Chamber and committees

The Executive's response to point 52 said we would encourage Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIP) to make this an integral part of their work. The digital champions are working in SIP areas - engaging local people, local organisations, and driving forward local activity.In addition the Executive's public access points initiative will put internet access into places where people already go on a day-to-day basis - such as shops. The points set out in my answer to question S1W-21282 on 16 January 2002 are also relevant here.

The guidelines for UK Government websites published by the Office of the e-Envoy contain detailed information and set standards for the design and delivery of fully accessible websites and online services. Version 2 of the guidelines is currently going through consultation and the Executive is taking part in that process.

A number of the recommendations have been implemented and action completed. Others have been taken forward through the development and implementation of various related initiatives including the Digital Inclusion Strategy, the Broadband Strategy, the Information Age Government Strategy and the 21^st Century Government Action Plan.

Our aim is for public services to meet the needs of the citizen, e.g. by delivering the appropriate answer to the citizen at the first point of contact. This is set out in more detail in the 21st Century Government Vision Statement which is publicly available on the 21st Century Government website.

In using the internet for their business dealings, data controllers must take into account the privacy rights of individuals and their own responsibilities under privacy and data protection legislation.Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Information Commissioner is able to serve enforcement notices upon a data controller who the Commissioner is satisfied has contravened or is contravening any of the data protection principles.

The Executive encourages public agencies through the regular and consistent promotion of the 21^st Century Government Vision, of a Scotland where the delivery of public services and public information are characterised by their citizen focus and by choice of means of access. Further to this a series of working groups and seminars on topics such as Portals, GIS and Call Centres have been held with plans for future events. The 21^st Century Government Unit has recently announced a conference 'Transforming Scotland' to be held on 25 January at the Glasgow SECC, which will further promote the citizen focussed approach. The Executive is shortly to commission research into how customer views and reactions are currently used both to improve future service delivery and to resolve any immediate service failure. This research scheduled for publication in May 2002 will be published and results promoted across the wider Public Sector. Funding of projects through the Modernising Government Fund and the subsequent sharing of best practice in this area will also have a positive effect.

All higher education institutions and further education colleges have access to the SuperJANET network. The funding councils' priority continues to be promoting widespread take-up and application of the extensive range of information services available through the network. The councils' policy is to identify new data sources of potential value to the further and higher education sectors and to seek to arrange access to them through the network.

The e-Government Metadata Framework (e-GMF) published in June 2001, sets out the UK Government's policies for establishing and implementing metadata standards across the public sector. The Scottish Executive website is overseen by a Web Editorial Board which has responsibility for ensuring compliance with published guidelines including the e-GMF.The Scottish Executive actively supports and promotes the e-government interoperability framework and e-GMF across the wider Scottish public sector.

The Scottish Executive launched a broadband strategy last August with the aim of promoting affordable pervasive broadband across Scotland. The strategy includes aggregated public sector procurement which will be taken forward initially in two pathfinder rural areas - the Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland. We aim to invest in broadband capacity for public services in a way that stimulates providers to supply a wider range of services to businesses and consumers in those areas. The Executive also recognises the importance of both testing and increasing demand for broadband, in order to encourage wider roll-out of commercial services, including within rural areas. As a first step, we are proposing a programme of network trials and awareness-raising measures under the DTI fund for innovative projects to extend broadband networks.

The Scottish Executive is not a major service provider, and its main role therefore is to provide encouragement and guidance to service providers. This is being done in a variety of ways; eg through working groups, seminars, published guidance, research and the Modernising Government Fund.The first electronic service delivery progress report, published in November 2001, shows that more than 60% of the services provided by the Scottish Executive, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are already available online.