Estonia conducts world's first national elections through Internet The Baltic state of Estonia recently became the world's first country to allow voting in a national parliamentary election via the Internet. Estonia, on March 4th conducted its latest parliamentary election, in which 3% of the ballots were cast electronically. Estonia has gained a reputation for computer literacy since it left the Soviet Union in 1991 and allowed Internet voting in local elections in 2005, when about 10,000 people voted online. This feat has been made possible by Estonian ID cards, which function on an electronic crypto-processor, based on smart-card technology. It includes personal certificates and private keys of the card-owner. To vote, Estonians had to put their state-issued identification card, which has an electronic chip on it, into a reader attached to a computer and then enter two passwords. The implementation of ID-card involved establishment of a new nation-wide infrastructure in Estonia. The structure includes certification service provider (certification centre and its subunits), who issues certificates, and catalogue service provider, who takes care of making these certificates available for everyone. Pursuant to the Estonian Digital Signatures Act, the structure also includes time stamp service provider who issues time stamps for digital signatures. Mrs. Marika Priske, Secretary General from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Govt of Estonia, said, "Promotion of the national ID card in the use of public sector e-services is vital in order to increase citizens' trust for e-services and make them feel at ease in their communication with the state over the internet" Source : Reuters News Feb 21,2007
m-Dubai Initiative The Government of Dubai has launched an initiative called m-Dubai to provide information and services to its citizens on mobile phones. The initiative has put Dubai among one of the leading governments in Middle East that have taken the lead in mobile-Government initiatives. The Company that is providing these services is promoted by an Indian entrepreneur from Bangalore. Under the m-Dubai initiative, the government of Dubai will soon be enabling the payment based transactions on mobile phones. The initiative is an innovative channel for communication between customers and Government Departments via SMS introduced by Dubai eGovernment. Under this service, the customers can request information from various government departments anytime through SMS. There are two distinct modes of this service :- SMS Push: The service pushes information from Various Government Departments through SMS to registered customers. Some of the Departments providing information through the SMS push service include w Dubai Civil Defence w Department Of Health & Medical Services w Dubai Development Board w Dubai Media Incorporation w Department of Economic Development w Dubai Police w Dubai eGovernment w Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation w Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry w Dubai Courts w Dubai Civil Aviation SMS pull: This service allows customers to initiate a communication by inquiring on Government Services by sending a keyword along with the requisite parameter to a pre-specified short code of Dubai eGovernment and receive an instant response to their inquiry. Some of the services which are currently being provided through 'SMS Pull' include Flight Information (Dubai Civil Aviation), Traffic Fines (Dubai Police), Trade Licenses Status and Fees (Dubai Economic Department) etc. For more detailed information, log on to - www.mdubai.ae
Denmark tops Networked Readiness Index For the first time, Denmark tops the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2006-2007's "Networked Readiness Index", as a culmination of an upward trend since 2003. Denmark's outstanding levels of networked readiness have to do with the country's excellent regulatory environment, coupled with a clear government leadership and vision in leveraging ICT for growth and promoting ICT penetration and usage. With record coverage of 122 economies worldwide and published for the sixth consecutive year, The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) has become the world's most respected assessment of the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the development process and the competitiveness of nations. The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) measures the propensity of countries to leverage the opportunities offered by ICT for development and increased competitiveness. The NRI is composed of three components, assessing the environment offered by the country in question, the attitude of its key stakeholders, and the uptake of ICT among those stakeholders. It also establishes a broad international framework mapping out the enabling factors of such capacity. The Report is produced by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with INSEAD, the leading international business school. As compared to last year, United States has fallen six places to seventh position. Sweden, Singapore and Finland are in second, third and fourth places, respectively. India ranks 44th in the list, after going down four positions as compared to last year. Read the full report at http://www.weforum.org
Operation Village Health : Cambodia The utilization of telemedicine to bring sustainable and quality health care to underserved populations' has got a new dimension with the successful 'Operation Village Health', a cross-cultural programme providing email-based physician support to Cambodian health workers in two remote sites, allowing Harvard-affiliated specialists to share their knowledge and collaborate with underserved communities on the other side of the globe. Through this Programme, two monthly telemedicine clinics, held in remote areas of Cambodia, give patients access to physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Partners/Dana Farber Cancer Care. The two villages where these clinics are held, Rovieng and Banlung, are extremely remote. Prior to the development of these clinics, neither of these villages had access to medical specialists. Most villagers had never seen or met a physician before in their life yet alone have received medical care. This program shows how healthcare knowledge can transcend geographic boundaries to provide effective medical care through simple low-cost technology. As part of the Operation Village Health initiative, a visiting nurse from Phnom Penh makes an arduous six-hour trip by truck to each of the villages. Here he or she interviews, examines and digitally photographs patients, then transmits the information by satellite to physicians in Boston using a solar-powered computer. Within hours these physicians respond with medical opinions and treatment recommendations. Hundreds of clinical consultations have been performed since the inception of these telemedicine clinics. The rate of offsite patient referral and the duration of chronic medical problems among villagers have decreased since program inception. A random survey of patients demonstrated that they are satisfied with the telemedicine service and that most are willing to pay an average of $ .63 per visit. Overall, this ICT-enabled initiative seeks to provide a model of enhanced and affordable local care for underserved communities. The implementing organization behind the initiative is 'Partners Telemedicine'(now known as Centre for Connected Health), a US based organization in the area of remote health care and the Project has been operational since 2001. For its outstanding service in improving health conditions in a place like Cambodia using ICT, the Operation Village Health Initiative won the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award in 2006. For more information, visit http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/data/operation_village_health
If you would like to suggest some noteworthy International e-Gov Project to be highlighted in this section, send a mail, with project details, at sonal@nic.in Compiled by: Sonal Kalra, Editor-Informatics