat of
the renowned king and cake incinerator. The council supported site
'alfreds.net' (http://www.alfreds.net) allowed users to watch four
modern-day Alfreds - C, F, P and M - over web cam for six months last
year.
Finally, North Wiltshire District Council (http://www.northwilts.gov.uk)
has created a 'photo gallery' of lost or stray dogs
(http://fastlink.headstar.com/dogs). Not a bad idea perhaps, except that in
the best 'error message' tradition of the web, when we checked the page
simply stated: 'Currently no lost/stray dogs'. Do we really need a page to
tell us what is not happening? It might catch on.
NOTE: Readers are encouraged to send in detail of their own favourite
quirky sites or site features. Email egb@headstar.com
[Section Four ends]
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Copyright 2002 Headstar Ltd
ISSN 1476-6310
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* PERSONNEL:
Editor - Dan Jellinek dan@headstar.com
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Senior Reporter - Derek Parkinson derek@headstar.com
Reporter - Tamara Fletcher tamara@headstar.com
A searchable archive of our back-issues can be found on our web site.
[Issue ends].
