Microsoft EMEA: Engaging With the Public Sector



Microsoft EMEA: Engaging With the Public Sector

May 2004

Through technology, community involvement, government-industry partnerships and education initiatives, Microsoft continues to expand its work with governments and other public sector organisations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Introduction

In government, there is always more work to do. Governments are under continual pressure to expand and improve their services, despite limited resources. Information and communication technology (ICT) has long been essential for back-office operations, but it increasingly provides opportunities to improve the way public services are delivered.

The European Commission’s e-Europe Action Plan 2005 emphasises the importance of technology in government.

e-Government aims to deliver better-quality public services that are accessible for all. It aims to increase productivity in the public sector, so that services can be provided at a lower cost and time is freed up for more personal interaction. It can also enhance participation in public policy development and thus reinforce democracy, as well as help increase the transparency and accountability of the public sector. In short, e-Government is a means to achieve a more productive, inclusive, and open public sector in Europe.

National and pan-regional governments such as the European Union often establish the overall policy framework within which government at all levels must operate, while it is often left to local and regional governments to find innovative ways to deliver their services to people.

Local and regional governments are faced with huge diversity of citizens, issues and challenges. Their remit ranges from rural areas with only limited access to today’s technologies through to dense urban areas. Their constituents include highly computer-literate citizens, familiar with what technology can contribute, through to those who may be wary and reluctant to embrace change.

“Microsoft understands the complexity of these issues and recognises that every branch of government, in every location, faces a unique set of challenges,” says Pete Hayes, vice president, public sector, Microsoft EMEA. “As a leading technology company in the region, we have a responsibility not only to serve our public sector customers well, but to do our part to give people access to the benefits of technology everywhere.”

Three new initiatives, adding to the company’s growing portfolio of work in the public sector, exemplify Microsoft’s multitiered efforts. Solution blueprints are giving governments preconfigured, lower-cost technology solutions for numerous operational areas, such as tax and revenue, and human services. The Microsoft Public Sector Partner Marketplace is an online resource that helps governments identify and prequalify technology vendors specialising in public sector development projects. And four Schools Technology Innovation Centres are being opened to help teachers use ICT and technical learning tools in the classroom.

The following sections describe, in brief, many of the ways Microsoft is helping governments do more with less, and supporting government priorities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Products and Partnerships

To engage with governments, vendors have to be willing to partner holistically, understanding the broad scope of needs and pulling together different elements of the solution including technology, hardware and infrastructure support. Microsoft is not only engaging with governments on a technology level, it’s partnering with independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators (SIs) to create complete solutions and offer long-term support.

▪ Solution blueprints. Governments see that they must harness the power of ICT to streamline processes and to reach out to constituents through more channels and with more automated services. Microsoft, along with its partners, is addressing this need through a new technology option for public sector customers: solution blueprints. These are preconfigured technologies based on proven best practices, drawn from solutions that Microsoft and Accenture have co-developed for governments across Europe. Solution blueprints offer best-in-class technologies, quick time to market and high value, and are an economical alternative to building solutions from scratch.

▪ Public Sector Partner Marketplace. This online marketplace will bring together public sector customers and technology vendors in a Web forum specifically geared toward Microsoft-based solutions for governments and governmental agencies. Scheduled to launch at Tech•Ed Europe, which starts on 29 June, the Public Sector Partner Marketplace will include listings of ISVs, SIs and other industry partners, as well as their solution offerings, organised by location, language and solution category. The marketplace will make it easier for organisations to locate vendors that can develop and deploy ICT solutions, in their local language, that meet their specific organisational objectives. Solution providers, in turn, will be able to create incremental revenue by marketing their products and services on the site, and identify opportunities to work with complementary businesses. The site provides a framework enabling informed communication and inquiries, at no charge to participants. Microsoft takes no part in buying transactions.

Education

Technology in education serves several purposes: to teach people basic technical skills as well as advanced ICT training, to incorporate technology into the practice of educating, and to streamline administration through back-office technologies.

For the past 20 years, Microsoft has been an active supporter of thousands of community programmes around the world, combining donations, employee involvement and, increasingly, assistance with PC refurbishment at the service of IT education and lifelong learning. In this new decade — one that societal, economic and technological trends are shaping as the “Digital Decade” — Microsoft EMEA is focusing community investment where it can make the greatest impact for sustainable development.

▪ Schools Technology Innovation Centres. In cooperation with local education authorities, Microsoft EMEA is creating four Schools Technology Innovation Centres. These facilities will provide information, training and equipment for teachers to enhance their use of ICT in classrooms and curricula. The four European centres will be opened in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Prague, Czech Republic; Amman, Jordan; and Pretoria, South Africa. This is a new component of the Microsoft Partners in Learning programme.

▪ Partners in Learning focuses on classroom education and teacher training, and is a natural evolution and expansion of Microsoft’s historic commitment to schools, designed to improve teaching and learning through the integration of ICT into the curriculum.

▪ The Microsoft Forum for Innovative Teachers is a connected community of educators throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa organised by Microsoft to encourage educators to share innovative ideas about using ICT in education. This new programme brings together the top tier of ICT teaching professionals from across the region, and enables best practices to be shared among programme members and their local peers.

▪ Unlimited Potential is a programme that provides community IT skills training and support to existing learning centres—such as libraries, schools and community centres — where people already gather to gain skills, share information and use technology. To date in EMEA, Unlimited Potential supports 54 projects with over 100 partners in 35 countries across the region. Over the next five years, Microsoft will commit up to $1 billion to Unlimited Potential partnerships worldwide.

▪ IT Academy is a program designed to allow accredited academic institutions to offer a premium education in cutting-edge Microsoft technologies. The training is delivered by the schools and prepares students for academic education tracks, rigorous Microsoft certification exams and for career opportunities as network administrators, technical support specialists, software/hardware developers, design engineers and office specialists.

▪ The Microsoft Learning Gateway is a secure, integrated e-learning solution that provides students, teachers and parents with a single Web-enabled repository of information and a common point of interaction. With the Learning Gateway, parents can monitor and participate in their child’s education, teachers and students can upload and access assignments and resources at any time, and all parties can communicate with each other through e-mail, text and video conferencing. It is designed to put the pupil at the centre of the schooling experience, while freeing teachers to spend less time on paperwork and more energy in the classroom.

Digital Divide

Microsoft is working through government-industry partnerships to help prevent the development of a two-tier Europe. Along with industry partners, Microsoft is working to expand the foundations of the information society in Central and Eastern European states, through a range of activities. These include community affairs programs and a wide range of partnerships with governments, businesses and institutions, to strengthen local technology infrastructures and address the economic and social priorities of the EU accession countries.

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For more information, refer to these Microsoft resources:

Microsoft EMEA in Government

Microsoft EMEA in Education



Microsoft Government Home Page



Microsoft Consulting Services



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Backgrounder

Microsoft EMEA: Engaging With the Public Sector

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