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Most UK council web teams are failing to come to terms with the growing number of citizens accessing websites and online services using smartphones and other mobile devices, a leading analyst has told E-Government Bulletin....
Read full story here, Mobile web failures...
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A government review of public libraries, which proposes a shift towards increased digitisation, could be shelved if Labour loses power at the upcoming general election, an expert on library policy has warned....
Read full story here, Election dangers for libraries...
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NEWS IN BRIEF:
Driving Digitisation:
A special body to accelerate the transfer of public services to online channels, the Digital Public Services Unit, will be set up by the government, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced last week. The unit will be headed by Martha Lane Fox, moving over from her current role as the UK's digital inclusion champion. One of its first projects will be to create 'MyGov', an interactive platform allowing citizens to tailor their public service requirements, including tasks such as paying council tax or managing pensions:
Quick link: Driving Digitisation
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Elective Data: A project allowing local authority election data to be collated and reused online has been launched by an independent developer. Although free public access to local poll data is currently available in some online formats, the Open Election Data project, created by Chris Taggart - developer of local government transparency website OpenlyLocal.com -helps councils to publish results in a standard 'resource description framework' (RDF) format, meaning they can be collated into a results database by most content management systems. It is free for all councils to join:
Quick link: Elective Data:
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National Geographic: "Base level" geographic data should be freely available to the public sector for reuse, according to a response by public sector ICT management body Socitm to a government consultation on proposals to make more Ordnance Survey (OS) map data freely available ( http://bit.ly/drtEjF ). Socitm say this requirement is not met by any of the three options suggested in the consultation, and urges a move away from the "bureaucracy and restrictions" of the current model whereby a contractual arrangement is needed for local authorities to use OS data:
Quick link: National Geographic
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In the face of radical spending cuts, the key question for most councils when considering the use of social media will be: 'Will this eat up my time and make me less productive, or will it make things more efficient?' Social media tools allow far more people to contribute to solving a problem, which means potentially far greater efficiency overall, even given the increased burden on communicating and responding to the public. Many councils are now trying both approaches in small ways, and there are enough early signs of success to suggest new models and point the way for how these tools might be used in a radically more efficient local government, writes Andy Gibson....
Read full story here,
For the good of the community...
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