Brits best of bad
UK e-commerce websites are the best in Europe at informing customers of their rights, although their performance is not impressive: fewer than half inform users that they can cancel an order within seven days, according to research by World IT Lawyers. According to the European civil rights website EDRI.org, the group found that in Switzerland, Portugal and the Netherlands, fewer than a third of e-commerce sites provide this information, which is a right under the European directive on distance selling. www.edri.org
£35 charge
Nominet is to charge £35.25 for each co.uk, org.uk and me.uk domain name transfer of ownership from May 19, a service that has been free. The cost of buying a domain name for two years can be less than £9, including web and email forwarding. A spokesperson for the non-profit making registry told PC Adviser that making a transfer charge seemed fairer than increasing the charges for all purchases and renewals. It makes about 2,500 such changes each month, and will start providing the service online from the end of this year. www.pcadvisor.co.uk
Neon history
A flashing neon sign in Elephant and Castle, south London, has made e-government history. Its planning application was the first in Britain to be processed via the Planning Inspectorate's online Planning Portal.
Southwark council says it is the first authority to integrate its own planning IT system, from Plantech, with the Planning Portal run by the planning inspectorate for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the National Assembly of Wales.
North Devon district council is also accepting online planning applications through the portal.
<A HREF="http://www.planningportal.gov.uk"" TARGET="_NEW">www.planningportal.gov.uk
NAT reports today
Government departments spent £610 million on software last year, the National Audit Office reports today. Ninety five per cent of departments buy from Microsoft. The NAO praises efforts to get bulk discounts from suppliers but says that more needs to be done.
It finds that departments have been slower than expected to take up new discount deals reached by the Office of Government Commerce. Of the 66 departments surveyed, 10 departments estimated that they would save some £5.4m by using the agreements.
The comptroller and auditor general, Sir John Bourn, said: "This report shows that many departments are being intelligent customers when it comes to software licensing. But it remains important that they have all the information they need to make the right decisions."
www.nao.gov.uk
Dubya cuts
Congress has slashed President Bush's e-government budget by 89%. The White House had requested $45m this year to make public services more friendly; Congress cut that to $5m. It is a bad start to what is supposed to be a $345m programme over four years.
The federal government is already committed to making all paper forms available online by November. This will increase information sharing between agencies, modernising technology and protecting systems from online attacks.
Half the US population has now used a federal, state or local government website to get information or conduct transactions.
Routemastered
Residents of Lower Coquet in Northumberland are making 250 trips a week on a bespoke bus service with its route plotted by computer. Callers can book the Phone & Go service up to two hours in advance, through a centre at Newcastle University. Its staff then use special software to create a route for each journey of the 424 and 425 bus service, often picking up residents from their front doors.
The Northumberland county council-funded service, which started in December, covers areas that previously had no public transport. Newcastle University told Kablenet.com that, if successful, it hopes that bus companies will invest in the scheme.
www.kablenet.com
Top councils better
A report by SocITM, the staff association for local government IT managers, links a council's strength in using IT and its overall quality as measured by government's Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPA). Local authorities rated as excellent in the CPA process are 10 times more likely to run one of the 10 most highly ranked council websites in SocITM's annual survey.
High-ranking councils were found to spend 21% more per head of population than other authorities on information and communications technology.
Coverage of this year's Better Connected survey
www.socitm.gov.uk
