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+++E-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN
- ISSUE 160, 30 April 2004.
http://www.headstar.com/egb .

Please forward this free service to colleagues
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++ISSUE 160 CONTENTS.

01: New EU entrants are 'world-beaters'
- European Commissioner talks to E-Government Bulletin.

02: Concerns linger over enforced 'priorities'
- councils face new e-service requirement deadlines.

03: Small councils unite to make savings
- software costs cut by a quarter.

04: Communities gear up for Silver Surfers' Day
- House of Commons launch in May.

News in Brief: 05: Scottish nomination - Parliament up for a Webby;
06: Tuning in - Direct.gov on digital TV; 07: Traffic jam - UK Online
traffic static.

Section two: EGB seminar report - accessible e-government.
08: Culture of accessibility: The key to creating services which are
accessible to people with disabilities is changing the way people think,
says Julie Hill.

Section three: Debate report - broadband services.
09: The aggregation game: the emergence of Regional Aggregation
Bodies (RABs) to negotiate to buy broadband internet on behalf of all
public sector bodies was among topics discussed during an online
debate held by the Public Policy Forum. Dan Jellinek reports.

[Contents ends].


++SPECIAL NOTICE: EGB May Seminars
- Transforming Your Organisation and e-Learning
- 13 and 19 May, Globe Theatre, London.

E-Government Bulletin presents two seminars in May at Shakespeare's
Globe Theatre in association with London's e-government agency
London Connects. On 13 May is 'The future of e-government -
Transforming your organisation':
http://www.electronic-government.com/transform.htm .
Topics include changing business processes; anticipating citizens'
needs; and culture change, with speakers including Chris Haynes,
ODPM; and Steve Pennant, Chief Executive of London Connects.

On 19 May is 'e-learning - the future of training in the public sector':
http://www.electronic-government.com/elearning.htm .
Speakers include Professor Diana Laurillard, head of e-Learning
Strategy, Department for Education and Skills; and Richard Grice,
Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).

Places cost 295 pounds plus VAT for public sector and 395 for private
sector delegates. Additional delegates booking at the same time receive
a 100 pound discount.

[Special notice ends].


++SECTION ONE:

+01: NEW EU ENTRANTS ARE 'WORLD-BEATERS'.

The unprecedented expansion of the European Union due to take place
tomorrow - with 10 new entrant countries due to join - could boost the
progress of e-government across the continent, Erkki Liikanen,
European Commissioner for Information Society Technologies, has
told E-Government Bulletin in an exclusive interview.

Although the entrants' economies are generally less well-developed
than those of existing member states, with average earnings at 40 per
cent of the rest of the EU, their skills and commitment to change will
benefit existing members, he said.

"It is important not to underestimate the new and future member states.
All EU countries can benefit from shared lessons learned in e-
government - this is not a one-way street," Liikanen said. Liikanen
said the progress of new entrants in the areas of electronic ID, online
land registries and mapping systems were likely to be of particular
value to current EU members.

"Exceptionally well-educated populations have shown a drive to
implement transparent and open government in their new democracies.
For example, the implementation of electronic ID based on European
standards has been pioneered in Estonia, while electronic drivers
licences have been rapidly rolled-out in Poland and also in Romania.
Some of these countries cadastre [land registry and mapping] systems
are world-beating," he said.

A total of around 40 billion Euros from EU funds will be made
available to the new member states between 2004 and 2006, some of
which will be targeted at public sector infrastructure (see
http://europa.eu.int/abc/12lessons/index4_en.htm). "Access to support
funding for further development both from programmes such as the
IST Research and Structural Funds will make a difference . . . [and]
their sterling performance so far on limited financial means bodes well
for speedy progress in the near future," said Liikanen.

The arrival of the new members also requires the European
Commission to take on nine new official languages - making a total of
19 - for all its communications, including its vast collection of web
pages. The commission began preparing for this as far back as 2002,
when it added new languages to its web site and began to adjust its
content management system to read Polish and Baltic language
characters (see E-Government Bulletin, Issue 26, 25 November 2002).

NOTE: Erkki Liikanen is interviewed in E-Government Outlook 2004-
05, E-Government Bulletin's second yearbook, due out in May. This
unique book, still the UK's most comprehensive independent round-up
of e-government developments, can be pre-ordered at a discounted
price of 195 pounds for public sector and 295 pounds for private sector
readers (full price will be 245 pounds and 345 pounds). For further
details of the book's contents and how to pre-order please email Mel
Poluck on [log in to unmask] .


+02: CONCERNS LINGER OVER ENFORCED 'PRIORITIES'.

The incoming president of local government IT management body
Socitm has expressed concerns about new local e-government service
requirements unveiled yesterday by the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister. Despite changes made to the policy following consultation to
extend compliance deadlines, the requirements could still distract
councils from moving all services online and meeting local priorities,
Chris Guest told E-Government Bulletin.

Junior local government minister Phil Hope used the Socitm spring
seminar to unveil a three-tier checklist of 'required', 'good' and
'excellent' local e-services across seven priority areas from raising
schools standards to improving transport services. There are 29
'required' outcomes, 26 'good' outcomes and 19 'excellent' outcomes.
Councils will be expected to meet the 'required' outcomes by
December 2005 and the 'good' outcomes by April 2006. There is no
deadline for the 'excellent' outcomes, though councils that meet them
will have greater local discretion in applying local e-government grants
to meet local priorities.

Grants to councils of 500,000 pounds each for delivery of the third
wave of implementing e-government strategies would be linked to
delivery of the priority outcomes, Hope said. He denied the outcomes
should be described as new 'targets' which clash with the overall target
for all local services to be available online by the end of 2005. Instead,
they add an 'operational focus,' he said.

The new document (http://fastlink.headstar.com/odpm8) simplifies and
reduces the number of 'required' outcomes for councils, as well as
softening the terminology used. In the consultation version of the
document released in January this year, there had been some 46
'mandatory' outcomes; 40 'best practice' outcomes. The number of
'discretionary' outcomes has remained unchanged at 19.

Following publication of the earlier draft Glyn Evans, chair of
Socitm's Information Age Government group, said the principle of
requiring outcomes centrally was over-prescriptive and failed to reflect
local services (see E-Government Bulletin, issue 153, 26 January
2004).

Yesterday, senior figures at Socitm were satisfied that the post-
consultation set of outcomes was more achievable, although concerns
about central prescription do remain.

"It is good to see the number of 'required' outcomes has reduced
significantly, but if we're looking at the 'best practice' outcomes we
are talking about a new deadline of April 2006," incoming Socitm
president Chris Guest told E-Government Bulletin. "Is that basically
simply setting new targets, dictating how e-government is going to go?

"We need to analyse the detail. If it is going to be prescriptive in terms
of focus, it could mean a lot of change to councils' plans and strategies,
and it could throw them off-track. That is a worry."


+03: SMALL COUNCILS UNITE TO MAKE SAVINGS.

Two small neighbouring councils in the south of England have saved
25 per cent on software costs by working together, according to 'Local
e-government now', the annual report published yesterday by the
Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA -
http://www.idea.gov.uk) and the Society of Information Technology
Management (SOCITM - http://www.socitm.gov.uk).

Tandridge District Council (http://www.tandridgedc.gov.uk) in Surrey
and Sevenoaks District Council (http://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk) in
Kent have taken a partnership approach to delivering several e-
government projects, saving resources and gaining access to central
government funding. This example of joined-up working is one of
several case studies featured in the report, which focuses on the work
of smaller councils.

The partnership approach between Tandridge and Sevenoaks began
three years ago with the joint procurement and implementation of a
new financial management system. The shared system is installed at
Sevenoaks, but allows both councils to manage their accounting and
general ledger processes. "Working together enabled us to achieve
significant discounts from the supplier," says Stuart Mitchenall, head
of ICT at Tandridge. "We saved 25 per cent of the cost of acting
alone."

The councils then went on to make a bid to the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister (ODPM - http://www.odpm.gov.uk) for funding for a
joint e-democracy project in 2003. They received 150,000 pounds for
shared software which allows residents to download the proceedings of
council meetings, such as minutes and reports, and to give feedback
through online dialogue. The system has already proved popular with
residents in Tandridge who mainly use it to keep an eye on planning
activities, while Sevenoaks is due to go live with the system in the
summer.

The councils now work together on projects whenever they can. "It is
really a case of identifying opportunities when we are procuring new
systems or updating them where there are cost saving benefits," says
Mitchenall. "We considered joint disaster recovery, for example, but
concluded that we couldn't justify the investment."

The councils say their approach offers a good way forward for smaller
councils. "We are two authorities who face similar challenges in
service delivery and constraints on resources," says Kristen Paterson,
director of community services and e-government champion at
Sevenoaks District Council. "Working together has saved us money,
time and resources - and given us access to funding that we could not
have received had we worked alone."


+04: COMMUNITIES GEAR UP FOR SILVER SURFERS' DAY.

Community venues up and down the country will be hosting events to
get the over-50s started on the internet, as part of Silver Surfers' Day
(http://www.silversurfersday.org) on 21 May.

Across the UK, older people are being invited to local training sessions
to help them surf the internet and use email. In Sheffield, a community
recycling programme is running a patchworking and quilting day in
which it will invite the over-50s to browse quilting web sites and use
cross-stitch design CDs. Meanwhile in Derbyshire, a rural pub is
hosting an event with an emphasis on assistive products such as
specialist keyboards, mouse replacements and software, for those who
might struggle with dexterity or sight problems.

Silver Surfers' Day, now in its third year, is a national initiative run by
Hairnet (http://www.hairnet.org), a computer training company
specialising in accessibility. The project also invites nominations for a
UK Silver Surfer of the Year. There have been around 120
nominations this year, and the winner will be announced at a launch
event on 12 May at the House of Commons.

The winner of last year's Silver Surfer of the Year award, Cathie
Stemp, began using a computer after she lost her job because she
couldn't operate a computerised cash register. Now Stemp is teaching
others how to use computers at her local Age Concern.

"Silver Surfers' Day is a good opportunity to remind people of the
advantages of being connected to the net," says Cambridge MP Anne
Campbell, who is sponsoring the event. "For people who are
housebound, it can be a lifeline to other people, to important services
and to essential information."


++News in Brief:

+05: SCOTTISH NOMINATION: The Scottish Parliament web site is
among nominees in the 'Government and law' category for this year's
international 'Webby' awards, the Oscars of the internet. Other
nominees in the category include Brisbane City Council in Australia
and US government site 'Fedstats.' Winners will be announced on 12
May:
http://www.webbyawards.com .

+06: TUNING IN: The Office of the e-Envoy has announced that its
new one-stop government portal 'Direct.gov' is to be extended into an
interactive digital television service. The service will be accessible first
on digital broadcasting platforms Sky and Telewest with ntl to follow
shortly. Direct.gov is now set to replace the existing UK Online
government web portal - having begun as its subsidiary - and its TV
service will replace UK Online Interactive:
http://www.direct.gov.uk .

+07: TRAFFIC JAM: Meanwhile, traffic to the current government
portal UK Online has continued to stagnate, according to analysis
published by e-learning consultant Seb Schmoller. "Total traffic has
hovered around 3 million page views per month for several months,
with a gradual increase in the number of unique users per month offset
by a fall both in the number of page views per visit, and in the number
of visits per month made by each unique user," he says:
http://www.schmoller.net/mailings/20040413.shtml .

[Section one ends]


++SPECIAL NOTICE: Electronic Government Exchange
- EGB Reader Offer.

The publishers of E-Government Bulletin are once again hosting the
Electronic Government Exchange in London on 25 May. Before the
event, participants can use its web site to construct their own
programme of meetings and discussion groups, and put forward
experiences they are willing to share with others. Discussion group
topics include: Freedom of Information implementation; e-
accessibility; transactional web sites; e-participation and e-
consultation; sharing data; improving service take-up; and special
programme on wireless e-government.

Bulletin readers from the public sector can register at a special rate of
just 95 pounds + VAT. The rate for those from the private sector is
#295 +VAT:
http://www.electronic-government.com .

[Special notice ends].


++SPONSORED NOTICE:
The 3rd Annual London e-Government Conference:
- Sustainable e-Government in London.
- Tuesday 6 July 2004, the Brewery Conference Centre, London.

London Connects, with GovNet Communications, is proud to present
the London e-Government Conference, London's premier ICT strategy
event for senior decision-makers across every London borough.

Speakers include Phil Hope MP, Parliamentary Secretary of State,
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Faith Boardman, Chief
Executive, London Borough of Lambeth; and David Kwo, Regional
Implementation Director, NHS National Programme for IT London.

For details and to register see:
http://www.govnet.co.uk/londonegov
or call Arron Browne on 0800 542 9585.

[Sponsored notice ends].


SECTION TWO: EGB SEMINAR REPORT
- ACCESSIBLE E-GOVERNMENT.

+08: CULTURE OF ACCESSIBILITY
by Julie Hill.

Cultural change is one of the biggest challenges facing public sector
bodies as they strive to make their e-government services accessible to
people with disabilities, according to many of the speakers and
delegates at E-Government Bulletin's March seminar 'E-Government
for all: planning for accessibility' (http://www.electronic-
government.com/access.htm).

Despite legal and moral requirements for public service providers to
make web sites accessible to all regardless of ability, many
organisations are still struggling to instill the importance of accessible
services among management and staff, according to one local authority
delegate.

"My authority has produced clear content and communications
standards for accessibility, but it can be difficult to get staff buy-in,"
the delegate told an interactive question-and-answer session. "With the
day-to-day pressures of work and the practical issues around getting
web content up quickly, things sometimes fall apart."

It is crucial for public bodies to obtain buy-in for accessibility from the
highest level of the organisation, she said. But this can be difficult
when managers think that technical staff can "wave a magic wand" to
make services accessible, as a second delegate put it, without a real
understanding of what accessibility involves and the need for training
across the organisation. Training is becoming even more important as
public bodies increasingly move towards multiple content contributors
for their web sites, he said.

Laura van Weyenbergh, e-communications officer at Rushcliffe
Borough Council (http://www.rushcliffe.gov.uk), agreed that
communication with staff was the key. "It is crucial to do the
groundwork to ensure that web site contributors understand their role
in accessibility," she said. "We have tried to encourage staff to view
accessibility as the norm rather than extra work, but admittedly this has
been difficult."

Access to the right skills and knowledge about accessibility is another
problem for government bodies. Often they don't have the requisite
skills in-house, but equally they can't always rely on the expertise of
their IT suppliers or the web developer community, delegates heard.

One problem is that a confusing array of so-called accessibility
'standards' can be difficult for non-specialist organisations to evaluate,
said Tom Adams, senior digital media consultant at the Office of the e-
Envoy (OeE - http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk). "Although the World Wide
Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines
[http://www.w3.org/WAI] have become the de facto international
standard for accessibility, they were only ever intended as guidelines
and as such are open to interpretation," he said. While the OeE has
produced its own guidelines on accessibility (http://www.e-
envoy.gov.uk/webguidelines.htm), based on standards such as e-GIF
and the WAI guidelines, he admitted that "we, like everyone else, are
slow in adopting and adhering to the guidelines."

Automated software tools that check web accessibility, such as the
well-known Watchfire Bobby (http://bobby.watchfire.com), can
provide some guidance for government bodies, but are of limited
value, according to one delegate. In particular, it is only by testing sites
with users that government bodies can guarantee that their services are
not only technically accessible -capable of being used with assistive
technologies, such as screen readers - but usable.

However, delegates highlighted the difficulties of engaging with user
communities to get help in testing. "Although we advertised to get
input from web users, it was difficult to get their response," said van
Weyenbergh. "In the end, we didn't get much input from the local
community."

Even if they do manage to get feedback from the public, how can
government bodies and their suppliers measure the outcomes of user
testing, asked Ian Franklin, human factors consultant for technology
supplier EDS. Are there metrics available to help with this?

This question sparked a debate among experts about the nature of
usability. While Guido Gybels, director of new technologies at the
Royal National Institute for Deaf People (http://www.rnid.org.uk), and
the OeE's Adams agreed that usability was a largely subjective issue,
dependent on the user's skills, experience and background. Helen
Petrie, professor of human computer interaction design at City
University (http://www.city.ac.uk), said that her research has shown
that there will always be a common core of key outcomes across all
tests by all user groups, however diverse.

The question for service providers, said Petrie, is at which point they
are happy that their accessibility efforts are sufficient. Is it once 90 or
95 per cent of people can access their site, for example? Adams agreed
that 100 per cent accessibility is an unachievable goal, because there
will always be someone who cannot access your site because they are
using a very unusual web browser, for example. The important thing
for local authorities, he said, is to be able to show that they have taken
all reasonable steps possible to make their site as accessible as
possible.

This work will pay off for all users, said Petrie. "If your organisation
conducts testing with people with print disabilities, it will pick up
problems that are common to all users. The result will be an exemplary
site for everyone," she said.

[Section two ends].


++SPONSORED NOTICE: SPIN conference
- 21 May 2004, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.

There's something for all public information practitioners at EPI 2004 -
SPIN's annual conference on 21 May. This year's theme, 'From data to
delivery', addresses the fundamental importance of managing our data
to the highest standards, and the many issues this raises. High quality
data is not an end in itself, but the key to successful delivery which
meets customer needs.

The cost is just 175 pounds for SPIN members (100 pounds for
voluntary sector members). Full details of our excellent speaker line-
up, plus booking instructions, at:
http://www.spin.org.uk/epi2004 .

[Sponsored notice ends].


SECTION THREE: DEBATE REPORT
- BROADBAND SERVICES

+09: THE AGGREGATION GAME
by Dan Jellinek.

The emergence of Regional Aggregation Bodies (RABs) to negotiate
to buy broadband internet on behalf of all public sector bodies in an
area was among topics discussed during an open online debate on the
potential for broadband to improve public services hosted earlier this
month by the BT-sponsored think-tank Public Policy Forum in
association with E-Government Bulletin.

Much of the debate about RABs revolved around the need for them to
form partnerships with local organisations outside the public sector
such as community and voluntary groups to maximise the benefits of
bringing broadband to each region.

Clare Lunn of the Local Government Improvement and Development
Agency said the success of the broadband RABs in bringing together
partners within the public sector and beyond to the community and
voluntary sectors could vary from region to region.

"I suspect that it will depend on how good the partnership working
already is in the region - if there are effective inter-sector links in
place
then the RAB concept will sit more easily. Crossing boundaries where
partnerships do not already exist might be more interesting.

"They will also need to be flexible - perhaps allowing for more than
one solution, considering the varied range of needs involved (from
large agencies to small communities).

"But what is the alternative - that the big suppliers are allowed to
divide and conquer so that each organisation or sector has to negotiate
a deal by itself, probably duplicating infrastructure costs across the
region?... It seems to me that despite difficulties, there is potentially
real strength in coming together."

Some participants in the debate complained that the RABs do not have
a wide enough remit, in that they simply exist to negotiate good deals
on current infrastructure rather than to buy or help develop more
advanced, higher-speed infrastructure to all areas.

But Fred Perkins, Public Policy Forum chair, said: "Are we perhaps
asking too much of RABs when we suggest they should be looking to
the future development of broadband? The basic objective of the RABs
is to speed up and make easier the acquisition of broadband.

"They do potentially offer a strong proposition for all stakeholders:
local government gets speedy and (relatively) hassle-free procurement
at good prices; suppliers are incentivised to roll out infrastructure more
quickly and more widely; and communities gain access to broadband
potentially more quickly than they might otherwise do. And all of this
is being delivered in the context of partnerships, which historically we
haven't been very good at in the UK, but are getting better.

"I'd hope that once the RAB mechanisms really take off, and then
mature, we'll be able to move forward to 'SuperRABs', playing an
important role in the continuing development of infrastructure, and
again, for the benefit of all stakeholders."

Erol Ziya of the Access to Broadband Campaign and Broadband
Stakeholder Group, spoke up for community groups when he said: "I
know the RABs are about 'buying big' and I know that the public sector
is a massive proportion of the 'spend' in this country, but that doesn't
naturally imply that the biggest consumer will be the public sector. Far
more likely, as there are more of us, that the citizens and businesses of
this country will consume the most bandwidth. Therefore, involving
consumers in the process seems logical.

"Those in the public sector live in communities, they work in
communities, they represent communities . . . but it rarely feels like
that is understood. How do we 'community activists' get representation
on the RABs? Who will be the 'ears on the ground' in these bodies?

NOTE: The Broadband Debate was held at the forum's web site:
http://www.publicpolicyforum.org.uk . If you would like to contribute
to this ongoing exercise by responding to any of the points raised in
this article or on the web site, or if you would like to receive a full
debate report when published, please email Jennifer Firman on
[log in to unmask] .

[Section three ends].


++SPECIAL NOTICE: TEST YOUR SITE'S ACCESSIBILITY.

The accessibility of public sector web sites - ensuring all can access e-
government services as far as is reasonably possible - is a moral and
legal imperative for UK public bodies. But the area can seem complex
and technical.

Now Headstar, the publishers of E-Government Bulletin and its sister
publication E-Access Bulletin, is offering a range of independent,
expert assessment packages to ensure your web services comply with
best practice and the law. We can provide you with a clear, detailed
report on the current access status of your site, and a list of tasks you
will need to carry out to ensure compliance with government
requirements.

Reports also include results from general quality assurance tests such
as link-checking. Taking accessibility action benefits all users, will
make your site easier to maintain, and can improve your search-engine
rating!

For more information please email:
[log in to unmask] .

[Special notice ends].


++END NOTES.

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+TEN STANDARD: This newsletter conforms to the accessible Text
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+COPYRIGHT NOTICE.
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ISSN 1476-6310


+PERSONNEL
- EDITORIAL.
Editor - Dan Jellinek  [log in to unmask]
Deputy editor - Derek Parkinson  [log in to unmask]
Senior Reporter - Mel Poluck  [log in to unmask]
News Reporter - Julie Hill  [log in to unmask]
Technician - Pete Hall  [log in to unmask]
Correspondent - Phil Cain  [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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