E-government plan delayed

PHUKET CITY: Plans to set up a “one-stop shop” website, through which Phuket people could conduct transactions with government departments, have hit a glitch.

In June, Dr Manoo Ordeedolchest, President of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), said it was hoped that a simplified version of the website would be operational by July.

However, Dr Rattana Wetprasit, Acting Manager of Phuket’s Sipa office, admitted yesterday that it was impossible to say when the website would be up and running.

She said that there was still much to be done to ensure that the Sipa system was compatible with those of the government departments to which it would be linked and – most importantly – that it would be completely secure.

She added, however, that it had been decided which services will be available first through the website. These are the issuing of driving licences and car registrations, and the payment of public utility bills.

The intention is to to extend the system gradually, to allow access to more services from the Transportation Department, CAT, the Electricity Authority and the Local Administration Department.

Said Dr Rattana, “We aim to provide more than 20 one-stop services in Phuket in the coming fiscal year [which started on October 1], but the [initial] emphasis will be on solving traffic problems.

“For example, a police officer could key a vehicle registration into a portable computer linked to the Transportation Department’s database, and any information on the database relating to that registration would automatically be sent back to the officer.

“This could help to reduce the number of people who break the law and – hopefully – reduce accidents.

“I would like Sipa to focus on solving Phuket’s traffic problems.”

Sipa demonstrated the one-stop shop system at the ICT Expo in Bangkok in August, said Dr Rattana, and the Phuket Sipa office expects to mount a similar demonstration here this month.

However, she said, “It is difficult to say when we will actually offer a complete one-stop service because it depends on the other organizations whose databases we will use. The system has to grow gradually.”