Vol. 518 No. 3
78 Mr. McGuinness asked the Taoiseach if a qualified person is employed in the Department to develop information communication technology systems for use in the Department, on an interdepartmental basis and outwards to conduct business with the general public and public representatives. [11648/00]
My Department's statement of strategy recognises the need for the development and adoption of new communications and information technologies to meet a higher level of customer expectation and the need for greater efficiency in services, improved service delivery and increased efficiency. To this end, an IT strategy plan is in place in my Department which identifies the technologies and applications required to support the Department's core business.
As part of this IT strategy plan, my Department's IT unit was expanded and restructured in late 1999. This restructuring led to the establishment of an IT systems development team. The team comprises one higher executive officer, one executive officer, one staff officer and one clerical officer. A training programme is in place to allow the team to constantly upgrade its IT skills. In addition, any expertise required that the Department does not possess and cannot readily acquire will be outsourced, either to the Centre for Management Organisation and Development in the Department of Finance or, if necessary, the private sector.
The team is, and will be, undertaking a number of projects to develop information and communications technology, ICT, systems in 2000. ICT systems currently in place or under development in my Department aim to make information more easily accessible to all our customers – internal, interdepartmental and the general public. The specific projects are as follows:
InternalE-mail for all staff; Departmental Intranet; Teleworking-Remote access; Voice Character Recognition System
Inter-Departmental and Strategic Partners
Social Partners Extranet; E-mail; E-Cabinet; Primenet
General Public
Department of the Taoiseach Website; Information Society Website; E-mail.
