E-tender Starts in Bangladesh

The Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Ministry of Planning published the tender notice on www.eprocure.gov.bd for procuring laptop, desktop computers and UPS for the electronic government procurement (e-GP) laboratory at the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU). Outgoing IMED secretary Md. Habib Ullah Majumder approved the tender and estimate before he was given a farewell reception in the IMED Conference room. The CPTU has developed the national e-GP web portal which was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina on June 2 this year.

Since then the e-GP web portal has been open for registration of the bidders and the procuring entities. Until October 3, 2011,a total of 237 bidders, 33 procuring entities and over 300 branches of seven scheduled banks were registered with the e-GP system. Director General of the CPTU Amulya Kumar Debnath was also present on the occasion of posting the tender notice in the e-GP system.

Deputy Director of CPTU Nasimur Rahman Sharif prepared the tender documents and carried out all relevant activities to upload the tender notice on the e-GP system. The first electronic government tender has been invited by CPTU DG Amulya Kumar Debnath under the Open Tender Method (OTM). The tender closing date is October 19, 2011.

The e-tender is being implemented on a pilot basis among four target agencies -- LGED, RHD, BWDB and REB. The tender notices of such procuring entities are also going to be published in the e-GP system soon. The CPTU is also included in the process. Gradually all government procurement activities will go online under the e-GP system.

Communications and Social Awareness Consultant of PPRP-II Shafiul Alam said CPTU has been carrying out awareness campaign on public procurement for the last three years. More programs will be launched to raise awareness about e- tender.

The bidders who have registered with the system under the goods category have automatically received the message on the publication of the tender notice on the e-GP system. Now the bidders will upload necessary documents from the e-GP portal and they will submit those on the system electronically.

The electronic tender has been invited in line with the present government vision for building a digital Bangladesh by 2021. CPTU is implementing the e-GP system under the Public Procurement Reform Project-II supported by the World Bank.

UNPAN Asia & Pacific

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

All of Philippine Govt to Use E-Procurement System

President Benigno Aquino III has issued an order requiring all government agencies and local government units to use the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) in all their purchases, which will translate into savings of as much as Php6 billion (USD142 million) annually.

According to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., state offices have been directed to source all their common-use supplies directly from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management or from its regional depots throughout the country.

“This administration reiterates the policy that procurement of government supplies, materials, and equipment shall be done in the most transparent and competitive manner,” Ochoa said.

Common-use supplies refer to office supplies like bond paper, pens, pencils, and ink, which eat up about P19.5 billion of the government’s annual spending package.

“With a centralized supply purchasing system, the budget department has estimated that the government stands to save as much as P6 billion a year,” Ochoa said.
PhilGEPS, which can be accessed online at www.philgeps.net, provides relevant information on all procurement activities of government agencies.

At present, the system already has 53,382 registered suppliers.

Ochoa said AO No. 17, which also calls for a periodic evaluation of all procuring entities, applies to all national government agencies, including military and police units; government-owned and -controlled corporations; government financial institutions; state universities and colleges; and local government units.

In the past, only the national government agencies were required to use the PS system.
UNPAN Asia & Pacific

Malaysian govt e-procurement achieves massive savings

Datuk Ibrahim Shukor, director of
e-Procurement Division
under the Malaysian Ministry of Treasury

The government expects an estimated savings of RM1.4 billion (US$ 470 million) or up to 10 per cent of the target annual procurement deals through Malaysian e-procurement system—e-Perolehan(eP)—this year, Datuk Ibrahim Shukor, eP project director under the Ministry of Finance (MOF) told FutureGov Asia Pacific Magazine.

According to Shukor, the eP has reached RM11.04 billion (US$3.7 billion) in the value of transactions last year, an improvement of over the original target of RM10 billion and has generated RM1.1 billion (US$ 370 million) savings.

“These savings were derived from the reduction in price of goods, processing costs and better inventory management, ” Shukor said.

This year, the government is aiming to hit RM14 billion (US$4.7 billion) procurement deals.

Positive annual growth trend, he added, is brought by several notable factors such as the MOF circular requirement for all ministries to carry out at least 70 per cent out of their respective annual procurement budget to be transacted via eP.

The order has made all 2,553 procurement offices nationwide to be eP-enabled.

“There is also a strong sense of ownership of the eP in all Ministries wherein total of 21 out of 25 ministries have exceeded their usage performances as compared last year,” Shukor noted.

The eP has expedited the ICT adoption process and accelerated all government procurement offices nationwide to be ICT infrastructure and eCommerce ready.

“The adoption rate from suppliers has also been positive, from merely 70,000 registered suppliers in year 2000 to approximately 185,000 this year,“ he added.

The eP also enables the government to provide a convenient and low entry cost for SME’s to conduct business. With the supplier registration module, the number of the registered supplier has increased from 30,000 to 185,000 this year.

“As one of the pioneers in the government electronic procurement scene, eP has become a benchmark for local and international organisations and governments,” Shukor said.

futuregov.asia

Kenya becomes first African country to implement e-government

In a move that is likely to have a ripple effect in the region, the Kenyan government has offloaded government data to its citizens via the Internet.The move makes Kenya the first country in Africa to implement a real e-governance system.

The Kenyan government launched the opendata website last week and released several large data sets, including statistics on government spending at the national and county level, to enhance transparency in governance and access to information.

The information on the portal is from published government data available from the ministries of Finance, Planning, Local Government, Health and Education and the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenyans will now be able to directly communicate with government officials and query the government for any discrepancies in expenditure via the portal. The move helps end the bureaucracy involved with making appointments with government officials.

The Kenyan move has been hailed not just in Africa but across the world, with Kenyan government officials expected at the White House in Washington, D.C., next week to talk about the portal and the idea behind its creation.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said during the launch of the portal that the era of hiding information from the public is gone and that all government information, except that which touches on defense, will now be accessible through the website.

The Kenyan Web portal is being managed by the World Bank, Kenyan ICT Board and Socrata, a U.S.-based developer and provider of open data services. The portal will constantly be updated with government spending records and other activities, allowing the public to compare the records with the projects on the ground. This makes it more difficult for senior government officials to misuse and divert funds as was the case in the past.

“The portal will be used by researchers, IT developers, journalists, students and the general public,” said Kaburo Kobia, projects manager for local digital content at the Kenyan ICT Board.

Kenya’s move will likely be replicated in many other African countries currently receiving funding from the World Bank for the implementation of e-governance programs.

The World Bank has been pushing for e-governance systems in the region as an important step in ending corruption by public institutions, especially in the procurement process. The bank has been providing funding to many African countries including Kenya for the implementation of e-governance systems over the past few years.

Last year, the World Bank approved more than US$44 million in additional funding for Ghana’s e-governance project aimed at promoting transparency in the government process. The bank also provided about $424 million to countries in Eastern and Southern Africa including Rwanda, Burundi and Madagascar for the expansion of e-governance systems.

The World Bank announced its e-governance project fund in 2007 after calls by various countries in the region requesting funding from the bank for telecom infrastructure.

However, the Kenyan government becomes the first country in East and Southern Africa to offload government data via an open data portal, likely putting pressure on other countries in the region to do the same. As in many countries in Africa, much of Kenya’s public data was in hard copy and other static formats that restricted the public from accessing them unless first getting permission from government officials responsible.

The e-governance project will also result in the creation of national digital centres in public administrations, designed to give citizens an opportunity to directly communicate with public institutions. The centres will provide services via the internet, fax machines and digital cameras in various parts of the countries.

.computernewsme.com

ChinaSoft International Won the Bid for Government Procurement Management and Trading System Project by Ministry of Finance PRC

ChinaSoft International Ltd. (HKSE: 354, "ChinaSoft" or "the Group") announced today the successful win of the bid for a Government Procurement Management System project by the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Finance (MOF). Being one of the largest domestic comprehensive providers of software and information technology services, ChinaSoft has been a prime provider of total application system intergradations participating in many e-government project developments.

ChinaSoft has achieved outstanding results in projects like China's Golden Auditing project, Golden Quarantine Supervision project, Golden Social Insurance project, Golden Agriculture Informatization project, Golden Macro Economy Analysis project and Golden IC card project, a series of nation-wide projects sponsored by the China central government, currently leading the vertical field of e-government development in China. This successful bid marks ChinaSoft International's breakthrough in the direction of governmental informatization.

The Government Procurement Management and Trading system project is another large e-government project ChinaSoft has participated in. ChinaSoft will undertake construction of the core content which includes one standardization system, two business process platforms, four basic databases, and eight subsystems. Successful implementation of this project will increase the speed of information construction on government procurement, enabling it to integrate the departmental budget and state treasury's centralized payment information, as well as establishing a standardized system for government procurement management and implementing management refinement of government procurement, providing comprehensive technical support and guaranteed perfection of government procurement's supervision mechanism.

ChinaSoft International and its predecessors have over 15 years of experience providing services for various government industries and have accumulated vast experience in project implementation. These include audit, social security, agriculture, finance, quality control, drug administration, civil aviation, meteorology and SASAC (State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission).

ChinaSoft has proprietary intellectual property rights middleware platform product, "Resource one" (R1), and many excellent reusable industry solutions. This provides flexible and fast implementation in the deployment and interconnecting of information systems between the government and different levels of large vertical industry. According to IDC's market research reports, ChinaSoft has been one of top three government industry solutions providers for four years in a row.

By undertaking the government procurement management and trading system project for the MOF, ChinaSoft will further enhance business capacity, technology development efficiency, system integration capability and large project deliverability during future e-government project construction, which further promotes ChinaSoft's participation within the core IT area of the state finance sector. The service experience gained by ChinaSoft on the government procurement management and trading system for the MOF will help the company expand business into other industries' procurement informatization markets.



istockanalyst.com

Bangladesh standardises public procurement

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has recently inaugurated the electronic government procurement (e-GP)-an online platform to carry out procurement activities by the public agencies - Procuring Agencies (PAs) and Procuring Entities (PEs).

The e-GP system is a single web portal from where and through which PAs and PEs will be able to perform their procurement related activities using a dedicated secured web based dashboard.

The e-Government Procurement solution introduced under Public Procurement Reform (PPR) Process is being supported by World Bank and being used by all government organisations which will help in ensuring equal access to the Bidders/Tenderers, efficiency, transparency and accountability in the public procurement process in the country.

The system is hosted in e-GP Data Center at CPTU, and the e-GP web portal is accessible by the PAs and PEs through internet for their use.

Prime Minister Hasina said the activities of the government have been made transparent and accountability has been established through the usage of the ICT.

E-tendering will be introduced, initially, to four target procuring agencies: Local Government Engineering Department, Roads and Highways, Bangladesh Water Development Board and Rural Electrification Board.

It would be expanded to 16 procurement entities of the four agencies and Central Procurement Technical Unit. Later a total of 308 PEs of the four agencies will come under the system.

futuregov.asia

Taiwan govt’s e-invoice transactions hit 50,000

Three months since its inception, the e-invoice system of the Taiwan finance department has registered over 50,000 transactions.

In December last year, Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance introduced electronic tax receipts, otherwise known as e-invoices, to designated convenience stores and supermarkets that issue smart cards or store membership cards to its consumers.

The launch has been a success, with the Ministry receiving next to no complaints from e-invoice users, said Peter Wang, an official of the Ministry of Finance’s Financial Data Centre (FDC), which operates the e-invoice system.

Under the e-invoice system, when a consumer buys from the participating stores, the purchase information and the Uniform Invoice number, a government-assigned unique number for the merchant or service provider issuing the invoice, will be automatically transmitted to a database managed by the FDC.

The FDC has been improving the system by enlarging the storage capacity of its IT infrastructure and by facilitating and securing data transfers to meet the massive usage.

In the initial phase of the system, only a few channels could issue e-invoices and citizens were wary of using the electronic invoice system.

“The paper invoice has been implemented for more than 60 years in Taiwan, so it’s not easy to let people to get used to having paperless invoice in a short time,” said Wang.

• To respond to these challenges, the FDC has offered incentives to let businesses participate in the system. The Taiwanese government also actively promoted the system to the public by launching e-invoice lottery bonuses.

In the future, the FDC plans to include into the system transactions not only involving cards. Soon, consumers could use their ID numbers and cell phone numbers, among others, to get paperless invoice during purchases.

• The objective of the system is to offer a secure and cost-efficient version of the paper invoice used to trace the transaction of services, goods and other expenditures.

The Ministry of Finance is expecting savings from using e-invoice instead of its paper-based version in the amount of NT$7.4 billion (US$233 million) by 2013.

The e-invoice system constitutes a new strategy by the Ministry, focusing on maximising B2B (business-to-business) through the promotion of B2C (business-to-consumer) e-invoices, especially in physical channels, said Wang.

The system provides such functions as retrieving invoice data and donating to give better service to citizens.

www.futuregov.asia

It Is Time to Pull the Plug on EU E-Government Benchmarking

Yesterday Capgemini published the latest version of its benchmarking of e-government services across the EU, continuing a tradition started by the European Commission several years ago.

I need to provide full disclosure here, for those who have not read my earlier positions on e-government benchmarking, be it EU, UN, or various consulting firms. I have always  questioned the value of these surveys and ranking, although I acknowledge their political importance that they play in giving an impulse to countries where investments have been lagging behind.

This year’s survey is incredibly rich in data and detail, and makes a valuable attempt at looking at e-government maturity at the local level as well as at looking in some considerable detail to the important area of e-procurement (guess why? the European Commission is funding a major pilot on e-procurement – see previous post).

Evolved from its early versions where the report was looking only at the online service sophistication, the benchmark now looks at multiple dimensions, such as transparency, multichannel delivery, user satisfaction, ease of use, as well as – at the portal level – how well the one-stop shop approach is implemented, its usability, and the user focus of its design.

I have no reason to believe that the quality of this survey is not good, on the contrary. It is road-tested, people engaged are skilled professionals in the area, and the data collection and analysis cannot but have become better.

Unfortunately the whole exercise is not convincing.

Imagine my surprise, as an Italian citizen, when I have seen that Italy has jumped up to almost number one in full online service availability. Luckily enough, when it comes to user experience, Italy trails behind in the benchmark. Of course the press and the blogosphere in Italy celebrates the former and sort of understates the latter.

Let me give you a flavor of personal experience here. My mother suffers from age-related cognitive impairment and is entitled to disability benefits. However one can file for disability benefits only online or through a number of franchisees, such as unions or associations, that usually charge for their services. A high touch service, where people with disabilities or their relatives could clearly benefit from human interaction, has been turned into an online service, which usually forces people to rely on intermediaries, given the affected demographics.

Another example, coming from my professional experience, is Spain, which made very well in last year’s benchmark, and focused almost relentlessly on bridging the gap with respect to online leaders. In meetings with Spanish officials last year, it was clear that they could hardly justify and sustain some of the online service that they develop, especially in consideration of the tough economic and financial challenges for the country.

This is the benchmarking effect: pushing jurisdictions in the wrong direction, by ignoring their peculiarities and making those who lag behind – often for good reasons – run an often useless race.

The effort of the EU benchmark at capturing new metrics is certainly good, but suggestions for the way forward are disappointing. Here are a few highlights:

Build the findings of the recently launched Action Learning Group (ALG) on “Open and Transparent Government” into the 2011 monitoring framework: This ALG is reviewing monitoring practices within countries to seek a common basis. It can also explore recent developments in ‘cloud’ provisioning, and other aspects of the rapidly advancing technology landscape to recommend pilot activities as well as more table EU27+ monitoring indicators

This looks like putting together two hyped themes – openness and cloud – to replace online services (which were the hype at the beginning). But what would be actually measured and why remains unclear.

Increase the link between these measurements and the current CIPs pilots: Considerable benefit will merge through this in efficiency, commonality of approaches, communication with countries, and monitoring. This will inform the development from these more generic ‘key enablers’ and potential specific ‘common horizontal building blocks’ that can be used within and across Europe. This may result in recommendations in such areas as emerging new trans‐EU ‘platforms’, ‘gov as an API’, new business models (e.g. involving other sectors). Another consideration is to tighten the link between this measurement approach and the DIGIT ISA programme: There is considerable synergy potential through doing so.

CIPs are large scale pilots in areas like procurement and identity management (see previous post), while ISA deals mostly with European interoperability issues. According to this suggestion, the benchmark would be subservient to EU initiatives, potentially focusing even less on individual country peculiarities than it did so far.

Explore possibilities of launching studies to compare practices in EU with practice in other non‐EU regions to both influence global developments, and learn from leading practice: This can build on existing international collaboration (e.g. group of 5: US, Canada, UK, NZ, Australia), and consider developments in major economies such as China, India etc.

It looks like the report does not recognize that there is a need to better analyze country peculiarities, but wants to move to an even more general level (and – by the way – isn’t there already a UN-sponsored e-government ranking?).

At the end, the report promises the following developments

1.Stabilising the 2010 scope of measurement – and provide a new broader set of benchmarks for countries (and regions) to compare and learn from;
2. Establishing Action Learning Groups (ALG) – a process for indicator innovation; piloting; and (leading) practice sharing. This is in process addressing: Open Government & Transparency, and Life‐Events;
3. Increasing reference to international leading practices – to ensure that Europe remains competitive on a worldwide stage

In a nutshell:

1. provide more metrics, 
2. paint this in open government (which is indeed very fashionable, I can’t wait to see a ranking by number of published open data set), and 
3. put this in a broader context.

I know there are plenty of great people and genuine efforts behind all this. But could we please pull the plug on EU benchmarking, and move on?

==============================
Andrea Di Maio is a vice president and distinguished analyst in Gartner Research, where he focuses on the public sector, with particular reference to e-government strategies, Web 2.0, open government, cloud computing, the business value of IT, open-source software, green IT and the impact of technology on the future of government

-blogs.gartner.com

UK improves European e-government standings

E-services provision benchmark study identifies continued progress

The end-to-end electronic delivery of UK public services, from government procurement to citizen portals, has continued to improve, according to a European Commission study released today.

The ninth EC Benchmark Measurement on EU e-government (PDF) placed the UK ninth out of 32 EU countries surveyed in terms of "online sophistication". This measures the availability of information, one and two-way interaction, transactions and targeting or automation.

The UK improved its e-services online sophistication ranking to receive a rating of 100 per cent for business and 94 per cent for citizen services to be ranked seventh overall behind Ireland, Italy, Malta, Austria, Portugal and Sweden.

The UK's e-services also received a 100 per cent rating in terms of transparency of service delivery, multichannel service provision, privacy protection, ease of use and user satisfaction.

This is compared to the EU average of 82 per cent in 2010 and 69 per cent in 2009 in terms of the availability of 20 basic services, such as job searches and benefits guides.

Meanwhile, the sophistication rating of services stood at 90 per cent last year, amounting to a year-on-year increase of seven per cent.

In the field of e-procurement government services, the report found that many countries do not structurally monitor the benefits achieved, despite their increased need to realise savings from automated group buying capabilities.

Scotland was a notable exception, having reported audited savings of almost £800m over a four-year period.

The report also praised the national Buying Solutions e-procurement portal, but said that the UK's decentralised e-procurement strategy tends to mean maintaining multiple platforms at local, regional and national levels.

The EC called for greater transparency and consistency in the supplier selection process across EU nations to help increase the scope for competition throughout the region.

Most EU e-services are still delivered independently, meaning that citizens must visit separate services to administer different aspects of their personal or working lives.

The report's recommendations centred around "government as an application programming interface" to harness the potential for public agencies to enable private and third-sector players to develop e-service extensions, hosting citizen portals or developing specific software or apps, for example.

The data.gov.uk initiative was praised for its contribution to the UK's ability to personalise e-services beyond simple levels of general availability.

"We must bundle services so they are relevant to customers. In seeking out leading practices, it is important that EU nations look outside the region," said Graham Colclough, vice president for the global public sector at Capgemini.

"As globalisation continues, Europe's competitiveness will depend on governments' abilities to deliver effective services in an international context."

The study was carried out by Capgemini, Rand Europe, IDC and the Danish Technological Institute.

-v3.co.uk

More EU citizens benefitting from online public services

Brussels. More people across the EU now have access to public services online, according to Europe's 9th e-Government Benchmark Report released today, the EC press service announced.

The average availability of online public services in the EU went up from 69% to 82% from 2009 to 2010. Putting more Government services online helps cut costs for public administrations and also reduces red tape for businesses and citizens.  The report reveals the best and worst performers in the EU, focusing on two essential public services: 'finding a job' and 'starting a company'. Although Europe's national public administrations are moving in the right direction, there is still disparity between countries. There is also room for improvement in take up of eProcurement. As part of the Digital Agenda for Europe, the European Union aims for one out of two citizens and four out of five businesses to be using eGovernment services by 2015 (see IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200). The Report's findings give useful feedback on the objectives of the eGovernment Action Plan launched by the Commission in December 2010 to work with Member States' public authorities to expand and improve the services which they offer via the Internet

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President for the Digital Agenda said: "I am pleased that increasing numbers of EU citizens can now use online public services for major things like looking for a job, filing tax declarations or registering new companies. Member States who make basic public services fully available online can make life easier for their citizens and businesses, while reducing their own costs."

Over 80% of basic public services available online

The online availability of a basket of 20 basic public services, such as car registration, tax declaration or registration of a new company, across Europe reached 82% in 2010, substantially higher than in 2009 when it stood at 69%. The best performers are Austria, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Sweden where the entire list of those basic services is fully online. Bulgaria, Italy and Latvia showed a big improvement during the last year in making services available online. The report shows that services for businesses are more advanced than those for citizens.

Quality of services

This year's report focuses on the needs of both unemployed citizens and would-be entrepreneurs. It looks at the way public administrations cut red tape and make the entire range of public services needed to start up a company or to get back to work available in a streamlined way. This can take place through an online portal or automatically, for instance when registering for a tax identification number a business start-up will also automatically receive a VAT number as well. The report finds that 55% of services required to start up a company are provided either through a dedicated portal or automatically in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Sweden and the UK. But only 46% of useful services for the unemployed are currently delivered through a dedicated portal.

eProcurement

Although 70% of public authorities have started working with eProcurement, its overall low take-up (best estimates place it at 5% of total procurement) does not yet allow for major benefits. If eProcurement were fully available, and more widely used, it could produce cost savings on public purchases as high as 30%.

Smaller municipalities, fewer online services

For the first time the report also looks at the regional and local dimension of eGovernment and highlights substantial disparities within countries. For services provided mainly at the local level, smaller municipalities display only half as much online availability as their larger counterparts. For instance, while the websites of smaller towns or cities may give information on how to request a copy of a birth certificate, large cities’ websites also include downloadable forms. The reason for this could be that smaller local administrations and their citizens prefer face-to-face contact or other more traditional channels, or that small administrations display a weaker capacity (strategy, funding, capability) to embrace online services.
The European Commission will continue to monitor the development of online public services across Europe and, through the eGovernment Action Plan, will work with Member States' public authorities to expand and improve the services they offer via the internet.

Background
The Commission's Benchmark report on the progress of eGovernment across the EU has been running since 2001. The objective of the survey is to benchmark the different European countries to compare progress and share best practices. The analysis covers more than 10 000 websites within the 27 Member States of the EU, plus Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.
The benchmark analyses 12 basic online services for citizens: Income Taxes, Job Search, Social Security Benefits, Personal Documents, Car Registration, Application for Building Permission, Declaration to the Police, Public Libraries, Birth and Marriage Certificates, Enrolment in Higher Education, Announcement of Moving, Health-related Service and 8 online public services for businesses: Social Contribution for Employees, Corporate Tax, VAT, Registration of a New Company, Submission of Data to the Statistical Office, Custom Declaration, Environment-related Permits, Public Procurement.

-focus-fen.net

Important results highlighted from the 8th GCC eGovernments Committee Meeting

Dr. Zakaria Ahmed Al Khaja, Director of standards, Quality and Procedures Engineering at the eGovernment Authority, during the 8th meeting of the Committee on e-government in the State of Kuwait.

The 8th GCC eGovernment Committee Meeting held in Kuwait included the joint Gulf framework for e-Procurement consideration.

Attending on behalf of the eGovernment Authority CEO, Dr. Zakareya Ahmed Al Khaja, Director of Standards, Quality and Procedures Engineering at the eGovernment Authority, attended the eighth meeting of the Heads of the GCC Countries eGovernment Authorities and programs in the GCC countries, which was held in the State of Kuwait, under the chairmanship of HE Mr. Salim Bin Khamis Al-Shair Director-General of the General Authority of Information, United Arab Emirates.
The meeting came out with a number of important recommendations about the e-Government program at the level of the GCC countries, along with discussion of developments on the issues that were addressed and approved at the previous meeting.

The committee was briefed on the recommendations of the Working Groups which was formed to study the cooperation and coordination of the procurement process and software licenses negotiations. It was agreed that member states shall exchange information and experiences about frameworks and framework agreements for IT products prepared or which shall be prepared to take advantage and make the best use of them, in order to conclude a collective e-procurement procedure at the level of the Gulf States.

The aim of these efforts is to promote cooperation among the Gulf States with regard to information technology and communications. It also aims to exchange experiences in the implementation of joint projects, such as the Guidelines for the conclusion of framework agreements prepared by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the framework agreements concluded or to be concluded by the Member States with international ITC companies and other procedures for the procurement processes in all Member States to formulate a unified Gulf framework for e-procurement.

With regards to the developments of the proposals put forward in the Committee's previous 7th meeting, Dr. Zakareya pointed out that the proposal, the formation of a ministerial committee for ministers concerned with eGovernment projects in the Member States, was on the top of the agenda topics due to its importance in promoting the GCC joint action and activation of Gulf e-linkage.

During the meeting, a proposal was also put forward, a website for the Gulf e-government Committee, which was prepared by the United Arab Emirates, to strengthen the process of communication for e-government programs among the GCC. The committee approved the proposal, which would contribute to the exchange of successful experiences and joint coordination to implement joint projects.

The Committee recommended to the Secretariat to register a domain (gcc) to be used for all the websites and portals belonging to the GCC countries and obtain letters of support from Member States to be submitted to the Internet authorities for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The proposal on (the exchange of visits among personnel of e-government programs) was widely welcomed, as the Committee expressed its encouragement for the exchange of visits in the Member States in order to benefit from the experience of every country in areas of e-government programs, thus contributing to the enrichment of shared experiences.

Dr Zakaryea Al Khaja said that the Committee discussed, The 2ND GCC eGovernemnt Conference & Exhibition awards timeframe which will be in November, along with the frameworks, criteria and indicators for assessment of this award, and in light of the recommendations of the working group formed for this purpose and consultation of Member States. The five branches of the award were agreed upon as well as adding, the best Arabic content Award to the categories of the award at its third session.

The criteria for evaluating e-government Award at its second session (2011) was agreed and it was decided that the State of Kuwait will prepare the criteria within two weeks and update the five branches of the Award. The final version shall be submitted to Member States for review.

The Gulf Conference for the e-Government is a proposal from the Kingdom of Bahrain which was put forward during the first meeting of the heads of e-government authorities and programs in the GCC countries, which was held in Bahrain to exchange experiences and successful projects among GCC countries.

The next meeting of GCC heads of e-government authorities and programs is scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates during the month of May 2011.

-ameinfo.com

eProcurement Scotland is One of The Most Successful eGovernment Initiatives In The World.

eProcurement Scotland (ePS) is regarded as one of the most comprehensive and successful Public Sector eGovernment initiatives in the world. Managed by the Scottish Government it is a fully hosted and managed 24 x 7 eProcurement service, accessed via web browsers.

The service allows routine purchases to be processed electronically from requisition to payment, and interacts with finance systems. It also supports electronic sourcing activities that are undertaken by public sector procurement professionals. The Scottish Government support a centrally co-ordinated eProcurement service to help meet eGovernment targets and embrace and exploit the opportunities provided.

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The wider suite of eSolutions are collectively referred to as 'Technology for Reform' and they are the services of choice for public sector procurement in Scotland. They are implemented in Central Government, Universities & Colleges, Health Boards and Local Authorities. For more information, please see the Purchasers & Suppliers Guides to Technology for Reform.

Case Study :

Scottish Govenment eAuction Success

The Scottish Government undertook an eAuction during February 2004 as the final stage of a procurement exercise to obtain IT equipment. The process ran very smoothly and substantial savings were obtained.

Background

The Scottish Government (SG) had a requirement for a large quantity of personal computers comprising 2500 base units plus 800 flat-screen monitors. It was decided to make use of an electronic auction as the final stage of the competition. Four Gartner-rated tier 1 suppliers of IT equipment had already been short-listed and, prior to the auction event, were requested to provide a sample of the equipment they would supply against the Government's specification. The SG was thus able to evaluate the equipment for network testing and performance.

The Approach - Resources, Technology and Support

The technology used was the eAuction module of the DTC electronic tender software which is available to the Scottish Government as a subscriber to eProcurement Scotland (ePS). Some additional external resource was provided by both the service provider and the technology provider to the ePS programme.

• The external resource requirements amounted to around six man-days of management consultancy support (provided by Capgemini) and three man-days of technical support (provided by Elcom). The main tasks undertaken by the Capgemini consultant were: providing guidance on auction strategy; providing template documentation; advising on the wording of communications to suppliers; and providing over-the-phone briefing to the four suppliers. The main tasks undertaken by the Elcom consultant were: coaching for those involved in running the auction; providing advice on the characteristics of the technology; setting up the auction on the system and providing a "help-desk" facility to suppliers on the day (both of the trial run and of the auction). Capgemini report that the preparatory work done by Scottish Government was crucial to the success of the event without further support being required.

• Internal resources amounted to 8 to 10 man-days, shared among several procurement staff and the internal client in preparing for and conducting the auction. However, a large proportion of this time was accounted for simply by it being the first auction of this type run in the Government.

In the opinion of the procurement staff involved, the tasks conducted by the external support were indispensable - especially as a short timescale necessitated a rapid run-up to the auction event. On the other hand, they were also confident that for future electronic auctions many of the tasks could be carried out internally instead. While it is difficult to estimate the shape of the learning curve based on a first experience, the normal complement of external resources might be expected to be no more than six man-days (four consultancy plus two technical) for the next few auctions, eventually dropping to one (or none?) once they become regarded as routine.

Auction Parameters

Decisions were required to be taken on such matters as: the initial price at which to start the bidding; whether to bundle the requirement or split it into separate line-items; the start-time and duration of the auction; whether or not to employ auto-extensions (where a bid received in the final minutes triggers one extension after another until the auction peters out); and what information on the bidding each bidder would be enabled to see.

For the purposes of this auction, the requirement was split into two line-items (the base units and the monitors) so as to allow bidders to provide separate bids for each item. For this to be feasible, the client must be content that the separate items are interchangeable and compatible in any combination. In the present case, while there was a slight preference for both items to be from the same manufacturer purely for aesthetics, it was decided to proceed to auction on an "any combination" basis.

An "anonymous" auction was employed, that is the auction was set up so that each subsequently lowest bid was communicated to all bidders but without showing the identity of the bidder.

The Outcome

The auction took place on 26 February 2004. Both the buyer and the winning supplier thought that the technology performed well. Bidding was highly competitive by all four bidders and the 30-minute auction was auto-extended to 44 minutes altogether. 31 bids were received and covered all 4 bidders. A final price dramatically below the best expectations of both the internal client and procurement officers was obtained. The saving was circa £400,000 against the previous contract price (for lower specified machines) and £300,000 compared to the "reserve price" (which the SG had recently been paying for comparable equipment). Said one observer: "We could not have forecasted such a huge drop in price of the system boxes from our reserve price". Following normal practice a purchase order - the final total value being around £1 million - was placed via eProcurement Scotl@nd with the winning supplier the following day.

Critical Success Factors

•  The subject matter must be suitable. There should be no significant remaining differences in quality between the products offered. In the present case, a sample of the equipment which each bidder was offering had been provided beforehand to ensure that it met the client's quality threshold. (Consequently, no factoring for quality was used in the auction: "bare" prices were used.) 

 

• Prior preparation. The electronic auction followed a normal procurement exercise, during which terms and conditions had been agreed with each of the prospective suppliers and the buying organisation had satisfied itself as to the standard of the equipment offered, standing of the suppliers, etc. Arrangements covering any other extraneous factors (such as transport and warehousing) not directly addressed by the auction had also been made in principle with each supplier prior to the auction.

 

• Dry run. A dry run of the auction involving both procurement staff (with internal client) and suppliers was held two days prior to the actual event. The dry run was made as realistic as possible (except that obviously fictitious commodities were used to avoid risk of confusion) in order to flush out any possible technical or communications issues.
  
• Open dialogue with suppliers. Suppliers participating in the electronic auction were kept informed as to the buying organization's intentions to use an electronic auction. They were given coaching and practice in the technology being used, provided with support both prior and during the auction and fully consulted on such decisions as auction timing and parameters.
  
  -scotland.gov.uk

E-Government Sees Online Payment Boom

Last year saw a 65% increase in payments collected through the Dubai eGovernment ePay payment gateway as compared to 2009, according to statistics released by Dubai eGovernment.

AED2.5 billion was collected from 1.8 million transactions through the ePay system for all participating government departments by the end of December 2010. AED1.7 million was collected in total in 2009.

"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," said Ahmed Bin Humaidan, director general of Dubai eGovernment .

Government departments participating in the ePay system include Dubai Customs, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Dubai Municipality.

These departments were also the top earners in 2010 in terms of money collected throughout 2010. The Roads and Transport Authority, DEWA and Dubai Customs were the top three government entities in terms of the number of transactions logged in 2010.

"This service allows both corporate and individual customers to complete ePayment for government services through three ways - credit cards, e-dirham and direct debit from the customer's account in participating banks," said Bin Humaidan.

According to the director general, credit card payments were the most popular option with amounts collected topping AED2.136 billion. Direct debit payments saw growth from 26,357 transactions in 2009 to 54,538 transactions in 2010.

"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," said Bin Humaidan

The Dubai eGovernment recently signed an agreement with the UAE Central Bank to add new banks to its ePay gateway by connecting with the UAESWITCH at UAE Central Bank.

This move will allow corporate or individual customers to settle government departments' fees through its ePay portal using ATM cards or through pre-paid cards. Forty-six banks are now included in the ePay system.

(UNPAN)

European Public E-Procurement

What is public e-procurement?

Public e-procurement involves the use of electronic communications and transactions by government institutions and public sector to tendering services or public works. Beyond the simple transition from systems based on paper to those which use electronic communications, public e-procurement can provide significant improvements in the effectiveness of individual markets and the overall functioning of the markets. In 2009 over 150,000 contracts were awarded in this way throughout the EU, with an estimated value of around 3% of the EU GDP.

On 18 October 2010 the European Commission launched a consultation on electronic procurement in the public sector. In the now standard form of the Green Paper, consultation will seek to gather the views of stakeholders on how the EU can help Member States to accelerate and facilitate the procedures for issuing public tenders.

Their gradual introduction is part of an ambitious e-government program aimed at transforming the delivery and performance of public administration. The European Commission's digital agenda foresees the approval of the White Paper, which outlines the steps to be taken by the Commission for the creation of interconnected infrastructure of public e-procurement.

Public procurement consists of eight phases: publication of notices, access to tender documents, submission of bids, evaluation, contracting, ordering, invoicing and payment. Some stages, such as the invitation, submission and evaluation stages, require bespoke solutions. The submission, evaluation and order stages are the most complex, requiring a common set of protocols and standards in order to organise the exchange of complex documents and the interaction between public purchasers and suppliers.

For some aspects of public procurement, manual processing is still necessary. For example, some stages of complex contracts such as projects or tasks can be difficult to reduce to standard formats and may require human intervention. However, there are possibilities for a large part of the procurement activities to be transferred to an electronic database. The experience of South Korea, where more than 90% of total government procurement is achieved by the use of a centrally managed platform, shows what can be accomplished.

What does public e-procurement offer?

According to the European Commission, the expanding use of public e-procurement will present advantages such as increased accessibility and transparency, because with the automation and centralisation of information flow on individual tender opportunities, public e-procurement can improve firms' access to public tenders. In addition, benefits are expected from the reduction of administrative costs and streamlining of procurement procedures. Further, there is the possibility of consolidation of public procurement markets in the EU, as the barriers of distance and information gaps reduce and broader participation is encouraged, increasing the number of potential suppliers, and possibly expanding the markets.

All these benefits contribute to achieving the desired results by creating better conditions for taxpayers and by saving costs in public expenditure management.

Facilitating cross-border participation

Public e-procurement systems should be as widely accessible as possible. This means that technical, legal and administrative requirements for participation in procurement procedures should be fair, proportional and not create unjustified barriers to the participation of economic operators from other Member States. In this area, action at EU level could help to clarify the access conditions to be met by the systems and procedures for public e-procurement and to facilitate mutual recognition of electronic identification, evidence and other conditions, so that operators have the same opportunities to participate.

Major success has been achieved through the establishment of a common infrastructure at EU level with the implementation of TED (Tenders Electronic Daily), which helped spread the use of electronic communication in the European Union.

In general, it is clear that while progress has been made in the introduction and use of electronic contracts, the overall goal of unrestricted cross-border operation has not yet been achieved. Given the complexity of changes required and the inherent challenges in moving towards the adoption of electronic systems, these goals were always likely to take some time to realize.

The EU's role in the promotion of public e-procurement

In 2005, EU ministers expressed the hope that by 2010 at least 50% of public procurement, which exceeds the target for EU procurement, would be carried out electronically. However, the Commission's assessment shows that in the leading Member States, less than 5% of the total budgets for contracts are realized through electronic systems.

Alongside its strategic study the EU has identified the main obstacles and risks in different national approaches to cross-border participation in electronic public procurement and has set out the options to confront these challenges.

Many public services have created portals for the publication of notices providing access to documents for tendering. However, the real objective is to automate the whole contract process, from opening until payment.

Successful e-government platforms have been established in many regions and Member States and, given that the technological capacity exists, the Commission considers that it should focus its efforts on supporting the introduction of public e-procurement to national, regional and local administrations.

Most of the required investments in public e-procurement need to be undertaken at national or regional level, since there are identified needs and resources. The EU will focus on creating a broader legislative and operational framework and will play a coordinating role in efforts to harmonize EU methods, at the same time ensuring consistency with the anticipated developments in other related fields, such as legislation for e-signature or e-billing.

The interest of national ministries and contracting authorities, through the submission of their proposals to the Commission, will create the conditions for exploiting the potential of ICT to improve public procurement in Europe. The process is to be completed during 2011.

Moreover, it presents the opportunity to adapt procedures to ensure that key components of the infrastructure of public e-procurement support cross-border involvement. While cross-border participation in public e-procurement is not widespread, it is prudent to undertake concrete actions for harmonization in order to establish a regular operational cross-border system.

Public e-procurement in Cyprus

Cyprus has a fully functional e-procurement platform and an attached subsystem for electronic catalogs and online ordering since 2009. The implementation of the application is linked directly to a web application, providing electronic procedures for the conduct of public procurement tendering in Cyprus.

Under Laws 11 and 12(I) of 2006, on the coordination of the procurement process and procurement procedures and Regulations 149/2009 and 150/2009 governing the conduct of contract procurement and use of electronic media, Cyprus regulated and organized procurement, at governmental, national and regional level.

The Public Procurement Directorate of the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus is responsible for managing the system. In 2009 this Directorate received the Best Practice Award in the fourth European e-Government Awards.

Services for the contracting authorities include provision of an online collaborative environment to organize activities related to public procurement, providing the tools for managing electronic tendering and emphasizing, among other things, the possibility of electronic preparation and delivery of procurement notices in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

Services for operators include tools for automated and secure electronic preparation and submission of applications and bids in tendering for public procurement. There is an electronic catalog (e-Catalog) which is a standard application offered to public officials and economic operators, consisting of the electronic catalog and online ordering, essential to the buying process. According to a study commissioned by DG Information, Cyprus achieves the total of 58% for the availability of reference, compared with a European average of 56%.

Dual publication of notices of public procurement at national level and in the OJEU is mandatory in order to create the same opportunities for access in accordance with the general principles of European competition. It is necessary, of course, to obtain better transparency and training in the use of public e-procurement from all economic factors. This will create conditions for wide use of the application not only nationally but also at a cross-border level.


(HG.org)

Iran Miliki Masterplan ICT yang Luar Biasa dan Diperlukan

Kota terbesar kedua di Iran, Isfahan yang juga merupakan pusat budaya Islamik global, telah menetapkan rencana-rencananya menjadi "e-municipality" terkemuka di Iran dan menjadi pemimpin e-Government di kawasan. Kota tua yang berpenduduk 1,7 juta jiwa, dahulunya merupakan salah satu dari kota-kota terbesar di dunia, menjalankan masterplan ICT selama 4 tahun dan memasuki tahun ke-5 untuk membangun infrastruktur dan memperbaiki berbagai layanan untuk masyarakat dan berbagai proses pemerintahan untuk meningkatkan daya komptisi.

Kerangka ICT yang serupa pun sedang diadopsi secara nasional oleh semua kota-kota besar di Iran, tetapi penerintahan kotamadya berhasil memadukan rencana ICT dengan proyek-proyek lokal. Vahid Heidarian, Kepala ICT Kotamadya di Singapura (22/10/2010) kepada FutureGov menyatakan bahwa pemerintahnya memprioritaskan proyek-proyek ICT.

Salah satu prioritasnya membangun layanan publik berbasis online melalui portal eServices bernama isfahan.ir. Melalui portal tersebut pemerintah memberikan layanan-layanan; perizinan, izin mendirikan bangunan, dan semua proses lelang akan segera dilakukan secara elektronik, melalui website. Versi bahasa Inggris pun sedang dikerjakan.

Lebih banyak eServices yang tersedia berarti masyarakat akan memperoleh pengalaman yang lebih mudah dan cepat, dan mengurangi keharusan mendatangi kantor-kantor pemerintah, sehingga diharapkan mampu mengurangi masalah kemacetan lalu-lintas, jelas Heidarian.

Spatial Data Infrastructure Initiative merupakan bagian dari masterplan ICT Iran, yang akan digunakan untuk mengatasi masalah kemacetan lalu-lintas id Isfahan yang memburuk-400 kendaraan baru memenuhi jalan-jalan kota ini setiap harinya, turut meyumbang tingkat polusi yang tinggi dan mengkhawatirkan.

Penanda-penanda GPS telah digunakan pada bus umum untuk pengendalian lalu-lintas, untuk memantau rute-rute perjalanannya. Transportasi publik lainnya yang akan segera mengenakan penanda GPS adalah taksi, kereta dan jaringan subway- dimana jalur pertama direncanakan akan rampung pada tahun ini.

Informasi transportasi umum akan dikombinasikan dengan data dari kamera-kamera CCTV yang ada di seluruh jalan raya dan dipancarkan melalui pesan-pesan singkat yang tersaji tanda-tanda penunjuk jalan elektronik.

Informasi ini akan dapat diakses melalui perangkat telekomunikasi mobile dalam waktu dekat ini. Iran juga memiliki berbagai rencana membangun data agregat penduduk melalui kartu tanda penduduk elektronik (ID Smart Card), sehingga dengan kartu identitas elektronik masyarakat Iran dapat membayar ongkos perjalanan
dengan kendaraan umum melalui sistem manajemen lalu-lintas pusat.

Pemerintah Iran akan menambah berbagai layanan lain yang melekat pada kartu tanda penduduk elektronik sehingga "hampir semua transaksi bisnis antara pemerintah dengan masyarakat dapat dilakukan dengan menggunakan kartu identitas", jelas Heidarian.

Untuk memberikan kemampuan komputasi yang lebih kuat kepada seluruh aktivitas e-Government, pemerintah pusar membangun sebuah data center yang akan menyediakan sebuah fasilitas berbagi kepada semua kota-kota besar di Iran.

Kita memiliki pusat-pusat data di setiap kota utama. Tetapi kita menginginkan ketersediaan data center lainnya yang dibangun dengan teknologi dan standar-standar terkini, yang dapat menangani peningkatan kebutuhan seiring dengan berkembangnya kota-kota di Iran.

Ada banyak pekerjaan yang masih harus dilaksanakan untuk menggerakan berbagai kapabilitas e-Government Isfahan yang dikembangkan dengan konsultasi yang diberikan oleh pemerintah kota Seoul, ibu kota Korea Selatan, terang Heidaran.

Iran menurut laporan Economist Intelligence bertajuk Digital Economy bertengger di peringkat 69 dari 70 negara yang disurvei, berada diperingkat ke-168 dari 181 negara dalam sebuah survei "internet speeds" oleh Speedtest.net pada tahun ini.

(FutureGov | Martin Simamora)

Para Pemenang United Nations Public Service Awards 2010 (Bagian 1)

Organik Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa : United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) memfasilitasi upaya mencari inovasi-inovasi dalam pemerintahan dan administrasi publik melalui Program Public Service Awards. Tahun ini berbagai organisasi pemerintah dari 15 negara menerima penghargaan sebagai bentuk pengakuan keberhasilan menyelenggarakan administrasi publik terbaik.

Para pemenang yang memperoleh penghargaan pada Rabu (23/6) kemarin adalah sebagai berikut :

Kategori 1 : Improving Transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the public service

Kawasan Asia Pasifik

Pemenang I : Republik Korea
Inisiatif : 732 - Women Friendly City Project atau Kota yang bersahabat dengan kaum perempuan
Institusi : Women Policy Division, Pemerintah Metropolitan Seoul
Pada tahun 2007 kota Seoul telah meluncurkan "Women Friendly City Project", yang terdiri dari 90 sub-proyek. Inisiatif ini dimaksudkan untuk mempromosikan kesetaraan gender di Kota Seoul dengan meningkatkan perhatian para pembuat kebijakan publik kepada kebutuhan perempuan Korea. Pada awalnya program ini memfasilitasi pertimbangan khusus bagi perempuan di area-area; pekerjaan, kemakmuran ekonomi, kenyamanan dan keamanan. Saat ini jumlah area yang dicakup oleh inisiatif ini semakin luas, termasuk ; jalan, transportasi, budaya dan perumahan. Hasil yang dimunculkan oleh inisiatif ini, kini setiap departemen di pemerintahan daerah terpacu untuk merefleksikan berbagai perspektif tentang wanita kedalam pembuatan kebijakannya.

Pemenang kedua : India
Inisiatif : 817- State Wide Attention on Grievances by application of Technology atau disebut juga Inisiatif SWAGAT
Institusi : Kantor Chief Minister, Pemerintah Gujarat
Inisiatif SWAGAT dibentuk sebaga sebuah sistem Transparan dimana masyarakat dapat menyuarakan semua keluhannya terhadap pelaksanaan layanan publik. SWAGAT membuat masyarakat memiliki akses langsung untuk bertemu dengan Chief Minister secara personal untuk menyampaikan permasalahannya. Para pejabat administrasi senior bertanggungjawab terhadap permasalahan yang diajukan oleh masyarakat beserta detailnya dan memberikan saran tindakan-tindakan yang dapat diambil untuk menyelesaikan setiap permasalahan. Administrator juga juga bertanggungjawab untuk merespon masyarakat dan Chief Minister.

Sistem SWAGAT yang transparan dan terbuka memungkinkan masyarakat untuk memiliki akses yang memuaskan ke pemerintahan yang dihasilkan oleh proses yang adil, bahkan sekalipun pemerintah pada akhirnya membuat keputusan yang tak sesuai dengan pengharapannya. Aplikasi-aplikasi pelacakan status juga dapat ditinjau secara online dan up-date status dapat dilihat kapan saja.

Kawasan Eropa dan Amerika Utara

Pemenang I : Jerman
Inisiatif : 658 Tandem in Science, Network for Integartion Projects
Institusi : Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Federal Agency for Vaccines and Biomedicines
Di Jerman, 5% lapangan kerja diisi oleh mereka yang mengalami keterbatasan fisik. Inisiatif ini penting untuk mengembangkan sebuah pendekatan jaringan untuk mempromosikan penciptaan lapangan kerja bagi masyarakat yang mengalami keterbatasan fisik (disabled). Konsep jaringan dan tujuan-tujuannya bermula dari fakta bahwa kelompok masyarakat yang mengalami keterbatasan fisik sangat tak terwakili di dalam riset dan ilmu pengetahuan, walaupun jika disokong dengan dukungan-dukungan yang tepat, mereka akan dapat belajar dan/atau bekerja di berbagai bidang profesi atau keahlian.

Tujuanprogram untuk membuat perencanaan karir-karir profesional seutuhnya bagi masyarakat yang mengalami keterbatasan fisik, mulai dari pelatihan keterampilan khusus, kursus-kursus universitas hingga potensi pendidikan di tingkat doktoral bagi mereka yang berkualifikasi sebagai ilmuwan-ilmuwan khusus.

Inisiatif ini sebuah disain lingkungan pelatihan dan kerja terintegrasi dibentuk sebagai model yang dapat diaplikasikan di area-area riset dan ilmu pengetahuan lainnya.

Pemenang kedua : Albania
Inisiatif :823 - Public Procurement Agency
Institusi : Public Procurement Agency

Sistem Procuremebt di Albania selama ini menghadapi berbagai problem besar yang berdampak langsung terhadap keefektifannya. Satu permasalahan terbesar adalah hambatan bagi para pebisnis swasta dan masyarakat untuk mengakses dokumen-dokumen tender yang diperlukan untuk berpartisipasi dalam proses tender.

Permasalahan ini berkontribusi terhadap rendahnya transparansi dalam proses procurement yang mendorong tindak korupsi. Prosedur-prosedur procurement didokumentasikan dalam lembar-lembar kertas, akan tetapi persyaratan yang mengharuskan adanya dokumentasi tertulis pada setiap tahap prosedur dokument jarang ditemui.

Merespon permasalahan ini, pemerintah Albania menjadi negara pertama di dunui yang mengembangkan sebuah sistem e-Procurement yang 100% harus dijalankan oleh semua sektor pemerintah dalam mengadakan lelang barang dan jasa dengan nilai diatas 300 Euro.

Platform e-Procurement menggunakan aplikasi berbasis website (www.app.gov.al) yang menyediakan kemampuan melakukan transaksi-transaksi yang secure diantara badan-badan pemerintah Albania dan komunitas-komunitas bisnis nasional dan internasional.

Sistem e-Procurement Albania menjamin sebuah proses persiapan dan administrasi semua dokumen terkait tender secara transparan dan aman, menyingkirkan berbagai kertas kerja dan memberikan arus data yang aman diseluruh prosesnya.

~bersambung~

(Martin Simamora | UNPAN)