eGovernment Working Group UK Presidency of the EU EPAN eGovernment Working Group IPSG Working Group 2 September 2005 Ian Ascough Presentation - HR Working Group

Key Dates: Meetings of eGovernment Working Group 8-9 September – London Lancaster House 27-28 October – London

Themes of Studies and Activities e-Accessibility Study: access to eGovernment services for the visually impaired e-Skills Conference: IT skills in Government Stimulating take-up of eGovernment services Working Group work plan (including integration of Lisbon activities) Learning about Customer Satisfaction from IPSG

e-Accessibility Study - objectives To assess the accessibility of central government websites in EU Member States To understand the legal and regulatory environment in relation to accessibility issues To identify best practice in e-Accessibility Potentially identify links between accessibility and usability To define recommendations in e-Accessibility

e-Accessibility Study - method Electronic testing of e-government services (URLs from Commission eEurope benchmarking) against WAI WCAG “A” and “AA” Manual testing of 10% of these services Survey of Working Group members on legal situation, national recommendations, monitoring, etc. Any correlation between those active in e-accessibility and good results? Identification of best practice

e-Skills Conference General desire to follow on from skills work of LU Presidency in conjunction with EIPA Key to making a success of Government IT projects EU governments generally outsourcing IT work and not nurturing the skills in-house Professionalism agenda growing in both public and private sectors

e-Skills Conference Chair: Geoff McMullen (President, Council of European Professional Informatics Societies) Ian Watmore, Head of e-Government (UK):IT Skills within the public sector: the need for greater professionalism Christine Leitner, EIPA Key Findings from the LU/EIPA Study on Skill Needs for e-Government Larry Hirst, Chairman e-skills UK & General Manager IBM UK and Ireland, e-Skills in government and beyond André Richier, DG ENTR, European Commission, e-Skills within the EU: the Emerging Agenda