Philippine e-procurement portal to host new features

The Philippine budget department will host three new functionalities in its e- procurement portal by the end of the year to increase transparency in government procurement and bring convenience to procuring. Rosa Maria Clemente, director of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) group of the Procurement Service under the Department of Budget and Management told FutureGov the PhilGEPS is set to launch an e-bidding, expanded supplier registry and e-payment features.

PhilGEPS is accessible via http://www.philgeps.net.

“Later this year we will be implementing e-payment so the suppliers can already pay online for PhilGEPS certificate of registration as well as bidding documents . An expanded registry will allow suppliers to submit their eligibility documents such as Department of Trade and Industry or Securities and Exchange Commission registration and mayor’s permit online.”

Moreover, e-Bidding will allow suppliers to submit their technical and financial proposals online, allow the bidding and awards committee to record bid evaluation online so the information will be transparent not only to the bidders but also to the civil society organisation, auditors and to the public, she added.

In August, President Benigno Aquino III has mandated the use of the PhilGEPS for all government agencies and local government units in the country in all their purchases.

The move will translate into Php585 million (US$13 million) accumulated savings from newspaper advertising cost and Php2 billion (US$47 million) savings in terms of procurement costs.

Clemente said the directive thru Administrative Order 17 reiterates the provision of the Government Procurement Reform Act which set forth policies on transparency, competitiveness, streamlined procurement process, system of accountability and public monitoring of government procurement.

“If there is transparency we will be able to increase market competition which results in getting more quality service and better prices.”

The President’s order, reiterates the use of the PhilGEPS in the posting of all agencies’ procurement activities –from publication of bid opportunities to posting of awards and contracts, she added.

PhilGEPS presently offers five functionalities namely, Electronic Bulletin Board, Supplier’s registry, electronic catalogue, automatic bid notification and Virtual store.

There are over 11,000 government agencies and over 50,000 suppliers registered in the system.

In implementing the e-procurement system nationwide, Clemente said a government procurement law must be mandated and a policy making body should be formed.

“Not only the technology is needed; it must be coupled with a law that mandates the procurement entities to use the system. If there is no e-procurement law in the Philippines, not as much of the entities will comply.”

Clemente likewise stressed the importance of the training programmes on using PhilGEPS. She said the government trains a national pool of trainers coming from the different regions in the country.

“The civil society organisations must also be trained in using the system in order for them to monitor the procurement in the government. We have already outsourced the administration of our training to a private service provider because it needs to be conducted regularly,” she said.

futuregov.asia

Korean Prime Minister Boosts Economic Ties with Bulgaria

Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik held a news conference in Bulgaria on Tuesday announcing potential new cooperative measures in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure, e-government and agriculture.

In Sofia the prime minister held talks wtih his Bulgarian counterpart to find ways to boost economic cooperation.

One immediate agreement reached was mutual recognition of each nation's driver's licenses which goes into effect on Wednesday.

Bulgaria is seen to be rich in farmland and technology and to be the portal for South Korea into the Eastern European market.
Kim will pay a courtesy call to the Bulgarian president before heading to Ukraine.

arirang.co.kr

Estonia will help Greece to build up e-state

Juhan Parts and Pantelis Tzortsakis. Tallinn, 26.09.2011.
Фото: mkm.ee

Estonian economy minister Juhan Parts discussed possibilities of reducing corruption and bureaucracy in Greece with the help of Estonian information and communications technology (ITC) with Greek administrative reform and e-government deputy minister Pantelis Tzortsakis on Monday, the ministry said.

Parts said that when building up e-state, it is important to observe every state’s peculiarities and create solutions in line with needs.



“It is not reasonable to start inventing a bicycle but share universal solutions with each other. Many solutions that are only talked about in the rest of the world are in everyday use in Estonia,” said Parts.

Tzortsakis said that Greece uses several modern solutions but many systems are built upon old principles which is why administering them is costly. He pointed out eID and X-tee as solutions that Greece would be interested to adopt.

On September 9, Estonia and Greece signed a memorandum of reciprocal help that focuses on the cooperation of the two states to reduce corruption and bureaucracy in the ICT sphere.

baltic-course.com

Warning marks opening of New Zealand cyber security center

New Zealand's new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) officially opened Tuesday with the warning of the threat to the country's government agencies and other vital organizations of cyber attacks. Minister for Communications and Information Technology Steven Joyce said New Zealanders and the national economy were at risk from the "real and growing" global threat of cyber intrusions.

"Cyber security is becoming increasingly important for New Zealanders, businesses and government. Cyber intrusions have the potential to impact on the reliability of critical infrastructure, government services, and the economy," said Joyce.

The government's "New Zealand's Cyber Security Strategy," published in June, outlined initiatives to increase awareness and online security, to protect government systems and information, and to strengthen incident response and planning.

The NCSC was a key part of the strategy and would build on existing cyber security and information assurance capabilities to provide enhanced protection for government agencies, said Joyce.

Its three main initial functions were to provide advice and support to help develop secure networks; to detect and respond to sophisticated cyber threats; and to coordinate and assist operational responses to major cyber events of national importance.

"This is an important step in building New Zealand's capacity to protect against sophisticated cyber threats," said Joyce.

"New Zealanders will benefit from enhanced protection of government data and services, and critical national infrastructure, which will help to protect critical services."

The NCSC will be hosted within the Government Communications Security Bureau, one of New Zealand's main intelligence-gathering organizations.

philstar.com

Japan eyes cyber security boost after arms firm hacked

defense19.com : Patriot

Japan said it will consider steps to strengthen cyber security amid pressure from Washington to do more after defence contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was hacked and other arm firms said they had received virus-tainted emails.

Japanese arms makers build U.S.-designed missiles, warships and military aircraft and Mitsubishi Heavy, Japan's biggest weapons maker, has built the U.S.-designed F-15 fighter jet and missile systems including Patriot batteries under licence.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said cabinet ministers would convene as early next week to discuss ways to bolster information security.

"The government would like to unite and take possible measures against cyber attacks," he told a news conference on Tuesday.

The National Information Security Center said details on what will be discussed have yet to be decided.

Mitsubishi Heavy, which works closely with Boeing , said this month network information such as IP addresses may have been leaked but so far it has not confirmed any leaks on its products or technologies.

An outside contractor is now checking whether any sensitive data had been breached.

Mitsubishi Heavy delayed reporting the incident to Japan's defence ministry in a possible violation of its military supply contracts.

Rivals IHI Corp and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have said they have received suspicious e-mails.

It is unclear who was responsible for the attacks.

Similar attacks earlier this year, which included one on the U.S. defence industry, were said to have originated in China. Chinese authorities have denied having anything to do with those or the latest ones reported in Japan.

.reuters.com

South Korean Officials Head to UAE for e-Governance Classes

A team of 17 members have left South Korea  to UAE to learn tips on e-governance. The visitors comprised of officials who hold key positions in the South Korean government, according to WAM.

Mohamed Ismaeel, director of operations and production of the e-governance department of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, said: 'We are happy to share our knowledge in developing the e-government in the UAE. We hope our association brings out the best in e-government for both countries.'

egovonline.net

e-Register of Financial Interests in the Public Service

Integrity and ethical behaviour in the public service received a big boost with the launch of the draft policy that will lead to the eventual elimination of corrupt practices and help foster integrity among public servants. The Minister for the Public Service and Administration, joined by senior government officials, leaders of civil society, business and academia officially launched the new system today at the conclusion of the week-long Public Service Week in Velmore Estate in Centurion, Pretoria.

The e-Register of Financial Interests was introduced to delegates during the roundtable discussion session reflecting on the Public Service Week activities.

The new framework forms part of the Department of Public Service and Administration's Integrity Management Framework and will, once fully implemented, play a major role in managing potential conflict of interest among public service employees.

In terms of the e-Registration framework, which will apply to all public servants, electronic disclosures of business and financial interests will be much more stringently monitored to improve on the current system.

In his opening remarks, Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Mr Richard Baloyi, said the developments resulted from the government's zero-tolerance of corruption in the public service. "We have adopted zero levels of tolerance towards corruption and the low levels of compliance have prompted the introduction an electronic registering mechanism, the e-Register," Minister said.

On the same occasion delegates were introduced to the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) "My Public Servant, My Future" campaign whose purpose is to place public servants at the centre of delivering quality services to the citizens in line with the values of the Constitution of the Republic.

The campaign promotes maintenance of high standards of professional ethics; impartial, fair, equitable and bias-free service; efficient, economical and effective utilisation of resources.

UNPAN Africa

Azerbaijan May Become 8th Country in World to Pass E-Government Law

The Ministry of Communications & Information Technologies of Azerbaijan is drafting a bill on e-government. Deputy communications minister Elmir Velizadeh informs that the bill will define the basic concepts and provisions of e-government system.

"The bill will define the terminology and the e-government regulation, e-service concept and principles of collection and provision of personal information to citizens," he stressed.

According to the deputy minister, today only 7 countries around world have adopted e-government laws.

"As part of this bill drafting we are examining their experience in this field. There are also countries in which the main provisions of the e-government law are included in other laws and are realized successfully,” Velizadeh said.

UNPAN Asia & Pacific

David Cameron joins forces with Mexico and Indonesia to advise on euro

Prime minister spurns US and EU to try to influence G20 in letter with Indonesia, Mexico, Australia, Canada and South Korea

David Cameron believes that Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel will be interested to hear the views of Mexico and Indonesia on how to run the single currency. Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

British diplomacy has been anchored in two alliances for the past 40 years: Europe and the United States. Does David Cameron now believe that British interests lie elsewhere? The prime minister has decided to join forces with leaders from outside the US and EU to try and influence the next meeting of the G20, to be chaired by Nicolas Sarkozy, in Cannes in November. Cameron has written a joint letter to Sarkozy with the leaders of Australia, Canada, Indonesia, South Korea and Mexico which issues this warning:

We have not yet mastered the challenges of the crisis.

In the old days Britain would try to sign such a letter with the likes of the US, Japan, Germany and José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, who has a seat on the G20 on behalf of all 27 members of the EU. The raw statistics explain the pull of this group:

• The US, with a population of 313m, is the world's largest economy with a GDP of $14.66 trillion.* 
• Japan, with a population of 126m, is the world's third largest economy (behind China), with a GDP of $4.31 trillion.
• Germany, with a population of 81m, is the fourth largest economy with a GDP of $2.94 trillion.
• The EU, with a population of 501m, is the world's largest trading bloc with a GDP of $16.242 trillion.

So the size of a traditional British alliance, including the UK population and GDP, would be:

Population: 940m
GDP: $35.212 trillion

Cameron's new alliance looks like this:

• United Kingdom, with a population of 62m, is the world's sixth largest economy (now behind France) with a GDP of $2.173 trillion. 
• Canada, with a population of 34m, is the world's tenth largest economy with a GDP of $1.33 trillion.
• Australia, with a population of 21m, is the world's 13th largest economy with a GDP of $882.4bn
• Mexico, with a population of 113m, is the world's 14th largest economy with a GDP of $1.567 trillion.
• South Korea, with a population of 48m is the world's 15th largest economy with a GDP of $1.459 trillion.
• Indonesia, with a population 245m, is the world's 18th largest economy with a GDP of $1.03 trillion.

The size of Britain's new alliance, including the UK population and GDP, is:

Population: 523m
GDP: $8.441 trillion

So Cameron's new alliance is, in economic terms, around a fourth of the size of a traditional Transatlantic British alliance. So what is Cameron thinking? By joining forces with Canada and Australia is he harking back to the days when Britain thought its economic future lay in the Commonwealth?

The prime minister is a Tory romantic who probably believes that Britain treated the Commonwealth in a rather insensitive manner when it decided in the 1960s that its future lay in Europe. But he knows that his new friends will never pack a punch to rival the US and EU.

Cameron has signed up with countries further down the economic table for a very simple reason. The letter delivers a stern lecture to the 17 members of the eurozone to do more to stabilise the single currency which, in Cameron's eyes, currently poses a grave threat to world financial stability. The letter says:

Eurozone governments and institutions must act swiftly to resolve the Euro crisis and all European economies must confront the debt overhang to prevent contagion to the wider global economy. The July agreement to strengthen the Eurozone Financing Facility was an important first step. Euro countries now need to ratify this agreement as soon as possible, alongside implementing reforms to deal with excessive deficits, improving economic competitiveness, and acting now to strengthen banking systems. The Eurozone must look at all possible options to ensure long-term stability in the world's second largest international currency.

The prime minister went even further in an interview with Channel 4 News tonight when he said that eurozone leaders must offer stronger political backing for the €440bn bailout mechanism, known as the European Financial Stability Facility:


We cannot go on kicking the can down the road. We need decisive action, swift action to deal with this issue.

So the prime minister is adopting a fresh approach to British diplomacy in two ways:

• Forging an alliance with countries which would traditionally be viewed in the foreign office as largely irrelevant. 
• Lecturing the EU's paymaster – Germany – on how to run its economy. Any advice to the eurozone is effectively aimed at Germany which, as the EU's largest economy, will decide the future of the euro.

Margaret Thatcher used to lecture Helmut Kohl, the former German chancellor. But this was because Kohl had a radically different vision of the EU. The Cameron lecture is different because he is not taking issue with Germany's vision for the euro – the single currency will have to be underpinned by greater fiscal co-ordination. His criticism is that the running of the eurozone, led by a country whose economic performance for the past 60 years has towered over Britain's, is lamentable.

Maybe Germany will be keen to hear Mexico and Indonesia's views on how to run the single currency. But perhaps Germany will take a different view and suggest that Britain should contribute more to the eurozone bailout fund, particularly if Spain runs into trouble. Santander is, after all, now a major UK bank.

guardian.co.uk

Corruption in India : A million rupees now

THE prime minister’s loyalty to his friends looks to be ever more a fault. This week parliament grilled Manmohan Singh over his latest failure to fight corruption and his habit of sticking with compromised allies. The grilling concerned P.J. Thomas, the man Mr Singh appointed to lead India’s fight against corruption.

Mr Thomas was, to put it politely, an unorthodox choice to lead the national “vigilance” commission. A former official in the scandal-besmirched telecoms ministry, he faces a longstanding charge over an import scam. He has done himself few favours by pointing out that 28% of sitting lower-house members of parliament also face criminal charges or inquiries. Worse was the government’s claim that a vigilance chief need not have an impeccable character (presumably on the grounds that it takes one to know one). On March 3rd the Supreme Court forced him out. The prime minister fended off opposition demands that he should resign.

His poor judgment over Mr Thomas fits a pattern. Nobody says the prime minister is personally corrupt. But he looks weak by seeming to let others steal. Last year the Supreme Court ticked him off and the opposition called for him to quit over the government’s failure to look into suspicious licensing of the 2G telecom spectrum. Now the Central Bureau of Investigation is starting an inquiry into corruption at the highest levels over the shoddily run Commonwealth games. Mr Singh, again, is bound to be embroiled.

The Supreme Court has its tail up. Its rulings refer ever more often to corruption—over 50 did so last year. Now it lambasts the government for failing to take on crooks who funnel “black money” overseas. Some say that $450 billion of ill-gotten gains or untaxed earnings are sitting in foreign banks. The court seems to imply that the Congress party, which heads the government coalition, has protected powerful friends.

On March 7th the hyperactive Supreme Court justices scored another victory, with the arrest of Hasan Ali Khan. A flamboyant horse-owner, he has been charged with money laundering, which he denies. He is alleged to have $8 billion stuffed in Swiss bank accounts.

India’s “season of scams” was launched late last year, thanks to the breakdown of an unspoken political truce in which no party fussed too much about corruption, allowing all to prosper from it. Now the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has broken ranks, betting that it can tap into widespread fury over corruption and so dent Mr Singh’s clean image, if not topple him. The BJP may be on to a good thing: over 80% of Indians tell pollsters that graft is worse than ever.

Though a general election is not due until 2014, and despite facing corruption scandals of its own, the BJP is pushing on. By boycotting parliament, it closed most of the winter session, until it won the inquiry into graft that it had demanded. In turn the press, the courts and street protesters picked up the campaign. The opposition may be keeping in mind an earlier defeat for Congress, in 1989, when voters punished the party over huge kickbacks that flowed from an arms deal with Bofors, a Swedish company.

In response, Mr Singh and his (and Congress’s) boss, Sonia Gandhi, say they will soon announce sweeping reforms. These may include state funding for political parties, the removal of discretionary powers abused by politicians and civil servants, and the ratification of a UN corruption convention. They might do well to look, too, at Bihar state, where elected officials and civil servants must now publish a list of all their private assets. Even more importantly, they could push on with cleaner ways to help the poor. By one estimate, two-fifths of state paraffin subsidies are stolen, earning a “fuel mafia” $2 billion a year. In Uttar Pradesh reportedly over $40 billion of food and other subsidies have been bilked over five years.

From the grassroots up

How all this will shake out at the polls will become clearer next month, when four states—West Bengal and Assam in the east, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south—hold assembly elections. Perhaps voters will punish dirty politicians. Too often, though, for all their harrumphing about ghotala (Hindi for scams), voters are swayed during election campaigns by candidates’ gifts of rice, rupees, saris and television sets.

Yet hopeful initiatives do exist among those truly fed up with corruption. Technology looks to provide especially promising solutions. Last year Swati Ramanathan helped to found a website, www.ipaidabribe.com. Indians post details of how they are forced to bribe. “Rather than moralise about corruption,” she says, “we need first to know the details of what is happening, and uncover its market price.”

In seven months the site has lodged 5,000 reports of paying bribes. On March 9th, for example, someone in Belgaum, Karnataka, admitted shame after giving 200 rupees ($4) to pass a driving test. In Mumbai it costs 1,000 rupees to register a baby. Bigger bribes are usually paid when land is at stake. Perhaps when Indians are better informed they will feel more empowered and refuse to pay. Reportedly, Bangalore’s transport commissioner likes the site too, as it lets him see how corrupt his junior officials have become.

More hopeful yet are reforms that take away the chance for officials to behave improperly. Gujarat’s anti-graft commissioner, Manjula Subramaniam, praises a tendering system where companies bid online for public contracts, for example for road-building. This helps her anti-graft department spot anything suspicious. She can also watch funds that sit unused in state coffers, and move them before any light-fingered officials get there.

For ordinary people, more obviously valuable is a four-year-old system for homeowners to assess property tax online, rather than have crooked inspectors visit their homes. And the benefits of technology are spreading fast, as every village in Gujarat has been hooked up to broadband and to state databases.

In one of them, Uvarsad, a farming district, a privately managed local e-government office allows Suryakant Patel to print off the title deeds to his 20-acre wheat and rice farm. It takes two minutes and a ten-rupee fee. Then he walks around the corner to a bank, to raise a loan to buy a new irrigation pump. In the past, he says, getting the deed would have taken days, and might have depended on the whim of a civil servant. Change can come fast, he reckons. Mr Singh, take note.

economist.com

Civil servants 'need annual IT training'

3gmicrotech.com

Civil servants should face mandatory IT training to help them understand the "impact and implications" of information technology, a Liberal Democrat policy paper has proposed. The paper, entitled 'Preparing the Ground: Stimulating growth in the digital economy', said that many ministers and civil servants do not "get" information technology and that civil servants should be given annual IT training.

The paper recommended that "all civil service and local government managers, in all departments, above a certain grade must undergo a serious period of initial training in the impact and current implications of IT, and that this must be refreshed annually".

The paper also praised the appointment of Mike Bracken as the government's executive director of digital, the development of AlphaGov and the suggested improvements to e-petitions, but said that more could be done to ensure civil service managers understood the potential of IT.

The training would fall under the banner of a proposed new government office, incorporating the existing Chief Information Officer, to advise and oversee all major government IT procurement projects

On the formation of the new office and training of civil servants, the report concludes: "The gap in skills across government and the civil service is now so severe that major action is necessary."

publicservice.co.uk

Dubai immigration to set up “smart electronic gates”

Immigration Department E-services Director General, Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, announced plans to establish “smart electronic gates” in preparation for a sharp escalation in passenger inflow in two years. The e-gates will have a passport reader to instantly check from the existing database on whether the entry of the passenger was legal; with a pre-installed camera to verify the passenger’s identity by matching his image against the photograph on the passport.

Equipped with an advanced automated facility to capture iris scans, the e-gates will also ensure that individuals who have already been blacklisted are unable to enter the country.

“We hope to provide the smart e-gate service by next year, once it is validated, the e-gate will enable a passenger to clear immigration in 14 seconds flat,” Razooqi said in an official statement.

The bold technology-intensive measure is expected to manage the 90 million visitor-rush reported by the officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) once a dedicated terminal for the giant A380 aircraft was completed in 2013.

Immigration Department has also established an integrated interface with the departments of labour, health and police to improve the efficiency of issuing and renewing visas, and with the electronic pool of necessary information available, Dubai immigration has begun to automate issue and renewal of visas.

.futuregov.asia

Azerbaijan has good conditions for successful participation in Open Government Partnership

Azerbaijan possesses good basic conditions in order to be an active participant in the Open Government Partnership (OGP), which was presented in New York on Tuesday, an independent economist Ingilab Ahmedov told Trend. Azerbaijan joined the official launch of Open Government Partnership (OGP) on Sept. 20, dining the 66lh UN General Assembly, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov's letter to U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. The text of the letter was published on the OGP website.

"I am sure that Azerbaijan will become an active participant of this global initiative, thereby setting an example for other countries," said Ahmedov. He said this is a very good chance for the state, since this process stimulates the improvement of state governance system.
The global initiative, which was joined by the leading countries worldwide, will create an infrastructure of activities of these countries, which will enable to ensure transparency and raise responsibility of their governments in taking crucial decisions through involving civil society.

"Minimum criteria for this initiative are fiscal transparency, free access to information, public availability of data on incomes of officials and civil society involvement in decision-making process," said Ahmedov.

Innovative and technological capabilities, which will provide broad access to information, also assume great importance in Obama's initiative. Countries' accession to the initiative requires access to any information of public importance.

"Thus, all these criteria will ensure the transparency of government's activities, enable to monitor the management of public resources," said Ahmedov.

He said currently Azerbaijan's Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies is actively working to create "E-government", which is very handy in light of providing the necessary technical and technological infrastructure within the initiative.

Azerbaijan's active participation in EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative), where the country takes one of the leading positions, also assumes great importance in joining this initiative.

"The initiative's member countries stated that Azerbaijan already has quite a successful experience of participation in EITI, where the country demonstrates consistently high rates," said Ahmedov.

On the other hand, the fact that the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, which has a good reputation in the international arena, can play a leading role in this initiative is of great importance, Ahmedov said.

About 46 countries, including Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Spain, Sweden and many other countries have already joined the OGP.

/en.trend.az

The eGovernment Authority and Polytechnic sign agreement to offer citizens specialized certificate in e-content management

As part of its efforts to bridge the e-gap, the eGovernment Authority has signed an agreement with Bahrain Polytechnic in order for the Polytechnic to offer a specialized training in the field of e-content management, following the eGovernment's Authority announcement last June to launch and develop a specialized program in cooperation with Tamkeen.

Those successfully completing the course will be awarded a professional certificate in eConcent Management. The course will be a combination of classroom training followed by practical training in one of the government entities or private sector organizations.

In this regard, Mr. Mohammed Ali Al-Qaed, Chief Executive Officer of eGovernment Authority, stressed the importance of this course. "This national initiative is part of the Authority's projects to develop the e-content in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where a new career path and specialty is introduced by Civil Service Bureau, under the name of (e-content Administrator)."

Al-Qaed added that this focused course will graduate employees specialized in the e-content management and social media, in addition to the latest electronic communication methods used, he also expressed his appreciation and thanks to all those who contributed to the success of this project.

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Al Aseeri, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Polytechnic, stressed the importance of cooperation with eGovernment towards the success of this course, as well as the active participation in supporting this national initiative which is consistent with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030, wishing the largest possible number of target groups to benefit from this course to serve the Kingdom of Bahrain and citizens.

"We thank everyone involved in this project for their tireless efforts to turn this idea into reality by converting it into a national initiative," Dr. Mohammed said, expressing his appreciation for their great confidence in Bahrain Polytechnic. "At the same time, the Polytechnic is looking forward for further cooperation with the authority in all fields," he added.

The e-Content Management Programme targets Bahraini citizens who hold bachelor's degree in media relations or English language. The students will undergo a 10 month training course which will provide them with the basics that enable them to design and develop e-content both in Arabic and English, in addition to managing IT projects and e-marketing campaigns.

The program is divided into two periods: the first period is four months training inside a classroom. This will be followed by practical training of up to 6 months, starting from 14th, November, 2011. The applicants who successfully pass the programme requirements are expected to receive, in the public sector, a monthly salary. The salary can be increased upon promotion after one year.

Employees who have previous experience will obtain between 1 to 3 ranks or a higher grade, according to the evaluation of Employment and Training Directorate at the Civil Service Bureau, noting that the job grade of the e-content management position is the first executive grade (E-1), which has a minimum basic salary.

Bahraini graduates with the appropriate qualifications and language skills (fluency in Arabic and English) who wish to enroll in the programme of e-content management may visit the official website of the eGovernment Authority www.ega.gov.bh in order to download and fill out the application then send it, along with the CV, to the following email: eContent@ega.gov.bh.
It should be noted that this course has been developed following the Civil Service Bureau development of (eContent Administrator) position, which came as an implementation to the decision of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology, chaired by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, in order to improve e-content both in terms of quality and quantity, and in terms of information upgrading, based on the international standards as agreed by the United Nations.

ameinfo.com

Korea ranked top in global ICT development index: ITU

Korea has been selected as the world’s most advanced economy in information and communication technologies (ICT) from among more than 150 countries. Korea topped the global ICT Development Index (IDI) released on September 15 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations responsible for ICT.

For the annual report, “Measuring the Information Society 2011,” ITU compiled this year’s IDI by ranking 152 countries’ access to, use of, and skills with ICT and comparing the results to their 2008 and 2010 scores.

This is the first time that Korea ranked the top in the IDI; Korea ranked third in 2010 and second in 2009.

Sweden took the second highest score, followed by Iceland, Denmark, and Finland.

In more detail, Korea got the top score in the IDI for ICT use, the second highest score for ICT skills, and tenth for ICT access.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said the Korean government’s efforts to improve the overall ICT environment and upgrade related infrastructure was reflected in the latest IDI index.

Korea was recently ranked top in global ICT-related international indices. Last year, Korea was awarded first place in the United Nations E-Government Survey for 2010. This January, Korea was selected as the fastest Internet country in the world by Fortune Magazine. In July this year the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also ranked Korea first for the highest rate of mobile broadband subscriptions among the 34 OECD member countries.


.korea.net

Vietnam strengthens digital certificate infrastructure

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) is to capitalise in Digital Certificate infrastructure, as it enlists the services of GlobalSign and Vietnam Digital Signature Authentication Corporation (V-SIGN) with the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT). GlobalSign, a digital sertificate service operator, partnered with V-SIGN, the co-operator of the only public Certificate Authority (CA) for government in Vietnam licensed under Vietnamese electronic signature law, with the help of the VNPT alliance, the only digital authentication service provider licensed under Vietnamese electronic signature law to operate a public CA, to provide substantial CA operations.

As the government invests significantly in the development and deployment of e-Government solutions, MIC has a number of projects underway and their Digital Certificate infrastructure is essential to providing e-Government security.

Under the service agreement V-SIGN will be provided with Certificate Authority operational support and wide-ranging consultation services, as it continues to be responsible for government authentication services.

GlobalSign has a proven track record, as it has previously provided e-Government solutions for Belgium and New Zealand.

futuregov.asia

Bangladesh team takes lessons from KPK

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday was visited by six representatives from the government of Bangladesh conducting a comparative study of Indonesia's fight against corruption. “They received orders from their prime minister to improve their Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC),” KPK deputy chairman Bibit Samad Riyanto said Tuesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Bibit added that the ACC, the Bangladeshi equivalent of the KPK, had not been as effective as its Indonesian counterpart and was thus looking to the KPK for guidance, which the KPK was more than willing to help with.

“We shared information, including on their plans to improve their corruption elimination law and how to make ACC more independent,” he said.

The team of six Bangladeshi officials was led by Bangladesh Parliament delegate chief Suranjit Sengupta, and included Bangladeshi Ambassador to Indonesia Golam Muhammad.

thejakartapost.com

"Tak Tercapai Akhir 2012, Saya Berhenti Jadi Mendagri"

Menteri Dalam Negeri Gamawan Fauzi kembali menegaskan bahwa dia optimistis program kartu tanda penduduk elektronik atau yang biasa disebut e-KTP akan sesuai target. Dia yakin pembuatan Nomor Induk Kependudukan untuk 170 juta warga yang wajib memiliki KTP akan selesai pada akhir 2012.

"Kalau 170 juta (penduduk) tidak tercapai di akhir 2012, saya akan berhenti sebagai menteri. Saya yakin akhir 2012 NIK selesai. Ini bukan overconfidence, ini tanggung jawab," kata Gamawan dalam acara dengar pendapat soal e-KTP dengan Komisi II DPR di Kompleks Senayan, Jakarta, Senin (19/9/2011).

Dalam dengar pendapat yang dipimpin Ketua Komisi II Chairuman Harahap tersebut, kalangan anggota DPR menanyakan soal pelaksanaan program e-KTP, terutama di daerah-daerah terpencil yang terkendala pengiriman alat, koneksi internet, ataupun sumber daya manusia yang mengoperasikan peralatan untuk pembuatan e-KTP.

Nurul Arifin dari Fraksi Golongan Karya menanyakan kepastian penyelesaian proyek e-KTP sebelum Pemilu 2014. Pasalnya, DPR tengah membahas RUU Penyelenggaraan Pemilu yang di dalamnya memasukkan klausul tentang calon pemilih yang bisa menggunakan e-KTP saat pemilihan nanti.

"Jangan sampai nanti berkali-kali mengubah undang-undang hanya karena masalah e-KTP," kata Nurul.

Gamawan menegaskan, target e-KTP akan tercapai. "Jadi silakan itu (klausul soal e-KTP) dimasukkan (ke dalam undang-undang)," katanya.

/nasional.kompas.com

43 Countries to Join Open Government Partnership

With the only a few days to go before the Sept. 20 launch event, 43 countries have agreed to join the Open Government Partnership. The latest seven to appear on the official list are: the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Latvia, Peru, South Korea, Sweden and Ukraine.

The list is: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Peru, Slovak Republic, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey and Ukraine.

The original eight member countries are: the United States and Brazil (co-chairs), South Africa, the United Kingdom, Norway, Mexico, Indonesia and the Philippines. Seventy-nine countries were eligible under OGP criteria.

At 2 p.m. Sept. 20 in New York, U.S. President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff, along with other heads of state, will appear at the kick-off event.

The founding eight countries will endorse an Open Government Declaration, still undisclosed, and announce their national action plans, according to information from the State Department. “The founding governments will also welcome the commitment of a large number of governments to join OGP and to deliver their action plans in March 2012 in Brazil.”

Also that day, a “Power of Open” event is being held, at the New York headquarters of Google, to be attended by 150 invited openness activists and officials.

The agenda includes a speech by Philippines President Benigno Aquino, who is under criticism for his still uncertain stance on long-ending freedom of information legislation. The Philippines coalition supporting FOI legislation earlier this week sent a strong letter to Aguino. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)

UNPAN Asia & Pacific

The Philippines assesses local govt performance

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Barangay Governance Performance Management System (BGPMS) has recorded increasing compliance of local government units (Barangays) to the standards on good governance set by DILG. According to DILG BGPMS representative, Mediatrix Rubio, “Barangays are competing in complying with their mandates in the performance areas of governance, administration, social services, economic development, and environmental governance.”

One year down its implementation, BGPMS determines the level of compliance of local government units in the identified service areas through a specific scoring and rating system to improve the quality of programs and local policies.

In the performance assessment, problems by area are also identified to determine the corrective measures to be installed where necessary.

Rubio added that findings reveal that under governance, the barangay local government units are excelling in local legislation, transparency, and citizen’s participation as shown by their high performance grades gathered by assessment teams.

While previous records show that administration covering development planning, revenue generation, revenue allocation and utilization, fiscal accountability, facilities and customer service, and human resource management and development are slowly complied by the basic political unit, recent DILG monitoring boards revealed that 98 per cent of the barangays have prepared their different barangay plans, with expected budget and expenditures, and mandated councils with specific administrative roles.

futuregov.asia

Brunei, Singapore telecom regulators renew cooperation

THE Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) yesterday inked a deal with Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) to renew collaboration and technical cooperation on telecommunication regulatory areas.

Hj Yahkup Hj Menudin, chief executive of AITI, and Leong Keng Thai, IDA director general (telecoms and post) and deputy chief executive, signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) and project addendum, a statement from AITI said.

AITI and IDA first established an alliance via an MOU in October 2007. Since then, both telecom regulators have conducted bilateral exchanges, trainings, consultancy and secondment of experts to assist in e-Government and telecoms regulatory projects. Under the existing MOU which will expire in October 2011, both organisations have achieved the following:

• assistance in the review of Brunei's e-Government strategies and road map which was endorsed by the e-Government Leadership Forum in 2009

• telecoms regulatory training and workshop for AITI officers in May 2010

• completion of Brunei's Government Enterprise Architecture Phase 1 and Design of One Government Network in January 2011

• secondment of IDA officer to assist AITI in telecoms regulation, ICT industry development and international relation development

The new deals signed yesterday further leverage on the existing cooperation framework and aims to cover new areas on corporate services and human resource development, postal, domain name registration and industrial internship programme for fresh graduates and students undertaking ICT-related higher national diploma.

"AITI and IDA have fostered a close working relationship over the years and I am delighted that we continue to strengthen this bond with the MOU signing today.

"I look forward to more exchanges of ideas, lessons learnt and experience sharing with IDA as we tackle the fast changing ICT landscape in our respective countries," said Hj Yahkup Hj Menudin at the MOU signing ceremony.

/business.asiaone.com

UK cyber-readiness is 'patchy', says Chatham House

The UK government is not sharing enough information about cyberthreats with critical infrastructure organisations, according to Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Critical national infrastructure (CNI) organisations, which include banks, utilities companies and transport companies, are not getting enough intelligence from the government about the extent of cybersecurity dangers, Chatham House analyst David Livingstone told ZDNet UK on Thursday.

"There are obvious improvements that can be made across government," said Livingstone, an associate fellow in the international security programme at Chatham House. "The government could establish a rich picture of what the threats are, a big threat picture, so people could make up their own minds about the threats that are relevant to themselves."

Both government and CNI organisations need to establish better internal strategies and risk management to deal with rapidly evolving attacks, Chatham House said in a report published on Wednesday.

The government responded to the criticism on Thursday, saying that it "recognises that the threat from cyberattacks is real and growing", and adding that it had dedicated £650m to cybersecurity over the next four years.

"Closer collaboration between the government and the private sector is crucial to protecting our interests in cyber-space, including critical national infrastructure," the Cabinet Office said in a statement. "The government will shortly set out how it will achieve this in a new Cyber Security Strategy."

'Patchy' knowledge
In both the public and private sectors, cybersecurity knowledge across the CNI is 'patchy', according to Livingstone. Deficiencies are not confined to one industry sector, but spread throughout CNI. For example, organisations had failed to recognise that crucial suppliers were at risk, instead relying on a service-level-agreement (SLA).

"[One organisation] did not identify critical vulnerabilities in highly cyber-based, critical supply chains," said Livingstone. "SLAs are no good when your supplier has been completely and utterly taken out. When your own business is failing, and quickly, it's probably too late to revert to contract and point out agreements."

The CNI industry should request independent audits, which cover established information security standards, plus wider security questions such as staff vetting, said Livingstone. Often, organisations with a single, high-level person in charge of cyber response were best equipped to deal with cyberthreats, Livingstone added.

In a cybersecurity report released on Wednesday, the Zurich Insurance company found that over a quarter of the UK's medium-sized technology companies felt highly exposed to risks from cybercrime. Almost a third of technology companies rank intellectual property protection as "a key factor", Zurich said in a statement on Wednesday.

zdnet.co.uk

EU to form new IT agency

The European Union’s General Affairs Council recently approved plans to establish a pan-European agency to manage the union’s large-scale IT systems. The new agency will be responsible for the operational management of a vast amount of sensitive data including the second-generation common database which facilitates the exchange of information on individuals between national law enforcement authorities, a database that will allow member states to enter, update and consult visa data, including biometric data, electronically, and an IT system for comparing the fingerprints of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.

'E-governance plan will help curb corruption'

blogs.reuters.com

If all goes as planned, the state government's e-governance scheme will go a long way in reducing corruption in the public's everyday interface with the the administration, say bureaucrats.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's e-governance plan, which was unveiled on Wednesday, is aimed at curbing corruption in the state administration, say Mantralaya mandarins. The proposal makes extensive the use of computers mandatory in Mantralaya and other government offices.

"Chavan's aim to make e-governance mandatory in the all government department is aimed to reduce personal interaction of the public with government officials," a senior Mantralaya official said. "Minimizing such official and citizens interaction to a large extend will help in reducing corruption," the official added. "Within six to eight months, all state government departments will mandatorily have to use e-governance in their day-to-day operations," the official said.

For instance, a student seeking scholarship has to make several rounds of government offices; frustrated students have to finally 'bribe' clerks or touts to get their work done. However, with introduction of e-governance, students won't have to run from pillar to post and the money will be directly credited to his/her account. According to a senior government official the state government spends over Rs 1,000 crore per year on scholarships to nearly 15 lakh students.

Political observes feel that anti-corruption crusade by noted Gandhian Anna Hazare seems to have triggered Chavan's e-governance plan. Several years ago, Hazare had made accusation against several prominent politicians of state.

"The ruling DF is apprehensive that Hazare, buoyed by the phenomenal impact that his 12-day fast in New Delhi had on the nation, may now train his guns on Maharashtra, his home state. The emphasis on e-governance scheme is seen as Congress' move to neutralize the Hazare effect in Maharashtra," said a political observer.

Through e-governance, the government hopes to not only reduce paperwork but also benefit allied government departments. For instance, driving licence data with the transport department could be accessed by the police or the traffic department. The government also plans to have one main server where all the data would be stored instead of servers for each separate department.

Rajesh Aggarwal, secretary (Information Technology) said, "E-governance will enable various departments to synchronize data. This will not only result in paperless administration but also help government provide services to citizens at their doorstep or, in some cases, even at the click of the mouse.

"As the number of servers will reduce, the cost incurred on hardware, machines and maintenance too would come down. This will help government in saving good amount of money"

Meanwhile, in the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a section of ministers raised objections over the existing software used for e-tendering and other government services.

"To this, following objections, Chavan said that National Informatics Centre (NIC) will now be looking into all matters regarding e-governance," said a senior Congress minister.

NIC is a premiere institution of union government that provides e-government solution to the government Sector.

Some of the benefits citizens can take once the e-governance is implemented in all departments.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

KPK Cek Rekomendasi e-KTP yang Telah Dijalankan Kemendagri

Menteri Dalam Negeri Gamawan Fauzi menegaskan jika lima rekomendasi KPK terkait proyek e-KTP sudah dijalankan. KPK akan mengecek kebenaran itu.

"Ya harus dicek lagi, apakah memang benar lima rekomendasi itu sudah dijalankan," ujar Wakil Ketua KPK M Jasin melalui layanan pesan singkatnya, Kamis (15/9/2011).

KPK merasa ada enam rekomendasinya terkait proyek e-KTP tak digubris Kemdagri. Namun hal itu dibantah Gamawan. Sudah ada lima dari enam rekomendasi yang telah mereka jalankan.

"Dari 6 itu sudah 5 kita tindaklanjuti. Satu yang nggak. Tapi pernah nggak KPK nanya sudah ditindaklanjuti atau belum," kata Gamawan di Istana Merdeka, Jakarta, Rabu (14/9) lalu.

Menurut pria berkumis ini, ada sebagian rekomendasi KPK yang sebetulnya menjadi ranah kerja DPR dan Kemdagri. Karena itu, dia berharap KPK mau bagi-bagi tugas.

"Kalau sarannya agar dipisahkan rekam sidik jari dengan pembuatan KTP, itu bukan tugas KPK. Itu tugasnya kita dan DPR," tegasnya.

Terkait rencana KPK untuk melaporkan rekomendasi e-KTP ke presiden, Gamawan tak mau ambil pusing. Dia hanya berharap, KPK mau berkoordinasi terlebih dulu dengan kementerian yang dipimpinnya.

"Apanya yang mau dilaporkan. Pernah nggak ditanyakan dulu ke kita sebelum disampaikan ke presiden," keluhnya.

Sebelumnya, Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) pernah memberikan sejumlah rekomendasi terkait proyek e-KTP. Namun hingga kini, ada enam yang belum dilaksanakan. Enam rekomendasi itu adalah:

1) Penyempurnaan Grand Design;

2) Menyempurnakan aplikasi SIAK dan mendorong penggunaan SIAK di seluruh wilayah Indonesia dengan melakukan percepatan migrasi non SIAK ke SIAK;

3) Memastikan tersedianya jaringan pendukung komunikasi data on line/semi on line antara Kabupaten/kota dengan MDC di pusat agar proses konsolidasi dapat dilakukan secara efisien;

4) Melakukan pembersihan data kependudukan dan penggunaan biometrik sebagai media verifikasi untuk menghasilkan NIK yang tunggal;

5) Melaksanakan e-KTP setelah basis database kependudukan bersih/NIK tunggal, tetapi sekarang belum tunggal sudah melaksanakan e-KTP.

6) pengadaan e-KTP harus dilakukan secara elektronik dan hendaknya dikawal ketat oleh LKPP.

detiknews.com

Jaringan Bermasalah, e-KTP Masih Angan-angan

Jaringan koneksi untuk pembuatan Kartu Tanda Penduduk elektronik (e-KTP) di wilayah Jakarta Pusat belum juga terpasang meski perangkatnya telah tersedia.Hal ini mengakibatkan tiga kelurahan yakni Senen, Karet Tengsin dan Kampung Rawa, hingga kini belum bisa melayani pembuatan e-KTP.

Menurut Kepala Suku Dinas Kependudukan dan Catatan Sipil Jakarta Pusat, Muhammad Hatta, di wilayahnya terdapat 44 kelurahan yang harus melayani pembuatan e-KTP.

"Dari 828.000 wajib KTP, baru 28.208 warga di Jakarta Pusat yang merekam data," ujar Hatta di Jakarta.

Terkait masalah pengadaan server atau jaringan tersebut, Hatta mengimbau agar urusan tersebut diserahkan ke Pemerintah Daerah. Dengan begitu, lanjut dia, Pemda dapat juga melaksanakan pelayanan mobile yang dapat menjangkau warga yang tidak memungkinkan melakukan pendataan. Seperti misalnya warga yang sedang sakit ataupun berusia lanjut.

Selain itu, diungkapkan oleh Hatta, kendala lain yang dihadapi tak lain adalah lambannya pencetakan e-KTP ini.

"Seringkali warga mendatangi kelurahan untuk meminta KTP nya, tapi belum jadi," kata Hatta. Namun dia menjelaskan pencetakan e-KTP bukan menjadi kewenangan daerah, melainkan Kementerian Dalam Negeri.

VivaNews.com

Kisruh e-KTP, Mendagri Siap Dipanggil KPK

Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi sudah menyampaikan ada enam rekomendasi KPK soal proyek Kartu Tanda Penduduk elektronik atau e-KTP yang diabaikan. Dalam persoalan ini, Menteri Dalam Negeri Gamawan Fauzi siap datang dan memenuhi panggilan KPK.

"Pernah ditanya, kapan rekomendasi KPK itu? Tertulis atau tidak. Tanyalah dulu ke KPK," kata Gamawan, di Istana Merdeka, Rabu 16 September 2011.

Gamawan mengaku tidak tahu mengetahui soal rekomendasi KPK tersebut. Menurutnya, rekomendasi yang biasa didapat merupakan rekomendasi tertulis. "Satu lagi pernah tidak dia menanya ke saya, sudah ditindaklanjuti atau belum," ucapnya.

Menurut mantan Gubernur Sumatera Barat ini, dia pernah dua kali ke KPK untuk membahas soal e-KTP. "Tapi feedbacknya mereka tidak pernah memanggil juga," katanya.

Gamawan mengaku mengetahui enam rekomendasi KPK tersebut melalui media. "Dari enam rekomendasi itu, ada yang jadi ranah KPK dan ada yang tidak menjadi ranah KPK," kata dia.

Gamawan mengatakan, dari enam rekomendasi, lima telah dilakukan KPK. "Satu yang tidak. Tapi pernah tidak KPK tanya sudah ditindaklanjuti atau belum?" ucapnya.

Kemarin, Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi mengungkapkan beberapa rekomendasi terkait pelaksanaan e-KTP yang tidak dijalankan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri. KPK sudah melakukan kajian bukan soal pengadaan akan tetapi penerapan sistem yang disebut Single Identity Number (SIN). Kajian ini untuk meminimalisir KTP ganda terkait tindak pidana korupsi dan pencucian uang.

VivaNews.com

Thai government pushes "Smart Thailand" plan

From ID cards to public services,
the initiative counts on
faster broadband to provide people with
better public services
and welfare for an increasing
connected and wireless Thailand.

Call it "Mission: Possible" _ in the next couple of years, the new government's Smart Thailand initiative will see rural residents submitting their house registrations online at their local tambon office instead of having to travel to the main district town.

This high-tech mission will also enable them to have new smartcard IDs made at their local post office, consult with doctors in Bangkok from any health station in the country and, for students, study in virtual classrooms.

Recent governments have increasingly promoted wider internet access and data communication services requiring high bandwidth.

Now the Pheu Thai administration plans to introduce its Smart Thailand campaign for affordable high-speed broadband availability in each district nationwide.

Under the project, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry will spend at least 30 billion baht to transform the country into Smart Thailand.

To this end, the ministry will use ICT hardware and software to promote a knowledge-based society while easing teacher and doctor shortages and affording access by all to government services.

ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the Smart Thailand scheme will be crucial to the country's development, instituting a high-speed broadband infrastructure that will serve both government agencies and citizens.

"This initiative will entail integrating network infrastructure and data exchange between agencies, promoting wider use of smartcard IDs as a multipurpose tool for accessing government services," he said.

Gp Capt Anudith said certain districts will be selected to participate in a pilot project for e-government services.

All paper-based government services will be replaced with an electronic services platform, but for this a high-speed broadband infrastructure must be developed.

Methini Thepmani, an inspector-general at the ministry, said besides house registration and medical consultations, ID smartcards will allow access to social welfare and other public information including about the first-home and first-car projects and the One Tablet per Child scheme.

Thatre Ngaosuphavongs of Business Navigator Consulting (BNC), which serves as the consultant for the project, said a recent study shows Thailand still has low broadband penetration despite higher-than-average disposable income.

The country's household penetration for broadband was 15% last year, while average annual disposable income was US$3,000.

Thailand's broadband spending totalled 6.3% of gross national income per capita, compared with 3.8% in Malaysia and 0.8% in Singapore.

"The higher cost of broadband is the biggest barrier to low-income earners accessing the internet," said Mr Thatre.

The study results suggest the government should expand the infrastructure backbone through a network buyback from TOT Plc and CAT Telecom.

The government could form a new state agency called the National Broadband Network Co or allow the two state telecom enterprises to run the project.

To push up the overall broadband penetration rate to 80% of the population by 2015, the government will need to spend 30 billion baht over the next two years to expand backhaul connection coverage at the district and tambon levels nationwide in order to help private operators reduce their backhaul investment costs.

Thailand's overall broadband penetration rate now stands at 5.7% of the population.

However, the network buyback scheme could cost the government up to 100 billion baht.

Say Sripaipan, another BNC consultant, said the National Broadband Network Co would play an important role in investing, expanding, managing and maintaining network assets.

Singapore, Australia and Malaysia each have a National Broadband Network Co that is responsible for broadband nationwide, he said.

"Over there, people living in cities and suburbs access broadband directly, while rural residents do so through shared facilities such as schools, ICT community centres and post offices," said Mr Say.

Sinchai Tawwuttanakidgul, director of the Public Health Ministry's ICT Centre, said only 10% of of Thailand's 9,750 health stations offer telemedicine or telehealth services.

"The farther away you are, the more you have to pay for broadband service," he said.

Laws and regulations must address potential problems, particularly regarding data exchange between agencies, said Mr Sinchai.

These can include the Computer Related Crime Act and the upcoming data privacy law.

Mrs Methini said the ICT minister expects to receive the action plan study in November.

Gp Capt Anudith will then submit the plan to the National Information Technology Committee chaired by the prime minister for approval before it is sent to the cabinet for budget approval.

Gp Capt Anudith said he expects extra funding for Smart Thailand to be approved this year.

bangkokpost.com

Dimasa Sukar, Smart Government Harus Terjangkau dan Berkelanjutan

Meningkatnya ketakpastian ekonomi global dan situasi finansial termasuk berbagai kekhawatiran terhadap hutang luar negeri Eropa, dan pengetatan anggaran pemerintah rupanya memicu berbagai reaksi jangka pendek untuk mengurangi pengeluaran IT dan lainnya di sektor pemerintah.

Tentu saja semua orang paham bahwa semua bentuk investasi teknologi informasi adalah kunci untuk mereduksi biaya-biaya lainnya, dengan meningkatkan otomasi, mengurangi duplikasi, memperbaiki transparansi dan pengawasan. Namun organisasi-organisasi TI pemerintah tidak selalu begitu saja memenuhi permintaan anggaran (atau melakukan pemotongan anggaran secara proporsional sehingga lebih kecil) selama masa sukar.

Berbagai kegagalan proyek, anggaran yang membengkak, duplikasi anggaran dan infrastruktur, hubungan dengan pemasok IT yang tidak koheren, dan banyak lagi, telah mengakibatkan rentannya kredibilitas sejumlah organisasi IT pemerintah dan berkontribusi pada semakin rendahnya kepercayaan pada banyak badan pemerintah lainnya, sekalipun mereka telah mencapai hal terbaik dalam apa yang mereka kerjakan. Para wartawan, komentator politik, para pengembang aplikasi, para blogger turut menyebutkan berbagai contoh pengeluaran IT di sektor pemerintah yang berlebihan dan tak sukses (kerap melupakan bahwa perbedaan utama tingkat kesuksesan antara sektor pemerintah dan swasta dalam mengadopsi IT adalah kesalahan apapun yang terjadi pada sektor swasta secara definitif terjadi didomain publik.

Sebagai konsekuensinya seperti yang saya perkirakan akan ada lebih banyak lagi desakan pengetatan anggaran IT. Saya telah mengamati hal ini pada 2008 dan 2009, ketika pemerintah negara bagian di Amerika Serikat harus berhadapan dengan berbagai pemotongan anggaran, Dan bahkan hal serupa terjadi lebih dini di Australia dan Inggris yang melakukan berbagai tinjauan efisiensi. Dalam kasus-kasus semacam ini, hampir semua percakapan mengenai pengurangan pengeluaran IT untuk jangka pendek--dengan melakukan negosiasi ulang pada berbagai kontrak dengan vendor, dengan menunda pembaruan teknologi dan berbagai proyek yang telah siap untuk dijalankan, dengan mengurangi berbagai biaya pemeliharaan,dan lain sebagainya. Hanya dalam porsi minor dari kasus-kasus ini percakapan terkait bagaimana agar pengeluaran menjadi lebih baik--dan lebih jauh-- pada IT, dengan tujuan mewujudkan berbagai upaya penghematan dalam bisnis.

Saaya tak mengharapkan adanya perubahan disaat semacam ini. Reaksi pertama yang diperlihatkan pemerintah federal, negara bagian dan badan-badan nasional dibanyak negara adalah merencanakan hutang yang teramat berat dan berbagai pengurangan anggaran yang secara proporsional akan memotong "seluruh penopang pelayanan dan administrasi", IT salah satunya.

Sayangnya untuk sejumlah organisasi hal ini terjadi setelah setelah mereka hampir saja memiliki kebebasan dalam menentukan pengeluaran anggaran IT. Langkah-langkah pemotongan anggaran IT baik dalam jangka pendek ataupun panjang dapat mengakibatkan hasil yang buruk ketimbang penyakit yang sedang diupayakan penyembuhannya.

Dan sementara ada banyak inisiatif sentralisasi dan konsolidasi yang digembar-gemborkan dan dipromosikan oleh lembaga-lembaga pemerintah pusat dengan janji mencapai level-level kehematan IT yang belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya, keduanya sulit untuk diimplementasikan dan, semakin lama resiko telah merampas kegesitan badan-badan pemerintah yang dibutuhkan untuk menghadapai masa-masa yang tak menentu dan cepatnya perubahan berbagai prioritas.

Apa yang membedakan dengan krisis terdahulu, faktanya, besarnya tingkat ketakpastian kapankah dan apakah masa baik itu akan kembali? Sebagaimana halnya di masa lalu berbagai tekanan terhadap anggaran diakibatkan oleh penerimaan pajak yang lebih rendah akibat resesi dan perlambatan sektor ekonomi, permasalahannya adalah mengurangi tingkat-tingkat hutang yang luar biasa tinggi, dalam konteks dimana ekonomi bertumbuh--paling baik setidaknya-- bertumbuh secara sangat sangat lambat. Tak seorangpun dapat memprediksi berapa lama hal ini akan berlangsung, sehingga berbagai keputusan jangka pendek didasarkan pada asumsi bahwa apa yang kita batalkan dan tidak kita lanjutkan/lakukan hari ini akan dilakukan dimasa mendatang mungkin menjadi hal yang kabur.

Tantangan baru yang dihadapi, lingkungan saat ini memperlihatkan bagaimana membuat pilihan yang dapat dilakukan DAN berkelanjutan secara bersamaan. Sebagaimana saya pernah tuliskan, ini bukanlah sesuatu dimana orang-orang siap atau menginginkan untuk berhadapan. tetapi ini adalah kenyataan yang akan dihadapi oleh hampir keseluruhan organisasi pemerintah.

Mereka yang mampu mengimbang apa yang dapat dilakukan hari ini beserta keharusan adanya kesinambungan pada berbagai layanan dan operasi, esok akan muncul mwnjadi  lebih kuat darppada masa-masa yang kelam ini. Mereka yang hanya menatap ke kaca spion yaitu best parctice dalam pemotongan biaya-biaya dihari-hari belakangan ini tak akan bertahan dimasa mendatang.

by Andrea Di Maio- VP and Distinguished Analyst in Gartner Research

blogs.gartner.com | Martin Simamora