I-Government vs. E-Government

It's always interesting when the mainstream press casts its eye on digital government. The Economist (Feb. 16) has a 16-page special report on the topic. One of the most influential and certainly the most global of business publications, The Economist takes an international look at how e-government is progressing, examining how it is faring in such places as Singapore, India and Dubai as well as the UK and the U.S.

Their prognosis: governments around the world have pretty much mastered what The Economist calls "i-government, the provision of information." The Internet has also made it easier to share information between departments and among citizens. Some governments are moving closer to offering entire services online and others are looking at ways to deliver services to a mobile public (i.e., m-government). But government has yet to master how to personalize what it offers, so customers can set their preferences and keep them the next time they visit government online; it still doesn't do a good job providing round-the-clock access; and finally, it has a long way to go before its online public services are as easy to use as those in the private sector. To be fair, the special report balances the struggles with e-government against the special requirements and burdens the public sector faces, the impact of politics, unions and plain old-fashioned bureaucracy, and the constant struggle to protect the privacy of citizens in a digital world.

While none of the governments featured in the article are spared criticism, the United Kingdom comes under particularly harsh judgment for some of its projects that have gone off the rails (including the $25 billion National Health Service electronic makeover). Meanwhile, Washington, D.C.'s CTO Vivek Kundra receives somewhat flattering attention for his efforts to use IT to streamline how the district operates. But overall, much remains to be done, according to The Economist. "Although hopes have been high and the investment has been huge, so far the results have mostly been disappointing. That reflects a big difficulty in e-government: It touches on so many other things. What exactly is it that public organizations are trying to maximize, and how can it be measured?"

From http://www.govtech.com/ 03/06/2008

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2007 Internet Crime Report

According to the 2007 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses. This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006. All complaints received by IC3 are accessible to federal, state, and local law enforcement to support active investigations, trend analysis, and public outreach and awareness efforts.

"The Internet presents a wealth of opportunity for would be criminals to prey on unsuspecting victims, and this report shows how extensive these types of crime have become," said FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James E. Finch. "What this report does not show is how often this type of activity goes unreported. Filing a complaint through IC3 is the best way to alert law enforcement authorities of Internet crime." Although Internet auction fraud was the most widely reported complaint, others cited in the report include fraudulent activity such as non-delivery of purchases and credit/debit card fraud, and non-fraudulent activity such as computer intrusions, spam/unsolicited e-mail, and child pornography. In an effort to raise public awareness, the report also describes the characteristics of commonly reported scams such as those involving the purchase or sale of pets, check scams, e-mail spam, and online dating fraud.

Common frauds described in the report: Pet Scams · You see an online (or offline) ad selling a pet and send in your money, plus a little extra for delivery costs. But you never get the pet; the scam artist simply takes your money and runs. · You're selling a pet. You're sent a check that's actually more than your asking price. When you ask about the overpayment, you're told it's meant for someone else who will be caring for the pet temporarily. You're asked to deposit the check and wire the difference to this other person. But the check bounces and you lose the money you sent to what turns out to be a fraudster.

Secret Shoppers and Funds Transfer Scams · You've been hired via the web to rate your experiences while shopping or dining. You're paid by check and asked to wire a percentage of the money to a third party. Like the pet scam, the check is bad and you're out the money you sent. As part of the scam, the fraudsters often use (illegally) real logos from legitimate companies. · While renting out a property, you're sent a check that is more than your rental fee and asked to wire the difference to someone else. Or you take a job that requires you to receive money from a company and redistribute funds to affiliates via wire. Adoption and Charity Frauds · You get a spam e-mail that tugs on your heartstrings, asking for a pressing donation to a charity and often using the subject header, "Urgent Assistance is Needed." The name of a real charity is generally used, but the money is really going to a con artist. One set of scams in 2007, for example, used the name of a legitimate British adoption agency to ask for money for orphaned or abandoned children.

Romance Fraud · You encounter someone in an online dating or social networking site who lives far away or in another country. That person strikes up a relationship with you and then wants to meet, but needs money to cover travel expenses. Typically, that's just the beginning -- the person may end up in the hospital during the trip or get mugged and need more money, etc. The 2007 Internet Crime Complaint Report is available at www.ic3.gov/media/annualreports.aspx.

From http://www.govtech.com 04/03/2008

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World Expo Shanghai Goes Online

World Expo Shanghai goes on line. And people who can't make it to the real 2010 World Expo will be able to visit the pavilions via the Internet. Expo Shanghai Online, was launched Monday at a seminar in Paris. Switzerland became the first country to join. Expo Shanghai Online is a brand-new program, bringing the more than 150 year tradition of World Expo into the 21st Century. The Web site, which goes partially live in January 2010 will allow people worldwide to see three-dimensional images of the pavilions, on line. Those who log on can "walk" into every corner of the Expo sites and view them from a first-person perspective. They will be able to view performances any time, anywhere. They will also be able to interact inside the pavilions by playing games or chat with pavilion chiefs. They can even plan a future city in keeping with the Expo's theme of livable cities and innovation. At the launch event, the deputy commissioner general of Switzerland's exhibition section, Manuel Salchli, handed a letter confirming his country's participation to Zhu Yonglei. Zhu is deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination. Vicente Loscertales, secretary general of the International Expositions Bureau, hailed the program as a great innovation with historic significance. Representatives from Switzerland and Japan introduced plans for setting up a 3-D online pavilion through online technology, during the 2005 World Expo at Aichi.

From CCTV 04/16/2008

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India Moves Towards M-Governance

After moving towards e-Governance, now India is expanding m-Governance across the country. Around 54 gram panchayats in five remote blocks of the state will soon have SMS alerts on disasters, funds inflow and outflow, information about health camps and pulse polio campaigns will be sent to and from between the state departments, district offices and gram panchayats, block development offices. In this regard, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has sanctioned INR 50 lakh for the pilot project. The project will begin in 54 gram panchayats in five blocks including Bandwan and Bagmundi blocks of Purulia and Sagar, Patharpratima and Gosaba blocks of South 24-Parganas. The project would be completed within nine months. Once the project is implemented, SMS alerts will be sent out to government officials and members of the gram panchayats about impending disasters such as a Bird Flu outbreak, or allotment of funds for a particular project, information about the date and venue of a health camp to be held, pulse polio campaign and the filing of reports through an SMS alert over the mobile. The state department for panchayat and rural development is working towards setting up Common Service Centres (CSC) at villages at the gram panchayat, block and district levels. About 1,000 CSCs, called Tathya Mitra, have already been rolled out in the districts.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 05/05/2008

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Ireland Public Health Geospatial Data System Wins Public Service Excellence Award

¡®Health Atlas Ireland¡¯ is an open source Geographical Information System (GIS) which enables both health services planning and health data analysis. The project received a Public Service Excellence Award 2008 from Ireland¡¯s Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on 18 April.The Health Atlas Ireland project is led by the health public sector (Health Service Executive - HSE) in partnership with two universities. It is grant aided by the Health Research Board as well as the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Ireland¡¯s specialist agency for the surveillance of communicable diseases.

Health Intelligence, a sub-directorate of Ireland¡¯s Population Health service within the HSE in charge of providing official health information reports that ¡°Health Atlas Ireland exploits the potential of integrating geographical information system technologies, health datasets (census, HIPE, mortality etc) and statistical computations in a web-enabled and open source environment¡±. The purpose of the system is to ¡°provide role-based access to ¡®health mapping¡¯ across the sector in support of service planning, epidemiology, emergency responding and research¡° Health Intelligence indicates.

Reporting on the award of the prize, non-profit network Zea Partners informed that ¡°Health Atlas Ireland was selected among dozens projects for its innovation capacity and its technical perfection¡±, being ¡°an innovative project that greatly improves the quality and the efficiency of services delivered by health services.¡± This network also deems Health Atlas Ireland easily transferable to similar foreign authorities due to its considerable replication potential.

From http://www.epractice.eu 04/29/2008

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N.Y. Legislation Establishes E-Waste Collection and Disposal Program

The following are the remarks by Mayor Bloomberg at a public hearing on local laws: "The first of four bills before me today is Introductory Number 728, sponsored by Speaker Quinn and Council Members de Blasio, McMahon, Comrie, Dickens, Fidler, Gentile, Katz, Koppell, Recchia, Sanders, Weprin, Gerson, Jackson, James, Stewart, Vallone, Martinez, Yassky, Liu, Nelson, Foster, Monserrate, Rivera, Garodnick, Mealy and Sears. This bill establishes an electronics collection, handling and disposal program for New York City's electronic waste.

"Electronic waste, known as 'e-waste,' contains many toxic substances and represents a growing share of New York City's commercial and residential waste stream. Currently, manufacturers of electronic equipment are not required by law to bear any of the financial burden or responsibility for safely managing discarded electronic equipment at the end of its useful life, thus burdening local government and consumers with these costs and responsibilities. If e-waste is improperly handled, it can harm our environment through the release of toxic substances into the waste stream. "Introductory Number 728 requires manufacturers of certain electronic equipment - such as computers, monitors and televisions - to collect their products offered for return by any person in the City, and to ensure that the equipment is properly disposed of in accordance with existing laws and EPA guidelines. Manufacturers will be required to submit an electronic waste management plan to the Department of Sanitation, describing in detail how they would implement the requirements of the law. Introductory Number 728 will make it unlawful for manufacturers and others to dispose of electronic waste in the City's solid waste stream.

"In the absence of Federal legislation, twelve states have passed electronic waste laws. New York City will be the first municipality to pass e-waste legislation, which will protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of New York City. It will also improve our environment without placing any unreasonable or arbitrary requirements on electronics manufacturers.

From http://www.govtech.com/ 04/03/2008

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"Green IT" Development Takes Off in Japan, US

The electronics industry of late has become very interested in "green" and "eco-friendly" concepts. Only a year ago, the situation was quite different, said a source at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI).From the viewpoint of environmental protection, the shift to "green information technology (IT)," including slashing power consumption by IT-related equipment, facilities, etc, is picking up speed in Japan, the US and elsewhere. In Japan the Green IT Promotion Council was established to address global warming by electronics firms, related industry bodies and other groups on February 1, 2008, with an initial membership (actual and planned) of 133 entities.In the US, the non-profit Green Grid Association was established in February 2007 to reduce power consumption by data centers and other facilities, and membership is growing on almost a weekly basis. On February 5, 2008 the group held its very first Green Grid Technical Forum in the US, and announced that corporate membership has surpassed 150 firms.

From http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp 05/20/2008

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SOA Reduces Risk and Cost in U.S. Shared Services Projects

Time and time again, we hear that technology silos are bad news. The notion of 15 public agencies each building an infrastructure to run its own applications conjures images of wasted space, money, manpower and time. For many, the solution for this kind of redundancy is to share. "Shared services" has emerged as a popular buzzword. But what people mean by that term - exactly what's being shared and how - depends on whom you ask.

It may mean a service that a central group provides to the whole enterprise; managing human resources or accounts payable for an entire state government is one example. "In the context of a lot of the public sector, it's oftentimes things like network communications, IT infrastructure and data centers - so you see all those data center consolidation exercises," said Paul Wheaton, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Five9 Technologies, a Chicago-based IT management consulting firm that has helped several state governments with consolidations. But to Gartner analysts, a shared service is slightly different: an organization governed in part by the customers it serves, rather than a consolidated center created by executive decree.

"True shared services involve three elements," said John Kost, managing vice president at Gartner and a former CIO of Michigan during the mid-1990s. "No. 1, that the customers are involved in governance. No. 2, that the organization that's running it is billing back all its services to its customers. And No. 3, that there are mutually agreed-upon service levels between the customers and the organization running the operation." One of the more interesting forms of shared IT service is creating software services that perform multiple functions for several organizations - not simply moving servers, storage and technicians into a central facility. The best way to accomplish this kind of sharing, some experts say, is to use service-oriented architecture (SOA).

SOA is an approach to software development that relies on reusable components and open standards. The idea is to create a collection of services in the form of discrete software modules that can be combined in different ways to create different applications. They're a bit like Lego blocks, with standardized connectors that bind each piece to every other piece. You might use the same plastic blocks to build a model of a castle or a dinosaur. And you might use some of the same software blocks to build, for example, an online application that business owners use to apply for permits, or a different application that caseworkers use to enroll clients for benefits. Discussing the role of SOA in creating shared services can be confusing because people also use the term "shared services" to denote the software modules themselves. Under the SOA approach, the software blocks are called "services," and numerous applications may use the same block in different contexts.

"When you talk about it in really tight IT terms, shared services is a component-based architecture, where you decompose a business service into elemental parts and then provide those common components for other people to adopt," Wheaton said. Still, if you stick to the idea that "shared service," means an entity that serves multiple customers with software to meet their business needs, there are good arguments for using the SOA model to achieve that mission.

From http://www.govtech.com 05/07/2008

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Korea Develops Core Data Transfer Technology

The state-run electronic research institute said Sunday (May 18) that it has developed a data transfer technology that is fully compatible with the latest component interconnection standards.The development of the intellectual property (IP) core technology marks a first for the country's information technology sector and heralds its entry into the computer processor and system-on-chip (SoC) market, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) said. It said the technology has passed rigorous, year-long compliance tests to determine whether it is fully compatible with the Peripheral Component Interconnect Bus Express (PCI Express). The technology has been registered with the PCI-Special Interest Group that is responsible for setting global standards on PCI Express technologies. IP core technologies control PCI Express systems that are designed to quickly process and transfer data in all computer servers and peripheral equipment.

PSI Express has the capability to transfer 250 megabytes to 8 gigabytes of data per second, a speed that is five to 170 times faster than USBs and older PCIs. Using PSI Express, a person can download a 700-megabyte movie in one second compared to around 15 second using conventional USBs. "The new core can be used in a wide range of items like graphic cards, USBs and various interface devices," said Kim Seong-woon, chief of platform research at ETRI. Until now, Korea did not have this technology so it had to import all the devices with them.Korea is the global leader in terms of memory chip design and production, but lags behind companies like Intel, IBM, AMD and NVIDEA which dominate the fields of high-value-added processors and SoCs. Industry insiders said that with more computer and peripheral product manufacturers switching to PCI Express from older PCIs and USBs, demand for the system could reach $25 billion in 2010, with Korea aiming to take 5 percent of the global market worth around $1.2 billion.Kim also said that a local IT company has been given the right to use the IP core technology with others expected to follow suit. The IP core took about three years to develop.

From www.korea.net 05/18/2008

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SINGAPORE: Form Network of Trust to Promote Harmony

SINGAPORE: Singapore wants to form a spider-web network of trust to blanket the entire country. Four constituencies - Buona Vista, Canberra, Zhenghua and Marsiling - will help do that. The programme's objective is to promote harmony if racial and religious tensions break out. These constituencies were among some 30 constituencies to receive the Community Engagement Programme (CEP) Ready certification from Minister-in-Charge of Grassroots Cluster CEP, Mr Lim Swee Say, on Tuesday. This certification means the constituencies have developed proper emergency preparedness plans and have a group of influential community leaders who can be mobilised in a crisis. Grassroots volunteers also received a Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book at the event. With regards to the escape of Jemaah Islamiyah leader, Mas Selamat Kastari, Mr Lim said Singaporeans have passed the resilience test with flying colours as citizens have remained united in confronting this incident as one people. He said: "Even though we've passed this test for the escape of Mas Selamat, we shouldn't assume that we'll always be able to pass the test in the future because future damages could be much bigger. Therefore, no matter how resilient we are today as a community, we must never take it for granted." By the end of this year, there will be a new version of the Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book, which will include topics like what the CEP is all about and some exercises on how to deal with racial and religious tensions within the Singapore community. This book is expected to be distributed to over 7,000 grassroots leaders in 84 constituencies. (by May Wong)

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 03/11/2008

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IT for Greater Efficiency, Transparency Within Pakistan Government

Qamar Zaman Kaira the Federal IT Minister has said that the present Government of Pakistan desires to use IT to bring about greater efficiency and transparency within the government, streamline the functioning of the government and at the same time facilitate the citizens by providing them services at their doorsteps. The Federal Minister was informed that 40 different IT projects are being executed by Electronic Government Directorate (EGD) of the Ministry of Information Technology for various federal government organisations. The Federal Minister appreciated the efforts of Electronic Government Directorate, which he stated is doing a remarkable effort in automating various processes of the federal government and assisting federal government organisations in making their services available online to citizens. He further stated that e-Government could significantly contribute to the government's hundred days programme and beyond and desired that a briefing on this subject may be arranged for the benefit of the concerned offices. He informed that e-Government has been used worldwide for streamlining the working of the government. He particularly showed keen interest in using IT to bring greater transparency in the electoral process.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 05/13/2008

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New Zealand Govt Releases Draft Digital Strategy 2.0

The Ministry of Economic Development has released a draft of the government's updated digital strategy for public comment. As expected, the draft Digital Strategy 2.0 focuses a lot on the impact of digital technologies on citizen, society and government rather than on the narrower ICT sector. "In the few years since the 2005 Digital Strategy, we have seen changes in the ways people communicate, interact, do business and experience their histories and cultures," the draft strategy says. "Today¡¯s digital technologies are enabling new expressions of New Zealanders¡¯ sense of identity and community on screen and online. New business models are emerging, disrupting the old. Citizen-centred transactions have the potential to transform government. Smart digital technologies are enabling us to do things faster but with fewer resources." The draft says it is time to respond to this "digital revolution":

"The refreshed digital strategy will be the product of this national conversation. It will be the yardstick to measure our progress towards our digital future over the next few years." The draft says revolutionary change has occurred in telecommunications since the 2005 Digital Strategy and many of the targets of the 2005 document have been achieved, "while others remaining are not ambitious enough in the current environment". The new draft focuses on issues such as the internet generation, the participative web, digital broadcasting, digital culture, converging markets and other issues. Consultation on the Draft Digital Strategy 2.0 will run from April 14 to 5.00pm May 12 2008 at www.digitalstrategy.govt.nz

From http://computerworld.co.nz 04/13/2008

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AFRICA: New Report on Internet Infrastructure in the Congo

Montreal-based Alternatives is in the final sprint to release a report on the development of the internet infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The feasibility report by this APC member focuses on the setup of a national internet backbone as well as on the content of a national information and communication technology (ICT) policy for the DRC. Founded in 1994, Alternatives, an action and communication network for international development, is a non-governmental, international solidarity organisation based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. "We are finally about to release the first draft of our research on internet infrastructure in the DRC on March 12 (2007)," Michel Lambert, programme director of Alternatives, told APCNews, just before leaving for Kinshasa this month. In terms of ICT development, the document will federalise policies of all relevant sectors: telecommunication, computer science and communication media. It will determine the current challenges, enumerate essential priorities and define strategic axes to tackle these priorities.

In terms of implementation, this unique independent study in the DRC proposes an internet infrastructure, at only 10% of the price proposed by commercial business. ¡°If you are frowning at that prospect, consider catching up on literature related to open access,¡± insists Lambert. ¡°Open access infrastructure refers to the pipes, the copper - let's say, the large artery infrastructure ¨C that is understood as a global public good,¡± describes Karen Banks of the APC. ¡°The other part of it,¡± she argues ¡°is the infrastructure at the ends of the large arteries - the wireless and other types of networks that connect to the artery. These also need to rely on a regulatory approach that stimulates investment and maintenance,¡± she explains. ¡°It needs to be done in way that is conducive to innovation and diversity in ownership - including local and community ownership - of ICT models¡±. This interpretation, generously documented in APC issue papers, considers internet infrastructure as a critical resource, precisely like water.

The final report is expected in two months. ¡°Since January 2007, we are facilitating the newly created civil society-government commission on ICT policy. That commission is also expected to conclude in March or April 2007," Lambert told APCNews. Active in over 25 countries, Alternatives - which is an APC member - supports local, community-based initiatives working towards the greater economic, social, and political rights of people and communities affected by poverty, discrimination, exploitation, and violence. The organisation publishes Le journal d¡¯Alternatives, a high-quality publication inserted once a month in Montreal's French daily Le Devoir. It is also available on Alternatives' website.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo - also called the DRC, RDC, Congo-Kinshasa or Congo, and formerly as Zaire, is the third largest country by area on the African continent. Formerly a Belgian colony, since 1998, the country has suffered greatly from the devastating Second Congo War (sometimes referred to as the African World War. This has been the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. Some four million people have died as a result of the fighting. The United Nations says a thousand people a day are still dying as a result of the conflict. (by FN for APCNews)

From http://www.apc.org 03/06/2008

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EUROPE: I2010 Is Starting to Deliver

More than 250 million Europeans regularly use the Internet, says the mid-term progress report of the European Commission on i2010, the European Union¡¯s (EU) digital-led strategy for growth and jobs. Since its adoption in 2005, i2010 has led to a firm commitment to promoting ICT at EU and national levels. As of 2007, all Member States consider ICT development as one of the main achievements in their structural reform programmes. From their side, EU institutions have encouraged the building of a single market for online services and increased research funding.

Besides the increase of the regular use of the Internet in the EU, the report ¡°Preparing Europe's digital future. i2010 Mid-Term Review¡± reveals that 80 % of Europeans regularly using the Internet have broadband connections, while 60 % of public services in the EU are fully available online. Furthermore, two thirds of schools and half of doctors make use of fast Internet connections, thanks to a strong broadband growth in Europe.

The EU has the world's largest developed consumer market and 100 million broadband Internet connections and is thus well placed to reap the economic benefits of ICT. In other words, the Mid-Term review finds that i2010 is starting to deliver. In this favourable context, the report addresses the key challenges for 2008-2010, namely: To boost research performance, EU-funded Joint Technology Initiatives on nanoelectronics and embedded systems, eHealth and risky high-tech research will become operational in 2008.

To encourage use of new online technologies, the Commission will publish a Guide to EU Users' Digital Rights and Obligations later in 2008. To launch large-scale projects to support pan-European public services like the cross-border operation of electronic identity or electronic signatures.

From http://www.epractice.eu. 04/28/2008

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EU: ICT Policy Support Programme ¨C 2nd Call for Proposals Now Open

The second call for proposals of the ICT Policy Support Programme opened on 29 April 2008 following the adoption of the related Work Programme for 2008. This call will close on 9 September 2008. The ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) is one of the three multi-annual specific programmes that structure the ¡®Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme¡¯ (CIP). Running for the years 2007-2013, CIP aims to encourage the competitiveness of European enterprises, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CIP supports among others a better take-up and use of ICTs, as well as the development of the Information Society.

The ICT PSP Work Programme for 2008 has been recently approved by the European Commission. Among other objectives, ICT PSP aims to help to ¡°overcome the hurdles hindering the development of an information society for all in support of the i2010 goals¡± and to ¡°develop markets for innovative ICT-based solutions notably in areas of public interest.¡± The indicative budget of the second call for proposals amounts to €39 million. Proposals are called for under three main themes, namely: ICT for user friendly administrations, public services and inclusion; ICT for energy efficiency and sustainability in urban areas; Consensus building, experience sharing on Internet evolution and security. The evaluation of the proposals, assisted by independent experts, will take place in early October 2008. Communication of selection results to proposers and start of negotiations are foreseen for November 2008.

From http://www.epractice.eu 04/30/2008

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Scotland Publishes Massive Public Sector Infrastructure Investment Plan

Details of Scotland's largest and most ambitious programme of public sector investment in education, transport and the environment have been published by the Scottish Government. The second Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) sets out the Scottish Government's proposals for sustainable capital investment.It provides businesses with information to allow them to plan ahead for future investment projects.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said:¡± The Scottish Government has delivered record funding for local government to deliver our priorities, including increased investment to enhance the infrastructure needed to make our communities more successful. "We are determined to deliver much needed improvements to Scotland's public services and boost the performance of our economy. "The Infrastructure Investment Plan sets out projects that are key to our aim of increasing sustainable economic growth. It also provides the business community with information on the extensive range of opportunities that lie ahead."

The first IIP in Scotland was published in 2005. The new plan provides a new platform for investment. The new Plan includes for the first time local authority capital plans over the next five years. It also includes web links to many policy and investment strategies in the public sector which support the Plan.

From http://www.publictechnology.net/ 03/28/2008

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Michigan Releases Strategic Plan for Technology

The Michigan Department of Information Technology (MDIT) released its 2008 strategic plan today, laying out the future vision for technology in Michigan government. Titled: From Vision to Action (2008-2012), the strategic plan for technology is centered on six goals that take Michigan beyond the realm of consolidation and into shared services and collaboration.

"This 2008 iteration of Michigan's strategic plan for information technology builds on all that we have learned in the past and enhances our vision for the future," said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. "It lays out how technology will enable us to build a better state government and fulfill our priority areas: jobs, education, communities, health care and better government."

From http://www.govtech.com/ 05/22/2008

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CHINA: Tighten Scrutiny over Illegal Online Drug Sale

The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has listed on-line drug sales as a priority target this year and strengthening crackdowns on false advertising of drug products, according to the food and drug watchdog on Thursday. An SFDA spokesman said the authority would enhance its supervision over large and influential Internet portal sites involved in the false advertising or mailing of fake drugs to customers. The websites, most disguised under the names of certain hospitals or medical institutions, either sold counterfeit drugs or publicized illicit content. They included false, exaggerated or misleading information regarding cures to various ailments, the spokesman pointed out. He said the authority would trace producers of counterfeit drugs via on-line illegal adverts as clues. The Ministry of Industry and Information last month ordered relevant Internet access service providers to enhance their management to ensure these sites would not be reconnected to the web in future, according to the SFDA. The administration also warned the public to be alert and avoid falling victim to similar websites. Since July, China has run an advertising campaign against illegal drug ads to tighten its supervision. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce is responsible for punishing violators and the SFDA is in charge of approving drug ads. The country shut down 23 websites found to be carrying illegal drug adverts in its latest inspection, according to the pharmaceutical authority.

From Xinhua News Agency 04/11/2008

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Info Rules to Promote Gov't Transparency

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) opens a website on Thursday to let people know public policies in detail which might affect their life and business. The powerful economic regulator's drive is echoing to a new decree which takes effect on May 1, requiring government departments to ensure people's access to government information and that on matters of public concern. The NDRC said on the website, http://zfxxgk.ndrc.gov.cn, the information would be open to the public either on its main portal, www.ndrc.gov.cn, or upon request from any individual or legal entity. Any request should be filed in written forms to the NDRC, the website said. The commission promised to respond to written requests within 15 working days. According to the rule on government information transparency, governments at all levels should open information involving public interests, policies or activities that people are entitled to know or discuss, bureaucratic setups, functions and procedures, and any other information legally defined as that should be known by the public. An official with the NDRC said the newly effective rule would improve transparency of the government and ensure people's right to know public policies. The information on the NDRC website includes administrative regulations, rules and other official documents, economic and social development plans, projects and related policies, economic and social statistics, fiscal budget and expenditure reports, administrative charges lists and government procurement lists.

From Xinhua News Agency 05/01/2008

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China Moves to Regulate Fee Charges of Telecom, Postal Services

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has launched a nationwide campaign to reduce illegal telecommunications and postal fee charges. A nationwide survey, which would last until August 30, would cover fee charges of all business or agents engaged in basic telecommunications services, value-added services and postal services since January 1, 2007, the NDRC said in a statement. Inspectors would look for improprieties, such as illegal pricing and excessive fee charges, it said. Some content service providers in China have been found to overcharge their customers, said the commission. The NDRC lowered the country's mobile roaming service charges from March 1 under consumer pressure to entirely abolish them.

From http://www.chinaview.cn 05/04/2008

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China's Political Advisors Call for Digital Drive in Publishing

China's political advisors called for updating the country's traditional paper-based publishing industry by digital means in light of the rapid development of information technology. A special investigation group, composed of members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), arrived here on May 6 to conduct field research about China's publishing industry. The 11-day investigation in Shanghai and the southwestern Sichuan Province, organized by the Education, Science, Culture and Health Committee (ESCHC) of the CPPCC, will focus on reform and innovation of the publishing industry. In Shanghai, delegates visited the Shanghai Century Publishing Group (SCPG) and Shanghai Xinhua Media Co., Ltd. Both have taken the lead in reforming and modernizing the traditional publishing industry. The SCGP has published many digital products in recent years, including electronic books and an online dictionary and education program. "Digital publishing ushered in a new era of the publishing industry's development," Jiang Shaogao, deputy director of the ESCHC, said at a seminar here on Thursday. "It will profoundly reform the production and consumption concepts of the publishing industry and upgrade the industry," Jiang said.

Ma Shengrong, another member of the CPPCC National Committee, urged the proper protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in tandem with the accelerated reform of the digital publishing industry. "Despite the rapid progress of digital publishing, corresponding legislation still lags behind its development," Ma said. "If we do not protect IPR properly from the very beginning, the digital industry will not enjoy sound development in the long run," he said. According to a culture "blue paper" released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences early this year, 30 percent of handset users indicated that they would sign up to receive books and newspapers through mobile phones within the next five years. The blue paper predicted that libraries and other users would purchase e-books and digital newspapers valued at more than 1 billion yuan (144 million U.S. dollars) during those five years. It also estimated advertising revenues, linked to e-books and digital newspapers purchased by netizens and handset users, would reach 5 billion yuan in the next five years. The Shanghai part of the study tour ended on Friday, and the delegates travel to Sichuan on Saturday.

From http://www.peopledaily.com.cn 05/09/2008

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SOUTH KOREA: Lee Reveals Vision for Auto IT Industry

President Lee Myung-bak Tuesday (May 6) unveiled Korea's new information technology strategy, eyeing for seizing 10 percent, or 4 trillion won (about $4 billion), of the world's automotive IT market by 2010. "The combination of automobile and state-of-the-art electronic devices and software will create enormous added value in the future. By 2010, the global auto IT market is projected to grow to 40 trillion won," Lee said, speaking to domestic and foreign IT experts at the opening ceremony of the annual Seoul Digital Forum."Automobiles are no longer regarded as part of the machinery industry. They can instead be classified as part of an electronics industry," said the president, vowing to capitalize on the new industrial frontier.Lee said his government will first set up an auto IT innovation center in Korea through partnerships with world-class IT companies and intensively foster small businesses specializing in auto IT technologies."Through such comprehensive efforts, Korea will be able to secure at least 4 trillion won, or 10 percent, of the world's auto IT market by 2010 under the so-called new IT strategy," said Lee.He also forecast that rapidly developing Internet-related technologies are set to open the era of Internet Protocol Television, or IPTV, heralding revolutionary changes in the broadcasting sector. IPTV is a method of distributing television contents over IP that enables a more customized and interactive user experience."IPTV service is expected to create about 10 trillion won in production and about 50,000 new jobs over the next five years," said Lee.

From www.korea.net 05/06/2008

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PHILIPPINES: ICT Congress to Look at Education, Economy

INFORMATION and communication technologies (ICT) can be used in a multitude of ways to improve Philippine education, business and economy. How best to maximize the country¡¯s ICT gains to full advantage and keep up with technological advances will be discussed in the 12th ICT Professionals¡¯ Congress (ICTPC). The 12th ICTPC will focus on how ICT can ¡°Enable the Education,¡± ¡°Empower the Business,¡± and ¡°Enrich the Economy,¡± and will serve as a venue for exploring new technologies, establishing new contacts, and reviewing trends and issues related to the effective integration of ICT covering the Soft Skills, Applications and Infrastructure. It will be held on May 14 to 15 at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila, Makati City, with guest speakers Commission on Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, Ayala Foundation EVP Guillermo ¡°Bill¡± Luz and Commission on Higher Education Commissioner Nona Ricafort. The conference will be composed of plenary sessions and regular sessions on education, business and economy, and will feature corporate and product exhibits from event sponsors. The ICT forum is attended yearly by government officials, businessmen and ICT professionals from the academe and industry. Some of the industry partners for this year¡¯s event are JobsDB.com, ePLDT, Globe, and Microsoft. The main event organizer, the Philippine Computer Society, is a premiere organization of over 700 ICT practitioners nationwide founded in 1967. PCS has spearheaded local and international activities which strive to continuously promote, protect and enhance the members of the ICT profession. PCS is a founding member of the Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines as well as the South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation whose other members include national computer societies from Australia, Hongkong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 04/12/2008

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SINGAPORE: Form Network of Trust to Promote Harmony

SINGAPORE: Singapore wants to form a spider-web network of trust to blanket the entire country. Four constituencies - Buona Vista, Canberra, Zhenghua and Marsiling - will help do that. The programme's objective is to promote harmony if racial and religious tensions break out. These constituencies were among some 30 constituencies to receive the Community Engagement Programme (CEP) Ready certification from Minister-in-Charge of Grassroots Cluster CEP, Mr Lim Swee Say, on Tuesday. This certification means the constituencies have developed proper emergency preparedness plans and have a group of influential community leaders who can be mobilised in a crisis. Grassroots volunteers also received a Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book at the event. With regards to the escape of Jemaah Islamiyah leader, Mas Selamat Kastari, Mr Lim said Singaporeans have passed the resilience test with flying colours as citizens have remained united in confronting this incident as one people. He said: "Even though we've passed this test for the escape of Mas Selamat, we shouldn't assume that we'll always be able to pass the test in the future because future damages could be much bigger. Therefore, no matter how resilient we are today as a community, we must never take it for granted." By the end of this year, there will be a new version of the Grassroots Emergency Response Guide Book, which will include topics like what the CEP is all about and some exercises on how to deal with racial and religious tensions within the Singapore community. This book is expected to be distributed to over 7,000 grassroots leaders in 84 constituencies. (by May Wong)

From http://www.channelnewsasia.com/ 03/11/2008

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THAILAND: 'IT Cluster' Projects to Help Local Industry Grow

In a bid to help promote local software development, the Government Information Technology Services (GITS) has teamed up with Software Park Thailand and the Office of Computer Clustering Promotion (CCP) to launch the "IT Cluster Service" scheme which will help outsource software development to local software companies. Published on March 10, 2008. The scheme is a part of the National Science and Technology Development Agency 's IT services. Under the plan, GITS and CCP will act as the project managers, who will receive software development contracts from government agencies which will be subcontracted to small and medium-sized local software companies who are part of the IT cluster. Software Park will play a role as the centre of the software house clusters. The park will lay out the qualification criteria for local software companies. GITS director Sak Segkhoonthod said the organisation expected five to 10 projects to be outsourced to small and medium-sized local software companies through the "IT Cluster Service" project this year.

"We will select local software companies from Software Park's list, which now has about 10 to 15 companies in the cluster. We believe this collaboration will help us provide outsourcing jobs to local software companies. Software Park will play the role of mentor providing guidelines and standards process improvement," Sak said. At an average, about 70 per cent of a system-integration project from one government organisation is likely to be software development. The present trend is that government organisations prefer to spend on system integration projects as opposed to just buying hardware. This translates into more opportunities for the local software industry. From the government's annual IT budget of Bt20 billion to Bt25 billion, about 30 per cent is spent on software development. "Software development in the government market is still full of opportunities for the local software industry. There is a lot of demand. However, the problem is ensuring both quantity and quality for that kind of demand. This collaboration is an attempt of us to take care of that," Sak said. Usually, GITS implements 15 to 30 projects worth about Bt100 million to Bt150 million a year for the government sector. All of them are turnkey projects lasting between two months and two years. However, the average lifespan of a project is about six to nine months.

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ 03/10/2008

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VIET NAM: Safer Electronic Financial Transactions with New ISO Standard for State-of-the-Art Biometric Authent

ISO has just published a standard to increase the security of financial transactions over electronic media. The new standard, ISO 19092:2008, Financial services ¨C Biometrics ¨C Security framework, establishes the security requirements for the implementation and management of state-of-the-art biometric identification technology within the financial industry. The development of computer-based technologies has brought about a revolution resulting in a proliferation of electronic transactions. This has produced a phenomenal reduction in costs and improved efficiency within the financial industry. Trillions of dollars in funds and securities are transferred daily on payment and other financial systems through telephone, wire services and other electronic communication mechanisms. According to ISO 19092:2008, the sheer volume and value of such transactions exposes the financial community and its customers to severe risks from accidental or deliberate alteration, substitution or destruction of data. There is therefore a strong need for an ironclad authentication method.

Biometrics is increasingly considered as a reliable means of identification. It includes technologies such as finger image, voice identification, eye scan and facial image. Its advantage and appeal lies in its convenience and ease of use, its level of apparent security, performance and non-invasiveness.ISO 19092:2008 describes the security framework for using biometrics for authentication of individuals in financial services. It introduces the types of biometric technologies and addresses issues concerning their application. The standard presents the architectures for implementation, specifies the minimum security requirements for effective management, and provides control objectives and recommendations suitable for use by a professional practitioner. It promotes the integration of biometrics into the financial industry and the management of biometric information as part of the overall information security management programme of the organization.

ISO 19092:2008 also addresses the following topics: + usage of biometrics for the authentication of employees and persons seeking financial services by: - verification of a claimed identity - identification of an individual + validation of credentials presented at enrolment to support authentication as required by risk management + management of biometric information across its life cycle comprised of the enrolment, transmission and storage, verification, identification and termination processes + security of biometric information during its life cycle, encompassing data integrity, origin authentication and confidentiality + application of biometrics for logical and physical access control + surveillance to protect the financial institution and its customers + security of the physical hardware used throughout the biometric information life cycle.

¡°ISO 19092 offers a valuable international consensus-based tool to the financial industry that will encourage the secure implementation of biometrics as an authentication method within this sector. This standard is one step ahead, paving the way for the next generation of safer and more reliable financial transactions, increasingly important in today¡¯s electronic era,¡± commented Mr. Mark Lundin, Chair of the ISO subcommittee who developed the standard (subcommittee SC 2, Security management and general banking operations from ISO technical committee ISO/TC 68, Financial services).

From http://www.tcvn.gov.vn/ 02/27/2008

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National Steering Committee on IT Set Up

Hanoi (VNA) ¨C The Prime Minister has signed a decision to set up a national steering committee on information technology (IT). Under the decision, the steering committee, including a chairman and two vice chairmen, will provide consultancies for the Government in developing strategies to develop the IT industry. The committee will also help the Prime Minister in coordinating and supervising the implementation of IT application and development programmes and projects at ministries, agencies and localities.-Enditem

From http://www.vnagency.com.vn/ 04/03/2008

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BHUTAN: Taking ICT to Next Level

Bhutan is concentrating to build political will to take ICT (Information Communications Technology) to the next level. The total budget to develop ICT during the ninth five-year plan was almost Nu 80 million, which is actually the cost of building one higher secondary school with boarding facilities. For the tenth plan, the budget has increased to almost Nu 2 billion and that is the same amount that the government would be spending to develop Thimphu's urban area. There is an urgency to increase this budget with the help of properly motivated political will. A number of useful applications have been identified and are in the process of implementation, such as the online issuance of security clearance, the agriculture marketing system to provide market rates and information, online forest clearance and land transactions. 90 percent of all government forms can now be downloaded from the Bhutan portal website. One of the major works was the Thimphu wide area network (WAN) project to connect all organisations and agencies in Thimphu valley through high-speed optical fibre for information sharing. Useful local content for Bhutanese people is also stress to increase the use of computers by people. Within the next five years, the government is aiming to establish IT parks, community information centres in all 202 gewogs in the country, set up e-governance applications, implement national broadband network and reduce internet rates within the next year.

From Kuensel Online 04/29/2008

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INDIA: TCS Three Government Projects Won E-Governance Awards 2007-2008

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced that its three e-Governance projects won National e-Governance Awards 2007-2008 instituted by the Government of India. The MCA-21 project, which creates a paperless, secure and digital environment and undertaken by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs won 'Gold' for 'Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering'. The VAT Information System executed at the Finance Department, Government of Gujarat won 'Silver' in the same category. The Department of Rural Development in Andhra Pradesh won bronze for its portal www.nrega.ap.gov.in as the Best Government Website. The MCA-21 project has been executed in the Build-Operate-Own-Transfer (BOOT) mode to facilitate complete electronic enablement of all stakeholder interaction with the Ministry of Company Affairs. TCS' VAT Information System framework for the Commisionerate of Commercial Taxes, Government of Gujarat has led to increased tax revenue base and collections, improved services to citizens, voluntary compliance, and reduced costs. TCS' NREGA framework, an end-to-end IT solution, has successfully automated Andhra Pradesh Government's Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. A web based data centre aids in the monitoring and review of the Scheme on a continuous basis.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 03/03/2008

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E-Governance Scheme for Cities Finalised by Government of India

Government has finalised a scheme on e-Governance in civic bodies of cities with a population of one lakh and above.The National Mission Mode Project on e-Governance in municipalities in 423 cities having a population of one lakh and above over a period of five years has been prepared by the Urban Development Ministry, Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The exercise is aimed at enhancing the preparedness of urban local bodies to approach the market to finance its projects, he said. The scheme has been designed to cover eight services within urban local bodies. The services include registration and issue of birth and death certificate, payment of property tax, water supply and other utilities bills, building plan approvals, grievances and suggestions and procurement and monitoring of projects including e-Procurement. Health programme, accounting system and personal information system are other services which are covered in e-Governance scheme.

From The Times of India 03/14/2008

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Government Approves Four IT Sezs

New Delhi, March 20: The Indian government Thursday granted approvals to six special economic zones (SEZs), four of them in the IT-ITeS sector. The Board of Approvals (BoA) of the commerce and industry ministry headed by Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai gave the go ahead. The four IT SEZs are coming up in Karnataka, Haryana and Kerala. Another biotech SEZ to be developed by Vivo Bio Tech Ltd in Andhra Pradesh also received the government's formal nod. A proposal that got in-principle approval is an engineering SEZ that will come up in Maharashtra, courtesy the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corp (MIDC). So far, formal approvals have been granted for setting up 449 SEZs, out of which 206 have been notified, Pillai said.

From http://www.newkerala.com/ 03/20/2008

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Indian Government Plans 8,000 Telecom Towers in Rural Areas This Fiscal

The Government of India will soon invite tenders from telecom service providers to set up rural networks for which subsidy would be provided from the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund. Around INR 99 billion fund is lying with the centre. While answering at the Lok Sabha session, A. Raja, Communications and IT Minister of India stated that the government is planning to install 8,000 towers in rural areas, for which subsidy will be given from this fund. He stated that around 35 percent of the geographic area is without mobile telecom services. These all are efforts to enhance the tele-density in the rural areas and for this the USO Fund has been created to lure the operators to go to these areas. Besides installing 8,000 towers in rural areas in the current financial year, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has also proposed to establish another 11,000 towers in the next fiscal. The USO Fund is used to provide fixed telecom services in rural areas, which is now enlarged to include mobile as well as broadband services. Raja also stated that the entry of new telecom players in the mobile services would also lead to greater penetration of services in the rural areas.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/24/2008

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India: Bihar IT Policy 2008 All Set to Go

Bihar (India) Government has taken encouraging steps to roll out the draft version of the IT Policy 2008. The draft version is all set to put Bihar on the IT map and help in balancing the digital divide in the country. The vision statement articulates that by the end of 2012, Bihar becomes one of the top five e-Governed, IT-enabled, e-Literate States in the Country and is regarded as a preferred destination for IT businesses and is a major supplier of skilled IT manpower. The IT policy goal would be realised by building core IT infrastructure in the State, ushering in e-Governance, providing extensive citizen-centric services, promoting IT education, incentivising IT businesses to set up units in the state, regulating IT services and putting in place institutionalised arrangements for implementation and monitoring of IT activities in the state.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/29/2008

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Indian Government Stresses Rural Focus for ICT Industry

The Government of India has asked private organisations specifically the ICT industry to establish BPOs and call centres in rural areas. While addressing a gathering of dignitaries at the VARIndia IT Forum 2008, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Minister of Rural Development stated that the growth of India can be achieved if government is able to offer employment to the youth in the rural areas, which comprises 70 % of the population. He urged private corporates to set up their back-end activities in the rural areas by creating BPO and call centre jobs. According to him, corporates could save a lot of revenue as they can engage very cheap labor in these locations. The minister also informed about some of the IT projects undertaken by the government in various states, e.g. the Bhoomi project in Karnataka, e-Seva project in Andhra Pradesh, etc. Currently the government is emphasising on expediting various projects, including creating massive e-Governance infrastructure, National ID, Citizen Databases, GIS and GPS, smart card and Digital content and e-Governance domain expertise.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 05/15/2008

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PAKISTAN: IT Ministry Planning to Provide Broadband Subsidy Under USF

ISLAMAABD (March 20 2008): Ministry of Information and Technology is seriously considering to provide broadband subsidy under Universal Services Framework (USF) to enhance its very poor penetration, it was learnt. Sources said that a study on Broadband penetration conducted by the IT Ministry exposed poor broadband penetration particularly, when the USF Company is targeting one per cent penetration by 2010. Presently there are only 0.1 million users in Pakistan and 1.5 million new connections are required by 2010 to meet the set target. To realise the broadband penetration, the Ministry has conducted three subsidy options including no broadband subsidy and everything should be left to the market mechanism, broadband subsidy should be handled as part of basic telecom USFC lots and the last that there should be separate broadband subsidy lots. The Ministry has opted for third option of separate broadband subsidy under improved USF Company Lot framework as this seems the best effort to kick off and proliferate broadband penetration in the country with optimal choice. The Ministry realising the benefits and importance of broadband penetration proposed five year programme with 4 to 5 per cent penetration targets by end of 2013. To achieve the above targets an auction process similar to that of the Rural Telephony model would be adopted. The auction process would start with bidding for a region followed by contract signing within 6 weeks of the bidding date. It has been realised that larger number of target broadband connections would require longer time, as such the following target time lines have been proposed. Pakistan is far behind in broadband penetration, despite the fact that government issued an aggressive Broadband Policy back in 2004 with a modest target of 200K till 2007 (at the end of 2007 there are around 115,000 Broadband connections). Although Pakistan has made big stride in the field of telecom, it has been left behind in the field of Broadband Internet.

From http://www.brecorder.com/ 03/20/2008

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PTA Devises Strategy to Address Obnoxious Calls, SMS, Balance Theft

ISLAMABAD (May 21 2008): Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) has devised a strategy to address obnoxious calls, SMS and balance theft by negative minded cell-phone users. Taking serious notice of the plight of cell-phone subscribers, the PTA, as a first step, cautioned these negative elements to shun such practices or they would face consequences. PTA has also sent a strict message to the mobile operators, instructing them to take immediate action against the swindlers on the complaint of a subscriber. PTA has also advised the mobile users to verify any prize announcement from the concerned mobile company. Finding it otherwise, get a complaint registered with the concerned mobile company. The mobile companies have been directed to take action against the offender(s), which includes jamming of SIMS and handsets, without any delay. The Telecom Authority has also sounded a warning to the sender(s) of unsolicited, obnoxious SMSs and phone calls that legal action will be taken against them. The authority extended its assistance to the subscribers by establishing a complaint centre in August last year. It works round-the-clock seven days a week. The complaints are forwarded by the PTA centre to the respective mobile companies for evaluation to be followed by warning to the offenders as the first step. The second and the final step will be the closure of numbers and blocking of SIMS/cell-phones. The PTA, extending ready help, has asked the aggrieved subscribers to register direct complaint at their toll free No 080055055 or 051-9225329-31 ext 155 or email at complaint@pta.gov.pk. The PTA and the mobile companies started the operation with awareness/educational campaigns through electronic and print media. The cell-phone users were made aware that every set owned its specific IMEI number, which if blocked rendered the gadget dead, a piece of scrap. The global mobile system (GSM) uses the IMEI number, identifies valid devices which helps stop the instrument to reach the network. The mobile companies with their equipment Identity Register (EIR) block the handset using IMEI number. The PTA has made it obligatory on the subscriber to provide IMEI number while making a complaint. It may be recalled that IMEI system yielded good results.

From http://www.brecorder.com/ 05/21/2008

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KYRGYZSTAN: Parliament Adopts Right to Information Law

The Kyrgyz parliament voted on April 17 to adopt a new law protecting citizens' rights to information, AKIpress reported. Adopted as an amendment to the Administrative Responsibility Code, the new information law was backed by Justice Minister Marat Kaipov who defended it as an important measure to provide Kyrgyz citizens with the right to obtain "non-secret information from government agencies and local government bodies" upon request. The law also imposes administrative penalties, including fines ranging from 500 to 1,000 soms ($15-$30), for any state official refusing to meet the new requirements for providing information, Kabar reported. During the same session, the parliament also adopted legal amendments strengthening the authority of the state ombudsman, including new immunities for the ombudsman's deputies and staff. RG

From http://www.rferl.org/ 04/18/2008

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AZERBAIJAN£ºAzerbaijan to Cut Internet Tariffs

Internet tariffs are expected to fall down by 30-40% in Azerbaijan by the end of the year. The due announcement was made by Magomed Mamedov, general manager of Aztelekom, who visited Ganja. According to him, Azerbaijan is the only country among the CIS states, where all regions are provided with Internet. Mamedov said currently high quality wideband Internet is used by majority in Baku. The regions mainly use dial-up connection with a lower speed, as compared to wideband internet. Our specialists consider that the fall in prices on Internet services will enable the users to use the wideband net. According to Day.Az through the last four years the Internet tariffs have been reduced for about 7 times. As is reported, Azerbaijan accounts for 30 internet providers with only two of them being state companies.

From http://www.today.az/ 04/10/2008

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KYRGYZSTAN: Official Announces Planned Electricity Rationing

In an announcement to reporters in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Deputy Minister of Energy and Industry Akylbek Tyumenbaev said on April 14 that a new electricity-rationing regime will be introduced for at least six months, AFP reported. He added that the regime will impose new restrictions on electricity for homes and "places of entertainment," cutting all electricity for seven hours every night. A less restrictive electricity-rationing regime was introduced last month that reduced the daily supply of electricity to consumers, and cut off all electricity to consumers who have incurred debts for power supplies, as well as to saunas and some other businesses (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 11, 2008). The rationing is intended to offset a dramatic decrease in the water level of the Toktogul reservoir, which provides 40 percent of Kyrgyzstan's hydroelectric energy, and to deal with the effects of record cold weather. Over the longer term, the government intends to supplement hydroelectric power with electricity generated from coal and oil to meet domestic energy needs. RG

From http://www.rferl.org/ 04/15/2008

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Kyrgyz Parliament Adopts Plan to Expand National Television Coverage

The Kyrgyz parliament adopted on April 18 a new plan to expand national television coverage with a focus on improving access to more remote rural areas of Kyrgyzstan, according to AKIpress. Backed by deputies Begaly Nargozuev and Almazbek Karimov, the plan includes measures to expand broadcasting coverage by installing more powerful transmitters and sets a goal of achieving nationwide coverage by early December 2008. One of the measures calls for a 23 million-som (about $64,000) program to install transmitters in 82 villages. Although technicians from the state-run National Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation have long struggled to expand television coverage, several areas of the country are limited to receiving television programs from neighboring Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. RG

From http://www.rferl.org/ 04/21/2008

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UZBEKISTAN: A New Circle of Communication from Beeline

Unitel LLC (subsidiary of VimpelCom OJSC, rendering mobile communication services under the Beeline trademark in the territory of Uzbekistan) has announced a start-up of the new tariff "My circle" for its corporate subscribers. "My circle" is a unique tariff for corporate clients, without subscriber's fee. "We actively proceed with development of the tariff-line for our corporate subscribers. The tariff "My circle" is intended for those who are not interested in tariffs with included minutes and who want to pay only for real used minutes of communication. "My circle" is the optimal decision for them", commented Andrei Soloukhin, Commercial Director of Unitel. Outgoing call within a corporate group in the tariff "My circle" is equal to US$0.01/min. All other local calls are equal to US$0.03/min, regardless of direction. Incoming calls within the network are free of charge.

From http://business.uzreport.com/ 04/18/2008

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AUSTRALIA: Government Wants E-Mail Spying to Last for Longer

Amendments to the Federal Telecommunications Interception Act will be put before the House of Representatives today, as the government seeks to extend the limit of a sunset clause which allows authorities to monitor internal and government communications without a specific warrant. The federal government is hoping to extend current provisions in the act which permit various government and security agencies to intercept communications sent over government networks -- including those sent by the public to the government -- without an interception warrant until 12 December 2009, after they were originally set to expire on 13 June this year. According to a parliamentary briefing paper released last week: "Exemption is provided to the employees of a number of Commonwealth and state law enforcement and security agencies, if they are responsible for operating, protecting or maintaining a network or if they are responsible for enforcement of the professional standards (however described) of the agency or authority."

The proposed amendments have already attracted criticism. "There needs to be accountability when it comes to these extraordinary powers that police are granted and if things are going to be intercepted there needs to be a warrant," said a spokesperson for Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, who opposed other changes to the act last year which permit authorities to access "stored communications" including unread e-mails under a normal search warrant. The spokesperson said the changes -- made by the previous government -- had made it easier for agencies such as the Australian Federal Police to monitor people's online communications, as a standard search warrant "is far easier to obtain than a telecommunications interception warrant". "One of our concerns is that the existing scope of this legislation is already quite wide, and in our view there needs to be more accountability, not less, especially as the changes up for debate tomorrow extend not only to government employees but potentially to members of the public as well," the spokesperson added.

Dale Clapperton, chair of online privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontiers Australia, said that the group prepared an extensive submission to the Attorney General's office last year opposing changes to the legislation and the organisation is "still concerned about the privacy issues which arose as a result of the 2007 amendments". Further amendments up for debate today include changes to technical provisions outlined in the legislation relating to the number and duration of warrants required to intercept communications from various individual devices. Currently, the legislation requires authorities to gain a warrant for each separate type of device it wishes to monitor. However, under the proposed changes warrant conditions will potentially be extended to cover any devices purchased by the individual in the future. "At the moment if an agency wants to monitor your telecommunications they need to seek a warrant for each device, but now it can apply to what you may own in the future," said the Greens spokesperson. "Essentially warrants are there to provide accountability, and any move to water down this accountability is of concern to the Greens and we will continue to watch it closely."

From http://www.zdnet.com.au/ 03/12/2008

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Government Launches $37.9 Million Strategy to Boost Digital TV

Australia 's digital television switchover today received a boost with the announcement by Senator Stephen Conroy of a $37.9 million strategy to drive Australia 's transition to digital TV. The strategy will ensure that Australia meets the deadline set for digital switchover - 31 December 2013.

The strategy comprises: $8.5 million for the Australian Communications and Media Authority to undertake technical switchover-related projects, including an evaluation of digital TV transmission and reception throughout Australia. $4.8 million for a ¡®Digital Tracker' to assess issues such as public awareness of digital switchover, intention of households to convert and actual conversion rates. $1 million over two years for research into digital reception problems in multi-unit dwellings with a shared TV antenna system. $6.7 million for a logo and labelling scheme to clearly indicate which products are digitally ready, ensuring Australian consumers can be informed and confident about what products will suit their needs. $16.9 million for the Digital Switchover Taskforce, which will coordinate the switchover program within the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

¡°The Australian Government is committed to digital television and this funding will help drive a smooth transition,¡± Senator Conroy said. Additionally, an Industry Advisory Group has been established, bringing together broadcasters, retailers, manufacturers, antenna technicians, public and commercial housing agencies as well as government departments. The first meeting of the IAG will be convened on 9 April 2008. ¡°The Government's Digital Switchover Taskforce, headed by Mr Andy Townend, will work with the Industry Advisory Group on a range of issues, including the provision of reliable information to consumers when purchasing digital TV equipment,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°We need to use the valuable expertise of retailers to provide expert and consistent advice to consumers on what digital solution will best suit their needs.¡± ¡°The analogue to digital switchover could well be the largest change on a national scale since the introduction of decimal currency in 1966. It will affect every household and every TV receiver in the nation, including those in VCRs and other recorders,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°These initiatives will ensure Australia completes digital switchover by 31 December 2013.¡±

From http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/ 03/26/2008

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Nationals MP Endorses Government¡¯s "Sensible Broadband Decision"

Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, today welcomed the endorsement of Nationals MP Bruce Scott for the sensible decision to terminate the OPEL Networks contract. ¡°The Nationals Federal MP for Maranoa has a strong understanding of regional telecommunications and I welcome his plain speaking on the OPEL decision,¡± Senator Conroy said. Mr Scott told the Toowoomba Chronicle, ¡°Mr Conroy¡¯s sensible decision to not proceed with the OPEL contract came as no surprise, as the OPEL plan did not provide rural and remote Australia with the necessary infrastructure for telecommunications access.¡± The Government¡¯s decision not to proceed with the OPEL Networks contract, which was announced yesterday, is based on an assessment that it would service only 72% of identified under-served premises.

The Rudd Government has a comprehensive plan to deliver the best available broadband services to every Australian, no matter where they live. After 11 years of failed telecommunications policies that ensured a digital divide between our cities and the bush, it is time for action. That is why the Rudd Government will: Provide new funding of $95 million for the Australian Broadband Guarantee; Implement the recommendations of the Glasson Regional Review, with up to $400 million available from the Communications Fund. Build a high speed, fibre-based National Broadband Network that will deliver a minimum 12 megabits per second to 98% of all Australian homes and businesses, including those in rural and regional areas; and Shortly call for proposals to improve the delivery of high-speed broadband to the 2% not covered by the National Broadband Network.

¡°The Rudd Government understands the concerns that regional and remote Australians have about broadband services. We are committed to ensuring all Australians, no matter where they live, have access to high-speed broadband, ¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°The Government has already committed $95 million to the continuation of the Australian Broadband Guarantee for the 2008-2009 financial year. We will be considering changes to the guidelines to ensure that the program delivers the best possible outcomes. There will be full opportunity for all interested stakeholders to have input into the guidelines for the new program.¡± ¡°In addition to this, the Government is continuing to support the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee (RTIRC) headed by Dr Bill Glasson. The Committee has been holding public meetings across Australia since February and is expected to develop a comprehensive report on how to improve regional and remote telecommunications for the Australian Government to consider.¡±

¡°The Government will implement the National Broadband Network that will extend into rural and regional areas to deliver a minimum 12 megabits per second to 98% of all Australian homes and businesses.¡± ¡°The Government will shortly call for comments on policy and funding initiatives to improve access to affordable broadband in remote areas of Australia into the future,¡± Senator Conroy said. Senator Conroy today encouraged regional and remote consumers to have their say about the adequacy of regional, rural and remote broadband. The RTIRC is holding public meetings in Queensland at Cloncurry, Richmond and Townsville from 8¨C10 April respectively. Those who are unable to attend one of the proposed public meetings should call or write to the Committee. The Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee was established by the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 to review the adequacy of telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia.

From http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/ 04/03/2008

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Call for Submissions on Broadband Solutions for Remote Areas

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, has today called for submissions on policy and funding initiatives to provide enhanced broadband to rural and remote areas. ¡°The Australian Government is committed to improving broadband for all Australians, including the two per cent of homes and businesses which may not be covered by the National Broadband Network,¡± Senator Conroy said. Submissions on remote broadband will be accepted in parallel to proposals to roll-out the National Broadband Network. This consultation process seeks to explore options for those remote areas outside the coverage of the network. ¡°The Government has already committed $95 million for the Australian Broadband Guarantee for the 2008¨C09 financial year,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°This process will explore long-term options that ensure rural and remote areas of Australia have access to the best available broadband services through future-proof telecommunications infrastructure.

This could include enhancing the Australian Broadband Guarantee program to achieve outcomes comparable to the National Broadband Network.¡± Submissions will be considered by the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee, led by Dr Bill Glasson AO, who will deliver a comprehensive report to the Minister in August on ways to improve telecommunications in rural and remote areas of Australia. Submissions are invited from industry, public interest groups and other stakeholders including respondents to the National Broadband Network. It is important to note that submissions are not related to the RFP process and will be considered separately. Submissions should be addressed to remotebroadband@dbcde.gov.au and be received by 5.00pm AEST June 30. Any enquiries about lodging submissions can also be sent to the email address above.

From http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au 04/11/2008

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Sydney's Free Wi-Fi Plans Scrapped

The NSW government has scrapped plans to offer free Wi-Fi in Sydney, citing spiralling costs and overseas failures for killing the project. NSW Minister for Commerce Eric Roozendaal said yesterday the project would be scrapped after repeated delays with the Expression of Interest (EOI) process and the closure of a number of city-wide Wi-Fi networks overseas "What's clear from the EOI is that the market believes the delivery of free wireless broadband is not practical for the Government at this current time ¡ª based on technical and financial grounds," said Roozendaal in a statement. "The Department of Commerce received 15 responses to the EOI process and while they were diverse and innovative, none could establish a clear benefit for NSW taxpayers," he said. Wireless provider Unwired had been tipped for some time as the leading contender in the bid. The NSW state Labor government first declared its intentions to set up a CBD-wide Wi-Fi network in Sydney in late 2006, and had also planned to establish coverage in other business centres across greater Sydney such as Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool, as well as Newcastle and Wollongong.

"Universal access to wireless broadband in our CBDs will further boost the state's economy and make NSW more attractive for expanding or new businesses," said NSW Premier Morris Iemma in 2006. However, NSW Commerce Minster Roozendaal yesterday said that the decline of similar initiatives in San Francisco and Paris was a major reason for scrapping the project in Sydney. "The overseas experience is that large-scale Wi-Fi projects have proved ineffective in meeting the needs of local businesses and the community. "Most schemes sponsored by overseas governments have collapsed and require further funding to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. With technology changing so quickly, I cannot expose NSW taxpayers to that sort of risk," said the Minister. Senior telecommunications analyst for research firm IDC, David Cannon, said he was "not surprised to hear these plans have been cancelled", given the cost of deploying Wi-Fi networks en masse. He said Los Angeles had also feted a similar initiative but decided not to go ahead with it.

"The return on investment really is quite feeble, especially in a country like Australia and a city like Sydney, where there's multiple 3G networks and existing hot spots in libraries and cafes," said Cannon. "In all reality they'd [NSW government] be facing very stiff competition from the 3G market, which would arguably provide a better service ... they'd be struggling to compete against that kind of infrastructure," Cannon added. "The popularity of BlackBerry's and other similar handheld devices is already challenging the use of Wi-Fi for portable computers," according to Roozendaal. "Major telecommunications companies now have multiple products out on the market and are already developing and implementing their own wireless broadband services," he added.

From http://www.zdnet.com.au 05/02/2008

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Australian Broadband Guarantee Funding Until 2012

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, today announced an extension of the Australian Broadband Guarantee program to safeguard the broadband opportunities for all Australians, while the Government continues to implement its broader broadband policy agenda. The Australian Broadband Guarantee program will receive additional funding in the 2008¨C09 Budget which will bring the total program funding up to $270.7 million over four years. ¡°The Australian Broadband Guarantee has played an important role in ensuring high-quality, equitable broadband access for the more remote areas of Australia,¡± Senator Conroy said. The extension of this program for a further four years will provide a safety net for Australians, particularly those in rural and regional Australia, who currently cannot access metro-comparable broadband services, while the Government implements longer term solutions to improve access to broadband services available for all Australians.

¡°The Australian Government is committed to providing Australians with access to high quality broadband services, no matter where they live or work,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°A key plank of the Government¡¯s strategy is the Government¡¯s commitment to establish a National Broadband Network (NBN) to provide high-speed broadband services to 98 per cent of premises and businesses.¡± ¡°However, it is important that all Australians have equitable access to broadband, both while the network is being rolled out, and in those most remote areas that the new network may not cover.¡± ¡°That is why, in parallel to the NBN process, the Government is separately conducting a consultation process on policy and funding initiatives to provide enhanced broadband to rural and remote areas, including those that may fall outside the new network.¡±

¡°This process will explore long term options in order to ensure that rural and remote areas have access to the best available broadband services. ¡°In response to industry and consumer feedback, changes will be made to the Australian Broadband Guarantee to encourage greater terrestrial broadband access and to target Australians living in remote and difficult-to-service ¡®blackspot¡¯ areas.¡± ¡°This will be a new phase for the Australian Broadband Guarantee. The Government¡¯s changes to the Australian Broadband Guarantee and its commitment to funding for four years will encourage the broadband industry to develop more long-term and innovative internet solutions for rural and regional Australians.¡± ¡°There will be greater incentives for industry to take a whole-of-region approach to network deployment. The certainty of funding will also ensure Internet service providers are not hindered from making longer-term plans for building infrastructure.¡± ¡°Finally, it demonstrates that the Government recognises the importance of broadband to the future prosperity of Australia,¡± Senator Conroy said.

From http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au 05/13/2008

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Budget Provides Policing for Internet Safety

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today announced a targeted plan to create a safer online environment for Australian children. ¡°Although the internet has opened up a world of possibilities and benefits to Australian children, it has also exposed them to continually emerging and evolving dangers that did not previously exist,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°That is why the Australian Government has committed $125.8 million to a comprehensive range of cyber-safety measures, including law enforcement, filtering and awareness, over the next four years.¡± The Government¡¯s cyber-safety funding will provide $49 million to law enforcement, ensuring that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Child Protection Operations Team can expand its capacity to detect and investigate online child abuse, with 91 additional AFP members dedicated to online child protection by 2011. The funding will allow the AFP to establish a victim identification and support capacity, to aid in the recovery of child abuse victims nationally and internationally.

This initiative will also provide for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to handle prosecutions and related activities arising from the increased investigations of online predators flowing through from the AFP¡¯s investigations. Central to the Government¡¯s plan to make the internet a safer place for children is the introduction of Internet Service Provider (ISP) level filtering of material such as child pornography. The ISP filtering policy is being developed through an informed and considered approach, including a laboratory trial, extensive industry consultation, and close examination of overseas models to assess their suitability for Australia. ¡°ISPs in a number of European and other countries are already filtering child abuse material. While there may be technical and cost hurdles, the message from other countries is that these can be overcome,¡± Senator Conroy said. A real world ¡®live¡¯ pilot involving ISPs and their customers will follow an Australian Communications and Media Authority laboratory trial due to be completed in June 2008. In addition, the Government is developing a range of measures to help empower children to be responsible online participants. It will provide parents, teachers, trainee teachers, librarians and children with up-to-date, comprehensive and age-appropriate online cyber-safety resources and assistance.

¡°Cyber-safety means helping parents and teachers as well as educating children to be good cyber-citizens,¡± Senator Conroy said. The Government will: overhaul the existing online safety website, making to make it easier to use and ensure it provides the best available information; develop a new web site specifically for children; provide education resources and a dedicated cyber-safety helpline; expand the terms of reference for the Cyber-Safety Consultative Working Group to include all aspects of cyber-safety; support further Australian research into the online environment; and facilitate a Youth Advisory Group to ensure programs remain relevant and on target.

¡°The Youth Advisory Group will advise the consultative working group on cyber-safety measures from a young person¡¯s perspective. This will ensure young people have a clear voice on cyber-safety concerns and solutions,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°Ongoing research into the changing digital environment will assist in identifying issues and targeting future policy and funding.¡± The former government¡¯s National Filter Scheme which made home-based PC filters available via download or from a CD-Rom will be closed to new users from 31 December 2008, with existing PC filter users to be provided with support from the PC filter companies until 30 June 2010. ¡°This program had a very limited take-up and only 20 per cent of those who did download the filter continued to use it,¡± said Senator Conroy. ¡°Funding will be redirected to support ISPs making available a filtered internet service, or ¡®clean feed¡¯, to all homes, schools and public internet points accessible to children.¡±

From http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au 05/13/2008

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National E-health Vision Unleashed in September

The Victorian government has hired Deloitte for AU$1.3 million to develop an Australia-wide e-health strategy. The strategy is intended to provide a vision or recommended "future state" for e-health over both public and private sectors for the next five to 10 years, and give advice on what forms of governance will need to be put into place to manage it, according to tender documents. To come up with the strategy, Deloitte will be delving into Australia's current e-health capability in all states, public and private, and the current effects of technology on healthcare. The state of international e-health will also form part of the report. Major initiatives needed to achieve the "future state" will be identified in the work, along with an implementation plan which lays out priorities, outcomes, resource requirements, time lines, costs, benefits, dependencies, risks and costs.

Deloitte is also expected to give Australia a score on how likely it is that it will be able to implement the plan, taking into account factors such as skills required, and suggestions as to how any problems might be eased. The consultants' appointment follows a recommendation from a review by the Boston Consulting Group completed earlier this year and will see Deloitte finishing their e-health plan in September, after beginning work last month. Examples of the technologies which the plan will consider include clinical communication systems such as online referrals and e-prescribing, and electronic health records.

From http://www.zdnet.com.au 05/19/2008

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Rudd Awakening: Govt's Plans for ICT

Ahead of the election, with promises for nationwide broadband networks and digital revolutions in schools, the ICT industry could hope the government was on their side. But now the glamour of a sparkling new government has worn off, how ICT-friendly is the Rudd government really? "When you change the government, you change the country," offered former Prime Minister Paul Keating upon his defeat by the Howard-led coalition in the 1996 election. Has the last six months and the Lodge's latest change of inhabitants meant a change in the ICT landscape? The 'yes, but' budget Under the inaugural Labor budget, the previous government's Commercial Ready grants got the chop, saving AU$707 million, while AU$251 million will be spent on the innovation and productivity Enterprise Connect program, while AU$240 million is targeted at a green Clean Business initiative over four years. The small to mid business sector was targeted through a Small Business Advisory Committee to monitor regulatory proposals that may affect SMEs, as well as AU$42 million over four years to start up 36 Business Enterprise Centres. Meanwhile, AU$326 million over four years is to be thrown at the brain drain, financing 1000 Future Fellowships in an attempt to keep mid-career researchers in Australia.

The budget also funded the government's pre-election commitments in the areas of broadband and the National Secondary School Computer Fund. The billion dollar National Secondary School Computer Fund promised new computers and better internet access for all schools across Australia while a 50 per cent rebate on domestic IT purchases tackled the question of affordable computers in homes, both in an attempt to improve Australian computer literacy. The second big pitch to be confirmed in the budget was the AU$4.7 billion targeted at creating a national high-speed broadband fibre-to-the-node network, covering 98 per cent of the Australian population. Federal Finance, Innovation and Communications Ministers Lindsey Tanner, Kim Carr and Stephen Conroy have been doing their best to present the 2008 budget as a win for innovation, technology and communications infrastructure, and so far it seems to be working. Overall, the industry was fairly positive in its response to some of the new initiatives, however, the ICT sector would like to see still more strategic direction backed by spending. The Australian Computer Society welcomed the new investments but called for better long term thinking. It would be a mistake to repeat the kind of forced march to outsourcing we saw under the previous government.

Steve Hodgkinson, Ovum research director "There are some significant wins for the technology sector within the budget and the ACS is a strong supporter of the government's investment in broadband. However, the government, as part of its current investment strategy, also needs to recognise the ICT sector as a major area of future growth, and a powerful industry that is a powerful economic sector in its own right. The challenge for the ICT sector right now is more about focus than funding," said ACS national president, Kumar Parakala, in his budget response. Uncertainty reigns in the form of Gershon, Cutler However, Rudd's big ticket spending increases are being balanced by planned cuts in government procurement spending, as well as questions surrounding the future funding of research centre NICTA. Earlier in the year, Tanner imported Sir Peter Gershon from the UK, to complete a review of ICT procurement practices, aimed at slashing AU$16 billion from the new government's ICT spend ¡ª savings which would more than cover the government's plans for education and broadband. "Gershon's approach in the UK was largely consultative, and provided procedural roadmaps, which dealt with the rationalisation of staff, and asking departments to take responsibility with achieving higher levels of efficiency in terms of the deployment of ICT," said IBRS analyst Guy Cranswick. "Fundamentally it's a review that delivers costs savings while improving front-line capability, mostly through back office consolidation, staff cuts, bringing more services online, and moving people into more productive roles." Recalling the previous government's disastrous experiment with IT outsourcing, Steve Hodgkinson, research director for the public sector at research group Ovum, predicts the current government will...

From http://www.zdnet.com.au 05/29/2008

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NEW ZEALAND: New Regulations for Telecommunications Equipment

New regulations governing the size of and noise from telecommunications equipment such as antennas, masts and roadside cabinets have now been approved and will be drafted, Environment Minister Trevor Mallard said today. "The regulations, known as national environmental standards, will allow faster and more cost effective installation of telecommunications equipment because they standardise the rules across the country so there is a level playing field. This is likely to speed up the rollout of telecommunications services, such as high-speed internet and mobile phones, to a greater number of people and businesses and provide greater choice to consumers. "The Labour-led government recognises the importance of facilitating broadband take-up and rollout around the country for our communities and also for New Zealand's transformation into a high-wage innovative export led-economy," Trevor Mallard said.

"There is currently considerable variation between territorial authority district plans in how they control the installation of antennas and cabinets on roadsides. This makes the process time-consuming, expensive and inconsistent for telecommunications companies seeking to install or expand services across several local authority areas. "Local district plan controls will remain for any proposed locations that are near areas that have heritage or high amenity values or areas that local councils specifically want to protect. It is appropriate that any values identified by a community through the local plan process continue to be managed by that community." The national environmental standards for telecommunications facilities will allow for certain types of low impact telecommunications infrastructure to be installed ¨C within strict maximum size and noise limits ¨C and without the requirement to go through resource consent applications. The exceptions to this are any proposed locations for the equipment that are near areas that have heritage or high amenity values or areas that local councils have identified as needing special protection.

The national environmental standards cover: · the erection of roadside cabinets (which can contain equipment for telephones, cable television and for internet access). · the addition of antennas to existing structures such as light poles on roadsides or verges. · radiofrequency fields emitted from antennas and noise levels from roadside cabinets. "The cabinets and antennas are considered to be low-impact telecommunications facilities. Activities that are more significant will need to obtain resource consent from the local council before they can be installed," said Trevor Mallard. "For instance, a telecommunications company may need to apply for and be granted planning permission (resource consent) by a local authority before installing a free standing mast, antennas or cabinets outside of the road. Likewise, a proposed new cell phone tower would have to go through a stringent process of planning approval if the local district plan requires it. "The standards also include a limit on the number of roadside cabinets allowed in one specific location as well as a minimum separation distance to other structures to ensure any potential for cluttering to occur is avoided."

Several changes have been made to the standards following consideration of submissions from the public. These include: · Strengthening links to district plan provisions where specific values such as historic heritage and amenity have been identified as a local issue. · Reducing the potential for street clutter through increased minimum separation distances between cabinets. · Aligning the noise standards with the new Standards New Zealand standard. · Future proofing the standards by not specifying specific types of panel antennas and including allowances for dish antennas. · Limiting extensions to roadside structures to one extension only - to prevent incremental height creep.

"The size limitations for antennas and cabinets contained within the proposed regulations are more stringent than 54 per cent and 82 per cent respectively of those that already apply in existing local government plans. This emphasises the point that the standards are intended to provide a level playing field across the country as opposed to providing new development rights in excess of what already exists," Trevor Mallard said. The standards will now be drafted into regulation and will take effect 28 days after they are gazetted.

From http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ 03/06/2008

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NSW Government Gives $25 Million Boost to ICT Research

The NSW government this week made available A$25 million in funding for ICT research and development. Announcing the funding over five years from 2007-2012, NSW Minister for State Development, Ian Macdonald, said the money will be allocated to Australia's ICT research centre of excellence, NICTA. The funding was made available following an evaluation from the NSW department of state and regional development, which found in its first five years NICTA has generated benefits to NSW totalling A$168 million. NICTA has amassed a technology portfolio of 60 patent applications and has created four new companies with more than 50 employees. Technology developed by NICTA is now in the hands of hundreds of millions of mobile phone consumers through its spin-out Open Kernel Labs. NICTA's researchers are developing a range of practical technologies at its labs at Australian Technology Park such as the Smart Transport and Roads (STaR) project which provides solutions for traffic problems in Australia and around the world.

NICTA CEO David Skellem said research in this field will lead to large economic and environmental benefits arising from better traffic control, more reliable travel times and more efficient incident management. "The centre's research is about problem-solving based on breakthroughs in knowledge and fundamental innovation. It is use-inspired," he said. "It is not research for research's sake." "We work with industry and Government to identify problems that are best solved by ICT breakthroughs and apply our expertise to develop knowledge and technology to solve those problems." Dr Skellern said other projects underway in its two NSW-based labs cover logistics and transactions, as well as solutions for financial services. He said the state government has identified these as key sectors for focus under the 2006 Innovation Statement and State Plan. As a result, NICTA is applying its research efforts to drive fundamental innovation in those sectors. The A$25 million in funding announced today follows an earlier allocation of A$20 million provided by the government for the period between 2002 and 2007. This new agreement means the government has provided NICTA with a total of A$45 million over the decade from 2002 to 2012. Members of NICTA include the Australian National University and University of NSW.

From http://computerworld.co.nz 04/11/2008

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Strategy Draft Signals Intent on Cybercrime

The government is planning to make New Zealand party to the European Convention on Cybercrime, the draft Digital Strategy 2.0 revealed last week. New Zealand already provides in its domestic law for most of the measures outlined under the convention, signed by the countries of the European Union and also by the US and requiring laws against the misuse of computer systems, money laundering, the production and distribution of child pornography and copyright offences. But the convention has some controversial provisions, such as an obligation on member states to ¡°obtain the expeditious preservation of specified computer data¡± sought by another state as evidence of an alleged crime ¡ª even when the act associated with the evidence is not a crime in the state that holds the data.

Fears have been expressed that an autocratic government could pressure a more liberal governments under this provision to provide data on acts the latter would consider protected by legislation, such as the New Zealand Bill of Rights. Civil liberties organisations also fear signatory states could be required to cooperate with, for example, conservative ¡°hate-speech¡± laws. The strategy also sets a timeframe of this year to establish a single National Cyber Crime Centre, to be sited in Wellington. This will provide specialist expertise nationwide and act as a coordination point for New Zealand¡¯s participation in international investigations.

From http://computerworld.co.nz/ 04/21/2008

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Law to Guard Against Abuse of Igovt ID System Likely

New laws will likely be needed to protect people¡¯s privacy and punish those abusing ID credentials now that igovt, the new government online identity service, has been introduced. Speaking at the conference launching igovt, held in Wellington last week, State Services Minister David Parker said the service¡¯s introduction necessitated new laws and independent oversight ¡ª but he said so only in passing. When Computerworld asked for further details there was an awkward silence while Parker shuffled through his speech-notes, seemingly having to refresh his memory about what he had just said. Sue Boland, who is now with the Department of Labour but who helped develop igovt in her previous Internal Affairs¡¯ role came to the rescue. She said it was ¡°not essential to introduce new legislation but it is prudent.¡± Speaking from the body of auditorium, she said that any new law would ¡°state the purpose of igovt very clearly¡±, so no-one would be in doubt about what constitutes proper or improper use of the service.

The law would also make it quite clear what would constitute a breach of privacy when it came to use of igovt identity credentials, Bolland told the audience at the Managing Identity in New Zealand conference. Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff, who addressed the conference after the minister, made it clear that at least some of the legal push had come from her direction. ¡°I have been promoting the need for legislation and independent oversight,¡± she said. An oversight committee would likely to involve herself as well as a Human Rights Commission representative. The igovt service provides people with their own centralised ID credentials that they can present electronically when dealing with government agencies. This means that only that personal information strictly necessary at the time need be given out. Parker used the example of a student loan application, which involves the applicant getting information from Inland Revenue, Internal Affairs, the Labour Department and their educational institution.

Currently, students have to gather this paperwork manually, despite it being held by government agencies, collate it and then present it to Studylink, another government agency. Using igovt, students could electronically give the various agencies permission to communicate all this information directly to Studylink. Electronic ID credentials can be issued to people once they have presented evidence of their identity based on existing official documents such as a passport. People can also choose to have two or more separate IDs for use with different agencies should they fears agencies correlating information about them ¨C although linking-up the different IDs will still be possible if illegal activity is suspected.

From http://computerworld.co.nz/ 05/05/2008

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NZ Broadband Network Scores NZ$350 Million Boost

A NZ$350 million five-year funding boost to speed the roll out of faster broadband is among a package of infrastructure measures announced in today's New Zealand budget. In recent times there has been a clamour for quicker broadband speeds and National has promised to contribute NZ$1.5 billion to a public-private partnership designed to see a faster fibre-optic network delivered to most New Zealand homes by 2012. Communications Minister David Cunliffe today unveiled the government's alternative ¡ª a targeted fund aimed at increasing speeds to businesses, universities, schools, hospitals and under-served rural areas. Operating funding of NZ$325 million over five years and $15 million capital funding in the next year would be distributed through the Broadband Investment Fund, which would also be used to improve New Zealand's international Internet connections. Cunliffe said the NZ$340 million contestable fund was designed to maximise competition and "give the best possible leverage for the taxpayer's investment". Of the figure, NZ$250 million would go to urban areas, NZ$75 million to rural, and NZ$15 million to international connectivity. "Accelerating New Zealand on to a plan for widespread deployment of fibre or equivalent fast bandwidth, to the home, and cheaper and faster broadband for all consumers will bring substantial economic gains that will transform New Zealand's economy and society," Cunliffe said.

Another NZ$9.4 million in new spending relating to the government's Digital Strategy was also announced. Cunliffe said, in addition to the new money, NZ$165 million was already going into improved connectivity in the health, education and state service sectors over the next five years and another NZ$35 million into other existing initiatives ¡ª bringing the total promised spend to about NZ$550 million. Finance Minister Michael Cullen said a key part of the government fund was that it was mainly operating funding meaning it could be "technology neutral", supporting a range of possible platforms, unlike National's capital plan. The government has already separated Telecom into separate divisions in a bid to increase competition in the sector and wrung a commitment from it for a "fibre to node" network that would improve speeds to at least 80 percent of homes by 2012.

From http://www.zdnet.com.au/ 05/23/2008

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Cunliffe Launches New ICT Industry Body

ICT minister David Cunliffe today launched the long-awaited new industry body to replace ICT-NZ. The minister today signed the establishment rules for the body, dubbed the Digital Development Council, which will in turn set up the Digital Development Forum. ¡°The Forum will be the main agent in this Digital Development Group. It will be an ¡®association of associations¡¯ that brings together a range of organisations with a common interest in digital development. Its members are expected to include ICT users, professionals, suppliers, local government, and community and voluntary, Maori and cultural groups,¡± Cunliffe said in a statement today. The forum and council are expected to help New Zealand become a world leader in using information and technology to realise its economic, social, environmental and cultural goals. ¡°These Digital Strategy goals cannot be realised by government alone,¡± Cunliffe said. ¡°They need to be delivered by a wide range of groups working together."

The forum will set the strategic priorities for the council and monitor the implementation of that body's work programme. The Forum will also elect members to the Council (after the Council¡¯s first year of operation) ensuring the appointees are appropriately representative of the Forum organisations. In its first year, the council is expected to: ¡ª Appoint an independent chair and establish a secretariat (including a GM). ¡ª Develop a work programme and have a signed funding agreement in place with MED by July 1, 2008.

It is also expected to support the establishment of the forum by: ¡ª Developing membership rules for the forum; ¡ª Approving applications for membership to the forum; and ¡ª Developing procedures for the operation of the forum with the objective that those rules and procedures can be adopted by the forum. ¡ª Develop the principles and procedures to govern the forum¡¯s relationship with the council. ¡ª Develop membership rules for the council to ensure members, after the initial 12 months, are appropriately representative of the forum organisations and other interests that support, or contribute to, digital development.

The Council is made up of the independent chair and 10 members. The members were appointed (one each) by the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand, InternetNZ, New Zealand Computer Society, WIT Group , the 2020 Communications Trust, LGNZ, Business New Zealand, Te Huarahi Tika Trust, the ICT industry and the community and voluntary sector. Members representing the ICT industry and community and voluntary sector have not been formally appointed yet.

From http://computerworld.co.nz 05/29/2008

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Platform for New Digital Future Launched

Communications and Information Technology Minister David Cunliffe today launched the structure that will become an important contributor to New Zealand¡¯s digital future. The Minister hosted the signing of the establishment rules for the Digital Development Council, which will in turn set up the Digital Development Forum. ¡°Together the Forum and the Council are expected to help achieve the government¡¯s vision that New Zealand will become a world leader in using information and technology to realise its economic, social, environmental and cultural goals, to the benefit of all New Zealanders. ¡°These Digital Strategy goals cannot be realised by government alone,¡± Mr Cunliffe said. ¡°They need to be delivered by a wide range of groups working together. ¡°The Council needs to be established first. As the operational arm it needs to get funding released and start attracting members to the Forum.

¡°The Forum will be the main agent in this Digital Development Group. It will be an ¡®association of associations¡¯ that brings together a range of organisations with a common interest in digital development. Its members are expected to include ICT users, professionals, suppliers, local government, and community and voluntary, Maori and cultural groups,¡± Mr Cunliffe said. The Forum will set priorities, engage with Ministers and nominate future members to the Council. It will provide strategic advice and direction to the Council and government on digital matters. ¡°This all-inclusive group is designed to produce the best advice and work programmes possible,¡± Mr Cunliffe said. ¡°It will receive some operational funding from government but will not be tied to the apron strings of any government agency. ¡°I am heartened by the overall response and the commitment of the ICT sector and wider interest groups to achieving our digital potential,¡± Mr Cunliffe concluded. ¡°The way we are doing this is unique to New Zealand and is showing international leadership in the way digital issues are handled.¡±

From http://www.med.govt.nz/ 04/05/2007

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EUROPE: Belgium Social Security Goes Electronic

eGovernment is moving forward in Belgium¡¯s social security system, a progress report to the country¡¯s Council of Ministers says. The ministers approved further measures. The report focuses on the progress of the main eGovernment projects related to social security in 2007. It was produced by the working group ¡°Modernisation of the management of social security¡± which is composed of representatives of Federal departments and strategic cells of the ministries. The working group has already achieved several modernisation projects. Apart from the electronically readable social security card containing the identification number and the social insurance status of its bearer (SIS card), several types of online declarations to social security institutions, made by employers or the self-employed, have already been available.

As regards the immediate declaration of recruitment and discharge (DIMONA) and the quarterly declaration of wages and labour time (DMFA), the report states that both the treatment and the checking of data are regularly following their course. The report also informs on the results of the integrated electronic declaration for foreign workers (LIMOSA), as well as actions carried out in the aim to improve both data quality and errors monitoring. Other projects are still being tested, among which those aimed at granting social security institutions with an access to the data of the Finances department of the Federal government, and vice versa. On the occasion of the report¡¯s presentation, the Council of Ministers agreed on the continuation and upgrade of some ongoing projects while giving the green light for the launch of new ones. Among other measures, the ministers set the deadline of 2010 for the switch to a fully electronic declaration of social risks. They also approved the implementation of a feasibility study within the framework of a one-stop shop for the employment of foreign workers (¡®Working in Belgium¡¯).

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 05/07/2008

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German E-government Cost-Effectiveness Software Updated

The German Interior Ministry has released a new version of the software for WiBe, its method and tool kit for evaluating the economic efficiency of eGovernment investments in ICT. Version 1.3.1 of the WiBe 4.0-2005 software is available immediately, free of charge, for all German public administrations. It can be downloaded from the site of the Interior Ministry¡¯s KBSt (Federal Government Co-ordination and Advisory Agency for IT in the Federal Administration). Or it can be ordered on a CD-ROM. The content of the software has been expanded. It has also been made more user-friendly and flexible. It can now run under both Windows and Linux. Java programming makes it easier to further develop and maintain the application. Installed as a stand-alone version with security management, it can now be used with supported external databases (Oracle, MySQL and MS SQL servers). The new version enables data to be imported from WiBe 21, the Interior Ministry¡¯s detailed ¡°recommendation on the application of economic considerations in the federal administration, particularly in the use of IT¡±. WiBe is an abbreviation of the German word for ¡°economic considerations¡±. WiBe 4.0-2005 can also now export projects and catalogues of criteria in XML. Other updates to the software include changes to the WiBe user manual, the technical manual, the installation instructions and the readme file.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 05/13/2008

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Hungary Launches Database of NGOs

Hungary has launched an on-line database of non-governmental organisations in Hungary, in a bid to enhance links between government and civil society. An August 2007 Hungarian government decree aimed at improving relations between the state and NGOs stipulated that a public database containing information on NGOs should be developed. To achieve this, the Hungarian National Council of Justice (HNCJ) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs agreed to collaborate on developing the database.

This civil society database went live on 8 April 2008. Relying on data fed into the system by the courts, the database is updated on a daily basis. At the moment, there are around 50 000 social organisations and nearly 29 000 foundations in the system. For the time being, only legal information (such as official name, headquarters and branches, type of organisation, activity area, etc.) is available in the system. However, the government decree also makes provision for the updating and addition of extra information to the databases.

According to the chair of HNCJ, annual funds available to Hungarian NGOs amount to some €1-€2 billion. However, the majority of these funds goes to only 5 % of these organisations, so the ideal solution would be to develop a dedicated database covering only these mega-NGOs. The Non-Profit Information and Training Centre (NIOK) welcomed the launch of the database but noted that they have long maintained their own database, which provides much more information on some 11 500 NGOs including their activities, objectives and achievements.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 04/18/2008

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Liechtenstein E-government Strategy Assessed

The government of Liechtenstein has reported to parliament on its eGovernment strategy up to 2011. The government wanted to keep parliament informed of progress to date on its IT and eGovernment strategy, as well as on some current changes and updates. Approval is also needed for two supplementary credits in 2008 to pay for the ambitious plan. The extra loans will add up to CHF1 125 000 (approx. €694 700).

It is well worth it, in the authorities¡¯ view. eGovernment, they point out, is ¡°often a synonym for modern and efficient administration¡±. It enables Liechtenstein¡¯s national administration to ¡°supplement the traditional means of service provision with electronic access for a broad section of the public¡±. In recent years, the Internet has contributed to ¡°major qualitative progress in communication between the national administration and its customers ¨C i.e. business, citizens and administrations¡±.

The report, and an accompanying motion put to parliament, analyses the current eGovernment situation in Liechtenstein as well as giving detailed presentations both of strategy implementation and of individual projects. The aim is to create a wide range of user-friendly basic services by 2011. According to the government, the national administration¡¯s clients should, in future, ¡°be able to accomplish as many administrative processes as possible easily and fast by electronic means, without needing any particular knowledge of who is responsible, nor any special technical know-how¡±.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 05/13/2008

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Poland Improving Security for E-signatures

The CERTUM General Certification Authority in Poland, the official centre for the certification of eSignatures and the verification of electronic documents, is recommending the eNotarius validation service. The eNotarius service, developed in Norway, is currently available, through CERTUM, on a non-commercial basis, to all users in possession of a qualified CERTUM certificate. For commercial services, however, it is necessary to first sign a contract with the suppliers, Unizeto Technologies SA.

At present, legal provisions for the use of eSignatures in Poland and the EU provide for the use of several different standards and technologies for the creation of eSignatures. This has an impact on procedures for the validation of eSignatures which are, as a result, rather complex. CERTUM has selected eNotarius as its system of choice for the validation of eSignatures and verification of PKI status. The eNotarius service is based on the DVC (Data Validation and Certification) server, in accordance with the certification policy set out in the Polish Act on Digital Signature. It is currently being audited by the Polish Minister of Economy and is listed in the registry of qualified services relating to eSignature.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 05/05/2008

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Portuguese On-Line Tax Declarations Soar

In this year¡¯s first phase of Portuguese income tax declarations, electronic submissions have risen by 24 %. The first wave of declarations had to be in by 15 April. This year, 1.9 million of them arrived on-line. That is 370 000 more than for the same period in 2007, when the number of electronic declarations overtook the paper ones for the first time ever. The trend is all the more remarkable because for first-phase declarations (by those whose income is derived solely from waged employment or pensions), there is absolutely no requirement to submit them on-line.

So the rapid shift towards electronic declarations shows that taxpayers have understood the advantages of this method, the Finance Ministry says. One big benefit is that some major sections of the electronic declaration do not need to be filled in at all. These concern information that is already known to the tax administration ¨C notably the income that the declarant gained from pay or pensions in the previous year. Four-fifths of the electronic declarations this year made use of this time-saving shortcut.

On-line users now also get clearer advice on how to fill in the declaration, together with free text search facilities in case of doubt. There is an electronic ¡®facilitator¡¯ to help the declarant, and a calculator. And the system sends the user an ¡®alert¡¯ if statements or values given in the return do not tally with those already known to the tax inspectors. This, as the Ministry delicately puts it, helps to ¡°avoid divergences and a subsequent need for taxation¡±.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 05/13/2008

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Romanian Bucharest Leads the Way in Romania for E-payments

The City Council of Bucharest¡¯s ¡®Sector 6¡¯ has become the first to introduce ePayments for local administrative charges and taxes. The Romanian capital Bucharest is divided into six administrative sectors (sectoare in Romanian), each of which has their own mayor and council, with responsibility over various local services and infrastructure. As from the end of April, residents of Sector 6 have the option of paying for their local taxes and services on-line, using a bank card.

This is thanks to the integration of the City Council¡¯s IT system with the Virtual Payment Office system developed by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). This action was intended both to make the back-office more efficient and to improve the quality of public services (front office). The new integrated system was inaugurated on the 22 April 2008. Commenting on the initiative, the Romanian Secretary of State for Information Technology Zolt¨¢n Somodi noted that: ¡°The launch of the integrated IT system represents an important step towards the concept of modern city hall in Romania. All local administrations will see the administration of Sector 6 as an example to follow for the future payment of taxes and fees in a simple and transparent way.¡±

Further initiatives to support the introduction of IT in public administration are expected to be announced later this year, when the Romanian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will be launching a series of calls for proposals, worth an estimated €75 million, for the development and improvement of eGovernment, eLearning and eHealth activities.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 05/08/2008

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Slovenia New E-democracy Service Involves Citizens in Legislative Process

Slovenia¡¯s national government portal eUprava has introduced a new eDemocracy service, which will allow citizens to follow closely the preparation and adoption of regulations, and co-operate in the elimination of administrative barriers. The new service offers the public the opportunity to influence changes in existing legislation, by contributing their suggestions, comments and opinions. Citizens may electronically submit concrete proposals for change, and suggestions on how to help eliminate administrative barriers ¨C which may often also involve changes in rules or regulations.

In addition, the portal provides a direct link to elected representatives, thus contributing to greater efficiency in the democratic process, and to improved communication between the general public and public administrations. The eDemocracy service is also intended to help citizens improve their understanding of the system and how it works, by providing general information on the public administration, democratic processes, and the adoption of laws and regulations at both national and EU level. The eDemocracy service is broken down into four main parts: eliminating administrative barriers; contacting elected representatives; democratic processes, and legislation, legal rules in the EU, public information or elections.

From http://www.epractice.eu 04/21/2008

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Swiss Business Takes to E-government

Swiss firms are stepping up their use of eGovernment services, a new survey shows. Commissioned by the federal government, the survey quizzed 1 004 firms in January of this year. In every sector except agriculture, it found a growing trend towards on-line contact with the authorities. Companies with 250 employees or more have increased their eGovernment take-up particularly fast since 2006. But smaller firms with nine employees or less are catching up: 44 % of them now favour the on-line processing of their administrative contacts with the authorities ¨C a 9 % increase over last year¡¯s figure. As well as sectoral information, companies tend to go for the authorities¡¯ on-line provision of accident insurance, legislative texts, administrative directories and business news. Swiss firms¡¯ wish-list for eGovernment includes the expansion of the national administrative directory and more on-line guidance about social insurance, as well as a simplification of value-added tax.

The Swiss cantons¡¯ websites are now better known in business circles. Of those surveyed, 24 % mentioned them (up 7 % on last year), and 15 % were aware of municipal sites (also up 7 %); 34 % said they use the cantons¡¯ on-line services (up 20 %) and 2 1% use those of the boroughs (up 13 %); 74 % rated the cantonal services as very or fairly good (up 4 %); while 65 % said the same about the municipal services (up 3 %). The approval rating for federal eGovernment services also rose to 61 % (up 2%). However, 31 % of those interviewed could not comment on the federal services as they were unaware of them. The health, construction and manufacturing sectors gave eGovernment the highest scores.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 05/13/2008

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Detailed UK Noise Maps Available Via New Government Online Service

People in 23 urban areas can now see a snapshot of noise levels in their neighbourhoods thanks to an excellent new Defra e-Government service. A new Defra website, launched by Environment Minister Jonathan Shaw, provides maps showing the level of environmental noise from major industries, road and rail networks in 23 urban areas in England. [The noise maps are available on the Defra website at this link] The information, covering 80,000 km of roads within urban areas, 28,000 km of major road networks and almost 5,000 km of railways, will be used to draw up action plans to reduce unreasonable levels of noise, where practical. In urban areas these will also include measures to protect designated quiet areas.

Users are able to search by postcode to access maps that show noise levels over an average 24 hour period, as well as during night time hours only. The site also includes information on the number of people exposed to these levels of noise. All member states have to produce maps under the EU Environmental Noise Directive. The maps have been made using computer modelling techniques, based on information from traffic flow, road, rail and vehicle data. The modelling produced noise level results as required by the directive. The data required for calculating noise levels has been collated in partnership with various organisations including the Department for Transport, Highways Agency, Network Rail, various airport operators, and the Environment Agency.

Environment Minister Jonathan Shaw said: "Factors like transport and industry are a necessary part of modern life. But we need to look at what further practical steps we can take to make people's lives more tranquil. "These maps provide the most comprehensive snapshot yet of noise in our country, all at the click of a mouse. They will provide a spring board to go forward and tackle unnecessary and unreasonable noise pollution. "We will use them to draw up action plans to reduce noise where practical from major roads and railways, as well as from urban areas. The plans will include measures to protect designated quiet areas from any increase in noise."

The mapping was carried out during 2006-07 in line with Defra's work to implement the directive. They incorporate the noise maps produced for the 18 English airports that were published last December. The next stage of the Department's work to implement the directive will be to develop action plans. This will include a public consultation. EU Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise ('the Environmental Noise Directive') was adopted on 25 June 2002 and transposed into UK law by way of the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006 which came into force on 1 October 2006. The directive requires Member States to make and publish strategic noise maps for all major roads, major railways and major airports, as well as for agglomerations - large urban areas.

An agglomeration is defined by the regulations which implement the directive as a continuous urban area of more than 20 hectares with a population of more than 250,000 and a population density of more than 500 persons per square kilometre. The boundaries of the agglomeration do not necessarily match those of the local authority with the same name. In some cases the area mapped goes wider than the local authority area, in others areas have not been mapped because the population density was below the threshold level.

From http://www.publictechnology.net/ 05/19/2008

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NORTH AMERICA: New Technology Helps U.S. Local Governments Gauge Risk Management Costs

The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI), a nonprofit research institute focused on risk management training and education, has created a new online, analytical tool designed to aid local governments in benchmarking their risk management programs. Data Exchange Dashboards present statistical comparisons via the Internet in user-friendly charts and figures that enable quick comparative assessments with similar organizations. "Government administrators and board members rely heavily on statistics for determining overall performance of an organization's operations," explained Gerard Hoetmer, Executive Director of PERI. "While annual statistics are useful in assessing performance, understanding how a local community's programs compare to other governments is key. We designed these Dashboards to simplify the benchmarking process and help public entities gain valuable insights into their risk management programs."

Data Exchange Dashboards are interactive, Web-based graphic reports displaying data in user-friendly graphs, charts, and meters. These risk managements metrics are color-coded and feature mouseovers to illustrate simply how a public entity compares against a selected benchmark. Dashboards provide a low-cost way for users to compare against peers within the same state, region, and nationwide. Additionally, users can select the type of organization to be compared (e.g., cities, school districts, countries, and transit authorities), as well as the size of the organization. Key risk management metrics featured in Dashboards include: Average Cost per Claim Percentage of Open Claims Average Claim Duration Average Reporting Lag Time Average Cost of Litigated Claims vs. Non-Litigated Claims Total Gross Incurred by Year Total Paid by Year.

In addition, Dashboard users can view incurred claim breakdowns by several factors. For liability data, this would include breakdowns by claim type, attorney involvement, liability type, and department. For workers' compensation, these breakdowns would cover body part, claim benefit type, attorney involvement, cause of loss, and nature of injury. Dashboards are the most recent addition to the PERI Data Exchange, an innovative program that supports public sector organizations in analyzing liability and workers' compensation benchmarking and performance measurement. Public entities, risk pools, third party administrators, and others electronically submit data which PERI maps into a common format. Participants then visit the Data Exchange Website to run reports and access Dashboards. The program is open to all governmental agencies able to supply selected claims and profile data and PERI offers a range of reporting options to meet the needs of a wide range of public sector participants.

From http://www.govtech.com/03/06/2008

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New York State Publishes Study on Enhancing E-Record Access

The New York State Office for Technology and the New York State Archives, a program of the State Education Department, issued a report last week that examines how the state can provide choice, interoperability and vendor neutrality in electronic document creation while ensuring electronic records are preserved and remain accessible. "A Strategy for Openness: Enhancing E-Records Access in New York State" makes recommendations to promote openness and transparency aimed at ensuring public records remain free from being locked into proprietary systems and software applications. "As the state continues to conduct more and more business electronically, the importance of preserving e-records for historical reference is paramount," said Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, New York CIO and director of the Office for Technology and co-sponsor of the study group, with Christine Ward, state archivist.

"This report is the first step to improve openness in records retention for the state and we expect additional recommendations for technical standards to evolve as we continue on down the openness path," said Mayberry-Stewart. "The report represents the best thinking of an outstanding team of individuals from several state agencies that focused its extensive experience and expertise to address a vital and complex issue facing state government operations," said Ward. "The recommendations in this report will help the state ensure that government electronic records are preserved and accessible to the public." The report recommends establishing a statewide, cross-government Electronics Records Committee to address, in a formal, long-term and collaborative manner, all aspects of electronic record creation, management and preservation.

The committee would facilitate state agency adoption, place the vendor community on notice of the state's strategic direction and long-term commitment for technology openness, and ensure this commitment is institutionalized throughout the state enterprise and survives government leadership transitions. Another recommendation suggests the committee develops and publishes a final open records policy, and begins issuing a series of standards and guidelines for implementing the policy. A workgroup was formed to conduct the research and write the report. The workgroup examined policies from other states and nations, records management of the State Archives, the need for public access, the expected storage life of electronic documents, and the costs of implementation.

From http://www.govtech.com/ 05/27/2008

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San Francisco Announces New Small Business Online Permitting System

Mayor Gavin Newsom announced last week that the Department of Public Works (DPW) has developed a web-based permitting system that allows small businesses to renew their caf¨¦ tables and chair permits online. The new system creates convenient access to city services for small businesses in San Francisco by cutting permit approval times in half and eliminates the need for merchants to visit DPW offices. "Small businesses are the backbone of San Francisco's economy," said Mayor Newsom. "This new online permitting system means they engage a more efficient city bureaucracy while the city provides a necessary customer service that gets passed on directly to residents."

Recognizing that small business owners need to remain in their shops and run their businesses, Mayor Newsom and Supervisor Carmen Chu asked DPW to develop a system that allows merchants to remotely reapply for their permits every year. "Whenever we are able to improve efficiency in city services, it is important that we pass these savings down, especially when it comes to small businesses," said Supervisor Carmen Chu, who sponsored legislation at the Board of Supervisors that streamlines the outdoor dining permit process. DPW processes more than 400 permits annually. The permit allows caf¨¦ and restaurant owners to place tables and chairs on the sidewalk for outdoor dining. Permit processing has been reduced from one month to two weeks. "This new tool highlights DPW's commitment to delivering customer-friendly services to our city's merchants," said Ed Reiskin, Director of Public Works. "By designing a convenient, flexible and responsive online service for permit seekers, we have created a more streamlined process that saves small business owners time and resources."

From http://www.govtech.com/ 05/27/2008

CHINA: State Council to Use Internet for Public Opinion

China's State Council, the country's Cabinet, will make use of the Internet as a standard method of inviting public opinion on draft laws and regulations. In the second half of 2007, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council established an information management system on its official website to collect opinions on draft laws and regulations on a trial basis. The system passed the evaluation of relevant legal departments and experts and scholars from the law circle on Friday. During its trial, the system collected opinions on seven sets of draft regulations and received 16,888 opinions from more than 9,000 people. "The system will help us to collect public opinion more accurately and analyze them more scientifically," said Kong Xiangqing, the office's information center director.

From Xinhua News Agency 02/23/2008

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Gov't Plans 4 On-line Job Fairs for Graduates

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will hold four weeklong on-line job fairs for college graduates in cooperation with the Labor and Social Security and Personnel ministries. The announcement, posted on the MOE website, said that the 2008 Spring National On-line Graduates Recruitment Fair, the first of the four, will be held in late March. The ticket-free fairs will offer such services as information releases and job search advice as well as on-line interviews. The MOE said the number of college students graduating in summer 2008 will reach a record of 5.59 million, 640,000 more than in 2007. According to the MOE, graduating students could participate in remote video interviews with employers, which would be convenient for both sides. The three other fairs are to be held in June, September and December. Job fairs, often attended by thousands of students, are the main channel for Chinese college graduates find employment.

From Xinhua News Agency 03/21/2008

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New Applications of Internet Communication Technology Bring Common People Closer to NPC, CPPCC Sessions

Xiao Liu, a staff member of the Longhua District government, Haikou City, South China's Hainan Province, has recently received xinhuanet.com's special edition of Mobile Phone Newspaper for the annual sessions of China's National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Particularly, Liu is interested in the interactive sector in which questions are solicited for an exclusive interview program. People can join the interview via Fetion, a mobile instant messaging service. So, Liu sent out a message asking his questions about the social security insurance for migrant workers. Liu said with excitement that the Fetion-based interview is a program that can truly go into the inner heart of the common people. All what they want to know, to express or just to chat about can be done via the mobile phone messages. Upon the opening of China's NPC, CPPCC annual sessions, major websites in the nation, including xinhuanet.com, people.com.cn, sina.com.cn and QQ.com, have run more new applications of Internet communication technology, and thus further expanded the channels for netizens to receive news or express views about the sessions. At 9:00, March 3, China's first Fetion-based interview about the sessions was conducted at Xinhuanet.com. Soon after Kang Houming, NPC deputy and also a migrant worker of the No.1 Municipal Works Company under Chongqing Urban Construction Group, entered the studio, numerous migrant workers throughout China fired their questions via the mobile phones.

One of them asked, "I have been a migrant worker for nearly ten years, and yet the balance in my social security account can't be transferred to my hometown. Would you please report my problem to higher authorities?" Kang replied, "I have already put forward a proposal on the matter to enable migrant workers to use a kind of social security account credit cards. Being highly mobile, the migrant workers social security will be effectively ensured if they could use the cards." This first Fetion-based interview was jointly hosted by xinahunet.com and China Mobile. Fetion users can join any of the number group from "888000" to "888099" to interact. By using the chatting tool, all the 85 million mobile phone users across the country can directly participate in discussions or chat. Some users said in their messages that the Fetion-based interview platform has brought them closer to the annual sessions. "Dig" began focusing on news about the annual sessions, trying to select the most popular pieces At 16:20, March 2, a digger dubbed "duyan" posted the news of "the first press conference for the First Session of the 11th CPPCC National Committee" telecast by the central government news websites, inducing a large number of netizens to read and collect the web page. At 16:30, this piece turned up on the home page of the "digg" channel of people.com.cn, becoming the first piece about the annual sessions on its home page.

In the evening of the same day, news stories, such as "the Internet becomes direct channel for public opinion," debuted on the home pages of various dig websites including digg.cn and zhuaxia.com. Thus the diggers have pooled the news about the annual sessions into a new channel of Internet communications of their own accord. The "dig" is a new Internet application that combines bookmarks, blogs, RSS and non-hierarchical editorial control. Its unique feature is that, without full-time website editors, any user can submit articles at his will whereas readers will judge whether the articles could be used or not. The dig websites entered China in 2003, and are still at an initial stage for growth at present. The core idea of the "dig" is to mobilize the public to search for news and let netizens to decide by vote which news stories should be displayed on the home page of a website.

Undoubtedly, the close attention paid by dig websites to news about the annual sessions has shown the Internet's infinite vitality to spread the advanced culture. "Online political assembly" demonstrates netizens' expectations of the sessions During their on-going, netizens' enthusiasm to learn more and talk about the annual sessions is on a constant rise. QQ.com has opened a column named "online political assembly." By 15:00, March 3, netizens have posted as many as 82,819 messages on the column. In fact, many major websites in China have all launched similar columns. People.com.cn opened its "Speak out online," while xinhuanet.com created "I have a piece of advice for Premier Wen." Also, other websites offered similar platforms for their netizens to be involved. These interactive columns have tremendously aroused netizens' zeal to make suggestions or discuss state policies and have created an "open" and "interactive" atmosphere for the sessions. The large numbers of messages posted by them in these columns have fully proved the general public's attention and expectations for the sessions.

From http://www.chinaview.cn 03/04/2008

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China to Use GPS to Monitor Transport, Store of Olympic Food

China has taken a series of measures to ensure food safety for the Olympic Games, including using GPS to position and monitor the transport and store of food for the event, a senior quarantine official said here on Thursday. Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said on the sidelines of the First Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) that "food safety is one of important factors for the success of the Beijing Olympics, to which the Chinese government always pays great attention." He said that the Olympic food production will strictly follow "the highest international standards". Strict market permission is imposed for all food suppliers for the Beijing Olympic Games. Food processing companies can be recognized as the candidates of food suppliers for the Games only after undergoing very strict examinations, Li said. Candidates of food suppliers will be examined by officials and experts on spot, he added. Food will be transported from food processing companies to "consumption sites" directly and GPS will be used to position and monitor transport and store to "ensure safety of every procedure", Li said. "We also communicated with counterparts of previous Olympic Games hosts and drew experiences on ensuring food safety from them," Li said. "The above measures will guarantee food safety for the Beijing Olympic Games without the least risk," Li assured. Li wished athletes, coaches, journalists from all over the world not only enjoy a high-level sports spree in Beijing, but also enjoy China's catering culture.

From http://www.chinaview.cn 03/13/2008

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China to Monitor Land Use via Satellite

China will resort to satellite remote sensing technologies to monitor land use and protect the legitimate rights of farmers, an official said in Beijing on Friday. Ministry of Land and Resources will start using the high-tech devices this year to detect and prevent illegal use of land, particularly arable land, said vice minister Yun Xiaosu at a press conference during the annual parliamentary session. Yun said his ministry will draw up a satellite map covering the country's 9.6 million square kilometers of territory, to protect arable land from illicit expropriation and safeguard the legitimate land rights of farmers. "The Chinese government has taken legal and policy measures to protect the farmers' rights in land use, particularly land appropriated for farming and building homes," Yun said in response to a question. Meanwhile, the central and local governments have also worked to protect the rights of farmers whose land were expropriated, he said without elaborating. China seized 31,700 land use violation cases in a 100-day campaign starting in September, involving more than 200,000 hectares of land.

The campaign aimed at cracking down on local governments that illegally transferred household land to property developers, and punishing officials who failed to seek permission from higher authorities for land use and those who flouted decrees to expand the size of development zones. China had 121 million hectares of arable land at the end of 2006, or 0.09 hectares per person, down 8.3 million hectares and 0.02 hectare respectively from 1996, and less than 40 percent of the world's average level. The country needs at least 120 million hectares of arable land to feed its 1.3 billion people. "It's vital to the national economy and people's livelihood," said Yun. "But with concerted efforts from all sides, it's quite hopeful to keep the acreage above the minimal line." The Chinese government has quintupled tax on the use of arable land for non-farming purposes and is charging foreign-invested companies as much as their domestic peers to protect farm land and better control land supply. The country's landmark property law, adopted last March, was also aimed at better protecting farmers from land seizures, which frequently caused public anger. The law stresses the protection of arable land, promising strict restrictions in the transformation of land from agricultural use to construction projects.

From Xinhua News Agency 03/14/2008

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Shanghai Tech Body Gets Top Accolade from UN

The Shanghai IT commission has earned an award from the United Nations for improved IT infrastructure and smart IT applications developed by the municipal government. UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang gave the UNPAN Knowledge Management Award to Fu Wenbiao, director of the Shanghai Municipal Informatization Commission, during the Forum on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region, which was held in Shanghai yesterday. The award represented the city's smart IT infrastructure, Qian Xiaoyan, chief manager of UNPAN (United Nations Public Administration Network), said during the forum. Sha also defined Shanghai as one of the most adventurous cities in the ICT (information, communication and technology) sector. "The improvement of the ICT infrastructure influences every sector from macro to the micro, including economy and productivity growth," Sha told the forum.

ICT has been adopted by cities worldwide in medical, transportation and even philosophy sectors to make urban life better, according to Leo Merores, president of the UN Economic and Social Council. In Shanghai, ICT became the No.1 pillar for industry for four years and it contributed 14 percent to the city's total GDP, according to Yang Xiong, Shanghai's executive vice mayor. Half of Shanghai families have been able to access broadband Internet and about one million middle-aged or aged people have been trained to use computers. Meanwhile, the city is upgrading data-sharing networks across the city. The city's international fiber optic capacity accounts for 70 percent of the national level. A new undersea cable connecting China and United States, which connects to Shanghai, will be constructed and is expected to lift the Sino-US communications capacity by 160 times, according to Yang. All speakers at the forum expressed their condolences to victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province.

From Shanghai Daily 05/27/2008

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3G Mobile Service Available for Beijing Olympics

The third-generation (3G) mobile phone service is ready for use in the upcoming Beijing Olympics as the high-speed wireless connection service and related products were formally delivered on Monday. China Mobile, China's top wireless operator, and South Korean cell phone producer Samsung presented 15,000 3G handsets, plus data cards and nearly 3 million yuan ($428,600) of calling fees, to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29th Olympic Games here on Monday. With the offer, work staff and volunteers of the Games can enjoy high-speed data transmissions, which allow them to watch televised games, play videos, and surf the Internet on cell phones. The service is based on the Chinese 3G standard, known as TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access). China Mobile has basically finished construction of the TD-SCDMA network in eight cities, five of which are to host events for the Beijing Olympics in August, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, said the company. China has promised to provide 3G service for the Games. China Mobile is the sole cooperative partner for the Beijing Olympics in mobile communications services while Samsung is the only one in mobile terminal supply. China Mobile started the commercial trials of 3G services in the country in April. The International Telecommunication Union recognized TD-SCDMA as one of the world's three official 3G standards in 2000. The other two are Europe's WCDMA and North America's CDMA 2000.

From Xinhua News Agency 04/29/2008

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JAPAN: Environment Ministry, Weather Agency Unify Yellow Sand Info on Web

The Environment Ministry and the Japan Meteorological Agency have opened a new website to jointly publicize yellow sand information. The ministry and the agency had previously posted yellow sand information on separate websites, making data access by Web visitors less user friendly. Data provided by the weather agency for the unified website are three-day forecasts on yellow sand, relevant data collected at 85 weather observatories across Japan and levels of yellow sand measured through visual observation in China and South Korea. Data offered by the Environment Ministry for the new site include yellow sand data collected at 17 locations both at home and abroad through laser beam. Measurement of yellow sand using laser beam is said to provide more accurate data than visual observation as the beam can detect particles of yellow sand flying up to 6,000 meters high, although haze may be mistaken for yellow sand. Originating in desert areas in East Asia, yellow sand soils laundry and lowers visibility, affecting transportation. Some studies have shown that air pollutants are contained. The new website has a link to an English-language web page of South Korea's environment ministry.

From www.newsonjapan.com 05/07/2008

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SOUTH KOREA: Korea Ranked Top 10 in Global Network Readiness Report

Korea was ranked one of the top 10 countries in terms of network readiness according to the annual report by World Economic Forum produced in cooperation with INSEAD, a leading international business school. The Global Information Technology Report released Wednesday (Apr. 9) revealed in its Networked Readiness Index 2007-2008 that Korea took ninth place among 127 countries/ economies. Korea was ranked in 19th place among 122 countries/ economies in 2006. The report called Korea's rapid climb to 9th place an "impressive improvement," and attributed the latest achievement to a combination of high-quality education, superior labor forces and top-performing research institutions with a sophisticated business sector. This has all led to great innovation and the birth of multinational companies in the country. The report went on to give kudos to government efforts to improve the production and efficiency of information and communications technology and the consistency it has shown in pursuing the policy.

Of three major evaluations, Korea was particularly strong in both Readiness and User Components sections, recording 3rd and 4th place respectively. The records showed Korea was well up in usage and readiness of high technology in all individual, business and government sectors. Korea's weakness however was found in the Environment Component, ranking in 17th place. The report revealed that the country still has room for improvement in the general political and regulatory environment, followed by infrastructure environment such as high expenditure for education. In the mean time, Nordic countries took up most of the top places in the Global Report, with Denmark ranking the 1st for the second consecutive year, followed by Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Finland, the Netherlands and Iceland. Korea was ranked 20th place (out of 75 nations) in 2002, 14th (82 nations) in 2003, 24th (104 nations) in 2004 and 14th (115 nations) in 2005. This is the first time Korea has made it into the top 10.

From www. korea.net 04/10/2008

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Korea to Launch Health Telemonitoring System

A health telemonitoring system supported by government funds will be soon launched in Korea, officials said Friday (May 23)According to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, it will offer "Ubiquitous Health Service" for the socially disadvantaged in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.Personal computerized sensors will be operated to continuously monitor the health status of the elderly or ill in their homes, officials said.The service with a budget of 2.95 billion won ($2,770,000) will be offered temporarily free of charge from July to February, ministry officials said.

From www.korea.net 05/23/2008

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INDONESIA: Internet Blocking Costs 'Government Credibility'

The government's block on access to websites that carry the controversial Dutch film Fitna is part of an attempt to restrict citizens' freedom in the name of religion, scholars warn. Political and media expert Wimar Witoelar said the government was on the wrong track and had damaged its credibility with the public by ordering the Internet block. "This is a really clumsy move by the government. It shows how the government is exploiting certain religious issues to suppress the freedom of its citizens," Wimar told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. "It's like turning back the clock to the Soeharto era, when the government was always suspicious." Blocked websites include YouTube, MySpace and Rapidshare. Wimar, who hosts the TV program Perspektif and was previously a spokesman for former president Abdurrahman Wahid, said the block revealed the government's failure to understand why and how people use the Internet. "Ninety-nine percent of YouTube users are visiting the site for productive purposes, not to watch Fitna," Wimar said. He said the move showed how easily the government had caved in to those offended by the movie, which has been condemned worldwide.

Political expert Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, from the National Institute of Sciences, said the block could be interpreted as evidence of the government's support for minor extremist groups. "The government's support of the hardliners justifies the view that Indonesian Muslims often overreact to religious issues," Ikrar told the Post. He said the ban on the film and its maker Dutch politician Geert Wilders spoke volumes about the government's immaturity despite the democratic era. "The government's intervention will impede its citizens from becoming mature. The public will never be able to tell good from bad because the government always dictates to them," Ikrar said. He said the ban would not work, but rather would ignite public curiosity about the film and encourage people to find alternative ways to watch it.

"If the government is seriously concerned that movies could destroy this country, it should ban TV soap operas, which often teach young people negative behavior," Ikrar said. The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said the government's move was a form of censorship that denied the public their right to information, in contravention of Article 28F of the 1945 Constitution. "We need to be selective, but not reactive and arbitrative," AJI chairman Heru Hendratmoko said in a statement. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a ban on Fitna for disturbing social harmony in the country. The government recently asked 146 Internet service providers and 30 network access providers to block websites that carry the film. The film features images of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the 2004 Madrid bombings, juxtaposed with quotes from the Koran. Ikrar said the government would have done better to ignore the movie. "He (Wilders) is just someone who wants popularity. The government should have ignored him instead of dancing to his tune," Ikrar said.

From http://www.thejakartapost.com/ 04/11/2008

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MALAYSIA: Appealing to the Net Generation

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are gripped by election fever, and this time around, the temperature has risen in both the physical and virtual worlds. Political parties on both sides of the divide have seemingly taken to the Internet like ducks to water. Messages and appeals are being sent out online in a manner unseen in previous general elections. It's clear that no one is taking for granted, even though recent surveys have shown that Malaysians still rely largely on the traditional media ¨C television and newspapers ¨C for political news and information. But it's not only the parties and candidates who have invaded cyberspace with slick websites aimed at garnering support from the Net generation. Several individuals have also launched election-related forays online, riding on the excitement that unfailingly surrounds a general election each time one is held.

Online avenue One such website is Malaysia Votes (www.malaysiavotes.com), which was launched on Feb 20, just a few days before nomination day. The prime movers behind the website are former newspaper journalists Jacqueline Ann Surin and Cindy Tham. Combined, they have more than two decades of experience working as reporters ¨C Surin was assistant news editor with The Sun while Tham was assistant editor with The Edge. Both left their respective publications earlier this year to get Malaysia Votes off the ground, but it wasn't a spur of the moment decision, according to Surin. Since last year, Surin and Tham had been mulling the idea of setting up a online news site because of political and government restrictions the two said they faced during their time at The Sun. ¡°We figured that under present circumstances, it was unlikely that the Printing Presses and Publications Act would be reviewed or repealed, so the only way to continue practice the sort of journalism that we believed in was to go online,¡± she said.

Malaysia Votes was exclusively set up to cover the 2008 general election. It aims to provide news about the main issues faced by the nation as it heads to the polls. The site is zeroing on hot seats across the country and the battle for Kelantan. Surin, Tham and Danny Lim ¨C a former senior writer with Off The Edge magazine who left recently to join the two ¨C write much of the content, but external contributors have chipped in as well. Recent contributors include Dr Mavis Puthecheary of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Maria Chin Abdullah of Women's Development Collective, a non-governmental organisation. ¡°We don¡¯t aim to cover every single news event or political party or candidate because it would be impossible with our limited resources, so we are very focused on niche areas,¡± said Surin. Malaysia Votes will also ¡°offer as much analysis as possible¡±. ¡°If they wanted to read straightforward news reporting, they can easily get it from the traditional media, and obviously we can¡¯t compete in that area,¡± she said. It has only been about two weeks old, but the site has already become a non-stop endeavour for the site's founders. ¡°It¡¯s 24/7 ¨C from the moment we wake up in the morning to after midnight most nights.¡¯¡¯

Part of the reason, as any reporter knows, is the considerable effort required in covering elections. ¡°It is also just the three of us multitasking and managing everything: the site, interviews, press conferences, getting people to write for us, writing and editing. It¡¯s been very intense,¡± said Surin. But the effort has been rewarding on several levels so far. ¡°We¡¯ve received loads of feedback, mostly very encouraging, but we¡¯ve also received brickbats,¡± she said. Much of that came after they published an interview with Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who is running for the Rembau parliamentary seat. Surin ascribes it to what some Internet users believe alternative online news sites should be about. ¡°I think some people just assume that because we are online, we have to be anti-establishment and carry only a particular point of view. But we¡¯re a news site that aims to be fair, accountable and factual about all legitimate stakeholders in this general election,¡± she said. Such ¡°controversial¡± items have no doubt helped attract attention to the site.

The site received more than 61,000 page views and about 18,000 unique visitors for the seven days after it was launched. It currently averages about 3,000 unique visitors a day. While it is encouraging, the site's founders said they viewed success as not just in the numbers. ¡°Our goals were to report as independently and fairly as we could on the elections, in the areas that we promised we would try to cover. I think we¡¯ve managed to keep that promise so far despite our limited resources. We¡¯re glad Malaysia Votes has been able to create and provide that kind of space for readers,¡± said Surin. And it won't just stop there. A plan is in the pipeline for a full-featured news website after the elections, ¡°a visit to the spa at a beach resort, and our collective recovery from exhaustion.¡± ¡°Malaysia Votes is the beginning of a bigger online news site project that we are planning to launch in the next few months. We still need to put in more thinking and research so that we get the business model and branding right, so once this is over, Cindy and I will concentrate on setting up our company and the news site,¡± said Surin.

An insider view That would put them in competition with Malaysian Insider (www.malaysianinsider.com), a news website that went live on nomination day. The site is the brainchild of Png Hong Kwang, former executive editor of editorial production at New Straits Times, and Sreedhar Subramanian, former chief operating officer of NTV7. Cluttered as the alternative media scene might seem to Malaysian Internet users, the site's founders believe there is still an under-served niche for it. On one side you have the bloggers, who I think champion narrow causes, and on the other side you have online newspapers like Malaysiakini, which I feel has a strong anti-establishment bent, so there is an untapped middle ground between the two,¡± said Png. It's barely two weeks old, but Malaysian Insider already has the looks of a full-blown news site, with sections featuring local news and politics, opinions, sports, entertainment, and foreign news.

The site also carries the works of cartoonist Cheah Sin Ann and exclusive articles from motoring blogger Paul Tan. The site aims to provide to offer ¡°an unvarnished take on events and personalities in Malaysia.¡± ¡°We will strive for balance, although I understand that not everybody is going to agree with what we publish,¡± said Png. Much of the current content is focussed on the elections, which is the result of the decision to launch the site during the period of the general election. ¡°You don't have to be genius to see that it makes perfect sense to go live in the middle of all the excitement,¡± said Png. Malaysian Insider currently has about 10 people on board, including writers, contributors and site administrators, and is looking to add more reporters to its full-time staff. Png could not provide any statistics on the site, but said he hoped Malaysian Insider's focus on ¡°the unvarnished truth¡± would translate into page views and eventually revenue via advertisements on the site. ¡°I think we can be self-sustaining after about a year, and of course, we would like to be profitable eventually,¡± he said. (by Raslan Sharif)

From http://star-techcentral.com/ 03/04/2008

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IASA Calls for Public Sector Participation

DECISION makers in the public sector should come out in force to attend this year¡¯s IT Architects Regional Conference, according to International Association of Software Architects (IASA) Asia-Pacific chairman Aaron Tan Dani. He said it is particularly important that representatives from the public sector attend ITARC ¡®08 because the Government needs to understand the importance of an integrated software architecture throughout the public sector. ¡°This will overcome the longstanding problem of ministries having silos of information isolated from each other, and also allow for better integration of public services. This will help serve Malaysians better and improve the nation¡¯s competitiveness as a target for foreign investors,¡± Dani added. This year¡¯s conference, with the theme ¡°Kick Your Skills Into High Gear,¡± is part of IASA¡¯s annual series of regional conferences. It will be held at the Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on April 22 and 23. ITARC ¡®08 features tracks dedicated to enterprise architecture, infrastructure architecture, software architecture and the fundamentals of software architecture. IT architecture, as defined by IASA, is the function of designing an organisation¡¯s IT processes, hardware and software platforms to align with the organisation¡¯s activities and objectives. IASA Malaysia president Dr Timothy Nam said his organisation would be forming special interest groups (SIGs) related to these areas. He believes the SIGs will encourage local IT architects to get together on issues of importance to their industry, as well as help nurture ideas and affirmative action. He hopes the conference attendees will step forward to help form these SIGs.

Among key speakers scheduled for the conference are IASA Global president Paul Preiss, Thailand¡¯s Office of Management and Development director Rom Hiranpruk, Singapore¡¯s Defence, Science and Technology Agency chief information officer Chau Chee Chiang, and Microsoft Corp director of architecture strategy Giancarlo Carraro. The attendance fee for ITARC ¡®08 is RM500 for IASA members and RM700 for others. The event is supported and endorsed by the Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC) and the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom). Those interested in attending should call Irene or Ivan at 017-219-3377, or send an e-mail to malaysia _event@iasahome.org. More information on the conference is available at www.itarc.org. The first regional conference was held last year in Kuala Lumpur and drew 520 attendees, Dani said. ¡°This year, we¡¯re hoping to get around 600 attendees. So far, we have signed up about half that number,¡± he added. (by H. Amir Khalid)

From http://star-techcentral.com/ 04/22/2008

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PHILIPPINES: Computerized Elections: the UP Experience

Last March 4, the Diliman, Quezon City campus of the University of the Philippines held its annual student council elections. Five of its 25 colleges and institutes computerized their polls. These were the College of Engineering, College of Business Administration, College of Mass Communications, Institute of Library and Information Science, and College of Statistics. For still undetermined reasons, the National College of Public Administration and Governance decided at the last minute to retain the manual method of voting and counting of ballots. Unfortunately, there were insufficient numbers of University of the Philippines Linux Users Group members to configure on time the Halalan system for the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Since UP is the bellwether for possible social and political trends in the Philippines, it would be best to examine more closely the implications of this pioneering effort at computerized elections.

As expected, voting and counting of ballots were faster when automated. UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Elizabeth Enriquez said in a telephone interview that computerized voting took only an average of two minutes for each voter as he or she pointed and clicked with the mouse on the names of candidates of his or her choice listed on the computer terminals. Results were tabulated and announced within 20 to 40 minutes after voting centers in the five colleges closed at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m., the latter time being for colleges with graduate students. In contrast, manual counting results in the other 20 colleges and institutes were known only at around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., as has always been the case for decades. This is despite the fact that only around 10,000 of the slightly over 22,000 students in UP Diliman voted in this year¡¯s elections. Today¡¯s UP students, unlike earlier generations of the university, are hardly interested in campus and national political affairs. But Enriquez told this writer a good number of the voters remarked in Filipino, ¡°Wishing that national elections were computerized as well.¡±

She later asked UNPLUG President John Bitanga, a 20-year-old computer science major, if the Halalan system their organization had written and configured could be used also by the Comelec. He replied that voters would first have to be computer literate. The UP administration did not spend a single centavo to computerize the student council elections. The hardware and peripherals used were those already in the colleges¡¯ computer laboratories. Four of the participating colleges used Halalan, a student council electoral software UNPLUG members had developed running on Open Source. The College of Statistics used its own electoral system, an Excel program integrated into the college¡¯s SAS relational database and PHP Web scripting platforms. Its developer was Ryan Lansangan, a junior faculty member of this college who doubles as its webmaster.

As the UP experience shows, neither funding nor highly sophisticated technologies are the primary factors for the success of computerized elections. Rather, it is the willingness of the voters to use the system. Such willingness comes from the voters having already been exposed to computers and not technophobes themselves. As Enriquez told this writer, ¡°I suppose all UP students today are computer literate.¡± This implies that the Comelec would probably have to introduce computerized elections in the Philippines on a gradual basis, over three national elections perhaps. Early adopters would have to be in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized areas where PCs and Internet caf¨¦s are now common sights. The next national elections will still be in May 2010. But it would be worthwhile for the country¡¯s leaders to examine UP¡¯s experience in computerizing its student council elections. (by Ike Suarez)

From http://www.manilatimes.net/ 03/24/2008

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SINGAPORE: S$1.3b Standard ICT Operating Environment Tender Awarded to oneMeridian

By 2010, public officers will enjoy an agile infocomm environment that promotes innovation and enhances productivity at work, with the establishment of a Standard ICT Operating Environment (SOEasy) for the public sector. The S$1.3 billion SOEasy (Public Sector) tender was awarded to oneMeridian, the consortium led by EDS International. The other key members in the consortium include Alcatel-Lucent, Avanade, Cisco Systems, Frontline, Microsoft, Singapore Computer Systems and SingTel. The SOEasy will enable public officers to work together as One Government and improve overall operational efficiency in the public sector. Emphasising this outcome, Mr Lim Hup Seng, Deputy Secretary (Performance) of the MOF said, ¡°SOEasy will allow more than 60,000 public officers to enjoy a robust, connected, innovative and agile infocomm environment.¡±

Greater Efficiency, Cost Savings, Collaboration, Mobility and Agility SOEasy will consolidate infocomm services into a single environment which will allow government agencies to achieve greater efficiency in infocomm usage and cost savings. This involves harmonising desktop, messaging and network environments across all government agencies. Agencies can then fully utilise and benefit from integrated infocomm services and allocate resources optimally resulting in operational efficiency that will bring about S$500 million cost savings to the Government. This translates to an average of 28% over current infocomm expenditure for equivalent services. SOEasy will introduce collaborative tools such as instant messaging, desktop video conferencing services and whiteboard sharing that will enable public officers to easily connect and collaborate within and across multiple agencies. Individual public officers can also look forward to greater mobility at work as they can seamlessly access government resources from anywhere and anytime. All users will enjoy smooth and swift delivery of infocomm services, such as more regular and non-intrusive security updates. This will enable the government to respond faster to the changing infocomm environment.

SOEasy Tender Evaluation & the Awarded Bid ¨C oneMeridian Commenting on the tender bids, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of the IDA said, ¡°We are pleased with the quality of the proposals submitted. The proposal submitted by oneMeridian offered the most compelling infocomm solutions that fits our purpose and is the best value for money.¡± With SOEasy being the biggest government infocomm project in terms of scope, scale and value, a rigorous and thorough tender evaluation was conducted throughout the 2-stage Selective Tendering process. The 2-stage Selective Tendering consists of a Pre-Tender Qualification Stage and Tender Cum Qualification Notice Stage. In the Pre-Tender Qualification Stage, consortia were qualified based on financial strength; expertise and deployment track record; programme management; and technical competencies to deliver SOEasy. Subsequently, the qualified consortia were consulted on the draft SOEasy specifications to enable the Singapore Government to fully exploit emerging infocomm technologies and leverage on industry best practices. In the Tender Cum Qualification Notice Stage, companies that were not qualified during the Pre-Tender Qualification Stage could be considered for qualification. However, no new submissions were received.At the close of the Tender Cum Qualification Notice Stage, four bids were submitted by the qualified consortia1. All tender bids were evaluated on technical merits before price to ensure that technical evaluation was conducted without price influence. The bids were rigorously and carefully evaluated by a multi-agency evaluation committee comprising 53 members.

SOEasy Implementation Timeline SOEasy will be implemented in phases for a total of 74 government agencies, excluding the Ministry of Defence which has developed their own system, and Ministry of Education (Schools) which will be building a separate system. By July 2009, the first batch of government agencies such as MOF, MICA and IDA will enjoy the full benefits of SOEasy.The tender was earlier scheduled to be awarded in October 2007. The evaluation took more time given its complexity. The SOEasy will be fully implemented on schedule by 2010. Major SOEasy implementation milestones have remained unchanged. Some adjustments to the timeline have been made to take into account the delay in the tender award. In particular, the transition schedule of government agencies has been adjusted to even out the implementation workload.

From http://www.ida.gov.sg/ 02/28/2008

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THAILAND: Paperless eCustoms System to Be Launched in May

Thailand is set to roll out a paperless eCustoms system in May which is hoped to help reduce paperwork and increase national competitiveness, while increasing transparency and helping to provide better information for key government decisions. Making the announcement to journalists, Customs Department Director General Wisudhi Srisuphan explained how the system first started trials in January, and is "about 88 percent done" for export-related documents and about 25 percent done for incoming documents. To date, the trials have centred on the 50 or so land-based border checkpoints with neighbouring countries, but the real test of the system will come on May 1, when the system goes live at the air and sea ports that cover over 90 per cent of trade. Some 300 million baht has been invested in the system since work began in 2005 with a further 35 million baht a year for maintenance. The contractor is Yip In Tsoi, which was also the main sub-contractor for the Customs Department's previous EDI (electronic data interchange) system, years ago.

Wisudhi said that the value of the system was hard to pin down in terms of money or time saved, but it was the big picture about the country's competitiveness where Thailand had the most to gain. He claimed that the reduction of red tape for business had meant that Thailand now ranked 15th in the world for investment friendliness and that in Asean, it was second only to Singapore for ease of dealing with Customs. He noted that up-to-the-minute information and transparency will help the government make better decisions when it comes to the signing of Free Trade Agreements, for instance. Moving forward, the work is focussed on simplifying the G2G (government to government) back office links. "Last month we were appointed the main host to coordinate and automate the document flow between the 26 government agencies. We will create a system and when any agency is ready, they can plug in to us. Later, we will focus on G2B (government to business)," he said.

A pilot project involving four other agencies; two under the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs; will be the first to be launched. The idea is to automate workflow between each agency and cut down on the need to re-enter the same data at each step. The system runs on the Government Information Network operated by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. For digital signatures, it is designed to work with any Certificate Authority (CA). To date, only CAT Telecom and TOT Corporation have registered themselves as CAs with the eCustoms system. Foreign digital signatures are recognised if they have a recognition agreement and are recognised by TOT or CAT. Today, over 26,000 importers, exporters, freight forwarders and handlers are already registered for the system. Customs has two redundant data centres, albeit at the same site. A new off-site data centre is planned, with a 400 million baht budget, for the actual physical building (but not IT) infrastructure within the next two years.

From http://www.bangkokpost.com/ 03/05/2008

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BANGLADESH: Implementation of E-Governance Initiatives Emphasised

A workshop titled "Sharing of e- Governance Success Stories in Bangladesh " was held on Wednesday at the NEC committee room here. Planning Commission member Mohammad Shah Alam attended the function as chief guest while ERD additional secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin was special guest. Organized by Assistance to SICT for Strengthening Planning Division, ERD and IMED through ICT (ASICT), it was chaired by Dr Md Delawar Hossain Khan, National Project Director, ASICT. The project is being supported by UNDP. Aminur Rahman, Deputy Secretary of Land Ministry, gave a presentation highlighting the experiences in using the information technology in the land management in the Demra Circle. Officials of the Planning Commission, ERD and IMED took part in the discussion and shared their experiences. Important points that were highlighted during the discussion included the necessity to ensure longtime sustainability, high level support and commitment on part of the government personnel. Institutional change and attitudinal change were also emphasized as factors for the successful implementation of e- governance initiatives.

From http://nation.ittefaq.com/ 04/24/2008

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INDIA: Rural India Gets a Taste of E-Governance

C Chandramouli, State Information Technology (IT) secretary of Kerala, announced on Thursday that under the State's e-Governance programme, every third of the village in the state will have Internet-enabled kiosks within 11 months. He stated during the inauguration of the inter-collegiate techno-cultural festival 'Mindcraft 08' at Karunya University that there will be 5,400 Internet-enabled kiosks in the state. There are plans for establishing an IT park in Coimbatore. The work on the same will start by the mid of this month. Moreover, there are also plans for the starting IT Parks and townships in places such as Tiruchy, Tirunelveli and Madurai. He added on that technology should be used in the best possible way for the benefit of the mankind.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 03/07/2008

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E-Stamping Introduced in Karnataka (India)

The state of Karnataka launched a state-of-the-art Electronic Stamping (e-Stamping) facility in collaboration with the Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL). Launching the facility, Governor Rameshwar Thakur said "the measure will certainly facilitate both good governance and prevention of corruption." Initially the e-Stamping will be available at select sub-registrar offices at Gandhinagar, Jayanagar, Shivajinagar, SHCIL offices, Koramangala, Jayanagar, Malleswaram and Lawyer's Association at Civil Court Complex. The government and SHCIL plan to roll out the facility across the state later. SHCIL Chairman and Managing Director R C Razdan said "the corporation was in advanced talks with Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar and Tamil Nadu for establishing e-Stamping facility." Under the facility, those registering properties and other documents could make payment of stamp duty and registration charges to SHCIL.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 03/17/2008

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India: SBI Looking to Sell Products Via E-Gram

Soon State Bank of India (SBI) will provide banking services through e-Gram project, the Gujarat Government-pioneered e-Gram project, which aims to provide e-Governance services in villages. SBI will provide checking of account balance, deposits, loans insurance and other banking services through the Internet. With this service people from rural areas who live far away from a bank branch will be able to avail of banking products without having to personally visit the nearest branch. The bank is looking at targeting more than 5,000 rural ICT kiosks in the next one year to double up as its banking facilitator. Under the Reserve Bank of India guidelines, banks are permitted to use the services of non-governmental organisations/self-help groups, microfinance institutions and other civil society organisations as intermediaries in providing financial and banking services through the use of business facilitator and correspondent models. The initiative will enable villagers to start a bank account with deposit amount as low as INR 50. People can also maintain their account with zero balance. SBI has also signed an MoU with India Post to act as a facilitator for 50 post offices in a pilot project at Surendranagar, Anand and Bharuch districts in Gujarat. It has also signed up with Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation to market the bank's products in 700 outlets of the 1,200 outlets in the state.

From Business Standard 03/18/2008

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E-Governance Implemented in Municipal Bodies in 423 Cities

The National Mission Mode Project on e-Governance in municipalities has been finalised in 423 cities with a population of over one lakh or above over a period of five years by the Government of India. Ajay Maken, Minister of State for Urban Development stated that the scheme will cover 8 services within urban local bodies. The total estimate of the scheme is 676 crore. The scheme will include services such as registration and issue of birth certificate, payment of property tax, water supply, grievances and suggestions and procurement and monitoring of projects including e-procurement. Five of the mega cities ¨C Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore will be covered under the central sponsored scheme of infrastructure development. Moreover, the health scheme includes accounting system and personal information system and licenses and solid waste management. It is also stated that the implementation will be first started in 35 cities and towns as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The scheme aims at preparing the urban local bodies to approach the market for funding its projects.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 03/21/2008

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India Slips on UN E-Governance

In e-Governance readiness, India has fallen from a rank of 87 in 2005 to 113 in 2008 on e-Government readiness. According to the UN e-Government Survey 2008, India has slipped 26 places in the last three years and been overtaken by countries like Maldives (ranked 95), Sri Lanka (101) and even Iran (108). Sweden has surpassed the United States as the leader in the overall e-Readiness index, with Denmark, Norway coming in second and third respectively. The US slipped to fourth place. Pakistan and Bangladesh have both improved and climbed to 131(from 136) and 142 (from 162) respectively. The fourth edition of the UN survey measures the progress made by various member states in drawing and implementing e-Government policies to improve public services. It uses e-participation and web assessment as two broad categories to rank countries on the basis of e-Information, e-Services and e-Tools provided by their governments to meet the demands of transparency and accountability voiced by citizens. In the e-Participation index, India was ranked 49 globally, whereas in the web measurement assessment, which measures the online presence of national websites, with those of the ministries of health, education, welfare, labour and finance of each country, it was ranked 54.

From Hindustan Times 03/24/2008

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India: Delhi Is the Best E-Governed State of 2007

According to Dataquest-IDC e-Gov Survey 2008, Delhi is the best e-Governed state of 2007 followed by Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab featured in the top 10. Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, was ranked sixth overall. Meanwhile, Jharkhand was named the worst e-Governed state of 2007, preceded by Gujarat and Haryana. The study also shows that Gujarat had the most drastic fall ending at number 19 in 2007 from number 4 last year. With citizens and businesses reporting low satisfaction levels, the overall e-Governance scores of Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Haryana also fell as compared to last year. The study also shows that the citizens of Delhi are most satisfied with e-Governance initiatives. Delhi has topped nine of the 14 parametres in the category. Himachal Pradesh bagged the second spot followed by Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

From Business Standard 03/25/2008

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India: Small States More E-Savvy

Small states like Haryana, Jharkhand and West Bengal are ready to roll out of the Centre initiative of National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), while the more developed states like Maharashtra and Karnataka are lagging behind in implementing the NeGP plan in India. According to R. Chandrashekhar, Additional Secretary, IT Department, out of 4,562 proposed common services centres (CSCs) in Jharkhand, around 4,506 are already completed, while in Haryana 920 out of the 1,159 are ready. The remaining work in both the states is likely to be completed by the month-end. West Bengal is likely to complete its roll-out by May end. In fact, Bihar, is also progressing well and would complete the rollout by October, almost six months ahead of UP, which is slated to complete the process in March next year. However, Uttar Pradesh is lagging behind in implementing NeGP plan. He also stated that of the total 80,000 CSCs to be operational throughout the country by the end of this fiscal, 8,000 are already operational. The state government has chosen six districts to implement the project on a pilot basis.

From Financial Express 04/23/2008

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Indian Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation's Website Launched

Government of India's decision to launch Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) website is sure to help all those who seek information related to urban water supply and sanitation. The rapid growth of IT sector and its relevance in water supply and sanitation sector led to the task of CPHEEO website launch initiated in May 2005. The website has links to CPHEEO-approved data collection formats which can easily be accessed by cities and towns to update the data periodically. Efforts to make the dynamic part of website operational is also on. This includes a proposal for launching a scheme that would set up MIS cells at CPHEEO and state level. This scheme is forwarded by Working Group on Urban Development and has been accepted by Steering Committee in Planning Commission.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 05/01/2008

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India: Tamil Nadu Launches Portal for E-Processing of Lands

In order to improve its e-Governance, the Government of Tamil Nadu has a launched a website for online processing of land documents. The website was launched at a regional review conference organised jointly by the Land Resources department and Union Ministry of Rural Development. The website 'www.eservices.tn.gov.in' will have all details such as patta pertaining to lands of individuals. So far INR 32 billion of land resources having full details of the owner/enterprise across the state have been registered on this website. The website which is to be launched in interior districts of Tamil Nadu in a phased manner will be covering the entire state soon. Initially it has been launched in Dindigul, Vellore and Coimbatore. The government has planned to launch it initially in 11 states across the country and as of now it has been completed in Karnataka, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and now in Tamil Nadu. This kind of e-Processing of land resources has already launched in various states and also in other countries, including England, Australia, Thailand and Kenya.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 05/20/2008

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SRI LANKA: Ranked 79 from 127 Countries on Network Readiness

According to the Global Information Technology Report 2007¨C2008 produced by the World Economic Forum, Sri-Lanka has received 79 rank in out of 127 nations in terms of the most networked economies in the world in its Networked Readiness Index. In the 2006 ¨C 2007 Report, Sri Lanka had been ranked 86 out of 122 nations and ranked 83 out of 115 nations in the 2005¨C2006 report. The index was compiled based on assessments on an individual nation's market, political and regulatory framework, infrastructure and on individual, business and government readiness and usage. In terms of individual criteria and categories, Sri Lanka was ranked 45 in terms of venture capital availability, 59 for financial market sophistication, 52 on the extent and effect of taxation, 58 on the effectiveness of law making bodies and 64 on laws relating to ICT. Moreover, Sri Lanka was ranked at 47 on government prioritization of ICT, 53 on government procurement of advanced technology products, 44 on the availability of scientists and engineers and 40 on the quality of scientific research institutions. Sri Lanka was also ranked 88, 87 and 58 on individual, business and government readiness and 104, 50 and 83 in terms of individual, business and government usage. Denmark was top ranked on the index followed by Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Singapore while the African nation of Chad came in last. The United Kingdom was ranked at 12 while India was ranked at 50.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/23/2008

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PAKISTAN: Reap IT Benefits: Gilani

ISLAMABAD (May 18 2008): Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said Pakistan is yet to reap the benefits of Information Technology that has played an important role in the socio-economic development of the world. The Prime Minister, who came to address the World Telecommunication Day, here on the theme of "Connecting Persons with Disabilities: ICT Opportunities for All", was greeted by protesting employees of the two leading telecom operators against what they said unjust practices of the employers. The employees of one telecom company were protesting against cancellation of their franchises by their operators, who recently took over Paktel whereas staffers of main fixed line operator were protesting for not being given basic pay scale with their protest entering 13th day, a number that reminds of "Chicago tragedy" with reference to workers. The ceremony was organised by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) in collaboration with the Ufone and the Warid Telecom. Addressing the ceremony, Gillani said special persons must be helped to explore and employ these technologies for self-reliance, and urged all stakeholders to make a difference in the lives of special people, urging the industry to be pro-active to fully exploit the resources for persons with disabilities and introduce equipment that caters to the needs of such people. The ICT sector is considered the engine of socio-economic development all over the world and its benefits should be within the access of marginalised segments of the society, including physically-handicapped people, he said.

The theme of International Telecommunication Union, he said, was more relevant to Pakistan in the perspective of massive earthquake of 2005 that left a great number of people disabled. To get these people into the mainstream, there was a need to introduce special projects for them and enable them through ICT equipment to become a productive force, he added. "Today, the world is full of opportunities with ICT playing an important role in increasing the productivity of human resources. These technologies can also serve the cause of taking the persons with disabilities into the mainstream human resource pool", he said. These persons should be enabled to harness the advancements of ICT industry and must be helped to explore and employ these technologies for self-reliance, he added. Information Technology Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said there are approximately 88 million fixed, wireless and cellular mobile telephone connections while about a large number of users were benefiting from over 3.5 million internet connections with broadband connectivity speed. He said his ministry initiated consultation with the Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education and NGOs for the formulation of special initiatives to empower the persons with disabilities through ICT gadgets. Later, the Prime Minister formally inaugurated the new service 'PTCL Smart' and distributed awards to the winners of an essay competition organised by the Wateen Telecom.

From http://www.brecorder.com/ 05/18/2008

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Chattisgarh, India Aims to Digitalise Government

In India, Chattisgarh is enabling a 'digital government' by empowering private citizens as agents for delivering government services to citizens (G2C) through the Chattisgarh Online Informatics for Citizen Empowerment (CHOICE) program. Chattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society (CHIPS), the e-Governance implementing agency stated that the state will expand these offerings to make the government services available anywhere and anytime. CHOICE is built on open source, which provides a one stop solution to 130 service, including G2G, G2B and G2C services. It also provides e-Payment facility for CSEB electricity bills and covers various government departments like the collectorate, municipality, police, Raipur Development Authority, PWD, and Education. Recently, CHOICE has been implemented at 50 centres in Raipur and soon it would be extended to five more districts. The government is aiming to cover all districts by the end of year 2009.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/24/2007

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Punjab (India) Govt. Opens Seva Centres for E-Filing

The government of Punjab, India is moving towards e-Governance. The government will open Bikri Kar Seva Centres to enable e-Filing of returns by dealers. These centres will also file VAT 35 and VAT 36 forms on the web, so that dealers/transporters would be able to file data at the information collection centres before actual arrival of goods. The state government has already connected all its excise and taxation offices for online working. The state has approved e-Procurement policy and framework and soon it would be implemented. The government is also implementing the computerisation of land records on BOOT basis, while the computerisation of driving licenses and registration of vehicles has already been rolled out in the state.

From Financial express 05/01/2007

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Indian Govt. to Fund for E-Courts in Districts

The Government of Orissa, India, is planning to computerise courts of all districts with full support from the central government as a part of its e-Governance programme. The central government has earmarked INR 385 million for comprehensive computerisation of district and sub-ordinate courts. According to the 2004-05 estimate, the state has 482 district and sub-ordinate courts. Once the Finance Department approves the proposal, the State government will assess the actual financial requirement. The computerisation programme of the courts would be completed within three years. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) will be the executing agency. The State Government is planning to extend the e-Governance programme to gram panchayats.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 05/07/2007

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SRI LANKA: ICTA Launches 16 More E-Governance Website

The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) is continuously moving towards e-Governance. Recently ICTA has launched 16 more websites under the Government Web Portal. In the first phase of the Government Web Development project, information regarding government services is easily accessible online. The next phase of the project incorporates online government as well as receive government services online. The new government website include Department f Motor Traffic, Ministry of Road Development, Ministry of Science and Technology, Water Resources Board and the Government Information Centre.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/10/2007

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AFGHANISTAN£ºMCIT Builds a Technical Administrative Building in Mastab Qala Area of the Kabul City

Today on Tuesday April 23, 2008 Ministry of Communications and IT laid the foundation stone of the technical/administrative building in the Mahtab Qala area of Kabul city. The Ceremony was held including H. E. Eng. Barialai Hassam Deputy Minister Technical and other senior officials of the Ministry. mbu.jpgThere will be 12 luxury technical and administration rooms at a total cost of 4709813 Afghanis which will be paid from the developmental budget of the Ministry of Communications and IT said H. E. Eng. Barialai Hassam Deputy Ministry Technical while laying the foundation stone of the building. According to the officials of the Ministry of Communications and IT, the MCIT contracted with a private construction company and hope that the mentioned construction company will complete the building in six months.

From http://www.mcit.gov.af/ 04/22/2008

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AZERBAIJAN£ºDemocratic Party to Use New Political Technologies During Presidential Elections

The Democratic Party of Azerbaijan intends to use new political technologies at the forthcoming presidential elections. The due announcement was made by party chairman Sardar Jalaloglu. He said the technologies will correspond to the situation in the country. "We are in process of talks with the US National Institute of Democracy for execution of new technologies. Moreover, we intend to use the experience of foreign countries for introduction of new technologies. We will initially try to apply the technologies they propose. We hope our party will win presidential elections with their help", Jalaloglu noted.

From http://www.today.az/ 03/13/2008

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IRAN: Regional Telecom Ties Favored

A senior official declared Iran¡¯s willingness to share technical expertise in the field of telecommunications with other countries. ¡°Tehran aims to increase international and regional cooperation in the telecommunication sector, particularly with countries that share cultural similarities with Iran,¡± said Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology Kamal Mohammadpour. ¡°Development of regional countries depends on their ability to work with each other,¡° he said while addressing the opening session of an international course titled ¡¯Optimal Use of Spectrum in Cellular Networks¡¯ in Isfahan, ISNA wrote. Mohammadpour further called on members of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to expand regional cooperation.

From http://www.iran-daily.com/ 04/22/2008

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UZBEKISTAN£ºUzbekistan Creates Electronic System of Epidemiological Monitoring

The Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Uzbekistan has launched the project on the development of an electronic system of epidemiological monitoring of infectious diseases. The project is financed through a grant of US$40 million provided by the International Development Association for the Health-2 Project, CA-NEWS reported. The system being developed will be supported by over 200 offices in all regions of the country that will collect the data on the epidemiological situation with regard to all infectious diseases. The data will then be sent to the server in the Centre of State Sanitary-Epidemiological Inspectors on daily basis. The launching of the electronic system of epidemiological monitoring will allow the ministry to raise the efficiency of decision-making to prevent mass spread of diseases and reduce the spread of infectious diseases, the authors of the project said. Today Uzbekistan already has an electronic system for monitoring tuberculosis, which relies on all tuberculosis clinics, and an electronic data base on HIV-infected.

From http://news.uzreport.com/ 03/19/2008

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AUSTRALIA: NSW Police to Search Computer Networks

The New South Wales Cabinet has approved new powers for police designed to help them track terrorist threats, fraudsters and paedophiles through computer networks. The proposed laws would allow police to search computers networked to those listed on a search warrant. Police could also seize computer hard drives and memory sticks for up to seven days. Police Minister David Campbell says police are currently only able to search computer hardware found on a premises named in a search warrant. He says with the changes, they will be able to go a step further and search other networked computers, regardless of where they are located. "What we know is that there are organised crime gangs who use the internet and other forms of technology to hide their crimes," he said. "There's also the ongoing concern of pornography over the internet, and these proposed new powers for police will give police an even playing field."

Mr Campbell says the measures are needed to address the changing nature of cyber crimes. "As computer technology improves and becomes more sophisticated, the [State] Government is determined to give police the power they need to deal with that sophisticated crime," he said. "This is about making sure that police can keep up with the crooks and bring them to justice..."Whether that's gang-related or fraud-related, or whether it deals with those who pedal child pornography, police will have additional powers to keep our community safer." Queensland Police yesterday announced a two-year investigation involving police from Australia, the United States, Europe and New Zealand has led to the arrest of 22 people, accused of sharing violent and sexual material over the internet and involving 40 children. Two Australians are among those arrested in the global network.

From http://www.abc.net.au/ 03/06/2008

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Government Announces Panel of Experts to Assess National Broadband Network Proposals

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, today announced the Panel of Experts to assess proposals to build the National Broadband Network. The Panel will be chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Ms Patricia Scott. The other members of the panel are: John Wylie, Lazard Carnegie Wylie CEO. Tony Mitchell, Allphones Chairman. Laureate Professor Rod Tucker, University of Melbourne. Professor Emeritus of Communications, Reg Coutts, University of Adelaide. Tony Shaw, former Australian Communications Authority Chairman. Dr Ken Henry AC, Treasury Secretary.

¡°The Panel will bring a fine blend of technical, regulatory, business, investment and policy skills and experience to the process,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°The Government will formally call for innovative and competitive proposals to roll-out the new network with a view to having construction underway by the end of 2008.¡± The Panel will be supported by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, with support from other key departments and specialist advisors in relation to economic regulation and technical, legal and financial and commercial issues. The terms of reference for the Panel are attached. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will provide advice on pricing and competition issues and deliver a written report to the Panel. Further detail on the role of the ACCC will be set out in the Request for Proposals (RFP). The Panel will receive submissions from industry and the public to assist in the development of the RFP documentation. Submissions will be received until 30 March 2008.

The new network is expected to: deliver speeds of at least 12 megabits per second; use fibre-to-the-node or fibre-to-the premises architecture; be available to 98 per cent of Australian homes and businesses; have uniform wholesale pricing that offers consumers real value for money; and provide open access to wholesale broadband services on transparent, equivalent and genuinely pro-competitive terms and conditions.

¡°The Australian Government is moving quickly to fulfil its election commitment to support the roll-out of a new national high-speed fibre broadband network, by investing up to $4.7 billion,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°The Government will be inviting submissions from interested parties on the appropriate policy and regulatory framework for the future.¡± ¡°The competitive assessment process will be open and transparent, with opportunities for industry and community input,¡± Senator Conroy said. The Government will also ensure that people who may not have access to the new fibre network will have access to the best new fixed line, wireless or satellite technology. The Rudd Government believes that all Australians are entitled to access first class broadband ¨C no matter where they live or work.

¡°Today I am pleased to announce that more Australians in remote communities will receive metro-comparable broadband with the Government announcing an additional $95 million for the Australian Broadband Guarantee program in 2008-09,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°At the same time as it issues the request for proposals, the Government will also call for comments on policy and funding initiatives to improve access to affordable broadband in these remote areas into the future.¡± The Minister for Education is progressing the Government's complementary Fibre Connections to the Schools initiative. As a first step, this process will involve an audit of broadband access in all Australian secondary schools. ¡°These great nation-building broadband initiatives of the Government will progress together in a co-ordinated way¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°The announcements made today clearly demonstrate the Government's commitment to breaking down the digital divide and securing Australia's broadband future. This investment by the Government will accelerate our transition to a digital economy and ensure that Australia is well placed to be part of the exciting world of the future.¡±

From http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au 03/11/2008

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Australians Prefer E-government, Still Don't Use It

The Federal government has released a report claiming that the Internet is now the preferred method for Australians to contact the government -- but there's always room for e-government improvement, according to Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner. According to a study by the AGIMO, 41 percent of respondents said the Internet was their preferred channel, even though many still do not use the Web as their primary form of communication with the government. "Many people use non e-government channels even though these are not their preference. Most people would prefer to contact government using an e-government service, indicating a potentially strong future for greater e-government use," the report said. Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner, described the Internet as "indispensable" for the delivery of government services to the Australian public. "Use of the Internet to access government services has changed significantly since these reports began in 2005," he said in a statement.

"As the report shows, 25 percent of people now conduct all or most of their dealings with government over the Internet, up from 14 percent in 2004-05. Three in five people -- or 59 percent -- used the Internet to access government services in 2007, a 20 percent increase compared with 2004-05 usage rates," he said. In addition to assessing the overall use of e-government services by the public, the report identified an emerging issue associated with the length of time it took for users to receive a response after contacting government online, with AGIMO finding it to be the most common cause for dissatisfaction with e-government services. The report states: "People are less satisfied, however, with the amount of time it took to receive a reply to an enquiry (84 percent), a result also consistent with previous studies." "However people prefer to access government services, this report provides a solid foundation for governments and agencies at every level to improve how their services are delivered," said Tanner. Information from the report will also be given to British procurement expert Sir Peter Gershon, to assist in his independent review of the use of ICT across Australian government.

From http://www.zdnet.com.au/ 04/23/2008

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Defence Signs Telecommunications Contract

Greg Combet, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement, today announced that the Department of Defence has signed a $162 million contract with Telstra for the provision of a range of voice telecommunication services. The six-year contract covers the provision of mobile phones, fixed line voice, fixed line data and broadband services provided by the Chief Information Officer Group to Defence users. Mr Combet said the contract had been negotiated as a work order under the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Whole of Government Telecommunications supply arrangements. ¡°I want to congratulate Telstra for being chosen as the preferred supplier based on value-for-money comparison,¡± said Mr Combet. ¡°This contract is anticipated to result in a cost saving to Defence in excess of $13 million per annum, and an improved level of service to Defence staff compared with previous contracts,¡± Mr Combet said.

From http://www.minister.defence.gov.au 05/05/2008

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NSW Prisoners to Videoconference With Lawyers

NSW prison inmates will soon be able to use Webcams to talk to their lawyers over the Internet, the NSW government says. The trial program, to start next month, will be run by the NSW Department of Corrective Services and involve a number of Sydney law firms. NSW Justice Minister John Hatzistergos said computer Webcams provided an alternative to telephone conversations, allowing inmates and lawyers to speak face-to-face without having to be in the same room. "Currently lawyers have to travel to prisons to see their clients to prepare for court cases," Mr Hatzistergos said in a statement. "Webcams will give lawyers better access to their clients, especially those incarcerated in rural and regional areas. "The Webcam communications will be encrypted to ensure those conversations do not constitute a security breach." The trial would not require funding as many NSW prisons were already equipped with audio-visual equipment used to connect jails with courts, he said.

From http://www.zdnet.com.au/ 05/22/2008

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NEW ZEALAND: Digital Transcription Technology Introduced to the High Court

Digital audio technology for recording and transcribing evidence has been introduced by the High Court in Wellington and Auckland. It is estimated that this technology will reduce court hearing time by between 20-30%, which will assist case throughput. "For the Record or FTR, provides a high quality recording of the evidence which is then relayed to transcription staff located outside of the courtroom to be typed up as the trial proceeds. This is another demonstration of the Labour-led government's drive to modernise the court system to improve access to justice for all New Zealanders," Court's Minister, Rick Barker said. "The evidence given at a recent high profile murder trial at Wellington High Court was transcribed using the new technology and this was a key factor in reducing the length of the trial from an expected eight weeks to four weeks. The trial time was cut in half and I am certain that this was appreciated by all involved.

"This new technology makes the experience of giving evidence easier for witnesses and a better experience for everyone in the courtroom. It also means trials can proceed more quickly. FTR allows witnesses to speak at a normal, uninterrupted speed and the transcript is printed in the courtroom within 30 minutes of the evidence being given. ¡°New technology is enabling courts to work more efficiently for the benefit of all court users¡±, Mr Barker said. Although digital evidence and recording technology has been used in the District Court for some years, until now, its use in the High Court has been limited to two courtrooms in Auckland. 17 High Court courtrooms and 20 additional District Court courtrooms will be progressively equipped with FTR over the next two years, as well as upgrading the FTR systems already being used in the District Court. To further improve efficiency, transcription services are moving to being nationally managed. Mr Barker opened Transcription Service Centres in Wellington and Auckland late last year. From June, these Service Centres will begin being linked to local court based transcription staff across the country. Access to a larger, national team of transcription staff means courts will be better resourced to process increasing workloads.

From http://www.beehive.govt.nz/03/06/2008

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New Government CIO Posts First Blog Entry

Newly appointed New Zealand government CIO Laurence Millar made his first post on the State Services "In Development" blog yesterday, sharing his ideas about transformed government. Millar writes that technology has always been disruptive and that information technology can be a catalyst for change in government. "There is an increasing expectation of individual New Zealanders for instant access to government information and services in the same way as from the private sector," he writes. He writes that recent Nielsen research shows that out of every 100 people here, 84 have access to the internet and 71 use the internet at least once a month. "Of internet users, 68% used online banking in the last month, 57% used online banking in the last week, 44% used the Internet to buy airline tickets, 33% had bought books, 29% had bought clothing, accessories or shoes and 29% had bought event tickets. "By contrast, only 7% of people¡¯s last interaction with government was online."

He says transformed government is designed around the New Zealander so that information is provided once and used wherever alllowed and wherever it is needed. "A classic example of this would be a change of address which would be applied to all government systems where there is information stored about you," Millar writes In business, this means standard business reporting so agencies can use the information they need from standard information supplied. "This provides convenience and satisfaction to the New Zealander and streamlines the operation of government by reducing the amount of work that needs to be done, and increasing the accuracy of the data held," he writes. Millar adds that value for money from spending on information systems can be improved by using the same systems across multiple government departments ¡ª a build once, use often approach. "It can also be achieved by changing government systems so that information is accessed from the single authoritative source within government. A register of company directors, or building practitioners or eligible students ¡ª all can be used to improve the quality and reduce the amount of effort to maintain the same data in different agencies."

Millar says trust in government can be improved by using technology to enable effective dialogue between policy makers and citizens. "This can use a variety of emerging techniques including collaborative authoring, wikis, and electronic consultation," he suggests. He writes that SSC has identified three indicators of success for management of information: grouping of services that apply technology to allow an individual ¡ª from one place at the same time ¡ª to access multiple programmes channel synchronisation of government transactions within an agency or across government the extent to which technology supports a user having to give the same information to government only once.

From http://computerworld.co.nz 04/15/2008

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Public Consultations One-Stop Shop Opens

A public consultations information portal start-up has got off to a promising start, registering 100 subscribers in its first five days of operation. Launched last week, the website provides access to publicly advertised consultations which are open for submissions. These are often hard to track down ¡ª which is what gave Public Consultations¡¯ managing director, Tony Quickfall, the idea for the site. The website collects this information, which is normally listed on organisations¡¯ websites and in newspapers, and brings them together in one place. Public Consultations monitors 80 local newspapers and over 200 websites. The information is picked up and manually loaded into the website¡¯s database, says Quickfall. Access to basic consultation information, such as submission closing dates, is free, he says. The website also features a search engine, while advanced features ¡ª for example email alerts and advanced search ¡ª are available to subscribers only. If a user has saved a previous search in a particular area, such as bills, an email will be automatically sent when related consultations are posted on the site.

Designed and developed by Wellington-based 3months.com, the website covers all 86 local authority councils and 130 government ministries, departments and organisations, says Quickfall. Consultations monitored include publicly notified resource consents, draft plans, strategies, policies and new bills. Consultations are monitored regularly and the website updated daily, he says. Quickfall has a background in resource-management and planning-consultation, and the idea for the website was sparked by the difficulty he had finding information about public consultations himself. He found himself constantly having to make phone calls to government departments, some of whom would put him on an email list, while others would ask him to call back at a later date to get the information. He also had to search for information in newspapers and online. The database, combined with a search engine, could help reduce the business cost of monitoring consultation information, says Quickfall. Quickfall¡¯s site aims to benefit those businesses and professions interested in monitoring consultations or making submissions, as well as industry sectors such as building, construction and retail.

From http://computerworld.co.nz/ 04/16/2008

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New Gauge Part of Tsunami Monitoring Network

A sea-level gauge installed at the Port of Tauranga this week will form part of a national network of gauges for monitoring tsunamis, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and GNS Science announced today. The Tauranga installation is the fifth in a planned network of gauges at 20 sites around New Zealand. Five gauges will be on offshore islands, with the rest at coastal locations. LINZ is overseeing the project in partnership with GNS Science, which is installing and operating the network (scheduled for completion in 2010). The gauge in Tauranga is being attached to an underwater pile on the tug boat berth. Sensors inside the gauge measure changes in water pressure which relate directly to the wave height above the instruments. ¡°The gauges at coastal locations such as Tauranga will detect first landfall of tsunami waves,¡± said LINZ¡¯s Manager Geodesy Graeme Blick. ¡°They will also enable an ¡®all-clear¡¯ to be given if a large undersea earthquake has not produced a tsunami, or if a near-shore earthquake has generated only a small wave.¡±

The instruments on offshore islands will give information about the size and possible arrival times of incoming tsunamis from distance sources. Instruments in the network send continuous data by radio to GNS Science in Lower Hutt where the wave height information is freely available through the GeoNet website. In the event of a tsunami reaching the coast, information from the network will be provided promptly to New Zealand civil defence agencies so they can focus their response on areas that have been affected most. Director of the GeoNet Project at GNS Science, Ken Gledhill, said the sea-level measuring network was an important part of a tsunami monitoring system that consisted of seismology, sea-level measurements, computer modelling, and historical information on seafloor earthquakes. ¡°Tsunami are an important international issue, and this network will contribute to the international effort to provide tsunami warning around the Pacific,¡± Dr Gledhill said. The information the network records will be shared in real time with tsunami warning centres around the Pacific. A panel of specialists from the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, the University of Waikato, LINZ, and GNS Science chose the locations for the gauges.

From http://www.scoop.co.nz 05/20/2008

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Global Web 2.0 Market to Surge in Next Five Years, Says Forrester

Despite a long-term future marked by commoditization, enterprise spending on Web 2.0 technologies will surge over the next five years, growing 43 percent each year to reach $4.6 billion globally by 2013, according to a new report by Forrester Research. The five-year Forrester forecast includes a breakdown of future business spending on technologies such as social networking, RSS, blogs, wikis, mashups, podcasting, and widgets, as well as an analysis of enterprise Web 2.0 spending across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Forrester believes that Web 2.0 technologies represent a fundamentally new way to connect with customers and prospects and harness the collaborative power of employees. Large enterprises such as General Motors, McDonald's, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, and Wells Fargo have all made heavy use of these tools, and 56 percent of North American and European enterprises consider Web 2.0 to be a priority in 2008 according to a recent Forrester survey.

"Software firms can make money selling enterprise Web 2.0 software, but it will not be an easy road to hundred-million-dollar run rates," said Forrester Research Analyst G. Oliver Young. "The market for enterprise Web 2.0 tools will be defined by commoditization, eroding prices, and incorporation into enterprise collaboration software over the next five years. It will eventually disappear into the fabric of the enterprise, despite the major effects the technology will have on how businesses market their products and optimize their workforces." The key question for software firms is who pays for Web 2.0 in the enterprise? Three challenges face vendors: IT shops are wary of what they perceive as insecure, consumer-grade technology; ad-supported Web 2.0 tools on the consumer side have set "free" as a starting point; and Web 2.0 technologies enter a crowded space dominated by legacy software investments.

Currently, large businesses are spending more on employee collaboration tools than customer-facing Web 2.0 technologies, but Forrester expects that trend to reverse by next year. By 2013, investment in customer-facing Web 2.0 technology will dwarf spending on internal collaboration software by nearly a billion dollars. "Social Computing and Web 2.0 marketing are still in their infancy; and in general, the market is still in an experimentation phase," said Young. "In the long run, the effect of Web 2.0 will be enormous. But what may prove to be of more value to vendors will be the skills of running a successful software-as-a-service (SaaS) business. For the vendors that do it well, disaggregating expertise about the medium from Web 2.0 content is likely to provide far more value than wikis and blogs ever did."

From http://www.govtech.com/ 04/21/2008

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Global ICT Spending Tops $3.5 Trillion

The global marketplace for information and communications technology (ICT) will exceed $3.7 trillion this year and will top $4 trillion by 2011, according to Digital Planet 2008, a study released by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) on the first day of its World Congress for Information Technology. Slowing economies in developed countries will lead ICT spending into a period of slower growth through 2011. However, strong demand in 2007 will spill over into 2008, resulting in annual growth of 10.3% in both years, down from a peak level of 12.3 percent in 2004. Growth in overall ICT spending is projected to decline to 3.6 percent by 2011. WITSA's semi-annual World Congress opened today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bringing together several thousand industry leaders in the premier global gathering for IT.

"Global demand for ICT is growing; it remains a lifeline for economic growth across all industries and in all economies," said WITSA Chairman George Newstrom. "It remains critical for the private and public sectors around the world to work together to address the business and policy issues that collectively impact the ICT market. WITSA's focus on trade policy, Internet governance, and other policy priorities is key to meeting our shared goal." Among other key findings of this year's Digital Planet report:

- In spending by country, the top 10 ICT spending countries are, in descending order: the United States, Japan, China, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Brazil, Canada, and Spain. - In 2008, China jumps to third place from fifth place in 2006, surpassing Germany and the United Kingdom with spending of $327 billion. - The Americas will grow the slowest of the three broad regions charted in Digital Planet, at 4.0 percent annually between 2007 and 2011, while ICT spending in the Asia-Pacific region and the Europe, Africa and the Middle East region will grow annually at 10.5 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively. - The communications technology sector of the ICT industry continues to dominate ICT spending, comprising more than 57 percent, or $1.9 trillion of all ICT pending in 2007; - The consumer market comprised nearly 29 percent of ICT products and services in 2007, with $993.8 billion in spending, while spending by business and government accounted for 71 percent, or $2.4 trillion. - Among 14 vertical industries, the communications sector led spending at $403.6 billion, or 11.5 percent, followed by financial services, at $334.5 billion, or 9.5 percent.

WITSA produces Digital Planet biennially, using data provided by Global Insight. The report covers the world's 75 largest ICT buying nations in six regions. ICT spending is measured at the national level, by 14 industry segments plus consumer spending, and by four technology categories.

From http://www.pr-inside.com/ 05/21/2008

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Governments and Business Must Tackle Internet Address Shortage Together, Says OECD

Governments and business must work together more effectively and urgently to meet the growing demand for Internet addresses and secure the future of the Internet economy, according to a new OECD report. With nearly 85% of all available Internet addresses already in use by May 2008, experts believe that, if current trends continue, addresses will run out by 2011. This could mean that new Internet users or mobile devices will not be able to access the Internet. The answer, says the report, is Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) which will provide an unlimited number of addresses and help drive the rollout of broadband, Internet-connected mobile phones and sensor networks, and new Internet services. Governments and business should raise awareness of the need to start preparing now for the move from today''s Internet Protocol version 4 to IPv6 and explain to Internet Service Providers and IT professionals that the move is a commercial and social opportunity, not a financial burden. Service providers have to date been reluctant to invest because customer demand for IPv6 is low.

Governments could play a role as a large user of Internet services by stimulating demand for IPv6 through their own procurement policies and public-private partnerships in IPv6 research and development. The report also considers the alternative to a widespread adoption of IPv6 whereby some regions adopt it and others merely adapt IPv4 as a short-term solution. This, it warns, would impact the economic opportunities offered by the Internet with severe consequences in terms of stifled creativity and deployment of new services. Some countries have taken a lead in deploying IPv6 networks. The Japanese telecommunications firm NTT, for example, uses IPv6 to connect thousands of earthquake sensors via a computer system that sends automatic alerts to television programmes and turns traffic lights red. This type of application requires millions of addresses so cannot work on today''s Internet but already does on IPv6. The United States government has set June 2008 as the deadline by which the Internet network of every government agency must be compatible with IPv6.

The European Commission is also funding research projects and looking at ways to speed up deployment. Korea, the venue of the forthcoming OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy, has committed to converting Internet equipment in public institutions to IPv6 by 2010 and to installing IPv6 equipment in every newly built communications network. The Chinese government has begun rolling out an IPv6 network, called China Next Generation Internet, and will use the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to test mobile devices and intelligent transport and security systems running on IPv6. The report is available on the OECD''s website at www.oecd.org/sti/ict and a podcast on the issue is available here.

To fill vacancies, Ruffolo said, companies have resorted to courting foreigners enrolled in engineering and IT courses in the U.S. and Canada. Deloitte, for instance, has approached foreign students at Stanford University and offered them positions in the company, said Ruffolo. "We have no choice but to do this if we want to maintain growth." Government restrictions on foreign workers are also compounding the problem produced by a tight labour maket, said Ruffolo. He said most CEOs polled "are concerned that government restrictions on employment visas will prevent them from obtaining the overseas talent they need." For instance, he said, despite an IT labour shortage in Canada , the immigration department continues to make it difficult for foreign trained professionals work obtain working or immigration visas. Since immigration rules make it hard to actively recruit foreign-trained professionals from overseas, companies resort to establishing offshore branch offices or "centres of excellence" in foreign lands, Ruffolo said. While, currently, less than half of the companies offshore some operations, 55 per cent of the CEOs plan to offshore in the next five years to achieve growth. Cheaper labour and material cost in countries such as India make it easier to build remote offices there. The offshore locations are staffed by local IT professionals who are paid at a lower rate than their North American counterparts. Another trend recently catching on is the use of foreign contract workers, said Ruffolo. "This has been building up in the U.S. for the past five years and has caught on in Canada about 12 months ago." Using this method, corporations hire an overseas staffing firm, such as Tata Consultancy Services of Mumbai, India, to provide them with foreign IT personnel. (by Nestor E. Arellano)

From http://www.ibls.com/ 05/27/2008

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AFRICA: Continent Lags Behind in Access to E-Infrastructure

Most African countries are slow in channelling information technology towards economic and social benefits, the latest global e-readiness report shows. The e-readiness rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit allow governments to gauge the success of ICT strategies against those of other countries and provide corporates with an overview of the world's most promising investments locations. In this report, North America was ranked the best garnering 8.72, followed by West Europe 8.16, Asia-pacific 6.34, Central and Eastern Europe 5.54, Latin and Eastern Europe 5.33. East Africa scored 5.14. Factors guiding the rankings are connectivity, business, legal, social and cultural environment, government policy and consumer trends. "The rankings illuminate the factors that are driving or inhibiting a country's progress from using ICT to advance economic and social developments," says Peter Korsten, global leader of IBM Institute for Business.

In terms of electronic preparedness, the United States is now the global e-world readiness leader with a score of 8.95 followed by Hong Kong. South Africa is the most prepared in Africa at number 39 out of the 70 ranked states. No East African country features in the list. Economist Intelligence Unit considers mass access to infrastructure as the foundation of e-readiness. Regional research firm, Research ICT Africa, attributes the low ranking of African countries to failure to deregulate telecoms markets enough so that competition can bring mobile services down. The organisation takes specific issues with fixed to mobile interconnection rates, which it claims, are 80-100 per cent higher than global trends. Markets with atronomical rates include Kenya, Benin and even South Africa. Mr Paul Kukubo, the chief executive, ICT Board of Kenya, said the country can borrow the best practices in legal matters from South Africa. Mr Kukubo adds that data and property regulations are needed to protect local investors and attract foreign ones. To be at par with the trends of competition, observers say that countries like Kenya need to tackle tax regime, start up financing, and labour costs.

From http://allafrica.com/ 05/08/2008

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EUROPE: Austria E-auctions for Boroughs

Austria¡¯s new e-Auktion site is set to revolutionise local authority procurement ¨C and cut costs. Boroughs can now put their building, supply and service needs up for electronic auction via a new portal, which also permits further bargaining before a contract is signed. Average savings to local taxpayers should be around 10 %. Austrian law regulates local authority procurement rather strictly. At the end of a procurement process, the contract must go either to the cheapest or to the best current bid, and further bargaining is generally prohibited. But electronic auctions are specifically excluded from this rule. Further offers from, and bargaining with, all participants may take place on-line. EU-wide studies suggest that the savings achieved by local authorities through procedures of this kind will average between 8 % and 12 %.

Apart from these regulatory and financial advantages, fans of the new system point to its user-friendliness. It also promotes transparency in local government procurement, while opening up municipal contracts to a geographically wider range of potential bidders. And once in place, an eAuction system can of course also be used for other, more minor purchases which are not subject to statutory tendering requirements. The new eAuction facility was developed by Joachim Grieber of Austria¡¯s Kufgem Kommunal Consulting, who drew on his 18 years of experience as a local mayor. No licensing or registration costs are involved.

From http://www.epractice.eu/ 04/22/2008

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New Eservice for Latvia Electricity Consumers

Latvenergo, the national electricity company of Latvia, has created a new web portal providing a whole new range of on-line services for its clients. The new portal has been created in order to facilitate communication between Latvenergo and its clients, at any time of day or night. Once the client has registered on the portal, they will be able to access all information concerning their account via the on-line service, which is available 24 hours a day. The answers to the majority of questions posed can also be found on-line, reducing the need to visit or call the customer service centre.

One of the key services of the new portal is the possibility to apply for automated average billing (AAB). With AAB, clients are charged the same amount every month based on an average of their consumption over the past six months. The test version of this option has been available since the beginning of the year and the data shows that more than a thousand AAB contracts have already been concluded. This service in particular is expected to become very popular with internet users. In order to access the new portal, the client can either connect using the internet banking services of two major Latvian banks (Hansabanka and SEB Unibanka), or create a portal user profile and receive a user name and password. Latvenergo¡¯s objective was to provide customers with easy and comfortable access to their services, and it expects the portal to continue expanding its services over time.

From http://www.epractice.eu 04/21/2008

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Britain Government's Zanzibar Emarketplace Wins Prestigious Management Award

Zanzibar, the Government's strategic eMarketplace and Purchase to Pay (P2P) system, has picked up a top prize at the prestigious 2008 MCA Management Awards dinner held in London on April 28. The Zanzibar Managed Service, operated by OGCbuying.solutions and delivered by ProcServe, won outright in the Management Consultancies Association's Operational Performance category. The accolade follows a period of significant growth in the use of the eProcurement tool by public sector organisations. The Welsh Assembly Government recently announced the launch of its xchangewales online purchasing system, based on the Zanzibar platform.

Meanwhile the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has confirmed that it is to make OPEN - the online marketplace for schools, also based on Zanzibar - ready and available to all 20,500 schools in England from Spring 2008. And the Department for Communities and Local Government chose Zanzibar to support their drive towards improving their procurement processes. By bringing together government contracts in a single platform, Zanzibar enables collaboration across all public sector buying organisations and provides access to the best pricing and transaction-ready suppliers.

Robert Knapman, Director of eCommerce, OGCbuying.solutions, said: "We are delighted to have won in this category. The team have worked hard to deliver this groundbreaking service, so this is a fantastic reward for all the hard work. "eProcurement generally and Zanzibar in particular are at the heart of OGCbuying.solutions' new category management approach to collaborative procurement. "Zanzibar mobilises public sector buying power. It makes eProcurement easier, it's flexible, it can be adopted speedily, it widens engagement and provides control for users. And, because we have been through a rigorous development period with the inevitable technological challenges, we now have a tried and tested, leading edge product."

Zanzibar - the basics For public sector buyers in England Wales and Northern Ireland Zanzibar delivers: > An electronic marketplace that can operate alongside existing electronic procurement processes > The ability to exchange electronic documents with suppliers, including purchase orders and invoices > An electronic supplier catalogue system that allows suppliers to create catalogues and allows buyers to approve and access suppliers content and pricing > Access to collaborative contracts across all government organizations > An optional purchase to pay system, or the ability to connect easily to existing purchase to pay systems, including Proactis, SAP, Oracle, Cedar, Sage, Agresso, Belmin, and many others > A secure, hosted and managed service, with ongoing support for buyers and suppliers > Detailed procurement management information and reporting tools

Public sector organisations benefit by: >Reducing costs and errors by eliminating administrative and manual procurement process, including catalogue management and paper transactions >Enabling better value for money decisions by providing access to extensive supplier pricing and product information >Improving procurement visibility by supplying comprehensive management information and reporting on spend levels and patterns >Removing the risk of joining Zanzibar by providing a solution that has been thoroughly tested and approved >Delivering robust marketplace and electronic transaction functionality without the need for a capital outlay or dedicated IT resources

From http://www.publictechnology.net/ 05/12/2008

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NORTH AMERICA: Mexico Is a Growing Destination for Information Technology Services

Getronics, one of the world's largest providers of IT services, will meet with attendees of the Gartner Outsourcing & Vendor Management Summit to discuss how its Mexico operations can stabilize clients' fluctuating sourcing costs. The Summit runs May 19 - 21, 2008 in Washington, D.C. at the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center. Many U.S. companies are experiencing unexpected cost increases in their IT services from offshore sourcing providers or their own offshore subsidiaries, called captives. The reason? Global inflation is combining with declining exchange rates for the U.S. dollar, resulting in drastic shifts and variability in costs when finally reflected on financial reports. The lack of predictability makes it difficult for CIOs to project costs accurately, an unpopular practice among CFOs and CEOs. "Looking at changes in exchange rates and IT labor rates, it is easy to identify economic shifts of 30 percent or more between some serving and receiving country pairs," said Nicholas Brigman, Director of Market Research at Getronics. "For U.S.-based companies, Mexico and other Latin American countries are more suitable and stable destinations for IT services based on exchange rate variability and similar inflation rates."

Getronics has long made it a point to identify and establish multiple nearshore service centers to protect clients from volatility. For instance, the company recently celebrated the 6th anniversary of launching its Global Service Center (GSC) in Mexico City. Through these and similar initiatives, Getronics' global service delivery model can meet clients' cultural needs and create global resilience. "Where India has been a top sourcing location in recent years, Mexico is leaping forward as a stable alternative for U.S. businesses," said Luis Sanchez, Director of Mexico GSC for Getronics. "Our location is closer to the clients we serve and our people are committed to world-class excellence. We consistently earn high marks for our services and just recently we were selected as one of the best places to work in Mexico." Getronics has partnered with the "Tecnol¨®gico de Monterrey" (largest private university in Mexico) to drive IT curricula and certifications -- an important step in producing top quality IT professionals to meet growing demand. Getronics executives from the United States and Mexico will be available in the Mexico IT Pavillion to discuss the wide range of sourcing options and services it offers.

From http://www.earthtimes.org/ 05/19/2008

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Public-Private Partnership Improves Case Management for U.S Workers Comp Agencies

During a 2003 workers' compensation board meeting in Vancouver, Canada, Steve Barnett, vice president and assistant chief financial officer of Work Safe BC (WSBC), started chatting with Valerie Adamo, CIO of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). The two executives found they had a common business interest: the desire to revamp their work force database and operations systems. Their conversation eventually led to a highly successful public-private partnership (PPP). "We found it was a good fit between us and Ontario collaborating," Barnett said. "That's unique because Ontario and British Columbia (BC) are a long way apart, and we tend to view ourselves as unique. But it didn't take long to understand we're in the same business and we do things similarly - so it became natural."

WSBC and the WSIB are the workers' compensation agencies for British Columbia and Ontario, respectively, but they also perform other services, such as workplace injury prevention programs, and health-care and rehabilitation monitoring. At the beginning of the collaboration, WSBC and the WSIB had systems that were built in the late-1980s, which lacked a comprehensive intelligence- and evidence-based case management system. Instead, they focused solely on paying workers' benefits. The WSBC had five legacy systems and several other reporting applications that made streamlining and integrating information a challenge. Instead of building a new case-management system from the ground up, the partners decided to look for software vendors willing to commit to a PPP - a collaboration between municipal and private institutions in which each partner shares the risks and rewards of corporation.

"We looked at it and said, 'If we build it together and split the cost, we'll still be ahead because we're sharing the cost,'" Adamo said. "My team has expertise in vendor management, contracts and negotiations, and deal structuring. BC took the lead to determine the requirement process and how we would get the job done."The team researched vendors and found Curam Software, which provides enterprise social-management solutions. Curam's social-justice and benefits programs were similar to the case-management solutions the PPP was seeking. Although Curam didn't have a workers' compensation product, the company had a product suite with vertically integrated solutions that included unemployment insurance and food stamps. Adamo and Barnett determined there was enough content in Curam's software for a successful customization.

The Dublin, Ireland, software company agreed to a public-private partnership with the WSIB and WSBC to develop the Curam Workers' Compensation solution, which enables workers' compensation agencies to effectively manage end-to-end claims by providing comprehensive and efficient benefits-delivery capabilities. Although the WSIB and WSBC agreed to pay development costs, and Curam would own the software, the two public organizations established a royalty agreement to receive lower support costs whenever Curam sells the new software. Another benefit for the municipalities was future software development by the company's experts at reduced cost.

From http://www.govtech.com/ 03/17/2008

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Canadian Companies Using Creative Techniques to Attract Top IT Talent

In today's fiercely competitive hiring environment, Canadian companies are coming up with creative strategies to attract and keep the best IT talent. Whether it's incenting staff to poach skilled friends currently working for competitors, or offering telework facilities, businesses are doing whatever it takes to attract highly skilled professionals. ¡°Organizations are definitely feeling the pinch,¡± says Terri Joosten, CEO at CareerDoor Inc., a Toronto-based firm that helps employers identify and recruit hi-tech professionals.

The market today resembles what it was two years before the dot-com bust, said Joosten. Canadian firms, she said, want to take full advantage of what the Internet has to offer. And that's creating new opportunities for IT professionals. However, for prospective recruiters, Joosten believes several factors are converging to make the situation very challenging.These include: the shortage of IT graduates and an employment rate that's at a 30-year low. When you factor in baby boomers leaving the workforce, there simply aren't enough people to fill those vacated positions, she said. Another industry insider echoes these views.

Fewer people are entering the growing hi-tech market and more people exiting it, noted Igor Abramovitch, a manager with Robert Half Technology at the firm's North York, Toronto branch. He said the survey of chief information officers (CIOs) recently done by his firm confirms this. Fourteen per cent of the CIOs polled in that survey plan to add IT staff and three per cent anticipate personnel reductions in the second-quarter of 2008. The findings have been presented in the latest Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. Robert Half Technology provides IT consultants and staffing services on a project by project, or full-time basis.

Abramovitch says that the IT hiring market in Toronto has remains strong and in an increasingly competitive environment, ¡°companies won't have much choice but to look for alternatives.¡± What are these alternatives? They ¡°go beyond headhunting and putting an ad in the newspaper,¡± according to author, entrepreneur and leadership coach Jim Welch. Welch writes and speaks extensively on how to recruit and retain good employees. He works as a consultant with various large companies developing such strategies. While he would not specify which companies are using what strategies, he provided an overview of the most effective techniques.

From http://www.itbusiness.ca/ 05/15/2008

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CHINA: Telecom Expanding Wireless Network

China's largest fixed telecom service operator China Telecom is accelerating Wi-Fi deployment and plans to launch a new round of bidding for procuring wireless network equipment in 21 provinces, Shanghai Securities News reported. The large-scale deployment indicates the business focus of China Telecom is moving to the wireless network sector, which further indicates the company may abandon PHS service in 2009, said an industry insider. Reports said China Telecom will take over the CDMA network of China Unicom in China's telecom industry reshuffle. After that, it will transfer its PHS users into CDMA users smoothly through marketing tactics, the insider predicted. The source added that deployment of wireless network will lift the customer loyalty for China Telecom, which will sharpen the competitive edge of its mobile service.

From Xinhua News Agency 03/10/2008

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IT Revenue Grows by 24% to Again Take Top Shanghai Spot

Revenue among Shanghai's information technology industry grew 24 percent annually in 2007, marking the fourth year that IT has become the city's top industry, officials said yesterday. Shanghai's IT industry revenue was 741.7 billion yuan (US$104.7 billion) in 2007 and IT exports were worth US$53 billion, 37 percent of the city's total exports. Software, integrated circuits, telecommunications and online games are the major drivers of the city's IT industry, said Zhou Weidong, general secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Informatization Commission. "We especially welcome firms to set up research and development facilities in Shanghai to improve the city's innovation," Zhou said. Shanghai has a national software and semiconductor industry zone in Pudong's Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, which is the local version of Silicon Valley. Software giant SAP, telecom equipment makers ZTE and Huawei, and online game leaders Shanda and The9 are among top companies to have established research centers there.

By the end of 2007, Shanghai's mobile phone penetration rate was nearly 100 percent and the family computer penetration rate reached 104 percent, which meant many families had two or more computers, the commission said. Shanghai had 17.70 million mobile phone users among 18.58 million local residents, along with 3.28 million family broadband users and 10.46 million fixed-line phone subscribers, according to the commission. This year the government will encourage the development of technologies including integrated circuits, flat-panel displays, 4G telecommunications and solid-state lighting. The government will push network construction among hospitals to further share data, including patients' blood tests and X-rays. Meanwhile, Shanghai will launch an IC card to one million senior residents, which allows them to take buses for free and helps bureaus calculate subsidiaries to bus operators, Zhou said.

From Shanghai Daily 03/13/2008

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China Expects 15 Pct of GDP from Online Economy

China, home to the world's biggest internet population, will see its online economy double as a percentage of GDP in three to four years, as e-commerce develops, an official told Reuters on Thursday. Cai Mingzhao, the vice minister of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which oversees the internet, expects the country's online users to reach 300 million by the end of this year from a current 230 million. "The Internet sector accounts for about 7 percent of China's GDP. As the internet penetration rate increases and e-commerce becomes more popular, that share should more than double to 15 percent," said Cai. China had a roughly 17.7 percent internet penetration rate as of February, compared with a global average of 19 percent and 70 percent in the U.S. That is expected to grow to 23 percent by the end of this year. China's 600 million mobile users will further boost internet usage when its telecom carriers launch third-generation mobile phone services later this year. Cai expects the online industry to boom as payment systems and credit systems are established. He said Internet groups were currently focusing on expanding their user base, but would in time look to adopt paid-for models for premium content such as downloading videos.

From http://news.yahoo.com 03/20/2008

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Digital System Sales Through Medical Check

The nation's first hospital digital operation platform, allowing doctors to check a patient's medical records on one system within half a second and carry out simulated surgery, passed examination of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission yesterday. The system will be launched in the Renji and Huadong hospitals and Shanghai Chest Hospital for pilot practice within two to three years. Then a citywide network connecting more hospitals to share patients' information will be established after the platform is perfected. The system, called Domain Operating Platform, was developed at Renji Hospital, which started a pilot trial at its cardiac surgery department two months ago. Doctors have treated more than 200 patients using the new system and reported good results. "Because of technology limitations, hospitals have more than four computerized systems to collect information on different kinds of checkup. Doctors have to visit each system to get one patient's information.

This platform integrates all information in one system," said Fan Guanrong, president of Renji Hospital and chief of the developing group. "Whenever entering a patient's name in the computer, doctors can know all his or her previous medical reports and treatment, instead of checking various paper reports. A comprehensive understanding about a patient's situation can improve accuracy of doctor's diagnosis and further ensure patient's safety." Meanwhile, the system also allows interns to conduct surgery on a model, which simulates the experience of operating on an actual patient. The surgeon uses a computerized surgery tool, which links to sensors on the model to simulate the entire surgery process. "Medical students and interns must get experience by doing a lot of animal experiments and participating in actual surgery. However, animal experiments are costly and human patients refuse to have an intern involved in their surgery," Fan said.

From Shanghai Daily 03/21/2008

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China to Launch Trial of 3G Mobile Phones

China's main mobile phone company said Friday it will launch trial service of the homegrown Chinese next-generation standard next week, possibly moving the huge market closer to the long-anticipated rollout of new services. Companies expect a multibillion-dollar wave of spending on equipment once China awards licenses for third-generation, or 3G, service. But Beijing has delayed a decision while it tries to develop its own system to compete with global standards. China Mobile Communications Corp. said in a statement it will test the standard, known as TD-SCDMA, by issuing 20,000 phones and 5,000 data cards on Tuesday in Beijing and seven other cities. The statement gave no indication how long the test would last, whether it would be expanded to other areas or when licenses might be awarded. China has the world's biggest population of mobile phone users, with some 520 million subscribers, and standards decisions could have a far-reaching impact on the equipment market. Third-generation mobile phone standards are meant to support features such as video and Internet access. Beijing has been trying to create its own standard since 2001, hoping to create opportunities for its telecoms companies and reduce the need to pay license fees to developers of the global standards, known as WCDMA and CDMA-2000.

China also has approved those standards for use. The 3G decision comes as regulators are believed to be preparing to restructure China's telecommunications industry. The overhaul is expected to reassign mobile and fixed line assets among the main state-owned phone companies in an effort to create healthier competitors. The government has given no time frame for the changes. The government said previously it hoped to have a 3G network in place before the Beijing Olympics open in August. Suppliers such as Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. say they are ready to produce equipment based on the Chinese standards once the government picks carriers to receive 3G licenses. TD-SCDMA has failed to attract users abroad, but industry experts say regulators are pressing Chinese carriers to use it alongside the global standards. Chinese Mobile and its main rival, China Unicom, have declined to comment. Chinese news reports say they are reluctant to use TD-SCDMA because it doesn't work as well as the global standards. U.S. officials say China has promised to let carriers pick their 3G standard but express concern they are being pressed to use TD-SCDMA. They say that would violate Beijing's free-trade commitments.

From http://www.usatoday.com 03/28/2008

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China World's Largest Internet Market

Print story Email to a friend Font size:BEIJING, April 21 (UPI) -- A Chinese research firm said China has surpassed the United States as the world's largest Internet market based on number of users. BDA, a firm based in Beijing, said data from the China Internet Network Information Center indicated China had an Internet population of 210 million at the end of last year, compared to 216 million in the United States. "Based on these sources and the assumption that these markets have continued to grow in 2008 to date at the same rates that they grew in 2007, we can conclude that China has by now comfortably surpassed the United States as the world's largest Internet population," Bin Liu, BDA's chief media analyst, said in a statement. BDA estimated revenues from China's online games sector totaled $1.88 billion last year.

From http://www.upi.com 04/21/2008

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Electronic and Information Industry Lags

The latest statistics from the newly established Ministry of Industry and Information revealed that the country's electronic and information industry increased 18.6 percent in terms of gross product in the first quarter this year, 10 percentage points behind the national average for industry growth, the official China Securities Journal reported yesterday. State-owned enterprises and those with annual sales of over two million yuan in the electronic and information industry realized a total of 1.06 trillion yuan ($151.65 billion) in output value in the first three months of 2008, up 18.6 percent from the same period of last year. The total sales revenue saw a 19 percent year-on-year increase, and the software industry gained 139 billion yuan from sales, up 28.7 percent. It is a continuing trend as the electronic and information industry began to cool down in 2007. Gao Sumei, assistant inspector at the Ministry of Industry and Information, said it is because the industry has begun a period of structural adjustment following years of sizzling growth. "Some conventional markets like home theater, DVD and CRT television keep shrinking, and the flat panel TV industry has yet to drive the market despite eye-catching developments," said Gao.

Meanwhile, the investment environment is improving among China's neighbors such as Vietnam and India, which drew more foreign investment from China, Gao analyzed. The American and European markets are major destinations for China's exported electronic products. The industry's overall export growth rate dropped eight percent, dragged down by a drop of 24 percent in export growth to the United States, a drop of 44 percent to the Netherlands, and a drop of 28 percent to Britain. "Slowdown of the American and the European economies and soaring domestic production costs also more or less stalls the pace of China's electronic industry. A number of medium and small enterprises around the Pearl River Delta have closed," said Gao. Statistics show that investment in the electronic and information industry also cooled down in the first quarter. Fixed asset investments in projects of over five million yuan totaled 50.79 billion yuan during this period, up 22.7 percent year on year, 5.2 percentage points lower than the same period in 2007 and 4.1 percentage points lower than the national average growth. Foreign investment in the sector totaled 46.9 billion yuan during this period, a drop of 2.6 percent year on year.

From Chinadaily.com.cn 04/24/2008

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Online Recruitment Taking Off in China

China's largest internet jobs firm has reported a 27 per cent rise in revenues from its online recruitment services in the first quarter. Total revenues at 51job Inc for the first quarter were $33.7m, an increase of 17.9 per cent from the same quarter in 2007. ''We achieved better than expected profitability in the first quarter despite greater spending on sales and marketing activities," said Rick Yan, president and chief executive at 51job. "We are also pleased that revenues exceeded our forecast, especially in light of public concerns regarding global economic conditions and the uncertain impact of new PRC labour regulations on recruitment budgets in China." Online recruitment services revenues for the first quarter of 2008 grew 27.4 per cent to $11.2m. The increase was mainly attributable to the growth in the number of employers using the company's online services, according to figures supplied by 51job. Unique employers using the company's online recruitment services increased 25.8 per cent to 60,461 in the first quarter of 2008, compared with 48,070 in the same quarter of the prior year. Online revenues are growing considerably faster than traditional print revenues. Print recruitment advertising revenues for the first quarter of 2008 increased 7.8 per cent compared to the same quarter a year ago to reach $17.5m. The increase was primarily the result of a greater volume of advertisements in 51job Weekly, the company's widely distributed free newspaper. ''We view 2008 as an important year of investment for 51job and are dedicating significant resources aimed at strengthening our brand, improving customer service, developing new products and increasing efficiency," said Yan. "We believe these efforts will enable us to extend our market leadership position and build a solid foundation for long-term growth."

From http://www.vnunet.com 05/14/2008

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Chinese Firms Take 10% of Global 3G Handset Market

Although Chinese handset makers are struggling in the second-generation mobile terminal market, they seem set to turn the tables in the battle for third-generation (3G) mobile terminal customers. Competitive Chinese telecom manufacturers, such as ZTE, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, and Amoi Electronics Co Ltd, have made their presence felt from North Africa to Asia-Pacific regions, and in some high-end markets like Europe and North America, earning almost a 10 percent stake in the world 3G wireless terminal market, according to a Third Generation Wireless White Paper issued by In-Stat, a leading telecom industry research institute. The paper said Huawei and ZTE outperformed other Chinese cell phone makers last year, with output volumes of 22 million and 13 million 3G terminals respectively, almost nine percent of the global 3G terminal market. Huawei's sales revenue hit $2.6 billion in 2007, with 70 percent from overseas markets, and it successfully broke into markets in the United States and Japan. Huawei delivered eight million memory chips last year, the highest in the world.

ZTE ranked the 6th in the world in terms of handset sales volume. Its sales revenue was $2.5 billion last year, 78 percent of which came from overseas. ZTE's 3G terminal products have made inroads into over 60 countries, and the company has established partnerships with many top 10 operators globally such as Telefonica De Espana, Telstra Corp and Hong Kong-listed Hutchison Whampoa. Although Amoi is losing shares in the domestic market, its foreign 3G market grew faster than ever, based on its cooperation with Hutchison Whampoa, France Telecom and Vodafone. In-Stat's paper predicted that overseas orders would account for 40 percent of Amoi's shipment in 2008, and 75 percent of those exported would be 3G and intelligent mobile phones. In-Stat believes that flexible customization strategies, immediate response to the markets, low cost and promising research capacity are key to Chinese 3G handset makers' success. Huawei and ZTE, for example, cut the research and development period on their customized models by almost four months compared with non-customized models, and they save 30 to 40 percent of marketing costs by customizing models directly for those telecom operators. However, the paper also said Chinese 3G wireless manufacturers are still catering to mainly low-end niches by vying for orders from overseas telecom operators. Gaining position in the high-end markets, which are much more profitable, is still the challenge for these firms.

From Chinadaily.com.cn 05/22/2008

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JAPAN: Online Banks Racing to Lure Customers to Forex Margin Trading

Tokyo, May 10, 2008 (Jiji Press) - Competition to grab customers for foreign exchange margin trading services is intensifying among online banks in Japan.The high-risk, high-return currency trading is quickly gaining popularity among investors in the country because it can be started with only a small amount of margin money.Already a number of specialized trading firms are active in luring those money-hungry individuals, and the four Internet-only banks in Japan, too, do not want to miss the chance.Of the four, Japan Net Bank launched foreign exchange margin transaction services in March 2006, followed by eBank in November 2007.Banks have a competitive edge over small specialized trading houses thanks to their strong creditworthiness and easy transferability of funds between deposit and trading accounts, an eBank official said.

Sony Bank, which started foreign currency-denominated deposits shortly after its launch in 2001, will offer foreign currency margin trading services from Monday.The online banking unit of the Sony Corp. <6758> group finds it necessary to begin the margin trading services in order to hold customers who are no longer satisfied with returns on their foreign currency deposits and looking for highly lucrative investment opportunities, a Sony Bank official said.Another Internet-only bank, SBI Sumishin Net Bank, which was established in September 2007, is preparing to join the race this summer.

From www.japancorp.net 05/10/2008

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NEC Equips Switzerland with Mobile TV Transmitters

NEC Corp says that NEC Deutschland GmbH (NEC) has been selected by Swiss TV broadcasting system operator Swisscom Broadcast AG (SBC) to establish a DVB-H broadcasting network. The mobile TV network is scheduled to commence operation in four major Swiss cities in time for the European football championship 2008. NEC¡¯s broadcasting technology will ensure constant broadcasting quality and reliable network operation.SBC, a full subsidiary of Swisscom AG, holds the DVB-H license for the operation of mobile TV in Switzerland. SBC will make the transmitters available to mobile communications providers so that they can develop mobile TV services. Initially, the broadcasting service will be launched in the Swiss cities of Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Basle in time for the European football championship 2008. NEC will be supplying 19 transmitters that are required for the project.One of key features in DTL-10, NEC¡¯s digital broadcasting transmitter, is the Adaptive Digital Corrector (ADC), which adjusts and keeps best performance automatically to provide viewers with constant high image quality on their mobile phones. The failsafe and compact DTL-10 systems are available from 30W output power up to 1500W and they come with an air cooling system.In addition, NEC is providing PASOLINK NEO point-to-point wireless access systems for the IP transmission of Mobile TV contents. Pasolink systems enable the transmission of large volumes of data via point-to-point wireless connections.

From www.japantoday.com 05/18/2008

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Brightcove Moves into Japan Market with Online Video

Web video provider Brightcove is entering the Japanese market by creating a local subsidiary with a group of big Japanese media players. The new unit, Brightcove KK, is backed with $4.9 million from Brightcove and four local partners: Dentsu, Japan's largest ad company; content delivery network J-Stream; media conglomerate transcosmos; and interactive ad company Cyber Communications, Inc. (CCI). With high-speed Internet connections in more than half of Japanese homes, Brightcove plans to capitalize on a fast-growing audience for online video. Only recently, however, have Japanese media companies and brands begun to view video as a viable option because of falling broadband costs and more flexible rights management rules, according to Brightcove Chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire. "Media companies (in Japan) have dabbled in it, and now they're looking at it as a real business," he said. "Brand marketing companies and TV and display advertisers would very much like to shift dollars into the Web." Launched in 2005, Cambridge, Mass.-based Brightcove powers online video for scores of prominent U.S. media brands, and marketers including the Discovery Channel, HBO, About.com, General Motors and Time Inc.

Now it wants to do the same for their Japanese counterparts. Allaire added that the partnership formed with top Japanese media and distribution companies will help smooth Brightcove's move into the market. In particular, Dentsu, J-Stream, and CCI, will act as sales agents for Brightcove KK, along with its U.S. parent. "Japanese business culture is very different than U.S. or European business culture," Allaire said. "There's an enormous premium in doing business with well-established brands in Japan." The nearly $5 million initial investment should be sufficient for Brightcove's Tokyo-based offshoot to ramp up operations over the next 18 to 24 months, said Allaire. While Brightcove also maintains a small presence in Beijing, the company has no immediate plans to expand elsewhere in Asia. "We believe there are many other strong geographies in Asia for Brightcove, and those are things we'll be looking at over time," Allaire said. Besides the U.S. and Asia, Brightcove also has European outposts in London, Brussels and Berlin. It has raised about $87 million in private financing to date, including a $59.5 million round in 2007 from investors including The New York Times Co. and top investment manager AllianceBernstein L.P.

From http://publications.mediapost.com 05/23/2008

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SOUTH KOREA: International IT firms' Korean Units Enter Global Market with Localized Technology

Homemaker Yu-jin, 57, turns on her computer and opens an Internet browser, where a small red pen-shaped icon appears at the side of the window. Whenever she finds unfamiliar English or Korean words on the web, she drags the red pen onto the word, or simply double clicks the word itself, and a small window containing the meaning or explanation of the highlighted term appears.This pen-shaped icon is provided by the online dictionary of Yahoo Korea (kr.yahoo.com), which was designed to help users better understand any English, Korean or Chinese words or subjects by providing information from online dictionaries and encyclopedia.Such online service programs, customized and developed by Korean units of international companies, are winning global recognition, thanks to Korea's advanced information technology and development know-how.Yahoo Korea, one of the most popular local websites along with Korea's local web portals Daum and Naver, is one of the leading firms to win recognition for its localized Internet service. In June 2006, Yahoo Korea launched its ¡°Yahoo Mini Dictionary¡± service that allows users to use its online dictionary service by downloading the software program. Through the ¡°Mini Dictionary¡± service, users can use online dictionaries -- English-English, Korean-English, Chinese characters -- and encyclopedia service provided by Yahoo Korea without having to open an Internet browser window and access the online dictionary website.

As its Mini Dictionary service has received favorable responses among users, Yahoo Korea exported its Mini Dictionary program to Yahoo's Chinese unit in December last year, which recorded more than 300,000 downloads among Taiwan and Hong Kong Internet users within less than a month.Another unique search engine Yahoo Korea recently exported overseas is its location service ¡°Yahoo Geogi,¡± meaning ¡°there¡± in Korean. This location service, developed by Yahoo Korea, enables users to find information, ranging from good restaurants, museums to sites for weekend getaways, about any designated area in Korea. Yahoo Korea has exported its location search engine to Yahoo United Kingdom and Germany. Last year, it also exported ¡°Life Map¡± UCC service program to Yahoo's Chinese unit. Life Map UCC service lets users upload photos of any area on a map and share information and impressions of places users have visited.Yahoo Korea started its operations here in September 1997 and has since launched diverse services including email, blog community and online news. In October 2007, president of Yahoo Susan Decker said Korea is one of its ¡°most important¡± markets during her visit to Korea.

Microsoft Korea's "e-Approval" program, an online payment system localized for Korean users, is also being exported to other countries. This electronic payment program, developed by Microsoft Korea, has been included in Microsoft's 2007 Office program and introduced to China and Japan in November 2006. Users residing in Asia can use this online billing system by installing the 2007 version of Office.In March 2005, Microsoft opened its Mobile Innovation Lab at the headquarters of its Korean affiliate in southern Seoul to develop technology for wireless devices, which became the first mobility research center Microsoft has built outside the United States. Due to the high Internet penetration and advanced IT technology, Korea has served as the world's testbed for many futuristic IT and mobile applications, with more than 36 million of the country's total population of 48 million carrying at least one cell phone.In September last year, Korea's high-speed Internet penetration rate (the number of broadband subscriptions per 100 citizens) exceeded 30% for the first time, according to the Korean government.

From www.korea.net 03/25/2008

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Korea's IT Investment to Top 22.5 Tril. Won

Business investment in the information technology (IT) sector will increase by double digits this year as local companies scramble to expand production capacity to meet a surge in demand, the government said Thursday (April 10).The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said local IT companies plan to invest 22.5 trillion won ($23.0 billion) to upgrade existing facilities and expand output capacity in 2008, up 10 percent from the year before.It said investment in display panels is expected to double from 2.7 trillion won to 5.4 trillion won. This surge, the ministry said, reflects a need to meet sharp global growth in demand for liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diode panels.Korea is the world's No. 1 manufacturer of LCDs.The government's top industry policymaking body also said investment in electronics parts could jump 32 percent to 4.9 trillion won this year from 3.7 trillion won in 2007.This is a reflection of sharp growth in exports of Korean-made parts to overseas markets including China. These parts are used as components to make finished goods that are exported to third countries or brought back for sale in the Korean market.

The ministry, however, said that because of the drop in demand, facility investment in semiconductors is expected to dip 7.9 percent to 10.9 trillion won from 11.8 trillion won last year.Knowledge economy minister Lee Youn-ho, meanwhile, told members of the Korea Electronics Association and the Korea Electronics Industries Cooperative that the Lee Myung-bak administration will do its utmost to scrap administrative red tape that the business sector claims is hindering investment. He added the expansion of tax breaks is being considered at the government level.Government policymakers and the business community are currently working to develop a new long-term development strategy for the IT sector that is to be announced in late June.

From www.korea.net 04/10/2008

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Samsung, Intel, TSMC Agree on Joint Chip-making Standard

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday (May 6) it has forged an agreement with Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to unify their chip-making standards aimed at larger production.The agreement calls for cooperation in introducing 450-millimeter wafer production facilities starting in 2012, in order to move away from the current production of 300-millimeter wafers, Samsung said in a statement.Larger wafers make a more efficient use of energy and water, letting companies produce chips for less money. The current 300-millimeter wafer production technology was introduced in 2001.Alongside an increase in chip production, the introduction of larger wafer production facilities will also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the statement."The three companies plan to cooperate with wafer providers and other chip makers to facilitate chip production using 450-millimeter wafers," Byun Jung-woo, managing director at Samsung's manufacturing division, said.

From www.korea.net 05/06/2008

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MALAYSIA: Pay-via-Cellphone Service Ready

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are now much nearer to being able to pay for many of their purchases by just touching a handphone to a payment terminal. Maxis Communications Bhd has concluded its three-month Near Field Communication (NFC) pilot ¨C a test of one technology that enables such electronic payments. It said it would launch its commercial service in the second half of the year. NFC technology leverages on a short-range wireless connectivity standard that is now embedded in certain handsets that enable users to turn their phones into electronic wallets. Most, if not all, of the 100 users in the trial run gave it the thumbs up for convenience, ease of use and speed, said Jon Eddy Abdullah, chief operating officer at Maxis, at a press conference recently. The pilot was conducted in the Klang Valley in October last year. Maxis roped in several partners, including Maybank, Visa payWave, Touch n¡¯ Go, RapidKL and cellphone manufacturer Nokia, for the test. How quickly this method of payment picks up among Malaysians depends on several factors, such as the availability of NFC-enabled mobiles. For the pilot, participants were provided with the Nokia 6131 handset ¨C the only commercial model in the world embedded with NFC technology at the time. More brands are expected to offer NFC-enabled models as electronic payment services start to gain popularity.

Maxis said the participants used the phone to make payments at stores having the Visa payWave reader, as well as Touch n¡¯ Go terminals in LRT stations, RapidKL buses, highway toll plazas and selected carparks during the trial. ¡°The users also indicated that they would like more options and advanced functionalities,¡± said Eddy, but he did not elaborate on these features. Maxis is equally enthusiastic over the prospects of NFC technology. ¡°It will enable us to take M-money (the company¡¯s mobile commerce payment service) to even greater heights,¡± he said. ¡°This will also further strengthen our position as a leader in the (local) mobile commerce space,¡± he added. It also has plans to employ NFC technology in ¡°smart posters,¡± where users can hold their handsets up to say, a poster of a rock concert, to receive more information on the event via the phones. They would be able to find out the band¡¯s profile, download sample video clips, and even purchase tickets to the concert through their cellphones. Previously, electronic payment services in the Klang Valley were limited to buying a softdrink from a vending machine and paying for it via a handphone. This, however, didn¡¯t seem to interest many Malaysians. (by Zam Karim)

From http://star-techcentral.com/ 03/06/2008

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SINGAPORE: IDA to Pre-Qualify Interested Parties to Be Operating Company for Singapore's Next Generation National Broadband Network

The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) is today starting the pre-qualification exercise for the Request For Proposal (RFP) for the Operating Company (OpCo) of Singapore¡¯s Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN). This follows the launch of the Next Gen NBN Network Company (NetCo) RFP on 11 December 2007 and is part of IDA¡¯s continued engagement with the industry to roll out the Next Gen NBN. Parties interested in participating in the OpCo RFP can now apply to be pre-qualified by completing and submitting the administrative forms via the Government online procurement portal, GeBIZ (www.gebiz.gov.sg). The pre-qualification criteria, similar to those for the qualification for the NetCo RFP, can be found in the procurement document and includes considerations such as financial strength and deployment track record for network projects similar in scale and nature to the Next Gen NBN. This pre-qualification process opens today (3 March 2008) and closes in 14 days (17 March 2008).

The OpCo will work hand-in-hand with the NetCo to deploy the Next Gen NBN infrastructure. The OpCo is responsible for implementing the ¡®active¡¯ infrastructure of Next Gen NBN and managing the flow of ultra-high-speed broadband traffic on the ¡®passive¡¯ infrastructure that is designed, built and operated by the NetCo. The OpCo will offer wholesale broadband access to downstream Retail Service Providers (RSPs), which are the companies that will in turn be providing Next Generation Services to end-users. The OpCo RFP tendering exercise is scheduled to be called in the second quarter of this year and complements the ongoing RFP process for the NetCo. Both the NetCo and OpCo RFPs have been formulated by the IDA after an extensive year-long consultation and studies of deployments internationally. IDA expects to award the NetCo RFP and the OpCo RFP in the third quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 respectively. The Next Gen NBN when ready, will be capable of delivering speeds of up to 1Gbps and beyond, offering pervasive ultra-high speed connectivity by 2015, although consumers can begin to look forward to

From http://www.ida.gov.sg/ 03/03/2008

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New Scheme to Help Small Businesses Embrace Technology

The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will launch its SME Infocomm Package (SIP) in May to provide local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with affordable IT packages that come with one-stop helpdesk and advisory services. Under the scheme, IDA will co-fund the first 5,000 SMEs that sign up for SIP. These SMEs could pay as little as S$800 for a package comprising a computer preloaded with software such as the operating system and antivirus applications. Also included in the package are web development services that will be available for S$50 or less. The scheme is expected to help SMEs benefit from cost-savings when they invest in basic infocomm equipment and services.Sources: "More funds to be invested to develop talent in IT sector", Channel NewsAsia, 29 February 2008 "Govt to spend $70m on infocomm sector", The Straits Times, 1 March 2008 "Govt lends SMEs bigger IT helping hand", The Business Times, 3 March 2008.

From http://www.business.gov.sg/ 03/03/2008

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Scheme to Help Businesses Go Online

Under the Domain Name Reservation initiative launched in December 2007, new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will find it easier to reserve a '.com.sg' and '.sg' domain name. The initiative was introduced by Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) in collaboration with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). The start-ups will be able to reserve their domain name when registering their business entity electronically with ACRA's BizFile. In a promotion valid till December 2010, all businesses or companies without an existing '.sg' domain name are entitled to a S$30 discount for their first-year of registration. Source: "Scheme for SMEs to go online and grow globally", The Business Times, 4 March 2008

From http://www.business.gov.sg/ 03/11/2008

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Singapore to Usher in New e-Invoicing System, May 1

SINGAPORE -- Suppliers of goods and services billing the government of Singapore will need to submit their invoices electronically starting May 1 as part of a plan seeking to extend the reach and quality of e-services, the Ministry of Finance said. The system enabling suppliers to submit their invoices to ministries and statutory boards via a common online portal will "enhance the efficiency" of transactions, a ministry statement said on Wednesday. Citing the benefits, the ministry said, "Suppliers can expect prompt payment in accordance with agreed terms." "E-Invoicing eliminates the risk of misplacement of hardcopy invoices," it noted. Briefings have been conducted with suppliers to facilitate the phasing in of the system. There will be a transition period of six months until October. "A small group of suppliers who may face practical constraints in doing e-Invoicing" are excluded from the system at this stage, the ministry said. They include vendors registered or located overseas, newspaper delivery agents, bus operators and canteen operators.

From http://www.chinapost.com.tw/ 05/01/2008

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VIET NAM: IT Groups Target Small- And Medium Enterprises

HCM City (VNA)- Global information technology (IT) giants on May 14 flocked to a Ho Chi Minh City symposium to find out how Vietnamese small- and medium sized enterprises¡¯ (SMEs) use IT. The symposium attracted companies including Microsoft, SAP, HP, Eaton-MGE, HPT Software, Global Cybersoft and Oracle. Microsoft SMEs Department Marketing Director Pham Tran Anh said his company intend to provide programs to support SME¡¯s in finding software solutions and investing in copyrighted software. The offer is considered a symbol of appreciation for Vietnam ¡¯s success in reducing the rate of copyright violations, from 92 percent in 2003 to 88 percent in 2006, and implementing its commitment to the international community. IDG reported that sales of computers in Vietnam increased by 34 percent year on year since the beginning of 2008, ranking second in the region after Indonesia. Meanwhile, sales of servers surged 65.2 percent, topping the Asia-Pacific region. Such statistics are seen as indicators of strong growth in the application of information technology and telecommunications among enterprises. IDC predicts Vietnam will emerge as the region¡¯s most dynamic IT market from 2007-11, with an annual growth rate estimated at 7.9 percent. The exhibition-symposium in SME¡¯s IT use will close on May 15.-Enditem

From http://www.vnagency.com.vn/ 05/14/2008

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BANGLADESH: Intel to Help Bangladesh Bridge Digital Divide

Intel Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the education ministry for supplying 1,000 personal computers to schools in Bangladesh¡¯s 64 districts as part of its plan to introduce information technology based education programme in the country. Following its announcement made last September for introducing Intel World Ahead Programme in Bangladesh, Intel has also signed MoU with other agencies to ensure cost effective Internet connectivity at these schools. Intel's World Ahead Programme General Manager John E. Davies, who is spearheading the assignment, is currently visiting the country to give the programme a kick-start. ¡°Understanding a country takes six to 12 months. But when it gets going, the programme speeds up with the help of right partners to implement it," Davies said. Intel is also discussing with the education ministry about accommodating its education content in the curriculum and how to train the teachers for the World Ahead Programme. Davies noted that the cost of Internet connection in Bangladesh is incredibly high compared to the rest of the world. This is why Intel is looking for other ways to provide education contents in the most cost effective way. "For instance, there could be local caching service. Contents like math or science may be kept in the local server so that students can access them without any Internet connection," he said. Intel has signed agreements with Grameen Solutions and Bangladesh Telecentre Network to set up telecentres that will offer an array of services to the public. Intel will be offering a model to help the country's goal of setting up 40,000 such centres across the country by 2011. "The personal computer will be a service delivery platform for farmers, workers, students and all kinds of people.

They can have interactive telemedicine services, register land, file application for passport, access market information, library and other things," Davies said. Some of these services are already being provided by different agencies. "Our model will accommodate future demands and technological requirements," he added. The other issue Intel is looking at is how to provide cost effective computers to rural students. Intel has already developed low power computer processors which helped manufacturing of the second generation $250 "Classmate" computers, shock-proof and spill-proof PCs for students. This price tag is half of that of notebook computers. Davies said the third generation processor "Atom" for Classmate PCs will be available from July next and it will make these computers more powerful and cost efficient. "These computers will encourage kids to go to school," he said. "Intel's SKOOL is a package of program that combines math, physics, chemistry, biology etc. This will be made available. We will have it converted in Bangla. We are looking for partners to do it," he said. Davies noted that in the last four years, Intel has given 40 million computers to different countries under the World Ahead Programme and trained five million teachers. "This programme is evolving continuously," he said. Last September, Intel Corporation Chairman Dr Craig Barrett announced introduction of its World Ahead Programme to be implemented in Bangladesh jointly with Grameen Solutions in collaboration with the government. Dr Barrett noted that ICT gives four impacts on the society--education, economic development, healthcare and e-governance.

From http://southasia.oneworld.net/ 04/01/2008

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INDIA: Indian Railways to Adopt New Bidding Process for HR Online Project

The Indian Railways is planning to introduce human resource management functions to an IT platform in the department. In this regard, the Indian Railways is adopting a new bidding process for interested IT firms. The Railways has decided to implement the project on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis. The adoption of BOOT model will spare Railways from making any heavy upfront investments. From a Railways perspective, the cost would be spread over a longer period and subject to satisfactory project implementation. This is the first software project for the Railways to be taken up on a BOOT basis. IT companies like SAP and PeopleSoft have applied for the project. Also IT firms that that have envinced interest in implementing the project include TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, Siemens, Microsoft, IBM and CapGemini. The project will help the Railways serve its 1.4 million employees and one million pensioners in a better manner. The project would also have specially designed e-learning packages. The project will also identify staff who have not received specific trainings and arrange trainings accordingly. The IT arm of Indian Railways, CRIS, would be implementing the project. The Railways is preparing the bid document and finalising the qualifying criteria and service level agreements for bidders.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 03/27/2008

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Salem Corporation Launches Computerised Tax Collection Centre

Salem Corporation is moving one step ahead in making paperless administration with the launch of computerised tax collection centre in Salem. Soon Salem residents will be able to pay their property tax, professional tax, water charges and various other fees through online using credit cards. The corporation has also launched a new website www.salemcorporation.gov.in with more facilities and user-friendly menus. The Corporation has already begun computerised tax collection and online registration of births and deaths. The website will facilitate online registration of grievances, downloading of tender documents and various applications and self-assessment of property tax, besides providing information about various schemes and activities of the civic body. Through the website, hospitals can also register births and deaths online. The civic body is also holding talks with banks in the city to enable people to pay the taxes through the banks. It is developing applications for speedy issuance of building plan approvals, registration of grievances through SMS and renewal of various licences. Later on the civic body is planning to introduce bio-metric attendance system for civic officials, payroll applications and online tendering system.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/15/2008

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India: BMC Ties Up Sify to Provide E-Services

Civic Body, Bombay Municipality Corporation (BMC), India partnered with Sify to allow citizens of Mumbai to easy access to range of services, like payment of water and property tax, renewal of licences. Under this partnership, BMC will provide these services through its 250 i-way cyber cafes across Mumbai. The tie-up will allow citizens of Mumbai easy access to a range of services, from lodging a complaint and tracking its status, payment of water and property tax, to renewal of licences and applying for birth/death certificates, at their time and bidding. Currently, the Citizens Facilitation Centres at the 24 ward offices are open only from 9 am to 2 pm on working days. The cyber cafes located at an average distance of 4 km will be open from nine to nine everyday, including holidays and Sundays. Citizens who have account in State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Union bank and the Industrial Development Bank of India can also make online payments. According to the partnership, all cafes have to display the BMC logo along with a list of various services and charges, the fee charged per transaction and precautions to be observed by users while making online payments.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/23/2008

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Land Records to Be Digitised Within a Month in Andhra Pradesh

Within a month Andhra Pradesh will digitise all the land records in the state. This is expected to bring about transparency and fairness in land deals. The scanning of land records have almost been completed and they are in the process of being hosted on the website. To discuss various issues related to survey, records and titles an international symposium was organised on "Contemporary trends in Cadastral Surveys and Land Titling" by the Department of Land Resources, Government of India and the Department of Survey and Land Records, Government of Andhra Pradesh on 28th and 29th of April. The deliberations of this symposium is sent as recommendations to the Government of India to formulate a national policy.

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 04/30/2008

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Ctrl S Signs MoU with IBM

Ctrl S Data Centers Ltd., the Pioneers in Tier IV data centre In India, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IBM. Under the terms of the MoU, the scope will include, marketing of data centres to customers, channels, and franchisees across India. The MoU with IBM will give Ctrl S a national footprint, enabling the company to provide state¨Cof-the art data centre services to a wider customer base. The customers of Ctrl S will now enjoy the benefits of having a single point of contact for all their data centre needs. This symbiosis is all set to bring about a revolution in the data centre market, with Ctrl S coming to table with top quality data centre solutions and IBM with its experience, reach and expertise. Ctrl S Data Centers Ltd. is promoted by the Pioneer Group along with IDBI and Och-Ziff- a New York based global fund. The group has interests in IT and Property Development, and has existing relationships with 20 of the top 100 organisations in India

From http://www.egovonline.net/ 05/20/2008

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PAKISTAN: Acer Holds Incentive Programme 2008

ISLAMABAD (May 11 2008): Acer Computers Pakistan and Middle East recently held two extravagant events, Acer Channel Awards 2007 and launch of Acer Incentive programme 2008 in Lahore and Karachi. Jacob Varghese, Regional Manager, Acer Computers Pakistan and Middle East specially came to Pakistan for the said events. According to Country Manager Zahid Mehmood, the company is in process of finalising development partnership with a social organisation based in Pakistan, UAE, Canada, and UK. The organisation, which Acer was going to support the areas of education, technical education, and health. "Therefore Acer is joining them in discharging its corporate social responsibility," he added. He said around 150 participants of Acer Active, Acer Points, Acer Distributors and Executive Team and AME Team participated in the events. Acer Awards were given to top three dealers on the basis of performance from selected cities.

From http://www.brecorder.com/ 05/11/2008

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Mobile Firms Asked to Provide SIMs Only to Identified Persons

ISLAMABAD (May 27 2008): President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi, in a meeting with Director Enforcement Colonel Shafiq Abbasi, has underlined the need for taking strict measures to control spread of mobile SIMs to unidentified persons. According to a press release, he said there was no policy for the issuance of restricted number of SIMs to individual user, as a result single individual users have got issued large number of SIMs on single name. He said that crime rate was increasing because of issuance of a large number of SIMs to unidentified persons, adding that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) should devise a clear policy for the issuance of SIMs to identified person through verification by Nadra. President ICCI suggested that before providing a connection, online verification should be done and maximum Five SIMs may be allowed to one user. Muhammad Ijaz Abbasi said that automatic activation of answering machine on PTCL landline on not attending a call is totally unjustified, because on this the caller has to bear call charges. He said that PTCL should provide this facility on demand only, and it should be removed from all landline numbers, the press release added. He further said that charges on local landline calls two rupees per two minutes by PTCL put a burden on the monthly bills and demanded that duration should be increased to 5 minutes instead of 2 minutes. President ICCI assured of his full cooperation to PTA for controlling issuance of SIMs to unidentified persons and stressed that no company or franchisee should be allowed to allot a SIM to unidentified person. Shafiq Abbasi, Director Enforcement told the ICCI president that mobile companies have issued a huge number of SIMs to unidentified persons and it is becoming difficult to trace out the exact user of SIM. He said PTA has cancelled the license of about 10 franchise companies, to control circulation of SIMs of unidentified persons and informed that according to a survey 60 per cent crimes were managed through mobile phone. At the end of the meeting PTA and ICCI singed an agreement to instruct mobile companies to put a check on the issuance of SIMs to unidentified persons, it added.

From http://www.brecorder.com/ 05/27/2008

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AFGHANISTAN: 80% Stake in Telecom Up for Grabs

Afghanistan¡¯s Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) has published a Request for Expressions of Interest (REI) in the sale of 80% of fixed line incumbent Afghan Telecom. Interested parties have until 4 April to register their interest. According to TeleGeography¡¯s GlobalComms database Afghan Telecom operates a digital network in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif where national and international satellite links have been established. Kabul has a 12,000 capacity fixed line switch with around 7,000 active lines, while Herat has a 60,000 fixed line system and Mazar the capacity for around 4,000 connections. AT also operates an analogue system in the capital with an estimated 8,000 lines; work is underway to convert these to digital. There is a VSAT network between Kabul and four main cities, currently being expanded to additional provincial capitals. In March 2007 the MCIT posted an investment opportunity on its website for the reconfiguration of Afghan Telecom's legacy CDMA and fixed line network. According to the government body, AT has a CDMA network with a capacity of 225,000 lines (via 85 BTSs) and 101,400 fixed lines, which it required to be split into two separate networks. The first will become a national wireless pre-paid CDMA network and the second will offer fixed line voice and data services in six provinces, in addition to CDMA based wireless services.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 03/19/2008

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AZERBAIJAN£ºNar Mobile and Ericsson Sign USD100 Million Contract

Azerbaijan¡¯s third biggest cellco by subscribers Azerfon, which trades under the Nar Mobile name, has inked a contract with Ericsson for the supply of base stations and switching equipment, worth around USD100 million. The new kit will enable the operator to increase its capacity to 1.5 million subscribers and expand coverage to 95% of the population. Azerfon launched GSM services on 21 March 2007, making it the market¡¯s most recent entrant. According to TeleGeography¡¯s GlobalComms database, it had signed up an estimated 500,000 customers by the end of 2007, after just nine months of operation.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 04/02/2008

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IRAQ: Zain to Employ Nokia Siemens for Expansion Work

Zain Iraq, the country¡¯s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has contracted European vendor Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for a USD150 million job to expand capacity and simplify and modernise the existing core network. Further details were not provided. According to TeleGeography¡¯s GlobalComms database, Zain Iraq was formed at the end of 2007 when cellco MTC Atheer adopted the corporate brand of parent company, the Zain Group of Kuwait, formerly MTC. MTC Atheer won a 15-year national cellular licence in August 2007 for USD1.25 billion. The parent company acquired rival Iraqna from Egyptian group Orascom late last year for USD1.2 billion, and has since consolidated the two networks. The unified infrastructure served well over seven million customers at the end of 2007, a market share of 57%.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 05/12/2008

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IRAN£ºMegafon to Apply for Licence

Russian cellco MegaFon intends to bid for Iran¡¯s fourth national mobile licence when it becomes available, following the opening of a branch office in Tehran (reported in CommsUpdate yesterday). The Iranian government is expected to offer a new mobile licence later this year, with the new licensee competing with established operators TCI, MTN Irancell and Taliya.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 05/14/2008

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KAZAKHSTAN£ºVimpelcom to Manage Sky Mobile

Russian cellco Vimpelcom has announced that its Kazakhstan subsidiary KaR-Tel has signed a management agreement with Sky Mobile in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. Sky offers GSM services under the banner Bitel and was Kyrgyzstan¡¯s leading cellco by subscribers at the end of 2007, according to TeleGeography¡¯s GlobalComms database, with 1.13 million customers and a 59% market share. Pursuant to the agreement, KaR-Tel will exclusively assist in the operation and management of Sky 's network and the provision of products and services in Kyrgyzstan. After a five-year ownership dispute involving several large Russian and Kazakh firms, Vimpelcom claims that Sky Mobile is now 100%-owned by Crowell Investments, which also owns 50% less one share of KaR-Tel's parent company, Limnotex Development. Vimpelcom indirectly owns the remaining 50% plus one share of Limnotex. In February 2008, Vimpelcom lent Crowell USD350 million for 18 months at an interest rate of 10% per annum. As collateral, Crowell granted Vimpelcom a security interest over 25% of the shares of Limnotex, and two call options over the entire issued share capital of Sky Mobile. The ownership of Sky Mobile is still disputed by Russian group Mobile TeleSystems (MTS).

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 04/17/2008

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TAJIKISTAN: MTS Eyes Babilon

Russian wireless group Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is reported to be discussing the acquisition of a majority stake in Tajikistan¡¯s largest cellco by subscribers, Babilon. Bezkhod Faizullayev, 60% owner of the Tajik cellco, has confirmed talks are ongoing but declined to provide further details. If negotiations are successful, the purchase would give MTS a footprint over much of the CIS region, with existing coverage of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan and Armenia. Babilon was reported to have around 700,000 wireless subscribers at the end of last year.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 04/16/2008

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Huawei Presents New Computer Technologies at Dushanbe Secondary School

Presentation of new computer technologies and video system produced by China¡¯s Huawei was held at secondary school # 86 in Dushanbe on May 13, according to the Ministry of Education (MoE). The source at a MoE said the presentation had been held by Huawei representative, Mr. Ma Guani, who has been on his working visit to Tajikistan. During the presentation, it was noted that use of such technologies helps control internal activity of educational facility and conduct open lesson. Last year, during President Rahmon¡¯s visit to China, Huawei donated more than 100 computers to the MoE. The computers were distributed to school # 86 in Dushanbe, two schools in Qurghon Teppa and the center for gifted children in Dushanbe, the source said. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd is the largest networking and telecommunications equipment supplier in China and one of the world leaders in this industry. Established in 1988 by Ren Zhengfei, Huawei Technologies is a private high-tech enterprise which specializes in research and development (R&D), production and marketing of communications equipments, and providing customized network solutions for telecom carriers.(by Mavjouda Hasanova)

From http://www.asiaplus.tj/ 05/15/2008

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TURKEY: Avea Expects MNP in October

Avea, the smallest of Turkey¡¯s three cellular operators, says it expects mobile number portability (MNP) to finally be implemented in October this year. The cellco is predicting that ten million users will change their service provider. ¡®Number portability is important especially for young operators in the market,¡¯ Cuneyt Turktan, CEO of Avea, says. MNP was originally expected to be introduced last year but was postponed when the country¡¯s largest mobile operator, Turkcell, said that number porting systems were not ready.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 03/17/2008

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IPO Could Be Delayed by Market Conditions

The Turkish government could postpone the planned initial public offer (IPO) of shares in Turk Telekom should market conditions not be favourable. A report from local newspaper Zaman quotes Transport Minister Binali Yildirim as saying: ¡®If the market is dead we will not do the offering. If the market is lively it will be carried out. The basis of the IPO is the public interest and we will look at that.¡¯ The government is planning a sale of around 15% to 20% of Turk Telekom¡¯s stock in May. A 55% stake has already been sold to Dubai-based telecoms investment firm Oger Telecom.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 04/08/2008

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Turk Telekom to Sue Cellular Rival

Turk Telekom is to sue the country¡¯s largest mobile operator, Turkcell, for offering anti-competitive service packages. The fixed line telco claims that Turkcell is pricing its packages below the termination fees charged to other operators, making it impossible for rivals to compete on an equal footing, Reuters reports. Turk Telekom is Turkey¡¯s dominant wireline operator and is also present in the country¡¯s cellular market through its part-owned subsidiary, Avea. Turkcell has yet to comment on the charges.

From http://www.telegeography.com/ 04/09/2008

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Market for Online Ticket Sales Needs to Grow

In the pre-Internet era one needed to wait in long queues and even to spend a whole night in front of the box office just to get one ticket for local or international events but as online ticketing gains popularity, all one needs for hot tickets these days is Internet access. There is tough cyber competition between customers ¨C especially for football match tickets ¨C since only 10,000 tickets are available at most. It is estimated that the total volume of the ticket sales market is $10 million ¨C including call centers, mobile phones, kiosks, ATM's and online ticketing. $9.4 spent per ticket: The average amount of money paid by Turks per year is relatively low compared to other parts of the world. Turks paid only $9.4 in 2005 compared to $12.1 paid by Egyptians, $15.4 by Greeks, $323 by Russians and over $1,000 by Americans, according to a report by online ticket Web site Biletix in October 2005. The Biletix report predicted that Turkey's ticket sales must amount to at least $68 considering that Turks spend $2.39 on CDs on average. In any case online ticketing as a developing market requires further investment.

¡°We sign deals with football clubs for three years, whereas only one-year deals can be signed with theaters. We sold approximately 1 million tickets last year and expect to sell the same amount this year,¡± said G§îlseren Onan§Ù, the largest shareholder of TicketT§îrk, one of Turkey's online ticket providers with a market volume of 20-25 percent. ¡°The growth of TicketT§îrk heavily depends on the growth of concept developers and organizers. However, there has been no remarkable growth in the sector within the last four years when we first started to operate. The market is occupied by oligopolies which does not allow new investors to enter,¡± she said. Kemal Erdine, vice chairman of Biletix, said online ticket sales are a part of the entertainment industry. ¡°Similar to tourism agencies that promote plane tickets, we sell tickets for events. In doing so, the most important part of the job is done by professionals. As it costs a lot to sell tickets through call centers, Internet and ticket offices, not every organizer can afford the financial burden,¡± said Erdine. 'Biletix an example of administrative success': Biletix was established by two Canadians, Dave Dorner and Ali Abhary, with the partnership of Turkey's largest conglomerate, Ko§Ù Group, at the end of 1990s.

It was sold to an American entertainment ticketing and marketing company, Ticketmaster, in 2006. ¡°Biletix is an example of administrative success which has to be a lecture topic,¡± said Erdine. Ko§ÙSistem and Ko§ÙNet provide technical infrastructure for Biletix, even though the partnership between the two companies came to an end couple of years ago. ¡°Ko§Ù Holding has infrastructure investments in the field of information technology. Thus, Biletix does not fit with the strategy of Ko§Ù Group. Also, it became to our advantage to be transferred to Ticketmaster,¡± said Erdine. Ticketmaster, which prefers not to change the company title in its service area, operates under the name of Biletix, which has become a benchmark in Turkey. Biletix has two main rivals today. One is TicketT§îrk, established in 2004; the other is Reysa§ð-owned MyBilet that started to operate in 1999. Biletnet, which is mostly responsible from the sales of State Opera and Ballet's tickets, drags behind in the competition. These companies sell tickets for cultural activities in general, such as cinema and concerts, as well as sports activities including football and basketball in particular.

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), §¿§ð Sanat Arts and Culture Center, Akbank Art Center, Borusan Culture and Arts (BKS) and Cemal Re§ðit Rey Concert Hall, including some other companies that organize popular cultural events in different cities are the foundations that ticket companies mostly work together. Turkey's biggest cities, Istanbul, §¿zmir and Ankara, provide the greatest demand for online ticket sales. The Aegean and Mediterranean coats also attract demand, especially in the summer. The online ticketing service will eventually grow as the number of activities in different regions increases. Low demand for tickets to fairs: Biletix sold tickets for the Information Technologies Fair once as well as for the Boat Fair and the Automobile Show, said Semiray Karako§Ù Onur, director of retail sales and the call center at Biletix. ¡°The fair business in Turkey is something that we do not know well. But we can sell their tickets if they come with such a demand,¡± she said. Besides, fair organizers in Turkey distribute several invitations, which make it unappealing for ticket companies to enter this market as there is not sufficient demand for them to make profit. Whereas in Europe, people follow fairs regularly and buy tickets several days in advance, said Erdine.

As the Turkish Competition Board (RK) does not allow deals longer than five years, most of the ticket companies have to sign one and/or two-year deals with the organizers, except ones like MyBilet, which is also responsible from the provision of software service to cinemas. Prestige for the company: ¡°State Opera and Ballet sells half of its tickets online. We don't charge a service fee but only small amount for technical infrastructure that we offer. This will be prestigious for our corporation. However, we cannot sell that amount of concert tickets as we sell in cinema and theaters sectors,¡± said Leyla §¾nal, responsible of marketing department at MyBilet. ¡°MyBilet's annual ticket sales totaled 2.14 million last year, while the company reached 74 percent of this amount in the first four months of this year,¡± she said. Having more than 40 ticket offices, Biletix aims to increase the number of box offices in tourist regions depending on the number of summer organizations. Some 60-65 percent of total tickets are sold at retail sale points. Meanwhile, Internet sales cover 25 percent, while call center meets 15 percent of overall demand. Football matches meet half of annual sales, while other half comes from arts activities. ¡°The market volume is approximately 10 million when cinema tickets are excluded. We predict that three major ticket companies sell and distribute 45 percent of total tickets through online sale system,¡± said Onan§Ù.

From http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/ 05/19/2008

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TURKMENISTAN£ºMTS Launches Wireless Internet in Turkmenistan

Russian company MTS has started to provide internet services for its subscribers in Turkmenistan, Prime Tass reports quoting Dmitriy Shukov, head of the MTS Ashgabat office. According to him, 300 enterprises and organizations of Turkmenistan can access internet through GPRS/EDGE. MTS plans to offer internet services to physical persons in May 2008. MTS has also applied to a relevant body for a license to introduce Wi-MAX in Turkmenistan. MTS has been instructed by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedoov to ensure that every citizen of Turkmenistan have got an access to internet, Dmitriy Shukov said. MTS has secured a share of 85% at the cellular communication market of Turkmenistan. The number of MTS subscribers has reached 476,7 thousand. MTS covers up to 33% of the country's territory. It is expected that MTS will invest US $ 70 million in 2008 to develop cellular communication in Turkmenistan.

From http://www.turkmenistan.ru/ 04/18/2008

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UZBEKISTAN£ºHeliosNet to Participate in Development of Telecom Infrastructure in Uzbekistan

Web Media Services, one of the largest Russian independent satellite operators, will participate in joint programs to develop telecommunication infrastructure in Uzbekistan. The company, which provides services under the HeliosNet brand, plans to invest up to USD 20 million in the Uzbek economy during three years. The announcement was made at the seminar in Tashkent organized by the Commerce and Industry Chamber of Uzbekistan and Web Media Services. HeliosNet provides services related to organizing corporate networks, IP telephony, videoconferencing, distance education and high-speed internet access.

From http://uza.uz/ 04/09/2008

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AUSTRALIA: Industry and Government Charting Digital TV Switchover

Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, today met with the Industry Advisory Group, charting the transition to digital television. ¡°Digital switchover will be finalised by the end of 2013, however we still need to convert the nearly 60 per cent of Australians who currently do not receive digital free to air broadcasts,¡± Senator Conroy said. ¡°There is a global trend towards digital television and it is important Australia is not left behind. The Digital Switchover Taskforce has been established to ensure a strategic approach and the Industry Advisory Group will play a key role supporting and advising its efforts.¡± ¡°Broadcasters, retailers, manufacturers, antenna technicians, public and commercial housing agencies as well as government departments all have a role to play in the digital TV switchover.

Analog televisions, VCRs and other analog recording devices will need to be upgraded, in order to receive and record digital free to air broadcasts,¡± Senator Conroy said. The Industry Advisory Group comprises representatives from the broadcasting, manufacturing, retail, regulatory and property management sectors (see full list see below). ¡°The Digital Switchover Taskforce will partner with industry to provide reliable information to consumers in the lead-up to digital switchover. The Industry Advisory Group will contribute on a range of issues, including a detailed switchover timetable, communications, research and practical implementation,¡± Senator Conroy said. Last month, the Rudd Government announced a $37.9 million strategy to ensure a smooth transition to digital TV.

The strategy comprises: $8.5 million for the Australian Communications and Media Authority to undertake technical switchover-related projects, including an evaluation of digital TV transmission and reception throughout Australia. $4.8 million for a ¡®Digital Tracker¡¯ to assess issues such as public awareness of digital switchover, intention of households to convert and actual conversion rates. $1 million over two years for research into digital reception problems in multi-unit dwellings with a shared TV antenna system. $6.7 million for an awareness campaign ensuring Australian consumers can be informed and confident about what products will suit their needs.

$16.9 million for the Digital Switchover Taskforce, which will coordinate the switchover program within the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Digital switchover is important for all Australians as it not only provides access to such things as better picture and sound quality and additional channels but it will also free-up spectrum which can be used for the delivery of new and improved broadcasting and communications services.More information on the digital switchover program can be found at www.digitalswitchover.gov.au

From http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au 04/09/2008

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Queensland Local Body Develops Open-Source CMS

A lack of a suitable record-keeping web content management system has led one Queensland local government council to develop its own application, which has since been released as an open-source project. Thuringowa City Council in mid-North Queensland was looking to deploy an enterprise content management system with the same capacity to keep records of web content with similar integrity as other types of more regulated content like email and financial documents. However, when the idea surfaced three years ago, there was no significant budget for such a project and council did not perceive the project as a huge requirement. The council's web developer, Scott Barnett, then evaluated a number of open-source ECMs and discovered that the main constraint among them was a lack of support for record keeping. "We ended up saying it would be too difficult to modify an existing application as they couldn't publish binary files in a record keeping environment," Barnett says. To solve the problem, Barnett, with support from his employer, began development of the Stronghold CMS with open source components to ensure records for web documents were supported inside the application.

"We developed a beta and presented it to management and they thought it was cool and started saying we needed it yesterday," he says. After an initial pilot phase, Stronghold went into production about two years ago and there are now some 50 people using it throughout the council. "It's been a frustrating journey from our perspective, as a lot of content systems were designed with technology in mind, but we are concerned with publishing and business processes," Barnett says. Stronghold is written in PHP, with the primary database being PostgreSQL. Support for Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server will be in the next release which is due this month. Barnett describes Stronghold as providing wiki-style editing of documents, but more user-friendly, as wikis have no standard way of storing the data which may need to be retrieved in the future. Once developed, the council did not want Barnett to work on Stronghold full-time so, after some deliberation, the decision was made to release the application as an open-source product under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3.

"The council was very apprehensive to release it as an open-source project and approval had to come down from executive level," he says. The project has since been transferred to Sourceforge.net's application repository, but as it is still new, most development is still being done by Barnett. "We are waiting for a few big organisations to deploy it," he says. "It's really early days, but there is lots of interest." Stronghold is meant to be an encompassing system for all websites and is designed so it takes care of all web technology for external-facing content. It also features an import spider which can be pointed to an existing Web site to import it into Stronghold. Barnett says Stronghold abstracts the dynamically generated data from the presentation so an organisation can have a completely different design standard that skins the site. Thuringowa is preparing to merge with the larger Townsville City Council as part of a local government amalgamation program and Stronghold is set to replace an in-house web CMS at the merged entity. "The amalgamation has already begun, but they [Townsville] were very hesitant to deploy anything open-source and there is still a lot of fear," Barnett says. Stronghold will be deployed on Microsoft's SQL Server database on Windows Server at Townsville.

From http://computerworld.co.nz/ 03/01/2008

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NEW ZEALAND: Kiwi ICT Stacks Up Well in Global Survey

New Zealand has again placed 22nd in a global survey that ranks countries on their ability to benefit from new information and communications technology. The World Economic Forum's annual information technology report compiles information from 127 countries and aims to assess the impact of IT and telecoms on their development and competitiveness. Switzerland-based WEF considered the business and regulatory environments in the countries it covered, the readiness of individuals, businesses and government to exploit opportunities and actual usage of the latest IT and communications technology (ICT). New Zealand's 22nd placing is no change from last year's survey, although the ranking fell from 21st in the 2005/06 report. One area where the Kiwi ICT environment fell down badly was in the category ranking quality of ISP competition - with a ranking of 106. New Zealand came second to the Netherlands in terms of internet saturation, with 6.32 internet users per 100 inhabitants. A category that counts the number of procedures needed to start a business saw New Zealand tied with Canada and Australia in first place. But overall, Denmark topped the list for the second year in a row. Australia came in at 14th place, improving on last year's 15th. Seven of the top 10 in the WEF's so-called networked readiness index were European. The United States was ranked fourth and Singapore fifth, with South Korea leaping to number nine from 19 last year, displacing Britain. "The successful experience of the Nordic countries, Singapore, the United States or Korea shows that a coherent government vision on the importance of ICT, coupled with an early focus on education and innovation, are key not only for spurring networked readiness, but also to lay the foundations for sustainable growth," said Irene Mia, a senior WEF economist and co-editor of the report. The WEF said it used public data in compiling its report as well as conducting its own survey of executive opinion on institutional and business environment issues, in conjunction with leading research institutes and business organisations. This year's survey was sponsored by Cisco, the world's biggest maker of internet routers and switchers.

From http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ 04/10/2008

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OECD Ranking a Slight Improvement ¨C InternetNZ

InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased that New Zealand has slightly improved its broadband ranking in the latest OECD Broadband Statistics Report. The statistics, for the half year to December 2007, show New Zealand now places 19th of 30 OECD countries in broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 18.3 out of 100 inhabitants now have a broadband connection, compared with the OECD country average of 20. There are 757,132 broadband subscribers in New Zealand. InternetNZ Executive Director Keith Davidson attributes the lift in New Zealand broadband subscribers to recent regulatory reforms, which InternetNZ has lobbied long and hard for. ¡°Over the course of the last year InternetNZ has made extensive and detailed submissions to Government on the operational separation of Telecom.

¡°Separation Day has now occurred and we expect this will result in a more competitive telecommunications market, which should be reflected in subsequent OECD broadband statistics.¡± Davidson is encouraged by figures showing New Zealand is the 6th fastest growing OECD country in terms of broadband penetration. There has been a net increase of 4.37 subscribers per 100 inhabitants. ¡°If New Zealand maintains this rate of growth then it will continue to slowly improve its position relative to other OECD nations. But, to fully leapfrog into the top half of the OECD, substantial investment and subscriber uptake in a ubiquitous open access fibre network is required. ¡°Fibre accounts for 8 percent of all broadband connections in the OECD, but in New Zealand fibre connections are negligible.¡±

From http://www.scoop.co.nz 05/20/2008

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Tech Allies Lay out Big Vision

AUSTRALIAN IT industry groups have begun a drive to reshape government information and communications technology policy, launching a 10-year vision for the sector. 'Brochure-ware': Bruce McCabe The document, issued by the National ICT Industry Alliance, lays out 12 targets that the organisation believes are essential for Australia's economic prosperity, including the development of a national, high-speed broadband network. The paper, known simply as the 10-year ICT strategic vision has, however, been dismissed as "brochure-ware" and has been criticised, along with previous industry statements, as not offering concrete plans for encouraging innovation in Australia. NICTIA president Tony Hill acknowledged that previous ICT industry vision statements had failed to spur change, but said the outcome would be different this time, thanks to the number of technology industry organisations that had backed the paper. "Twenty organisations in the ICT sector in Australia have come together for the first time to launch a strategic vision, and we think that's a very powerful message to the Australian community and governments," Mr Hill said. Organisations that have backed the statement include the Australian Computer Society, Internet Industry Association, and the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association.

Notably, the Australian Information Industry Association has not endorsed the vision despite sharing many of the views contained in the document. NICTIA lays out 12 goals it considers critical to ensuring that Australia's technology industries remain competitive in years to come. These include: Development of a national ICT brand supported by the state and federal governments. Regulatory policies that do not impede innovation and investment in high technology. Collaboration between the industry, governments and the education sector to produce a world leading ICT skills base. The emergence of small and medium enterprises capable of competing successfully in global markets. Construction of national broadband infrastructure. NICTIA does not provide any strategies for achieving its vision. Mr Hill and ACS president Philip Argy instead said that they wanted the document to become a "touchstone" that governments referred to when developing policies. S2 Intelligence managing director Bruce McCabe applauded the industry groups for delivering a unified vision, but labelled the statement "brochure-ware" and argued that the industry needed to use its newly combined voice to make compelling arguments.

"We love our vision statements and positioning frameworks and we're long on them because they're easy to write," Mr McCabe said. "But the big question is, what's the plan?" Mr McCabe suggested specific strategies could include shifting the focus of research in university computer science departments to developing commercially relevant technologies, and encouraging investment in growth areas such as sustainability. He said ICT industry groups needed to demonstrate the importance of technology to the broader community and be more effective as a voting block. "Don't talk about the ICT industry," Mr McCabe said. "No one cares. Talk about healthcare. Talk about the future of the economy and how broken it's going to be if we don't get it right. Get it relevant to the wider community, get specific about what you want to see in hard policy before the election. Challenge both parties to come up with it, and challenge everyone to vote with those that do." Software engineer and vocal ACS critic Tony Healy delivered a more scathing review of the vision statement. "This is a useless document promoting concepts dear to the hearts of bureaucrats. They want central planning, red tape and government funding," Mr Healy said. "None of those moves will improve Australian innovation. The fact is that world-class innovation, like Google, stands on its own feet. It doesn't succeed through marketing."

From http://australianit.news.com.au/ 05/22/2007

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NEW ZEALAND: Broadband Wireless Spectrum Auction Process Starts

Broadband wireless access (BWA) services will be boosted by the new allocation of 2.3 GHz spectrum, Communications Minister David Cunliffe says. "Management rights bands in the 2.3 GHz spectrum band will be allocated as soon as practicable, enabling emerging wireless broadband technologies such as WiMAX," the minister said. "BWA technology for this band is only just starting to become available. It is critical that we create the right conditions for its future deployment by giving a range of players the opportunity and the certainty they need to make a long-term investment." Details of the proposed auction are now available for comment prior to final government decisions being taken on the auction arrangements. The overall process of increasing spectrum availability for BWA services was announced in December 2006 with the publication of a series of Cabinet decisions. "This announcement gives more details on the specific auction arrangements and timing for the 2.3 GHz band. "While some of the spectrum rights to be allocated may not commence until 2010, the early auction will allow purchasers to plan their implementation with certainty. "We need advanced broadband services and wireless technologies are a part of the overall mix that can help us achieve this. This allocation of