UN Compendium of Innovative E-Government Practices

The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat has just released a Compendium of Innovative E-Government Practices:

"Given the complexity of e-Government operations, in an effort to make the path to e-Government clearer and more easily accessible, UNDESA has embarked on an ongoing initiative to compile cases of innovative e-government applications from all geographical regions of the world. This Compendium aims to promote knowledge sharing and exchange of proven e-government applications among countries to promote emulation and to reduce the costs involved in setting up completely new systems".

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"The Compendium covers a wide range of innovative practices, such as the creation of a government portal, the provision of critical information on agriculture, the sharing of information on the human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), the finding of an innovative way to promote e-commerce in developing countries, the enhancement of public/private partnership and the facilitation of the interaction between government and its citizens".

The document describes a number of justice-related projects, such as:

• The Electronic Filing System (Federal Court of Australia): "The Federal Court of Australia was the first court in Australia to introduce electronic filing. The Electronic Filing System (eFiling) is the public’s main electronic interface for lodging applications and supporting documentation to the court; eFiling also accepts credit card payments for filing fees. The primary intended audiences for eFiling are litigants in the Federal Court system and the legal profession."
• The e-Government Code (Italy): "The effort to strengthen the use of ICT [information and communication technologies] in public services has acquired, in Italy, juridical validity thanks to the e-Government Code (eGC), which came into force on 1st January 2006. The eGC is part of an overall strategy that, in the words of the Prime Minister, 'is designed to transform the Public Administration from a handicap to a strength for our competitiveness in the world economy'. Essentially, the EGovernment Code aims to free Italians from numerous, out-of-date bureaucratic procedures. The eGC represents a unique code, which, unifying all the several existing statements, along with defining new ones, will work as a 'digital constitution' for all public operators in the field of ICT."
• Real Time Crime Center (New York City Police Department): "When New York City detectives respond to a homicide, any piece of information can be critical to solving the crime. And not only do detectives rely on the information, they need it fast. Quickly providing police with essential data is the goal of the city’s new Real Time Crime Center. The $11 million Real Time Crime Center, which first opened in July 2005, conducts rapid analysis of homicides and shootings citywide in order to provide a real-time assessment of emerging crime, crime patterns and potential criminal suspects as well as an up-to-date picture of police resources and their availability throughout the city."