Other nations show how to make the net work for citizens

By PETER GRIFFIN technology writer

The web portal tipped to become the public's central means of communication with the Government will borrow several characteristics from e-government strategies overseas.

And the IT companies looking to get involved in the Government's plan will get the chance to compete for work when tenders for the portal are put out in July.

The Minister for State Services, Trevor Mallard, said the site would have to be more attractive than the present Government portal to encourage people to use the net for government services. The UK and Singapore sites were examples worth noting.

"The new Government portal is going to be built off the back of the New Zealand Government Online website. What we'll end up with is several portals you can enter directly or through NZGO."

Singapore's eCitizen Central portal displays Government services according to stages of citizens' lives, from birth registration through to job-seeking, starting businesses and retirement while UK citizens can choose various "life episodes" online to ease navigation.

Brendan Boyle, director of the E-Government Unit, said six to eight Government agencies would help to test the planned e-procurement portal from August.

Mr Boyle said a centralised procurement portal would allow smaller Government departments to secure better deals from suppliers.

The E-Government Unit has been given $16 million over four years, mainly to undertake pilot projects and do research. The Government is also working on devising an authentication system securing online transactions.

The system is expected to be in place by mid-2002, but Mr Boyle said it would be likely to be voluntary, similar to that adopted by the Irish Government.

Mark Heard, country manager for business software provider Ariba, said authentication signatures for citizens would be a fact of life as they increasingly used digital services.

"Info will be retained in the system in a confidential way. I don't think it needs to be an issue. You don't see the Privacy Commissioner up in arms."

Links


www.govt.nz

open.gov.uk

Singapore's eCitizen