IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

MMF director Tommy McCabe said key information such as CAO results, NCT tests, driving test appointments and hospital appointments should be made available to the citizens of Ireland.

In a report on eGovernment, the provision of public services over the internet, John Purcell said services such as Motor Tax and the Revenue Online Service had been successful.

That is according to the Mid West Regional Authority (MWRA), which is the lead partner in a European Transnational project aimed at making eGovernment services more widely accessible and socially inclusive.

The CitizenFirst project seeks to reduce the digital divide that affects communities and citizens in the territories of Mid-West Region (Ireland), Eindhoven Region (Netherlands), West Flanders (Belgium) and Cambridgeshire (UK).

A new computer system designed to integrate public services has cost the exchequer a massive €37m despite being originally budgeted at just €14m. Its annual running costs have soared to a further €15m a year.

A single source for local authority services such as planning applications, travel reports and development plans, Mobhaile will act as a 24-hour guide to local services which citizens businesses and local organisations can readily access.

That's according to Marie Lowman, a speaker at The National e-Government Summit 2004 which takes place in Dublin on 23 and 24 November. The primary aim of the conference is to provide a forum where key parties within the e-government sector can discuss developments and assess the challenges that lie ahead.

It is now two and half years since the Review of Public Administration was launched, raising hopes in the business community that our outdated model for delivering public services would be radically overhauled with big efficiency gains and cost-saving benefits for all.

InterTradeIreland and the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) have launched the ExpertiseIreland.com portal, which aims to boost cross-border collaborative R&D activity by fostering better links between business and academia. The portal contains information on R&D experts from the island's universities and is designed to be a "one stop shop" for those interested in commercialising research from academic institutions.

The new site, eGovernance.ie, will allow members of the public to view board memberships and vacancies online. Company secretaries at State-owned concerns will be able to use the website to update board and member information, and the site will provide an online service for the public to view this data.

By midnight on 15 November, the tax deadline for electronic filers, a total of 279,020 income tax returns were filed, up 14 percent on last year when 244,114 returns were processed online.

Since it started life as pilot project in 2001 to support EU procurement strategies, the eTenders website has been one of Ireland’s e-government success stories.

The new service will allow planning agents to submit planning applications for single houses and extensions electronically which will result in significant savings to both agents and the council. Planning agents will download the “smart form” and complete it without being online and then submit the completed form with payment using the MyMayo.ie portal.

Playing the part of bridesmaid to the new procedures, the minster launched the service with aplomb during a colourful 'wedding' ceremony involving two of her own staff members held outside the department's offices in Dublin.

A Dail Committee was told on Wednesday that the Office of Public Works (OPW) will be the body that develops the Digital Hub in a project that will cost between EUR150 million and EUR200 million. A steering committee will oversee the project, with members of the committee including individuals from the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA), the OPW and officials from the Department of Communications, the Irish Times has reported.