Microsoft Announces Free E-Government Accelerator Application for European Local and Regional Governments
BRUSSELS, Belgium, October 11/ Application to be part of new collaborative eris@ portal.
Local and regional governments across Europe looking to offer online services to citizens and businesses will soon be able to access, at no cost, a solution accelerator application offered by Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), and partners PC-WARE AG and Spenta Consulting, through the European Regional Information Society Association (eris@).
The application, known as a digital town hall, makes it possible for small and medium-sized municipalities to offer their citizens access to information and transaction services. It is easily expanded and can be used to create solutions that address citizens' needs and support back-office operations. The digital town hall was built by Microsoft independent software vendor (ISV) partners PC-WARE from Germany and Spenta Consulting from Spain and will be the first application available on a new collaborative portal offered by eris@, and based on the Microsoft® Solution Sharing Network.
"Local and regional governments in Europe recognise the need to meet their citizens' expectations regarding online service delivery and are eager to learn from the experience of other governments," said Jan Muehlfeit, vice president for corporate and government strategy, Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "Microsoft's Solutions Sharing Network offers governments a useful tool to share intellectual property, designs, best practices and applications, and by collaborating with our partners we're taking it one step further by providing the digital town hall solution accelerator code free of cost."
The digital town hall application provides tangible, real-world opportunities for governments to provide e-government services to their citizens and businesses. By offering Microsoft's application on its portal, eris@ is moving forward on its commitment to promote e-government collaboration and accelerate the development of an information society in Europe.
"This type of collaboration and intellectual property sharing is a perfect fit with eris@'s mission to create a common platform for the communication and exchange of experience among European regions," said Herve LE GUYADER, chairman of eris@. "Our new portal will make it easier for local and regional governments to share best practices, bringing us closer to our goal of creating a virtual library of applications, from vendors and governments alike."
Officials from Aalter, a town in the Flanders region of Belgium, understand the significance of online collaboration. When Mayor Pieter De Crem decided to start using an online platform for engagements with citizens, he realised the need to understand what other local governments had done in the past by reviewing existing best practices and applications. He heard about the work being done in Girona, Spain, and travelled there to meet local officials. To answer the unique needs of its citizens, businesses and public servants, Girona implemented a digital town hall that included a system for online tax payments, customisable by the user.
De Crem brought these ideas back to Aalter and is currently implementing a similar programme. He is pleased with the progress the town has made, and plans to optimise the programme through collaboration with his fellow government officials across the continent via this online portal.
"Having a portal where governments can easily share their applications, best practices and learning benefits everyone and particularly helps smaller governments like Aalter to save both time and money," De Crem said. "We're hopeful that our experience can be a model for other governments across Europe looking to best serve citizens and support businesses."
To ensure that knowledge of the application can be shared among the many independent software vendors in the EU, Microsoft is working with major partner PC WARE to provide training and support for any of the EU countries that want to make use of the solution.
Microsoft has worked with governments and other organisations across Europe on similar collaboration efforts. eris@ is expected to launch the new portal in early 2007.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.
About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)
Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft employs more than 13,000 people in over 60 subsidiaries, delivering products and services in more than 138 countries and territories.
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Source: Microsoft Corp.
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