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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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