From: Dan Jellinek [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 21 February 2003 14:47
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Subject: E-Government Bulletin - 21 Feburary 2003
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+++E-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN
- ISSUE 131, FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2003.
The email newsletter on electronic government,
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++CONTENTS.
01: Terror response network 'a disaster'
- emergency services denied proper tools.
02: Mobile rent reminders 'better than paper'
- text messages for council tenants.
03: Welwyn Hatfield passes accessibility audit
- RNIB benchmark for council site.
04: Auditors call for e-campaign for elderly
- government must tackle age gap.
05: Reader security survey goes live
- tell us about your concerns.
News in brief: 06: Healthy transmission - DTV project results; 07:
Information exchange - inclusive e-government; 08: Humanity
briefing - education shortfall; 09: Cyberspace security - EC plan; 10:
Future framework - role for libraries.
Section two: Debate - public-private partnerships.
11: A problem shared is a problem solved? Earlier this month, e-
government leaders met informally at our request to discuss past
experience and future prospects of private sector partnerships. Dan
Jellinek reports.
Section three: Focus - web traffic.
12: Secrets of stickiness. Which local authorities have got the best-used
web sites, and what is the secret of their success? Website consultant
Helen Williams has some answers.
[Contents ends.]
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[Sponsored notice ends].
++SECTION ONE: NEWS.
+01: TERROR RESPONSE NETWORK 'A DISASTER'.
As fears of new terrorist attacks on Britain reach their highest levels
since 11 September 2001, work on a computer network that would co-
ordinate local and national responses by emergency services to major
threats has been shut down amid disagreements over funding, technical
problems and internal management, E-Government Bulletin has
learned.
The HAZMOD data network was originally intended by the Cabinet
Office's
Civil Contingency Secretariat to launch in October 2002, enabling
councils, hospitals, police and fire authorities to co-ordinate their
responses to major accidents and civil emergencies (see E-Government
Bulletin, January 2002). In the event of a terrorist attack, HAZMOD
would be used to help emergency services identify the best evacuation
routes and safe locations for civilians at risk, for example.
Trials of HAZMOD were completed in May 2001, involving
emergency planning officers from Bedfordshire, Cornwall, East Riding
of Yorkshire, Rotherham, Staffordshire and Vale of Glamorgan - plus
Greater Manchester Public Health Authority, States of Guernsey Civil
Defence Committee and the government's Emergency Planning
College.
However, the Cabinet Office confirmed this week that the project has
been stalled by internal management changes, with the last progress
report as far back as May 2002 and the latest update on the project web
site stating the delays are "due to pressure of other work"
(http://www.ukresilience.info/contingencies/cont_hazmod.htm).
Others involved in early testing of the network pointed towards more
serious problems including a lack of funds and technical glitches.
According to Gavin Macho, emergency planning manager at Vale of
Glamorgan, major technical problems prevented many participants
from accessing the central HAZMOD databases and tools remotely
over the internet. "It was just too slow and difficult to use. It was a
disaster," he said.
Mike Slaney, an emergency planning manager for Staffordshire and
general secretary of the UK Emergency Planning Society, said his own
enquiries to government have suggested the real reason for the current
delays is a lack of money. "Apparently, it's on hold because there are
no funds to develop it further," said Slaney. "There were some initial
technical problems, but technical problems aren't insurmountable."
"We were extremely interested in the demonstrations, it would have
meant a co-ordinated geographical information system for all
emergency services and planners across the country," Slaney said. "It
would be ideally suited to terrorist incidents."
Suk Athwal, head of emergency planning research at the Cabinet
Office, denied that the HAZMOD project has been scrapped. "It's not
entirely killed off," he said. "Funding really isn't the problem. We are
undergoing a period of reorganisation that has to be completed before
work on HAZMOD can continue."
+02: MOBILE RENT REMINDERS 'BETTER THAN PAPER'.
A scheme to send council rent payment reminders to young people via
mobile phone text message has been launched by Fife Council in
Scotland (http://www.fife.gov.uk).
Under the scheme, tenants between the ages of 16 and 25 received a
message that says 'please contact X' and provides a phone number. If
no payment was forthcoming, a second reminder was sent.
So far, messages have been sent to 50 people in the Cardenden and
Kirkcaldy West districts.
Raymond Mann, housing manager, said that the response has been
better than it has been in the past using paper reminders. However he
said before the pilot programme can be extended across more districts
in Fife, data protection issues needed to be clarified and improved
software installed. Fife is also exploring how the council can make
better use of email to contact tenants in serious arrears, Mann said.
Meanwhile, another public text messaging service from Rushmoor
Borough Council, 'Infotxt' (http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk/infotxt.htm),
will not be relaunched this month as planned despite a successful pilot
(see E-Government Bulletin, issue 127, December 2002). The scheme,
which aimed to provide leisure information, has been put on hold due
to management and funding difficulties.
An upcoming budget review will ultimately decide whether the scheme
is to go ahead in September.
+03: WELWYN HATFIELD PASSES ACCESSIBILITY AUDIT.
This month Welwyn Hatfield Council (http://www.welhat.gov.uk)
became the first English local authority to receive a logo from the
Royal National Institute of the Blind's web accessibility audit scheme,
'See it Right' (http://www.rnib.org.uk/digital/siraccess) Wrexham
council in Wales (http://www.wrexham.gov.uk) was the first in the UK
to pass the audit.
Government guidelines require all public agencies to ensure their sites
are accessible to people with disabilities such as visual impairment, for
example by adding textual tags to images. Other public sector sites to
have received audit approval include the government web portal UK
online (http://www.ukonline.gov.uk), Greater Manchester Police
(http://www.gmp.police.uk); and the local government Improvement
and Development Agency (http://www.idea.gov.uk).
The Welwyn Hatfield site was cited for its appropriate font size and
simple layout. The RNIB estimates that bringing all sites up to
standard would cost under two per cent of original design costs.
The audit scheme came under fire this month however from one web
publisher who said the Welwyn Hatfield site contained several features
which were inaccessible to the visually impaired, including an example
of 'blinking' text. In a debate reported in this month's issue of E-
Government Bulletin's sister publication E-Access Bulletin, the RNIB
defended its assessment system as a process of balanced judgment. For
more on this story email Mel Poluck on [log in to unmask] .
+AUDITORS CALL FOR E-CAMPAIGN FOR ELDERLY.
The government should launch a marketing campaign to highlight the
benefits of e-services to older people, according to a report published
yesterday by the National Audit Office. The campaign should offer
ways to overcome barriers to using the internet and other new
technologies such as lack of confidence, the report says.
The government is making some progress in providing accessible e-
services for older people, but there is room for considerable
improvement, the NAO says.
The report finds that that while government initiatives such as UK
online (http://www.ukonline.gov.uk) have aimed to broaden internet
use by all sections of society, older people have so far been low users
of e-services. It finds that only 17 per cent of those over 65 have used
the internet, compared with 94 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds.
'Progress in making e-services accessible to all - encouraging use by
older people' can be seen at:
http://www.nao.gov.uk/whatsnew.htm
+05: READER SECURITY SURVEY GOES LIVE.
E-Government Bulletin is running an online survey of our readers'
interests, needs and concerns relating to technology security, from the
threat posed by viruses and hacking to password security and other
issues.
The results will be fed back to a conference run by our sister company,
the e-Government Security Exchange, and published in the bulletin.
We would be grateful if all readers would consider setting aside five
minutes or so to pop onto the web site and answer as many questions
as you can. The more people fill it in, the better information we can
feed back to you! All responses will be held in strictest confidence, and
used for statistical purposes only. See:
http://www.electronic-government.com/securityquestionnaire.htm
++NEWS IN BRIEF:
+06: HEALTHY TRANSMISSION: An evaluation of four Department
of Health pilot projects exploring the application of digital interactive
television in primary health care services is now online. The results are
based on research into the transmission of health care information and
advice by City University, London and Sheffield University:
http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/organisation/is/research/dhrg/reports
+07: INFORMATION EXCHANGE: A US-based online information
exchange for e-government resources, materials and experiences has
been opened by non-profit body the Children's Partnership.
'Technology tools connecting citizens to government' aims to identify
the online needs of low-income and disadvantaged people:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/content
+08: HUMANITY BRIEFING: A briefing paper just out, 'ICT
development and basic skills strategy,' calls for a radical debate on
basic computer skills in education and training for all ages in the UK.
It says that the gaps between technology development and skills policy
are widening and stresses the importance of teaching up-to-date skills
to avoid further marginalising socially excluded people from new
technologies. The report was produced by the charity HumanITy:
http://www.humanity.org.uk/articles/pub_ictdevelopment.shtml
+09: CYBERSPACE SECURITY: Plans for a European body to
promote best online security practices have been unveiled by the
European Commission. The European Network and Information
Security Agency will provide advice and assistance to the computer
emergency response teams of EU member states and institutions:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/security
+10: FUTURE FRAMEWORK: A government report out last week
sets out the role of libraries as bases for learning digital skills and
providing access to e-government services. It also suggests that more
libraries could improve online services by creating web sites for local
community groups. 'Framework for the future: libraries, learning and
information in the next decade' is at:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/heritage
[Section one ends.]
++SPONSORED CASE STUDIES: SHARING EXPERIENCE IN E-
GOVERNMENT.
Welcome to our sponsored case study listing, where companies can
highlight e-government partnerships of which they are most proud.
Readers interested in exploring issues raised here are also invited to
participate in the forthcoming Electronic Government Forum in
London on 20 May. Each study will be the subject of a discussion
group and the sponsors are offering guest places for public sector
readers. For details follow the case study links.
+LOCAL AUTHORITY PATHFINDER INVESTS IN GIS.
Residents in Wiltshire and Swindon can access a new range of local
services thanks to a new component of the Wiltshire and Swindon
Pathfinder web site, developed with geographic information systems
specialist ESRI (UK):
http://www.electronic-government.com/esri/wiltshire&swindon.htm
+IMPROVING SERVICES WITH VOICE OVER IP.
This Nortel Networks case study outlines a Norwegian project to
implement a reliable converged network for voice and data that
improves government services and also reduces overall operating
costs:
http://www.electronic-government.com/nortelnetworks
+SANDWELL BUILDS E-GOVERNMENT AROUND WEB-
BASED GIS.
With multiple legacy systems and an objective to extract key land
information, maps and photographs out of their departmental silos,
Sandwell Council contracted Intergraph to develop a web-accessible
geospatial solution:
http://www.electronic-government.com/integraph/sandwell.htm
+HAVE YOU GOT A CASE STUDY TO SHARE?
Readers from the private sector are invited to contact us for more
details and insertion costs. Those from the public sector are encouraged
to nominate private sector partners who may be interested in gaining
exposure. Please email John Webster: [log in to unmask]
[Sponsored case studies end.]
SECTION TWO: DEBATE
- PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.
+11: A PROBLEM SHARED IS A PROBLEM SOLVED?
by Dan Jellinek [log in to unmask]
When is a partnership not a partnership? This and other substantial
questions were chewed over with the food at a discussion dinner hosted
in London this month by E-Government Bulletin in association with
Agilisys.
John Thornton, Head of E-Government at IDeA, told the assembled
guests that public-private partnerships for e-government were
principally attractive to the public sector because they could bring in
badly needed resources. "We know that if you put together the 675
million that the ODPM is throwing in to e-government, plus the billion
and a half that comes from local government, there's still a big gap.
"My big concern however is that the message has gone out that
'partnership is good, you get money for it', and some of these partners
have come together with the sole purpose of dressing up what they are
doing as a partnership in order to get money. Partnerships are easy to
get into, but if you don't structure them right, you end up spending
more time managing the partnership than doing the job, and it is very
difficult to get out of them."
Mike Barkway, chief executive of local authority technology
collaboration body London Connects, said his organisation has set up a
'private sector forum' to allow companies to comment on how services
are packaged when they are put out to tender. The forum will make an
initial report next month.
"I might have a guess at what they will say, which is likely to be about
aggregation and cost of entry to the market", Barkway said. "Anyone
who ventures into the local government market, with over 440
authorities, will know there are huge problems of selling. There is
more scope for aggregation, because ultimately people want money
ploughed into front line services."
Barkway also expressed concerns about the diversity of funding
initiatives from the government to encourage innovation. "I do get
concerned that there isn't a clear national blueprint about the roll-out of
innovation, pathfinders, national projects and so on. There's a
scattergun approach to funding. Partnerships never work outside a
political framework, so unless central government comes up with a
system of funding that helps, it won't work."
Peter Blair, from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "With
the first round of Implementing Electronic Government statements we
were trying to win a battle for hearts and minds in taking e-government
outside the IT department and putting it at the centre of every local
authority's agenda. Certainly we felt that putting 200K into the budget
of every authority was supportive of innovation."
Danny Budzak, a Society of Public Information Networks board
member who has worked at Newham Council and currently works at
Lewisham, said: "During my time at Newham I was involved with two
very different partnership projects.
"One was a big European-funded kiosk project in which we were
supposed to partner with other European countries. Now the only
reason for that was political, there was nothing to share with each
other. I mean people went to Sweden, Greece, France - although I only
went to Debden, the end of the central line - and it cost a lot of money
to install a kiosk network. But there is nothing left of that project now,
the last kiosk stopped working two years ago.
"But there have also been community projects like Newham Online
that have been very local, and they've been successful and
sustainable."
Moira Bragg, ICT Strategy Manager at Medway Council, said: "When
negotiating partnership style contracts, councils can become very
involved in tying down the contract, and making sure the performance
is measured, and the outcomes are measured. This can become quite
uncomfortable because it can be hard to see where partnership is
coming in. Why not just call it a contract?"
John Thornton said true partnership means sharing the risk and reward.
"You structure it so there aren't incentives to add variations, there are
real incentives to cut the cost and deliver the benefits. The problem is
the private sector is going through tough times. The economy is such
that they'd actually quite like good solid contracts with annuity income
and the time when they had lots of capital to invest and take risk has
gone."
John O'Callaghan, head of information systems at Kent County
Council, said: "One of the most successful partnerships was that which
formed for the regeneration of Glasgow. The reason why all the parties
came together was a common fear that the city was going to be
destroyed, but once they had achieved their purpose the partnership fell
apart. The structure of local government is not conducive to
partnership."
Agilisys chairman Manoj Badale said: "Partnerships work when the
partners' skills and resources are complementary, and when they are
clear about how the partnership will benefit the service user.
"But you also have to be honest with each other from the outset that
you're unlikely to remain partners through the lifetime of a project.
People may say it is a bad thing if a partnership collapses but if you go
into a partnership knowing that the status quo will only last for a
certain period of time, then you build the right level of trust and
openness of dialogue."
Another common potential problem is a tendency for public sector
bodies and companies to "try to bite off too much", Badale said. "In
fact, if you can get just one or two things right, and then go onto the
next thing, you will get the customers excited and create the incentives
for change. The private sector is as much to blame here, the big
companies often try to over-promise and win big contracts, but for
whose benefit? The best IT projects are incremental and evolutionary."
NOTE: Opinions expressed in this article are personal and not
necessarily shared by a person's employing organisation. For a full
transcript of the discussion see:
http://www.headstar.com/egb/discuss-feb.doc (Word format)
http://www.headstar.com/egb/discuss-feb.txt (Text format).
[Section two ends.]
++SPONSORED NOTICE: E-PROCUREMENT GOVERNMENT
- EXPANDING PURCHASING POSSIBILITIES IN THE PUBLIC
SECTOR.
5-6 June 2003, Hotel Okura Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Traditional methods of sourcing and purchasing within the public
sector can be costly and laborious. By moving procurement processes
online, the supply pool is greatly expanded, giving smaller players an
opportunity to tender for contracts. This increases competition and
giving governments a wider choice and more buying power.
Attend our 'e-Procurement Government' conference to learn what
possibilities electronic solutions can offer for speeding up processes
and reducing expenditure. For further information please contact Mr
Ola Samuelsson on [log in to unmask] or visit:
http://fastlink.headstar.com/marcusevans
[Sponsored notice ends.]
++SECTION THREE: FOCUS
- WEB TRAFFIC.
+12: SECRETS OF STICKINESS.
by Helen Williams [log in to unmask]
Which local authorities have got the best-used web sites, and what is
the secret of their success?
For the first time this year we may have the answers to these questions,
as the council technology managers' body Socitm's annual report into
the state of development of local authority websites, 'Better Connected
2003', will carry a list of the top 100 most-visited sites.
The core data for the table has been compiled by Internet usage
monitoring company Hitwise and ranks all local authority sites by
'market share' of UK traffic - in other words, it adds together all
traffic to council sites and expresses each council as a percentage of
that total. The company draws its data in turn from a large group of
leading internet service providers.
Inevitably district councils with small local populations tend to capture
lower traffic levels, so Socitm has set out to address this by adding a
population weighting to produce an alternative league table of the top
20 sites.
This weighted table makes fascinating reading. Why is Cambridge's
site so much more popular than Oxford's? What do areas and councils
as diverse as Milton Keynes, Chester, Tameside and Newcastle have in
common to make them feature right at the top of the list of the most
well-used sites?
Superficially these sites appear to have very little in common. In
talking to their creators and managers however, a number of
similarities emerge.
First, the job vacancies sections are always among the most popular
sections of the most popular sites, so clearly a prominent and well-
featured jobs section will boost site traffic. Second, all the top sites
carried prominent information on specific entertainment venues or
events. For Cambridge, for example, the Corn Exchange arts and
entertainment centre pages receive the highest number of hits of any
part of the site. Newcastle City hosts the web pages of the Great North
Run; and the Isle of Wight singles out its Cowes Week pages as a
magnet for visitors.
It follows that the heavy marketing activity associated with theatres
and major events brings extra traffic to those sites which host their
content. TV coverage of the Great North Run, which mentioned the
website, provided a boost to Newcastle City's visitor statistics.
Promotion of any old online service may not produce such success,
however, as Newcastle itself discovered. While the council's efforts in
promoting an online job application service and an on-line booking
facility for customers of the Theatre Royal worked well, a campaign to
persuade people to pay their council tax on-line was less successful.
The high-traffic council web sites have other factors in common. All
are well-resourced, dynamic and offer high quality content in all areas,
reflecting their councils' commitment to their web presence. They have
a lively and well-designed home page, intuitive and consistent
navigation, and a user-friendly search facility.
Above all however, sites need that elusive quality known as
'stickiness' - a combination of usefulness and enjoyment that will keep
local residents, staff, partner organisations and other users returning.
The commercial site I visit most frequently is the online bookshop
Amazon. I love the customer reviews, the personalization of the site,
the lists of titles that other customers have additionally bought and
many other thoughtful features. In addition of course it is simple, fast
and reliable.
If councils are to increase the numbers of people regularly interacting
with them via their websites, they too need to develop on-line services
that are genuinely useful and easy to use, and focus on promoting them
within and without the organisation. This would seem particularly
pertinent in the light of the government's new policy emphasis on take-
up of key e-government services, alongside efforts to bring all services
online by 2005.
NOTE: Helen Williams is a freelance public sector website consultant,
and a member of the Socitm 'Better Connected' review team. 'Better
Connected 2003' is due to be published by Socitm on 28 February. To
pre-order visit http://www.socitm.gov.uk
[Section three ends.]
++END NOTES.
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+COPYRIGHT NOTICE.
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ISSN 1476-6310
+PERSONNEL
- EDITORIAL.
Editor - Dan Jellinek [log in to unmask]
Deputy editor - Phil Cain [log in to unmask]
Features editor - Derek Parkinson [log in to unmask]
Reporter - Mel Poluck [log in to unmask] .
- ADVERTISING.
[log in to unmask] .
A searchable archive of our back-issues can be found on our web site:
http://www.headstar.com/egb .
[Issue ends.]
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