Information Technology Cost Estimation Agencies Need to Address Significant Weakness in Policies and Practices
To estimate reliable cost for the sucess of an IT program by providing the basis for the informed decision making and realistic budget information. To assess the extent to which selected departments ... and agencies have appropriately implement costestimating policies an procedures(four caracteristics of a reliable cost estimation: comprehensive, well-documented, accurate, credible). ... IT cost estimation ... Check out what may go wrong with the information technology cost estimation. Results of the US GAO audit can help to identify high risk areas: comprehensiveness of estimations, their documentation ... , lack of adequacy and inadequate implementation.
Full description

Open Government Data - Are all exceptions to the principle of cost-free access and reuse legitimate?
The United Kingdom, a country seen, like the United States, as a pioneer in open public data, has estimated at £6.8bn (€7,9bn) the revenue in 2010 and 2011 generated for British society by open ... public data, of which £5bn (€5.8bn) is profit. As an example, a start-up has highlighted the existence of areas in which massive savings can be made by analysing prescriptions of patented drugs ... and the corresponding generics.<br/> Such possibilities are not beyond reach for France, which is not only deemed to be among the pioneers but also one of the countries making the most rapid progress in this domain ... ... Open data strategy should decide the costs problem ... French Cour des comptes presents analysis on implementation of the open data practice across the administration. Massive savings are expected, when public access to large amounts of highquality data ... is made easy. France is among the pioneers and countries making the most rapid progress in this domain. Charges for the reuse of the public information has been identified as the main problem.
Full description

IT strategy of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
The SFAO conducted an IT audit in 2009, in order to evaluate goal achievement and cost effectiveness of information and communication technology by Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich ... ). [p. 11] ... Performance audit of IT strategy in research area ... Interesting problems of IT strategy implementation - including that of organizational authonomy skope.
Full description

The development and use of identification services in public administration
with legislation in procuring services. The audit also examined development, control and monitoring structures regarding identification services. The audit focused on electronic identification services that are used ... The audit examined the implementation and coordination of projects aimed at developing identification services in public administration, cooperation among authorities in this area and compliance ... in public administration's electronic transactions. ... ... Unhealthy competition linked with lack of coordinatnion and with procurement irregularities ... See what may go wrong with the IT public procurement. Check out what is the basis to avoid irregularities or omissions in complying with public procurement legislation. National Audit Office ... of Finland identified also risks resulting from lack of horizontal coordination.
Full description

Coordination of Infrastructure Works by Metropolitan Municipalities
Rapid population growth at metropoles as well as dense and planless structuring, especially in İstanbul and Ankara, have lead to an increase in demand for utilities services and consequently ... , in the resources used for the construction and maintenance of utilities. Moreover, in cities with dense population, damages to roads and sidewalks during the construction and maintenance of utilities cause problems ... in daily life, create financial burden and necessitate effective solutions. The purpose of this audit is to ensure that metropolitan municipalities eradicate defects in implementation, and Ministry ... ... ... Start geographic information system with cooperation rules and digital maps ... Organization of geographic and infrastructure information systems is an especially difficult task when bacause vast and intense coordination is necessary. The Turkisch Court of Accounts lists ... problems that reduce use and rise costs of this fundamental task.
Full description

The implementation of national IT projects in social and health care
IT management expenditure in public administration totalled about 2.1 billion euros in 2009. IT management expenditure by local authorities and federations of municipalities in the field of health ... care totalled about 270 million euros ino 2009. Health care's share of IT management expenditure in public administration thus amounted to about 13 per cent in 2009. ... ... IT-centred manner of project implementation can harm IT investments' results ... of poor governance, as 'No cost monitoring - unclear objectives - arguable usefulness'. ... SAI Finland perfomed a vast review of IT projects in health and social protection. Many interesting findings cover structural problems, as 'Many separate systems with no future' and characteristics
Full description

Peering Point Betriebs GmbH
In 2004 the Peering Point Betriebs GmbH was established to provide an effective and secure IT network for the operation of the e-card (a smart card which replaced health insurance vouchers ... in the course of the introduction of the electronic administration system) and other services in health care. Since its foundation the company has suffered losses. Net losses were covered by the two owners ... – the Main Association of Austrian Social Insurance Institutions and the Austrian Medical Chamber – to 50 % each, and since 2011 in a proportion of 60 to 40. The Main Association failed to give an objective ... ... Safe but expensive ... Network safety of a healthcare e-card system has been provided at a high cost. As the Austrian Court of Audit discovered - there was no concept to reduce the expenditure.
Full description

Cyber Attacks: Securing Agencies’ICT Systems
Cyber crime is an international problem, and it is estimated that in 2012, 5.4 million Australians fell victim to such crimes, with an estimated cost to the economy of $1.65 billion ... . In the government sector, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD)3 has estimated that between January and December 2012, there were over 1790 security incidents against Australian Government agencies. Of these, 685 ... were considered serious enough to warrant a Cyber Security Operations Centre response. <br/> The protection of Australian Government systems and information from unauthorised access and use is a key ... ... Cyber-security strategy needs consistent implementation and periodic reviews ... List of 35 mitigation controls against cyber intrusions are a basic tool of information security strategy of the Australian Government. Top four are: 1. application whitelisting, 2. patching ... application, 3. patching operating systems, 4. minimising administrative privileges. Analysis by the ANAO helps to fill gaps and to direct next steps.
Full description

Management of Information Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania has managed 32 information systems and registers. Of these, 24 ones are managed, developed and upgraded by a state enterprise subordinate ... to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Information and Rural Business Centre. The annual amount allocated by the Ministry for the maintenance of the Centre totals LTL 17.5 million on average ... . The objective of the audit was to assess the general and development controls of the information resources of the Ministry of Agriculture. The audit was conducted at the Ministry of Agriculture and the state ... ... Without appropiate IT management  it is hard to achieve reliable, consistent and secure systems for agriculture ... Since 1996 the Ministry has been using information systems of varying complexity for collecting and processing data, including personal data. The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania ... has managed 32 information systems and registers. SAI of Lithuania revealed that systems were not well mantained what affected use of funds devoted to the systemsand also their legality and security.
Full description

Quality of public services in information society in 2010
The National Audit Office found that irrespective of a few positive changes, the quality of provision of public services in information society has not improved significantly in comparison to 2007 ... . Information about the services is still difficult to find on websites and people who use public services must still submit unjustified documents, proof of facts or go to administrative agencies in person ... . A positive example is registration of a person’s place of residence, which has become considerably easier and user-friendlier than in 2007 as a result of the development of the state portal. <br/> 2007 Audit ... ... The quality of public services has been improved but still isn’t good enough ... Irrespective of a few positive changes, the quality of provision of public services in information society has not improved significantly in comparison to 2007. Information about the services ... is still difficult to find on websites and people who use public services must still submit unjustified documents, proof of facts or go to administrative agencies in person.
Full description