New eGov Objectives for Europe

A new ministerial declaration by the European Union includes the following four points linking egovernment to economic and social objectives:

• No citizen left behind – integrating innovative IT into policy and service delivery;
• Effective and efficient government - using IT to reduce cost, improve administration and openness and deliver better customer service;
• High impact European services - highlight services such as eProcurement that can benefit most from freedom of movement of labour, services, goods and capital;
• Simple and secure access to online public services - EU-wide co-ordination of electronic authentication to boost citizen confidence in using eGovernment.

The declaration also includes some very measurable objectives focused around 2010, like this:

By 2010 European citizens and businesses shall be able to benefit from secure means of electronic identification that maximise user convenience while respecting data protection regulations. Such means shall be made available under the responsibility of the Member States but recognised across the EU.

We will soon have several key documents to share regarding the State of Utah consolidation effort creating the Department of Technology Services, the Conceptual Design and the new Strategic Plan. I will share them here when they are approved. They will also appear on the new DTS website.

This was nice to hear coming from Indiana:

One many are watching is Utah, which is recognized as an Internet pioneer among states and has configured its Web site by questions and services rather than by agency. It also offers breaking news, traffic reports and weather forecasts, information not typically found on a government site.