Saturday, 31 July 2010
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Central Government
The Philippines’ e-election miracle
The critics said the whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen. And they were very nearly right. But once the dust had settled on May 11th 2010, observers were hailing the Philippines’ first e-election as a ‘miracle’.
Central Government
Australia’s GCIO talks tough at FutureGov Forum
Australia’s Government Chief Information Officer, Ann Steward, urged civil ...
Central Government
Singapore’s labour dept cuts office visits by 75%
Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has reduced the number of ...
22 July 2010 | News
Social networks: Indonesia's fifth estate?
Social networks in Indonesia have become the country’s “fifth estate” - they are shaping democracy and policymaking. So says the commissioner of the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (BRTI), Heru Sutardi, who points to recent cases of where Indonesians have used social networks to amass public support and pressure governments.
20 July 2010 | Interview
Delivering u-govt in Korea
The introduction of technology has been critical to transforming the way Korea’s public sector operates, says Jung-Hyub Kang, the country’s most senior information officer. Interview: James Smith. Edited: Robin Hicks
13 July 2010 | Research
Asian E-Government in 2010
FutureGov announces the availability of a new report Asian E-government in 2010 – winning citizen trust for Government ICT initiatives. The study, based on a survey of 121 public sector officials from eight Asia Pacific countries and economies (within the Government, Education and Healthcare sectors) found that there was scope for increased deployment of E-government services across all organisations. Over 45 per cent of respondents indicated that they offered less than ten such e-services to citizens.
12 July 2010 | Feature
Should policy be debated in social media?
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently appointed 200 people to read through the 50,000 messages he has received from his 250,000 followers since he opened a Twitter account. His critics complain that the rambunctious President should spend less time tweeting and more time trying to solve the country’s problems. But are the two …
1 July 2010 | News
China info chief hails smart city project
Guangzhou is investing RMB100 million (US$15 million) annually in new technologies as part of a plan to develop into a ‘smart’ city. The ‘Intelligent Guangzhou’ project will see ‘internet of things’ applications designed, manufactured and deployed across the city - China’s third largest - with a major roll-out expected by 2013.
30 June 2010 | Feature
Easy ways for govts to go green
As we enter the coming decade there seems to be a nagging question, a question that is frequently answered without any concrete proof. The question is simple yet profound in its implications for global citizens: ‘Is IT part of the problem or part of the solution to Climate Change? In his own words, Mike Mudd, the chief representative of the Open Computing Alliance (OCA) for Asia Pacific, argues why it is the latter.
29 June 2010 | Research
Sharing in govt: HK Vs Singapore
It’s good to share. But in government, sharing information between departments is not always easy, as a FutureGov Research report reveals.
29 June 2010 | News
Japan reveals key e-govt projects
In an exclusive interview with FutureGov, Japan’s e-government expert Kyosuke Tsuji, Deputy Director, Administrative Management Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, revealed his country’s priority projects - IT consolidation and improving citizen service delivery.
28 June 2010 | News
India’s e-driver’s licence project hits 10m
In what has been billed as the largest project of its kind of the world, the government of India has passed the 10 million mark for issuing electronic driver’s licences. Of the country’s 110 million drivers, nine per cent have now been registered with electronic driving certificates, according to Gemalto, a digital security firm involved in the project.
21 June 2010 | News
Lessons from the Philippines’ first e-election
Although the US$155 million project was fraught with technical difficulties and controversy, the Philippines’ first computerised election has been hailed an historic success. FutureGov caught up with the Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Commission on Elections, Ray Roxas-Chua, to ask how Asia’s first democracy could go one better next time round.
17 June 2010 | News
South Korea and Singapore sign e-government pact
Two of Asia’s biggest exporters of e-government systems, South Korea and Singapore, have struck a deal to share ideas and lessons learned on e-government service delivery and strategy. The memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed June 16th 2010, will see the two countries collaborate on e-government projects and support…
8 June 2010 | News
India to launch e-passport services
A surge in demand for passport services has prompted the Government of India to undertake a pilot project to issue its citizens with e-passports.
7 June 2010 | Feature
How China's govt portal serves 400m
China’s central government portal, gov.cn, is billed as the country’s most authoritative citizen-facing web site. But how does it fare in the eyes of a web design agency and a China citizen?
7 June 2010 | Interview
Australia's GCIO reveals priorities
In the wake of major reviews of the cost structure of government IT, and the use of social media by government, FutureGov sat down with Ann Steward, Australian Government Chief Information Officer, and General Manager of the Australian Government Information Management Office.
31 May 2010 | News
Should civil servants be paid by performance?
Civil servants have a reputation for complacency at work, and doing only the bare minimum to get by to keep their jobs. Unfair? Probably. With this in mind, FutureGov asked senior public sector modernisers in China, India, Malaysia and Singapore if they think civil servants should be paid by performance.
27 May 2010 | Research
Study shows innovation partnerships produce growth
Synopsis of an econometric study of macroeconomic effects in 15 economies in the Asia Pacific region
24 May 2010 | News
Facebook warns govt users on privacy
More than 2000 Facebook pages are used by 35 federal agencies in the United States. Many more government agencies in Asia are now on Facebook, amassing millions of fans. But government Facebookers should be mindful of privacy issues when archiving content, a Facebook spokesman has cautioned in an interview with FutureGov.
18 May 2010 | News
OECD plots next generation e-govt indicators
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has entered talks with the producers of the major global e-government surveys with a view to launching new e-government indicators that focus on public sector performance.
17 May 2010 | News
The Philippines hails election automation a success
Critics said the Philippines’ first automated election was certain to fail. But on May 11th, the day after the country’s presidential, vice presidential and senatorial elections saw more than 53 million Filipinos vote using 76,347 Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, the process was declared the cleanest, fastest, and most orderly election yet.
11 May 2010 | News
Singapore reveals US$800m ICT procurement plans
The Singapore government has unveiled plans to spend S$1.1 billion (US$800 million) on ICT in the 2010 financial year, with a new government portal and a revamped road monitoring system among the 350 government ICT projects in the pipeline.
7 May 2010 | News
Singapore automates Youth Olympics
Two thousand computers, 170 servers and 500 network devices will be deployed in 18 competition venues to serve 26 sporting events, 5000 athletes, 1200 press, 20,000 volunteers, and an estimated 500,000 spectators when the Singapore Youth Olympics get underway in 13 weeks time.
7 May 2010 | News
Are you ready for the digital Big Bang?
Within the next decade, the volume of data amassed in the world will be equivalent to a stack of DVDs reaching halfway from earth to mars. Data streaming through cables and airwaves will amount to 35 trillion gigabytes by 2020, a 44-fold increase in the volume of information around today.
5 May 2010 | Interview
India: role model for govt transformation
India’s government is transforming apace. Since the introduction of the National e-Governance Plan in 2006 it has leapfrogged into a new era of governance. The world’s largest democracy still faces many challenges, but great opportunities lie ahead.
5 May 2010 | News
Singapore govt calls for cloud proposals
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has reaffirmed its commitment to Cloud Computing by calling for proposals for “innovative” cloud-based projects. For selected Singapore-registered organisations, both private and public, the government will subsidise the use of cloud services by 50 to 100 per cent, depending on qualifying criteria.
4 May 2010 | News
Why the Philippines needs a GCIO
Without a Government Chief Information Officer and an IT department with clout, the Philippines will be left behind the rest of Asia in terms of the efficiency and accountability of its government. So says the head of the Chief Information Officers Forum, a foundation set up to promote ICT-led governance in the archipelago.
20 April 2010 | News
What role will govt play in social web of the future?
In the not too distant future, a new generation of social media will be administered by virtual civil servants and patrolled by cyber sheriffs. Highly evolved versions of Second Life, where netizens meet, trade, and play, will also become places where policy is debated and decided. Sound fanciful? Well, this is the way the world is headed, predicts futurist and author Thornton May.
9 April 2010 | News
Korea exports e-government model to Japan
One hundred years after South Korea adopted Japan’s administrative system under colonial rule, Korea has struck an historic deal to sell its e-government model to Japan. In an interview with FutureGov, a leading Korean academic in public administration said the deal marked a shift for Korea “from playing catch-up to leading the way” for e-government in East Asia.
8 April 2010 | News
Do the benefits of open govt data outweigh the costs?
“Data belongs to the people, particularly that held by the public sector,” Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said recently. But putting government data online is not without risks. FutureGov asked officials in Singapore - which launched an open data initiative last week - South Korea, the UK and the Netherlands whether they feel that the benefits of open government data outweigh the costs.
7 April 2010 | News
India’s IT chief calls for closer private sector ties
Speaking to over 150 senior government officials at the FutureGov Forum India 2010 this morning, R. Chandrashekhar, Secretary IT, Ministry of Communications and Technology of India, revealed the growing opportunities of citizen service delivery through mobile phones and the need for closer Public Private Partnerships (PPP).
5 April 2010 | News
China Press Bureau rolls out data sharing platform
China’s Press and Publication Bureau has created a unified platform to manage and share information for its offices in 12 provinces across the country.
5 April 2010 | News
Singapore launches smart map portal
Sixteen government agencies in Singapore have joined forces to launch an intelligent online map portal. Built using web 2.0 technologies, ‘OneMap’ enables government agencies, citizens and businesses to mash-up geospatial data for their own purposes. The S$2.2 million (US$1.8 million) project is the first major product of the Singapore Geospatial Collaborative Environment (SG-SPACE) initiative, a whole-of-government push to spur innovation using map-based information.
5 April 2010 | News
Are civil servants cut out for social media?
Most senior civil servants are Baby Boomers or Generation Xers, born at a time without the internet. But does this mean that web communities are too ‘young’ for top officials to operate in effectively? In interviews with FutureGov, government officials from Australia, Malaysia and the UK argue that although civil servants may not feel comfortable using social media to reach young citizens, the rewards are worth the risks.
29 March 2010 | News
Philippines confident in looming e-elections
In an interview with FutureGov in Manila last week, Jose Melo, Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), said he is confident that the technology used for the Philippines’ first-ever computerised election will hold firm when 50 million Filipinos head for the polls on May 10th, and that much opposition to automation has come from those who “no longer know how to cheat.”
29 March 2010 | News
Singapore Health Ministry on social media
With its Minister blogging personally about topical healthcare issues and sharing policy issues on Facebook, the Singapore Health Ministry is now seen as an example of how to engage citizens using social media. Karen Tan, the Ministry’s Director of Communications, shares the journey as well as the learning points.
26 March 2010 | News
Hong Kong revamps govt portal
Hong Kong’s government web portal has been revamped with a new layout and enhanced functionality. The simple and goal-oriented design aims to make the GovHK more useable and efficient, providing a ‘lively and close-to-market’ experience for users.
12 March 2010 | News
How government web sites build citizen trust
Government modernisers in Asia and Europe have stressed the importance of building transparent official web sites as a way to boost citizen trust. In interviews with FutureGov, public sector experts from Singapore and the Netherlands said that more needs to be done to make information on government web sites more accessible, timely and searchable if closer ties are to be built with netizens.
9 March 2010 | News
OGCIO reveals 2010 priorities at FutureGov Forum HK
Hong Kong’s Government Chief Information Officer Jeremy Godfrey laid out his department’s plans for this year and beyond at the FutureGov Forum Hong Kong this week (Tuesday, March 9th 2010). Joined-up government, driving greater efficiencies, exploiting opportunities of cloud and social computing, and using IT to tackle climate change will be the “big five policy drivers” for Godfrey’s team in 2010.
9 March 2010 | Spotlight
Governments’ data management challenge
For years, governments have faced the challenge of managing, tracking and analyzing enormous amounts of data so it can be quickly accessed to support strategic and tactical decisions. The problem is that data is distributed across multiple computing environments that are not easily linked for query and analysis. Successful commercial businesses have found that the best approach is to integrate and centralise data in one repository called an enterprise data warehouse.
3 March 2010 | News
Singapore overhauls free wireless service
The Singapore government has revamped its free, nationwide wireless internet service Wireless@SG to give citizens and businesses faster and easier access to the internet. It is hoped that the service – which will be free until 2013 - will boost innovation and business activity as the island nation’s economy emerges from recession.
2 March 2010 | News
How single ID improved interaction with govt
To make it convenient for entities to interact with all government agencies, the Singapore government launched a multi-agency ICT project to implement a standardised identification number for each entity. Winston Wee, Head of Integrated Services, Ministry of Finance (MOF) told FutureGov of the challenges faced during project implementation and how they were overcome.
2 March 2010 | News
Turkey’s GCIO reveals success of citizen ID
Speaking exclusively to FutureGov, Dr. Ramazan Altinok, Head of E-government Project Group, Office of the Prime Minister of Turkey revealed how the government successfully implemeted a national ID database which formed the backbone of the country’s e-government infrastructure.
1 March 2010 | News
UN defends relevance of e-government rankings
The United Nations has refuted suggestions that its E-government Survey has lost relevance in an era of increasingly diverse e-government ecosystems. The survey’s director, Haiyan Qian, told FutureGov that the rankings continue to serve as a guide to more efficient, open and transparent governance, and help public sector modernisers “put money in the right places” and avoid commonly made mistakes.
24 February 2010 | Interview
Leveraging cloud to sustain 200Gbps attack traffic
With a proper mechanism and tools, governments should be able to better defend themselves against Denial-of-service attacks, which are becoming bigger and more frequent
23 February 2010 | Feature
Malaysia banks on ICT to meet 2020 development goals
Malaysia’s Government CIO has hailed ICT as a “key enabler” to fulfil Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s mission to transform Malaysia into a developed nation by 2020. Speaking at the FutureGov Forum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (23rd February 2010), Dr Nor Aliah Zahri, Government CIO and Deputy Director General of the Malaysian …
21 February 2010 | News
New Korean IT Agency President reveals priorities
Korea’s National Computing and Information Agency has placed cloud computing technologies, green IT and information security as top three priorities for 2010. Newly appointed President Chang Kwang-soo revealed to FutureGov his five-pronged strategy for the challenges ahead.
9 February 2010 | News
Eat an elephant bite by bite, and digest accordingly
Business process is an incremental journey. Will government CIOs become government Chief Process Managers in the future?
9 February 2010 | News
Should govts archive social media posts?
It is fashionable for government agencies to have a Facebook or Twitter account these days. But should tweets and status updates be backed up to leave a digital trail for transparency’s sake? Not all policymakers have made their minds up, as perspectives from the United States, Europe and Asia reveal in interviews with FutureGov.
9 February 2010 | News
Privacy concerns shape biggest ID project ever
The government of India hopes to have given half of the country’s residents an identification number within four years of the launch of the most ambitious project of its kind ever attempted. The Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) Director General Ram Sharma told FutureGov that the UID project, which is expected to roll out around October this year, will see 600 million residents registered with a unique identity number by 2014, if all goes according to plan.
9 February 2010 | News
Philippine govt ICT agency’s future in doubt
A week after a bill to create a fully-fledged Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) in the Philippines was thrown out by Congress, the future of the current agency responsible for IT hangs in the balance. As President Gloria Arroyo’s administration makes way ahead of elections in May, the Commission on Information and …
2 February 2010 | News
Corruption rises among HK govt officials
Corruption among government officials in Hong Kong rose considerably during the global financial crisis, although not by as much as was expected, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has told FutureGov. Corruption complaints made against government departments jumped by 11 per cent in 2009, but the number of pursuable cases rose by just four per cent, according to ICAC figures.
27 January 2010 | News
Gov 2.0 championed at FutureGov Forum Singapore
Government modernisers from South Korea and Europe urged delegates at the FutureGov Forum Singapore today (Wednesday 27, 2010) to be bold in embracing social media and open information as ways to help solve society’s problems. Dr Jung-hee Song, Assistant Mayor for IT and Chief Information Officer, Seoul Metropolitan Government, pointed to …
26 January 2010 | News
Politicians ponder what’s next at FutureGov Forum
Elected politicians from Hong Kong and Singapore shared their perspectives on the future of governance and public service delivery at the FutureGov Forum in Singapore today. Zaqy Mohamad, Member of Parliament & Chairman for the Government Parliamentary Committee for Singapore’s Ministry of Information Communication and the Arts, told delegates that while his country has always …
25 January 2010 | News
Time running out for Philippine govt IT agency
A bill to create a Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) in the Philippines, which has been pending in the national legislative for almost a decade, has just a few days to be passed before Congress is adjourned in time for general elections in May. Ray Roxas-Chua (pictured), Chairman of the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), told FutureGov that the bill faced “an uphill battle” to win the attention of Filipino lawmakers.
20 January 2010 | News
Korea tops UN recession-time e-govt rankings
South Korea has led the world in how governments have used ICT to give citizens and businesses better access to public services during the economic downturn, according to a United Nations survey. Korea edged out the United States in the 2010 UN E-Government rankings, marking the first time an Asian country has topped the bi-annual table.
19 January 2010 | Spotlight
Increasing Government Effectiveness
New Thinking for a New Decade
19 January 2010 | Feature
Should data centres be outsourced?
Government data centre outsourcing contracts can help local IT players grow. This creates jobs and boosts the local economy. But the real dynamics of data centre outsourcing have been slow to take off in Asia. Why?
19 January 2010 | Feature
Government Cloud: Public or Private?
Asia‘s first ever public sector summit on cloud computing suggested that the economics of cloud computing trumped other concerns - but that private clouds would be the necessary first stepping stone to prove the technology could deliver.
13 January 2010 | News
Asian govts eye gains from setting data free
More of the huge reserves of information locked away in the basements of government buildings should be made available to the public. So say government modernisers in Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia following the news that the Mayor of London has sparked an “information revolution” in the British capital by putting data online for public consumption for the first time, free of charge.
13 January 2010 | News
Denmark helps businesses with national e-invoicing system
A national electronic invoicing infrastructure has eased government-to-business and business-to-business transactions in Denmark. Catherine Lippert, Acting Deputy Head, Division for IT Infrastructure & Implementation, National IT & Telecom Agency (NITA) spoke to FutureGov about the drivers for the project and the agency’s plans to migrate the system into the cloud.
13 January 2010 | News
Vietnam e-govt scam case prompts procurement rethink
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has urged developing countries to embrace transparency and accountability in their procurement practices following the news that a former Vietnamese deputy minister faces corruption charges over the failed e-government venture Project 21.
7 January 2010 | Feature
Moving from planning to impact
Government is back, and it is not going away anytime soon. Following a tumultuous 12 months in which governments throughout the region had dramatically increased their role within national economies, the 132 delegates to the FutureGov Summit, Asia’s annual gathering of senior government officials, took time out of the busy schedules to share what had worked well, and lay out their plans for the future of public administration.
5 January 2010 | Interview
Putting government to the test
Two candidates enter the hall for the same examination. As the examination proceeds, the computer selects the next question from a database based on each examinee’s performance so far. The stronger candidate gets presented with more difficult questions while the other get easier ones. Immediately after, the computer generates equitable scores even though both have experienced a different test set.
4 January 2010 | News
Kyrgyz Republic uses software to aid economic reform
The government of the Kyrgyz Republic is implementing an integrated Treasury Management Information System (TMIS) and Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) as part of the former Soviet country’s push for economic reform.
4 January 2010 | News
Singapore and China forge public sector training alliance
China and Singapore have struck a deal that will see the two governments share their experiences in public administration and training. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed by China’s State Administration of Foreign Experts (SAFEA) and Singapore’s Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) at the …
28 December 2009 | Interview
Hong Kong Observatory launches YouTube channel
Hong Kong Observatory, the weatherman of the city frequently affected by adverse weather conditions, has launched a new YouTube channel for weekly summary of weather information as well as public meteorological education.
22 December 2009 | Spotlight
How the Philippines grew tax ROI by 400 per cent
“Over the past few years we had become less and less successful in collecting taxes, as evidenced by the continuous decline of our Tax Effort Ratio (TER), which is total revenue collections over Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” says Estelita Aguirre, Deputy Commissioner and Head of Large Taxpayer Operations Group….
18 December 2009 | News
Australian govt centralises ICT procurement
All information communications and technology products and services will be centrally procured by the end of this financial year, the Australian government has announced.
11 December 2009 | News
Hong Kong Police act over peer-to-peer data leakage
The territory’s personal data privacy watchdog said he was satisfied with the measures taken to mitigate the consequences and prevent reoccurrence of the recent leakage cases where confidential police documents appeared on the internet through a peer-to-peer file shairng application
10 December 2009 | News
British Library unveils futuristic storage facility
The £26m building will keep literary records in a safe, high-density environment with automated storing and retrieval by robots governed by algorithm
8 December 2009 | Spotlight
Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower improves its planning and operations
The mission of the Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is to achieve a globally competitive work force and great workplace for a cohesive society and a secure economic future for all Singaporeans. To enhance the effectiveness, the Ministry needed to integrate data housed in disparate sources to provide a holistic one-MOM view…
30 November 2009 | News
Crossing Hong Kong-Macau border made easy
Hong Kong residents will soon be able to enter Macau through electronic auto-clearance gates using their Hong Kong ID cards while those living in Macau will have the same privilege, according to a joint agreement by the two governments.
19 November 2009 | News
Asians split on the future role of government
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and just as the global economy begins to recover from a painful downturn, Asian citizens have mixed feelings on whether government should have more control over industry and the distribution of wealth, according to a global BBC poll.
2 November 2009 | Feature
Improving tax collection efficiency in Asia
The pressure on government to efficiently deliver services has probably never been greater. Such is life for governments during downturns. Systems are under stress. And yet extracting tax revenue from citizens and businesses to fund huge economic stimulus packages has probably never been more difficult.
26 October 2009 | News
How China’s Customs Retrieves Duty Losses and Controls Smuggling
How does a country keep track of all the goods crossing its borders? What is the best way to achieve tax harmony? Avoid smuggling? Heavyweight international trader China looks to its statistics department to achieve all this. China Custom’s SAS-based Enforcement Assessment System (EAS) has now been live for over two years, and the results are undeniably impressive.
23 October 2009 | News
'Govt 2.0 should come with health warning'
Governments need to be more wary of the security risks posed by the consumerisation of the internet and the changing working habits of the public sector work force. So senior executives at global cyber security firms have warned civil servants in interviews with FutureGov.
21 October 2009 | Interview
Reflections of a government CIO
Laurence Millar was one of the longest serving GCIOs in Asia before he resigned in April. The former New Zealand government IT supremo talks Robin Hicks through the ups and downs of his tenure, and the lessons he learned along the way
21 October 2009 | News
Singapore forges new e-gov deal with Oman
Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority has struck a new deal with the Information Technology Authority of Oman (ITA) to further develop the Sultanate’s e-government infrastructure.
14 October 2009 | News
IMPACT boss warns of long struggle with cyber crime
Datuk Mohd Noor Amin, the Chairman of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats, or IMPACT, has warned governments of the “long-term struggle” with cyber criminality and the need for international cooperation to fight it.
13 October 2009 | Interview
Malaysia's moderniser
Datuk Normah binti Md Yusof, Director-General of the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit, the country’s lead agency for government modernisation, marks her second year in the job by reviewing progress and outlining her organisation’s future plans.
13 October 2009 | News
Standards up at Government Technology Awards 2009
Winners at the Government Technology Awards 2009 have received praised for the “very high quality” of entries, particularly from developing countries in the region. However, there is still room for improvement in the Green Government category, noted Laurence Millar, former Government Chief Information Officer of…
12 October 2009 | News
Asian govts mix carrot and stick approach to e-services
Asian governments revealed their differences on how to boost the uptake of e-services in a rambunctious discussion at last week’s FutureGov Summit in Bali, Indonesia.
12 October 2009 | Research
Looking Ahead
The Development of Information Management in Asia’s Public Sector. A survey of public sector IT executives in Asia
Government agencies in Asia now better realise the importance of information, as there is much demand from the public. In the past, people would accept what was offered to them from their government. Now, people are generally well-versed with information-and-communication-technology tools and are more aware of what government is doing for them. So the public in Asian countries wants more information and they want it faster.
22 September 2009 | News
Winning the war against cyber crime
What are governments doing to ensure that critical online operations remain operational when under attack from cyber criminals? FutureGov asked senior civil servants in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and the Philippines to reveal how they are preparing their defences against hackers.
18 September 2009 | News
One-stop cloud source launched for US federal agencies
The US government has launched Apps.gov, a dedicated web site for federal agencies to ‘quickly browse and purchase cloud-based IT services for productivity, collaboration and efficiency’.
14 September 2009 | News
Singapore juggles IT centralisation with agency needs
Public sector agencies in Singapore do not have to compromise their unique IT requirements after the consolidation of national IT infrastructure, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore has assured FutureGov.
14 September 2009 | News
Can Cambodia play e-government leapfrog?
The government of Cambodia’s long awaited e-government guidelines have provided agencies with a roadmap for how to take their services online as the Kingdom looks to get up to speed with the global ICT sector. There is an opportunity for Cambodia to ‘leapfrog’ other developing countries and avoid past mistakes, Madhav Ragam, Director, Government & Education, Healthcare & Life Sciences at IBM’s Growth Markets Unit told FutureGov.
8 September 2009 | News
US cyber security system sparks privacy row
A new version of a computer intrusion detection system being developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security has raised concerns from advocacy groups over privacy and the involvement of the National Security Agency (NSA) in the development of the software. The new system, known as Einstein 3, can reportedly read email as well as its original function, to detect malicious software.
3 September 2009 | News
Taiwan fake govt web site saga remedied in one hour
The sabotage of a Taiwan government web site by hackers last month was dealt with by the authorities in just one hour, and the perpetrators have now been caught, according to Liu Tian-cai, Administrative Court Commissioner for the Central Personnel Administration (CPU), the agency that came under attack.
1 September 2009 | News
E-voting in the Philippines on trial
There is not enough time to reliably and effectively test the electronic voting machines that will be used in next year’s general elections in the Philippines. So says Dr Pablo Manalastas, IT consultant for the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), a policy think tank that has been pushing for the source code of the voting machines to be released ahead of the polls on May 10th next year.
25 August 2009 | News
The great debate: is e-learning effective?
Is e-learning really effective or is it a buzzword that promises much but deliver less? Trying to learn a language online has been likened to learning how to swim without entering the water. But more learning is likely to be delivered electronically in the future. Two key factors are speed and scale, says Dr Tay Chor Ter, CEO of regional e-learning company Inchone.
25 August 2009 | News
South Korea to launch smart offices
South Korea’s civil servants will be able to work in smart working centres in their own neighbourhood instead of commuting to their offices, according to Dr Kim Seang-Tae, President of the National Information Agency (NIA).
17 August 2009 | News
Blue sky thinking for mobile weather application
Scaleability was the key challenge when Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) designed the country’s first mobile weather service.
12 August 2009 | News
Singapore govt launches blog for youth
The government of Singapore has launched a web site, www.p65.sg, to serve as a platform for Singaporeans born after the city-state’s independence in 1965 to write about “anything under the sun”, even race and religion.
12 August 2009 | News
Korea forms commission to boost e-gov exports
South Korea’s Ministry of Public Administration and Security is organising an International Information and Communication Technology Collaboration Commission (ICTCC) to help the country export its e-government model.
11 August 2009 | News
Taiwanese hackers create fake govt web site
Hackers in Taiwan have exploited the turmoil caused by last week’s typhoons by creating a fake home page for the web site of the Central Personnel Administration (CPA), the government department responsible for advising citizens on whether or not conditions are safe enough to go to work or school.
11 August 2009 | News
US cybersecurity guidelines come under fire
A new set of guidelines on cybersecurity released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States has fallen short of the protection needed for government systems, a cybersecurity analysis group has warned.
4 August 2009 | News
E-register portal debuts for overseas Singaporeans
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched a portal for its e-register services to make the electronic registration process faster and more convenient for Singaporeans abroad who might need assistance in times of emergency.
4 August 2009 | News
Thailand plans e-patent system
Thailand’s Intellectual Property Department is planning to develop an e-Patent system that will enable citizens and companies to apply for patent protection or access information on intellectual property rights via the web.
4 August 2009 | News
Brunei counts on ICT to improve govt services
The government of Brunei has announced plans to leverage ICT to improve service delivery to citizens.
3 August 2009 | News
US govt IT departments still confused by cloud computing
Federal officials in the United States think that cloud computing will play a big role in future government IT initiatives. But they are still confused about what cloud computing is and want security assurances before adopting it on a large scale, a survey of federal IT managers has found.
29 July 2009 | News
Philippine president pushes for govt IT dept
Gloria Arroyo, President of the Philippines, has made an appeal to local lawmakers to pass a bill to establish a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), a bill that has been pending in the national legislature for five years.
29 July 2009 | News
UAE travelers use ID cards at passport control
The United Arab Emirates has introduced a scheme where identity cards can be used to go through passport control at entry and exit points across the country to enable travelers to pass quickly through immigration, an Abu Dhabi Police official has said.
29 July 2009 | News
HK expands cyber centre network
A pilot scheme to roll out District-Based Cyber Centres (DCCs) is to be expanded in Hong Kong as part of the government’s Digital 21 Strategy, which aims to give needy residents throughout the territory access to information and communications technology (ICT).
28 July 2009 | News
UK govt launches Twitter guide for civil servants
The UK government is developing a strategy for civil servants to use the microblogging service Twitter in the hope of giving government an “informal, human voice” with which to communicate with the public.
28 July 2009 | News
Indian knowledge-sharing pool exported
The success of the Indian government’s pilot public-private sector knowledge-sharing pool has spurred similar initiatives in Indonesia, Thailand and Bhutan.
27 July 2009 | News
China and UK cooperate on network security
The Chinese State Council Information Office and the UK’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have agreed to combine their efforts to safeguard national network security and collaborate on information sharing and intelligence gathering.
27 July 2009 | Interview
How govt can prepare for unknown unknowns
Jo Bryson, Executive Director, Public Sector Commission, Government of Western Australia talks about enabling next generation service delivery.
24 July 2009 | News
Vietnam government officials not keen on email
More than half of government officials in Vietnam at all levels have been provided with email addresses for work, but 19 per cent of them have never used it, a senior official of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has admitted.
23 July 2009 | News
US govt admits to being a web 2.0 laggard
Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra has admitted that the United States government is lagging far behind its citizens in its use of the internet to communicate, collaborate and solve problems using social networking platforms.
21 July 2009 | News
Hong Kong Land Registry revamps E-Memorial Form
Hong Kong’s Land Registry has launched an enhanced version of its e-Memorial Form, which is now available to be downloaded free-of-charge from the registry’s web site (www.landreg.gov.hk).
20 July 2009 | News
India plots central govt recruitment exchange
India’s central government is embarking on a project to list all information on job opportunities in government departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) on the web by connecting major employment exchanges across the country.
20 July 2009 | News
Vietnam deputy PM: consensus key to e-govt
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has said that high levels of determination and agreement among government agencies are key to making e-government a reality in the fast-growing Southeast Asian country.
20 July 2009 | News
Japanese netizens fret about internet safety
Eighty per cent of Japanese internet users feel are worried about their privacy and feel insecure when using the web, according to the results of a government survey.
20 July 2009 | News
Cloud could boost inter-agency collaboration: US GCIO
Vivek Kundra, the United States Federal Chief Information Officer, has said that cloud computing could enable governments to better share information and boost collaboration among federal, state and local government agencies.
17 July 2009 | Feature
Legislator keynotes at Hong Kong govt event
Honourable Dr Samson Tam, Hong Kong’s Legislative IT Councillor, will open the Government Information Forum in Hong Kong on 19 August at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
13 July 2009 | News
New Zealand replaces failed govt shared network
New Zealand’s government has planned a six month project to shift agencies from the failed Government Shared Network (GSN) to a new platform called one.govt (Open Network Environment).
13 July 2009 | News
Singapore heritage board sees growth for revamped portal
Singapore’s National Heritage Board (NHB) has reported record numbers of visitors to its portal yesterday.sg, which was re-launched in 2008 to boost its appeal among young Singaporeans.
13 July 2009 | News
Vietnam seeks India's help in IT development
Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communication Le Doan Hop has sought India’s assistance in building Vietnam’s e-government and developing concentrated Information Technology (IT) industrial zones.
13 July 2009 | News
Japan plots one-stop public services portal
Japan plans to create an online portal that will give citizens ”one-stop” access to a wide range of public services by 2013, the government’s IT Strategic Headquarters has announced.
13 July 2009 | News
Bahrain to enable bill payments by mobile phone
Bahrain residents will soon be able to pay their electricity and water bills using their mobile phones, the latest of a series of eGovernment initiatives on the island state.
13 July 2009 | News
US and Korean govt web sites attacked
Cyber attacks assumed to be launched from North Korea disrupted United States and South Korean government and key private sector websites last week.
7 July 2009 | Interview
Selling the Singapore e-govt story
In the last issue of FutureGov, we asked senior figures in China, India, Korea and the Philippines whether or not they thought the Singapore e-government model would work in their countries. Not all of them said yes. In fact, only one did. And he was from Korea, a country that like Singapore wants to sell its e-government model to the world.
7 July 2009 | News
India to help African state with e-government project
The government of India is set to help the African Kingdom of Lesotho set up a statewide e-network to facilitate services such as tele-education, tele-medicine and net connectivity for video conferencing among the heads of state.
7 July 2009 | News
Sri Lanka launches multi-lingual govt call centre
The Sri Lankan government has launched a multi-lingual call centre to make it faster and easier for a broad cross section of Sri Lankan citizens to access government services.
7 July 2009 | News
India’s traffic dept embarks on e-records drive
India’s Transport Department has launched an initiative to computerise all of its records at a state and local level to prepare a national register for all vehicles and licences.
6 July 2009 | News
UK country revamps info-management system
The Welsh Assembly Government has unveiled a major software and services overhaul to replace traditional methods of information management.
6 July 2009 | News
Poll automation back on in the Philippines
The Philippines’ Commission on Elections (Comelec) has announced that the winning bidders in the country’s poll automation project have settled their dispute and will go ahead with computerising next year’s elections.
30 June 2009 | News
Chinese anti-corruption website deluged
A web site launched by the Chinese government to enable citizens to blow the whistle on corrupt officials has crashed due to heavy site traffic.
30 June 2009 | News
Dubai promotes ICT in push to save energy
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has launched a nationwide educational campaign to promote the use of modern information and communications technology and e-payment services that save time and energy.
23 June 2009 | News
Thailand plans ICT community centre roll-out
Thailand’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has announced plans to build community ICT centres in all districts across the country, pending budget approval of 400 million baht (US$11.7 million) from central government.
23 June 2009 | News
China launches anti-corruption hotline
Whistle-blowers nationwide can dial the same number to report possible corruption cases. China has rolled numerous phone numbers available to informers of corruption cases into a single number: 12309, in an attempt to make it easier and more appealing to the public …
23 June 2009 | News
Tracking network to connect Indian police stations
Thousands of police stations in India are to be linked through a tracking network in a bid to boost connectivity between stations and enhance crime-fighting capabilities.
16 June 2009 | News
E-elections get green light in Philippines
The Philippines is pushing ahead with plans to hold its first automated elections next year.
15 June 2009 | News
Mobile workforce poses cybersecurity threat: expert
Governments need to develop strategies to bolster cyber security as their workforces become more mobile, an information security expert has urged.
15 June 2009 | News
Australian e-project abandoned
The Australian federal government has ignored a funding request and has withdrawn its involvement in a national online conveyancing system.
12 June 2009 | News
Former US GCIO calls for better data management
The Obama administration’s push to make government data more easily accessible is driving the need for standardised data classification and information management, a former Government Chief Information Officer has said.
26 May 2009 | News
Identity card piloted in southern India
The southern Indian state Karnataka has been chosen as the pilot location to implement the central government’s National Unique Identity (UID) project.
25 May 2009 | News
Thailand hatches plan for private cloud
The government of Thailand is planning to set up a cloud computing platform as part of efforts to improve the development and implementation of e-government applications.
19 May 2009 | News
Stimulus packages to add to rising data burden
Government efforts to stimulate their economies will lead to a dramatic increase in the volume of digital information created, a report by EMC and IDC has predicted.
19 May 2009 | News
Indonesian transparency drive opens doors for vendors
The Indonesian government’s efforts to become more transparent and efficient by embracing e-government initiatives are opening opportunities for IT vendors, says a senior executive at the Indian information technology firm Tata Consultancy Services.
18 May 2009 | News
Public sector to boost IT spend in the Philippines
The economic gloom in the Philippines is doing little to dampen the uptake of IT services thanks to a number of public sector initiatives, according to a report from research firm Ovum.
18 May 2009 | News
UK smart meter project expected to bust budget
The UK Government has underestimated the cost of a nationwide rollout of smart electricity and gas meters by as much as £6.4 billion (US$9.7 billion), according to the accounting firm Ernst & Young.
18 May 2009 | News
Philippines govt to secure online transactions
Two government agencies in the Philippines have endorsed a proposed executive order to set up a system that will enable government offices to keep online transactions secure using “digital signatures”.
14 May 2009 | News
South Korea Commits to Green Investment
The Green Growth Commission announced yesterday (13 May) that the South Korean government will commit to spending 12.6 trillion won (US$10 billion) to develop environmental technology in the next five years.
14 May 2009 | News
Singapore launches internet portal for elderly
In an initiative to make ICT more accessible to senior citizens, a local council in Singapore created a web site to provide the elderly with social platforms, games and information…
12 May 2009 | News
Singapore Announces Government IT Priorities For 2009
More than US$1.18 billion of new IT initiatives were announced this morning (12 May) at a dedicated IT briefing organized by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.
12 May 2009 | News
Obama: healthcare cost-cuts can amount to US$3 tril
US President Barack Obama has won a big victory in his battle to reform the American healthcare system. Some former opponents of reform are now offering their support.
5 May 2009 | News
Hong Kong govt tackles perceived rise in corruption
A poor economy is likely to lead to a rise in corruption in both the public and private sector, a survey by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has revealed.
5 May 2009 | News
Bhutan government goes online
The Bhutanese government has decided to bring public administration online. Department of information and technology (DIT) director Tenzin Chhoeda said that the online system will link every police station in the country with the ministry of home and cultural affairs.
29 April 2009 | News
Citizen satisfaction with e-government falls in the US
Citizen satisfaction with federal government web sites has fallen in the US in the first quarter of this year, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) E-Government Satisfaction Index.
29 April 2009 | News
Hong Kong University staff accused of IT contract fraud
Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has charged a professor at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) for alleged conspiracy to defraud the university in relation to an information technology (IT) service contract.
27 April 2009 | News
Russian Minister: e-government to curb bureaucracy
The creation of an e-government in Russia will rid people of bureaucratic procedures, Minister of Mass Communications Igor Shchegolev has said.
23 April 2009 | News
Singapore police calls for witnesses through online TV
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has teamed up with Singapore Press Holdings’ online television service, Razor TV, in an effort to appeal for crime witnesses through short video clips.
22 April 2009 | News
Singapore’s e-filing rate hits record high
About 91 per cent of the country’s taxpayers filed their tax returns online this year
21 April 2009 | News
Thailand govt to go all-electronic by 2015
Thailand’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry plans to launch an ‘E-government Road Map’ as a framework for the digitisation of government between 2010 to 2014. The project is expected to cost of US$5.61 million.
20 April 2009 | News
Singapore Police Force on Facebook
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has become the latest Singaporean government agency to embrace social networking by launching its own Facebook page.
20 April 2009 | News
China's e-gov network nears completion
All of China’s government administrations at central, provincial and municipal levels have all now set up official websites, Yang Xueshan, vice minister of Industry and Information Technology Ministry at the China E-government Forum has said.
15 April 2009 | News
Bahrain launches complaint service site
Bahrain’s Industry and Commerce Ministry has launched a web site for unsatisfied customers to lodge complaints against a product or service.
15 April 2009 | News
China vows to promote transparency in government affairs
The Chinese government will make more effort to keep the public informed of government affairs, said the National Human Rights Action Plan of China released Monday by the Information Office of China’s State Council.
15 April 2009 | News
Australia to harmonise emergency services communications
Senator Stephen Conroy, Australia’s Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, has welcomed proposals to harmonise the spectrum for emergency radio services across the country.
7 April 2009 | News
Asian govts unaware of serious data leaks: CA
Data losses are much more serious than governments in Asia are aware of, an executive at Computer Associates has revealed to FutureGov.
6 April 2009 | News
Chinese annual gov budget posted online for first time
China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) posted the central fiscal budget for 2009 on its website 27 March 2009, a week after it was approved by the Second Session of the 11th National People’s Congress.
31 March 2009 | News
Japan: public do not trust bureaucrats
More than 70 per cent of the Japanese public do not trust bureaucrats—a tiny and elite fraction of the country’s more than 1 million national government employees.
31 March 2009 | News
The Philippines admits need for cybersecurity programme
Government web sites in the Philippines are vulnerable to computer attacks and without a nationwide cybersecurity programme, government cannot keep hackers at bay, says the National Computer Center (NCC), an agency under the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).
30 March 2009 | News
Chinese cyber spy network revealed
A cyber spy network based mainly in China has tapped into classified documents from government and private organisations in 103 countries, according to a report by a Canadian research group released on Sunday (29 March 2009).
24 March 2009 | News
Singapore reveals plan behind Jobs Credit Scheme
Singapore’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) has revealed details of the plan behind the Jobs Credit Scheme, the S$4.5 billion (US$3 billion) initiative introduced earlier this year to save jobs by subsidising part of employers’ wage bills.
23 March 2009 | News
Vietnam makes cost savings via video-conferencing
Vietnam’s Government Office announced last week that the Chairmen of provincial-level people’s committees will attend the government’s socio-economic discussions via videoconferencing systems from late this month.
9 March 2009 | News
Four Asian countries make e-government top ten
Four Asian countries have made the top ten rankings of a global e-government study, with Singapore moving above the United States to top the table for the first time.
9 March 2009 | News
Korea’s tourism agency launches controversial online advertising campaign
Korea’s Department of Tourism has commissioned controversial web traffic company uSocial for a large-scale online advertising campaign.
5 March 2009 | News
Malaysia: how to create a more agile government
Governments must become more agile to meet rising citizen expectations for service delivery, Haji Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, Undersecretary of Malaysia’s Ministry of Information urged delegates at the Government Information Forum last week (Wednesday 4 March).
2 March 2009 | News
Chinese premier debuts online chat with public
Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China, went online last Saturday for a two-hour chat with netizens across the country.
2 March 2009 | News
Korea plans to merge government agencies
The Korea government has finalised a plan to restructure the country’s state-run agencies, with 25 state-run organisations to be merged to form 11 new entities within the first half of this year.
27 February 2009 | News
India rolls out US$351 million e-services network
The Indian government has approved a US$351 million initiative to deliver government-to-government, government-to-business and government-to-citizen e-services in 32 states and Union Territories (UTs) across the country.
25 February 2009 | Spotlight
Citizen Relationship Management in action
Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Academy of Law are reaping the benefits of CRM, by managing their valued relationships effectively and scalably. End-to-end outreach at leading Asian university. Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is ranked as one of the top 20 technology universities in the world…
25 February 2009 | News
Australia’s net filter plan under attack
Australia’s controversial Federal Cyber Safety Plan (FCSP), which could see internet service providers filtered for illegal and illicit content, has come up against staunch resistance from citizens and ISPs involved at the test stage.
25 February 2009 | Interview
How the world has changed
Lindsay Tanner, Australia’s Minister of Finance & Deregulation, talks about the role of government ICT in the face of the economic downturn.
24 February 2009 | News
Recession drives Irish government services online
Ireland is looking to e-government to make savings as tough economic times bite, while education online can be up to 40 per cent cheaper than educating people in a classroom, according to an Irish online strategy company.
24 February 2009 | News
Singapore to engage new media at general elections
Singapore’s government has signalled its intention to embrace new media at the next general election.
18 February 2009 | News
Singapore's IDA launches e-govt consultancy
Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority has launched an international consultancy to help other countries develop their e-government infrastructure.
18 February 2009 | News
Philippines govt looks to improve communications strategy
More than 100 Government Information Officers from 50 government agencies in the Philippines have met amid concerns that poor information supplied to the media will lead to bad press.
17 February 2009 | News
Singapore govt to respond to citizens via web
Government officials in Singapore will soon respond directly to comments on an internet discussion board.
15 February 2009 | News
Is your agency equipped to repel a ‘cyber attack’?
The more government leverages technology to automate core business processes, the more vulnerable to cyber attack it becomes. In the United States, experts have been warning for years against an ‘electronic Pearl Harbor’, a ‘digital September 11’ or a ‘Cybergeddon’.
11 February 2009 | News
Singapore citizens to get road info on mobile phones
All traffic and road information will eventually be made available to citizens in real-time via mobile phone, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) chief executive Yam Ah Mee has said.
10 February 2009 | News
Bahrainian govt launches building maintenance e-service
The Ministry of Works in Bahrain has launched the building maintenance application service via the Bahrain e-government portal web site.
5 February 2009 | News
AGIMO restructures for watchdog role
The Australian Government Information Management Office has been restructured for its new role as Canberra’s technology spending and governance watchdog.
4 February 2009 | News
New Zealand discontinues Government Shared Network
State Services Minister Tony Ryall has announced that the government’s Government Shared Network (GSN) is to be discontinued because it is financially unsustainable. Participating government agencies will be moved to a new provider in the private sector.
4 February 2009 | News
Korea plans on super broadband
By 2013, South Korea will install a nation-wide super-broadband infrastructure which will enable the downloading of a feature film to be completed in one or two seconds.
28 January 2009 | News
Cambodia to leverage on video-conferencing
Hun Sen Prime Minister of Cambodia has announced plans to install video-conferencing facilities at key military headquarters throughout the country with the aim of promoting e-government, reducing government expenditure on transport, and improving national security.
21 January 2009 | News
Singapore govt services on the go
Under the Mobile Government project by the Ministry of Finance and the Infocomm Development Authority, the Singapore government currently has 200 of its services accessible though mobile devices.
21 January 2009 | News
Bahrain to standardise govt ICT
The eGovernment Authority of Bahrain has rolled out a new initiative “Enterprise Architecture Project” to upgrade and standardise the level of Information Communication Technology in all government entities.
21 January 2009 | News
Rampant e-govt plans for Vietnam
The Vietnamese government will upgrade its IT infrastructure in tandem with requirements for modern e-government activities.
20 January 2009 | News
Cambodia drafts law to regulate internet
The Ministry of Information is currently drafting a law that will extend current print media rules to other media platform, including the internet.
20 January 2009 | News
Vietnam to launch e-procurement system
The Korea International Cooperation Agency and the Vietnam Department of Public Procurement, an agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, have announced plans for the establishment of an electronic procurement system.
12 January 2009 | News
The Philippines hands out cash for education
Esperanza I. Cabral, Social Welfare and Development Secretary, The Philippines, announced that more than 6500 families will have a brighter year this 2009 as they receive cash grants from the 4Ps project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
9 January 2009 | News
Australia to spend US$2M on homeless aged
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Justine Elliot, Minister for Ageing have announced a US$2 million grant to Wintringham, a Melbourne-based organisation that provides affordable housing and support services to elderly homeless people.
9 January 2009 | News
Korea: IT to tide over economic crisis
In wake of the economic crisis, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the more difficulties they will face, the more investment the government should make in technology.
7 January 2009 | Research
Chinese find public feedback channels ineffective
Channels for public feedback remain inadequate despite government efforts in recent years to solicit more views on the ground, according to a recent survey conducted by People’s Daily newspaper in China.
5 January 2009 | News
Australian government bolsters e-security
Robert McClelland Attorney-General and Senator Stephen Conroy Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy jointly announced the first outcomes from the E-Security Review 2008.
5 January 2009 | Deals
Korea lends Bangladesh US$200m for e-govt
The South Korean government will provide Bangladesh with a loan of US$200 million in the current 2008-09 fiscal (July 2008-June 2009). The fund will be used development of a national ICT infrastructure net for the Bangladeshi e-Government.
29 December 2008 | Research
Australia: turned off by telephone, turned on by online
Fresh research spurs government to experiment with social media.
23 December 2008 | News
More Arabic web sites in the Middle East
A new project to digitise approximately 18,000 books in Arabic has been implemented in Qatar and the Gulf.
22 December 2008 | News
Australian govt trials blog for public feedback
In Australia, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is trialling a blog in a bid to use public feedback in developing a ‘Future Directions Paper for the Digital Economy.’
18 December 2008 | News
India’s internet connectivity supports e-govt plans
India has been ranked fourth among the top ten nations in the world for high internet use. The Internet Governance forum has pinned the country as lagging behind only the United States, China and Japan with 81 million internet users in the country.
17 December 2008 | News
Royal Thai Navy updates network
The Royal Thai Navy has committed to a US$1 million upgrade of its administrative LAN, with the objective to keep up with rapid growth of users, who demand for faster online applications.
17 December 2008 | Research
Satisfaction with govt agency leads to trust in whole govt
New American Customer Satisfaction Index data suggest that a satisfying experience with a specific government agency can improve trust in the government as a whole. The positive correlation extends beyond trust with the agency itself to citizens’ overall perception of the government.
16 December 2008 | Deals
US defence awards US$111 mil security services contract
EDS, a HP company, has been awarded a US$111 million contract by the US Defence Information Systems Agency to provide security readiness reviews for the Department of Defence.
15 December 2008 | Deals
Singapore’s e-govt footprint reaches Trinidad & Tobago
Infocomm Development Authority inks MOU with Trinidad and Tobago.
11 December 2008 | News
Vietnam’s online ministerial e-govt dialogue
Deputy Ministry for Information and Communications affirms government’s strong pushes of e-govt in an online dialogue session.
9 December 2008 | News
Scottish Govt upgrades records management system
The Scottish Government has successfully upgraded its mission critical electronic Records and Document Management system in under a week, with minimum disruptions of service to its 6300 users.
4 December 2008 | News
Korea's four year plan for e-govt improvement
E-government in Korea will develop so completely by 2012 that after an online notification to a village office, citizens will see their change of home address for mail services, children’s transfer to new schools and everything else taken care of automatically. Meanwhile, IT infrastructure will become even more sophisticated and the speed of Internet connections will increase ten-fold.
4 December 2008 | News
Israel upgrades government LAN
The Government of Israel has awarded a multi-million-dollar networking solutions contract for its new LAN infrastructure project, as part of the Government’s plans to build a modern, cutting-edge network to support its growing online initiatives.
29 November 2008 | News
Thai ICT ministry says WiMax and 3G licences imminent
The Information and Communications Technology ministry says WiMax and third-generation mobile network operating licences should be allocated to operators by mid-2009.
25 November 2008 | News
Enhancing ICT capacity at Uzbek ministry
A training course on the role of ICT in public administration was organised by the Ministry of Economy of Uzbekistan and the UNDP.
24 November 2008 | News
Satellite connectivity for Indian villages
India is developing an “unconventional” satellite which would provide internet connectivity to the rural folks and render timely advice on various aspects of agriculture.
18 November 2008 | News
All-of-govt agencies in Kuwait to share information
The Kuwaiti government has implemented the new Kuwait Information Network, which will see all of the country’s 62 government agencies collaborate and share information in a faster, more secure and more cost-effectively.
17 November 2008 | News
Laos harness education to reduce poverty
Laos seeks to raise its world standing by embracing education programmes that reduce local poverty.
13 November 2008 | News
Brunei GCIO candid about e-govt inadequacies
Over ambitious moves to e-government led to ‘fragmentation’ of effort, says GCIO and Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office in Brunei.
7 November 2008 | News
Mobile education launched in India
In line with its “Education anywhere and anytime” vision, the Indira Gandhi National Open University will soon impart student courses on public health, art, music and various other subjects through mobile phones.
7 November 2008 | Deals
Singapore and Kuwait strengthen e-govt cooperation
Singapore and Kuwait further strengthens their e-government partnership with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate cooperation in e-government.
5 November 2008 | News
Palestine seeks Estonia’s help for e-government
Estonia has received a request from Palestine to share its experiences in building an e-state.
4 November 2008 | News
Bahrain launches e-govt portal
Bahrain has introduced a new e-government gateway as an outcome of a study conducted to cater to the needs of the public through streamlining e-government services procedures.
30 October 2008 | News
US$250 million passport project launched in India
The Ministry of External Affairs in India will be rolling out the Passport Seva Project, the largest mission-critical e-governance project valued at over US$205 million.
23 October 2008 | Feature
Transformational records management in Singapore
How do you plan for scalable records management? What different approaches are organisations taking to the business of information management? Can public sector organisations find the skilled staff to manage information registries?
13 October 2008 | News
Malaysia launches high speed broadband deployment
The Malaysian government will invest RM2.4 billion (US$ 680 million) for the country’s national High Speed Broadband project, according to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
12 October 2008 | News
Singapore earmarks US$4 million to train energy managers
The National Environment Agency (NEA) in Singapore has set up a US$4 million grant to help defray the course fee of the Singapore Certified Energy Manager training programme. The grant will cover a substantial part of the training cost at the Professional Level.
10 October 2008 | Feature
Grey govt - Asia's public sector learns to cope with an ageing population
Asia is ageing. We look at the impact an ageing population has on government service delivery and its efforts to retain talent and knowledge as a large percentage of workers reach retirement age.
9 October 2008 | Interview
Hong Kong GCIO in conversation
Jeremy Godfrey, appointed Hong Kong’s Government Chief Information Officer earlier this year, met up with James Smith for a chat. This is an abridged selection of his comments.
2 October 2008 | News
Malaysia trials videoconferencing in courts
The Malaysian government is considering videoconferencing and other IT-related deployments in courts nationwide, following the successful implementation of a pilot project in Sarawak.
30 September 2008 | Feature
Building e-government in Macao
A major e-governance initiative undertaken by the Macao SAR Government in collaboration with the United Nations University International Institute for Software Technology through its Centre for Electronic Governance, and major local institutions, the e-Macao initiative aims to build a sustainable foundation for the effective use of ICT by government agencies.
29 September 2008 | News
Singapore’s Next-Gen broadband network nationwide by 2012
All homes and businesses in Singapore are to be connected to the country’s 1Gbps all-fibre National Broadband Network by 2012. The Singapore Government has selected a consortium to design, build and operate the passive infrastructure, in a move seen as world’s most radical structural separation of fixed telecoms.
25 September 2008 | News
South Korea shares egov insights
Civil servants from Paraguay are visiting South Korea to learn how to establish and run an e-government platform. The visit was organised by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security’s training centre for public employees and the Korea International Cooperation Agency.
24 September 2008 | News
More govt agencies in Malaysia establish online presence
In Malaysia, an increasing amount of government agencies are now appearing online, according to an assessment programme conducted by the three government agencies, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), and the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU).
17 September 2008 | News
India launches e-passport to boost national security
The Ministry of External Affairs and the National Informatics Centre in India have launched an e-passport programme, which will first be rolled out to diplomats and Indian officials.
17 September 2008 | Interview
Singapore govt experiments with social media
The Singapore government is on Facebook. Why? Dr Amy Khor, Member of Parliament, Mayor of Singapore’s Southwest district and Chairman of government feedback agency REACH, has the answers.
17 September 2008 | Interview
Charting the direction of Indonesia’s government ICT strategy
Currently, ICT is on the top of the agenda for the Indonesian government. Technology can serve as a critical enabler for poverty reduction, and for the achievement of our Millennium Development Goals, explains Kemal Stamboel, Vice Chairman, Executive Team, Indonesian National ICT Council.
4 September 2008 | News
Dubai E-government sets US$276 million revenue target
Dubai’s integrated electronic payment system (ePay) has collected US$163 million so far this year and is expected to record revenues of US$276 million by the end of 2008.
1 September 2008 | Research
South Korea ranked number one for e-government
South Korea has emerged as the leader in e-government for the third consecutive year.
30 August 2008 | Research
Information Management Mistakes Can Wreak Havoc in the Public Sector
Prudent data security management has historically been the sole domain of the Chief Information Officer (CIO); and that is no longer the case. As of June 2008, more than 330 million records were compromised globally.
29 August 2008 | News
India launches national environment portal
Sam Pitroda, Chairman of India’s National Knowledge Commission, has launched the India Environment Portal, a one-stop information resource centre aimed to promote informed decision-making and environmentally sustainable practices.
29 August 2008 | News
Czech Senate passes e-govt bill
The Senate has approved a bill which will allow civil servants to do more of their government paperwork over the internet.
25 August 2008 | News
Australia to complete govt ICT review
UK-based government productivity expert set to unveil IT spending recommendations.
22 August 2008 | News
Chinese ministries push UOF document format
China’s International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Archives Administration have started to promote the Chinese-made Uniform Office Format standard.
21 August 2008 | Interview
Indian e-govt 'faces corruption threat'
“Corruption is the biggest enemy of e-government,” Tanmoy Chakrabarty, Vice President of government industry solutions at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has announced to the press.
18 August 2008 | News
Claiming govt fuel rebates online
Malaysia’s government e-services portal is now working with the country’s post office to provide electronic payment of fuel rebates to citizens.
13 August 2008 | News
E-government ideas competition launched in Europe
The Estonian government has launched an ‘Idea Competition’ with the purpose of generating new ideas for extending and improving the country’s e-services. Citizens are encouraged to contribute their ideas to the central government portal.
12 August 2008 | Deals
China's Rail ministry secures national comms network
China’s Ministry of Railways is protecting its nationwide communications infrastructure, encompassing the Ministry’s headquarters and 18 bureaux.
11 August 2008 | News
Hong Kong establishes task force on digital inclusion
The Government announced at the end of July the setting up of a Task Force on Digital Inclusion.
8 August 2008 | News
Bahrain shares e-govt plans with United Nations
A high-ranking delegation of officials from Bahrain is visiting the United Nations headquarters in New York to benchmark the Arab country’s e-government plans.
5 August 2008 | News
Conferencing key govt productivity tool
African country deploys videoconferencing to increase the effectiveness of senior government official meetings.
4 August 2008 | Research
US e-government satisfaction rising
E-government satisfaction can drive citizens to online channel, lead to cost savings, suggests new research.
1 August 2008 | News
Malaysia, Brunei collaborate for ICT
Brunei’s Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry (AITI) hosted Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) and more than 20 other MSC status companies from Malaysia for a two day meeting. This is the second time the event has been held, with an earlier gathering in March 2007.
1 August 2008 | Feature
Why e-government isn’t working
E-government needs to go niche if it is to remain relevant and it needs to be relevant if it is to succeed online. James Smith thinks aloud.
31 July 2008 | Interview
Modernising Australia's tax service
Jianggan Li speaks with Todd Heather, Acting Chief Information Officer, Australian Taxation Office (ATO), to find out how its modernisation plans are coming along.
17 September 2007 | News
Estonian Tax and Customs Board offers e-Service to local authorities
The Estonian Tax and Customs Board has offered e-Service to local authorities which will allow them to make inquiries on the incomes of the taxpayers living in their area.
29 August 2007 | News
Villages in Myanmar get connected
Myanmar government plans to wire villages
29 August 2007 | News
Singapore invests in Second Life
The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore has purchased real estate in the virtual world
23 August 2007 | News
Philippines to execute broadband project or lose out
There is an urgency for Philippines to implement broadband project in order to compete with ASEAN neighbors
20 August 2007 | News
Business solutions to be deployed at the Abu Dhabi government
The Abu Dhabi System and Information Committee (ADSIC) signed an agreement to deploy Oracle’s business solutions throughout the Abu Dhabi government’s IT infrastructure.
19 August 2007 | Deals
US$93.4 million earmarked for govt projects in Pakistan
Keeping in view the importance of IT in the economic development of the country, the Pakistani government has allocated Rs 5.64 billion (US $ 93.4 million) for 115 IT related development projects for the current fiscal year 2007-08.
16 August 2007 | News
Australian government considers blogs
The Australian federal government plans to enter the world of blogging. The aim is to promote a more interactive approach to policy development, via an official government website.
15 August 2007 | Feature
Fighting dengue fever with GIS
The National Environment Agency (NEA) in Singapore started deploying GIS in 1992 in order to develop a real-time Aedes mosquito control and monitoring system.
9 August 2007 | News
Brunei schools to go mobile
IT project embarked upon by the Ministry of Education will soon make students in Brunei schools connected.
9 August 2007 | News
Qatar rolls-out new citizen service
ictQATAR and the Ministry of Interior kick off online Exit permits service.
2 August 2007 | News
Australian city rolls-out asset tracking solution
Wollongong City Council deploys enterprise asset management solution to manage the City’s A$2.5 billion worth of assets.
1 August 2007 | Feature
Building a single point of contact for Australian social services
John Wadeson, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) responsible for IT with Centrelink discusses the ongoing challenge of managing Australia’s largest government contact centre network. Interview: Jianggan Li.
28 July 2007 | Deals
Singapore extends e-filing system for companies
Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) has awarded a S$1.7 million contract to enhance it e-filing system for companies.
25 July 2007 | News
Malaysian government predicted to invest in contact centres
The Malaysian authorities have been pretty half-hearted when it comes to establishing citizen-facing call centres - but that may be about to change.
19 July 2007 | News
Singapore backs consortium of e-govt providers
The Singapore authorities have given their blessing to a consortium of local companies aiming to export ‘made in Singapore’ e-government solutions.
17 July 2007 | News
Singapore government email, web sites go down
Now you see them, now you don’t - power outage in data centre brings down key government web sites.
25 April 2007 | Feature
Managing the transition to wireless working
Asian governments are increasingly cutting free from their wired infrastructure with a view to increasing efficiency and citizen outreach.
17 April 2007 | News
Government contact centres and citizen service
The humble contact centre has a growing role to play as the central hub for government-citizen interactions. Report: Raj Kumar Prasad.
18 December 2006 | Feature
Making IT outsourcing work in Hong Kong
Alfred Ng, Assistant Chief Information Officer at Hong Kong’s Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, explains how outsourcing expands government delivery capabilities. Interview: Jianggan Li
9 March 2005 | News
European citizen feedback portal launched
The European Commission has officially launched ‘Your Europe’, a comprehensive web site providing information for citizens and businesses within the EU.
7 March 2005 | News
Singapore unveils US$23.4 million information security masterplan
The Singapore government is investing S$38 million over the next three years to build Singapore’s capabilities in cyber security.
6 March 2005 | Deals
Brunei ministry initiates a trio of IT projects
Brunei’s Ministry of Religious Affairs (MRA) has signed off on a number of e-government deals, following the success of Brunei’s PMONet initiative.
3 March 2005 | Deals
Oman govt signs infrastructure agreement
Oman’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has signed two agreements that will pave the way for the roll-out of e-government services.
2 March 2005 | News
Indian govt IT projects to focus on PPP
Suresh Pachauri, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, said that public private partnerships are a key factor in taking forward the spirit of e-governance.
1 January 2005 | Interview
Building New Zealand’s e-government ecosystem
New Zealand has ambitious plans to establish a rich e-government ecosystem that syndicates content and services through the national government portal, individual agency sites as well as the private sector. Laurence Millar, Director of the E-Government Unit at the State Services Commission talks about the country’s current progress and future plans.
26 November 2004 | News
Singapore trials biometrics for automated immigration at Changi
World’s first fully-automated check-in and immigration clearance system that uses biometric recognition technology, goes on trial.
4 October 2004 | Feature
Asia leads world in e-government rankings
Taiwan and Singapore vie for top two slots in the latest e-government rankings, but what impresses is the Asian region’s strength in depth.
3 October 2004 | Feature
Introducing the CIO role to Korean government
How the CIO role proved to be a springboard for government IT success in South Korea.
9 August 2004 | Feature
Engaging Singapore's citizens
As Singapore celebrates its 39th National Day today, it is worth taking a closer look at the achievements one of the region’s e-government leaders writes James Smith.
3 August 2004 | Feature
Mobile feedback in the Philippines
In the Philippines up to 150 million text messages are sent each day. By contrast there are only 3.2 million internet users in the country. So when the Civil Service Commission examined creating new channels for citizen feedback, it realised that the wireless channel was the way to go.
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