February 19, 2007 By News Report
"I am delighted that today the first major step towards a single EU hotline number for missing children has been taken," said EU Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding. "I urge member states to act now to make this a reality, so that Europe's parents will soon know that they are able to call this number and get immediate help."
The first number to be reserved Europe-wide is 116000. All other numbers beginning with 116 are also reserved for social services in Europe and this decision is binding on member states. These free phone numbers and the services they provide will benefit citizens by helping those in difficulty, said the Commission, or by contributing to their well-being or safety.
A public consultation will be launched in March to identify social services that may benefit from 116 numbers which may then also be reserved.
This Digital Communities white paper highlights discussions with IT officials in four counties that have adopted shared services models. Our aim was to learn about the obstacles these governments have faced when it comes to shared services and what it takes to overcome those roadblocks. We also spoke with several members of the IT industry who have thought long and hard about these issues. The paper offers some best practices for shared government-to-government services, but also points out challenges that government and industry still must overcome before this model gains widespread adoption.
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Digital Communities (DC) is e.Republic‘s local government program. The particular strength of DC is its focus on encouraging collaboration and creating productive relationships between and among cities, counties, regions and select private sector companies uniquely positioned to help improve the delivery of public services.
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