The worldwide drive for e-government has produced a host of
innovative technology applications. Ian Murphy looks at some of the
best that is on offer
Broadband over fibre
South Korea
In October the UK government announced proudly that the UK had more
than one million broadband connections. It estimated that 5%
households now have fast Internet access.
In South Korea, however, 67% of households have broadband with most
using 2mbps connections, four times faster than the UK's standard
512kbps.
South Korea's dramatic uptake of broadband is, according to a study
by the Department of Trade & Industry and Brunel University, a
result of government commitment, a cultural emphasis on the value
of education and high housing density.
The South Korean government has prioritised the delivery of
education services to the home via the Web. It offers subsidised
computers to less well-off families and universal access to
one-month courses on how to use the PC.
It has also encouraged the rollout of optical fibre networks, which
has meant that most broadband in Korea is provided via fibre,
rather than copper.
The rapid rollout of broadband was made easier by the high-density
housing in South Korea's cities. This allowed telecoms companies to
run fibre-optic cable into apartment blocks of up to 600 households
at a time.
Tough competition in the telecoms market has kept prices down with
operators offering 2mbps services from £16 per month and 8mbps from
£22 per month.
The final boost for broadband, according to the DTI and Brunel
report, was South Koreans' enthusiasm for online-gaming - the
country has more than 21,000 clubs - and the widespread enthusiasm
for video-on-demand.
Britain has a lot of catching up to do.
Web services
Australia
Governments around the world have a vision of getting their IT
systems to link seamlessly with those of their partners in local
government, agencies and the private sector.
Australia's Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace
Relations (DEWR) has turned part of this vision into practice by
using Web services to develop its Job Network.
The department created a national network of 200 private, community
and government employment agencies across Australia.
This first meant making its own systems interoperable and then
linking them to those of its partners.
At the start of the project, the DEWR had a mix of mainframes and
ran a range of operating systems including Unix, Novell and
Microsoft.
This architecture meant that data interchange was complex and
rigidly defined.
Lowest common denominator solutions were often installed, which
reduced the functionality available to frontline staff and created
problems for developers. It also resulted in formatting problems
when data was moved between systems.
XML offered a way to overcome these problems and to share
information with external organisations.
To speed the rollout of the Job Network, the DEWR commissioned the
development of a series of Web services components, based on
Microsoft's .net architecture and .net framework.
The aim was to build a set of middleware components that could be
easily managed by developers and also provide flexibility for
software designers. The DEWR is now supplying them to other
government departments, public sector agencies, businesses and
software developers.
As a result, different organisations on the Job Network can
communicate seamlessly.
Some employers are also building the Web services components into
their human resources systems so that the Job Network can be
notified of new vacancies automatically.
The implementation of Web services means the DEWR no longer has to
worry about how changes to its systems will affect third parties.
The result is a flexible solution that works for the DEWR, other
government agencies and all third parties.
Smartcards for healthcare
France
The French government is rolling out smartcards to secure and
manage healthcare information on all its citizens.
Initially it issued more than 39 million smartcards, one to every
family, and are now extending this to cover every individual who
possesses a French social security record.
The cards hold medical data on the individual, including blood
group, allergies, drug treatments and major disorders.
A second set of cards is being rolled out to healthcare
professionals that give them access to medical databases, rights to
exchange data and to sign e-documents and e-forms.
The system is underpinned by a secure intranet that allows
healthcare providers to read smartcards and transmit data.
In addition there are almost 6,000 smartcard readers available
around the country to allow an individual to see, verify and update
information on their electronic health record.
The smartcard programme had its origins in France's medical
insurance system, which produced a mountain of paperwork.
The government estimates that more than two billion forms are
completed within the healthcare system each year, creating massive
administration and potential for fraud.
The new system is expected to produce savings of €1.22 (77 pence)
per form.
Customer relationship management
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council has put customer relationship management at the
heart of its e-government strategy.
The process began two years ago with the creation of a call centre
that offered the public a single point of contact for the council's
social services and housing departments.
This has now been extended, using CRM supplier Siebel's partnership
relationship management software, which provides a single front-end
system to the council's databases and systems.
Some 400 council staff use the system, 80 in the main call centre
and the remainder in 13 one-stop shops around the city.
One of the goals of the system is to ensure that all contact with
the council is properly recorded and managed. For example, if a
member of the public refers a child to social services, the council
can compile a complete profile of the case and the circumstances
surrounding the referral immediately.
The details are then instantly sent on to a social worker to be
followed up. The system can also ensure that the correct procedures
are acted on and in the right order.
"It is now possible to identify cases in hours as opposed to days
without the need for prolonged telephone calls and unnecessary
paperwork," a council representative says.
The council is buttressing its CRM strategy with the rollout next
year of public access terminals in libraries around Leeds and will
improve its Internet self service to the city's population.
Democracy via the Internet
Porto Alegre, Brazil
For more than a decade the city council of Porto Alegre in Brazil
has tried to involve the public in decisions about its budget and
priorities.
In the past, about 30,000 people a year have turned up to meetings
to debate local priorities and the allocation of resources, and
this process is now being underpinned by Internet technology.
Web sites and e-mail offer citizens a chance to view information
and deal with local officials. This process is backed by four call
centres that allow the local community to take part in the budget
process debate and also to access local government services ranging
from requests for street lighting or repairs, to official
documents.
The call centres are run in partnership with government,
non-governmental organisations, the private sector and community
leaders.
E-democracy in Porto Alegre is built on a strong telecommunications
backbone. The city now owns a 100km fibre-optic network using
asynchronous transfer mode technology for the transmission of voice
and data. Private telecommunications companies are now required to
install additional cable ducts for future public use in each of
their projects.
The local government has also set up an e-commerce service through
a virtual mall - Portoweb Shopping - to act as a showcase for small
entrepreneurs.