Northern Ireland's e-Government Unit has provided a new transactional platform for authorities in the province.
It has set up the Government Gateway and e-Payments Engine in an effort to encourage more online transactions. Speaking to Government Computing News on 2 November, 2004, a leading official said it has provided a Web based platform that allows all departments and local authorities to operate through a central point.
John Price, deputy director of the Northern Ireland e-Government Unit, said it has developed the system using Microsoft's Biz Talk 2004 server, working with Microsoft and Atos Origin. The project has cost about £200,000, but is expected to provide savings running into the millions.
He said it has been difficult to get local authorities to use the previous incarnation of the platform as they used a different level of accreditation to the central departments. The new system has provided a smoother route for transactional services, and the team hopes that local authorities will be more inclined to use it.
The Payments Engine provides a medium for financial transactions, while the Gateway can be used for a range of purposes. Price said the most obvious is for booking appointments, but that he believes it could extend well beyond this.
One government body -- the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment -- is already using the system, and Land Registrars for Northern Ireland is expected to join soon. Price said most of Northern Ireland's 11 departments and a number of agencies have expressed an interest in using the system, but that local authorities have so far been cautious.
"They are not ready yet but we think we can move them onto it very quickly," he said.
"We are trying to get people serious about transactional services. We now have the ability to kick start and get it going in a big way. We're making it easy to use."
