IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Burnley Borough Council has made it even easier for people to pay their council tax by Direct Debit - via its website, in a new e-government service.

Taxpayers can now set up their direct debit payments over the telephone or via the council website instead of having to pick up a form, fill it in and then post it back, although people can still do that if they want to.

The government of Kuwait understands the importance of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in the development of the national economy and has been investing heavily for the fast growth and development of ICT in the country, says Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al-Sabah, Minister of Communications, Administrative Development and Planning. He was speaking at a Ramadan Ghabga organized by Microsoft at JW Marriot Hotel on Tuesday.The minister added: "Our effort toward e-government reinforces our commitment and strategic focus. Microsoft has been a long term partner to the government of Kuwait and has always supported our various initiatives with their quality products and services delivered through their knowledgeable local team.

The minister for local e-government has defended the migration of the National Projects to council control

The programme to transfer ownership of the National Projects for Local e-Government is making progress with 11 now under council control, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has confirmed.

New Project to measure take-up of high-volume services

A new project to benchmark the popularity of local eGovernment services has been announced.

The Volumetric Guidance pilot will run between the end of October and February 2006 and measure the volume of services delivered across all electronic channels. It is currently looking for local councils to participate in the project, capture the data and add them to the ESD-Toolkit.

Five Irish public sector projects are up for gongs in the 2005 eEurope Awards for eGovernment to be held in Manchester next month, a tonic for a beleaguered sector that has been heavily under attack from the media in recent weeks.

The strong Irish contingent is made up of Meath County Council for its work in taking communities online, the Local Government Computer Services Board for Mobhaile, the Department of An Taoiseach for its eCabinet initiative and the Revenue Commissioners for its ongoing innovation around the Revenue On-Line Service portal.