Dubai launches online direct debit for govt payments

Dubai eGovernment Department has launched a virtual account for making government payments online, in collaboration with Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD). The service, called “Cash Online”, will be available to both CBD account holders and non-CBD account holders. Corporate and individual users are able to open a free virtual account following the submission of required official documents. The account is linked to Dubai eGovernment’s ePay portal such that payments for government services could be directly made from customer’s account with five of the major banks in United Arab Emirates. No minimum balance is required for the virtual account. 

Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai eGovernment, says that the government seeks “to ease the life of customers with Dubai government entities as much as possible”, and “to provide innovative electronic channels of easy access anywhere and at any time.” 

Last year, the government ePay portal collected a total amount of AED3.3 billion (US$898 million) through credit card payments, and usage of direct debit services rose by 10 fold, from 54,538 transactions in 2010 to 522,815 transactions in 2011.

.futuregov.asia

SINGAPORE INTRODUCES E-SERVICE FOR CONVEYANCING

Singapore has introduced a new electronic service to enhance the conveyancing workflow, according to its Ministry of Law.Singapore Land Authority’s ‘Electronic Payment Instruction’ or ‘ePI’ service will enable lawyers to notify banks of the details of conveyancing money paid through electronic means instead of hard copy forms.

 

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the state’s tax office, will also accept electronic stamp duty payments through ePI, streamlining the conveyancing transaction workflow and reducing processing time. In August last year (2011), the country introduced measures to regulate how lawyer can receive and hold conveyancing money, in an attempt to protect such funds. 

The measures required lawyers to hold conveyancing money in conveyancing accounts with one of the seven specially appointed banks. 

futuregov.asia

ICT budgets B27m for e-commerce and cyber security upgrade

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry set aside 27 million baht for the Thai Computer Emergency Response Team to set up a national digital forensic laboratory to tackle cyber security and boost local e-transaction service. The move is aimed at increasing the country's e-commerce and e-payment services, worth 629 billion baht and 680 trillion baht last year, respectively. Thailand expects e-transactions to comprise 10% of GDP by 2015. 

  

Surangkana Wayuparb, executive director of Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), the parent of ThaiCert, said ICT allocated it 241 million baht for 2012. The budget will be used for implementing laws and regulations as well as building mechanisms to facilitate e-transactions. 

Of the total, around 27 million will be allocated to ThaiCert to establish a national digital forensic laboratory. The facility will be designed as a source for gathering electronic evidence without contamination, enabling the authority to handle court cases faster instead of only monitoring cybercrime incidents in the past. 

Mrs Surangkana said ThaiCert plans to extend its security-related network alliance by increasing its workforce from 300 to 10,000 next year. Cyber security threats increased significantly from 150 reports in 2001 to 5,526 this year. In the second half of this year, ThaiCert received over 100 cases per month, half of which were incidents of fraud.

The ETDA granted an additional 17 million baht to ThaiCert to set up a national root certification authority, scheduled to start providing service by Sept 2012. The authority will issue digital certificates that act like a digital signature for trusted e-transactions. 

This will help verify the credentials of electronic-related service providers in order to increase consumer confidence in e-transactions. Charamporn Jotikasthira, the ETDA board's chairman, said the Bank of Thailand's report noted the country's e-payment transactions were worth 732 trillion baht last year, with 680 trillion in paper-based payments. 

Internet and mobile payments accounted for 19 billion baht last year. The National Statistical Office reported in 2010, e-transactions rose 19%, up from 629 billion baht in 2009. Private e-commerce tallied 288 million baht. 

.bangkokpost.com

Are we e-fficient?

.zdnet.co.uk

Four years ago, Tony Blair set a target: he wanted 100 per cent of government services to be online by 2005. Time's running out. So how has the Civil Service fared? Four years ago, Tony Blair set a target: he wanted 100 per cent of government services to be online by 2005. Time's running out. So how has the Civil Service fared? 

 

The Cabinet Office says that 74 per cent of government services are now "e-enabled", and that to date more than one million people have filed tax-credit claims online, for example. In the financial year ending April 2004, about 1.1 million self-assessment tax returns were filed online, as well as 65 per cent of new company registrations and three-quarters of first-time vehicle registrations. 

At local government level, the latest survey of authorities by the Society of Information Technology Managers is based on data that's now nearly a year old. Then, only 22 of the UK's hundreds of local councils had websites that could handle transactions such as paying council tax or parking tickets. The number has gone up since then. 

Richmond Borough Council in Surrey is not one of those 22, but it has one of the highest rates of penetration of broadband and internet access in the UK. In 2003, it launched an online system for reviewing and commenting on planning applications. In the year since the system went live, more than 100,000 searches have been carried out. "I think there is a suppressed demand," says Lance Quantrill, the Richmond councillor responsible for e-government, who worked in IT at 3M for 20 years. 

Using the council's system, residents can not only pay tax, but report missed garbage pick-ups, dead streetlights and abandoned cars, and get replies from the relevant staff within a day or so. Richmond, Quantrill says, aims to be a "fast follower", adopting systems as soon as they are proven elsewhere. This year, however, there has been a notable shift in national emphasis towards back-office efficiency. This is partly due to the Gershon report, which reviewed procurement in the civil service. 

Take the appointment of Ian Watmore to take over from the former e-envoy Andrew Pinder. Watmore has said that where Pinder's role was to direct a social programme to get the UK, including government, online, he sees himself as more like a chief information officer in a big company: "My focus is purely on the Government as a service provider." 

So the question is whether the headline target is the right one. Quantrill says: "The 100 per cent target is not so much a dream as a nightmare." For one thing, he says, the law of diminishing returns kicks in, making the final stages an undesirable drain on resources.

"E-government is not electronic," he says. "The 'e' should stand for enabling, because it's about what happens when that is applied. We must ask, 'What's the point, and how does it benefit the citizen?'" William Heath, the chairman of the research consultancy Kable, which specialises in the public sector, agrees that the goal is too limited.

"It's simplistic to think we're at a certain point on an inevitable journey from A, offline, to B, online, with B being inevitably good." Heath set up the Ideal Government ( www.idealgovernment.com) site for people to contribute their best ideas about what electronic government should be. One of his own key questions concerns the deep suspicion surrounding the back end of "joined-up government" - shared databases, particularly the proposed national register that is to lie behind the ID card scheme, which could allow detailed profiling of citizens. 

If we trusted our government, he says, single registers would not be such a concern. "I don't think bad e-government, like websites with endless forms or call centres, will restore our trust." Arguably, we have the right to make demands. We are talking about a huge investment at the taxpayer's expense.

According to Kable, total government expenditure on IT in 2003/04 is about £12.1bn, most of it central funding. Spending is projected to rise to £16.6bn in 2006/07. This includes projects such as modernising the IT systems of the NHS (£2.3bn) and the Department of Work and Pensions (£5bn). 

"There are volumes of expenditure being poured into this stuff," says Stefan Magdalinski, the organising force behind www.theyworkforyou.com, a site that allows anyone to see a full profile of their MP, including their statements in Parliament, how many votes they've attended, how they voted, and so on. 

"And it's so untied to anything people might want." One thing he himself wants is for the Government to get out of the business of creating portals that the public is supposed to use as a gateway - an approach that went out on the commercial web in 1995.

"They should get good at search-engine optimisation and which service-delivery points they want to optimise. If they want serious uptake, promote the places where you can actually pay your road tax above all the other areas." More than that, says Magdalinski, they need to do a lot more to make data feeds available in formats that third parties can use. 

His own website is a case in point. "The e-government framework has been going on for some years, but they still publish everything in PDF." PDF, Adobe's portable document format that preserves formatting and can be read on almost any computing device, is good for forms and material that is going to be printed. 

But why produce the recent listing of MPs' expenses in that way, which makes it impossible to search them and to sort them meaningfully? For the kinds of services Magdalinski builds, PDF is a hindrance. He wants data published in standard machine-readable formats designed to allow re-use by third parties. 

By the next general election, theyworkforyou.com should be able to provide a detailed scorecard on every MP: voting record, speeches made in Parliament, expenses claims. And why shouldn't charities like the Royal National Institute for the Blind be able to scrape all relevant government information - legislation, direct links to benefits - into a website that is designed to make life easier for its members?

 The Citizens Advice Bureau is one intermediary that has made some progress. It has been granted £23m in funding from the Treasury's capital modernisation fund to equip and interlink all its bureaux with broadband. According to John Wheatley, the e-government policy strategist for the CAB, about one-third of the organisation's inquiries involve social security benefits or tax credits, though surveys of its clients show that most don't have internet access. 

CAB advisers, therefore, are being given read-only access to benefits records so they can check the status of claims for their clients. "Central government needs to think much more creatively about how they use intermediaries," Wheatley says. 

"They need to be less protective about who delivers their services and be open to honest suggestions about what role the voluntary sector and other organisations could play. They need to recognise that we are in touch with many of the people who are also trying to get through to them, but who trust us more than someone in a pension call-centre. But we have a principle of independence to maintain - that is why clients trust us. They see that we're not part of the government machine.

" He is, however, additionally concerned that the Government does not transfer its legitimate responsibilities to the voluntary sector. Glyn Evans, the director of business solutions and IT for Birmingham, the largest council in Europe, believes that the view of e-government to date has been limited to one idea: "Put services online and we'll somehow be transformed. I wish it were that simple." Instead, he says: "We have to rebuild our relationship with citizens, and ultimately that's what e-government would allow us to do. There is a measure of control to be handed to the citizen that can't be managed in a traditional bureaucracy." 

independent.co.uk

Booz Allen Reports Top Ten Cyber Security Trends for Financial Services in 2012

comtrec.com

Booz Allen Hamilton today cited increased cyber threats to senior executives, the impact of organized crime and mobile device security as among the Top 10 Financial Services Cyber Security Trends that will make 2012 a pivotal year for banks and investment firms as they try to stay ahead of the IT security curve. These threats have a trickle-down effect on every part of a financial services organization, with reputational and financial impacts that can be a huge risk to any organization.

  

“These trends highlight the fact that cyber security today is about living with and managing the risk in your network. It’s more than just preventing security violations,” said Bill Wansley, senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton.

“Every day, it’s essential that the financial services industry – from small community banks to large Wall Street institutions – know what cyber security threats are on the horizon, and how the cyber and technology industries are meeting these concerns. 

Today’s business environment requires financial institutions to be more creative in meeting the demands of their customers, shareholders, and regulators,” Wansley said. The following list was developed from research by Booz Allen, which has years of experience in financial services consulting for federal, nonprofit and commercial clients:

Top 10 Financial Services Cyber Security Trends for 2012:

(1)The exponential growth of mobile devices drives an exponential growth in security risks. Every new smart phone, tablet or other mobile device, opens another window for a cyber attack, as each creates another vulnerable access point to networks.  

(2)Increased C-suite targeting. Senior executives are no longer invisible online. 
Firms should assume that hackers already have a complete profile of their executive suite and the junior staff members who have access to them. 

(3)Growing use of social media will contribute to personal cyber threats. A profile or comment on a social media platform – even by the CEO’s son or sister -- can help hackers build an information portfolio that could be used for a future attack.  

(4)Your company is already infected, and you’ll have to learn to live with it – under control. Security should remain a priority, but today’s risks and threats are so widespread that it will become impossible to have complete protection – the focus of cyber security tactics increasingly must be to analyze, detect and expunge threats inside your system. 

(5)Everything physical can be digital. The written notes on a piece of paper, the report binder and even the pictures on the wall can be copied in digital format and gleaned for the tools to allow a hacktivist-type of security violation, and increasingly this will be a problem.  

(6)More firms will use cloud computing. The significant cost savings and efficiencies of cloud computing are compelling companies to migrate to the cloud. A well designed architecture and operational security planning will enable organizations to effectively manage the risks of cloud computing.  

(7)Global systemic risk will include cyber risk. As banks and investment firms continue on the path to globalization, they will become increasingly inter-connected. A security breach at one firm can create negative ripple effects that greatly impact systemic risk in financial markets.  

(8)Zero-day malware (malicious software) and organized attacks will continue to increase. Like a vicious, insidious virus that mutates, the tools of cyber criminals adapt and change constantly, rendering the latest defenses useless. Firms need to be prepared to adapt quickly as well to zero-day malware and the tactics of organized crime and foreign adversaries that are increasingly used today.  

(9)Insider threats are real. The accidental insider breach will continue to be the primary source of compromise for the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) and other attacks. Organizations need to focus on security awareness training and internal monitoring to detect intentional and accidental insider access.
 
(10)Increased regulatory scrutiny. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission introduced guidelines that require companies to report incidents that result, or could possibly result in, cyber theft or a risk of compromised data considered material. 

More information on these trends is available here.

In its 2011 U.S. Cost of a Data Breach, the Ponemon Institute reported that the financial impact of hacks continues to rise, with the cost per compromised record now at $214 (up from $204 in 2009) and the total price tag for each data breach event averaging around $7.2 million. 

In August 2011, hackers were able to steal $2.7 million from 3,400 customers of a major financial institution, which contributed to the $48 billion in identity fraud losses in the United States each year. “As the list of companies victimized by hacking grows, it is clear that no network is completely impenetrable, but there are effective solutions that can help” said Wansley. 

“To thwart these attacks, one must embrace a dynamic defense that embodies the same aggressive, nimble, and methodical approach as our cyber adversaries use against us today. As the daily headlines remind us, cyber security isn’t something on which anyone can declare victory. Cyber security is now a relentless operational risk issue for every organization that develops or delivers value.” 

 fiercefinance.com

BANGALORE TO LAUNCH MOBILE PAYMENT SERVICES

Mobile Payment

Once the draft policy on mobile platform is approved, Bangaloreans will soon find themselves paying for their utility bills and availing of selected citizen services through their mobile devices.According to M N Vidyashankar, Karnataka IT, BT, Science and Technology and e-Governance Secretary, the draft policy is ready and would soon be studied and finalised by the core group on e-governance.  

“Whatever services you are today getting through (state-run) Bangalore One (B1), we will be able to launch these services on mobile platform”, Vidyashankar said in an official statement. B1 is a G2C (Government to Citizens) and G2B (Government to Business) one-stop services and information portal that aims to provide the citizens of Karnataka relevant information on Government departments, and agencies of Central, State, and Local Governments.

“Lakhs of residents pay their bills such as water, electricity and telephone and avail various services at 79 B1 centres in the city every day,” he said. “Once the core group comprising of industry and Government experts, chaired by the Director of International Institute of Information Technology and Prof S Sadagopan, clears the policy after fine-tuning it, it would be taken to the State Cabinet for approval.”

futuregov.asia

SRI LANKA PORTS TO OFFER E-PAYMENTS BY 2012

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority will introduce its online billing and payment system by January 2012 as part of its investment drive to improve port productivity and efficiency.According to an official statement, the system will allow clients of the port to log-in via the internet and make payments with information being updated at the port system and customs along with the facilitating bank.  

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Customs introduced its latest electronic payment system software called ‘ASYCUDA World’, which will be fully implemented once it has undergone several test runs with clients. “Hopefully by January, there would be lesser people going to the port to make payments.

Since it is web-based, payments can be done from the convenience of their own homes and from any part of the island,” said Priyath Wickrama, chairman of SLPA. At present, State-owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC) has been working with customs and SLPA in upgrading their financial software. BOC is the first bank to introduce the e-portal with customs which will then be extended to other banks.

futuregov.asia

ITU Sets Global Broadband Targets for Countries

The UN ICT agency, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has set new global broadband targets for countries to achieve by 2015. According to a press release from the ITU, its Broadband Commission for Digital Development agreed on a set of four new targets it describes as ‘ambitious but achievable’ that countries around the world should strive to meet. It says countries should meet the targets in order to ensure that their populations fully participate in what it calls ‘tomorrow’s emerging knowledge societies’.  
The new targets it says,cover broadband policy, affordability and uptake:

1. Making broadband policy universal. By 2015, all countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their Universal Access / Service Definitions.

2. Making broadband affordable. By 2015, entry-level broadband services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate regulation and market forces (for example, amount to less than 5% of average monthly income).

3. Connecting homes to broadband. By 2015, 40% of households in developing countries should have Internet access.

4. Getting people online. By 2015, Internet user penetration should reach 60% worldwide, 50% in developing countries and 15% in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Commenting on the targets, Dr Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General, who serves as co-Vice Chair of the Commission alongside UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, siad:“These targets are ambitious but achievable, given the political will and commitment on the part of governments, working in partnership with the private sector.”

The ITU says it will undertake responsibility for measuring each country’s progress towards the targets. It will produce an annual broadband report with rankings of nations worldwide in terms of broadband policy, affordability and uptake, it adds.

It indicates that the Broadband Challenge endorsed by the Commission recognizes communication as ‘a human need and a right’, and calls on governments and private industry to work together to develop the innovative policy frameworks, business models and financing arrangements needed to facilitate growth in access to broadband worldwide.

It also urges governments to avoid limiting market entry and taxing ICT services unnecessarily to enable broadband markets to realize their full growth potential. The ITU encourages governments to promote coordinated international standards for interoperability and to address the availability of adequate radio frequency spectrum.

 “We note the importance of the guiding principles of fair competition for promoting broadband access to all,” it reads. “It is essential to review legislative and regulatory frameworks, many of which are inherited from the last century, to ensure the free and unhindered flow of information in the new virtual, hyper-connected world,” it says. The Challenge, additionally, stresses the need to stimulate content production in local languages and enhance local capacity to benefit from, and contribute to, the digital revolution.

UNPAN Asia & Pacific

INDIA LAUNCHES E-PAYMENT GATEWAY

Pranab Mukherjee, India’s Finance Minister, launched the Government Electronic Payment Gateway (GePG) on Monday, 31 October 2011, a system that will serve as a single window for all transfers and payments from the government.The system, covering all central government departments and ministries, is expected to eliminate almost twenty million cheques. When fully operational, it is expected to cover a total payment of over Rs6,00,000 crore (US$122 billion).  
GePG will facilitate direct credit of dues from the government into the account of beneficiaries using digitally signed electronic advice (e-advice). “This is likely to impact the working of a large number of government and bank employees involved in the government payments,” he said. In the entire process, it will spare valuable human resources, which could be re-deployed to perform other important functions of the organisations.

Mukherjee said the e-payment system will reduce the citizen interface by eliminating beneficiary dependency on government office and officials to hand over the cheque since the payments would be effected directly into their accounts. The entire payment process is trackable and delays can be monitored online, he said, adding that it would be a major initiative for reducing corruption and ensuring good governance.

The GePG, which could be used for interacting with banks for enabling the payments and payment scroll receipt, is also scalable, capable of handling all government payments. The system has been developed by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure, and Ministry of Finance.

futuregov.asia/

SINGAPORE TO LAUNCH NEXT-GEN E-PAYMENT IN 2012

By the middle of 2012, consumers will be able to enjoy the convenience of paying for their purchase at more than 20,000 retail points and taxis by using their Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile phones. In a similar note, businesses will be able to provide interactive and targeted contents to consumers through NFC-enabled digital signages located at more than 600 locations throughout Singapore, as part of the Infocomm Development Authority’s (IDA) Next Generation e-Payment Programme.

NFC allows simplified transactions such as data exchange to be done between two devices that are in close proximity to each other. This technology is a widely used system for making electronic payments. According to IDA, the programme will be made possible through a Call-for-Collaboration (CFC) with industry players to deploy a nationwide interoperable NFC infrastructure. Meanwhile, through an appointed neutral Trusted Third Party (TTP), payment and other service providers will be able to reach all mobile subscribers through the three mobile operators in Singapore.

The CFC has been awarded to a consortium comprising of seven companies namely; Gemalto Pte Ltd, Citibank Singapore Ltd, DBS Bank Ltd, EZ-Link Pte Ltd, M1 Limited, SingTel Mobile Singapore Pte Ltd and StarHub Mobile Pte Ltd. making this collaboration the first interoperable nationwide deployment of NFC mobile payment system in Asia. In this collaboration, Gemalto will be developing and operating the TTP infrastructure.

DBS, EZ-Link and Citibank will enable a wide range of their credit/ debit scheme cards and stored value payment products, to be issued over-the-air through Gemalto, and stored on the secure chips in their customers’ NFC-enabled mobile phones. These customers will be able to pay for their purchases using any of those payment products at NFC-ready retail points.

The services will be launched progressively across all three mobile operators namely M1, Singtel, and Starhub from the middle of next year. Besides payment services, Gemalto will also be collaborating with service providers to deploy a range of innovative NFC mobile value-added services such as interactive digital signage advertising, mobile coupons and mobile ticketing.

This will allow consumers to interact with these digital signage advertisements and download coupons, tickets and product information onto their NFC-enabled mobile phones. IDA and the consortium of companies will be investing a total of $40 million through the CFC to deploy the TTP infrastructure and more than 10 NFC mobile payment and value-added services by 2014. The services will be rolled out progressively, with at least three NFC mobile payment services made available from mid 2012.

“The TTP infrastructure will enable prospective service providers to reach out to all mobile subscribers in Singapore. Such ubiquitous access will spur the growth and adoption of innovative NFC mobile services,” said Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer of IDA. In order to enjoy the benefits brought about by the NFC-enabled mobile payment services, the three mobile operators will announce details on how consumers can “NFC-enable” their mobile phones at a later stage of the project.

futuregov.asia

INDIA LOCAL GOVT BODIES TO GET E-PAYMENT FACILITIES

Information Kerala Mission

The Indian government is furthering its drive to streamline public services delivery by providing more e-payment facilities to local self-government bodies. The Information Kerala Mission (IKM), the flagship e-governance project of the Government of Kerala, is poised to introduce e-payment facilities to several municipalities and villages in the county including Kasargod and Manjeswaram.
 
M. Shamsuddin, Executive Chairman and Director of IKM said Kasargod will be the first municipality to enable tax payers to pay land and property tax online. “More local bodies will be added to the list as and when they complete the entry of data, which will be saved at the Kerala State Data Centre,” Shamsuddin said.

The data entered by operators will be subjected to two layers of authentication – one by the authorities of the local body concerned and the other by the quality assurance team from IKM. The e-payment facility is driven by the software, Sanjaya, developed by IKM. Shamsuddin said the government will address the shortage of manpower at IKM in rolling out its various initiatives. “At present, a technical assistant from IKM attends to as many as seven panchayats (a governance system in village). This means that they have to go to another panchayat even as they are attending to the affairs of some other panchayat,” he said.

futuregov.in

INDIAN STATE UNVEILS E-PAYMENT PORTAL FOR ENTREPRENEURS

The government of Uttar Pradesh, a northern state in India, has launched an online payment portal in a bid to make public transactions paperless. State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner V N Garg launched the portal, called Nivesh Mitra, which has a user-friendly interface with online payment facility and other unique features for facilitating quicker processing of matters relating to entrepreneurs and investors.

The e-payment portal accessible at www.udyogbandhu.org also assists entrepreneurs for getting clearances from 12 government departments. With the project, the entrepreneurs can avail of the facility of online payments, which is being offered in association with Punjab National Bank.

Nivesh Mitra is currently functional in 18 districts and is expected to go live in the whole state in the future. Stressing the importance of e-governance, Garg said it could only be made successful on the premise of good governance and has the ability to reduce transaction cost in terms of money and time.

Industrial development department special secretary and Udyog Bandhu joint executive director Anamika Singh gave a detailed demonstration to show the unique functionalities of the web portal. Meanwhile, Garg asked industry bodies to use the web portal and spread awareness amongst general public. He also urged the government departments and district magistrates to take active part in making this initiative effective.

futureGov

E-PAYMENT GATEWAY IN 11 INDIAN STATES BY 2012

E-governance in the country will get a shot in the arm with the Indian government’s plan to launch a single payment gateway in 11 states by March, 2012. The gateway will facilitate collection of fees for licences and other chargeable services over the internet.


Shankar Aggarwal, Additional Secretary, Deparment of Information Technology (DIT) explained that DIT had completed proof of concept with the state of Maharashtra and had a set of standard guidelines ready, which would now be replicated throughout the country. Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Goa would be the early adopters of the platform.

National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), a central securities depository based in Mumbai, has been selected for this service. Aggarwal added that around 20 services, including those provided by both the central and state governments, will be linked to the payment platform in the next two to three months. This would help citizens make online payments without having to make the rounds of government offices.

“The idea (behind the common platform) is to ease the selection of technology vendors for states, reduce the processes and costs involved. We expect 11 states to connect their services with this platform by March, 2012,” said Aggarwal.
futuregov.in

BBK Wins Middle East e-Government and e-Service Excellence Award 2011 for e-Banking

As part of the 16th Middle East e-Government and e-Services Excellence Awards 2011, BBK, Bahrain pioneer in retail and commercial banking, won the e-Banking Excellence Award from the Middle East Excellence Awards Institute (MEEAI). This prestigious award has been granted to BBK in light of its innovative and comprehensive web-based solutions catering to both retail as well as business customers.

Mr. Rashad Akbari, Assistant General Manager- Transactional Banking Division, BBK was presented with the award at the ceremony held by MEEAI on Wednesday 25th May, 2011 at Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, in the presence of decision makers, e-Government projects managers, media representatives and other invited guests.

MEEAI was established as a platform to recognize and honor the outstanding achievements of leaders and organizations who have contributed to the remarkable growth and development of the regional and global economy. The institute conducts field research and studies in government and private institutions in the Middle East to identify the best social, technological, economical, media, financial and leadership achievements based upon the modern knowledge economy and leadership culture to recognize their significant role played in the region. Recognition is also received by individuals who are able to bring about change and to consolidate the necessary leadership principles and qualities and to contribute to building the region’s future based on the international standards of competitiveness.

Upon receiving the Award, Mr. Rashad Akbari said: “After BBK won in 2011 the Bahrain e-Government e-Content award for the fourth consecutive year in the Kingdom of Bahrain, we are proud on winning also the e-Banking Excellence Award for the Middle East . BBK is always keen on achieving the highest levels of quality and to provide the best banking solutions that meet the customers’ needs, being one of the leading banks that offers the latest and best quality technologies.”

He added: “We have recently developed and enhanced the Bank’s website and launched our latest Corporate Cash Management Platform BBKCashlink which qualified the Bank to win such prestigious award and win our customers’ satisfaction. Winning this award is considered one of the Bank’s significant achievements, which motivates us to continue to use the latest and most sophisticated technologies for the convenience of our customers. We seek to win the MEEAI recognition yet again and wish to thank them for their appreciation.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Ali Al Kamali, Datamatex & MEEAI General Manager said the Award seeks to develop a climate of competition based upon the quality standards among individuals, government and business organizations throughout the region according to the international assessment standards. This will have a significant impact upon the growth of the IT industry and its growth in the region. The event coincides with new economic and technological developments in the region that will bring about a fundamental change in the regional and international technological and economic map, which will certainly help achieve economic development goals.”

Al Kamali added information technology and telecommunications have elements of power that can bring about change in work and management patterns in government agencies to enhance performance and to save money and efforts. They also provide an electronic boom that involves citizens and civil society organizations in discussing policies through direct dialogue and support to the decision making process and drawing up policies that provides better understanding of individuals and the economy.

BBK brings the operational convenience of banking to the door step of its customers. It enables both individuals and businesses to manage their finances effortlessly. Primarily any customer, be it a Retail or Corporate entity, can benefit from BBK’s wide range of secure, customized, cost effective and timely 24X7 Internet banking services. Striving to be at the financial forefront for all our customers’ needs, BBK has recently revamped its website www.bbkonline.com and launched the new release of Internet Retail Banking; it has been redesigned to incorporate better functionality and more advanced features to deliver customers a faster, safer and more convenient service than ever before. Further BBK has recently launched its suite of Cash Management products and services designed to cater to the needs of Corporate Customers through its latest offering BBKCashlink. The platform allows the customer to access a host of features and functionality from anywhere around the world and is built on robust technology, leveraging the highest possible security standards

BBK

Bengal offers e-governance scheme for SME units

The West Bengal Government on Monday announced an e-governance scheme to help the small and medium enterprises sector of the State to file e-return of sales tax and also enable online refund of value added tax (VAT) through the electronic clearing schemes.

The five schemes introduced include the e-registration for VAT and dematerialisation of registration certificates, filing of sales tax e-returns, e-payment under the industrial promotion assistance scheme, e-VAT refund and payment through ECS and e-submission of option under Composition Scheme in Form 16.

The State Finance Minister, Mr Amit Mitra, said that the initiatives would not just cut down on the harassment faced by small and medium traders; it is also expected to reduce corruption in the Finance Department.

“We expect an increase in tax buoyancy as well as improved compliance by the people,” Mr Mitra said.

thehindubusinessline.com

Dubai eGovernment's ePay generates Dhs1.7bn in first half of this year

Recent statistics revealed by Dubai eGovernment show that there has been a 55% increase in amounts collected through Dubai eGovernment's ePay payment gateway in the first half of 2011, compared to 2010. ePay enables customers to electronically pay their bills and settle dues for various government services in a safe and secure manner.

A total of Dhs1.7bn - through 1,396,973 transactions - was collected through ePay on behalf of all the participating local entities by the end of June 2011. This compares to a total of Dhs1.1bn through 835,095 transactions in the first half of 2010. Dubai Customs, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Dubai Health Authority were the top three government entities respectively in terms of the electronically collected amounts, while Dubai Health Authority, Roads and Transport Authority and DEWA were the top three government entities respectively in terms of the number of transactions achieved.

Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai eGovernment said: "These results clearly indicate the favourable pace of eTransformation in Dubai and also reflect the increasing adoption of ePay as a preferred mode of payment to complete government transactions on one hand and the confidence shown by customers in the efficiency and safety of this option on the other."

Bin Humaidan added: "This service allows both corporate and individual customers to complete ePayment for government services either through credit cards or direct debit from the customer's account in participating banks."

He noted that payment through credit cards was the customers' top preferred option with the amounts electronically collected through credit cards reaching nearly Dhs1.4bn. He also noted the use of direct debit option grew noticeably from 23,000 transactions in the first half of 2010 to 120,000 transactions in the corresponding period this year.

Explaining the role played by Dubai eGovernment in providing the foundation required for completing eTransformation in Dubai as per the highest standards observed worldwide, Bin Humaidan said: "All government departments need certain electronic ingredients and infrastructures to offer high quality and secure online services aimed at attracting customers and encouraging them to adopt the option of completing their transactions online. In line with this, Dubai eGovernment strives to offer the required ingredients in the shape of centralized services and a joint infrastructure, enabling these departments to provide facilitated services to the public while offering them a suitable ground for concentration and innovation in their respective scopes of activity."

ePay is part of Dubai eGovernment's initiative aimed at offering online government services through innovative channels and providing the public and the business community with an efficient and comfortable mechanism for instant payment of government fees without having to waste time and effort by personally visiting banks or the departments concerned. These channels include among others the Internet and mPay, which was designed as an emergency service, particularly for urgent processes.

By connecting with the UAESWITCH at UAE Central Bank, Dubai eGovernment will allow corporate or individual customers to settle government departments' fees through its ePay portal using ATM cards or through direct debit. These payment options will open new prospects for customers by expanding the number of banks using the ePay gateway from five currently to all the 46 banks using the UAESWITCH.

ameinfo.com

Rekam Jejak Kemajuan E-Government Korea (bagian 2)

Pada perode ketiga (2008-2012), pemerintah mulai membangun target berikutnya, yaitu mengintegrasikan semua sistem e-Government agar pelayanan publik yang sederhana terwujud. Dimulai pada tahun 2008, pemerintah menjalankan implementasi berbagai proyek yang berfokus pada koneksi dan integrasi yang mendukung penciptaan nilai. Untuk mengintegrasikan layanan publik berorientasi masyarakat dan bisnis, sehingga e-Government terintegrasi.

Implementasi e-Government di Korea telah memasuki tahapan tertinggi yang disebut sebagai "Stage V" yang ditandai dengan keberadaan network, dari sebelumnya di Stage IV yang ditandai dengan kemampuan transaksional berdasarkan Web Measure Idex yang ditetapkan oleh Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa.

Pemberdayaan e-Government membuat Korea mampu melakukan berbagai perbaikan yang luar biasa di sejumlah sektor. Melalui Electronic Procurement Service (www.g2b.go.kr) 

semua prosedur procurement ditangani secara online melalui sistem satu jendela (Single Window), sehingga memperbaiki efisiensi dan transparansi dalam pengadaan publik. 

Penggunaan Electronic Procurement Service di semua tahapannya seperti; bidding, pemberian kontrak, penandatanganan kontrak, pengantaran dan pembayaran, dilakukan melalui sistem online, dan dapat dipantau secara real time. Semua perusahaan yang telah teregistrasi dapat berpartisipasi dalam proses tender yang diselenggarakan oleh semua organisasi pemerintah melalui sistem registrasi tunggal pada sistem G2B.

Electronic Customs Clearance Service (portal.customs.go.kr) memperluas penggunaan informasi oleh semua entitas atau lembaga terkait untuk memperbaiki dan menyederhanakan proses dan bisnis logistik ekspor/impor serta pengimplementasian sebuah layanan pemrosesan batch atau pencatatan logistik yang mudah digunakan . Laporan-laporan ekspor/impor ke kantor bea cukai dan aplikasi-aplikasi untuk inspeksi dan karantina bagai organisasi-organisasi yang berwenang terintegrasi sehingga dapat memberikan sebuah layanan yang one-stop-service.

Comprehensive Tax Service (www.hometax.go.kr) memampukan semua pembayar pajak untuk mengurus semua kepentingan pajaknya di rumah melalui sistem online atau di tempat kerja tanpa perlu mendatangi kantor-kantor pajak atau bank. Semua aktivitas pajak termasuk penyimpanan dokumen, tagihan dan pembayaran diproses secara online dan informasi pajak dapat dilacak kapan pun oleh pembayar pajak.

Masyarakat Korea menikmati kemudahan mengurus administrasi melalui Internet Civil Service (www.egov.go.kr), dengan sistem ini masyarakat dapat memanfaatkan berbagai layanan administrasi pemerintah kapan saja, dimana saja melalui internet. Masyarakat dapat menikmati 5.300 layanan administrasi melalui website ini lengkap dengan informasi yang sangat terinci. Website ini menyajikan 720 layanan sipil secara online tanpa perlu melakukan kunjungan ke kantor dan menerima hasilnya melalui layanan pos surat. Masyarakat bahkan dapat membuat sendiri 28 dokumen sipil melalui sistem ini.

Patent Service (www.kiporo.go.kr) memungkinkan masyarakat Korea mengajukan atau mendaftarkan paten melalui aplikasi-aplikasi yang tersaji dan dapat memantau kemajuannya secara online. Semua prosedur aplikasi pembuatan paten, peninjauan dan penilaian termasuk pengajuan keberatan terhadap pendokumenan, dan evaluasi tehnikal dapat diakses oleh publik untuk menggunakan layanan-layanan administrasi paten. Sehingga setiap orang dapat mengecek dan mengelola berbagai informasi dengan efisien. Patent Service juga menyediakan layanan-layanan seperti penerbitan sertifikat paten, verifikasi, termasuk pembayaran komisi.

~Bersambung Ke Bagian 3~