IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The start-up phase for its national electronic health record system will finally begin in 2010, says the Department of Health.

While progress has been slow on the implementation of the system, the department says it will be ready to implement the system next year.

The system, called e-Government, has been approved by the government and aims at communicating by e-mail and other electronic modes.

The Smart Cape Access Project was launched by the City of Cape Town in 2002, in line with the City’s e-governance strategy. The project aims to firstly provide residents with access to computers and the Internet, to develop their skills so that they can effectively use the technology, and to provide online information that is relevant and useful to the local users.

The provincial government noted that it would introduce a shared service centre, based on a model of the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC). The centre will initially include ICT and legal services, government communication and procurement services, and will be established by the end of the province's current financial year.

Established in 2002, e-Government Gateway is about the development of a single online system that will provide South Africans with access to government services any time, anywhere.

THE Gauteng provincial government has set up the Gauteng shared service centre to provide a foundation for integrated service delivery and e-government.

The province has ended its contract with the company that had been operating the call centre after a complete breakdown in services.

The Gauteng government is still trying to decide how much to pay the company for the balance of the contract.

The site, www.gautengonline.gov.za, which is run and managed by the GSSC, forms part of the centre's drive to implement e-government services. Along with its contact centre, the Web portal is supposed to improve access to services and information in the province.

Mashatile says the province will spend at least half a billion rand on ICT over the next three years. The budget vote makes it clear several billion more can follow after some groundwork is done.

The amount forms part of a R31.5 billion investment over the medium-term to fund infrastructure projects that are expected to stimulate economic growth and job creation in the province.

Following the recent resignation of Mike Maile, the GSSC announced the appointment of Khutsoane. It is speculated that Maile – who was with the agency for three years – resigned because he struggled to correct many challenges facing the GSSC.

Following reports by ITWeb that his departure was due to challenges faced by the agency, GSSC spokesperson Khusela Sangoni has responded that these reports are unfounded.

Presentations and panel discussions will, among other things, explore case studies on tracking and managing government budgets, e-invoicing and e-procurement, as well as access management.

The provincial government recently stopped the outsourced contract, terminating the agreement two years early, after deciding to move the functions in-house under the auspices of the Department of Finance. The decision was the result of a “reprioritisation” process within government.

However, government's move resulted in the contract with Dialogue subsidiary Sibize Calling International, being canned. As a result, Sibize itself is likely to close down, because Gauteng was its largest customer.

In a recent announcement, the GSSC said it is looking for someone to deliver the programme as a whole, with the deadline for tenders being 21 September.

The conference will provide companies with insight on how new technology can enable many e-government initiatives.

“The challenge for government is to continually have to balance the need for improved productivity while maintaining its societal position as one of the country's largest employers,” says Lisa Helm, The Business Zone 1073's production director.