THE
EU COMMISSION HAS AWARDED THIS year’s prizes in the field of electronic
delivery of government services. At a Lisbon conference entitled
‘Reaping the Benefits of eGovernment’ trophies were presented in
categories such as ‘For Better public services for growth and
jobs’, ‘For Participation and transparency’ and ‘For Effective and
efficient administration’. The winners included an Amsterdam city
council web site that allows new businesses in the catering field to
apply for seven different licences on one form, a Norwegian government
site that creates a personalised web page with links to the public
authorities needed by an individual user and the new Italian ‘Online
police station’ which allows members of the public to report crimes.
This last web site won a public vote for ‘Most inspiring good
practice’. There were 52 entries for this year’s awards to add to the
over 300 examples of ‘good practice’ on the Commisson epractice web
page.
The report presented at the conference gives some idea of the progress
made since the ‘i2010’ action plan was kicked off in Manchester two
years ago. It says that all Member States have increased the
availability of government services online but that there are still
hurdles to jump before socially excluded groups regularly use them and
that cross-border systems are rare. There persist differences between
countries with the Austrian government the first to achieve 100% online
availability to citizens compared to Bulgaria’s figure of around 15%.
Businesses tend to be better catered for with four Member States having
reached the 100% mark. Referring to the interactive internet that more
and more users are becoming used to, the report concludes that EU
governments need to provide a service that ‘that attracts and fulfils
citizen needs, efficiently, consistently, and economically – the “Gov
2.0” experience’.
First
ever cyber picket hits ‘Second Life’
ITALIAN WORKERS AT COMPUTER GIANT IBM
have become the first in the world to mount a ‘cyber-picket’. 9,000
employees had a performance bonus worth €1,000 a year withdrawn when
they asked for a small pay rise. The company pulled out of negotiations
with union representatives who then decided that, as well as protest
pickets of IBM offices in Italy, it would be a good tactic to have a
protest outside the IBM ‘business centre’ in ‘Second Life’, the online
parallel world. The company is estimated to be spending approximately
$10 million on virtual, computer worlds this year, generating a
significant amount of business.
More than 1,850 people, or avatars as the inhabitants of ‘Second Life’
are known, took part in the protest, disrupting a staff meeting and
causing the closure of parts of the business centre. Noting the
involvement of 30 countries in the protest, General Secretary of UNI
global union Philip Jennings said ‘Wherever companies go we shall
pursue them if they behave badly. ... Businesses like IBM are using the
new opportunities of the Internet and virtual space like Second Life to
reach customers - but they cannot have that space to themselves’.
Protesters gather outside the IBM
cyber-office
450,000 sign
public services petition
THE PETITION LAUNCHED BY THE European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
to support public services and call for a new ‘Services of General
Economic Interest’ directive has been signed by nearly half a million
people, mostly online. In the UK the total was over 6,000 at the
beginning of August and has since increased with over two-thirds
gathered via the internet. Meanwhile the European Commission is poised
to publish a communication on the subject and the current Portuguese
Presidency will put forward a strategy document in December. It is
thought that the new Reform treaty, if ratified, may provide a firmer
legal basis to protect public services by means of a protocol.
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