Изучение технологий доступа для широкополосной электросвязи (стр. 23 )

I.2.3        E-Government

As an entity that primarily provides services to others, government is in a prime position to reap the benefits of broadband tech­no­lo­gies. Governments can use broadband to help transform legacy systems into customer-friendly systems and create a public-centered service for such public.

E-Government applications can help citizens solve problems. E-Government allows citizens to get information on basic government services to allow citizens to fill out electronic forms and get information through self-service online. With more citizens accessing and using services online, the more expensive paper, voice and face-to-face transactions are likely to shrink, lowering the cost of providing services.46 This also allows government agencies greater ability to concentrate on providing improved quality of service or expanding the quantity of services they provide.

Broadband allows interaction with the government to be more convenient for citizens because it reduces the time necessary to get information. It can obviate the need to make phone calls or visit government offices during business hours because tasks can be performed at the citizen’s convenience. In addition, those who work long hours or shift work, the elderly and those with mobility problems or other disabilities have the same opportunities as others to get the information they need.47

Examples of some of the services that can be provided using E-Government include: renewing a driver’s licenses; registering to vote and voting; one-stop shopping for government services without having to know which government agency handles specific functions; ordering birth, death, marriage certificates; filing and paying taxes; and obtaining business licenses.48 Other services include filing for financial aid, as well as filing applications for certain government housing, education and other programs.

Broadband technology - enabled E-Government is a win-win for both citizens and the government itself. Within government, broadband can lead to improved task management, as well as less waste, fraud and abuse. Many internal government transactions can be handled online, including travel reimbursements, changes of address, pension fund modifications, etc.49 Broadband technology also can enable government to save money on mailing, printing and handling costs. Overall, electronic service delivery can change human resource management patterns and improve organizational performance.50

There are many examples of countries that have employed broadband technology to create E‑Government applications.51 The following are just a few:

•        In the Dhar district in central India, the Gyandoot Project has established community-owned, tech­no­lo­gically innovative and sustainable information kiosks in a poverty-stricken, tribal dominated rural area of Madhya Pradesh. Information kiosks have connectivity through local exchanges on optical fibre or UHF links. Citizens can use the kiosks to obtain Agriculture Produce Auction Centre Rates; get copies of land records; conduct online registration to obtain income/caste/ domicile certificates; file an online public grievance redress; conduct auctions for land, agricultural machinery, equipment, and other durable commodities; and obtain updated information regarding beneficiaries of social security pension, rural development schemes and information regarding government grants given to village committees and public distributions.52

•        In Brazil, the state government of Bahia has created Citizen Assistance Service Centres (SAC), using broadband technology, that bring together federal, state, and municipal agencies in a single location to offer the e-services that citizens most frequently need and use. The centres have been placed in convenient public locations, such as shopping malls and major public transportation hubs.

       They offer citizens significant time savings, while also delivering services with greater courtesy and professionalism. A further benefit has been a reduction in the overhead expenses of government since, in many instances, agencies pay much lower rents for space in the SAC than for the properties they previously rented to interact with the public.53

•        The Department of Revenue in Karnataka, India, has com­put­erized 20 million records of land ownership of 6.7 million farmers in the state. Previously, farmers had to seek out the village accountant to get a copy of the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) – a document needed for many tasks such as obtaining bank loans. Currently, for a small fee, a printed copy of the RTC can be obtained online at a com­put­erized land record kiosks (Bhoomi centres) in 140 taluk offices. In the next phase, all the taluk databases are to be uploaded to a web-enabled central database. RTCs would then be available online at Internet kiosks connected through broadband tech­no­lo­gies, which are likely to be set up in rural areas.54

•        A European Commission study, carried out in April 2002,55 on E-Government in Europe shows clear progress. Since the measurement in October 2001, the availability and interactivity of public services on the Internet rose by 10 per cent to reach 55 per cent. The study was part of the European Commission’s “Benchmarking eEurope” initiative and measured twenty basic public services in the 15 EU Member States, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. In this study, a rep­re­senta­tive sample of more than 10 000 public service providers in the 18 countries was assessed. The survey found that the overall degree of online availability of public services in the countries through broadband technologies was 55 per cent, compared to 45 per cent in October 2001. The categories of public services that were most prevalent included income-generating services, such as taxes and social contributions (79 per cent), followed by registration services, such as registration of cars and new companies, and social security. Services related to documents and permits, such as drivers’ licenses and passports, were the least developed on the web (41 per cent).56

•        By 2003, the Japanese Government’s E-Government Program was expected to result in nearly all applications and procedures being available online.57 The government would like to deploy public Local Access Networks (LANs) that connect schools, libraries, community centres and city halls across the country by 2005.

•        In Canada, the city of Yellowknife now offers many government services online. Citizens can register businesses, obtain lottery licenses, pay parking tickets, book public facilities and find information about local laws. Through a project called CityNET, the city is preparing to offer citizens information through an interactive com­put­erized phone system and an interactive version of cable television.58

•        In the UK, the www. ukonline. gov. uk portal was created to provide a single access point to UK Government information and services. It was launched in early December 2000 and contains applications and features, such as:

a)        “Quickfind” - a powerful search engine that guides users directly to the right information, allowing people to cut through the maze of government.

b)        “Do It Online” - access to useful online transactions, such as applying for a passport, buying a TV license, paying bills, notifying others of changes of address and filling in self-assessment tax returns.

c)        “Newsroom” - providing an easy way to keep in touch with government news, announcements and advices.

e)        “CitizenSpace” - a section to make it easy for people to find out about government plans and contribute to the formulation of new policies on which the public is invited to comment.

f)        “Easy Access” pages, which give simpler access to the portal for those who are visually impaired or have low reading skills.59

I.2.4        E-Agriculture

Agriculture is another ideal candidate for reaping the benefits broadband technology. Broadband access creates a link between buyers and sellers, simplifies pricing determination, offers risk management and forward pricing opportunities and can facilitate improved farm productivity and environmental protection. Broadband also makes possible electronic exchange trading of agricultural commodities, and it enables farmers the ability to conduct better production management, inventory control and better marketing techniques for their commodities and products – both domestically and internationally.

Because of the geographical separation between farmers and their markets, the fact that there are far more buyers than sellers, as well as the fact that commodities are often perishable and fungible by time, broadband can play an important role in bringing farmers and their markets together more quickly and getting products to market more quickly and efficiently.

Broadband technology also can provide farmers with an easier ability to earn “off-farm income.” Because the economics of farming do not allow many farmers to live off the proceeds of farming alone, many farmers need to find additional work to supplement their income. Broadband access can give them an opportunity to use their skills to work from home and not leave the farm.

The economic benefits of using broadband in the agricultural sector are significant. “According to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, B2B e-market opportunity (in the United States) for non-equipment agricultural inputs such as seeds, chemicals, fertilizers and veterinary supplies alone could be USD 34 billion. Moreover, on the farmers’ marketing side, efficient B2B e-commerce structures could cut marketing costs by about five cents per bushel for wheat, oilseeds, and feed grains.”60