Three years after publishing the first Information Society Action Plan, the Irish Government has published its new plan, assessing Ireland's progress and charting objectives for future progress. The Government asserts that the top issue Ireland now faces is broadband -- affordable, ultra-high speed Internet access -- which is considered critical to maintaining national competitiveness and modernising public services delivery. In a major policy statement, the Government has said Ireland will rise from its current rank of 27 to the top 10 OECD countries for broadband infrastructure within three years.

The report also describes the critical process of ensuring real cooperation among all Government bodies on ICTs and eGovernment, and enforcing delivery deadlines for electronic public services. By 2005 all relevant public services -- from planning and passport applications to tax, motor and farming affairs -- must be available by Internet, as well as by phone via a new national public services call centre.

Face to face contact will continue, but will also comprise unique new "drop-in" centres, where skilled staff will help citizens access multiple services, such as applying for a birth certificate and child benefit at the same time. The Government firmly believes this concept of packaged services -- structured around life events and their business equivalents and not constrained by traditional agency boundaries -- is the key to better Government and better service for citizens.

For the full report, including details on the Government's plans for eInclusion and a description of more than 65 ongoing eGovernment projects, see the full report on-line at www.taoiseach.gov.ie

Ireland's new information society action plan is set to receive the highest levels of enforcement thanks to the Cabinet Committee on the Information Society, comprising ministers from 10 Government departments and chaired by the Taoiseach himself. Announced last year, the Committee works with its complementary eStrategy Group, made up of heads of Government departments, and with the ISPU. The Committee and the eStrategies Group are crucial new additions to Ireland's information society strategy, as they will carry primary responsibility for ensuring measurable progress is made on the seven key strands of the action plan: telecommunications infrastructure, legal & regulatory affairs, eGovernment, eBusiness, R&D, lifelong learning and eInclusion. It is envisaged that, beginning in autumn, ministers will deliver quarterly reports to the Committee on their department's progress in helping achieve the goals of the plan.

One of the oldest processes in Irish Government administration, the processing and circulation of Cabinet documentation, is due for a substantial modernisation next year. Following recommendations in a report commissioned by the Department of the Taoiseach from PwC, the Government (Cabinet) meeting process is going “e”. As part of what is being called the “eCabinet initiative” all Government memoranda will be circulated electronically and other processes such as briefing, agenda and decisions will also be handled electronically. Not only will this bring enhanced efficiencies to the administrative process, it will also help eliminate the 4kg of paper Ministers need for each meeting. At meetings, silent touch screen terminals will give each Cabinet member access to all necessary documentation. Decisions will also be circulated electronically. Work is already underway in the Department of the Taoiseach analysing the processes with a view to working with contractors who will design and build a prototype for testing by the end of this year. It is intended to deploy an operational system in 2003.

Reach, the interagency body helping implement eGovernment services, has launched reachservices.ie, a new Web site that provides secure, authenticated access to selected Government services. Citizens can use their PPSN number to log on to the system, which checks their identity and then provides an activation code, similar to a PIN. Citizens then use this number to access diverse services, from applying for a medical card to applying for a higher education grant or planning permission.

Seamus O'Farrell, senior business manager of Reach, said the aim is to dramatically reduce or totally eliminate the filling out of paper forms for citizens. www.reachservices.ie is a forerunner of the full public services broker now under development, which will provide more robust authentication and access to a fuller range of services for users. Reach's own role is to work with Government departments and public service agencies in facilitating the provision of their services on-line. "High-volume, high-value transactions will be the target for our attention in the first case -- matters connected to tax, welfare and certain local authority transactions," O'Farrell said.

Ireland's new Information Society Commission has announced seven action groups on key ICT issues facing Irish business and society, from telecoms infrastructure to legal issues. Group heads, who are each commission members, are now tackling their topics with a view to drawing in outside expertise; ultimately the groups will each present proposals to the commission that will be considered for recommendation to Government. The ISC itself reports directly to the Taoiseach. The groups and their chairs are Telecoms Infrastructure - Dr. Patricia O'Hara; Lifelong Learning - Michael Byrne; eInclusion - Joe Horan; eGovernment - Colm Reilly; Legal Issues - Dee Carri; eBusiness - Clodagh O'Donnell; and Futures - Dr. Chris Coughlan. More details about the chairpeople and the new commission, which was named in November, can be found here.

A study based on the OECD's 2001 Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard ranks Ireland 4th internationally in terms of countries most likely to succeed in new knowledge-based industries. (Financial Times, November 2001)

65 percent of Irish executives said they believe the Irish Government is an exemplar of eCommerce (Unexpected eIreland report, Accenture, October 2001)

Among Irish SMEs, 81 percent have Internet access, but only 46 percent have a Web site and just 33 percent have a defined ebusiness strategy (Chambers of Commerce survey, September 2001)

In the first round of the EU eGovernment benchmark exercise late last year, Ireland was rated 1st among EU countries. The results of the second benchmark exercise are expected in May.

One of the most ambitious eGovernment projects in Ireland is nearing an important phase: the opening of Donegal's district offices, which will act as local access points for a basket of public services. From June, the one-stop centres will let citizens speak with representatives from disparate agencies, all under one roof.

Uniquely, the offices will also feature independent information units staffed by citizens' advice officers, who can act as go-betweens to help citizens access services they need. The public services broker technology being pioneered at reachservices.ie will even let officers act on citizens' behalf, using a person's PPS number to electronically register them with the on-line system. On-line registration will mean faster, more efficient service when applying for medical benefits, for example. The information units are co-funded by Comhairle, Donegal County Council, the Northwestern Health Board and the DSCFA.

Sean Sheridan, Director of Corporate Services for Donegal County Council, said the walk-in centres are a central plank of a three-pronged approach: letting citizens use public services by telephone, in person or over the Internet.

"Currently you need to be an expert in the public services in order to access them," Sheridan said. "This idea of putting the citizens first, giving them a choice of ways they can access services and providing assistance at every step of the way, is committed to changing that."

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Much has been written about the struggles of some eCommerce companies, but one Irish company that is getting along swimmingly on-line is Lough Ree Powerboat School. This small firm's offerings include training courses and specialist marine equipment, and an impressive one in three visits to its Web site results in a sale, according to proprietor Stuart McNamara. Powerboat.org has been tipped by Yahoo as a hot site, and McNamara is currently investing EUR3,000 to re-design the site and develop its community potential. He said the upgraded site, which includes secure credit card ordering, should pay for itself in increased sales in around three months.

McNamara advises companies to start small, putting just a few hundred euro into a very basic Web site and e-mail. After a year, when they have a clearer idea of the design and content their site needs, they can upgrade, but he strongly advises companies to shop around for the best price from Web developers.

"Also, companies need to remember, there is no point in having a Web site if they don't promote it," McNamara said. "We have our Web address on all of our boats, and we notice when the boats go up and down the country that there's a real increase in traffic to the site." Ensuring the address is included on company stationery, outgoing e-mails, on-line guest books and other outlets is also a must, as well as keeping the information on-site up-to-date, he said.

FRANCE - Around 1,500 voters will be the first to trial ePOLL, France's electronic voting experiment, at presidential and European elections this spring. Citizens must also cast votes in the conventional way, since electronic votes have no legal status in France. Technology partners in the experiment include France Telecom.

SCOTLAND - A Scottish Gaelic dictionary of parliamentary terms has been launched on-line at www.scotland.gov.uk/dictionary. The searchable site is a Web companion to the printed Faclair na Parlamaid, and visitors can request a free translation by e-mail for terms not found on-line. The dictionary's publishers, the European Language Initiative, published a similar hard-copy Irish dictionary for the Oireachtas and the Northern Ireland assembly.

AUSTRALIA - Fifteen federal agencies have joined the Australian Government's secure new communications network, Fedlink. The Internet-based system is secured with digital certificates, and agencies can choose which traffic they wish to encrypt. The network is designed to securely link departments and agencies, but select commercial entities will also be invited to join. More: http://www.fedlink.gov.au

ITALY - Italy this month continues its drive to head the G-7's eGovernment drive, aimed at bridging the digital divide with poorer nations. Italy has committed USD100m to the effort, which will see the G-7 eGovernment group launching concrete programs to help countries like Jordan and Albania fight poverty and corruption using eGovernment tools.

USA - The American Civil Liberties Union is in court fighting a law that keeps federal funding from libraries unless they install Internet blocking software. At issue is the Child Internet Protection Act, passed in 2000. The ACLU is seeking to prove that the software frequently blocks harmless sites, and that CIPA is thus unconstitutional. The judge's ruling is expected in May.