Media Release Thursday July 25 2002
To: News Editors/PR Wires
From: City Of
Johannesburg
Joburg goes e-government
Residents
of Joburg or anybody else throughout the world will soon
let
their fingers do the walking when visiting municipal offices
or accessing
services from this local
authority. This emerged during City's Council
meeting
today.
According to the City's Information
Technology Strategy tabled today, by
2005 the Internet
and related solutions will be the dominant means
of
enabling ready access to government information,
services and processes.
The City of Johannesburg
with its Shared Information Architecture
and
e-Government strategy, aims to
create a public sector that
will
increasingly deliver information and services using
on-line capabilities
through multiple channels of
communications.
With a stated vision of being an "African World-Class
City", with increased
prosperity and quality of life
through sustained economic growth for all
its citizens, the
City of Johannesburg aims to have in place world-class
Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) which will
allow both
individual citizens, companies, business and other
governments to interact
and do business with the City 7 days a week and 24
hours a day. This can be
done using different means
of communications such personal computers,
desktop, handheld
computers, telephones, cellphones, self-service kiosk
and
ATM's.
The strategy will provide better
services, as it will be more convenient
and reliable, with
lower cost and higher quality and value. It envisages
costs effectiveness and
efficiency featuring better information services to
customers and better
value for money.
Security will be in
place to ensure confidentiality, integrity and to
ensure
that the availability of government's information assets
is not
compromised. This will also be interoperatable and
compatible so that it
can share knowledge bases City wide, across council
Utilities, Agencies and
Corporatised entities (UAC's) and between
governments.
Services will rope in
transaction and payment process and will interact
with financial
institutions, the South African Reserve Bank
and the
National payment system. Its e-procurement will
feature distribution and
order fulfilment and customers service and support
service.
The City, which has in
the past year paid more attention on building
standardised,
stable and capable infrastructure upon which
e-government
could be built, will in the next year
focus on delivering functionality
that adds value on initiative that
are already in place such as electronic
account presentation,
on-line meter reading updates and on-line personal
information
updates.
ENDS.
For more information
contact:
Mbangwa
Xaba
Media
Liaison
Tel: 407
7226
Fax: 403
3494
082 467
9230
mbangwax@joburg.org.za
Or visit our
website
www.joburg.org.za
Nthatisi
Modingoane
Media Liaison Officer
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG
Tel: (011) 407
7354
Fax: 403 3494
Cell: 082 467 9228
E-mail:
nthatisem@joburg.org.za
For more information about this wonderful City of
ours, please visit our
website :
www.joburg.org.za