June 1, 2009 By Karen Stewartson
Member communities, such as social networks and blogs, have increased in popularity within the last year, according to Global Faces and Networked Places, a report published in March by the Nielsen Company. The report found that 45 billion minutes were spent on member communities in 2008.
Results from Facebook confirmed that nearly 75 percent of users voted for the new governance policies after debate about the original terms of use, which suggested that the social utility owned users' materials.
Twitter breeds quitters? According to a Nielsen survey, 60 percent of tweeters quit within the first month.
As economic stimulus funds are disbursed for electronic health records, many more physicians will probably start tapping their smartphones for patient care. Sixty-four percent of physicians already use a smartphone to access online and medical resources, according to a survey conducted by Manhattan Research.
The German government is seeking ways to tighten weapons control to curb violence that recently struck the nation. Proposed measures include having better gun safety locks and implementing biometric technology, like fingerprint scanners, on deadly weapons. Fingerprint scanners store owners' fingerprints and authenticate them before giving a user access to a weapon; scanners are already on the German market.
Sweden unveiled a new energy policy to ensure a more fuel-efficient nation. The government aims to rely less on fossil fuels and reduce its carbon emissions. The government's goals include renewable energy comprising 50 percent of all energy produced by 2020, a fossil fuel-free taxi fleet by 2030 and a carbon-neutral nation by 2050. Citizens with clean-fuel vehicles will pay reduced taxes, while those without will see their taxes increase.
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.
Don't miss this opportunity to see the latest in digital government solutions, keep abreast of current policy issues and network with key government executives, technologists and industry specialists.
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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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